Singapore Media Watch

Singapore arrests opposition members over protest

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 14:07:00 +0000

Several Singapore opposition party members were arrested on Saturday after a rare protest outside the city-state's parliament house led to a tense standoff with police.

About 20 protesters wearing red T-shirts that said "Tak Boleh Tahan" - which means "cannot take it" in Bahasa Malay - gathered outside parliament house, holding placards and shouting slogans decrying the rising cost of living in Singapore.

Protests in Singapore are rare and an assembly of five or more people requires a permit from the police.

Chee Soon Juan, leader of the Singapore Democratic Party, and several protesters were arrested outside a nearby shopping mall as they attempted to stage a rally walk from parliament house.

"We want to draw attention to these unbearable price hikes," said Chee in front of the parliament house. "Our objective is to continue to encourage Singaporeans to speak up."

Singapore's annual inflation rate hit a 25-year high of 6.6 percent in January with food prices rising 5.8 percent in that month from a year earlier.

The police could not immediately confirm how many people were arrested on Saturday or what they were charged with.

According to a Reuters witness, about 10 plain clothes police surrounded the protesters outside a shopping mall and arrested them after a tense 15-minute standoff that drew crowds of curious onlookers and tourists.

Singapore defends its strict laws on public assembly citing the need for public order and safety.

Source: Reuters

Singapore given 'severe lesson' in complacency

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 05:27:00 +0000

By Seth Mydans

Published: March 13, 2008

SINGAPORE: Lock up your bicycles. There is a dangerous terrorist on the loose.
Mas Selamat Kastari, alleged to be the leader of a terrorist group here, escaped from a high-security prison two weeks ago in a major embarrassment for this efficient, tightly battened city-state.

In a furious response, the government put the entire country on alert, setting up checkpoints, sealing its borders, patrolling its parks and its shores, even urging people to keep an eye on their bicycles in case the wanted man decides to pedal to freedom.

With each new empty-handed day the embarrassment deepens as Singapore confronts its Tora Bora moment, its most-wanted terrorist suspect melting into the urban terrain just as Osama bin Laden evaded U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

For some people here this noisy, flailing search - even more than the escape itself - has cast Singapore in an unfamiliar light of haplessness.

"We had all bought into the image of a well-organized government machinery," wrote Alex Au, author of a popular political Web site called Yawning Bread. "Suddenly, our picture of Singapore as a kind of big brother state is, well, full of holes." All around the city, police officers are on patrol and their checkpoints have delayed traffic for as much as 15 hours in some places, according to newspaper reports.

Security officers on boats and jet skis are patrolling the coastline and the police have removed keys from the ignitions of unattended motor boats.

In what one newspaper called "extensive land, sea and air searches," military patrols in jungle fatigues and Nepalese Gurkha paramilitary forces have scoured the city for the runaway inmate.

Wanted posters are everywhere, mug shots have been transmitted to millions of cellphones and the entire nation of four million people has been deputized to look out for a round-faced man who is 1.58 meters tall, or 5 feet 2 inches, weighs 63 kilograms, or 140 pounds, and walks - or at least runs - with a limp.

Newspapers here say it is the biggest manhunt in Singapore's history.

Mas Selamat, 47, who is said be the head of operations in Singapore for the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network, is accused of being the mastermind behind foiled plots to set off bombs in Singapore or crash an airplane into its airport.

He has been in detention here since 2006 under the Internal Security Act, which allows suspects to be held without trial and his escape was a shock to terrorism experts in the region.

"Everyone thought Singapore had the tightest security system of anyone around," said Sidney Jones, the Asia director for the International Crisis Group.

As a nation, Singapore is as lean and mean and flexible as the rapid-response military the Pentagon dreams of, and it reacted with impressive speed and agility to recent Asian outbreaks of bird flu and SARS.

But for the moment it seems to have met its match in Mas Selamat.
His disappearance challenges its basic promise to its citizens that the government will keep them safe and comfortable.

The authorities have released little information about his escape on Feb. 27, but they say that he acted alone and on the spur of the moment and that he is probably still in Singapore.

The official account is that the prisoner asked to go to the toilet while waiting for family members to visit, then simply disappeared from the Whitley Road Detention Center.

If this is true, said Lee Kin Mun, a leading political blogger who calls himself Mr. Brown, the government should "take a leaf from school exams, where security seems to be tighter" and where students must be escorted to the bathroom.

The country's founder, former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, boiled the whole debacle down to one word: complacency.

He used the incident to strike again with his frequent warning that Singaporeans must work hard to protect the modern but fragile country he created from a social or economic explosion.
"It shows that it is a fallacy, it is stupid, to believe we are infallible," he said. "We are not infallible. One mistake and we've got a big explosive in our midst. So let's not take this lightly. I think it's a very severe lesson on complacency."

His son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, said: "It is definitely a setback, and it should never have happened." And then, echoing his father: "It's the danger of complacency, of thinking that everything is all right."

In Singapore, words like that amount to marching orders, and government agencies seem to be rushing to demonstrate that whatever else they are, they are anything but complacent.

Source: International Herald Tribune

Singapore faces blogging ire over militant escape

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:45:00 +0000

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore's state-controlled media and government have come under fire from critics and Internet bloggers for failing to give the public important answers on the escape of a suspected Islamic militant.

With a cynical eye cast on local newspapers such as the pro-government daily, the Straits Times, critics say media coverage has skirted key issues and so more people were turning to alternatives such as blogs for a differing viewpoint.

"The mainstream media did its job of trying to play down the most shameful part of the incident. It is a blow to Singapore's image as being efficient," Seah Chiang Nee, a political commentator and former Singapore newspaper editor, told Reuters.

"The more Internet savvy would not depend on the mainstream media for news of what's happening in the country, they would go to the Internet," said Seah.
Mas Selamat bin Kastari, the alleged leader of the Singapore cell of al Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah, a group blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, escaped on Wednesday last week from the toilet of a detention centre.

