Singapore As A Sporting Nation Versus National Service As The Destroyer Of Sporting Dreams Sam Ho, Sam's ThoughtsIt is very odd that as Singapore strives to be a serious sporting nation with promising and successful athletes, we have a counter-intuitive counter-balance entity that is National Service which throws many spanners in the works of the development of most male athletes.Tweet Examining The Impact Of New Anti-speculation Property Policies Getty Goh, Yahoo!Tweet Vui Kong’s Appeal Set For Jan 2011 The Online CitizenVui Kong’s lawyer was today informed that the appeal hearing has been set “for the week commencing 17 January 2011”. “This early notice is to give sufficient time for parties to be ready for the hearing, though we are aware that the record of appeals and cases have still not been filed,” the Registrar’s letter said.Tweet Thinking About Singapore Asia SentinelAn associate who recently was required to spend a day in Singapore on a business trip became so irritated by the smug attitude of the island republic's officials, taxi drivers and others that it gave rise to this rumination.Tweet S'pore Population At 5.08m Lai Han-Wei, Straits TimesSingapore's population now stands at 5.08 million as at end-June, according to official data released by the Singapore Department of Statistics on Tuesday.There were 3.77 million residents, of whom 3.23 million were Singapore citizens and 540,000 permanent residents.Tweet RI, Singapore Exchange Instruments On Borders Jakarta PostTweet CapitaLand, City Developments Drop As Singapore Imposes Curbs On Mortgages Jonathan Burgos, BloombergCapitaLand Ltd. and City Developments Ltd. led declines among Singapore’s homebuilders amid concern the government’s latest effort to curb speculation in the housing market will hurt genuine demand.Tweet New Citizen Issue – Poor Grasp, Useless Ideas? Howard Lee, The Online CitizenIf you were to examine most of the initiatives he mentioned, you will notice a similar vein. They were geared towards placating citizens to make them feel more valued than migrants. However, they do not solve the fundamental problems of our lax migration policies. Pumping up on transport, education and housing systems does not give any real advantage to citizens. It only enhances a system that both citizens and new migrants are free to exploit, all the way up to saturation point.Tweet Foreign Labours And Immigrants Lim Mun Fah, Sin Chew Jit PohSingapore will not import those with "no brain" and export those with "smart brains". Only those who are skillful, contributive and talented will be brought in as new immigrants. You may say that it is snobbish or pragmatic, but undoubtedly, it is one of the keys of its success!Tweet MINDEF Unveils Details Of NS Recognition Award S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsiaMINDEF said the first milestone will be the serviceman's operationally ready date, that is when he completes the 20th month of full-time national service. The second tranche will be paid after the completion of three high-key in-camp training or five in-camp trainings, whichever is earlier. The last tranche will be paid when the full ORNS training cycle is completed.Tweet Their Fears & My Fear Tony Tan Lay ThiamTweet 未对新加坡面对问题发言 革新党表示失望 联合早报革新党秘书长肯尼思批评李显龙总理在国庆群众大会的演讲中，没有借这个机会针对新加坡所面对的一些真正问题发表谈话，而只是在这个场合赞扬政府政策的成效，并对此表示失望。Tweet 总理国庆群众大会演讲反应 民情组首场对话会 就新移民课题 大部分与会者不满意总理解释 林佩碧, 联合早报李显龙总理在国庆群众大会上花费许多唇舌，向人们解释新加坡需要借助外来人才和引进客工的重要性，可是显然地，不是每个人被完全说服，一些在情绪上还是不太能接受总理的说法。国家发展部长马宝山和民情联系组（REACH）主席许连碹博士昨晚在基层领袖俱乐部主持首场针对总理前晚演说的对话会上，约100名出席者当中，六成举手表示不满意总理的解释。