Man, this looks one hell of a headache.
◊
Even Taiwan wants in on the fun, apparently?
Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) reported that Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam and Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan were not given special treatment or low rental rates and did not obtain any information that would be privileged for them regarding the bungalows at Ridout Road.
But there's an editorial made by a prof (I think) from NTU who said that even though the ministers are okay, there's the perception that "something's wrong".
Cringe but free
Ownself check ownself.
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
If it was some other party in Parliament, the case's be in the Attorney General/CPIB office.
Cringe but free
AP: Thailand’s parliament is set to choose a prime minister, but it might not be the election winner.
To recap:
- The May election handed a plurality of House seats to the centre-left Move Forward (Kao Klai) Party, with the second-biggest share going to its anti-junta coalition partner, the Pheu Thai Party (which is basically a vehicle for the Shinawatra family).
- But the victory didn't immediately hand the PM's seat to the Move Forward Party leader, businessman Pita Limjaroenrat. Instead, the PM is chosen in a joint vote between the 500-seat House and the 250-seat Senate — an unelected body whose members are appointed by the military, and many of whom have vocally rejected the opposition's proposed reforms to the lèse-majesté laws (which are routinely used as a pretext to shut down anti-junta dissent).
- The Move Forward coalition won 312 seats combined; to actually ensure that Pita becomes the head of government, it would need 376 seats, which would require broadening the tent and accepting junta-friendly legislators to the point where it could no longer pursue an effective reform agenda.
- Further complicating matters is the Electoral Commission's ongoing maneuver to try and disqualify Pita on the grounds of (supposedly) holding shares in a media company when he applied to run as a legislator — a move that promptly sparked protests from Move Forward supporters.
And well, while Thailand doesn't seem to be on the brink of a Myanmar-style state collapse, there's no discounting the possibility of the junta flipping the game board and cracking down with brute force (though Prayuth's announcement of his resignation earlier this week might yet be a small sign of hope).
Edited by eagleoftheninth on Jul 13th 2023 at 2:58:44 AM
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
Some things broke out in Singaporean politics on both sides of the spectrum:
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The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) reported that businessman Ong Beng Seng and Minister of Transport S. Ishwaran (also Minister-in-charge of Trade Relations in the Ministry of Trade and Industry) in an anti-corruption investigation. Prior to the announcement, PM Lee said that he instructed Ishwaran to take a leave of absence on supposedly helping CPIB in a case. They’re responsible for the F1 being brought to SG.
It’s the second serous case involving a People’s Action Party (PAP) politician; the first one involved Teh Cheang Wan, who’s known to head the Housing Development Board (HDB). He also offed himself before CPIB could grab him.
___
The Workers Party (of Singapore) reported that Nicole Seah and Leon Perrera left the ranks due to videos showing both of them (in 2020) acting inappropriately. WP head Pritam Singh was told by the latter’s ex-driver that the two of them had a fling in the 2020 General Election while married. BTW, Perrera’s much older than Seah.
WP isn’t the only party to have this problem. Even the PAP had politicians leave due to affairs they had with each other despite being married.
Law/Home Affairs Minister Shanmugam denied allegations made by Online Citizen that he provided info to a media outlet about the incident. Asia One supposedly had contact with the driver with one of AO’s employee involved in a grassroots org “ Chong Pang Grassroots Organizations” involving said minister and he visited the outlet’s office before the affairs of Seah and Perrera became public knowledge.
Edited by Ominae on Jul 19th 2023 at 11:02:30 AM
Cringe but free
Just to add to the sauce: the affair in question involved none other than Speaker of the Parliament Tan Chuan-jin, who resigned after his relationship with fellow PAP MP Cheng Li Hui was made public (apparently after repeated warnings from the PM). Tan, who was a senior PAP legislator and a former brigadier general, was also caught muttering "fucking populist" after a speech by Worker's Party MP Jamus Lim a week ago. Just a truly incredible week for Singaporean politics all around.
I first heard of Seah (later) after she was in the Singaporean historical thriller movie 1965.
Cringe but free
NME: Malaysian LGBTQ+ community condemn The 1975’s Matty Healy over kiss incident. The band was playing at the Good Vibes Festival in KL last Friday when Healy took to the mic to decry the Malaysian government's hardline stance against LGBT+ rights and then kissed bassist Ross MacDonald on stage.
“If anything, what Matt Healy and The 1975 have done is discount and disrupted YEARS of work by local activists who have been pushing for change and understanding AND endangernig our vulnerable minority communities,” Lee wrote.
He also said he agreed with Good Vibes Festival being cancelled. “Now, with more queer friendly artists performing, tell me do you think it would have been safe to have two more days of the show?” he argued.
“You know SOME parties would have made a spectacle of that, and given tensions, ANY incident would be disastrous with VERY REAL consequences.
He went on: “Every country has its laws. Foreigners don’t get to come in and shit on us and tell us how to do things, especially when they only make it worse for us.
“The real victims of this situation are 1. The Malaysian LGBTQ+ community, who are ow left to deal with the aftermath. 2. The Malaysia live concert industry which is struggling to bounce back post pandemic.”
