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Singaporean loses HDB flat, foreign wife runs away
May. 8 | ~ By Leong Sze Hian ~ Billy (not his real name) is a 41 year old Singaporean male, who married a foreign spouse. After marrying him, she obtained permanent residency (PR) status. Subsequently, she left Singapore on a flight to Los Angeles in 2007, and...
The SPP – After Potong Pasir
May. 7 | A “GE2011 One Year On” special report ~ By Benjamin Cheah ~ In the 2011 General Elections, Chiam See Tong made his biggest gamble. The veteran politician ventured out of the traditional Singapore People’s Party (SPP) stronghold of Potong...
The WP – being effective, in and out of Parliament
May. 7 | A “GE2011 One Year On” special report ~ By Gordon Lee ~ One year ago, the Workers’ Party made history and headlines with their first-ever victory of a GRC – Aljunied GRC. In one fell swoop, this sent five of their members into...
The PAP – facing its new mandate
May. 7 | A “GE2011 One Year On” special report ~ By Ghui ~ Pre GE 2011, the political landscape in Singapore has been virtually static since the 60s. The PAP dominated the scene and it was a forgone conclusion that they would win every election. Of...
GE2011 One Year On – A TOC Special
May. 7 | ~ TOC Editorial ~ April 2012 will forever be remembered as arguably the most significant milestone month in Singapore's online media landscape. No, it has nothing to do with TOC's indulgence with its April Fool's joke, much as we wish our...
Human Rights Watch: Singapore should commute death sentence in drug case
May. 6 | President Dr. Tony Tan Keng Yam of Singapore should commute the death sentence in the heroin possession case of Yong Vui Kong, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to President Tan Keng Yam. Should he deny what could be a final request for clemency,...
Making life insurance products transparent and affordable
May. 6 | ~ By Felix Ling ~ After reading the reported argument by Manulife CEO’s analogy “The Lesson about putting a car on the moon”, in relation to whether to import fee-based system for insurance sector here, I would like to share my...
Regulations will not solve the problem of distrust
May. 5 | ~ By Shermon Ong ~ Recently, there has been much debate over the Code of Conduct (COC) proposed by the government, ostensibly something that will informally regulate the conduct of online discourse, especially political discourse. Socio-political...
Tan Jee Say: PAP has become incompetent
May. 5 | ~ By Tan Jee Say ~ I was a guest speaker at the dinner of Rotary Club Jurong Town on 24 April 2012. I shared with Club members what I thought should be the focus of Singapore politics going forward. The pre-occupation of opposition parties thus...
Twitter Action on Singapore by Amnesty International
May. 5 | MEDIA RELEASE Amnesty International is emphasizing that time may be running out for the young Malaysian, Yong Vui Kong, who, despite sustained global campaigning, remains on Singapore's death row. We now await the outcome of his...
TB Resurgence and Screening of Foreign Workers In Singapore
May. 4 | ~ By Dr Vincent Chia Wei Meng ~ With reference to the Straits Times on 28th April 2012, "tuberculosis (TB) is making a resurgence after some years in decline [in Singapore]." (1) I am increasingly concerned with the way foreign workers are screened...
Singapore Currency Traders Must Focus on Domestic and Global Events
May. 4 | ~ By Tom Cleveland ~ Newcomers to the world of foreign exchange, or “forex”, trading are often amazed at the amount of information that must be assimilated before trading can begin. Abundant disclaimers abound that literally...
Media freedom – a bid for trust in policy making
May. 3 | ~ By Howard Lee ~ As Singaporeans – or perhaps only those who go online – we would be familiar with the usual lines of “the government restricts media freedom”, or “the press is controlled in Singapore”, or “the...
The uncanny wisdom of population augmentation
May. 3 | ~ By Howard Lee ~ Something felt wrong about the latest suggestion by the National Population and Talent Division, when it projected that new citizenships need to be given out at 1.4 times faster than the current rate in order to maintain "population...
Amnesty International: Singapore should join global trend and establish a moratorium on executions
May. 3 | The following is a public statement (AI Index: ASA 36/004/2012 ) issued by Amnesty International on 2 May 2012. ______________________ Singapore’s announcement that it carried out four executions in 2011, after no executions the previous year, flouts...
“Love Singapore, Our Home”?
May. 2 | ~ By Jen ~ I read a comment in the news by the Chief Guards Officer in charge of Singapore’s National Day Parade 2012. Colonel Desmond Tan commented on the theme for this year’s National Day which is “Love Singapore, Our Home”....
In focus: Vincent Wijeysingha
May. 2 | ~ By Kumaran Pillai ~ In an exclusive interview with TOC, Dr Vincent Wijeysingha lets his hair down and speaks candidly about himself, his outlook, his beliefs and he has a message to his supporters and well-wishers. He was grinning ear to ear especially...
