From the Lee family's dirty laundry to a bit of classic racism, here's what made us go WTF in Singapore last week.

LHL vs LWL

Just when we thought that the Lee Wei Ling vs The Straits Times saga had run its course, all hell broke loose when the good doctor released the unedited email exchange between herself and ST editor, Ivan Fernandez. In the exchange, she described her brother, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, rather unfavorably. It was all a little surreal as the PM issued a statement to deny his sister’s claim, saying that he was “deeply saddened”. Meanwhile, PM Lee’s wife, Ho Ching, posted an image of a monkey showing a middle finger on her Facebook page. All an unfortunate coincidence, of course. The irony of this all taking place on Siblings Day was not lost on Singaporeans. Good thing the international media doesn’t concern itself too much with issues like this, eh?

Good old-fashioned racism in the private sector

What began as a simple enquiry about renting an event space turned into a PR disaster for Tampines 1. Replying through the mall’s Facebook page, a certain “Jen” thought nothing of turning down a woman’s request to rent the mall’s atrium for a Hari Raya fair by saying “We are not so keen to run a Malay road show as our target audience are mainly Chinese.” You would think that the average person asks themselves, “Is this in any way racist?” at some point before making a statement. Nope. 

Some shocking comments in Parliament

MP for Jalan Besar Denise Phua came under serious fire last week for suggesting that the dense crowds of foreign workers in Little India were “walking time-bombs” and that public areas such as void decks and playgrounds should be fenced off so that “the young and the old can use the spaces meant for them”. After the ensuing uproar, the MP apologized for using the phrase “walking time-bombs” but did not in fact retract any of her crowd management suggestions. In her defence, she stated, “I personally get along very well with the foreign cleaners in my constituency.” Sounds a lot like the ol' "some of my best friends are..." argument.

Life is a rollercoaster

What is this, 2010? It seems that the Battlestar Galactica rollercoaster at Universal Studios Singapore can’t go very long without making the news. In the latest stuff up on Apr 6, visitors had to be evacuated after they got stuck in mid-air as a result of a technical error. Maybe they should incorporate some of its flaws into future branding. “Battlestar Galactica – It won't let you down”.