There are already reports of electricity price plans jumping up by as much as 11%<\/a> as retailers try to get ahead of price fluctuations and market volatility. But don\u2019t panic (yet)! Tan See Leng, the minister-in-charge of energy and science and technology, says that Singapore is not yet at the point of having to dip into our energy stockpile. That said, he urged everyone to conserve energy as much as possible: install solar panels, turn up the temperature setting on aircons, carpool more, etc. <\/p>\n One thing I\u2019m wondering about, but haven\u2019t seen much about: How does this energy situation and push to conserve energy affect Singapore\u2019s leaning into AI and desire to build a new AI park<\/a>? AI is famously energy-intensive\u2026 so how?<\/p>\n (2)<\/p>\n ABC Radio National in Australia did a radio segment on Singapore and our government got pissy about it. Anil Nayar, the Singapore High Commissioner to Australia, issued a response<\/a> accusing the episode of making \u201cbaseless claims about Singapore\u2019s political system\u201d:<\/p>\n From listening to your programme, your audience would not have known that Singapore, alone among Southeast Asian nations, has never declared a state of emergency or suffered martial rule, and never once failed to hold regular elections, throughout its history as an independent nation. Nor would they have heard that almost every constituency was contested in last year\u2019s general election, which saw the largest number of candidates from multiple parties and independents in our history.<\/p>\n The diplomat also used the Workers\u2019 Party\u2019s election to Parliament \u201cwith increased representation\u201d as evidence to rebut commentary in the episode that described the Group Representation Constituency (GRC) system as \u201croadblocks\u201d to make things harder for opposition parties. Which is, frankly, embarrassing, given how small a presence the WP has in the House, and how long it took them to win a GRC in the first place. <\/p>\n The main effect that I\u2019ve observed coming out of this official objection is that a bunch of people who would otherwise never have listened to ABC Radio National have now listened to this specific Singapore segment<\/a> on ABC Radio National. And yes, I\u2019m including myself in this number. To be honest, if you\u2019ve been following Singapore politics or reading political commentaries, then there really isn\u2019t anything particularly revelatory or shocking in it. Despite Singapore\u2019s accusation that ABC Radio National had picked critical commentators, some of whom had \u201cmade repeated predictions of Singapore\u2019s political collapse\u201d, it really wasn\u2019t as drama as all that.<\/p>\n (3)<\/p>\n A new legal centre has been set up to assist people with special needs and mental health conditions. The Inclusive Justice Law Centre\u2014a joint initiative by Pro Bono SG and the Rao Family Foundation\u2014will employ a full-time lawyer, and plans to partner with social service agencies<\/a>. This fits in with the efforts of a task force looking into how to improve government support for people with special needs and mental health conditions who might come into conflict with the law.<\/p>\n The legal centre is a positive step forward, but there\u2019s so much that Singapore needs to do to ensure access to justice and fair trials for people with psychosocial disabilities in Singapore. I learnt a lot about this some years back during the campaign for Nagaenthran K Dharmalingam, a death row prisoner with psychosocial disabilities who was executed in April 2022. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n On access to justice: What are procedural accommodations?<\/p>\n Ahead of the court hearings of four death row prisoners, a look at the need to ensure that persons with disabilities can have access to justice on an equal basis with others.<\/p>\n Overall, a lot more infrastructure and support for mental health is needed. There\u2019s a shortage of psychologists in the country<\/a>, for example, at a time when demand is increasing.<\/p>\n Got some more\u2026<\/p>\n \u270d\ud83c\udffc I wrote an essay for Adi Magazine about navigating authoritarianism and censorship, including self-censorship and self-policing. Read it here.<\/a> <\/p>\n \ud83d\udc66\ud83c\udffb Han Hui Hui was POFMA-ed for comments she\u2019d made about the removal of her children on a Facebook livestream<\/a>. Her children had been removed from her care in February after things went bad between her, her husband, and her mother-in-law. The kids are back with her now, after additional safeguards agreed with the Ministry of Social and Family Development. <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Logo-2-30.png\"){kind=logo}
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A misty, rainy day in Glencoe.<\/p>\n