Saturday, January 30, 2010

SDP Activist Ng E Jay hits at Reform Party

Singapore Democratic Party activist Ng E Jay poured cold water on the Reform Party, in a letter to the Straits Times forum, saying it's "no big deal" for a former government scholarship holder, Mr Tony Tan, to join the Reform Party.

In Ng E Jay's letter, he said that the recent news report on a former government scholarship holder joining the Reform Party as a "non-event".

He also betrayed the opposition by agreeing with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's assessment that "we should not judge political candidates based on their paper credentials, but on what they can do for society."

Perhaps referring to Mr Tony Tan from Reform Party, Ng E Jay continued to state that "It is time we look past superficial measures of success like academic credentials, and pay more attention to an individual's track record at work and in community service, which are more accurate indicators of his calibre."

Read the entire forum letter written by Ng E Jay below:

Jan 30, 2010
Ex-scholarship holder in opposition? No big deal

I REFER to the report on a former government scholarship holder joining an opposition party ('Ex-Admin Service officer joins Reform', Jan 20).

While some have hailed this as a significant plus for the opposition, I view it as a non-event.

First, many talented graduates have joined the ranks of the opposition in recent years, but many of them have opted to keep out of the spotlight, preferring to build a credible profile first. For example, Workers' Party secretary-general and Member of Parliament for Hougang, Mr Low Thia Khiang, mentioned recently that his party has been recruiting new members, many of whom are probably academically well qualified.

Second, I agree with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's assessment that we should not judge political candidates based on their paper credentials, but on what they can do for society. Using Mr Lee's yardstick, I judge many opposition candidates favourably as they provide an alternative voice for the people, regardless of their qualifications. In fact, good grades are irrelevant to being a good politician, as the work of serving the community requires the heart more than the head.

It is time we look past superficial measures of success like academic credentials, and pay more attention to an individual's track record at work and in community service, which are more accurate indicators of his calibre.

Ng E-Jay

2 comments:

  1. Linked under, Politics. Btw, we may not put a notification here - given time constraints - but we will nevertheless link your posts of relevance. Thanks Constance.

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  2. actually ngejay is slapping himself left, right, centre and below. yep! his groin area. LOL!
    he is the undisputed infamous kaixin1 the geylang cheongster and at the same time a phd scholar reimbursed by sgp gov.
    if a cheongster is anything "good character", then the gov would be wasting resources in nurturing him.
    but becos the brilliantness of the mind and the personal character are separate issue, talent is what our gov is concerned about.
    but talent is a 2-edges sword. it can help better the life of people or it could be misuse and abuse to mislead the masses into prejudiced and wrongful impression about the gov.
    this is ludicrous! gov nurturing a scholar who in turn bites the hand that feeds him.

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