Two weeks ago Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar spoke on '40 Years of ASEAN: Its Evolution and its challenges today' at the LSE. Although Albar listed seven weaknesses of ASEAN [(1) Lack of coordination; (2) Overlapping jurisdiction between ministerial and sectoral agencies; (3) Proliferation of ASEAN bodies and meetings that perpetuate the 'talk shop' image; (4) Securing compliance …

Robert Putnam in his seminar piece on "Bowling Alone" argues that the United States has increasingly seen its social capital reduced over time. In the 1960s Americans tend to form bowling leagues and bowl together with strangers and friends to create real communities among people. However, such bowling groups have diminished to the point that by the late 1980s that most …

Nuclear power is considered a non-starter and a radioactive-hot potato for Singapore. Official and popular thinking about nuclear power seems to conform the precepts of Normal Accident Theory, that is, it is such a complex technology that an accident is almost inevitable and the consequences will be devastating. On the other hand, the attitude of the authorities and populus …

September-October 2007 was interesting for political pundits wanting to see how the civil society in Singapore is managing. When the Mynamar junta used violence to quell the unrest, Singaporeans and the Myanmar community were appalled enough to protest. When NMP Siew Kum Hong launched a campaign to repeal 377A, it rejuvenated a maelstrom of pro and anti-gay debate. The truth …

This post picks up on a point made by Oikono's SIPA friend about how "the dearth of independent social policy research in Singapore... results in conservative decision making." I argue that the crux of the problem is not so much that critical social policy research is lacking but that such research does not constitute as significant, regular or structural input into the civil …

For the last two tickers, I would froth up on the sofa spot on a Saturday night to post just past midnight. But yesterday, my Guinness stout tasted extra sweet as I saw the opposition in Malaysia turn back the BN juggernaut. My froth got quite distracted. What I like about the Malaysian elections is the maturity that is shown by both the incumbent and opposition alliance and …

I'm inspired by a particular thread at Mr Wang's blog, where the readers left very good comments. The debate occurring there was about the importance of 'fun' in learning and education. According to the Ministry of Education, members of 'the public' (which includes us!) are the 'partners' of MOE whom it would like to 'work with together' to improve the education system. So I …

Coincidentally, the Straits Time Digital (pp 10-11) published a piece "More Netizens Open up to Blog Scene" today, and made a mention about Singapore Angle as a group blog. Two months ago, together with Kevin Lim, a prominent video blogger and social media researcher, we have produced a short twenty minute video and introduced the socio-political blogosphere in Singapore. …

On the aftermath of the BlogTV.SG event with George YeoSo, you have seen the "Big Boys Blogging" episode last night in BlogTV.SG. Honestly, I have moved on immediately after the report on the event to the Singapore Angle team and the teaser. When I decided to go on the show, I was under no illusion in thinking that engaging in such a conversation with our minister for …

I am responding at length to Speranza Nuova's previous post on the 'No Pork' podcast and the debates that ensued. I find the clip not only distasteful but offensive in more ways than merely racist, regardless of whether it is funny or not. I will elaborate on that in the last section. But first, the comments and criticisms of SN's piece raise other issues concerning public …