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Threats of violence are unacceptable

“According to The Straits Times, 36-year-old Gary Yue Mun Yew allegedly posted a video clip of former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat’s assassination to the Facebook page of socio-political website Temasek Review. He is also believed to have called for a live version of the assassination to be re-enacted on the grandstand during the National Day [...]

At a REACH forum – for the first time

On Tuesday evening, I attended my first REACH forum. It was held at the Grassroots Club in Ang Mo Kio. A friend had invited me there. The forum was to discuss Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speech which he delivered on Sunday. DPM Teo Chee Hean was the guest for the night [...]

Xenophobia – where are the opposition parties and opinion leaders?

The episode about the so-called “curry incident” is the latest to surface where Singaporeans take umbrage at foreigners’ behaviour towards locals. The seething anger among Singaporeans whenever such incidents happen can be traced to their unhappiness towards the government’s immigration and foreign talent policies. Minister for Law, K Shanmugam, is the latest to try and calm [...]

Patching up holes as we go along

In what were termed “sweeping changes” by the local media following the General Election in May this year, 9 ministers stepped down and 11 given new appointments. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called the changes “epochal”. Former Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and former Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, in a joint statement announcing their [...]

Of cowboy towns and engagement

“Mr Lee was signalling that times have changed. And that he and his team are entering a new phase of engagement with the people,” said media consultant PN Balji, who is the former editor in chief of the Today newspaper, referring to Prime Minister’s Lee Hsien Loong’s National Day Rally speech. PM Lee had said [...]

Across the universe

Why does this song – by the Beatles – have such a hold on me?

Singaporean Deborah Lee

I’m so glad I stumbled upon this. Love the song…

It goes deeper than just aroma

On 8 August, the Today newspaper reported the incident of a family from China, which had moved to Singapore recently, resorting to mediation by the Community Mediation Centre to stop its neighbour from cooking a popular local dish, curry. Since the report, both online and ordinary Singaporeans have criticised the Chinese family’s actions and also the [...]

The danger in clan endorsement of presidential candidates

The Singapore media reported, on 8 August 2011, that the Federation of the Tan Clan Associations has thrown its support behind one of the presidential hopefuls, former DPM Tony Tan. Dr Tan was apparently invited to a dialogue with the Federation’s members on Sunday where the endorsement was announced. The Federation said it has “no [...]

Commuters are not selfish

Following my last blog article (see here), I decided to keep an eye out and see how commuters in our trains – particularly younger ones – behave towards those who are elderly and those with small children. Often, it is the inconsiderate commuters who get highlighted – especially online on websites like STOMP – and [...]

The simple things are free

“Fares for senior concession card holders will increase by one cent per journey. But concession hours for senior citizens will be extended to the full-day throughout the week. Their fares on the North East Line and Circle Line will also be adjusted downwards.” - (Channelnewsasia, on the public transport fare hike announced by the Public Transport Council – [...]