Anthropologist Margaret Mead was once asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilisation in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about clay pots, tools for hunting, grinding-stones, or religious artifacts. But no. Mead said that the first evidence of civilization was a 15,000 years old fractured femur […]

Former domestic worker Parti Layani’s attempt to seek compensation for her wrongful conviction took a twist on 27 October 2020 when the high court judge who acquitted her suggested that the parties go for mediation instead. Ms Parti Liyani is seeking compensation from the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) after her conviction for theft was overturned on […]

Yulia Tsevetkova is a young Russian social activist from the city of Komsomolskon Amur. She ran a sex education blog questioning gender stereotypes, dispelling taboos surrounding women’s bodies. She has also organised various feminist and LGBT events and produced plays for children. Among her many works, were drawings of naked women with slogans like “Living […]

So what’s new? We’ve heard talk about opening Phase 3 a few weeks ago, but nothing seems to have happened so far. Yesterday, everything seemed uneventful when I made my way home from my parents’ place on the Circle Line and then the NEL. As I was getting off at Serangoon, there was an announcement […]

24-year-old Natalie Siow Yu Zhen who was involved in a fatal stabbing at Orchard Towers on 2 July last year. She and her group emerged from the Naughty Girl Club on the second floor of Orchard Towers and got into a fight with 31-year-old Satheesh Noel Gobidass. One man in Siow’s group, Tan Sen Yang […]

China, one of the world’s biggest users of plastic in the world, has unveiled a major plan to reduce single-use plastics across the country. Non-degradable bags will be banned in major cities by the end of 2020 and in all cities and towns by 2022. Makes you feel guilty? Sounds like good news for the […]

By now, you must have been sleeping if you have not heard about the case of Parti Liyani. I’m not sure how much of it has been covered by our newsPAPers, but social media has been overflowing with vitriol. There is heavy and widespread criticism for Liew Mun Leong, forcing him to retire early, much […]

The unsuspecting former Indonesian FDW Ms Parti Liyani, 44, was arrested at Changi Airport on Dec 2 2016 when she returned to Singapore. Her former employer had accused her of stealing items worth more than S$50,000. The “victim” was the illustrious Professor Liew Mun Leong and three of his family members; his son and daughter-in-law, […]

Last night, I had a dream. I dreamed that I was on a luxury cruise with a 美女。As we were boarding, we were stopped by a hard-nosed ticket inspector. “All aboard the Love Boat. Tickets please. Did you give our company 5 stars on social media?” “No.” “Why not?” “One of the seat cushions was […]

Back in 2009, Mr Tan Yong Soon, then a senior official at Singapore’s Environment Ministry (professor at LKYSPP now) wrote to our favourite newsPAPer, the Straits Times, an article about his 5-week French cooking course at the Le Cordon Bleu cookery school in Paris. His wife and his son also joined him. It’s a long […]