Battle lines are officially drawn for the coming General Election

Just last week (13 July), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had announced in Parliament that the formation of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee had already took place at his request 2 months ago.

Today (24 July), the EBRC finally released the long awaited Electoral Boundaries report that has been accepted by the Government. The Electoral Boundaries report will give us a peek at the electoral map for the coming General Elections.

The new map has a number of changes, and we can confidently state that the previous electoral map of 2013 is obsolete.

MustShareNews guides you along the changes.

A brief overview of the Electoral Boundaries report

According to the report, the EBRC have carved up Singapore into 29 electoral divisions, comprising of 13 Single Member Constituencies (SMC) and 16 Group Representation Constituencies (GRC)

There is an increase of 1 additional constituency for both SMCs and GRCs from the previous General Election in 2011.

Group Representation Constituency changes

The GRCs will be comprised of 8 5-member GRCs, 6 4-member GRCs and 2 6-member GRCs.

There are two new GRCs, which are the Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC (4-members), and Jalan Besar GRC (4-members).

Moulmein-Kallang GRC, which comprises of Communication and Information Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, Transport Minister Lui Tuck, Member of Parliament (MP) Denise Phua and MP Edwin Tong, will be dissolved. 

The areas of the Moulmein-Kallang GRC will now form parts of the Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, Tanjong Pagar GRC, and the newly created Jalan Besar GRC.

Single Member Constituency changes

Three new SMCs were also suggested by the EBRC — they are Bukit Batok SMC, Fengshan SMC and the MacPherson SMC.

All the three SMCs had previously existed before the previous 2011 General Election.

Two SMCs were removed —

First, the Joo Chiat SMC. In 2011, the Joo Chiat saw a tight contest between the People’s Action Party candidate, MP Charles Chong and the Workers’ Party candidate, Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Yee Jenn Jong in the previous GE — NCMP Yee lost by only 388 votes.

Second, is Whampoa SMC, where MP Heng Chee How easily deposed the National Solidarity Party’s challenge with 66% of the vote.

What Now?

Now that the Electoral Boundaries report is made public, our dear President Tony Tan can take the initiative to dissolve the current Parliament anytime and the General Election must be held within 3 months.

Looks like the stage is set for a 2015 General Election, all that is left to do is for President Tony Tan to make a move.

The new electoral map

With the recommended changes, the total number of elected Members of Parliament (MPs) will be 89, up from the current 87.

Full List of Electoral Divisions

SMC: Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, Fengshan, Hong Kah North, Hougang, MacPherson, Mountbatten, Pioneer, Potong Pasir, Punggol East, Radin Mas, Sengkang West, Yuhua

4-members GRC: Chua Chu Kang, East Coast, Holland-Bukit Timah, Jalan Besar, Marsiling-Yew Tee, West Coast

5-members GRC: Aljunied, Bishan-Toa Payoh, Jurong, Marine Parade, Nee Soon, Sembawang, Tampines, Tanjong Pagar

6- members GRC: Ang Mo Kio, Pasir Ris-Punggol

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Find out if you are affected by any constituency change from this handy map that PM Lee posted on Facebook —

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Featured Image Via Wikipedia
With references from Channel NewsAsia

The post Forget The Old Electoral Map, Here Is What The New Electoral Map Looks Like was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

Looking forward to the General Elections?

Press the pause button for a bit and join us in throwing back to the good ol’ days instead.

Before you carry on with this article, we challenge you to leave us for awhile and switch to the Facebook tab you’ve got going up there.

Scroll all. the. way. down (seriously, all the way, don’t cheat) to the first ever photo in your profile.

Take a good look at yourself and get back here.

Cringing so much your body aches? Thought so.

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That’s why it’s always way more fun to laugh look at old photos of………………………. other people.

And since GE’s just around the corner, we bo liaos bring you the political edition of everybody’s favourite then and now list to add a dose of light-hearted into the otherwise serious season.

Oh, and we’ll be voting for our favourite look of the two.

Disclaimer: MustShareNews is not responsible for any RuSrses/OMG/WTF/ROFLMAOs incurred. The photos are. Enjoy.

1. Lee Hsien Loong

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Then: Baby Lee Hsien Loong is seriously #BabyGoals. I mean just lwooook aaat heeeem, heeee’s shwwooooooo keeeeewwwwtttt.

Now: Retained every bit of that golden smile and knows it. Explains his selfie obsession.

Our pick: Then. Baby Lee Hsien Loong because babies.

2. Goh Chok Tong

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Then: Everybody’s idea of what a stereotypical spoil market first-class honours graduate looked like back then, complete with the nerd glasses no one thinks are nerd anymore today.

Now: A mellow grandfather who looks like he’ll sit his grandkids down on his lap and tell them childhood stories in his free time.

Our pick: Now, cos he’s a mellower garland-wearing ESM who will spend time smiling at old folks in the heartlands.

3. Baey Yam Keng

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Then: Donned a middle parting he probably thought looked cool then.

Now: Always dons classic slicked back hair that looks cool now, unless he’s out for a run. BAEy YUM Keng always. looks. cool.

Our pick: Both. Cos being BAEy never expires.

4. Tin Pei Ling

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Then: 

Nuff’ said.

Now: Very, very, very preggers. Like woah, where did that come from?

Oh.

Our pick: Then. “I don’t know what to say!” beats mummy Ling hands down. Because what was GE 2011 without memefied Tin Pei Ling?

5. Tan Chuan-Jin

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Then: Look at my mama flashing that bright smile. But I’m too cool for that. Imma always be cool.

Now: Told you so.

Our pick: Both. Well, there’s not much of a choice is there? We can’t really decide cause TCJ is eternally cool.

6. Ng Eng Hen

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Then: The ACS look is real. He looks soooooooo ACS. (Yes, our defense minister is an alumnus.)

Now: That’s one contagious smile brah.

Our pick: Now. Today’s Ng Eng Hen is our number one article choice when we have monday blues.

7. Chee Soon Juan

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Then: So proud of his teeth he had to show off both rows.

Now: Even prouder of dem pearly whites. Because gums spotted!

Our pick: Then. The gums are pretty unnecessary.

8. Teo Ser Luck

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Then: Our Minister of State, Trade and Industry really used to look like he carried a small comb in his dress shirt pocket everywhere he went.

Now: That’s some nice au naturel bangs you got going on there, sir. Very nice.

Our pick: Now. Keeping it real is the way to go.

9. Josephine Teo

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Then: Oh dear.

Now: Our Senior Minister of State seems to better understand what short hair done right means. That current pixie cut of hers complements her facial features a million times more.

Our pick: Now, minus the blazer we almost mistaken for cow prints. Are we starting to sound like a fashion magazine? Okok, we’ll stop.

10. Low Thia Khiang

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Then: WP Chief Mr Low looked like he could have been the popz Taiwanese ballad singer of his day, having been blessed with that voluminous head of hair. Fei Yu Ching anyone?

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Seems legit.

Now: A powerful and influential opposition speaker, even though his jealous-worthy hair has stopped backing him up.

Our pick: Now. It’ll be interesting to see what he has to say this GE.

11. Tony Tan

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Then:

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Now: President-y enough to take over SR Nathan’s spot on the wall of every government office and school.

Our pick: Then, because young Tony Tan’s way more novel than that picture on the wall.

12. Lim Hng Kiang

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Then: Loving that uniform much? Fun fact: Our Minister for Trade and Industry was a RI boy and joined a uniform group CCA then.

Now: Maintains that stronk jawline from the good ol’ days.

Our pick: Then. Put on those nerd glasses again Minister Lim, they’re the in thing now.

13. Chiam See Tong

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Then: Pretty good looking actually.

Now: Fragile and ageing, but still brimming with the character that earned him the respect people have for him today.

Our pick: Now. He may not be the SPP’s biggest voice at this year’s GE, but there’s a timelessness about him that just deserves a standing ovation no matter the day and age.

Now is the time to look forward

It’s been nice taking you on this little educational (ok psssshhhh, who are we kidding) walk back in time.

But now that that’s done, we’re sure you’re all set for what’s next. Because GE 2015 is real.

Hint: Electoral Boundaries.

Happy GE!

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Featured image via NLB, Facebook
With references from Wikipedia, Wikipedia, Wikipedia, Wikipedia

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Neighbour charged in court for assisting the daughter in abusing her mother

The case of the abused elderly lady takes another turn. This time, a neighbour has been charged for taking part in the abuse.

Mr Darwinder Singh was charged in court on Friday (24 July) for assisting the 25-year-old daugther, Siti Redha Khamis, to cause voluntarily hurt to her 58-year-old mother, Kamisah Burel. The two were believed to feed human waste to Kamisah.

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He confessed in court today (24 July) that he asked Siti to feed Ms Kamisah her waste, insisting that it was a one time event. However, she continued to do so every day.

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Unemployed and desperate

In addition, Darwinder told the court that he had been supporting Ms Siti for about eight months as she was unemployed. He had to pawn his electronic devices and jewellery to continue giving her money.

He added on that he is suffering from a medical condition and been supporting his mother who have medical issues as well.

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What will happen next?

Police have requested for a custody from the court in order to carry on with further investigations of the case. It is because the case went on over a period of time. He is required to attend court next Friday (31 July) at 9am.

If guilty, Darwinder could be serving up to seven years’ jail time, fined, caned, or any combination.

Source

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Featured Image Via ApohTecky Numero Facebook
With references from The Straits Times, Channel NewsAsia and Today

The post Neighbour Charged For Assisting In Abuse Of The HDB Elderly Lady was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

EBRC’s report seems like a pretty sweet deal

The Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) just released the Electoral Boundaries report earlier today (24 July).

This is the new electoral map for your reference.

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MustShareNews look at the changes to the Electoral Boundaries and examine how the political parties can take advantage.

1. Joo Chiat SMC dissolution

Joo Chiat Single Member Constituency (SMC) has been wiped off the new electoral boundaries map.

In the last General Elections in 2011, Joo Chiat SMC saw a close fight between the Workers’ Party (WP) and the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP).

PAP’s Member of Parliament (MP) Charles Chong narrowly edged out WP’s Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Yee Jenn Jong by a margin of only 388 votes.

The dissolution of the Joo Chiat SMC could be a political blessing for the PAP, as they can now prevent the close-call SMC from falling into the hands of the WP.

WP’s Yee Jenn Jong was awarded the NCMP seat in Parliament for his good showing, and had been walking the grounds in Joo Chiat with the intention to contest for the Joo Chiat SMC in the coming GE. Well, not anymore.

His latest Facebook post clearly reflects his unhappiness of the EBRC’s decision to dissolve Joo Chiat SMC.

2. MacPherson SMC revival

In the 2011 General Election, attentions were turned t0 Marine Parade GRC, because of the two female contestants — Tin Pei Ling (left) from the PAP and Nicole Seah (right) from the National Solidarity Party (NSP).

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The 2011 GE ended with a PAP victory in Marine Parade and Ms Tin made it to the Parliament despite being an unpopular figure among voters — there’s even a Facebook page titled “Petition to remove Tin Pei Ling as an MP” — who accused her of riding into Parliament on the coattails of Goh Chok Tong and Tan Chuan-Jin.

Tin Pei Ling’s ward in the Marine Parade GRC is incidentally the MacPherson ward, which will stand alone as MacPherson SMC.

The redrawing of the electoral boundaries by the EBRC resulted in Ms Tin’s MacPherson ward to stand as a SMC.

Going forward, the PAP may consider fielding MP Tin Pei Ling for MacPherson SMC to prevent any possible backlash on the Marine Parade GRC. Voters unhappy with Ms Tin will vote against her in MacPherson SMC, leaving out the Marine Parade GRC safe from Tin Fury.

MacPherson SMC may in fact be used as a hedge for the PAP to protect their position and prevent risking 5 seats in the Parliament because of one Ms Tin.

