Originally posted by claudetnt:

oxford mushroom:

"If it is a form of discrimination, it is a necessary discrimination for the good of the nation"

Sure! as long it involves only the minorities.

i'm not sure which planet claudetnt is living on! you dont even understand what oxford mushroom is talking about. think before you speak for once!

Originally posted by strikefreedom:

As you say if ppl want to skip nothing will stop them, so what concrete and credible idea can you suggest? death penalty to those who dodge ns? or round up all the males when they are 13 or 14 years old and send them to some Pre-NS detention camp till they finish their NS?

We can only hope stiffer penalty will deter those who plan to dodge NS, but we cannot stop them unless we implement something extreme and if that happen i'm sure there will be even more ppl calling the goverment despotic undemocractic and whatever come to their mind.

educate recruits on the real need for the national service policy. i dont recall anybody telling me why i had to sserve my national service. it was never discusssed in schools or even on the first day of enlistment. it was like some sort of a blind routine every guy had to follow. no double standards for white horses. it only creates contemp among parents and recruits. yes there were white horses issues back even 5-8 years ago. reduce the national service further to 1.5 years so that guys could get into the competetive job market lot more faster instead of having the current time wasting 2 years. thats more credible than silly exit permits for 13 year olds.

Originally posted by charlize:

Would you all agree that the coming elections is more unpredictable than the previous ones?

I am thinking one of the GRCs might actually fall into opposition hands this time round.

there is a great need for at least 1-2 GRC to go to the opposition. we need more check and balances in parliment. not a bunch of the current puppets who sit in the chamber and put up a show only to justify their million dollar salaries. at the end of the day lots of wayang. we must be a laughing stock on the global democracy stage.

there is a great need to have at least 5-10 opposition memebers in parliment. i find it hard to believe there is no dirt lurking below the surface of the governments machinery. if the NKF problem existed what else is the there out there that we singaporeans do not know off? we need more check and balances in parliment for sure. wake up singapore!

the government can put up all the barriers they want, but if somebody is going to skip their NS liability no exit permit bullshit is going to stop them. the minister should come up with more concrete and credible ideas. taxpayers got to have their moneys worth for his $million salary.

i think singaporeans should boycott the coming general elections. Its the only way to show our unhappiness in a peaceful manner.

shall we rename Straits Times as Propaganda Times? all i see is articles on the PAP on its local news section. today it even had an article from the PAP in house propaganda magazine written by jayakumar. other days its constantly harping about the good things that the 'loosers' in the PAP wards are doing in Hougang and Potong Pasir to win back the constituency. i dont even know why i pay 80c for such a crapy paper. thank god there is the internet lor or else i also sure kena brain wash

1% return is pathetic. if it was a private hedge fund with private investors, the investors will all be pulling out their money. so who is going to fire Ho Ching for achieving a 1%reutrn? The Prime Minister? there should be full transparency in GIC and Temasek. i just do not see where the check and balances come in when the Prime Minster is the Minister of Finance (MOF) and the only shareholder of Temasek is the MOF which is run by the PM's wife. The set up is a joke. How could we singaporeans buy into this whole set of family related appointments!

Temasek is despised by number of garmens not becasue its a Singapore investment company BUT because of the close links to the Lee family right from the CEO of Temasek to the CEO of Singtel. Foreign governments and their media are always quick to point out how Ho Ching is linked to the Prime Minister who is also the son of LKY.Foreigners see it as a family run organisation using Singaporeans money. The question is whether all this family related publicity doing Temasek any good or is it harming the company and its investment interest? Lets not even discuss transparency of GIC and Temasek.

Originally posted by shade343:

Once again, Temasek Holding's Money is NOT singaporeans money! TH is a private commercial entity set up by the Ministry of Finance.

Read the papers a couple of days ago...It clearly states that the funding for Temasek which comes via the Ministry of Finance is all Singapore tax payers money....Unfortunately its not Mr Lee Hsien Loong and his family's piggy bank!

