THE TEMASEK REVIEW

By Hurr Riyahi Over the last year Mustafa has run into trouble with SCDF and URA regulations. SCDF is taking a court order to shut down part of Mustafa Centre for fire safety violations. URA took out a summons and the court has fined Mustafa $10K for supposedly using wholesale space for retail business. Is Mustafa a serious... 

By Hurr Riyahi In 1960, both the South Korean and Singapore economies were emerging out of the post  WWII turbulent 1950s. Singaporeans had an average income of US$450 about four times ahead of that of South Korea (US$110). In 2009, the average income of Singaporeans (US$34,760) remain higher than that of South Korea (US$21,530).... 

By Hurr Riyahi One of the characteristics of PAP Model is its tendency to start ahead but finish last. This can be seen in the outcomes of most PAP policies. What is funny about this is that about two thirds of Singaporeans (about 66%) only choose to see how PAP model starts ahead. Instead they fear to see how it finishes... 

By Hurr Riyahi After the release of the ESC’s findings, I notice a big sigh of relief on the faces of the 66% of Singaporeans, the group that votes of PAP without fail. I hear them speak about how the government has put Singapore into a firm position to ride the post-financial crisis storm. They proudly claim the... 

By Hurr Riyahi In the last year, Temasek Review has evolved and grown to be an important source of information, news and opinion about Singapore. It has been quoted in international media as a news and opinion source hereby recognising its legitimacy. Mainstream media opinions and information of citizens’ opinions... 

By Hurr Riyahi In the recent fiasco of Paster Rony Tan, it is not unusual to see ISD intervening. It is always either ISD who intervene in cases of any breach or potential breach in race or inter-faith relations. However what is unusual is that if one looks at any developed or civilized countries, there is no other parallel... 

By Hurr Riyahi The recent arson attacks on churches in Malaysia has triggered tongues from all quarters to go on a convenient fingering exercise.. Singaporeans pointing at Malaysians and talking about how intolerant they are. Christians pointing at Muslims. Chinese pointing at Malays. etc etc. It is always convenient and... 

By Hurr Riyahi In the typical Straits Times’ shameless patronising way, the headlines of this CNA article claimed ethnic group’s performance in major examinations have been steady. However the article itself highlighted data that showed otherwise with the Malay students lagging behind the average Singaporean... 

By Hurr Riyahi Throughout my lifetime in Singapore when I used to live there, I faced a frequent question during interviews whenever I applied for a government job. “Are you Muslim?” In fact during my national service days training period, I was selected to attend an interview for a designation as a secretary for a... 

By Hurr Riyahi There are two important religious occasions coming up for Muslims. The first is the start of a new year in the Islamic Hijri Calender. The first month of Islamic Calender is called Muharram. Muslims typically refer to the start of the new Hijri year as coming of Muharram. The second occasion is Ashoura which...