3. Moulmein-Kallang GRC dissolution

The Electoral Boundaries report also reflected on the dissolution of Moulmein-Kallang GRC whose team included Communications and Informations Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew, MP Edwin Tong and MP Denise Phua.

Areas of the now dissolved Moulmein-Kallang GRC has been split between 4 different constituencies — Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, Tanjong Pagar GRC, and the re-created Jalan Besar GRC.

The dissolution of the Moulmein-Kallang GRC is a good news for the PAP, since the finally has the chance to shuffle their political deck after drawing a really bad card.

The bad card drawn is Transport Minister Lui — Minister Lui has been under fire since taking charge of the dismal state of Singapore’s transport system, and his unpopularity finally reached a peak after the Great SMRT breakdown earlier this month (7 July).

With the island filled of disgruntled voters, the condition is set to allow PAP to conveniently reshuffle Minister Lui into another GRC — which may consist of another important Minister — and the dissolution of the entire GRC will prevent backlash from the voters.

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4. Jalan Besar GRC revival + Whampoa SMC dissolution

The Electoral Boundaries report also reflected on the dissolution of Whampoa SMC in tandem with the creation of Jalan Besar GRC that absorbed Whampoa SMC and parts of the now dissolved Moulmein-Kallang GRC.

The dissolution of Whampoa SMC to join Jalan Besar GRC could very well be a signal from heaven of bigger things to come for MP Heng Chee How, the representative for Whampoa SMC.

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With the dissolution of the Whampoa SMC, the PAP can definitely consider fielding MP Heng as the leader of the newly created Jalan Besar GRC.

After all, MP Heng is currently a Minister of State and was also a MP for Jalan Besar GRC the last time that it was formed — PAP is unlikely to transfer MP Heng out of the newly created Jalan Besar GRC when he has contributed much to the residents of  Whampoa.

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Independent candidate Tan Lam Siong, who had earlier signalled his intention to contest in the Whampoa SMC, must also be feeling hard-done by the Electoral Boundaries report.

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5. Fengshan SMC

Changes were also evident in the East Coast GRC, the Electoral Boundaries report drew Fengshan out to stand alone as a SMC — Fengshan SMC.

The Fengshan ward in East Coast GRC is currently under the jurisdiction of Raymond Lim.

The 56-year-old former Transport Minister is likely to retire and not stand in the coming General Elections. As a result, several things could happen in Fengshan SMC.

a. Testing Ground 

The Fengshan SMC seat may be used as a testing ground for the PAP to experiment with potential candidates who has the potential to break out as a star candidate such as Henry Kwek or Amrin Amin.

b. Distraction for the Worker’s Party 

The Fengshan SMC miracle could very be well be used by the PAP to distract the Workers’ Party who were surprisingly successful during the 2011 General Election.

The gap with the PAP team and the WP team at the East Coast GRC in the previous GE was a mere 9%, which allowed the WP to earn their 3rd NCMP spot. The NCMP spot is given to the 3 best losers at the General Election, and Gerald Giam was chosen to take up the position.

WP may be distracted, and have to split their East Coast Team with this announcement. WP will also have to decide whether they should field their star candidate, Gerald Giam — who also previously contested in the East Coast GRC in 2011 — at the Fengshan SMC where only 1 seat can be secured, or to field him at the East Coast GRC and risk the possibility of not winning a seat at all.

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The Battle Lines Already Drawn

There you go, that was our preliminary examination on the changes made in the electoral map by the Electoral Boundaries report of the EBRC.

More accurate deductions and examinations will only be possible later on, with more political parties reacting and signaling their intentions and with more information made available to the public.

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Featured Image via Wikipedia
With references from Today Online, Asia One, SG Truth, The Online Citizen, Yahoo, The Straits Times, The Straits Times, Electoral Department Singapore, Tan Lam Siong  

The post Here’s How Political Parties Can Benefit From 5 Electoral Boundaries Changes was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

The Opposition parties needs to solve these issues

This post is part of a running series about the General Elections.

Last Thursday (23 July), we gave you 3 Opposition Parties That Made Smart Moves In The Last 4 Years, which might have led you to think we are a pro-opposition site.

As difficult as it may be to believe, we prefer to be a non-partisan news site. With that in mind, we cannot ignore mistakes that the same 3 opposition parties made within the same time frame.

These 3 parties may have their merits, but they certainly do have their flaws as well.

In view of the imminent General Election (GE) that is speculated to take place very soon, MustShareNews reviews the mistakes that these opposition parties made since the last General Election in 2011.

1. Singapore Democratic Party

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is currently led by Dr Chee Soon Juan, and is one of just four political parties that ever managed to send elected political representatives into the Singapore Parliament — Cheo Chai Chen, Ling How Doong, and Chiam See Tong were elected in 1991 at Nee Soon Central SMC, Bukit Gombak SMC and Potong Pasir SMC respectively.

Despite their impressive track record, the SDP made several mistakes since the last General Election in 2011.

Big lofty ideas that are not tested

Among all the parties presented in this article, the SDP is the only party that actually offers alternative policies on their website on various issues such as the healthcare, education, and ministerial salaries, among others.

However, out of the 20 proposed alternative policies, only 2 were written within the past year, with a bulk of the proposed alternative polices were written between 2013-2011 — we wonder if the policies are still relevant according to the changing circumstances of Singapore.

The alternatives that the SDP offers are also relatively populist. Policies were largely designed with the aim to keep Singaporeans happy enough to back to SDP — however, in reality, populist policies are actually detrimental to countries and are largely unworkable in the long run.

Examples of populist alternative proposed by the SDP are policies such as providing free lunches in school, returning all the CPF monies to Singaporeans at retirement, and all public areas to be made available for people to protest assemble.

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Links with the controversial figures

Despite redeveloping his image into a more positive one, Dr Chee however, just cannot seem to escape from controversies.

Dr Chee and the SDP have links with two highly controversial figures in Singapore.

The first is Roy Ngerng, the blogger who engaged Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in a boxing match, and then later cried.

Dr Chee’s had met with Ngerng and exchanged plots ideas about political matters of Singapore.

Although there should be nothing wrong in having links with any controversial figure, it is unwise for Dr Chee, as a leader of a political party that is challenging for the parliament in Singapore, to have links with controversial characters — especially one who constantly and openly challenges the government.

The second is the infamous boy blogger Amos Yee, who may also be running out of antics to entertain us.

In court hearings, Amos suggested that his ideas were shaped by members from the SDP during their meetups.

The same TodayOnline report also reveals that a SDP member introduced Amos to Ngerng’s blog.

As the result, Dr Chee and the SDP are actually indirectly linked with the antics and stunts that Ngerng and Amos have given us in recent months.

Source, Source, Source

2. National Solidarity Party

In the preparation for the coming General Election, the National Solidarity Party (NSP) is arguably the most active opposition party doing their walkabouts on the ground and interacting with residents.

However, several mistakes continues to hamper the party’s chances for a successful General Election, in spite of their active walkabouts.

Culture of political infighting within the party

Since the last General Election, the NSP had 4 different Secretary Generals —

During the 2011 General Election, Goh Meng Seng was the Secretary General of the NSP, he stepped down from the position in the same year after the General Election citing the desire for self reflection of his own personal goals.

Hazel Poa took over from Mr Goh, but left the position in 2013, citing health reasons.

The third succesor was Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss, who left the position and the party with Ravi Philemon earlier this January after they failed the challenge for the Presidency and Secretary-General position respectively.

Tan Lam Siong then took over Ms Chong-Aruldoss’ position of the NSP Secretary General, only to quit the party after less than six months into the post.

Currently, Ms Poa is back as the acting Secretary General for the NSP.

Although, Ms Poa was quick to deny about any party infighting in the NSP, pointing out that the top post in the NSP is actually the President — a position that Sebastian Teo has held since 2006. Nonetheless, a senior position in any party should not be experiencing such a musical chair scenario.

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Failure to retain talents

NSP is also guilty of failing to retain talents within the party.

Since the last General Election, heavyweight party members such as Goh Meng Seng, Nicole Seah, Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss, Ravi Philemon, Bryan Long, and Tan Lam Siong have left the NSP.

Although the nucleus of the NSP has been retained, it is worrying for the NSP that party members are actually leaving because the party refuse to advance with times and is insistent on sticking to the old ways of doing things.

Facebook page of NSP reflects a community club 

The Official Facebook page of the NSP reflects the party functioning as a community club more than a political party —  the page is full of updates about their walkabouts,

holiday greetings,

internal party matters,

and condolences.

There are virtually zero posts on the party’s stand on hot button national issues.

This is a poor showing from a political party intending to take part in the coming General Election. Either the NSP has no opinions on national issues, or they are not tapping on the social media platform to communicate the party’s ideas with voters.

Either way, doing so is a big mistake for NSP going forward.

3.Singapore People’s Party

The Singapore People’s Party (SPP) is led by veteran opposition Chiam See Tong.

Among the parties presented in the list, the SPP is the only party that is represented in the parliament.

Lina Chiam is a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP), who was inducted after her good showing in Potong Pasir SMC against PAP’s Sitoh Yih Pin.

Nonetheless, the SPP have much to work on if they wish to expand or even retain their presence in Parliament.

Absence of an Assistant Secretary-General

Loke Hoe Yeong was conferred the post of the Assistant Secretary-General of the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) last year (2014).

However, Mr Loke’s appearances at SPP walkabouts have been increasingly rare, according to SPP’s official Facebook page. The last photo of Mr Loke on a walkabout with the SPP is dated 29 September 2014.

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All the recent photos of the SPP’s walkabouts consist largely of known faces such as Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss, Ravi Philemon, Lina Chiam, and Chiam See Tong.

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Unless the SPP does not have plans for their Assistant Secretary-General to contest in the coming General Elections, it is imperative that SPP get him walking the ground as soon as possible.

Keeping mum on new faces

Apart from Mr Loke, who was unveiled as the Assistant Secretary-General, the SPP also unveiled two other young faces in the party’s Central Executive Committee (CEC).

The new faces were private tutor Arbind Tiwari and human resource consultant Adeline Chan, who took on the roles of the Assistant Treasurer and the Organising Secretary respectively.

Since then, the SPP has been keeping silent about the unveiled party members and other young party members regularly seen on SPP walkabouts clad in the party uniform.

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Thankfully, we’ve managed to CSI some information on Mr Loke and Ms Chan for our readers.

The decision of the SPP to keep mum on the the new faces of the party may be a mistake, since it is imperative for voters to know about potential candidates of the party not only through walkabouts.

Mistakes were made, ratification has to begin

The mistakes of these opposition parties will definitely take some shine off from these parties. However, if damage control were to begin as soon as possible, the prospects of being elected into the Parliament of these parties may not be that impossible after all.

After all, we are sure that both the in-house opposition and the ruling parties have definitely made some mistakes on their part in the last four years as well.

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1965, all over again

Relive the year 1965 this National Day with 1965, the SG50 celebration film that took 5 years to put together. The $2.8-million movie is directed by Randy Ang, along with executive producer Daniel Yun — who makes his directorial debut as co-director. 1965 is based on historical events and revolves around the stories of natives and immigrants in the years leading up to Singapore’s independence.

The film stars Qi Yuwu and Deanna Yusoff as the main leads, playing Police Inspector Cheng and single mother Khatijah respectively. Other cast members include Joanne Peh, James Seah, and veteran actor Lim Kay Tong, who plays Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

MustShareNews spoke to Daniel Yun (DY) and found out 10 things you never knew about his passion project, 1965.

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1. The SG50 celebration film was not planned for SG50.

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DY: When the idea was first knitted, it was at the airport in Hong Kong. A staff of mine at Raintree pictures said we should make a movie that anyone else outside of Singapore would know. I said: “Hmm… what should it be? Chewing gum? Lee Kuan Yew?”

And then it started off as a biopic of LKY, but at the back of my mind I knew I was never someone who could make a biopic of LKY. I don’t know enough and I also don’t have the passion to find out as much about the man.