James Gomez: PAP is in policy inertia
May. 1 | ~ By Kumaran Pillai ~ 1st May 2012 – The Singapore Democratic Party was in general elections mode today. For the 1st time in the history of SDP and possibly a first for an opposition party, the SDP has organized an elaborate May Day Rally for Singaporean...
Malaysia: Authorities must immediately investigate police brutality at Bersih rally
May. 1 | The following is a press release from Amnesty International The Malaysian government must immediately order an independent and efficient investigation into police brutality against peaceful protestors at the Bersih 3.0 march for electoral reforms in Kuala...
Deconstructing democracy and freedom of speech
May. 1 | ~ By Ghui ~ With the possibility of a by-election looming and indeed after GE 2011, the twin concepts of freedom of speech and democracy have been hotly discussed. Many of the debates have been centred on the repercussions of a lack of democracy and its...
Think Centre’s Labour Day Message
May. 1 | ~ By Think Centre ~ This Labour Day, Think Centre salutes all workers and asks the tripartite movement for Fairer opportunities, Safer work and Minimum wage. Workers all over the world are celebrating the achievements of trade unions, and expressing...
May Day message from Chiam See Tong
May. 1 | MEDIA RELEASE My fellow Singaporeans, A happy May Day to all of you! I want to take this opportunity to pay tribute to all Singaporean workers – your hard work is the reason that our country has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. I want to...
SDP’s Dr Juwita Rahmat speaks about her political journey
Apr. 30 | ~ By Kumaran Pillai ~ A fresh new political talent has emerged from the ranks of the Singapore Democratic Party. Dr Juwita Rahmat, a 33 year old researcher with a local institution decides to follow the footsteps of what so many female political figures...
Population: Need 25,000 new citizens?
Apr. 30 | ~ By Leong Sze Hian ~ I refer to the occasional paper, Citizen Population Scenarios, published by the National Population and Talent Division, Prime Minister’s Office, in April. Highlights:- “Singapore’s Total Fertility Rate has...
What is the point of an internet “Code of Conduct”?
Apr. 29 | ~ By Ng E Jay ~ I simply don’t see the logic or the point of trying to develop an internet “Code of Conduct”. How is anyone going to enforce such a code of conduct given the free-wheeling nature of the internet that knows...
Chee Soon Juan: We do not have political rights
Apr. 29 | ~ By Chee Soon Juan ~ I refer to the article published on your site, "Dr. Chee should be permitted to attend the Oslo Freedom Forum" by Ghui. I quote the following paragraphs: Whether Dr. Chee’s views are right or wrong is not the point....
Show us you mean business
Apr. 29 | ~ By Siew Kum Hong ~ There's been a lot of talk about the Government's proposal for an online code of conduct, and last Thursday the Institute of Public Studies organised a closed-door discussion on the topic. It was conducted under the Chatham...
Facebook and The Prime Minister
Apr. 29 | ~ By Dr Wong Wee Nam ~ Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong appears to be loosening up. He has just launched his official Facebook page and Twitter account. In launching the Facebook he wrote “The social media have changed the way we live, work and play,...
Exploring the Extent of Executive Discretion
Apr. 28 | ~ By Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss ~ Part-time cleaner, Mdm Vellama d/o Marie Muthu is a Singapore citizen and resident voter of Hougang Single Member Constituency (SMC). On 15 February 2012, her Member of Parliament (MP) was expelled from his political...
Royal Elephant Shoots Part II
Apr. 28 | ~ By Kenneth Jeyaretnam ~ Yesterday I wrote about the PAP government’s willingness to bail out the Eurozone with generous contributions to the IMF’s lending facility (here). Yet a US$4 billion loan (which represents more than US$1200...
New Leaders to Speak at SDP May Day Rally
Apr. 28 | MEDIA RELEASE The Singapore Democrats will hold a May Day Rally on 1 May 2012. Party leaders said the rally will commemorate the contribution of workers to Singapore’s growth. Dr Juwita Rahmat, who holds a doctorate in medicine, will speak at the...
Dr. Chee should be permitted to attend the Oslo Freedom Forum
Apr. 28 | ~ By Ghui ~ The concept of human rights sits uncomfortably with Singaporeans. As a country, we have oft been accused of being economical with press freedom, freedom of speech and the like. These allegations have no doubt caused Singaporeans to become...
Social disparity: Not a Piece of Cake
Apr. 27 | ~ By Elijah Pear ~ There is no doubt income disparity is escalating in Singapore. Debate about implementing a minimum wage law is becoming heated. Nonetheless I think we should take a step back to rethink our positions. First we should reflect on the...
