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Foreigners give back to Singapore society
Feb. 25 | By Maxie Aw Yeong and Cerelia Lim In recent months, to be a foreigner in Singapore is to subject oneself to scrutiny. Impassioned debate over the country’s immigration policies, stirred by a strong influx of foreign workers in recent years, has dominated...
Wife of ex-NKF chair guilty
Dec. 8 | From the Straits Times: THE wife of former NKF chairman Richard Yong pleaded guilty here on Monday to a charge of money laundering, more than a year after she and her husband were arrested in the territory. On Shu Kio, who had been out on bail since...
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,...
Mas Selamat – We’ll get him one day, says PM Lee
Dec. 5 | From the Straits Times: SINGAPORE does not know if fugitive terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari, the country’s most wanted man, is still in the country more than nine months after he escaped from detention, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday....
Breaking News: Singaporean held hostage at Mumbai’s Oberoi Hotel killed
Nov. 28 | The editors and writers of The Online Citizen offer our deepest condolences to the family of Ms Lo. Full report on Channel NewsAsia: SINGAPORE: Singapore‘s Foreign Ministry says the Singaporean Chinese woman held hostage at the Oberoi Hotel in...
Former CEO of NTUC Income calls for “collective protest”
May. 5 | Former Chief Executive of NTUC Income, Mr Tan Kin Lian, is calling for a “collective protest” against Income’s “bonus cut”. In his blog posting, Tan says that he “will be asking a lawyer to organise policyholders who wish to submit a...
Should Singaporean youths be allowed to vote at 18?
May. 1 | The Youth Wing of The Workers’ Party will be holding a public discussion forum on the issue of lowering the voting age to 18 this Saturday, May 3. (See details below.) Titled, “YouthQuake – Should Singaporean Youths Be Allowed To Vote At 18?”,...
No voting NO: Burmese embassy staff contrive to disenfranchise voters
Apr. 27 | Selene Cheng Burmese national desperate to vote goes topless, but still no vote A sea of red greeted me as I made my way up the road to the Burmese embassy at St Martin’s Drive. Burmese lined both sides of the road, the rows of people in red standing...
Breaking News: Burmese nationals throng embassy in S’pore
Apr. 27 | Developing news story Latest update: 15.50 hours A group of six Singapore Special Ops forces were seen moving up the slope of St Martin‘s in full riot gear. A contingent of female police officers were also seen. 15.14 hours Embassy staff slow...
Bloggers send 20-page proposal to minister
Apr. 21 | A group of bloggers, led by Choo Zheng Xi and Alex Au, sent a 20-page proposal to the Minister for Information, Communication and the Arts, Dr Lee Boon Yang, today (April 21, 2008). The paper , titled “Proposals for Internet freedom in Singapore”,...
Jeyaretnam speaks on Reform Party’s plans and constitution
Apr. 19 | Mr JB Jeyaretnam speaking on his Reform Party’s plans and constitution at a press conference held at the Quality Hotel, April 18, 2008. Video of the chairman of the Reform Party, Ng Teck Siong, introducing the new party here. You can watch theonlinecitizen’s...
Breaking News: MDA approves Martyn See’s film for screening
Apr. 16 | TOC has just been informed that the Media Development Authority (MDA) has approved Martyn See’s film Speakers Cornered for screening, with a NC 16 rating. See had submitted the film to the MDA in December 2007. Martyn See will post more details of this...
Breaking News: Protesters arrested for World Consumer Rights Day event
Mar. 15 | By Andrew Loh It took less than an hour for the Singapore police to stop a protest by about 20 Singaporeans, all dressed in red t-shirts and some holding placards, outside Funan Shopping Centre this afternoon at about 2.50pm. The protesters were marking...
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...
Election reform effort needs everyone’s involvement – forum
Jan. 20 | By Andrew Loh Chaired by the Singapore Democratic Party chairman, Mr Gandhi Ambalam, the election reform public forum at the Allson Hotel focused on getting Singaporeans from all persuasions to be involved in the effort. The speakers were Mr Chia Ti Lik,...
“The people look to us for leadership. Let us provide it.” – Dr Chee Soon Juan
Jan. 18 | By Andrew Loh This Sunday at the Allson Hotel at Victoria Street, members of The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) will head a public forum calling for election reform in Singapore. The forum, titled “Reform of the Election System in Singapore”, is...
