Source: The Straits Times Forum Page A25 18 Sep 2008
Review by: Walter Woon

Those who are well-educated and influential should be models for society. It would be a sad day for Singapore if such people think that they can choose which laws to obey and that it is morally and socially acceptable to lie on oath.

Source: The Sunday Times Think Page 26, 14 Sep 2008
Letter by: Bernadette Low (Ms)

I do not live in Serangoon Gardens. But for the past five years, I have been living 50m from a Circle Line construction site, and have many foreigners in my neighbourhood throughout the week.

…Sometimes, these men, taking a breather from their 24-hour work shifts during lunch or after dinner, would lie down at the void decks to catch a nap.

Yes, it is not always a pretty sight to have 30 to 40 men sprawled on the floor sleeping in your block, but I really have no heart to complain or tell them off.

I know they are exhausted from working all night …so that I — and everyone else — can enjoy zipping into town in mere minutes.

Source: The Straits Times Forum Page A35 13 Sep 2008
Letter by: Lim Fang Check

The Ministry of National Development (MND) must not relent in its efforts to find decent housing for foreign workers wherever it is practical and economical to do so. If it agrees with Serangoon Gardens residents that, for whatever reasons, it would set a dangerous precedent that could create a potentially social-divisive problem, can residents in the heartland now protest against foreign dormitories in their neighbourhood? Why should foreign dormitories be sited only in the heartland but not in private estates?

Source: The Straits Times Forum Page A35 13 Sep 2008
Letter by: Prof Arthur Lim (President, Medical Alumni Association; Former President, Singapore Medical Association)

Doctors must always remember that, in treating patients, their interests must always be foremost. A good doctor and a good lawyer, therefore, are not professionals who memorise numerous scientific and legal facts but experts who are compassionate.

Let us ensure the law on kidney transplants is changed rapidly so that those who need a transplant to live are not considered criminal.

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Source: The Straits Times Forum Page A35 6 Sep 2008
Letter by: Prof Walter Woon, Attorney-General

Dr Lee wonders whether the charges against Mr Tang were a matter of political correctness. The essential point is that everyone is equal before the law…There cannot be one law for the poor and another for the rich…
If Dr Lee disagrees with the Hota, she is at liberty to campaign to have it amended. If she feels that, in some circumstances, it is perfectly acceptable to lie in a statutory declaration, she may try to persuade Parliament to change the law…

Source: The Straits Times, 5 Sep 2008, Page A29
Article by: Salma Khalik

Moves to change the law seem to be gathering momentum and will hopefully occur soon enough to save the man who started it all.
Mr Tang, who gave up his position as executive chairman of C.K. Tang following his guilty plea in the organ trading case, has a host of medical problems. Without a transplant, the 56-year-old is unlikely to live beyong a couple of years. Even with a transplant, his chances are not good…

Source: The Straits Times, 5 Sep 2008, Page A29
Article by: Lee Wei Ling

While I am happy for Mr Tang that the judge was merciful, I wonder whether our society has become so ‘politically correct’ that ‘token sentences’ are needed just to prove that all, rich or poor, are treated equally before the law…
Anyone of us would have acted as Mr Tang did if we had been placed in the same predicament. He paid a price for doing what all of us might have done.