Politics

Johor prince Tunku Idris Iskandar Sultan Ibrahim made waves across the Internet yesterday (29 Apr) as he posted Instagram Stories hinting at his intention to contest in the next Malaysian General Election (GE). A report by Sin Chew Daily stated that the second son of Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, who is the ruler of the southernmost state in Peninsular Malaysia, …

In a speech at the 29th Inter-Pacific Bar Association conference yesterday (25 Apr), Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that online falsehoods attempting to ‘manipulate opinions, influence elections’ will be tackled by the recent proposed Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill, which was tabled in Parliament earlier this month. The second reading of the Bill is expected to take …

On 29 June 2005, India and Singapore signed the India-Singapore Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). This free trade agreement not only enables Singapore and India to trade goods freely, it also allows professionals to work in each other country more easily. The CECA was concluded after 13 rounds of negotiation and the Singapore’s side was led by none other than …

The Prime Minister’s Office announced yesterday (23 Apr) that Heng Swee Keat would be promoted to Deputy Prime Minister on May Day. He will remain Finance Minister and continue chairing the Future Economy Council and National Research Foundation, PMO said. Current Deputy Prime Ministers Teo Chee Hean and Tharman Shanmugaratnam will relinquish their roles but remain in the Cabinet as …

Chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) Dr Paul Ananth Tambyah was recently interviewed by The Online Citizen (TOC) regarding the history and motives behind his political career, his perspectives on Singapore’s public healthcare system, the controversy of his political donations and contributions, his opinions on the alternative parties alliance, the effect of the fake news bill on the imminent …

by Andri Sulistyo with Kiki Sirigar JAKARTA, INDONESIA — Political hopeful Yayat Abdurahman bet that he would be a winner among some 245,000 candidates in Indonesia’s huge election last week, but his dreams of public office are fading fast as the votes get tallied. So the stressed-out candidate checked into an Islamic healing centre where a cleric prayed for his …

BANGKOK, THAILAND — The billionaire leader of an upstart anti-junta party which scooped up millions of votes in Thailand’s disputed election last month faced fresh legal woes Tuesday (23 Apr) after authorities accused him of illegally holding shares while running for office. Last month’s poll remains in dispute after a political party backed by the junta that has ruled Thailand …

Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies Tharman Shanmugaratnam recently posted on Facebook regarding “a major step in leadership succession” taken today (23 April) for Singapore’s future. In an earlier announcement by the Prime Minister’s Office, Mr Heng Swee Keat will be promoted to Deputy Prime Minister with effect from 1 May 2019. It said …

China held its first high-profile “Belt and Road” Forum in May 2017. Some 29 heads of state as well as representatives of 28 other countries were invited to attend the forum. The “Belt and Road” initiative is China’s attempt to revive ancient Silk Road trade routes and build infrastructure across the region. However, conspicuously, PM Lee was missing among the …

Indonesians across the archipelago took to the polls on Wed (17 Apr) amid heightened Islamic religious conservatism and the proliferation of “fake news” surrounding the Joko Widodo-Ma’ruf Amin and Prabowo Subianto-Sandiaga Uno presidential candidate pairings prior to this election. This year’s election – which currently sees incumbent President Joko Widodo being re-elected, as he and his running mate lead the …