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Bigotry of one – faith of another
Feb. 18 | Ravi Philemon Shravasti Dhammika writing in his blog on Pastor Rony Tan’s saga says that the government sanctioned inter-religious dialogues do not work because those that really need such dialogues, “the bigots, zealots, fundamentalists and the evangelicals,...
Why the vote is not ‘daft’
Feb. 17 | Sylvia Lim Last Nov, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak addressed APEC delegates in Singapore. When asked if he was confident that his economic reforms and stimulus packages would work for Malaysia, he quipped: “Well, it better work. Otherwise, you...
Iranian students protest at Speaker’s Corner
Feb. 13 | By Fang Shihan About 30 Iranians gathered at Speakers Corner on Thursday in a worldwide coordinated opposition movement against the current Iranian government. Held in conjunction with the regime’s celebration of its own revolution against the Shah...
Mandate assured … as long as PAP remains incorruptible
Feb. 10 | trulysingapore Dear editor, I refer to the letter by Dr Yik Keng Yeong dated 9 Feb 2010. Dr Yik points to the unequal scaling of the economic peak by countries in the region to suggest that work ethic is not the same across countries. By extension, places...
Overheard in NUS
Feb. 10 | I just wonder if there is a possibility for Sg to merge with China, since so many people here are Chinese in race, and a strong hinterland of the Chinese mainland is obviously beneficial for the singapore’s economy. Why not Singapore just assume...
Not your ordinary chit-chat session
Feb. 10 | Terence Lee When the Internal Security Department (ISD) called up Pastor Rony Tan to talk about his callous comments on Buddhism, it was no ordinary chit-chat session. Pleasantries might have been exchanged and the obligatory coffee proffered, but this...
Many Singaporeans want to migrate – Why?
Feb. 10 | Leong Sze Hian I refer to the article “Singapore envies Kiwi lifestyle” (New Zealand Herald, Feb 9). It states that “The bait was better working hours, cheaper cars and housing – and in three weeks thousands from Singapore have...
Town Councils – irresponsible to continue ignoring corridor clutter
Feb. 9 | Letter to TOC: by Phillip Ang From: phillip ang Date: Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 9:19 PM Subject: Town Councils – irresponsible to continue ignoring corridor clutter 20100208 To: mailto: mah_bow_tan@mnd.gov.sg Cc: lchertan@singnet.com.sg, Rosita_chow@prpg-tc.org.sg,...
Sharp rise in illegal loans: Singapore police
Feb. 8 | AFP SINGAPORE — Illegal loans rose almost 60 percent last year as Singaporeans reeling from the economic crisis turned to loan sharks to tide them over the tough times, a senior police official said Monday. There were 18,600 cases of illegal loans made...
Singaporeans seek asylum elsewhere
Feb. 7 | Ben Bland Asia Sentinel Given the Singapore government’s oft-repeated mantra that it has taken the city-state “from third world to first,” you would not expect to find refugees fleeing the island’s shores and gleaming skyscrapers. But...
The Reform Party welcomes the new US ambassador’s comments
Feb. 7 | Kenneth Jeyaretnam The Reform Party At his confirmation hearing before the Senate on 2nd February 2010 the new US ambassador-designate to Singapore, Daniel Adelman, was asked by the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Jim Webb: “The...
S’porean bride requested for wedding’s price not to be revealed because of father’s political position
Feb. 6 | NY dailynews.com It’s the Wedding Planner vs. Bridezilla now. Celebrity party organizer David Tutera used the B word Tuesday against a woman suing him for bailing out of her lavish Singapore wedding. “Melissa Chin was looking to turn her...
ST’s Rachel Chang accuses Singapore government of being polarised
Feb. 5 | From Gangasudhan‘s blog… A friend forwarded me the text of an opinion piece that I hear from another friend appears on Page 2 of today’s paper – since I no longer subscribe to the paper, I have no idea. The reporter, Rachel Chang,...
Jobstreet – Jobs for foreigners
Feb. 4 | Letter to TOC by: Andrew Michael Teo Hi, I had just visited the Jobstreet website and I was astonished to see many of the jobs which can be performed by our very local PMETs are being DIRECTLY TO FOREIGNERS by DIRECT EMPLOYERS and Recruitment Agencies. I...
A false necessity: Singapore’s maid trade
Feb. 3 | Jolene Tan The F-word Blog In my gleamingly modern home town of Singapore, trading in women has been refined to a stomach-churningly efficient art. The women in question are foreign domestic workers (FDWs), locally known as “maids”, who travel from...
