The “fake news” bill has come to pass, making offenders of this far-reaching and sweeping legislation potentially facing hefty fines and even jail time. At the time when the bill was being debated in Parliament, there were grave concerns that the bill would lead to a silencing of critics. However in Singapore’s context, we have an overwhelming Peoples’ Action Party …

Minister for Law and Home Affairs, Mr K Shanmugam has indicated that he was “surprised” by the verdict in a molest case where the perpetrator was only given probation for repeatedly molesting a woman. He further stated that the Attorney General’s Chambers were of a similar view and were going to appeal the decision. He went on to defend the …

In general, Singaporeans are fine with rules. The problem only arises when it appears to be one rule for some while another for others. For rules to be respected, it has to be applied consistently and across the board. Back in 2017, the Public Service Division (PSD) said in a statement to The Straits Times (ST) that civil servants needed …

I do understand that everyone makes mistakes and no one is perfect. Even “good people” (borrowing a phrase from Law Minister K Shanmugam) make mistakes. Mr Shanmugam was defending the Medial Literacy Council (MLC) for listing “satire” as a form of “fake news” by mistake. The error was corrected and “satire” has been removed from the list of “fake news” …

I was attending a talk last night where a report by the World Bank was presented and Singapore was rated number two in the world for ease of doing business. Factors that were taken into consideration were the efficiency levels, the streamlining of processes and the quality of the agencies. Notably, a factor that was highlighted as being considered in …

I have no issue with large scale building projects that the Government undertakes. Upgrades, face lifts etc. are all part and parcel of keeping a nation relevant and vibrant. However, given that large scale building projects are costly and funded by public funds, there needs to be accountability and follow up. The Straits Times (ST) recently reported that The Float …

For the most part of earlier this year, we were all on a “will there be an election or will there not be an election” speculation. Once it was made clear that there would indeed be a general election, the second leg of the speculation of whether or not electoral boundaries would be amended abounded. Now that the electoral boundaries …

The issue of race is never far from the social/political fabric of our society. Even though our pledge extols the virtues of “regardless of race, language or religion…”, I do think that we have somewhat fallen short. In my opinion, “regardless of race” only rings through if race is of no consequence whatsoever. In other words, we should only see …

Talks of an imminent General Election (GE) in Singapore has been rife for the best part of late last year and this year. There were rumours that the general elections were set for the third quarter of 2019. This was something that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong himself gave credence to when he did not rule out the possibility of …

The Straits Times recently published a letter from a reader that really resonated with me. A Dr. Huang Shoou Chyuan made the very erudite observation that opposition politicians deserve national honours too. The writer of that letter had further noted that very few Singaporeans who have chosen to serve the people via political parties other than the ruling People’s Action …