The dispute is finally solved and Singapore had been awarded the main islet. Middle Rocks are also explicitly assigned to Malaysia but South Ledge is assigned to whoever owns the territorial waters it sits in. I am not sure, but is it beginning to sound like there is going to be another dispute soon? If you take a look at the map, assigning the Middle Rocks that lie to the south of Pedra Branca made it extremely awkward where territorial waters are concerned.

The demarcations of the Singapore Strait is not shown in the picture, but with such a ruling from the ICJ, does it mean that the small area of waters now belong to Malaysia? Worse, South Ledge is located in the middle no where - literally. So I hope Indonesia won’t come in and join the fun.

Looking at the report, I think Malaysia got pwn’ed by their Acting State Secretary of Johor when in 1953, he informed the colonial authorities in Singapore that Johor does not claim ownership over Pedra Branca. Being pwn’ed by a statesman is one thing. Being pwn’ed by an acting personnel is another. Although various historical writings, treaties and letters dated all the way back to the 16th century, it showed that the Sultanate of Johor possessed the original title to the islet, all were lost in the hands of the acting secretary.

So what does it tell us? This shows us clearly that if power lies in the wrong hands, a lot can be lost. In the case of Malaysia, it’s the islet and possibly some areas of territorial waters. The worst part is, we don’t even know the motivation behind that act by the acting secretary. This is probably one reason why the Singapore government tries to ensure that no blur-kings and queens get into the government and is constantly searching for brainy people with no shady histories. Imagine losing Pulau Tekong…

I am not sure, but I am wondering if this will be used as an example to instill fear that if the opposition were to take over one day, Singapore will start shrinking because we will be selling of so many seemingly "useless small islands" to other neighbouring countries. Kind of reminds me of Christmas Island, although I think it was during our current government’s time.

The islet does look very small. Let’s just hope we can do something useful about it. At least I don’t have to rush over to take my last look at the islet. I heard that it’s a popular fishing spot? =)

AT THE HAGUE - A LONGSTANDING tussle for sovereignty over Pedra Branca and its outcrops came to an end yesterday when the International Court of Justice (ICJ) awarded the main island to Singapore, and two smaller outcrops nearby to Malaysia.

The court did not make a definitive ruling on the third rock of contention, South Ledge, which is visible only at low tide. It belongs to whoever owns the territorial waters it sits in, said the court.

The judgment was telecast live in both countries, and when Judge Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh concluded his two-hour statement at 6pm, Singaporeans and Malaysians alike applauded the decision.

Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar told reporters at The Hague: ‘We are pleased with the judgment because the court has awarded sovereignty over Pedra Branca, which is the main feature in dispute, to Singapore.’

Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Rais Yatim described it as a ‘win-win’ judgment and said that both countries would ‘forge ahead’ in their bilateral relationship.

In Singapore, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong declared that he was pleased with the result, saying that resorting to the ICJ was ‘a good way for (the two countries) to resolve disagreements or problems while maintaining good relations with each other’.

In Malaysia, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak called it a ‘balanced decision’, with Malaysia ‘partly successful’ in its territorial claims.

The two hours at the ICJ were suspense-filled and had the Singapore delegation, led by Professor Jayakumar, on the edge of their seats for much of the time.

For the first hour, it actually seemed as if the court would find in Malaysia’s favour.

Reasoning from various historical writings, treaties and letters relevant to the case, the court decided that these showed that the Sultanate of Johor possessed original title to the island, dating back to the 16th century.

This meant that the court rejected Singapore’s argument that Pedra Branca was terra nullius, that is, belonged to no one, in 1847 when the British took ownership of it and built Horsburgh Lighthouse there.

But things started looking up in the second hour, when the focus shifted to the various activities that Singapore had carried out on the island in the latter half of the 20th century.

These included its investigation into marine accidents in the waters around Pedra Branca, control of visits to the island, plans to reclaim it and installation of military communications equipment there.

The court found that all these activities were carried out a titre de souverain, that is, in a manner that conferred title on the state responsible.

It also noted Malaysia’s failure to protest against these acts, all of which - except for the installation of military equipment - it had noticed.

The court also highlighted as of ‘major significance’ a 1953 letter from the Johor Acting State Secretary informing the colonial authorities in Singapore that Johor did not claim ownership over Pedra Branca.

The reply made clear that in 1953, Johor understood that it did not have sovereignty over Pedra Branca.

That reply would also have left the authorities in Singapore with no reason to doubt that Britain had sovereignty over the island, the court concluded.

