Review of censorship

May 21, 2009
Addendum to President's Address
Review of censorship
By Clarissa Oon

Singapore will reconvene a committee this year to review its censorship of media and the arts. --PHOTO: SINGAPORE ARTS FESTIVAL
SINGAPORE will reconvene a committee this year to review its censorship of media and the arts. The move is aimed at giving citizens more choices without compromising social fundamentals.

This independent Censorship Review Committee (CRC) will study content regulations in broadcast media, films, videos, publications, audio materials, the arts and new media to see if they need updating.

The last time such a review took place was in 2003, said the Ministry Information, Communications and the Arts (Mica) in a statement on Thursday, elaborating on its addendum to the President's address in Parliament on Monday.

Previous CRC reviews were held every 10 years.

This time, the committee will be reconvened earlier to help Mica and the Media Development Authority keep pace with the rapidly-changing media environment and societal changes.

Issues that have been raised by industry players include fine-tuning of film and video classifications, video distribution and rules on entertainment and lifestyle publications.

The CRC will also look at what the convergence of multiple media platforms means for content regulations.

Its chairman and members will be announced soon.

Mica has also said it will continue to invest in the arts and creative industries despite the economic downturn.

It plans to open a new library in Clementi and relocate the Orchard library to the new Specialist Shopping Centre. The old library at Orchard moved out of Ngee Ann City in end-2007.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=29374.1

Quantum Leaps Of Logic

Quantum Leaps Of Logic

Forum writer Mrs Carolyn Tan saw through the “quantum leap of logic” in Kishore Mahbubani’s article (The Virtues of Secularism, Straits Times 20 May), wherein the Dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at National University of Singapore alleged that “there was a grand design by a religious group to venture into the secular domain and gobble up Aware,” just because the ladies involved happened to attend the same congregational services.

So what else is new? After all, while being Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, he also wrote another article (”Following Singapore’s Lead on the Road of Development”, Earth Times, January 15, 2001) which boasted: “There are no homeless, destitute or starving people in Singapore. Poverty has been eradicated, not through an entitlements program (there are virtually none) but through a unique partnership between the government, corporate citizens, self-help groups and voluntary initiatives.”

But it was scary to read that he once upset the Cubans by telling them that if it is legitimate for Soviet Union to invade Afghanistan, it will also be legitimate for the United States to invade Cuba. That was the result of his interpretation of the so-called simple rule of logic: All specific propositions can be universalised. In reality, the British philosopher he quoted, R.M. Hare in his book “The Language Of Morals”, was talking about the principle of universality of moral statements, not perverse twists of logic. Example of the latter: we don’t want our ministers to be tempted by money, so we pay them obscene sums of money.

In the same article that spoilt Mrs Tan’s day, Mahbubani also wrote that a logical argument in one culture is equally logical in another culture, “just as mathematical truths are equally valid in all cultures.” Oh yeah, the Talibans find it very logical to blow up the girls’ schools and not those for boys, since girls’ school teach promiscuity, a conspiracy of the West to inflict the Muslim children with deadly diseases. Let’s see Mahbubani embrace that in his culture.

It all goes to show that having your name prefixed with a “dean” doesn’t mean zilch. Remember the first female dean of the law faculty, the one featured on page 73?


http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=28024.422

Singapore GDP falls 14.6%

May 21, 2009

S'pore GDP falls 14.6%

Singapore, however, maintained its forecast for the economy to shrink by 6 to 9 per cent this year and kept its inflation outlook at between minus 1 per cent and zero. -- ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

SINGAPORE'S economy in the first quarter of 2009 shrank at an annualised and seasonally adjusted rate of 14.6 per cent, a smaller contraction than expected, final government data showed on Thursday.

RELATED LINKS 2009 GDP GROWTH PRESS RELEASE

The fall in the gross domestic product rate was also smaller than a drop of 19.7 per cent reported in advanced figures on April 14 and marked the fourth straight quarter of economic contraction in what the government has described as the trade-reliant island's worst-ever recession.

GDP in the first three months of the year fell 10.1 per cent from a year earlier, also less than expected and a smaller fall than 11.5 per cent reported in the earlier April data.

Since the advanced figures were released , manufacturing data for January and February has been revised up, although some analysts had pointed to weakness in the services sector.

Singapore, however, maintained its forecast for the economy to shrink by 6 to 9 per cent this year and kept its inflation outlook at between minus 1 per cent and zero.

Analysts had expected the revised data to show the economy shrank at an annualised and seasonally adjusted rate of 17.0 per cent in the first quarter and expected a contraction of 11.1 per cent from a year earlier.

