An opposition politician and social activists yesterday welcomed a promise from Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (
Lee, son of Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew (
"Certainly we hope that he lives up to his word and makes some real changes," said Alex Au, a social activist and gay rights campaigner, after hearing Lee's first policy address since being sworn into office on Aug. 12.
"Frankly, I wouldn't be so easily misled by what appears to be a very outgoing style and draw from that any conclusion that his policy biases are any different from the past," Au said.
"He has been in government for over 20 years, he's been part and parcel of all the preceding policies, so what makes me think that somehow he's some fresh new wind?" he said.
Lee, 52, has made an "open and inclusive" society his political motto.
His father ruled Singapore with an iron fist for three decades until 1990, when he handed power to economist Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟). Goh governed for 14 years with a gentler style which the young Lee vows to continue and improve upon.
The new premier said on Sunday that indoor political discussions will no longer require licensing as long as they do not touch on the most sensitive topics in multiethnic Singapore: race and religion.
`a big yawn'
Au said this was a "welcome surprise" but added that one problem can stand in the way -- typical Singaporeans who probably reacted with "a big yawn" to the promise of greater freedom.
"I don't think they even grasp what it means to be a liberal society. It's something the great majority has never experienced in their lifetime. They know of no other way to live except to play safe," he said.
Au is the spokesman for People Like Us, a gay-rights group whose application for formal registration as a society has been rejected by authorities. He said the group had not yet decided if it will file a new application to test the political climate under Lee.
Opposition Member of Parliament Steve Chia said the lifting of restrictions on indoor political discussion, which excludes public rallies, came as a "minor surprise" because he did not expect it so soon.
"We really appreciate this step towards greater political openness and hope more Singaporeans will seize this opportunity to become more concerned and involved in civil-society matters," he said.
Chia described Lee as a "charismatic" politician who now has an opportunity to outshine his father and his predecessor, Goh.
The elder Lee, 80, remains in the Cabinet as an adviser while Goh, 63, took the title of senior minister, part of Singapore's unique policy of political continuity.
Sinapan Samydorai, president of the Think Center, a human-rights advocacy group, welcomed Lee's pledge to introduce greater freedom.
He said the new leader may be trying to connect to young people before seeking his own mandate in a general election.
skeptical
But he said people may be skeptical because it is still unclear where the "out of bounds" markers are in the political sphere. Tight controls in place since independence in 1965 would not be easy to shake off.
"For 39 years we have been under a sort of social engineering, which conditions people's mind-sets," Samydorai said. "Social behavior has always been contained -- who to marry, how to go to the toilet."
"People are still afraid of the OB [out-of-bounds] markers and they are also afraid of the security laws," he said.
Shamans in Peru on Monday gathered for an annual New Year’s ritual where they made predictions for the year to come, including illness for US President Donald Trump and the downfall of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “The United States should prepare itself because Donald Trump will fall seriously ill,” Juan de Dios Garcia proclaimed as he gathered with other shamans on a beach in southern Lima, dressed in traditional Andean ponchos and headdresses, and sprinkling flowers on the sand. The shamans carried large posters of world leaders, over which they crossed swords and burned incense, some of which they stomped on. In this
Near the entrance to the Panama Canal, a monument to China’s contributions to the interoceanic waterway was torn down on Saturday night by order of local authorities. The move comes as US President Donald Trump has made threats in the past few months to retake control of the canal, claiming Beijing has too much influence in its operations. In a surprising move that has been criticized by leaders in Panama and China, the mayor’s office of the locality of Arraijan ordered the demolition of the monument built in 2004 to symbolize friendship between the countries. The mayor’s office said in
‘TRUMP’S LONG GAME’: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said that while fraud was a serious issue, the US president was politicizing it to defund programs for Minnesotans US President Donald Trump’s administration on Tuesday said it was auditing immigration cases involving US citizens of Somalian origin to detect fraud that could lead to denaturalization, or revocation of citizenship, while also announcing a freeze of childcare funds to Minnesota and demanding an audit of some daycare centers. “Under US law, if an individual procures citizenship on a fraudulent basis, that is grounds for denaturalization,” US Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Denaturalization cases are rare and can take years. About 11 cases were pursued per year between 1990 and 2017, the Immigrant Legal Resource
‘RADICALLY DIFFERENT’: The Kremlin said no accord would be reached if the new deal with Kyiv’s input did not remain within the limits fixed by the US and Russia in August Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is to meet US President Donald Trump in Florida this weekend, but Russia on Friday accused him and his EU backers of seeking to “torpedo” a US-brokered plan to stop the fighting. Today’s meeting to discuss new peace proposals comes amidst Trump’s intensified efforts to broker an agreement on Europe’s worst conflict since World War II. The latest plan is a 20-point proposal that would freeze the war on its current front line, but open the door for Ukraine to pull back troops from the east, where demilitarized buffer zones could be created, according to details revealed by
RSS