And finally of course, about two years ago, I came up with the premise that [the film could] be expanded into a mainstream film… [N]ot a documentary, historical film, or a biopic, but something that I thought should be about the common man on the streets in the 1960s, especially 1965. Because the lives and stories of these people cannot be separated from the life and stories of LKY, so LKY became a key character in the feature as well.

2. Tony Leung was never contacted to play LKY in the movie.

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DY: At one time, I had lofty ideas. So I got Peter Chan, my good friend involved, to be the so-called the EP — the producer. There was one time he said well, [the role of LKY] can also be played by Tony Leung, a very respected actor in Asia.

There was a piece of paper where we put this kind of “wishlist” and it got leaked out and took a life of its own and was even reported in I think CNN, but we never, never, really thought of this seriously. If someone called Tony Leung in his office, they would say no one called us!

3. Cheng (played by Qi Yuwu), the protagonist, is a parallel of LKY’s internal struggle.

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DY: Cheng is all the things that I write about doing the right things — having a brother, taking care of a family, how responsibility can be double edged — it can weigh you down but it can also give you strength. I think it’s kind of me, but of cause I’m not so brave. Cheng is brave, but I internalised certain things about LKY which I showed in Cheng, which is probably more me than I would care to admit. But he’s also a parallel of LKY’s internal struggle.

4. Qi Yuwu and James Seah got their hair cut at roadside barbers

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DY: The girls[’ hair] were done by hair stylists who kept it very real to the era. Qi and James Seah went to the roadside barber. Mike Kasem grew a beard that took 2 months to grow because he plays a Pakistani journalist.

5. 40% of the film is in dialect.

DY: The Last Emperor breaks out into Chinese but it’s in English. Gandhi is in English but at certain parts it speaks all the various dialects in India. We take it one step further [so]that the language is still English and Mandarin but we have Cantonese, Hainanese, Malay, a little bit of Indian [dialects]and all to spice up the reality. But essentially, in the Singapore context, in order for the movie to be released, the dialect level cannot exceed 40%, so we probably maxed out 40%. In a way it’s quite important because anything beyond 40%, people like you [the younger generation]cannot understand the film!

And there are certain parts where the protagonists were speaking their heart, it’s all in dialect. There’s a part where Cheng, the protagonist, was expressing something very important, he spoke in Cantonese and there’s some parts spoken in Hokkien, some in Teochew.

6. The issue of race was tricky

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DY: The subject of race is very tricky. It can be very boring, it can be very severe – so how do you keep it engaging and exciting for old and young and how do you get them to interact in a way that makes sense to the modern audience?

And also, the racial riots were essentially only between the Chinese and the Malays. The Indians were honestly not involved. So I also don’t want to be too PC (politically correct) about it, like put a token Malay, a token Indian or a token Eurasian. I don’t want to do that. And I know some people will say “What about the Indian representation?”

But the entire film is not about the Indians or the Eurasians, it’s really about the Malays and the Chinese. So I would say the way to address this race thing — it’s the premise of the film to tell very personal stories so people can relate.

7. Fresh blood like DJ Mike Kasem, singer Sezairi Sezali, former opposition politician Nicole Seah were cast.

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DY: I always have this idea of so-called inspired casting, where it’s not your usual suspects. It’s not like getting someone to match with someone else because they’re always seen together. I want to sort of like have a 组合 (combination) coming together of a fresh collaboration.

So the first time when we announced Qi Yuwu and Deanna Yusoff, we already knew that this is not your typical Singapore film casting. Mike Kasem was suggested by the director, Sezairi was suggested by the art director. [As for] James Seah, we saw him, [and]after a while we thought he would be right.

We don’t get the usual theatre people, we choose people who are fresh. So the coming together of these people – some of them very new to the big screen – I feel it’s almost what I would say an inspired casting.

8. Daniel Yun fought with co-director Randy Ang during the production. Many times.

From left to right: Daniel Yun, Randy Ang

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DY: [Laughs] We fought. We fought like mad. I tell you one thing, I have to take my hat off to him because if I was his age and I have to deal with someone like Daniel Yun, I would kill him! [More laughter]

But he didn’t kill me, so that’s good. We fought, but I honestly think, in the creative process, when you fight, when you clash, there are sparks. I never knew Randy until we fought, and he never knew me until we fought. I think it would have to be like that.

9. The film is as relatable to a 25-year-old as it is to a 65-year-old.

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DY: I think for the Pioneer Generation, [the film helps] to relive a very important time. And for the younger generation, we hope that within minutes they’re transported back to an era where their parents lived through, [and go]“Oh, that’s what my granduncle lived through”, “That’s what this particular uncle of mine used to say”, that kind of thing. So we hope to, for them, discover — or for some of them to rediscover — the 60s.

10. LKY’s most badass moment in the movie is… 

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DY: There is one part in the film where he was talking on the lorry and he said something to the effect that you have to face your problems; you cannot just imagine that they don’t exist, because they do exist. That’s probably the kind of your so-called badass moment where you catch a glimpse of the other side of him that in that era you need to be rough; you need to get down to the ground.

Three minutes with Daniel Yun

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1.What was your favourite memory growing up in the 60s?

Watching Shaw Brother movies. But it was the early 70s. [In the] 60s I think we were still too poor, but I remember my father brought me to watch Sound of Music at the Orchard Theatre (now Cineleisure). [For] the 60s… [it would be]hawker food lah.

I really love kway chap and I really love duck wings and very icy cold lime juice.

Because we were very poor, my father was a cook in Cold Storage so he brought back something that has squares. Like bread, but got squares. Then years later I was like, oh that’s called waffles.

2.(a) Where were you during the riot/ (b) when Singapore separated with Malaysia?

(a) I remember I was hiding under a table with my brother because they were having this curfew and a lot of policemen were screaming, shouting. I remembered interesting things [like]suddenly you [were told to]better be careful of the Malays. I remembered policemen shouting, and we closed our doors and windows.

(b) Cannot remember. Probably I was eating kway chap. Honestly cannot remember. I’m just trying to impress you that I was very young.

3. Were there any of your personal experiences in the year 1965 that got translated onto the big screens?

The 60s was a very noisy, colourful period. It was the golden era of radio, it was the advent of TV –  so on the streets you will hear all kinds of radio — Rediffusion and all that. So I insisted that we would have to get people to read the Hokkien news, the Teochew news, the Hainanese news and put it in the background, [along with]certain Chinese songs, Cantonese opera, Teochew opera, and all that. The characters in the scene were transported into any era as they were on set.

So, the big question is…

Why should anyone watch 1965?

Because we worked soooo hard… okay no lah no lah. Because [behind]every film, someone worked very hard on it. I think you all will know very soon, but it doesn’t mean people have to watch it because it’s your labour of love. I kind of think it gives you a glimpse of your past in a way that only a movie can, which is engaging and entertaining, and hopefully moving and inspiring. Hopefully, it makes you think about being Singaporean again.

Catch 1965 in cinemas from 30 July.

Featured image via Facebook
With reference to TODAY Online

The post Co-director Daniel Yun Tells Us 10 Things You Never Knew About The Film “1965” was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

Who’s the richest of them all?

The 2015 Rich List is out. For the uninitiated, the rich list is a list Forbes puts together annually, ranking people globally in terms of their wealth.

So how did Singaporeans fare on the list in the country’s Golden Jubilee? Not very well, it seems. According to Forbes, the humdrum economy took a toll on Singapore’s 50 Richest’s overall wealth, and dropped nearly 5% to $92.3 billion compared to last year.

But before you feel sorry for these millionaires and billionaires, remember that they’re still more a lot more well off than you are.

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MustShareNews gives you the lowdown on these 28 billionaires:

1. Robert and Philip Ng

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Net worth: $8.7B
Source: Real estate

Who: Sons of the late real estate tycoon Ng Teng Fong, the brothers inherited their father’s empire and worked together to bring it to greater heights. They have invested in properties not only in Singapore, but also Hong Kong and even Australia. Their diverse portfolio includes Far East Organization, Far East Orchard, Far East Hospitality and their Sino Group empire in Hong Kong.

Just look at what they own in Singapore:

‘Nuff said.

2. Kwek Leng Beng

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Net worth: $7.2B
Source: Real estate

Who: His father, the late Kwek Hong Png was the founder of Hong Leong group. In the early 1960s, Kwek joined the family business despite being trained as a lawyer in London. In 1990, he became the chairman of Hong Leong Group, now a conglomerate with over 300 companies of which 12 are listed ones. The Group also owns Singapore’s largest finance company, Hong Leong Finance, with 28 branch offices. Kwek is also the Chairman of City Developments Limited (CDL), Singapore’s leading real estate developer with more than 250 subsidiaries.

3. Goh Cheng Liang

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Net worth: 6.9B
Source: Paints, Self-made

Who: Probably the most successful rags to riches story in Singapore, the uneducated Goh worked in a hardware store that helped him learn skills which eventually changed his life. In 1949, he created the brand Pigeon Paint by selling surplus stocks of rotten paint auctioned off by the British army. In 1955, he opened his first paint shop in Singapore and became Nippon Paint’s sole distributor. Subsequently, he founded Nipsea Group and ventured into property development. This year, Goh’s Wuthelam Holdings Pte Ltd managed to double their stake in Nippon Group, making Goh the richest Singaporean in January.

4. Khoo Family

Mavis Khoo-Oei

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Net worth: $6.4B
Source: Banking

Who: The Khoo family consists of the late Khoo Teck Puat’s 14 heirs. The late Khoo founded Malaysia’s most valuable bank, Maybank. In 2006, they sold their Standard Chartered stake for $4 billion to Temasek Holdings and focused on philanthropy and the Goodwood Group of Hotels instead. Goodwood Park Hotel is managed by his daughter Mavis Khoo-Oei.

5. Wee Cho Yaw

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Net worth: $5.5B
Source: Banking

Who: Son of millionaire Wee Kheng Chiang, the younger Wee started out working at his family-owned business, Kheng Leong, that traded commodities. Along the way, he learnt the ropes from his father. In 1958, he became the youngest board director of the United Chinese Bank (now United Overseas Bank a.k.a UOB). He was appointed the Managing Director two years later and eventually succeeded his father as Chairman of the bank in 1974. His son Wee Ee Chong has succeeded him as UOB’s Chief Executive Officer.

6. Eduardo Saverin

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Net worth: $5.4B
Source: Facebook, Self-made

Who: Since 2009, Saverin has been living in Singapore and renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2011. The Brazilian Internet entrepreneur is one of Facebook’s five co-founders. In 2012, Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg sent an exclusive email to Business Insider about how he cut Saverin from the company and diluted his stake. The two ended up in lawsuits which were settled out of court. Facebook affirmed Saverin’s title as Facebook’s co-founder. As of this year, Saverin owns $53 million Facebook shares. He also made investments in startups including e-grocer Redmart and property portal 99.co.

7. Kwee Brothers

Kwee Liong Keng

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Net worth:  $5.2B
Source: Real estate

Who: The four Kwee brothers are Kwee Liong Keng, Kwee Liong Tek, Kwee Liong Seen, and Kwee Liong Phing — sons of Indonesian textile trader and real estate developer Henry Kwee. They own Pontiac Land Group, a privately-held hospitality and property company, with numerous luxury hotels such as the Conrad Centennial Singapore, Ritz-Carlton Millenia, and The Capella Singapore under its wing.

Read about their potential heir, Evan Kwee here.

8. Richard Chandler

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Net worth: $2.6B
Source: Investments

Who: The New Zealand-born businessman relocated to Singapore in 2006. He is the chairman of Chandler Corporation, which invests in public and private equity. Previously, he was CEO of the Sovereign group of companies, in collaboration with his brother, Christopher Chandler. In 2007, the brothers split their assets, and Richard proceeded to start Orient Global (now Chandler Corporation). He also invested in Nobel Education Network, a global chain of international elementary to high schools.

