Opinions

A netizen shared how he stood up to a woman who was behaving rudely, and being plain racist, while on the MRT.

The netizen shared how the "working class" lady, who was seated, had held her nose after a young Indian/Bangladeshi male sat in the seat beside her.

When another person sitting next to the obnoxious woman alighted, the netizen sprung into action.

He sat beside the woman and did to her exactly what she did to the Indian/Bangladeshi gentleman. He held his nose while looking at her. When she asked him what was wrong, the netizen retorted that he was just bothered by the rancid smell of racists people.

Embarrassed, the woman left her seat in a huff, to the delight of the netizen and the Indian/Bangladeshi gentleman.

The moral of the story is don't be an obnoxious idiot.

We don't recommend that you confront a racist person like what the netizen did. If need be, call the police.

But stand up and support victims of racism. There is no room for racism and it should not be tolerated, even if comes in the form of passive aggresive gestures like what the woman did.

Don't let the racist minority get away with it.

Socio-political activist, Roy Ngerng, has slammed the PAP government for their cowardice. Ngerng took offence to attempts by the PAP government and its supporters to denounce his support of the Hong Kong protesters as 'foreign interference'.

Ngerng sees the over-reaction as a badge of honour because it meant that they've taken note and are running scared.

But Ngerng himself is far from scared. He seeks comfort in fellow supporters of the protests who come from places as diverse as Taiwan, Canada, Australia, Japan, and even the countries in Europe.

He took umbrage at the PAP's duplicity and hypocrisy in lauding the promotion of democracy in other countries while denouncing his support of democracy in Hong Kong. He also challenged the PAP to show how he is influencing, or is being influenced by foreign parties.

For Ngerng, the only reason that the PAP and its supporters are coming after him is because they are scared that Singaporeans will do the same as the Hong Kongers are doing because Singaporeans are equally educated, informed, and politically aware.

Negerng has raised some pointed questions.

Why is it wrong for him to advocate and support the growth of democracy in Hong Kong when the PAP themselves claim to support democracy? With the elections around the corner, is the PAP scared that Singaporeans will do as the Hong Kongers have done?

With the elections around the corner, it looks like the PAP is feeling the heat.

The relationship between Singapore and Malaysia has been tested under Malaysia's current government led by Mahathir Mohamad (Dr. M). While ministers from both countries committed to working together, the relationship is not perfect.

A netizen has shared how his friends were accosted by an unmarked foreign vessel claiming to belong to the Malaysian customs authorities. 

According to the netizen, the incident happened while his angler-friends were fishing near the Frontier beacon on 13 June 2019.

An 'officer' from the unmarked vessel wanted to perform checks on their cargo, and confiscate the friends' vessel, for allegedly fishing in Malaysian waters. The friends protested the charges and urged the officer to check the GPS and AIS (Automatic Information System). The officer didn't do so.

This was then reported by the anglers to the Police Coast Guard, who responded quickly.

The unmarked Malaysian vessel backed down.

The Singapore government has to demand an answer from their Malaysian counterparts. Regardless of whether it was truly a Malaysian government vessel or a not, there must be accountability as to why the said vessel entered Singapore waters and conducted illegal checks on a Singapore leirsure-fishing vessel.

For the avid anglers who loves fishing onboard vessels, be mindful that you may be targeted. If faced with similar circumstances, contact the PCG as early as possible.

Admin, 

I am non-smoker. I read with great concern regarding the investigation by NEA on the smoking situation at a Bedok flat.

Using cctvs to fight crime is not ideal. But if it keeps us safe, and crime rates are low, we won't argue against it. 

What the NEA doing is taking it too far. 12 offences recorded over 4 days is impressive but is there really a need for it? How is smoking a serious crime? 

It is unhealthy and non-smokijng Singaporeans should be protected. It does not justify the use of cctvs. 

Is there a persistent dangerous litter problem in the area? 

Then what about the homeowner? How can their interests be protected?

They may own the house but they may not have any power over visitors who smoke at the corridors or the staircase landings. When my friends or family visit me for Hari Raya, as long as they smoke in my house, I have no control over where else they choose to smoke. I should not be penalised because of them.

NEA must come out to address our concerns.

Fiz non-smoker

Worker's Party member, Yee Jenn Jong, urged Singaporeans to have the courage to embrace change, highlighting that there are credible alternatives to the choice provided by the incumbeent PAP.

Yee shared this opinion after a frank exchange with an elderly resident during a community event.

The elderly man was grateful for the community work that the WP had carried out for the less privilege in the Marine Terrace area. He however, like many other Singaporeans, felt conflicted and was unsure about the potential implications of voting an opposition party into power at both the constituency and government level. While he felt that something needed to be done, he could not dismiss the track record of the first and even second generation PAP members.

According to Yee, this sentiment is not uncommon among the people he has come across during his political work. According to Yee, he himself had the same reservations - he felt that PAP had performed reasonably well till the 2000s. By then, Yee had concerns on the PAP's policices related to, amongst others, healthcare, education, and public housing.

The risk-averse mentality that developed among policymakers and government through the years of stellar success also became a bugbear for Yee. In this, he saw a need for the emergence of a credible alternative so that Singapore can be steered towards further success in the next stages of its growth.

Yee called on Singaporeans like the elderly residents to escape from the hegemonic influence of the PAP brought about by the politics of fear. To do so, they need to embrace change. 

They should not worry that their estates will turn into a slum and be left in a state of disrepair. 

Yee then reminded Singaporeans that the reason why Singapore succeeded in the past was because we were bold and innovative. They need to find that daring, can-do spirit again so that Singapore can change for the better.

This is a very relatable opinion from Yee. It is true. We were once bold. The PAP itself began as an opposition party. There is no reason to to fear voting a credible alternative into parliament.

A racist man has been ranting against Chinese privilege and the perceived bad habits of elderly Chinese persons on his private Instagram account.

He appears to have a hatred for the Chinese people, in particular the elderly.

He captured himself giving the middle-finger to the elderly Chinese every morning, whom he brands as 'disgusting' and 'subhuman'. He insulted them further by calling them 'parasites' that are 'just waiting to expire'.

He has also hit out at the same group that he encounters on buses, taking issue with them 'clusterfucking' at the exit doors of buses. The story was hastagged '#CHINESEPRIVILEGEISREAL'.

This guy is an attention seeker with a vendetta.

The IG handle that he uses is an English name. However, it is not known what his race is and where he comes from. It is not our intention to speculate on those details as well.

The issue here is that there is a racist amongst us, who takes the same buses or trains that we do. The hate that he has is disconcerting. For now, it is just ranting on IG.

What if one day he snaps and decides to act upon it?