Neither honesty nor religious tolerance needed

What America's religious right has lately got up to, on the matter of gay couples raising children and Congressmen of a different faith. Full essay.

Cinema: Borat is boring

Meant as a spoof of widespread anti-semitism and other prejudices commonly found among Americans, this film has had a vigourous build-up. But it fails to make its intended point. Full essay.

Unintelligent toilets

Public rest rooms in Singapore are equipped with all sorts of sensors and gadgets, yet in some other aspects, they are poorly designed. Full essay.

Abolishing death penalty: understanding the challenges

It's an uphill task educating the public about the death penalty, particularly in Singapore where judicial executions lack transparency, writes Charles Tan. Guest essay.

Singapore bans tsunami charity book, part 2

The government explained that Leslie Kee's book was banned because it contained "explicit male nudity". It told the New Paper that female nudity was acceptable, but not male nudity. What does this tell us about the government's motives? Full essay.

Singapore bans tsunami charity book

World famous photographer Leslie Kee's book "Superstars" has been banned. Launched in Hong Kong, the book featured 300 Asian artistes and celebrities. The MDA said it contained "full nudity", violating Singapore's "acceptable norms". Judge for yourself. Full essay .

A nonbeliever in the religion of food

We have our favourites in our food paradise, or are they just fads? Is it even a food paradise at all? Full essay.

The safety limits of globalisation

More and more, we note the job insecurities and income disparities that are consequences of globalisation. Clearly, as markets and corporations become global, there are downsides that need to be addressed, but how effective are governments that are only local? Full essay.

Bedside reading

Some people get worked up over sexual titillation and pornography. Porn dehumanises women, they say, but the funny thing about such communities that get all upset is how unequally genderised they tend to be in the first place. Full essay.

Rio teenagers most gay-accepting

BBC's recent poll of teenagers from 10 cities found that the next generation from third-world cities is not necessarily homophobic, reports Charles Tan. Guest essay.

How to treat citizens better than foreigners

The Health Minister announced recently that healthcare subsidies for migrant workers will be eliminated. This is to "treat visitors well, but citizens better". Full essay.

There's public consultation and there's public consultation

The Hong Kong government has just abandoned its proposal for 5% GST, after listening to citizens via public consultations. How does Singapore's public consultation process compare? Full essay.

Blogging and the making of history

There is a difference between academic history and popular history (a.k.a. national myths), and bloggers may well be the ones writing the latter. Yet the Workers' Party seems rather poor at seizing the moment. Full essay.

Attitudes towards HIV risks and education

Results of the online survey into how the more politically-aware Singaporean internet surfers see HIV risks and possible counter-measures. Do gays and straights hold different opinions? Do males and females see things differently? Full essay.

Cinema: Indigenes and others

I'm among the tiny minority who go for art films. I saw two good ones, from Germany and France, just this week. One was about a rapist trying to adjust back to society and the other, about a little-known fact from the Second World War. Full essay.

Stem cell research in Singapore

Stem cell research is doing well in Singapore, despite what Yawning Bread thought. Here is a guest essay that presents an insider's view that is much more positive about the work being done here by locals and foreigners alike. Guest essay.

Hate speech law badly drafted

The government has proposed to broaden the scope of the law against wounding religious feelings. It intends to add "race" to it, but what about other hate targets? Full essay.

What our non-crusading media avoids

After being scolded by Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng in 1999 for "crusading journalism", our mainstream media now watches itself carefully not to report certain kinds of news. No surprise then that gay news is hard to find. Full essay.

Our disgraceful trinity: littering, inconsideration and bad service

We've been angsty about these for years, but nothing seems to change. Do we even try to find out the deep reasons why? Full essay.

The niqab and the freedom of religion

When is the State justified in interfering with a religious practice? Is there any logical basis for the notion of "freedom of religion"? Full essay.