This conservative city-state convicted men for homosexual behavior as recently as seven years ago, and the British colonial-era law it used is still on the books. The government shows no interest in making a change: The prime minister’s advice has been to just let things be.

Opposition official Vincent Wijeysingha isn’t taking that advice. On his Facebook page last week, he became the first Singaporean politician to come out of the closet, and he is advocating for the law to be scrapped.

He told The Associated Press on Monday that although the government resists decriminalizing homosexuality, “society will eventually overtake it on this question.”

“I am entirely convinced the law will eventually be repealed,” said Wijeysingha (wee-jay-sing-ga), treasurer of the Singapore Democratic Party.

The decades-old law makes “gross indecency” between men punishable by up to two years in prison. It has not been actively enforced in recent years, but 185 men were convicted under the law between 1997 and 2006, according to government data.

Complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation have become less common in Singapore, a Southeast Asian economic powerhouse of about 5 million. But until a decade ago, government policies barred gays from “sensitive positions” in the civil service and imposed strict censorship on gay-related content in movies and TV shows.

Gay rights have grown around the world; more than a dozen countries and 13 U.S. states now allow same-sex marriage. But according to the United Nations, about 75 countries continue to criminalize homosexual behavior; in a few of them, it is punishable by death.

Singapore’s High Court in April rejected a bid by a gay couple to scrap the city-state’s law, ruling that Parliament should be responsible for making any changes.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said earlier this year that these were “not issues that we can settle one way or the other, and it’s really best for us just to leave them be, and just agree to disagree.”

Gay-rights activists said that is unacceptable to a growing number of Singaporeans. They noted that Saturday’s Pink Dot gay advocacy rally drew more than 20,000 people to a Singaporean park, the best showing ever for the event, which has been held every year since 2009.

The rally played a role in Wijeysingha’s announcement. He had spoken at past forums on gay issues, and associates and friends had known that he is gay, but he confirmed it publicly on his Facebook page by saying “yes, I am going to Pink Dot … and yes, I am gay.”

“It’s the first time he has said it so explicitly in public,” said Siew Kum Hong, a lawyer and political commentator. “To that extent, it does show that Singapore society is opening up more, since he obviously does not think that it is fatal to his electoral chances.”

Source: AP

More in: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/1st-openly-gay-politician-in-singapore-says-law-criminalizing-homosexuality-will-be-history/2013/07/02/69c19696-e2ea-11e2-8657-fdff0c195a79_story.html

Singapore newest medical school, the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine which is a joint venture between NTU and Imperial College London, has picked its inaugural batch of 54 medical students.

All 54 students (100%) are Singaporeans. They were selected from 440 shortlisted candidates through a series of interviews. More than 800 A-list students have applied to the medical school.

The 54 selected students had almost perfect scores in their interviews and also aced their BioMedical Admissions Test (BMAT), exceeding the cut-off requirements needed for entry to Imperial College’s medical programme.

Teaching materials are developed by the Imperial College London, which comprise over 200 e-lectures professionally recorded by professors, clinicians and scientists. Students can access the e-lectures from their iPads.

To encourage active collaborative learning, team-based learning in clusters will be a key feature, including early patient exposure where students will be able to interact with real patients as early as the second month of their first year of study.

The school said that it will gradually increase its annual intake to 150. Classes will start in Aug next month.

In contrast, Singapore’s first liberal arts college, Yale-NUS College which is a joint venture between NUS and Yale, only has 62% of its inaugural batch of 157 students consisting of Singaporeans. The rest, 38%, are foreigners (‘38% of 1st Yale-NUS student batch are foreigners‘).

The percentage of foreign students at 38% is unusually high for a public funded university. PM Lee has promised to cut the university foreign student population to 15% by 2015 (‘PM: Proportion of foreign students in universities going down‘). Prior to the 2011 General Election, the proportion of foreign students in our local universities has always been 20% in the last decade [Link].

Yale-NUS College’s classes will also begin in Aug.

TR Emeritus

*Article first appeared on www.TREmeritus.com

I was taking a taxi the other day when the uncle and I had a discussion on local politics. He believed that one of the reasons PAP was able to continue with their nonsense was because there are a lack of people brave enough to oppose them. One of the people he had strong respect for was Madam Vellama because she was brave enough to challenge the government to declare a by-election in Hougang.

At the same time, this uncle predicted that Emeritus Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew would die shortly after the 2016 elections and the PAP would break up as a result of internal factions and a power-wresting. As a result of my hatred towards PAP, what do you think will happen if we gathered enough money so that we can file a lawsuit to prevent a state funeral for LKY?

It is interesting to note that all US presidents have the automatic right to a state funeral while this is not the case in Singapore; this is at the discretion of the Prime Minister’s Office and some outrage was caused when popular president Ong Teng Cheong was denied a state funeral purportedly because he had some conflict with the government. I am not an expert in law but I believe based on my research that there are some reasons which give us locus standi (i.e. proper legal grounds) to file a suit.

Firstly, the fact that his son is Prime Minister (and that this may very likely to be the case until 2020) means that there may be a possible conflict of interest if his son were to authorize his state funeral even if it is conventionally a legal right of the Prime Minister’s Office. In the absence of a partisan body with full legal rights to make such a decision, we cannot allow it as there this important power may be abused.

Secondly, Lee Kuan Yew has shown himself to be senile and offensive recently. In his book The Hard Truths, he has made remarks which are clearly offensive to the Malay community and if an ordinary citizen were to do so, this would probably entail spending some time in jail. Furthermore, he has also made remarks which are sexist and not appropriate in a world which embraces gender equality. Hence, it may not be appropriate to afford a state funeral to someone whose mind is in a controversially state.

Thirdly, Singaporeans have been so much against PAP that a cursory glance on cyberspace would make it seem as though PAP is a vulgar words. While there may be some support, this support for the PAP is continuously dwindling and may even become non-existent in 2016. It would not be appropriate in such circumstances to a man who is not supported by legitimacy of the electorate to grant him a state funeral.

I wonder what would your readers think and if we can gather enough support to go ahead?

Best wishes for 2016, 

Joseph

TRS Contributor

Recently a new record for the price of a HDB coffee shop was set when Broadway Group bought one in Hougang Avenue 4 for $23 million.

The coffee shop involved is just over 4000 sq ft in size with 17 stalls inside. The sale is supposed to be finalized by September this year. 

Unsurprisingly, the high price paid for the coffee shop has made stall holders nervous as they fear an imminent rental increase. Preliminary estimates suggest that Broadway Group is aiming for a 5% return on the investment which is expected to translate to around $6000 per month in rent for each stall. 

As stall holders worry about rising rental prices, consumers are also worried about rising food prices as a result of the stall holders passing costs down to consumers. 

If this were to occur, the everyday consumers would be the ones to suffer the most. 

One suggestion made by Mr Tang Swee Seng in a letter written to ST today was that "HDB spaces should be sold back to the Housing Board, which can act as the clearing authority, especially when subsidies were provided in the original sales. Otherwise, we would all be the poorer in time to come.”

Due to some of the concerns regarding the possible increase in food prices and the extra pressure this may cause some of the lower-income locals in the area, netizens have dug around to work out: who exactly is Broadway Group? 

They had declined interviews with reporters when information about the sale was first made public. 

The Broadway Group website reveals that it is a Singapore incorporated company which was started in 1997. It specializes in food stall operation and management. It's website lists the following companies as part of it's group: 

• Broadway Food Centre (Holdings) Pte Ltd. -  Locations in Potong Pasir, Hougang, Ang Mo Kio, Choa Chu Kang, Yishun, Sembawang, Marsiling and Woodlands. 
• Broadway F&B Management Pte Ltd
• GM Food Centre Pte Ltd
• Broadway Live Seafood House
• Tong Luck Economical Rice
• Old Punggol Nasi Lemak
• New Hongkong Roast
• Hougang Mince Pork Noodles Pte Ltd
• CK Central Kitchen

Further digging on the ACRA website shows that Broadway Food Centre (Holdings) actually belongs to Broadway Textile Pte Ltd. These companies share the same address and appear to be started by 2 brothers: Tan Thoo Cheng and Tan Thoo Mong. 

A Google background check on these two also reveals that Tan Thoo Cheng is involved in grassroots activities and has been awarded a PBM.

There’s a sobering article titled “Do S’porean workers deserve their wages?“ making its rounds on the internet, asking whether Singaporean workers deserved their wages.

I have also had my fair share of interviewing (and in one case, hiring) questionable local talent. After hiring my first “poor” staff, I learnt the importance of conducting proper interviews and requiring an on-the-spots skills test, so as to ensure that the same mistake does not happen again. Thankfully my team today has a good number of dedicated and hardworking Singaporeans that are always willing to learn.

The contentious article by ST Managing Editor Han Fook Kwang is probably on the receiving end of some scathing online criticism, especially from the cynics. But whether you agree with the article or not, I think most people do believe that something about Singapore needs to change if we want to improve Singapore (be it in the form of better wages and buying power, or a more sociable and responsible society).

If change is necessary, then we must be wary of those who deny that change also applies to themselves. You will know these people when you see them. They will blame their failures on anyone else but themselves. They will claim that they are faultless and entitled to better things. They will demand that the world changes to suit their own needs. They see themselves not as a contributing member to society, but as a customer whose needs must be served. They listen only to those who think like them, and refuse to contemplate the views of others. These people are the parasites of our society.

SGthinker

* Sgthinker is a 40-year old Singaporean male. He pens his thoughts and feelings about Singapore’s political happenings, government policies and societal trends in his blog. He hopes that his blog will provide a moderate voice in the growing online debate about the state of Singapore’s society. He blogs at http://sgthinker.wordpress.com.

On the night of Nov. 20, 2001, a conversation held over Instant Messenger changed our lives forever. Our 12-year-old son messaged me in my office from the computer in his bedroom.

Ryan says: can i tell u something

Mom says: Yes I am listening

Ryan says: well i don't know how to say this really but, well......, i can't keep lying to you about myself. I have been hiding this for too long and i sorta have to tell u now. By now u probably have an idea of what i am about to say.
Ryan says: I am gay
Ryan says: i can't believe i just told you

Mom says: Are you joking?

Ryan says: no
Ryan says: i thought you would understand because of uncle don

Mom says: of course I would
Mom says: but what makes you think you are?

Ryan says: i know i am
Ryan says: i don't like hannah
Ryan says: it's just a cover-up

Mom says: but that doesn't make you gay...

Ryan says: i know
Ryan says: but u don't understand
Ryan says: i am gay

Mom says: tell me more

Ryan says: it's just the way i am and it's something i know
Ryan says: u r not a lesbian and u know that. it is the same thing

Mom says: what do you mean?

Ryan says: i am just gay
Ryan says: i am that

Mom says: I love you no matter what

Ryan says: i am white not black
Ryan says: i know
Ryan says: i am a boy not a girl
Ryan says: i am attracted to boys not girls
Ryan says: u know that about yourself and i know this

Mom says: what about what God thinks about acting on these desires?

Ryan says: i know

Mom says: thank you for telling me

Ryan says: and i am very confused about that right now

Mom says: I love you more for being honest

Ryan says: i know
Ryan says: thanx

We were completely shocked. Not that we didn't know and love gay people; my only brother had come out to us several years before, and we adored him. But Ryan? He was unafraid of anything, tough as nails and all boy. We had not seen this coming, and the emotion that overwhelmed us, kept us awake at night and, sadly, influenced all our reactions over the next six years was fear.

We said all the things that we thought loving Christian parents who believed the Bible, the Word of God, should say:

We love you. We will always love you. And this is hard. Really hard. But we know what God says about this, so you are going to have to make some really difficult choices.

We love you. We couldn't love you more. But there are other men who have faced this same struggle, and God has worked in them to change their desires. We'll get you their books; you can listen to their testimonies. And we will trust God with this.

We love you. We are so glad you are our son. But you are young, and your sexual orientation is still developing. The feelings you've had for other guys don't make you gay. So please don't tell anyone that you are gay. You don't know who you are yet. Your identity is not that you are gay; it is that you are a child of God.

