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Archive for 2008
MOM should step up
Dec. 31 | Far from being isolated headline makers, recent reports of workers being left in the lurch seem to be the tip of an iceberg. TODAY
TOC speaks to public at Orchard and Clarke Quay
Dec. 31 | The Online Citizen (TOC) took to Orchard Road and Clarke Quay last Saturday to ask Singaporeans what they feel about 2008 and what they look forward to in 2009. It is the first time that TOC has reached out to the public in this manner. The team consisted...
2008: The year of the blogger-activist
Dec. 30 | Benjamin Cheah / Senior Writer On January 2nd, artist and blogger Seelan Palay held a hunger strike outside the Malaysian High Commission. He intended to protest against the detention of five leaders of the Hindu Rights Action Force under Malaysia’s...
A moment we share
Dec. 30 | 2008 was an eventful year From Tak Boleh Tahan protests to the passing of Mr JB Jeyaretnam. From relentless rising cost of living to Giant Financial Tsunami. From political leaders outrageous remarks to minibond investers’ grievance. What will...
A look back on things said in 2008 (Update: 8)
Dec. 30 | As the year comes to a close, we look back on some of the more memorable things that were said in 2008. The situation looks a lot gloomier now than when they went in but these are long-term investments. It looks under water now, but the situation...
Growing income gap threatens social fabric
Dec. 29 | Ravi Philemon / Writer Forty years ago, there was a very different Singapore. Singapore was a third world country with a GNP per capita of less than US$320. The city’s population was then growing rapidly, unemployment was rising at over 13 per cent...
Join the SDP in New Year countdown at Hong Lim Park
Dec. 29 | The Singapore Democratic Party will be at Speakers’ Corner (Hong Lim Park) on 31st December (Wednesday) from 6pm to 12 midnight to ring in the new year. According to the SDP website, the occasion is also to pay tribute to the late J B Jeyaretnam and...
Family of JBJ invites S’poreans to memorial
Dec. 29 | From the family of Mr JB Jeyaretnam Kenneth and Philip Jeyaretnam and their families Invite you to a service of Celebration and Thanksgiving to honour the memory of their dearly departed father. Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam 5:00pm on Saturday, January...
A caring society? Simply heartless
Dec. 29 | I have 700 to 800 workers in the dormitory… It is not unusual if someone dies a natural death. Gates Offshore director Paul Lee, employer of foreign workers
10 important – and worrying – statistics of 2008
Dec. 29 | Leong Sze Hian / Columnist 10 Negative statistics: Real wages down, unemployment up, productivity down, business costs up? I refer to media reports about the Ministry of Manpower’s Labour Market Third Quarter 2008 Report. I have analysed the report,...
Our whole future is at stake
Dec. 29 | It is a crucial question that the highest authority in government should answer: In view of our disastrous investments, will the state turn to Central Provident Funds for help? Seah Chiang Nee
Let’s talk sex
Dec. 28 | By Deborah Choo / Youth Writer THE RECENT saga of a 17-year-old teenager, whose story graced newspapers after being charged for having sex with an 11-year-old minor would be familiar to many Singaporeans by now. My friends and I were engaged in a heated...
Investors continue to gather at Hong Lim Park
Dec. 28 | Here are some pictures from Saturday’s gathering at Hong Lim Park, where Mr Tan Kin Lian and lawyer Mr Leonard Loo spoke. TOC’s report will be up shortly. Pictures by Boris Chan. —– *** See related posts
Where is accountability, where is fairness?
Dec. 27 | Mr Tan Kin Lian sums up 3 months of actions at last Speakers’ Corner gathering for Minibond investors. The investors are forming groups to carry on the fight with legal actions. Here is a summary of Mr Tan’s speech. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part...
MOM forces Burmese to leave Singapore due to pro-democracy views
Dec. 27 | The following is from Seelan Palay’s blog. The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) notified Burmese Overseas Patriots (OBP) after their immigration passes expired to leave the island without giving them reasons. The OBP members revealed their concerns of Burma’s...
But still a long way to go… to wherever
Dec. 27 | Online citizen journalism has taken a quantum leap in 2008 with The Online Citizen. Serious-minded and purposeful, it is emerging as the medium of choice in its chosen niche: alternative, independent analysis of Singaporean public affairs. It has also...
