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An English friend of mine once remarked that there is a close link between the free market economy and the free marketplace of ideas. Just as the former is reliant on the unfettered exchange of goods and services and the natural forces of competition so is the latter reliant on competing viewpoints seeking attention and acceptance with the most rational or the most socially relevant (given the particular age and location) being pushed to the fore. It is a case of survival of the fittest idea. The quality of debate hasn't been stellar in Singapore (with the exception of signs of intelligence emerging via blogosphere). Insofar as Parliament is concerned, MPs haven't been accustomed to vigourous debate and I guess the sedate Parliamentary air can seep into the cells through some kind of osmosis and affect the logical faculties. The Worker's Party leader Low Thia Khiang, made on Monday what I thought was a rather uncontroversial and straightforward observation about the nee...

Only "objective" and "factual" political films please, we're Singaporeans: Lee's Betrayal of PAP and Singapore : Devan Nair

Five young activists have organized a gathering at Hong Lim Park to commemorate 21st May 1987. I’m glad to see that there are still many who recall the alleged ‘Marxist Conspiracy' of that era. I was 19 at that time and watched incredulously as a parade of tales emanated from the available media outlets. There are so many things that we could recollect in relation to those days. Where were we? How did the news unfold? The general skepticism amongst many of us. I’d like to use this occasion to commemorate the day that our judiciary stood tall in the context of the rather limited legal role that it has in the review of executive action. Chng Suan Tse v Minister for Home Affairs (1998) SLR 132 The case involved Operation Spectrum and the primary issue was over the court’s ability to review the Executive’s decision to detain under the Internal Security Act. It proved to be a landmark decision as the Court of Appeal chose to apply an objective test in assessing the discretion of t...

It is often the case that one perceives a monolithic Israeli perspective as presented by AIPAC and other pro-Israel lobby groups in the United States. What is particularly ironic is that the press in Israel itself represents a broad spectrum of views and perspectives that one does not usually get to see through the filter of the global mainstream media. I found the following article rather interesting for its analysis of the liberal perspective of the Israeli press. Israelis Look For Hope In Washington Mark Leon Goldberg - May 18, 2009 - 11:25am Diplomacy As it happens, I am in Israel this week. And in Israel, all eyes are on Washington, D.C. as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the Obama White House for the first time. The meeting, however, has the potential to be somewhat awkward the Israeli Prime Minister has yet to endorse the "two state" solution. Scanning the Israeli press today it is stricking to see the degree to which Israelis are depending on Obama to pres...