HDB to provide Mdm Lee with new stall
Jan. 12 | HDB compromises with Mdm Lee. Update: Reprieve for ex-hawker by TODAY, Jan 15. By Andrew Loh “If you had a mother who’s been working all her life, would you still want her to work at such an advanced age?”, Ms Gina Lau asked when explaining why...
2007: The year virtual reality shaped reality – A review of the new media landscape in 2007
Jan. 6 | By Terence Lee for theonlinecitizen Who would have known that in a brightly-lit street along Clarke Quay, an old trishaw driver would attain near-celebrity status when he was bullied by three British tourists. Certainly not the trishaw driver. The video...
Al Jazeera talks to Singapore university students
Jan. 5 | Riz Khan of Al Jazeera hosts a panel of 6 university students from the city-state of Singapore. They discuss their country’s restrictions on many freedoms for the sake of order and stability, as well as relations between the various ethnicities...
Singaporean activist protests outside Malaysian High Commission
Jan. 2 | Singaporean activist, Seelan Palay, is fasting without food for five days (starting at 9am, 31st Dec 2007) outside the Malaysian High Commission in protest against the ISA detention of the Hindraf leaders in Malaysia. (Read here for the background to...
Local activists commemorate International Human Rights Day
Dec. 10 | Several Burmese activists and members and supporters of MARUAH, a group of Singaporean activists advocating the setting up of an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism, commemorated International Human Rights Day in Singapore on Sunday, December 9. The group of...
Al Jazeera reports on Singapore-Burma ties
Dec. 2 | Tony Birtley of Al Jazeera takes a look at Burmese refugees who have fled the tyranny but are prevented from peaceful demonstrations in Singapore, and call for ASEAN countries, especially Singapore, to be more transparent in their trade and financial...
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...
Woman and boyfriend assaulted us, say students
Nov. 18 | This is taken from the blog Princess Michie. The account of the incident is solely her own, and does not represent the full sequence of events of the day. Notably missing is corroborating evidence of the punching she claims to have received from the...
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)...
TOC Report: WP 50th Anniversary Dinner
Nov. 4 | By Choo Zheng Xi Question: What do ex NMPs Breama Mathi, Kanwaljit Soin, Chia Shi Teck, opposition politicians Chiam See Tong (MP for Potong Pasir), Sebastian Teo (National Solidarity Party) and the son of Singapore’s first Chief Minister Jonathan Marshall...
Britons bully elderly Singaporean trishaw rider
Nov. 1 | The following video was brought to TOC’s attention by 2 of our readers. According to Asia One’s report on the incident, the tourists left the trishaw uncle, 67-year-old Mr Lee Shee Lam, “without paying a single cent” after he had taken them...
377A serves public morality : NMP Thio Li-Ann
Oct. 23 | Below is the full transcript of NMP Professor Thio Li-Ann’s speech in Parliament. Two camps championing two distinct criminal law philosophies are polarised over whether to retain or repeal s377A which criminalizes public or private acts of gross...
Repeal 377a press conference: public health and families at stake too
Oct. 23 | By Teng Kie Zin Scott & Rachel Lim The repeal of the law against gay sex is not only about gays, as AIDS prevention programs and families of homosexual men are affected too, said the organizers of the group petitioning to repeal Section 377A of the...
TOC Feature: participating in the IBA
Oct. 22 | By Jeth Lee Thanks to the kind sponsorship of TOC, I was able to attend the much talked about Rule of Law Symposium organised by the International Bar Association last Friday despite it being priced at a restrictively high 60 Sterling pounds (citizen...
Outdoor demonstration planned outside St Andrew’s Cathedral
Oct. 20 | By Andrew Loh On the blog titled Enshrine 377A, the blogger, whose identity is unknown to us, calls for the public to participate in a “Walk For Jesus Action” in support of retaining section 377A of the Penal Code which criminalizes sex between...
Banned in the City Of Possibilities
Oct. 18 | “It is not our objective to increase the level of censorship in Singapore. Just maintaining the existing level of censorship is difficult enough.” - Minister for Information and the Arts, George Yeo (1998) (Reuters) Below is a list of events...
Parliamentary petition to repeal 377A: not just any other petition
Oct. 12 | By Choo Zheng Xi In the most formal challenge to Singapore’s gay sex laws yet, Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Siew Kum Hong will be sponsoring a petition in Parliament calling for the repeal of section 377A of the Penal Code. The petition was...
