GIVE PDPC WIDER MANDATE

I have recently been inundated with SMS and WhatsApp messages, as well as phone calls offering illegal loans and online gambling services, even though my number is listed in the Do Not Call Registry.

The Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) does not deal with such marketing calls, and will refer all such complaints to the police. I have filed several complaints via the I-Witness website, but have not seen any follow-up action.

Police resources should not be used on investigating personal complaints like these, though the service being offered may itself be illegal. The PDPC should be given a wider mandate to investigate and bar these people from contacting those on the DNC Registry.

Chan Meng Sun

COLONIAL OPPRESSION OVERBLOWN

Whatever the rights and wrongs of British colonisation in the region (Colonisation didn't crush Singapore's fighting spirit, by Mr Anthony Oei; Jan 25), it is true that a number of South-east Asian countries turned to their former colonial power for armed assistance in times of trouble, and have had no issues with availing themselves of Britain's world-class learning institutions.

Some of the most beautiful and iconic buildings in Singapore and Malaysia were from the colonial era, and remain standing to this day. If colonisation was as bad as Mr Oei makes it sound, why weren't they torn down?

Gordon McLean

WHERE ARE THE BIKE PARKING ZONES?

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) finally introduced its new measures requiring shared bicycles to be parked in designated zones, but there seems to be an obvious flaw that needs to be addressed.

The LTA has not released an accessible map of these designated parking zones, making finding them akin to a treasure hunt with no clues.

The LTA needs to make it easier for users to find these zones, especially for areas that they are unfamiliar with.

Rahul Gupta

MANDATORY NS FOR PR APPLICANTS

Permanent residency status in Singapore is highly sought after, and while some do cherish and value being a PR, others have ulterior motives for taking it up.

After reaping the benefits from the Singapore system, they renounce their PR status and return to their home countries, especially when it is time to fulfil their national service obligations.

I would go even further than Mr Tan Soon Hock and say that we should bar such former PRs who dodge NS from entering Singapore altogether (Bar ex-PRs who dodge NS from working here; Jan 24).

And to prevent foreigners from taking Singapore for a ride, I suggest that future PR applicants should be made to serve their NS obligations first.

Pavithran Vidyadharan