Security experts said the escape was embarrassing for a country that prides itself on tight security. The escape sparked an unprecedented manhunt in the small island and a rare apology from the government, who blamed a "security lapse". But few further details of his escape have since been released.

Cherian George, an ex-Straits Times journalist and media lecturer, wrote on the Internet that the Singapore media had not answered the "immediate" question of how Kastari escaped.

"The question is so natural and so obvious that you'd think anyone barely paying attention would ask it. Unless, apparently, one worked for the national news media," George wrote.

Read rest of article here

Singapore reels over a missing fugitive

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:35:00 +0000

The Island Republic’s fugitive terrorist runs circles around authorities

Did you ever hear the story of Long John Dean,A bold bank robber from Bowling Green,Sent to the jailhouse yesterday,Late last night he made his getaway.

Missing 170 hours … and counting. If this were the US TV series Without a Trace, the FBI sleuths would long ago have been sacked and replaced over the astonishing disappearance of Mas Selamat Kastari, the putative jihadi terrorist.

But this is the hermetically sealed island of Singapore, where leaders take much credit and little blame and where no one likes to question official versions of events – which as in other closed systems causes people to harbour inner doubts about the truth of anything they are told.

A full week after Kastari limped out at 4 pm from its most closely guarded prison, the Whitley Road Detention Center via a toilet window during a family visit, he is still at large.

Is he hiding out among accomplices in Singapore itself? Has he made it across the strait to Indonesia and the safety of fellow Jemaah Islamiyah activists?

Or across the Causeway, evading the dogs and dragnets the Malaysians set for him? Could it be that despite his limp he managed to swim the Johor Strait?

Although the Whitley center is replete with cameras recording every movement inside and out, there is no explanation of how Kastari could have escaped from under the noses of the Gurkha guards during a brief toilet visit, and then got hastily away from the jail.

It is not in teeming downtown Singapore, where even a Malay with a limp might vanish into the crowds. Even that seems unlikely, since Malays make up only 13 percent of the Singaporean population, and they are not exactly hard to spot among the majority Chinese.

Was this a stunning solo effort worthy of Houdini himself?

Or did the impoverished JI, which had only a few thousand dollars for the Bali bombing in 2002, have enough cash to bribe squeaky-clean Singaporeans or the Gurkha protectors of their top leaders and prisoners?

Or maybe he is not hiding out anywhere but dead already, having been encouraged to escape into the hands of persons unknown who were only too happy to see him “disappeared.”

Or could he have been dispatched to Guantanamo for further processing at the hands of the experts at waterboarding and other forms of non-torture?

Or been “rendered” to some other jurisdiction – though who would want him, given that he is a Singaporean citizen and thus the city-state’s ultimate responsibility and not known to have committed crimes elsewhere?

Or maybe he was a US agent all along and US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who visited Indonesia last week, decided he had served his purpose and he could be returned to society with a new identity.

Or maybe the Singaporeans have taken a leaf out of the British book when they were dealing with communist insurgency in the 1950s.

Did he sing enough about his JI pals that he has earned his release, a new identity and a fat bank account to start a new life, as did some former communist terrorists who acquired new names and became respected, wealthy businessmen?

Or was he allowed to escape so that he could rejoin his JI colleagues with the promise that he would be a mole inside the organization – assuming anyone believed his escape story.

Or maybe he is The Man Who Never Was, a bogeyman dreamed up by Singaporean intelligence to frighten the population into believing that JI plots were all around.

There have been enough other invented plots to give some plausibility to such creations. But in that case, why the public “escape,” which has caused such loss of face, rather than letting the mirage die a natural death?

In the absence of facts, any number of theories, conspiratorial or not, is being bandied about in an amazing outpouring on the Internet, which the authorities appear powerless to stem.

But the most common sentiment appears to be not that lives are in danger because a dangerous terrorist has escaped and may yet manage to blow up Singaporean buildings.

It is growing derision at the sheer apparent incompetence of authorities usually so keen to praise their own efficiency, particularly in matters of security.

“Toilet Break, based on a true story starring Mas Selamat Kastari,” read one weblog in reference to another US TV drama, Prison Break.

Another satirical blog, Talkingcock, had a hilarious set of 13 photographs of Kastari taken from a wanted poster and showing the fugitive in a variety of disguises including a massive 1960s-style Afro, various mustaches, sunglasses and a blonde-female wig.

Other bloggers poured scorn on the competence of the world’s highest-salaried ministers and senior bureaucrats.

Whatever else can be said about Singapore, its government has long regarded itself as the most grimly efficient and accomplished in Asia, and it does not brook any nonsense.

Kastari’s escape and the subsequent inability of authorities to find him have called that into question.

Singapore’s most prized asset is competence and the willingness to pay for it with taxpayer funds. Ministers and civil servants, already by far the highest-paid public servants in the world, received a round of pay raises starting on January 1 ranging from 4 percent to 21 percent, driving Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s salary to S$3.7 million (US$2.55 million), more than six times that of US President George W. Bush. Cabinet ministers, including Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng, apologizing while under intense fire for Kastari’s escape, receive S$1.9 million (US$1.37 million).

Its civil servants are among the highest paid in the world. The government has long taken the stance that public officials should receive pay commensurate with the top of the country’s business elite, both to attract top talent and to forestall any temptation toward corruption.

Thus the ability of a crippled ethnic Malay to walk away from the most securely guarded prison on an island of only 700 square kilometers, and to remain on the loose since February 27, has not only generated a huge amount of controversy, but a growing amount of ridicule of the government, which is being recycled endlessly in cyberspace, often in the form of jokes.

This is not something a government as humorless as Singapore’s is finding funny.

Whatever the truth about the escape of Mat Selamat Kastari, whether or not he is recaptured alive, this saga has all the signs of a Black Swan event – that totally unpredictable occurrence that makes nonsense of rational predictions and in the process destroys a myth.

