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Socialist front press conference on 4th Dec 2010
Dec. 3 | Press Notice Invitation to Socialist Front’s First Public Forum The Socialist Front will hold its first public forum on the topic of the “Rule of Law, what is your role?” Date: Saturday 4th December, 2010 Time: 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Location: Post-Museum,...
Rise in gang-related violence indicative of underlying social tensions
Nov. 12 | By Ng E-Jay As readers know, there has been an alarming increase in gang-related violence recently. On 9 Nov, it was reported that 16 people had been brutally slashed at Bukit Panjang allegedly by the 369 gang, and early last week, a young man by the...
Open-door immigration & high cost of homes
Nov. 1 | By See Leong Kit (Letter was rejected for publication by mainstream press.) I refer to your report “Cut ties to Singapore and lose your right to own land” (TODAY Oct 20). As a 60-something educated Singaporean, I empathise with the rightful...
Nourishing the people
Oct. 29 | By Dr Wong Wee Nam “Virtue is seen in the goodness of the government, and the government is tested by its nourishing of the people.” Yu the Great 禹曰：“於！帝念哉！德惟善政，政在养民。 Mr. Lim Swee Say, Minister without Portfolio...
Sky high HDB flat prices
Oct. 23 | By David See Leong Kit Editor’s Note: This letter was submitted to the mainstream press, but rejected for publication. We reproduce this letter with the kind permission of the author. I refer to the commentary “Buying a flat? Choose wisely”...
Who owns Singapore?
Sep. 15 | By Dr Wong Wee Nam 13 September 2010 “It is important to guarantee the people’s democratic rights and legitimate rights and interests. We must resolve the problem of excessive concentration of power, create conditions that allow people to criticise...
Why do we need 6.5 million people?
Sep. 6 | EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally written by Dr Wong Wee Nam in 2008. It is reproduced here with his permission. The over-population issue and influx of foreigners is as pertinent an issue today as it was 2008. Perhaps the situation has...
Singapore’s immigration policy and its developed status
Sep. 2 | By Chua Suntong From 1971 to 1984, the Singapore economy grew steadily. The ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) regime began to set long-term targets for Singapore to become a developed nation. In 1984, first Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong set...
When should one retire?
Aug. 14 | By Dr Wong Wee Nam 08 August 2010 “If I’d known that retirement was going to be this good I’d have done it the day after I left school!!!” — Mickey White Flowers know when to shrivel and die. Trees know when to shed their leaves. Animals...
NDP reflections
Aug. 12 | By Howard Lee A long weekend cooped up at home with a hyperactive toddler is definitely not the best way to go. As such, the evening of National Day 2010 found us footing around Changi Boardwalk. We eventually grabbed dinner at Changi Village, and caught...
Censorship is not just about the arts
Aug. 10 | By Ho Rui An A total of 1786 signatures have been gathered in support of the arts community’s position paper against censorship. The position paper put up by ArtsEngage, a network of around 180 arts practitioners, calls for regulation instead of censorship...
NSP’s National Day message
Aug. 9 | (See video clip below) It has been a frustrating year for many Singaporeans. Although our GDP has grown significantly for the past quarters but the decline in the retail sector speaks volume of the kind of growth we are getting. Our purchasing power...
Reform Party responds to Desmond Lim’s statements
Aug. 8 | The Reform Party has responded to a press release made by Mr Desmond Lim Bak Chuan, assistant secretary-general of the Singapore People’s Party (SPP), made earlier this week. The press release was posted on Mr Lim’s facebook account and copied...
The taming of floods
Aug. 7 | By Dr Wong Wee Nam Floods have been China’s sorrow for thousands of years. They have also been Singapore’s talking point for the past few months. In China, people wailed and cried as they lost their loved ones, their properties and the crops...
The Youth Olympic Games – why the great apathy?
Aug. 3 | By Ng E-Jay Why do so many Singaporeans fail to feel a sense of pride at our nation hosting the Youth Olympic Games, slated to take place from the 14th to the 26th of August this year? According to an informal poll conducted at the Channel News Asia...
Dr Lim Hock Siew – A remarkable man
Jul. 27 | By Dr Wong Wee Nam “You only have power over people so long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power — he’s free again.” – Alexander Solzhenitsyn I first...
Lawyer M Ravi files judicial review on Yong Vui Kong’s case
Jul. 22 | By Choo Zheng Xi Mr M Ravi, the lawyer for death row inmate Yong Vui Kong on Wednesday filed a judicial review application to ask the Singapore courts to hold that his client’s right to a fair clemency hearing has been undermined. Mr Ravi’s application...
