What to expect from the PAP with the Palmer affair?

And so, one of the biggest things to happen in PAP’s 50-year history, made its way to our headlines – and the world’s – on the auspicious date of 12.12.2012. Mr Michael Palmer, Speaker of Parliament and member of the ruling PAP, had resigned from his posts, as accepted by his superior, the Prime Minister and Sec-Gen of the PAP.

Whoever said the PAP was squeaky clean had to be dreaming, dreaming far too deeply in the fairy tale spun by the PAP for decades. No man is saint and we are bound to moral failure, but it takes more than moral courage to rule a country; the system has to be in place.

Letter to Singapore, by Zing

The following is a very nice write-up by one of us in the blogosphere, and I am sharing it here. It is addressed as a "Letter to Singapore", written by Zing, to whom copyright belongs.

Letter to Singapore

by Zing (http://stories.sg/issues/1/zing/)

Dear Singapore,

I’m sorry, but I’m leaving you. I’ve fallen in love with somewhere else, and you wouldn’t like her. But London is the place for me. I’ve fallen for her dingy, narrow streets. The 24-hour bagels on Brick Lane; the club kids in neon and glitter falling out of Boombox at 3 in the morning; the bands with their urgent, clashing guitars, cigarettes and floppy hair. I’ve fallen for boys who play in bands with a copy of The Female Eunuch in their bedrooms; I’ve fallen for girls who write poetry and play guitar in Leicester Square pubs. I’ve fallen for the Chinese boy I saw at Kings Cross holding hands with his boyfriend, while his mother smiled and hailed a taxi for them all. I’ve fallen in love with the Irish. I’ve fallen in love with the Welsh. They’re all here, Singapore, in tiny corners, in crammed spaces, in underground dancehalls and abandoned warehouses.

We had a good run, but I was never really comfortable with you. You were always liberal when it suited you, small-minded when it didn’t. You used to say, “Careful you don’t be so open-minded, otherwise your brains fall out”. But maybe some fresh air would be good for your head. You were always scared of my clothes, the way I spoke, what I wanted to do. “So smart, is it?” you used to say. “Have some common sense. Later in life, what matters is money. Sad but true. You have to think ahead.”

A review of PE2011 - A desire to reconcile

PE2011 saw a major turning point of sorts in our political history, giving us significant positive and negative impacts. For positive ones, which will not be the main concern here, we have seen a seeming opening up in terms of the criteria for presidential candidacy, terms of which if gracefully adhered to for future polls, would allow our political landscape to be far more vibrant and inclusive. We have, however, also seen negative effects arising from the PE2011. Think about it, have we fallen into a form of setback in terms of our rigour and unity, post-PE2011? Although having differing views cannot be said to be a 'bad' thing, as we cannot always agree on everything, but were the conflicting views expressed constructive, rational and harmonious?

Media freedom - what we want to achieve

After seeing so much in the online social media of the beauty and strength of the unity of people in the Bersih 3.0 rally, snippets of brutality from the police crackdown, as well as the subsequent acts of brave resistance and retaliation from the common people, watch this piece of reporting by Malaysia's version of Channel NewsAsia. And you would start finding out how our own MSM could similarly give a totally different picture of what happened, the sentiments involved, and very skewed versions at that, to an undiscerning viewer.

Foreigner problem - inside out

This is my humble piece. Do share your thoughts.

Part 1: The foreigner 'problem' - on the surface

(It was never about foreigners individually)

This is in response to some who misunderstand our efforts at criticizing the PAP's foreign talent/labour policy, and their failure to differentiate between real xenophobia, and justified social discontent:

No one wants to pit Singaporeans against foreigners just for the sake of it. I have made this point over and over, but still there are mistaken, imbecile, or simply sinister fellows (who pretend not to know) who cannot see the point and accuse us of being "just against foreigners" and "targeting people just because of their nationalities".