We love you. Nothing will change that. But if you are going to follow Jesus, holiness is your only option. You are going to have to choose to follow Jesus, no matter what. And since you know what the Bible says, and since you want to follow God, embracing your sexuality is not an option.

We thought we understood the magnitude of the sacrifice that we -- and God -- were asking for. And this sacrifice, we knew, would lead to an abundant life, perfect peace and eternal rewards. Ryan had always felt intensely drawn to spiritual things; He desired to please God above all else. So, for the first six years, he tried to choose Jesus. Like so many others before him, he pleaded with God to help him be attracted to girls. He memorized Scripture, met with his youth pastor weekly, enthusiastically participated in all the church youth group events and Bible Studies and got baptized. He read all the books that claimed to know where his gay feelings came from, dove into counseling to further discover the whys of his unwanted attraction to other guys, worked through painful conflict resolution with my husband and me and built strong friendships with other guys -- straight guys -- just like the reparative therapy experts advised. He even came out to his entire youth group, giving his testimony of how God had rescued him from the traps of the enemy, and sharing, by memory, verse after verse that God had used to draw Ryan to Him.

But nothing changed. God didn't answer his prayer, or ours, though we were all believing with faith that the God of the Universe, the God for whom nothing is impossible, could easily make Ryan straight. But He did not.

Though our hearts may have been good (we truly thought what we were doing was loving), we did not even give Ryan a chance to wrestle with God, to figure out what he believed God was telling him through scripture about his sexuality. We had believed firmly in giving each of our four children the space to question Christianity, to decide for themselves if they wanted to follow Jesus, to truly own their own faith. But we were too afraid to give Ryan that room when it came to his sexuality, for fear that he'd make the wrong choice.

Basically, we told our son that he had to choose between Jesus and his sexuality. We forced him to make a choice between God and being a sexual person. Choosing God, practically, meant living a lifetime condemned to being alone. He would never have the chance to fall in love, have his first kiss, hold hands, share intimacy and companionship or experience romance.

And so, just before his 18th birthday, Ryan, depressed, suicidal, disillusioned and convinced that he would never be able to be loved by God, made a new choice. He decided to throw out his Bible and his faith at the same time and try searching for what he desperately wanted -- peace -- another way. And the way he chose to try first was drugs.

We had unintentionally taught Ryan to hate his sexuality. And since sexuality cannot be separated from the self, we had taught Ryan to hate himself. So as he began to use drugs, he did so with a recklessness and a lack of caution for his own safety that was alarming to everyone who knew him.

Suddenly our fear of Ryan someday having a boyfriend (a possibility that honestly terrified me) seemed trivial in contrast to our fear of Ryan's death, especially in light of his recent rejection of Christianity and his mounting anger at God.

Ryan started with weed and beer, but in six short months was using cocaine, crack and heroin. He was hooked from the beginning, and his self-loathing and rage at God only fueled his addiction. Shortly thereafter, we lost contact with him. For the next year and a half, we didn't know where he was or even if he was dead or alive. And during that horrific time, God had our full attention. We stopped praying for Ryan to become straight. We started praying for him to know that God loved him. We stopped praying for him to never have a boyfriend. We started praying that someday we might actually get to know his boyfriend. We even stopped praying for him to come home to us; we only wanted him to come home to God.

By the time our son called us, after 18 long months of silence, God had completely changed our perspective. Because Ryan had done some pretty terrible things while using drugs, the first thing he asked me was this:

Do you think you can ever forgive me? (I told him of course, he was already forgiven. He had always been forgiven.)

Do you think you could ever love me again? (I told him that we had never stopped loving him, not for one second. We loved him then more than we had ever loved him.)

Do you think you could ever love me with a boyfriend? (Crying, I told him that we could love him with 15 boyfriends. We just wanted him back in our lives. We just wanted to have a relationship with him again... and with his boyfriend.)

And a new journey was begun, one of healing, restoration, open communication and grace.Lots of grace. And God was present every step of the way, leading and guiding us, gently reminding us simply to love our son and leave the rest up to Him.

Over the next 10 months, we learned to truly love our son. Period. No buts. No conditions. Just because he breathes. We learned to love whomever our son loved. And it was easy. What I had been so afraid of became a blessing. The journey wasn't without mistakes, but we had grace for each other, and the language of apology and forgiveness became a natural part of our relationship. As our son pursued recovery from drug and alcohol addiction, we pursued him. God taught us how to love him, to rejoice over him, to be proud of the man he was becoming. We were all healing, and most importantly, Ryan began to think that ifwe could forgive him and love him, then maybe God could, too.

And then Ryan made the classic mistake of a recovering addict: He got back together with his old friends, his using friends. And one evening that was supposed to simply be a night at the movies turned out to be the first time he had shot up in 10 months -- and the last time. Ryan died on July 16, 2009. And we lost the ability to love our gay son, because we no longer had a gay son. What we had wished for, prayed for, hoped for -- that we would nothave a gay son -- came true. But not at all in the way we had envisioned.

Now, when I think back on the fear that governed all my reactions during those first six years after Ryan told us he was gay, I cringe as I realize how foolish I was. I was afraid of all the wrong things. And I grieve, not only for my oldest son, whom I will miss every day for the rest of my life, but for the mistakes I made. I grieve for what could have been, had we been walking by faith instead of by fear. Now, whenever Rob and I join our gay friends for an evening, I think about how much I would love to be visiting with Ryan and his partner over dinner. But instead, we visit Ryan's gravestone. We celebrate anniversaries: the would-have-been birthdays and the unforgettable day of his death. We wear orange, his color. We hoard memories: pictures, clothing he wore, handwritten notes, lists of things he loved, tokens of his passions, recollections of the funny songs he invented, his Curious George and baseball blankey, anything, really, that reminds us of our beautiful boy, for that is all we have left, and there will be no new memories. We rejoice in our adult children, and in our growing family as they marry, but we ache for the one of our "gang of four" who is missing. We mark life by the days B.C. (before coma) and A.D. (after death), because we are different people now; our life was irrevocably changed in a million ways by his death. We treasure friendships with others who "get it" because they, too, have lost a child.

