The Star Online: Metro: South & East
The Star Online: Metro: South & East |
- Singha heiress on a mission
- Migrant workers avoid Little India
- Gambling and trade zeal gives rise to match fixing
| Posted: BANGKOK: She is a poster child for a Thai elite campaigning to freeze democracy. But when Chitpas Bhirombhakdi is not on stage cheerleading for a self-styled "people's revolution", she is quietly preparing a bid for parliament. It is a contradiction that highlights the dilemma facing Thailand's oldest – but by no means most popular – political party, the Democrats, whose lawmakers recently resigned en masse from parliament to join opposition street protests. The party must soon decide whether to take part in, or boycott, a general election that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has called for Feb 2 – a decision that could determine the fate of the country's fragile democracy. "We don't know whether there's going to be a general election or not but as a politician I have to be prepared for it," Chitpas said. The Democrat-backed street protest movement has rejected the election, raising concerns that the party may decide to boycott the polls at a key two-day meeting which started yesterday. Known as the "Singha heiress", Chitpas' family is one of the richest in Thailand. Its Boon Rawd Brewery makes Singha beer, an official sponsor of English Premier League giants Manchester United. A former Democrat Party spokesman who ran unsuccessfully for a seat in parliament two years ago, the British-educated 27-year-old says her childhood dream is to become prime minister. Yet each night she takes to the stage to support a movement seeking to overthrow a government which won a landslide election in 2011, and to install an unelected "people's council" in its place. The glamorous socialite – who was picked by protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban to play a leading role in the street movement – has led marches to besiege state buildings in Bangkok. She has tended to wounded demonstrators, addressed the international media from the rally stage in near-flawless English and was even spotted riding in a bulldozer brought out to dismantle police barricades. But she insists the Democrats are not turning their back on elections. "We're not taking away democracy. "We just need some time to reform the country before we can move on to democracy," she said, explaining that problems such as corruption and vote-buying must be tackled before free and fair elections can be held. The problem, she added, is that many Thais lack a "true understanding of democracy ... especially in the rural areas". The Democrats enjoy widespread support among Thailand's Bangkok-based elite and middle class. But they have not won an elected majority in about two decades, and critics argue that the only "reforms" they are interested in are those which will end their losing streak. They face a formidable opponent in Yingluck's brother, former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whose overthrow by royalist generals in a coup seven years ago ushered in years of political turmoil and periodic street violence. The Democrats last took power in 2008 by parliamentary vote after a court stripped Thaksin's allies of power, angering his "Red Shirt" supporters who launched mass street protests three years ago that ended in a military crackdown that left dozens dead. Thaksin, who now lives in self-exile in Dubai, is adored by many outside Bangkok for his populist policies that helped to transform the country's impoverished northern hinterlands. But the billionaire tycoon-turned-politician is reviled by the elite, Bangkok's middle class and southerners, who see him as corrupt and a threat to the monarchy. Pro-Thaksin parties have won every election since 2001, most recently with a landslide victory under Yingluck two years ago. To solve the country's problems, "Thailand needs proper education on democracy", Chitpas said. "In the past, before all of this happened, very little awareness was made about politics. "In the parliament, when the bills are being passed and it's being shown live on TV, people don't watch it." If the Democrats do choose to boycott the February elections, it will likely prolong the crisis. "Their agenda is to get rid of Thaksin and to set up a regime of their own by bypassing the democratic process," said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, an associate professor at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Japan's Kyoto University. But without their participation in elections, Thailand's political system would face a crisis of legitimacy, he said. Chitpas said her hope for the future is to see a government last for a full four-year term – a rarity in a country where the military and courts have a history of intervening to remove elected governments. Even if it is a pro-Thaksin government? "Well that's the problem," she replied. "That's why we have to fix it before we can move forward." — AFP |
