Home » Archive for July, 2007
Archive for July, 2007
Breaking News: MOM’s 2nd quarter report on employment
Jul. 31 | The Ministry Of Manpower (MOM) has issued a press release on the employment situation for the second quarter. The release is titled: “EMPLOYMENT SITUATION IN SECOND QUARTER 2007: Continued record employment growth with sharp fall in unemployment”....
Technology can be a paper and a pen
Jul. 30 | By Ney Reed It never fails to amuse me how Singaporeans commonly tend to narrowly and naively understand technology as only constituting computers, computer systems, information systems and so on. Because technology is supposed to bring about greater...
TOC welcomes Ephraim Loy on board
Jul. 29 | With effect from 1st August 2007, our Editorial team will be expanding to include Ephraim Loy. Ephraim is currently a second year student at the Singapore Management University and is a member of the Young PAP, Bedok Reservoir-Punggol Branch. He also...
The Gay Issue – YoungPAP vs Bloggers
Jul. 28 | A blog post by Young PAP member, Nicholas Lazarus, has generated reactions from bloggers. Below is a listing of some of the bloggers who have written responses to his blog article. The article – titled “The Alternative Vision For Singapore (and I...
Displaying the national flag
Jul. 28 | By Andrew Loh National Day is just around the corner but walking around some HDB estates, you will notice the scarcity or absence of the national flag being displayed. So, why are Singaporeans not displaying the flag – proudly and openly? Is it because...
Handover of ownership of theonlinecitizen
Jul. 27 | By Andrew Loh After a long period of discussion with and feedback from friends, supporters and members of theonlinecitizen (TOC), I have decided to hand over the ownership of this blogsite to my co-editor, Choo Zheng Xi. This is to address the concerns...
Fare hike for public transport in October?
Jul. 26 | By Andrew Loh The Public Transport Council (PTC) has given public transport operators until August 2007 to apply for any fare revisions they wish to make. (Straits Times, Mar 23, 2007). Any fare hike will take effect from October, according to a PTC...
Now, I have to opt out of a charity event
Jul. 26 | This is Leong Sze Hian’s letter published in TODAY, July 26, 2007. A country club in Singapore has sent a letter by ordinary mail to all its members informing them that $25 will be charged to their accounts as a donation to a charity in conjunction...
CPF – F1 or F9 : Credit extension, mortgages and ordinary/special accounts
Jul. 25 | This is the last in the series of articles on the CPF by Leong Sze Hian. Owe money – no need to pay? Singaporeans may like to know that in a media statement on Dec 3, 2006, the CPF Board said that ‘under the CPF Act, all CPF monies withdrawn...
Wee Shu Min, Li Hongyi…nothing is sacred anymore with the net
Jul. 24 | By Yeo Toon Joo Does the internet and its speed and openness change the way we communicate? Of course, the internet has drastically altered the norms and practices of open communication, and even private conversation. It opens a pandora’s box!...
Pssst! Have you heard….?
Jul. 24 | Word on the street is that one senior cabinet minister is rumored to be leaving his post. Some forum participants on the internet describe him as a compassionate person and a man of high morals. He is also known as a thinker. In the past, he had...
Time to review policies regarding HIV and Aids
Jul. 23 | This is Leong Sze Hian’s letter to TODAY published on July 23, 2007. I refer to the article, “One in 350 patients is HIV positive – and they don’t even know it” (July 18). This statistic was from the findings of anonymous tests done on excess...
Getting an overdose of Reality TV
Jul. 22 | If Mediacorp’s TV Channel 5 were a gauge of Singaporeans’ intellectual level, then it would seem Mediacorp has a poor opinion of us Singaporeans! Or could it be that Mediacorp is merely pandering to the lowest (sorry, lower) denominator of Singapore...
Minister’s blunder a cause for concern
Jul. 20 | By Choo Zheng Xi Our writer Leong Sze Hian recently pointed out that numbers for the proportion of foreign students in local varsities given by Minister of State for Education Gan Kim Yong in Parliament did not add up. Mr Gan had said in Parliament that...
MOE’s reply – Numbers still don’t add up
Jul. 20 | By Leong Sze Hian The Ministry of Education has clarified that out of the 22,933 foreign students who applied for local universities, the actual number admitted was 4,218 (18.4%). The Ministry explained that the 987(4.3%) figure given in Parliament only...