TOC Report: Myanmar Peace Awareness Day in university campuses
Oct. 5 | By Ng Sook Zhen Chaos may be an abstract concept for youths in Singapore, but this has not stopped students from taking material action against the current chaotic situation in Myanmar. Yesterday, at Myanmar Peace Awareness Day(MPAD) held at three local...
Police rejects permit for outdoor protest by S’pore student
Oct. 2 | Andrew Teo, a student at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, had applied for a permit to hold an outdoor protest about the situation in Burma. (Reported here by TOC earlier.) His application has been rejected by the Singapore police. The following...
Candle light vigil at Burmese embassy
Oct. 2 | This is a short video of scenes at the candle light vigil at the Burmese embassy in Singapore, 1st Oct 2007. *Pictures are taken from Ko Naing’s public gallery here.
TOC On Site: More than 1,000 gather at Burmese temple in solidarity
Sep. 29 | By Andrew Loh I met my Burmese contact at Toa Payoh MRT at 7 pm. A tip off had told TOC that members of the Burmese community were organizing a special prayer service to be held at the Burmese Buddhist Temple off Balestier Road. I was expecting a couple...
TOC Breaking News: Singaporean graduate student files application for Burma protest
Sep. 29 | The remark on Andrew Teo’s online application form to protest the violence in Burma is simple: “Free Burma. General Than Shwe: Stop the killing”. This afternoon, Mr Teo, a graduate student at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and telecommunications...
TOC condemns violent crackdown on peaceful Burma protesters
Sep. 27 | LATEST: Burma seals off key monasteries – BBC LATEST: S’porean man shot and kicked by Myanmar riot police – Straits Times In recent weeks, the world has witnessed the largest peaceful street protests against the military government to...
Bloggers’ reaction to protest in Burma
Sep. 27 | LATEST: Burma monastries in night raids – BBC “Witnesses say security forces in Burma have launched raids on monasteries and arrested scores of monks..” Please sign the petition in support of the people of Burma. Myanmar needs our support…...
TOC report: Public forum on ASEAN Human Rights Working Group
Sep. 25 | By Andrew Loh and Choo Zheng Xi The modest sized Victoria Room at Allson Hotel was packed to overfilling with 90 people who were there to attend the public forum on the establishment of a Singapore Human Rights Working Group. It was chaired by well-known...
TOC Opinion: PM Lee at NUS: Where’s the substance?
Sep. 22 | By Choo Zheng Xi The Kent Ridge Ministerial Forum was a surreal experience. Throughout the forum, I had trouble believing that this event was being held the day after one of the most contentious Parliamentary sittings I had ever followed was concluded....
Hong Lim Park protest – revisited
Sep. 16 | The international media was not there, neither were there scores of policemen and policewomen or helicopters circling above. There was no big crowd and the only photographers clicking away were a handful – from the local press and some members of the...
TOC Breaking News: Police allow SDP march to Parliament
Sep. 16 | The police have allowed a protest march by Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) activists to take place without incident. At 3.10 pm this afternoon, a group of six SDP activists turned up at Singapore’s Speaker’s Corner at Hong Lim Park to commemorate...
TOC Exclusive: Otto Fong’s Open Letter
Sep. 10 | Theonlinecitizen has obtained a copy of the original blog entry by Raffles Institution teacher, Otto Fong. It also includes comments which were originally posted by readers of his article. The original posting on his own blog has since been taken down....
TOC Breaking News: Gay teacher deletes his “coming out” article
Sep. 10 | Latest Update (10 Sept, 20:00 hours): TOC understands that Otto’s case has attracted the attention of the Ministry Of Education. We expect both MOE and Raffles Institution to release a press statement on the matter very soon. Otto Fong is a gay teacher...
TOC Report: annuity protest draws small crowd
Sep. 9 | A protest against the government’s move to introduce an annuities scheme was held at Centrepoint on Saturday afternoon. Around 30 people were spotted wearing black throughout the five storey shopping mall, but it was unclear how many of them were...
The Internet’s reaction to Otto Fong
Sep. 9 | Below are some reactions from the internet regarding Raffles Institution teacher Otto Fong’s “coming out” blog post. Letter to Raffles Institution regarding Otto Fong by Jasper Chen “I must say that I am deeply touched by Mr Fong’s article....
“Ministers are not given pensions” – Halimah Yacob
Sep. 5 | By Andrew Loh “Ministers are not given pensions, not the ministers after a certain age, similar to civil servants…. Civil servants after 1984, ‘86 no longer are paid pensions. They’re all on CPF, the same as ministers. So whatever other schemes...
