PM's National Day Rally: A speech of contradictions?

September 01, 2013 by GAURAV SHARMA in Volume 3, The Fourth Estate

Housing: Is $20,000 “not so small” or “not much more”? PM used both phrases to describe the same amount, when he acted as the “housing agent” for all Singaporeans.
Health: MediShield Life to cover all Singaporeans regardless of pre-existing illnesses for life, but premiums will go up leaving existential questions of healthcare affordability unanswered.
Education: “Every school is a good school”, he repeated MOE's mantra, while adding “it is also good that we have top schools nationally”, leaving doubts whether the scramble for “top schools” will continue.
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Govt audits: its the same story every year

August 17, 2013 by GAURAV SHARMA in The Fourth Estate, Volume 2

Procurement, contract management and proper scrutiny by approving authorities have remained key concerns during the last five years in successive annual reports of the Auditor General's Office (AGO)

LGBT support rally gathers more numbers than population paper protests

August 09, 2013 by GAURAV SHARMA in The Fourth Estate, Volume 1

One paper. Two protest rallies. Number of attendees – varies depending on what you read. Organisers claim that the first rally held on February 16, drew close to 4,000 people, while news report had put the number close to 2,000. The second rally, which coincided with the May Day, was attended by more than 5,000 people, claimed the organisers. News agencies reduce that figure to just around 3,000. People had gathered to protest against the 6.9 million projected population of Singapore in 2030 - or “worst case scenario” as National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan later clarified – indicated in the Population White Paper put forward by the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD).