• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

TOC Editorial: PAP, ignore Sheng Siong debacle at your risk

by onlinecitizen
28/03/2010
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0

By Choo Zheng Xi, Editor-at-Large

In Singaporean political lore, Dr Seet Ai Mee of the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) is widely held to have lost her seat to Mr Ling How Doong of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)  in 1991 after being caught on camera wiping her hand after shaking hands with a fishmonger. If a picture could speak a thousand words, this was a picture of how detached the PAP was from the Singaporeans they were elected to represent.

In 2010, three Members of Parliament (MPs), two of them Ministers, have snubbed stallholders across five wet markets by allowing monopolistic business behavior to run them out of business. Supermarket chain Sheng Siong intends to increase stall rentals by 30%, citing increased property tax, maintenance fees, and bank interest rates as a reason.

The dishonor roll: Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong, MP for Choa Chu Kang, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC which includes the Bukit Batok area, and Dr Teo Ho Pin, MP for Bukit Panjang.

Headlining the dishonor roll, Dr Teo wrote a terse letter to the SDP last year blandly noting that his constituents prefer a wet market, and that he had “conveyed their concerns to the HDB”.

What wet market will be left when stallholders move out after having their livelihoods crushed by the extortionate increase? What wet market will be left when Sheng Siong’s staggering 30% rental increase has already driven out some stallholders and put the future of the rest in jeopardy?

The MPs involved have already been showed up as grossly negligent by refusing to vigorously represent their constituents’ interest to the Housing Development Board (HDB).

They have also failed to mitigate the impact of that purchase, failing to negotiate with Sheng Siong to hold off on rental hikes.

A good MP would make these efforts, rallying the community to meet with the HDB, showing the bureaucrats who their policies are affecting. A good MP would have used his platform in Parliament to grill the Minister for National Development. A good MP would have complained to the Competitions Commission of Singapore about Sheng Siong’s monopolistic behavior. A good MP would take his electoral mandate seriously.

By sitting on their hands and writing tokenistic correspondence, the MPs in question have been showed up as worse than useless.

In contrast, the SDP highlighted the issue early on, hitting the ground to speak to affected stallholders who were apprehensive about the takeover. They have now been proven 100% correct.

The SDP’s Assistant Secretary-General Mr John Tan has recently asked Dr Teo two simple questions: “Are you going to do anything to help resolve the matter?” and “Do you support the raising of the rental?”

Dr Teo and the PAP ignore these questions at great political risk.

Avarice and apathy

Contrary to their protestations that property tax and maintenance fees are really to blame, Sheng Siong has made no efforts to negotiate more gradual rental increases with stallholders. Their actions stink of an abuse of their market position, and elected officials can only sit back and shrug their shoulders.

Even if Sheng Siong is being honest about identifying increased property tax and bank interest rates as the cause of rental hikes, this fits into a broader narrative of a runaway cost of living that is undermining the purchasing power and standard of living of ordinary Singaporeans.

Minister for National Development Mr Mah Bow Tan has come under fire from even the non-partisan Real Estate Developers’ Association of Singapore (Redas) for runaway property prices. Singaporeans are treated to news stories of public housing fetching record prices on the resale market at a regular clip.

The Sheng Siong debacle is the latest feather of failure in Mr Mah’s cap.

For the MPs involved, the writing is on the wall: if you can lose a seat by snubbing a fishmonger, don’t expect to get away unscathed after spitting in the face of five wet-markets full of residents.

_______________________________

TOC is planning further action to be announced at a later date to address the increased rental costs at affected wet markets. If you would like to contribute to our efforts in either a reportorial, legal, or advocacy capacity, please write to us at [email protected] with your name and contact number, thank you.

_____________________________________________________

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

Grab SG appoints PAP MP Tin Peiling as director of public affairs and policy
Business

Grab SG appoints PAP MP Tin Peiling as director of public affairs and policy

02/02/2023
Malaysian cleaner sells his land to donate two dialysis machines worth RM 80k to the dialysis centre he works at
Community

Malaysian cleaner sells his land to donate two dialysis machines worth RM 80k to the dialysis centre he works at

02/02/2023
Gautam Adani: the Indian tycoon weathering stock market panic
AFP

Gautam Adani: the Indian tycoon weathering stock market panic

02/02/2023
India’s Adani shares plunge again after stock sale cancelled
AFP

India’s Adani shares plunge again after stock sale cancelled

02/02/2023
Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh: Difficult to appreciate CPIB’s decision of not prosecuting six former KOM executives
Crime

Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh: Difficult to appreciate CPIB’s decision of not prosecuting six former KOM executives

02/02/2023
Myanmar streets empty in protest on coup anniversary
AFP

Myanmar junta extends state of emergency, delaying elections

02/02/2023
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

Grab SG appoints PAP MP Tin Peiling as director of public affairs and policy

Grab SG appoints PAP MP Tin Peiling as director of public affairs and policy

02/02/2023
Malaysian cleaner sells his land to donate two dialysis machines worth RM 80k to the dialysis centre he works at

Malaysian cleaner sells his land to donate two dialysis machines worth RM 80k to the dialysis centre he works at

02/02/2023
Gautam Adani: the Indian tycoon weathering stock market panic

Gautam Adani: the Indian tycoon weathering stock market panic

02/02/2023
India’s Adani shares plunge again after stock sale cancelled

India’s Adani shares plunge again after stock sale cancelled

02/02/2023
Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh: Difficult to appreciate CPIB’s decision of not prosecuting six former KOM executives

Senior Counsel Harpreet Singh: Difficult to appreciate CPIB’s decision of not prosecuting six former KOM executives

02/02/2023
Myanmar streets empty in protest on coup anniversary

Myanmar junta extends state of emergency, delaying elections

02/02/2023
Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

India’s Adani group cancels share sale as price nosedives further

02/02/2023
Singapore detains student for planning attacks on city

Singapore detains student for planning attacks on city

01/02/2023

Trending posts

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

by Yee Loon
30/01/2023
25

...

Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

by Yee Loon
26/01/2023
24

...

Two Indian nationals paid about S$330 and S$730 respectively for forged certificates submitted in their S-Pass application

MOM found issuing EPs meant for foreign PMETs to PRC waitress and general worker

by Correspondent
26/01/2023
41

...

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

by The Online Citizen
26/01/2023
59

...

Indian rupee falls 60% since signing of CECA while Singapore becomes top investor in India

by Correspondent
25/01/2023
68

...

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

by Augustine Low
01/02/2023
29

...

March 2010
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031  
« Feb   Apr »

The Online Citizen is a regional online publication based in Taiwan and formerly Singapore’s longest-running independent online media platform.

Navigation

  • Editorial
  • Commentaries
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Community

Support

  • Contact Us
  • Letter submission
  • Membership subscription

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Fact Checking Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

wpDiscuz