Home » Archive for October, 2011
Archive for October, 2011
Antiquated ideals on marriage and statehood?
Oct. 31 | by Ghui/ As one gets older, it is common for one to reflect more and to assess how he or she has lived his or her life. It is therefore no surprise that Ms Lee Wei Ling has written a post entitled “Living a life with no regrets”. In this post, she...
Living with mental illness: Give hope, support, love and care
Oct. 31 | ~by: Raymond Anthony Fernando~ “At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by “I was hungry, and you gave me something to...
CNA’s Talking Point: Policing the internet
Oct. 31 | TOC was invited to participate in Channel NewsAsia’s Talking Point to discuss the topic ‘policing the internet’. The programme intended to discuss Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts’ addendum to the President’s...
Alas! Singaporeans’ unemployment rate!
Oct. 31 | ~by: Leong Sze Hian~ I refer to the article “Singapore sees strong employment growth in Q3”(ST. Oct 31). It states that “the unemployment for residents dipped to 2.9 per cent from 3 per cent, and the unemployment rate for citizens is now at 3.0...
70-year-old summoned to court for owing SP Services $230
Oct. 31 | ~by: Amanda Lee~ A couple of days ago, my 49-year-old mother made a phone call to SP Services as my sick grandfather received a court of summon. Here is the story. About three months ago, my grandfather lost unconscious and suffered a brain hemorrhage....
The SEP 2011 IPS Population Report in the Larger Context
Oct. 31 | ~by: Chua Suntong ~ In September 2011, the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) released a report on estimating future population trends based on different immigration scenarios. The focus was on net migrants. This term was undefined. However, it was likely...
Our Precious Things
Oct. 29 | The following is an excerpt of a post first published on We Believe In Second Chances. Justicia Phuang / It was a cold and rainy Wednesday evening, rather befitting of the grave issue at hand. I brought along two friends who, it is safe to say, have never...
David Mason’s letter: A most dangerous idea
Oct. 29 | ~by: Elvin Ong~ This article is written as a direct response to Mr David Mason’s letter “Singapore’s Success: An Observer’s Concerns”[1] which was published in the Business Times on 25 October 2011, and re-published in the Review section of...
Singapore has the widest rich-poor gap
Oct. 29 | Richard Wilkinson, a British researcher in social inequalities in health and the social determinants of health compares and analyses inequalties in various countries. Singapore has the widest rich-poor gap among countries he analyses. We feel instinctively...
Critiquing Amy Khor & Baey Yam Keng
Oct. 29 | ~by: Cynical Investor~ Amy Khor, chairman of REACH, asked the government to engage netizens on sites that “allow for reasoned and constructive debate and gain traction”. “Netizens themselves who desire rational discourse should support such sites...
TOC’s commitment to our readers
Oct. 27 | ~Editorial~ It started with the President’s Address to open Parliament, continued with the addenda to the President’s Address from the Ministry of Law and the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, and did not stop when ministers and...
Singaporean students should meet the competition, not fear it
Oct. 27 | ~by: Ghui~ I read the article entitled “S’porean students feel the heat from foreign counterparts” with mixed feelings (http://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/what-is-buzzing/porean-students-feel-heat-foreign-counterparts-114119914.html). While I empathise...
HDB gives woman in distress no good options
Oct. 27 | ~by: Ravi Philemon~ We conducted an email interview with a Ms Yau who wrote in telling us that as a result of cancelling an application for a DBSS flat, she ended up paying 70 per cent ($44,223.01) of the forfeiture. She had initially tried to have the...
Yaw Shin Leong: I can identify with Low Thia Khiang’s vision
Oct. 26 | ~by: Dr Kieren James~ the following is Dr Kieren James’ (University of Southern Queensland) interview with Mr Yaw Shin Leong, MP for Hougang SMC: – Kieren James (KJ): Was the party happy with the results of the May general election? Yaw Shin...
Animal welfare and rights are not mere gestures
Oct. 25 | ~by: Ravi Philemon~ “With a smile, he told of how he had to personally help a resident in his Teck Ghee constituency tackle a problem about a stray dog. She loved the dog, but could not adopt it. ‘The dog had been caught, and she wanted...
