Category Archives: Social
My speech at Hougang by-election rally (24 May 2012)
Selamat malam, pengundi pengundi Hougang. Malam ini, saya mengucapkan terimah kasih banyak banyak sebab pengundi pendungi hadir ke rally ini. 各位亲爱的后港选民，各位来自新加坡各地的支持者，大家晚上好! 我首先要向两天前陪我们一起淋雨的支持者，表示深深的感谢。那晚，即使雨下得多大，您都一直留下来。有好多没有伞的人，上了年纪的人，还有些行动不便的人，都没有离开，坚持在大雨中支持工人党。看到你们在大雨中展现出勇气，我真的是非常地感动。 后港人的热情是雨浇不息的。人民行动党不平等 地对待您二十多年了，您还是勇敢地支持工人党。谢谢！ 您连人民行动党的威胁压迫也不怕，大雨对勇敢的工人党支持者来说，对真正的后港精神来说，算得了什么！您就是要告诉人民行动党，就算下多大的雨，就算他们压迫再久，工人党和后港人也会风雨同舟！ I will next speak in English. Recently, Professor Lim Chong Yah, former chairman of the National Wages Council and now Professor Emeritus of Economics at Nanyang Technological University …
Extract of COS on MOT – Transport concessions for disabled and poly students
Transport fares and concessions Mr Yee Jenn Jong (Non-Constituency Member): Sir, there are many requests for more public transport concessions for the disabled and for polytechnic students. On 21 November last year, Minister Lui Tuck Yew said that the Public Transport Council was aware of the concession request for these two groups and would work …
Extract of COS debate on MEWR – Hawker Centres
Mr Yee Jenn Jong (Non-Constituency Member): Thank you, Mr Chairman, for allowing me to join in the debate. I have a question on the operating model of the hawker centres. Earlier, the Minister said that he intends to accept all of the Panel’s proposals, so I would like to ask regarding the model of letting …
Extract of COS debate on MCYS – Preschool support for lower income families
The following is extract from the Singapore parliament publications (9 March 2012) pertaining to the debate after my ‘Cut’ on MCYS. My motivation for this Cut is that while child care and kindergarten sectors each have a generous financial scheme to help the lower income families get their children to study in preschool, the child …
My ‘cut’ in MCYS Committee of Supply debate – Pre-school support for low income families
A good early start to education is important to a child’s development. It is especially important for the lower income families to help the child be ready for primary schools. Schemes like the Kindergarten Financial Assistance Scheme or KiFAS, with start-up grants and monthly fee subsidies are helpful to the low income group. However, after …
Selected Parliamentary Questions I Raised (Oct 2011 – Feb 2012)
For convenience of access, I have compiled a selection of some of the parliamentary questions (PQs) and Supplementary Questions (SQs) I raised over the past five months below (Source: http://www.parliament.gov.sg/publications-singapore-parliament-reports): MITA Divestments of JTC’s properties (21 Oct 2011) 8 Mr Yee Jenn Jong asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) how many properties of JTC Corporation …
Educating our youths to develop empathy, appreciation and resilience
The letter in Dec 26, 2011′s TODAY paper, “Disparity in tertiary education facilities” by JC student Kwek Jian Qiang caught my attention. It was written with a good command of the English language. I assume Kwek is a bright student. What alarms me is his assumption that the best facilities must be reserved for the …
Stay hungry, stay foolish – A great principle for life
The guiding principle in the life of Steve Jobs Steve Jobs, the visionary US entrepreneur that gave us many wonderful tools (Mac, iPhone, iPad) and animations (Toy Story, Finding Nemo) that the world has grown to love, has just passed away. He is an entrepreneur and innovator that I truly admire. This is even more so after I have watched his 2005 speech at …
A photo journey of Bhutan (part 2) – People and life
In March 2011, we made an education exchange trip to Bhutan. This blog is part 2 of a series documenting life in Bhutan in the form of a photograph journey, as I saw the country. The photographs in this blog are reduced in size for ease of download. All photographs are copyright of the author …
Social inequality in Singapore
Last week, I wrote about social mobility in Singapore. The ST Interview of Associate Professor Aneel Karnani of the University of Michigan in The Straits Times (14 Sep 2011) offers additional thoughts on what’s happening with regards to social inequality in Singapore. Social mobility and social inequality are interlinked. High social mobility is a tool …
