Current Affairs
Funpack distribution with free buffet dinner by CCC
![](https://theonlinecitizen.s3.ap-northeast-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/2015/07/27071213/funpack-distribution.png)
“Bishan East celebrates SG50 with grassroots adviser Mr Wong Kan Seng; Funpack Distribution,” writes a banner for a buffet dinner organised for a private condomiun and the nearby landed properties.
It was announced earlier that every Singaporean and PR household will receive a SG Funpack for Singapore’s jubilee anniversary while NDP 2015’s spectators will receive a National Day Parade Funpack.
Sharing the findings from conversations with condo Management Committee, Bishan East Neighbourhood Committee, Bishan-Toa Payoh CCC, the resident informs The Online Citizen (TOC) of fun pack distributions carried out by the Citizens’ Consultative Committee (CCC) in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC with free buffet dinners paid by the CCC.
“Since they (took the) trouble to bring to our condo door steps, with free dinner to boot, I went down with my family of 4 to collect.” said the resident.
The resident added, “Event started 6.30pm and I saw families streaming down. Around 50-60 were already at BBQ area. I went there 7.30pm.
Consider buffet caters for 200, and using average three household members attend, est 70 households present. This is only about 31% (70/224) who would be collecting their fun packs.
This is also collaborated by my observation of the name list I signed which has less 50% signed.”
![wong kan seng](https://i0.wp.com/theonlinecitizen.s3.ap-northeast-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/2015/07/27071213/wong-kan-seng.jpg?resize=650%2C366&ssl=1)
MP Wong Kan Seng with residents at the funpack buffet dinner
In fact, this is not the only funpack distribution organised for the residents. According to the committee members, this funpack distribution is being held within all condominiums for the residents and in parks for landed properties. The resident also heard from the managing committee that dinners are held at individual condos on different dates.
One MC member who mentioned to the resident that a typical function which MC organize, caters to about 200+ people with a budget of $12 per pax.
- Curry chicken
- Fried fish in tomato sauce
- Chicken franks
- Fried toufu in oyster sauce
- Cauliflower veg
- Curry samosa
- Fried maggi mee
- Fried rice
- Desserts (assorted cakes, almond jelly)
- Fruit punch drink
The caterer confirmed with the resident on the event that took place, was meant for 200 at a special corporate rate $10/pax (normal $15.90/pax). The caterer also shared that if anyone were to book at such quantity, they would not be giving such special rate.
This means it would have cost the CCC at least $2,000 to run the event. With at least 13 condos and a number of landed properties in the Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, the CCC is likely to spend over $20,000 on such buffet dinners to give out the funpacks to residents with the presence of the Member of Parliament who doubles up as the grassroots advisor.
The resident said, “Whereas public housing citizens have to go to CC (community centres), queue to collect fun packs. Wonder if RCs do this for (the) convenience of their HDB blocks?”
It is also said that CCC will fund private residential function up to 50% of operating cost, with a limit of $1000 for festive events e.g., Chinese New Year, lantern festival, etc.
Grassroots organisations such as the CCCs, RCs and MCs were in news recently over the Auditor General’s Office report on their accounting lapses, which involved sums totalling $17.78 million.
In the budget debate earlier this year, expenditure for the governing body of GROs, People’s Association (PA) was increased 51.3% to over S$1 billion.
Minister Lim Swee Say, Minister (Prime Minister’s Office) and Deputy Chairman of PA, said that the budget allocated to the PA “reflects a higher level of commitment by the Government towards promoting social cohesion and racial harmony.”
He explained that the increase of $100.3 million or 29.5% in operating expenditure will go into implementing the Pioneer Generation Ambassador programme where staff and volunteers reach out to seniors where they live, as well as supporting the work of the grassroots organisations (GROs) and Community Development Councils (CDCs) in assisting the needy and in building and bonding our multi-racial and multi-cultural communities.
According to polling agents in the last General Election 2011, the ruling party, People’s Action Party saw lower supporter from the higher income voters. Specifically in the Holland Bukit Timah GRC where most of the opposition votes came from the landed properties.
It is to be seen in the upcoming General Election if such bonding exercises and spending of public money would improve the ruling party’s standing with the well-to-do Singaporean voters.
[total-poll id=70478]![](https://theonlinecitizen.s3.ap-northeast-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/2023/03/26202010/TOC_newlogo_small.webp)
Current Affairs
Reforming Singapore’s defamation laws: Preventing legal weapons against free speech
Opinion: The tragic suicide of Geno Ong, linked to the financial stress from a defamation lawsuit, raises a critical issue: Singapore’s defamation laws need reform. These laws must not be weaponized to silence individuals.
![](https://theonlinecitizen.s3.ap-northeast-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/09/27020206/SupremeCourtBuilding-Singapore-20070210.jpg)
by Alexandar Chia
This week, we hear the tragic story of the suicide of Geno Ong, with Ong citing the financial stress from the defamation lawsuit against her by Raymond Ng and Iris Koh.
Regardless of who’s right and who’s wrong, this Koh/Ng vs Ong affair raises a wider question at play – the issue of Singapore’s defamation laws and how it needs to be tightened.
Why is this needed? This is because defamation suits cannot be weaponised the way they have been in Singapore law. It cannot be used to threaten people into “shutting up”.
Article 14(2)(a) of the Constitution may permit laws to be passed to restrict free speech in the area of defamation, but it does not remove the fact that Article 14(1)(a) is still law, and it permits freedom of speech.
As such, although Article 14(2)(a) allows restrictions to be placed on freedom of speech with regard to the issue of defamation, it must not be to the extent where Article 14(1)(a)’s rights and liberties are not curtailed completely or heavily infringed on.
