I refer to the article “Civil servants to get half-month mid-year bonus, one-off payments of $300 to $500″ (Straits Times, Jun 20). It states that “The last time civil servants got a one-off payment was in 2015, when each of them received $500 to mark Singapore’s 50th birthday. About 1,450 civil servants in Grades IV and V of the Operations Support …

by Augustine Low Our politicians have the habit of teaming up with spouses who are no shrinking violets. Put two high flying achievers together and voila! – we have a pair of super spouses. Perched right at the top are Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Ho Ching – Singapore’s power couple for 14 years running, since the husband became …

It is interesting to read that one of the reasons why Singapore has lost its top spot in digital competitiveness to the United States was due to Singapore’s  lackluster attitude towards the adoption of technologies and the agility of local businesses to transform digitally. It was also noteworthy that this lackluster attitude towards digital reform persisted despite a digital friendly …

by Joshua The Trump-Kim Summit heralds a new era, one that can end the last major surviving geopolitical remnant of the Cold War. The summit was historic in 3 ways: It was the first meeting between a US President and a North Korean Supreme Leader It promises to dismantle the last remnants of the Cold War If successful, it will …

In a media interview today (20 Jun), Chief of Defence Force MG Melvyn Ong told reporters that the external panel, convened in May after the death of NSF Dave Lee, had said that improvements could be made on preventing and responding to heat injuries. Dave died of heat stroke on 30 Apr. He was admitted to Changi General Hospital in …

A Facebook user uploaded a photo of a UOB credit-card framed in a casing which raised the question amongst many netizens, of how such a huge bank cannot afford a proper copywriter to proofread its products. Mick Price wrote on his Facebook post, “UOB Bank just launched this diamond-studded credit card yesterday for those who charge more than S$1million annually. It …

On 3 June 2018, it was announced that members of the public may submit names from then till 4 July 2018 for the position of Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) in Singapore. The current Arts NMP Kok Heng Leun will be stepping down at the end of his term in August 2018. The Arts Community would thus like to call for …

Activist and Opposition politician Jose Raymond made a Facebook post yesterday (19 Jun), following up on his earlier issue about how a visually handicapped elderly was denied public assistance as he was receiving CPF payouts. He appeared glad that various pro-PAP pages have joined the fray, and such debate leads to policies which could be “better tightened” to the benefit of citizens. …

Cyber security and internet fraud have been on the rise globally for a number of years now. With many aspects of our personal lives increasingly being transacted online and especially with the growth of online banking, this is an issue that needs to be tackled rigorously. Based on a report that recently came out, it is evident that incidents of …

by Tan Jin Kien Inequality in Singapore has been widely discussed from different angles such as income, wealth, education opportunities and class. However, the conversation still steers clear of another important aspect, which is the equality of rights. While the previously discussed angles by many experts and academics, alongside possible solutions to fixing inequality, do carry great merit, the equality …