One more day for submission to the photo competition organised by the Workers’ Party Youth Wing. For entry details, see http://mysingapore.wpyouth.sg
First Survey Outreach for Vote18 Campaign
The group taking a photo outside Plaza Singapura before moving on to Orchard Road.
Last Friday (28 May 2010), a few of us from The Workers’ Party conducted a public Survey Outreach, to poll the public on their views on the Voting Age. This was done in line with the launch of the Vote18 Campaign (http://vote18.wp.sg) organized by the Workers’ Party Youth Wing (WPYW).
An online survey was created at http://vote18.wp.sg/survey, but we also felt that we needed to reach out to people who might not come across our online efforts to publicise the survey. As such, during the planning phase for the campaign, we decided on conducting public survey outreaches.
We planned to take the results from both the online and offline survey efforts, and perform a review on the next stage of the campaign. Amongst the possible next stages are a number of petition outreach, where we planned to bring petition forms to the public to ask them to sign if they support the idea of lowering the Voting Age to 18.
Of course, before we even started on the first activity, there were numerous internal meetings to discuss various issues, and one of the issues we identified was that we wanted to perform the public outreaches in a proper manner. Our objective was to collect public views on the topic, and we should be doing that with as little problem or disruption as possible for anyone.
With that in mind, I wrote an email to the Police Licensing Division to ask if our planned activities require us to apply for a police permit. Shortly after, I receive an email reply plus a friendly phone call from Central Police Station, asking for more details on our intended activities. I gave them the details, and I was advised to apply for a police permit. I proceeded to apply for the police permit, and waited for the response.
Interestingly, the online form only allowed me to enter 2 dates and 1 location for events I intended to apply for, so I entered the dates for the first and last planned activities, and the location of “along Orchard Road”, one of the many locations planned.
Soon after, I received a called from another police inspector, now from the Tanglin Police Station. I believe it is probably because I entered the location and the application was routed there. I was again asked for the details, so I explained that we planned to carry out two kinds of activities – survey and petition, the background for why we are doing that, which dates we were going to conduct the activities, where, etc. After getting the information from me, I was told that the application was in progress and I could also get back to the same police inspector if I had further questions.
I received confirmation from the police inspector on 21 May 2010 that the application for petition signing activities was rejected, and we were advised to carry these out at the Speakers’ Corner. However, we could conduct the survey as long as we do no publicise a cause or campaign, mark or commemorate any event, or demonstrate support for opposition to the views or actions of any person, group of persons or any government.
We were also told that we could not wear our party uniform or display our Party logo or the WPYW logo in any way.
Personally, I do not agree with the part of the law that imposed such restrictions, but I understand that it is part of the law in force now and so I do not think that the police was wrong or trying to be difficult in imposing the restrictions. I was just happy that we could indeed conduct the survey to gather public view of people on the street, which we could not have been able to get easily otherwise.
In the case of the survey, it was just a fact-finding exercise, so it was allowed.
In the few days before 28 May 2010, we had some further clarifications, so there was a number of to-and-fro email and phone correspondences between the police inspector and me on the finer points of the can-dos and cannot-dos.
On the actual day itself, I ensured that every person conducting the survey had a short briefing from me on the points to note before starting, so as to ensure that everyone knows what they can and cannot do. Of course, everyone was pleased to know that we went through the due diligence to ensure the police allowed that activities, and we could all concentrate on the main objective of doing the survey.
With the help of the fellow members, the survey was conducted smoothly. We were outside Plaza Singapura for half the afternoon, took a short drink break, and proceeded to Orchard Road for the second half of the afternoon.
This is the first time the WPYW performs a public survey outreach, and also my first experience in applying for a police permit. I must say that the police inspector I corresponded with is cooperative and helpful in making me understand the restrictions, so that I can focus on conducting the activity properly, without worry that I might be crossing the wrong line.
One thing for sure, the WPYW will continue to go through the same process for future activities that we understand might require police permit, so that we can continue our work in a constructive manner.
