SINGAPORE: More than 6,000 people are on the National Day Awards list this year, with four individuals getting the Distinguished Service Order (Darjah Utama Bakti Cemerlang). The full list was announced on the Prime Minister’s Office’s website on Wednesday (Aug 9). The four recipients of the Distinguished Service Order areContinue Reading
On National Day, she still makes an effort to wear red and white, and listen to old National Day songs on YouTube.
“I got to a point where I was like, actually this is who I am,” said Mrs Teo. “I am Singaporean and it would feel weird to me to say I’m not, or I’m no longer.”
When Ms Jessica Zhuang, 36, had to give up her Chinese citizenship, she did not struggle emotionally.
“The only thing was, when I brought my Chinese passport to the embassy, I thought I might get scolded for renouncing my citizenship. Maybe it was a bit of a guilty conscience, but they didn’t scold me,” she said with a laugh.
Ms Zhuang, who became a citizen in August last year, felt she had completely assimilated into life in Singapore, where she has lived for most of her adult life.
“I’m used to life here,” she said, speaking to CNA in a mix of Mandarin and English. “Some Singaporeans have become my true friends – people I can turn to when I have problems.
“My family, house and job are all in Singapore. I don’t plan to leave. Becoming a citizen was a very natural thing,” said Ms Zhuang, who works as a research fellow at the National University of Singapore. She got married in Singapore and has an eight-year-old daughter.
What intrigued the 20-somethings at my table, however, was how he got from Punggol to Orchard Road: by bus. It came as a surprise that almost 70 years ago, there were bus routes to Singapore’s rural areas.
We also learnt that bus rides were not stuffy back then — as we had imagined — but were cool and comfortable even with no air conditioning.
When asked why that was, Uncle Tan paused to think before suggesting that fewer roads and a lack of tall buildings meant Singapore was cooler then.
He had completed only primary school before he started working, but even without the years of formal education we are accustomed to nowadays, his answers were insightful. And his story challenged the stereotype of “uneducated” seniors I had unknowingly held.
In his time as a coolie, Uncle Tan met people from round the world. Through these interactions, he learnt Malay, English and more.
The native Teochew speaker picked up Hainanese from the chefs he delivered groceries to and Hokkien while working in the market. At the same time, he was surprised by British officers who spoke fluent Hokkien and Cantonese.
As a student of linguistics and multilingual studies at university, I was floored.
Learning all these languages was not easy, Uncle Tan shared. But “nothing is ever easy”, he told us. English, for example, was utterly foreign to him. But he made the effort to learn it from the British officers he befriended.
As he wrote in Son of Singapore, “How is it there are all these foreigners speaking our languages, yet I cannot speak one of theirs?”
In a time before the Internet and the magic of instant translations, he managed to learn by talking to different people day after day and by carrying pocket dictionaries.
He is grateful to have learnt English all those years ago, he said. It stands him in good stead when he communicates with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who do not speak much Mandarin and no longer know their native Teochew.
“I talk to them in my broken English,” he said with a laugh and tapped his smartphone. “And they teach me how to use this!”
For him, learning to use the smartphone has been more difficult than picking up the languages he did.
His journey as a writer, on the other hand, started purely by chance — after he travelled to the United Kingdom with his British friends and experienced the hippy culture of the 1960s.
This new, Western world was a culture shock for him, coming as he did from conservative Singapore. It made him want his life story to be a legacy he could leave to his children.
Later on, while working in Hong Kong as a driver for a British diplomat he had befriended previously, he began to write Son of Singapore at night in his quarters.
The Briton, intrigued, asked if he could read the book. As it was written in Mandarin, Uncle Tan translated some excerpts and read them out to his boss.
“He told me, ‘Kok Seng, this is too good to keep to yourself! You must publish this,’” Uncle Tan recounted. “I told him there’s no way I can write this in English.”
His boss was insistent and offered to write it for him, so night after night, Uncle Tan went to his boss’s office and dictated the book. Together they penned it over the course of several months.
His first autobiography did so well he followed it up with Man of Malaysia, before he concluded his biographical trilogy with Eye on the World. Then his storytelling evolved as he wrote his only novel, Three Sisters of Sze.
That is four more books than he originally planned to write.
As we came to the end of the conversation, I asked Uncle Tan what he does in his free time now.
He reads a lot: news, fiction, non-fiction and just about everything. “My eyesight still allows me to read, so I’m thankful,” he said.
We also asked him if he watched television very much, as some seniors do. He said he only really watches news and documentaries.
His love of storytelling made me realise how valuable it was to hear his stories in his own words.
Hearing about the intricacies of his life, I realised that history books do not do justice to the experiences of the generations before ours.
