Home » Archive for July, 2011
Archive for July, 2011
Did PRC ‘talent’ really insult Singaporeans?
Jul. 31 | Transcribed & Translated by Dan Feng/ A police report was lodged against Mr Wang Peng Fei on 24th July 2011 for allegedly uttering racist remarks against Singapore women in a self-made video clip posted on YouTube. After learning about the police...
CPF: Leave at 55 at your own peril?
Jul. 30 | Leong Sze Hian / I refer to the article ‘Why do it without my permission?‘ (New Paper, Jul 17). OA transfer to MA? The article states that “(Jerry Low, age 58) a retired bank trader got a surprise when the CPF Board transferred $10,000 into...
Dr Tony Tan deeply disappointed by false rumours
Jul. 29 | by: Ravi Philemon/ TOC received two emails from the office of Dr Tony Tan today. The first email said that his office read TOC’s article on Dr Tan’s son “with a little disappointment”. The first email went on to say that TOC was...
More unemployed? How many more?
Jul. 29 | by: Leong Sze Hian/ I refer to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) Employment Situation in Second Quarter 2011 report, released on 29 July. Unemployment rate rise to 4% It states that “On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, the overall and resident unemployment...
100% home-grown Singaporean artist decides to leave Singapore
Jul. 29 | by: Jewel Philemon/ Inch Chua a Singaporean singer-songwriter, musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist, who gained national recognition after being the first Singapore solo artist to be invited to the prestigious South by Southwest Music...
TODAY letter… published with a new paragraph sender did not write
Jul. 29 | The following was first published as a Facebook note on Stephanie Chok’s page. TOC thanks her for allowing us to reproduce it here. Stephanie Chok / TODAY just published a letter I sent in (“Punish criminal acts but deter errant bosses, too”,...
Time to move on Mr Lee Kuan Yew
Jul. 29 | by: Ghui/ It is hard to imagine a time in Singapore when there is no Lee Kuan Yew. The two are inextricably linked and some would even say that there would be no modern Singapore without Lee Kuan Yew. Indeed, it is sometimes hard to separate the man...
Why has the mainstream media not picked-up this news about Tony Tan?
Jul. 29 | by: Ravi Philemon/ The mainstream media which picked up stories on Tan Jee Say’e email being hijacked, Tan Kin Lian’s Toto, 4D app, and Tan Cheng Bock’s Facebook notes, have so far failed to pick-up the story about Tony Tan deleting...
Enough with the ‘endorsements’ of Tony Tan
Jul. 28 | by: Jewel Philemon/ First it was the lecture in Singapore Management University, then it was the care provided to the boy who had injured himself, and now it is a dialogue organised jointly by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) and Singapore...
Why public transport fares should not be raised
Jul. 28 | by: Dr Wong Wee Nam/ The issues at the General Election 2011 were the high cost of living, the income gap between the rich and the poor, the terrible public transport squeeze, the exorbitant HDB prices and the overpopulation of the country by foreign...
A YP activist’s response to TOC’s “Statements like these do not help”
Jul. 28 | A political sickness is spreading among the nations, across First World parliaments and First World governments. In America, we see Democrats and Republicans fighting over the US debt crisis. Voices of moderation drowned by polarizing, aggressive rhetoric....
Sunny passes away – from political party member to homelessness
Jul. 28 | TOC just got news that Sunny passed away yesterday. Since this story was published, Sunny had found shelter in a Home for the Aged. His family cannot be traced to claim his body. TOC is enquiring how we may claim the body and give him a proper funeral....
TOC’s moderation policy
Jul. 28 | The Online Citizen reserves the right to moderate, edit, disallow, remove or delete comments or postings posted on this website which, in TOC’s sole discretion, are deemed to be inappropriate or are of the following nature: - Vulgarities –...
Arcade Gaming: Not Just For Gangsters
Jul. 27 | Kirsten Han and Shawn Danker / This weekend, hundreds of gamers from all over the world will descend upon Las Vegas to clash within the world’s largest annual fighting game tournament. Evolution Championship Series (or EVO for short) gathers players...
Public Transport: Why the PAP and WP positions fall short of commuters’ needs
Jul. 27 | The following is National Solidarity Party’s media release on the debate over our public transport system. – There has been much debate over our public transport system lately. Public unhappiness over fare increases stems from dissatisfaction...
Promises of better services in public transportation reneged
Jul. 27 | by: Sharon C/ The recent call for fare adjustments of 2.8% by the public transport operators is definitely not justifiable. One of the reasons I believe that fares should remain status quo for now is because the transport operators are hiring more foreign...