The court thus judged that although Johor had possessed an original title to Pedra Branca, that title subsequently passed to Singapore.

The dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over sovereignty of the island arose in February 1980, when Singapore protested against a 1979 Malaysian map that placed Pedra Branca within its territorial waters.

The court ruled that by that critical date, sovereignty over the island had already passed to Singapore.

‘The court concludes that sovereignty over Pedra Branca belongs to Singapore.’ As Judge Al-Khasawneh pronounced these words, smiles broke out on the Singapore side of the Peace Palace’s Great Hall.

The 16 judges of the ICJ voted 12 to four in Singapore’s favour.

On the issue of Middle Rocks, the court said that Malaysia’s claim of original title still held, as there had been no activities on Singapore’s side which made it pass to Singapore.

While the ICJ ruling has settled sovereignty issues, other issues remain.

For one thing, Singapore and Malaysia have to discuss how to delimit the territorial waters in the Pedra Branca and Middle Rocks area.

There will have to be ’sensitive management’ of navigational rights, said Mr S. Kesavapany, a former Singapore high commissioner to Malaysia.

‘For instance, both our navies will go through the waters, so you need clear understanding of the circumstances under which this can be done,’ he said.

A joint technical committee is already in place to discuss these and related issues.

lydia@sph.com.sg

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 24th May 2008; source of picture obtained from straitstimes.com

Editor: I’m just back from Vint Cerf’s talk and a little tired, so if things do not make sense here, I hope tomorrow’s post will. =)

Was it expected? I’m not sure. Perhaps it might be, perhaps not. However, since it was one of the outcomes possible, I would think that Singapore would have been mentally prepared. If you are not sure what I am referring to, it’s about Pedra Branca (Pulau Batu Puteh) that I am talking about. There was a dispute on who should really own the rock and this was brought up to the ICJ to decide who has sovereignty over it. Me, for one, really didn’t expect this kind of outcome.

Singapore lost…

Read the rest of this entry »

Welcome to "Tracking the Internet into the 21st Century" with Vinton G. Cerf. This event is organized by TDM and is kindly sponsored by Google and IDA.

Vinton G. Cerf is the VP and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google and was also the co-designer with Robert Kahnfor the TCP/IP and the basic architecture of what we know now as the Internet. He’s also commonly known as the Father of Internet within the community. Today, he’s here with us to share with us on how Internet is going to be like as we move into the new century.

Editor: As it turns out, I couldn’t find any power sockets and the laptop will die half-way into the live blogging. The editor apologises profusely for this but hope that you’d still be able to enjoy it as much as possible.

7:00pm: People have streamed into Suntec Convention Hall by the hordes and food is being snapped up quickly. Hey, we are talking about really hungry people out here on a Friday evening. How else to bring everyone together other than food? There are puffs, and cakes, coffee and tea. Yummy! =) Registration have so far been smooth because there’s no walk-in. Yes, this even is so popular until it’s completely filled up. There are strictly no walk-ins and if you really want to crash into the event, well… just… point at a random name on the list. Shhhh… don’t quote me. =P

Aaron Koh is doing the recording for the event and I am assuming that he’s the official recorder. James was also here, but for the countless time, he’s given me a miss. This is sad. Really sad.

7:22pm: The event has started with an opening address from Wayne Soh of TDM. To run through a bit of the program - we are going to have some updates on TDM and Google and Vint will be giving the main course for the event; followed by a forum, some networking and supper. =) We have Google, Microsoft, MINDEF, and MCYS amongst the rest. Asking the crowd how many are here to meet Vint - the entire crowds raised their hands! Indeed, it’s all really for Vint, isn’t it? =)

Howie is now addressing the crowd and is highlighting that TDM is going through a very interesting transition now and is welcome to comments and ideas because we (TDM) really want to be known as social connectors and to bring people together. Essentially, we want to be known to be sharing and propagating ideas. Importantly, we should all have fun tonight.

7:26pm: We now have Derek, who is the regional marketing manager of HK and SEA of Google, to address the crowd. Something that most people will agree is that after hearing Vint, there’s a chance that people will walk away a little more intelligent. =)

James is now addressing the crowd and introducing Vint to the crowd. Indeed James is correct in pointing out that Vint is one of the founding fathers of the Internet, without both of whom, there will be no Internet today. For that work, they were award various recognitions by the US President. More information about Vint is available at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinton_Cerf. As James began reading out Vint’s awards, I lost track of it because the list is really far too long. =)

7:30pm Vint is quite stunned that there are so many people here on a Friday night and he’s speculating that perhaps we are all here because of the free food! Heh. He’s actually quite excited to learn about the TDM idea because all of us come from varied backgrounds and that it’s good to see everyone get together to make a better digital environment for everybody. While Vint is here to predict what the Internet looks like 27 years down the road, he thinks that it’s really going to be off. Still, it’s fun to do so because we can all see how deviant it is going to be. =P

He’s presenting the Regional Internet Statistics which primarily talks about the penetration rates and he’s basically given up about counting for Europe because they kept adding countries!

