This week, the Peoples’ Action Party’s (PAP) member of parliament (MP), Ang Wei Neng has become a little bit of a laughing stock for suggesting that the degrees conferred by local universities be “time-stamped”. The West Coast Group Representative Constituency (GRC) MP came up with the harebrained idea that local degrees expire after 5 years unless degree holders undertake upgrading courses!
Critics were quick to point out that this would make local degrees wholly unattractive to both local and international students which would, in turn, make local universities an unpopular choice for further education. After all, who would want to pay for a degree that “fades over time” particularly when overseas degrees would not? Talk about an own goal!
I wonder how local universities feel about these seemingly ill-thought-out suggestions and if Mr Ang even bothered consulting local universities before shooting off his mouth in Parliament?
Thanks to Mr Ang’s contributions in Parliament, the Internet was alive with comments, backlash, and memes, which may have contributed to his hasty apology. In a written reply to The Straits Times, he said that “in hindsight, (he) recognised that it had been more provocative than needed and had caused people to misunderstand the intentions behind the suggestion.”
Are the people of West Coast GRC regretting not having voted for the opposition team fielded by the Progress Singapore Party? Back in 2020, the PAP narrowly won with a mere 51.69 per cent.
Or perhaps, Mr Ang was doing a public service by creating humour amid the depressing news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine?
If so, I will sadly be undoing Mr Ang’s attempt at “humour” to talk about Singapore’s unprecedented sanctions against Russia.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Vivian Balakrishnan has said that “Singapore intends to act in concert with many other like-minded countries to impose appropriate sanctions and restrictions against Russia,” While sanctions may be a common punishment for rogue nations, it is extremely rare for Singapore to have taken this course of action. I must confess my own initial surprise upon hearing this news.
As former diplomat, Bilahari Kausikan pointed out, the only other time when Singapore imposed unilateral sanctions was 44 years ago in 1978, after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia. In a Facebook post on 28 February, Mr Bilahari explained that typically, Singapore would only impose sanctions endorsed by the United Nations (UN) Security Council, whose decisions are legally binding on all UN members of which Singapore is a member. However, in this circumstance, the UN sanctions would never have been passed because Russia, who is a member of the UN Security Council, has a right of veto.
Why then has Singapore taken action against Russia despite having a healthy trade relationship with the country when it has not taken the same actions against the military junta in Myanmar or Yemen where gross humanitarian atrocities are occurring?
The key is obviously the issue of sovereignty. Myanmar’s issues, and even those of Yemen’s however rogue, are seen as domestic, contained within their borders, where sovereignty is not seen as a concern. In Ukraine’s case, a sovereign nation is being attacked by a larger and stronger country.
As Mr Balakrishnan has said: “Ukraine is much smaller than Russia, but it is much bigger than Singapore. A world order based on “might is right”, or where “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”, such a world order would be profoundly inimical to the security and survival of small states. We cannot accept one country attacking another without justification, arguing that its independence was the result of “historical errors and crazy decisions”. Such a rationale would go against the internationally recognised legitimacy and the territorial integrity of many countries, including Singapore.”
For the many Singaporeans who are questioning why Singapore is taking action for Ukraine and not for other countries such as Myanmar or Yemen, the raison d’être is that of sovereignty. Understandably so, given that Singapore is also a small country among much larger ones.
Now back to local news of GST hikes. The Workers’ Party (WP) has said in Parliament that it is against the planned GST increments which are set to go up in a climate of increasing costs of living and the aftershocks of the global COVID-19 pandemic. “The GST is a regressive tax that hits lower-income earners harder, and this fact has been recognised since the GST was introduced in the early 90s.”
Opposition politician, Kenneth Jeyaretnam has pointed out that ”the Government’s aversion to taxing the rich has a lot to do with the interests of LHL and his family and the PAP Ministers and MPs, their spouses and relatives whom LHL has co-opted to allow them to grow richer along with him provided they continue to convince Singaporeans that they’re really better off with a Government that spends nothing on them and gives them nothing than people in rich countries who benefit from excessive welfare.”
Is this really true?
Singaporeans must decide for themselves.