Impending crunch on New Media?
Oct. 24 | ~by: Donaldson Tan~ In Singapore, New Media is often framed as having an antagonistic relationship with the government. This goes back to as early as 2006 when the government first attempted to ban internet electioneering. The move failed miserably....
Is there a support plan for the mentally ill & their caregivers?
Oct. 24 | ~by: Raymond Anthony Fernando~ On September 20, 2011, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) announced a new Enabling Masterplan for 2012-2016, which will serve as the national roadmap for the development of programmes and services...
Human Rights education seminar on ISA
Oct. 24 | the following event report first appeared on MARUAH: – MARUAH organised a seminar on the Internal Security Act (ISA) on 22nd October 2011, as part of its human rights education initiative, to facilitate members of the public to learn more about...
Criticise only when you have alternatives?
Oct. 23 | ~by: John Chan~ I refer to the recent letters to the various media on the speeches of the Opposition MPs and the rebuttals by the PAP MPs in Parliament. For those who feel that the Opposition MPs are still in campaign mode, I’d like to remind them...
Coping with chronic illness in a marriage
Oct. 23 | ~by: Raymond Anthony Fernando~ “Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness, and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of any reward. Your life will...
Low Thia Khiang: Members of WP were criticised by PAP
Oct. 23 | the following is the speech of Workers’ Party Secretary-General Low Thia Khiang (Debate on Presidential Address) in the 12th sitting of Parliament: – 议长先生， 总统在宣读政府施政方针时以继续保持新加坡的独特性为总结。我认为，我们的独特性除了施政方针中所提到的，还应该包括我们的多元语文和文化。我国自独立以来就是一个多元种族的社会，各族的语言和文化也增加了我国多姿多彩的民俗景观。 然而，建国後，随着教育体系和教学媒介语的统一，各族的语言和文化都受到不同层次的冲击。华族的应用语言也在这个过程中产生了巨大的变化。从六十年代开始，短短在一代人的时间里所施行的各种政策，使方言几乎在华族社群中绝迹，取而代之的是华文、华语。如今，这个趋势又步入另一个“舍华文就英文”的状态。眼前所见的是，华族社群以英语为家庭用语的学生比例，已经超越了以华语为家庭用语的学生人数。这似乎已成定局，不可扭转。 目前，华文华语在新加坡正处于转变的关键时期。随着外在大环境的改变，中国的崛起，我们越发感受到华文华语的重要。虽然我们坚持实施双语教育多年，但在这个教育制度下成长的一般年轻人，整体的华英双语能力表现却不突出，这批介于中间地带的所谓双语双文化的年轻人或许还能流利地以华语进行人际沟通，在进行日常生活交流时并不成问题，在讲的层次上已达到中上水平。但事实是，他们却逐渐丧失了读和写的能力。他们当中有好些人已经无法阅读华文报纸及华文文学读物。 今天，摆在眼前的是，华文互联网的崛起让这批年轻双语双文化人才面临更大的全新挑战。 是的，诚如沈颖次长所言，华文的生命力的确很强，在互联网的世界里，华文绝对不会因电脑输入法而在互联网的新时代被淘汰。 华文也的确是以更生动活泼的形态在这平台上茁壮成长，网络热词的大量涌现就是例子。网络词语与现实生活词语也在这时代迅速相融合，产生了如富二代、官二代等网络词语及一些生动的现实生活词语。 不少本地年轻人在互联网上建构高素质的英文网站，他们在网络世界里讨论政治、社会、经济、文化等各种议题，但又有多少年轻人进入华文网络世界里呢？我们能听能说，但读写技能却不够水平的双语双文化人才，是否会沦为全球华文网络世界里的文盲呢？ 此外，民间看似蓬勃发展的文化活动、语文竞赛及大专学府或各校所开办的华文文化课程，参与和修选的又有多少是新加坡人呢？ 我们总是标榜双语双文化是我们在国际舞台上竞争的一大优势，...