Moving on, if we were to fast forward 27 years later, the Internet will be 52 years old. He’s clear that it takes a lot of persistence in bringing new ideas to people and getting people to accept it. Up till today, we have just over 15 years of commercial exposure and it is predicted that by 27 years later, we will have about 70% penetration rate. He also believes that penetration rates may go well beyond 100% because each person will have more than one device that is being used to access the Internet. Vint also recognise that almost every other thing under the sun and the moon will be connected to the Internet - including your refrigerator!

He also recognise that the IP standard is going to be IPv6 and that IPv4 is going to be in places where IPv6 doesn’t matter much because they are perhaps going to be private nets. He believes that by 27 years later, cables are going to be in the fibre range and that WiMax will probably be replaced. We will be having very advanced radio based technology then.

Vint recognise that we will be having very widely, horizontal standardization where commercial and Internet is concerned - pretty much different from vertical standards that we know today (i.e. standards that are specific for a particular industry). Vint mentioned that cloud computing is a very odd revisit today. Back in the old days, it was thought that computers will fill up entire buildings and that people will access them remotely. However, today, with advanced microchip technology, Google is able to make use of many microprocessors to do effective stuffs like indexing. He also believes that by 2035, virtual environments will be very common and that we will get very advanced 3D holograms - nothing like Star Trek, but something good enough.

He believes that there is nothing stopping us from mixing up real life and virtual life to give us virtual interactions. These virtual interactions and environments is something that Vint thinks students will be seeing and doing in 2035. In fact, students will be making use of science to do science.

Next, Vint covers domain names and IP addresses, where by 2035, we would have implemented a higher level naming system where domain names will never expired or be reused (hands up those who lose their domain names because they forgot to pay for it). These "personal identifiers" will stick around for years which are more permanent through some mapping scheme that will eventually eliminate what we all hate most - HTTP 404.

Vint also covered on using Google in the medical sense because there are people who search the Internet for medical conditions. An example that’s given is that the CDC is unable to track queries made by people which are specific to a disease - in particular epidemics. If there’s a way for CDC to determine what searches people are making, especially in the health areas, then there is a possibility that they will be more ready and alert to sudden spikes in particular diseases. This is also application in many fields as long as people are able to spot trends in searches. This is expected to be common in 2035.

Next up, socio-economical effects of Internet in 2035. Virtually every single type of media that’s available now will also be available in the Internet. There will be more Internet group interaction with political actions, polling and market places. Information consumers will also be the producers particularly in the areas of blogging, Youtube, personal web pages and wisdom of crowds. There will be innovation at the edge, in particular, Wikipedia is one such example. It’s also thought that 10 hours worth of video is uploaded eery minute. What’s important here is the vast sharing of information. Again, Wkipedia is an example where it is possible for experts to correct something that’s not accurate on the Internet.

At the same time, there will be more social networking (Facebook, My Space, Linked In) and game playing. However, instead of seeing people on the screen (for social networking), Vint is speculating on the possibility of actually having a Rent-A-Robot where the real person can remotely control something that’s as real as him - as opposed to seeing someone in 2D on the screen.

Touching on storage, a terabyte of storage will probably cost about $100 million dollars back in the 1970s - something that he paid a fraction for now. If he indeed have $100 million back then, there’s no way his wife is going to let him spend it on storage. =)

IPTV - today, we hear a lot of concerns on streaming video and if it’s ever possible for this amount of video to be supported. In reality, there’s more than enough capacity to support what we are doing now - and even in 2035. In fact, Gigabit connections will be very common in 2035. With that kind of bandwidth, it’s possible to download a gigabit of video in 16 seconds! Moreover, if video is downloaded instead of being streamed, this will become more popular and video streaming will be reserved for real-time events like live conferences.

Editor: Oops. Battery died. Sorry, but that was almost all about it. =)

The verdict on the Pedra Branca case (yes, the one where I wrote about the other side using a fake blog). Of course, the blog has since became a "private blog" which was still public except that readers can’t leave comments and that there hadn’t been any more updates since then. I still can’t get over the use of the blog as evidence to present to the courts. Goodness!

