Singapore's ministry of social and family development (MSF) acknowledged providing shelter to the needy in the recent sitting of the country's Parliament
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Race and religion matter to Malays more, Singlish has popular support, gambling is wrong, and English-speaking helps in Singapore
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A report on money laundering and terrorist financing risks in the country identified virtual currencies, precious stones and metals dealers, and the Singapore Freeport, as emerging areas for further study to determine whether any mitigating measures are needed
Read MoreThe recent, AAP's two-day dharna, besides the Indian Parliament, has concluded and battle-lines are drawn. Thus, it's time to ponder what really happened in Delhi. A duly-elected Chief Minister leading a minority state government sat in protest against another constitutionally elected central government. Why? The answer differs, depending on one's political allegiances.
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Singapore's recent public hospitals bed-crunch has brought into focus the issue of medical tourism in the limelight once again, with many questioning whether it is due to an increase in the number of foreign patients. While the said premise is debatable, it is certainly true that the country's healthcare services are increasingly reliant on foreign manpower.
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A group of Singaporean seniors are rediscovering their passions in life, acting on stage is just one of those
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Reports commissioned by Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) over last few years on the “state of the elderly” in Singapore raises more questions than provide answers
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In the Global Age Watch Index 2013 overall rankings, among the countries closest to Singapore, New Zealand is the highest ranked at seven, followed by Australia at 14. In ASEAN, Thailand is the highest ranked at 42, Vietnam is at 53, Indonesia at a lowly 71, followed by the bottom-most Loas at 79, and Cambodia at 80.
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While the Global AgeWatch Index 2013 generally shows that older people are doing better in the wealthy countries, there are notable exceptions such as Sri Lanka (36) and Bolivia (46)
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While in Asia, Japan attains the highest ranking (overall ranking of 10), Sweden is rated as the best country world-wide to grow old
Read MoreSingapore's 2013 - annus horribilis or annus mirabilis?
This is a special issue of Newzzit, a look back at 2013, albeit with a twist.
The stories are not arranged chronologically. Rather, I have picked an important event in a particular month. Assigned the topic the event deals with to that month, and woven everything that happened in Singapore related to that particular topic in the story of that month.
For example, the story of January (month) deals with politics (topic) and narrates every important political event that made news in 2013. Be it the Punggol East by-election in January, empty ballot boxes found in August or the PAP's Convention in December.
Even though some stories might have been left out due to paucity of space, I sincerely hope that after reading our 11th issue, you will have a general idea about what happened in Singapore in the past one year.
Readers who want to share more stories, which they think mattered in 2013, are welcome to do so on Newzzit's website.
May 2014 be the best for all of us!
Read MoreThe year started with defeat for the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) in Punggol East Single Member Constituency (SMC) on January 26, and ended with a resolution at party's convention calling to “transform the PAP”. In between, there was also the discovery of empty ballot boxes used in 2011 Presidential Elections.
Read MoreOn February 16, a protest rally was held against the 6.9 million projected population of Singapore in 2030, as indicated in the Population White Paper put forward by the government. Another protest followed up in May. The government reacted by introducing the new Fair Consideration Framework, which requires employers to consider Singaporeans “fairly” before hiring overseas workers.
Read MoreThe death of a young American engineer, Shane Todd, which occurred in 2012 came into spotlight again, when Institute of Microelectronics (IME), a Singapore government research agency, rebutted in March an article published in the Financial Times (FT) a month earlier. A coroner's inquest was held and the death was ruled a suicide. Later in the year, the police department was shaken when Iskandar Rahmat, one of their own, was accused of double-murders on July 10 in the Kovan area.
Read MoreThe PM launched a National Dengue Campaign (NDC) with the slogan “Do the Mozzie Wipe Out” on April 28, as the country witnessed a rise in the number of dengue cases and dengue clusters. By the year-end over 22,000 cases were reported with seven patients loosing their lives.
Read MoreThree cases hit the headlines this year. The trial against the six City Harvest Church (CHC) leaders accused of embezzling more than S$50 million began on May 15. On May 29, former National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor Tey Tsun Hang was found guilty of corruption in the “sex-for-grades” case. Two days later, on May 31, former Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) chief Peter Lim was also found guilty in “sex-for-contracts” corruption case. Earlier on February 14, former Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay was acquitted of all corruption charges by the District Court.
Read MoreJune 21, 2013, was immortalised in Singapore's environmental history as the date when Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) hit 401 – the highest in country's history, beating the previous highest PSI reading of 226 witnessed in 1997 by a comfortable margin. The reason was the fires caused by illegal slash-and-burn land clearance method adopted by poor farmers in Riau province, Sumatra Island, Indonesia. Palm Oil companies in the region came into controversy as a result.
Read MoreJuly brought the best sports news of the year. On July 2, Singapore's LionsXII won the Malaysian Super League (MSL) title at Jalan Besar with no less than the PM in attendance. Later, in September, Ng Ser Miang made an unsuccessful bid at the coveted presidency of the International Olympic Committee, followed by National Service (NS) deferment to Singapore's top swimmer Joseph Schooling in October. Schooling later shone for the city-state at SEA Games held in Myanmar in December. Singapore also remained in news throughout the year for allegedly being the base of an international football match-fixing syndicate.
Read MoreSingapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong gave, what some have called his most impressive National Day Rally (NDR) speech over the last decade, on August 18. While announcing few “strategic shifts”, he also drew curtains to the fourth year-long Singapore conversation in just over 20 years.
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