Where there is smoke, there must be fire. As President Obama noted in his State of the Union address to the American people in the wake of the Massachusetts loss, the people on the ground mistrust the way the Federal government is being run. If there are unjustified online attacks on foreigners, perhaps it is time that the PAP looked inwards and fundamentally addressed the question ordinary Singaporeans are asking about the value of their citizenship, when foreigners are driving down wages at the lower end of the spectrum, and replacing them in their jobs in the middle-tiers. When there are justified questions raised about potential opportunists like Mr Sear, the government needs to seize this opportunity to re-evaluate the dynamic between the ruling party and the grassroots from which it claims its legitimacy.

To put it briefly, the HDB needs to update its policies, rules and regulations to better address the many different situations which home owners face. Having a one-size-fits-all set of policies may instead contribute to the growing number of homeless people – a number which has doubled over the last year. And this, even by any stretch of Mr Mah’s imagination, cannot be “good for the country.” It certainly is not good for those who are most affected by these rigid policies. In fact, these policies may be the very reasons why some end up in our parks.

It is difficult to say Christians cannot say 'Allah' when Arab Christians have been doing so for thousands of years and when Christ, who spoke Aramaic, would probably have said Alah, Elah or Alaha. Both Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 tell us that at the ninth hour on the cross, Christ cried out Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani, 'My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?' - Eloi or E'li being the personal possessive of Elah, and which probably should have been spelt Elah-i or Alah-i. Still, it would be as meaningless to say Christians have a better claim on the distant common root of Elohim, Elah or Allah, because Christ came before the Prophet, as it would be to say Jews or Muslims do.

starting to think it was time to give up and sit in silence while my friends put on a porno and grunted about ­whatever blonde, airbrushed piece of plastic was in Nuts this week. What you said gave me back the will not to give in . . . It's nice to see someone else saying it, makes me feel like less of a prude-type oddball."

to feel that they would be mocked if they protested within their peer groups.

"I really felt that we were on an irresistible journey. There was still this big gap to close, but I felt that we wanted to close it, and it was possible to close it, and therefore we would. We were in a virtuous ­circle. And what I feel now is that policy changes are not enough, ­because the culture is still very resistant to change