Any smart cookie lawyer, acting for temasek, would have seen right through the corporate structure of Ample Rich and would have highlighted his concerns to temasek. The transaction on the share register of Ample Rich would have raised questions alone and in return Temasek could have asked for indemnity guarantees to cover its ass if problems were to rise in the future. Its all part of the due dillegence process. All this is too complicated for someone like Salman to answer. A comon man like salman buys any story line sold to him by Straits Times

Everyone read my lips ‘It’s ELECTION TIME” Ever heard of the phrase ‘massage figures’ which the PAP is a Pro off. All of a sudden every statistical figure is looking good because the Junior Lee needs endorsement of his leadership at the ballot box so that he can get a pat on his back from Papa for a good job done.

salman as usual is talking rubbish!!! there is a thing called ‘Due Dillegence’ which sounds like Temasek rushed through once again….if i was the royal highness Ho Ching I would have sat up and taken note at how fast the Thai prime minsiter raised the percentage of foreign ownership on Thai telecommunication companies. It was raised to 49% in a single day. The Thai PM was in a rush to get the cash from Temasek. Now even my grandmother will tell you that raising stakes in a single afternoon is a receipe for political disaster. The backlash from the politicians and the Thai people will eventually fall on the new owners of Shin corporation being Temasek! Ho Ching is on a shopping spree with Singaporeans cash. Hope she buys some nice shoes and not just JUNK!

Does anyone know for exact know how much the entire family earns annually from singapore?

a) How much is Lee Kuan Yew being paid besides his annual salary as a M Minster? What is the value of his benefits package as a Minister example cars, first class airline tickets, pension etc? Since he is also the Chairman of GIC, how much is he getting paid annually for sitting on the GIC board? Pay taxes??

b) Besides the $2million Lee Hsien Loong is paid annually for his Premiership is he also getting another $million for being the Minister of Finance? How much is he getting paid for being the vice-chairman of GIC? what is the value of his benefits package including pension? pay taxes?

c) How much is Ho Ching being paid for running Temasek?

d) Lee Hsien Yang the CEO is rumored to hold large numbers of Singtel shares and also has a fat cat salary approved by the shareholders of Singtel that again being Temasek. It makes me wonder what the Lee familys dinner conversation are like

All the above are public appointments, I dont see any reason why their salaries should be state secrets. The public has every right to know.

Originally posted by abao:

he is spoiling his own credibility by staying in office and at the same time, having his son as a PM, son's wife as CEO of Temasek, and younger son as Singtel CEO......he should retire and enjoy life after so many years in politics.

Does anyone know for exact know how much the entire family earns annually from singapore?

a) How much is Lee Kuan Yew being paid besides his annual salary as a M Minster? What is the value of his benefits package as a Minister example cars, first class airline tickets, pension? Since he is also the Chairman of GIC, how much is he getting paid annually for sitting on the GIC board? Pay taxes??

b) Besides the $2million Lee Hsien Loong is paid annually for his Premiership is he also getting another $million for being the Minister of Finance? How much is he getting paid for being the vice-chairman of GIC? what is the value of his benefits package including pension? pay taxes?

c) How much is Ho Ching being paid for running Temasek?

d) Lee Hsien Yang the CEO is rumored to hold large numbers of Singtel shares and also has a fat cat salary approved by the shareholders of Singtel that again being Temasek. It makes me wonder what the Lee familys dinner conversation is like

All the above are public appointments, I dont see any reason why their salaries should be state secrets. The public has every right to know.

A US President gets paid annualy US$400,000 (S$672,000). Everyone knows that. So how is it that our Mr. Nathan gets paid $2,507,000 (US$1,500,000) for cutting ribbons? By the way I'm sure this S$2.5million does not even include Mr. Nathans healthcare benefits, pension pot when he retires etc. What is the value of his benefits package in total? How come NO MP objects to the size of the Presidents salary during any parliment sittings?

Check out CNN Report below
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bushes pay $268,719 in federal taxes
Cheneys report $945,051 in income

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush and first lady Laura Bush earned $771,940 in taxable income this past year and paid $268,719 in federal income taxes, the White House said Friday.

Both figures are up from 2001, when the first family reported $711,453 and paid $250,221 in federal taxes.