Sadly, that is the case with regard to precedence in defamation suits.
Let’s have a look at the defamation suit then-PM Goh Chok Tong filed against Dr Chee Soon Juan after GE 2001 for questions Dr Chee asked publicly about a $17 billion loan made to Suharto.
If we look at point 12 of the above link, in the “lawyer’s letter” sent to Dr Chee, Goh’s case of himself being defamed centred on lines Dr Chee used in his question, such as “you can run but you can’t hide”, and “did he not tell you about the $17 billion loan”?
In the West, such lines of questioning are easily understood at worse as hyperbolically figurative expressions with the gist of the meaning behind such questioning on why the loan to Suharto was made.
Unfortunately, Singapore’s defamation laws saw Dr Chee’s actions of imputing ill motives on Goh, when in the West, it is expected of incumbents to take the kind of questions Dr Chee asked, and such questions asked of incumbent office holders are not uncommon.
And the law permits pretty flimsy reasons such as “withdrawal of allegations” to be used as a deciding factor if a statement is defamatory or not – this is as per points 66-69 of the judgement.
This is not to imply or impute ill intent on Singapore courts. Rather, it shows how defamation laws in Singapore needs to be tightened, to ensure that a possible future scenario where it is weaponised as a “shut-up tool”, occurs.
These are how I suggest it is to be done –
- The law has to make mandatory, that for a case to go into a full lawsuit, there has to be a 3-round exchange of talking points and two attempts at legal mediation.
- Summary judgment should be banned from defamation suits, unless if one party fails to adduce evidence or a defence.
- A statement is to be proven false, hence, defamatory, if there is strictly material along with circumstantial evidence showing that the statement is false. Apologies and related should not be used as main determinants, given how many of these statements are made in the heat of the moment, from the natural feelings of threat and intimidation from a defamation suit.
- A question should only be considered defamatory if it has been repeated, after material facts of evidence are produced showing, beyond reasonable doubt, that the message behind the question, is “not so”, and if there is a directly mentioned subject in the question. For example, if an Opposition MP, Mr A, was found to be poisoned with a banned substance, and I ask openly on how Mr A got access to that substance, given that its banned, I can’t be found to have “defamed the government” with the question as 1) the government was not mentioned directly and 2) if the government has not produced material evidence that they indeed had no role in the poisoning affair, if they were directly mentioned.
- Damages should be tiered, with these tiers coded into the Defamation Act – the highest quantum of damages (i.e. those of a six-figured nature) is only to be reserved if the subject of defamation lost any form of office, revenue or position, or directly quantifiable public standing, or was subjected to criminal action, because of the act of defamation. If none of such occur, the maximum amount of damages a plaintiff in a defamation can claim is a 4-figure amount capped at $2000. This will prevent rich and powerful figures from using defamation suits and 6-figure damages to intimidate their questioners and detractors.
- All defendants of defamation suit should be allowed full access to legal aid schemes.
Again, this piece does not suggest bad-faith malpractice by the courts in Singapore. Rather, it is to suggest how to tighten up defamation laws to avoid it being used as the silencing hatchet.
Current Affairs
Man arrested for alleged housebreaking and theft of mobile phones in Yishun
A 23-year-old man was arrested for allegedly breaking into a Yishun Ring Road rental flat and stealing eight mobile phones worth S$3,400 from five tenants. The Singapore Police responded swiftly on 1 September, identifying and apprehending the suspect on the same day. The man has been charged with housebreaking, which carries a potential 10-year jail term.
![](https://theonlinecitizen.s3.ap-northeast-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/2024/09/03132151/PHONE3.jpg)
SINGAPORE: A 23-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly breaking into a rental flat along Yishun Ring Road and stealing eight mobile phones from five tenants.
The incident occurred in the early hours on Sunday (1 September), according to a statement from the Singapore Police Force.
The authorities reported that they received a call for assistance at around 5 a.m. on that day.
Officers from the Woodlands Police Division quickly responded and, through ground enquiries and police camera footage, were able to identify and apprehend the suspect on the same day.
The stolen mobile phones, with an estimated total value of approximately S$3,400, were recovered hidden under a nearby bin.
The suspect was charged in court on Monday with housebreaking with the intent to commit theft.
If convicted, he could face a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.
In light of this incident, the police have advised property owners to take precautions to prevent similar crimes.
They recommend securing all doors, windows, and other openings with good quality grilles and padlocks when leaving premises unattended, even for short periods.
The installation of burglar alarms, motion sensor lights, and CCTV cameras to cover access points is also advised. Additionally, residents are urged to avoid keeping large sums of cash and valuables in their homes.
The investigation is ongoing.
Last month, police disclosed that a recent uptick in housebreaking incidents in private residential estates across Singapore has been traced to foreign syndicates, primarily involving Chinese nationals.
Preliminary investigations indicate that these syndicates operate in small groups, targeting homes by scaling perimeter walls or fences.
The suspects are believed to be transient travelers who enter Singapore on Social Visit Passes, typically just a day or two before committing the crimes.
Before this recent surge in break-ins, housebreaking cases were on the decline, with 59 reported in the first half of this year compared to 70 during the same period last year.
However, between 1 June and 4 August 2024, there were 10 reported housebreaking incidents, predominantly in private estates around the Rail Corridor and Bukit Timah Road.
The SPF has intensified efforts to engage residents near high-risk areas by distributing crime prevention advisories, erecting alert signs, and training them to patrol their neighborhoods, leading to an increase in reports of suspicious activity.
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