Like other exporters, Singapore's economy has been hit hard by the global downturn following the slump in the US housing market and credit crunch. -- THOMSON REUTERS

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=29335.1

'Silver tsunami' ahead

May 21, 2009

MINISTRY OF HEALTH

'Silver tsunami' ahead

2,000 more nursing home beds in five years

Eldersave, ElderShield, Elderfund being developed

Manpower expansion and training in health care

By Salma Khalik, Health Correspondent
		Pressure on nursing homes here, like the Society for the Aged Sick, will increase as the population ages. Work on five new nursing homes will start within two years. -- ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN

IN THE coming decade, Singapore's health-care system will come under pressure from an ageing population coupled with an increase in mental ailments.

National screening to cut down cases of colorectal cancer TESTS for colorectal cancer, the most common cancer in Singapore, will be offered as part of a national screening programme by next year. Singaporeans between the ages of 50 and 69 will be invited to take the faecal immunochemical test (FIT), used to detect human blood in stool samples. ... more

To cope, the Health Ministry will add more than 2,000 nursing home beds over the next five years - with about half devoted to the care of the mentally ill.

In the Health Addendum to the President's Address at the opening of Parliament on Monday, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan spoke of the need to prepare for a 'silver tsunami'.

The population here is ageing rapidly. The number of people who are over 65 years old is expected to treble to 900,000 by 2030 - from 300,000 today.

This is the driving force behind the development of a second heart and cancer centre, a new general hospital in Yishun and another in Jurong, and the expansion of the National University Health System's dental centre.

'We will increase our subventions to intermediate and long-term care facilities to help them meet growing patient needs,' said Mr Khaw. These include community hospitals, nursing homes and hospices.

Work on five new nursing homes will start within two years, including a 300-bed home for patients with psychiatric problems to be ready by 2012.

The ministry will also be releasing two plots of land for the building of private nursing homes. And it will help two existing homes run by voluntary welfare organisations (VWO) to relocate to new and larger facilities.

To help patients pay for all these services, the ministry will develop the 3Es - Eldersave, ElderShield and Elderfund.

Mr Khaw also touched on palliative care or the management of pain, and the need to let the elderly sick die with dignity, a theme he has touched on several times this year.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=29334.1

Cornoner's inquiry into NTU student's death fall: Body had 36 wounds

May 21, 2009

Cornoner's inquiry into NTU student's death fall

Body had 36 wounds

Pathologist asked if cuts could have been inflicted during a struggle

By Sujin Thomas & Kimberly Spykerman
		The dead student's (from left) older brother William Widjaja, mother Huang Lixian and father Hartanto Widjaja were at the hearing yesterday, seeking answers to his death. -- ST PHOTOS: WONG KWAI CHOW

View more photos

WHEN he was found below a bridge at the Nanyang Technological University, undergraduate David Hartanto Widjaja had more than 36 wounds on his body.

About the case Nanyang Technological University undergraduate David Hartanto Widjaja, 21, was found dead after falling from a bridge on campus on March 2. Mr Widjaja, an Indonesian national, was in his final year at NTU's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. ... more Close friend also on the stand Also on the stand on Wednesday was a close friend of Mr Widjaja, fellow Indonesian undergraduate Hardian Setiawan Winata. The final-year student described his friend as a hard worker in his first year at university. However, he added that subsequently, Mr Widjaja appeared distracted and spent a lot of time in his room playing computer games, often skipping tutorials as a result. ... more

Many of these were cuts on his arms and hands, as well as abrasions, a packed Coroner's Court was told on Wednesday at the start of a five-day inquest into circumstances surrounding the Indonesian undergrad's death on March 2.

The 21-year-old final-year student at the university's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering fell four storeys to his death that morning. He allegedly had a quarrel earlier with his final-year project (FYP) supervisor, Associate Professor Chan Kap Luk, during which the latter was stabbed.

On Wednesday, pathologist Dr Marian Wang, who carried out an autopsy on Mr Widjaja, said the undergraduate suffered several other injuries, including a fractured breast bone.

These, she said, were consistent with someone who had fallen from a height.

Based on what she found, Dr Wang, the registrar of the Centre for Forensic Medicine of the Health Sciences Authority, concluded that Mr Widjaja had died from multiple injuries, she told the court yesterday.

Asked about the cuts on the student's arms and hands, Dr Wang said they could have been inflicted while he was involved in a struggle with another party to gain control of a knife. Some wounds may have also been self-inflicted, she added.

During cross-examination, lawyer Shashi Nathan, who represents the Widjaja family - they were in court on Wednesday, along with Indonesian media and embassy representatives - asked Dr Wang whether some injuries were defensive in nature.

