Current Affairs
MOH: Immediate public health risk of Africa’s mpox outbreak to Singapore is low
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Despite the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring mpox a global public health emergency on Wednesday (14 August), the Ministry of Health (MOH) has assessed the immediate public health risk of the outbreak in Africa to Singapore as low.
In a statement issued on 15 August, MOH noted, “While there is cross-border spread of a potentially more severe mpox clade I in parts of Central and East Africa, the outbreak has thus far remained within the African continent, with no reported cases of clade I exported out of the African continent.”
Since January 2024, Singapore has reported 10 cases of mpox, all confirmed to be the milder clade II form of the virus.
Mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions on the body.
In 2023, Singapore recorded 32 cases, and there were 18 cases in 2022, starting from the time the disease was first reported in late June of that year.
“To date, all mpox infections detected in Singapore have been the milder Clade II infections, mostly during the 2022-2023 global outbreak,” said MOH.
MOH assured that Singapore’s healthcare system has the capability to effectively diagnose and manage mpox infections.
Global health experts have been alarmed by the new, more dangerous Ib sub-variant of the clade I strain, which spreads easily through routine close contact, including sexual contact.
This concern led the WHO to declare mpox a global public health emergency on 14 August for the second time in two years.
The WHO’s multi-country outbreak report indicates a significant rise in mpox cases and outbreaks across countries in the WHO African region in recent weeks.
While most cases are concentrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), bordering countries are also affected. Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda have reported their first mpox cases due to clade Ib.
In the DRC, children, who make up over 70% of cases and 85% of deaths, are particularly vulnerable due to high rates of malnutrition.
Sweden Reports First Imported Mpox Clade 1 Variant Case Outside Africa
On 15 August, the WHO warned of the likelihood of further imported cases of this new strain in Europe, following Sweden’s report of the first such infection outside Africa.
Sweden’s Public Health Agency reported a case of the Clade 1b subclade of mpox, the same new strain that has surged in the DRC since September 2023.
“A person who sought care at Region Stockholm has been diagnosed with mpox caused by the clade I variant. It is the first case caused by clade I to be diagnosed outside the African continent,” the agency said in a statement.
The patient contracted the virus during a visit to an area in Africa experiencing a major outbreak of Clade 1, as noted by state epidemiologist Magnus Gisslen.
The agency added: “The fact that a patient with mpox is treated in the country does not affect the risk to the general population, a risk that the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) currently considers very low.”
The WHO’s European regional office in Copenhagen stated that it is working with Sweden to manage the newly detected mpox Clade 1 case.
The office noted, “The confirmation of mpox Clade 1 in Sweden is a clear reflection of the interconnectedness of our world.”
“There are likely to be further imported cases of Clade 1 in the European region over the coming days and weeks, and it is imperative that we don’t stigmatise travellers or countries/regions.”
“Travel restrictions and border closures don’t work and should be avoided,” it added.
The post MOH: Immediate public health risk of Africa’s mpox outbreak to Singapore is low appeared first on Gutzy Asia.
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Current Affairs
Reforming Singapore’s defamation laws: Preventing legal weapons against free speech
Opinion: The tragic suicide of Geno Ong, linked to the financial stress from a defamation lawsuit, raises a critical issue: Singapore’s defamation laws need reform. These laws must not be weaponized to silence individuals.
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by Alexandar Chia
This week, we hear the tragic story of the suicide of Geno Ong, with Ong citing the financial stress from the defamation lawsuit against her by Raymond Ng and Iris Koh.
Regardless of who’s right and who’s wrong, this Koh/Ng vs Ong affair raises a wider question at play – the issue of Singapore’s defamation laws and how it needs to be tightened.
Why is this needed? This is because defamation suits cannot be weaponised the way they have been in Singapore law. It cannot be used to threaten people into “shutting up”.
Article 14(2)(a) of the Constitution may permit laws to be passed to restrict free speech in the area of defamation, but it does not remove the fact that Article 14(1)(a) is still law, and it permits freedom of speech.
As such, although Article 14(2)(a) allows restrictions to be placed on freedom of speech with regard to the issue of defamation, it must not be to the extent where Article 14(1)(a)’s rights and liberties are not curtailed completely or heavily infringed on.
Sadly, that is the case with regard to precedence in defamation suits.
Let’s have a look at the defamation suit then-PM Goh Chok Tong filed against Dr Chee Soon Juan after GE 2001 for questions Dr Chee asked publicly about a $17 billion loan made to Suharto.
If we look at point 12 of the above link, in the “lawyer’s letter” sent to Dr Chee, Goh’s case of himself being defamed centred on lines Dr Chee used in his question, such as “you can run but you can’t hide”, and “did he not tell you about the $17 billion loan”?
In the West, such lines of questioning are easily understood at worse as hyperbolically figurative expressions with the gist of the meaning behind such questioning on why the loan to Suharto was made.
