Li Ao
Renews political debate
Taiwanese legislator who calls Singaporeans 'stupid' now comments on PAP's election, sparking off new round. HardwareZone.
Jun 11, 2006

In his comment on Singapore's election in Phoenix TV on June 6, Mr. Li Ao referred to the large 33.3 per cent opposition vote - and ending up with only two seats.

It was translated by HWZ reader, 'Decentguy1' who said: "This is the link to it but you have to pay to watch it unless you can download it through bit torrent in some Chinese website."

http://www.phoenixtv.com/phoenixtv/74311601464803328/20060606/811716.shtml

"To summarise, Li Ao said that 33.3% of Singaporeans voted for the AP and yet only two seats are allocated for AP (Alternate or opposition parties).

"In a mature democracy, the AP would have gotten 20-25% of the seats in Parliament with that percentage of vote.

Li said that when Singapore gained independence in the 60s, most of its neighbours were ruled by dictators or immature democracies. But presently, these countries except for Myanmar had moved on and developed their political systems.

Although Singapore was still economically more successful, its political system lagged behind its neighbours.

He went on to praise the Lee father (Mr. Lee Kuan Yew) and son (Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong) for all the good work done to develop Singapore.

However he hinted that they could move a step further and emulate what Taiwan's Chiang Ching Kuo did during the 80s and introduce fairer democratic reforms.

He said the PAP's dominance in the parliament was too overwhelmingly big and disproportionate (to the votes).

If they could really introduce such reforms, the rest of the world would admire and respect them and Singapore even more, he added.

During the show, Mr. Li Ao cracked a joke about three persons - a Singaporean, a Taiwanese and a Hongkonger - being stuck on an island and what they would do.

The Singaporean was in total loss and distressed as there was no government to advice him how to survive.

The Hongkonger was taking it easy, looking for food and water first, because to them having a government under the circumstances was not important.

The Taiwanese was the happiest because there was no government 'to screw up' his plans, so he could start building houses and toilets to earn the Singaporean and Honkonger's money.

Comments (excerpted for brevity)

psyber85
Is this really what you want? Are you sure that without a government you are going to be more "entrepreuner" as mentioned in this 'joke'? Ask those in Timor Leste whether they agree with this joke or not.
What PAP has mentioned is stability. Singapore, without a one-party rule, is not going to be stable and achieve what it has done today. Just look at Taiwan.
The government has taken good care of us. It is just the occasional dominance and the high-handed attitude of the PAP that sometimes pisses us off. But at the end of the day, we still want PAP to serve us.

azacamis
Nope, anyone who has the country's best at heart will do. For now, yes they are the best to rule because the other parties have do not have that much exposure. Just remember, what worked for them now may work against them one day.
Look at it this way. If they are really confident of themselves, then why be afraid of competition?

sftee78
I think with the end of one-party rule, the country and society will be more vibrant. Take a look at how far the South Koreans have progressed. South Korea was ruled by authoritarian government just like Singapore until the late 80s before democratic reforms - just like Taiwan's Chiang Ching Kuo.
The society and economy became very vibrant with new ideas flowing within the open and free.
I think South Korea has the brightest future among the former 'four Asian tigers'. Hong Kong is second with its vibrant society and the huge China market at its doorstep. Taiwan, although plagued by political infighting, will recover if the KMT managed to win in 2008 and that they build on the cross-straits relations and economic development.
I see Singapore as one with the worst future among the four if the Lees still hold onto power. We can only hope and pray that the casino will not be a flop.

eudora
I couldn't agree more .. but this is also partly due to the lack of natural resources in Singapore..

seller4
Taiwanese politicians are a joke in the world. They throw chairs at each other in the parliament. They even punch each other there. Sometimes you don't even know they are politicians or holigans. Maybe Li Ao should help his own country first before talking so much cock about Singapore or Hong Kong.
Wait till China get Taiwan back and then see who will have the last laugh. When that happens, I can be quite sure this Li Ao will be the first to flee the country.

pete98
Well ours sleep in the Parliament. So I don't think we are much better off than them. Which is worse? Too much passion or apathy?

tuxdj
It is important to see what kind of message Li Ao is trying to get across instead if marking his words like a prophet. The joke is well..... a joke. There's not a need to treat it seriously especially the joke is just comprise of 20% of the message.
I see that Singapore will be better if we have a fairer political system. It does not have to mean multi-party rule. If PAP is really that good, in a fairer political system, they will still win dominantly.
But right now, what I see is their fear of competition. As well as their mentality of Singaporeans majority are retards.
In my eyes, PAP has lost their wits on making Singapore more economically competitive without sacrificing their power. More turbulent years ahead!

Renzero
Haiz.. getting really tired of these PAP bashing topics since election's over.
I guess if we not happy of the system, feel can't live with it any more, just bring whole family and migrate.. to a place where free press, full democracy, multi parties, no more people with surname lee etc...

tuxdj
I hope those who complain will not leave Singapore if they can afford to. Firstly, those who are eligible to migrate own a significant amount of wealth. Secondly, beside the adventurous semi-skilled worker, those eligible migrants will be valuable resources. Migration will mean a brain drain.
Thirdly, if they migrate, Singapore will need to find replacement. Given the problem of current low fertility rate, Singapore will have to hasten the citizen conversion policy. Then the issue will be the quality of citizenship in Singapore.

lobo76
If a system is good, then it does not matter if incapable people are in it. If incapable people can disturb the system, then it is not good in the first place. Like what sylvia lim said, rather depend on good law to defend your rights, not on good people to interpret the law. The latter is not dependable, as it is hard to judge if a person is "good" or not.
If system is good, and incapable people are in it, then there will be checks and balances to control the damage. At the moment, I would say the system is crap, but we HAD been blessed with capable people. Now, the current crop, I am not so sure.
Furthermore, will capable people be always available? Always elected? I don't know and I don't care to bet. Hence, I hope that the system improves.

joel winston
What we want in Singapore is a fair and democratic government. Not a government that wants to have a hand in everything and use unfair tactic against their opposition. They should come out of their office and listen to what people say. Not sit in their office and make their own policy.

wert
Yes, I do agree that the current government had done well in the past. But, nobody can say anything about the future. I have no problems with the PAP as the government, however I do question why they are so afraid of having 10-20 non-PAP MPs.
Can you believe that our esteemed Prime Minister cannot function with 10-20 non yes-men? With a 2/3 majority, they can still change our constitution anytime they like (something that they are not shy in doing), so basically it's still a ONE PARTY rule.
Don't equate having a decent number of non-PAP MPs as riots and fights in the parliament. Looking at the average Singaporean, I think the chances are very low.
Yes, I do agree also that PAP has very clever people creating very clever policies. But why can the policies be even better? Some alternative ideas might make Singapore a better place.

Read in full: http://forums.hardwarezone.com/showthread.php?t=1316284