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Andrew Loh
Protecting the sacred cows behind electric fences
May. 15 | The following article was first published on 6 September 2007. With the talk of “reform” and “change” in the PAP government following the 2011 General Election, we feel it is timely to re-post this article for discussion. Andrew...
Vignes Mourthi – seven years on
Nov. 29 | Andrew Loh - When the tears fell from her eyes, it broke my heart – and that of those who had come to pay her and her family a visit. Everyone was silent. Even I, who was interviewing her, could not bear to ask her the next question. In all four years...
Re-post: Annuities for Singaporeans, pension for ministers?
Nov. 2 | The following article was first published in 2007, amidst the debate on changes to the CPF scheme. With the current spotlight on the retirement issue and the government exhorting Singaporeans to “work longer to save for old age“, we thought...
The relentless rising cost of living in Singapore
Oct. 28 | In 2009, Mercer ranked Singapore as the 10th costliest countries in the world (see here). The following is a collated list of price increases which TOC could find – from various news reports, blogs, websites, forums, etc – since Jan 2006 to the present. If...
The slippery slope, the greasy pole
May. 12 | Reading Today‘s report on what Law Minister K Shanmugam said, regarding the (mandatory) death penalty, makes one rather sad. The minister, it seems, has chosen to put out a soundbite and ignored all the nuances, issues and questions which have...
Retraction of invitation to hearing-impaired teacher “a mistake”, says MOE
Apr. 23 | “Susan Elliot has spent three decades in education and taught thousands of students. She is bright, articulate, and has a great sense of humor,” writes Mr Anthony Mullen on the Teacher Magazine website. “She teaches social studies and history to...
The story of a boy
Mar. 13 | Yong Vui Kong’s appeal hearing takes place at 10am on Monday, 15 March 2010. By Andrew Loh Yong Vui Kong was 12 when he left his grandfather’s palm oil estate “deep in the forests of Sabah” in Malaysia to strike it out on his own. He had had...
SERS flats converted to condo for expats
Feb. 5 | Andrew Loh / Joshua Chiang Blocks 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 along Tiong Bahru Road were built by the Singapore Improvement Trust (SIT) which operated between 1927 and 1959. The SIT was a body set up by the British colonial authority to solve the housing problems...
SERS flats to be rented out to foreigners again – this time in Bedok
Feb. 4 | Andrew Loh / Leong Sze Hian / Special thanks to Lynn Lee “If everybody jumps onto this safety net, whether they deserve to or they don’t, that safety net is going to break. … They could easily afford a studio apartment or a small resale flat....
HDB’s inflexible policies will result in more homeless S’poreans
Feb. 3 | Andrew Loh / Leong Sze Hian / Picture from Wikimedia ‘There’s no question that our policies are designed for the good of the people. While there may be certain parts of the policies that are not favourable, overall, I think these policies...
“The government’s first responsibility is to Singaporeans”
Feb. 1 | Andrew Loh / Pictures by Joshua Chiang So, the homeless at Sembawang Park have been relocated to HDB flats. All seem to be well. And on the surface, at least, the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, should be congratulated for stepping...
Homeless in the parks – a symptom of flawed housing policies?
Jan. 18 | Andrew Loh When the National Parks Board (NParks) relaxed camping rules in December 2004, it cited the popularity of the activity among Singaporeans as a reason. Campers would no longer be required to obtain camping permits. “With the relaxation...
Raiding the homeless – in the middle of the night
Jan. 18 | Update: (18 JAN 2010) The homeless in Sembawang Park have been given proper lodging. Some of them met with MCYS this morning. All of those who lived in the tents have moved – voluntarily – to flats. TOC will keep our readers updated. Joshua...
Bashing Singaporeans – PAP gets in on the act
Dec. 31 | Andrew Loh “Will he ever stop bashing Singapore?” – screamed a big bold headline in a New Paper report in October 2007. It was in reference to the secretary-general of the Singapore Democratic Party, Dr Chee Soon Juan. Dr Chee was accused of...
Tilting the playing field in favour of lower income group?
Dec. 21 | Leong Sze Hian Six months after the last general elections in 2006, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong dropped a bombshell on Singaporeans. In November of that year, PM Lee announced in Parliament that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be increased from...
Blogger says he will not observe “cooling-off” period
Dec. 3 | Andrew Loh “I will let everyone know right now that I will not only post news reports but also my political opinions on my blog on the day before, and on the “cooling-off” day itself,” blogger and activist, Mr Seelan Palay says on his...
President rejects clemency petition for Yong Vui Kong
Nov. 27 | Andrew Loh Yong Vui Kong’s death sentence “should stand”, the Principal Private Secretary (PPS) to President Nathan said in a letter from the Istana. In a one-sentence response to the petition for clemency for Yong, which was sent to the President...
