New York Times said:

At a forum this month with Singapore’s most powerful man, Lee Kuan Yew, the former prime minister whose current title is minister mentor, she asked provocatively whether he would send in the army in the very unlikely event that the P.A.P. lost an election. (His long and intricate answer was that there were other ways to control an opposition government.)

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Catherine Lim in the New York Times."

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Singapore Part Time Jobs documented how not being able to get a part time job led to creating a job portal especially for part-time, contract or temporary jobs in Singapore

Let’s face it, the economy has been bad and projects have been scarce. However, the challenge is not to get worried and overwhelmed. I caught myself whining away when I couldn’t get a part-time job but I really got tired of my rants and complaints. Then I had a Eureka moment and thought “Instead of looking for a part-time job, why don’t I use my skills to create an easy-to-use part time job site for Singaporeans” :)

The goal is to become Singapore’s top part time job site. A lofty one but I know its totally achievable.

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UPI said:

By day, a third-year economics major who wants to be known only as Lynn attends classes at the National University of Singapore, usually clad in a simple getup of jeans and a tank top.

But at night, while most other undergraduates are asleep, Lynn trades her casual wear for a wardrobe of resplendent dresses and works as a social escort, a job scorned and labeled distasteful by most. From 8 p.m. to about 4 a.m. she entertains male clients by attending functions with them, indulging them in a drink and chat, or by providing what she called “discreet services.”

“It’s not exactly the most glamorous of jobs,” Lynn said. “I’m keeping it from my parents and most friends. But what to do? I have to eat my meals and pay my bills.”

Recommended by at82: "The signs of time..."

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Lynn said:

...instead of questioning the appropriateness of the civil servant’s actions, I want to ask the Straits Times people instead: Is this article supposed to be an example of guest journalism or something?

You see, to the best of my knowledge, the civil servant is not a journalist on the payroll of the Straits Times. He’s not a syndicated columnist. So pray tell, why does he get his own byline on an article that’s prominently featured in a leading newspaper?

Recommended by mr.udders: "An additional angle from which to look at the French cooking fiasco."

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The New York Times said:

The houses are magnets for expatriates but unloved by Singaporeans, for whom they have sinister associations. “Some of the more senior taxi drivers don’t like to come here at night,” Mrs. Pickering said. “These houses were taken over by the high command of the Japanese military during the Second World War, and some Singaporeans believe they’re haunted.”

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "The median employed Singaporean can scarcely afford to live in such a swanky house, let alone aspire to own one. I say the writer should've taken the time to actually speak to a real Singaporean before writing this."

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littlespeck said:

the sales decline of the Straits Times is worse than “stagnant” when measured against the recent surge in population.

Last week, it reported that sales for the past year had fallen 0.8% to 381,354 copies.

Despite its near market monopoly and Singapore’s increased use of English, the downward trend over the years has been sharper when calculated on a per capita basis.

Between 1998 and 2007, circulation fell by 2.7% even as the population surged by a record 34%.

Recommended by at82: "No wonder Straits Times can say only say 8 in 10 of their readers think ST is important to their lives."

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MoeMaKa Media said:

"while everyone is worried about the situation in Burma, the above video from The Straits Times show Myanmar nationals happily stating that they are happy to be in Singapore and how things are “not so bad” back there besides the curfews and how everything seems to be calm, while smiling at the cameras.”

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Translation of a Burmese newswatch blog's reaction to Singapore's coverage. Original blog entry at http://moemaka.blogspot.com/2007/09/blog-post_4091.html. "

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Singapore Election Watch said:

ST: FROM Tuesday, visitors to The Straits Times' (ST) website will not have to pay to read the latest breaking news from Singapore and the world.

Recommended by tinkertailor: "The REAL reason behind the change?"

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Yawning Bread said:

How he jumped to this is astounding. I can't rebut this logically, because his proposition is beyond logic. Going by his line of argument, heterosexual males, on seeing too many pictures of David Beckham posing as a sex object for females to devour, will either overcompensate by trying to become predator women, or else accept their subordinate status by being no more than toyboys.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "I am glad I wasn't the only one who sprained my brain trying to understand the logic behind Andy Ho's badly written and poorly argued article."

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Straight Times Forum said:

Have you ever felt so passionately about an issue that you took the time to compose a well-thought out letter to the Press, only to receive the following reply?

"Thank you for writing to us. We do appreciate your making the effort..."

Inspired by Derek Wee and fueled by our own frustrations of having countless well-written letters on critical issues rejected and never seeing the light of day, we have set up this page especially for you.

Email your letters to sgtforum@gmail.com today!

