Author: Zat

It’s the year 2020. We’re in the middle of a pandemic, recessions are on the rise, unemployment is at worrying levels, and all people want, is to get back to a sense of normalcy afforded by 2019. We love you 2019, and we’re sorry if we ever said 2019 was a shit year. We stand duly corrected. 2020 is also a watershed for being the year when the Opposition wins the most number of seats in Parliament, directors of Singapore-backed conglomerates got their sweet behind kicked by a humble (and innocent) domestic helper, people are more aware of racism happening…

The case of Parti Liyani vs the Liew family has gripped the consciousness of Singaporeans this past week. Many people took to Facebook to question the district court judge, Olivia Low’s decision to find Parti guilty of the offences lobbied against her by the Liew family, especially when details begin to emerge on how various inconsistencies were ignored by Judge Low during the trial. Parti Liyana was the domestic helper for the family of one Liew Mun Leong who held high positions in Surbana Jurong, Changi Airport Group, Temasek Foundation and Temasek…

The What Google Pixel Buds are Google’s answer to a wireless audio life for the regular folks who just want something easy to pair with your device, convenient to use, and practically impossible to mess up. It’s a great no-brainer wireless earbuds that go from unboxing to music listening in under forty-five seconds—possibly lesser if you are adept at jabbing your screen quickly and deftly. It comes in four signature Google colour conventions; Oh So Orange, Clearly White, Quite Mint, and Almost Black. As of today, only Clearly White is available at the online store, which means one less thing…

Although today is Polling Day for General Elections 2020, we must remember that we’re still in the midst of a pandemic and all social distancing measures must be adhered to. To that end, the Elections Department have assigned a recommended time slot for you to cast your vote, which, although is not compulsory, would be best for you to follow so as to prevent overcrowding. But if you’re short of time, and you have to exercise your democratic rights outside of your time slot, the Elections Department have created a nifty website where you can check the number of people…

In 2015, Goh Chok Tong, in an interview said: “For many years, the PAP was the only party in Parliament. Had the PAP gone corrupt in those years? Had the PAP let the people down? We are our own checks, the integrity of our leaders and our MPs… not this seductive lie of check and balance.” This was the birth of the Singaporean slang ‘Ownself-check-ownself’ that has been spoken of widely, and now understood to mean being in charge of checking your own actions and being accountable to yourself. So, how effective is an ‘ownself-check-ownself’ government organisation? Where public monies…

It made for good television—an event so momentous that, ironically, would not have been possible without the crisis of COVID-19 hanging over our head. In a rare, unscripted television debate on Channel 5, representatives from four political parties—People’s Action Party (PAP), Workers’ Party (WP), Progress Singapore Party (PSP) and Singapore Democratic Party (SDP)—sat around a table to share the plans they have for Singapore, to be questioned, interrogated, and judged by Singaporeans tuning in all across the island. https://youtu.be/8uOdz-Weivo?t=2898 In perhaps the climax of the evening at the 46th minute, Dr Chee Soon Juan from SDP raised a contentious issue…

Background of the debate The 1988 Singapore General Elections were held on 3 September 1988 with the PAP winning 80 out of the 81 seats and Chiam See Tong winning just one seat under SDP for Potong Pasir. But victories and losses are not what I’m concerned with for this article. The 1988 elections were momentous because it was the first and last time where ruling party, PAP, represented by then Deputy Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and BG Lee Hsien Loong, went on television for a live debate with opposition party leaders, Workers’ Party’s JB Jeyaretnam and Singapore Democratic…

You know the old adage: bad press travels fast, but bad press on social media travels even faster. Such is the case with PAP’s newest face, Ivan Lim who has had nothing but bad reviews on his character, leadership, and general human traits, left my ex-colleagues, former soldiers under his charge, and even a neighbour. Ivan, 42, is a general manager overseeing specialised vessels at Keppel Offshore & Marine—Singapore’s largest oil rig builder that was involved in an international corruption scandal in 2018. Keppel Offshore & Marine was found to have “knowingly and willfully conspired” to pay bribes as part…

Has the storm settled yet? Is everyone ready to put aside this entire OKLETSGO saga that has unfolded? Not quite yet. The three hosts, Dzar Ismail, 34, Dyn Norahim, 38, and Raja Razie, 38 have since apologised yesterday after being thoroughly chastised and condemned by not just the Mufti of Singapore, Dr Nazirudin Mohd Nasir, but also, the President of Singapore herself, Mdm Halimah Yacob. The three hosts weren’t moved when women like Nina Lestari—whom Raja Razie mocked in a tweet—asked for an apology. Neither were they moved to apologize when their die-hard supporters started attacking women who commented on…

OKLETSGO has recently ruffled many feathers online for the lewd and disrespectful way they speak about women on their podcast. The three hosts are Dzar Ismail, 34, Dyn Norahim, 38, and Raja Razie, 38, who are all married with children. Granted, the sexual innuendos are not overt, but it’s often the soft, and subtle remarks that normalise the sexual objectification of women. I cannot take my eyes off your cleavage. – one of the hosts of OKLETSGO There was an occasion where they asked a female guest, mid-interview, what she was wearing during her retelling of a story, and in…

(From the press release of the Prime Minister Office) From 7 to 20 June 2020, PM Lee Hsien Loong, DPM Heng Swee Keat, SM Teo Chee Hean, SM Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister Chan Chun Sing and Minister Lawrence Wong will deliver a series of national broadcasts. They will explain what a post-COVID-19 future looks like for Singapore, and lay out plans to see us through the storm and emerge stronger. They will talk about: a. What Singaporeans must do to live with COVID-19 for the long haul, so we can go about our daily lives safely; b. How we can maintain…

In a Facebook post penned yesterday, author and playwright, Alfian Saat, shared a photo which, according to him, “has somehow surfaced again recently”. “A group of students from Raffles Institution thought that it was going to be hilarious if they celebrated their classmate’s birthday, an Indian boy, by doing blackface and holding up props like lotions, a ‘whitening kit’, wads of money and a poster of the movie ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.” Alfian went on to express that he felt “such visceral revulsion and shame” at this photo because he was a proud alumnus of Raffles Institution. Raffles Institution was supposed to…

On 26 May, at 3.30 pm, DPM Heng Swee Keat will be addressing the nation on the fourth round of budget to give further help to people and businesses tackle the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. In a recent Facebook post, DPM Heng said, ” I will look at how we can better support the social service sector as part of the upcoming Budget. We will also work with the sector to embrace digitalisation, accelerate transformation and scale up new capabilities.” “Jobs will be a key part of tomorrow’s Budget. The Jobs Support Scheme has helped many employers retain their…

In a move that will surely annoy all avid change.org petition signees, Member of Parliament Louis Ng Kok Kwang, in a Facebook post, pulled the curtain back on the plans that have been in the works for this year’s NDP 2020 Funpack. And for all you fervent signees of the petition spearheaded by Kaushik Ilango, you’ll be glad to know that, based on the logo on the bag, the picture used in the petition is not of this year’s fun pack, but that of 2019. Louis Ng, who is the Member of Parliament for Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency since…

COVID-19 has brought much distress to our economy. Fortunately, there are many types of help given by the Singapore Government that are driven and implemented by various ministries and statutory boards. The array of financial relief is wide and generous, dipping into our precious national reserves—monetary payouts, loans, and assistance programmes. Coupled with the different time frames of implementation, this information, though important, can become scattered and confusing for all of us. To help you get through this maze of relief measures, we have compiled the ultimate guide to the various financial aids given out to Singaporeans. Amongst the 41…