By Leong Sze Hian I refer to the article “DPM Tharman refuses to answer WP’s questions in Parliament” (TR Emeritus, Apr 9). Parliamentary reply It states that “Mr Tharman said, “It is generally not the international practice among authorities to reveal the number of legal assistance and information requests from specific countries.” “However I can assure Members that we have helped fully on all requests fro ...

Joshua Chiang/ When the proposal to benchmark ministers’ salaries to those of the top six highest earning professions was first mooted in Parliament in 1994, then-Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew defended the largely unpopular move by prophesizing proclaiming: "I say it (the ministerial pay increase) is necessary ... in five to 10 years, people will acknowledge that it works, and this formula will be accepted a ...

The editors and writers of theonlinecitizen would like to extend our condolences to the families of those who have perished as a result of the devastating cylone which has hit Burma. We would also like to extend an offer of help to our Burmese friends in Singapore. Please do let us know if TOC can be of any assistance. We can be reached at [email protected] TOC also urges the Singapore government t ...

Selene Cheng Burmese national desperate to vote goes topless, but still no vote A sea of red greeted me as I made my way up the road to the Burmese embassy at St Martin’s Drive. Burmese lined both sides of the road, the rows of people in red standing three abreast along a pavement sporadically broken by blue uniformed policemen. The crowd was gathered to vote early in a referendum to approve a new constitut ...

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 of the bullying incident was uploaded on YouTube by one of the three British men, which showed them cackling like vultures and hurling insults at the trisha ...

By Jeffrey Leow Not too long ago, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, amid the seemingly rising anti-Singapore sentiments in Australia, the following with regard to the Burma saga:   "Singapore's hospitals also keep its leaders alive - the 74-year-old strongman Than Shwe has been receiving treatment for intestinal cancer in a government hospital in Singapore, in a ward heavily protected by Singapore se ...

By Travis Tan If a top-ten list of 2007 buzz-phrases were to be compiled, somewhere between “rising costs” and “enbloc fever” you would find “military junta” and “pro-democracy movements”. Thus, with our vocabulary extended and our eyes fixated on developments over the past year, this article explores the two most prominent and captivating pro-democracy movements of 2007; through the eyes of their disparate ...

Several Burmese activists and members and supporters of MARUAH, a group of Singaporean activists advocating the setting up of an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism, commemorated International Human Rights Day in Singapore on Sunday, December 9. The group of eight Burmese and Singaporeans fanned out across City Hall MRT in pairs from 11am to 2pm wearing recognizable red t-shirts, distributed stickers and fact card ...

Tony Birtley of Al Jazeera takes a look at Burmese refugees who have fled the tyranny but are prevented from peaceful demonstrations in Singapore, and call for ASEAN countries, especially Singapore, to be more transparent in their trade and financial dealings with Burma. The report includes interview with Chee Siok Chin and Alex Au. [youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=N3utP18pkns] ...

The following is a report carried by Japan's largest news agency Kyodo.  Singapore's unsuccessful attempt to convince Myanmar [Burma] and China to allow a UN special envoy to Myanmar to address either a summit of East Asian leaders or a summit of Southeast Asian leaders is seen by some diplomats as a miscalculation of the balance of power in the region. A diplomat from a member country of the Association of ...