Besides Uncle Tan, the series Let Me Tell You A Story features Rasamal Nadayson, who was raised in poverty and was in an arranged marriage. Her story spoke to me because of the myriad of languages she spoke.
Lai Kum Yoong, meanwhile, was a midwife who once delivered a baby in a car, even though the baby had emerged backwards.
I could not hear their stories all in one afternoon, but the experience reminded me of the chats I had with my grandparents as a child and my sense of wonder at the people who have lived through Singapore’s history.
Watch the first episode of Let Me Tell You A Story here. The second episode airs on National Day at 9pm.
PUBLISHED : 9 Aug 2023 at 05:00
The Express Authority of Thailand (Exat) held the first public hearing for its plan to build a 20-kilometre bridge linking the mainland to Koh Samui, with construction due to start in 2028.
According to Exat governor Surachet Laophulsuk, the orientation hearing will be held in three areas that are expected to be impacted by the project: Nakhon Si Thammarat (yesterday), Surat Thani (today) and Koh Samui (tomorrow).
They were selected as the project will link Koh Samui to either Surat Thani’s Don Sak district or Nakhon Si Thammarat’s Khanom district.
The hearings focus on the suitability of the project in various dimensions, including engineering, the financial impact, and environmental impact.
A bridge connecting the resort island with the mainland in Don Sak district would provide an overland transportation option in addition to air and ferry links, which are currently the only modes of travel to and from the island.
The bridge is also expected to reduce the time needed to attend to public health emergencies on the island, Mr Surachet said.
The project changed hands from the Rural Roads Department to Exat by the order of the Transport Ministry in July, he added, as the ministry required a sector that had more availability of technology resources and funds.
It is expected to cost around 33.9 billion baht. Some 31.4 billion baht will be invested in construction, with the rest for acquiring land.
An impact study will take 24 months, from this April to October 2025, he said.
PUBLISHED : 9 Aug 2023 at 05:00
United Thai Nation (UTN) deputy leader, Suchart Chomklin, has indicated it might benefit the country more if the party’s MPs did not vote for a new prime minister by adhering to party wishes.
Mr Suchart said yesterday there are steps to be followed prior to the vote.
First, it must be established if the UTN will be included in the new coalition government. The party said it had not been invited by Pheu Thai, which is leading current efforts.
“Let’s take one step at a time,” he said. “To be honest, I want to see the country move forward.”
Mr Suchart, also the labour minister, said the stock market rallied when the news broke of Bhumjaithai, the third-largest party, accepting Pheu Thai’s invitation to join the government on Monday.
That development has boosted investor confidence, he added.
Mr Suchart was asked whether the UTN’s 36 MPs would vote for a new prime minister in compliance with a party resolution or whether they could cast their votes freely.
“If obeying the party line was damaging to the country, would you do it?
“As MPs, we need to consider the course of action we take. If it’s bound to provoke conflict and cause a stalemate in the country, we must talk this out in the party,” he said.
Mr Suchart said party MPs should think carefully about whether exercising their privilege in voting for a prime ministerial candidate will benefit the country.
In the next prime ministerial selection round in parliament, Pheu Thai is poised to nominate Srettha Thavisin.
Mr Suchart, who leads a 5-9 MP faction in the UTN, said he was staying put in the UTN despite growing speculation he might defect in the wake of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s decision to step away from the party.
Gen Prayut has quit as a UTN member and its chief adviser, a move apparently aimed at enabling the party to ease its way into a Pheu Thai-led government if it was offered a place.
Pheu Thai appears reluctant to include “uncles’ parties” in the new line-up, referring to the UTN formerly linked to Gen Prayut and the Palang Pracharath Party led by Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon.
Pheu Thai declared during the election campaign it would not form a government with either party, a result of the 2014 coup that toppled the Pheu Thai-led administration.
Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, another UTN deputy leader, said Gen Prayut had washed his hands of the party. “There isn’t an uncle in the UTN anymore,” he added.
The issue of Gen Prayut running the show openly or from behind the scenes should be laid to rest, he said, adding it should not be cited as a precondition when forming a government.
He said all parties should be open to talks.
PUBLISHED : 9 Aug 2023 at 05:00
The Thai and Chinese governments have agreed to join hands to combat transnational crime, call centre scams and cybercrime.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon welcomed Xu Ganlu, Vice Minister of Public Security and Commissioner of the National Immigration Administration of China at Government House yesterday.
The meeting focused on bilateral cooperation to enforce the suppression of crime. Mr Xu said that China would welcome assistance from Thailand with law enforcement along the Mekong River.
Mr Xu will also join the 26th Asean Directors-General of Immigration Departments and Heads of Consular Affairs Divisions of Ministries of Foreign Affairs Meeting (DGICM) from Aug 7–11 in Phuket.