Dr Vincent Wijeysingha responds to BG (NS) Tan Chuan Jin
Jul. 26 | On 13 July 2011, Brigadier-General (NS) Tan Chuan Jin posted ‘Protecting Workers‘ on his Facebook page. The following is a response from Dr Vincent Wijeysingha, Executive Director of migrant workers NGO Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2). We...
An open letter to the Education Minister from a group of project work teachers
Jul. 26 | The following is a letter addressed to the Education Minister and it is from a group of project work teachers. Although TOC has the actual names of the educators, we publish this letter anonymously as it may have implications for their careers, students...
The case of Roslan bin Bakar
Jul. 26 | This piece was first published on We Believe In Second Chances. Kirsten Han, Khairulanwar Zaini and Priscilla Chia / The case of a young man condemned to death for drug trafficking raises troubling questions about the Mandatory Death Penalty in Singapore,...
Statements like these do not help
Jul. 26 | Ghui / Image from The Straits Times It would appear that the PAP has begun its search for new candidates to be fielded at the next general election. PM Lee urged Singaporeans who had the passion to serve Singapore and who believed that they had a contribution...
Of transparency, investigation and media
Jul. 26 | Howard Lee / You would have heard it by now. The recent fracas surrounding Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World popped a few Singaporean eyebrows when Murdoch himself made mention of Singapore’s transparency in ministerial pay. Already, various...
TOC Editorial: A stronger political will may solve our transport woes
Jul. 26 | TOC Editorial/ The public transport operators (PTO) have made application for fare adjustment to the Public Transport Council (PTC) ; and this too while Singapore’s public transport system faces tremendous strain due to short-sighted, reactionary...
Who wants to be part of the TOC lunatic fringe… Kee Chiu!!
Jul. 26 | Go CRAZY for our latest T-shirt design! That’s right, netizens! We’re talking to you, TOC reader who belong to the lunatic fringe! For only $22, you can own this T-shirt. Only free size available! (Free-size: armpit-to-armpit (chest) –...
Re-employment: A joke?
Jul. 25 | Leong Sze Hian/ When Ravi Philemon, TOC Interim Chief Editor alerted me to the Ministry of Manpower’s (MOM) latest report of the Survey on Re-employment, and asked me to “crunch the numbers”, I was hopeful that unlike previous surveys on...
An example in creativity from the top
Jul. 25 | Ghui / Education is of paramount importance as it plays a crucial role in shaping the future. Our attitudes to learning and how we react to and deal with problems are inculcated when young. While some responsibility falls on parents, a large chunk of...
PM Lee: Our interest is not to help the transport companies make big profits
Jul. 24 | – Link: PM Lee assures public transport commuters
Our readers stories on the public transport
Jul. 24 | Dear TOC editor I saw your facebook’s call for people to share with TOC our experience of using Singapore public transport, hence I would like to share my train ride experience this morning with your readers and hopefully, the Transport Ministry....
How to relax? The people’s story of the public transport
Jul. 24 | On 20 July 2011, The Online Citizen (TOC) put out a call on our Facebook page asking people to send in photographs and accounts of their experience of using Singapore’s public transport. On 23 July 2011, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the...
Dr Tan Cheng Bock: I have always stood up for Singaporeans
Jul. 23 | by: Jewel Philemon/ Presidential hopeful, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, submitted his applications for obtaining the Certificate of Eligibility (COE) to contest in the upcoming Presidential Elections, yesterday afternoon at the Election Department. He arrived to...
Public transport model not key issue
Jul. 22 | extracts of Minister of State for Transport and Finance, Josephine Teo’s response in The Straits Times, to Gerald Giam’s article “Overhauling Singapore’s public transport model”. – Mr Gerald Giam of the Workers’ Party...
Blast from the past: Raise road tax to subsidise public transport: Blog group
Jul. 22 | by: Ravi Philemon/ In September 2008, TOC submitted a proposal to revamp the public transportation system which ‘underwhelmed’ the deputy chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Transport, MP Ong Kian Meng. The following is...
Tan Kin Lian urges Transport Minister to take urgent steps to revamp public transport
Jul. 22 | by: Ravi Philemon/ Presidential aspirant Tan Kin Lian today urged Singapore’s Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew to take urgent steps to overhaul the nation’s public transportation system. In his blog entry Mr Tan requested the Transport Ministry...
Govt Borrowings: Benefit S’poreans?
Jul. 22 | by Leong Sze Hian I refer to the Accountant-General’s Department’s report – Singapore Government Borrowings An Overview, released in July 2011. It states that: “By issuing SSGS to the CPF Board and investing the proceeds from the borrowing, the...
