Singapore’s 17th General Election was held on 11 September 2015. I volunteered with The Online Citizen, the only independent media outlet in Singapore, to cover the election. As part of our coverage, we created a nightly news show, TOC News Tonight, which ran from 2 September to 9 September 2015.
PJ Thum reviews the recent live debate held on Channel 5, along with some comments made by Secretary General of People’s Action Party Lee Hsien Loong.
Interview: Terry Xu, Editor-in-Chief of The Online Citizen.
PJ Thum discusses People’s Action Party Secretary General Lee Hsien Loong’s obsession with unicorns and Workers’ Party’s Chen Shao Mao fondness for roosters. Senior Gender Correspondent Jolene Tan also stops by to explain why more female representation is needed in Parliament.
Interview: Jolene Tan, writer and women’s rights activist.
Senior Legal Correspondent Priscilla Chia talks about the importance of not making promises. PJ Thum is slightly impressed by Dr Chee Soon Juan’s grasp of many languages.
Interview: Margaret Thomas, former journalist and keen political observer.
A variety of politicians stop by to make comments on the ongoing haze problem; PJ Thum speaks to Senior Immigration Correspondent, Grouchy the Malayan Sun Bear, on the sentiments of locals on immigrants.
Interview: Prof Terence Lee, Associate Professor in Communications and Media Studies at Murdoch University.
In light of comments made by Vivian Balakrishnan in his rally speech, PJ Thum talks about the history of backstabbing in Singapore.
Interview: Prof Chua Beng Huat, Head of the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore.
Senior PAP Affairs correspondent Ben Matchap talks about the importance of having politicians with integrity in parliament, and its implications for the elections; and PJ Thum explains (repeatedly) how to vote properly in the upcoming poll on Friday (Warning: contains some explicit language).
Interview: Prof Terence Lee (Murdoch University) and Prof Bridget Welsh (Senior Research Associate at the Center for East Asia Democratic Studies of National Taiwan University)