A plea to the President – Discover your roots in Bukit Brown
Oct. 23 | the following is an open letter to the President of Singapore, Dr Tony Tan Keng Yam: – Dear Mr President, A few days ago, we saw you sitting at the highest chair in the parliament, yes, you are the newly appointed president. You have never disappoint...
Reconsider the criteria for hiring domestic workers
Oct. 23 | ~Ghui~ Domestic Workers – we can’t seem to live with them and we can’t seem to live without them. This seems to be the perennial problem that plagues modern day Singaporean life. There are of course many boons to having a domestic worker. It...
Netizen? That’s not what my passport says…
Oct. 21 | Kirsten Han / The following was first published in funny little world. “Netizen”. You hear it all over the place these days; everyone is tossing the term about. The mainstream media seems to especially love it, as do various politicians and...
Special Employment Credit, just $5?
Oct. 21 | Leong Sze Hian / I refer to the articles “COE for big cars rockets to near S$76,000” (Channel NewsAsia, Oct 19) and “Vehicle growth rate to be slashed to 0.5%” (Channel NewsAsia, Oct 14). The latter states that “Singapore’s annual vehicle...
Bad example quoted by Minister of Information, Communication and Arts
Oct. 21 | ~by: Ravi Philemon~ Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts at the Address of Thanks following the President’s speech at the first session of 12th Parliament, used a bad example In quoting the Burmese girl who committed...
Pritam Singh: new media is here to stay
Oct. 20 | “The government has, over the last few years in particular, referred to the new media in largely pejorative terms – the Prime Minister has previously referred to it as the “wild west” and more recently, as a “cowboy town”. But the reality...
Baey Yam Keng: Will the government continue engaging TOC?
Oct. 20 | “Our President, Dr Tan, had also engaged the “social media crowd” including bloggers such as Mr Brown and The Online Citizen team during his campaign. How will this be continued, or has it continued? Is the government going to stand...
MHA: Why the ISA? Why and when is the ISA used?
Oct. 19 | “In 1979, the CPM issued a directive calling for higher priority to be placed on penetrating and subverting open social and political organisations. There was thus renewed energy to get involved in social and political activism. Certain CPM-linked...
MICA’s new agendum for cyber control?
Oct. 19 | ~by: Howard Lee~ The wild wild web. It had an unmistakable sting, and I wondered where it came from. Digging up my archives, I realised it rang familiar with a letter I wrote to Today back in 2007, which was titled “Internet: A Wild Child crying to...
Janil Puthucheary: Assurance needed that the ISA will not be abused
Oct. 19 | the following is the maiden speech by MP Janil Puthucheary (Debate on Presidential Address) in the 12th sitting of Parliament: – Mr Speaker, Sir, I am privileged to rise in support of the motion of thanks to the President for his address. Sir I...
Government must be of the people, not just for the people
Oct. 19 | ~by: Ravi Philemon~ “A few years ago, I was at Holland Village queuing up for chicken rice and the retired minister for law, the late EW Barker, came and queued up behind me. The chicken rice seller instantly recognised him and asked him for his...
Gerald Giam: Government hides behind mantras of self-reliance and filial piety
Oct. 18 | the following is the maiden speech by NCMP Gerald Giam (Debate on Presidential Address) in the 12th sitting of Parliament: – Mr Speaker, thank you for giving me the opportunity to make this, my maiden speech to this House. In his address to Parliament,...
Wall Street versus Main Street: Singaporeans are facing the same problems
Oct. 18 | ~by: Ng E-Jay~ Last Saturday saw a truly worldwide protest by the common citizens of the world against corporate tyranny, income inequality, social injustice, and corrupt government that cuts back on social spending whilst allowing the rich and elite...
Lina Chiam – singing National Day songs will not bind younger Singaporeans to Singapore
Oct. 18 | the following is a speech by NCMP Lina Chiam (Debate on Presidential Address): – Sir Stamford Raffles may have founded Singapore, but it was our forefathers’ qualities of drive, determination, enterprise and resourcefulness that helped built Singapore...
