We will miss a Singaporean like Anthony Yeo.

Here is an old letter from him.

On the other hand, for certain Singaporean such as journalists that act like prostitutes, we will not miss them.

I caught on a link that my friend posted on Facebook, a report by the BBC about the woeful working conditions in Singapore concerning the upcoming IR at Marina Bay.

According to the report, workers at the Marina IR were being subjected to oppressive conditions, forced to meet crushing deadlines while their monthly/OT pay was being withheld. Workers that proved resistant were immediately evicted, and these are now pursuing legal action against their employers.

Now this is serious news, a case where labour laws and possibly even human rights were violated. So, I checked Thursday’s papers and the ST online to see whether any similar reports were done, and this is what I found:

SINGAPORE ROCKS SINGAPORE ROCKS SINGAPORE ROCKS LET’S GET OUT OF THIS CRISIS COME TOGETHER WOOHOO!

Source: Alastair Su

When you have a system where the big Boss is extremely sensitive to any kind of bad news, those without principle all shut up because they rather have their pay then to make the big Boss look bad.

For the sake of our future generations, should we not do something?

Weekend Xtra recently commissioned a telephone survey conducted by Media Research Consultants to study the local political cybersphere. Chief findings:

• Out of 584 Singaporeans called randomly, 343 or almost six in 10 said they go online to read news, commentaries or postings about local politics or policies.
• Out of this group, nearly 56 per cent log on at least once a week for their fix of local political news and views, and almost 24 per cent of them log on every day.
• And despite the anonymous nature of cyberspace, 88 per cent of those who read about local politics and policies online are passive — they do not post their own views or comments.
• The so-called vocal minority: 4 per cent who post their views every day.

Well, interest in local politics is there, 6 out of 10 is pretty decent.  And I believe some of the “passive” netters may still discuss or share their views with their private social groups, be it in Facebook, Twitter, email or even offline.  Thanks to the free access of unadulterated information, Singaporeans are slowly but surely paying attention to what matters to society at large.

Wayang Party and Choo Zheng Xi (Chief Editor of The Online Citizen) are quarreling in public.

We even see a person coming out publicly to disassociate himself from Wayang Party. Maybe Ng E-Jay has no choice but to take side with KJ, who is now writing as a columnist at TOC?

We are sad to see this type of things.

Civic Advocator has no problem in washing dirty linen in the public. That is why we have the greatest respect for both Wayang Party and The Online Citizen, because both of them provide great alternative source of information, rather than what the main stream media is doing, which we believe are just touting what they think their bosses like to read.

However, we would rather see issues being discussed, rather than personal quarrel in public.

Wayang Party has great investigative skills and appears to get access to information fast. The Online Citizen’s voice for the weak and vulnerable people of society warms our heart.

This is the big picture guys, our common objective: To let people know what is going on, so that they can make a better decision when they plan their future.

Maybe Choo Zheng Xi thinks it is inherently wrong for Wayang Party to “hide behind the cloak of anonymity.” Maybe Wayang Party thinks it is inherently wrong for Choo Zheng Xi to be linked to the establishment. Well, that means Civic Advocator is guilty on both counts, because we are certainly operating anonymously, and we are linked to Tan Kin Lian, who represented the establishment.

And so what, we ask? The more important thing is to write and talk about issues and the nonsense of some of the current politicians. There are only 24 hours a day. Let us use our energy on things that matter more to our readers. Let us not do things to allow the main stream media to laugh at us.

Therefore, Civic Advocator is buying a round of beer for the guys behind Wayang Party and Choo Zheng Xi, and hope that we all chill and look at the big picture, ie, write about things that the mainstream media no longer has the gut to write.

Enjoy our virtual beer

Saw the following on Jacob’s weblog.

‘Dow Jones, to its immense credit, fights these cases even though we assume we’ll lose,’ she added. ‘Other publications settle out of court, not wanting to go to the expense or trouble of litigation.’
She added that she believed the “biggest losers” in these cases were the Singaporean people, who ‘have a hard time getting complete information and a range of views other than those the government wants them to hear.’

Source: The Daily Princetonian

Keep writing, Melanie.

1984 marked the official demise of a free and independent press in Singapore though the nail was hit into its coffin way back in 1975 with the introduction of the Newspaper and Printing Act to control the ownership of news printing firms.

SPH is the biggest stumbling block to the emergence of a credible alternative party in Singapore to check on the PAP. In almost every general elections, the SPH spin doctors were called upon to demolish the opposition when they should be focusing on critical issues of national importance.

Source: Wayang Party

Again, we say, thank you Internet.

The Films Act as it stands is notorious for its lack of enforceability. These amendments add complexity and naked political motivations to the law, while completely ignoring the contextual reality of a changing technological landscape.

Source: The Online Citizen

We agree. Therefore, we say, thank you Internet.

Because Civic Advocator is part of the new media, and people like Mary Meeker (from Morgan Stanley) argues that advertising spending will go to new media.

See pages 128, 129, 131, 135 of her presentation slide.

We help ourselves. Don’t expect others to help

Tom Wright painted a bleak picture of Singapore’s property sector going forward at The Wall Street Journal. His article ended with the following:
“I’m yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel [for Singapore],” says Mr. Tan, the high-end broker.
We would expect people to continue to dig the dirt and tell it to [...]



Our skin isn’t as thick as it should be

The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) organised a seminar on March 4 to discuss Singapore’s political blogosphere.  Tan Tarn How, Senior Research Fellow and Research Assistant Tan Simin presented their paper on trends observed in the blogosphere.  As reported in the TOC, the researchers identified the following limitations:

The online-offline firewall, while somewhat alleviated by offline [...]



Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew – The answer to the African problem?

Recently, I followed a thread “Democracy and Economic Growth” which started in PoliticsForum.org.   Apparently, members there often question the role of democracy in a developing nation. “During the wave of democratization in Africa during the 90s, many people had renewed hope for the continent, immediately equating newly established democracies to economic growth. Are these democracies [...]



Tell Singapore government: Ask them a question or give a suggestion

We informed people about the “Tell Singapore Government” subsite and have received some interesting reaction at some forums.
See: 3in1 Kopitiam, Sam’s Alfresco Coffee, Singapore Kopitiam, SgForums
Our responses to some of the comments are listed below. If we are not answering some other specific questions, that is because we do not know how.
 

Petitions

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I don’t know

Our Singapore

As seen by people

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• Purpose

To observe, analyse, present our position, and call for action. Read our articles, give your views, and learn together with us.