How are you enjoying your public holiday?
Our Singapore
Around this time a couple of years ago, we’d “pre-launched” my book The Singapore I Recognise: Esasys on home, community and hope at Dakota Dreams, ahead of its official launch on 1 September. We asked people about the Singapore(s) that they recognise, and to reflect on what the country they want to see and live in should look like.
On the 60th anniversary of Singapore’s independence, I’m thinking again about the Singapore that we’re living in versus the one that I wish we lived in. Earlier this week I attended Pannir Selvam Pranthaman’s hearing at the Court of Appeal, where they were trying to determine whether his ongoing Law Society complaint against his former lawyer is grounds for him to have a stay of execution. It wasn’t a very long hearing and judgment was reserved for now, but it blows my mind that we’re even discussing what sorts of ongoing proceedings are considered “relevant” enough for the state to hit ‘pause’ on killing someone. How about not executing someone as long as they have any ongoing legal proceeding?! How about not executing anyone at all?
I find it horrific that something like this is even debatable in the Singapore I live in. As is the performative BS of giving coins and awards and goody bags to migrant workers while resolutely refusing to enact the systemic change needed to keep them safer or treat them more fairly.
There’s so much that needs to change to make Singapore a kinder, better, more just country for us all to live in. Thankfully there are people who work every day to bring us closer to that reality—those are the people I want to think of and feel grateful for on National Day today.
The state of our trains
Train breakdowns are something that can really get under Singaporeans’ skins. The green (East-West) line was down for hours on 6 August because of a faulty point machine near Jurong East MRT station. Jeffrey Siow, the acting transport minister, pledged on Facebook that the “One Transport family will continue to work hard to strengthen our rail system”. But he also tried to moderate expectations by saying that “delays cannot be eliminated entirely and will happen from time to time”, and promising that, when these breakdowns happen, they’ll get better at getting information to commuters and helping them find alternative routes.
Got some more…
🧑🏻⚖️ Marital immunity for rape was fully repealed in Singapore in January 2020. Yesterday, the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of the first man convicted of sexually assaulting his wife. His sentence of imprisonment for eight years and six strokes of the cane was also upheld.
🏃🏻 Singapore’s provisional list for the 2025 Southeast Asian Games is out, and the men’s under-22 football team isn’t on it. Another notable exclusion is Soh Rui Yong, the distance runner (who I profiled for Mekong Review’s August 2023 issue). According to the Singapore National Olympic Council, his nomination has not been supported by the selection committee “at this stage”, but will review the nomination if Singapore Athletics chooses to resubmit it. I guess we don’t actually like medals that much.
Something interesting
If you’re looking for something to watch on Netflix, I recently enjoyed Oh My Ghost Clients, a 10-episode k drama about a down-on-his-luck labour attorney who, in an attempt to escape death, makes a deal with a deity to take on ghost clients. All these spirits were people who lost their lives due to exploitation, unsafe labour conditions, and shitty, exploitative employers. As he investigates their cases and pursues proper resolution on their behalf, Noh Mu-jin (the labour attorney) and his scrappy team witness a range of working class struggles and expose systemic injustices in South Korea.
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