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Dr Lysa Hong is an independent historian. She also writes as "mini-myna", a bird which she is "reliably told... is an annoying pest and not very bright for a bird." "That isn’t quite me, I don’t think, hence the qualification ‘mini’." Dr Hong also contributes to http://s-pores.com/

Minimyna had been been in a state of flutter the last few days, as her longed-for retirement as a historian might well be imminent. Everything portended to a denouement. The question of whether or not Operation Cold Store was justified would finally be settled, almost half a century after the event.

As every student has been told, no less than the prosperity, stability and the very existence of Singapore have been attributed to that timely mass detention without trial, and subsequent ones through the decades.

Mr Lim's rental flat in Taman How Swee has finally been de-bugged fully. The second fumigation treatment on the flat, which we reported on 6 September as being infested with bedbugs, was carried out by the Housing and Development Board (HDB) on 28 September.

The first treatment was done on 15 September. Re-painting works will be carried out next.

Mr Lim has since been moved to another rental flat in the same block and will be staying there permanently.

Since his story broke, a donor has donated a mattress, a sofa set and a dining table to Mr Lim who had only his personal effects when he moved to the new flat. The furniture and other belonging had to be discarded to prevent the bugs from being transferred to his new abode.

Mr Lim, who currently survives on $270 he receives from the CDC monthly, is looking for a job now that his bugs problem is settled.

Separately, after our feedback to her on 21 September, MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, Dr Lily Neo made representation to the HDB to carry out an eradication exercise on another flat infested with the bugs. Blk 3 at Jalan Kukoh was treated on 27 September for infestation.

On 11 September, Dr Neo launched the "Stop Pest" campaign in her area to rid homes of bedbugs.

"Many residents, especially the elderly, are reluctant to even let us in...but we are not going to give up," she told the media at the launch. The campaign is expected to last two months and will be carried out by volunteers and members of the Kreta Ayer-Kim Seng Citizens' Consultative Committee and the Kreta Ayer Seniors Activity Centre.

"The Stop Pest Community Project is a campaign that aims to reach out directly to low income families living in one-room rental flats at Kreta-Ayer Kim Seng constituency in Tanjong Pagar GRC," it says on its website. "The project’s objectives are to stop the spread and infestation of bedbugs that plague these families, especially since these families often do not have the resources to tackle this problem on their own."

Visit the Stop-Pest.sg website for more details on the campaign and how you can help.

Will Singapore see a constitutional challenge of Section 377A in court?

"We do not proactively enforce Section 377A... [but] we have decided to keep the status quo on Section 377A. It is better to accept the legal untidiness and the ambiguity. It works, do not disturb it." - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, 23 October 2007.

The 2007 debate in Parliament on Section 377A, which criminalises consensual sex between adult men, ended with PM Lee's statement that the Government will retain this law because "a heterosexual stable family is a social norm... and we do not approve of [homosexuals] actively promoting their lifestyles to others, or setting the tone for mainstream society." Striking a conciliatory tone, he added that "homosexuals too must have a place in this society, and they too are entitled to their private lives... We do not proactively enforce Section 377A."

Deep within a world that much of Singapore has lost lies a reminder of that life we once had, a life of carefree days spent by the sea, and quiet nights gazing at the stars. It is a world that for most, doesn’t exist anymore, one that many will find hard to go back to.