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Dr Tan Ying Ying, an Associate Professor of Linguistics and Multilingual Studies at NTU, wrote a commentary frowning upon some Singaporeans who have gone to lengths to deliberately speak like Westerners. Her article was published on CNA last Sat (13 Oct). "Just like how one can tell if a person is American, British, Filipino, Indian, or French, just from the …

Despite the government's claims that it is a champion of meritocracy, an Oxfam report has concluded that Singapore is ranked among one of the lowest in terms of what it has done to reduce inequality.  In part, I think it is because the government may have confused meritocracy for equality. As many others before me have said and which I …

Statement by MADPET (Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) to welcome the announcement that the Malaysian Cabinet has finally decided to abolish the death penalty, and that the needed Bill will be tabled at the next Parliamentary session, now scheduled to begin on 15/10/2018. In the evening of 10 October 2018, the 16th World Day Against the Death Penalty, it …

On 11 May 2018, the Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore (AGC) charged Jolovan Wham and John Tan with “scandalising the judiciary”. Wham, a human rights activist, was charged for his Facebook post on 27 April 2018 stating that “Malaysia’s judges are more independent than Singapore’s for cases with political implications.” Tan, a senior member of opposition party – the Singapore Democratic …

According to a survey conducted in June 2018 among a sample of 3,175 Singapore residents and 3,821 Thailand residents, Milleu Insight has found that Singaporeans tend to respect orderliness more than Thais but scored lower in areas like social courtesy. According to the survey conducted by the independent market research company, 66% of Thais said that they smile at strangers …

According to some news reports, it is class and not race that divides Singaporean society. Looking at an informal style discussion moderated by Member of Parliament (MP) Dr. Janil Putucheary between children from different schools and streams, I would tend to agree. Although the discussion began about grades and academic performance, it was clear that to the students involved, school …

Despite registering an increase in the number of households receiving SMTA (Short- and Medium-Term Assistance) under the Community Care Endowment Fund (ComCare) from financial years (FY) 2013 to 2015, a decrease in the number of households receiving such assistance was subsequently recorded in FY 2016 and 2017. Following the release of the ComCare annual report for FY2017 -- which covers …

by Shiro I think most people have beat this point into the ground by this point - but the idea of Section 377A doesn't make any sense. Politically, 377A is only avidly advocated for by religious groups. There is no major active non-religious group against its repeal, which technically means that 377A isn't defending any major opinion - it's defending …

Amnesty International has issued a statement, condemning the conviction on 3 October of activist and artist Seelan Palay, who was sentenced to two weeks’ imprisonment after refusing to pay a fine of SGD 2,500 for holding a piece of art outside Parliament in 2017. The organisation considers the conviction a violation of the right to freedom of expression and calls …

On conjunction with the upcoming International Day for the Eradication of Poverty which falls on 17th October, charity organisation Beyond Social Services asked some young people from rental flat neighbourhoods to discuss their views on poverty and inequality in Singapore and the changes that they would like to see. In a discussion about the median household income in Singapore, the …