e-Engagement - A paradigm shift needed Below is the transcript of my email interview with the Straits Times' Zakir Hussain. The article appeared in Straits Times Insight today, "Engagement in progress". ---------------------- Straits Times (ST): Aims suggests the Government should take part in online discussions and post comments on blogs, train civil servants how to respond to online comments, find ways to show people online that Get out of my elite neighbourhood Residents in the upper middle class neighbourhood of Serangoon Gardens have been up in arms about the government's plans to convert an old school into a dormitory for foreign workers. According to the Straits Times, 1,400 of the 7,000 households in the area have signed a petition demanding that the government change its mind. About 250 turned up at a town hall meeting yesterday with the two MPs New media and politics on CNA I was interviewed by Channel NewsAsia's Zainudin Afandi for a story on the increasing importance of the new media such as blogs and the Internet as a form of political expression in Singapore. The programme, Insight, will air on Thursday 21 Aug at 8.31pm on CNA. I'm told other interviewees include Workers' Party chairman Sylvia Lim and Foreign Minister George Yeo. Do tune in if you're interested One dis-united people? This is like totally a copyright violation but I think its so important that all Singaporeans, especially Chinese Singaporeans, read this heartfelt piece by Straits Times journalist Nur Dianah Suhaimi. It makes me feel ashamed that I myself have harboured some of the prejudiced and stereotyping attitudes described. Yet, I find I'm still in a minority in Singapore who cares to admit that the Of eggs and baskets The Sage of Singapore has spoken again. This time he told his grassroots supporters: "You vote in a Div 3 Government instead of a Div 1 Government, the whole economy will subside within three, four years. Finished!" The Straits Times reported that he said that to vote anything but top quality into office could lead to, among others, job losses and falling property prices. "We will be worse What I wanted to ask the Australian PM I took an afternoon off from work to attend the 29th Singapore Lecture at the Ritz-Carlton, during which Kevin Rudd, the Australian Prime Minister delivered a keynote address. I had a few questions to ask him, but unfortunately despite being one of the first to stand up in front of the mike, DPM Jayakumar, the lecture's chairman, overlooked me. Anyway some friends whom I bumped into there YouthQuake: The Evolving Role of Women in Singapore A plug on behalf of my friend Bernard who is organizing this. ---------------- "The Evolving Role of Women in Singapore" The Workers' Party Youth Wing is holding a public forum as part of the YouthQuake Forum Series. This forum series is into its fourth installment. The topic for this session focuses on how youth can propose and carry forward a refreshing new approach to women issues in Checking out the Internets and the Google This is a riotously funny MSNBC video on YouTube. About John McCain's admission to the New York Times that he doesn't know how to use computers. Comedian Michael Ian Black is just awesome. . Past performance no guarantee of future results Straits Times Forum, 26 July 2008: Opposition yet to show it can deliver, unlike PAP I REFER to Wednesday's letter by Mr Alvin Tan, 'JBJ must be careful if he wishes to espouse Singapore's cause'. I admire Mr J.B. Jeyaretnam for his fighting spirit. Even though he is 82, he is still actively engaged in politics. I hope he will retire graciously. I welcome an opposition, provided it is Obama: Dissent does not make one unpatriotic Barack Obama delivered another stirring address in Independence, Missouri a few days before the American independence day. In his speech, he defined what patriotism meant to him. So much of his speech is applicable even to Singapore and Singaporeans. Below are excerpts from his remarks. The full text of the speech can be found on at the Washington Post blog. Dissent does not make one Govt’s graduate equation needs balancing During last year’s National Day Rally speech, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced plans to set up a fourth university in Singapore, targeting 30 per cent of each cohort to enter publicly-funded universities. However, based on the past week’s news, it appears the Government is now preparing the ground for a possible downgrading of these plans. More education could mean less growth: Minister Passport blunder: It's Singaporeans who are negligent First they let a dangerous terrorist slip away during his toilet break, and Singaporeans were told we were complacent. Then, they let a retiree get through the checkpoints with the wrong passport. Now we are told we are negligent. Straits Times, 25 June Passport blunders leave S'poreans stranded By Jessica Lim Religion and its discontents Freedom of religion is one of the fundamental human rights that most of the world has agreed on — at least in principle. In practice, however, people in many countries continue to face restrictions to varying degrees in the practice of their own faith. In this article, we examine the situation in Singapore. A universal right Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states Political Films and the Ruling Party During yesterday's Seminar on Internet Regulatory Reform, the subject of "party political" films was discussed and debated. For readers who are not already aware, films which promote any political party in Singapore are banned. The relevant legislation is Section 33 of the Films Act. Section 35 of the Films Act is an omnibus law that gives the Minister absolute discretion to ban any film that, Internet Content Consultative Committee I attended the Seminar on Internet Regulatory Reform at URA Centre this afternoon. The seminar was kindly sponsored and organised by NTU's Wee Kim Wee School of Communications, together with "Bloggers 13" -- the 13 bloggers who submitted the Proposals for Internet freedom in Singapore to the MICA Minister exactly two months ago. Special thanks must go to