In a controversial event one year ago (14 Sep), Halimah Yacob was sworn in as the 8th President of the Republic of Singapore after being elected into office in a walkover election where two of her opponents were disqualified due to changes of the private candidate’s criteria passed months before the PE2017. As Head of State, her key roles would include the following: …

At the National Day Rally last Sunday, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that the government will launch a scheme to deal with older HDB flats whose values will revert to zero as their leases run out. He suggested a Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (VERS) where the government would buy back HDB flats with less than 20 years of lease …

The success of the movie Crazy Rich Asians has cast our tiny island into the international spotlight. Prominent publications such as CNBC and Voice of America are now offering travel guides to our city; the former teaches one how to see Singapore’s best sights on a budget, while Voice of America suggests 5 ways for the crazy rich to spend. As the …

Last week, former Prime Minister and Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong touched on the sensitive issue of high Ministerial salaries. He was responding to concerns from a 70-year-old resident at Braddell Heights, Abdul Aziz on whether the country would come up with an elderly pension fund, perhaps by cutting the defence budget or by reducing Ministerial salaries. ESM Goh had said …

The New Paper reported on Monday (30 Jul) that vendors at the new Pasir Ris Central Hawker Centre were unhappy over several issues – late payment of cashless transactions (for up to 5 months), non-clearing of tables and damaged cutlery by contractors. What was most shocking from the report is that these stallholders each pay $4000 to $5000 a month for rental. …

The late Lee Kuan Yew was known for his hard speaking truths. The same statesman who claimed that the army would have to step in two to three years after the fall of the People’s Action Party (PAP) is the same man who acknowledged that the PAP will eventually fall. This is not a question of ‘if’ but a question of ‘when’. …

Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung made a Facebook post on Friday (27 Jul) defining what makes a good school. In his words, a good school is one where the teachers were good, helping their students to learn, and the students enjoyed going to school every morning. The Facebook post was an excerpt from his Keynote speech at the Economic Society of Singapore Dinner two days …

Former PAP MP Inderjit Singh made a Facebook post on Thursday (26 Jul) expressing his views on the new Careshield Life scheme which is to replace the current ElderShield. He said he understood why people were angry – even though the policy was sound, the government was seen as being market-driven for a policy that is supposed to be a social good. …

The recent discussions about the Central Provident Fund (CPF) scheme has called into question the role of the CPF Board. This problem is more endemic than it seems because all Singaporeans and Permanent Residents are required by law to have an account. The scheme was passed by the legislative council in 1953. At that time, only a handful in the civil service had …

During the Kim-Trump Summit last month, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan drew flak for posting a ‘wefie’ with North Korean Dictator Kim Jong Un and fellow Cabinet colleague Ong Ye Kung. The two Ministers were showing Kim around Singapore and were visiting the Gardens by the Bay as part of their itinerary. On both social media and the mainstream media alike, …