In January 2012, Mr Fandi Ahmad, who was much loved for his prowess in the local footballing scene, gave an interview to theToday newspaper in which he recounted some of the hard times that have befallen him and his family.
Mr Fandi rose to fame in the 1980s when he helped Singapore to win the Malaysia Cup in 1980 and then took his skills to Europe, playing with some of the big names in the football world.
Passed over for foreigners
When his playing career ended, he returned to Singapore to try his hand in coaching and business.
Unfortunately, the path was less straightforward. He was passed over for national coach by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) and a couple of business ventures he entered failed.
He is not alone. Another local footballing great, Mr Terry 'Captain Marvel' Pathmanathan (photo on right), feels the same way.
Also ignored for the national coaching position, Mr Pathmanathan said: "Maybe it's the thinking the FAS has - believing local coaches are inferior to foreigners. I'm tired of saying that local coaches should be given a chance."
He added: "I don't think we're short on local options...FAS has no respect for local coaches. After all I have done for my country as a player and as a coach, this is what I get?”
Fandi's and Pathmanathan's treatment reflects a bigger problem where foreign workers are often unjustifiably hired over locals under the PAP's foreign talent policy.
Such discrimination will not be allowed under the SDP's alternative immigration policy where the FAS would have to demonstrate why Messrs Fandi or Pathmanathan do not have the requisite skills before it is allowed to hire a foreign coach.
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This does not mean that the Association is bound to employ a local. It does, however, mean that FAS would have to justify its stance. At the very minimum, our homegrown talent would not be treated so shabbily.
A family tragedy
In 2008, Mr Fandi's wife, Ms Wendy Jacobs, slipped and fell in her home. She suffered head injuries and had to undergo extensive medical treatment and care. This took a toll on the family's finances. Mr Fandi was unhappy with FAS' attitude as he felt that the Association was not respectful of his talent. Calling the organisation "incompetent", he said: "To tell you the truth, I was ready to continue then. But they (the FAS) never got back to me. They only did so in March, three months later, and offered excuses like they could not contact me earlier."
Mr Fandi admitted: "The medical bills are mounting for me and made worse by the fact that her condition is not covered by insurance."
In return, she would pay only 10 percent of her hospital bill and would be afforded complete treatment, with the patient and her family given peace of mind.
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Such a policy would certainly not burden the Fandi household (they have five children). No family should be financially ruined just because one of its members meet with an major illness.
Buying an affordable home
Under financial strain, Mr Fandi had to sell his terrace house and buy an HDB flat. But even that was not easy. He said: "I am in the process of applying to buy a HDB flat. But I don't have enough in my CPF savings. So things are a bit complicated."
The SDP's housing policy would allow Mr Fandi to buy a 5-room flat for about $200,000 under the Non-Open Market (NOM) scheme. Such a price is much more realistic and affordable for the Fandi family, or for that matter, thousands of families across Singapore.
Under the NOM scheme, Mr Fandi would then not be able to re-sell his flat on the open market but only back to the HDB. The trade-off would be that he would not have to sink his life's savings into finding a home for his family.
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Policies have the ability to help or hurt people. This is why the SDP has drawn up workable solutions that focus on helping our people and raising their quality of life as opposed to policies that are oriented towards profit-generating for the Government. If the SDP's healthcare policy had been in place, Mrs Fandi would have paid an annual premium based on their income at the prevailing time (which would have worked out to a fraction that they pay to their Medisave) into one national fund which would then pay the bulk of the bills.
If a national soccer hero like Mr Fandi Ahmad can be hurt by current policies, what more the average Singaporean?
Source: YourSDP.org