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CNA Town council management report is politically motivated, says Chiam By Tan Weizhen, TODAY | Posted: 11 July 2011 0653 hrs SINGAPORE: Former Opposition Member of Parliament Chiam See Tong on Sunday criticised the latest Town Council Management Report (TCMR) - which showed that the town council of his former Potong Pasir ward had improved in three of the six indicators - as being "politically motivated". Despite the improvements, the Potong Pasir town council remained among the worst performing according to the report, which was released last Friday. For example, while most town councils achieved a Level 1 rating for service and conservancy charges arrears management, the town councils of Opposition-held Hougang and Potong Pasir fared worst in this area. Mr Chiam, 76, had helmed the Potong Pasir ward for 27 years until the General Election - which was held in May - when he moved out of the ward to lead a team to contest in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC. Mr Chiam and his wife Lina, who had contested in Potong Pasir, were both defeated. The Ministry of National Development (MND) had said that the third TCMR - it was introduced in 2009 - covered the period from last October to March this year and was based on pre-General Election town boundaries. Despite the MND's pronouncement that the assessment was carried out before the GE, Mr Chiam said in a media statement yesterday: "The HDB has now decided to award Potong Pasir constituency with a consolation prize after the GE by reporting that (its town council) has made the biggest gains with higher scores recorded for three out of six indicators." Mr Chiam added that he did not believe the report. "At all material times, I have been maintaining the estate well. (The report) is politically motivated," he said. When asked to respond to Mr Chiam's statement, Potong Pasir MP Sitoh Yih Pin reiterated that the "most important thing now is for us to move forward and improve the living conditions of Potong Pasir residents". "We also have to ... improve the overall maintenance of the town council," said Mr Sitoh. He added that a working committee was formed last month to look into "why the families are in arrears". - - TODAY/fa

I've been in MCF for so long I cannot remember when I joined. I'v seen people come and go and got banned. normal joe becoming popular and disappear. many batches come and go, lurkers speaking up and of cos the regulars faithful to MCF since the day I joined. Those days were more "lively" and "cheerful". Sure we get occasional jokers and trolls here and there but these have entertainment value. Of course there are political threads here and there but it's mostly healthy discussions. Then suddenly this year, I see an influx of political driven thread in this forum. Everyone seemed to show resentment on the gahmen and so on. Of course there's nothing wrong with such threads and we need to open to the system and be politically aware. Our Gahmen ain't saint and people have the right to know. Then as election comes, more and more political threads of hate, influence and rants. Some becoming more and more hostile to the point that I get the feeling "If you're not with us you're against us!" kind of tension. Esp with that "thank you 60%" b-------t. When the can of worms got dig out, there are more and more hate threads around. every single thing goes back to the gahmen's fault, PAP's fault, the ministers sucks, get rid of FTs, stupid fares, double standards, etc....to the point that people mutilate their self-identity calling themselves "sinkies" and so on. It made me wonder the IP addresses they come from where local or foreign. Of course, there are thread of the oppositions on how noble and compassion they are and so on to glorify their "rebels" status to the point "It's so cool to vote against the gahmen!" These are the times I read until I blur, I stopped entering political thread altogether. Even facebook is crawled with such "negative" threads that IHMO, only cos more damage to the people itself than do much good. Yes many people "likes" but what is there to like? I'd rather "unlike" such news. When election past, many part-time nick disappear. But some continues to rant their mispleasure and hogging threads. Some topics that seemed harmless can suddenly swirl into a political argument. It's really sickens me. It comes to the point that, these rants are not going to stop and I feel we are getting too politically emotional that it's eating away our mood and life. Every single day we read negative reports on gahmen, and world happen, we get so depressed we suddenly become uncertain and fearful of what the future might hold. But is it really worth all the depression and resentment all becos of the gahmen? I wonder are those regular "haters" really have such a farkup life with the gahmen that they lifes depends on it? Let's ask ourselves......are our live so farking miserable to the point that we need to start rant whatever b-------t that comes along the way? Maybe our lives are indeed so farked up but I'm so farking tied up with work that I never give a hoot that I'm actually loosing frens, family time and a life that I dream of, that I'm working so hard to fulfill. okay, I'd let my steam loose.... fire away folks....let's turn this into another slugfest if you may wish...