TOC takes to the streets on Saturday
Dec. 27 | The Online Citizen media team will take to the streets today, Saturday, 27 December, to talk to Singaporeans about the past one year and their wishes and hope for the new one. The team will be at Orchard, Bugis and Clark Quay from 6pm onwards. If you...
Employees need to be protected from unethical employers in bad times
Dec. 26 | The following is a letter to TOC from Max Chua. Dear people at TOC, First of all, thank you for being such a fabulous site!! :) Currently, there is a situation that I feel needs to be promptly addressed or looked into, at this present moment of economic...
Helping Singaporeans cope with the recession
Dec. 26 | Tan Kin Lian / Columnist Introduction Singapore’s economy is in recession. It will get worse and may take one or two years to recover. Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong has advised people to continue spending, to keep the economy growing and avoid the...
Use it or lose it
Dec. 25 | What civil society activists and conscientious citizens have to do is not just to step back and say ‘this is just tokenism, this is just concessionary’. What is probably a better strategy is to occupy these spaces, because in a sense, if you...
TOC down but not out
Dec. 25 | Dear everyone The Online Citizen (TOC) website was shut down yesterday and earlier today. This was due to some system overload issues with our host. We have temporarily rectified the problem and are looking into preventing this from happening again. We...
Merry Christmas
Dec. 25 | —– The Christmas Song —– Christmas at Orchard 2008 —– Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas —– O’ Come All Ye Faithful —–
Raymond Lim on transport and oil prices
Dec. 23 | Latest News: Power has been restored at the Singapore Flyer after outage trapped over 170 passengers for more than six hours. (See CNA report) By My Sketchbook. Click on picture to enlarge.
Recession, but MRA and food inflation up?
Dec. 23 | Leong Sze Hian / Columnist Sudden jump in Medisave Required Amount (MRA) I refer to the article, “$18,000 required in Medisave from Jan 1” (TODAY, Dec 10). CPF members who turn 55 and are able to meet the Minimum Sum (MS) requirement – which is...
Woman protests against DBS at Raffles Place
Dec. 23 | 54-year-old cancer sufferer Lin Jin Jiao yesterday strapped a cardboard sign on herself and staged a protest against DBS Bank at Raffles Place during lunch hour. Lin had invested, and lost her retirement funds in the now-worthless DBS High Notes...
Options for employers
Dec. 23 | This is our advantage. There is no other country I know that has such a range of options open to employers, with unions that are willing to support such measures. Lim Boon Heng
Employment worries of graduates
Dec. 23 | The writer of this article wishes to remain anonymous. For the coming batch of fresh graduates, there will be no doubt that employment will be the biggest worry on their minds. With the financial crisis, companies will be facing serious cash flow problems...
Leap from transport subsidy to free public transport
Dec. 22 | “Going to the other end of the spectrum, if rides were to be made completely free, that would impose a heavy tax burden on the people, as it takes S$1.2 billion just to run the bus and train systems annually.” CNA Report —– —– “A...
Stop training low-level workers, WDA
Dec. 22 | By Eddie Choo / Youth Writer Has anyone seen the recent Workforce Development Authority (WDA) advertisement? It is the one which showed a middle-aged man in his forties with his wife, as well as a group of friends of various races, sitting together in...
Transport fares not linked to oil prices? Really?
Dec. 22 | Andrew Loh At a grassroots event on 20 December, Transport Minister Raymond Lim was reported to have said that “transport fares are not directly linked to oil prices”: 21 December 2008 (Straits Times) The answer is that public transport fares are...
Mainstream media going downstream: PN Balji
Dec. 22 | Andrew Loh Former Chief Executive Officer and Editor-in-Chief of the Today newspaper, said that he sometimes “shuddered looking at some of the stories that are displayed” in the Singapore papers. Comparing the local papers to the Financial Times,...
In between the silence
Dec. 21 | KJ Can there be real transparency and accountability in an authoritarian one-party state? In popular banter, in coffeeshops, during taxi-rides, Singapore is often likened to a dynasty, a fiefdom, a monarchy. The benevolent emperor is aging, and the...
