Diary of an Island

Today is the last day of operations for Geylang Serai Market after 42 years. It will be demolished and a new market built nearby. Stallholders will move to a temporary site on Sim Avenue till 2008. The Block 51 Old Airport Road food centre is luckier - it is only being renovated and should be reopened next year. That means Old Airport Road stallholders will be in temporary stalls for only a year.

A historic event happened on Sunday afternoon in the form of a Singapore Fringe Festival forum. In the Detention - Writing - Healing forum held at the Esplanade Recital Studio, ex-political detainees Tan Jing Quee & Michael Fernandez joined playwright Robert Yeo in a discussion about their detention experience and life after release. Robert Yeo spoke about his experience writing The Singapore Trilogy, a set of three plays (You There, Singapore?, One Year Back Home, & Changi) written and staged over a period of x years. The plays were loosely based on Michael Fernandez's story. Said Zahari was to have been part of the panel but was unfortunately too ill to travel. Hopefully he will be better in time for the launch of the second volume of his memoirs, Dark Clouds at Dawn, and Marytn See's documentary, Zahari's 17 Years. As Said Zahari was reported to have said, "'Such an event would not have taken place in the country even five years ago," (Kwek, Ken. 'Ex-detainees to speak at local forum'. Straits Times. 7 Jan 2006). The event was organised by The Necessary Stage and Tan Chong Kee chaired the session.

The Associated Press report filed by Gillian Wong ends a quote from a member of the audience that I thought summarised the forum:

Melanie Hui, 24, a Singaporean who works with a nonpolitical private group, described the talk as "illuminating."
"I left the forum thinking that there is such a big gap in our understanding of that era, especially for people in my generation," Hui said. "I think it's a really historic event, and it's about time."

For such a historic event, both blogs and newspapers have remained relatively silent. The event was mentioned in Straits Times articles on 7 Jan (Ex-detainees to speak at local forum), 14 Jan (2006: Politics increases its stage presence?) & 18 Feb (Telling the Singapore storyies). Online, I found only reproductions of the 7th Jan Straits Times articles on Singabloodypore and OB Markers for Singapore Filmmakers.

Today (27th Feb), the Straits Times carried one article about the forum: 'Ex-political detainees want their story told'. Online, I spotted a good account of the forum posted on Singabloodypore by 'Charles' titled 'Ex-political detainees break silence at forum'. A shorter blog entry was posted by 'perrin' onto Sintercom by 'perrin' titled 'Detention-Writing-Healing'.

This leaves me wondering - is the subject considered irrelevant for today's Singaporean? However, the forum was well attended with many young people in the audience. Will wait to see if this turns out to be a non-event.

More and more Internet news becomes print news. On Mon 20th, the Straits Times carried an article 'Nanyang Poly probing sex video clip' about a 4.8M handphone video of a couple having sex being circulated. The girl was identified as 'Tammy', a Nanyang Poly student. It was reported that her handphone was "apparently stolen by a girl who was jealous of her popularity." and that the thief "uploaded it and mass e-mailed it to lecturers and students of the school." While the article said that blogging about the incident started on Thu, the earliest blog entries I've found thus far are from the 17th at Book of Aletheia (NYP sex scandal) and juz brennan (Raunchy Poly).

On the 24th, the Straits Times carried an interview with 'Tammy': 'Student in sex video: 'We didn't intend to be porn stars''. Both the Straits Times and the New Paper have been carrying followup articles about cases of photos and videos being used as blackmail after breakups as well as why some people film such videos. Of course some of the articles carried moralistic overtones or undertones. In Penang, the Star carried a story, 'Sex video featuring student on sale', on Sat 25th that the video had been downloaded by pirates and is being sold!

The funniest posting must be from 'zipper'. On the 21st, he posted an 'OPEN LETTER TO PM LEE - Reason why blog sites must be regulated.' to the Google group soc.culture.singapore. You can read for yourself the comments such a post attracted.

Will today's newspaper articles in the New Paper and solitary article in the Straits Times be the end of the coverage? I suspect so unless the perpetuator is caught.

