Going against the government was probably the furthest thing from their minds when these four NUS students signed up to be part of the Singaporean inception of the 50-strong Complaints Choir late last year.

Imagine their shock when members of the choir were informed by the Media Development Authority on Jan. 25 that their public performance license did not permit its six foreign members to perform the original songs that contained lyrics complaining about aspects of life in Singapore.

 As climate change issues dominated the mainstream media last year, the Internet has been used to call attention to another predicted disaster that has adverse consequences for all of humanity.

The caution that the finite supply of oil on Earth is slowly but surely running out, implies that the days of affordable oil are over.

Popularising this view is “Oil, Smoke and Mirrors” (www.oilsmokeandmirrors.com), a 50-minute film produced and directed by independent film-maker Ronan Doyle. It has been released on Google Video since October 2006.

The main theory discussed in the film is the “peak oil” hypothesis. It theorises the time that global petroleum production faces a terminal decline after its maximum production rate has been reached.