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London’s history, Singapore’s future?
James Goh – The party had already commenced the night before with throngs of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) crowd from different parts of the European Union (EU) and beyond descending upon one of the most popular gay capitals in Europe...
Religion in the public sphere
Now, all this (Law Minister Shanmugam’s remarks on the encroachment of religion into public space) rather reasonable. When in public it’s better to speak with a secular vocabulary than a religious one because you reach more people. However, this...
Let’s fight free speech with free speech
By George Hwang, 28th February 2010 The recent police reports filed by 85 people against Rony Tan for his anti-gay speech right after he was rapped by the Internal Security Department bemoans the sad state of affairs in our laws on this subject. In a...
Petition against ‘marital rape’ off to slow start
Report by Wang Simin / Photo courtesy of Jolene Tan But organisers are extending campaign to 30 November to garner more signatures. RAPING YOUR wife is okay in Singapore, but while a petition was initiated to abolish this exception in the law, the response...
Give SingaNews a chance, says CEO
Announcement: The Online Citizen welcomes Donaldson Tan to the editorial team! Donaldson is our new Deputy Editor. He is also the Head, TOC International. Welcome on board, Donaldson! Despite strong Christian connections, SingaNews CEO Mathew Yap appeals...
Put the gun down or pull the trigger
Ravi Philemon A recent ruling by the New Delhi High Court reinterpreting Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which was devised to prevent and criminalise all sexual activity “against the order of nature”, but especially homosexual...
Thio Li-Ann at center of controversy in New York University
Darren Boon “Crazy times” was what Leigh Pasqual described Dr Thio Li Ann’s appointment as visiting professor at New York University (NYU) on a Facebook note. Dr Thio, 41, an ex-Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) will be teaching ‘Human...
India decriminalises gay sex, Singapore shown to be a fool
Excerpts from Yawning Bread. Singapore’s Penal Code is based on India’s. We too used to have a Section 377 that criminalised “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”, which like India’s applied to both homosexual...
Vocalness – An effective tool in the battle of belief systems
Ravi Philemon / Head, Current Affairs Desk Critics will accuse Christians like Thio Li-Ann of pushing their own agendas in public space. But perhaps their views on homosexuality are not so different from the Singaporean majority after all. Nonetheless,...
The Emperor’s new clothes
KJ In a letter that appeared in the Straits Times forum online (“Whatever the issue, let’s learn to argue well”, 27 May 09), Ms Lisa Li, a GP teacher, made the case for arguing well. She says: “… given that Singapore will always have a diversity...
TOC Editorial: Keep Kum Hong
Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief Mr Siew Kum Hong’s detractors have recently begun lobbying the government to deny him a second term as a nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) on the basis that he has stood up to oppose discrimination against homosexuals. These...
Aware saga: Calm down and move on, says DPM Wong Kan Seng
Breaking News: Malaysia confirms its first H1N1 flu case, says top health official Ismail Merican. Announcement: Stay tuned for TOC’s very special feature on Monday, 18 May. You shouldn’t miss it. The following is Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs...
BREAKING NEWS: Staff sent out email asking members to vote at Aware EOGM
Breaking News: Ng Teck Siong, chairman of the Reform Party, has resigned from the party. Speaking to TOC, Mr Ng said he has “resigned completely” from the party. He confirmed he is not even an ordinary member of the Reform Party But church denies...
TOC Report: 150 call for vote of no confidence
Choo Zheng Xi New AWARE Executive Committee remain conspicuously silent No confidence. That is the message which 150 members of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) want to send to the Society’s new Executive Committee, which was...
Takeover of AWARE – “Please sit up and pay attention.”
From Glass Castle: At the end of March, AWARE held an AGM attended by a large bloc of new members, many of whom had not previously been especially active in the organisation (according to the Straits Times, a large majority of them had only joined the...
He’s PAP and dares to dissent
Excerpts from The Enquirer. MP for Tanjong Pagar Baey Yam Keng engages his residents at a session held once every two months, an intiative he started a few months after his first parliament session–Photo: Chong Zi Liang At the height of the debate...
Changed Singapore Dream: Fleeing The City of Possibilities
Dharmendra Yadav / Guest Writer Get a good education, work hard, save money, get married, own homes, make babies, retire and enjoy the fruits of your labour – this was once the Singapore Dream. In the last 5 years, I know of several friends who...
Of concessions and tokenism, worrying trends in policy making
Breaking News: Malaysiakini reports that Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has won the Permatang Pauh by-election with a majority of 16,210 votes. He garnered 26,646 votes while Arif Shah Omar Shah got 10,436. Anwar’s wife, Dr Wan Azizah...
A matter of interpretation
Benjamin Cheah / Senior Writer Nothing in the law states that the Law Society must wait for the Government to submit anything to it before acting On 25 July, the Straits Times interviewed Michael Hwang, the President of Singapore’s Law Society. The...
Religion and the right not to respect it
Joel Tan The hold of religion over law and policy creeps in like a thief in the night: once we lose sight of it, we afford religions a trump card, even above fundamental human rights, that they do not deserve. Human rights, civic rights, freedoms, rights,...
Homophobia Part 2: Under attack from the police
Ng Yi-Sheng In my last article, I mentioned that two things had happened recently that made me shocked and angry at the Singapore government. The first was MDA’s imposition of a fine on Mediacorp for showing a wholesome gay family on TV, a case credibly...