She denied this initially, saying that injuries sustained in self-defence are 'usually accompanied by stab wounds or deep cuts. These are absent in this case'.

Under persistent questioning, however, she said she could not rule out such a possibility.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=29375.2

Changes to sex education programmes: Schools not proxy battleground

May 21, 2009

Changes to sex education programmes

Schools not proxy battleground

		Education Minister Ng Eng Hen (left) cautioned that if they do not adhere to this rule strictly, Singapore's students and educational system will end up the losers. --PHOTO: ZAOBAO

SINGAPORE schools will not become the proxy battleground for Christian right and gay interest groups to settle arguments like in the United States.

'We must not go down the way as has happened in the US? Issues will not resolved that way,' said Education Minister Ng Eng Hen on Thursday, at a press conference to announce changes to the sex education programmes in schools.

RELATED LINKS FAQ on schools sex education programmes Excerpts of Education Minister Ng Eng Hen's remarks at press conference on sexuality education on May 21

Stressing a conscious need to keep schools and education institutions here away from contending groups, Dr Ng said this applies both to external agencies, and also to teachers and principals.

'If we do not adhere to this rule strictly, our students and educational system will end up the losers,' he cautioned.

'Our students grow and learn best in an environment where they can develop their own beliefs in an objective manner, with adequate time to reflect on difficult issues, free from the rhetoric and emotional upheavals of contending parties.'

Dr Ng said the sexuality education package for schools was developed carefully by professionals and in consultation with many groups, taking into account the sensitivities Singapore?s multi-religious and multiracial country.

Even then, he conceded that there may be some who still disagree with the approach or contents.

'We respect their rights to decide as parents and to opt-out. But what we must avoid is different groups with competing ideologies using our schools and young as proxy arenas to push their own set of beliefs,' he stressed, citing the recent Association of Women for Action and Research?s (Aware) saga.

Dr Ng said the Aware episode showed clearly how easily contentious issues can inflame supporters and spin out of control.

'This applies to religion, politics, and controversial topics in sexuality education alike. All should recognise that access to students is a privilege which MOE accords, and carries with it responsibilities and accountability,' he added.

'We do have religion-based schools, and they openly teach their beliefs but parents who enrol their children in these schools do so knowingly. Even then, students can opt-out of religious programs.

'We need to preserve and protect the shared space in our schools and educational institutions.'

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=28486.178

May 21, 2009

Changes to sex education programme

MOE tightens vetting

By Theresa Tan
		Education Minister Ng Eng Hen (left) announced schools will no longer have the autonomy to hire external groups to teach sexuality education to their students. --PHOTO: ST

SCHOOLS will no longer have the autonomy to hire external groups to teach sexuality education to their students. Instead, the Education Ministry (MOE) will now vet these providers, subject them to a "more stringent" criteria and schools can only use agencies approved by the MOE.

Education Minister Ng Eng Hen announced these changes on Thursday afternoon, after parents complained of the controversial material contained in the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) sexuality education programme instructor's guide earlier this month.

RELATED LINKS Excerpts of Education Minister Ng Eng Hen's remarks at press conference on sexuality education on May 21 FAQ on schools sex education programmes

After the flood of complaints, the MOE suspended all sexuality education programmes run by external agencies on May 6.

The ministry told the media then that Aware's programme failed to conform to MOE's guidelines on sexuality education.

"In particular, some suggested responses in the instructor guide are explicit and inappropriate and convey messages which could promote homosexuality or suggest approval of pre-marital sex," the MOE said.

Going forward, the MOE will provide parents with more information on sexuality education programmes taught in school and parents can pull their children out of these programmes if they don't feel comfortable with it.

However, the MOE's core sexuality education programme will continue and Dr Ng explained why. The number of teens down with sexually transmitted diseases jumped from 238 in 2002 to 787 in 2008, HIV among teens is on the rise and some 2,000 teens get pregnant every year.

Dr Ng said: "If you don't give them information, they will get it elsewhere. So schools must be a source of information, giving students a healthy perspective on sexuality education."

Dr Ng also had very strong words for parties involved in the Aware saga.

"Schools were dragged into this melee and could have become the proxy arena for competing ideologies. Issues became muddled, emotions ran high. This is an unhealthy, unproductive way to try to resolve issues that are inherently divisive," he said.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=28486.177

Why sex education is needed

May 21, 2009

Changes to sex education programme

Why sex education is needed

By Amelia Tan
		The number of teenage pregnancies in Singapore has held steady, averaging about 8.4 per 1,000. --PHOTO: FARHAN SYSTEM

THE rising number of teens infected with sexually transmitted diseases and HIV is the main push behind the Ministry of Education's (MOE) sexuality education programme in schools.