9. Kuok Khoon Hong

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Net worth: $2.6B
Source: Palm Oil

Who: Nephew of Malaysian billionaire Robert Kuok, the younger Kuok is the co-founder of Wilmar International, which is dubbed the “world’s largest palm oil firm”. The agribusiness giant intends to expand into new markets such as Ethiopia, Myanmar, and Zimbabwe via joint ventures.

10. Raj Kumar and Kishin RK

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Net worth: $2.4B
Source: Real estate

Who: This father and son duo is a formidable pair. Kishin RK is the son of billionaire Raj Kumar, CEO of Royal Holdings, and is as capable as his father. In 2006, Kishin RK founded hotel and property group RB Capital and is in the midst of integrating this with his father’s company, which would result in an asset size of approximately S$4.5 billion. This is expected to grow to S$10 billion by 2020. Between the two, they also own EFG Bank Building, Cuppage Terrace, RB Capital Building (formerly DBS Securities Building), Holiday Inn Express at Clemenceau and significant stakes in malls including Far East Plaza and Queensway Shopping Centre.

11. Chung Chang Yun

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Net worth: $2.3B
Source: Shipping, Self-made

Who: The oldest person on this rich list, 93-year-old Chang started his shipping career in Singapore in 1949. In 1967, he founded Pacific International Lines (PIL) with his friends, which pioneered cargo services that transported Chinese goods to the rest of the world. The company is now one of the world’s top 20 shipping firms with a fleet of 180 ships. Chang owns 94% of PIL, with his son Teo Siong Sen managing its daily operations.

12. Sam Goi

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Net worth: $2.1B
Source: Frozen foods, Self-made

Who: Also known as Singapore’s “Popiah King”, Goi is the chairman of Tee Yih Jia Foods, which makes up the bulk of his wealth. In 1969, Tee Yih Jia started out as Tee Yih Jia Po Piah Dried Pastry Factory, a small and labour-intensive spring roll producer. In 1977, Goi acquired the company for $450,000 and took over active management in 1980. Since 2007, he has been a shareholder in listed firm GSH. In 2012, he invested $14 million to restructure the company, making him GSH’s largest shareholder.

13. Peter Lim

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Net worth: $2B
Source: Investments, Self-made

Who:  It’s hard to image that Singapore’s Remisier King once worked as a cook, a cab driver and a waiter during his university days. He later became a stockbroker for mainly Indonesian clients. In 1996, he became a full-time investor and invested $10 million in palm oil producer Wilmar International for a 5% stake, which is now valued at $700 million. He also invested in fashion distributor FJ Benjamin and is their second largest investor, as well as investments in the agri-business and logistics. In 2010, he bought over Thomson Medical Centre. Here are 11 things he owns that will make you jelly.

14. Ong Beng Seng and Christina Ong

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Net worth: $1.8B
Source: Diversified, Self-made

Who: Business magnate Ong Beng Seng started his career when he joined an insurance firm for ships. In 1975, he joined Kuo International, founded by businessman Peter Fu Yun Siak. He met Fu’s daughter, Christina Ong at the company and they would later get married. After his trading career at Kuo International, Beng Seng founded his own firm, Hotel Properties Limited.

His wife founded her first establishment in 1972. She now heads the COMO Group, with fashion group Club 21, wellness brand COMO Shambhala, COMO Hotels and Resorts and others under its umbrella.

15. Lim Oon Kuin

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Net worth: $1.7B
Source: Oil trading, Self-made

Who: Lim started his business 50 years ago. It started with one truck that delivered diesel to fishermen but today, his family-owned oil-trading firm Hin Leong is one of Singapore’s biggest oil traders with $13 billion in revenues. Boasting a fleet of over 100 tankers, the company owns one of Asia’s largest oil storage terminals.

16. Lee Seng Wee

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Net worth: $1.6B
Source: Banking

Who: The third son of Lee Kong Chian, he was the chairman of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) but stepped down in 2003. He then assumed a non-executive position as Director of Great Eastern Holdings Ltd until 2013.

17. Asok Kumar Hiranandani

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Net worth: $1.4B
Source: Real estate

Who: Hiranandani and his older brother, Raj Kumar co-founded Royal Brothers property group. They later divided the assets of the company, which involved properties worth approximately $1.4 billion, and Hiranandani went on to form Royal Group Holdings in 2011. Royal Group Holdings is now housed at its Raffles Place corporate headquarters site the group acquired for more than $220 million in 2011. He has handed the business over to his son, Bobby Hiranandani, who managed the project development of the Sofitel So Hotel. The father-and-son’s overseas portfolio includes assets in Indonesia and Australia.

18. Tang Wee Kit

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Net worth: $1.4B
Source: Retail

Who: Son of the late Tang Choon Keng, the younger Tang is the executive chairman and managing director of Tang Holdings, the family-owned private investment firm. Their biggest asset is Tangs, Singapore’s oldest department story, Tang Plaza on Orchard Road and Singapore Marriot Hotel at Tang Plaza.

19. Lien Family

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Net worth: $1.4B
Source: Banking

Who: The family patriarch of the Lien family is none other than Lien Ying Chow. The clan has a minority stake in United Overseas Bank. Their public representative is Laurence Lien, who heads the Lien Foundation. The Nominated Member of Parliament who served from 2012-2014 holds memberships and leadership positions on various committees and boards, and is a philanthropist and champion for the impoverished.

20. Ho Family

Net worth: $1.3B
Source: Banking

Who: The Ho family is made up of the late banker Ho Sim Guan’s heirs. According to Forbes, they “inherited his shares in United Overseas Bank is up on information that they have a higher stake in private investment firm Tai Tak Estates through which the bank’s shares are held”. Last year, the Hos listed property firm First Sponsor Group, which they co-own with the Kwek’s Hong Leong Group.

21. Choo Chong Ngen

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Net worth: $1.3B
Source: Hotels, Self-made

Who: Choo started his career in textiles, but later expanded into property and hotels. He introduced budget hotels to target price-conscious travellers. Today, his hotel empire has nearly 5,000 rooms islandwide, including the Hotel 81 chain, V Hotel and Value Hotel. This year, he donated $1.5 million to Singapore Management University in a bursary scheme known as the Hotel 81 – Choo Chong Ngen Bursary. His daughter, Carolyn Choo, is a shareholder and Director of Hotel 81.

22. Ron Sim

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Net worth: $1.2B
Source: Retail, Self-made

Who: The founder of Osim International sold noodles for a living when he was a child. In 1979, he established Osim, which popularised home massage chairs. It eventually branched out into Hong Kong and China. Sim also owns GNC in Southeast Asia, China-based Richlife, and the United States-based Brookstone.

23. Koh Wee Meng

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Net worth: $1.2B
Source: Real estate, Hotels, Self-made

Who: The founder, chairman and CEO of Fragrance Group broke off from his family’s jewelry retailer, Aspial, in the 90s. He started making his fortune in real estate by buying and selling affordable residential properties and operating a budget hotel. In 2012, he turned the hotel arm into a chain of budget hotels under Global Premium Hotels. Koh acquired three million shares of Fragrance to own 73.3-percent stake. Together with his wife Lim Wan Looi, they own 84.2 percent.

24. Zhong Sheng Jian

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Net worth: $1.2B
Source: Real estate, Self-made

Who: Zhong is the founder, Chairman and CEO of Singapore-listed Yanlord Land. Since the 1980s, Zhong has founded and set up several businesses in manufacturing, trading, financial services and real estate in China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand and Australia.

25. Tay Family

Net worth: $1.2B
Source: Retail, property

Who: Through their privately-held company Memocorp, the Tays own prime real estate in Singapore and Australia. Patriarch Tay Tee Peng started out as shirtmaker Ocean Garments in Indonesia and later built a retail empire best known for its chain of affordable OG department stores.

26. Chua Thian Poh

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Net worth: $1.1B
Source: Real estate, Self-made

Who: In 1987, Chua founded Ho Bee Land and assumed the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. In 1999, the company successfully filed for Initial Public Offering (IPO) and expanded internationally. He was also one of the first to build luxury residences in Sentosa Cove.

27. Oei Hong Leong

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Net worth: $1B
Source: Investments

Who: The son of Indonesian billionaire Eka Tjipta Widjaja, Oei is the chairman of Chip Lian Investments. The investor and property developer has a minority stake in Raffles Education, which has 30 colleges and universities across 12 countries. He also owns a valuable art museum in Singapore which consists about 50,000 Buddhist artefacts and artworks.

28. Loo Choon Yong – first-time billionaire

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Net worth: $1B
Source: Healthcare, Self-made

Who: The co-founder and executive chairman of Raffles Medical Group started out with just two clinics in 1976. Today, it is one of Asia’s biggest and most profitable integrated health care groups, with 78 clinics in Singapore and four medical centres in Shanghai and Hong Kong. He is also the chairman of the Asian Medical Foundation and an independent director of CapitaMalls Asia.

Money, money, money

So, there we have it. 28 billionaires in our tiny red dot.

Welcome to Singapore: the playground of the super rich.

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Featured image via SG Forums/ Caproasia/ Famous Entrepreneurs
With reference to Wikipedia, Singapore Infopedia, Wikipedia, Bloomberg, Wikipedia, Business Times, Wikipedia, Prestige Singapore, Wikipedia,  Forbes, Wikipedia, Prestige Singapore, Wikipedia, Singapore Tatler,  Prestige Singapore,  Wikipedia, Prestige Singapore, Wikipedia, Bloomberg, The Straits Times, Wikipedia, Forbes, The Richest, Yanlord Land, Wikipedia, Forbes, Ho Bee Land, Prestige Singapore, Singapore Tatler, Prestige Singapore

The post Meet The Record-High 28 Billionaires Singapore Hosts In The 2015 Forbes Rich List was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

North South East West — Oppositions are everywhere

Last Friday (24 July), the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) finally released the long awaited Electoral Boundaries report that reflected several significant changes to the electoral map of 2011.

You can read about our report on the Electoral Boundaries report and our preliminary analysis on those changes.

MustShareNews reviews opposition contenders for each electoral division, according to the updated electoral map.

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1. Workers Party

Secretary-General of the Workers’ Party (WP), Low Thia Khiang, announced that the WP will be contesting in all the electoral divisions that they had contested in the previous elections.

The 28 seats that the WP will contest consists of 5 Group Representation Constituencies (GRC) — Aljunied GRC, Jalan Besar GRC, Nee Soon GRC, Marine Parade GRC, and East Coast GRC — and 5 Single Member Constituencies (SMC) — Punggol East SMC, Hougang SMC, MacPherson SMC, Fengshan SMC, and Sengkang West SMC.

The WP will be defending 3 electoral divisions — Aljunied GRC, Punggol East SMC, and Hougang SMC.

Source, Source

If all goes perfectly for the WP, they will be able to capture 28 seats in the Parliament.

2. Singapore Democratic Party

If the Workers’ Party are the opposition of the East, then the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) are the opposition of the West. SDP, led by Dr Chee Soon Juan, traditionally focuses their electoral campaign on the West side of the island.

Yesterday (26 July), Dr Chee had informed the media that the SDP will be setting their sights in contesting on the same areas as the party did in the previous GE — Holland-Bukit Timah GRC, Sembawang GRC, Bukit Panjang SMC, and Yuhua SMC — including the newly created Bukit Batok SMC.

Source, Source

SDP can potentially capture 12 seats for the coming General Election.

3. Singapore People’s Party

The Singapore People’s Party (SPP) has confirmed they will definitely be contesting in the Mountbatten SMC as well as the Potong Pasir SMC.

The Potong Pasir SMC was the closest contested electoral division in the previous GE — Lina Chiam of the SPP was edged by PAP’s Sitoh Yih Pin by only 118 votes.

Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss from the SPP had also long announced her intention to stand for Mountbatten — even possessing a Facebook page called “Jeannette for Mountbatten“.

Apart from the two confirmed SMCs, SPP will also consider fielding candidates in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC and Hong Kah North SMC.

Source, Source

As at now, the SPP look to be contesting for 8 seats.

4. Reform Party

The Reform Party’ Secretary General, Kenneth Jeyaretnam, has confirmed with the media that the Reform Party (RP) will be looking to build on party walkabouts since the 2011 GE.

Mr Jeyaretnam also took a swipe at Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong by suggesting to the media that PM Lee was afraid of the election contest for the coming General Election.

I think it is important to challenge the Prime Minister on his home turf of Ang Mo Kio and I am glad to see he is still hiding behind a six-member GRC because it shows he is afraid

– RP Secretary General Kenneth Jeyaretnam

The Reform Party will be contesting in West Coast GRC, Radin Mas SMC, and Ang Mo Kio GRC.

Source, Source

The Reform Party will potentially be fighting for 11 seats in the Parliament.

5. Singaporeans First Party

The newly created party is considering to contest for 2 GRCs. Founder Tan Jee Say previously contested at the Holland- Bukit Timah GRC in the previous General Election under the SDP banner.

Mr Tan told the media that he is looking to contest in Tampines GRC and Marine Parade GRC, but is open to further discussion with the other opposition parties as well.

We are interested in Tampines and Marine Parade, but now that Marine Parade has absorbed Joo Chiat, we will have to see what the Workers’ Party plans to do there as well

– SingFirst Secretary General, Tan Jee Say

Source, Source

If they stick to the plan, SingFirst will be contesting for 10 seats.

6. Democratic Progressive Party

Secretary-General Benjamin Pwee told the media that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will remain committed to their plans to competing in the Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, setting the stage for a potential clash with the Singapore People’s Party.

Mr Pwee did not announced further plans.

Source, Source

The DPP will be contesting for 5 seats as for now.

7. People Power Party

Political veteran Goh Meng Seng had initially wanted to contest at Whampoa SMC, but it was absorbed into the Jalan Besar GRC.

Mr Goh has since tweaked his plans to contest in Bukit Batok SMC and Fengshan SMC instead.

Source, Source

Goh Meng Seng and his newly created party is targeting 2 seats in Parliament for now.

8. Singapore Democratic Alliance

Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) Secretary-General, Desmond Lim, has confirmed that the SDA is looking to spar with Teo Chee Hean in Pasir Ris-Punggol.

Source, Source

The SDA will be competing for 6 seats in the Pasir Ris- Punggol ward.

This is it

The opposition parties of Singapore have more or less planned out their campaign, with almost every constituency being contested.

In fact, we expect every constituency to be contested in the coming General Elections for the first time ever. That’s right, even Lee Kuan Yew’s Tanjong Pagar GRC.

Final Summary

Worker’s Party:

5 GRCs — Aljunied GRC (5 seats), Marine Parade GRC (5 seats), Nee Soon GRC (5 seats), East Coast GRC (4 seats), Jalan Besar GRC (4 seats).

5 SMCs — Hougang SMC (1 seat), Punggol East SMC (1 seat), Sengkang West SMC (1 seat), MacPherson SMC (1 seat), Fengshan SMC (1 seat).

Singapore Democratic Party:

2 GRCs — Sembawang GRC (5 seats), Holland-Bukit Timah GRC (4 seats).

3 SMCs — Bukit Batok SMC (1 seat), Yuhua SMC (1 seat), Bukit Panjang SMC (1 seat).

Singapore’s People Party:

1 GRC — Bishan – Toa Payoh GRC (5 seats).

3 SMCs — Hong Kah SMC (1 seat), Mountbatten SMC (1 seat), Potong Pasir SMC (1 seat).

Reform Party:

2 GRCs — Ang Mo Kio GRC (6 seats), West Coast GRC (4 seats)

1 SMC — Radin Mas SMC (1 seat).

Singaporeans First Party:

2 GRCs — Tampines GRC (5 seats), and Marine Parade GRC (5 seats)

Democratic Progressive Party:

1 GRC — Bishan – Toa Payoh GRC (5 seats)

People’s Power Party:

2 SMCs — Bukit Batok SMC (1 seat), and Fengshan SMC (1 seat)

Singapore Democratic Alliance:

1 GRC — Pasir Ris – Punggol GRC (6 seats)

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Featured Image via Google Maps
With references from Channel NewsAsia, Channel NewsAsia, Channel NewsAsia, The Straits Times 

The post Revealed: Where Each Opposition Party Will Contest In The Coming General Elections was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

Dying to watch the SG50 fireworks but lazy to do research?

You’ve come to the right place, because we’ve already done the kiasu-ing for you.

If you’ve been grocery shopping with your mum lately, you’d be reminded for the 1204826789791th time that SG50 is freaking legit.

This fishcake, for example, does a next level job of being the 1204826789792th reminder:

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If this is what SG50 puts into our stomachs, we wonder what sorcery they would be conjuring up in the sky.

Of course, like the way we complain about cheat-our-money fishcake but still buy it, we’ll complain about this year’s even more crowded crowds at Marina Bay but still go.

Because we love you, we’re here to relief some of the pain in researching for the best place in Marina Bay to sit your kiasu ass down for eternity before ten minutes of obnoxiously noisy lights.

Presenting to you, our one-page SG50 fireworks bible:

What’s Up?

Basically, the NDP fireworks committee will be taking this year’s fireworks to a whole new level.

In return for being Singaporean and tanking hours of crowds and everybody’s favourite sun, you’ll be rewarded with 360 degree views of twice the usual amount of fireworks exploding into the sky.

Here’s a little teaser of the visual treat:

And here’s the one reason why everybody’s DYING to go (conveniently immortalised in a GIF):

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Because you obviously haven’t seen enough of the words “SG50″.

Where to chope seats?

Some want to be as close to the noise and sparkle as possible, while some reject camping with sweaty bodies for hours.

Some like using the colourful backdrop to pressure her into saying yes, while some want to shout “HASHTAG SIMISAIALSO” moments before the words SG50 explode into the sky.

Whatever your agenda, there’s a place for you.

And entrance is always free.

If you want to catch all 360 degrees of action

Fireworks will shoot out from 7 buildings outlining the circumference of Marina Bay, two barges located right in the middle of the bay and the Padang Arena. Imagine being in the center of all that.

For the most comprehensive view NDP has to offer, head down to Esplanade Exterior, Merlion Park, Clifford Pier or Esplanade Bridge. 

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Be prepared to be as Singaporean as possible and arrive 304838413413 hours earlier, you’ll need it to survive the punishing heat and crowds.

If you’re team #SG50

Seriously, if you love the SG50 logo so much (nobody’s judging) that you’ve joined a cult following or over-decorated your car with its decals and are only bothering to show up at NDP because of it, you belong somewhere too.

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Set up your SG50 logo-wearing tents and picnic mats at the War Memorial Park, the closest outdoor resting zone to the Padang, which is where the SG50 set piece will be fired.

If you’re team #SimiSaiAlsoSG50

If you think the sky would look better if they fired the hashtag instead, then you belong further away from the Padang in the bay.

Head down to Marina Bay Sands Event Plaza and Square, The Promontory @ Marina Bay, Marina Barrage Green Rooftop, or Helix Bridge. 

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Yes, prepare yourself for a front row seat like this that will allow you to enjoy all of Marina Bay’s display while not abusing the hashtag.

If you want to put a ring on it privately with the help of a romantic sky (or just skip the crowds) 

If you love the obnoxiousness noise of fireworks but somehow hate the noise of the crowd, head down to:

Marina Square steps, Esplanade Rooftop, Stadium Waterfront, Gardens By The Bay or Bay East Garden.

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Decent view, less noise and crowd, more private time *wink* — a win-win situation.

When?

Because SG50 has made everything obvious enough, we’re just gonna skip to the most important detail:

8:15 PM. 

That’s the moment you will stop questioning what black magic convinced you that it would be fun to challenge Singaporeans at waiting for fireworks.

I mean, it’s the time the grand fireworks finale starts.

Save the date and see you there.

And remember — you can never be too early.

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Featured Image via Facebook, Wikimedia
With references from Channel NewsAsia, Facebook, InSing, ndp.org.sg

The post This Is Your Cheat Sheet To Choping The Best Views For The SG50 Fireworks was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

The Opposition will discuss their strategies in the upcoming General Election

According to The Straits Times, the National Solidarity Party (NSP) will organise a meeting for the opposition party this Friday (31 July). This tradition prevents three-way fights which are likely to split the opposition vote — a situation inherently in favour of the incumbent People’s Action Party (PAP).

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While the strategy of “divide and conquer” may seem wise, each opposition party has their own set of ideologies and tactics. Could the meeting be useful or just be a complete waste of time?

Whatever the case, we’re pretty sure the meeting will be a juicy affair.

Because we have a little bit of time on our hands, we’ve come up with plausible questions that might pop up at this meeting of the opposition. Some are serious, some are more tongue-in-cheek. That’s just how life is.

9 possible questions opposition parties might ask during the meeting

Workers’ Party (WP)

“Are you sure that you want to contest against us?”

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The 2013 Punggol-East by-election saw WP candidate Lee Li Lian gathered 53% of their votes beating PAP’s Koh Poh Koon of 43%. Candidates from Reform Party and Singapore Democratic Alliance lost their deposit for not obtaining enough votes.

Opposition parties going up against WP might not receive much support, and even face the prospect of losing $16,000.

Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)

“Can we have Bukit Batok SMC for ourselves?”

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In the 1991 GE, SDP polled 48.2% of Bukit Batok’s votes, losing out to the PAP’s candidate by only 858 votes. In 1997, Bukit Batok was merged with Bukit Timah GRC, but this year, the area has re-emerged as a SMC. SDP has already confirmed their contesting for Bukit Batok, and are confident about it.

Singapore People’s Party (SPP)

“Does anybody else really want to contest in Potong Pasir?”

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Potong Pasir was under SPP’s control from 1984 to 2011, thanks to the mercurial Chiam See Tong, with the voters staying with him even when he switched parties. In 2011, Lina Chiam contested and lost just by 114 votes to PAP. She has annouced she will return to reclaim Potong Pasir.

National Solidarity Party (NSP)

“Can we have Tampines to ourselves?”

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NSP has contested at Tampines since 1988, and have consistently gained the trust of the residents of the area. In 2011, NSP gained over 42% of Tampines GRC’s votes and the party will most probably be contesting at the area for this GE.

Singaporeans First Party (SingFirst)

“Are there any constituencies nobody is running in?”

Source

SingFirst will be participating in their first-ever GE, and might opt to avoid three-way contests out of prudence. Other parties might to give and take for the greater good.

The Reform Party

“Why have this meeting before consulting us?”

Source

The Reform Party was disappointed with NSP called for opposition meeting before consultation. The party went on saying that it is wrong kind of publicity, but will still attend the meeting, if it is postponed.

Democratic Progressive Party

“Why are all of you complaining so much about the new electoral boundaries?”

Source

DPP were surprised that the changes of the electoral boundaries for the upcoming GE was not as dramatic and extensive as they expected. Their sentiment comes from the fact that the party is still able to stick to their plans of competing at Bishan-Toa Payoh.

People Power Party (PPP)

“Can all of you be the voice of the people in the government?”

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Because their motto is: “formed for the People, by the People, to serve the People… ultimately become Government of the people.”

Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA)

“Does anybody want to join us?”

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Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) was formed before 2001 GE to provide a common ground for different opposition parties. The SDA was initially an alliance of four political parties: SPP, NSP, the Singapore Justice Party (SJP) and the Singapore Malay National Organization (PKMS).

Let the election games begin!

With the release of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) report, the gears of the GE machine have begun moving. Parties have begun walkabouts and have already expressed interest in constituencies they are running in.

