The Wee Shu Min elitism controversy occurred in October 2006 in Singapore. Wee Shu Min, daughter of parliament member Wee Siew Kim and a then eighteen-year-old student on Raffles Junior College's Humanities scholarship programme, found herself in controversy [1] after posting on her blog what were viewed by some Singaporeans to be elitist, [2] naïve, and insensitive statements against heartlanders. [3]
Dismissing the views of Derek Wee who voiced concerns on job security and age discrimination on his blog, she shot back with a take-no-prisoners diatribe, [2] [4] calling Derek a "stupid crackpot", belonging to "the sadder class" and overreliant on the government. Her post also called for Derek to "get out of my elite uncaring face". [5]
Her response triggered an avalanche of criticism, as it came on the heels of the sensational suicide of an individual (said to be facing financial difficulties) at Chinese Garden MRT station. [6] [7] As a result, her name topped Technorati's search terms for a week. [8] She has since appeared to have apologised [9] on another blog and shut down her own. [3]
In response to the controversy, Wee Siew Kim stated that he supported Shu Min's point in principle and that "people cannot take the brutal truth," [8] [10] but he and Shu Min's college principal also expressed disappointment and counselled her to be more sensitive towards others. Wee also claimed that his daughter's privacy had been violated. [3] Critics pointed out however, that he appeared to have endorsed her elitist remarks and failed to address values such as empathy and humility, and that he was apologising for the tone, but not the content of his daughter's response. [11]
In 2019, after a remark made by Raffles Girls’ School's staff on the school's relocation to a neighbourhood estate, concerns about elitist sensibilities, similar to Wee, were raised again. [12]
Two days after Wee Siew Kim first spoke out in The Straits Times , he made a public apology to those who were offended by statements made in his interview, in particular Derek Wee. [13] Commentators used the controversy as evidence that Singapore was suffering from increasing signs that political elitism, "smarter-than-thou" snobbery and class consciousness anxiety were creeping into its meritocracy model, [14] [15] [16] [17] a widening social stratification that will cause long-term implications for Singaporean society, [7] and problems in the education system that need to be addressed. [4] [18] The controversy was subsequently raised and hotly debated again in the opening session of the Parliament by fellow MP Sin Boon Ann, who pointed out that elitism was now an open secret in several aspects of Singapore society, including education, the military and the civil service, commenting that it is necessary "(to) break down the institution of snobbery within our society." [8] [15]
Chinese Singaporeans are a local ethnic group in Singapore, defined as Singaporean nationals of Chinese descent. Chinese Singaporeans constitute 76.2% of the Singaporean population, making them the largest ethnic/ancestry group in Singapore.
Ya Kun Kaya Toast is a Singaporean chain of mass-market, retro-ambience cafés selling toast products, soft-boiled eggs and coffee. Founded by Loi Ah Koon in 1944, Ya Kun remained a small family-run stall for decades, but has expanded rapidly since Loi's youngest son headed the business in 1999. The chain has over fifty outlets, mostly franchised, across 14 countries, and is a Singaporean cultural icon, known for its traditional brand identity and conservative, people-centric corporate culture.
The literature of Singapore comprises a collection of literary works by Singaporeans. It is written chiefly in the country's four official languages: English, Malay, Standard Mandarin and Tamil.
The following lists events that happened during 1983 in Singapore.
The National Kidney Foundation Singapore scandal, also known as the NKF saga, NKF scandal, or NKF controversy, was a July 2005 scandal involving National Kidney Foundation Singapore (NKF) following the collapse of a defamation trial which it brought against Susan Long and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). This sparked significant controversy, causing a massive backlash and fallout of donors to the charity; it then subsequently resulted in the resignation of chief executive officer T.T Durai and its board of directors.
UFM100.3 is a Mandarin radio station in Singapore that plays Mandopop from the post 2000s to the current hits. The station is maintained by SPH Radio Pte Ltd, which also owns a number of Chinese media publications such as Lianhe Zaobao, Lianhe Wanbao, Shin Min Daily News, and UWeekly.
Singapore Press Holdings Limited is a Singaporean media organisation with businesses in print, digital, radio, and outdoor media, and property and aged care. SPH has over 4,000 employees, including a team of approximately 1,000 journalists, including correspondents operating around the world. The company was one of the country's "blue-chip" counters on the Singapore Exchange, and was a constituent of the Straits Times Index until its removal on 22 June 2020.
Megan Zheng is a Singaporean actress & novelist who starred in two Singaporean movies: Homerun and One More Chance. For her role in Homerun, Zheng, then 10 years old, became the first Singaporean to win a Golden Horse Award, sharing her Best New Performer award with Wang Baoqiang.
Wee Siew Kim is a Singaporean former politician. A member of the People's Action Party, he was a Member of the Parliament of Singapore representing the Ang Mo Kio Group Representation Constituency from 2001 to 2011.
Lianhe Wanbao is a Singapore Chinese afternoon newspaper published daily by Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). It was started on 16 March 1983 after the merger between Nanyang Siang Pau and Sin Chew Jit Poh.
The Blue Mansion is a 2009 film directed by Glen Goei. The film had its world premiere at the 14th Pusan International Film Festival and was released in Singaporean theatres in an edited NC16 version at the request of the distributor on 22 October 2009. The uncut version was classified M18 by the Media Development Authority. The film was the opening film of the Berlin Asian Hot Shots Film Festival 2010 and was in competition at the Tokyo International Film Festival 2009 and the Shanghai International Film Festival 2010. It debuted in Kuala Lumpur on 18 March 2010 and was shown in Penang during the George Town Festival 2010.
Seng Han Thong is a former Singaporean politician.
CATS Classified is the print classified advertising platform of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). Its classifieds products are distributed together with various newspapers published by SPH. These include, The Straits Times, The New Paper, Lianhe Zaobao, Shin Min Daily News, Lianhe Wanbao, Berita Harian and Tamil Murasu. Its tagline is "Buy it. Sell it. Find it."
China-Singapore relations, also known as Chinese-Singaporean relations or Sino-Singaporean relations, refers to the bilateral relations between China and Singapore. Relations between the two countries formally started on 3 October 1990. Diplomatic missions were established in the early 1990s based on trade and the warming of ties from other ASEAN countries towards mainland China.
The Singaporean presidential election of 2011 was held to elect the next President of Singapore.
Zeng Guoyuan, also known as Zeng Guoyan, Thomas Chan Hock Seng and, erroneously, Zeng Guoyung, was a Singaporean businessman, philanthropist, politician, author, and acupuncturist.
Heng Kim Song is a Singaporean editorial cartoonist.
Prima Taste (Simplified Chinese: 百胜厨 Bǎishèngchú, is a Singaporean food and beverage brand managed by Prima Food Pte Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Prima Limited. The brand was designed for Singaporean expatriates living abroad. Its Laksa sauce kits were recommended by Singaporean chef, Janice Wong, as foodie souvenirs to take home during the 2018 North Korea–United States summit.
firstfruits publications is an independent book publisher based in Singapore. It is an imprint of mediaexodus LLP, a design firm which offers copy-editing and translation services. firstfruits publications is known to publish a diverse range of writers from Singapore. It has published numerous poetry volumes and anthologies by writers including Aaron Maniam, Cyril Wong, Eleanor Wong, Madeleine Lee, Ng Yi-Sheng, and Yong Shu Hoong.