Politics

Thousands of Singaporean teens and youths flocked to Hong Lim Park last Saturday (29 Jun) to gather for the 11th anniversary of the Pink Dot movement, which supports the right of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) Singaporeans to love and live freely without discrimination. TOC had the opportunity to interview more than a handful of such young Singaporeans, …

It was reported in the media today (1 Jul) that Member of Parliament Lee Bee Wah for Nee Soon GRC has also launched her own initiative to give a year-long discount to elderly buying coffee or tea, at coffee shops in her own constituency – Nee Soon South – only. Her initiative came after NTUC announced in April that it …

On her Facebook page, Jeannette Chong-Aruldoss of the Singapore People’s Party recounts her visits to residents at Mountbatten SMC which she started in early 2018 with some colleagues. About a year later, Ms Chong-Aruldoss said she has visited every HDB home at Kampong Arang at least twice and every HDB home at Old Airport Road at least once. They have …

The prevalence of alleged cronyism and nepotism, the muzzling of independent press and opposition party supporters, and the use of state resources for election propaganda are some of the elements that characterise Hungary’s “illiberal democracy”, presently led by prime minister Viktor Orbán. British historian and Professor of European Studies at Oxford University Timothy Garton Ash, who prefers to label Orbán’s …

The common complaints that Singapore voters have with Singapore’s alternative parties and its candidates are that the parties and its candidates are not their ideal type of politicians. Either they are not doing enough, not high caliber enough, not showing up enough in their wards, or simply not being practical in their proposed changes to the system. But before we …

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen have agreed to cease revisiting past issues in the spirit of preserving diplomatic relations between the two nations at this year’s Asean Summit, which took place in Bangkok last weekend. The prime ministers’ move took place in the aftermath of the diplomatic rift surrounding Mr Lee’s remarks regarding the …

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has lost a re-run of Istanbul’s mayoral election on Sun (23 Jun) to Turkey’s primary opposition party by almost 777,000 votes, or 54 per cent of the total votes counted, according to the latest results. The repeat was held following allegations of stolen votes during the initial election in Mar, …

On Mon this week (17 Jun), former Singapore Ambassador-at-Large Bilahari Kausikan commented on his Facebook page with regard to the recent mass protests in Hong Kong over its proposed extradition law. The proposed law which would allow Hong Kong to extradite people wanted in China infuriated large number of Hong Kong people. Many fear that people in Hong Kong may …

TOC went through the Parliamentary Votes and Proceedings to examine the attendance records of MPs in Parliament for last year (2018). The Parliamentary Votes and Proceedings are the official minutes of the proceedings of Parliament, including the proceedings of the Committee of the whole Parliament. It contains a record of attendance of the Members, announcements by the Speaker, papers presented …

In a Facebook post sharing his walkabout with the party which took place at the Jalan Besar GRC on Sunday 16 June, Mr Nassir Ismail noted that many of the people they met included senior citizens – some with walking sticks, some in electronic motor scooters, and others just spending the day out with their families. Mr Ismail, in his …