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Why Yasmin Ahmad was so important to me
Jul. 31 | Yasmin Ahmad is the late Malaysian film director. She died of a brain haemorrhage on July 25 after collapsing with a stroke. She was 51. Alfian Sa’at Yasmin Ahmad had many Singaporean fans. During one of our meetings, she confided how she had found...
Flip-flop on government’s position?
Jul. 16 | Gangasudhan I read with relative interest today of Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong’s comments that was reported in the Straits Times (Job market on students’ minds[1], 16th July 2009). The minister was reported to have said that ‘jobs could...
Will we ever see another politician like President Ong?
Jul. 15 | Jason Lee It was exactly 10 years ago that the late President Ong Teng Cheong called a press conference at the Istana on 16 July 1999 – six weeks before his term was due to end. While the main headlines in the newspapers the following day centred on...
Blogging seminar this Saturday
May. 28 | Jointly-organised by the Institute of Policy Studies and The Online Citizen, the full-day Blogging Seminar takes place this Saturday. If you would like to participate, please do email the persons in charge (see below) or visit the website for more details. The...
1989 – Lee Kuan Yew’s defamation suit against FEER
May. 24 | Nathaniel Koh This article consists mainly of excerpts from the Straits Times and the Wall Street Journal. Overview In September 1989, then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew sued the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) over an article related to the “Marxist...
ONE SIMPLE WAY to avoid H1N1 Flu
May. 22 | See Leong Kit [ My letter which was rejected for publication by ST Forum Editor Yap Koon Hong --- who somehow could devote considerable prominent space in its Print Edition for a letter on the airy-fairy topic of "Durian warning and happy pickings...
Was it a Red or White conspiracy?
May. 21 | Breaking News: 100 people turned up at Speakers’ Corner Thursday evening to mark 22nd anniversary of “Marxist Conspiracy”. TOC will carry a report of it soon. Breaking News: Ministry of Education releases Information Sheet on Ministry...
The government’s strategic intervention in the Aware saga
May. 6 | PN Balji / Picture by Damien Chng In a different time and under a different political leadership, the acrimonious public tussle for the leadership of Aware would have seen the knocking of some heads and the twisting of some arms. Thank God that did not...
AWARE: Lessons from a fiasco
May. 4 | Invitation: For TOC reporters’ personal account of their experience in covering the Aware EOGM, please visit TOC Facebook Group. By Cherian George Pictures by Damien Chng and Kenneth Tham The battle for control of Aware can be a learning experience...
Labour Day: Economic growth should benefit all, not just the rich
May. 1 | Announcement: The Online Citizen will bring you “live” updates from Suntec City tomorrow (Saturday) of the AWARE Extraordinary General Meeting. “Live” updates will begin from 12 noon. Stay tuned to TOC! By Avery Chong, Gerald Giam, Nathaniel...
Microfinance: is it the answer?
Apr. 21 | Low Hansiong / New York, United States In the vein of my last article on public service, I would like to expand on one method of actually bringing about poverty reduction. Microcredit has been around for the past 10 to 15 years. it was first formally...
The mediation in news media
Apr. 8 | Betsy Tan “The media has its own ideology and we tend to accept it in an uncritical fashion because we are so exposed to it. The more we are exposed to it, the more invisible it becomes.” In our media-saturated society, we accept that television shows...
Military elitism in Singapore
Apr. 4 | SINGAPORE - A brief scan of our Singapore cabinet members’ profile yielded an interesting statistic. 5 out of 21 (Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Mr Lui Tuck Yew, Mr Lim Hng Kiang, Mr George Yeo and Mr Teo Chee Hean) of the current cabinet were alumni of our...
Blog Feature: A word on the PAP and general elections
Apr. 4 | An excerpt from Ephraim Loy’s blog: From the data, 87.0 percent of PAP candidates that were fielded did not experience the “baptism of fire” in the first general election in 1968. The subsequent general election in 1972 had put a large percentage...
The short, hopeful life of Odud Sayed Ahammed
Apr. 2 | TOC would like to specially thank Ms Lynn Lee for allowing us to publish the following story. Lynn Lee / Dhaka, Bangladesh Odud Sayed Ahammed was a hopeful man. So hopeful, he gave his one piece of land to his neighbour, so the neighbour could go find...
Establishing the Internet as a credible opinion base
Apr. 2 | TOC thanks The Kent Ridge Common for allowing us to re-publish the following article. Lester Lim Singapore — In his ministerial community visit to the Paya Lebar Division of Aljunied GRC, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan made a clarification regarding...
