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A series of high-profile blunders could erode public trust unless properly addressed.

A spate of blunders by government-linked entities has surfaced at an inopportunely rapid rate in the last few weeks.  Considerable public attention has been focused on disruptions of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) lines in mid-December, which took centerstage in the recent session of Parliament.

However, other serious goofs include recurring flooding in the Orchard Road shopping district during the monsoon, fraudulent withdrawals from DBS/POSB (the country’s largest bank) cash machines in which hundreds of thousands were stolen from customers as well as the possibility that a government lab may have incorrectly tested DNA samples in dozens of criminal cases.  These were serious mistakes that have entailed adverse consequences for hundreds of unfortunate people.

He then proceeds to enshroud the body with over three layers of white cloth. It would be the last piece of clothing found on the deceased. The body is then placed in the living room as family would have their final look at the departed.

This is just one of the many rituals funeral director Syed Osman Alsagoff needs to do in an Islamic funeral service.

Sabahan Yong Vui Kong, 23, is on death row in Singapore for drug trafficking. Malaysiakini is publishing Yong's final letters to Yetian, a member of the Save Vui Kong Campaign, as he faces death.

"Before I begin, I would like to thank everyone for reading this 12th letter. Time passes so quickly that this will be my last letter.

I hope that when you finished reading this letter, despite whatever that is going to happen to me, you will continue to support 'We Believe in Second Chances' campaign.

For my final letter, I would like to write about how I feel about facing death.

Since independence, Singapore has been in a race to stay ahead, and in more ways than one. The city state boasts an impressive Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate which not a few others envy.

But more and more Singaporeans are beginning to question if this is the only ends towards which they are striving – propping up the numbers even as income disparity increases, and perhaps more importantly, whether the physical city itself is having its life strangled out of it.