Stolen star shines an unflattering light

Cabinet minister Vivian Balakrishnan told a roomful of students that the YouTube age of politics is here. Without sound, music and moving images, nobody will watch, he said. He may be right: we're all watching the 2008 National Day music video. But why, really? Full essay.

Does the Attorney-General know what's in the law books?

Attorney-General Walter Woon says men who sexually abuse underaged males will be prosecuted under Section 377A. What's wrong with that? Full essay.

Where's the line between serving the state and serving the party?

Attorney-General Walter Woon's difficulties in explaining away his remark about human rights 'fanatics' shows how compromised one can be when serving the state, in a case where one political party so dominates it. Full essay.

Sodomy, corruption and Malaysia's Penal Code

New sodomy allegations against Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim shows how sodomy laws when used for political purposes corrupt politics. It also makes it harder for a society to deal intelligently with the question of homosexuality. Full essay.

Regulate, not ban, the sale of human organs

The current law that criminalises the sale of human organs creates moral unease when it is used to prosecute the already desperate. Time for a policy rethink. Full essay.

Thursday morning at the Novotel

You never know who else is staying in the same hotel as you, and who you'll meet at breakfast. This morning, in walks a man dressed differently from everybody else. Musings on identity and symbolism. Full essay.

Orchard Road: boom, bust, stuck and shut

There is a lot of construction activity along Orchard Road, our main shopping street. We're good at building huge new shopping malls, but creating a premier shopping district takes much more than that. We're not so good at tackling the other issues. Full essay.

Key concerns about internet deregulation emerge at forum

Much of the discussion during the Seminar on Internet Regulatory Reform concerned how we should handle racially and religiously offensive speech, how community moderation would work and the ban on political films. Full essay.

In the heartlands

Photos from where most of us really live: the hawker centre, the neighbourhood shops, the playgrounds. Nothing at all like how our tourism pictures portray Singapore. Photo essay.

Why only 'practical NGOs' and for economic reasons?

The government boasts that Singapore is attracting more non-profits and non-governmental organisations to locate in Singapore. Speaks of economic spin-offs, confident that there'll be no risk of activism. Vinita Ramani finds such an attitude appalling. Guest essay.

Did unbridled capitalism leave people vulnerable to oil and food price rises?

Globally, we have enjoyed half a century of unparalleled economic growth though some countries did better than others. Yet today we have protests breaking out across the world over oil and food price rises, because for hundreds of millions, the pain is real. Why are people still so vulnerable? Full essay.

Norway legalises gay marriage

By a parliamentary vote, Norway becomes the 6th country in the world to achieve marriage equality. Its new law also provides for equality in parental rights. Meanwhile same-sex weddings in California will start on 16 June 2008. Full essay.

Rainbow rising in the Western sky

The British government has instructed all its diplomatic missions to monitor and support gay equality abroad. How the Straits Times deals with news stories about gay pride parades. Full essay.

Gopalan Nair's quickie press conference

After Gopalan Nair was charged, for the second time, with insulting a judge, he held a press conference. An inside look into what happens at a press conference. How much of that will be in tomorrow's news? Full essay.

Pity that Youthquake 2 didn't make it to the Richter scale

The turnout for the Workers' Party's Youth wing's forum on transportation was poor, a sign of the Singapore public's political apathy, even among young citizens. However, this forum series is an important program for the party and they must persevere. Full essay.

The Singapore Democratic Party: method or madness?

It's common to hear people say the SDP's tactics put them off. They are futile anyway; they can never win, for who will vote for them? But electoral victory is not what the SDP is about. Full essay.

We duds at the pinnacle of evolution

With so many examples of unintelligent work around us, why do some of us think that humans are smart? Just spend some time in our public transport system, and the evidence is there to see. Full essay.

US Catholic group spends franctically to oppose gay marriage

A Catholic organisation in the United States spent about three-quarters of a million US Dollars to buy advertising space in major dailies to condemn homosexuality and same-sex marriage. What happened to feeding the poor, nursing the sick and disaster relief? Think what good all the money could have done. External essay on Fridae.com

Whose misbehaviour diminishes us all?

Political theatre in Singapore courts as leaders and supporters of the Singapore Democratic Party are charged for various offences. Some unflattering similarities with Thailand and Zimbabwe. Full essay.

Attorney-General says "human rights now a religion" with fanatics

Singapore's Attorney-General disses attempts to use the courts as a route to determining questions of human rights, calling those dissenters who draw attention to human rights abuses hypocrites and fanatics. Also suggests that it's absurd to consider same-sex marriage a human rights issue. Full essay.