Administering Fairness
Apr. 27 | ~ By Wong Wee Nam ~ Recently 44 (and more) people were charged in court with having sex with an under-aged girl. One was allowed to go overseas to do his business and another was allowed to leave the country to get married. Indeed this show of sympathy...
TOC Editorial: Population Paper has the fundamentals wrong
Apr. 26 | ~ By TOC Editorial ~ So this is the new normal? Just when we thought our Government had heard the call of Singaporeans to moderate the flow of immigration, the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD), under the purview of Deputy Prime Minister...
Another Government Investment Goes Belly Up!
Apr. 26 | ~ By Kumaran Pillai ~ Ireland's former state telecom operator eircom applied for court protection to allow it to restructure its 3.75 billion euro (US$5 billion) debt mountain. A move eircoms officials said was "necessary and unavoidable"...
Public transportation breakdowns – who is in charge?
Apr. 26 | The letter below from Mr Phillip Ang was sent to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew, and the Land Transport Authority. We thank Mr Ang for allowing us to publish it in full. Dear PM Lee, I refer to the high...
SMRT’s whopping S$900M plan to prevent future breakdowns
Apr. 25 | ~ By Kumaran Pillai ~ SMRT will be spending to the tune of S$900M to rectify faults on their North-South and East-West lines which will be co-funded by the Land Transport Authority. This amount exceeds more than what SMRT has spent on repairs and maintenance...
Stop killing our Singapore sons
Apr. 25 | ~ By Melvin Low ~ I read with sadness the passing of Private Lee Rui Feng Dominique. I am also an NSF having seven months left to complete my national service. My view is that such deaths can definitely be prevented. I feel that the medical board in the...
Chiam See Tong clarifies article on Potong Pasir Lift Upgrading Programme
Apr. 24 | ~ By: Chiam See Tong ~ I refer to the article “MP wants more time to pay for Potong Pasir lift upgrading” published in The Straits Times on 21 April 2012, and to other newspapers running the same story. Some residents of Potong Pasir and...
Inflation up 5.2% for March
Apr. 24 | ~ By Kumaran Pillai ~ Inflation up in March 2012 due to higher COE prices and as leases continue to be renewed at a higher price. Below is a report from the Singapore Monetary Authority and Ministry of Trade and Industry: Singapore’s...
Worsening income inequality in Singapore
Apr. 24 | ~ By Wen Shan ~ This afternoon, I was at City Hall MRT waiting for a friend. Today, instead of the usual old lady in her 60s distributing Today papers, I saw this young lady who should be barely 16 or 17. There she was, wearing a Mediacorp polo shirt,...
$500 fee to import a $10 medical device?
Apr. 23 | ~ By Leong Sze Hian ~ I refer to the article “Has HSA bitten off more than it can chew?” (Sunday Times, Apr 15). The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) recently also introduced a $500 fee for the import of medical devices. The $500 fee applies...
Disparity for the sake of efficiency – is this the type of society we want?
Apr. 22 | ~ By Texas Hong ~ A cleaning lady works in the pantry of my office, doing simple chores. Let’s call her Lucy. Yesterday, she told me how she admired the design of my cup that I use in the office. Curiously, she wanted to know how much I bought it...
Chiam See Tong: Government treats CPF as a business
Apr. 22 | ~ By Kumaran Pillai ~ I had to make a quick stopover after lunch to cover the launch of SPP’s Financial Literacy Awareness Programme. I only planned to be there for 30 minutes to grab their standard press release and make a quick exit so that I...
Malaysians vs Singaporeans – let’s get this over and done with!
Apr. 21 | ~ By Melissa Tee ~ I don’t know how many can relate to this experience of mine, but I am certain I am not the only one. As a Singaporean student studying overseas, I encounter a lot of other Malaysian students. As the Singaporean community is small...
Increased political competition raises the bar for the ruling party
Apr. 21 | ~ By Dr Chee Soon Juan ~ The SDP National Healthcare Plan has received many praises. Some of these have come from the establishment, many of whom indicated that the plan is worthy of serious consideration. Unfortunately, these folks have not come out...
The Bukit Brown issue: Not enough land? Let’s do the math
Apr. 21 | ~ By SOS Bukit Brown| ~ Let's be clear, Singapore's total floor area, if we add up the floor space of every kind of building in Singapore, is approximately 250,000,000 square metres. If we divide this by the island's total land area of...
SMRT breakdowns causes mayhem to commuters
Apr. 20 | ~ By Aberdyn ~ It appears that Singapore’s public transport services are becoming unreliable in the recent months. Breakdowns have occurred to the MRT system quite frequently. When these happen, it will affect a large proportion of people commuting...
