Home » Archive for March, 2011
Archive for March, 2011
Reflecting on “Reflections” – A review of Mah Bow Tan’s book (Part 7 of 9)
Mar. 31 | This is a review from a statistical perspective, wherever possible, of the book “Reflections on housing a nation”, launched on 22 March. (You can read it here for free and save yourself ten dollars. – Editor) Leong Sze Hian/ In Part Six (“Housing...
Field Tin Pei Ling in an SMC and let voters decide
Mar. 31 | From sgpolitics.net Ng E-jay/ I am glad that Mr Siew Kum Hong has come out to defend PAP candidate’s Tin Pei Ling’s right to privacy. With that out of the way, however, it is now time to address a serious political issue. If the PAP fields Tin Pei...
Let the people decide: Mrs Lina Chiam
Mar. 31 | Vicki Yang / Benjamin Cheah / Lina Chiam is proud of the office of the Potong Pasir Town Council. Located at Block 121 in the Single-member Constituency, it was fought for by Mr Chiam See Tong in 1984, when he first won the elections in that ward....
GRC system: Wool over eyes (Part 6 of 6)
Mar. 30 | In Part 5 of a series of articles on the GRC system, Rajiv Chaudhry refutes the justifications the Government has given for the need for GRCs. In this final installment, he calls for a return to the SMC system as a step to bring about true democracy ...
Reflecting on “Reflections” – A review of Mah Bow Tan’s book (Part 6 of 9)
Mar. 30 | This is a review from a statistical perspective, wherever possible, of the book “Reflections on housing a nation”, launched on 22 March. (You can read it here for free and save yourself ten dollars. – Editor) Leong Sze Hian/ In Part Six (“Are...
TOC Editorial: Will Tin Pei Lin backfire?
Mar. 30 | The following excerpt is from TOC GE 2011. TOC Editorial/ Let’s get this out of the way: private photos of recently unveiled 27 year-old PAP candidate Ms Tin Pei Lin procured from her Facebook site are not fair game. Neither is insinuating Ms Tin...
I’ve never left Singapore – SDP’s Dr Vincent Wijeysingha
Mar. 30 | Joshua Chiang/ “I’ve always thought that period from ’68 onwards was the period that PAP started consolidating and regrouping because ’67 all the Barisan walked out,” Dr Vincent Wijeysingha tells me. “Then ’68 when they brought in...
Tin Pei Lin vs Chen Show Mao – and a very scary thought
Mar. 29 | The following is an excerpt of an article posted today on blog onesingaporean. Despite what Lim Boon Heng, that minister who has been without a portfolio for some 15 years, has said, the PAP’s slate of new candidates are a dud. At least as...
Straits Times Forum explains why it heavily edited letter (updated with Samuel Wee’s reply)
Mar. 29 | The following article is first published on Visaisahero. It is the Straits Times’ reply to Samuel Wee’s letter to the newspaper asking for clarifications on why it edited his letter to the Forum Page the way it did. Dear Mr Wee, Thank...
“Why would he go to his death so willingly?” – Father of man on death row
Mar. 29 | Kirsten Han/ “My son loves to help people,” Cheong Kah Pin tells The Online Citizen. In fact, he believes that it is this willingness to help others that has led his son Cheong Chun Yin to where he is today – on death row in Changi Prison. On 16...
Smile PAP, the Straits Times is here! (Updated: 29 Mar)
Mar. 29 | We will update this page with the pictures from the Straits Times each day until the elections are over. As the General Election approaches, we take a look at the coverage of the People’s Action Party (PAP) by the state-owned broadsheet, The Straits...
Bears, bikes and baby-cuddlers – snapshots of opposition walkabout
Mar. 29 | Photos by Benjamin Cheah, Jewel Philemon, Jeremy Philemon and Joshua Chiang Extra photos by New Asia Republic As the General Election approaches, the various parties are out in full force, and so are our reporters and photographers. Below are some snapshots...
Women’s Charter: 50 years on.
Mar. 29 | Photo: Singapore Council of Women's Organisations Constance Singham/ It is fifty years since the Women’s Charter became Law. Fifty years since Singapore women were catapulted from a feudal society into the twentieth century. Women in independent...
Reflecting on “Reflections” – A review of Mah Bow Tan’s book (Part 5 of 9)
Mar. 28 | This is a review from a statistical perspective, wherever possible, of the book “Reflections on housing a nation”, launched on 22 March. (You can read it here for free and save yourself ten dollars. – Editor) Leong Sze Hian/ In Part Five (“Pricing...
PAP MPs doing walkabout wearing PA shirts?
Mar. 28 | “They (delegates from China) discover that the People’s Action Party (PAP) has only a small office in Bedok. But everywhere they go, they see the PAP – in the RCs (residents’ committees), CCCs (citizens’ consultative committees), and the CCs...
