Stories from Quick Reads and Singapore
Cleaning Up the Coastal Areas of Singapore
Since 1992, the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore has been organizing activities to remove garbage from the beaches and mangroves of Singapore. Every year, about 1,500 volunteers are joining the cleanup events that are able to collect 60,000 pieces of litter.
VIDEO: How Palm Oil is Causing Environmental Destruction in Indonesia
The team of Coconuts TV went to south Sumatra in Indonesia to document the impact of the burning of peatlands and forests to make way for the expanding palm oil plantations. The burning of forests in Sumatra is causing the displacement of endangered species in the island; and it also...
Was Singapore Airlines’ Facebook and Twitter Message After the MH17 Crash Insensitive?
After news broke out about the Malaysian Airlines MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine, Singapore Airlines posted this message on Facebook and Twitter: Customers may wish to note that Singapore Airlines flights are not using Ukraine airspace. — Singapore Airlines (@SingaporeAir) July 17, 2014 Many netizens accused the airline of being...
Singapore's Public Order Bill Threatens Human Rights
Teo Soh Lung from Singapore, writing for The Online Citizen, warns against the dangers of the proposed Public Order (Additional Temporary Measures) Bill 2014: Civil rights proponents should be wary of the unfettered rights of police officers to subject them to security searches and banning orders. Those who intend to...
Singapore Hijab Movement
Muhammad Haikal echoes and clarifies the arguments of the Singapore Hijab Movement: Muslims are not asking for ALL women to wear hijab in ALL sectors, rather we are asking that for those ALREADY wearing the hijab, to allow them to continue wearing it. By telling the Muslims that you are...
Review of University Websites in Southeast Asia
Le Minh Khai reviewed the websites of the leading universities in Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and was disappointed with the design and content of these online platforms.
General Motors’ Headquarters Move Out of China
China Law Blog's guest writer Greg Anderson commented on the recent announcement on General Motors’ decision to move its international headquarters from Shanghai to Singapore. To answer the question, the writer asked why did GM move its headquarter to China back in 2004. In hindsight, it seems GM became overly...
Too Many Universities in Singapore?
Limpeh noted the proliferation of higher education institutions in Singapore. Is this good or bad for Singapore? …has this expansion in choices been at the wrong end of the market? So whilst this expansion may have generation jobs for some people (which is a good thing), how many parents want...
Singapore Media and Censorship
After working for three years as sub-editor in a leading Singapore newspaper, Mark Fenn explains how censorship is enforced in the country: Control at the paper is exercised both overtly and through more subtle means. Self-censorship, meanwhile, is ubiquitous. …it was not uncommon for reporters to alter their stories at...
An Undeniably Racist Song, ‘Asian Girlz’ Sparks Controversy
Packed with Asian stereotypes and fetishes, song ‘Asian Girlz’ by ‘Day Above Ground’ has invited controversy and angry comments. Blogger Angry Asian Man typed down the entire lyrics to comment [if they have not] ‘run out of stereotypical Oriental stuff to list off, the song would have gone on for another ten minutes”. The...
INFOGRAPHIC: Singapore Waste Statistics
According to Singapore's National Environment Agency, every person in Singapore generated 1,370 kg of waste in 2012. About 60 percent of the waste were recycled and 40 percent were disposed in incinerators and landfills
Singapore Memory Project
Initiated in 2011, the Singapore Memory Project aims “to collect, preserve and provide access” to Singapore's history. Further, “it aims to build a national collection of content including print, audio and video to preserve them in digital form, and make them available for discovery and research.” The project hopes to...
Blogshops are Popular in Singapore
Lucas Chua writes about the blogshop phenomenon in Singapore. A blogshop is an online fashion store that uses a blog. In Singapore, four of the country’s ten most-searched stores are blogshops.
No Taxis for the Blind in Singapore?
A visually impaired lady from Singapore wrote about the lack of public awareness on the helpfulness of guide dogs as a taxi driver refused to let in her guide dog saying “Dogs are not allowed” on taxis. Would Singaporeans only accept blind people with their guide dogs when there is a protective...
Singapore: Forget Immigration, Focus on Fertility
Improving total fertility rate and labor force participation rate to increase the resident workforce over time rather than immigration-driven growth is the more appropriate way forward for Singapore Titled ‘A Dynamic Population for a Sustainable Singapore’, the opposition Workers’ Party drafts its own policy paper in response to Singapore government's...
Singapore: Testimony of Deported Bus Workers
After my work pass was cancelled, I felt like another person. I was no longer a respectable bus driver but a prisoner. Maybe the way the police treated us as we moved from room to room made me feel that way. This was the testimony of He Zhi Yi, one...
How to Say Singapore Correctly?
Is it Sing-GAH-Pore, Sing-GUH-pore, ‘sing-GUH-pawr’, ‘Singgah-pura’, Sinkapore? Blogger gdy2shoez reviews various interpretations on how to correctly pronounce the name of Singapore.
Human Rights Issues in Singapore
We call on the government to recognize, respect and fulfil social and cultural rights of all Singaporeans and to review its developmental mindset that overvalues economic growth to the detriment of our society's identity and disappearing heritage. Think Centre identifies several human rights issues in Singapore.
Critique of Southeast Asia Human Rights Declaration
The ASEAN Human Rights Declaration makes references to balancing the rights with responsibilities. We are of the view that this provision is based on a false premise that individual rights negate communitarian responsibilities. This is erroneous as we contend that the nature of universality, inalienability and indivisibility of individual rights...
Preserving Southeast Asia's Peatlands
Peat swamp forests in Southeast Asia cover approximately 35 million hectares in the region. An inter-nation network was set-up to preserve the peatlands which play a ‘critical role in the economy and ecology of the region – providing timber and non-timber forest products, water supply, flood control and many other...
Singapore: ‘Transient Workers Count Too’ Website
The ‘Transient Workers Count Too’ website provides research and direct assistance to low-wage migrant workers in Singapore. Their recent initiative was to raise funds for two Chinese workers who were killed in an accident.