Education Minister Ng Eng Hen on Thursday released data on teens' sexual habits to underscore the need for it and how it has changed, for example, the MOE recently included the use of contraception in the curriculum.

RELATED LINKS FAQ on schools sex education programmes Excerpts of Education Minister Ng Eng Hen's remarks at press conference on sexuality education on May 21

He said the number of teenage pregnancies in Singapore has held steady, averaging about 8.4 per 1,000. This is not as high as in Australia and England where the teenage pregnancy rate is 16.3 per 1000 for 2004 and 41.7 per 1,000 for 2007 respectively.

What is worrying is that the sexually transmitted infections (STIs) have jumped 2.5 times from 238 cases in 2002 to 787 in 2008. The number of HIV cases has also gone up from one case in 2002 to nine in 2007.

A survey conducted by the Health Promotion Board and MOE in 2006 showed 8 per cent of 4,000 students aged between 14 and 19 years admitted that they were having sex. And fewer than a quarter of these sexually active youths used any protection.

Dr Ng said in response to these trends, the ministry decided in 2007 that students should know about the repercussions of unwanted pregnancies and STIs.

He added: When we started, the key message was abstinence, reflecting the conservative social tone of our Asian society where liberal values on sex are not espoused. This is not a negative facet of our society. It is not prudish, regressive or naive.'

'But it was clear that abstinence as the only focus was not an effective strategy in reducing the number of teenage pregnancies and STIs.

' In 2007, messages were added - beyond knowing how to say no, students were also taught the repercussions of unwanted pregnancies and STIs and HIV and how to prevent them. This is now a key focus of sexuality education, and should continue to be moving forward.'

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=28486.176

Coroner's inquiry into NTU student's death fall: Prof recounts knife attack

May 21, 2009
Coroner's inquiry into NTU student's death fall
Prof recounts knife attack
By Sujin Thomas & Kimberly Spykerman

The professor suffered a cut on the tendon of his right index finger and needed five stitches for the wound on his back. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG

NANYANG Technological University (NTU) student David Hartanto Widjaja turned up unexpectedly at his professor's office on March 2 morning, after avoiding him for a week to discuss his final year project.

About the case
# Nanyang Technological University undergraduate David Hartanto Widjaja, 21, was found dead after falling from a bridge on campus on March 2.

# Mr Widjaja, an Indonesian national, was in his final year at NTU's School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
... more
He was supposed to see Associate Professor Chan Kap Luk on Feb 26 morning together with several other final year students but he didn't show up. Prof Chan then moved the meeting to the next morning but this had to be rescheduled to 2pm that day as the professor was engaged with two other students that morning. Widjaja did not come in the afternoon.

Three days later, he walked into Prof Chan's office at 10.25am. What followed was an exchange which ended in Prof Chan, 45, being stabbed and the 21-year-old electrical and electronic engineering undergraduate falling four storeys to his death from a bridge.

Prof Chan who was Widjaja's project supervisor, recounted the moments leading to attack on that fateful morning in his conditional statement when he took the stand on Thursday on Day Two of a coroner's inquiry into the Indonesian student's death fall.

He told a packed courtroom that Widjaja came to his office on March 2 morning, saying he wanted to discuss his final year project. Widjaja then produced a thumb drive, claiming his work was stored in it. Prof Chan had problem running the programme on his computer, which showed nothing. To which, Mr Widjaja insisted that he had indeed done the project.

During the exchange, Prof Chan noticed that Widjaja's voice was turning shaky. Moments later, when his back was turned against Widjaja, he felt several hits on his back. He spun around and saw Widjaja wielding an 18-cm knife coming for him. Prof Chan said he tried to block with his arm and fell to the floor.

He said Widjaja attacked him again but he managed to grab the knife, breaking the blade from the handle. A struggle followed, during which Widjaja fell back and hit a metal filing cabinet in the room.

The professor then tried to run out of the office but was blocked by Widjaja. He managed to push Widjaja aside and ran towards the students' graduation office a few metres away. While being tended to by staff, Prof Chan said it was then that he realised that he had been stabbed in the back by Widjaja.

The professor suffered a cut on the tendon of his right index finger and needed five stitches for the wound on his back. He was given 20 days' medical leave.

Prof Chan said that as he was running away from Widjaja, he glanced back briefly and heard the Indonesian student shouting from the door way that he blamed the professor for the whole incident.

He said he did not know what happened to Widjaja as he was rushed to hospital, and only found out he had died from the news.

The inquiry continues.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=29375.1