Home » Archive for November, 2011
Archive for November, 2011
SDP’s ethical salaries for a public service oriented government
Nov. 30 | the following is the executive summary of SDP’s policy paper entitled ‘Ethical Salaries for a Public Centered Government’: – Singapore’s cabinet ministers are, by far, the highest paid in the world. The prime minister is...
Is YPAP distancing itself from its campaign for ‘fairer fares’ at Speakers’ Corner?
Nov. 30 | ~by: Ravi Philemon~ Last Saturday (26 November 2011), a group from Young PAP (YPAP) took to Speakers’ Corner to campaign for ‘fairer fares’ for polytechnic students (see HERE). An article in The Straits Times (see HERE) quoted Mr Koh...
Income growth: Only 0.1%?
Nov. 30 | ~by: Leong Sze Hian~ I refer to the article “S’pore job rate hits new high” (Channel NewsAsia, Nov 30). According to the Singapore Workforce – 2011 report released on 30 November (see HERE) “Excluding employer CPF contributions, growth in...
Repatriation Companies – Manpower Minister’s response belittles the efforts of migrant workers
Nov. 30 | ~by: Jolovan Wham~ First call for help In 2005, barely one year after I started my job as a social worker, I received a call from an Indian shipyard worker who complained that he and his colleagues were trapped inside a room and were unable to leave,...
MP Irene Ng: I do not get ANY bonus from ISEAS
Nov. 29 | ~by: Chong Ai Ling~ A TOC reader sent us a screenshot of a Facebook message of Ms Irene Ng, MP for Tampines GRC. The screenshot showed an article link from a website with the title: “GDP Bonus of 8 Months for senior civil servants”. This led to a...
Discrimination online and the MICA verdict
Nov. 29 | by Howard Lee/ The saga of the recent spate of three incidents of perceived racism online, of which two were made into police reports, seems to have drawn to a close. As reported in Today, the Sunday Times and Yahoo! News, Minister for Information, Communication...
December 10th is Human Rights Day, join in the celebrations
Nov. 29 | From MARUAH: December 10th is Human Rights Day and we’d like to invite you to join us in the celebrations! We have invited Mr Richard Magnus, the Singapore representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). So come on...
Storms in teacups over hurt, not harm
Nov. 29 | by Benjamin Cheah/ Three men are in the news and under state scrutiny. Jason Neo, for captioning a photo of a school bus filled with children ‘Bus filled with young terrorists’. Christian Eliab Ratnam, for posting a photo on Facebook that some believe...
Event announcement – Ethical Salaries for a Public Service Centred Government
Nov. 28 | The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) will be launching a landmark paper on Cabinet Ministers’ remuneration on 30 Nov 2011. The result of four months’ intensive research by the party’s Policy Unit, the paper reviews the history and rationale for...
S-League 2011: Tampines Rovers Win Last Title Before S-League Revamp
Nov. 28 | By: Damon Yeo A 5-0 win over the visiting BalestierKhalsa FC has helped Tampines Rovers seal their third ever S-League title and their first since 2005. From the kick-off, pressure was on TampinesRovers as the visiting side had nothing more than pride...
The New Paper “twisted our mission into something people could make fun of” – Slutwalk Singapore
Nov. 28 | The following is an excerpt of an article “The Big SlutWalk Singapore Trolling Wankfest of Doom 2011″ that was first published on SlutWalk Singapore’s website. By Shimona Ng The New Paper ran a story that distorted SlutWalk’s goals,...
The Global Economy is a 2-Lane Highway
Nov. 28 | ~by: Kumaran Pillai~ While the Euro zone is going through its own challenges, which poses as the greatest threat to the global economic outlook, there are some signs of hope for the developing nations. The best way to describe this is to imagine that...
“I asked him to marry me, so that I can be his link to the outside world if he were arrested,” says wife of Francis Khoo in eulogy
Nov. 27 | The following is an excerpt from Dr Ang Swee Chai’s eulogy for her husband Francis Khoo, who passed away on Sunday 20 November 2011. Mr Khoo fled Singapore for London in 1977 as the government launched an extensive security operation against alleged...
Being Euphemistic about being ‘Open’
Nov. 27 | The following is an extract from an article first published on Blinkymummy. It talks about the recent spike in unhappiness due to announcements of urban redevelopment plans by the Government. Bukit Brown, Rochor Centre, Tanjong Katong, Buona Vista Swimming...
Moving past that perennial unfairness: Student Activism and the Student Concession Fare Issue
Nov. 26 | ~by: Bernard Chen~ There is a fundamental unfairness and this inherent unfairness has two facets to it. Polytechnic students labeled as “tertiary” students have to accept a higher concession fare arrangement vis-à-vis their peers in a junior...