Tweet Nazri Aziz’s Remarks – A Significant Step? Andrew Loh, The Online CitizenThe Singapore government has not provided any statistical proof or studies to back up its claims that the mandatory death penalty deters crimes. It thus seems that the application of the mandatory death penalty is based on nothing more than a “feeling” that it reduces crime, particularly for drug trafficking.Tweet Singapore’s Latest Pre-Emptive Measures Are Not Unfamiliar Chua Yang Liang, Property ReportTweet Obama Could Stand To Learn A Bit From Singapore's Leaders Roger Mitten, Phnom Penh PostGoh told me there was no formal prejudice, but said that when Muslims heard the cry “Allahu Akbar” (God is great), they might feel divided loyalties. It was a brave reply that cut to the core of the issue.Tweet VIEW: The Singapore Model Of Religious Pluralism —Ishtiaq Ahmed Ishtiaq Ahmed, Daily TimesWhile the constitution provides for absolute religious freedom, including the right to convert to another religion, the government maintains an important distinction between belief and action. The position taken is that whereas beliefs pertaining to spiritual values and principles are to be enjoyed by all without interference by the state, the citizens and foreigners are to be held accountable for actions they may claim were inspired by their beliefs.Tweet How To Shop Like A Pro In Singapore Christa Yeo and Charlene Fang, CNNGoEye contact? Check. Genuine smile? Check. Made the first move? Check.No, I wasn't getting picked up at a bar. I was going undercover as a mystery shopper to test the Singapore Service Star (SSS) initiative, a scheme developed by the Singapore Tourism Board, aimed at improving the quality of service in Singapore.Tweet The Writing's On The Wall For Parents, Schools Lam Pin Woon, Health Promotion Board, Straits TimesIgnorance about protection against disease is not a strategy for controlling the growing HIV epidemic. Education is critical to improving awareness to enable youngsters to protect themselves.We are mindful that parents may have different perspectives on sexuality education. However, we would strongly encourage parents to continue to opt into the BDB programme and for all schools and parents to continue to devote more time and resources towards developing in each child a strong moral compass that will guide his actions.Tweet A Society In Transformation, A Complex Country To Govern P N Balji, TodaySingapore's problems are becoming more complex by the day and a single ministry cannot handle them in a silo approach any more. A one-ministry solution to an issue in a complex place like Singapore can only cause more problems down the line.Tweet Opposition Reaction To Rally Speech Alicia Wong, TodayReduce National Service to one year, tax permanent residents who leave Singapore after gaining wealth and tighten labour laws. These were some suggestions made yesterday by Opposition parties in response to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech on Sunday.Tweet National Day Rally: Why Were These Pressing Concerns Ignored? SpotlightOnSingaporeTweet Drama Of Boxed Thinking Yawning BreadTweet ND Rally Speech: James Bond Is In Town Singapore Democrat PartyMr Lee diligently ignores the white elephant sitting in his Istana living room. He refuses to acknowledge the root cause of the problem which is that Singaporeans - skilled Singaporeans - are leaving Singapore. This country is hemorhagging talent and a major reason is the stifling PAP system here.Tweet My Take On The ND Rally ..... Diary of A Singaporean MindThe entire speech misses one key issue - income inequality.Tweet The PAP And The Malay Singaporean: Between Rhetoric, Reality And Meritocracy Pritam Singh, The Online CitizenTweet Border Treaty Marks New Milestone In Singapore-Indonesia Ties S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsiaTweet Immigrants And Foreign Workers: Let’s Talk Real Numbers Gerald GiamWhat was missing amidst all the attractive graphics, touching personal profiles and selective examples, were the actual numbers to justify the excessively high immigration rates that Singapore has experienced in the past decade.Tweet The Rally Musings From The Lion CityI fear the government has not listened enough to the people. If the PM thinks 80,000 is a number acceptable to Singaporean, he will have to think again. The big problem Singaporeans has with foreign workers is not ‘foreign workers’ themselves, but the problems that came due to the sheer amount of foreign workers in Singapore.Tweet Parliament To Sit On Sept 15 Straits TimesTweet