The Singapore Daily

Budget 2010 Debate
- Gerald Giam: Sylvia Lim asks for concessionary travel for disabled on public transport
- Gerald Giam: Raymond Lim once proposed a way for “completely free” public transport
- TOC: Lonely out of the gravy train
- Singapore Alternatives: Transport Minister vs HDB Minister
- The Temasek Review: Why PAP MPs are no more but a “wayang” in Parliament
- Mr Wang Says So: The Strange History of Productivity in Singapore [Thanks Gerald]
- My sketchbook: How many civil servants to fix a light bulb?

Countdown to Elections
- TOC: Time for someone new to drive Singapore
- The Kent Ridge Common: Does the alternative media have anything to fear?
- Majulah!: New rulings for political chatters online.
- Singabloodypore: PAP nervous about New Media, introduces “guidelines”
- The Temasek Review: No need for Minister Lui Tuck Yew to teach netizens how to “self-regulate” themselves
- Mindblogging Stuff: Heaven & Hell (political version)

We are against Capital Punishment
- TOC: The story of a boy
- Seelan Palay’s Blog: Yong Vui Kong’s appeal on March 15

GIC, Temasek State Fund Investments
- The Asia File: Temasek’s Malaysian governance problem: what happened next
- Yours Truly Singapore: ‘Not realistic’ for GIC to avoid making any losses

ERPains, Trains & Automobiles
- TOC: COE: Another solution that may make more money, but may not solve the problem?

Healthcare & Healthcare Providers
- Singapore M.D.: HIV in Singapore

Woman No Enough
- Irreligious: There’s a Jack Neo in all of us
- Cooler Insights: The Age of (Im)Morality and Immortality
- Dee Kay Dot As Gee: Jack Neo Affair Scandal Press Conference
- Diary of A Singaporean Mind: Morality is not so easy..
- Icarus Flew Too High: Jack and George, o..
- The Lycan Times: Give us a break!
- TOC: Getting into bed with Jack Neo
- AWARE: AWARE’s comments on the Jack Neo affair [Thanks Gerald]
- The Star: Backseat frolics backfire [Thanks Gerald]

Daily Discourse
- TOC: Press Muse – Singaporeans dreaming
- New Asia Republic: Rights: The foundation of a free society
- guanyinmiao’s musings: Cease The Climate Change Lethargy
- Singapore Life and Times: A sharing we will go
- Singaporean Skeptic: Some Singaporeans are Real Bastards.

Life, the universe and everything
- Growing your tree of prosperity: If women are not choosy, men will have no standards. [Thanks Wai Chung]
- Eco WALK the talk: Knock, Knock, your Green Postman is here! [Thanks Bhavani]

Selected News Stories [Thanks Gerald Ho]
- Guardian: Lehman Brothers: Repo 105 and other accounting tricks
- Reuters Dealzone: Graphic: How “Repo 105″ worked
- Reuters: Factbox: Examiner’s findings of claims against Lehman officers
- Business Insider: Will Ernst & Young Survive The Lehman Fiasco?
- AP: Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund starts to open up
- NYT Consults: Assessing Your Risk of a Heart Attack
- Guardian Gallery: Thousands protest in Bangkok

“Why is the burden of competition put on ordinary Singaporeans yet again?”
LuckySingaporean

“The problem is that the ministers are asking workers to bite the bullet first.”
Ian

“We can no longer keep on churning out economic digits fit [only] for an industrialized society.”
Wong Wee Nam

“I can already imagine how someone will quote this one freaking incident and use it to justify that Singapore new media cannot be trusted.”
DK

“Productivity is only an economic indicator. By improving productivity, what do we seek to achieve?”
Donaldson Tan

“We have become addicted to government subsidies.”
Yawning Bread

This week’s roundup and recommended reads after the break.
Read the rest of this entry »

Budget 2010 Debate
- Gerald Giam: Sylvia Lim: Increase size of cohort entering local universities

Countdown to Elections
- The Temasek Review: PAP to amend constitution to increase the number of NCMPs in Parliament

Housing Singaporeans
- TOC: HDB: Homelessness due to policies? BTS better than BTO? 31,000 flats unsold, but nobody knows?
- Trapper’s Swamp: Homelessness is a policy issue

Singaporeans are fed, up with progress!
- TOC: Why not apply ‘town council logic’ to worker wages?

Twilight in Paradise. To Live and Die in SG
- Singaporean Skeptic: PAP hides the failure of their retirement policies by passing the buck to you.

