SlashAsia » Singapore

Singapore’s gay community holds rally

Alexandra Stevenson — Mon, 18 May 2009 05:08:24 +0000

Close to 2500 activists donning pink rallied for gay rights on Saturday in nanny-state Singapore, just one week after the government rescinded an NGO sex education program. The reason cited for stopping the program, organized by women’s rights NGO Aware (Association for Women for Action and Research), was that it promoted alternative lifestyles unpalatable to mainstream Singaporean society. While sodomy is still illegal and homosexuality is not recognized, the government has become more tolerant of gays and lesbians in recent years. It has also become more tolerant of protests, which were once essentially banned. The one-party state, led by People’s Action Party, recently encouraged Singaporeans to hold public demonstration in a previously empty and quiet Speakers’ Corner park. The catch is they cannot air grievances related to race, religion or language. According to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, law, order and security are all priorities for the small and ethnically diverse city-state community. “One incident could undermine our racial harmony”, Lee was recently quoted as saying in the Straits Times.

Singapore’s gay community holds first-ever rally, Associated Press

Hong Lim park turns pink, The Straits Times

Speakers’ Corner: protests ok, The Straits Times

NGO showdown brief, but breath of fresh air in stuffy Singapore

enrico — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:03:56 +0000

Last weekend a showdown within Singaporean women’s rights NGO, Aware, exposed rifts in the typically apathetic society. The outcome was mixed; the old Aware liberal guard was successfully restored, but the NGO’s sex education programs were rescinded this week. The issues at hand were homosexuality, which Singapore does not acknowledge officially, and religious secularism. Recently a group of conservative Chinese Christian women took power of Aware’s executive, with the mission to change Aware’s supposedly pro-gay agenda. Members of Aware, displeased with what they saw as an infringement of religious values in a secular NGO, staged a vote of no confidence, forcing the new guard to step down. While this was a success, the Ministry of Education this week suspended Aware’s sex education program in schools, citing the NGO’s discussion of alternative lifestyles as a major concern. The Straits Times quoted the Ministry saying, ‘They [Aware] should also adhere to social norms and values of our mainstream society.’

Taken unawares, The Economist
Live: Aware showdown at Suntec, The Straits Times Blog
Aware sex guide suspended, The Straits Times
Excerpts from Aware press conference, AsiaOne News
New Exco of Aware given a vote of no confidence, ChannelNewsAsia

Singapore prepares for growth in Compressed Natural Gas market

enrico — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:56:52 +0000

With one of the world’s largest refueling centers for CNG, and government rebates for greener cars (GVRs), gas supplier Union Energy has pumped $1 million (SGD) into the CNG market. The city-state has more than 500 CNG taxis, and is expected to expand to another 2000 over the next two years. Estimates say the city-state already has more than 3000 CNG vehicles. Hybrid cars have gained recent popularity too, with close to 2100 cars on the island, but they are more expensive. Analyists are predicting another ten refueling stations need to be set up to accomodate a projected 30,000 new CNG cars in the future. Singapore’s population is just over 4.6 million.

Singapore holds largest refueling center for Compressed Natural Gas, Today Online
Singapore’s hybrid highway, Asia One

Asia: Markets rally, currencies at 2009 high

Alexandra Stevenson — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 00:01:56 +0000

Asian currencies strengthened this week following an announcement that American banks could stand without government buyout, and optimism about new Chinese and Japanese stimulus packages. Japan’s Nikkei rose 5.15%, South Korea’s Kospi 6.7%, while Singapore’s Strait Times Index rose 5.6%. The Malaysian ringgit increased by 0.3% after the government announced a US $16 billion stimulus plan. The Taiwan dollar rose 0.8%, and the Thai baht 0.4%. Despite a regional rally, the Philippines peso and Vietnam dong were unaffected, and China’s Shanghai Composite actually dropped by 0.2%, after Wen Jiabao expressed concern about the stability of US Treasuries.

The Bank of America Corp., JP Morgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. announced this week that they do not need government support and may even see profits this year, boosting confidence in the Asia region as well as Europe. While analysts say this is just a temporary respite, things may be looking up in Southeast Asia. Citigroup has indicated it’s confidence that Southeast Asian countries will come out of the crisis soon, announcing plans to start equity brokerage business in Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia

Links and sources:

Citigroup to boost Asian equity trade , Gulf Daily News

Nikkei surges 5% as US bank hopes lift Asian markets , CNBC News

Asian stocks lifted , The Straits Times

Asian currencies best of week 2009, led by won, rupiah , Bloomberg

Asia: Internet-nanny states on rise

Alexandra Stevenson — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 14:55:50 +0000

According to a recent article in Asia Times Online, the 2007 Computer Crime Act in Thailand had made the use of proxy servers punishable by law and more recently 2, 300 websites have been shutdown for insulting the monarchy. The Justice Ministry has sought court orders to shut down an additional 3000. In Singapore the government, wary of any criticism, frequently sues publications like The Economist and the Far Eastern Economic Review for referring to the one-party government rule as ‘authoritarian’. The government, which uses economic success as legitimacy for it’s hold on power, harassed an Asia Times contributor for discussing financial trouble in the city-state. In Malaysia last year, local ISPs were told to block renowned blogger and critique of the government, Raja Petra Kamarudin, from accessing the Internet. He was later arrested under the Internal Security Act. The Burmese government is taking lessons from Russian and Chinese officials on how to tighten it’s grip in cyberspace too, in a more sophisticated way than has previously done.

Links and sources:

An opening in cyberspace closes, Asia Times Online

China’s Internet censorship explained, China you ren website

Asia: ASEAN countries to demonstrate self-sufficiency and open trade

Alexandra Stevenson — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 15:35:08 +0000

Finance ministers in the Asia region are holding bilateral talks in the lead up the 14th Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) summit, in a show of greater strategic cooperation to prevent trade protectionism. Malaysia held bilateral talks with Indonesian and Chinese finance ministers this weekend, to promote trade. Officials from Japan, China and Korea met Saturday afternoon to discuss counter-measures to economic slowdown. Finance chiefs from Asean countries and Japan, China and South Korea will gather at the summit on February 27 in Thailand to discuss concrete and collective response to financial woes.

Asean will speak out against using trade protectionism as a way to cope with the current financial crisis, Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has said. Mr. Abhisit has encouraged Asean countries to seek aid from other regions, acknowledging that the IMF ” simply does not have the resources, money and time to look into the various problems in different regions.” The Asia Development Bank will participate in the summit as Asean members determine the details of a foreign reserve fund pool agreed upon last May. Contributing countries will discuss management and size of fund.

Links and sources:

Asean to resist protectionism, Straits Times

China, Indonesia and China trade talks, Malaysia Star

Asea foreign reserve pool, Xinhua