Tan Kin Lian's Blog: 100,000 signatures so that more people will step forward

Thursday, November 27, 2008

100,000 signatures so that more people will step forward

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/11/100000-signatures-so-more-people-will-step-forward/#comment-36251

6 comments:

Anonymous said...: Quote:

"After a few weeks on the minibond crisis, I was shocked with the approach of the government in handling this matter. They were not interested to listen to the investors who have lost their hard-earned savings and understand their anguish. Instead, they appear to have taken the side of the financial institutions. I find it so unjust to the affected people."

Unquote

Mr Tan,

I fully agree with your above views and also feel the shock although I did not invest in those toxic products.

This is an eye opener to the way PAP handle crisis that affected thousands.

A good system is one where it proves itself when things turn bad, not when times are good. The gahmen clearly failed in this instance.; November 27, 2008 10:15 PM
Anonymous said...: 48) smallvoice585 on November 28th, 2008 1.46 am
Dear Mr Tan Kin Lian,

It now appears that you are really serious about getting into politics. If that is the case, I will try to be more positive towards your future plans.

Let me highlight the good points:

(1) You are a rare and brave man. I hope you will inspire other like-minded people to join you.

(2) The signature campaign, if successful, may be the tipping point for some positive developments in Singapore politics.

(3) Your aims of a more just and egalitarian society, elections made legitimate by being fully contested, leaders being more representative of people’s interests are all laudable.

But, I have reservations about 2 points:

(1) Putting a figure of 100,000 as a target can be disabling if it is not met. You may be burdened by being labelled as a failure in the future.

(2) Your repeated mention of your ready escape route of a golden and comfortable retirement is off-putting. Please imagine - if all your supporters were to listen to you and reveal all their identities and rally openly to support you, only to be told later to drop the whole project - what would happen to their careers and their families? You, the retiree, would not be there to save them! Please address this point.

I thank you.; November 28, 2008 1:55 AM
Tan Kin Lian said...: Dear smallvoice585

Please read my Q&A posted in The Online Citizen. You can get the answers from there - especially why I like to have 100,000 signatures.

I am willing to step forward, if I get substantial signatures (and not 100,000). This is for your comfort.

I hope that you can round up more people to take a positive approach.

The people who sign the petition are just asking for a contest. They are not required to express support for me or an alternative party. There is no need to fear adding a signature.; November 28, 2008 9:10 AM
Anonymous said...: I still remember back in the early 1990s when Malaysia pulled the plug on our CLOB Intl shares, affected investors were left pretty much stranded to fend for themselves.

History has repeated again.

Looking back and going forward, investors ought to know what must be changed. If they still don't and continue to follow the status quo, when another crisis hits them later on, it's just too bad.

Prevention is definitely better than cure. However, in investing, there's such a thing called prevention but no such thing called cure.; November 28, 2008 10:38 AM
Anonymous said...: My collegues at office had been gathering signatures for the peition for your appointment in the next presidency election. Singaporean do need a VOICE for the ordinary people and we believe a CHANGE in leadership is required after our so call "World Class + A-Team" done a Failed grade report in recent handling on so many sagas that involved the heartlander. We thank you for the brave step forward to lead the CHANGE, Mr Tan; November 29, 2008 6:28 AM
Anonymous said...: 133) smallvoice585 on November 30th, 2008 5.20 pm
I’m writing this because I read in the ST today that only 600 signatures so far (before yesterday) had been collected in the 3 weeks the petition had been put up. It is indeed a very slow take-up rate and is expected to slow down even more as general interest about the issue wanes and fatique sets in.

Even if the rate is constant, a simple calculation will tell us that it will take no less than 9.6 years to reach 100,000 signatures!

From being someone who had earlier questioned his credentials to be in politics, I have now changed my mind and have promised him to be more positive towards his future plans.

It’s not that I have suddenly learnt a lot about him in the space of 5 days, but it now appears that his intention to contest in elections is a serious one. Perhaps, he has some self-doubts, and he needs some proof that there are indeed large numbers of people who wish to see his political participation.

I still think having this 100,000 signature petition is a bad idea for several reasons, not the least of which is that it is not going to be a successful petition. Nonetheless, I would like to reassure him that if the petition is only to find out how many people want him to run (not how many people will support him or vote for him), then it is a no-brainer to assume that at least 66.66% would want him to run. It would not surprise us if even the PAP leadership says tomorrow that they welcome him to join the fray.

So, I hope Mr Tan Kin Lian will not waste too much time on this petition, but put more time and energy into the necessary preparatory work for his political debut.; November 30, 2008 5:28 PM