The Singapore Daily

“Sherry Arnstein defined citizenship participation as a form of power re-distribution that enables under-privileged citizens who were excluded from the political and economic processes to be included.. Sadly in Singapore’s case, all ordinary citizens inclusive of under-privileged ones have no say in the decisions that concern them.”
Kelvin Teo

“[Kishore Mahbubani] seems to equate money with merit. The Singapore civil service is the most meritocratic in the world, he says. But he mentions none of its achievements, only that its head can earn much more than the American president.”
Abhijit

“The fact is our current system of ethics and morality is evolved and built upon the assumption of free will, that each man should be held accountable for his wilful actions, and that our current system of meritocracy, of rewarding people, is also based on the assumption that it is just to give higher rewards to those who contribute more and to give those who perform less well lower rewards. Yet if everything is ultimately contingent on how our brains are wired, are those systems of morality and reward-and-punishment still valid? Are they still just?”
angry doc

“Dendrobium Memoria Princess Diana and Vandaenopsis Nelson Mandela, the orchid hybrids of real social and human-rights activists, must have surely felt that Dendrobium Thein Sein was actually a virus among them.”
Ravi Philemon

“Of course bonus is not a dirty word….we all know the dirty word in Singapore is welfare.”
LuckySingaporean

This week’s roundup and recommended reads after the break.

Gahmen/GLC Bonuses
- The Wayang Party: CEO’s bonus: Straits Times barking up the wrong tree again
- Singaporean Skeptic: ‘Bonus’ is not a dirty word. ‘Welfare’ is.
- Sgpolitics.net: The ruling party has not learnt the lessons from AIG
- Dee Kay Dot As Gee: ‘Bonus’ not a dirty word
- Diary of A Singaporean Mind: This Week is Kindness Week in Singapore [Recommended]
- Feed Me To The Fish: “Bonus” need not be a dirty word in Kindness Month
- groundnotes: Defending the right to bonuses

Recession
- TOC: 5 Minutes with.. Leong Sze Hian on the economy and jobs
- Diary of A Singaporean Mind: Unemployed PMETs Situation : Bad to worse..
- empty_vessels: Of Pay and Other Matters.
- Blowin’ In The Wind: Singapore to keep unemployment below 5.2%
- Sex sells, so does Politics: So what if our own unemployment rate is rising? That shall not stop us from giving away jobs to our friends like the Philippine! [Thanks Tan]
- Blowin’ In The Wind: Devalue Singapore dollar? It’s going to hurt
- Still Baking After All These Years: Professionals, Managers, Executives and Technicians Aged Over 40
- Tan Kin Lian’s Blog: Fear and consequence of retrechment
- Blowin’ In The Wind: Sell Singapore dollars, advises UBS

General Elections 2009
- The Wayang Party: Loss in popular votes is a failure for PAP, but success for Singapore
- a writer’s blog: A word on the PAP and general elections
- My sketchbook: Search for next generation of Singapore leaders

Charity/Church Leaders Get Rich r Die Tryin
- CHRISTELQUEK’SBLOG: Should church/charity leaders be paid handsomely?
- The Wayang Party: The Ming Yi fiasco: a sombre lesson in a system which relies on “trust”
- Singaporean Skeptic: What is wrong with our Charities?

We Don’t Need No Regulation
- TOC: Engaging netizens – time to come out of comfort zones, politicians
- Jaslyn Go’s Blog: My Comments on TOC Article - Engaging netizens – time to come out of comfort zones, politicians
- The Brotherhood Press: Why even trolls deserve the right to privacy - a study on how to win all the battles and still lose the war

Fixing The Opposition
- Sgpolitics.net: Politically motivated defamation suits hurt free speech and do serious damage to the national discourse
- Jacob’s Weblog: There’s nothing positive about politically motivated and ruinous defamation suits

Hsien and Thein: An Orchid for a Dictator
- TOC: The panda that trampled on the true orchids [Recommended]
- Singapore Social Activist: The Panda that trampled on the True Orchids

ERPains, Trains & Automobiles
- Everyday’s Life in a Snapshot: One hundred dollar fine for..SMRT.
- TOC: PTC fines on transport companies are meaningless
- My sketchbook: A little fine for transport companies

Singapore Organ Trading Hub
- nofearSingapore: Thanks Minister, I also do not want Singapore to be a rogue regime!

Strangers in a Strange Land
- Civic Advocator: 5,000 new jobs for Pinoys in Singapore

Re education
- Still Baking After All These Years: Tuition As A Basic Necessity of Life in Singapore

Truth, Justice, and the Singapore Way
- Today In Singapore: Teaching Sucks

National Service
- The Kent Ridge Common: A flexible national service policy to allow our male graduates to enter the workforce early

Lee vs Chee
- Jaslyn Go’s Blog: 1st Anniversary of Tak Boleh Tahan - 15 March 2009

The People vs PoThePanda
- Chia Ti Lik’s Blog: The case of PoThePanda… so far

The Aftermath of the NTU Passings
- TOC: David Widjaja’s autopsy report released, results not disclosed

Healthcare
- TOC: Calling for a mental revolution

Singapore Organ Trading Hub
- running legs: Something to ponder upon

Daily Discourse
- geraldgiam.sg: Coaxing corporate execs to join politics
- TOC: Singapore a “blacklistee” to be?
- Chemical Generation Singapore: Shadow Cabinet, When?
- Singapore Social Activist: How will they respond?
- Blowin’ In The Wind: The world according to Kishore Mahbubani [Recommended]
- The Kent Ridge Common: Can Singaporeans think?
- Sgpolitics.net: Self-Censorship: Singapore’s Shame (2nd Edition), Chapter [1][2] [Recommended]
- The Wayang Party: A good and competent government is no longer enough for Singaporeans
- Singaporean Skeptic: Does Sex on TV lead to more Crime?
- What else can this be apart from my blog?: What happened to Orchard Road?
- The FØØL’s Progress: The Probability of Armed Conflicts in Southeast Asia
- Desparatebeep: Beggars United Pte Ltd
- The Itch To Write: Chia Hui Keng explains passport fee hike
- geraldgiam.sg: Authorities took 2 days to shut down killer rojak stall?
- TOC: 5 Minutes With… Leong Sze Hian on pay rise survey
- TOC: A victim of bureaucratic red tape and inflexible policies
- The Wayang Party: The futility of speaking up in a totalitarian one-party state

Life, the universe and everything
- The Banzai! Effect: Kuro Bara 2009 - The Shiro Coverage
- Angry Doctor: Where morality lives [Recommended]
- Dee Kay Dot As Gee: Birth of one more new podcast in Singapore
- TOC: “In everything you do, you must be sincere.”
- Ian On The Red Dot: Singapore Has Another MillionDollarHomePage Copycat Site
- ALVINOLOGY: Youth.SG’s Feed Me Finale Concert @ Home Club
- Midnight Monkey Monitor: Giving a Guest Lecture on Environmental Groups

Infoblogaramous
- Singapore Entrepreneurs: Event: unConference 2009
- Singapore Entrepreneurs: SmartLoans Has Launched!