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Energy efficiency: what is NEA’s role?
Apr. 5 | By Shawn Lim Global warming and climate change are among two of the major challenges that Singapore faces today. Many studies have shown that the higher concentration of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere, particularly carbon dioxide, is the primary...
Press Muse – Calling STOMP’s bluff
Apr. 4 | By Spiegel Once upon a time, when laypersons chance upon information they deem of relevance to a wider audience, they’d be inclined to pay deference to the professionals – they couldn’t disseminate the information themselves anyway. So they...
Killing the Dying
Mar. 30 | By Dr Wong Wee Nam “You will not mistake my meaning or suppose that I depreciate one of the great humane studies if I say that we cannot learn law by learning law. If it is to be anything more than just a technique it is to be so much more than...
Church member critical of City Harvest Church’s investment in Suntec
Mar. 27 | City Harvest Church member Simon Teoh, an investment banker, is critical of where the $310 million investment by City Harvest Church into Suntec will go. He wants to know how much would be spent on the lease and how long it would last. Troubled by the...
Reporters Without Borders – open letter to PM Lee Hsien Loong
Mar. 26 | The following is an open letter to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong from Reporters Without Borders Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong Prime Minister’s Office Orchard Road Istana Singapore 238823 Paris, 25 March 2010 Dear Prime Minister, A foreign news organisation...
Early childhood teachers: why are they being frowned upon?
Mar. 25 | By Farah Aziz I know someone from Australia and she told me a story that stayed with me for a long time. She had gone to a party and met some new people, but there was one gentleman that she remembered in particular. They had a casual conversation and...
Has Singapore a future?
Mar. 20 | By Dr Wong Wee Nam, Guest Contributor As the present now Will later be past The order is Rapidly fadin’. And the first one now Will later be last For the times they are a-changin’. - Bob Dylan - The young are the builders of tomorrow. There...
Gagged by the church – Foyce Le Xuan
Mar. 16 | By Sonia Suka The New Paper reported yesterday that Foyce Le Xuan was advised by her pastor from City Harvest Church (CHC) not to speak to the media about revealing all the details of Jack Neo’s advances towards her, six years ago. It would have been...
Press Muse – Singaporeans dreaming
Mar. 13 | By Spiegel Writer and historian James Truslow Adams once imagined a meritocratic wonderland. A society defined by the noble aspiration he called the American Dream. Drawing from the United States Declaration of Independence and its recognition of “inalienable...
Straits Times’ outrageous opinion piece on homelessness
Mar. 10 | By Callan Tham The Straits Times, true to its form of operating as a government mouthpiece, publishes this gem of an opinion piece disguised as ‘Prime News’ entitled Life’s a beach but it’s no holiday (complete with the accompanying...
Productivity: Senior Minister, is it that simple?
Mar. 9 | By Dr Wong Wee Nam, guest contributor At a Post-Budget 2010 Feedback Session held at Marine Parade Community Club recently, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong revealed what it takes to be a productive worker. He used two cases to make his point. First he...
The language divide
Mar. 6 | By Yini Chua Step into any ACS school, and you would be hard-pressed to find anyone conversing in Mandarin. As an alumnus aptly articulated, the surest way of gaining notoriety is to ‘get a loudhailer and start singing Chinese songs at the top of...
Anti-Death Penalty in Singapore
Mar. 4 | One reader reflects on the situation in Singapore. Yong Vui Kong’s appeal is going before the Court of Appeal this March. It seems that Singapore cyberspace is pretty much silent on the issue but a few interesting points in the death penalty debate...
30 minutes that changed the people’s lives
Mar. 3 | By Ajax Copperwater On 1st January 1982, Singapore celebrated the New Year 30 minutes earlier because of a decision by the PAP government to move the time in sync with Malaysia’s for political and economic reasons. Of course, the move to change...
Let’s fight free speech with free speech
Mar. 3 | By George Hwang, 28th February 2010 The recent police reports filed by 85 people against Rony Tan for his anti-gay speech right after he was rapped by the Internal Security Department bemoans the sad state of affairs in our laws on this subject. In a...
So how much did you pay your agent?
Mar. 2 | By Lynn Lee of Lianain Films Of late we’ve developed a strange habit. We can’t meet a Bangladeshi migrant labourer without asking him a somewhat intrusive question. How much did you pay your agent? Is it kinda rude? Maybe. Call it an occupational...
Press Muse – Love thyself, ignore thy neighbour
Mar. 2 | By Spiegel “He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals,” said ‘leading author and printer, satirist, political theorist, politician, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, soldier, and diplomat’ (so claims Wikipedia) Benjamin...