“Thai-Chinese diplomatic ties play an important role in Thailand’s foreign policies. Thailand still stands firmly behind the-China Policy and is glad to see our relations improve following high-profile visits from both sides. Our two countries still have a lot to offer one another,” said Gen Prawit.
Mr Xu also mentioned that they had agreed to cooperate further in enforcing laws to suppress transnational crime and also boost immigration opportunities.
Gen Prawit also reportedly expressed his condolences after recent severe floods in several cities in China, including Beijing.
Tax evasion claim hurts chance to win
PUBLISHED : 9 Aug 2023 at 05:00
Senators are divided over whether to support Srettha Thavisin if Pheu Thai nominates him for the prime ministerial vote in parliament.
Senator Wanchai Sornsiri said he was optimistic that most senators would support Pheu Thai and its prime ministerial candidate now it had split from the Move Forward Party (MFP), whose policy to amend Section 112 of the Criminal Code, or the lese majeste law, was opposed by many senators.
Only when Pheu Thai manages to gather support from more than 250 MPs in forming a government will he be confident a candidate from the bloc will succeed in clinching the premiership with sufficient backing from the Senate.
Senators hope the formation of a new government will be done as soon as possible. They do not want to be criticised as an obstacle to the country moving forward, he said, adding the tax allegation against Mr Srettha could still be scrutinised later.
This week, whistleblower Chuvit Kamolvisit implied there had been land sale tax evasion in Sansiri’s purchase of 400 square wah of land on Sarasin Road in Bangkok in August 2019, when Mr Srettha was still CEO.
The former massage parlour tycoon implied that Mr Srettha and Sansiri colluded with the landowners to evade 521 million baht in taxes on the developer’s purchase of the prime block of land.
Several groups of senators have left no stone unturned when it comes to examining the prospects of a Pheu Thai-led government, including an offer of a place in the coalition to the MFP in the event of a cabinet reshuffle in the future, according to Mr Wanchai.
The senator said he strongly believes Pheu Thai is well aware of what it should and should not do in order to succeed in leading a new government.
Senator Seree Suwanpanont, in his capacity as chairman of the Senate committee on political development and public participation, meanwhile, said the panel has agreed to look at a petition lodged by political activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana against Mr Srettha over the tax evasion allegation.
According to Mr Ruangkrai, Mr Srettha’s part in the alleged tax evasion makes him ineligible to become a prime minister.
Senator Somjet Boonthanom said he has no reason not to vote for Pheu Thai’s candidate but wondered why the party puts the charter over economic recovery.
PUBLISHED : 9 Aug 2023 at 05:00
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) should build on its readiness to deal with future uncertainties and disruptions, said the Indonesian ambassador to Thailand, Rachmat Budiman at a forum organised by C Asean in Bangkok yesterday to mark the 56th anniversary of Asean’s founding.
As Asean chairman for 2023 and the host of the 2023 Asean summit, Indonesia has chosen “Asean Matters: Epicentrum of Growth” as this year’s working theme.
Mr Budiman said the theme was chosen to reflect Indonesia’s visions and priority for this year — namely “Asean Matters”, “Epicentrum of Growth”, and the Asean Outlook for the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).
“Asean does matter, so we would like to see Asean strengthen its position, which would highlight the bloc’s importance to people both within and beyond the region,” he said.
“We have to be more adaptable and responsive in the face of uncertainties,” he said, citing recent disruptions such as the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, as well as the digitisation of businesses.
He said Indonesia would push to institutionalise informal dialogues on human rights to enhance cooperation between Asean members in combatting rights abuses such as torture and human trafficking.
In order to be an epicentre for growth, Asean members must work together to improve food and energy security, as well as enhance and harmonise financial and regulatory standards across the region, the ambassador went on to say.
When asked about the AOIP, Mr Budiman said Asean is working on mainstreaming the protocol to ensure Asean’s partners in the region and beyond have an understanding of Asean’s vision for maritime and security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, as well the bloc’s economic aspirations and targets.
Polapatr Suvarnazorn, as the vice chairman of C Asean, which organised the forum, said in his opening remarks that the fact Asean is celebrating its 56th anniversary at the very place where it was founded speaks volumes about the success of the regional gathering.
“For the past 56 years, Asean has been working to make a peaceful, stable and resilient community. We are still faced with more uncertainties and challenges like wars, social unrest and natural disasters. But, Asean’s vision has continued unchanged, and it remains resolute on keeping the bloc’s cohesiveness as one community,” he said.
“They destroyed everything within seconds,” said a tearful Mohammad Saud, standing before a towering mound of debris.
He and his younger brother Nawab Sheikh were looking at the broken remains of shops they ran in a neighbourhood in Nuh district in the northern Indian state of Haryana. As he spoke to the BBC on Saturday, a yellow bulldozer rumbled noisily behind him.
