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The nephew of Pinky, Li ShengWu, has just posted an update on his own Facebook. He has been silent for a long time and we have not been getting any updates over how his uncle's gahmen is sueing him for a private Facebook post meant for his friends only. In case you missed it, Li ShengWu made a comment saying “Singapore government is very litigious” and has a “pliant court system” on a private Facebook post. The post then somehow got the attention of the AGC they asked Li for a public apology which he promptly refused.

Fastforward two years later and Li ShengWu has finally had another update on his Facebook. The Singapore Gahmen is still prosecuting them after all this time and he just filed his defence affidavit. In his post, he also thanked one David Pannick, a leading expert, for his guidance and help.

His post has since been shared over 400 times and was even shared by Pinky's own siblings, Lee Wei Ling and Lee Hsien Yang.

Wonder how far the Singapore government is willing to go for this.

An Today article titled "Shanmugam questions funding sources behind TOC, reiterates need for laws to curb foreign interference", was published today and local activist Kirsten Han took notice of a particular part of the article which alleged that a couple of the local activists urged Mahathir to bring democracy to Singapore. In her email to the writer of the article, Kenneth Cheng, she claimed that they only talked about the political shift in Malaysia.

In the article, the author also talked about how Kirsten Han claimed that Singapore has failed to compare with Hong Kong as we don't have 500,000 people going out on the streets in protest and hopes that she can go on New Naratif to teach Sinkies to do the same:

"Ms Han, on video, has said that Singapore has failed compared with Hong Kong, because 500,000 people don’t go on the streets to march, unlike (in) Hong Kong. And she wants to change that through classes run by New Naratif"

However, Kirsten Han has gone against that and claimed that the author has not done his fact checking as she has never said that. However, in 2016, she did give a talk about activism and civil disobedience. And in that speech, she said that

"if we use '500,000 people in the streets' as the measure of success for a country's civil society and/or a social movement, then it looks like Singapore has failed compared to Hong Kong, but actually '500,000 people in the streets' is a poor and unrealistic KPI to use to measure the state of civil society in a country."

Throughout the speech, she highlighted "legitimate, non-violent ways for people to participate, such as organizing parliamentary petitions or taking part in consultations". Also, in 2016, New Naratif did not exist yet. So how could she want to use New Naratif to teach people to go out on the streets in protest?

It seems like our 151 media has screwed up again and not did do their fact checking again. 151 media, the biggest purveyors of fake news? Wonder if her email and Tweets will help in fighting back against the 151 media. We hope so.

Update edit: Today has changed their article according to the facts from Kirsten Han. Way to go, Kirsten! Show them who's boss!

In 2017, a leak of the famous Sword Art Online movie caused some tensions between a movie distributor in Singapore and the copyright owners in Japan. They were on the verge of being blacklisted for future anime film releases. However, the tensions were eased, thankfully. They however, urged movie-goers to stop taking pictures and videos to leak on social media sites.

Now, another popular anime, One Piece, got their movie distributed by the same company. And yet again, someone posted a leak of the movie on Youtube. 

ODEX had to plead the movie-goers to stop doing these things as it will only result in Singapore being blacklisted for future releases. I guess the warnings for being charged does not scare our local movie-goers as they are obviously falling on deaf ears. Is there anything else our authorities can do to stop these recording and leaks?

The time ODEX spent on gaining the trust back from the copyright owners all gone to waste. So sad.

Yup you read that right. The biggest Merlion in Singapore is slated to be torn down by the end of this year to make way for new developments in Singapore. Specifically, a bridge. The Merlion, which sits at the heart of Sentosa will be demolished to make way for a $90 million sensoryscape which will be linking the North and South shores. It will be replacing the current walkway.

Of course, many Singaporeans are not happy with this. Saying that it's a bad omen and the likes. Honestly, how many of us Sinkies go to Sentosa nowadays? It's just a money grabbing tourist trap. We go there perhaps once or twice a year at most. So once again, to attract more tourists to Singapore, they are killing off the biggest Sentosa's icon. A Singapore icon. What are we getting ourselves into?

There are six other Merlions in Singapore. Lets hope that they do not get demolished as well. Especially not for greed.

The SG Climate Rally will be held tomorrow at Hong Lim Park between 3pm - 6pm. This rally is held in light of the ongoing climate crisis. With the current haze situation in Singapore, this event could not come at a better timing to remind us on how we should save the environment. 

This rally will have activities for both young and old. Come and show your support, let the corporations and our government hear our voices. Individually we might not be able to make a change. But together, we stand a fighting chance.  If you are coming down to show your support, remember to bring along umbrellas and N95 masks. 

For those who can't make it down for whatever reason, they will also be having an online activity for you! More info will be released at 12 noon tomorrow.

On 18 September 2019, Singapore's prominent online vigilante platform SMRT Feedback launched a broadside against Singapore's pre-eminent alternative media The Online Citizen for using foreign ghost writers to publish articles about Singapore news and politics. SMRT Feedback alleged that Terry Xu, TOC's Editor-In-Chief was guilty of using foreigners to write defamatory articles about Lee Hsien Loong and 38 Oxley Road. 

The funny thing is, having faced with years of over-zealous scrutiny and pressure from the Singapore authorities, TOC always had troubles recruiting and getting help with the website. If not for the dedication and patriotism Terry Xu has for Singapore, he would have long shut the website down and went about his daily mundane life minding his own business. Why would he choose to put himself under the microscope if not for love for Singapore? The facts speak for itself, Terry Xu and TOC are true Singaporean patriots who despite the harsh environment and regulatory regime imposed on them, still took things on the chin, all to stand up for Singaporeans and their rights. Terry's latest defamatory suit brought about by PM Lee Hsien Loong is yet another example of how hostile and "threatening" an environment Terry and TOC is working in. 

Having explained the tough operating conditions, now ask yourselves, would any other Singaporean want to take up this writer's job where you face public scrutiny 24/7, you face verbal abuse by the sychophant internet brigade or perhaps risk putting your job on the line if you ever were to write something which offends powerful figures and ends up as a criminal or defamatory case? The simple answer is NO, most of Singaporeans have not awoken to these realities and to find another person like Terry, would be almost impossible. Many have partnered with Terry in this journey and many have left, unable to withstand the tremendous scrutiny.

So why is TOC's use of foreign writers a master stroke of genius? With TOC's miniscule operating budget, how could Terry stretch our strong Singapore dollar the way many of us travel across the causeway to buy cheaper groceries and fuel? Therefore, the hiring of Malaysian writers at 1/3 the salaries is a strategic decision that will help TOC stay afloat longer and keep doing the tough but important role it plays in local civil society. 

Given that this is TOC, The Online Citizen we have been talking about, is there any doubts about their journalistic integrity? Just because the articles are written by cheaper Malaysian writers does not mean it has any lack of standards or are held to a lower bar than if the article was written by a Singaporean. TOC or Terry would definitely hold these writers to an equal standard, hence if the standards are the same, does their nationality really matter? 

What truly matters is whether TOC stays afloat to keep marginalised Singaporean voices heard and holds the PAP government to account. Harping over nationality is just a red herring to  distract Singaporeans from what truly matters and yet another attempt to heap pressure on TOC. 

Stay strong TOC, remain steadfast Terry and thank you for your service to this sometimes ungrateful nation.