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Choo Zheng Xi
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...
The anger of displacement
Feb. 11 | By Choo Zheng Xi, Editor-at-Large Why are Singaporeans unhappy, the PAP wonders. It is said that Singaporeans are a migrant stock. Coming and going, it’s in our blood. My own mother was born and raised in Hong Kong. She met my Singaporean father...
Polarization: The symptom, not the illness
Feb. 4 | By Choo Zheng Xi, Editor-at-Large Rachel Chang’s piece in the Straits Times “Power of the Net to polarise” (04 Feb 2010) highlighting the increasing polarization of the internet has some truth. Views are increasingly polarized as a result...
The Singapore of our National Pledge
Aug. 21 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-at-Large / New York The Singapore we know will change. This revelation wasn’t immediately apparent to me, reading reports of this Parliamentary session’s debate. A continent away, the anger and helplessness I felt at our Finance...
TOC Analysis: PM’s gambit is manufactured dissent par excellence
May. 28 | Choo Zheng Xi / Khairulanwar Zaini In chess, a gambit is an opening move which sacrifices a minor piece for a stronger strategic position later in the game. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s recent changes seem to have answered the opposition and the...
TOC Editorial: Keep Kum Hong
May. 17 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief Mr Siew Kum Hong’s detractors have recently begun lobbying the government to deny him a second term as a nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) on the basis that he has stood up to oppose discrimination against homosexuals. These...
Chaos – “Shut up and sit down” (video)
May. 3 | The agitated crowd By Terence Lee and Choo Zheng Xi / Pictures by Kenneth Tan and Damien Chng “SHUT up and sit down!” That was ex-Honorary Treasurer Sally Ang’s (picture left, in red) retort to the heckling and disruptions of Ms...
Josie Lau’s interview leaves questions unanswered
Apr. 21 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief Josie Lau’s interview with CNA raises more questions than it answers. Several assertions in her interview seem to be inconsistent with the facts. The sound of silence explanation Both Ms Lau and Honorary Treasurer...
TOC Exclusive: Widjaja family visit Prof Chan’s condo
Apr. 12 | TOC’s interview with the Widjaja family and footage of the family’s visit to Professor Chan’s residence. Choo Zheng Xi & Deborah Choo Desperate for information on the circumstances surrounding their son’s death, David...
TOC correction: What it should have been
Apr. 7 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief In an opinion piece on TOC entitled “Singapore a blacklistee to be?”, I said that the Ministry of Finance was “probably misleading” by highlighting its accession to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development...
TOC Opinion: Singapore a “blacklistee” to be?
Apr. 4 | Choo Zheng Xi/Editor-in-Chief With contribution from Darren Boon You would be justifiably confused attempting to make sense of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) progress report on tax havens that emerged from the G20...
SM Goh’s misdirected attack on the press
Mar. 27 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief In an article in Monday’s Straits Times entitled, “Report Card on Class of 2006”, journalist Li Xueying previewed the newest batch of PAP MPs. One particular quote regarding the grassroots work of Member of Parliament...
TOC Editorial: A bad law just got worse
Mar. 23 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-chief The final nail in the coffin of liberalizing the legal regime on online political films was driven in today, as amendments to the Films Act were passed by Parliament. TOC previously participated in the process of submitting...
TOC Breaking News: Mainstream Media preparing for GE2009?
Feb. 19 | TOC would like to thank Mr Alex Au of Yawning Bread for the following tipoff.
Memo to the Prime Minister
Feb. 9 | Re: Suggested career path for Madam Ho Ching MAY WE offer our commiseration on the news that your wife, Madam Ho Ching, will be joining the ranks of the unemployed this October. Indeed the increase in the numbers of the unemployed in Singapore is lamentable,...
EDITORIAL: RADM Lui’s comments highlight growing divide that needs to be bridged
Feb. 6 | Breaking News: CEO of BHP Biliton will succeed Ho Ching as CEO on Oct 1. He will be appointed CEO-designate on Mar 1. By Choo Zheng Xi/Editor-in-Chief THERE IS some truth in Senior Minister of State for Information, Communication and the Arts RADM Lui’s...
Philip Jeyaretnam: Remove perception of government intervention in legal profession
Jan. 20 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief 23 year old amendments to the Legal Profession Act curtailing the Law Society’s powers continues to be a hindrance to the perception of the legal profession’s independence. This was the view put forward yesterday...
PAP MP floats idea of minimum wage, criticizes ‘overheated’ growth model
Jan. 20 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief “If we would like to see Singapore moving up as one of the most developed countries in the world, and costs increase accordingly, lower income Singaporeans might need a minimum wage to survive.” A minimum wage law...
