STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES – First a South American becomes the head of the Roman Catholic Church, and now he wants to bring an Asian onto his Council for the Economy? Oh, how times have changed! In all seriousness, we couldn’t be happier for George Yeo, who was just appointed as…
Full Article SINGAPORE: George Yeo Goes to the VaticanAuthor: Stephanie Garcia
Stephanie is currently pursing a degree in Political Science and plans to graduate in 2014.
SINGAPORE: Six Years a Stalker
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES – It has been said “imitation is the highest form of flattery.” Perhaps stalking is second highest? And the new frontier seems to be taking place on the cyber highways. Sure, stalkers may be a problem that has existed since the dawn of civilization, but Web avenues…
Full Article SINGAPORE: Six Years a StalkerSINGAPORE: Anonymous Hacktivists Strike
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES – The online vigilante group Anonymous is at it again, with media giant Straits Times as its newest victim. After threatening to wage cyber warfare with the Singapore government in a YouTube video on October 30, the international hacking organization executed attacks, not on the government, but…
Full Article SINGAPORE: Anonymous Hacktivists StrikeSINGAPORE: Un-Neighborly Brawl Goes Facebook Viral
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES – There are all types of neighbors, ones that lend a cup of sugar, ones whose names we never learn, and ones who play their music loudly. Of course, the worst of all are the ones who play their music loudly and then physically abuse their elderly…
Full Article SINGAPORE: Un-Neighborly Brawl Goes Facebook ViralSINGAPORE: Malaysia Only Wants to be Friends in Secret
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES – As Singapore’s president, Dr. Tony Tan Keng Yam, made his first diplomatic visit to neighboring Malaysia, Singapore news outlets stressed the importance of a strengthened relationship, while Malaysia sang a better-off-without-you tune in its own media. The Straits Times and Singapore-based Channel News Asia stressed the value…
Full Article SINGAPORE: Malaysia Only Wants to be Friends in SecretSINGAPORE: Evangelizing Comes at a High Cost
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES – What could be more scandalous than a pop star, a church, and alleged embezzlement between the two? A “second coming” of “The Messiah” threatening to reveal all the dirty details of the so-called “hidden agenda.” On Monday, September 2, pop star Ho Yeow Sunʼs official website…
Full Article SINGAPORE: Evangelizing Comes at a High CostSINGAPORE: One Man’s View Receives Mixed Reviews
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES – The world weighs in as the Father of Modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, shares his most pugnacious opinions in his latest book. One Man’s View of the World, a fitting title for a book whose author single handedly took a nation from rags to riches, was…
Full Article SINGAPORE: One Man’s View Receives Mixed ReviewsSINGAPORE: National Family ‘Pledge’ Notably Omits Single Parents and LGBT
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES – Singapore values family … but only if your family includes two parents, one mother and one father. On July 30, Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing introduced the nation’s first family pledge at a luncheon for those who participated in last month’s National…
Full Article SINGAPORE: National Family ‘Pledge’ Notably Omits Single Parents and LGBTSRI LANKA: Not Easy to Make a Sympathetic War Movie
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES – Ever since the end of its 26-year civil war in 2009, Sri Lanka has been in the hot seat, the constant target of allegations of war crimes from the UN and the international community. So it’s no surprise that the island-state is hyper-sensitive to criticism, particularly…
Full Article SRI LANKA: Not Easy to Make a Sympathetic War MovieSINGAPORE: SAF Joins Forces to Create ‘Cyber Army’
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES – Gone are the days when warfare was contained on a physical battlefield. Netizens beware — cyberspace is the new frontier. On July 1, Defense Minister Ng Eng Hen announced the creation of the Cyber Defense Operations Force Hub, a collaboration between web security specialists of the…
Full Article SINGAPORE: SAF Joins Forces to Create ‘Cyber Army’SINGAPORE: New MDA Regulations Have Web Users Up in Arms
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES -The Singapore government just made it a lot harder for small news outfits to do their jobs. But netizens refuse to go down without a fight. On May 28 the Media Development Agency (MDA) enacted new Internet regulations on news sites. Under the rules, sites that regularly…
Full Article SINGAPORE: New MDA Regulations Have Web Users Up in ArmsSINGAPORE: Supervisor’s Temper Tantrum Goes Viral
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES – Temper tantrums are only socially acceptable during childhood. After that, they tend to draw police involvement and viral disapproval. A YouTube video posted May 17 of a supervisor physically abusing an intern sparked a media frenzy over the weekend, ultimately compelling the 29-year-old victim to come…
Full Article SINGAPORE: Supervisor’s Temper Tantrum Goes ViralSINGAPORE: Can’t Take a Joke?
STEPHANIE GARCIA WRITES- Cartoons are typically humorous, but Leslie Chew is hardly laughing since being charged with sedition for his “racially insensitive” comic strip. The 37 year old may face up to $5,000 in fines and three years jail time if he is found guilty of violating Section 298 of…
Full Article SINGAPORE: Can’t Take a Joke?SINGAPORE: Let the FBI in Already!
Sometimes, one must give a little to get a little, a lesson Singapore is learning the hard way. Specifically, if the city-state gives in and grants the FBI access to evidence collected in the investigation of US engineer Shane Todd’s death, it will continue receiving generous funding from the US…
Full Article SINGAPORE: Let the FBI in Already!SINGAPORE: Cops bend to FT, let FBI investigate engineer’s death
After months of alleged dawdling, an article in the Financial Times seems to have persuaded Singapore police to let the FBI help investigate a U.S. scientist’s death. Shane Todd, a 31 year old electronics engineer from Montana, was found hanging dead in his Singapore apartment last June. His death was…
Full Article SINGAPORE: Cops bend to FT, let FBI investigate engineer’s deathSINGAPORE: Oral Sex Trial Blows Over!
What the region’s overheated news media has termed “the most high profile graft trial in decades” is finally over… maybe. Last week, Ng Boon Gay, former Central Narcotics Bureau Director, was acquitted of all four charges of corruption. He was accused of obtaining oral sex from Cecilia Sue, sales manager…
Full Article SINGAPORE: Oral Sex Trial Blows Over!