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Very interesting blog concept. Wonder if it will take off... "

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The New York Times said:

With the country’s basic manufacturing jobs shifting to China, the younger Mr. Lee wants to turn the painfully strait-laced Singapore into a relaxed, appealing target for tourists. The primary lure will be a $3 billion resort and casino, to be built on a waterfront site downtown by Las Vegas Sands Corporation, which runs the Venetian in Nevada. It will offer not only extensive facilities for gambling, an activity dear to Chinese hearts, but also, like Las Vegas, a wide array of top-end dining spots, in a nation where good eating is a national pastime.

The developers have promised that restaurants will be opened in the resort by culinary names in neon from around the world — Charlie Trotter from Chicago, Tetsuya Wakuda from Sydney, Pierre Gagnaire from Paris, Hiroyuki Hiramatsu from Tokyo and Thomas Keller from the Napa Valley.

Recommended by The Screwy Skeptic: "The New York Times explores Singapore's culinary world. "

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KTM said:

The KTM just read this commentary on a subject he cares about, but he has no idea what Andy Ho is driving at. ...

First, why is the General Household Survey so lame that it doesn't tell us anything about what's going on? Or at least allow us to answer the simple question about whether things are getting better or worse? Can someone go and figure out who to do this right in future years so that we can have household surveys that actually allow us to make some sense of what's really going and answer some simple questions?

Second, the KTM cannot follow Andy's logic. He says that even though the poor are apparently getting poorer, it doesn't tell us anything 'cos the poor 5 years ago may not be the same as the poor 5 years later (i.e., today). It matters meh? Poor means poor loh.

Recommended by at82: "I also dun understand what social mobility got to do with the fact that the bottom 30% have negative income growth. Even if bottom 30% in 2000 is different from the those in 2005, it is still a fact that the bottom of the society is earning lesser than before, what..."

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Inex said:

We are not evil. We are your average Singaporeans. We are not a new breed of people that came out of nowhere and start some smear campaigns over the net. ... Just because we chose to blog rather then write a letter doesn't make us morally inferior to anyone in any way.

Recommended by yuhui: "Response to the ST article that (over?) generalised bloggers."

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Ampulets said ...

J and I have lived in the Toa Payoh-Bishan-Bendemeer area all of our lives. And even when our families moved, they stayed within this kampong, unable to imagine life any further north, south, east or west. And since J and I don't own a car, we seldom wander to other kampongs unless... ...it's Domestic Tourism Day!

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Almost Infamous said:

A while back, a friend of mine asked me for an opinion on YouThink, Singapore Straits Time's new youth column. I was a little hesitant, given Straits Time's track record for creative quoting, but since it was a friend who asked, I sent him a quote, and kept the original copy for myself. ... The parts in bold are the portions that Straits Times omitted. Not a terrible omission, but one that takes a lot of force out of my opinion. My wife points out the irony of the omissions - that the truly provocative questions have been omitted.

I believe these omissions speak for themselves.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "How ST blunts all opinions. "

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the truth is rarely pure and never simple said:

Chua also makes the absurd claim that the placing of the white elephants on a road-divider can be 'easily construed as falling within the meaning of "public entertainment" as governed by the Public Entertainment and Meetings Act, and required a licence'. Well, I'm not a lawyer, but I think it is quite obvious that if a licence was required to put up the cut-outs, then I must equally apply for a licence should I decide to stand on Orchard Road with a T-shirt saying 'McShit' or when I tie a yellow ribbon round some road-side tree.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "the truth is rarely pure and simple dissects another brainless ST opinion piece"

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Agagooga said:

This must take the cake for Worst. Straits Times Forum letter. I have ever read Ever. Even its being awarded a prize, a medallion, a badge, a plaque, a ribbon, a trophy as well as a certificate would be insufficient to recognise the enormity of the situation.

Letters thanking taxi drivers, insignificant queries to government agencies, odes to Kim Jong Il MM Lee, letters from irate Malaysians angry that certain dubious honours (linguistic or culinary) have been erroneously (in their book) awarded to Singapore, notes from expatriates or tourists singing Singapore's praises and paens harkening to the days (10 years ago or so) when the writer wrote his last Forum letter all cannot compare.

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse...

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Yu Hui said:

Who started the first Singaporean blog? Which blog had the first mention of "Singapore"? When did the number of Singaporean blogs reach 1,000 or 10,000 or 100,000?

Send your contributions to the timeline and you will be added to the authors' list.

Yu Hui has started a Blog Timeline for the Singapore blogosphere. It's already begun to get interesting with all major events being noted in his timeline. If you have anything to contribute, you can submit it as well.

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tiredeye said:

Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in recorded history...By August 27, Mars will look as large as the full moon to the naked eye...pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history

Whip out your cameras and snap! It will be 60,000 years before it happens again!

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Forbes.com reports on the ST journalist detained in China:

'On April 22 Ching was investigated by relevant Chinese departments for being involved in espionage,' the foreign ministry said in a statement.

'Ching has admitted that in recent years he has been following the instructions of overseas intelligence organisations and has undertaken intelligence collecting activities on mainland China.

[...]

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