Once in a while, some community infomation slips into the news. For instance, yesterday, a 17 year old ACS International student, Esther Tan gave CPR to one of the Holland V newspaper vendors, 'Uncle Loga'. The Straits Times went on to say that Logadasan works at Mama Joe Magazine Corner (In a decade of going to Holland V, (I never knew the name of that shop). I'm not sure whether 'Uncle Loga' is something actually used by the community though. Hope Loga pulls through

Many blogs just post news articles and make a couple of comments. Book of Aletheia on the other hand seems to be doing actual news reporting with an Esther Tan interview. Check out her post 'A young role model'.

NUS' Dept of Political Science had their annual Singapore Forum on Politics on Sat 25th. I didn't have a chance to attend it but Double Yellow's Musings has a summary while NUS taped the whole thing and made it available online as a webcast. I don't think it bodes well for the opposition that he criticised the only speaker who might be standing in the next elections as an opposition candidate - James Gomez. To be criticised as boring is not quite a good sign.

What did the assigned Straits Times journalist, William Han, pick up? Well, the article titles in the Sunday Times on the 26th speak for themselves: 'Lack of political choice harmful: Forum panel' and 'Media 'too timid' in election coverage: Panellist'. The latter article which reported the views of Viswa Sadasivan, The Right Angle Group Chairman and former SBC current affairs producer, was reproduced on at least two blogs: Mr Wang and Anti-Neo-Democracy Theorist.

Minister Mentor opened SMU's Li Ka Shin Library on Fri 24th Feb 2006. HK tycoon Li has given a $19.5 million endowment to the library and is sponsoring eight scholarships annually.

DPM Wong Kan Seng clarified that the PA is not the PAP. He, however, saw "'nothing wrong if a PAP member approaches a grassroots leader to invite him to be a PAP member if that person shares the principles, objectives and values of the PAP" according to the 21st Feb Straits Times. Letters proclaiming political neturality from both the People's Association and the Pasir Panjang Garden Estate Neighbourhood Committee were published in Wed 22nd's Straits Times Forum. I suppose that is formally the end of the issue. However, you can still see snide comments about the topic appearing on various Internet forums.

On 16th Feb a Straits Times newpaper article caused a stir: 'Police act to keep teens off streets after 11 pm'. It reported that police were implementing an anti-loitering measure against teens below 17 years of age. Parents of teens found loitering in public places after 11pm would get a letter from the police. Although a Straits Times article said on 17th Feb that "GOOD Parents, social workers welcome move", the 20th Feb Straits Times editorial was critically titled "Crime fighters or babysitters?"

It seems that the measure rasied enough eyebrows that the Police Force had to 'clarify' their position on Feb 22nd: only selected cases would have letters sent to parents. Nothing has come up on this recently so I presume the issue has settled to the bottom of the ocean.

At 4.27pm today, the following article appeared on the Channel NewsAsia website: 'Former DPM Rajaratnam dies of heart failure at age 90'. According to the article, he passed away at 3.15pm, aged 90. Rajaratnam was born in Sri Lanka on 25 Feb 1915. A journalist before he became a politician, he was one of the founding PAP members.

Elected an MP by Kampong Glam in 1959 to the First Legislative Assembly, he served in Parliment for 29 years and retired from politics only in 1988. However, he continued with ISEAS until 1996.

One interesting bit about him was that after he left the Singapore Standard in Dec 1954, he started a weekly news magazine, Raayat. However, it never quite took off and ceased publication in 1955 after only seven issues. Here is an image of the cover of the first issue.