This time the myth is competence.

Source: Asia Sentinel

Singapore gov't butt of jokes after prison escape

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:32:00 +0000

SINGAPORE (AFP) — Terrorism is usually no laughing matter, especially not in security-conscious Singapore, but the escape from custody of a limping Islamist extremist suspect has led to scorn on the Internet.

Barbed jokes and irreverent spoofs have sprouted up on websites five days after Mas Selamat bin Kastari, the alleged Singapore chief of regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, escaped with apparent ease from a detention centre.

"Toilet Break, based on a true story starring Mas Selamat Kastari," read a mock post on one wesbite by a blogger inspired by the hit US television drama "Prison Break".

Blogger Philip Chua wrote: "Singapore has now dropped the ball big time and really is an international laughing stock."

"You don't see prisoners escaping from terrorist detention centres in the West or Guantanamo. More so a leader of the terrorist network in the country next to you!"

Kastari, who was arrested in neighbouring Indonesia in 2006 and turned over to Singapore, remained at large Monday and officials said he was likely to be still hiding in this multiracial island republic of 4.7 million people.

Accused of plotting to hijack a plane in order to crash it into Singapore's Changi airport in 2001, Kastari managed to escape after asking to go to the toilet during a family visit, security officials said.

Direct criticism of the government is rare in the mainstream media, forcing dissatisfied Singaporeans to resort to the Internet to express their views.

Teoh Khengze, a Singapore-based author and journalist, wrote on his blog that the circumstances of what he called "The Great Singapore Escape" were "as incredulous as the escape is audacious."
Talkingcock.com, a popular satirical site, said Kastari's escape underlined the need to give cabinet ministers another salary hike even though they were already among the highest-paid in the world.

"We need to equip our Mini-stars with everything they can to deal with this crisis... and as we know in Singapore, public service and legislative influence are all not sufficient incentives," it said.

"Only the highest salaries in the world will do," the humour site said.

It showed 13 doctored photographs of Kastari in various possible disguises -- in a blonde woman's wig, a 1960s-style Afro hairdo and aviator sunglasses, a handlebar moustache and a beard and turban in Osama bin Laden style.

A popular Singaporean blogger who has previously irked the government with attacks on high living costs said the city-state need not worry about losing cabinet ministers.

"They won't be asked to resign or even take a pay cut," wrote the blogger known as Mr. Brown.
"We are not like those free-wheeling and chaotic governments from Western democracies that make their leaders accountable for every little thing."

Source: AFP

Singaporeans question escape of alleged militant leader

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 05:58:00 +0000

SINGAPORE'S government has come under stinging public criticism after the escape of an alleged militant leader from custody dented the country's reputation for airtight security.

Letters to the editor and Internet blogs by Singaporeans took officials to task for the escape on Wednesday of Mas Selamat bin Kastari, alleged leader of the Singapore wing of the militant Islamic group Jemaah Islamiyah.

Open criticism of the government is rare in tightly ruled Singapore, but the apparent ease with which Kastari managed to slip out of a detention centre raised questions about the authorities' anti-terrorist measures.

Since his escape, security forces including paramilitary Nepalese Gurkhas employed by the police have been combing the island and keeping a tight watch on its borders with Malaysia and Indonesia.

Kastari was accused of plotting to hijack a plane in order to crash it into Singapore's busy Changi Airport in 2001, but never charged in court. He was being held under an internal security law which allows for detention without trial.

The Ministry of Home Affairs said Kastari escaped after he was permitted to use the toilet during a visit by family members.

'I am sure Singaporeans would like to know the details of the escape - what happened from the time the terrorist left for the restroom while his family members were waiting for him,' said a letter from reader Rosemary Chwee published on Saturday by Singapore's leading daily, The Straits Times.

'Such a slip is professionally unforgivable... As a citizen, I am deeply concerned, especially if Mas Selamat continues to be on the loose,' she wrote.

Police flyers seeking public help in recapturing the 47-year-old Kastari say he is 'not known to be armed' and walks with a limp.

'What puzzles me is how a middle-aged man who has difficulty walking can leave the detention centre with such ease,' wrote another reader, Siow Jia Rui.

Another letter writer, Lee Beng Hai, suspected Kastari could have been helped by 'sleepers and sympathisers'.

Internet blog sites - the usual refuge of Singapore government critics who are denied space in the mainstream media - were full of chatter and conspiracy theories on the escape.

Even the Straits Times, which is closely identified with the government, said in an editorial that the authorities had to confront the question of whether Kastari had help.

'It stretches credulity to imagine this was an opportunistic solo effort... The escape was too easy, too neat,' it said.

If he had help, it would mean 'terror cells are still morphing and sympathisers are being drawn into the network', the newspaper said.

If he acted alone, 'the system breakdown was egregious', it added.

'Security incidents like this one... will shake confidence in the anti-terror system.'

The editorial said complacency may have set in because Singapore has been spared from terrorist violence so far.

Since the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States, Singapore has implemented tough security measures and rounded up suspected militants and sympathisers of the Jemaah Islamiyah.

The group has been blamed for a series of attacks including the 2002 bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali which killed 202 people, mostly tourists.

Kastari, a Singaporean citizen of Indonesian ancestry, was handed over by Indonesian officials after his second arrest there in 2006.

Singapore is a predominantly ethnic Chinese city-state which has a Malay Muslim minority and hosts hundreds of thousands of foreign workers, many of them Malaysians and Indonesians. -- AFP

Source: AFP

Shame on the State Media's coverage of the JI militant's escape

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 07:39:00 +0000

The escape of a limping terrorist, Mas Selamat, who is the most dangerous man in Southeast Asia from a high-security detention centre this Thursday had dealt a major blow to the reputation of the Singapore Police Force and made us a laughing stock amongst our neighbors.