Think before giving shark’s fin
Feb. 26 | Editor’s Note: This letter was originally published in The New Paper on 18 Feb 2010. We have republished it on TOC at the request of Project FIN, an out-of-the-box campaign that aims to educate and generate awareness about shark fin consumption...
Why the vote is not ‘daft’
Feb. 17 | Sylvia Lim Last Nov, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak addressed APEC delegates in Singapore. When asked if he was confident that his economic reforms and stimulus packages would work for Malaysia, he quipped: “Well, it better work. Otherwise, you...
Economic Strategies Committee: Real change or just words?
Feb. 15 | By Dr Wong Wee Nam, Guest Contributor “Entrepreneurial culture is about challenging the authorities, questioning the existing ways of doing business, moving away from the routines and norms. It’s about the unconventional, rebellious and diverse.”...
Mah Bow Tan, the God of Wealth?
Feb. 14 | Joshua Chiang I was on bus service 39 going towards Tampines Ave 2 when I suddenly spotted this. Like most town centres, there is this arch where on it they will put the MP’s photo, which in this case is Mr MBT. So, nothing surprising there. But...
Punish Pastor Tan
Feb. 13 | By Shawn Lim, Guest Writer By now, most of us would have watched the videos in which Pastor Rony Tan of Lighthouse Evangelism, an independent church, made some nasty comments on Taoism and Buddhism. He was called up by the Internal Security Department...
Mandate assured … as long as PAP remains incorruptible
Feb. 10 | trulysingapore Dear editor, I refer to the letter by Dr Yik Keng Yeong dated 9 Feb 2010. Dr Yik points to the unequal scaling of the economic peak by countries in the region to suggest that work ethic is not the same across countries. By extension, places...
Town Councils – irresponsible to continue ignoring corridor clutter
Feb. 9 | Letter to TOC: by Phillip Ang From: phillip ang Date: Mon, Feb 8, 2010 at 9:19 PM Subject: Town Councils – irresponsible to continue ignoring corridor clutter 20100208 To: mailto: mah_bow_tan@mnd.gov.sg Cc: lchertan@singnet.com.sg, Rosita_chow@prpg-tc.org.sg,...
HDB replies: Waiting time for rental flat is now reduced
Feb. 8 | HDB replies to Ms Lisa Li’s letter on rental flats. (08 Feb 2010) Source: TODAY Online Letter from Kee Lay Cheng, Deputy Director (Land Administration), Housing & Development Board We refer to Ms Li Shi-En Lisa’s online letter “A...
Singaporeans seek asylum elsewhere
Feb. 7 | Ben Bland Asia Sentinel Given the Singapore government’s oft-repeated mantra that it has taken the city-state “from third world to first,” you would not expect to find refugees fleeing the island’s shores and gleaming skyscrapers. But...
S’porean bride requested for wedding’s price not to be revealed because of father’s political position
Feb. 6 | NY dailynews.com It’s the Wedding Planner vs. Bridezilla now. Celebrity party organizer David Tutera used the B word Tuesday against a woman suing him for bailing out of her lavish Singapore wedding. “Melissa Chin was looking to turn her...
Jobstreet – Jobs for foreigners
Feb. 4 | Letter to TOC by: Andrew Michael Teo Hi, I had just visited the Jobstreet website and I was astonished to see many of the jobs which can be performed by our very local PMETs are being DIRECTLY TO FOREIGNERS by DIRECT EMPLOYERS and Recruitment Agencies. I...
A false necessity: Singapore’s maid trade
Feb. 3 | Jolene Tan The F-word Blog In my gleamingly modern home town of Singapore, trading in women has been refined to a stomach-churningly efficient art. The women in question are foreign domestic workers (FDWs), locally known as “maids”, who travel from...
Help the singles with affordable housing
Feb. 2 | Letter to TOC by: Joseph Ang Under the existing HDB policy, singles are not allowed to buy or rent flats directly from the Housing and Development Board (HDB), unless they partner with another single person and apply under the joint-singles scheme. In...
Press Muse – Moving news and pushing pills
Jan. 31 | Spiegel A while ago, I noted the inappropriate use of a Habbo survey as a basis for drawing scientific conclusions on ills of computer game addiction. In particular, I insinuated that Habbo, an online social networking site, were delighted recipients...
Press Muse – It shouldn’t be just business
Jan. 7 | Spiegel I can hardly claim this to be an exhaustive account, but over the past month or so it seemed rather difficult to get a dose of the day’s big news from the front pages of Singaporean English-language newspapers. I first noticed this on...