For more about the man, try the following:

1) Dialogues with S. Rajaratnam, Former Senior Minister in the Prime Minister's Office
Translated by Lee Seng Giap
Edited by Ang Hwee Suan
Singapore: Shin Min Daily News, 1991.
320.95957 RAJ

2) The Prophetic & the Political: Selected Speeches & Writings of S. Rajaratnam
Edited by Chan Heng Chee & Obaid ul Haq
Singapore: Graham Brash, 1987.
320.95957 RAJ

3) Raayat: The English Weekly for Thinking Malayans
Editor: S Raja Ratnam
Singapore: 1954-1955.
Microfilm NL11186

Channel NewsAsia will be telecasting a special one hour Tribute To S. Rajaratnam at 11.30pm followed by a half hour special Lee Kuan Yew Remembers S. Rajaratnam. That's in 10min so I'll have to sign off this blog entry now.

It seems that some websites are more equal than others. There are a couple of websites which make news. For instance, I believe that the question of blogging about politics during elections was first brought up by Alex Au in his Jan 2006 Yawning Bread article, Blogging during elections. New Sintercom then picked Au's article up on 30 Jan. Is it a coincidence that SG Rally blog appeared on 1 Feb? The rally blog is still empty of course.

Blogger Miyagi then fed the issue into the traditional information stream with his 8 Feb Today article, Blogging and the elections; Will bloggers fall foul of 'election advertising?'

The Media Development Authority brings the issue to official attention by issuing a reminder that that Internet content providers need to comply with Singapore's laws. This is carried by Channel NewAsia (19th Feb) and Today (20th Feb). I bet the silence of the Straits Times is because they are working on a more in-depth story.

The Ford Factory along Bukit Timah Road where the British surrendered on 15th Feb 1942 was gazetted as a national monument exactly 64 years later on 15th Feb 2006. Teo Chee Hean officiated at its opening as a museum , Memories at Old Ford Factory, on the evening of the 16th. It opened to the public today, Mon 20th, and I will be attending a forum there tomorrow. The half day forum, Oral History Forum 2006: Recording Memories, Weaving Stories, is about doing oral history.



News coverage was sparse with Channel NewsAsia announcing the gazetting on 7 Feb: 'Site of British surrender in WW2 to be preserved as national monument'. Today went with an article by JoAnn Melina Lopez with the title 'Relive WWII horrors at new monument' on 16 Feb and a follow up article on 20 Feb by Amelynn Liong on 'Memories of eating rats to survive the Japanese Occupation'. The Straits Times on the other hand, seems to have virtually ignored the event. However, there is a major 18 Feb full page Saturday Insight (pS9) piece by Zakir Hussain and Sim Chi Yin on 'Telling the Singapore storyies'. The main story here centres around renewed interest in Singapore's history and the difficulties of doing Singapore history. Although the Ford Factory opening is mentioned, the article seems more a report of the 7 Feb ARI seminar 'Roundtable on Rethinking Singapore History'. There are two side stories about documenting Nantah's history and filming Chin Peng's story (I never knew Chin Peng was from ACS Sitiawan).

Brokeback Mountain was a surprise to me. The first hint of anything happening on the movie front was Felix Cheong's 19 Jan Today article, 'Rustling up a trend'. Today followed that up with a 23 Jan article quoting Director Ang Lee as saying that "Asian audiences are more accepting of gay subject matter than Americans". Ong Sor Fern of the Straits Times then picked up the story with not one, but three separate articles on 28 Jan: 'Brokeback gets R21 rating'; 31 Jan: 'Riding off into the sunrise with Brokeback'; and 15 Feb (the day before it opened in cinemas): 'Ain't no mountain higher'. A letter, 'Heartbroken over Brokeback's rating', by Jonathan Chee appeared in the Life! section of the Straits Times on 3 Feb.

While the general release was on the 16th, there was a charity premiere on Feb 8th organised by Fridae.com to raise funds for Action for Aids followed by a few other preview screenings.

Even after its general release in cinemas on the 16th, Brokeback continued to draw media attention with a review by Jeanine Tan in Today: 'At this mountain's core: A love story' and an opinion piece, 'The Brokeback factor', by Tay Yek Keak in the 20 Feb Straits Times.