Remember to watch out for announcements of future activities at http://vote18.wp.sg and http://wpyouth.sg! And of course, we can also be found on twitter (http://www.twitter.com/wpyw) and on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/wpyouth)!
Posted in Vote18 Campaign, Workers' Party, choongyong
Tagged police permit, survey, vote18
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因为新加坡是我们的国家
深夜，从沿户访问回到家里，六岁儿子乐恒在我转身关门时叫了一声“爸爸！”，微微地吓了我一跳。
我会心地笑一笑，知道接儿子放学回家后，自己匆匆帮他洗完澡后就赶急出门，整个晚上他是非常想念我。
换了舒适的衣服，拉了乐恒坐在沙发上，对他说：“爸爸知道我做Hammer的工，很迟回来，对不起。以后你长大了，你才会明白爸爸为什么要做Hammer的工。”
乐恒两眼眯成一线，笑嘻嘻地说：“你告诉我啦，你告诉我啦。”
自从我加入工人党之后，常常因为各种活动、会议迟归，乐恒也接受我的原因：做Hammer的工。有一次我还带他一块买党报，之后他还一度误解我“做Hammer”就是卖党报，还以为那是我的职业。
我解释过我做Hammer的工没有钱拿，真正的工作是做电脑的工：“打Apple Computer”。但我也从来没有想过要向他解释工人党工作的原因。
想想既然他问了，何不试试看。我就尝试用比较简单的字句来说。
“乐恒，你知道什么是政府吗？”
“不知道。”
“政府就是什么都管。政府管警察，警察管捉贼。政府管学校，学校管教学生。政府管地铁，地铁管载人。”
“那。。。政府有没有管政府组屋？”
学校前一阵子在教不同的住屋种类，他知道自己住在政府组屋。
“有，政府管建组屋，管屋子多少钱。”
他听了似懂非懂，想了想。
“政府管不管玩具？”
哈哈。
“政府也管玩具。有毒的玩具，政府不让进新加坡，不然毒死儿童，怎么办？”
“哦。”
“现在的政府是PAP。”
“以前的政府是WP？”
他知道WP就是Workers’ Party，也就是Hammer。
“不是，一直是PAP。”
“那，乐恒，政府也有一群人在讲话，说很多新加坡的东西。但是里面有很多PAP的人，只有两个WP的人。
政府说组屋要多少钱，WP说为什么要那么多钱。”
“放多一点人咯。”
“要人家选啊！”
“你会不会进去讲话？”
“我哪里知道，有人选就有咯。”
“进去讲话了会不会更迟回来？”
我知道答案会让他伤心，但一向来我都主张不说谎骗孩子：“一定会。”
失望地：“哦。”
但他两眼一转，又问：“那组屋便宜以后，就不用进去讲话啦！”
我笑笑：“还有很多别的东西啊！ERP很贵，水电费很贵，学费很贵。在里面讲话是为了帮新加坡，让新加坡更好。”
这时他说：“我可以帮你吗？”
“你乖乖听话，以后用心读书，知道很多东西，就可以帮我咯。”
他很有信心地：“我也要帮新加坡！”
“为什么呢？”
“因为新加坡是我们的国家嘛！”
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Applied for Police Permit
About 2 weeks ago, I blogged about writing in to the police to ask if we need to apply for a police permit for our planned Vote18 Campaign.
Shortly after (I must say, quite efficiently), I received an email in response to the email I wrote, and also a friendly phone call from someone at Central Police Station to find out more about our intended activities. I explained that we were planning for survey outreaches and petition outreaches, and he advised that I would need to apply for a permit under the “Other Assembly” category.
Once I confirmed the date and locations for our outreaches, I proceeded to the online application at spf.gov.sg to make the application. It was an easy enough form to fill in, but somehow the fields do not allow me to put in enough information to give a good picture of what we are planning. The officer told me that they will contact me again after I submitted the application. The application was submitted yesterday, and the site told me it will take 7 working days, so I will keep my fingers crossed again. 