All we need is the official announcement of the General Elections.

Let’s see how the different parties will measure up.

Source

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Featured Image Via MustShareNews, People’s Power Party Facebook and Democratic Progressive Party Facebook 
With references from The Straits Times, Wikipedia, SDP Facebook,  SingFirst Facebook, The Straits Times, The Reform Party Facebook, Democratic Progressive Party Facebook, People’s Power Party Facebook, Wikipedia

The post 9 Questions The Parties Will Ask At The Oppositions’ Meeting was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

Defence Minister Was Peeved by MP’s Facebook Post

Following the announcement of Electoral Boundaries, Inderjit Singh, Member of Parliament (MP) of Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency (GRC) announced his intention to step down as a MP and informed the public that he will not be running in the coming General Election.

Problem was, he decided to make his announcement over a Facebook post.

The move did not sit well with the Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen.

2 days after the announcement (26 July), Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen spoke to the media about the coming General Election and suggested that MP Singh’s renouncement was not appropriate.

You can post your retirement on Facebook, but I think as an MP who has served 15, 20, even 30 years – that’s not the best way to do it.

– Defence Minister, Ng Eng Hen

What’s the best way to announce your retirement after 19 years of serving the public?

MustShareNews suggests 5 methods that Inderjit Singh should have considered to avoid incurring the wrath of the Defence Minister.

1. Throw a ceremony

According to the Minister Ng, the new process of MPs stepping down and of introducing the succeeding MPs ought to be more “deliberate and dignified“.

Maybe, that was the issue with MP Singh’s Facebook post.

A single Facebook post is simply not dignified enough to announce the retirement of a Member of Parliament.

Perhaps MP Singh should have thrown a grand and solemn ceremony to announce his decision to retire instead.

Maybe something like this —

Source

This completely make sense since Minister Ng is the Defence Minister — a strict military man, who takes no nonsense.

2. Personally inform residents

Minister Ng added that the process of the succession can be smoother by preparing the ground for the retirement of the MP, where the succession process must be sincere and personal from the MP to the residents.

By using his own Facebook account to announce his retirement, MP Singh was obviously not personal enough.

MP Singh really should have visited each and every residential unit of his Kebun Baru ward and personally informed the residents about his plans to step down.

Something like this —

Source, Source, Source, Source

3. Tag relevant Facebook pages in the post

Or maybe, Minister Ng meant it was not personal enough because he wasn’t tagged in MP Singh’s Facebook post.

We underlined the part which may be particularly impersonal in MP Singh’s Facebook post —

Source

MP Singh should have started off his Facebook post in a more personal manner with a more personal touch —

Dear Sirs, Friends, Residents, @Ng Eng Hen – Defence Minister, @Lee Hsien Loong, @People’s Action Party, @Ang Mo Kio GRC, @Ang Mo Kio Town Council, and @Kebun Baru Bestari RC.

By individually listing out the important individuals and institutes and informing them of his personal decision is definitely more personal and fitting for an MP of 19 years.

4. Bury the hatchet in the Facebook post

Perhaps, it was about the content of MP Singh’s Facebook post.

Try reading the post again —

Note the obvious lack of reference to Defence Minister Ng.

Turn out MP Singh and Defence Minister Ng crossed swords in 2014.

In an interview with the Channel NewsAsia, MP Singh had criticised the promotion structure of the public service — citing the Singapore Armed Forces of which Defence Minister Ng is in charge of.

I’ve seen scholars who are poor ground commanders and yet they get promoted

– Member of Parliament for Ang Mo Kio GRC, Inderjit Singh

The remark prompted an immediate response from Minister Ng, who posted a response citing Bobby Lin — the prime example of an excellent ground commander who got promoted despite not being academically inclined.

Defence Minister Ng may be peeved by the absence of MP Singh’s acknowledgement in putting a final word to their skirmish.

Perhaps, MP Singh really should have private messaged a “Sorry” to Minister Ng, or at least include a subtle sentence in the Facebook post to bury the hatchet between MP Singh and Minister Ng.

5. Announce his retirement through through a party press conference

Maybe it wasn’t so much about the message, it was all about how MP Singh delivered it.

MP Singh should have just taken a leaf out of other MPs when they retire — both George Yeo and Lim Hwee Hua called for a party press conferences when they announced their retirement from politics.

After all, a party press conference represents a serious, formal, and dignified affair for anyone.

Lesson to be learnt

Consider this a lesson to be learnt for the MPs or future-MPs-to-be of the majestic ruling party of Singapore, that the best and most appropriate way to announce your retirement for is NOT to post your plans on Facebook.

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Featured Image via IISS, Fabian Lim
With references from Channel NewsAsia, Today Online

The post 5 Ways Inderjit Singh Could Have Stepped Down And Prevented The Wrath Of Defence Minister Ng was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

[UPDATE: 28 JULY] Member of Parliament (MP) Inderjit Singh have responded to netizens who are portraying him as some sort of anti-PAP hero with regards to the Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen remarks, with another Facebook post.

MP Singh renewed his loyalty for PM Lee and for the People’s Action Party (PAP), and the Member of Parliament further added that he had considered retiring from politics since 2013.

Ng Eng Hen is rather displeased with Inderjit Singh

On the same day (24 July) of the release of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee report, Member of Parliament (MP) Inderjit Singh announced his retirement as a Member of Parliament and declared his intention not to stand for the coming General Election (GE).

MP Singh’s Facebook post apparently irked Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen, who took a swipe at the MP’s decision to announce the retirement via a Facebook post.

We present you with a brief summary of the breakdown of the political spat between the MP Singh and Minister Ng.

The Facebook Post

MP Singh posted his decision to step down as the Member of Parliament for the Kebun Baru ward via a Facebook post —

MP Singh’s action apparently displeased the Minister of Defence, Dr Ng Eng Hen.

Defence Minister’s Response

Minister Ng fired shots at MP Singh. Minister Ng chose to use the media to indirectly make an example out of MP Singh to suggest that MPs should formally step down and introduce their successor.

We want to handle the retirement of our MPs more smoothly and I would prefer a more deliberate and a dignified manner.

You can post your retirement on Facebook, but I think as an MP who has served 15, 20, even 30 years – that’s not the best way to do it.

– Defence Minister, Ng Eng Hen

Source

What is situation now?

The People’s Action Party (PAP) have been silent with regards to the spat between the two senior members. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has not responded to the incident.

Since the unleashing the subtle verbal tirade upon MP Singh, Minister Ng has since been busy watching fireworks and preparing for the SG50 National Day.

While MP Singh has been busy receiving tributes, accolades, and the likes from netizens,

his residents,

and his fellow Parliamentary colleagues — including PM Lee.

Infighting doesn’t happen often, but when it does…

Unfortunately, we will see anymore of such disunity among the members of the ruling party for the next few months, because #GE2015 is coming — it will be a political suicide for the ruling party to show any form of disunity before the election.

Also, for the benefit of future retiring MPs, we have come up with 5 other ways MP Singh should have retired instead to side-step that backlash from Minister Ng.

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Featured Image via Wikipedia, Wikipedia, NTU
With references from Channel News Asia, Today Online, The Online Citizen

The post MP Inderjit Singh And Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen Give Us One Last Internal Party Clash was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

Rejoice, ‘cos it’s SG50

Starting this Friday (31 Jul), POSB is giving out free rides under the Fare Free Friday scheme.

This means that up to 100,000 PAssion POSB and POSB Everyday cardholders will be able to enjoy unlimited free travel on LRT, MRT and bus rides every Friday until 25 December 2015, ‘cos POSB will no longer be Santa after that.

In total, this scheme is estimated to cost POSB up to $7.5 million.

Source

How does it work?

POSB Everyday Credit Card or the PAssion POSB Debit Card owners have to link their card with EZ-Reload, a service that allows for automatic card top-ups.

There are currently 50,000 cardholders who have already done so, which means you have to be one of the next 50,000 to qualify. Through this initiative, commuters can save up to S$15 per month.

However, fares are not waived upfront, but “credited in the form of cashback in the following month”.

Source

Enjoy these perks while you can!

Happy SG50!

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Featured image via POSB
With reference to The Straits Times

The post POSB Is Spending $7.5 Million So That You Can Take MRT and Bus Rides For FREE was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

The insights were actually pretty deep and well-thought

The Singapore Model Parliament (SMP) is a initiative for students to take on the role of a Member of Parliament (MP) and experience rigorous parliamentary debates while forming policies for the nation.

SMP meets annually to debate on burning political issues and public policies in Singapore with the aim of developing deeper insights and understanding about the issues.

SMP is a legit model parliament set up

The SMP is more than just a cosplay of the Parliament — it is actually a legitimate representation of the parliament model. Deep insights are shared, and heavyweight political figures are happy lend their appearance.

Every year, actual MPs from the actual Parliament of Singapore will be invited to grace the event. In 2014, former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and MP Dr Amy Khor was invited.

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This year, the SMP was officiated by actual House Speaker of Singapore’s Parliament, Halimah Yaacob.

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SMP also reports on their own discussions, which are arguably more exciting than those than happen in the real Parliament. Presentations of the insights are formal and very parliamentary-like indeed.

MustShareNews has stepped up to present a TL;DR summary of this year’s best discussions and insights in the SMP.

1. LGBT

The LGBT issue has been gaining momentum in Singapore, with the Pink Dot Movement into its 6th year in 2015, and PM Lee’s acknowledgment of the LGBT issue being a new challenge for Singapore.

SMP debated on the motion proposed by the Opposition to repeal Article 377A.

Incidentally, both our actual Singapore Government and the SMP Government actually took the same stance towards the issue of staying as neutral and impartial as possible.

Although Article 377A — which criminalizes sex between consenting men — was passed in Parliament, both Governments have so far chosen a “light touch” and decided to take a progressive stance on the activities of the homosexuals.

For now, Article 377A is the last legislation preventing the full acceptance of homosexuals in Singapore. Yet, with the presence of the conservatives, both Governments are not keen in hastily repealing Article 377A.

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2. Social Security Net Issues

The SMP Parliament also discussed on the burning issue of the Central Provident Fund (CPF) — a compulsory savings scheme introduced by the Government as a form of social security net.

Shots fired by the Opposition

The Opposition of the SMP suggests that the CPF scheme offends the rights of Singapore in managing their own personal finances since the CPF monies can only be withdrawn when the retirement age of 55 years old and a minimum sum of $155,000 is met.

The SMP Opposition MPs further pointed out that Singaporeans today are mature and sensible enough to manage their own finances. Nannying by the state is no longer required — although some control must be retained the state for individuals who lack the ability to control their own finances.

Ruling Party Defends

The ruling party of the SMP rejects this argument, and prefers to focus on debating about the minimum sum that must be met for withdrawals during retirement.

The trampoline social safeguard of Singapore as pointed out by the real deal Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, is premised by the nature of CPF — where Singaporeans are helped by their own personal responsibility, and not through direct assistance from the state.

Likewise the actual Government, the SMP Government decided to not make any radical changes to the CPF system that may potentially contradict the nature of Singapore’s social security system of self-help and citizens’ personal responsibility.

Source

3. Electoral boundaries issues

The actual Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had announced the formation of the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) two months ago without any prior notice. As the results, the EBRC became a hot button issue — opposition parties were cheesed off and political observers debated about the transparency of election process in Singapore.

SMP Prime Minister M. Premikha defended the decision in setting up the EBRC without prior notice of the SMP Parliament — perhaps she was doing so on the behalf of PM Lee.

The SMP Prime Minister speaks

SMP PM Premikha offers an explanation for the real-life suggestion of PM Lee of having smaller Group Representation Constituency (GRC) — SMP PM Premikha rationalised that having smaller GRCs will provide voters with more voting power and prevent incompetent politicians from free-riding into the Parliament.

SMP PM Premikha also pointed out that the GRC system cannot be done away with as there is a need to ensure the rights of the minorities are well-represented.

