It has been raining non-stop over the weekend, swelling our waterways, toppling trees, triggering mudslide and causing some cars to be submerged in some very big ponds. It’s excellent weather for steamboat and wine, but it’s also good for snuggling in bed or reading. During my primary and secondary school days, the year-end monsoon season […]

It is that time of the year again; to look back in wonder. How did we survive 2020? A pandemic swept across the globe, triggering panic and lockdowns. Our circuit breaker killed many jobs and businesses. Even with gradual opening into Phase 3 now, recovery has been slow. Covid-19 has been devastating and it completely […]

It has been a year since I received the following letter. My initial reaction was yao mo gao chor ah? Why can’t the library manage its own membership? Why must the PA get involved? What next? Knowing Singaporeans, they would obediently change their religions if there’s only one that offers goodies. Well, it’s been a […]

Once upon a time, there was a class of medical students going on their ward rounds at a local hospital. The topic to be covered that day was “heart murmurs”. Among them was student A, who had always been vying for the top spot in class. Their mentor brought them to a patient in the […]

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 […]