Nonetheless, the hearing begins at 10am Netherlands time, which is 4pm Singapore time. Instead of getting the verdict there and then, the judgement will last for about 2 hours before the final verdict is given. During the 2 hours, various points that were bring brought up in court will be discussed. It’s definitely going to be a nerve-wrecking 2 hours for everyone in court and for those in Singapore.

If anything is to go by, the dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia was ruled in favour of Malaysia and being a pessimist, I think Malaysia will emerge victorious in today’s ruling. Of course, I am hoping that Singapore will get it, but again, being such a pessimist, I would say that Singapore will get the 1 of the 2 rocks at the outskirts of Pedra Branca at best. Or should I start calling it Pula Batu Puteh now?

Malaysia boleh! Umno boleh!

IN THE HAGUE - THE Singapore delegation is in for a nerve-racking couple of hours this afternoon at the Peace Palace here, where the world court will deliver its judgment on the Pedra Branca case.

Leading the delegation are Deputy Prime Minister S. Jayakumar, Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong and Ambassador-at-large Tommy Koh.

Only a handful of the original 33-strong team involved in the hearing last November are in The Hague this time.

The rest from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Attorney-General’s Chambers and other agencies will catch the live telecast of the judgment in Singapore.

Malaysia’s delegation to The Hague is led by its Foreign Minister Rais Yatim and Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Mohamad, who is Adviser to the Prime Minister.

Today’s judgment will bring to a close a 29-year dispute between Singapore and Malaysia over the sovereignty of Pedra Branca, a small island that is home to Horsburgh Lighthouse.

The hearing begins at 10am Netherlands time (4pm Singapore time), when Judge Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh, acting president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), will read out the judgment.

If the court’s 2002 judgment in favour of Malaysia in its dispute with Indonesia over the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan is anything to go by, one can expect today’s reading to be a suspenseful session for the two legal teams.

The court will first recount the arguments they had presented in several rounds of written and oral pleadings.

It will then explain why it does not accept certain arguments of one state, and the same for certain arguments of the other state.

Only at the end of the hearing - expected to last up to two hours - will the disputing parties find out the outcome.

As Ambassador Koh said with a smile at a press conference on Wednesday: ‘Those of us in court will have a nervous breakdown before the judges tell us the conclusion, to whom they will award sovereignty.’

Pedra Branca, which Malaysia calls Pulau Batu Puteh, is strategically located at the eastern entrance of the Strait of Singapore, the world’s busiest strait that is used by 900 ships each day.

DPM Jayakumar said last week he was ‘quietly confident’ that the judgment would be in Singapore’s favour.

But he added that the nature of court proceedings was such that the judgment could go the other way, and Singapore must be mentally prepared for such an outcome.

Leaders on both sides had said they would accept the court’s decision and stressed that whichever way it went, it would not affect bilateral ties.

The two countries have also set up a Joint Technical Committee to enforce the court’s decision.

Its members have agreed to meet for a second time shortly after today’s judgment.

lydia@sph.com.sg

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 23rd May 2008

It was splashed all over the newspaper. Now, not only forummers from Hardwarezone know about it, not only forummers from SammyBoy Unmoderated know about it, but the whole of Singapore and possible the whole world know about it. That there’s a video sharing site that’s somewhat like YouTube, except that it’s not your usual blonde girl singing off-key Karaoke, nor is it some up and rising superstar hitting the videos.

It’s a porn-sharing video site!

Well, there’s as far as the "good news" end. The bad news is if you didn’t know about it, knowing it doesn’t help, and if you already knew about it, then there’s nothing you can do. It’s been added to the MDA’s list of severely objectionable sites, which comprises of the top 100 sites. In fact, there were 2 of them, ranked 19th and 33rd in Alexa, and both had been added to the list. But get this - since it’s the top 100 objectionable site list, that means 2 sites have apparently been removed from the list and the MDA ain’t telling ya.

SINGAPORE’S two most popular pornographic websites, both of which allow users to upload porn videos for others to watch, have been banned here.

Home Internet users visiting them since last Friday have been flashed a message that the sites have been blocked by the Media Development Authority (MDA), the content regulator.

The two sites rank 19th and 33rd in popularity among all websites visited here, said web-tracking service Alexa.

Much like popular video-sharing site YouTube, the sites allow users to watch videos posted by others and upload their own - in these cases, pornographic - videos to share with others.