Our police state is fraying at the edges
Jul. 21 | By Ng E-Jay Recent events have shown unequivocally that not only has the PAP government run the country as a police state, but also that the authorities are now getting panicky and desperate to the point that they are fumbling and making glaring mistakes. Barely...
Future generations will pay for the sins of PAP
Jul. 5 | By Ng E-Jay I wish I could come up with a more optimistic pronouncement. But this is the most honest assessment I can make: Future generations of Singaporeans will have to pay for the sins of the PAP if something is not done about the present situation. Let...
Million-dollar salaries but monumental screw-ups
Jun. 30 | By See Leong Kit (29 June 2010) [Letter was rejected for publication by TODAY Voices Editor Agatha Koh Brazil ] TODAY (Jun 21) really sets me thinking. I refer to P N Balji’s commentary “New mood, a reality check for bosses” and Second Minister...
What Singapore’s opposition can learn from Malaysia’s Pakatan Rakyat
Jun. 16 | By Ng E-Jay As a casual political observer, I find Malaysian politics interesting for two reasons. Firstly, the Malaysians have shown us what can happen in the context of Singapore politics if the opposition parties here unite and put up a credible fight...
PAP has the cheek to condemn Potong Pasir
Jun. 11 | From SDP Website, 11 June 2010: For years the PAP Government has been playing the ugliest kind of politics to deprive opposition wards of funds and resources to upgrade their facilities and infrastructure. Now it comes up with a report to say that opposition...
Opacity from MAS concerning some foreign stock counters
May. 28 | The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has been discreetly compelling stock brokers in Singapore to impose trading restrictions on certain foreign stock counters, particularly Exchange Traded Notes (ETNs). Affected counters can no longer be purchased. ETNs...
My awakening: political education of an ordinary Singaporean student
May. 27 | SDP website, 27 May 2010, by Natalie Koh I am an ordinary Singaporean student who, until now, has been brainwashed like many of you. Now I know the ugly truth. I’d like to share my experience with you about my struggle in taking off the blindfold...
Goh Keng Swee leaves behind some unanswered questions
May. 24 | The Star, 22 May 2010, by Seah Chiang Nee He engineered Singapore’s industrialisation and overall economy, transforming the country from a squatter city into an affluent, modern city state. Ironically, few Singaporeans under 30 know much about...
Words of tribute and remembrance for Dr Goh Keng Swee
May. 21 | Dr Wong Wee Nam, Dr Patrick Kee, and Dr Marvin Leong pen words of remembrance and tribute for the late Dr Goh Keng Swee, architect of Singapore’s modern economy. Former Deputy Prime Minister Dr Goh Keng Swee passed away last Friday at his home in...
Workers’ Party Youth Wing Youthquake HDB public forum
May. 17 | I was invited to speak at the Workers’ Party’s (WP) Youth Wing Youthquake HDB public forum on 15 May. The other speakers were Mr Png Eng Huat, a Central Executive Committee (CEC) member of the WP, and Mr Gerald Giam, a WP member and former...
Dr Goh Keng Swee dies
May. 14 | The Online Citizen extends our condolence to the family of Dr Goh Keng Swee. ——————————— Source: Straits Times, 14 May 2010 FORMER Deputy Prime Minister and Singapore’s economic architect...
Flaws in our education system go beyond mother tongue
May. 12 | Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said so himself in November last year. His insistence on bilingualism has been wrong, causing generations of students to be put off by the Chinese language. [1] Those remarks sparked off a heated debate over the teaching of...
Reform Party’s renewal
May. 9 | —Breaking News— The following is the latest statement by the Chairman of the Singapore Democratic Alliance, Mr Chiam See Tong: “My feelings on the meeting between Singapore Democratic Alliance and The Reform Party are that the talks are...
NSP’s May Day Message 2010
May. 3 | NSP’s May Day Message 2010 Sat, May 01, 2010 In recognition of May Day, the National Solidarity Party honours the workers of the world in general, and those in Singapore in particular for their invaluable contributions towards nation building through...
SDP’s May Day message
Apr. 30 | The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) has published its May Day message on its website. (Click here to view it.) In its message, the SDP says that Singaporean workers “have been systematically reduced to mere digits without dignity and tenure of...
No lack of sophistry from the government concerning the homeless
Apr. 29 | By Ng E-Jay It appears that there is absolutely no lack of sophistry and intellectual dishonesty on the part of the PAP government concerning the homeless in Singapore. It is widely noted that every nation has its share of homeless folk. But our government...
