Blog Posts by Chua Yini

Political analysts say the Workers’ Party’s (WP) recent troubles are a sign all is not well within the party.

While Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Eugene Tan calls veteran member Dr Poh Lee Guan’s no-show on Nomination Day “an anti-climatic end to the fiasco”, he said it had also damaged the party’s image.

Poh emerged as a surprise potential contender after it was revealed he had been issued a political donation certificate, a prerequisite for standing in the by-election. His claim to the media that he was the “unofficial back-up” contradicted party chief Low Thia Kiang’s insistence that there was no such reserve candidate.

In the end, the battle for Hougang has come down to a straight showdown between the WP’s official nominee, businessman Png Eng Huat, and the People Action Party’s Desmond Choo.

Tan, assistant professor in law at Singapore Management University, said: “[Poh’s actions] damages, somewhat but not significantly, the WP’s standing as a disciplined and cohesive

As Hougang by-election fever heats up, the Workers’ Party (WP) has dismissed allegations of racism within the party.

This comes after former member Sajeev Kamalasanan tendered his resignation from the party on Sunday over “dissatisfaction with the WP’s cadreship selecton system.”

In a press release on Sunday, he said: “I was disappointed to see most of the [General Elections] 2011 ex-candidates and ordinary members around me being nominated and given party cadreship quite easily following the general elections.”

He voiced his dissatisfaction with WP Chairman Sylvia Lim’s reasons for not considering him for party cadreship. He said he had joined the WP as an ordinary member in 2006. Last May, he was invited by party chairman Sylvia Lim to be part of the Nee Soon GRC team as the team’s minority candidate.

According to Sajeev, Lim told him that Indians tend to leave after getting party cadreship. He also claimed that she decided not to nominate him after he abruptly stopped contributing to

UPDATED (17 May, to correct age of deceased taxi passenger)

The last thing Muhammad Najib Ghazali saw before he was sent flying from his motorbike was the dislodged tyre of a taxi coming straight at him.

Moments later, he was flung off from his bike and hit the tarmac hard, dislocating his right arm, fracturing his rib and hurting his spine.

Najib, still warded in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, is one of two survivors from the high-speed accident involving a Ferrari in the wee hours of Saturday morning. The fatal accident at the intersection of Rochor Road and Victoria Street has already claimed three lives – the Ferrari driver was killed on the spot while the taxi driver and his passenger both later died in hospital.

The taxi passenger has been identified as Shigemi Ito, a 41-year-old Japanese woman who is believed to be living and working in Singapore, the Straits Times reported.

A young woman reportedly from China was with Ma in the Ferrari during the crash and she suffered head injuries and

A little more than a year after the last general election, the dust has settled in Singapore.

Election fever has died down except in Hougang, where the battle there is between the ruling People’s Action Party and the Workers’ Party.

Meanwhile, the National Solidarity Party (NSP) is still steadily working on its own programmes.

Without representation in parliament, the NSP has been unable to participate directly in the law-making process. However, the party has been quietly contributing to the lives of Singaporeans in more direct ways, through its youth wing and legal clinics.

“Everything has been overly politicised. We don’t want to be engaged in scoring political points against other parties or the incumbents, because I don’t think that is far sighted in what we are trying to achieve,” Nicole Seah, NSP’s youngest candidate in the previous GE, told Yahoo! Singapore.

Engaging the youth

The 25-year-old currently fronts the party’s youth wing. Named the “NSP Catalyst”, it has a current

Train operator SMRT had wanted to conduct further checks after the first major train disruption on 15 December last year, but had instead resumed services at the prompting of the Land Transport Authority (LTA).

This was what former SMRT CEO Saw Phaik Hwa said, when she testified at the public inquiry into the train breakdowns. 

She added, however, that she was unaware if the intention to stop services for more checks was communicated to the LTA.

Taking the stand on the 18th day of the public inquiry, Saw revealed she was at a company awards ceremony when the breakdown occurred. She stayed back while the senior management left and updated her on further developments.

According to Saw, she was informed that the situation “was under control” at about 9pm and the sagging third rail had also been secured.

Just half an hour later, she received a call from Mr Khoo Hean Siang, the executive vice-president of trains, who advised her to rest the train system as it would be “better to do a more

The pest control company which lay a glue trap that led to the death of a cat in Jurong West has been fined, said the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).

The firm has also been given a stern warning for failing to take the necessary precautions to prevent non-target animals from being caught on the trap, the agency said in a statement posted on its Facebook page on Friday.

The name of the company and amount fined was not revealed.

However, AVA said that its investigation revealed that the firm was “not wholly responsible for the state of respiratory distress” that eventually led to the cat being put down by a vet from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).

The cat had been caught in a glue trap at a bin centre in Jurong West Street 52 in February and was later brought to the SPCA.

“Based on the informant’s photograph and his eyewitness account, the cat could possibly be saved (sic) as only its legs were stuck on the glue board. It appears that during the rescue

The high inflation rate does not reflect the reality for average Singaporeans, said Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Speaking at the May Day dinner on Sunday, Tharman said that, while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by about 5.2 per cent in March in this year from the same month last year, “it does not mean that the average Singaporean will feel this high inflation”.

He explained that people who already own homes and are not buying new cars are not affected, because more than half of the inflation is due to higher cost of new car ownership and higher housing rents.

Tharman added that the increase in prices for daily necessities and essential services, such as food, clothing and education, has been “much more moderate”, at 3 per cent or lower.

Therefore, the inflation in actual household expenditures for most Singaporeans is lower than  5 per cent, he pointed out.

Nevertheless, he said the government is taking steps to tame inflation and is closely

People living in Singapore should relate to one another as human beings first instead of trying to “pigeonhole” one another according to nationality, said Acting Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Chan Chun Sing.

“When we look at an issue, let's try not to pigeonhole each other as a Singaporean or a foreigner, which can complicate the problem,” said the Minister, who was speaking to an audience of about 600 community leaders at the annual National Community Engagement Programme Dialogue on Saturday, reported the Straits Times.

The hot-button issue of foreign talent dominated the dialogue at the Regent Hotel, which was chaired by Chan, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Swee Say, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Yaacob Ibrahim and Minister of State for Manpower Tan Chuan-Jin.

Teo, who is also Minister for Home Affairs, also said more should be done to help new immigrants settle down into Singaporean