Want cheaper fares? Then you must pay more!
Dec. 21 | The money still must come from somewhere, right? It is about a 1.5 percentage point increase of your GST. So, now it is 7%. You want it to be free, do you want the GST to go up to 8.5% to run a completely free bus and train system? Raymond Lim, Transport...
How to stay lean in these tough times?
Dec. 21 | Gilbert Goh This statement is, I am afraid, easier said than done. When one decides to downsize due to financial constraints, it is always tough as we are used to a certain lifestyle that has become a part of us. The basic necessities such as groceries,...
Sinking funds: From $1 billion in 2007 to $2 billion in 2008
Dec. 21 | Andrew Loh On 2 December 2007, the Straits Times reported a new rule that caps how much town councils can put into higher-risk investments. In the report, it said: This new rule… applies to more than $1 billion in sinking funds managed by the 16...
Count our blessings, ponder on the less fortunate
Dec. 21 | —– Singapore – A Modern Metropolitan City Let us treasure this home of ours —– —– Operation Homeworks Let us care for one another —– —– Nation Builders We are Nation Builders...
MOM to meet with employer of stranded foreign workers
Dec. 20 | The following is the latest update by the good-hearted Singaporean (GHS) who’s been helping out and keeping tab on the situation with the 179 stranded Bangladeshi workers. Read his earlier update here. TOC thanks GHS for providing us with the updates. I...
Re-thinking our economic expectations
Dec. 19 | Andrew Ong Recent news have been filled with retrenchments, retrenchments and more retrenchments. It is quite disturbing to read how companies have heartlessly ‘axed’ their employees whom they deem as “excessive” in order to ride through the slowdown. Judging...
Not secret society
Dec. 19 | It’s absolutely transparent because this is not a secret society activity where there is secrecy and so on. Khaw Boon Wan, on town councils’ investments (Straits Times, 19 Dec)
Mother Machine
Dec. 19 | KJ A few days ago there was a Straits Times story about a family with four kids. (“Just enough to live on, yet they feel lucky”, December 12) It’s a regular feature that seeks public donations for the paper’s school pocket money fund. An altruistic...
Transient Workers Count Too
Dec. 18 | TWC2 (Transient Workers Count Too) Help TWC2 to help stranded foreign workers —– See related posts
Bangladeshi workers stranded, Singaporeans step forth to help
Dec. 18 | Andrew Loh This is an update on the situation with the 179 Bangladeshi workers who were reported by TOC to have been abandoned by their employers. The following update is provided by a good-hearted Singaporean who was moved by their plight to help out...
Polls Archive
Dec. 18 | Which minister deserves the 2009 MM (Minister Moron) award?Mah Bow Tan - "HDB flats are still affordable" (0%, 0 Votes)Lim Swee Say - "Every month, when I receive my CPF statement, I feel so rich" (0%, 0 Votes)Lee Kuan Yew - "My bilingualism policy was...
Blangladeshi foreign worker
Dec. 18 | My father and mother died recently. One dollar also I don’t have to send back. Bangladeshi worker Shafique Alomgir, one of the 179 abandoned by employer
Everything must pass
Dec. 18 | Timothy Tan Why authoritarianism in Asia has met its death knell In 1997, the American political journal The New Republic ran an article by Nobel laureate and economist Amartya Sen. In the article, bluntly titled Human Rights and Asian Values (1),...
Foreign workers – strangers in our midst
Dec. 17 | Sharing two video on YouTube about foreign workers in Singapore. Domestic Worker Abuse in Singapore Dust In The Wind – Construction Worker —– *** See related posts
Money, money, money…
Dec. 17 | Assets under the management of Singapore financial institutions soared by a third last year to more than US$800 billion (about $1.17 trillion)… Singapore had US$500 billion in offshore assets under management last year… The New Paper
What happened to “helipcopter vision”?
Dec. 17 | Nobody expected this to happen but the conditions have changed very negatively since September. Lim Hng Kiang
179 foreign workers abandoned by employer
Dec. 17 | Boris Chan Some 179 foreign workers from Bangladesh fear they may not have a place to sleep or food to eat in the coming days. Their employer has basically abandoned them and they are being evicted from their dormitory in two days. The Online Citizen...