“Submit your boldest work to the censors.” – Martyn See
TOC speaks to filmmaker Martyn See about the Media Development Authority (MDA) granting a NC16 rating for his film “Speakers Cornered”. Martyn gives his views in this email interview with theonlinecitizen (TOC). TOC: Did you expect the MDA...
5 Minutes With…. Choo Zheng Xi on PM Lee’s interview
On PM Lee, succession, and weak leadership TOC’s Chief Editor Choo Zheng Xi gives his response to today’s Straits Times’ reproduction of an interview done with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long, and gets him to answer the tough questions the mainstream...
2007: The year virtual reality shaped reality – A review of the new media landscape in 2007
By Terence Lee for theonlinecitizen Who would have known that in a brightly-lit street along Clarke Quay, an old trishaw driver would attain near-celebrity status when he was bullied by three British tourists. Certainly not the trishaw driver. The video...
TOC Feature: Social work – a human rights framework
By Jolovan Wham Social workers are concerned with social problems, their causes, their solutions and their impact on society. We work with individuals, families, groups and organizations, as members of a profession who are committed to the well being...
NMP’s views at odds with AIDS relief research paper
By Jinesh Lalwani and Choo Zheng Xi Safe sex awareness pamphlets censored as pornography. Information booths closed down for distributing “illegal” content. Awareness outreach funding stifled by choking off of charity fundraisers by homosexual groups. The...
Deconstructing the Majority
By Benjamin Cheah The ‘silent majority’ has finally spoken. Its representative is ‘The Majority’, a group that intends to prevent the repeal of Section 377A. The Majority argues that the retention of Section 377A is necessary, to preserve moral...
Section 377A is inconsistent : PAP MP Hri Kumar
Transcript of the Parliamentary speech by PAP MP Hri Kumar on the debate over Section 377A. I rise to support the Bill. A major overhaul of the Penal Code was timely and the Ministry of Home Affairs has obviously put in much effort and thought to the...
377A serves public morality : NMP Thio Li-Ann
Below is the full transcript of NMP Professor Thio Li-Ann’s speech in Parliament. Two camps championing two distinct criminal law philosophies are polarised over whether to retain or repeal s377A which criminalizes public or private acts of gross...
Repeal 377a press conference: public health and families at stake too
By Teng Kie Zin Scott & Rachel Lim The repeal of the law against gay sex is not only about gays, as AIDS prevention programs and families of homosexual men are affected too, said the organizers of the group petitioning to repeal Section 377A of the...
NMP Siew Kum Hong: Turn our backs on prejudice, discrimination, intolerance and hatred
Below is the full transcript of NMP Siew Kum Hong’s speech in Parliament on the amendments to the Penal Code. TOC would like to thank Mr Siew for providing us with the transcript. Mr Speaker Sir, I rise to speak on the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill,...
Send Penal Code amendments to Select Committee: NCMP Sylvia Lim
This is the transcript of the speech by NCMP and Workers’ Party chairman Sylvia Lim in Parliament on the Penal Code amendments. (The video is here on CNA’s website.) TOC would like to thank Ms Lim for providing us with the transcript. Read...
TOC Feature: participating in the IBA
By Jeth Lee Thanks to the kind sponsorship of TOC, I was able to attend the much talked about Rule of Law Symposium organised by the International Bar Association last Friday despite it being priced at a restrictively high 60 Sterling pounds (citizen...
Outdoor demonstration planned outside St Andrew’s Cathedral
By Andrew Loh On the blog titled Enshrine 377A, the blogger, whose identity is unknown to us, calls for the public to participate in a “Walk For Jesus Action” in support of retaining section 377A of the Penal Code which criminalizes sex between...
Parliamentary petition to repeal 377A: not just any other petition
By Choo Zheng Xi In the most formal challenge to Singapore’s gay sex laws yet, Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Siew Kum Hong will be sponsoring a petition in Parliament calling for the repeal of section 377A of the Penal Code. The petition was...
TOC Feature: 377A – To prevent what harm?
By Michael Hor Curiously, the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill of 2007, proclaimed as the result of only the second comprehensive review of Singapore’s 136 year old criminal code, is likely to be remembered more for what it did not do than for what it did....
Highlights from Parliament
Committee to study annuity scheme A new committee will be set up to study the National Longevity Insurance Scheme, which is better known as “annuity”. Manpower Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen said in Parliament that this committee will be chaired by...
TOC Exclusive: Otto Fong’s Open Letter
Theonlinecitizen has obtained a copy of the original blog entry by Raffles Institution teacher, Otto Fong. It also includes comments which were originally posted by readers of his article. The original posting on his own blog has since been taken down....
TOC interviews Ephraim Loy
Ephraim Loy, one of the men behind Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo’s foray into blogging, has become something of a piñata on TOC. Of the 44 comments so far posted in the article welcoming him on board, many were overwhelmingly negative,...
“Peculiar Legislation: 377(A) – Symbol or Statute?”
Local Theatre Company Expects Fervent Debate at First “The Art & Life Sessions” Forum; with Participation of Political and Religious Leaders & Commentators. “Peculiar Legislation: 377(A) – Symbol or Statute?” will see Baey Yam Keng (MP),...
