Going cashless — what about legal tender?

In flouncing around the latest fad-topic of “smart nation” and cashless payments, we’re losing sight of an important principle: legal tender.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as “money that is legally valid for the payment of debts and that must be accepted for that purpose when offered”.

Traditionally, legal tender is seen in the form of cash. There has not been any formal redefinition of it to encompass digits stored on a bank’s computer.

As more and more sellers move to e-payments only, this needs to be addressed. Can sellers legally refuse cash?

It may seem like a small matter. The “problem” if defined in purely technical terms, can be solved with a tiny change in the law, but doing so – together with a rushed move to mandatory e-payments – actually has far wider implications.

My contempt of court trial starts 21 October 2014

Starting Tuesday, 21 October 2014, High Court Judge Justice Belinda Ang will be hearing the case against me launched by the Attorney-General’s Chambers (“AGC”) in Court 5A of the Supreme Court building.

Two days (Oct 21 and 23) have been set aside by the court, with a third day (Oct 24) held in reserve.

The AGC alleges contempt of Court (scandalising the judiciary) on my part over passages I had written October last year in two articles on my blog Yawning Bread, and seeks to commit me to prison.