To the non-Chinese speaking world, Yang Mi 杨幂 is not a familiar name. From her photos, one will be forgiven for mistaking Yang Mi as an airhead who earned her fame and fortune by looks and luck. Not so. Yang Mi is astonishingly accomplished. …

The Challenge: Climb 311 steps to the top of the tower — or so I thought. Standing 62 metres / 203 feet tall, the ‘Monument to the Great Fire of London’ is a fluted Doric column located in Central London, built between 1671 to 1677. 311 steps? No biggee. I…

Gag orders are for the benefit of victims and witnesses only It is cardinal that an accused person is innocent until proven guilty. Yet, media reports on crimes regularly name the person accused of the crime, thereby exposing the person to shame even before conviction. …

I read with disquiet and appal the account by Charlotte Bellis, a pregnant New Zealand citizen who had been unable to return to her home country. [1] Her plight is far from unique. Due to the controversial “Managed Isolation and Quarantine” (MIQ) system, tens of thousands of NZ citizens have…

This piece of mine was first published on my blog on 30 November 2017. In light of impending GST hikes in Singapore, it has been republished by Wake Up Singapore on 2 February 2022 at https://wakeup.sg/reinstate-estate-duty/ SHOULD WE BRING BACK ESTATE DUTY? On 19 November 2017, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced that the PAP Government…

A DEED OF TRUST № 4 Bishopsgate, Singapore. My car pulled up to the gates of this old colonial house located near Grange Road, I recalled that during the Japanese Occupation, these were the living quarters of Rev. John Hayter, priest-in-charge of St Hilda’s Church. …

For the last 18 months, we have been battling an invisible enemy without respite. In stealth, the enemy travels across borders incognito, hiding in plain sight, stealing a ride into our very midst. The troops it marshals for its destructive aims are none other than us ourselves. It recruits anyone…

2.00pm, Tuesday, 31 May 2016 — Seven or eight police officers swarmed into the diminutive 67-year-old’s home. Ignoring her request to take off their shoes before entering, they roamed around her place for more than an hour, taking videos and photographs as they wanted. The troupe left with her computer…

When all legal avenues have been exhausted, the last resort for a criminal sentenced to death, is to apply for Presidential clemency. When Singapore gained independence in 1965, the avenue of clemency was embedded into the Singapore Constitution[1]. Although clemency is usually discussed in the context of capital cases, it…