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The Media Development Authority had, on 28 May 2013, made a rather unexpected announcement of a new licensing regime for online news sites which requires websites that regularly report on local news, and have significant reach to “comply within 24 hours to MDA’s directions to remove content that is found to be in breach of content standards.”

The regime, which came into effect on the 1st June 2013, also expects news sites, which meet its criteria, to post performance bonds of SGD50, 000.

This news comes at a time where citizens are calling for reforms of already stifling legislations that inhibit press freedoms, and is seen as a regressive step that exhibits a willingness to curb the free-flow of information, in favour of Singapore’s archaic practices imposing controls on the estate of the media. The out of the blue nature of this regime also nullifies the idea of the national conversation initiative, introduced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last year.

Few of us in Singapore have much to return to from our childhood, even fewer would have fought as hard as Hidayah Amin to preserve what she holds dear of her heritage.

When Hidayah was born in her family home, Gedung Kuning at Kampong Glam, her grandmother, following an old Malay custom, planted a mango tree in the compound to commemorate her birth. That tree became a fond childhood "companion" for Hidayah. Growing up, it was a playground for her and the other children, a source of delicious fruit and even a shelter for the times she felt down.

The tree survived more than 2 decades, even after the family home was acquired by the government, before it was unceremoniously chopped down in spite of Hidayah's best efforts to have it named a heritage site.

It was a revelation which Hidayah found hard to swallow. She would have made the effort to relocate the tree, if she had known that plans to have it remain where it was had fallen through. The lament became a driving force for her to write about her time at Gedung Kuning, the house that was home to her and her extended family for a good part of her childhood.

Now, her story of The Mango Tree and what it meant to her, has been immortalised in a beautifully illustrated children's book. Flipping through the pages, the story made so much more alive by the drawings of artist Idris Ali, the simplicity of the message touched me both as a charming story of an era gone by as well as a testament to Hidayah's admirable persistence in safe-guarding the memory of her childhood. There is a stubborn refusal, against all odds, to not allow her heritage to be washed away. It makes for a compelling story, especially in a fast paced society as ours, where there is hardly any time to develop an attachment to our natural surroundings. Hidayah's books serve as a reminder of a connection we had to our environment just a few decades ago, and will prove to be a valuable record as our city tirelessly reinvents itself.

We spoke to Hidayah and found out more about why she feels so strongly about keeping the memory of her mango tree alive.

Biddy: How does the whole thing make you feel when you look back on it? Were you angry when they chopped down the tree?

Hidayah: I was traumatised, I cried for 3 weeks non stop. I couldnt work; think.

Biddy: You did not expect it?

Hidayah: When i emailed the MHF, no one had the guts to reply. So i had to write to the press. They could have told me that they will cut it, but instead they cut it and then told me, when there was nothing I could have done.

Hidayah: So many, you should read the book, it's all there. Its not abt me and the tree, it's abt heritage. Preserving what is impt to us. I don't accept cutting the tree to make way for tables n chairs.

Biddy: What message do you hope to convey of heritage through the book? And has writing it provided you with any closure??

Hidayah: Writing is a form of therapy for me, some people think i m taking revenge. But I felt I had to write to remind others not to take things for granted. The environment is important too, this is what i wrote in the book - A wise man once said, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” The tree is symbolic of our heritage. The roots of the tree signify our foundation, our past history. Without the past, we will have no future.

Biddy: So why a children's book?

Hidayah: The story is in my other book Gedung Kuning book, Cik Idah's Mango Tree. The children's book is a continuation and elaboration from my childhood stories. My relationship with the tree. The mango tree is a children's book as I wanted the young ones to learn early. The earlier they understand this importance, the better. The theme of the book launch is abt nature.

Biddy: Do you think it's harder for the current generation to understand your attachment to the tree and heritage at large?

Hidayah: Perhaps they may not understand, surely, they must have loved a tree or plant or .... kids play in the garden, playing in the rain, sitting under tree. Even if they don't understand, perhaps they will when they read my story.

Biddy: Do you have anything to say to the public and the young ones about heritage and the world around them?