Astroturfing — stamp it out
Apr. 25 | By Denise Lim You may have heard of this term astroturfing. It refers to political, advertising, or public relations campaigns that are formally planned by an organization, but designed to mask its origins to create the impression of being spontaneous,...
NSP’s Goh Meng Seng pledges to sell flat to fund election bid
Apr. 21 | By Ng E-Jay The Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party (NSP), Mr Goh Meng Seng, has revealed to close associates and supporters that he intends to sell his HDB flat in Serangoon North in order to fund his upcoming election campaign. This...
HDB caught red-handed bending its own rules
Apr. 16 | Note: This letter was rejected for publication by TODAY Your VOICES page (TODAY April 13) featured two letters with opposing perspectives about sky-high HDB flat prices — the euphoric “Let’s talk about property” by Lulu See and the more sensible...
Al Jazeera English taken off air — whose loss is it?
Apr. 15 | The decision to drop news channel Al Jazeera English from Singtel’s mio TV this month has only served to generate needless negative publicity for Singapore. The Internet is abuzz with talk that this could be due to AJE’s coverage of Singapore...
Former Reform Party chairman takes its chief to task
Apr. 12 | Former Reform Party chairman Ng Teck Siong has spoken to the mainstream press, taking Kenneth Jeyaretnam, the party’s Secretary-General, to task for making remarks that implied the party was a rudderless vessel devoid of leadership under Mr Ng’s...
Big rats and fat cats
Apr. 10 | “ A Fat Cat is a man of large means and no political experience who having reached middle age, and success in business, and finding no further thrill … of satisfaction in the mere piling up of more millions, develops a yearning for some sort...
Former RP chairman to give press conference at speaker’s corner
Apr. 9 | Mr Ng Teck Siong, former chairman of the Reform Party, will be giving a press conference at speaker’s corner on Saturday (10 April) at 5pm. He has informed TOC’s Political Desk that the purpose of the press conference is to provide a rebuttal...
Goh Chok Tong: “Chiam has been good for PAP”
Apr. 8 | Excerpts from the Singapore Democratic Party’s website on the resignation of Mr Chiam See Tong from the party in May of 1993: When Mr Chiam’s resignation as secretary-general was made public, the PAP wasted no time in exploiting the issue....
Part 2 of Dr Chee’s explanation of why Chiam left SDP
Apr. 7 | Excerpts from the Singapore Democratic Party’s website on the resignation of Mr Chiam See Tong from the party in May of 1993: Chiam attacks own party in front of SPH journalists After his resignation was announced in Jun 93, Mr Chiam was invited...
Opposition parties go for the PAP jugular
Apr. 6 | By Ng E-Jay Opposition parties have been keeping the heat up on the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) as the 2012 deadline for the next general election draws inexorably nearer with each passing day. The National Solidarity Party (NSP) has been...
Ars Moriendi — The lost art of dying
Apr. 6 | By Dr Patrick Kee / The topic of death and dying is taboo to many of us. Some feel it is bad luck to talk about dying. Others are just very fearful about the subject of death. We prefer to focus our attention on the gifts of longevity and healing....
$460,000 benefits for lower-income family over 60 years: Really?
Apr. 3 | By Leong Sze Hian The Ministry of Finance has posted an appendix to the 2010 Budget Debate round-up speech entitled “Transfers to an illustrative lower-income (bottom 20%) family over a lifetime”. This appendix purportedly illustrates how a lower...
United Singapore Democrats — a new political party
Apr. 2 | By Ng E-Jay The registration of a new political party, the United Singapore Democrats (USD), has caused much buzz in cyberspace. The party members, however, are keeping mum for now. They will disclose further details about the new party at a press conference...
Singaporeans furrow their brows over water festival
Mar. 31 | By Denise Lim The Water Festival is a highly celebrated festival in countries such as Thailand, Burma and Cambodia. While it is greeted by the natives with ostentatious pomp and fanfare in their home countries, the same festival that will be held in...
Killing the Dying
Mar. 30 | By Dr Wong Wee Nam “You will not mistake my meaning or suppose that I depreciate one of the great humane studies if I say that we cannot learn law by learning law. If it is to be anything more than just a technique it is to be so much more than...
TOC Editorial: Sheng Shiong’s extortionate increase – a failure of political representation
Mar. 25 | By Ng E-Jay From next month, supermarket chain Sheng Siong will increase the stall rentals by a whooping 30% at five of the wet markets it purchased last year. The five wet markets are in Choa Chu Kang, Bukit Batok and Serangoon. The current monthly...
