Every week, we highlight some of the best comments. Our aim is to allow readers to see what others have to say, regardless of their position on the issue. We hope to encourage everyone to continue contributing their insights and perspectives.
Barriers installed to discourage football in HDB void deck (Feb 25)

What an uncaring spirit. So instead of coming up with a solution to the noise etc, they created another set of problems causing unhappiness to other residents. By putting up the metal barricades they are essentially blocking up a space that could be put to good use. Don’t point fingers at other RCs with similar barricades. That’s lame.
— Jenny Quek

If you are not appalled at the thought process behind this and other ludicrous ideas to stop activities that are deemed a “nuisance”, then you have to wonder where we are as a society.
Instead of teaching kids the importance of being civic minded and not play too loudly or aggressively lest they cause incidents to happen, or too late into the evening, we take the easiest and laziest of options and just completely obliterate kids from playing.
Un-freaking-believable.
— Rudy Kipidap

New BTO do not even have tables and chairs below void desk. Old folks can’t even have a game of chess below their flats anymore.
— Janet Lee

Honestly, kids should be allowed to play football in HDB void decks. It was so common in the 1980s. Only things they have to look out for are the elderly, young children, and maintain a moderate noise level. These games usually last 30 mins anyway, and they’re good for kids to let loose and bond. If you’re arguing about other sport venues, they can be intimidating for amateurs. Basketball courts are for basketballers. Badminton courts are for badminton players and maybe sepak takraw. And some kids just don’t mix well with others, so that one street soccer court isn’t enough. Please remove such barriers. I’d prefer putting up with a little noise than seeing them smoking, forming stupid gangs, and surfing Facebook on their phones.
— Jackie Helena Gay

Discouraging soccer playing in HDB void deck goes way back to the 70s and 80s where proper signages were always up on the walls. Why does it take Town Councils 30-40 years of patience and ingenuity to come up with such a hard-handed “solution” to a problem that has existed for decades (if we even consider that as a problem)? As we become more developed and affluent, we have also become less tolerant and less forgiving. Sad.
— Chionh Chye Kit

FIDH: Singapore needs to drop charges against Hong Lim Park protestors (Feb 23)

Would the Singapore govt listen to the recommendation from FIDH?
How did the Singapore delegation respond to the UPR meeting held in Geneva on 27 Jan 2016?
Read this: “The government delegation responded by justifying the severe restrictions on the exercise of this right with the need to ensure “society’s need for order and stability.”
It would be easier to change the govt [to one managed by a non-PAPy party, or to a coalition govt] than to expect this govt to listen to recommendations from human rights international organizations.
To have a change in govt, Singaporeans have to VETO out the PAP.
— Richard Woo

FIDH is the oldest and the most out of date org. By international standard it actually means US standard,. It was not too long ago that the Us was condemning Singapore about violations of human rights. Singapore never did anything as bad as rendition, water boarding and all the other things its constitution describes as cruel and unusual.
We blindly follow orgs such as FIDH at our own peril
— Eugenetan

Honestly HHH is indeed a public nuisance with the rubbish she blurts. Honestly if she is representative for the kind of opposition we get, than I would rather stick with existing monsters
— Tim Lee

But blurting rubbish shouldn’t be a crime.
I don’t care what opposition gets in… to a certain extent. I don’t listen to HHH, but if she didn’t become infamous, that’s good enough for me. The priority, from my perspective, is to remove the 2/3 majority.
— Lobo_arisen

Ministers to talk and answer questions about 14-year-old’s death in Parliament (Feb 27)

More fundamental question:
What is the logic behind questioning a minor without legal representation or accompaniment by an adult? How does it affect investigations in anyway?
The first part of the question on being questioned without legal representation is also applicable to adults as the police need not wait for your lawyer to turn up to question you. That is that you can even afford one. Which brings us the the question of why legal assistance is not made more available or even, dare I say, a right everyone should be entitled to.
— Jake Tan

It is never too late to admit and apologize to the public unintentional lapses and mistakes as long as they are corrected.
However, if the presentations are to justify and ignore public sentiment, public trusts and confidence in offices will be lost.
— Kit Houbu John

Questions about Benjamin Lim’s case, Home Affairs Minister and SPF cannot answer (Feb 23)

Refuse to answer and cannot answer is 2 different things.
— Jeffrey Tan

That we cannot determine because no refusal to reply is given. In the police’s own logic, refusal to reply or silence is admittance of guilt. – Terry
“In accordance to section 23 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the accused person has the right to remain silent after the notice is read out to him. However, an adverse inference may be drawn from such silence. In other words, the police may infer guilt from his refusal to give a statement.”
– The Online Citizen

You get that troubling feeling that perhaps senior bureaucrats or politicians don’t think there is anything wrong here. Perhaps they feel that this would be a slippery slope to give in to a public outcry. Or maybe they think that it is more important to let police intimidate.. erm interrogate.. erm interview.. suspects so they can close investigations quickly without the burden of evidence?
Until they say something, we are free to speculate. I think it’s because Benjamin Lim is a nobody, just another “nobody” in a long list of “nobodys” in a city that wants to pride itself in being a safe, secure, and efficient country.
— Syed Munir

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