Maruah Singapore

This letter was sent to ST Forum on 2 May 2013, but was not published.

To:
The Editor
Forum Page
The Straits Times

Dear Sir,

We refer to the joint statement by the Ministry of Manpower and Ministry of Home Affairs (“Joint Response to Media Queries on Statements by NGOs/individuals and Former SMRT Driver He Junling”, 26 April 2013.) The statement accuses the NGOs and individuals involved in the SMRT drivers’ case of “hindering the investigation while continuing to cast aspersions on the integrity of the police.” It also claims that the NGOs and individuals have exploited vulnerable foreign workers for their own political ends. Read the rest of this entry »

This letter was sent to ST Forum on 30 April 2013, but was not published.

To:
The Editor
Forum Page
The Straits Times

Dear Sir,

We refer to the reply “No to exploiting NGOs/VWOs for Political Ends” from the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and note with thanks Mr Ho’s response on behalf of the government.
Read the rest of this entry »

Please see below for MARUAH’s letter to the Straits Times forum.

27 April 2013

What’s the stand on politicians serving in NGOs and VWOs?

I REFER to the statement by Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim to the effect that money given by the state to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) should not be used “for the purpose of creating a platform for people to be involved in partisan politics” (“AMP director quits, alleging official pressure”; Wednesday). Read the rest of this entry »

MARUAH sent a letter to the Straits Times Forum following a news article on abortion. Our letter was published in the Sunday Times on 24th March 2013.

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Pre-abortion counselling: Access should be equal for all

As a human rights group, Maruah objects to the conditions for offering counselling services to women and girls seeking abortions (“Abortions in Singapore“; last Sunday).

Though we recognise that having an abortion is a personal choice, counselling is a means to help women and girls cope with their decisions.

On that premise, we find the Government’s conditions for offering pre-abortion counselling – a minimum Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) qualification, being a mother to fewer than three children, not being a rape victim or a foreigner – appalling as they deny some women and older teens access to counselling. Read the rest of this entry »

We refer to the article “Shanmugam Speaks Out Against Delhi Gang Rape” (30th Dec 2012, The Straits Times). We start by offering our condolences to the victim’s family, and are sorry for the pain and trauma inflicted on her and her boyfriend. Read the rest of this entry »

Please see below for MARUAH’s letter to the Indian High Commissioner to Singapore.

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Your Excellency,

We, members of a human rights group called MARUAH which is based in Singapore, would like to offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends and the people of India over the sad passing away of the 23-year-old woman who was brutally gang-raped. We are sorry that every effort made to save her life has failed. Read the rest of this entry »

MARUAH recently submitted a letter to the Straits Times Forum on actions taken by the Law Society of Singapore in respect of Mr M. Ravi.

The forum letter can be found at the link below.
http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/monday/premium/forum-letters/story/concerned-about-actions-taken-law-society-20120903

Please see below for our letter to the Straits Times Forum.

NGO’s media coverage findings
We read with interest the recent exchange between Workers’ Party (WP) chief Low Thia Khiang (1)(2) and the editors of The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao (‘Low explains comments on media’; last Wednesday).

MARUAH believes media monitoring during elections is pivotal to free and fair elections. Such monitoring to ensure balanced coverage has to be done by neutral parties, and the conclusions shared with the public.

We conducted a media monitoring exercise during the Hougang by-election. Due to limited resources, the immediate analysis was limited to the English-language newspapers and Lianhe Wanbao. We had conducted similar exercises for the General Election and Presidential Election last year. Read the rest of this entry »