“There will be more significant things to come”: WP’s Low
Mar. 28 | Mr Low Thia Khiang, secretary general of the opposition Workers’ Party (WP), keeps things very close to his chest. He has been rather coy about who his party’s prospective candidates are, or where they might be fielded in the General Election. In...
MM Lee’s views a “generational thing”: Michael Palmer
Mar. 27 | The Online Citizen’s Andrew Loh catches up with PAP MP Michael Palmer at the side of the NUS forum last Wednesday. Mr Michael Palmer called his grassroots leaders immediately upon reading about Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s controversial remarks...
Reflecting on “Reflections” – A review of Mah Bow Tan’s book (Part 4 of 9)
Mar. 26 | This is a review from a statistical perspective, wherever possible, of the book “Reflections on housing a nation”, launched on 22 March. (You can read it here for free and save yourself ten dollars. – Editor) Leong Sze Hian/ In Part Four (“Buying...
Women’s Charter “not just for the elites”
Mar. 26 | Deborah Choo/ “This is a defining moment for our society and our women. We should be dancing the streets and celebrating family and marriage,” said Ms Constance Singam, ex-President of AWARE. She was speaking at AWARE’s book launch this afternoon...
An Imaginary Climate of Fear?
Mar. 26 | The following is an excerpt from the blog Reinventing The Ricebowl Kenneth Jeyaretnam/ On Wednesday on behalf of the Reform Party I attended the Singapore Forum on Politics at NUS as one of the panellists. The other panellists were Dr. Chee of the SDP,...
Leong Sze Hian stands corrected?
Mar. 26 | On 23rd March 2011 we published an excerpt from a blog Visaisahero which revealed that the Straits Times (ST) might have heavily edited a forum letter until it reflected a view contrary to the intent of the letter writer, Samuel C. Wee. This was followed...
Some videos of the GE 2011 Forum at NUS (updated with Dr Chee’s rebuttal to Michael Palmer)
Mar. 25 | Political leaders on wheher their parties are viable at the GE 2011 Forum at NUS. Dr Chee Soon Juan on what it means to be a Singaporean Dr Chee and Michael Palmer debating on helping the needy. Dr Chee’s rebuttal to Michael Palmer’s...
Media as politics in Singapore
Mar. 25 | The following article was first published on Asia Times Online Megawati Wijaya/ SINGAPORE – Days before Singapore Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam announced the government’s 2011 budget in parliament, the political opposition offered...
WAH! If I worked at MOM, my backside will be so happy.
Mar. 25 | The following article was first published on funny little world. Kirsten Han/ I woke up to this Straits Times article this morning: MOM staff to get ergonomic chairs. These babies, designed by American manufacturer Herman Miller, cost S$575 each....
ST Forum Editor was right after all
Mar. 25 | Leong Sze Hian/ I refer to the article “Straits Times! Why you edit until like that?” (theonlinecitizen, Mar 24). In my view, the Straits Times Forum Editor was not wrong to edit the letter. Quoting the wrong statistics From a statistical pespective,...
GRC system: Wool Over Eyes (Part 5 of 6)
Mar. 24 | In Part 4 of a series of articles on the GRC system, Rajiv Chaudhry calls for the Government to truly ensure proportional representation for minority races. In Part 5, he refutes the justifications the Government has given for the need for GRCs. Part...
Reflecting on “Reflections” – A review of Mah Bow Tan’s book (Part 3 of 9)
Mar. 24 | This is a review from a statistical perspective, wherever possible, of the book “Reflections on housing a nation”, launched on 22 March. (You can read it here for free and save yourself ten dollars. – Editor) Leong Sze Hian/ In Part Three (“Housing...
Foo Mee Har’s strength highlights PAP’s weakness
Mar. 24 | TOC Editorial/ A glimmer of light has emerged from the People Action Party’s (PAP) much flogged “4G” batch of candidates”: Ms Foo Mee Har, the Head of Premier Banking in Standard Chartered. Ms Foo’s CV shows an impressive array of local and...
Channel Newsasia bars Dr Chee – again
Mar. 24 | Andrew Loh / When Channel Newsasia (CNA), the local television news channel which claims to provide “an Asian perspective” to issues, produced its Talking Point programme on the changes to the electoral boundaries, it invited the People’s Action...
Straits Times! Why you edit until like that?
Mar. 24 | Be very afraid. The ST Forum Editor is here Muhammad Hydar/ The Straits Times (ST) has been regularly accused of recontextualising letters in its forum section. People in the realms of alternative opinion have shown as to how letters of a critical...
Flashes of promise amid flashbacks
Mar. 23 | The following is an excerpt from Yawning Bread Alex Au/ Best shot was Chee Soon Juan’s. After Michael Palmer of the People’s Action Party (PAP) said that the way his party approaches the problem of the poor was to be provide targetted assistance...
Reflecting on “Reflections” – A review of Mah Bow Tan’s book (Part 2 of 9)
Mar. 23 | This is a review from a statistical perspective, wherever possible, of the book “Reflections on housing a nation”, launched on 22 March. (You can read it here for free and save yourself ten dollars. – Editor) Leong Sze Hian/ In Part Two (Housing...