MDA senior assistant director for media policy Jason Hoong said the agency decided to block the two sites when it realised how easily accessible by the young its hardcore porn videos were; the videos, which are free, start playing when the user clicks on the links.

MDA restricts access to 100 ‘mass-impact objectionable websites as a symbolic statement of our core societal values’, Mr Hoong said in an e-mail reply to The Straits Times.

To keep the list at 100, two other websites would have had to be taken off the list. Mr Hoong did not say which two sites were de-listed. The MDA has never revealed the sites on its list.

It is not clear how successful the ban can be: As it covers only home Internet access, users can still visit the two sites and the other 98 banned ones from their office computers.

But if they do this, it could well put their jobs on the line as most companies have strict Internet-usage policies that prohibit visiting porn sites at work.

News of the ban, predictably, riled some online users. Some ranted on popular forums like Sammyboy and HardwareZone.

One of them, going by the online nickname ‘thegame’, said on the Sammyboy forum that MDA was ‘just like a parent’ who ruled over his children ‘with an iron fist’. Others lamented the loss of access to the sites - then solicited suggestions for alternative sites.

Parents like Mr J.W. Chee, 38, a father to two boys aged 10 and seven, hailed the ban. But he added that a ‘better long-term solution’ lies in educating parents and raising their awareness to put them in a better position to advise their children on the use of the Internet.

If some online users are not too bothered by the ban, it could be that they are Net-savvy enough to know how to circumvent it, for example, by using a proxy to masquerade as a non-Singapore user and thus gain entry to the sites.

YouTube’s video-sharing concept has spawned a host of clones focusing on niche themes - from the religious (www.godtube.com) to more frivolous (www.shoetube.tv).

YouTube had previously been banned in Thailand and Turkey for hosting videos deemed insulting to the Thai King and the country’s founder respectively. It remains banned in Turkey.

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 23rd May 2008

The Myanmar junta may seem heartless to kick the survivors out of the shelters to make way for the polling station, but there could be other reasons that bystanders like myself may not know. Perhaps the junta really want the survivors to quickly stand on their feet (pun unintended) and move on (double pun unintended). Perhaps the polls were really urgent and because it is so important, it has to be protected from the harshness of nature. Perhaps the shelters were the best place places to hold their polls properly - after all, it’s supposed to be good for the people; nation above self, remember? Perhaps the junta wanted to liberate the people in more ways than one. Perhaps…

YANGON - WITH few places to seek refuge, the wooden schoolhouse seemed as good as anywhere.

Though its roof was partially blown off by Cyclone Nargis, and panels were ripped from its walls, hundreds of people swarmed here after the storm.

Now the government has forced them out to make space for a weekend vote on a new pro-military constitution - a referendum delayed in parts of Myanmar because of the deadly cyclone.

‘The school will be used as a polling station,’ said Sandar, a teacher who refused to give her last name. ‘We needed people to leave.’

‘Most of them set up temporary bamboo huts,’ Sandar said on Wednesday.

Like most people in Myanmar, she did not want to be fully identified because the government dislikes people talking to the media.

As many as 2 million people are struggling to find the basic necessities of life following the May 2-3 storm, sleeping in tents near their shattered homes or crowding into monasteries, schools and other de facto relief shelters.

But many are being displaced again to make way for polling stations needed to hold a referendum that is - by official reckoning - already a done deal.

The government will open polls in the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta and Yangon areas on Saturday. The rest of the country voted on May 10; state radio said the late balloting could not reverse the constitution’s approval by 92.4 percent of the 22 million eligible voters.

In a big pavilion - a flat expanse of concrete under a green sheet roof - also on the outskirts of Yangon, dozens of homeless were packing up.

About 100 old people and children put their stuffed canvas sacks and bags on the benches in the middle of the hall. Some people sat on the floor. Others were out on the road, waiting.

A half hour later, they were gone.

A green banner was being put up in front by men, apparently security personnel in plainclothes, along with polling tables inside. — AP

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 22nd May 2008

Starhub first started by blocking port 80 (or more popularly known as the HTTP port) which effectively prevent any of their subscribers from hosting web pages on their home computers. Lately, they started blocking BitTorrent ports (one wonders how many ports that are) because they felt that "many broadband network operators in the world are also doing so", and that it "helps to ensure that all their customers receive an optimal surfing experience". However, it was also speculated that Starhub would have enjoyed higher cost savings because BitTorrent users are known to be huge bandwidth hogs and are much less profitable for them, compared to surfers who just logon to check their mails or play online games.

