Alvinology said:

Rachel and I are the first couple in Singapore to have our solemnisation ceremony on board an airplane – how cool is that? :)

It happened at 5.50am on 2 February, 2010, on board Jetstar’s plane, 3K 823 at Changi Airport, Terminal 1.

The two witnesses who signed on the certificate were my mom and Rachel’s mom. The wedding solemniser is Justice of Peace, Mr Lim Huan Chiang.

The ceremony was short, it was over in around ten minutes. The plane took off on time after that with no delay.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Something cheery and romantic for the upcoming Valentine's Day cum Chinese New Year."

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QuaChee said:

Ho Yeow Sun, the wife of the Pastor Kong from City Harvest Church came out with a few Chinese albums and I bought her first. There were lots of hype for the album and controversies too. Ntevertheless I think her first album is not too bad - it does fulfill its purpose - ie to inspire :)

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "It's a compilation of singers from Singapore - sometimes we never know how talented we are till someone points it out"

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The Temasek Review said:

Furniture retail mart Courts will be launching a mass recruitment in exercise in Johor Bahru on 18 January 2010 for Malaysians to fill various positions in Singapore according to a tip-off we receive from a reader.

Singaporeans need not apply even if you travel across the Causeway for the interview as they are open to Malaysians only.

One may think that these jobs are those shunned by Singaporeans and Courts has no choice but to turn to Malaysians to fill the vacancies, as is often used by leaders of the ruling party to defend its pro-foreigner policy and regurgitated faithfully by the state media. ...

Is Singapore Courts recruiting Malaysian workers to work in factories on late shifts?

Let us take a look at the positions offered by Courts to the Malaysians:

The vacancies needed to be filled by Courts are: product specialists, cashiers, operation executives, assistant accountants, credit officer and customer account assistants.

Now these are not highly specialized positions which can only be filled by professionals and talents not available in Singapore or menial jobs shunned by Singaporeans.

Any Singaporean equipped with a ITE or “O” level certificate will be more than qualified to take up these jobs. Why is Courts recruiting Malaysians instead of Singaporeans?

Recommended by at82: "For unemployed or retrenched Singaporeans who are still looking for a job, they will stand a better chance giving up their Singapore citizenship to become a Malaysian and apply for a job based in Singapore in Malaysia instead"

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Lucky Tan said:

"I've applied with the govt before. It always comes to nothing." - Mother

"Where do you go to apply" - Christopher Lee

"The fourth floor of HDB inToa Payoh. I don't understand much English. I only know it is the welfare department. Sometimes, they reject my applications. We go to them because we need help. Otherwise, why bother going to them or subject ourselves to humiliation? I wished I didn't have to go there. They can be so rude. " - Mother

"In what way?" - Actress..

"They keep telling you to work. Its okay if I can find a job. But I may not find one that allows me to look after my children. We go to them only because we need help. They shouldn't say 'Look for a job. Don't always expect help' - Mother

"How did you reply" - Actress

"I kept quiet. Just weep. What else?" - Mother.

So the govt helps these poor folks by telling them to look for a job. Having 2 disabled kids is not a sufficient to qualify for help?

Recommended by at82: "Here is a family that obviously needs help and are poor due to no fault of their own. They have 2 kids with disabilities and the father has difficulty finding a job. What does the govt do to them? Humiliate them when they ask for help and threaten to evict them from their rented flat due to arrears. The part about govt help starts at 6 minutes 23 seconds into the video."

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Singapore Short Stories said:

As the year draws to a close in less than a week’s time, let us recall some of the important and sensational events, which occur in Singapore’s Blogosphere in year 2009.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Useful summary of what 2009 has meant to the blogging world. Have you missed any event? Read this post."

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Hear Ye! Hear Ye! said:

Reading what Law Minister K Shanmugam is proposing for our education system, the alarm bells went off in my head. He’s proposing to educate Singapore students about politics, and while he has added a disclaimer that he is not in favour of championing a political system over another, it seems to me that ultimately, the aim is to influence students to think that the liberal democracy practised in Europe and America is not applicable to a city-state such as Singapore.

Recommended by at82: "The Law Minister wants to peddle propaganda to kids just when I thought they can't get any lower.... "

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National Geographic Magazine said:

To lead a society, the MM says in his precise Victorian English, "one must understand human nature. I have always thought that humanity was animal-like. The Confucian theory was man could be improved, but I'm not sure he can be. He can be trained, he can be disciplined."

Recommended by tinkertailor: "Article on Singapore culture, politics, and LKY."

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Seah Chiang Ngee said:

In a two-storey home, I saw various family members watching cable television on five 37-inch LCD sets in their own rooms. One was attached next to the dining table so that none needed to miss any programme while eating. In front of the house were parked two cars.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Malaysian writer comments on Singaporean middle class."

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Temasek Review said:

Ms Jayne Goh made headlines this year with the setting up of the Association of Blogger ostensibly to “educate” bloggers on responsible blogging.

The association drew flak from the online community with many bloggers expressing scepticism about the organisation, questioning its purpose and leadership.

It was boycotted by most major blogs including the Temasek Review.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Ironic that founder of Singapore Bloggers Association wanted to promote responsible blogging, but ended up defaming people and being sued."

