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By Jewel Philemon

Imagine organizing an event for a hundred people. You make reservations at a hotel, invite special guests, members of the press, and pull out all the stops to make this event a success. Now, imagine the hotel you booked cancelling your reservation at the last minute. What would you do?

This is the dilemma that the National Solidarity Party (NSP) faced when organizing its forum on managing the risks of expressing oneself on the Internet, “How to Survive the Perils of the Online World”.

Organizers Jeannette Chong Aruldoss, Ravi Philemon, Samantha D’Silva, and Steve Chia, had made reservations at the RELC International Hotel, and signed a contract, a month in advance. However, just a few days before the event, the NSP was told the event will not be allowed to go ahead.

The following is the unedited letter to the Straits Times by former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Calvin Cheng. You can read the edited version in the Straits Times here.

Dear Sir

I refer to the recent Parliamentary debate on the amendments to the Misuse of Drugs acts.

Several MPs and Ministers have referred to the plight of drug abusers in the debate; there has been also strong opinion voiced in the House that we should be compassionate towards the drug abusers and their families rather than the traffickers.  The Law Minister argues that

"We hardly ever hear tears shed in public for these 200,000 who die. But we shed a lot of tears for everyone on the death row. Compassion is important, but context is also important."

PRESS RELEASE by Function 8:

Aussie clergyman denied entry for interfering in S’pore politics – ST 12/11/2012

Aussie clergyman barred from entering Singapore – TODAY 12/11/2012

We refer to the above reports in The Straits Times (ST) and TODAY of 12 Nov 2012. Both reports quoted MHA as saying that Rev James Minchin spoke at a forum (ST used the words “political forum”) where he was alleged to have said that “the rule of law was bypassed and corrupted in Singapore, and questioned the independence and integrity of the judiciary”. TODAY unequivocally stated that “the forum was organised by civil society group Function 8” while ST stated that “MHA did not name the event but in August last year, Mr Minchin spoke at a forum organised by civil society group Function 8, which wants to abolish the Internal Security Act.”

By Vincent Law

I called uncle Cheong Sunday night to check if he was coming to Singapore and told him if I could wake up on time, I'll pop by and have breakfast with him early Monday morning.

Little did I realise that he had more faith than me that I would show up as he lugged along a sack full of sweet potatoes freshly harvested from his very own garden farm on the back of his rickety motor bike.  Despite not having much back home in Malaysia, he gave out of his lack to appreciate my spending time with him.