YPAP’s call for fairer fares and past precedence
Nov. 26 | ~by: Ravi Philemon~ If past precedence is an indicator, this would be the response from the public transport operators to YPAP’s campaign for ‘fairer fares’: “…but both SBS Transit and SMRT said they are exploring the...
“There are a lot of prisons in our heads,” says Slutwalk activist
Nov. 26 | The following is an excerpt from an article ’SlutWalk comes to Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangalore and Mumbai’ that was first published on Fridae. By Ng Yi-Sheng/ I’ve recently had the pleasure of meeting the team behind the Singapore edition....
Saying “it’s not your fault” to a sexual assault survivor can be life-saving – AWARE Exec Director
Nov. 26 | The following is a speech by AWARE Executive Director Corinna Lim at AWARE’s Sexual Assault Befrienders Service launch on 25th November 2011. Our Guest of Honour, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Law, Mr Shanmugam, members of the press, friends of...
Section 157(d) to be repealed – Law Minister
Nov. 26 | by Chong Ai Ling “I really do not think that these assumptions, myths and repugnant views should find any expression in our laws,” said Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law, on the repeal of Section 157(d) of Singapore’s Evidence...
YPAP – Remember us as you take to Speakers’ Corner
Nov. 25 | the following letter was sent to the Chairman of YPAP, Teo Ser Luck and copied to us: – Mr Teo Ser Luck Chairman Young PAP Dear Mr Teo We read in The Straits Times dated 24 November 2011, that the Young PAP is taking to the Speakers’ Corner...
Stop PRs from gaming the system
Nov. 25 | The following is a letter from a TOC reader by Erica Lim/ I am disappointed that one in three permanent residents liable for national service choose not to serve, by renouncing their PR status prior to serving NS (“8,800 PRs served NS in last five years”,...
Even an imprisoned racist’s thoughts are free
Nov. 24 | ~Editorial~ Sticks and stones may break your bones but words will never harm you. Really?! One commenter on a Facebook re-post which was deemed offensive to Muslims by some, did not seem to think so. Commenting on the thread of the re-post she said,...
Premium Buses – A disguised mechanism to squeeze locals?
Nov. 23 | by Alex Lew/ Premium buses were introduced as early as 2007 to cater to smaller groups of commuters who were willing to pay more for a comfortable ride. The intention was to ensure that commuters had a more direct and faster journey between congested...
How many HDB flats are occupied by PRs or former-PRs?
Nov. 23 | ~by: Leong Sze Hian~ I refer to the article “48700 HDB flats owned by PRs as of Sept” (see HERE). This means that about five per cent of the total number of HDB flats, excluding HDB rental flats, are owned by permanent residents (PRs). How many of...
Kindness Movement must be owned by the people to succeed – SKM General Secretary
Nov. 22 | The following is a letter to The Online Citizen by Dr William Wan, General Secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement in response to a previous article by Raymond Anthony Fernando I read with great interest the article “Try a little kindness, give...
What any Confucian-styled ruler should know
Nov. 22 | ~by: Dr Wong Wee Nam~ Few days ago, there was this news that Government has decided to allow HDB flat owners to keep mongrels and bigger dogs to solve the problem of strays in the streets. This problem is not something new. In the past a constituent...
CPF: Pay to disabled children monthly?
Nov. 22 | ~by: Leong Sze Hian~ I refer to the article “More CPF protection for children with special needs” (see HERE ST, Nov 22). Under the new Special Needs Savings Scheme (SNSS), the savings of a CPF member who dies can now to be distributed to their disabled...
“I’ve got rights. You can’t do this to me.”
Nov. 22 | ~by Melanie Alfred~ How many times have we (explicitly or otherwise) declared these words? When we feel that we have been wrongly treated? When we feel that we were cheated of something that was rightly ours? A promotion? A job? A house? A voice? What...
Lina Chiam: The rich are getting richer
Nov. 22 | the following is NCMP Lina Chiam’s text of the speech she delivered in the 2nd reading of Parliament: – 1. Central Provident Fund (Amendment) Bill, 17/2011 Mr Speaker sir, I support the spirit behind the Special Needs Savings Scheme, which...
Racist posts on FB by blogger – police investigates
Nov. 21 | ~by: Jewel Philemon~ Singapore Police Force is investigating blogger and chief editor of New Asia Republic, Donaldson Tan for re-posting an extremely offensive picture to Muslims; one of a prohibited animal in Islam, superimposed on the Ka’ba –...
Fundamentals in Public Engagement 2.0 – GovCamp reflections
Nov. 21 | by Howard Lee/ Photo: GovCampSG GovCamp Singapore focuses on positioning government as a platform to engage key sectors of a country to come together in one conference and to jointly collaborate on how to improve citizen engagement and services using...
Bukit Brown and Rochor: Development for Who?
Nov. 21 | by Tim Mou Hui/ Debate concerning the clearance of Bukit Brown Cemetery to make way for a new four-lane dual carriageway and new housing developments will likely be revived with the recently announced plans to evict and relocate residents of Rochor Centre...