We weep. We seek Heaven for grace and mercy and redemption as we try not to get better but to be better. And we pray that God can somehow use our story to help other parents learn to truly love their children. Just because they breathe.

On June 20, 2013, at the invitation of Alan Chambers, my husband Rob and I shared an extended, unedited version of our story at the final Exodus International conference in Irvine, Calif.:

In the presentation, Rob read a letter that he'd recently written to Ryan, which you can read here. We also shared a slideshow of photos of Ryan through the years:

This piece, which was originally written for Biola Queer Underground in December 2012, was posted on Facebook on Jan. 14, 2013, which would have been Ryan's 24th birthday.
It is now posted, along with other blog posts, at JustBecauseHeBreathes.com.

*Article first appeared on http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-robertson/just-because-he-breathes-learning-to-truly-love-our-gay-son_b_3478971.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices

The dog's owner, Leon Rosby, was taking video of police officers in Hawthorne, California, on Sunday evening as they surrounded a house where two people had been robbed at gunpoint in a non-related incident.

Police complained about loud music coming from Mr Rosby's car as he was outside the vehicle with his 60kg Rottweiler filming the scene on his phone.

As they come to arrest him, Mr Rosby puts his dog in the car. However once he is handcuffed the dog jumps out the car window and then lunges at one of the officers as he goes to grab the leash. The officer then shoots the dog several times.

WARNING:  GRAPHIC CONTENT 

Mr Rosby told the Daily Breeze that he was left devastated at seeing his three-year-old dog die in front of him.

"I was crying and hollering, 'My dog! My dog! Max! Max!'" he said.

"There was no way Max should have died like that," Mr Rosby said.

"Max was only protecting his master. He was trying to stop them from beating on me."

"The music may have been a little loud but I was complying," Mr Rosby said.

"I said, 'Sir, I want to make sure nobody's civil rights were being violated.'"

Mr Rosby said he believed police were retaliating against him because of previous run-ins with local police.

Leon Rosby films police in Hawthorne, California.

Mr Rosby has previous convictions for resisting arrest, battery and driving under the influence.

Mr Rosby, who is black, said he has filed six complaints against the Hawthorne Police Department, alleging mistreatment and racial profiling.

Hawthorne police Lt. Scott Swain said the shooting was in the interests of everyone's safety.

"I know it's the dog's master, and more than likely not going to attack him, (but) we've got a guy handcuffed that's kind of defenseless. We have a duty to defend him, too," he said.

Mr Rosby spent Sunday night in jail before being released. He says the police won't let him have his dog's body.

Mr Rosby said he and Max were driving back from the dog park and the car trip was filled with Max affectionately licking Mr Rosby's neck.

Leon Rosby puts his dog in the car as police come to arrest him.

"All he did was love me," he said.

*Article first appeared on http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/california-cops-shoot-rottweiler-dead-in-front-of-owner-leon-rosby/story-fni0xs61-1226673433471

The 8th measure to curb property prices has been rolled out and everyone is clapping and slapping their backs for the big success in preventing a property bubble. The latest figure shows property prices still creeping up but in smaller increments.

Did anyone see the elephant in the classroom? No, where, where got elephant? A 99 year lease kopitiam is fetching $24m with probably 80 years of the lease left. And it is great value for money. How much was it bought initially? $2m or $3m?

Property prices are very stable after seven curbing measures and with this eighth curbs, everything will be ok. Thank God, there is no property bubble. Property prices are now what they should be, reasonable and affordable, and growing only a little bit at a time as it should be.

Well done.

Singapore’s property prices will never come down. Neither will Singapore face a housing bubble crisis like the Americans or in Japan. We have the most highly paid talents managing the housing bubble, oops, I mean housing prices, and they would not allow a bubble to be formed, thus no bubble to bust. Anyone see any housing bubble? No right.

Chua Chin Leng AKA Redbean

*The writer blogs at mysingaporenews.blogspot.com

Is it really a mystery why productivity levels in Singapore remain abysmal despite government efforts to restructure? Here is a light-hearted series of real photos culled from our local media that shows how we are better at brute force economic grinding than working smart.

Changi Airport employs a real-life scarecrow. Benefits include big yellow car. Apparently the airport has never heard of automation.

Two NEA officers checking a “massive” hole for mosquito breeding. At this rate, is it any wonder they need to hire another 300 such officers in the next two months, for a total of 1,150?

Four guys (presumably) carrying a man on a stretcher, while one stood by chitchatting and 3 others (including the one who took this photo) busy snapping pictures in this military — or some say wayang — exercise.

More eye power, this time at a MRT construction site.

The riot police eager for action — against a housewife and three tantrum-throwing kids for refusing to vacate a house. Seriously?

JEM staff standing by to turn customers away after their delayed opening. But where were the customers?

Heeding calls for active ageing and more to join in the hawker trade, the President and the Minister proving that they can indeed be useful members of society, despite what some think. No point if you need so many hands to cook a pot of bryani though.

And of course, our favourite past-time — queueing for a Japanese feline.

Void Decker 

*The writer blogs at http://www.voiddecker.com

An alcoholic man was sentenced to 12 weeks’ jail yesterday for touching a 15-year-old girl in a park.

According to a report from The Straits Times, Tong Hor Tuang – who also stole a can of stout from a supermarket – approached the minor as she was chatting to a friend.

Tong told the two teenage girls to go home as it was already past 9pm, but the two girls ignored him. The 54-year-old then knelt in front of his victim and touched her thigh, before asking her and her 17-year-old friend to follow him to the nearby Toa Payoh Town Park public toilet.They refused.

Undeterred, he stood up, kissed the victim and touched her again. She shouted at him and ran away with her friend.

Tong – who has several previous convictions, mostly for theft – was arrested in Toa Payoh North two days after the Nov 12 incident. The court heard that he stole the can of stout from the NTUC FairPrice supermarket at Toa Payoh HDB Hub on May 6.

Only last year Muhammad Nor Aszroy Zaidon had been let off with a stern conditional 12- month warning not to re-offend after he had sex with a minor.