Why the ISA? – a MARUAH human rights education initiative
Oct. 18 | the following is an event invitation from MARUAH: – MARUAH invites you to its next human rights education initiative, where you will get the opportunity to learn more about the Internal Security Act (ISA) and direct questions to a panel of legal...
Who defines ‘democracy’?
Oct. 18 | ~by: Teo Soh Lung~ It was interesting to watch the video put up by TOC on the closed door forum organised by Singaporeans for Democracy on 24 September 2011 at Public House. The topic was ‘LKY: liberal democracy will do us in. Will it?’ The forum...
PA should reach out across political divide as well
Oct. 17 | ~by: Terry Xu~ According to a report by The Straits Times, Deputy Chairman of The People’s Association (PA), Mr Lim Swee Say, told grassroots leaders that PA’s challenge is how they can make their outreach not only more extensive, but also more inclusive. Speaking...
Sylvia Lim asks if Singapore government should focus on happiness as a national goal?
Oct. 17 | the following is Sylvia Lim’s speech (Debate on President’s Address): – May I first thank the President for his Address and the government for making the promises contained in the Address. The Workers’ Party welcomes and supports the statement...
Why we all should be concerned about the ISA
Oct. 16 | ~by: Howard Lee~ “Will you go to jail for this?” “Why will I go to jail? Who is taking me to jail?” “The government, of course. Because of what you are writing.” I let that sink in for a while. “You know, what...
So many entrepreneurs, but where are the workers?
Oct. 16 | ~by: Terry Xu~ Image from Technorati Entrepreneurship is a big word in this era. There is Facebook, Google or the local Breadtalk. There are old stories of how Apple made it big or how HP started out in the garage. Everyone is fascinated with making...
Occupy Raffles Place – we’ll do it bigger and better next time
Oct. 15 | ~by: Jewel Philemon~ The ‘Occupy Raffles Place’ a call for public protest, which seeked to replicate the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement in Singapore today, was a no-show. This call for public protest was organised by an anonynous group called...
Apolitical: When Gen Y marks ‘X’
Oct. 15 | ~by: Jewel Philemon~ Singapore Management University’s (SMU) first student political association, Apolitical, held a panel discussion titled, When Gen Y marks ‘X’: Young voters and the 2011 elections’, on the 14th of October at their school of...
SDP’s ISA Forum being investigated by police
Oct. 14 | ~by: Jewel Philemon~ According to Dr James Gomez, President of Singaporeans for Democracy’s Facebook note, the organisers of the forum on ISA “Silenced No More: A conversation with Francis Seow and Tang Fong Har”, are being investigated by...
Healthcare: who is subsidising whom?
Oct. 13 | Yesterday, the Ministry of Health issued a statement saying “Our vision is to enable all Singaporeans to live well, live long and enjoy peace of mind. We will continue to invest in developing our healthcare system and continually fine-tune our health...
Sound Defeat Ends Lions’ Dreams
Oct. 13 | Damon Yeo A dynamic and fluid Jordanian side defeated Singapore 3-0 at the Jalan Besar Stadium to effectively end the Lions’ dreams of qualifying for the next round of the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. With no points from the first three games of...
Can MOM keep its promise to put Singaporeans first?
Oct. 12 | ~by: Terry Xu~ Looking at the just recent parliament extract on what have been said by the ministry of manpower (see MOM’s addendum to the President’s address HERE), the points might just be summarized into a general statement: The government...
Freedom and its Limits: A Conversation with Rex Bloomstein
Oct. 12 | Popular Burmese comedian Zarganar was among the first of the more than 100 political prisoners released in Burma today. He was re-arrested in 2008 for publicly criticising the Burmese junta response to Cyclone Nargis. In speaking to BBC News, Zarganar...
Does higher education equal to higher pay?
Oct. 12 | ~by: Leong Sze Hian~ I refer to the report “Median income of Singaporeans up 11%” (see HERE). It states: “Singapore has one of the highest employment rates internationally and the median income of workers also increased 11 per cent in real terms,...