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因为我喜欢华文嘛！
早上和孩子整理书包时发现学校放了几张额外课程的报名表格在他的书包里。
去年我们因为这些额外课程都须另外付费，在和孩子商量了过后，决定不报名。
这次我又问了孩子：“你想上arts class(美术班)，music class(音乐班)还是Chinese class(华文戏剧班）？”
孩子想了想：“Chinese class吧.”
“为什么呢？“
”因为我喜欢华文嘛！“
听了这句话，我心里很欣慰。毕竟我这个做爸爸的成功地做到第一步：让儿子对自己的母语有兴趣。孩子的华文程度，在同龄的孩童们中算是不错，但毕竟年级小，要学的东西还多着。希望我能够让他对母语的兴趣一直保持着，不会象许多人们一样对学习母语持着厌恶的态度。那样，我想，我身为父亲的责任也算完成了一部分。
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Vote18 Campaign
Since the first YouthQuake forum organised by the Workers’ Party Youth Wing (WPYW), the issue of lowering the voting age to 18 has been one that is being discussed frequently amongst the WPYW. The first YouthQuake forum triggered some discussions online and in the newspaers, and even a Parliamentary question was raised, but as usual, it was easily dismissed with a not-so-convincing argument.
When the electoral reforms like increasing the number of NCMPs, and the addition of the Cooling Off Day were announced a few months ago, the WPYW ExCo were thinking – this will be a good time to bring the issue up again, since the lowering of voting age is also closely related to electoral reforms. We went about planning for street surveys to gather the thoughts of people on the issue, and also plan to carry out a number of petition signing public outreach to gather support for this.
However, one obstacle we meet along the way is that we realised that what we are planning could possibly require a police permit or some sort of license under the Public Order Act, since a gathering or assembly to demonstrate support for or opposition to the views or actions of any person, group of persons or any government or to publicise a cause or campaign falls under the Act.
Not wanting to take chances, I have gathered our planning documents and just wrote an email to the Police Licensing Division minutes ago to enquire on the matter, as President of WPYW. Hope that I have a favourable reply soon and clear indications the next steps we can take.
Keeping my fingers crossed….
Kang Heng
I have two boys: the elder one a 5-yr-old who inspired the setting up of my other blog, and the younger one a 22-month-old toddler that is the cute boy you see in the photo above.
His name is Koh Kang Heng (许康恒), because we wanted him to be healthy (健康，永恒). This is because Luck Heng the elder brother has been suffering quite a lot from ill-health, mostly due to the fact that he is attending pre-school, where we all know is a breeding ground for all sorts of germs and viruses to spread.
Kang Heng grew up pretty ok, but around the time when he was six months old, we noticed a little action that he seem to be doing frequently. He was bobbing his head once in a while, as if his neck muscles suddenly decided not to support the weight of the head. At our regular 6-month check up with the paediatrician, we mentioned it to him. However as the doctor could only imagine how it looked like from our description, he suggested it was just a weak neck (which is pretty common among 6-month-olds) and told us to just monitor.
As Kang Heng grew older, hand movement started to add to the occurrences of the head bobbing. Some people who see it thought it was rather cute (as with everything a baby does) and we did not think very much of it. At the same time, he was still not learning how to sit on his own, and mostly liked to laze on us whenever we carry him. We attributed all this to his ‘laziness’.
Gradually, we started to see that the head bobbing and hand raising movements might look like something that is out of the ordinary. After a quick search on the Internet, we learnt of the condition known as Tic, a sudden nonrhythmic movement or vocalization involving discrete muscle groups. It did not look too serious, and some equate it to hiccups. As such, we just thought of leaving it to the 12-month checkup with the paediatrician.
At the 12-month checkup, while describing the symptoms to the paediatrician, the attacks came. After witnessing it for himself, the paediatrician immediately referred us to a neurologist paediatrician for follow-up check, as he suspects this is a form of infantile spasm.