While I am not a BitTorrent user, I am quite disgusted with Starhub’s self-righteousness over this matter, not to mention their disillusioned perspective of "many broadband network operators in the world". So far, it was reported that only 2 other Internet Service Providers in the world does it, and both are located in the United States.

So we may probably see a huge exodus of users jumping to Singnet’s Mio. I guess someone will be laughing his way to the banks soon. Then again, it’s not the first time that Starhub has done something this controversial and it’s been proven that their subscribers had been sticking with them through thick and thin and till death do they part. =)

WEB surfers are up in arms over a new report that says StarHub is blocking a popular software program that allows netizens to share movies and other large digital files.

According to the report, released last Friday by a German research firm, only two other Internet service providers (ISPs), both American, block BitTorrent.

The program allows users to download the latest movies, music and software in a matter of hours. While it has become popular among the growing legion of online pirates, BitTorrent has also been used for legitimate purposes, such as distributing free software and new rock albums.

The Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, which compiled the report, said StarHub blocks users from sending data to other users, but not from downloading files. However, this can hamper download speeds as BitTorrent works on a reciprocity model: Those who upload more will be able to download faster.

StarHub’s head of Internet Protocol services Lim Seow Thong did not dispute the report, but defended the company’s actions as something ‘many broadband network operators in the world’ are also doing. He said it helps ‘to ensure that all our customers receive an optimal surfing experience’.

Another possible reason it did this may be cost savings. BitTorrent users are known to be huge bandwidth hogs, and are much less profitable for ISPs, compared to surfers who use their connection to surf or play online games.

But it is a decision that has not gone down well with some subscribers.

On popular technology website Hardwarezone, users lined up to protest against the move, with many threatening to switch Internet providers.

One StarHub user, undergraduate L. Tan, 22, said he would try to convince his parents to switch from StarHub to another ISP once their contract was up. ‘The only reason we’re paying $60 a month for broadband is so that I can download stuff. Otherwise, I might as well just get the entry-level plan,’ he said.

But StarHub customer and shareholder Ken Tan cheered the news. ‘Right now, BitTorrent is primarily used to distribute pirated materials, so people who don’t use BitTorrent, like me, are basically subsidising those who do.’

The Max Planck Institute, which does research on computer and networking-related issues, collected data from over 8,000 BitTorrent users from 1,244 ISPs across 90 countries for the report.

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 22nd May 2008

Apparently, SMRT claimed that in February, 83 more train trips per week had been added. Now SMRT is introducing even more trips, adding another 700 extra train trips a week! Seriously, as commuters do you feel any difference? Has the waiting time been shortened? Or is the train less packed now? Personally, I did not feel any difference at all. The waiting time is still 6-8minutes and the train is still very crowded even at non-peak hours. As mentioned in plaktoz’s blog, the train is still as packed even at 12midnight.

Anyway, I believe that commuters will be very happy for the increase in train trips but are commuters absorbing the $5m extra cost incurred annually? Actually, I don’t mind to squeeze in train than paying more =p. It seems like another smart strategy to increase the fare price in the near future.

SMRT adds 700 extra train trips a week, costing it S$5m annually

SMRT is increasing the number of train trips by at least 700 a week to cut commuters’ waiting time and provide them with a more comfortable ride.

A common complaint by MRT passengers is that it gets very crowded at peak periods and on many occasions, commuters are not able to get on the train.

In February, 83 more train trips per week had been added. Now, SMRT is introducing even more trips.

More than 50 per cent of these will be during weekday lunch times (noon-2pm), when waiting time will be halved to just three-and-a-half minutes, SMRT said.

Improvements are also expected for those who go home later after work and those who go out on Friday evenings.

Vincent Tan, Vice President, Rail Operations, SMRT Trains, said: "We have added train trips where possible so that the average trainload is not more than 1,200 passengers.

"The added services will also mean that the trains will arrive within five minutes or less if the passenger loads are within 1,000 and 1,200 passengers."

SMRT said they are already operating at the best intervals of two minutes at the peak within peak and cannot improve this any further, for now.

However, a few commuters were concerned that fares would go up with the increased trips.

In a month’s time, SMRT plans to increase frequency on weekends, for those travelling to and from town and the suburban areas.

SMRT promises that there will be a train arriving every five minutes when trains are packed.

The additional train trips have been rolled out at the most congested stations during lunchtime - between the Ang Mo Kio and Marina Bay stations on the North-South line, and the Outram Park and Aljunied stations on the East-West line.

