I'm back in Singapore and absolutely drowning in work. I'm also jet-lagged so I barely know what time or day it is, when I should eat my meals or go to bed. Jialat.
It's been more than 100 days since M Ravi left us. We're having a memorial this afternoon to remember and celebrate his impact on civil society and human rights in Singapore. It's at 2pm at the Blue Room at Filmhouse—join us if you can.
You can also leave messages, memories, photos, etc. at this page:
(1)
Singapore executed two men in their 50s for drug offences on Thursday. This brings the count of executions so far in 2026 up to seven, which is really horrific considering how early in the year it is.
(2)
Terry Xu and The Online Citizen are really being put through it at the moment. Fresh off being forced to take out expensive ad space in The Straits Times to publish "correction notices" as demanded by POFMA directions (I wrote about this last week), there's more bad news for Terry and TOC: the High Court has ordered him to pay $210,000 each in damages to ministers K Shanmugam and Tan See Leng.
The two ministers had filed defamation suits against Terry (and others, including Bloomberg) for reporting on sales of Good Class Bungalows that mentioned the two men's transactions. The court ruled in favour of the ministers in August last year, granting default judgment since Terry, who's now based in Taiwan, didn't attend. The judge found that he'd published the defamatory claims "recklessly, without considering or caring whether it was true", and ruled that there was malice because Terry has refused to remove the article from the website or say sorry.
There'll be another hearing to determine legal costs, so the $420,000 is not the end of the matter here. Meanwhile, the ministers' defamation suit against Bloomberg and its reporter is scheduled to go on trial this month.
(3)
Heat stress is something I've been thinking about quite a bit in recent years. How could you not? It's hot as heck in Singapore. Temperatures are expected to be pretty high over the next fortnight, although the government says that the risk of a heatwave is pretty low. Still, no heatwave is a low bar when things are warming up overall: last year saw the hottest June and November ever recorded.
The Straits Times has a story on what MPs have been doing in their constituencies to address the heat: building much-beloved covered walkways to protect people from the sun and rain, using heat-reflective paint on HDB blocks, visiting more vulnerable households to make sure they have fans, and heat resilience awareness campaigns.
These are useful, appreciated measures, but there are many more people we need to be looking out for. Experts say that an increase of even 1˚C in the daily average temperature doubles the risk of heat stroke for those who work outdoors. If the temperature is sustained for three days, the risk of heat injury is almost quadrupled. 🥵🥵🥵 A senior economist at the International Labour Organisation has described heat stress as a "silent killer"—affecting not only work productivity and physical health but also mental health.
What does this mean for people in Singapore who toil outdoors, like the migrant workers on construction sites or delivery riders who have to run about the island dropping off food and parcels all day long? The Humanitarian Organisation for Migration Economics (HOME) has commented on what needs to be done for migrant workers: frequent water breaks, stop-work orders when the temperature creeps over a certain level, prioritising well-being over deadlines, access to timely medical attention. And one very simple thing that shouldn't even have needed to be said: Singaporeans should be welcoming of migrant workers who are seeking respite and rest from the heat in spaces like air-conditioned shopping malls and other public areas.
One other population very much affected by heat stress that we don't talk about: people in prison. Heat is a big deal there, because the cells aren't air-conditioned and not well ventilated. When Googling to see if there's been anything said about measures to deal with heat stress in prisons, I found this 2023 article about safety measures for Home Team personnel that included a mention of prisoners being reminded to stay hydrated. But is that all?
(4)
Lawrence Wong is good at convening committees. A new ministerial committee has been set up to work out a national response to the mess in the Middle East and the impact on energy sources. It's chaired by K Shanmugam, the Coordinating Minister for National Security and home affairs minister, and Gan Kim Yong, the deputy prime minister and Taskforce Man himself.
The effects of disrupted energy supplies are already being felt across the world: prices are shooting up, with some places running short on fuel, and people are being told to be careful with what they use. While there's a push from some quarters on the need to really double down on renewable energy and stop being so dependent on fossil fuels, the reality is more complex, and some countries are resorting or holding on to sources like coal.
Singapore, for now, is managing, Wong says. Refineries are scaling back on production and firms are looking for alternative sources. The government is also going to help households and businesses with rising energy prices, although we'll have to wait for more details on that. No one can really predict what the US is going to do—does Donald Trump even know what he's going to do from hour to hour, day to day?—so it's hard to tell how long the conflict will go on for, and how much time it'll take to fix whatever damage is caused. So Singaporeans, Wong says, will also have to do our part to figure out how to conserve energy.
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