“We owned 15 shops which were built on our family’s land. We had all the documents but they [the police] insisted the buildings were illegal,” Mr Saud said.
The brothers’ buildings were among hundreds of shops and houses demolished by district authorities in the aftermath of communal violence which broke out last week in Nuh, a Muslim-majority district that is among the poorest in India’s national capital region (which includes Delhi and its suburbs).
Police have said the clashes between Hindus and Muslims began after a march led by a hardline Hindu organisation was pelted with stones when it passed through Nuh. As news spread, violence also broke out in Gurugram, just outside Delhi. Six people were killed in Nuh and Gurugram as rioters set fire to shops, vehicles and a mosque.
Days later, in what has become a pattern in many states governed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), bulldozers descended on shell-shocked residents of Nuh and tore down hundreds of structures, alleging they were built illegally. The action only stopped after four days, on Monday, when the state’s high court on its own accord issued a notice to the government.
“Apparently, without any demolition orders and notices, the law and order problem is being used as a ruse to bring down buildings without following the procedure established by law,” the court said. It also asked if the state was conducting “an exercise of ethnic cleansing” by targeting buildings mostly owned by Muslims.
Civil society groups and opposition parties say there has been a surge in violence and hate speech against Muslims since 2014, when the Hindu nationalist BJP, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, came to power.
In BJP-governed states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Assam, it is now common for bulldozers to swiftly demolish the houses of people who have been accused of crimes. The reason cited is illegal construction but legal experts question this. The chief ministers of these states have also often linked the demolitions with their government’s tough stance on crime.
While the victims include the families of Hindus, opposition leaders and several activists say that the action is mostly targeted at Muslims, especially after religious violence or protests.
In Nuh, officials gave contradictory answers when asked about the reason for the demolitions. District Magistrate Dhirendra Khadgata told BBC Hindi that only illegal buildings were being razed. But Vinesh Singh, planning officer for the district, said that authorities were demolishing houses from which “stones had been pelted”.
Critics say these demolitions are particularly brutal as they leave innocent family members, including children, homeless.
“Arbitrarily demolishing someone’s home or shop is a very crude and medieval form of collective punishment,” says political scientist Asim Ali. “Their presence in contemporary India indicates that the rule of law regime has broken down.”
Legal experts agree that dispensing instant and collective punishment is inhuman and illegal.
“How can the State club everybody and put them in one basket, regardless of the facts, without ascertaining the truth and go on a demolition spree? In situations like this, collective punishment is anathema to the rule of law and constitutional rights, regardless of religion,” says Justice Madan Lokur, a former Supreme Court judge. He points out that according to reports, “the owner is not given due notice or time to remove the belongings from the home and is also not given even a day’s time to find alternate accommodation”.
The deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure is not allowed under any law, adds Shadan Farasat, a Supreme Court lawyer. “If you want to charge someone for violence, you need to arrest them and put them on trial – you cannot simply destroy their house within a day.”
Justice Lokur says that authorities do have the power to demolish illegal buildings but only according to rules. The owner has to be served a notice and given the chance to pay fines or file an appeal. Even then, authorities have the option of demolishing only the parts built in violation of the law. If the structure is entirely illegal, authorities must provide a “reasoned” explanation to the owner before razing it. “The entire demolition exercise is reportedly being conducted arbitrarily and in complete violation of constitutional rights,” he said.
In Nuh, police said that they served notices to the alleged encroachers, but several families told the BBC that they didn’t get a warning. Others claimed they were not even in their houses at the time of the riots but were punished anyway.
Musaib, 20, could not stop crying as he watched authorities demolishing his week-old tuck shop, built with his father’s savings.
“How do I build a life again?” he asked.
His question was echoed by others, including Hindus. Chamanlal, whose barber shop was destroyed, says he had built it with a loan.
“A family of 10 people survived because of this shop. We have been forced to come out on the streets now,” he said.
Others fear that communal polarisation could shatter peace in Nuh, where Hindus and Muslims lived mostly in harmony for decades.
While the demolitions have stopped for now, some Muslim residents say they no longer feel safe.
“We are being oppressed every day. Where will we go if something like this happens again?” Mr Sheikh said.
But not everyone agreed that the authorities were wrong.
“The government did the right thing, these rioters should be taught a lesson,” said Ashok Kumar, who had accompanied his friends to watch the demolitions.
Even Harkesh Sharma, whose pizza place was demolished, agreed – with a caveat. “Just that, if the government had punished only those who were involved in the violence, it would have been better.”
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BANGKOK: Myanmar’s military and affiliated militias are committing increasingly frequent and brazen war crimes, including aerial bombings targeting civilians, a group of investigators established by the United Nations said on Tuesday (Aug 8). The Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, or IIMM, said it found strong evidence during the 12 monthsContinue Reading
