WTC Wrap: 20 December 2025

There wasn't a wrap last weekend because I spent a big chunk of last week with a serious case of brain melt and could barely get anything done. Fortunately I managed to lock in on Monday and this week has been better, so here we are with the final WTC wrap of 2025—I'm taking a break for Christmas (I'll be editing articles for Mekong Review lol) next weekend and WTC will be back in January 2026.

Thank you, everyone, for subscribing to and reading We, The Citizens in 2025. I hope this newsletter has been at least one of the following things: (1) informative, (2) thought-provoking, (3) fun, (4) funny, (5) useful.

Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year, and I'll see you in 2026 🥰

(1)

It might be the holiday season, but Punishment City never sleeps! Singapore's crackdown on vapes and Kpods shows no sign of flagging. Foreigners caught with the devil's dirty puff stick are getting their visas taken away from them—including in the case of a 15-year-old girl from Myanmar, who had the miserable honour of being the first person to have a long-term visit pass revoked for the possession of a Kpod. She's also "assisting with investigations" into the possession of weapons, affray (fighting in a public place), and voluntarily causing hurt. After these investigations are concluded, the girl will be kicked out and barred from entering Singapore. Yes, yes, for the safety and well-being of the children, we will be deporting a 15-year-old girl to a country in the midst of civil war on multiple fronts, where the UN warns that an upcoming, highly controversial election is "nearly certain to further ingrain insecurity, fear and polarisation throughout the country". We just want the best for young people, you see. Fuck those toxic demon fart vessels. We hate them for the harm they do, we'll fuck up anyone who touches them. It's because we care so much about the children.

For some commentary on the war against vaping that isn't ridiculously punitive and cruel, Sick and Tired (a group made up of young healthcare workers) published a series of posts that are very much worth a read and share:

Sick and Tired on Instagram: “After years without regulation, the Singapore government has gone all in on its war on vapes — ‘empowering’ more than 10,000 officers to enforce the ban and even resorting to house raids. As healthcare workers, we care deeply about public health - but we also believe policies should be rooted in evidence. So we’re asking the questions that matter: 💭 Are vapes really as harmful as they claim? 💭What are the proven effective ways to reduce negative health outcomes for our society? As Singapore doubles down on its war on vapes and drugs, join us for this 3-part series by healthcare workers calling for an evidence-based approach to public health.”

413 likes, 7 comments - sickandtiredsia on December 12, 2025: “After years without regulation, the Singapore government has gone all in on its war on vapes — ‘empowering’ more than 10,000 officers to enforce the ban and even resorting to house raids. As healthcare workers, we care deeply about public health - but we also believe policies should be rooted in evidence. So we’re asking the questions that matter: 💭 Are vapes really as harmful as they claim? 💭What are the proven effective ways to reduce negative health outcomes for our society? As Singapore doubles down on its war on vapes and drugs, join us for this 3-part series by healthcare workers calling for an evidence-based approach to public health.”.

Instagram

Sick and Tired on Instagram: “The war on vaping isn’t just about health. It’s about who pays the price. Instead of addressing why people vape, schools are responding with suspensions, caning, and heavy fines. But research shows these punishments don’t stop vape use. Instead, they increase anxiety, lower students’ self-esteem, and disrupt education. In Part 2 of our series on Singapore’s war on vaping, we ask: 💭 Who is most harmed when vaping is labelled a crime instead of a health issue? 💭 Are punitive measures really protecting young people, or putting them further at risk?”

442 likes, 10 comments - sickandtiredsia on December 13, 2025: “The war on vaping isn’t just about health. It’s about who pays the price. Instead of addressing why people vape, schools are responding with suspensions, caning, and heavy fines. But research shows these punishments don’t stop vape use. Instead, they increase anxiety, lower students’ self-esteem, and disrupt education. In Part 2 of our series on Singapore’s war on vaping, we ask: 💭 Who is most harmed when vaping is labelled a crime instead of a health issue? 💭 Are punitive measures really protecting young people, or putting them further at risk?”.

Instagram

Sick and Tired on Instagram: “Singapore’s war on drugs has never stopped drug use. But it has broken families, derailed futures, and sent hundreds to the gallows. Now, that same punitive model is being expanded to vapes. We know that ‘zero tolerance’ won’t eliminate vaping, and we know many will be pulled into the criminal justice system simply for choosing nicotine vapes over cigarettes. So what should we do instead of criminalisation? Read the final post in our three-part series to find out.”

