I am seeing a certain group of voters talking non-stop about taking down PAP’s supermajority. This is also the rallying call of some political parties, including the Worker’s Party. Quite a few of their new candidates are Western-educated. Their point is that the PAP’s supermajority has to be taken away so they cannot change the…
I want to state upfront that I am for a good opposition. I don’t think anyone intellectually rigorous can argue against that. In the past, some quarters of the PAP have insinuated that only a one-party system can work; this is patently illogical. A one-party system works if that party is good; if that party…
The People’s Action Party (PAP) has often said that it believes multi-party democracy would be bad for Singapore. This is an untenable position. In the past 150 years, several societies, primarily in the West, have flourished and developed under systems of multi-party democracy. To argue categorically that Singaporeans should not vote in an alternative party…
My fellow Singaporeans. In the next few weeks, it may look like the world is ending. And it might already feel so, with the world shutting down, countries closing their borders. This message is especially for the young ones. If there is one country that has been preparing for disaster, it has been Singapore. In…
1. Singapore is extremely dependent on trade. In fact, we have the HIGHEST trade to GDP ratio in the entire world , at over 300%. Between 2008 and 2011, it even averaged 400%. 2. This makes Singapore extremely vulnerable to anti-trade measures, such as tariffs. Conversely, we also disproportionately benefit from free trade agreements. 3.…
On Tuesday, the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation (POFMA) Bill goes to Parliament for Second Reading, a culmination of a month-long lively debate. Some observations before we enter the final stretch: ENGAGEMENT Ministers, and in particular Law Minister K Shanmugam, have gone out of their way to engage and respond to local critics. I…
I have been wondering why there has been little traction with the objections towards the fake news laws. One criticism is that letting Ministers have the first say in take-down orders puts too much power in their hands. Apart from most Singaporeans being more interested in material values and bread and butter issues, one reason…
I see that the Government is getting flak from all quarters for announcing that foreign workers quota for services sector will be cut. Businesses are upset as they feel they cannot employ Singaporeans for these jobs. The people are upset as they feel they don’t want these jobs in the first place, and demand that…
Singapore Bicentennial 2019 – The Johor Connection A cheeky thought – one group of non Singaporeans who should also be celebrating 1819 are the current Johor Royal Family. It was these few days, between 31 January and 6th February 1819 that the ancestor of the current Johor Royals sealed the deal of the century that…
Fake news exists on a spectrum. Although there would be egregious cases of obviously fake news – for example, claiming that there is a fire when there was none – most instances of fake news lie on a spectrum between news that is falsifiable, and news that is hyperpartisan but not falsifiable. In some of…
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