Media reports on Killer Litter case miss the point
Dec. 17 | By Gangasudhan Reports focus on the incident instead of the fact that it could have been prevented months ahead Photo source: Simpsons Crazy In Wednesday’s copy of TODAY, a report (below) mildly suggests ‘In court over chilli sauce bottle’ whilst...
Letters of praise and criticism – and one to two ministers about TOC
May. 11 | The following are letters or emails to The Online Citizen during the course the past month or so. Sock puppeting Dear Sir, Madam. I would like to inquire what’s the stand for TOC with regards to sock puppeting? I mean I understand the moderation is...
Applying for a job? “My interests include cooking dogs…”
May. 8 | The following is from The Telegraph. By Murray Wardrop Experts found that 94 per cent of job hunters risked missing out on vacancies through poor spelling, grammar or presentation on their CVs. In some cases, applicants’ attempts to impress potential...
All about Aware
May. 4 | To facilitate easier access to all the reports, commentaries, pictures and videos in the Aware saga, we have consolidated all our content on Aware in this thread. For all the videos on the saga, please visit TOC’s YouTube page here. For background...
The TOC team behind the coverage of Aware Eogm
May. 3 | The editors of The Online Citizen – Choo Zheng Xi, Andrew Loh and Terence Lee – would like to express our heartfelt thanks to the volunteers and members who helped cover the AWARE EOGM at Suntec City, 2 May, Saturday. It was a challenging and tiring...
The Uniqlo Experience in Suburbia
Apr. 17 | Darren Boon checks out Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo first local store in the brand new Tampines 1 Mall. By Darren Boon I left the scorching rays and stifling heat of mid-day behind, I could feel the cool gush of air as I stepped into the new Tampines...
“In everything you do, you must be sincere.”
Apr. 7 | Note: This article on cobbler Uncle Kwok is a prelude to the articles we will be featuring as part of our tentatively titled, “Wisdom From The Streets”, series in a week or two on TOC. Deborah Choo There he is, smoking, pleasurably and placidly....
Issues That Matter: Uniquely Singapore – F1 or F9?
Mar. 22 | Over the years, Mr Leong Sze Hian has written countless letters to the local press on issues which affect every Singaporean. These include the Central Provident Fund (CPF), healthcare, education, transport, housing, credit, the charities, employment and...
TOC asks for civil and respectful discourse
Mar. 1 | The Online Citizen reserves the right to moderate, edit, disallow, remove or delete comments posted on this website which, in TOC’s sole discretion, are deemed to be unwarranted or are of the following nature: - Vulgarities – in...
Facing joblessness? Need Help? Visit transitioning.org
Jan. 30 | As Singapore braces itself for its worst recession in its history, a group of Singaporeans is stepping forth to provide counseling help for those who are unemployed or who may be unemployed in the coming months. They have set up a website called Transitioning,...
Life’s learning curve
Jan. 13 | Gilbert Goh As more jobs go under and many people will remain unemployed in this down time, there is this air of gloom around us. I took a taxi yesterday and was bombarded by the cab driver’s complaint of a drastic drop in take home pay as many...
False Dawn
Nov. 22 | false dawn ‘merdeka’, the people they assured, was the road foward to a new dawn of more jobs, better food, a greater well-being, in a free and just, and more equal society regardless of race, language or culture. these the ‘action...
What would you like to see on TOC in 2009?
Nov. 13 | Hi everyone, This past two years have seen many suggestions by our readers and TOC members about improvements which TOC could or should adopt. As we go into the new year, we would like to invite you to give us your ideas, suggestions, feedback and criticisms,...
NS – a humbling experience
Nov. 9 | Alison Liew / Youth Writer I attended a camp mate’s wedding dinner at Novotel recently. He has a 3-year old daughter born out of wedlock and become a full fledged-husband at the grand old age of 20. During the solemnization ceremony, the groom’s father...
Going to Speakers’ Corner? Inform the Hong Lim Gardener
Oct. 25 | From The Hong Lim Gardener: In his 2008 National Day Rally speech, PM Lee announced new rules governing the space for political engagement and activism in the country. Part of these changes includes the opening of the Speakers’ Corner at Hong Lim Park...
Join Facebook group to honour JBJ
Oct. 1 | Share your thoughts, give your tributes and post your messages on this Facebook group set up to honour the man who taught us tenacity, perseverance and compassion. Join the “In Memory Of JB Jeyaretnam” group. Lawyer by training, he was a former district...
Students need your help with survey on foreign talents
Sep. 2 | A group of junior college students is seeking your help in “attempting to study the problem of xenophobia in Singapore.” It is part of their class’s project work submission. “For the purposes of this survey, the term ‘foreign talent’ refers...
