Old news, but Minister for Environment and Water Resources Dr Vivian Balakrishnan (cue the mix chorus of booing and guffawing) has suggested that hawker centres should be professionalise, on top of being “nationalised” – i.e. “next generation of hawkers in new hawker centres must also...
I read with disgust Josephine Tay's letter "Why orchid for Elton" (Nov 26, 2011). She insists there are "other celebrities and dignitaries more deserving" than Elton John and his partner, following the naming of an orchid after the famed performer. She furthers this by questioning the...
I follow with concern the recent hoo-hah surrounding the Abercrombie and Fitch advertisement. I am concerned about our private and public governance pertaining to censorship and selective interpretations of what constitutes moral, decent or vulgar. Does this episode, along with many o...
Marriage rates are declining in Singapore. No shit, Sherlock! Thanks to decades of result-oriented education, growing materialism, rapid industrialisation, and a heavy touch of economically driven social policies, we've become a highly rationalised society. But it's more convenient to...
Entertainer Kumar has come out. This is something I fully support, and given his celebrity status, I find it all the more admirable. The New Paper reported his uncertainty prior to coming out. It's rather interesting for someone I believe to be a rather private introverted man who app...
Must I place a disclaimer and say that the views I express here are solely my own and are neither reflective nor representative of that of any organisation? It’s the climate of fear I now subject myself to, but I wish to state that the views and arguments are solely and wholly my own ...
There was an article by the Straits Times yesterday, reported by Melissa Pang, titled “Study looks at sexual behaviour of gay men”. It reported that the Tan Tock Seng Hospital is conducting a survey to study sexual habits of homosexual men, with a view to improve preventive measures a...
PinkDot has its merits and limitations. You are most accurate in saying that it pushes for visibility and public awareness. It makes anyone who watched the video, edattend the event and participated in the online discussion feels good with what is going on. It inspires people. And it ...
"Emotional dilemma" is something Foreign Minister and MP/candidate for Aljunied GRC Mr George Yeo suggested the Workers' Party has put Aljunied GRC voters into. I read this to be an insinuation by Mr Yeo that the Workers' Party appears to be manipulating voters for their cause. At the...
The PAP has released a statement addressing the online video which it alleged the SDP is trying to suppress. The statement is below and undersigned by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and his GRC team. A video has been posted on the internet showing Vincent Wijeysingha participating at a forum ...
I have been a resident of Hougang-Cheng San/Aljunied (GRC) since 1996, but in 2008 have moved to Hougang SMC, which I term with endearment "the red side of Hougang" - with respect to the Workers' Party (WP) red and yellow hammer logo, although light blue has remained the party's colou...
I must say, I've been really out of touch with the political ongoings in our sunny (and occasionally rainy) island. I guess I'm becoming one of those highly rational Singaporeans whose preoccupation with their occupations have come at the expense of their political curiosity, awarenes...
An interesting piece, delivered by Kenneth Paul Tan, at the Outstanding Educator Award Public Lecture, 28 April 2009, National University of Singapore. Obviously well-written. And worth reading. Against Uncritical Pragmatism: Education for Doers Who Can Think and Thinkers Who Can Do b...
Recently completed my graduate studies at the Communications and New Media Programme, National University of Singapore. Finished my Masters Thesis on transgender theory and representation in August. Free time: Watching TV, cooking, playing the guitar, surfing the internet, Warcraft 3,...
Note: Ok. The following post has been sitting around since late November 2010. By the way, I'm not dead, or silenced by the ISD, or told by the ISD that I'm not dead or silenced by them. Nov 27, 2010. As part of the work I do at the location-based service start-up , I get to meet and ...