Luckily, we were able to get an appointment with the neurologist the following day. We went back to research on infantile spasm, and the outlook did not look very good: the wikipedia page says that statistically 5 out of every 100 children with that do not survive beyond 5 years of age. Both Yoke Ping and I went to the neurologist with a heavy heart, and I remember I cried as I drove on CTE that day.
The neurologist looked at Kang Heng, and order a EEG Test. This is a test where we had to place multiple electrodes on the scalp of Kang Heng to record the activities of his brain wave. It was really a heart wrenching sight to see one’s offspring with all those electrodes attached to the head, but what needs to be done, needs to be done.
The nurse recorded the brain waves under various conditions: awake, strobing lights, lights, dim lights, sleep etc. The most difficult part was to get Kang Heng to sleep. After some hours struggling in the EEG test room, we finally was able to get the recording done. The neurologist studied the report, and told us a slightly better news than we expected. The worst case scenario for such a EEG test is that it indicates disturbed brainwaves in all parts of the brain. In the case of Kang Heng, it seems to be localised in certain portions of the lower brain on the left and the right side. The diagnosis we get is “partial onset seizure”.
To be sure about the diagnosis, the neurologist ordered an MRI test the following day. As such, the next after was spent trying to get Kang Heng to sleep on command again, since if he was awake, he would not keep still enough for the imaging in MRI to be captured properly. Kang Heng is one who will struggle a lot to keep himself awake, if he does not want to sleep when I try to rock him to sleep. The doctor gave some sedatives to make it easier for Kang Heng to go to sleep, but he kept on fighting it, shaking his head vigorously to keep awake. After some hours of struggling, he finally fell asleep, but both Yoke Ping and I were also exhausted. Finally the MRI was captured properly.
We had to go back to the neurologist a few days later for the MRI report. It turns out that the MRI report confirms the results of the EEG test, just that while one suggests that it is the malformation on the left temporal lobe that affected the right temporal lobe, the other suggests the reverse. It does not really matter. What matters is that we now know that both sides’ temporal lobes had some malformation, and that is give rise to the seizure attacks.
I asked the neurologist does the malformation mean that Kang Heng will lose some functions in future. The answer is that the left and right temporal lobes are responsible for the language (or speech, I cannot remember clearly) functions of a person. However, due to this concept known as ‘plasticity’, the brain can try to use the ‘good’ portions around the malformed portions to try to compensate. The pre-condition is to keep the seizures in check such that the brain will stop using the malformed portions of the brain and start to learn to use the ‘good’ portions of the brain. Being a geek, I used the analogy of marking bad sectors on a harddisk and using other sectors around it to help myself understand this better. And the good news is that plasticity is higher the younger the person is. This means that as long as we are able to keep the seizures in check, there is a good chance that Kang Heng will be able to compensate for the loss of functions due to the malformed part of his brain.
Thus starts the regiment of giving Kang Heng the medications twice day. We started to give medication as instructed by the neurologist. The seizures still came at the rate of around 1 per day. Dosage was adjusted, and after a few days the frequency of the seizure was stretched slightly to 1 per 2 days. The cycle of adjusting dosage and sometimes medicine repeats, and along the way the frequency of seizure also fluctuates up and down. Sometimes it is once for 4 days, sometimes it is a series of 1 seizure for 3 consecutive days. Along the way, we simply followed the neurologist’s advice to vary the dosage and also switch medicine when he finds that the original combination did not work well on Kang Heng.
These 2 video will give you a better idea of what happens when a seizure attacks.
He would usually start with being very daze and will not respond to our prompting. Then the area around eye brows and sometimes the nose will flush red. When the seizure comes, he will stare in space while the hands raise in the air for a few seconds. When he is in a sitting position, his head will bob (at around 0:12 position in the video).
We finally found one combination of medication plus dosage that successfully dragged the time between seizures to 4 weeks recently, however after that on 2 consecutive days he had 2 mild seizures with one twitch each.
While treating the seizure, the neurologist also pointed out in the first few visits that Kang Heng seemed to display traits of developmental delay. Specifically, at 12 months Kang Heng was not able to sit independently without external support. He recommended a physiotherapist to us, and we took up the advice.
