WTC Wrap: 6 December 2025

I have a problem. My brain appears to have decided that 2025 is done and dusted. Finished. No more. No need work already. Can is cannot.

This is, unfortunately, not the case, because we're only at the beginning of December, and anyway Mekong Review's production schedule is such that I usually have editing to do through Christmas anyway. So I can't actually just lie on the sofa and watch dramas and read fluffy stories... 😭😭😭

One more thing: I am bad at headlines. Every week I crack my head over what to put in the headline of these weekly wraps. This week I'm giving u—I mean, trying something different. Maybe I don't need to have special headlines for every issue, especially since there's the sub-header/excerpt anyway? What do you think?

(1)

Seven of us appeared before the High Court on Wednesday for our constitutional challenge against the mandatory death penalty for drug offences. I can't say too much about what happened, so here's a general update: the seven of us were self-represented (i.e. no lawyer), Rocky, Sharmila (sister of Syed Suhail Syed Zin), and I made oral submissions on top of the written submissions that had already been sent in, the Attorney-General's Chambers had time to respond, then our side got to respond to their response, the judge heard us all out and reserved judgment for the time being. There'll probably be a written judgment out at some point, but I don't know when. My guess is not before the end of this year because court vacation is from 8 December to 9 January 2026. Fingers crossed!

(2)

Pritam Singh, the Leader of the Opposition, has lost his appeal against his conviction for lying to a parliamentary committee. The High Court judge found that Singh hadn't actually intended for Raeesah Khan to come clean for at least two months after he found out that she'd lied. Justice Steven Chong said it appeared as if Singh would have "let sleeping dogs lie" if the matter hadn't been brought up in Parliament again. He ruled that the lower court's decision to convict was sound.

The Workers' Party statement says they're studying the verdict and grounds of decision, and reaffirms their commitment to serving Singaporeans. Singh has paid the $14,000 fine in full.

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

This finally brings the saga to an end. It went on for far too long, sucked up too many resources, and became too much of a drama that distracted from the very important and very real issue that Raeesah trying to highlight in the first place: the support and treatment of survivors of sexual assault. There's no shortage of reports on cases of sexual violence in the news, and the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) says victim-blaming attitudes are still common, workplace sexual harassment continues to plague women, and tech-facilitated gender-based violence is becoming more and more of a problem. As someone who facilitates sex ed workshops with AWARE, it's a relief to see that many young people are more informed about the importance of consent these days—but most of the workshops I'm involved in are in international schools, and I often wonder what kids are being told about consent, boundaries, and healthy relationships with the abstinence-only sex ed curriculum favoured by local schools.

There's so much more work that needs to be done. I can only hope that, now that this Pritam trial mess has drawn to a close, people can actually remember that there was something much more vital at the heart of the whole thing in the first place.

(3)

We've long gone past the days when the establishment would stubbornly insist that there are no homeless people in Singapore. The Straits Times has a story on the increasing number of young people who struggle with homelessness, finding themselves unsheltered or having to sleep rough. Some under-35s—who might be as young as teenagers—fall out with their families, get kicked out of home, and find that there's nowhere to go. They're not old enough to apply for BTO flats, and wouldn't be able to afford property in any case. School hostels and dorms might only provide temporary relief, and these kids might also have to grapple with prejudice and judgment by people who simply don't understand what they're going through. Lots more needs to be done to provide support and safety nets.

Got some more...

🇺🇸 The new US ambassador to Singapore has arrived. Anjani K. Sinha is an orthopaedic surgeon who moved to the US from India in 1977 and was nominated for this ambassadorship by Donald Trump in March. He didn't exactly make a good impression at his Senate confirmation hearing, when he showed himself to be woefully unprepared to answer questions about Singapore, Southeast Asia, or ASEAN. Anyway, the "Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary" (I'm not making this up, this is an actual thing for US ambassadors, apparently) is here now, and things got awkward right away. He told The Straits Times that "American taxpayers and service members have underwritten regional security, playing an important role in making Singapore’s economic miracle possible", and now they want Singapore to help the US "rebalance the economy". But the US has enjoyed a trade surplus with Singapore, and we had a free-trade agreement, so being smacked with Trump's baseline tariffs is pretty annoying. It's not setting the best tone for this relationship moving forward... but was anyone expecting much better from Trump's "America First" administration?

🇲🇾 Does anyone else remember having to do school projects about Singapore's water agreement with Malaysia? Did you also have to do calculations and propose prices for buying and selling water from and to Malaysia? Anyway... the leaders of the two countries say that water is no longer such an angsty issue (even though discussions on pricing and whatnot will still continue), and we're going to keep being b̶i̶c̶k̶e̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶i̶b̶l̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ kawan-kawan moving forward.

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