Let me say this first so as to get it out of the way. I am happy with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Rally speech, and I think it almost pulls the rug under the Workers' Party's feet, almost, except for the question of healthcare costs, which is strangely, perhaps not strangely, a hot potato untouched. Nevertheless, the speech heralds the Singapore welfare …

1. Singapore Angle bids a regretful farewell to Speranza Nuova, who has tendered his resignation from the group blog over the weekend. This is what he says:...My [work] commitments are likely to increase again, and I expect things to be very hectic for the foreseeable future. This will leave little time and energy for blogging--or for fulfilling the obligations of a Singapore …

Yesterday, 155 immigrants joined us as citizens of our nation. Warmest welcome! It is a good choice and I wish you the conviction to carry out your responsibilities and uphold your rights together with the rest of us who have been caring as old citizens. That's that, and moving on to a related topic then: Citizenship Day. If this was supposed to be a significant day for the …

This article also appeared in todayonlineBut where will the funding come from? THAT Singapore is considering setting up a liberal arts college is great news. Education Minister Tharman Sha …

The list of Nominated Member of Parliament has just been announced by the press. Among those not reappointed was the Nature Society President, Dr. Geh Min, ending 'green' representation in parliament. None of the 3 NMP candidates who sought to represent 'green' interests were appointed NMPs. I wonder if the lack of green representation in our new parliament would result in …

I'll leave the talking to them:Fearfully Opinionated describes himself as a young punk who thinks he's a lot smarter than he actually is. He is not an academic, but is interested in philosophy, education, religion and ethics. He maintains his own blog where he writes in 2 persona (purple and blue). FO believes in working towards a more civil and rational blogosphere, the …

I wrote this response for the Straits Times journalists who published their story on "Internet users learning netiquette the hard way", which I thought was a rather good ST piece, above the average 'intelligent value' we can expect from ST (furthermore, the questions were rather interesting and thought-provoking). For one, it actually has an argued opinion bringing together …

A second person in Singapore has been prosecuted for illegal wireless access. He allegedly used an unsecured wireless network to post a bomb threat. Police raided the home of the wireless network owner and seized her computer, but analysis of the machine showed she was not responsible for the bomb hoax.There has been ongoing debate about the legality of unauthorised access to …

The 26th UOB Painting of the Year (UOB POY) exhibition will come to an end this Sunday. Looking back on the 1 July opening ceremony, this post remarks on the instrumentalization of art by the authorities and why it may be self-defeating before making some comments on two of my favourite pieces of the UOB POY exhibition, 'Be Vigilant in Peace Time' by Ms Heng Bee Eng and …

The author is an ex-civil servant who likes to offer a different opinion of the ruling party policies. The Civil Service pay increase had been raising much debate and fierce dissatisfaction among the citizens. Most of the dissent had been targeted at the need for such a high pay for the MR4 grade officers, which is pegged to 2/3 of the mean of the 48 top earners in 6 …