The Reform Party responds to the Economic Strategies Committee Report
Feb. 3 | Kenneth Jeyaretnam The Reform Party The Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) finally released its report yesterday after over eight months of deliberation. The ESC is supposed to include the best brains from the private and public sectors yet all it...
Help the singles with affordable housing
Feb. 2 | Letter to TOC by: Joseph Ang Under the existing HDB policy, singles are not allowed to buy or rent flats directly from the Housing and Development Board (HDB), unless they partner with another single person and apply under the joint-singles scheme. In...
The Singapore Government – Worth its weight in gold?
Feb. 2 | Wakka Kong and Simeon Ang The Singapore government has always taken pride in its strong stand against corruption, as substantiated by Singapore’s high ranking (fourth) in the global corruption survey. According to Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, the...
Income statistics: “Significant” may have a different meaning in Singapore?
Feb. 2 | Leong Sze Hian I refer to the Report of the Economic Strategies Committee released on 1 February. It states that “The majority of households have seen significantly higher real incomes over the decade, with median incomes rising by over 20 percent....
The Mandatory Death Penalty
Feb. 1 | TOC TV takes to the streets to ask young Singaporeans and working adults their views on the mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking in Singapore – filmed at Bugis Junction & Raffles Place (video below).
Medisave contribution may increase to cover costs – Leong Sze Hian replies
Jan. 31 | Leong Sze Hian I refer to the report “Medisave contribution may go up to cover costs” (ChannelNewsAsia, Jan 28). It states that “Medisave contribution may go up as the need for long-term care increases with Singapore’s aging population....
Press Muse – Moving news and pushing pills
Jan. 31 | Spiegel A while ago, I noted the inappropriate use of a Habbo survey as a basis for drawing scientific conclusions on ills of computer game addiction. In particular, I insinuated that Habbo, an online social networking site, were delighted recipients...
An indoctrination process during NS
Jan. 31 | Alvin Phoon Being Singaporean means experiencing a lot of things. Good food. High prices. SPGs. It also means constantly receiving some excellent reasons for why things are; reasons that may or may not (mostly not) justify fallacies in the current political...
How many low-wage or unemployed? 600,000? 700,000?
Jan. 31 | Leong Sze Hian I refer to the articles “Big gains in jobs, mostly for locals” (ST, Jan 30), “The optimism gets real: Employers’ caution giving way to confidence, as orders grow: Hudson survey” (Today, Jan 22), Raymond Koh...
SFD will take “bearings from the pledge”
Jan. 15 | Fang Shihan and Khairulanwar Zaini Gracing the tenth session of Talk Politics All Night Long, an informal political discussion initiative, Dr James Gomez shared more details on Singaporeans for Democracy (SFD), the upcoming non-governmental organization...
Discovering the Uncovered
Jan. 11 | Fang Shiyuan and Jax Tan Uncovered is a temporary retail manifestation put up by Reckless Ericka in conjunction with ELOHIM by Sabrina Goh. This pop-up store retails for a restricted timeframe of one week starting from 7th Jan to 13th Jan 2010 at the...
Foreign workers shall not speak
Jan. 11 | Some employment contracts say this: Workers shall not “raise their voice to scold management, nor shall they be unreasonable, crack indecent jokes, intimidate or threaten others”. The penalty is a $100 fine each time. TODAY, on terms and...
TOC & Talk Politics hold successful Year in Review forum
Jan. 2 | Xue Jianyue / Pictures by Damien Chng Despite some technical mishaps, which resulted in a failure to webcast the forum to other sections at the venue, The Online Citizen (TOC) and Talk Politics held a successful Year in Review 2009 forum which looked...
Young Singaporeans reading history and the politics of age
Jan. 2 | The following is Mr Loh Kah Seng‘s speech at the 2009 Year In Review forum at the Post Museum. 2009 was a return to history. Men in White, written by three Straits Times journalists, appeared noisily in September, purporting to tell the ‘untold...
Should China execute a mentally ill drug smuggler?
Jan. 2 | Alvin Phoon China, one of the world’s oldest civilisations, boasting rich history, almost 10 million square kilometres of land and a 1.4 billion strong population, is destined to be a major power. Her impact on the world we know today cannot be...
Review: The Confounded Composer
Dec. 28 | Ho Rui An The narrative set up is dubiously derivative. The tormented, condemned artistic genius. The charismatic rogue and his multiple scandals. The secrets and betrayals. The sexual escapades. The plot of The Composer, written by Ken Kwek and directed...
Loving a schizophrenic
Dec. 23 | Raymond Anthony Fernando I met Doris on Good Friday 1974. She was 20 years old, a young, sincere and caring woman. But three years before, she became stricken with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is perhaps the most distressing of all mental disorders....