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Pat Law said:

Entrenched in the local blogosphere six feet under, I vehemently disagree to the generalization of Singapore blogs as herewith subjectively criticized by the skeptics. Yet, I recognize that in this world we live in, Perception is Truth. There is truth in what the skeptics are saying but I reckon that the fundamental problem we have here is awareness. I’d bet you a round of beer than you won’t imagine the blogs listed below being from Singapore. Or at very least, most of them.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "High traffic blogs from Singapore that many Singaporeans don't know about. (Note: most of them are design related)"

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Yuhui said:

This group was created in response to a comment by well known American blogger, Michael Arrington. In a blog entry, he claimed that Singaporean blogs are (largely) controlled by the government. [...] it is more likely that there are many more Singaporean blogs that are NOT controlled by the government [...].

Recommended by yuhui: "We need to educate people from around the world about the independence of our Singapore blogosphere!"

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Yaevlejunce said:

Remember how LKY said he will send in the army if there ever is a "freak election" and the PAP is voted out of Parliament? In every other country, when the people vote out the ruling party, it is called a mandate. It is only in Singapore that such a vote is called a "freak election". Also, whose Army is it anyway? Is it the Army of the people of Singapore - who have just voted out the PAP? Or is it the Army of the PAP?

I list here ten out of the many other reasons why I am unable to vote for the PAP:

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Author lists 10 reasons why he cannot vote for the PAP. A worthy read."

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Dennis Thompsett said:

I recently received, in a roundabout way, an e-mail containing a speech to graduating students in Singapore, given by Adrian Tan, a lawyer and author. (He wrote the novel, The Teenage Textbook, which was not only a stunning bestseller in Asia, but was also made into a hit movie and a successful play. So he may be the sole reason why Singaporean teenagers are so well behaved and studious today.)

In any case, I now intend to blatantly steal from Mr. Tan's speech.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Canadian newspaper columnist calls on people to follow Adrian Tan's advice and be hated."

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1001 Rules for the Singaporean said:

Getting things straight for the citizens, new immigrants and foreigners living in Singapore.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "An interesting website collecting 1001 rules for the average singaporeans on the streets. The rules are generated based on current affairs and the mindsets of your fellow singaporean. An interesting and funny read."

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Wet Calamari said:

Since its first run last year, AFA appears to have mushroomed into an even bigger event this year if we go by the marketing hype; quite a feat for what is supposed to already be the largest-scaled anime event in Singapore. Just like many other similar events, it was held at Suntec Convention Center Halls 403/404 over this weekend.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Hey, it's a big anime event."

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The Restaurant said:

New $100 paper banknotes have been spotted in Singapore a few days ago, carrying the signature of Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Upon obtaining the note, the first thing which I noticed was the difference in intensity of colour on the new $100 note, in particular the dark brown colour.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Something which many is unaware of"

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Seah Chiang Nee said:

Years later, if writers looked back at the current severe downturn to ask what lasting impact the global crisis had on this society, one answer would be the erosion of the middle class...

The theory, known as the M-shaped society, was enunciated by Japanese strategist Kenichi Ohmae. He observed that in Japan’s “M-shape” class distribution, very few middle-class people may climb up the ladder into the upper class, while the others gradually sank to the lower classes.

These people suffered a deterioration in living standards, faced the threat of unemployment, or their average salary was dropping...

Kenichi said all this might take place while the economy enjoyed remarkable growth and overall wages rose. However, the wealth increase may concentrate in the pockets of the very few rich people in society.

The masses cannot benefit from the growth, and their living standard goes into decline. For many middle-class Singaporeans, these sound uncomfortably like home. ...

Singapore has the second-highest income gap with a Gini score of 42.5 among developed economies after Hong Kong

Recommended by at82: "New millionaires will emerge from the ashes, but a bit of the middle class will disappear."

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anonymouse 6 said:

In an apparent effort to wipe out the accounts of gold farmers, asiasoft decides to block anyone with large recent transactions..

apparently their criteria of large was so low, it resulted in thousands of blocked players

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "topical, players have no rights in singapore, whether legal or not. we are completely at the descretion of tyrants and fools"

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Cheng Ding An said:

If you knew Dollah Kassim, maybe you would know what a gracious, soft spoken, big hearted man he was.

If you knew Dollah Kassim, maybe you would have known an entire generation of legendary

footballers who fought and won something simply astounding, but are now lost and forgotten

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "A moving tribute to Singapore football legend, Dollah Kassim, written by the Kallang Roar movie director, Cheng Ding An who had the honour to work with him for his movie."

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Seah Chiang Nee said:

AN ELECTRONICS firm that advertised last week for a “preferably non-Singaporean” engineer has added fuel to a worsening controversy in this migrant city.

It particularly stipulated that “permanent residents are welcome” to apply for this “mid-career job (salary negotiable)”.

A copy of the advertisement found its way onto the web.

Applicants should have a diploma or a relevant trade certificate, with 3-5 years’ work experience, and “preferably non-Singaporean (PR welcome),” it added. ...

The foreigners, hungrier and without family responsibility here, generally work longer hours for less pay – something that married Singaporeans with a home mortgage to pay cannot possibly match.

A small industry has risen to recruit them in large numbers – as indicated by a recruitment agency, with this advertisement: “Do you find it difficult and expensive to hire local staff? Why not consider hiring foreign talents?”

Claiming it was licensed by the Manpower Ministry, the agency said that it had recruited thousands of workers from China, India, Vietnam and Malaysia for Singapore firms in the past five years.

Recommended by at82: "Now we know where we stand. Singaporeans are now below foreigners."

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