Unfortunately, Singapore’s defamation laws saw Dr Chee’s actions of imputing ill motives on Goh, when in the West, it is expected of incumbents to take the kind of questions Dr Chee asked, and such questions asked of incumbent office holders are not uncommon.
And the law permits pretty flimsy reasons such as “withdrawal of allegations” to be used as a deciding factor if a statement is defamatory or not – this is as per points 66-69 of the judgement.
This is not to imply or impute ill intent on Singapore courts. Rather, it shows how defamation laws in Singapore needs to be tightened, to ensure that a possible future scenario where it is weaponised as a “shut-up tool”, occurs.
These are how I suggest it is to be done –
- The law has to make mandatory, that for a case to go into a full lawsuit, there has to be a 3-round exchange of talking points and two attempts at legal mediation.
- Summary judgment should be banned from defamation suits, unless if one party fails to adduce evidence or a defence.
- A statement is to be proven false, hence, defamatory, if there is strictly material along with circumstantial evidence showing that the statement is false. Apologies and related should not be used as main determinants, given how many of these statements are made in the heat of the moment, from the natural feelings of threat and intimidation from a defamation suit.
- A question should only be considered defamatory if it has been repeated, after material facts of evidence are produced showing, beyond reasonable doubt, that the message behind the question, is “not so”, and if there is a directly mentioned subject in the question. For example, if an Opposition MP, Mr A, was found to be poisoned with a banned substance, and I ask openly on how Mr A got access to that substance, given that its banned, I can’t be found to have “defamed the government” with the question as 1) the government was not mentioned directly and 2) if the government has not produced material evidence that they indeed had no role in the poisoning affair, if they were directly mentioned.
- Damages should be tiered, with these tiers coded into the Defamation Act – the highest quantum of damages (i.e. those of a six-figured nature) is only to be reserved if the subject of defamation lost any form of office, revenue or position, or directly quantifiable public standing, or was subjected to criminal action, because of the act of defamation. If none of such occur, the maximum amount of damages a plaintiff in a defamation can claim is a 4-figure amount capped at $2000. This will prevent rich and powerful figures from using defamation suits and 6-figure damages to intimidate their questioners and detractors.
- All defendants of defamation suit should be allowed full access to legal aid schemes.
Again, this piece does not suggest bad-faith malpractice by the courts in Singapore. Rather, it is to suggest how to tighten up defamation laws to avoid it being used as the silencing hatchet.
Current Affairs
Man arrested for alleged housebreaking and theft of mobile phones in Yishun
A 23-year-old man was arrested for allegedly breaking into a Yishun Ring Road rental flat and stealing eight mobile phones worth S$3,400 from five tenants. The Singapore Police responded swiftly on 1 September, identifying and apprehending the suspect on the same day. The man has been charged with housebreaking, which carries a potential 10-year jail term.
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SINGAPORE: A 23-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly breaking into a rental flat along Yishun Ring Road and stealing eight mobile phones from five tenants.
The incident occurred in the early hours on Sunday (1 September), according to a statement from the Singapore Police Force.
The authorities reported that they received a call for assistance at around 5 a.m. on that day.
Officers from the Woodlands Police Division quickly responded and, through ground enquiries and police camera footage, were able to identify and apprehend the suspect on the same day.
The stolen mobile phones, with an estimated total value of approximately S$3,400, were recovered hidden under a nearby bin.
The suspect was charged in court on Monday with housebreaking with the intent to commit theft.
If convicted, he could face a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.
In light of this incident, the police have advised property owners to take precautions to prevent similar crimes.
They recommend securing all doors, windows, and other openings with good quality grilles and padlocks when leaving premises unattended, even for short periods.
The installation of burglar alarms, motion sensor lights, and CCTV cameras to cover access points is also advised. Additionally, residents are urged to avoid keeping large sums of cash and valuables in their homes.
The investigation is ongoing.
Last month, police disclosed that a recent uptick in housebreaking incidents in private residential estates across Singapore has been traced to foreign syndicates, primarily involving Chinese nationals.
Preliminary investigations indicate that these syndicates operate in small groups, targeting homes by scaling perimeter walls or fences.
The suspects are believed to be transient travelers who enter Singapore on Social Visit Passes, typically just a day or two before committing the crimes.
Before this recent surge in break-ins, housebreaking cases were on the decline, with 59 reported in the first half of this year compared to 70 during the same period last year.
However, between 1 June and 4 August 2024, there were 10 reported housebreaking incidents, predominantly in private estates around the Rail Corridor and Bukit Timah Road.
The SPF has intensified efforts to engage residents near high-risk areas by distributing crime prevention advisories, erecting alert signs, and training them to patrol their neighborhoods, leading to an increase in reports of suspicious activity.
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