The additional train trips are expected to cost SMRT an additional S$5 million yearly.

- CNA/vm

Article obtained from channelnewsasia.com on 21st May 2008

Seriously, did they (referring to bloggers who do funny stuffs on their blogs) really think that they can get away scot-free? The offending post was replicated and pasted all over the place - including Hardwarezone; and if it ever gets that far, it’s just a matter of time before the authorities will be alerted. I did a search based on the offending statement and came across Weikiat’s blog. For a moment, I thought he was the one. Thank goodness he wasn’t, because it’d really be quite a shock. Although he had removed the statements that were offending in the original post, it wasn’t difficult to search for the places that replicated it.

Just try "There he sat, unaffected by his surroundings, smelling like he didn’t showered in years and wore some really scary dirty clothes…".

Or if you have difficulty finding it, you may want to try… here?

I’m not sure if I should even reproduce it here because the last thing that I want happen to me is to be arrested at 9:45pm. Then again, it’s even been tomorrow’d! So… (speaking of which, as a blogger, the last thing that you want is to have your unglamorous posts tomorrow’d) here’s the offending post, but instead of just pasting it here point blank, I’d like to look through it with my own (non-racist) comments.

Quoted from http://fragranceprince.blogspot.com:

See, to me…no matter how highly Singapore sits on the map there is still the part we cant erase… and thats the heartlanders and those gross out people in society… why cant we be like Milan where everyone is so well dressed and well-mannered??

To the blogger: I think you have some problems with the people in Singapore. Why are you even making the comparison? Are you trying to tell the whole world that you’ve been to Milan? If you like it there so much, why doesn’t you just find a job there and settle down? Singapore can make do with one less racist. Come on, stop living in your ivory towers in Paya Lebar!

We shall not even touch on politics on Mas Salamat, which of course… if you have realised, i didnt bother talking about it, coz there are many other bloggers conversing on that.So so so… what is this pathetic malay man (again, it have to be a MALAY!!!!) doing in the train?

To the blogger: I don’t even understand why you are picking on the guy (the man was apparently sitting on the floor). This happens everywhere regardless of race and it’s not because of race but rather because of poverty that lead to people to not care about themselves anymore. You should be ashamed of yourself.

well, he was already in the train when i boarded and there he sat, unaffected by his surroundings, smelling like he didnt showered in years and wore some really scary dirty clothes and had a dirty muddy bag with him too, in it were empty bottles which looks used… to many, he may seem a poor man or a beggar.. but… to me.. he’s wasted !!I mean… wassup with all the pretentious looks and actions for man….go get a job or better yet, make himself useful and learn how to start a fire using charcoal.. as it all lies in their blood…. SATAY SATAY!!!!

To the blogger: Pretentious? Look who’s pretentious. Milan? Well-mannered? I think it’s time you return to reality.

Aiya….stupid MALAYS!! Even if you are a Malay and am reading this… good for you..coz this is my personal blog and i can say what i deem fit…. if u wana defend yourself…. i suggest you arm youself with education and a motor mouth to compete against me.. else dont bother… coz i will bet my life on the line that, should you challenge me in a conversation… you will lose like what a true malay would…. LIKE **** !!!GET LOST!!

To the blogger: Hey, I guess you are the stupid one. Stupid enough to write something like this and get arrested. Indeed you can say what you deem fit. It’s people like you that made it seem like we are all not ready for freedom of speech. With freedom comes responsibility and you just showed the rest of the world (if not just Singapore) that we are not responsible. Thanks.

He mentioned that he wrote it only for friends and that he will apologise online. Well, we are still waiting for your apology; and I think you are disgracing your friends by implying that they share the same perspectives as you.

Update: He apologised on his blog.

Dear Readers,

I would like to express my sincere apologies for any misinterpretation to my blog entry.

I regret having mentioned this entry in my blog which I didn’t expect it to turn out to be like this, I should have been more mindful.

Once again, I am sincerely apologetic for the recent events that had happen.

Your’s sincerely,

Franco

I hope he’s sincere about it and not because he’s been warned by the police.

A LOCAL blogger who ranted about a commuter’s behaviour on an MRT train was arrested on Tuesday night.

Police said the 24-year-old Chinese man was taken from his home at Paya Lebar Way at about 9.45 pm for ‘posting contents in his blog which may wound the racial feelings of another person’.

A computer, believed to be used to post the suspect’s blog, was seized for investigations, which are ongoing.

The case came to the attention of police on May 19 when they received two reports complaining of the alleged posts by the suspect.