The Politics of Race
Nov. 21 | by Ghui/ The issue of race seems to be at the forefront of news of late. With the the dust of the Jason Neo saga barely settling, the nation is rocked by yet another indiscreet and inappropriate internet user in the form of Christian Eliab Ratnam, a self-appointed...
SAF personnel who posted offensive picture agreed with statement attributed to LKY
Nov. 21 | by Chan Chuan Meng/ The SAF personnel being investigated for posting on his Facebook wall a picture of text that criticises Islam apparently agreed with a statement that was attributed to Lee Kuan Yew, according to another Facebook post. On September...
Do you have a history of mental illness?
Nov. 21 | ~By: Raymond Anthony Fernando~ “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. ...
NCMP Yee Jenn Jong: no-one wants to be the best loser
Nov. 20 | ~by: Dr Kieren James~ the following is Dr Kieren James’ (University of Southern Queensland) interview with Mr Yee Jenn Jong. Non-Constituency Member of Parliament: – Kieren James (KJ): First of all can you tell me how you became politicized and...
Man paid three times more for same medication at Govt Hospital than at Polyclinic
Nov. 20 | ~by: Chong Ailing~ “Patients. At the heart of all we do.” - tagline at the end of email from Changi General Hospital That was not what Mr Xu (not real name) felt when he realised he was paying three times more for a same type of medication...
ACRES films training session of RWS wild-caught dolphins but told to leave
Nov. 19 | the following is a media release by ACRES: - On 14 November 2011, representatives from ACRES, Earth Island Institute (EII) and the Philippines Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) visited Ocean Adventure in the Philippines to film training sessions of the Resorts...
Cleaning up a 14 year immigration mess
Nov. 19 | by Chua Suntong/ According to the writer, BG Tan now has the unenviable task of fixing the FT policy that was started under Goh Chok Tong’s watch On 31 October 2011, Minister of State for Manpower Brigadier-General (BG) Tan Chuan Jin announced...
MARUAH celebrates Human Rights’ Day on Dec 10 2011
Nov. 19 | Human Rights is for all of us. United Nations has set aside Human Rights Day Observance as 10th December. MARUAH is a three-year-old human rights organisation that has been in dialogue on human rights with governments, private sector and civil society....
SEA Games: Victory over Thailand not enough
Nov. 18 | ~by: Damon Yeo~ Singapore 2 Thailand 0 Indonesia 0 Malaysia 1 Singapore has bounced back strongly after losing to Indonesia four days ago with a solid performance against perennial powerhouse Thailand in the final match of the 26th SEA Games group stage....
Comments like those expressed by Jason Neo has no place in SDP – Dr Chee Soon Juan
Nov. 18 | by Dr Chee Soon Juan/ The YPAP incident where one of its members, Jason Neo, had put up a racially offensive post is not only unfortunate but very troubling. It would be tragic if this is a derivation from some of the tragic comments that the PAP, in...
Sedition Act report filed against SAF personnel
Nov. 18 | Update: Christian Eliab Ratnam has responded to TOC saying: Dear readers, I am the owner of the Facebook profile mentioned in this post and I admit to having posted the thread mentioned. I am sincerely sorry if I have offended or affected anyone by my...
Jason Neo controversy: NSP’s response
Nov. 18 | PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Subject: Response remarks by former YPAP member on Facebook The remark made on Facebook by a former member of the Young PAP regarding a schoolbus of Muslim children was unquestionably irresponsible and inflammatory....
Jason Neo: Kid with outstretched arms ‘inspired my thoughts’
Nov. 18 | Latest - The police have confirmed that reports have been lodged and that they are investigating into the matter. by Joshua Chiang/ A TOC reader has sent us the following screen-capture of the comments to the controversial photo posted by former-YPAP...
From population replacement to property valuation – how the FT policy lost its way
Nov. 18 | 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 net migrants. This term was undefined. However, it was likely to...
Who is the mainstream media protecting?
Nov. 17 | ~by: Ravi Philemon~ It has been about 24 hours since the YPAP member Jason Neo’s highly racist and offensive caption story broke on TOC (see HERE). PAP MP Zaqy Mohamad thinks that this story is serious enough to respond on it not once, but twice...
Desmond Lim: I said I will support Mrs Chiam in every way
Nov. 17 | ~by: Dr Kieren James~ the following is Dr Kieren James’ (University of Southern Queensland) interview with Mr Desmond Lim, Secretary-General, Singapore Justice Party and Singapore Democratic Alliance (part 1): – Kieren James (KJ): Hi Desmond....
Workers’ Party Youth Wing “YouthQuake” Forum Discussion
Nov. 17 | The following is a press release from Workers’ Party Youth Wing. Politics should not just be restricted to the candidates that the various political parties field during a general election and the members of Parliament in the respective constituencies...