This past year's earnings included the president's $400,000 annual salary and income from trusts, the White House said.

The Bushes donated $82,700 to churches and charitable organizations, ranging from donations to September 11 charitable funds, and to the Tarrytown United Methodist Church in Austin, Texas, and Southern Methodist University, Mrs. Bush's alma mater.

Vice President Dick Cheney and Lynne Cheney made $945,051 in 2002 and got a tax refund of $95,858. The Cheneys had paid $436,972 in taxes through withholding and estimated tax payments, when it turned out they owed $341,114, his office said.

The income included the vice president's $190,134 salary. In addition, Cheney earned $162,392 as a result of deferred compensation from when he headed Halliburton Company. In December 1998, Cheney deferred his 1999 salary as Halliburton chief executive, electing instead for it to be paid over five years, his office said.

The Cheneys' income also included Lynne Cheney's earnings for her work at American Enterprise Institute, Reader's Digest and American Express Mutual Funds.

The Cheneys donated $121,983 to charity in 2002, most of it from donating Mrs. Cheney's royalties from her book "America: A Patriotic Primer" and her forthcoming book "A is for Abigail."

According to the Straits Times today parliment increased the Presidents salary by $100k to a new annual salary of $2.5million . Not bad for a guy who spends most of the time cutting ribbions and entertains guest at the Istana Plus he is ‘supposed’ to keep an eye on the government machinery. Even George Bush does not get paid that much when he has the entire worlds problems on his shoulders! George Bush salary is US$400,000 (S$ 672,000) Are we Singaporean taxpayers getting value for money on the Presidents salary? How does the Minstry of Finance justify such fat cat salaries for mainly ceremonial roles?

I bet that PM Lee Hsien Loongs son will get into the officers course after his BMT. When daddy is a BG do you really think the son is going to be sent to a store mans course or get a rank of corporal mah? 'White Horses' always get the best postings and ranks during national service. while we are all slaves to the state for cheap labour.

By the way, i'm confident the PM's son will be selected to be an Officer too at the end of his BMT. May as well send him straight to officer training school now. why wayang at BMT? Can't possibiliy imagine him ending up as a store man or a corporal when daddy's a BG. anybody wants to take on the bet?

come on all of us know that the'White Horse' syndrome exist very much in the SAF. lets take a look at our very own ex-PM papa harry.how many fathers can claim out there that they have 2 sons who were Brigadier Generals in the 30's? by the way how do you beome a BG without any war expereince of anysort? only possible in the SAF. we should call them 10cents for 2 BG's. anyway the last person i knew who had 2 sons who were generals was Saddam Hussein. see what happen to them lor. father was caught hiding in a hole in the end. for some reason if your dad is part of the garmen or is a general in the army the son will automatically get to be an officer. doesnt matter what his capabilities are.not relevant what. isnt that indirect corruption?

also isnt it strange how policital leaders children always end up in the best institutions? is it the genes or is it the back door method of getting ahead through political connections?

somebodys got to give the PAP a bloody nose even if the PAP were to win by a slight margin. it will show the prime minister how unhappy people are with the PAP and their ridiculous policies. by the way i still think george yeo will make a good Prime Minister instead of Lee Hsien Loong

sorry it should read Ang Mo Kio GRC instead of marine parade.my apologies

its time to wayang! Election Year lor.

George yeo is our best bet. He is a smart guy and well liked by all. the only way to get rid of Lee Hsien Loong is to vote him out of his constituency of marine parade in the next election. i’m sure many singaporeans will be happy to see him go. i dont think people mind having the PAP around. but it seems like PAP=LHL or LKY. i dont think thats the case. there are many other strong candidates to run for prime ministership. people like George Yeo or maybe as highlighted by many others, Teo Chee Hean.

so where do you think Temasek Holding got its initial capital from?? who pumped money first into TH when it was first set up??? the ministry of finance did not put $1 into the company when it was first set up. Millions went into TH in its initial set up so that it could go on an acquisition spree. Where do you think the Ministry of Finance gets its money from??? once again its your and my money just through another channel. by the way only god knows what goes on in GIC.