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Archive for May, 2008
Archive for May, 2008
May. 31 | From the Straits Times
May 31, 2008
Chiam fulfils walkway promise made at 2006 polls
THE completion of a covered walkway in Potong Pasir marks the fulfillment of a promise Mr Chiam See Tong made during the 2006 General Election.
On Saturday, the opposition...
May. 31 | From Worldpress.org:
Jobless, desperate, homeless, and hungry, some of them tried to work illegally and were arrested, jailed, and flogged. Corporal punishment, like the death penalty, still remains a feature of modern Singapore law.
To cap it off, some...
May. 30 | From the Sayoni website:
This survey is intended to collect essential information about queer, lesbian, bisexual and transgender women living in Singapore. Women of all ages, races and nationalities are welcome to take this survey, as long as your permanent...
May. 30 | You may, or may not, have heard about the Pick-Me-Up Book , which was first launched in January this year. The book is a collection of true stories of how people managed to overcome their dire circumstances and strife to turn their dreams into reality...
May. 30 | From The New Paper.
May 29, 2008.
Mr Liu, a China national working as a waiter at the Beng Thin Hoon Kee Restaurant in OCBC Centre, had made the call to his mother in Jilin, China, after he finished work on Sunday night.
Said Mr Liu, 22, in Mandarin:...
May. 29 | From the Straits Times, May 29, 2008 Thursday:
SOME 60,000 civil servants in Singapore will get a half-month mid-year bonus in July and an inflation bonus of between $100 and $300.
Officers in the lower divisions – Division III and IV – will...
May. 29 | Eddie Choo
Why? Because in NS, it really goes like this: I pretend to be a soldier, and you pretend to treat me like a soldier. NS has become so ritualised that serving the nation has lost its meaning.
When something becomes a ritual, it loses its meaning,...
May. 28 | Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on engaging bloggers:
“Therefore, instead of just criticising them (the new media) or running them down, the best thing to do is to engage them. Hopefully they will understand our perspective.”
Najib...
May. 28 | Tan Kin Lian
Someone once said that Singapore is a “fine” city. We have a fine for littering, a fine for jay-walking, a fine for late payment of taxes, a fine for traffic offences and a fine for paying a fine late.
It is all right to have fines to...
May. 27 | Why don’t we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers.
Students with restless minds and bodies — far from being cultivated...
May. 27 | Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng updates Parliament on the disciplinary action that has been taken against the officers responsible for Mas Selamat’s escape.
May 26, 2008.
Part One:
Part Two:
May. 26 | Andrew Loh
Mas Selamat Kastari escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre on February 27, 2008.
It has been 90 days since.
There has been total silence on what the government is doing to capture him since the debate moved into the sphere of responsibility...
May. 26 | Uniquely Singapore
Leong Sze Hian
In the Channel NewsAsia report, “MediShield premiums to go up from December 1”, and the Ministry of Health’s press release on 27 April, the government is increasing MediShield premiums from 1 December.
The hike...
May. 26 | Read DPM Wong’s full speech and videos below.
Report from Channel NewsAsia:
SINGAPORE: The superintendent of the Whitley Road Detention Centre has been sacked over security lapses that led to the escape of Jemaah Islamiyah detainee Mas Selamat Kastari....
May. 26 | In the Straits Times report titled, “Subsidies cannot solve problems: MM”, MM Lee Kuan was reported to have said the following about Singaporeans asking for subsidies to help with the rising cost of living:
As long as we have a dynamic economy, we...
May. 24 | On 18th February 2008 governments, campaigners and survivors of cluster bombs from around the world will meet in New Zealand to decide what a treaty banning cluster bombs will include. It is the most significant disarmament conference the New Zealand...
May. 23 | TOC thanks JamesGomez for allowing us to reproduce the following from his website, jamesgomeznews.
James Gomez
The post 2006 GE participation and exposure to online political expression and real world political activities has given birth to a new pool...
May. 23 | From TODAY, May 23, 2008:
Alicia Wong
alicia@mediacorp.com.sg
THERE is Reach, then there is Rap. But where is the all-important Response?