But this was breached in less than two months, and yesterday he was back in court facing nine charges.

According to a report in The Straits Times, the chubby student admitted to three counts of having sex with a minor, plus one of helping a loan shark. His four victims, including one he tried to have sex with, were aged between 12 and 14, though the prosecution proceeded on only three. None can be identified.

Asked by Community Court Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan why he had repeated the offence, the youngster replied that he did not use his brain. The judge said: “Maybe your brain is not up there but down there. You have destroyed the lives of four young girls.”

He postponed sentencing to July 24, pending pre-sentence and Reformative Training Centre reports. Deputy Public Prosecutor Nicholas Khoo said Aszroy was given the warning on May 30 last year with the condition that he not re-offend within the next 12 months, after he was arrested for having sex with a 12-year-old girl he had met on Facebook.

Despite not having met her yet, he asked if she would be his girlfriend within two weeks of them chatting. She agreed. He met the Primary 6 pupil in October 2011 and took her to a staircase landing in Clementi Avenue 5 where they sniffed glue and had sex.

In July and August last year, he had sex with two more girls, aged 13 and 14, at the 13th floor staircase landing of his block at Teck Whye Lane.

Everywhere i go, i hear Singaporeans complain about a lot of things, but i never hear them come up with concrete or positive solutions, or win win situations.

There's a few complains that i heard that have win win situation solutions i can hand u over on a golden platter: Loud neighbours, u all know them, loud footsetps, loud TV, those kind of neighbours,...

Now i know that from u'r culture, u have to say love thy neighbour no matter what and leave them alone and do not meddle or complain to them (instead u complain behind their backs, wich isn't anny better) sooo...

Do the right thing from now on, REALLY LOVE U'R NEIGHBOUR , example, the people who step loud, are actually in "danger", no not immediate danger , but overtime danger, medical danger, explanation, if u step loud u give a shock to u'r spine each time, so the disc that connects each bone in u'r spine gets slowly dammaged, wich in time will result in lower back aches.

And if that wasn't reason enough to ask u'r neighbour to step less loud, here is a second medical reason, if u step loud u not only dammage u'r spine , but u also dammage u'r blood cells, yes indead, when u step too hard, u crush bloodcells causing annemia, more bloodcells get crushed a day, then u'r body can make, annemia is too lightly taken in this country, i noticed that the treshold u'r docters take as acceptable is totally unacceptable in Europe.

And then thirdly, the last reason to ask u'r neighbour to stop walking loudly, osteoporosis, yes by the reason above, people who alreadey eat as bad as u do in this country, will have high chance on osteoporosis, so if they walk heavey they are more likely to break somthing, and if they do not have osteoporosis yet and are younger, by walking loudly they will get osteoporosis if they get older by causing mild annemia over long period even bone disformation or a croucked back. (Osteoporosis is the fragilisation of the bone making them look like a sponge instead of solid so they break more easily, usually this illness is due to a poor diet too much rice not enough vegetables and fruits or annemia)

So people, love u'r neighbour for REAL, and ask him or her to stop walk loud, for ur peace and for their health.

Then the scond issue , loud TV/Music, really annoying that a lot of singaporeans seem to have the need to put their tv or music so verry loud, this hinted me that nobody here knows about hearing dammage, if u can hear a TV in u'r room from u'r neighbours TV, that means the sound that neighbour is blasting into their ears really passes the decibels that are healthy for a human being, and is dammaging their hearing , or it is already that dammaged they should get a hearing aid.

U would say a lot of older people do not hear that well annymore, and they don't want to get a hearing aid because they are ashamed to admit they hear bad, but let me sketch u this situation, imagine a older person crosses the street with ur grandchild, his or her hearing is impaired, they cross at green light, but a person shouts watch out, for some reckless driver, that older person wont hear it and ur grandparent and grandchild will die, because of some pride ??

Misplaced pride ...it is u'r place to help people arround you, that includes making shure everyone hears everything and that they don't live in a bubble of halfdeaf isolation, it is u'r duty to give quality of life to the elderly.

Now the main concern i have too on the matter of loudness, is the younger generations too between ages of 6 to 40 plus, all of you on trains in malls in sport centra, each time i sit near you i can hear u'r headsets, not only is that annoying to me, but i know u are permanently dammaging u'r hearing, in europe headsets cannot go over a certain amount of decibels, so that there can be no hearing loss, once u'r hearing is dammaged , it is for life! 

U will notice it, as soon as u are in a silent place, u have this beeping or ringing noise in u'r ears, that is the signs u'r hearing is alreadey pretty dammaged.

The last concern i have on hearing dammage is the commercial stands in malls and so, the way they blast the sounds and the bad way they use microphones, they just put everything on so loud and it is extremely unpleasant to listen to them even if u are interested, u just can't stand to listen because u get a major head and earache from  them.

Please commercial people, if u equalize u'r microphone or boxes better, u'r sound will be better heard then just by putting it on maximum level, because if u put ur sound  imply on maximum, people aren't going to be able to understand a word u say, all they will hear is this , mumble screech somthing beep screech mumble... Learn to use u'r equipment before u use it and have a decibel meter on the spot ...

Lesson to learn, love the persons arround u by avoiding them to get their hearing damaged.

That is what real love and respect for each other is about, it works both ways, if u do not tell somoene they are doing somthing wrong, u are not loving that person, u are just not caring about the person or yourself enough to actually do somthing about an unpleasant situation that puts both of you in danger.

A Belgium in Singapore

Editor's Note: Belgium is a country and people living in Belgium are called Belgian. Not sure if the author is really from Belgium.

Singapore investment company, Temasek Holdings, has reported a net profit of $10.6 billion for the financial year ended March.

This is one per cent lower than the previous year.

However, it recorded a record net portfolio value of $215 billion, 8.6 per cent higher.

TSR or Total Shareholder Return, a key performance measure, was 8.86 per cent for the year.

Temasek Chairman, S Dhanabalan, said the severe disruptive risks from the global financial crisis have subsided although structural risks have not been completely resolved.

While Temasek has increased its exposure in North America and Europe, Asia continues to attract the largest proportion of its investments.