Singapore Police Force – stretched and fatigued
Nov. 23 | Andrew Loh Government admits Home Team is stretched but what has been done so far? The Singapore Police Force (SPF) has its work cut out for it, looking at the way things are going. While Singapore’s crime rate remains low, at 684 cases per 100,000...
Lawyer for death-row inmate denied access to client
Nov. 19 | Andrew Loh / Rachel Zeng Despite having confirmed that inmate is represented by new lawyer, the Prison Service insists on having the Court’s permission before it allows lawyer access to his client. Malaysian Yong Vui Kong was arrested for trafficking...
The irresponsible social behaviour of some park-goers
Nov. 17 | This video was shot on 2 separate days in November 2009 at Sembawang Park. Park-goers seem to take no care in keeping the place clean. Each morning, one would see the litter left behind by those who used the park for picnics, camping or barbeques. It...
NSP to adopt “minister-specific” strategy in next elections
Nov. 16 | Andrew Loh “Whichever place we contest, it will be minister-specific. Not at the personal level but at the policy, ministry level. It’ll be ministry-oriented,” says the National Solidarity Party (NSP). Revealing the party’s General Elections...
Two words which make a difference
Nov. 10 | Andrew Loh observes some senior Singaporeans at work. He smiled at me as he lifted the lid from the bin. Dressed in his green-coloured cleaner’s uniform, he would be in his 60s, I surmised. His head of white hair another sign of his seniority. He looks...
Rubbish? Look who’s talking
Nov. 10 | Andrew Loh & Ravi Philemon “Come election time, they talk a lot of things, which is rubbish… This is a government which chooses its MPs very carefully; test them out before they become ministers. That’s why it is working. The present...
Social isolation – left among the dead
Nov. 1 | Foreign workers dormitory at Lim Chu Kang cemetery Andrew Loh / Pictures by Damien Chng Member of Parliament, Ms Irene Ng, asked the Minister for National Development, Mr Mah Bow Tan on 21 October 2008: “Can I ask the Minister whether he agrees that...
MM Lee confirms PM Lee’s fears in 2006
Oct. 22 | Andrew Loh Straits Times, 2009. Picture from Singapore Mind (click to enlarge) In 2006, after the General Elections, PM Lee Hsien Loong warned that Singapore society would be “destroyed” if S’poreans were divided between the haves...
Journalist assaulted for work on foreign workers
Oct. 18 | Andrew Loh Assault is an attempt to silence journalists who expose abuses. Mohsin is the Chief Editor of Bengali newspaper Bangla Kantha, which caters to the population of Bangladeshi workers in Singapore. The paper has been pivotal in exposing agents...
The case of Mr Asad Madber remains a mystery
Oct. 12 | Andrew Loh Manpower Ministry says it “does not reveal specific details of cases to the public.” On 20 September 2009, The Online Citizen reported the case of Bangladeshi worker, Mr Asad Madber Yeaz Uddin Madber. (See here.) He had been asked...
“Prestigious” homes – but at what cost?
Oct. 8 | Andrew Loh Have you heard of Watercove Ville? You probably have not. Watercove Ville is a new housing development by Bukit Sembawang Estates Limited (BSEL). BSEL was in the rubber plantations business before it turned to property development. The company...
“You are hereby permitted to remain in Singapore…”
Sep. 20 | Andrew Loh Bangladeshi worker asked by Manpower Ministry to remain in S’pore to help with investigations ends up waiting for four years. The number of foreign workers who faced salary disputes with their employers rose to more than 3,000 in 2008. This...
Have your views of the political parties changed in the last 3 years?
Sep. 19 | Andrew Loh Picture by Alex Au, Yawning Bread On 6 May 2006, Singaporeans went to the polls to vote a new government. The results? The People’s Action Party was returned to power by a majority of 66.6 per cent of the vote. 1.2 million Singaporeans...
Facebook MPs
Sep. 10 | Andrew Loh One meets his Member of Parliament for various reasons. The most common, of course, is when one has a problem. MPs conduct Meet The People Sessions or MPS, which are held weekly in the MPs’ constituencies. One might also meet his MP when...
Six months on the streets
Sep. 2 | Andrew Loh For the past six months, Ali has been braving the Singapore weather and sleeping on the streets in Little India. It is not something which he has chosen to do. Circumstances have dictated that he has no choice in this. Ali is one of the many...
LTA’s “palpable panic” over news leak
Sep. 2 | Andrew Loh Straits Times (ST) journalist, Mr Christopher Tan, wrote on his blog in the STonline website: “NEWS of the enhanced off-peak car (OPC) scheme is probably talk of the motoring town now. But an unfortunate incident leading up to the announcement...