163 likes, 1 comments - sickandtiredsia on December 15, 2025: “Singapore’s war on drugs has never stopped drug use. But it has broken families, derailed futures, and sent hundreds to the gallows. Now, that same punitive model is being expanded to vapes. We know that ‘zero tolerance’ won’t eliminate vaping, and we know many will be pulled into the criminal justice system simply for choosing nicotine vapes over cigarettes. So what should we do instead of criminalisation? Read the final post in our three-part series to find out.”.

Instagram

(2)

Pritam Singh lost the appeal against his conviction and here comes the PAP (again). Parliament must decide on an "appropriate response", said Indranee Rajah, the Leader of the House. This matter will be raised in the January sitting of Parliament, so we can kick off a new year by flogging a dead horse.

This is not to make excuses for Singh, who has been convicted and fined. For me, it's not even really about Singh at all. It's more about the question of whether we see a similar level of tenacity in chasing for consequences and accountability when it's someone from the ruling party who's done a boo-boo. What about when Vivian Balakrishnan told the nation, very clearly, that TraceTogether data would only be used for contact tracing—and that turned out to be not only untrue, but TraceTogether data had already been accessed by the police for a murder investigation? And, by the way, what happened to Meta's investigation into why Vivian's Facebook page mysteriously 'liked' Calvin Cheng's post about sending activists to Gaza, when he said he didn't do any such thing? It caused quite a stir before the election, how come no sound now? What about the multiple instances of "nothing to see here, move along please" when it came to matters that prompted all sorts of questions—like the Oxley house drama? What about when the courts found that the Singapore Prison Service and the Attorney-General's Chambers had acted illegally when they forwarded and requested death row prisoners' private correspondence?

Lies, accountability, double standards, and power in Singapore

Reflections on everything that’s going on over the lie that Raeesah Khan told in Parliament, and what its implications might be for our society.

We, The CitizensKirsten Han

The thing is, as long as people perceive double standards in the reactions to and treatment of non-ruling party politicians, there'll be resentment and an impression that something like this is really more about hounding and harassing political opponents than any genuine desire for integrity and accountability. And it's no good for Singapore if that's the view of how politics works here.

Aaaaaaanyway... in other Pritam Singh-related news, the Attorney-General's Chambers sent warning letters for contempt of court to both Singh and Mediacorp for his interview on CNA's show The Assembly. Both parties have said sorry, and Mediacorp has taken down the interview.

(3)

Drama at the Law Society! Last week, a group of lawyers called for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), to be held on 22 December, over unhappiness about Dinesh Singh Dhillon, co-head of international arbitration practice at Allen and Gledhill, having been picked in an internal council election to be president. Dhillon had joined the 2025 Council of the Law Society as an appointee of the Minister for Law (as allowed under the Legal Profession Act). There were concerns about the independence of the Bar. A motion was proposed by former LawSoc presidents Peter Cuthbert Low and Chandra Mohan K Nair that the council should elect a president from among those who'd actually been voted in by LawSoc members.

Since then, Dhillon has agreed to give up the top spot, and vice-president Tan Cheng Han, a chief strategy officer at NUS Law School, will be president of the 2026 Council. Dhillon will be endorsed as the vice-president instead. Swapsies!

That's not the end of LawSoc matters, though. An independent investigation has been launched into allegations of workplace bullying at the Law Society. Turns out a whole bunch of people quit their jobs at the organisation this year, to the point that there was a period where there were zero staff in the HR department 😬 Employees who spoke anonymously to The Straits Times say they were treated like they were on-call at all times, and were made to do things outside their job scope. There was also an allegation that a sexual harassment complaint had been handled poorly.

Got some more...

😫 More from Punishment City: from 30 December, scammers will face mandatory caning of at least six strokes. Mules who help scammers in their scammy ways by doing things like providing SIM cards or sharing their Singpass details might also face caning, although in their case it's left to the judge's discretion and is capped at 12 strokes.

🏆 Welcome the newest kid to the political block: the Most Valuable Party (MVP). Their founder, Chia Yun Kai, had submitted the paperwork in April, and the approval has finally come through. This is my favourite part of the report: "MVP’s registered address is a unit at Icon Village – a mall in Tanjong Pagar – which houses Mr Chia’s mala eatery."

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 🎄🎄🎄 I shall leave you with the Christmas song that'll be my entire personality from now until Boxing Day 🫰🏼🫰🏼🫰🏼

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