ISSUE 09 3rd April – 9th April 2011

CURRENT AFFAIRS 2011

1. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong claimed that a ___________________ system is not
workable in Singapore, that there is not enough ______________ in the country to form two ‘A’ teams to
govern well. Others however say there is evidence aplenty that stronger competition leads to better
performance and outcomes in many realms. Lee’s People’s Action Party’s stance is there is contestation
of ideas within the party, but others believe that having a second political party in Parliament with the
wherewithal to ______________ and critique government policy may yield better outcomes for Singapore.

Link/Compare/Contrast this with:

• Different political systems around the world, e.g. anarchism, communism, democracy, feudalism,
monarchy and theocracy.
• Whether there is a need for checks and balance of governing powers.

2. Faced with a cascade of lawsuits and a widening police investigation into illegal ______________ of
phone messages by the British tabloid, News of the World, its parent company, News International,
owned by media mogul _______________________, publicly admitted wrongdoing, apologised and
offered to pay damages to some of the people who are alleged to be victims of the paper. The sudden
admission was a dramatic about-face for News International which claimed for years that it had thoroughly
examined the matter and was certain that the hacking had been limited to one “rogue” reporter and a
private investigator. Neither of those claims was true, it turns out. At least 24 celebrities, politicians and
other public figures are currently suing News International, claiming that their cellphone voice-mail
messages were illegally _____________ into, or intercepted, by News of the World journalists hunting for
stories. The company said that it was admitting wrongdoing in eight of those cases, those brought by,
among others, actress Sienna Miller; Tessa Jowell, a Labour Party politician; Andy Gray, a sports
commentator and former athlete.

Link/Compare/Contrast this with:

• The role of the mass media. Is it a mirror of society? A watchdog? A trendsetter? Or a safety
valve?

• The Watergate Scandal and the role played by investigative journalists from the Washington Post.
3. NATO acknowledged that its warplanes hit a Libyan ____________ convoy, killing at least four people,
and after some confusion eventually expressed regret over the accident. Rear Adm. Russell Harding, the
British deputy commander of the air campaign, said the alliance had not been forewarned that the rebels
were using tanks at the time the attack took place, “The situation on the ground, as I said, was extremely
fluid and remains extremely fluid, and up until yesterday we had no information” that the rebels planned to
deploy tanks. The error left some analysts wondering whether NATO and the Europeans were up to a
task that had previously been carried out by the ________________________. NATO seemingly stood by
while Col. Muammar _______________’s forces counterattacked over the past week, driving east from
his stronghold of Surt and retaking the oil towns of Ras Lanuf and Brega. Then loyalist forces reasserted
control temporarily over the vital port at Misurata, which United States warplanes had previously opened
to shipping.

Link/Compare/Contrast this with:

• The 1994 Rwandan Genocide where United Nations troops stood by while 800,000 were
massacred.
• What is the role of the international community? Under what circumstances should foreign
countries get involved in internal disputes?

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ISSUE 09 3rd April – 9th April 2011

4. China confirmed Thursday that it has detained a renowned artist who had been missing for four days, but
insisted his case involves economic crimes and not human rights. ___________________, an
internationally famed avant-garde artist who is also an outspoken government critic, was last seen early
Sunday in police custody after he was barred from boarding a flight to Hong Kong at a Beijing airport.
Born 1957 in Beijing, the artist has been highly vocal about _______________________ issues in his
country. Ai helped create Beijing's Olympic Bird's Nest stadium and he recently exhibited an installation of
sunflower seeds at London's Tate Modern art gallery. He is the most prominent target so far in China's
massive crackdown on dozens of lawyers, writers and activists following online calls for protests similar to
those in the ____________________ and North Africa. No protests have occurred in China. Several
countries, including the U.S., Britain, and Germany, have raised concerns about the detention. However,
Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei dismissed their remarks, saying, "Other countries have no right to
interfere." His detention has sent a chill through the activist community and prompted many to call for his
release online through Twitter messages or blog postings.

Link/Compare/Contrast this with:

• Freedom of expression is the right to express yourself without censorship. The right to freedom of
speech is recognised as a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. Why are certain countries so reluctant to allow it?
• The First Amendment to the United States Constitution which prohibits the making of any law
impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech, infringing on the
freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning
for a governmental redress of grievances.

5. An online _____________ calling for the People's Action Party's (PAP) youngest candidate, Tin Pei
Ling, 27, to be fielded in a ______________________________ (SMC) instead of a
____________________________ (GRC), has surfaced. In the post, the petition originator said
'Singaporeans are genuinely concerned about undeserving candidates being inducted into Parliament, not
on their own merit, but rather on the back of established MPs of the ruling party in some GRCs'. The
petition originator emphasised that it was not representative of an opposing view, but one that stems from
concern for the ____________ of election candidates, citing the example of Tin's lacklustre performance
when she was interviewed during her introduction as a PAP candidate. One poster wrote, "Please let Ms
Tin stand on her own two feet. If Singaporeans pick her, then she is worth the $15,000 salary."

Link/ Contrast/ Compare this with:

• Whether Singaporeans are politically apathetic and if so, what caused them to be like this?
• The impact of new media on society.

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ISSUE 09 3rd April – 9th April 2011

6. Making use of the clue given, source for the picture which you think best fits the clue and insert the picture
in the box below. The picture is to be accompanied by a short write-up explaining the significance of the
event and/or person.

The clue for this week’s issue is:

“I should have died / My skin should have burned off my body / But I’m still beautiful, right? / Don’t see a
little girl crying out in fear and pain / See her as crying out for peace.”

- Insert picture here -

Write-Up

Source of picture:

Brief background information of incident/person:

The significance behind this incident/person and the issue(s) raised: