Home » Archive for July, 2008
Archive for July, 2008
More money is bad
Jul. 31 | The worse thing that any country does at a time of high inflation would be for the unions and workers to push for wage inflation. Wage inflation is different from wage increment. Wage inflation means you are pushing up wages to fully offset the inflation. Lim...
End of the “golden era”?
Jul. 31 | For the second consecutive quarter, the overall jobless rate climbed from a seasonally adjusted 1.7 per cent in December to 2.0 per cent in March and further to 2.3 per cent in June. Channel NewsAsia
Hear the thundering herds and sniff the wind
Jul. 30 | It’s time to beat the drums and cymbals! Fire the crackers and light the fire-works! China has risen! China Investment Corporation buys 10% stakes in iconic American money machines, Blackstone, a very successful private equity investor, and Morgan...
Old hat
Jul. 30 | To hold a by-election would be a waste of public funds and will be an invitation to political mercenaries to appear from the cold. They will promise the naive and the gullible the moon and the stars. Lionel De Souza (ST Forum)
Merrill Lynch
Jul. 29 | Apology: We apologise for removing Tan Kin Lian’s piece on “Business ethics” posted earlier today. It will be published at a later date. The following are excerpts from various news report on the latest happenings at US investment bank,...
A matter of interpretation
Jul. 29 | Benjamin Cheah / Senior Writer Nothing in the law states that the Law Society must wait for the Government to submit anything to it before acting On 25 July, the Straits Times interviewed Michael Hwang, the President of Singapore’s Law Society. The...
Bleeding all over the world
Jul. 28 | Singapore Inc’s Temasek meanwhile ploughed A$400m into ABC Learning at $7.30 a share 12 months ago and has watched almost 90 per cent of that evaporate. Financial Times
Not sodomised – report
Jul. 28 | Why has this medical report surfaced only today, over one month after the allegations were made, after Anwar spent a night in jail, and after the police have spent so much time and money on this case? Malaysian opposition PKR secretary-general Salehuddin...
S’pore’s soaring food prices (video)
Jul. 28 | Al Jazeera reports on the soaring food prices in Singapore and how Singaporeans are coping. In the report, one lady, who lived in a one-room HDB flat, said she was given $30 when she asked her Member of Parliament for help. “The extra cash can be used...
FairPrice extends discount scheme
Jul. 28 | NTUC Fairprice is extending its discount scheme till the end of October. This move comes after MAS revised upwards its inflation forecast for 2008 for the third time last Tuesday, it says. In a media release received by The Online Citizen, NTUC FairPrice...
Promote entrepreneurship – but what kind of stupid rule is this?
Jul. 28 | Leong Sze Hian If your wages have not been catching up with the transport fare increases, what do you do? Become an entrepreneur, as the Government has been encouraging people to be. In the report, “PM Lee says public sector should embrace entrepreneurial...
Nation Builders – revisited
Jul. 28 | As Singapore’s 43rd National Day approaches, we remember those who are less fortunate, especially the elderly. In this video, film-maker Martyn See captures some of the things which our elderly folks do, either to make a living or to ‘pass time’. Have...
What we don’t need for exciting politics
Jul. 28 | Singapore does not need coups, demonstrations in the streets, people power, plots and conspiracies, wild allegations and uncalled for defamatory remarks to make our politics exciting. Goh Chok Tong
SM Goh, please love your country more than the PAP
Jul. 28 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong recently addressed grassroots leaders at a National Day event in Hougang. In his address, he gave Hougang grassroots leaders an idea of how to play the role of an effective “opposition”...
Politcal saber-rattling
Jul. 26 | If you want to negotiate, lets negotiate. There is no need to encroach, no need to test the market or our waters. Malaysian Foreign Minister on S’pore claims to areas around Pulau Batu Puteh
The 5 stars of our flag
Jul. 26 | As National Day approaches, it is an appropriate time for us to reflect on the values we hold as Singaporeans. The Online Citizen would like to have your opinion on what you think these values are or should be – individually and as a nation. The five...
Crawling traffic – literally!
Jul. 25 | I wish to say the design of the traffic flow by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) consists of one giant bottleneck after another. Motorcyclists have it worst. They must literally crawl up the bridge using their legs. Sylvester Lim (Straits...
Hunger is the key
Jul. 24 | Make sure that our young people are hungry. If our young people are not hungry enough, bring in hungrier ones from overseas. Make them feel hungry, increase the hungriness index. Philip Yeo (Straits Times)
Singapore has an independent judiciary
Jul. 24 | The following letter by the press secretary to the Minister for Law was published in the Wall Street Journal on 23 July. Your editorial “Judging Singapore’s Judiciary” (July 15) perpetuates the baseless allegations and errors of fact...
The real last
Jul. 24 | We cannot trust our sports official when they say anything regarding the use of the National Stadium because contrary to their statements, another major event… is going to be held there on 28 July 2008 (next Monday). Singapore Life And Times
Feeding our babies to the economy monster
Jul. 23 | Andrew Loh / Deputy Editor This article is inspired by what Mr Wang wrote on his blog – a very thought-provoking entry titled, “Human rights and the Government baby incentives, Part 1”. It led me to wonder why exactly Singaporeans would want to...
Indignation 2008
Jul. 23 | Singapore’s 4th annual Pride Season is coming again – in August 2008. The list of events is rapidly coming together, and you can watch the list grow through the link “Calendar” below. There are talks and forums, art and literature, and of...
A charitable cause
Jul. 23 | Tan Kin Lian / Senior Writer During the past two years, several high profile charities in Singapore have come under the spotlight. They were involved in financial and administrative irregularities. These notable cases are the National Kidney Foundation,...
We have done it before?
Jul. 23 | We remain committed to finding and capturing Mas Selamat no matter how long it takes. We have done it before. Wong Kan Seng
$1.5m to help needy cope with inflation
Jul. 22 | The following is a media release by NTUC Fairprice which was received by The Online Citizen. NTUC FairPrice Foundation Contributes S$1.5 million to Help Needy Cope with Rising Cost of Living Contribution is part of the FairPrice Million Dollar Food Voucher...
Why so silent, PAP Town Councils?
Jul. 22 | Andrew Loh / Deputy Editor In this time of record inflation, rising costs and record fuel prices, why aren’t the Town Councils, especially the PAP-run ones, doing anything to help residents cope? The PAP town councils together have more than $1 billion...
Too much security is a worse disease
Jul. 21 | Indeed a completely security-sealed country is one which will suffocate enterprise and liberty. It is a cure worse than the disease it is try (sic) to prevent. K Shanmugam (Straits Times)
Fighting inflation – suggestions for the Govt
Jul. 21 | Leong Sze Hian / Senior Writer I refer to the article “Tharman: Pay rises no cure for inflation” (ST, Jul 10). It states that “Singapore must guard against a second round of inflation, which could happen if wages are raised to keep pace...
I am a patriot
Jul. 20 | As our Day of Independence, or National Day, approaches, we reflect on the meaning and relevance of being patriots of our country. Too often, patriotism is either dismissed as something which is abstract and irrelevant in this pragmatic and materialistic...
Boring propaganda
Jul. 19 | The boring thing about NDP is that the story is the same. It’s the same old fairy tale of how Singapore climbed from third world to first by overcoming tons of obstacles and adversities under the capable leadership (of the PAP). It gets really boring...
No teeth, but a sharp tongue
Jul. 18 | Whether the human rights body we establish will have teeth, I don’t know. But it would certainly have a tongue, and I hope it would have a sharp tongue. Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo (TODAY)
Navigating Singapore’s new media environment
Jul. 18 | Below is Gerald Giam’s speech at the Reel Revolution learning talk, organised by The Substation, on 12 July 2008. Gerald Giam | Deputy Editor Singapore was ranked 153rd out of 195 countries by Freedom House, in its 2008 report on media freedom. A...
Anwar Ibrahim’s press statement
Jul. 17 | From the office of Anwar Ibrahim. On Saturday, 12-07-2008, the police came to my house to serve a Section 111 Criminal Procedure Code notice, harassing my family and demanding my presence at the IPK Kuala Lumpur (Federal Territories Police headquarters)...
An express alternative
Jul. 17 | Tan Kin Lian / Senior Writer The Ministry of Transport is introducing a new fare system for public transport that is based on distance rather than the number of transfers. This will reduce one obstacle in the use of public transport, namely the high...
The “YouTube style of politics” in S’pore?
Jul. 17 | On 4 July 2008, Channel NewsAsia reported: Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan has said the Internet will change the way politics is conducted, and the challenge now is how to engage with what he called the “YouTube...
Going Swedish
Jul. 17 | We have decided our first baby will have a Swedish passport, and not a Singapore one. Heng Siew Cheng (Ms) (Straits Times forum)
Open debate
Jul. 16 | To be able to speak to so many lawyers without you being able to respond. You can see what a few weeks in Government has done to my approach to open debate. Law Minister K Shanmugam, on why he accepted invitation to speak at NUS law graduates’...
Even if these men fail…
Jul. 16 | Andrew Loh Reading about the Venerable Shi Ming Yi being charged for 10 counts of impropriety in handling funds collected through the Ren Ci charity organisation makes me very sad indeed. (Yahoo News)(CNA) Venerable Ming Yi’s case follows that of Catholic...
Letters to TOC
Jul. 15 | Freedom of expression Letter to The Economist by K. Bhavani, Press Secretary to the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts (Mica). SIR – Contrary to your article about politics on the web, no bloggers have been jailed in Singapore for...
The process is just as important – Sylvia Lim
Jul. 14 | We may slog, we may work towards winning election, but in the end we may lose. So there has to be that spirit of perseverance to believe in the process – and getting Singaporeans to be involved in the process is just as important, if not as important...
New formula protects profits for transport companies
Jul. 14 | Leong Sze Hian I refer to the new formula for the increase of public transport fares, announced by the Public Transport Council (PTC) on 10 July. (Channel NewsAsia) With the heightened possibility of an impending fare hike, let’s look at some of the...
Chasing the money rainbow
Jul. 14 | That strategy is coming under strain in a Singapore which has been convinced to leave the responsibility of running the country solely to a chosen few and concentrate on chasing the money rainbow… You can see that culture being taken to the extreme...
Is MM Lee playing the same old record?
Jul. 13 | The army would have to be called in if there is a ‘freak election result’. Singaporeans need a ‘good dose of incompetent government’. If we had an alternative in government ‘our women will become maids in other people’s countries’. Singaporeans...
Reform Party’s inauguration dinner
Jul. 12 | The newly-registered Reform Party, headed by veteran politician JB Jeyaretnam, held its inauguration dinner on the 11 of July 2008 at the Fortunate Restaurant Toa Payoh Central. Among the 500 guests were leaders of all the main opposition parties in Singapore....
Conspiracy against Singapore – MM Lee
Jul. 12 | There is a conspiracy to do us in. Why?… They see us as a threat. Lee Kuan Yew (Straits Times)
Reform Party: We shall liberate the people
Jul. 12 | Selene Cheng Cast off the slumber into which you have been led into for the last 10 years. Wake up to your rights as a human being, to your proper role as citizens of this country. - Mr JB Jeyaretnam, at the inaugural dinner of the Reform Party. About...
Transport fare hike
Jul. 11 | “If the operators’ returns are satisfactory, then it is a win-win situation. If they are unduly penalised, they do not get returns commensurate with their risks … then you would have a new set of problems – too few trains, too old buses.” Cedric...
Upping wages is no cure – Tharman
Jul. 10 | “Upping wages to offset inflation was no cure as it would simply cause employers to pass the costs on to consumers as well as dent Singapore’s competitiveness.” Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam (Straits Times)
YouthQuake
Jul. 10 | Andrew Loh Youths volunteering as panelists and speaking up in forums organised by an opposition party? That’s unthinkable, some may say, but that is exactly what the Workers’ Party’s Youth Wing (WPYW) is doing with its series of forums called YouthQuake....
