Sound Smarter in Sixty Seconds (SSISS) is Mothership’s daily brief on the important headlines of the day. We will also contribute our views on the issues at hand.

Worst dry spell in Singapore's history expected to last till the first half of March

The past 27 days has been the driest Singapore has seen. The longest dry spell before this lasted 18 days in 2008. To maintain water levels in reservoirs, PUB increased the amount of NEWater injected into the reservoirs to 30 million gallons per day last week. The desalination and NEWater plants, which can meet Singapore's water needs at 30 per cent and 25 per cent respectively, are running at close to full capacity.

The dry spell, which also affects Malaysia, has Selangor announcing it would commence water rationing in parts of the state today. Will Singaporeans get caught off-guard like the extremely bad case of haze in June last year? The Environment and Water Resources Ministry could take the lead and address the issue early to prepare Singaporeans for possible scenarios and not leave it up to Mother Nature to bring rain in the latter half of March.

CISCO officer's testimony at the COI sheds more light on Little India Riot

CISCO officer Nathan Chandra Sekaran was one of the auxiliary officers on the ground on the day of the riot. He said that the riot could have been prevented if police officers who were first at the scene had made arrested those who threatened to burn down the bus. He also noted that the bus timekeeper Wong Geck Woon had used words like “stupid” and “idiot” when interacting with the foreign workers previously. Wong offered her testimony earlier and said she never verbally abuse the foreign workers.

Verbal abuse is hard to proof. It is doubly hard to document it. We can only hope that this type of incident will not repeat itself and that foreign workers have thresholds - these thresholds should not be tested, with or without alcohol.

Catholic Archbishop explains the Church's position on HPB's Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on sexuality

In a letter published in the Catholic News, the Catholic church's fortnightly newspaper, Archbishop William Goh reassured church followers that the Church's "non-public engagement of the opposing groups on this issue is by no means evidence of our flight from our Christian calling to speak the truth and to defend the cause of the family".

Archbishop Goh said that the church will work with the authorities to ensure that the marriage institution and family values are upheld and that he will explore the setting up of support groups to assist those struggling with same sex attraction and their loved ones who have difficulty accepting them.

While the Catholic church has been slower to comment publicly on the issue, its stand appears to be the most measured and the least divisive. It managed to 1) state its clear position on the issue, 2) engage in constructive dialogue with the authorities, and 3) explore the setting up of support groups for those in need. The local church's position is similar to Pope Francis' take on the issue, who said in the American magazine interview that "if a homosexual person is of good will and is in search of God, I am no one to judge". 

Top photo from here.

Find Mothership.SG on Facebook and Twitter.