Mr Dhanabalan said Temasek remains anchored in Asia and is optimistic about its long term growth.

During the year, Temasek made net investments of seven billion dollars.

More than half of this was in the energy and resources sector and in North America and Europe.

But financial services continue to be its largest portfolio exposure at 31 per cent, with energy and resources taking up 6 per cent of the portfolio.

On a geographical basis, Singapore and China remain its largest exposures at 30 per cent and 23 per cent.

Its exposure to North America and Europe grew to 12 per cent, from eight per cent two years ago.

Asia formed 71 per cent of its portfolio.

If Singapore was excluded, Asia represents 41 per cent of its portfolio.

CEO of Temasek, Ho Ching, said while Asia and Latin America will continue to be a focus area, there are increasing opportunities in North America and Europe.

Temasek is setting up offices in London and New York to support its investment activities in these markets.

*Article first appeared on http://news.xin.msn.com/en/singapore/temasek-reports-flat-net-profit-of-dollar11b

As the dust settled for PRC scholar Sun Xu who was duly fined and stripped of his remaining scholarship perks, another incident involving an article on Swiss expats saying that there won’t be jobs available for Singaporeans ensured that the anti-foreigner sentiments will still be in play.

I have never seen such intense anti-foreign sentiments before until the beginning of this year. Xenophobia feelings among locals seem to take on a popular undertone and it is in  a dangerous overplay situation now.

The frequent local-foreigner physical spats played out in the press so prominently also did not help the situation one bit coupled with some dead  bodies lying around  - mostly believed to be foreigners.

Introduction

Yet, it is most amazing to see how foreigners have treated locals - as if the whole country belongs to them. There is an obvious lack of respect for the country’s local culture and habits resulting in growing resentment against foreigners here.

The fact that they  stole jobs away from us, jacked up our HDB resale prices and clog up public infrastructure  also do not augur well for any social cohesion and integration programmes.

In fact, the whole social situation here looks perilous and some friends were saying that the local-foreigner physical spats will probably increase dramatically if nothing is done to alleviate the current situation.

The same problem happened in Sydney where I stayed for a few years on and off.

Some shopping malls are mostly dominated by Asians and you can hardly see white Aussies around.

Whites hardly mix with the immigrants and they likewise form their own enclaves in their own towns. Some immigrants don’t even speak a word of English!

Many of the whites  have in fact escaped to Queensland whereby the weather is better and housing prices saner.

In Melbourne, however, some Indians were knifed in 2010 in a series of systematic attacks targetted at immigrant Indians resulting in the Indian PM calling Australia a dangerous place to travel for Indians.

I remembered shockingly how one Indian worker was knifed to death in a backlane while travelling to work in Melbourne early in the morning. Several similar knifing copycat incidents soon followed.

I do not hope to see similar incidents happening here.

I have provided  5 reasons why foreigners do not respect local Singaporeans here:-

1. Foreigners proud to work abroad

Many foreign expats were brought in using the covetous EP work permit meant for graduates and so-called talents.

For workers belonging to the third world countries, it is a big success if you travel to work abroad.

I remembered how in China people were sending their loved ones off to work in Singaporean – many beaming with pride even though they are merely here working as kitchen helpers and cleaners.

They thought that they are something when actually they are not.

I also remembered I had the same proud  feeling when I travelled to China for a teaching job.

I was only paid $3000+ but it felt like a $30,000 job as I was working abroad. Everyone congratulated me as if I have struck the lottery.

Your ego suddenly received a tremendous boost and you felt good having all the intention lavished on you prior to your departure.

The same could have happened to our foreign friends here and this may have given them a fattened ego and a big head when they started to call us “dogs”.

2. Our government over-pampering them

It is still a mystery why our government continues to bring in so many PRC students studying on our limited tax payer money when so many of us have to send our children abroad for expensive tertiary education.

They also continue to bring in foreign expats  when many of our local educated mid aged workers are still jobless.

Many analysts have speculated that the PRC Chinese  could be brought in to beef up the reducing Chinese population as many Chinese families prefer to stop at two and some even at one.

Polytechnics are known to have set aside around 10% of their yearly intake for foreign students or scholars –  largely from PRC.

Most of their school fees are paid for and they also get an allowance for daily expenses.

Some local tertiary institutions have even make visits to Chinese schools and invite them to apply for such scholarship study incentives.

If you  woo, dine and over-indulge while  trying to bring in too many foreigner scholars, they may feel that they are one class up on the local population.

Moreover, its a big thing to be called a scholar in China and when you land a overseas scholarship award your whole village celebrates for ten days and nights with wine and dance.

3. Foreigners getting special treatment by the law

All of us will know by now the infamous incident involving the Suntec City foreigner spat.

The accused persons, New Zealander Robert Stephen Dahlberg, 34, and Briton Robert James Springall, 25, face charges over a brawl that took place at Suntec City two years ago.

Another accused, the pair’s Australian friend, Nathan Robert Miller, 35, has since pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three weeks’ jail.

However, shockingly, the New Zealander and Briton pair managed to jump bail and returned to their own country making a mockery of our judiciary  system here.

Many Singaporeans were also frustrated that many incidents involving expat foreigners were let off easily whereas those from third world countries were harshly punished for similar crimes.

For example, two live 8mm ammo was found on a Aussie woman Jessica Powter aged 34 years old while she transit at our Changi airport on Oct 12 last year.

She was merely let off with a warning only and the case was also unreported.

We only knew about this serious breach when Australia NT News  reported the incident later.

All these imbalanced treatment given  to foreigners only provide them the feeling that they are untouched and even given special priviledges.

It is no wonder sometimes I felt that our foreigner expats talk louder than us and some even walk with a superior swagger.

4. Foreigners getting more pay than us

It is no secret that foreigner expats doing the same kind of work will be getting better salaries than local ones.

Sometimes the salary difference could even be 2 to 3 times that of our  local staff.

Granted that the whole expat salary package will have to  cover our expensive rental and other start up cost but local workers will feel the pain  when they saw how much our expats are being paid while performing the same kind of work.