A family's invisibles

Guest writer Zeal's grandmother passed away. Who mourned her passing? Who's she who sobbed so uncontrollably? Guest essay.

Necessary conditions for economic growth and the varnished truth

An international commission's report about how poor countries can achieve economic growth was reported by the Straits Times in a way that trumpeted the Singapore government's line about "good governance", non-necessity for democracy and high salaries for officials. Full essay.

The second Burmese conversation

Six months after I met with a group of Burmese to explore their feelings about the snuffed-out monks' protests last September and October, much has happened in their country, not least Cyclone Nargis and the generals' preoccupation with a referendum. What were their feelings now? Full essay.

The displacement of reason

On 15 May 2008, I spoke at a Catholic forum titled, "What's wrong with homosexual acts? Viewpoints from psychology and societal implications". You shouldn't be surprised at the theme. Religious forums tend to be like that - not so much an open-ended enquiry to search for answers, but an exercise in shoring up the faith. Here, for the record, is the (long) full text of the talk. Complete text.

Seminar on Internet regulatory reform

Organised by the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University


"The job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open" -- Gunter Grass

Are Singaporeans satisfied with the state of internet regulation as existing? If not, what changes do we wish to see and how can a bottom-up desire for reform translate into policy review?

Can Singapore afford the political and social costs of free speech? Is there a contradiction between wanting freedom for political speech and controls over social speech?

Is technology really in the driver’s seat? Are governments powerless in the face of a global internet?

• Guest speaker: Mr Arun Mahizhnan, Dep. Dir. Institute of Policy Studies
• Presentations by members of the Bloggers’ Group for Internet Deregulation
• Chaired by Asst Prof Cherian George, Wee Kim Wee School, NTU

Date: Saturday, 21 June 2008
Time: 2:00 - 5:00 pm
Venue: URA Centre, Maxell Rd, Function Hall, Level 5 (See map below)
Admission: Free
Media: Open to reporting

To register, please send an empty email to irr-singapore-subscribe@googlegroups.com

You will get an email response asking you to confirm your subscription to the Googlegroup. Please do so; this will allow us to compile a registration list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by sending an email to irr-singapore-unsubscribe@googlegroups.com . In any case, you will not get mail from the Googlegroup unless there are urgent notices regarding the seminar.

From Azerbaijan with camp

The wonders of singing competitions: Eurovision 2008 and American Idol Season 7. Full essay.

Where are we now with stem cell research?

Private funding has dried up. The whole project is now virtually all government-funded, with great dollops of cash. Payback is at best decades away. Here's another long-term investment with public money, but also one with not much accountability. Full essay.

We're prepared to listen, says government

Vivian Balakrishnan says the government is open to contrarian views... but follows that with a list of ifs and buts. Meanwhile, other news reports reinforce the common view of a heavy-handed government. Full essay.

Cuba holds anti-homophobia event

The communist government in Havana backs a campaign for gay equality despite the lingering influences from Catholicism. In Singapore however, a Catholic forum saw a rather frenzied attempt to prove homosexuality an illness. Full essay.

The unnatural afterlife of the Section 377A debate

In August last year, Prof Douglas Sanders was banned from giving a public lecture in Singapore about anti-gay laws throughout former British colonies. This week, he is here, giving the exact same talk at the National University of Singapore. Full essay.

Long term investments or long shots?

Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, the GIC, invests for the very long term, but the news in the short term can be quite unnerving. On Citigroup and the Old Lane hedge fund, and on Shincorp. Full essay.

Burma should be suspended from Asean

With such callous disregard for the humantarian crisis following cyclone Nargis, are the Burmese generals committing a crime against humanity? Since Asean has no influence on them anyway, we should signal our moral outrage and suspend them from the organisation. Full essay.

Gay marriage victory in California Supreme Court

The California Supreme Court has ruled that it is unconstitutional to deny marriage to gay and lesbian couples. The state thus becomes the second in the US to offer same-sex marriage after Massachusetts. Full essay.

Stop demolishing, start integrating

Tan Mingjuan calls for a rethink of urban planning policies in Singapore. What kind of city do we - and the new talent we hope to attract - want to live in? Guest essay.

Hong Kong broadcasting regulator's decision overturned by court

While our Media Development Authority runs amok imposing fine after fine on TV stations for the slightest trace of homosexuality, in Hong Kong, when their broadcasting regulator tried to do the same, they were slapped by the court. Full essay.

Here's proof: Section 377A being enforced

A man has just been charged under Section 377A, our anti-gay law. This, barely months after the prime minister suggested that gay citizens have nothing to fear from the law. Full essay.