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Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act
The Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act 2021, or Fica, is a statute of the Parliament of Singapore. Enacted in 2021, it seeks to "protect the public interest by counteracting acts of foreign interference". The Bill was introduced on 13 September 2021 and passed on 4 October 2021. Background Legislation targeting foreign influence in Singapore had been mooted in as early as 2017. In March 2021, Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo announced that the government was considering the use of "legislative levers" to combat foreign influence. Key provisions The act grants the Minister for Home Affairs the authority to investigate individuals suspected of being foreign agents engaged in "hostile information campaigns". An independent panel, chaired by a judge, will consider appeals against the minister's findings, although persons marked as "politically significant" may not be allowed to file such appeals. Authorities will also be allowed to compel social media platforms ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parliament Of Singapore
The Parliament of Singapore is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Singapore, which governs the country alongside the president of Singapore. Largely based upon the Westminster system, the Parliament is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs) who are elected, as well as Non-constituency Members of Parliament (NCMPs) and Nominated Members of Parliament (NMPs) who are appointed. Following the 2020 general election, 93 (currently 92) MPs and two NCMPs were elected to the 14th Parliament. Nine NMPs will usually be appointed by the president. The speaker of Parliament has overall charge of the administration of Parliament and its secretariat, and presides over parliamentary sittings. The leader of the house is an MP appointed by the prime minister to arrange government business and the legislative programme of Parliament, while the leader of the opposition is the MP who leads the largest political party not in the government. Some of Parliament's work is carried out b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kirsten Han
Kirsten Han is a Singaporean journalist and social activist. In 2017, she co-founded the Malaysian-based online journalism platform '' New Naratif'' with Sonny Liew and Thum Ping Tjin, and served as its editor-in-chief till March 2020. Activism Han is mostly known for her criticism of the People's Action Party, the current governing party of Singapore, and its policies. She has advocated against capital punishment and co-founded We Believe in Second Chances, an anti-death penalty organisation in Southeast Asia, in 2010; in March 2018, she wrote an op-ed in ''The New York Times'' titled "What Trump Is Learning From Singapore — and Vice Versa", in which she claimed that Singapore was "an authoritarian paradise" and that "(b)oth the Trump administration and the Singapore government have little time for human rights". Writing for the American magazine ''Foreign Policy'' in May 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic was in its earnest, Han criticised the government's alleged "utilitarian, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Singaporean Legislation
Singaporeans, or the Singaporean people, refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian descent have made up the vast majority of the population since the 19th century. The Singaporean diaspora is also far-reaching worldwide. In 1819, the port of Singapore was established by Sir Stamford Raffles, who opened it to free trade and free immigration on the island's south coast. Many immigrants from the region settled in Singapore. By 1827, the population of the island was composed of people from various ethnic groups. Singapore is a multilingual and multicultural society home to people of groups of many different ethnic, religious and national origins, with the majority of the population made up of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian descent. The Singaporean identity was fostered as a way for the different ethn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Freedom Of Speech In Singapore
Human rights in Singapore are codified in the Constitution of Singapore, which sets out the legal rights of its citizens. These rights are protected by the Constitution and include amendments and referendums. These rights have evolved significantly from the days since independence though the government in Singapore has broad powers to possibly limit citizens' rights or to inhibit political opposition. In 2018, Singapore was ranked 151st by Reporters Without Borders in the Worldwide Press Freedom Index. U.S.-based Freedom in the World scored Singapore 4 out of 7 for "political rights", and 4 out of 7 for "civil liberties" (where 1 is the "most free"), with an overall ranking of "partly free" for the year 2015. Article 14 of the Constitution of Singapore, specifically Article 14(1), guarantees to Singapore citizens the rights to freedom of speech and expression, peaceful assembly without arms, and association. However, the enjoyment of these rights may be restricted by laws impos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. Since 2018, the paper's main news ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Progress Singapore Party
The Progress Singapore Party (abbreviation: PSP) is a centre-left political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and opposition Workers' Party (WP). History The party was founded in 2019 by Tan Cheng Bock and 11 other members. They, together with Lee Hsien Yang, expressed that the current PAP leadership has "lost its way" and deviated from the founding principles of its founding fathers. The party was officially registered on 28 March 2019 after being approved by the Registry of Societies. The initial formation included 12 members, including some former People's Action Party's politicians. Party founder Tan Cheng Bock explained that the forming of the political party was a result of an erosion of good governance in terms of transparency, independence and accountability. The party also cited ensuring accountability from the People's Action Party and job creation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nominated Member Of Parliament
A Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) is a member of the Parliament of Singapore who is appointed by the president. They are not affiliated to any political party and do not represent any constituency. There are currently nine NMPs in the Parliament. Background The introduction of NMPs in September 1990, effected to bring more independent voices into Parliament, was an important modification of the traditional Westminster parliamentary system that Singapore had. NMPs are appointed for a term of two and a half years on the recommendation of a Special Select Committee chaired by the speaker of Parliament. The Committee may nominate persons who have rendered distinguished public service or who have brought honour to Singapore, and also invites proposals of candidates from community groups in the fields of arts and letters, culture, the sciences, business, industry, the professions, social or community service, and the labour movement. In 2009, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong pro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
People's Action Party
The People's Action Party (abbreviation: PAP) is a major conservative centre-right political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the opposition Workers' Party (WP) and Progress Singapore Party (PSP). Initially founded as a traditional centre-left party in 1954, the leftist faction was soon expelled from the party in 1961 by Lee Kuan Yew in the midst of Singapore's merger with Malaysia, desiring to move the party's ideology towards the centre after its first electoral victory in 1959. Beginning in the 1960s, the party henceforth began to move towards the centre-right. Following the 1965 agreement which led to Singapore's expulsion from the Malaysian federation, almost the entire opposition except for the WP boycotted the following elections in 1968 in response to their initial incredulity towards independence, thereafter allowing the PAP the opportunity to exercise exclusivity over its governance of n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leong Mun Wai
Leong Mun Wai (; born 1959) is a Singaporean politician and business executive. A member of the opposition Progress Singapore Party (PSP), he has been a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament of the 14th Parliament of Singapore since 2020. Education Leong was educated at Raffles Institution in the 1970s. He was awarded an Overseas Merit Scholarship by the Singapore Government in 1979 to study economics at Hitotsubashi University in Japan. Leong furthered his education and obtained a Master of Science degree in management from London Business School in 1992. Career Leong began his career in 1986 with the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and subsequently worked with global investment banks in Tokyo, London and Hong Kong, assisting more than 100 companies in their IPOs and fund raising. He returned to Singapore in 1997 to assume an appointment as Managing Director of OCBC Securities, a wholly owned subsidiary of OCBC Bank, and one of the leading securities and futur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-constituency Member Of Parliament
A Non-constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) is a member of an opposition list of political parties in Singapore, political party in Singapore who, according to the Constitution of Singapore, Constitution and Parliamentary Elections Act, is declared to have been elected a Parliament of Singapore, Member of Parliament (MP) without constituency representation, despite having lost in a parliamentary elections in Singapore, general election, by virtue of having been one of the best-performing losers. When less than 12 opposition MPs have been elected, the number of NCMPs is the difference to total 12. NCMPs enjoy all of the privileges of ordinary Members of Parliament. The NCMP scheme was introduced in 1984, and was a significant modification of the First-past-the-post voting, single-member simple-plurality electoral system traditionally associated with Westminster systems of government. Since the ruling People's Action Party had won all parliamentary seats in the four general el ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Workers' Party (Singapore)
The Workers' Party (abbreviation: WP) is a major centre-left political party in Singapore and is one of the three contemporary political parties represented in Parliament, alongside the governing People's Action Party (PAP) and opposition Progress Singapore Party (PSP). It is currently the largest opposition party in Parliament. It is also one of the two oldest parties active in the country, having contested every parliamentary election since 1959, the other being the PAP. The WP has been the only political party other than the PAP with elected Members of Parliament (MPs) since the 2011 general election. The WP was founded in 1957 by David Marshall, having previously led the left-wing Labour Front to victory in the 1955 general election, forming a minority government and becoming the first Chief Minister of Singapore. He resigned as leader in 1956 after his delegation to London to negotiate for complete home rule and eventual independence failed and resigned his seat in 1957. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protection From Online Falsehoods And Manipulation Act
The Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act 2019, commonly abbreviated as POFMA and known colloquially as Fake News Law, is a statute of the Parliament of Singapore that enables authorities to tackle the spread of fake news or false information. The law is designed specifically to allow authorities to respond to fake news or false information through a graduated process of enforcing links to fact-checking statements, censorship of website or assets on social media platforms, and criminal charges. The law is controversial and has received criticism both locally and internationally by opposition politicians, human rights groups, journalists and academics. History On 3 April 2017, Minister of Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam called for a review of existing laws to combat fake news. He cited online portals such as '' The Real Singapore'' which published an article falsely claiming that a commotion between Thaipusam participants and the police was sparked by complaint ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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