Press Muse – The good, bad and ugly (part two)
Dec. 17 | Spiegel That the political coverage in the Straits Times doesn’t find me well is now well established. Plainly disappointing as it is, however, they do manage the occasional curveball. And this they did in the 11 December issue, when they ran something...
Economy recovering, but labour statistics getting worse?
Dec. 15 | Leong Sze Hian According to the Ministry of Manpower’s Labour Market Third Quarter 2009 Report, released on 15 December, Singapore’s real GDP grew by 0.6% over the year in Q3 09, after three consecutive quarters of contraction. However, long-term...
Why must we join the ‘war’ for talent?
Dec. 14 | Fiona Lim I refer to the Straits Times article “Singapore ‘must join the war for talent” (11th Dec 2009). Singapore government’s unabashed enthusiasm for the State’s alliance with foreign capital does not present itself more clearly than...
Press Muse – The good, bad and ugly (part one)
Dec. 14 | Spiegel Throwing spitballs at others can be very satisfying. Your target is remote, both physically and emotionally. The blow-back effect from your attack barely registers. Not with me anyway. To this end, I tend to unapologetically target the Straits...
Foreign nurses cannot replace local care for our elderly
Dec. 12 | Breaking News The Reform Party calls for the abolition of death penalty for drug trafficking. Read their press release here. Lawrence Lin Where do the elders in Singapore go? Stay with their children and take care of the kids if possible? Move to a...
Let’s not forget our multilingual roots
Dec. 10 | Jamie Li Chou Han In the recent public debates over the future direction of Singapore’s Chinese language education policy, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is right in noting that much of the discussion has revolved around emotional responses regarding...
Human Rights for Migrant Domestic Workers
Dec. 9 | CARAM Asia KUALA LUMPUR, 10 Dec 2009: As the world marks International Human Rights Day today, CARAM Asia launches an online petition campaign seeking crucial support and commitment from every employer of households to grant a weekly paid day off to their...
Transport subsidies for the disabled – passing the buck?
Dec. 9 | Exclusive coverage: Starting from today (9 Dec), The Online Citizen will have exclusive coverage the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) which is being held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The reports are by members of ECO Singapore, writing exclusively...
Democracy and Good Governance
Dec. 8 | People have known for a long time that countries can succeed if they are not democratic. The question is: Can countries continue to succeed if they are not so? Parag Khanna
The treason of reason
Dec. 5 | Read: Media’s silence on Yong Vui Kong a National Shame Khairulanwar Zaini Make no mistake about where the ‘cooling off’ period is coming from: a psychological gerrymandering to serve the PAP’s advantage. But that advantage goes beyond imposing...
When is a Family Not a Family?
Dec. 5 | Gwee Li Sui On days when my mind strays into abstraction, I find myself baffled by terms such as “pro-life”, “pro-choice”, and “pro-family”. We all know what these mean, but, as words that purport to describe positions, they are not very...
Press Muse – Cynical studies
Dec. 5 | Spiegel Reading Ben Goldacre, medical doctor and outspoken critic of bad science, has done something to my news reading sensibilities – in a pathological way. Now when I read a news story that involves science, statistics and surveys, my ‘bad...
Transport Ministry and PTC wash their hands off public transport subsidy for people with disability issue
Dec. 4 | Ravi Philemon I was the media spokesperson for CAN!’s campaign for transport subsidy for people with disability. CAN!’s petition-signing and awareness-raising campaign ended in May 2009. Since then, the members of CAN! have been trying to deliver...
Household Expenditure Survey 2007/08: How many poor people in Singapore?
Dec. 3 | Announcement: Click here to order a copy of Sze Hian’s book, Issues That Matter: Uniquely Singapore – F1 or F9? Leong Sze Hian I refer to the report “Average monthly household expenditure for 2007/08 up 2.7per cent vs 2002/03 (CNA,...
‘Cooling off’ does not mean ‘no talking’
Dec. 3 | Fang Shihan The proposed policing of the internet to disallow political campaigning one day before polling day has seemed to create a perception that any form of political talk will be disallowed. It has also generated a fear among internet users that...
MM Lee’s admission – a good time for govt to reflect on policy
Nov. 19 | Amnesty International Press Release: “If Singapore has pretensions to being an international commercial center, especially in the age of the internet, its legislature must immediately act to bring the country in line with commonly accepted concepts...
The Church (not the Bible) discriminates against gays, says pastor
Nov. 13 | Note: Hi everyone. Please note that we have a “Random Posts” section. It highlights earlier articles which were published on TOC and which you may have missed. “Random Posts” is located at the bottom, after our Facebook Fans box....