MPs’ Offices at Void Decks: Workers’ Party responds
Jul. 21 | Workers’ Party’s media release: – We refer to the announcement by the Ministry of National Development (MND) on 27 May 2011, that the Housing and Development Board (HDB) would henceforth permit void decks to be rented out to elected...
Dr Tan Cheng Bock to submit Certificate of Eligibility Application For PE 2011
Jul. 21 | by: Jewel Philemon/ Dr Tan Cheng Bock has confirmed through email that he will be submitting his Certificate of Eligibility application for the Presidential Election tomorrow, 22 July. He will hold a media briefing after submitting his forms. TOC is...
Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew: Quality of service is the real challenge
Jul. 21 | The following is Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew’s Facebook note. – Thank you for your comments, feedback and suggestions. Many have expressed concern and wondered whether fares would increase by 2.8% as per the applications by SBST and SMRT...
Media influence re-written, post GE
Jul. 21 | Howard Lee / The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKYSPP) released its IPS Post-Election Survey 2011 report on 8 July. As part of the release, it also ran a Forum on the same day to “analyse the proceedings and outcome of the general elections...
Dr Tony Tan’s speech at the Singapore Management University
Jul. 20 | by: Benjamin Cheah/ Policies that place Singaporeans first in education. Schools that offer the widest range of programmes to the widest range of people. A flexible education system that prepares students for the workforce and is integrated with industry...
Rupert Murdoch: UK Should Emulate Singapore’s Million Dollar Ministerial Wages
Jul. 20 | Rupert Murdoch in his extended testimony to the British Members of Parliament (MP), that he was surprised to learn that the company had been paying the legal fees of Glenn Mulcaire (The News of the World’s phone hacking specialist), and Clive Goodman...
A Response to Transport Minister on Public Transport System in Singapore
Jul. 20 | by: Yong SK/ On July 11, 2011, the two major Public Transport Operators (PTOs), SBS Transit and SMRT, submitted their proposals to the Public Transport Council (PTC) to raise fares, raising eyebrows among Singaporeans who have been unhappy with the service...
AWARE’s CEDAW team makes recommendations to the United Nations
Jul. 19 | This year marks the third time that AWARE is submitting a Shadow Report to the United Nations (UN) committee on the Convention On The Elimination Of All Forms Of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). On July 18, our CEDAW team presented AWARE’s findings...
Vikram Nair clarifies the 60/40 story
Jul. 19 | It is a strange feeling to be confronted about something you were supposed to have said when:- 1. You did not say it; and 2. It is the complete opposite of your actual message. This was the exact experience I had recently, shortly after speaking at...
Historical perspective on liberalising public transport
Jul. 19 | by: Donaldson Tan/ One of the highlights in the Workers’ Party (WP) General Election Manifesto 2011 is the nationalisation of public transport in Singapore. The WP proposed to merge the public transport operators (bus & rail) and the public transport...
Overhauling Singapore’s public transport model
Jul. 19 | Minister for Transport Lui Tuck Yew recently criticised the Workers’ Party’s (WP) proposal for a not-for-profit National Transport Corporation to replace the current two listed public transport companies. Mr Lui claimed that WP’s proposal had “serious...
The Singapore that’s great for everyone, except Singaporeans – Part 1 of 2
Jul. 19 | by: Eugenie Yeo/ I start off by saying that I’ve always been a proud Singaporean. Perhaps more so after a 7 year stint in Australia, where whilst I grew to love the quality of life that the country allowed me; I gravitated towards the pragmatic sensibilities...
Education, Happiness and a paradigm shift
Jul. 18 | Ghui / Singapore is a relatively young country. While we have a distinct culture, our outlook on our way of life and the direction we want our society to take is very much still in transition. When Singapore first attained independence from Malaysia in...
The Baby Isaac Story
Jul. 18 | by: Elliot Aruldoss and Jewel Philemon/ Three year old Mohamed Isaac made waves recently when he was repatriated to Malaysia as a ‘stateless’ child despite being born in Singapore as the son of a Singaporean man, Because there was a perception that...
Transport fares: Up again?
Jul. 17 | Leong Sze Hian and Joshua Chiang / We refer to the report “PTC to review fare adjustment formula after 2012” (Channel News Asia, Jul 14). Fares formula valid until end 2012? It states that “[t]he Public Transport Council (PTC) will review the...
President must be a potent symbol of our multiracial ethos
Jul. 17 | by: Muhammad Farouq Bin Osman/ The impending race for the Singapore Presidency should set us thinking what the position really is all about. I have always felt that the office serves, first and foremost, as a potent symbol of our multiracial ethos. It...
