5 things that made us go WTF in Singapore this past week
For starters, we got slammed by the Human Rights Watch annual report.
So far, 2017 is off to a deliciously scandalous start, with some corruption, some racism and a potential new threat to our binge-watching at home. Here are the things that have made us go WTF in Singapore.
The nearly 40 year-old global NGO Human Rights Watch has released its report for 2017, and Singapore pretty much got slammed. The Singapore page on their report website begins thus: "Singapore’s political environment is stifling, and citizens continued in 2016 to face severe restrictions on their basic rights to freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly." Read the full report here.
Ok, that's overstating it, but we're still sad to hear that Serangoon Plaza is going to be demolished after February to make way for a new 19-story mixed-use development. Mustafa, which holds 70% of the retail space in the building, is moving all merchandise over to the main store on Syed Alwi, so it's not all doom and gloom. Still, we're worried about what appears to be the imminent gentrification and oversanitization of Little India. Let's not forget the depressing letter by regular forum writer Ray Goh in The Straits Times, telling us that Little India needs sprucing up.
Thought you were exempt from media censorship just because you're doing all your watching on YouTube and Netflix at home? Think again. In a recent story by The Straits Times, Minister for Information and Communications Yaacob Ibrahim said that the Films Act and Broadcasting Act will be revised in 2017, in light of technological changes. This means they'll be taking a look at YouTube videos (hard as they are to keep track of), streaming services like Netflix and homemade videos. While we get that the act is in place to safeguard against threats to national security and harmony, we'll be more than bummed if our favorite shows get messed with.
In a casual discussion about a study on Singaporeans and the number of hours they sleep, the hosts of Maddy, Jason and Arnold in the Morning horrified listeners with a throwaway speculation that the reason why Malays and Indians get less sleep (than Chinese) was because they've been raised to party and have fun. Angry listeners felt the remarks supported racial stereotypes of the hard-working Chinese and the lazy Malay/Indian. The icing on the cake was the non-apology that followed. In a public post on Facebook, Singaporean poet called it "the 'we are sorry you are offended, it was not meant to' drivel."
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