Strangers in a Strange Land
- Military Life: The Tale of the (Local) Talent [Thanks Panzer]
- Petition Online: Employ Singaporeans First! [Thanks Gilbert]

Sin City
- Singapore Dino: Al Jazeera holds debate on Singapore’s Casinos
- Global Issues: Singapore: As Casino Opens, Watch for Its Social Impact Begins
- Al Jazeera English: Singapore’s big bet [Times GMT: 12 Mar-0300hrs(+8);
13 Mar-0530,1730; 14 Mar-1130; 15 Mar-1630; 16 Mar-1430; 17 Mar-0830; 18 Mar-0630] [Thanks Gerald]

Woman No Enough
- Singapore Life and Times: Grievous Hurt
- Carpe Diem: Enough with the affairs

Lee vs Chee
- Sgpolitics.net: Sgpolitics.net salutes Tak Boleh Tahan protesters

Daily Discourse
- The Enquirer: Be careful what you wish for [Thanks Seelan]
- Zach’s Thought Blot: How Small Countries Can Take Advantage of Globalisation
- Yu-Kym’s Blog: Singapore government supports animal testing. Do you?
- My Little Corner: LTE? First Resolve the 3G problem

Selected News Stories [Thanks Gerald Ho]
- Reuters: UPDATE 2-Thai Shin Corp: Temasek has no plans to sell Shin
- Reuters: Australia on top of the world for expat kids: survey
- Reuters: Scientists find “mother” of all skin cells
- BBC: The internet billionaire rich list
- NYT Automobiles: Porsche’s Stealth Debut
- Guardian Gallery: Crufts 2010: The world’s biggest dog show
- Guardian Gallery: Walking the Great Himalayan Trail
- Denver Post: The Game: World Cup Faces [large pictures]

Bhavani Prakash from Eco WALK the Talk sent this to share a footage of an elusive local bird and promote the awareness of local biodiversity. Thanks Bhavani!

Natsumi Kamata (鎌田 奈津美 born 19 Aug 1988) is a gravure idol from Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. She began modeling in 2006. The following year, she won the 2007 Sunday Weekly Young Grand Prix. Since then she has appeared in numerous TV dramas and several stage performances. Pictures from YS Web feature after the break. [PNSFW]

Read the rest of this entry »

Budget 2010 Debate
- The Temasek Review: Appropriateness and integrity in the use of government statistics
- Times They Are A-Changin’: Large foreign workforce a buffer?
- Gerald Giam: Sylvia Lim: R&D spending needs to be accounted for
- Gerald Giam: Low Thia Khiang: Access to good mentors key to helping entrepreneurs succeed
- Trapper’s Swamp: There’s a time and place for everything

Housing Singaporeans
- Lianain Films: Homelessness Is Not A Dirty Word
- Yours Truly Singapore: Mah’s story is also Singapore’s story

Singaporeans are fed, up with progress!
- The Void Deck: Town Councils increases S&CC – Give us some value! [Thanks Pek]

ERPains, Trains & Automobiles
- New Asia Republic: Public transport for 6.5 million
- Brad’s Blog: LTA Trying To Scam Singaporeans’ Money?

GIC, Temasek State Fund Investments
- Singaporean Skeptic: PAP Minister dodges the question by pretending to answer a different question
- The Temasek Review: Prudential – AIA deal: A deal of epic proportions

Healthcare & Healthcare Providers
- Singapore Alternatives: Sorry no enough Minister Khaw

Woman No Enough
- Sam’s Thoughts: Jack Neo is not Tiger Woods
- Trapper’s Swamp: Who Jack Neo jumps is none of our business [Thanks Terence]
- You just can’t miss it!: Singapore’s Most Popular/Notorious Film Director at the Moment is also My Fellow Church Member

Religion
- Irreligious: What makes a fundamentalist? [Thanks Terence]

Daily Discourse
- The Asia File: What Singapore could learn from Rupert Murdoch [Thanks Ben]
- Blowin’ In The Wind: Singapore Press Holdings and Abu Dhabi Media Company
- The Kent Ridge Common: YourSingapore: One of the Worst?
- TOC: Summoning hither the dolphins
- Sam’s Thoughts: Eugene Loh’s obsession with cross-dressing… on television!
- Musings From the Lion City: Obedient Wives
- Seelan Palay’s Blog: Dr Chee Soon Juan: We must believe (Video)

Selected News Stories [Thanks Gerald Ho]
- Bloomberg: Singapore’s Economy May Expand 6.5% This Year, MAS Survey Shows
- The Jakarta Post: Batam hopeful about tourist overflow from Singapore casino
- ZDNet: S’pore govt calls halt to iPhone app service
- Reuters: U.S. calls Myanmar election laws “a mockery”
- Business Insider: South Korea Bucks Crowded Trade In Asian Sons And Now Prefers Daughters
- Reuters For The Record: Social media: Some principles and guidelines
- Forbes: Bill Gates No Longer World’s Richest Man
- Guardian Gallery: Football: Manchester United v AC Milan

It’s the IT Show week. What are you planning to buy?

News
- Bootstrike: IT Show Pricelist
- TechGoondu: YOG launches virtual world to reach out to youths
- Mashable: Facebook to Launch Location Features Next Month
- TechCrunch: Twitter Turns On Geolocation On Its Website
- TechieLobang: Symantec launches latest Norton 360 V4.0
- APC: Microsoft: “No Windows Phone 7 upgrade for Windows Mobile 6.x devices”
- Cnet: Google Maps to add bike maps, directions
- Joystiq: Ubisoft DRM authentification server is down, Assassin’s Creed 2 unplayable
- i-digITall.com: Samsung is going to conquer the world
- TechGoondu: MeeGo steering group easing platform concerns?
- The Register: Apple yanks Wi-Fi detectors from iTunes

Reviews | Guides
- LesterChan.net: Nokia N900 Blogger Preview
- Dee Kay Dot As Gee: Review: X-Mini Happy