In fact, Singapore foreign expats enjoyed the second best salary package in the world with the majority  making more than $150,000 a year. It is no wonder they dine at the finest restaurants and stay in swanky condos here with our local gals bidding by  their side.

It is fair to assume  that the class division is more apparent between our foreign talents and local workers.

Even junior foreign Indian IT programmers working in MNC banks  are paid more than $5000/month – some armed with only two years of working experience.

Local staff will count themselves fortunate if they could draw a  basic salary of $3000 and above for fresh graduates working in the IT line.

Such imbalanced salary renumeration has also caused foreigners to feel superior and even look down on their   local counterparts.

Their sheer massive presence in certain industries also allows them to step all over us and also  many locals now have to report to younger foreign bosses.

5. Singaporeans lacking  self confidence and communication skills

I always feel that local Singaporeans lack self confidence when it comes to their communication skills and handling of  difficult work situation.

Perhaps our innate lack of the spoken language has caused us to step back rather than take on someone when there is a  difference in opinion at the work places. We give way and retreat rather than trying to voice out our opinion passionately.

Maybe we are always taught in schools and for guys in the army not to speak out anymore or else we will be punished.

In most work places that I knew of, meetings were dominated by the managers or one of two individuals and the rest of us will be silent or merely nodding in passive agreement.

The real discussion only commenced when all the managers are gone and we are back in the canteen ;later.

Maybe we felt marked out if we always voiced out our own opinion   in the office. We rather behaved properly so that we are well liked and considered not a trouble maker.

Most people whom we knew in class or  the army were punished when they tried to be a hero and spoke out against the teacher or army officer.

However, in today’s working world whereby as much as 40% of our  work force could be a foreigner and many of them  are  our bosses, keeping silent when an idea needs to be presented urgently  is considered a sign of weakness.

I remembered staying in Sydney and saw how articulate Aussies were when they tried to  engage  me  in deep constructive conversation.

Even though some are merely blue collared workers, they could strike up a decent conversation with you and communicated their thoughts well. Some could be rather fiery in the way they presented their ideas.

People judge us by the way we speak and when I saw how some local Singaporeans spoke on TV interviews, it made me cringed.

When foreigners saw how we struggled in our first language –  English  they thought that this must be a joke!

Some could not even make out what we say and many retreated back to their own circle of expat friends. They also began to look down on us as  we can’t even utter a decent mouthful of English.

PRC Chinese also despised our brand of spoken Mandarin  as it is not polished enough and reminded them of how the Hong Kongers spoke when they communicated  in  Mandarin.

How we presented ourselves often cause the other party to either respect or look down on us.

Conclusion

Moving forward, it will be  perilious if we allow the current local-foreign divide to continue.

Social integration programmes seem to have fail and unless the government decides to slow down immigration and relook how this can be better managed, things look rather pessimistic and opportunists may even seize the advantage to exploit the current mess – to the detriment of  the whole  country.

Written by Gilbert Goh

*Article first appeared on http://www.transitioning.org/2012/03/28/5-reasons-why-foreigners-dont-re...

Despite soaring property prices, Mustaq Ahmad (pictured), the owner of Mustafa Centre believes that building his own 10-storey apartment complex for S$11 million was a practical decision.

“A home is the most important necessity for any person…Big or small, owning your own home is better than renting, which could add to your financial pressure,” he said in a local media report.

Mustaq, together with his wife, children and grandchildren, moved into the property earlier this year. The 27,000 sq ft building is valued at S$45 million and has nine units with three to five rooms. There is also a swimming pool and gymnasium.

But the businessman explained: “It is only a home. The design may be a little different, but what is important is that the building is strong and safe.”

The property is also close to his office and Mustafa Centre on Syed Alwi Road.

Mustaq bought the 10,000 sq ft site between 1985 and 1990 for just S$6.5 million. While aware that the price has appreciated over the years, the businessman said: “This happened by chance, but we do not know what is going to happen in the future.”

“If given the chance to build an apartment like this at the (current) property prices, I probably could not do it again.”

In fact, Mustaq “never considered buying land and building an apartment as an investment…I only did it to put a roof over our heads so we can live together as a family”.

In 2011, Mustaq was ranked the 37th richest individual in Singapore by Forbes Asia. Mustafa Centre offers 24,000 sq m of retail space and over a million types of products.

Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@allproperty.com.sg

I refer to this article LOCAL UNDERGRADUATE WANTS TO SUE PAP AFTER LEE KUAN YEW'S DEATH,

Joseph, I would like to ask you:

1) Could you please identify your true self – there are many “Josephs” in Singapore hence I would consider your letter as anonymous.

2) Are you a foreigner who is just trying to incite negative emotions among Singaporeans?

3) How old are you that you don’t even know the struggles we went through and the contributions made to Singapore throughout all those years both by the PAP and the citizens? If you are a true Singaporean, didn’t your parents, grand-parents or great-grandparents ever relate stories to you?

4) I don’t know what your agenda is here but I have heard of one or two people (non-Singaporeans) who have made remarks on the websites but who are just out to create conflict among our peace-loving true Singaporeans.

5) I may not always agree with the government policies etc. but I have and will never ever forget what we went through during those times when there were riots, poverty, our attap huts caught in raging fire, the transition from these huts to HDB flats, how we reached this present stage. So much were done by the old guards of PAP who protected us and saw us through. I am not “boot-licking” the ruling party. But, I still remember the security my family, other families and myself experienced despite all that we went through.

6) To initiate such a mean and arrogant agenda is just rude and ignorance(?) on your part. Why can’t Mr Lee Kuan Yew be accorded a state funeral? You may have some personal vendetta against him but there are many from the older generation who would think otherwise. By the way, how sure are you that you will outlive Mr Lee? Let’s be kind to one another. Anger and hatred will only tire us out. God bless.

tedthebear

“But we either believe in democracy or we not. If we do, then, we must say categorically, without qualification, that no restraint from the any democratic processes, other than by the ordinary law of the land, should be allowed…

If you believe in democracy, you must believe in it unconditionally. If you believe that men should be free, then, they should have the right of free association, of free speech, of free publication. 

Then, no law should permit those democratic processes to be set at nought.”