According to a report in The New Paper on Wednesday, the blog was apparently sparked off by the suspect seeing a man of an another race sitting on the floor of an MRT train.

The blogger, an undergraduate, allegedly wrote: ‘There he sat, unaffected by his surroundings, smelling like he didn’t showered (sic) in years and wore some really scary dirty clothes…’

He went on to make other offensive comments about that racial group in his tirade, drawing flak from local netizens, who called him a racist.

One net-user wrote: ‘Stupidity has nothing to do with race at all. Just look to that blogger for proof that stupidity transcends all races.’

Added another: ‘Some things, once said, cannot be retraced. Don’t even make such stupid remarks in the first place.’

Under Section 298 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, anyone with deliberate intention of wounding the religious or racial feelings of any person, causes any matter however represented to be seen or heard by that person, can be jailed up to three years, or fine, or both, if convicted.

Deputy Commander of Central Police Div HQ, Superintendent Lee Ping Yue, in a statement late on Tuesday, said that police take a serious view of such irresponsible blog postings in a multi-racial society like Singapore and ‘will expend all efforts in tracking the perpetrators’.

Interviewed by TNP earlier on Tuesday before his arrest, the blogger said he was sorry for what he had written and would be more mindful of what he says in his blog in future.

He said he was shocked by the furore over his blog entry, which he said was only intended for his close friends. He added that he was surprised that the entry, which was written two months ago, started circulating only days ago.

‘I am a very expressive person - my style of writing is over the top. I write this way to make my entries more punchy and exciting,’ he told TNP.

He denied being a racist and maintained that he did not harbour any ill will towards the racial group he wrote about.

But he let on that he was in a particularly bad mood the day he wrote the blog entry.

‘I meant what I wrote in a different way. If people read it in another way, there is nothing much I can do,’ he said, adding that he planned to put up an online apology for his comments.

He has removed the post and password-protected his blog, which was featured on blog aggregator Tomorrow.sg, and linked to several popular online forums.

Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 21st May 2008

I was lucky enough to get a unit some time back to review. Yes, it was almost a few weeks back that I got the pair of easyKey dongle; but because I wanted to make sure that what I am getting is the real McCoy, I tested it inside out, outside in, and flip it around a few times for good measure. My data was secure, it was virtually hack-proof (virtually because if you have all the computer power needed and all the time, then yes, you can probably hack it - but I am not sure if you’d still be around to see it).

While I will go through the installation at the bottom of the post, I would like to highlight some mechanisms on how I thought it worked. When you first install the software, you will be prompted to create a drive. This drive that you are creating doesn’t really exist, but is really a .sdf file on your hard disk. The .sdf file is something like a .zip file except that it’s not really compressed although it is really encrypted.

When you plug in the easyKey dongle on on another occasion, it will prompt you for a PIN, following which the .sdf file will be "opened" up as a drive on your computer. Needless to say, deleting the .sdf file means that you will lose all data that you stored in this virtual drive. It is also noteworthy to mention that the dongle itself is not a thumb drive and the size of the virtual drive you create during or after installation is really taking up space on your hard disk.

What if your hard disk runs out of space - can you still create an encrypted virtual drive to store all your confidential stuffs? The good news is, you can. When you run the easySafe application, it will prompt you for your PIN; following which, it will prompt you for your easyDrive Name (which is like a volume name - for the techies), an easyDrive Size (which is the size of the virtual drive which is really the size of the .sdf file) and an easyDrive Location. Now, this location does not have to always be at C: or D:. In fact, if you have a USB drive, you can plug your USB drive in (assuming that you have at least 2 USB ports) and store the encrypted .sdf file on the thumb drive instead. Of course, doing so means that you’d have to insert both the thumb drive and the easyKey dongle everything you like to access your encrypted data.

In a nutshell, the easyKey dongle provides a 2-prong approach to data security. It is firstly a physical dongle - without which, there’s no way anyone can gain access to your data; and even if someone does manage to get hold of it, it has a second-level security by asking for a PIN. Without either, your encrypted data is safe even in the hands of others.

Many have also asked about why there are 2 easyKey dongles. The reason is quite simple. If you lose one dongle, there’s always another one. If you lose both… hmm… I hope you have a back up somewhere.

FAST easySafe is really the only hardware cryptography product available in the market with unique features. It protects all sensitive information in your computer, external hard disk, USB flash drive, SD card and other removable media.

And now, if you had been dying for the step through, here you go. (Click more to continue)

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