Rage in safe Singapore

One man dead, another in a coma. A teenager in hospital with his face nearly unrecogniseable. Violence is a symptom of social breakdown. Are we paying attention? Full essay.

Indiana billboard vandalised

The billboard had said, "Jesus affirmed a gay couple". Hmmm... is that really so? I asked myself. Guest essay.

Digging into foundations is mischief

The excavations at Sanxingdui are raising subversive questions about the linear narrative that tends to dominate Chinese history. Singapore too promotes a linear narrative. Anyone doing excavations of Singapore's political history? Full essay.

Highly paid moral weasels

Lee Kuan Yew told Reuters that "eventually" the anti-gay law will have to be changed. Why "eventually"? Full essay.

The oracle from St James

Lee Kuan Yew talks about homosexaulity and the "inevitable force of time and circumstance", but what exactly is he saying? Full essay.

Some get married, others get raped

Gay news from around the globe in the last 2 months includes the first gay civil union solemnised in Mexico City, but also kidnap and torture from the Third World. Full essay.

Gobsmacking days

We are all prone to foolish associations and categorisations, but it's less forgiveable when corporations don't realise it, resulting in culturally biased questions. Full essay.

How a traffic jam began

All because a bus driver wouldn't take responsibility for taking a detour that circumstances called for. The "cover-your arse" syndrome at work. Full essay.

Beware being caught out when the tide turns

Opposition parties risk being left behind as public opinion on Section 377A of the Penal Code (the part criminalising gay sex) changes, writes Charles Tan. Guest essay.

Defending the national scripture

Another of Martyn See's films is banned. In the latest one, an ex-political detainee, Said Zahari, protested that he had not been a communist in 1963 when he was arrested, but why must a historical question be subject to bans? Full essay.

Cinema: Two stories from the slums

The blossoming of Maximo Oliveros by Aureus Solito from the Philippines is an accessible family drama that warms the heart. I don't want to sleep alone by Taiwanese director Tsai Ming-liang is his usual bleak and spare art film, with a surprisingly tender core. Full essay.

Ministers get pensions too

... in addition to their high salaries, and in a way that may well be "uniquely Singapore". Full essay.

Lights, action..... and cut

More examples of petty censorship in action by MDA as well as self-censorship by Mediacorp. Some clauses in the MDA's Free-to-air TV Program Code you might not have noticed. Full essay.