It's the END OF MAY! How is it already the end of May?!
(1)
Koh Poh Koon, the senior minister of state for manpower and health, is downgrading himself back to member of parliament. Starting from 1 June, Koh will step down from his ministerial positions. He said this was for "family reasons", because he's been an absent husband, father, and son for too long. At this point in time there isn't anything to indicate that this isn't true, but Koh's news has still prompted lots of gossip and speculation because "family reasons" is the favourite cliché of politicians bowing out of office after big boo-boos. In any case, there've been plenty of tributes from his colleagues, thanking him for all his work, and Koh says that he's not "running away", he's just reprioritising because he can't "outsource my family to others".
(2)
Here's an example of how criminal punishment cannot be treated as direct or proportionate representations of morality. A 66-year-old man who'd been involved in the abuse and torture that led to the death of a 19-year-old girl was sentenced to 14 years and 11 months in prison.
Lim Peng Tiong admitted that, for months, he'd participated in the abuse that saw Huang Baoying lose 43% of her body weight before she died of severe malnutrition and blunt force trauma. She was kept chained to the toilet and beaten with a wooden stick. Apart from Lim, there are two other co-accused whose cases are still ongoing.
Readers of this newsletter already know this, but just to make myself very, very clear: I oppose capital punishment in all circumstances and am not saying that Lim or any of his co-accused should get the death penalty. But when I read about the violence and cruelty Lim had participated in, I couldn't help thinking of Omar bin Yacob Bamadhaj, who was hanged in April for having a kilo of weed in his car. The contrast is just staggering. While in Lim's case, the judge could determine the sentence based on "his own conduct and culpability", as CNA reported, in Omar's case the death penalty was mandatory. This is what abolitionists mean when we say that legality doesn't equate to morality, and that laws, crimes, and sentences are more reflections of the agendas of politics and power than the actual scope and scale of harm caused.
(3)
The Age of AI might be here, but the government wants to reassure Singaporean workers. Jasmin Lau, the minister of state for digital development and information, has pledged that the government won't stand for companies that avail themselves of government AI grants while treating their workers unfairly. "What we are looking for are patterns—if a company is constantly applying for and given grants, but workers are being removed without fair treatment," she said.
PR- and politician-speak has been around for a long time, but even more so with AI I've found it important to not just listen to or read about what's being said, but really zero in on what the words mean. These days there's always a deluge of interviews, soundbites, press statements, social media posts... but so much of what's out there feels empty, sounding pretty or professional but devoid of true meaning.
So when I read promises like that, I immediately start to wonder what it actually means in the real world. Presumably companies would seek to adopt AI as a way to cut costs, which would likely include reducing headcount. How would the government then decide what is "removal without fair treatment" and what isn't? What actual labour protections can workers count on if they find themselves in such situations?
In other AI news, CNA ran a commentary urging caution and thoughtfulness in using AI to understand public sentiment and craft policy. The idea of "AI-generated polling" just sent a shiver up my spine.
Got some more...
🗣️ This is unsurprising but an increasing number of people in Singapore identify with English—or with Singlish!—as their language.
🎤 The Shangri-La Dialogue, a major security summit, has rolled into town again this weekend. A total of 44 countries are being represented and To Lam, the Vietnamese president, gave the keynote speech on Friday. US defence secretary Pete Hegseth is here, too, and scheduled to give an address at the summit today.
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I leave you with some music for the weekend...