Blog Posts by Jeffrey Oon

The National Solidarity Party have written letters to PM Lee Hsien Loong and President Tony Tan, urging them to call for a National Referendum on the population White Paper.

The letters, copies of which were sent to Yahoo! Singapore on Saturday morning, highlighted that there is significant opposition to the amended motion of the White Paper which was adopted by Parliament on Friday by a vote fo 77 to 13, with one abstention.

The letter to PM Lee noted that despite Parliament's adoption, the majority of votes do not "reflect the views of Singaporeans because the PAP Members of Parliament clearly voted along party lines".

"The future of this country is something that all Singaporeans have a stake in. It is only right that they should have a say in it as well. For this reason, we call on the Government to hold a National Referendum on the White Paper," it concluded.

A letter to President Tony Tan also urged the same.

"In announcing your intention to run in the last Presidential

Read More »from NSP urges PM Lee, President to call for National Referendum

COMMENT

You've heard of the ugly Singaporean. Now meet its cousin -- the ugly Singaporean parent.

Demanding, unreasonable and self-righteous, this new breed of parents have an overbearing sense of entitlement.

They expect nothing less than the best triple A-care for their child in school, and woe befall any teacher that doesn't match up.

Often displaying a warped sense of what is wrong and right, these pushy parents come down hard on any educator who dares mess with their kid, even if the latter is wrong. 

"Haircut mum" has thrown the spotlight on both the kinds of demands placed upon educators and the sky-high expectations of parents.

To recap, Serene Ong filed a police complaint after a Unity Primary school teacher re-trimmed her boy's S$60 haircut despite several warnings by the school to keep his hair tidy. 

"There is absolute no right or wrong in this matter," said Madam Ong, after her son's case was highlighted by Education Minister Heng Swee Keat at an education seminar recently.

Read More »from The ugly Singaporean parent: pushy, unreasonable, self-entitled

Singapore's Feng Tianwei celebrates with her bronze medal. REUTERS/Adrees Latif
COMMENT

It’s taken six days for the Olympics to come alive for Singapore and I almost wished it hadn’t.

Because instead of uniting a nation as sports often does, Feng Tianwei’s bronze medal win has done the exact opposite.

Singapore’s first individual medal in 52 years has divided the nation and re-ignited the vicious, ugly debate surrounding imported foreign talent. In fact, it’s brought it into ever-sharper focus.

The most replied comment to her win on Yahoo! is “No matter how successful in whatever Games Singapore has won is useless. I am sorry to say this. It is not won by a true Singaporeans. No ill feelings to the participants. It is just that you are not a true Singaporean.”

Among the over 200 comments on Yahoo! Singapore’s Facebook wall that poured in immediately after her win on Wednesday, Elle Toh writes, “Honestly, I cannot bring myself to feel proud for a foreigner to win a medal for us, although they carry our Singapore flag. But I thank Feng Tianwei nonetheless for

Read More »from A bronze medal, but at what cost for Singapore?

COMMENT

In yet another worrying sign that Singapore is fraying at the edges, an elderly retiree was left with a fractured eye socket after a parking scuffle at Serangoon Gardens turned ugly.

Retired businessman Goh Poh Ket, 65, claimed he was punched and assaulted by a man and his two sons after he parked his car outside their home along Jalan Chulek, reported The Straits Times.

What began as a shouting match between all four ended up in Goh being viciously hit by a remote control, a plastic bottle and a sock filled with a hard substance, no less.

Madam Lee, a resident and housewife in her 50s, told the paper, "Their sons even said, 'old man still want to fight with us,' and I told them to make sure they don't grow old."

All four men in the ugly brawl have since been arrested by police.

Frustration, anger, rage, incivility -- increasingly, these are the ugly emotions bubbling forth, online and offline, as an increasingly fractious Singapore copes with its burgeoning 5.1 million population.

Read More »from Another sign Singapore is bursting at the seams?

City Hall MRT station was hit by a roughly 90-minute power blackout on Friday afternoon.

According to train operator SMRT, the incident occurred at 1:23pm, affecting the power at both its lower level North-South and East-West train platforms.

Train arrival information screens were down, and escalators between floors were also switched off for safety.

It had also deployed some 50 staff, including its customer service team, to all four of its platforms to direct commuter traffic.

Donned in fluorescent yellow and orange vests, staff used loudhailers to inform passengers alighting from passing trains of the blackout so they would not be alarmed, and used LED light sticks to guide them to the nearest exits on the platform.

Trains were still running throughout although the platforms were pitch black initially.

The police's public transport security task force TransCom also deployed eight officers to assist with crowd management.

SMRT posted updates on the status of the blackout on its Twitter Read More »from City Hall MRT station hit by 90-minute blackout

Welcome to the second edition of Singapore 9.

It’s been a year since we ran the inaugural edition in 2011 when we recognised the giants of Singapore industry in areas like politics, business, media, arts and culture and sports. Awardees like Chiam See Tong, David Gerald, Lee Kin Mun (aka mrbrown), Royston Tan and Fandi Ahmad were all deserving winners.

This time we’re back – with a twist.

Our young embody the spirit of fearlessness, courage, invention and innovation, and the current Gen Y generation, more than any other, dare to do more.  Most importantly, they carry the hopes of a nation – they are our future.

So just as Singapore celebrates its 47th birthday on 9 August, we want to celebrate the youth of Singapore.

As part of this campaign, we are looking for 9 outstanding Singaporeans under the age of 35 who have demonstrated success in three areas: business, social enterprise and entertainment.

What better way to celebrate the spirit of youth  and invention than to tell the stories of

Read More »from Singapore 9 returns, looks for young trailblazers

Fwah, fierce!

A video of a young girl arguing with a middle-aged auntie over an MRT seat is going viral and it has all the makings of a truly "local production" -- spectacular Singlish, fashionably trendy Ah Lian, grumpy old auntie and of course, the obligatory "why you stare at me".

First posted on STOMP, the 4-minute long video shows how what appears to be a minor disagreement blow up into a full-scale shouting match complete with Singlish and expletives -- all this in full view of amused commuters on a busy train.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the original video on STOMP has over 70, 000 views.

It's not clear how the argument started but it appears to be over an MRT seat reserved for the elderly and handicapped.

Although it appears the young woman had already given up her seat, the older woman begins to lecture her over her bad manners, saying she "had to ask for the seat" and that the woman was  "most probably coming from China."

The younger woman initially tries to ignore the

Read More »from ‘Ah Lian’ vs auntie clash in MRT quarrel

Dear readers,
 
Thank you for your continued readership of Yahoo! News. Over the last year, we’ve been hard at work on a series of new features and sections to enhance your reading experience on Yahoo! And with the Euro kickoff just days away, I just wanted to share with you what’s new on Yahoo! Singapore.
 
1. Euro site
In late January, we rolled out our brand new Sports site, and over the last few months, we’ve built up a steady base of loyal sports fans. For that I thank you. We’ve now enhanced your sports experience with a Euro site which will feature the latest news, slideshows, reactions, exclusive player interviews and latest match predictions on the month-long tournament in Poland and Ukraine. For those that have not signed up for the Euro package on TV, this site will be the next big thing.
 
In the next weeks and months, you’ll also see a richer, deeper Olympic site to keep you in touch with the latest news from our top Singapore and international athletes.  
 
2. Tablet version of

Read More »from A note from the editor