Can local programming get any worse?
Apr. 1 | TOC thanks The Kent Ridge Common for allowing us to re-publish the following article. Jian Deep down inside, everybody wants big, giant commercial corporations to use their capabilities to do good things. These things include being environmentally...
Human Organ Transplant Act – optimism despite concerns
Mar. 31 | Anthony Yeo / Consultant Therapist, Counselling and Care Centre. The amendment to the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) allowing for reimbursement of living kidney donors was passed in Parliament with heated debate recently. It generated such heat that...
New faces watching new media
Mar. 30 | PN Balji Who says Cabinet changes here don’t spring surprises? Dig a little deep into the reshuffle announced by the Prime Minister on Thursday and you will find at least one. Of all the ministries, only one has an Acting Minister. And for support,...
The relation between GRCs and cabinet appointments
Mar. 26 | The following was first published in The Kent Ridge Common. Kelvin Teo A foreign counterpart of mine once asked me how our cabinet ministers performed during our 2006 General Elections. Admittedly, I did have great difficulties answering his question....
Speaking dialects helps build rapport, even in business
Mar. 21 | Sng B C Perhaps we may wish to consider the role a dialect plays in building rapport and leading to business opportunities. I refer to the Straits Times article, “Mandarin drive starts in the home”, on March 18, 2009. When I was in secondary school,...
Profit-driven vs reasonable care for employees
Mar. 20 | The following is a letter fromTan Liping In a Today article, “When layoffs are rooted in opportunity” (Mar 18, 2009), it talks about companies taking the opportunity in this slowdown to restructure and consolidate their operations, even though...
Removing protections for the financially vulnerable
Mar. 17 | Breaking News: Ex- Cortina watch employee Jerry Ee, who made away with S$8m worth of watches from Cortina outlet, surrenders himself at S’pore embassy in Bangkok. Alex Lew (with contribution by Leong Sze Hian) “The Central Depository (CDP) lowered...
Singapore’s edge as a manufacturing hub
Mar. 10 | Andrew Ong Despite an expected slow recovery from the recession and the rise of business costs, it seems manufacturing in Singapore remains a vibrant and relevant industry. This article aims to present Singapore’s edge as a manufacturing hub that has...
Oil lurks menacingly in the background
Mar. 7 | Ng Weng Hoong Oil has almost disappeared from the list of things we need to worry about for now. Since late last year, demand destruction and supply reduction have been racing to set the direction and pace for the oil markets. For now, demand destruction...
“Government by gentlemen”
Feb. 28 | Heng Ching Sheng Recent public discussions about anything Singapore has been mired by a series of bad news – escape of number one terrorist Mas Selamat, Lehman Brother minibond fiasco, influx of foreigners, public transport woes, escalating costs...
“Free Education for All” – students protest in London
Feb. 27 | TOC International guest writer, Elaine Toh, who is doing her MPhil/PhD in London, witnessed the protest and gives her personal take on it. (Article updated) Elaine Toh The muffled rumblings of a gathering, the scene of students holding banners and standing...
DAB, DAMN, DAFT – some ideas to help foreign workers
Feb. 26 | Joshua Chiang I’m feeling lazy tonight so I shall not pretend to be a professional journalist and just write about this Indian restaurant at Cuff Road, Little India. For the past two years (at least), it serves a free meal a day to any unemployed,...
What the Temasek debacle reveals
Feb. 25 | Aloysius Foo A Temasek wrapped up in a mystery within the abyss of the Singapore economy Public displeasure should be directed correctly, for it to be effective. The recent revelation, that Temasek Holdings has lost 31 percent of its net portfolio value...
What is public service?
Feb. 24 | Low Hansiong In November 2008, the Economic Development Board (EDB) announced in the Straits Times its intention to market Singapore as regional hub for Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO) and Non-Profit Organisations (NPO). This brings me to an...
Why an election in September is most likely
Feb. 24 | Jason Lee In recent weeks, a hot topic that is buzzing at coffee shops and online forums is whether a general election (GE) will be held soon? In my view, the answer is a clear cut YES. The next question is: When? While some have argued that the ruling...
“My loyalty is, first and foremost, to the people of Singapore”
Feb. 18 | Jason Lee Watch the video of President Nathan’s press conference at the Istana below. An Elected President can do more to protect our interests – regardless of whether he is an executive or non-executive president. I became worried when I first...
What price have we paid for today’s success?