Dr Cherian George, who mooted the idea for Seminar on Internet Regulatory Reform, Sat 21 Jun, 2pm There will be a public forum this Saturday, 21 June 2008, on Internet regulatory reform. Organised by the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, it aims to contribute ideas to the government's ongoing review of Internet regulations. It will discuss the proposals submitted to the government recently by a group of independent bloggers. Mr Arun On opposition politicians The Straits Times asked for my views of four Singapore opposition politicians. The article appeared in today's Insight (login required). This was my full response to ST: Low Thia Khiang - Sustainable development Low seems to be approaching opposition politics with the aim of "sustainable development". Together with Sylvia Lim, he appears to be very slowly but steadily building up a political Judging the judiciary “People must have confidence that the judiciary is independent…In order to make sure that we protect the integrity of the judiciary, and to make sure that people’s confidence in the judiciary is not affected, you have to be very, very strict about anyone who attacks the judiciary in scurrilous ways, or calls into question its independence.” These were the words of newly-minted Law Minister K Obama courting lobbyists Barack Obama, who claims to reject Washington lobbyists, three days ago addressed the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) — probably the most powerful lobby group in the US. He pledged to "eliminate" the threat of Iran and do everything in his power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He also promised $30 billion in assistance to Israel over the next decade. To a Myanmar generals lose to Saddam The Myanmar generals seem pleased with the results of the recent referendum to approve a new constitution which bans Aung San Suu Kyi from standing for elections and reserves one-quarter of the parliamentary seats for the military. This of course means the Constitution will effectively never be amended, since two-thirds majority is needed to change it. According to 'official' results, 92.48 per Chee Soon Juan's closing submissions The first half is very inspirational. Almost Obama-like. Not bad for a "near-psychopath". Click here to read. . Seminar on Internet Regulatory Reform Organised by the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, NTU “The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open” – Gunter Grass Are Singaporeans satisfied with the state of Internet regulation as existing? If not, what changes do we wish to see and how can a bottom-up desire for reform translate into policy review? Can Singapore afford the political Politicians and activists both have a role in S'pore It appears I have upset a few anonymous readers (presumably SDP supporters or members) for suggesting in my previous post that Chee Soon Juan should concentrate on being a political activist rather than a politician. My suggestion is not new. I know several other people — none of whom are PAP supporters — who have suggested the same thing. I believe there are two main ways of engaging in Chee should quit politics and start an activist group A familiar script is to be played out in the coming week, with the Lee & Lee vs Chee & Chee lawsuit being heard in court. For those who don't already know, Lee Hsien Loong and Lee Kuan Yew are suing Chee Soon Juan, Chee Siok Chin and the entire Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) for libel, stemming from a pre-2006 election article in the SDP newsletter. At the same time, the Chees and SDP are Loser generals From the wires: Myanmar junta distributes foreign aid - with generals' names on it YANGON (Myanmar) - MYANMAR'S military regime distributed international aid Saturday but plastered the boxes with names of top generals in an apparent effort to turn the relief effort for last week's devastating cyclone into a propaganda exercise. The United Nations sent in three more planes and several Appeal for help for Myanmar The reclusive Myanmar authorities are slowly revealing the horrifying extent of the destruction caused by the Tropical Cyclone Nargis, which hit the country over the weekend. The latest reports were that 22,500 Myanmarese people have perished, with 10,000 dead in one city alone. 41,000 others are still missing and at least 25,000 homes have been lost. Relief organisation World Vision estimates How good leaders manage failure This was an article snippet posted as an anonymous comment on Tan Kin Lian's blog. I thought it is so appropriate in light of our recent "Toilet Break" affair. (Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at Wharton India Economic forum, Philadelphia , March 22,2008) Question: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure? Kalam: Let me tell you about Freedom House Press Freedom Report on Singapore Singapore Status: Not Free Legal Environment: 24 Political Environment: 24 Economic Environment: 21 Total Score: 69 Media freedom in Singapore continued to be constrained in 2007, with the vast majority of print and broadcast journalists practicing self-censorship for fear of harsh defamation charges, while a government review raised concerns of increased restrictions for online content in the Have Singaporeans really moved on? Scanning the forum pages of our English dailies, I notice a glaring absence of any letters about Mas Selamat-gate. This could be due to one of two things: 1. Singaporeans have really moved on, as SM Goh Chok Tong and Straits Times' political editor Chua Lee Hong exhorted us to; or 2. The media is rejecting all letters about the issue, and is failing its national duty of reflecting the Time to move on? While some people continue to debate who is to be held accountable for Mas Selamat Kastari's escape, Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong believes the more urgent task is to stay on top of problems like soaring food prices. Straits Times, 27 April A familiar pattern whenever scandals involving government wrongdoing/negligence/incompetence break out is: Damage controlPress reports and comments on only