TOC Opinion: Snap Election for early March?
Jan. 13 | Correction: The Budget debate will conclude on the 13th of February, and not on the 3rd as mentioned in the article. We apologise for the error. Choo Zheng Xi In an earlier article, I highlighted how the Integrated Resorts’ dim prospects were an important...
TOC Exclusive – MP instructs TC Manager after meeting Minister: “We will NOT disclose any further details” on TC Investments
Dec. 6 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief TOC recently published a template request for information that Singaporeans could send to their MPs to ask their Town Councils (TCs) specific questions on TC investments. TOC reader Roland Soh sent an email to his MP,...
Accounting for town councils’ investments – do your part
Nov. 25 | I am doing this not for TOC, not for my cat or fish but for Myself! Yes, I owe it to myself. – Comment posted on TOC. (See below) Last week, TOC published an editorial entitled: Our money, our right to know. This highlighted the inadequate response...
Two opinions on Tan Kin Lian petition
Nov. 25 | Guest writer P N Balji and TOC’s Choo Zheng Xi offer two contrasting perspectives on the strategy behind Mr Tan Kin Lian’s announcement that he is willing to stand for elections if he can gather 100,000 signatures. Just run, Mr Tan P N Balji / Guest...
TOC Editorial: Our money, our right to know
Nov. 20 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief Where does the buck stop? Minister of State for National Development Ms Grace Fu stated in Parliament that the original rationale of the Town Council (TC) scheme was to ‘devolve’ responsibilities such as financial...
Las Vegas Sands and election punting: cut your losses or double or nothing?
Nov. 19 | Breaking News: Global cargo transport and logistics company Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) will cut about 1,000 people from its workforce… About 50 positions is expected to be affected in Singapore. (Channel NewsAsia) TOC Op-Ed Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief In...
TOC Interview – Consultation process is in place: Raffles principal
Nov. 12 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief In an interview with TOC, Mrs Lim Lai Cheng, the principal of Raffles Junior College highlighted what she called the ‘wide ranging stakeholder consultations’ the Raffles schools have conducted over the last year. Mrs...
Our audacity to hope
Nov. 6 | TOC Op-ed Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief “And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of our world – our stories are singular, but our...
TOC Exclusive – Agnes Lin: a victim of the ST?
Oct. 30 | By Choo Zheng Xi With additional reporting by Terence Lee Ms Agnes Lin was featured in last week’s Sunday Times in an article entitled “Mom and Dad will provide”. The article was part of a set on how Singaporeans are coping with the recession. Twenty-...
MP Chan Soo Sen’s Uni presence sends wrong signal
Oct. 22 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief The Straits Times today ran an article exposing unaccredited Panama based university West Coast University (WCU): a dubious outfit that sells degrees with little or no corresponding obligation on its students to clock class...
Dignified and unbowed
Oct. 1 | Latest update: JBJ’s funeral cortege leaves Funeral Parlour 1, Mount Vernon, at 1 pm on 4 Oct; for 2pm service at St Andrews Cathedral; Cremation at 4.30pm, Mandai Crematorium, Hall 3. Join the Facebook tribute, click here. It has more than 1,100...
Straits Times denies bloggers right of reply
Sep. 9 | The following is a letter written by Choo Zheng Xi to the Straits Times (ST) in reply to the ST report, “’Bloggers 13′ want near free-for-all”. The ST responded by saying: “We receive up to 70 letters each day. Limited space means we...
Ms Lee Bee Wah: A new broom sweeps indiscriminately
Aug. 25 | TOC Op-Ed Choo Zheng Xi / Editor in Chief Mr Ng Ser Miang, Singapore’s only representative on the International Olympic Committee, highlighted the arrogance of Member of Parliament (Nee Soon South, Ang Mo Kio GRC) Ms Lee Bee Wah’s decision to fire...
Good effort, but much more substance needed
Aug. 19 | TOC National Day Rally commentary Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief “We will progressively open up our system even more. If you compare today with 5 years ago, 10 years ago, it’s much more open today.” –Prime Minister Lee Hsien...
Hate the policy, love the paddler
Aug. 18 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief TOC Op-ed It’s hard trying to explain the heady excitement I felt watching yesterday evening’s table tennis match. My friends and I were having our dinner at Jumbo Seafood and watching the live telecast of the match....
SM Goh, please love your country more than the PAP
Jul. 28 | Choo Zheng Xi / Editor-in-Chief Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong recently addressed grassroots leaders at a National Day event in Hougang. In his address, he gave Hougang grassroots leaders an idea of how to play the role of an effective “opposition”...