Yawning Bread of course had something to say about it... a lot in fact. It is rather interesting that he ends his article, Brokeback Mountain: a Singaporean conversation, with the lines:
"This is proof of what gay Singaporeans have noticed for some time, that if a movie shows happy, well-adjusted gay people, it will be banned or severely cut. If the gay or lesbian characters are sick, despairing or end up dead, then the film is approved.
That Singaporeans are even able to carry on an intelligent conversation given such attempts at thought control is a small miracle!"

Peh Shing Huei's 10 Feb article in the Straits Times, 'Aye to apolitical grassroots organisations', seems to have struck a chord with two subsequent Straits Times Forum letters agreeing with him: 'Choosing grassroots advisers: Forget politics' by Chong Weien on 14 Feb and 'Grassroots worker wants out of politics' by Yee Kai Ling on 18 Feb. Peh's article picked up the assertion in the recently released Worker's Party manifesto that grassroot leaders are "the 'eyes and ears' of the Government". To quote Peh further: "In fact, for many Singaporeans, there is hardly any distinction between the PAP members and grassroots leaders." Peh's article concludes with the call for grassroot organisations to "remain in the hands of the elected representative".

Chong's letter is a call for "GRO advisers [to be] appointed according to principles of meritocracy, and regardless of political affiliations." while Yee's letter asks that "Volunteers in GROs should not be put in a difficult position to decide whether to join a political party just because they want to serve the community."

The Casino Control Bill was debated on the 13th & 14th and the debate was widely covered by the press. Channel NewsAsia announced passage of the Bill on the evening of the 14th and the news spotlight turned for two more days (until the 16th) to the National Council on Problem Gambling's call for public feedback on how to exclude problem gamblers from the casinos.

On 14 Feb, a New Straits Times article quoted Hydrologist Dr Low Kwai Sim as saying that "The Murray-North Report found conclusive evidence of discharges into the strait from the Kranji sewage plant." and called it "Singapore's "backyard syndrome"". The article did mention that Malaysian rivers were responsible for the pollution. It went on to say that the Causeway had to be broken to flush the pollutants out to sea.

According to a Today article on the 16th, Dr Low is a retired professor contracted by Gerbang Perdana, the contractor engaged to build the new Malaysian Causeway bridge. The article also said that the Singapore High Commission in Malaysia disputes the article and has written to the New Straits Times.

What is the Murray-North Report? Digging back into the old newspapers, the Straits Times reported on the 14th and 15th of July 1993 about the signing of a S$300,000 contract to study the hydrology and water quality of the Straits of Johore. The study was initiated by the Malaysia-Singapore Joint Committee on the Environment (MSJCE) and M/S Murray-North (SEA) Pte Ltd was the consultant engaged for the one year project. It seems that the completion of the project was not reported in the press. In the 1993 news reports, no mention is made of the Causeway.

The news on the 9th and 10th reported a failed attempt at armed robbery on Tuesday night (7th). What was significant about this incident was that shots were fired at the pursuing security guard, Rojion Shariff. If convicted, 58-year old Chan Bing Chaw will probably face the death sentence.

The target of the robbery was the Sun Plaza NTUC lottery outlet takings for the day - $4,000 in cash. Apparently the security guard was escorting the lottery outlet cashier to the NTUC admin office when the robber struck. What surprised me was that the security guard gave chase even though he had apparently already seen the man brandishing a semi-automatic and also heard the weapon go off in the Sun Plaza stairwell leading to the carpark. Grief. $4,000 isn't worth it. It wouldn't even begin to cover the medical bills if you get hit. Oh, the weapon used was an old Smith and Wesson.

An obituary for Lim Chin Siong appeared in The Sunday Times of 5 Feb (pg 32) saying:
It is signed by his wife, Wong Chui Wan, sons, relatives and friends.

Looks like someone has set up a sg blog for election rallies: http://sgrally.blogspot.com/ However, it's empty at the moment. I guess we'll just have to wait till the campaigning starts.

Jacob George closed his blog, Omeka Na Huria, on 31 Jan. He cited personal tragedies and illness for withdrawing from "all my human rights/political work". Hopefully this is only a hiatus.