The Star Online: Metro: Central
The Star Online: Metro: Central |
| Lee speaks to youth leaders on how he remains positive Posted: BEING proud of what you are doing, and having thick skin: these are the two elements of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's resilience in the face of a hostile cyberspace. At a dialogue last night with 60 youth leaders, Lee was asked by a participant from the Singapore Kindness Movement how he remains positive, for example on his Facebook page, when online commentators are unkind. "First of all, you must not be ashamed of what you are doing," he said. "If there are some naysayers, you must decide if you have the majority with you or not." He said that in cyberspace, "some generally disagree, some are just looking for things to disagree with you about". "But if you want to do something for Singapore, you should not be deterred because there are some nasty postings. In public life, you must learn to have thick skin at the right places, in the right times." While noting that it can be intimidating for those not in public life to be flamed online, he said: "I am in public life. You flame me, I'm flame-proof!" Lee also told the audience that there are limits to how widely, and for how long, his government can consult the public before deciding on policy. While he thought that the "Our Singapore Conversation" mass engagement exercise was very successful, Lee noted that if there was an emergency or "if you have a difficult situation and you must move quickly, you cannot spend one year talking about it". Citing as an example the issue of whether to raise taxes, he said "we will never finish the discussion". "But one day, if I need to, I have to decide and do this, and persuade the people." — The Straits Times / Asia News Network |
| Gay man applies for protection against workplace prejudice Posted: A FORMER Robinsons employee filed an application at the High Court for constitutional protection against the workplace discrimination of homosexual men. Lawrence Bernard Wee Kim San, 40, had previously brought a suit against his former employer in December 2012, claiming to have been harassed into resigning because he is gay. The suit has been dismissed on purely contractual grounds. In filing the application, Wee cited Article 12 of the Singapore Constitution, which states that "all persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law". He sought the Court to declare that this is so regardless of sexual orientation. His lawyer M. Ravi, said that there is a lack of guarantee by the courts for equal treatment under the Constitution for homosexual men, because Singapore has no legislation that prohibits employment discrimination against gays. "This is a glaring omission," wrote Wee in his affidavit. Ravi said that this is especially so, given that Singapore has ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Convention to Eliminate All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which would protect lesbians. — The Straits Times / Asia News Network |
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