The physiotherapy sessions started sometime in Mar or Apr 2009, and we really observe marked improvement in Kang Heng’s gross motor skills over the months. By Dec 2009, he was able to sit, pull to stand, stand independently for a few seconds, cruise along furniture and take 2-3 steps independently. For a child with development delay, we think it is tremendous improvement, we have heartfelt thanks to the physiotherapist that helped us through this journey.
Other than gross motor skills, Kang Heng’s speech and cognitive skills development are also delayed. We are now exploring starting speech therapy for Kang Heng, since he already starts to babble some unintelligible sounds. We have also queued up for a vacancy in one of the early intervention programmes, but still waiting.
My wife and me has accepted that Kang Heng may be slower in everything when compared to kids of the same age. However, luckily he is a rather happy kid, and we just let things take their own course. One thing for sure, every little progress he makes, that was easily taken for granted by parents of normal children, is a lot more appreciated by us.
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You have until 23.59 today…
… to vote for the essay you like in the Essay Writing Competition organised by the Workers’ Party Youth Wing as part of this year’s National Day Celebrations – “What is your ideal Singapore?”. Vote for them before 16 August 2009 by clicking on the ‘like’ link to increase the score that the essay you favour gets. You can always ‘like’ more than 1 essay.
The essays are:
Of course, if you happen to read them after 2359hrs tonight, you can still ‘like’ the essays, just that it will not contribute to the final score for the essays.
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An ideal Singapore and wishes for the Nation
Do you have an ideal Singapore in mind, one place where you truly call home, no ifs no buts, no complains and nothing yuo need to tolerate, just somewhere that closely resembles your version of paradise? Ok, paradise is a mythical place and no where on Earth can truly claim to be the perfect paradise, but one can surely dream right?
Some young people penned down their vision of an ideal Singapore, and submitted their entries to an Essay Writing Competition organised by the Workers’ Party Youth Wing (WPYW). The deadline for submission is today – 9 Aug, so you could spend part of today to write a short 500-word essay and stand to win Borders gift vouchers worth as much as $150. Simply send the essay to essay@wp.sg, but of course you would want to read the Terms to Participants first. Alternatively, you can also go to WPYW’s Facebook page to vote on essays that you like.
Of course, not everyone has a flair for writing, but I am sure everyone has a desire/want/wish for the kind of country they want. Earlier this month, I started a hashtag (#ndp09wish) on Twitter to encourage people to condense these thoughts into the 140 characters of Twitter, and it is interesting to see the kinds of wishes people come up with. I copied some more interesting ones below:
-
@anarchetype
I wish we can eat and drink on all public transport #ndp09wish 15 days ago -
@wpyw
A good wish! RT @csllim : I wish all Singporeans dare to wish#ndp09wish 16 days ago -
@dwcw
#ndp09wish I wish there would be no such thing as STOMPers. 16 days ago -
@josephinekoh
#ndp09wish I wish that the Singapore govt would love us more and that we learn to love one another. 16 days ago -
@sharoncsy
I wish for Singaporeans to not be afraid of realizing their dreams, even if it means dropping out of the ‘paper chase’. #ndp09wish 16 days ago -
@tweetsg
I wish smelly NS men can still take public transport #ndp09wish 16 days ago -
@wpyw
RT @eechuan : My wish for SG is for all to realise that there is more to life than GDP growth and $$$ #ndp09wish 16 days ago
To bring it one step further later, I was thinking it would be interesting to be able to add a little Singapore Flag in my Twitter avatar, just to display my patriotism and started a Twibbon called Singapore Wish, and a new hashtag (#sgwish), and hope that the wishes for Singapore goes beyond today. I view Singapore Wish as both our wishes for Singapore, and our aspirations for ourselves. Our hopes and dreams should not have a deadline.
To add the Singapore Flag in your Twitter avatar, click on the following image:
So, beyond the celebrations today, why not spend some time to pause and reflect on your dream for the country and your dream for yourself.
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