It was a civil servant who put that sharp question to a minister at a new media conference yesterday, wanting to...
May. 23 | The following was sent to TOC by Seelan Palay
The Singapore government, through its government-linked company, Singapore Technologies Kinetics Ltd (ST Kinetics), manufactures, stockpiles and publicly advertises two types of cluster ammunitions for sale...
May. 22 | “Understanding the implications of inflation on your
investments and the labour market”
To raise the competitiveness of our future workforce through a holistic discussion of various issues of the labour market, including investment strategies and...
May. 22 | Andrew Loh
TOC interviews Workers’ Party members.
When Yaw Shin Leong of the Workers’ Party (WP) revealed on his blog that he had voted for the People’s Action Party (PAP) candidate, Dr Teo Ho Pin, in the 2006 General Elections, it sparked an...
May. 21 | The Online Citizen thanks the Office of Anwar Ibrahim for its permission to reproduce the following.
Anwar Ibrahim delivered a powerful speech at the CLSA Corporate Access Forum in Singapore to an overflow audience of the region’s most creative...
May. 21 | Out Of The Box is TOC’s new column by Kin Lian.
Tan Kin Lian
A few days ago, someone asked me this question, “Do you think our leaders’ performance is commensurate with their pay?” I suspect that he wanted me to comment if our leaders...
May. 20 | Leong Sze Hian and Choo Zheng Xi
让国人吃……洗洁剂?
让媒体报道洗洁剂的价格,是不是凸显了一个更深沉的利益冲突,足以危害这个国家呢?
久不久我们都能在《新报》找到智慧的珠粒。Larry Havekamp...
May. 20 | The Online Citizen would like to thank the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies for granting us the permission to reproduce this article.
Hannah Ruth Chia
Cyclone Nargis has killed an estimated 100,000 people in Myanmar and left some two million...
May. 20 | Dear readers,
The Online Citizen’s (TOC) new website was launched on 14 May 2008. The new design is a culmination of over two months of planning, discussions and coding.
While we don a new look, the objectives for TOC remain unchanged: To provide...
May. 19 |
Following the success of AWARE’s inaugural ThinkBox, “Is Singapore Ready for a Hillary Clinton?”, AWARE will host a public forum on why a man is not a financial plan. Titled, “Money: Women & Men,” this forum will discuss managing your...
May. 19 | From The New Paper
NEWS that Workers’ Party (WP) candidate Yaw Shin Leong voted for Dr Teo Ho Pin came as no surprise to the People’s Action Party (PAP) MP himself.
Dr Teo, Mayor of the North West district, had known that WP candidate Yaw...
May. 19 | Excerpts from Yawning Bread:
The best thing Asean can do right now is to suspend Burma from the grouping. Sure, such action won’t help anyone in the Irrawaddy delta, but there is not a chance in hell that this meeting will produce help anyway. If...
May. 19 | Leong Sze Hian
Uniquely Singapore
After reading the news reports about FairPrice not allowing customers to buy more than five 10-kg bags of rice, consumers may be flocking to Fairprice, thinking that it has the cheapest rice and stocks may run out.
Restricting...
May. 18 | Selene Cheng
Why is labour information being hidden from citizens? Is a culture of secrecy healthy for good governance in Singapore?
Getting official statistics from government agencies is next to impossible, as The Online Citizen (TOC) recently found...
May. 18 | This Campaign is a joint initiative by the National Committee of UNIFEM Singapore, Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics and Transient Workers Count Too. For more information about us, please look under the section of ‘Campaign HQ’...
May. 17 | Andrew Loh
It was a private screening but that didn’t stop officers from the Media Development Authority (MDA) from seizing a copy of the film, “One Nation Under Lee”, at the Tulip Room in the Peninsular Excelsior Hotel.
The Singapore Democratic...
May. 17 | Excerpts from blog posting by Ng E Jay.