Hidayah: My second last paragraph in the book reads - "The death of my mango tree reminded me how temporary things are in this world. That is why it is very important to preserve our heritage as once it is lost, we can never get it back."

Find out more about the Mango Tree here.

I experienced my first protest when I was an undergrad in Australia, more than a decade ago. A group of my university's students took to the streets to protest the rise in school fees. I meekly followed behind, enthralled by the spectacle, but shackled by my upbringing, unable to partake fully in the roar of voices.

"Only crazy people with a personal grudge against the government protest. And then they go to jail."

Growing up, it is what many would tell me at the mention of the word. We were fed with imagery of violent protests in our history books and perhaps more damningly, by our own kin and kith. It is the type of fear that is so ingrained, it becomes part of a distorted common sense, till we are no longer aware that it is fear that has led our gaze away from those who have demonstrated for our rights.

And as I tagged along the picketing group that day, I felt jolted out of reality, my own reality anyway, and into something more authentic. My youthful and inexperienced heart may not have been as involved in the causes or aware of the realities of civil society, but my programmed bias against protest and dissent were dashed that day. I saw then that protests can be orderly, they can be empowering and they inform the public, who look upon protesters with a variety of expressions other than wide-eyed terror. I remember distinctly as I walked back to my rental flat that day, that I WANT this, I want to see this in Singapore, MY country. Not protests per se, but this empowerment to speak out.

" No to 6.9 million", the nation's biggest non-partisan protest held at Hong Lim Park today, was not like that protest I witnessed so many years ago.

It was BETTER.

7000 strong turned up, umbrellas in tow, some brandishing creatively tongue in cheek banners.

Speakers from all walks of life led the crowd into fervent cheers as they expressed their displeasure at the suggested population size of 6.9 million in 2030 by the White Paper. If the turnout for the political rallies during the elections were signs of an awakening, the response for this protest, indicates that the country is now more than just awakened, it is ready to stand up and work for our collective future.

And nothing embodied that more than the response toward organizer Gilbert Goh's offensive article the night before, where he made a list of "traits", based on nationality, of the 1.8 million foreigners currently in Singapore. This is not about Gilbert's perceived xenophobia, but how the online backlash, within hours, resulted in the article being taken down and Gilbert Goh graciously apologizing on the event's page for his insensitivity.

Something amazing happened there. Many who thought of attending the event, staked a claim in how they wish to be represented, and through the mad rush of concerned, angry feedback, the anti-xenophobic stance became an emblem that branded itself throughout many of the speeches and into our consciousness. We may not be able to flush the White Paper's plans down the drain, but we managed something much more precious today, we defined a distinctly Singaporean value through our actions, something policy can never deign to cultivate.

While there will be those among us who revel in xenophobic rhetoric, it is heartening to know that there are enough of us who refuse to let that ugly side of human nature be part of a larger national voice, though the temptation is always there. It is also inspiring to see the acts of apology and forgiveness pushed forth by an understanding that the event and what it represents is bigger than any single person.

The Singaporean core that had been eroded by bloodless policies and political paralysis was replenished today. Thanks to willing hearts like Gilbert, who works against all odds to deserve the phenomenal success of the event, regardless of his mistakes, and those who attended for setting a precedence that no one can ignore even if they try their best to. On a personal front, thank you my countrymen and women, for fulfilling a wish I hardly thought would come true, let alone be surpassed by the magnitude of heart and spirit present.

I am so proud today to be Singaporean, more so than I ever have been.

By Biddy Low

Like a flash flood after a long drought, elections and the excitement that it brings have descended upon this nation over and over by the heavy hand of fate. By this second by-election for Punggol East, there is almost an embarrassment in getting swept up by the hype, for fear of being viewed as naive or worse, a vapid follower of a madding crowd. So I disengaged at the beginning. I am not a political pundit, neither do I have lofty ambitions to make a name for myself by jumping in the fray at any chance. My reasons for being involved and informed have remained the same as 3 years ago, to be a "kah kia" ( helper) anyway I can in what I consider a fledgling awakening for democracy in this little island I call home. A democratization process that I believe goes beyond what the politicians are doing, and right into the consciousness of every single person here.