This was the biggest screw-up by the Singapore government since independence with serious ramifications for both Singapore and the region. It is not merely a security lapse, but a failure, an abject failure of the entire security apparatus in Singapore akin to the FBI's failure to pre-empt the 911 terrorist attack.

In other first world democracies, one would expect the Minister in charge to resign immediately to assume responsibility for such a disastrous mistake; the government to form an independent inquiry panel swiftly to investigate the matter and the media to provide a balanced, unbiased and even critical coverage of the entire hiatus.

Not so in Singapore where Mas Selamat's escape was revealed by the media only 3 hours (or maybe longer than that) after it took place almost in an nonchalant, business-like manner. The Home Affairs Minister, Mr Wong Kan Seng was half-grinning when he "apologize" for the "security lapse" in Parliament the next day and to further ameliorate the gravity of the situation, he proceed to assure the public that Selamat is not known to be a "public threat" as he was unarmed.

And this is a man who received training from the Jihadists in Afghanistans in the craft of bomb-making and guerilla warfare; who had plotted to bomb the American Embassy and to hijack a plane to crash into Changi Airport, a hardcore terrorist who will not hesitate to jeopardize the lives of innocent parties to achieve his goals. All of sudden, based on one word from our minister, the threat posed by him is completely neutralized.

The Straits Times' coverage of this matter has been completely shamelessly biased, one-sided and favored to the government which will certainly guranteed a further drop from its latest 141st ranking on Reporters Without Borders' ranking of the world's press freedom.

Let's take a look at the ST articles today:

1. Search for JI man goes to the grassroots: frontpage.

2. Community leaders help with search: home 6

3. Prank caller claims to be escaped terrorist: home 6

4. Police search leaves no stone unturned: home 7.

5. Illegal immigrant hiding in coach arrested: home 7.

6. Whitley Road area back to normal: home 7.

7. Posters and leaflets of fugitive helpful, say S'poreans: home 7.

8. Unlikely he's left coutnry, say security experts: home 7.

With a little spin, a massive catastrophe was turned into another publicity gimmick for the police force - illustrating how hard the security forces are working overtime to apprehend the fugitive, the situation being under control by the police, the return of normalcy, the support given by the community and most dangerously, the continued underestimation of the threat posted by Selamat.

Does the Straits Times editors serve the interests of the public or the government ? They have failed miserably in their role as an institution to reflect the sentiments of the people and to serve as a check on abuse of power by the executive arm of the government.

Without an independent media to expose mistakes in the administration, the government's self-proclaimed calls of transparency and accountability will forever be founded on shaky and hollow grounds. Do you trust the government to self-monitor and regulate itself ? Can we be sure that mistakes are not covered up and important leaders protected ?

In spite of the mounting criticism and calls for him to resign in cyberspace, Minister Wong should emerge from this boo-boo unscathed with the state media on his side and phoney opposition MPs in Parliament inflicted with a greater limp than Selamat himself who will never dare to even question him let alone ask for his resignation. We can be assured that the state media will continue to protray the Police Force in a positive manner with more letters from ghost writers pledging their support to appear in the ST Forum (there is already one today written by a 18-year old Indian lady titled "We should unite, rather than cast blame").

In the meantime Singaporeans should pray that Mas Selamat is caught sooner or later and if he was never to be found, to hope that either he drowned in the Straits of Singapore or somehow after all the "re-education" he received from the ISD, he had a change of heart and renounced violence forever.

A Jihadi limps from a Singapore Jail

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:00:00 +0000

In the murky world of counter-terrorism, things are often not as they seem. So the reported escape from Singaporean custody of the alleged local leader of Jemaah Islamiyah raises some questions that may be hard to answer any time soon.

On the face of it, tightly-run Singapore has egg on its face for allowing Mas Salamat Kastari to escape from the infamous Whitley Road Detention center, apparently walking away from a toilet – or limping, since government releases describe him as walking with an impaired gait. He is still on the run despite what is described as a “massive manhunt” that includes Gurkhas, police and Special Operations Command Forces.

The Singapore government took the unusual step of apologizing for the lax security and began an investigation. According to media reports, all sourced from the government, Mas is likely to head for Indonesia, where it would be easier to hide than in small, mostly Chinese, Singapore, although hiding might be difficult anywhere because of his limp.

A Singapore citizen, Mas was arrested in Indonesia and sent back to Singapore, allegedly for plotting in 2001 to bomb the US Embassy, the American Club and Singapore government buildings. He was not put on trial but detained indefinitely under the Internal Security Act (ISA) so the details and credibility of these charges has never been tested in open court.

What astonished students of Singapore security operations is that he could have escaped at all. There appears to be no record of anyone previously escaping from the Whitley Road center, which is not guarded by ordinary jailers or bored national servicemen but by the ultra-tough, non-political Nepalese Gurkha soldiers whom Singapore retains to protect key personnel and institutions.

While no one doubts the existence of actual or would-be terror groups in Southeast Asia, Singapore’s role in the counter-terrorism business has long been viewed with some suspicion by its neighbors. First, it cooperates very closely with the US, even “rendering” suspects for detention in Guantanamo and elsewhere. It also has a history of playing up Malay/Muslim threats for domestic political purposes and to emphasize its position as a non-Muslim nation in an Islamic sea.

Some conspiracy theorists think they see a link between the timing of Mas Salamat’s escape and the visit to Indonesia of US Defense Secretary Gates.

Previous incidents involving Singapore and alleged Muslim terrorists have prompted questions that are likely to remain unanswered but are relevant given Singapore’s record of using the ISA against critics of all kinds, who usually “confess” to conspiracies as a condition of release. In the past the technique was used against “Chinese chauvinists” and “Marxists” – the latter in some cases being Catholic activists who confessed to having sent books to China, which logically could have been considered a laudable attempt to turn communists into capitalists.