Raising retirement age
Jul. 19 | This is a letter from one of our visitors, Siew91. The Singapore government’s rationale to raise the retirement age of Singapore workers to 62 years of age is because we live longer and many of us might not have enough money to retire. While this...
University places – numbers don’t add up
Jul. 18 | By Leong Sze Hian This Channelnewsasia report titled “Enough places in local universities for Singaporeans : MOE”, quotes Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister of State for Education as saying: “The universities do give priority to local students. And for...
CPF – F1 or F9? Nominations are secret?
Jul. 17 | By Leong Sze Hian CPF members can make a revocable nomination for a CPF Investment Scheme policy and, upon death, the death benefit will be paid to the named beneficiaries, and not distributed according to the member’s CPF nomination. I understand...
Big Ideas That Changed The World : Democracy – Tony Benn
Jul. 16 | Tony Benn is a former Labour MP and cabinet minister in Britain. In this BBC film, Tony Benn looks at how the concept of democracy developed and spread across the world over the centuries from its beginnings in Ancient Greece. Particularly considers the...
More than just money needed to help poor
Jul. 15 | This is TOC writer Leong Sze Hian’s letter to The New Paper which was published on the 14th of July, 2007. I refer to the article ‘Would you work 2 shifts over 14 hours for $4.90 an hour?’ (The New Paper, 6 Jul) and the recent launch of...
The Li Hong Yi saga: the blogosphere steps up to bat
Jul. 13 | By Choo Zheng Xi Reuters, when reporting on the Li Hong Yi saga, credited the blogosphere’s work in publicizing the issue: “Li’s letter — totaling 2,000 words according to the Today newspaper — has been posted online by several Singapore...
PM’s son’s email saga a heartening development for Singapore
Jul. 13 | By Gerald Giam Army Second Lieutenant (2LT) Li Hongyi’s June 28 email complaint sent to all the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) head honchos has caused ripples on the Internet for the past two weeks. Much mud has been slung at 2LT Li for his brash...
The Prime Minister’s son – Li Hong Yi
Jul. 13 | Bloggers are blogging about Prime Minister’s son, Li Hong Yi’s email. Here are the links to some of these blogs. Li Hong Yi was awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Award for Math &Science in August 2006, as reported here by Channelnewsasia. Bloggers PM son’s...
Why do vendors get free rein in hospitals?
Jul. 13 | This is TOC writer Leong Sze Hian’s letter to TODAY, published on July 13, 2007. I refer to recent media reports about hospitals allowing salespeople into maternity wards to sell products and services to patients. It has been reported that vendors would...
CPF – F1 or F9 : Why cannot choose to make CPF last longer?
Jul. 11 | By Leong Sze Hian The default life annuity is expected to be implemented in about two years’ time, from the date of the announcement in October 2005. A default life annuity uses the prevailing CPF Minimum Sum at age 55 to purchase a fixed guaranteed...
“Peculiar Legislation: 377(A) – Symbol or Statute?”
Jul. 11 | Local Theatre Company Expects Fervent Debate at First “The Art & Life Sessions” Forum; with Participation of Political and Religious Leaders & Commentators. “Peculiar Legislation: 377(A) – Symbol or Statute?” will see Baey Yam Keng (MP),...
How to stay gainfully retired
Jul. 10 | By Yeo Toon Joo, Peter (thoughts in January 1996 on early retirement) At 30, I resolved to retire from work by age 35. Needless to say, I failed to meet that target. Humbled, I shifted my planned retirement age to a more realistic 45, then 50. Today,...
Retire later, die earlier
Jul. 7 | By Yeo Toon Joo, Peter Retire early and die young. That was what I had been led to believe some years ago. But now another study says the later you retire the shorter your life. Statistics, including Boeing Aerospace’s, support the second conclusion,...
CPF – F1 or F9 : Pay up to 22% to use MediSave?
Jul. 6 | By Leong Sze Hian According to the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) website, the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board has been recovering the cost of Medisave deduction transactions to pay patients’ medical bills through an administrative fee of $3.05...
Who decides what is best for Singapore?
Jul. 5 | By Jason Lim The principles of the government in Singapore lies in the notion that everything must be the best and therefore, there will never be anything but the best. This notion is highly demonstrated in all areas of governance found in the various...
“Every citizen is a reporter”
Jul. 4 | This is an extract from the blog, DailyKos. Meet some of the citizen reporters of OhmyNews, a South Korean venture that in 2000 became the first online newspaper in the world to accept, edit, and publish articles from its readers. It was established...