公路电子收费，上！新加坡梦，破灭！
Jun. 25 | ●朱正熙 一次有关公路电子收费上涨的调侃。 如果你生来迷信，一个在中央商业区足足有五米直径的地陷，应该不是工程过失那么简单吧？它就发生在有关部门宣布有5处的新闸门将在7月7日起启用，使全岛闸门的总数增加到令人咋舌的65个。 ...
Rise, ERP! Collapse, the Singapore dream!
Jun. 20 | Choo Zheng Xi An angry tongue-in-cheek critique of ERP hikes (TOC op-ed). If you are superstitious, a cave-in in the Central Business District (CBD) that left a 5m-wide hole in the ground could be more than bad engineering.It happened on the same day...
TOC Human Rights Focus Week
Jun. 10 | The past few weeks have seen the sensational public demolition of one of Singapore’s most prominent human rights’ activists, Dr Chee Soon Juan. Singaporeans have also witnessed the arrest of an idiosyncratic ex-Worker’s Party member, Mr Gopalan...
Callous labelling of mental illness smacks of gutter politics
Jun. 9 | TOC Editorial The figure of speech “method in the madness” has taken on a decidedly less figurative connotation when used in relation to Dr Chee Soon Juan and his campaign of civil disobedience. In the latest instalment of Chee’s altercations with...
The Unions, the Press and the People
May. 14 | Leong Sze Hian & Choo Zheng Xi Let the people eat…detergent? Does the media’s reporting of detergent prices reveal a deeper conflict of interest that may harm the country? Once in awhile pearls of wisdom are found in The New Paper. Larry Havekamp...
Bloggers’ group proposes sweeping changes in Internet regulation
Apr. 18 | MEDIA RELEASE For immediate release By Choo Zheng Xi and Alex Au 18 April 2008 Bloggers’ group proposes sweeping changes in Internet regulation A group of committed bloggers will submit recommendations to the Minister for Information, Communication...
5 Minutes With…. Choo Zheng Xi on PM Lee’s interview
Apr. 15 | On PM Lee, succession, and weak leadership TOC’s Chief Editor Choo Zheng Xi gives his response to today’s Straits Times’ reproduction of an interview done with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Long, and gets him to answer the tough questions the mainstream...
TOC Feature: No female full Minister in Cabinet
Mar. 31 | Is something wrong with the process, the people, or the PAP? Choo Zheng Xi The government’s decision not to appoint a female full Minister has disappointed both male and female Singaporeans. In a surprise move on Saturday, the People’s Action Party...
TOC Report: Bureacratic muddle leads to canning of International Fringe Festival event
Jan. 27 | By Choo Zheng Xi Members of the Singapore Complaints Choir have an additional grievance to add to their future lyric sheets: they have been effectively muzzled by the city state’s police. The arrival of the Finnish ‘Complaints Choir’ in Singapore...
Have we lost our audacity to hope?
Jan. 17 | By Choo Zheng Xi I’m completely unashamed to admit that watching Barack Obama give his Iowa Caucus victory speech sent shivers down my spine and made me more than a little misty eyed. This wasn’t the first time I felt this way watching him speak:...
TOC Breaking News: 50 Burmese nationals protest
Nov. 20 | For more pictures, please visit Pseudonymity’s blogsite. 20/11/2007, 1930 hrs: 50 Burmese nationals gathered outside Orchard Hotel in groups of three. Standing in rows of three, they formed a line that snaked across the frontage of the Hotel. One...
Editorial: Time to stop Asean’s humiliation
Nov. 20 | By Choo Zheng Xi Every big family has its awkward characters: the cousin who can’t stop talking about Multi-Level Marketing. The 50 year old aunt who can’t stop talking about her sexual escapades. The mad uncle everyone wishes would just stay in his...
Gutter journalism masquerading as citizen journalism: Racist rhetoric stoked over irresponsible reporting
Nov. 18 | Choo Zheng Xi Editor-in-Chief On behalf of TOC “Ang moh and friend attack Star Blogger Michelle and friend” screamed the headline on STOMP, the Straits Times’ online media portal. TOC would like to highlight the irresponsible and lopsided way this...
High cost of living? Buy cheaper products, says minister
Nov. 13 | By Choo Zheng Xi Recent price hikes have prompted several members of Parliament to voice their concern about increasing cost of living, especially with respect to basic necessities. In the third quarter of 2007, the consumer price index (CPI) rose by...
TOC Breaking News: Safety concerns cause US, Japan to ground F-15 fleet two weeks after Singapore buys 12 F-15s
Nov. 7 | This morning, (Nov 7) western media reports highlighted that the US grounded its entire fleet after a F-15 started to fall apart on a training mission. Japan soon followed suit by resting all 200 F-15 planes in the Japanese Self Defence Force. (Bloomberg)...