| Migrant workers avoid Little India Posted: LITTLE India was quiet for the most part of Sunday with foreign workers trickling into the neighbourhood in the late afternoon. Race Course Road, typically a busy meeting point for many workers, was unusually empty. However, some well-known retailers such as Mustafa Centre at Syed Alwi Road and the Banana Leaf Apollo restaurant along Race Course Road were bustling with activity. Grocery and electronic stores along Serangoon Road said their takings dropped as much as 70%. They blamed the thinner crowds of foreign workers caused by the suspension of shuttle bus services from their dormitories to Little India. Instead of going to Little India, some foreign workers decided to hang out in the neighbourhoods near their dormitories in Jurong East, Boon Lay and Jalan Kayu. Businesses in these places such as cafes, grocery and mobile phone shops said sales were boosted by workers who came looking for alternative areas to spend their day off. Shops at Jurong East MRT, which has an open field where the men gathered to relax, reported a 20% to 30% spike in sales as a result. The workers said they either chose to remain in their dorms or venture into nearby neighbourhoods for meals or to buy groceries because their bosses discouraged them from going out this weekend. Memories of last Sunday's riot at Little India was clearly on the minds of many of them. Indian national construction worker Santhosh Kota, 22, said he spent Sunday in his dorm at Jurong West to avoid trouble. "When big groups of men are together, you don't know what will happen," he said. Police officers were seen patrolling areas near foreign worker dormitories throughout the day. As at 10pm, police said, there were no incidents reported, no breaches of the alcohol ban detected, and no one was caught for consuming alcohol in public. —The Straits Times / Asia News Network |
| Gambling and trade zeal gives rise to match fixing Posted: IT'S one of the world's smallest and wealthiest countries, but a deep gambling culture coupled with sheer entrepreneurial zeal has made Singapore a big player in global match-fixing, experts say. The arrests of two Singaporean men over a scandal in Britain has again thrown a spotlight on the Southeast Asian city-state, known for its cleanliness, strict law and order and high number of millionaires. Despite such advantages, Singapore is continually linked to match-rigging around the world, testament to a network that is proving hard to eradicate – even when leading members are under arrest or police protection. Chann Sankaran, 33, and Krishna Sanjey Ganeshan, 43, were taken in by British police this month after a video-taped sting and accused of rigging lower-tier English games. The arrests come just months after Singapore launched its biggest crackdown on alleged match-fixers and locked up leading suspects, including purported mastermind Dan Tan. Singapore's Wilson Raj Perumal, a notorious fixer who was jailed in Finland and is now under police protection in Hungary, denied any involvement in the English scam after one of the suspects called him his "boss". Reports said Perumal, who says he used to work with Dan Tan and has fixed games around the world, was also named by investigators probing a multi-million dollar fixing ring in Australian state football. The latest developments are part of a chain of events set in motion more than 20 years ago, when Perumal started fixing games in Singapore before moving abroad to escape the attentions of Singaporean police. Easy international transport, a passport accepted around the world and fluency in English and Mandarin have helped Singaporean fixers spread their influence abroad with the support of external investors, most believed to be from China. The island off the southern tip of peninsular Malaysia has a popular horse-racing track and its two casinos are among the hottest in the world, raking in a combined total of US$5.85bil (RM18.5bil) in 2012. The Singapore Totalisator Board, which manages the country's two legal football betting and lottery companies, saw revenues of nearly US$800mil (RM2.5bil) in the year to March 2013, from a total population of just 5.4 million. There are also dozens of illegal football betting outfits. Gambling is so entrenched that to keep them away from the casinos, the government has levied a US$80 (RM254) charge on Singapore nationals just to get through the doors. When there is a road accident, locals take note of the stricken cars' licence plates to use them in a four-digit lottery, thinking the numbers have now used up all their bad luck and will bring good fortune to the punter. "No more burying our heads in the sand, Singapore is a nation addicted to gambling, as is much of the region," said writer Neil Humphreys, author of the football novel Match Fixer. "I no longer tell people that I have written a book on match-fixing or that I regularly write about football," he added. "When I did in the past, the initial response was – without fail – to ask for betting tips on upcoming games. That response is uniquely Singaporean." — AFP |
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