- Lee Kuan Yew as an opposition leader, April 27, 1955

Afterwards which he demolished Barisan Socialis by detaining their leaders under ISA, which we now know are innocent, and destroyed free press. To date, all our young children still thinks Lim Chin Siong and Chia Thye Poh are communists.

Joe Tan

Editor's Note: One of our greatest leaders, Dr Lim Hock Siew, who was also a medical doctor famous for giving free treatment to the old & poor at his small Rakyat clinic along Balestier road was also labelled as a "communist" by Supreme leader Lee and was also thrown into prison.

What do you think?

1. They tell us our land is scarce and precious.... if that's so why use it to host 40% of our foreign population when Singaporeans have difficulty getting homes. 

2. They say they want higher fertility but overcrowding is a main cause of low fertility 

3. They say we need strict rules on speech and politics because Singaporeans will behave in a way that cause racial and religious tension ...but expect us to quickly accept and integrate to foreigners they bring in.

4. They told us bilingualism is important those who are weak at English or 2nd language will have limited educational opportunities many Singaporeans cannot go university because fail English last time... but they are willing to accept prc students who can't speak one line of proper English.

5. For ordinary pple subsidy is bad... for elites be it free education through scholarship, $8 heart surgery, cushy jobs in GLC in the bar of meritocracy... no limit to benefits perks and state financed luxury. 

6. For political leadership, competition is bad so. must make sure playing field is not level for opposition For ordinary Singaporeans competition is good, bring in more foreigners to compete against us 

7. They say Singaporeans are not creative or innovative like others but stifle the media like recent Internet legislation that will reduce creativity and innovation

8. They say need to maintain world class standard for our university so no choice but to fill it with foreigners... but most send their children to foreign universities rather than NUS. 

9. They (Lim swee say) say hiking ordinary Singaporeans pay causes inflation... what a joke as if they care... hiking GST did not cause inflation? 

10. Liberal democracy is not good for Singapore so we are told....but the elites shamelesly court institutions like Yale that are products of liberal democracies.

11. They say what they do is for our own good. I shudder to think they will do more for our own good... pm Lee once said if pple pay more for medical they would take care of their health and get sick less often hence expensive medical care is good for your health but the elites pay nothing when they get sick and get best treatment... that's also good for you because you're are a mess without them

12. Extremely high defense spending is needed so that Singapore is not invaded by foreign countries... look around you...do you not feel invaded already? In a few years Singaporeans will be a minority in their own country and it is not a big deal in the 6.9M plan/projection.

13. They say they have a world class education system... but when they want to import foreign talent they say we are not producing enough local talent... Phillipines education system is also very goo graduates.... because we have no problem taking in thousands of their graduates... remember lky close down nantah because he said their graduates no good but those produced by Phillipones university is very good. 

14. Educating too many Singaporeans to university level is not good because economy don't have jobs for them... but when they want to take foreigners with degree they justify by saying qualified singaporeans cannot be found for the job.

15. They say helping the poor is bad - will produce a welfare state. Then they ask Singaporeans to be more charitable to the poor through. What is the difference if we give because they tell us we should give vs they tax us to give to the poor because our society should do more for the poor and underprivileged. This has produced a mess of having numerous small charities with duplicated disorganised help for the poor - not to mention fraud, abuse of funds and inconsistent criterias and inefficiency for dissemination of funds.

TopSage4

Media Alert 

By-Elections Must be Held

Singapore Court of Appeal Rules that By-Elections are not Optional

Singapore, July 5, 2013

Today, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Constitution of Singapore “Does not give the Prime Minister an unfettered discretion in the calling of an election to fill a casual vacancy of an elected MP. He must do so within a reasonable time”. In so doing, the Court has overturned an earlier High Court position that the Prime Minister had the authority to decide when and if a by-election should be held in the event of a Parliamentary vacancy.

Hougang resident Madam Vellama D/O Muthu brought this issue to the Court on 2 March 2012 with the contention that the right to Parliamentary representation is fundamental to citizens of a representative democracy. Today Justices Chao Hick Tin, Andrew Phang Boon Leong and V K Rajah confirmed this position, ruling that, “If a vacancy is left unfilled for an unnecessarily prolonged period that would give rise to a serious risk of disenfranchising the residents of that constituency.”

Mr M Ravi, Mdm Vellama’s lawyer, adds, “This may be the first time the Singapore Court have acted to interpret the Constitution in a way that has circumscribed the Prime Minister’s executive authority. It is a great day for democracy in Singapore. A year ago, who would have imagined that one Hougang citizen could take on such a challenge, in the interest of all citizens, and that it would result in the highest court affirming that Singaporeans do have a right to representation in Parliament.” 

-- From the desk of M Ravi.

Contributed by Jason Lee

Is it too ambitious?

jobsDB today announced the findings of its recent Asian Consumer Market Survey. The survey has found that workers in Singapore are becoming more ambitious and seeking out new, higher paying job roles, even in their later years.

Conducted bi-annually in six markets across Asia Pacific, the jobsDB Asian Consumer Market Survey provides key insights on the changing behaviours and ambitions of job seekers in the region.

In the H1 2013 survey, jobsDB canvassed the opinions of 1,893 participants from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

According to the online survey, 42% of workers in Singapore are seeking positions with a salary between 1,500 to 3,499 SGD, compared to 38% of Hong Kong workers who demand a higher salary between 2,449 to 4,899 SGD.

The study also shows that there was a significant increase in respondents from Singapore searching for roles in the 5,000 to 7,499 SGD salary range, up 7% from last October. 69% of neighbouring Malaysian job seekers however, sought a salary between 400 to 2,000 SGD.

From October 2012 to present, the majority of Singapore job seekers saw a small 3% decrease in the 20 - 24 age bracket; however there has been a 4% increase in the 45 - 49 age bracket, a trend that was mirrored in Hong Kong with a smaller 2% rise.

Conversely, there has been an 8% decrease in Malaysian job seekers between the same age bracket. This increase across both Singapore and Hong Kong suggests that people are seeking out higher paying job roles to manage approaching retirement.
 

Singapore Business Review

*Article first appeared on http://sbr.com.sg/