The most recent round of Muslim arrests included that of a 28-year-old Singaporean Malay law student who was rendered to Singapore from an unnamed Middle East country where he allegedly had gone to study Arabic and to embark on a jihadist career. The student, a former rock singer named Abdul Basheer, is described by Singaporean authorities as a “self-radicalized” terror suspect. He was arrested in February 2007 and is held without trial under the ISA.

Doubts about whether Basheer did anything more than look at a few jihadist websites were strengthened by the announcement at almost the same time that five persons earlier arrested as JI activists had been released. The government claimed huge success for its rehabilitation program and so the five were said to “no longer pose a security threat.” Not only did that appear an extraordinarily rapid conversion but for a nation which executes people for drug trafficking offences an extraordinarily light punishment for terrorist activity.

The large counterterrorism industry thrives on rumor and speculation as well as fact. One example was in 2002 at the height of post-9/11 hysteria when Malaysia was being accused of being an al-Qaeda base. Considerable international coverage was given to a huge story, supported by documents and other “evidence” in Singapore’s Straits Times newspaper, about an Indonesian terror network. Indonesia’s Tempo, a publication long noted for its independence and investigative credentials, looked at the allegations in detail and found that key names and places in the Straits Times story were fictitious.

So although Mas’s escape may be simply a matter of incompetence, the history of arrests, releases, confessions, renderings and imprisonment without trial in Guantanamo as well as Singapore, inevitably raises doubts about whether the story so far is the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Source: Asia Sentinel

Singapore: Terror suspect fled toilet

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:52:00 +0000

(CNN) -- A suspected terror leader has fled from a detention center in Singapore after asking to use the toilet, Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Sen has admitted.

"This should never have happened," Wong told lawmakers on Thursday. "I am sorry that it had."

Thousands of security forces fanned out across Singapore in an island-wide hunt for the suspect who is accused of plotting to crash a plane into the country's airport.

Mas Selamat Kastari, suspected leader of the Islamist militant group Jemaah Islamiyah's Singapore arm, escaped from the detention center on Wednesday afternoon.

"Mas Selamat was the leader of the Singapore (Jemaah Islamiyah) network. He walks with a limp and is presently at large," the Home Affairs Ministry in a statement according to The Associated Press.

Police set up roadblocks across the country, checking cars and choking traffic, local media reported. Paramilitary forces in trucks were deployed on city streets.

Jemaah Islamiyah is thought to have links to al Qaeda and is suspected of being behind the 2002 nightclub bombings in the Indonesian island of Bali that killed more than 200 mostly Western tourists.

Singapore is a strong U.S. ally and one of the world's most prosperous countries with strong international trading links.

Mas Selamet fled the southeast Asian country in 2001 after authorities cracked down on Jemaah Islamiyah and arrested dozens of its members.

To retaliate, Mas Selamet plotted to hijack a plane and crash it into Singapore's main airport, Changi, the Home Affairs Ministry said. The plot was never carried out.

He is also suspected of being behind plans to attacks the U.S. Embassy and a government building.

Indonesian authorities arrested Mas Selamet on immigration violation charges in 2003. Three years later, he was deported to Singapore, the Home Affairs ministry said.

He was being held under Singapore's Internal Security Act, which allows authorities to indefinitely detain someone without trial.

Source: CNN

Detained Islamic militant escapes in Singapore

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:48:00 +0000

Reuters
26 February 2008

He was wanted by Singapore police for involvement in planned attacks on the Southeast Asian city-state's Changi airport. (Reporting by Koh Gui Qing and Vivek Prakash; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

SINGAPORE, Feb 27 - The accused leader of the Singapore wing of the Islamic militant network Jemaah Islamiah escaped on Wednesday from a detention centre on the island, the government said.

Mas Selamat bin Kastari escaped from Whitley Road Detention Centre on Wednesday afternoon and he is not known to be armed, the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

"He walks with a limp and is presently at large," the ministry said. "Extensive police resources have been deployed to track him down."

Four red-coloured police vans and about two dozen riot police and soldiers were seen lining a road as they surveyed traffic and pedestrians in central Singapore on Wednesday night.

The JI has been blamed for several deadly bombing attacks in Southeast Asia, including the 2002 bombings that killed more than 200 people on Indonesia's resort island of Bali.

Singapore, a strong U.S. ally and a major base for Western businesses, sees itself as a prime terrorist target in the region after it foiled JI plots in 2001 to attack its airport and various Western-linked sites, including the U.S. embassy.

Kastari was arrested by the Indonesian police on the Indonesian island of Bintan in January 2006 before he was sent to Singapore.

He was wanted by Singapore police for involvement in planned attacks on the Southeast Asian city-state's Changi airport.

(Reporting by Koh Gui Qing and Vivek Prakash; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

Source: Reuters

Myanmar opposition calls for boycott of Beijing Olympics

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 03:02:00 +0000

International Herald Tribune

25 February 2008

BANGKOK, Thailand: Pro-democracy activists in Myanmar called Monday for the world to boycott this year's Beijing Olympics over what they said was China's continuing support of Myanmar's military dictatorship.

The 88 Generation Students group, which was instrumental in last year's pro-democracy demonstrations in Myanmar, urged "citizens around the world ... to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics in response to China's bankrolling of the military junta that rules our country of Burma with guns and threats." Myanmar is also known as Burma.

The 88 Generation Students joined a growing group of critics urging an Olympic boycott over complaints ranging from Beijing's human rights record to its failure to more actively press Sudan — where China is a major oil buyer — to end violence in the Darfur region.

Hollywood director Steven Spielberg quit earlier this month as an artistic adviser for the Beijing Olympics, saying China was not doing enough about Darfur.

The 88 Generation Students accused China — one of Myanmar's key trading partners — of arming their country's junta and failing to facilitate a meaningful dialogue between it and detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party.

"Our constructive outreach to China has been met with silence and more weapons shipments," the group said in a statement.

A Myanmar government spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment.

Myanmar has been under military rule since 1962 and has not had a constitution since 1988, when the army violently suppressed pro-democracy protests and the current junta took power.