Feb. 17 | Fang Shihan “That’s the amazing thing about being young. You’re not aware of the risks you’re taking” – Dr M. K. Rajakumar Nearly half a decade ago, Malaysia and Singapore were one entity known as Malaya. Political pluralism was...
Discrediting the “new media”
Feb. 11 | Melvin Tan Rear-Admiral (NS) Lui Tuck Yew, who is Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts, recently expressed disappointment with netizens for what he felt were “unkind comments” over the mishap involving PAP...
Foreign workers bring local agency to court
Feb. 11 | Story and pictures by Tan Tze How Kelvin Would you want to leave for a greener pasture that offers a salary four times of your current one? Samal did. In Dec. 2007, Samal was at Serangoon Plaza, a popular weekend gathering area for South Asian migrant...
Looking forward to (more) Goodyear
Feb. 10 | Percevale Ho Ching has stepped down as CEO of Temasek Holdings. For over 6 years, the Prime Minister’s wife held one of Singapore’s most powerful positions. During her reign, some losses at Temasek included: - SGD 400 million-...
Listen to us! Student activist group engages the transport authorities
Feb. 10 | Story by Darren Boon / Video by Mervin Lee, video interview by Koh Yi Na Student activist group The National Petition for Fairer Transportation Fares for Polytechnic/Tertiary Students has made inroads where its predecessors failed to, collecting 5,300...
“Singapore law good for boss”
Feb. 10 | Joshua Chiang Joshua Chiang gives a personal account of what he witnessed in a visit to a foreign workers’ dormitory at Tagore Industrial Estate. The familiar musky smell of damp clothes and stale air greeted us as we stepped into the makeshift workers’...
Where to, opposition?
Feb. 6 | Aloysius Foo The opposition parties must look within, rather than outside At the start of 2009, TOC published an article “The opposition in 2009 – time to get united”, and the writer Mr Andrew Loh expressed his desire for a more united opposition...
A response to MOM but rejected by the Straits Times
Jan. 30 | The following is a letter sent to the Straits Times by Ms Stephanie Chok, a volunteer providing help to migrant workers. It is in response to the Ministry of Manpower’s Deputy Director, Ms Julia Ng’s letter to the Straits Times forum. (See below) The...
Euthanasia – The right to self-determination
Jan. 29 | The earlier article, “Clarify, not prevent, false claims”, has been removed as it has been brought to our attention that it has been published before. We apologise for the error. Richard Woo I am among the minority when it comes to euthanasia...
Why this is not election year
Jan. 28 | PN Balji Budget 2009 has been praised by many as a budget fit for the times. And in a highly-calibrated statement, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam offered something for nearly every body and went close to the extreme to save jobs and...
Can I work till 65, please!
Jan. 24 | Richard Ee Statistics show that we have one million ‘baby boomers’ going into retirement. What are the job opportunities for them? The Baby Boomer Survey* characterised a late baby boomer (born 1947-64) as one who is better educated (34% have some...
Muddy Singapore – an update
Jan. 19 | This is an update on the Chinese workers who were featured in Alex Au’s articles, Muddy Singapore Swallows China Workers (Part One & Two). You can also read Alex Au’s updates here: http://yawningbread.org/ Stephanie Chok There has been...
Muddy Singapore swallows China workers, part 2
Jan. 17 | Story by Alex Au I’m sure readers would be interested in an update of the China workers issue before I fly off. Friday, 5 December: After the morning’s interview with Yawning Bread, the men went off to the Ministry of Manpower again,...
Muddy Singapore swallows China workers
Jan. 16 | TOC would like to thank Alex Au (yawningbread.org) for allowing us to re-publish part one of the following article, which is in two parts. (Part two will follow shortly.) It first appeared on Alex’s blog last month (December, 2008). TOC will provide...
TOC Expose: Repatriation companies
Jan. 14 | Story by Jolovan Wham Is your foreign worker giving you problems? Are you afraid that he might be a bad influence on other workers? What if he runs away and you lose your $5000 security deposit*? For approximately $300 per worker, you can engage...
A 19th century page from a 21st century draft
Jan. 14 | Story by Ng Sook Zhen Their living quarters is a shop house unit in Lavender, their beds are wooden boards, the only toilet is shared by 40 people and a typical workday is 13 hours. It could have been a page taken out of a 19th century book about...
No place for political violence in Singapore
Jan. 12 | Koh Jie Kai / Senior Writer As with many other people, I was shocked to learn about Seng Han Thong’s injuries at the hands of an apparently mentally unstable attacker. I was however, revolted to read some of the comments on the attack. There...
