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Archive for July, 2007
Archive for July, 2007
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”....
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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may like to know that in a media statement on Dec 3, 2006, the CPF Board said that ‘under the CPF Act, all CPF monies withdrawn...
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!...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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),...
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,...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
Jul. 2 | By Leong Sze Hian
I REFER to NTUC’s proposal to reduce the CPF contribution for lower-income workers and put 40 per cent of the Workfare bonus to CPF.
On the one hand, we are putting more of the Workfare Bonus cash payout to worker’s CPF,...