In September the junta crushed peaceful protests that were triggered by rising food prices but expanded to include demands for democratic reforms. The U.N. estimates the crackdown killed at least 31 people, and thousands more were detained.

Under intense international pressure, the junta announced plans this month for a referendum in May on a proposed new constitution written under military guidance, to be followed by general elections in 2010.

The junta's domestic and international critics, however, say the plans are undemocratic because they do not involve open debate and bar Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, from taking part in the elections.

During a visit to Singapore on Monday, U.N. special envoy for Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari and Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo hailed the planned referendum and election, but agreed that "for national reconciliation to be achieved, the referendum and elections had to be credible and inclusive," the Foreign Ministry said, without elaborating.

Gambari said Friday he was frustrated with Myanmar's slow progress toward democracy. He expects to visit Myanmar in the first week of March to resume talks with the country's military rulers.

Suu Kyi's party won the last elections in 1990, but the military refused to hand over power. She has been in prison or under house arrest for more than 12 of the past 18 years.

Source: The International Herald Tribune

Buck up or lose Voltri deal, Merlo tells PSA-Sinport

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 01:32:00 +0000

By John McLaughlin in Genoa - Tuesday 26 February 2008

GENOA’S new port president Luigi Merlo warned PSA-Sinport chief executive Eddie Teh at a meeting on Monday that the Singaporean company may lose the concession at the port’s flagship Voltri terminal if it did not take immediate steps to improve its performance.

Interviewed at the port authority’s Palazzo San Giorgio headquarters, where he took over earlier this month, Mr Merlo said PSA subsidiary VTE had consistently failed to meet the volume targets established under the terms of its operating concession at Voltri.

Though it had finally hit target last year, exceeding 1m teu in throughput for the first time, 2008 had begun disastrously. The terminal was already under severe pressure from a combination of local transport strikes, surging volumes, and a slowdown by customs workers when it made the ill-advised decision to introduce a new Cosmos terminal management system.

The result was several weeks of near-chaos, with Voltri forced to call a halt to all container exports and furious agents and forwarders initiating legal action over loss of earnings. The port authority will take a similar course, Mr Merlo confirmed that a port committee meeting tomorrow is likely to approve a claim for lost revenues and damage to the image of the port.

Mr Merlo’s hard line with VTE is the culmination of years of disgruntlement within local shipping circles at the terminal operator’s poor performance, with poor communication and lack of consistent investment in the terminal cited as critical weaknesses.

But it is also indicative of Mr Merlo’s desire to give new impetus to a port that has been adrift for years, its market share slipping away inexorably as its leading lights bickered, and in the absence of a long-term development plan worthy of the name.

He said Mr Teh had agreed to discuss specific measures to improve Voltri’s performance at an upcoming PSA board meeting. He added that “they have six months to put things right. But their volume target this year is 1,163,000 teu and they have already had two poor months. And this is a terminal that should be able to handle 2m teu.”

Voltri’s woes come at a dark time for the port, with Giovanni Novi, Mr Merlo’s predecessor charged with fraud, extortion and interfering with a public bidding process in relation to the apportioning of space at the port’s multipurpose terminal and a range of other Genoese notables under investigation.

Yet Mr Merlo insisted that the calamitous start to the year also provided an opportunity for a thorough house-cleaning. He said he was in the process of analysing the various concession contracts for the multipurpose terminal, and that where terminal operators were not meeting expectations he would move to ensure they did on pain of eviction, seeking special powers from Rome if necessary.

Though the fate of the multipurpose terminal, and specifically a decision on whether to press ahead with a new concession bidding process, must await legal developments, he said that his preference was for a single concession. The current system, with the terminal split into small slices run by a number of discrete operators, “is the wrong way to run a port. ”

Genoa’s terminal operators will only have a future if they join together,” he said, adding that while he hoped to set the port of Genoa on the right course “without trauma or explosions,” tough measures might well be unavoidable.

As for the port’s long-term development, he said he still hoped to secure acceptance for the construction of a new box terminal at the site of the former steel works at Cornigliano. He also said he would work with Genoa’s mayor, Marta Vincenzi, on integrated development plans for both port and city, the better to resolve disagreements early and speed the process.

Source: Lloyd's List

Income gap tears at Singapore social fabric - Reuters

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 10:23:00 +0000

Monday December 18, 3:04 PM Reuters

By Geert De Clercq

SINGAPORE, Dec 18 (Reuters) - When Wee Shu Min, the teenage daughter of a Singapore member of parliament stumbled across the blog of a Singaporean who wrote that he was worried about losing his job, she thought she'd give him a piece of her mind.
She called him "one of many wretched, undermotivated, overassuming leeches in our country" on her own blog and signed off with "please, get out of my elite uncaring face".

Wee was flamed by hundreds of fellow bloggers, but when her father Wee Siew Kim -- an MP in Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's constituency -- told a Singapore newspaper that "her basic point is reasonable", the row moved well beyond the blogosphere.

The episode highlighted a deep rift in Singapore society and was an embarrassment for the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) and prime minister Lee, who has made the reduction of the income gap one of the priorities of his new government.

"Coming from an MP in the prime minister's constituency, these comments really were political dynamite," political commentator Seah Chiang Nee told Reuters."If the political arrogance and elitism get any worse, the PAP will lose more electoral ground," he added.

Singapore is Asia's second-richest country after Japan with a gross domestic product per capita of about $27,000, ranking between EU member Italy and Spain. But in terms of income disparity, Singapore is in altogether different company.

Singapore's Gini index -- which measures inequality of income distribution among households -- of 42.5 puts it between Burundi and Kenya, the UN Human Development Report 2006 shows.
"Yes, the gini coefficient is very high. Through housing, health care and education, we have tried to narrow the income gap, but not through wages," National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan told Reuters in an interview last month.