Straits Times does hack job on forum letter?
Mar. 23 | From the blog Visaisahero: Letter sent by by my good friend Samuel C. Wee to ST on the 8th of March, quoting statistics from their Page One infographic: (Read this closely!) I read with keen interest the news that social mobility in Singapore’s education...
Stepping forward – Part 1
Mar. 23 | In an exclusive interview with The Online Citizen, four former Reform Party members – along with Ms Nor Lella Mardillah – speak about the reasons they joined the National Solidarity Party, their interest in politics, and the issues which should concern...
Don’t look left or right
Mar. 22 | Dr Wong Wee Nam/ There is a Chinese saying which goes like this: 王顾左右而言他。Translated it means “The King looked left and right and talked about other things”. It is used in reference to a person who tries to evade an issue in discussion...
Reflecting on “Reflections” – A review of Mah Bow Tan’s book (Part 1 of 9)
Mar. 22 | Leong Sze Hian/ This is a review from a statistical perspective, wherever possible, of the book “Reflections on housing a nation”, launched on 22 March. (You can read it here for free and save yourself ten dollars. – Editor) In part one of...
Security guards’ stats – something for Desmond Choo to ponder over
Mar. 22 | Leong Sze Hian/ I refer to the article “’I understand how the poor feel‘” (Today, Mar 22). It states that: “his (MP-hopeful Desmond Choo) father is working as a security officer and would tell him of problems in the industry, such...
New candidates, but no principles?
Mar. 22 | PAP's first 3 new faces (Picture from Straits Times) TOC Editorial / The ruling party’s attempt to create some excitement with their new slate of candidates might actually have done the opposite: entrench negative stereotypes of the party as one...
3- cornered fight is a scorched earth policy that will backfire
Mar. 22 | Ng E-Jay In his hotly debated article “Low Thia Khiang’s job is to lead the Workers’ Party” (20 Mar), Alex Au argues that the Worker’s Party (WP) is justified in challenging the National Solidarity Party (NSP) to a 3 cornered fight at Moulmein-Kallang...
Answering the question you wish had been asked
Mar. 22 | The following article was first published on Siew Kum Hong’s blog. Siew Kum Hong/ Siew Kum Hong Former US Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara once said: “Never answer the question that is asked of you. Answer the question that you wish had been...
Ministerial Pay – The Frankenstein’s monster that won’t go away
Mar. 22 | Joshua Chiang/ When the proposal to benchmark ministers’ salaries to those of the top six highest earning professions was first mooted in Parliament in 1994, then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew defended the largely unpopular move by prophesizing proclaiming: “I...
Politicians online – look for them here
Mar. 21 | Social Media (or New Media) is expected to play a part in the upcoming General Election. The political parties have a presence in these platforms. In order to facilitate access to them, we have collated a list of the pages of these parties on social networking...
NTUC- a union to help community or workers?
Mar. 20 | Source: xin.msn.news Leong Sze Hian/ I refer to the report “Labour movement shows it cares for community“ (Channel News Asia, Mar 19). It states that: “The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) aims to roll out 50 community service...
New faces – PAP vs Opposition
Mar. 20 | The PAP’s slate of new candidates for the upcoming GE is being presented as a renewal for the party and indeed for the Singapore Government. But on closer inspection, is it really a renewal? The line-up consists of the usual faces from the usual sources...
Mountbatten close to her heart
Mar. 20 | Jewel Philemon / The National Solidarity Party (NSP) today unveiled its candidate for Mountbatten Single- Member Constituency (SMC) for the upcoming General Election (GE), lawyer Ms Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss. At a walkabout at Kampong Arang Hawker Centre...
Singapore is not a model for Australia
Mar. 20 | The following is an excerpt from The Intepreter Photo by Flickr user Amizyo. Dr Michael Barr/ Australians looking at Singapore as a model for pulling the poor up by their bootstraps (such as Noel Pearson in The Australian) will be disappointed. Singapore’s success...
High Court waves away 377A controversy
Mar. 20 | The following is an excerpt from Yawning Bread Alex Au/ In a judgement dated 15 March 2011, High Court judge Lai Siu Chiu dismissed the first appeal relating to the constitutional challenge against Section 377A of the Penal Code. This is the law that...
Insomnia for Singapore’s state investors
Mar. 19 | The following is an excerpt from The Star Online Seah Chiang Nee/ Japan's nuclear crisis is spewing serious fallouts towards Singapore’s recovering economy. Source:Kyodo News/AP As Singaporeans’ concern mount over the safety...
Where will Chiam contest?
Mar. 19 | Ng E-Jay/ Mr Chiam See Tong and Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam during a joint walkabout at West Coast GRC on 16th March Breaking the GRC barrier will be a crucial goal for the opposition in the next election. With so many pressing issues...
