. . . low performance expectations coupled with narrowly defined vocational outcomes raise uncomfortable issues. It is impossible to talk of those at the bottom of the Singaporean educational system without acknowledging the dialectical tensions that exist within the wider society and...
. . . low performance expectations coupled with narrowly defined vocational outcomes raise uncomfortable issues. It is impossible to talk of those at the bottom of the Singaporean educational system without acknowledging the dialectical tensions that exist within the wider society and...
The Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, bemoaning Singaporeans’ anti-social littering habits is “currently exploring some technological solutions,” reported the Straits Times, 17 January 2012. I wonder what they’re thinking of. Perhaps more closed-circuit cameras located all ...
If you have spare time this Chinese New Year, go see the digitally animated version of Qingming Shanghe Tu at the Singapore Expo (hall 3). It will be on until 6 February 2012. Admission for adults: $21; closes at 9 p.m. However, do take a barf bag with you. The Qingming Shanghe Tu, a ...
You rightly asked why the pay of those in the financial sectors is being controversially over-represented to an obscene degree – 5% representation in the actual workforce but up to 38% in the committee’s 1000. My guess would be that the committee instead of using rational data to spon...
One of the most striking factoids I’ve heard in a while was this: In Singapore, a construction worker earns about 9 percent of what a doctor earns, compared to Hong Kong where such a worker earns about 25 percent of what a doctor does. Ho Kwon Ping, executive chairman of Banyan Tree H...
Excellent article. Makes you wonder about the integrity of the person who was intentionally re-painting the findings in order to satisfy some superior, rather than fulfilling the greater duty of presenting factual interpretations that would help his or her country by informing future ...
I’m curious as to whether the Auditor General’s role is purely one of overseeing financial matters, or could the office expand so as to also hold Government departments and Ministries accountable to their (somewhat fuzzy) “mission statements” and “corporate social responsibility (CSR)...
Clementi is the worst place to start from when going downtown, as I recall from a news story a month or two ago. Tampines also figured in the hellish-commute stakes. A figure of 20 minutes was mentioned, increasing to a little over 30 minutes at peak hour, if my recollection’s any goo...
He had waited patiently to be served. Foreign workers from India have largely resigned themselves to be almost invisible to Singaporeans, unless when Singaporeans wish to make an issue of their (unwanted) visibility. But today, he was alone, and not a threat to our beloved racial mode...
Moving on to larger acts of silencing, non-profit organisations in Singapore face such pressure regularly, particularly those whose mission is not just to serve the needy by dispensing direct help, but who also seek to correct the systemic flaws that continue to disadvantage the targe...
What I find troubling with the above analysis is the tacit equation of copying behaviour with stupidity. Surely copying is not totally passive. People make choices as to what to imitate and which ideas to take on board. In many situations, one is presented with different new ways of d...
Arts curator Pang Khee Teik kicked open the issue of homosexuality in Malaysia almost single-handedly by organising Seksualiti Merdeka a few years ago, a multi-event festival promoting an individual’s rights to autonomy in matters sexual. Owyang Wen Feng, styled Malaysia’s first openl...
In an update to my blog, I clarified that I wasn’t trying to suggest that TOC was wrong to highlight Seng’s remarks. However, they should have stuck to the facts – an MP and union leader making extremely ill-judged remarks, which he attributed to an SMRT rep. Halimah did this in her r...
I think there should be two Commissions of Inquiry rather than one. The question of technical lapses that led to the massive train breakdowns last Thursday and Saturday are completely separate from that of crisis management. Commissions of Inquiry, while usually led by a judge, need t...
As we approach the year-end, several people have asked me for my assessment of change in the People’s Action Party (PAP) government in the six months since the general election. The PAP found its vote share reduced and in its aftermath, several ministers left the cabinet. Likewise, I ...
The irony is, Singpore richest people are getting wealthier, including our top civil servants. Imagine, 11 per cent of our citizens are millionaires. There is a mad rush with investing in more properties to grow the wealth even faster. The same is taking place in the upper income, mid...
The chief talking point this weekend would certainly be the breakdowns in our metro network. There were three this week. First, the Circle Line came to a halt between 06:00h and 06:40h Wednesday morning, with partial service for the next four to five hours. Full service resumed only a...
A short distance from our lunch table, a publicity event was going on. There was a stand with posters and several volunteers handing out flyers. Not many passers-by showed interest, but if a family had a toddler in tow, they would be compelled to stop, for one volunteer was holding a ...
In a properly functioning democracy, when a party wins an election, its leading members parachute into the ministries as new ministers, bringing with them policy directions that the party has formulated and successfully sold to voters. The minister remains a party animal. In his job, ...
Ten years ago, I would have been quick to write, with great agitation, about letters such as the one by a Josephine Tay, published in the Straits Times on 26 November 2011. She took issue with naming an orchid after Elton John, suggesting that the move signalled open encouragement and...
33. As there is a lack of clear precedents regarding the consequences arising from the commission of the offences under the EFMA, it is important to emphasise that employers who persistently fail to discharge their legal responsibilities towards foreign workers will ordinarily have cu...
33. As there is a lack of clear precedents regarding the consequences arising from the commission of the offences under the EFMA, it is important to emphasise that employers who persistently fail to discharge their legal responsibilities towards foreign workers will ordinarily have cu...
panel 6: i’m guessing the author has never wandered through clarke quay on a weekend… or for that matter the steps and bridges on any of the quays. not that i’m complaining, just seems to be another of those “laws” that is rarely, if ever, enforced. in fact to combat the problem of al...
I took someone to the Emergency department of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital on Friday, 25 November 2011. We arrived at a little after 1 p.m. and after much waiting for consultation, injections, x-rays and consultation again, we were more or less done by about 5:30 p.m. The doctor advised th...
I count myself lucky that I usually do not need to go downtown during the early morning rush. However, thrice in the last two weeks, I had an early appointment. On one day, it was raining, on the other two days, the sun was out and I didn’t want to break into a sweat walking to the me...
I count myself lucky that I usually do not need to go downtown during the early morning rush. However, thrice in the last two weeks, I had an early appointment. On one day, it was raining, on the other two days, the sun was out and I didn’t want to break into a sweat walking to the me...
It wouldn’t go unnoticed, though whether the Straits Times editors fully realised the significance of what they were doing is an open question. Channel NewsAsia’s report, by contrast, didn’t have a photo showing David Furnish though he was mentioned in the text. It’s entirely in keepi...
On the one hand, with so many people now using the internet to voice their opinions, the government realises that it can no longer ignore what is being said. It can no longer ignore the expectation that opinions so aired should be acknowledged and acted upon. On the other hand, on man...
At Boxer Services, the police behaved as if they didn’t see any crime in progress. Their response suggested that they saw it all as a civil dispute, and they tailored their advice to tie in with what they probably surmised to be the politically desirable position: be tough on overstay...