"WELFARE AS A DIRTY WORD"

Singapore pays no employment benefits, no pensions and has no legal minimum wage, but education is cheap and excellent, health care is subsidised and the government gives subsidies to first-time buyers of government-built flats.

Last month, Singapore's first parliament session since the May 6 poll was dominated by the inequality theme. PM Lee ruled out the introduction of old-age pensions, a minimum wage or European-style welfare.

"We have treated welfare as a dirty word. The opposition, I think the Workers' Party, has called for a 'permanent unconditional needs-based welfare system'. I think that is an even dirtier five words," he said in a speech on Nov. 13.

But he acknowledged that since the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the income gap had widened, and said that his government plans to "tilt the balance in favour of the lower-income groups".
While Lee's ruling PAP is in no danger of losing its stranglehold on parliament -- where it has 82 out of 84 elected seats -- the growing income disparity has hurt its credibility.

In the May 6 poll, the Workers' Party scored its best result in years, with chairwoman Sylvia Lim winning 44 percent of the votes in a multi-seat ward. Lee lost 34 percent in his ward to a group of unknown candidates in their early thirties.

"They (the PAP) are concerned about the fallout if they don't do anything about the income gap," Lim, who entered parliament as a non-voting MP under a best-loser provision, told Reuters.

In parliament, Lee said he plans to improve healthcare and boost housing subsidies for low-income families. He added that he wants more "workfare" schemes, under which the state tops up low-income workers' pay.

On May 1 -- five days before the election -- the government paid out S$150 million to about 330,000 low-income workers, and Lee promised a similar package for next year. Details would be released in the 2007 budget on February 15.

"MARIE ANTOINETTES"

Critics say that much of the outrage about the teenage blogger's comments is due to a perception that Singapore is ruled by a privileged elite that's out of touch with the people.
The road to a top job in the Singapore government or civil service leads through elite junior colleges and prestigious government scholarships for university studies abroad.

While access to these schools and scholarships is open to all and based on academic grades, critics say the children of the elite are well represented. Wee Shu Min attends a top school, Raffles Junior College, as did her father, an MP and a top executive at state-owned arms maker ST Engineering.

In a report about "elite envy", the Straits Times daily quoted official data showing that in the last five years, one in three students on government scholarships came from families with incomes of more than $$10,000 ($6,500) a month, while such families make up just 13 per cent of all Singapore households.

Students from households on incomes of less than $2,000 made up only 7 per cent of scholarship winners, the paper added. Colin Goh, founder of satirical website TalkingCock.com, said that while the first generation of post-independence PAP leaders was seen as close to the people, this is no longer the case.

"The source for much invective in the Wee Shu Min case is that there is a real sense the PAP is composed of people in ivory towers; that they are a bunch of Marie Antoinettes," he said.

Singapore's troubled Shin Corp deal - Asia Times 13 December 2006

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 16:39:00 +0000

By Thitinan Pongsudhirak

No other country's ruling family does it quite like the Lees of Singapore. National founder Lee Kuan Yew built a gleaming metropolis out of a swampy island in four quick decades of rapid economic growth.

His son, current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has made a priority of carrying Singapore's economic-development miracle forward through diversifying its investment in the region.

The younger Lee's wife, Ho Ching, and brother, Lee Hsien Yang, spearhead Singapore's interlocking state-owned investment vehicles, which are fortified and facilitated by a web of often-opaque cross-share holdings.

Despite pockets of opposition disenchantment, few outsiders would dispute that Singapore is a place where things get done because of an enlightened consensus among its political elites, underpinned by the country's geographically and historically peculiar strengths.

But Singapore's state-engineered, elite-driven economic success at home has recently been embroiled in controversy and alleged scandal when venturing abroad. The most glaring example involves state-run Temasek Holdings' purchase last January of Thailand's Shin Corp, a communications conglomerate founded by recently deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and majority-owned by his family.

This year, Temasek's US$1.9 billion buyout of the Shinawatra family's 49.3% stake in Shin Corp added fuel to the fire of the popular protests that climaxed in the September 19 military coup that upended Thaksin's government.

The controversial transaction apparently surpassed legal limits on foreign ownership of crucial national infrastructure, including telecommunications frequencies, which Shin Corp operated through a government concession. (Read more...)

Will Temasek CEO do likewise to avoid possible conflict of interest?

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 16:28:00 +0000

I read with concern the article in The Straits Times of 7 Dec 2006, "NCSS concerned over possible conflict of interest".

This is followed by Thye Hua Kwan Moral Society's (THKMS) revelation of its CEO's $7,100 pay package, "Charity tells why CEO gets salary of only $7,100" (ST, 13 Dec).

A reason cited for NCSS' concern was "the highest-ranking paid staff members are related to their boss..." - hence the "concerns over conflict-of-interest issues".

While I am glad that the NCSS and the Commissioner of Charities have taken precautionary measures to prevent such conflict-of-interest issues from potential abuse, will the government at the very top do likewise in another widely reported similar "reporting' structure (where "the highest-ranking paid staff member (is) related to (her) boss...") in Temasek's case where its CEO's boss is her husband, the Prime Minister?

I applaud the CEO of Food From The Heart (FFTH, another NCSS member identified in the article), Mrs Christine Laimer's stepping down after receiving the NCSS letter, "even though she firmly believes there is no conflict of interest at the charity". I believe this is the right move in order to totally avoid even any perceived conflict-of-interest. The challenge is for the CEO of Temasek to do likewise even though she too may firmly believe there is no conflict-of-interest.

As an aside, now that the salary package of the CEO of THKMS is made public (at $7,100 per month), will FFTH do likewise too in making public its CEO's pay? I note their operating cost came up to some $450,000 last year with a staff strength of six.

KAYE POH

Opposition marchers demand greater political freedom in Singapore - AFP

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:42:00 +0000

11 Dec 06

Supporters of a jailed opposition leader staged a protest march Sunday in Singapore's busy shopping district to press for greater political freedom in the city-state. The rare demonstration marking international Human Rights Day was staged by followers and relatives of Chee Soon Juan, who is serving a five-week jail term for defying the city-state's restrictions on free speech.

