Below is a letter submitted to TOC By Chen Yi Quan Under the Children and Young Persons Act it is stated that the act exists to: provide for the welfare, care, protection and rehabilitation of children and young persons who are in need of such care, protection or rehabilitation, to regulate homes for children and young persons and to consolidate the …

Singapore based NGO, Community Action Network (CAN) has issued a statement to voice its concern over  the death of 14-year-old, Benjamin Lim who died of “unnatural causes” on Tuesday late afternoon after being interviewed by the police without the accompaniment of his parents. Below is their statement in full Community Action Network (CAN) would like to highlight the fact that as a signatory …

Fourteen-year-old Benjamin Lim Jun Hui was found dead late Tuesday.  He had apparently jumped off a ledge outside his 14th-floor flat in Yishun. Family and friends are still trying to make sense of the boy’s unexpected demise. Five plainclothes police officers showed up at Benjamin’s school on Tuesday morning. He was taken away for questioning for allegedly outraging the modesty …

By Richard Wan It was recently reported on the Straits Times that Singapore’s employment grew by only 31,800 last year, the slowest pace in 12 years [Link]. More workers lost their jobs last year, especially in the manufacturing and service sectors, which saw 5,000 and 7,800 redundancies respectively. A total of 14,400 workers were let go, up from 12,930 in …

By Ng Kok Lim I refer to the 30 Jan 2016 Straits Times report “Party’s transfer of vacant seat a political manouevre: PAP MPs”. Spirit of NCMP scheme While the spirit of the Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) scheme is to offer a seat in parliament to the best performing opposition candidate who lost, performance is relative. All else being equal, …

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Workers’ Party candidate for Punggol East SMC in the General Election 2015, Lee Li Lian spoke out on the issue of the Non-constituency Member of Parliament seat that had been the subject of debate in parliament yesterday, commenting that the amendments made to the motion to vacate her seat as an NCMP were both unfair …

By Richard Wan In yesterday’s (29 Jan) Parliamentary debate, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Chan Chun Sing accused Workers’ Party (WP) of political maneuvering when WP proposed to transfer the vacant Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) seat from Ms Lee Li Lian to Dr Daniel Goh. Dr Goh, an NUS sociologist, was a WP candidate contesting in East Coast …

By Ghui At first glance, the new raft of amendments to our political system made me indignant. I thought it patronising on so many levels. Firstly, it fudges the differences between NCMPs and elected MPs by allegedly giving them “equal voting powers” akin to giving a dog crumbs from the master’s table. Whether the intention is to even the playing …

Singapore exile, Tan Wah Piow has sent a letter to the Attorney-General Chambers (AGC) office asking for the convictions in 1975 against him and another two individuals to be quashed in view of the conviction against former NTUC secretary-general and People’s Action Party Member of Parliament, Phey Yew Kok on 22 January. In his letter, Tan explained to the AGC …

By Chris Kuan On Wednesday, 27 January 2016, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that the Constitution will be amended for the minimum number of opposition members will be increased from the current 9 to 12 at the next general election and for Non-Constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) to have the same voting rights as Members of Parliament (MPs). However, …