Another queer Malaysian added: “Matty and his bandmates are all rich white men who LOSE NOTHING by doing what they did. At most? They lose listeners from Malaysia and earn a little bit less now. They have no actual notable consequences for their speech and stunt. None.
“Malaysian queers have worked HARD to try and campaign for our rights, many of them are entirely volunteer-based and completely funded by other local queers. We pour alot of blood, sweat, and tears to making sure our peers have a safespace, especially in such a hostile environment.”
“As a malaysian queer, what matty healy and the 1975 did was WORSE for malaysian queers. Now we are gonna have tolerate the political shitstorm thats about to happen while they are fine getting drunk in another country. This wasn’t their fight,” another added.
The 1975's subsequent shows in Indonesia and Taiwan were cancelled following the incident.
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
https://www.rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/idss/ip23057-is-indonesia-about-to-join-brics/
RSIS editorial on whether Indonesia is interested to be in BRICS.
Argued that the Indonesian populace has low views of China due to territorial incursions and treatment of Muslims.
OTOH, Jokowi could decide if it’s a good idea to get away from the US dollar and the SWIFT system.
Cringe but free
As the article points out, Indonesian economic cooperation with BRICS member states (plus Africa more generally) doesn't necessarily mean it's seeking to join BRICS (which isn't much of a formal association in the first place). A lot of big Chinese infrastructure projects in Indonesia — like the Batang Toru hydropower dam, Morowali nickel mines and multiple rail projects — have been very controversial domestically and were pursued at the expense of (arguably) better offers from longstanding foreign partners like Japan. Although it might bear noting that the other most powerful figure in Jokowi's government, Luhut Pandjaitan, is an avid supporter of expanded Chinese investment (and also happens to be personally linked to major EV industry figures, but let's not get ahead of ourselves).
Bangkok Post: Protesters slam Pheu Thai, Bhumjaithai for alliance with military parties. Seems like it's so over for anti-junta voters for now: the junta-appointed senate blocked Pita's candidacy as prime minister, pushing the more opportunistic members of the Move Forward coalition (most importantly Pheu Thai, which got the second-biggest number of votes and isn't on great terms with the junta otherwise) to turn to military parties in order to form a new government.
🍊orange fursona🧡
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
With the elections in Indonesia coming up next year, since Jokowi can't run again per their term limits, are there any prominent presidential prospects? And since my country had its own election last year, would there be any rough Filipino equivalents to the candidates?
Looked up Luhut and it turns out that most of his career was military-based CT and he got his CT training with the GSG-9.
CFR article on how Singapore's reputation (internally/externally) is starting to crumble. It's due to the scandals/problems the PAP's facing from the corruption scandal to some of the M Ps resigning due to affairs and the infighting with the Lee family on whether to keep LKY's house or not. Lee Hsien Yang is for getting rid of the house per LKY's wishes and he had to leave SG with his wife; he mentioned that he can't be guaranteed a fair trial.
Edited by Ominae on Aug 26th 2023 at 4:54:56 AM
🍊orange fursona🧡
Well that sucks.
ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔|I DO COMMISSIONS|ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔
FWIW IMHO, least Singapore will (potentially) have a true taste of a true opposition party.
🍊orange fursona🧡
Hopefully the opposition there won't stumble.
ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔|I DO COMMISSIONS|ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/pofma-east-asia-forum-article-singapore-scandals-3768221
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/pofma-east-asia-forum-unblock-nus-academic-3791396
NUS and the East Asia Forum was in hot water with a POFMA order. The issue came from supposed "false statements on matters such as the independence of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's approach in addressing extramarital affairs among parliamentarians, the Prime Minister's Office said on Sep 13."
Dr Chan Ying-kit decided to take the article down from EAF. NUS staff are reminded about this.
NUS president Tan Eng Chye said that anyone who does op-eds are suppose to remind the reader that their views are their own.
This is what raised the government's eyebrows.
Edited by Ominae on Sep 25th 2023 at 7:09:01 AM
Cringe but free
Edited by eagleoftheninth on Oct 3rd 2023 at 8:56:10 AM
Echoing hymn of my fellow passerine | Art blog (under construction)
I think I've been to that mall a few years ago.
Singapore announced that they will not allow rallies in Speaker’s Corner for anything related to Israel or Palestine.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/malaysia-pas-hadi-awang-muslim-malay-anwar-muhyiddin-3863046
Funny that PAS now wants to appeal to non-Malays/Muslims in Malaysia, considering the current rhetoric they have.
"Non-Muslims! Please vote for strict sharia law!"
I don't know how they think they can get that message to fly.
The Man with a Different Mind
Eh, fuck 'em. The only type of Malaysians these knobheads get are either the stupidly extreme conservative crowd or the less informed teenagers who don't know any better. It's a good thing they don't gain a foothold in my home state note .
Crazy stupid in battle. Crazy cupid on a nice date.
Didn't Turning Red also have this issue?
Where there's life, there's hope.