The SMP PM further explained that the lack of  transparency in setting up the EBRC was to prevent any political player from influencing the decisions of the EBRC. She also suggested that the election process in Singapore will eventually progress towards more transparency.

Source

4. Roy Ngerng’s lawyer issues

The SMP ruling party was also called on by the SMP Opposition to explain the Judiciary’s rejection of Roy Ngerng to acquire the service of a senior British lawyer in the defamation suit against actual PM Lee.

SMP Law Minister Dominic Liew explained in the SMP that the legal system of Singapore cannot be subjected to the influence of foreign elements and must stay relevant for Singaporeans.

SMP Law Minister Liew further pointed out that Singapore must forge and stay true to our own legal identity and not rely on foreign jurisdictions. He further warned about the negative impacts of accepting foreign lawyers to practice their trade in Singapore.

It is simple economics… demand and supply. If we freely admit foreign lawyers, then the Singaporean lawyers will suffer, and in turn our legal system will suffer.

– SMP Minister For Law, Dominic Liew

Source

5. Education issues

Although, the Singapore education system is ranked among the first in the world, there were still issues that needed to be debated with regards to the sustainability of the education system.

One key issue is the prevalence of tuition culture in Singapore. Several SMP MPs mentioned that evidence of existing tuition culture in Singapore reflects that the education system is not working well.

Minister Vanessa Lim, the SMP Minister for Education, defended the education curriculum as being a work in progress and pointed out that viable schemes to improve academically-weak students are under already considerations.

The SMP Minister for Education also pointed out that the one-size-fits-all education curriculum is fast becoming obsolete, and the SMP ruling party is looking at curriculum that will amalgamate innovation, creativity and a conducive environment for students in the system.

Nonetheless, the SMP Minister admitted that much work and less talk will be needed especially since the mindsets of most Singaporeans are still focused on the grades.

Source

A pretty insightful initiative

The SMP is actually a legitimate and professional set up of the Parliament judging from the deep insights offered and passionate debates of the SMP MPs. The SMP initiative even has the professionalism to hire writers and produce articles about the discussions during the Parliament.

Much have been done to piqued the interest of Singaporeans especially of the younger generations about the politics of Singapore, the SMP is actually a pretty well-done initiative of the government to that effort.

Learn more about the Singapore Model Parliament on their Facebook page or on their main website.

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The post 5 Important Motions The Singapore Model Parliament Discussed That You Completely Missed was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

Ready… Jet set… Go!

Meet Malaysia’s Kim Lim: Chryseis Tan.

She is the daughter of Malaysian billionaire, Vincent Tan, who has a net worth of $1.2 billion. The businessman and investor is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Berjaya Group with businesses in property, golfing, gambling, and resorts. He owns three football clubs around the world — Wales’ Cardiff City Football Club, Belgium’s K.V. Kortrijk, and Bosnia’s FK Sarajevo. He is also co-owner of Los Angeles Football Club.

Singaporean billionaire Peter Lim, on the other hand, merely owns Spain-based C.F. Valencia.

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One of Tan’s 11 children (yes, really), Chryseis has it all and leads an enviable jet-setting lifestyle, much like Kim Lim. And guess what? The two are actually acquainted and seem pretty chummy too:

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They also sport matchy-matchy outfits in their spare time:

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Both are ardent supporters of their daddy dearest’s football club.

Chryseis Tan:

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Kim Lim:

Like any other girl, Chryseis enjoys shopping with her girlfriends.

And taking mirror selfies, of course.

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Unlike any other girl, these are what she buys:

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And of course, she gets chauffeured around so she can shop till she drops.

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When not shopping, she’s probably busy jet-setting.

In a private jet, no less.

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Or on a helicopter.

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For this year’s Electric Daisy Carnival (also known as EDC, an electronic dance music festival) in Las Vegas, the heiress arrived in a helicopter. Talk about arriving in style.

Sometimes, she is just enjoying life on a yacht.

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And taking pictures on exotic jaunts in Portofino, Italy.

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Or having fun in a winter wonderland.

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She could be in London the next day for breakfast.

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Sorry boys, she’s taken

Her boyfriend is Faliq Nasimuddin, the son of the late billionaire Tan Sri Nasimuddin Amin, founder of conglomerate Naza Group – one of Malaysia’s biggest names in the motor-trade industry.

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For her 26th birthday, she threw a lavish party.

With eight customised cakes.

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Despite leading a flamboyant lifestyle, family still comes first.

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If you can’t get enough of Chryseis, you can stalk her on Instagram here.

You’re welcome.

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Featured image via Instagram
With reference to Wikipedia, Next Shark

The post Move Over Kim Lim, There’s Another Billionaire Daughter In Town — Chryseis Tan was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

Because we cannot resist asking her for an interview

This post is a follow-up of the 20 Potential Candidates to look out for in the coming General Election.

Things have been moving quickly for Kevryn Lim and the National Solidarity Party (NSP).

Earlier this year, NSP subtly unveiled the 26-year-old in their community walkabouts.

Last month (June 2015), Ms Lim released a public figure profile on Facebook.

President of the NSP, Sebastian Teo introduced Ms Lim as an active volunteer with the NSP. Mr Teo further added that Ms Lim is in charge of the NSP’s social media communications, and is a member of the NSP Youth Wing Organising Committee.

Although Ms Lim has not been officially unveiled as a potential new candidate, she has already gained a lot of popularity and media attention, largely because of her close association with former NSP candidate Nicole Seah, as well as for her looks and her history of modeling.

MustShareNews caught up with Ms Lim to talk about her background, her passion in politics and modelling, and what she thinks about Nicole Seah.

Having a rational mindset towards Singapore’s politics

At the age of 17, Ms Lim began her travelling around the world, where she had to shuttle in and out of Singapore over the past 10 years.

Traveling extensively around the world allowed Ms Lim to shape her views about the Singapore political and social structure.

Ms Lim opinionated that even developed countries like Singapore consists of people who falls through the cracks and are deprived of the opportunities and the benefits of living in a developed country.

The founder of events company EM.DM further questioned the transport policies in Singapore and suggested that Singapore could learn a tip or two about the public transport system of our friendly neighbour, Australia.

One thing we can learn from Australia is part of their transport initiatives. If you are travelling within the city area [in Australia], you do not need to pay any bus fare. If the Government is encouraging Singaporeans to make use of public transport, why aren’t there policies and initiatives that are introduced to support — instead of increasing bus fare and building of more Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) gantries.

– Kevryn Lim

Why indeed? @Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew

Source

Ms Lim also opinionated that the biggest challenge that opposition parties in Singapore faces is an uneven playing field set by the ruling party since opposition parties are often perceived as a threat to the ruling party.

[Oppostion parties] have hands tied behind, and the goalpost is constantly shifting.

– Kevryn Lim

However, Ms Lim was also quick to point out that the Government of Singapore has done well in many aspects — such as the stability of the political structure,

Comparing to Hong Kong, definitely, Singapore has a more stable political structure. There are no riots and protests every now and then, which I actually participated and try to experience it when I was living in Hong Kong. I definitely would not want to see [riots and protests]in Singapore.

– Kevryn Lim

and the various initiatives that the Singapore government implemented for the Senior Citizens.

I think one of the best policies introduced are the various initiatives that have been introduced to benefit our senior citizens. NSP has fought very hard in the 2011 election for our senior citizens and I believe without their perseverance, we would not see this initiatives implemented today.

– Kevryn Lim

Source

Time for the younger Generation in Singapore to make a change

A sense of anticipation that the time has finally come for Singaporeans to shape the society urged Ms Lim to enter Singapore’s political scene. The potential electoral candidate also wishes that her entry into politics will help to inspire the younger generation of Singapore to be more involved in the political scene of Singapore.

I felt that finally, there’s a chance for us to have a say. I would like to create awareness and interest of the younger generation to start contributing politically and be more proactive as they are the future of Singapore.

–  Kevryn Lim

As a Member of Parliament, Kevryn will……

take up the post as a full-timer if she gets elected — she emphasised that serving Singaporeans is the main reason why she is interested in contesting for the General Election.

I will be a full-time MP as this is the reason why I chose to stand for election. I am here to serve the people and they will be my priority. The people are the ones who build this nation, without them; there will be no Singapore. Therefore, I think that it is very crucial for me to understand them better and help in any possible way.

– Kevryn Lim

However, Ms Lim has not ruled out balancing between matters of her company and her Member of Parliament duties should she get elected, and she is confident that she will be able to manage between the two duties.

After all, this is my company, I can always hire more people to manage it but you can never get a replacement to serve the people. We have many MPs who are also juggling with several positions and MPs holding over 60 directorships; I only have 1 company to manage as compared to them. If it is not a problem [for them,]I don’t think it will be one for me.

– Kevryn Lim

Ms Lim also underlined the importance of solving income inequality in Singapore.

I find that there is an urgent need to provide a balance between our national issues and social welfare therefore I will focus to address income inequality in the Parliament.

– Kevryn Lim

One reason on why she wishes to address income inequality is because of the senior citizens, whom Ms Lim described as “the root of Singapore”.

The country and society is progressing in a very rapid form in the past 5-10 years, leaving them [senior citizens]behind and struggling to catch up with the change. They have contributed enough to the growth and development of the country and now it is time for them to enjoy their fruit of labour comfortably without having to worry when the next meal is and where they have to sleep.

– Kevryn Lim

Source

Being associated with Nicole Seah

Ms Lim is happy about being associated with Nicole Seah.

According to Ms Lim, the former NSP member was also a source of inspiration to venture into politics and represent the younger generation.

Being my senior, she has inspired me a lot, to represent the young generation and make them realize that they have a say in Singapore if they want to.

– Kevryn Lim

Ms Lim was quick to remind us that her and Ms Seah are not exactly the same, but they both do share the same passion to bring a change to Singapore through politics.

I believe that Nicole and I have our own strengths and personality. But one thing in common is that we are here to make a difference, we dare to change

– Kevryn Lim

Source, Source

Her modeling passion

Having studied Fashion Design and done modeling, Ms Lim’s passion includes modeling.

She acknowledged all the hoo-ha that have been going around about her prevous modeling career and opinionated that she is proud of her modeling career.

I am proud to say that I am a model and I love what I’m doing.

I like to live my life the way I want and hope to be respected for it. Modelling is not a shameful career. At the very least, I live with no regrets.

– Kevryn Lim

Ms Lim still models part time today.

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Final Word

Having finally returned to Singapore after travelling the world for the past 10 years, Ms Lim is looking to represent Singaporeans and to make a difference in through politics.

I am young and politics is a marathon. You need to have the stamina and perseverance to run the race. It is not just a short 100m sprint. I have a passion in volunteering since young and even now I am still trying to make a difference and balance out the inequalities in our society. I hope Singaporeans can give me a chance to prove myself. 

– Kevryn Lim

Ladies and Gentlemen, that’s potential General Election candidate from NSP, Kevryn Lim for you.

Not satisfied? Here is another article on the 10 things you should eye-candy know about her.

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Featured Image via National Solidarity Party
With reference to Kevryn Lim, All Singapore Stuff 

The post [EXCLUSIVE]: National Solidarity Party’s Kevryn Lim Speaks With MustShareNews was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

The great 7/7 mystery solved

Three weeks ago (7 Jul), trains across North-South and East-West lines (NSEWL) were disrupted, with 250,000 commuters affected by the worst MRT breakdown in history.

That night, Singapore’s train network looked like this:

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What really happened?

SMRT has since solved the great mystery of the massive rail disruption, attributing it to a third rail insulator due to “weak electrical resistance”. This caused electricity to flow through the insulator and led to a higher-than-normal voltage difference between the ground and the running rail, thus causing a power trip.

Electrical power to trains are supplied by this third rail.

Other factors also came into play.

Let there be salt water

A tunnel leak between Tanjong Pagar and Raffles Place resulted in water dripping onto the third rail cover. Tests revealed that there was mineral deposits with high chloride content. Copious chloride led to insulator surface contamination, which reduced its effectiveness.

The situation was aggravated by the trains’ movement, which brought about the activation of a safety feature called the 64P, also known as the Touch Voltage Protection Relay, at numerous locations in the transport network and tripped the power system.

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Leak was spotted before the incident

We know what you’re thinking: how come no one took action?

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Well, according to SMRT’s managing director of trains, Lee Ling Wee, the leak was spotted by a patrol officer the Saturday before, who classified it as “non-urgent”. Unfortunately, a downpour took place the night before the breakdown.

So what now?

SMRT is in the midst of replacing all third rail insulators, and should be completed by early 2017. Insulators with signs of electrical resistance weakness will be replaced first – such as the stretch near Commonwealth.

In addition, all 47 NSEWL traction power substations will be fixed with data loggers within the next two months to keep an eye on the insulators’ condition.

They will also be de-sensitising the 64P from 136V to 200V so it is less vulnerable to power trips.

Hopefully, this means we’ll be experiencing fewer train breakdowns.

Source

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Featured image via Ali Muhd
With reference to The Straits Times, Channel NewsAsia

The post SMRT Has Finally Identified The Cause Of Singapore’s Worst MRT Breakdown was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

DJ Rozz bashes Ladyironchef for wasting her money on four different occasions

After reading an article on The Business Times, Lush 99.5fm DJ Rosalyn Lee (better known as DJ Rozz) showed her disgust for food bloggers who are paid to review restaurants. She suggested that food reviewers have to pay for their own meals for the review to be objective and genuine.

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Rozz went on to criticize food blogger Ladyironchef for leading her to lousy food at 4 different times. She has since disregarded his reviews, and was shocked to find out how much restaurants are paying him.

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Rozz clearly felt cheated by Ladyironchef’s reviews.

So we decided to take a look at the article ourselves, and find out just how much food bloggers are paid to eat food for a living.

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Rates of advertisment by A-list food bloggers

According to The Business Times, a F&B operator paid $3,800 to Brad Lau — better known as Ladyironchef — for an advertisement on his blog. Ladyironchef has over 600,000 followers just on Instagram alone.

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The restaurant also mentioned that Daniel Ang — known as DanielFoodDiary — was paid $2,300 for his service.

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However, Daniel has mentioned that he paid for his meals, and that reviews are done anonymously to maintain a true objective.

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Seth Lui, who has 10,000 followers on Instagram, charges from $1,000 to $10,000 for advertorials on his website. He has experience in the F&B industry and had published his own book on how to be successful in the business.

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Maureen Ow, also known as Miss Tam Chiak, has 28,000 followers on Instagram, and keeps her charges below $2,000 per advertisement.

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Derrick Tan from SGFood on Foot starts his fees from $500. His lower rate is probably due to his lower following — he has 11,000 followers on Instagram.

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To Sum Up

With no less than 2 other news sites (The Middle Ground and Six-Six News) talking about food bloggers following that Business Times article, food reviewing seems like a rather prickly, if lucrative business.

Just something to think about as you make plans to visit that next new cafe that received rave reviews from your favourite food blog.

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Featured Image via Daniel Ang’s Facebook, Seth Lui’s Twitter and Brad Lau’s Facebook
With references from The Business Times, Rozz Facebook and Instagram

The post This Is How Much Food Bloggers Charge For Giving Reviews was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

The more parties, the merrier!

Yesterday (29 July), blogger Roy Ngerng — fresh from sparring with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in the Supreme Court — posted a new blog post. This time, instead of educating readers about the intricacies of CPF, he’s teaching us how to vote in the coming General Election.

Ngerng’s unveiled his master plan for an ideal Singapore Parliament, which consists of 8 political parties and the Government will be ruled via a coalition Government.

Roy Ngerng’s plan resembles the Weimar Government of Germany in the 1930s. The Weimar Government consisted of 40 political parties that ruled together as a coalition Government. The vast number of political parties was to ensure the political interests of all the people were considered in decision-making.

The Weimar Government ended up collapsing in 1933 due to various factors, including the opposing voices within the Government, eventually giving rise to Nazi Germany in the same year.

But we’re sure his plan will work out without a hitch.

MustShareNews presents Ngerng’s master plan and how you can help him achieve it — if you want.

Ngerng’s prediction for the coming General Election

Before delving into his master plan, Ngerng gave an assessment on how he thinks the General Election will pan out.

Ngerng believes that the Workers’ Party (WP) will be able to retain all current electoral divisions and win addtional seats from a Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and a Single Member Constituency (SMC).

Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is the fastest improving opposition party in Ngerng’s eye, and should be able to capture a GRC.

The Singapore People’s Party (SPP) may be able to clinch a GRC along with the two SMCs that they are contesting (Mountbatten SMC and Potong Pasir SMC).

Ngerng backs the National Solidarity Party (NSP) to capture Choa Chu Kang GRC and Pioneer SMC.

The Singaporeans First Party (SingFirst) may also capture a GRC either Tanjong Pagar GRC or Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC.

Ngerng reserves any clear prediction for Reform Party (RP) and the People’s Power Party (PPP), preferring to suggest instead that both parties have a good chance of winning a GRC each.

TL;DR

Ngerng predicts seven opposition parties in Singapore to each win at least a GRC in the coming General Election.

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Presentation of the grand plan

Enough prediction, let us get on with Ngerng’s grand plan:

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Ngerng envisions a Parliament with the opposition parties forming a majority Government with at least 2/3 of the seats. When that happens, according to Ngerng, the new Government will be able to implement policies to protect Singaporeans.

The new Government will consist of a coalition formed by various opposition parties. Ngerng ensures us that the opposition parties are already planning to meet in the coming Monday (3 August) to discuss which constituencies to run, in order to prevent three-corner fights.

How can you help achieve his plan?

Now the onus falls on you, fellow Singaporeans, to help Ngerng achieve his master plan for the good of his ego Singapore.

Ngerng explains that we need to look broadly at the electoral boundaries and plan our votes to achieve the Government that we want. Once the opposition parties are voted into government, they will be able to form a coalition government.

Where do we need to vote for Opposition?

According to Ngerng, these are the constituencies need to be won by Opposition in order for his master plan to work out.

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Ngerng wants you to vote opposition in constituencies where Opposition are already in power, and constituencies where the Opposition won more than 40% of the votes at the last election.

But that’s not enough!

To make up enough numbers for a two-thirds majority government led by the Opposition, voters will also need to vote for constituencies where the Opposition won more than 35% of the votes at the last election.

But that’s not enough!

Ngerng is callling out to all Ang Mo Kio GRC residents to vote PM Lee out of Ang Mo Kio, and for all Tanjong Pagar GRC residents to vote Minister Chan Chun Sing out of Tanjong Pagar.

Only then, it will finally be enough, and the political landscape of Singapore will look like this —

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The Parliament make-up will look like this —
– WP: 28 seats
– PAP:20 seats
– SDP: 13 seats
– SPP: 7 seats
– SingFirst: 6 seats
– RP: 6 seats
– PPP: 5 seats
– NSP: 4 seats

In the master plan, Opposition parties will occupy 63 seats (70.1% of the Parliament) and form a coalition Government that will implement new policies to finally protect Singaporeans.

Ngerng also believes that this coalition Government structure will allows us to retain key PAP ministers to oversee the Singapore’s financial economy – Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang, and Second Minister for Trade and Industry S Iswaran.

Ngerng thoughtfully left Minister Shanmugaratnam, Minister Lim and Minister Iswaran’s constituencies (Jurong GRC and West Coast GRC) all untouched in his master plan.

#BecauseOppositionEconomicsCannotMakeIt

Final advice from Ngerng

In addition, Ngerng dispensed some precious advice for all voters in the coming General Election

1. Anyone who enters into a three-corner fight is likely a mole and should be written off. You should not vote for this person.

2. Dont spoil your vote, do your part, for this plan

3. #VoteOpposition #VoteforYourFuture

We certainly hope that Ngerng’s master plan enlightened you on how to vote in the coming General Election.

Source

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Featured Image via Robert Guo
With reference to The Heart Truths 

The post Roy Ngerng Thoughtfully Teaches Us How To Achieve An Ideal Government In 2016 was created and published on MustShareNews.com.

‘Cos this is home, truly.

It’s official – SG50 is arriving next week. To commemorate the nation’s Golden Jubilee, some Singaporeans used film to show us what Singapore means to them.

After all, there’s no better time to dedicate these tributes to our nation.

Here are 10 of our favourite entries uploaded on ciNE65, a short film competition to encourage film enthusiasts to share their Singapore story through film. The public can vote for their favourite short film, but voting is now over.

Warning: Some videos might move you to tears, so get the tissues ready!

1. I’m Home

This one will tug at your heartstrings.

A boy and his mother share a close relationship and would talk about everything under the sun – from school to army to relationship problems – until the boy decided to stay overseas after getting a promotion.

His dejected mother weakly protested, saying “But Meng… this is home…”.

A turn of events soon ensued.

Will Meng eventually head home?

2. Treasure

Through the eyes of a little boy, the story unravels as he returns home from school, disheartened after failing a math paper. However, his father patiently taught him through a treasure hunt – nothing worthwhile comes easy.

After all, Singapore only became a cosmopolitan city all thanks to Singaporeans and their hard work.

3. No Place Like Home

In search of a better life, many Singaporeans are heading overseas to build a new home, just like this mother in the film.

However, in search for a new home, she had forgotten was home is exactly where she is.

“What is home without the people you love? What is home if you don’t know where you are?”

There is indeed no place like home.

4. Dedication

Based on the true story of the director’s granduncle, this short clip is a dedication to Mr. Tan Kah Wan, the assistant commissioner of police, and the pioneer generation, who dedicated their all to building better lives for future generations.

5. Home-made

This one is relatable to most of us growing up under the care of our beloved ah ma, and witnessed how much she enjoyed cooking just to bring a smile to our faces.

It was no different for this young man, whose love for cooking stemmed from the home-cooked meals his ah ma lovingly prepared for him. While in a cooking competition, he realises that his ah ma had already imparted him the most important lesson of cooking.

6. Blk 401

Growing up in Singapore, most, if not all of us, are no strangers to kopitiams. After all, it is where you can get comfort food like your favourite mee pok or cai png.

The director of this film shares with us his fondest kopitiam memories through portraying the unmistakable coffeeshop culture in Singapore.

What is your favourite kopitiam memory?

7. Reminisce

There’s nothing more noble than a mother’s love – she takes care of you and makes breakfast everyday, even if you’re in too much of a hurry to eat it.

Protagonist Mei Qing stumbles upon this realisation and reciprocates her mother’s love.

As we grow up, are we more consumed in our own world and unknowingly neglect those who care about us?

8. Unwavering

This short video was inspired by the most unlikely character – a pantry auntie. This pantry auntie was no ordinary one – she used to be a Singapore Girl.  Through her, we see the determination, passion and commitment by the Pioneer Generation.

What’s her story?

9. Sightless

As a child, his father would take him around Singapore and encourage him to try new things. The father and son share a close bond.

The son’s life changes as an accident robbed him of his sight. Nonetheless, his father spurs him on and tells him that eyes are useless if the heart is blind and that he should trust his senses and believe that he’s home.

10. Our Promise, Our Belief

This film revolves around the friendship of a multiracial trio with a flashback – it retells the story of the three friends from school to ORD to their first heartbreak to getting married, in reverse chronological order. Watch how their friendship grew stronger after overcoming the odds while discussing issues relatable to the everyday Singaporean.

Now that you’ve (hopefully) watched all of them, which are your favourite ones?

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Featured image via Facebook

The post These 10 Short Films Show Us What Singaporean Means To Singaporeans was created and published on MustShareNews.com.