Personally, I think that Yaw should not have publicly announced that he voted for the PAP, especially since he is not only a leading figure in an opposition party, but also a candidate himself. If Yaw told his supporters...
May. 16 | The Workers’ Party Organising Secretary, Yaw Shin Leong, revealed on his blog that he voted for the PAP candidate, Dr Teo Ho Pin, in the last General Elections.
In his blog post, “A vote for the other side”, Yaw said:
Actually during GE06 itself,...
May. 16 | TOC writer, Leong Sze Hian, will be speaking at the World Investor Forum this Saturday and Sunday, May 17 and 18, on the topic:
“CPF changes: How does it affect you and your children? What decisions do you need to consider?”
Venue: Suntec City, Ballroom...
May. 16 | Lim Chih Yang
It is not often that one can learn leadership lessons from The New Paper. While our local tabloid is a surprisingly good resource on how to manage one’s finances, enjoy fine dining, get the latest gossip, and contains the most comprehensive...
May. 15 |
TOC would like to give our support to the following and we urge our readers to do so as well.
A NTU Masters student is conducting an Internet survey on ”Internet Users’ Perceptions of Socio-Political Blog Credibility in Singapore”.
The survey...
May. 14 | Leong Sze Hian & Choo Zheng Xi
Let the people eat…detergent?
Does the media’s reporting of detergent prices reveal a deeper conflict of interest that may harm the country?
Once in awhile pearls of wisdom are found in The New Paper. Larry Havekamp...
May. 14 | Tan Kin Lian
Like most big cities, Singapore is getting over-crowded. It is easy to build highrise apartments and offices for a bigger population but the challenge is in transporting these people between their homes and workplaces and back.
A denser...
May. 13 | The following is a letter by Ng E Jay which was published by the Straits Times, May 14, 2008.
Internet should not be subject to the law over and above those that apply in real life
I AM one of the 13 bloggers who submitted proposals for Internet freedom...
May. 13 | Terence Lee
In a 2008 survey by Freedom House, Singapore has shown no improvement in its freedom of the press, despite the maturing of online media as a medium to air alternative views.
The latest results reveal nothing new: much has already been said...
May. 11 | Uniquely Singapore
The Unions, the Press, and the People – Part II
Leong Sze Hian
The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) founded the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) in 1971, and it remains an institution member today. (938 Live) (CASE’s...
May. 11 | Gerald Giam
Mr Viswa Sadasivan, CEO of communications training and consultancy Strategic Moves and renowned social commentator, recently gave a talk where he shared his views about politics in Singapore.
True to his style, Mr Viswa’s off-the-cuff...
May. 10 | Andrew Loh
Earlier, Leong Sze Hian and I wrote an article questioning Aljunied Town Council’s (ATC) intention to raise its Service and Conservancy charges (S&CC) to address “hardcore litterbugs” in the “dirtiest precincts”.
On Sunday, Aljunied...
May. 10 | Anthony Yeo
Since the news of the escape of Mas Selamat Kastari, there has been a lot of attention given to not only his escape but the need for everyone in Singapore to get involved in looking out for him.
This has also generated a lot of discussion,...
May. 9 | Andrew Loh
A recent public forum about youth concerns raised the issue of lowering the voting age to 18.
———
Perhaps a post-1965 Member of Parliament might initiate the debate to enfranchise these trustees of our posterity.
- Andy Ho,...
May. 7 | Leong Sze Hian & Andrew Loh
All 14 town councils run by the People’s Action Party (PAP) will not be increasing their Service and Conservancy (S&C) charges this year.
- Channel NewsAsia, “PAP town councils to freeze S&C charges this...
May. 7 | Dear friends,
TOC began with a simple aim in mind: telling the stories about Singapore and Singaporeans that weren’t being told in the mainstream press.
Now, as TOC celebrates one million page views since our creation, we can honestly say we never expected...
May. 7 | Tan Kin Lian
Many people buy life insurance to provide financial security to their family. If premature death occurs, the policy provides a cash sum to take care of the future financial needs of the family.
Insurance agents are drilled into thinking that...