“It would be stupid for any Singapore agency or NTU to advocate the learning of dialects, which must be at the expense of English and Mandarin,” Mr Chee Hong Tat wrote in a letter to the Straits Times Forum page in 2009. (See here: “Foolish to advocate the learning of dialects“.) Mr Chee was writing in his capacity as then …

By a resident at Nee Soon GRC to the Member of Parliament Hi MP Patrick, Happy National day! Congratulations for officially opening the new and enhanced Nee Soon East Community Centre (CC) last week. It is indeed bigger better and brighter and brings about a new focal point to Yishun. It has indeed come a long way since 1995. I …

By Visakan Veerasamy It’s very interesting to me whenever a teenager thinks that he has something important or meaningful to say about society. I used to blog about social issues as a teenager myself, and it wasn’t too long ago – so I like to think that I relate to the civic-minded young ones. The first and most important thing we …

By Howard Lee The news of Transport Minister Lui Tuck Yew ‘s decision not to contest in the next GE was apparently a shock to many, as the ruling People’s Action Party has basically sworn off sacking Ministers to maintain accountability. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had instead vouched for Ministers to stay and fix the problem, and in view …

Lawyer, M Ravi, whose candidacy in the upcoming elections has been a topic of speculation of late, has confirmed with The Online Citizen (TOC), that he will not be contesting the elections. Last week, Mr Ravi, who is regarded as Singapore’s foremost human rights lawyer, was seen at a Reform Party (RP) walkabout in Ang Mo Kio GRC, together with …

By Vidhya Nair In a press-conference this morning at a coffeeshop, close to Toa Payoh Mall, Dr Ng Eng Hen, PAP organising secretary and Defense Minister, announced the resignation of 3 Members of Parliament who will not be contesting in the upcoming general election. They are, Mr Wong Kan Seng, Mr Hri Kumar Nair and Mr Zainudin Nordin. 3 new replacement …

By Howard Lee Juliet Low has been working in the US and the UK for more than a decade, and never had to worry about high cost of treatment for her chronic illnesses. As a Singaporean working overseas, she is currently subscribed to the UK’s mandatory National Insurance, which covers the cost of her treatments in full. When she travels to Singapore for visits, she covers herself …

Lui’s resignation – a sign of weak leadership from the top “Singapore will not encourage a culture where ministers resign whenever things go wrong on their watch, whether or not they are actually to blame,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was reported to have said in 2008 during the debate on the escape of terrorist suspect, Mas Selamat Kastari. Mr …