We should respect MM Lee, but not defer to him
Sep. 1 | Andrew Loh Whenever MM Lee steps out and demolish, to use his own word, someone else’s ideas, he does so with much effect. Whether that effect is a positive or beneficial one is open to debate. What is not, perhaps, is that when MM Lee comes out forcefully,...
Why report on Viswa Sadasivan’s speech was removed from TOC
Aug. 30 | On Friday, 28 August, The Online Citizen published a report by Fang Shihan on NMP Mr Viswa Sadasivan’s speech at the Lee Kuan School of Public Policy. On 29 August, we removed the report from our website after being contacted by Mr Viswa’s...
Deja vu – lapping it up, again
Aug. 26 | Andrew Loh Remember that time in the 70s and 80s when our mainstream media, playing lapdog to the government, exhorted all Singaporeans to not have too many babies, that “Two Is Enough”? It is testament to the effectiveness of the campaign that...
“Why won’t they give me an opportunity?”
Aug. 25 | 13th Death From H1N1: Singapore’s Health Ministry reported on Tuesday the country’s 13th flu A/H1N1 related death case – a 80-year old Chinese man. (See MOH website) Andrew Loh The worst is over for the Singapore economy and the labour...
A long wait for certainty
Aug. 24 | Andrew Loh Mr Joseph Lee (not his real name) had his bi-annual medical check-up on 13 February this year. The doctor, a general practitioner (GP), found blood in his urine and scheduled him for a second test – on 27 February. Thereon, he was asked...
Seeking a fair settlement
Aug. 22 | Andrew Loh Eleven months after US investment bank, Lehman Brothers, collapsed, some investors of failed structured financial products in Singapore are still hoping for the authorities to help them recoup their losses. Their latest attempt at doing so...
RP ND Message – The devil is in the details
Aug. 22 | Andrew Loh / With contribution by Ravi Philemon Singaporeans do not need to choose between prosperity and freedoms, declared Mr Kenneth Jeyaretnam, secretary general of the Reform Party (RP). “The Reform Party’s message continues to be that this...
A mockery of Parliament
Aug. 20 | Leong Sze Hian / Andrew Loh Minister fails to realise the consequences of his remarks and actions in Parliament In 2005, then-Minister for Education, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, was the guest of honour at a youth and media conference. The key theme was...
SDP ND Message – More substantive argument needed
Aug. 19 | Tng Ying Hui / Andrew Loh The Singapore Democratic Party’s national day message was as usual more hardhitting than those of the other opposition parties. The party’s message this year was delivered by four neatly-dressed “women democrats”, in...
MM Lee – population control revisited, 30 years later
Aug. 14 | Straits Times, Front Page, 14 August 2009 Andrew Loh On 8 March 2008, the Straits Times carried a report headlined, “Oil prices ‘unlikely to rise further’.” The person making that prediction was none other than Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. At...
Ministers’ salaries include a “confidential discretionary component”, says George Yeo
Aug. 14 | Andrew Loh In April 2007, Singapore’s Parliament debated the issue of ministerial salaries. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in defending the proposed revision then, said, “We have decided to be open, upfront, transparent – what you see is what you...
The race to engage Singaporeans
Aug. 12 | Andrew Loh Mr Teo Ser Luck has been a very busy man. After winning in the 2006 General Elections as part of the People’s Action Party’s team for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, he was immediately appointed Parliamentary Secretary (Parl Sec) for the Ministry...
Politicians cross swords in cyberspace
Aug. 11 | Khairulanwar Zaini / Andrew Loh The last time Dr Chee Soon Juan crossed swords with Mr George Yeo was in 1996. The two had met at a Select Committee hearing specially convened to ascertain the Singapore Democratic Party’s assertions about healthcare...
8.8.88 Anniversary: Burma – a bloody history
Aug. 8 | Today marks the 21st anniversary of the uprising in Burma in 1988. It was led by Burmese students against the military government. 3,000 were massacred by the junta. (For more details, see here.) Andrew Loh In 1948, after the Second World War, Burma...
“Based on justice and equality”
Aug. 7 | Andrew Loh When I was tasked to write about this line of our National Pledge, “… based on justice and equality”, it set me thinking. What should I write about, given that instances of the lack of justice and equality abound in Singapore. Many...
Canadian tells S’poreans to “be grateful”
Jul. 31 | Andrew Loh / Contribution from Leong Sze Hian Click to enlarge / Straits Times, 31 July 2009 Mr Eric J Brooks is a happy man – happy with how Singapore is. In his letter to the Straits Times Forum Page on 31July, his effusive praise for the Singapore...
