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Dr Ong Chit Chung was the MP for my former constituency, Bukit Batok. I felt that as a mark of respect I should refrain from discussing the issue of a by-election until after the passing of a week. I have met the man on two occasions. Once at a meet-the-people session and once when he made a house visit as part of gathering support for the lift upgrading programme. My condolences to his family. Now that his seat is vacant, should a by-election be held? What is the legal position? According to the Today paper, Halimah Yacob (Jurong GRC MP) said that the constitution “does not require a by-election”. Based on an earlier report from the Today paper, Dr Thio Li-Ann is supposed to have expressed the following views: No by-elections need to held “until there’s no one left in the GRC”. But while there was no legal requirement, she was of the view that “when you elect a team, you elect a whole team; so since this is not the team anymore, you should see if people want a new team.” – Today...

In continuation of my earlier blog entry where i was analysing the Ministry of Law's response to the IBA report, I was planning to do an analysis of paragraphs 7 & 8. These are the relevant paragraphs: 7. The human rights allegations in the Report also have no substance. Singapore had responded in detail to them in our 9 April response to the draft report. Singapore, like nearly all countries, subscribes to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human rights are interpreted and implemented according to the specific histories, cultures and circumstances of each country. Every society must find and decide the appropriate balance between rights and responsibilities for themselves. Human rights groups in IBAHRI have closed ranks with other Western human rights NGOs to prescribe for Singapore and all new countries, especially China, Western norms of liberal democracy as the only way to bring stability and prosperity. They believe that free market policies cannot succeed without...

Happy Birthday to Nelson Mandela. As a teen, I was greatly inspired by the South African struggle against apartheid. What a colossal struggle and what an amazing feat against all odds. Mandela is an inspiring icon of our times. What I most appreciate about South African story is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission set up to heal the wounds of the people. Instead of allowing a cycle of violence to be perpetuated; instead of calling for retribution; instead of unleashing a lynch-mob, the post apartheid leaders embarked on the path of forgiveness and healing. An Amazing stroke of political genius. Happy 90th Birthday, Nelson Mandela. The following is a list of quotations from Mandela: Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement. For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. The greatest glory in living lies...

What was Mr Tharman talking about? My layman brain is throbbing with a big, fat headache. Are there any economists out there that can explain? Our Finance Minister says that wage increases will fuel a second round of inflation. I have been trying to work out the dynamics in my mind as rationally as I can. I have tried speaking to people to see if anyone can shed light on the relationship between wages and inflation. Looks like it can be argued both ways (for and against the Minister’s proposition). After doing a bit of google-searching, I have discovered this excellent policy discussion paper: “Does Wage Inflation Cause Price Inflation?” by Gregory D. Hess and Mark E. Schweltzer (Policy Discussion Paper, Number 10, April 2000), Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Gregory D. Hess is the Danforth-Lewis Professor of Economics at Oberlin College and an academic consultant to the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Mark E. Schweitzer is an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Clevela...

The International Bar Association has released a report entitled, ‘Prosperity versus Individual Rights? Human Rights, Democracy and the rule of law in Singapore.’ The Ministry of Law has responded swiftly to the report. Let’s see what the Ministry has to say. From para 2 of MinLaw’s response: “ 2. From a quick perusal of the Executive Summary, we note that IBAHRI has not taken into account our comments on their draft report, sent on 9 April 2008. We release a copy of our comments previously given to the Chairman of the IBAHRI on the draft report, for your reference.” It is MinLaw’s assertion that IBAHRI had not taken into account their comments. This is a reference to a letter dated 9 April 2008 from Mark Jayaratnam, Deputy Director of the Legal Policy Division of the Ministry of Law. I went through the IBAHRI report and for good measure I used the ‘search’ tool available for pdf files. Mark Jayaratnam’s letter is referenced by the report 19 times. They have ‘taken into account’...

This is definitely the quotation of the week (maybe, it might even be the quotation of the year): Jarret Huang (Secondary 3 student from Raffles Institution): "The sense of persecution is not a reactive measure in my situation but rather it is a pre-emptive measure taken such that certain things which are deemed incorrect cannot be said in certain situations.” The red-herring that is often thrown at us if we directly question a minister about the curtailment of the freedom of expression is that we have false perceptions of persecution/restricions/etc. The restrictions that exist are purely in the interest of public order and safety and also national security. The restrictions do not prevent legitimate criticism. Jarret Huang's response to Dr Vivian Balakrishnan's question about whether he feels persecuted hits the mark perfectly. There is a political climate that has been carefully constructed and repeatedly reinforced that ensures that we practice self-censorship most ...

I was half-expecting a response along the lines of what Ms Yeong Yoon Ying has come up with. TODAYonline has received a letter from her explaining the “murderers, robbers, child molesters and rapists” allegation that she raised in her letter to the Wall Street Journal. Firstly, the Wall Street Journal had attempted to report about the Lees v Chees defamation suit and they had made statements to the effect that Singapore is lacking in terms of political freedoms. In response to that article, Ms Yeong (MM Lee’s Press Secretary) wrote to the WSJ to set the record straight. In her letter she said: The case had nothing to do with political freedom. It was for defamation arising from the Chees' false claims that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Lee Kuan Yew are criminals and corrupt. Despite being advised by a Queen's Counsel, they failed to produce any credible defence or evidence to back up their claims. . Having lost, Dr. Chee in open court then called the Singapore leaders ...

Here's the story that doesn't make the news much. Amongst the detainees at Guantanamo are Uighurs (ethnic minority in Western China). These persons were living in Afghanistan due to persecution in China and were handed over to the Americans by the Pakistanis for a bounty. It is easy for politicians to use the broad brush of executive prerogative and mark a person out as an 'enemy combatant' or a 'terrorist'. After that these people languish indefinitely under sanity sapping conditions. It is good to see that the US courts are making decisions here and there upholding habeas corpus and determining the issue of 'enemy combatants'. The following article is from the Human Rights Watch: Uighurs at Guantanamo By Joanne Mariner, terrorism and counterterrorism director, published in FindLaw June 30, 2008 In a ruling that is years late, but is nonetheless brave and important, a federal appellate court held last week that a prisoner at Guantanamo has been ...