"We're going to celebrate what little rights we have, freedom to question and criticise the government," marcher John Tan, who described himself as a lecturer in psychology, told reporters.Because any public protest involving five or more persons requires a police permit, the demonstrators held the march in relays of four persons each.

Plainclothes men were seen trailing the protestors across town after they started off from a park in the banking district.Chee's wife Huang Chih Mei marched with their three young children along the Orchard Road shopping belt, which was packed with Christmas shoppers.Some passers-by accepted protest leaflets handed out by the marchers, while others declined.

The demonstrators wore yellow t-shirts saying "Free to Walk" and "Free to Speak."Chee Siok Chin, sister of the detained politician, said the protest was "a symbol that one of our colleagues, one of our fellow activists is still in prison ... for exercising his rights that are guaranteed under the Singapore constitution."

The march was scheduled to end at the Queenstown Remand Prison, where Chee Soon Juan, secretary general of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), was jailed for five weeks on November 23 after refusing to pay a fine of 5,000 Singapore dollars (3,200 US).

Two opposition colleagues charged in the same case served shorter prison stints, also for refusing to pay their fines.The penalties were imposed after they were convicted for speaking in public without a police permit ahead of the May general elections won overwhelmingly by the conservative People's Action Party (PAP).US-based rights group Human Rights Watch said Thursday that Chee "is being arbitrarily detained for exercising his right to free expression and should be immediately and unconditionally released."

Your Views: HDB's reply a red herring? - ST (8 Dec 2006) - Ltr from HDB: HDB consistently incurs losses selling new flats

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 16:15:00 +0000

I attach below HDB's reply in the ST dated 8 Dec 2006.

While HDB's may not be technically misleading the public (as far as land cost is concerned), I feel the government is.

If one looks at the whole issue of "subsidised" (or what I call "market-rate discounted") HDB flats, HDB may be running deficits if the land is purchased from the SLA at market rates. Therefore, HDB may not misleading the public.

But, many of these state lands were compulsorily acquired during the early days of independence for a song. I know because my ancestors' land was compulsorily acquired back in the late 60s/early 70s for something like 10 cents per sq feet - all in the name of national development!

Now what happens to these vast tracts of government land? They are sold to HDB at market rates - hence the deficits in HDB's books but the surpluses are booked under the entity selling the land to HDB - whether SLA or the old Land Office or whatever.

The trick is that the profits are shown in the government's books (either through the SLA or the URA or even JTC?) because the land was acquired for only 10 cents psf (before the government started paying "market" rates for land compulsorily acquired only some 10 years or so ago when prices sky-rocketed). So, for the majority of state land under the government's books (in SLA/URA/JTC) which were acquired way before the "market rate" era 10 years or so ago (compare 10c cost vs the current market rate of $400-5000 psf), the profits are humongous.

Therefore, while the HDB might not have not misled the public in its land cost claim, the government certainly did when its "silence" (or through HDB's red herring reply) gave the impression that the government (through HDB alone) was "subsidising" public flats.

What I would like is for the government (either the "profitable" entities like SLA or URA) to come clean and let the public know how much profits are stashed away in their books or transferred to the government as capital gains since Day One. We do not want to hear HDB's deficit; rather, we'd like to hear the SLA's or URA's surpluses.

Didn't the government make use of these surpluses from land sales to use it towards funding the Progress Package of $2.6b prior to the General Elections in May 2006?

The public deserves a wholistic picture of the government's land ownership and surpluses/deficits rather than the often-heard exhortation by the HDB that they have been running deficits through its subsidised HDB flats.

Can the relevant authorities (SLA and/or URA?) please reply?

KAYE POH

Fearing collapse, ITV asks for leniency - The Nation

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Sat, 09 Dec 2006 09:33:00 +0000

The Nation
9 December 2006

The defence team for iTV yesterday pleaded for leniency, saying the station could collapse and its workers become unemployed if the high court ruled to confirm the whopping fine of almost Bt100 billion.

The Supreme Administrative Court has scheduled its appellate ruling on the case for Wednesday.

"This court's primary duty is to dispense justice and disputed parties should not try to sway the ruling or make hasty criticism in advance," judge Charan Hatthakam said in the final session of the appellate review.

At the centre of the litigation is a contractual clause - Article 5, paragraph 4 - that empowers the station to seek mediation by a board of three arbitrators to revise its concession fees if authorities allowed advertising to be broadcast on cable television.

Based on this clause, the arbitration ruling allowed the station to pay reduced fees and revise programming to favour entertainment at the expense of news coverage. (Read more...)

Your Views: Potential Guiness World Record - 2nd MRT death in 4 days and 4th in less than 2 months!

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Tue, 05 Dec 2006 09:46:00 +0000

Singapore is famous for its many world records according to the Guiness World Records - fastest text messager, etc...

With sympathies to the victims' loved ones, we can probably add the highest per capita deaths in MRTs/MRT stations (or subways) within the shortest time (2 deaths in 4 days and 4 deaths in less than 2 months, or 2-in-4 days and 4-in-2 months?).

(The first occurred in late October 2006: the case of Mr Tan Jee Suan - TNP (21 Oct 2006) - "MRT death case: Dad gives $10 to son, says last words to him", link
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/news/story/0,4136,115969-1161467940,00.html?
while the 2nd happened at Clementi MRT shortly thereafter.)

Can the relevant authorities find out the true cause of the problems in these deaths before more happen? Is it the hardware (the design of the MRT system) or is it the software (the despair, desperation and hopelessness some of these victims went through) or both?

If the probelm is the software side of the equation, merely putting up additional safety structures will not solve the problem.

KAYE POH

Your Views: NNI to include unrealised loss (eg Shin Corp?) - Straits Times (29 Nov 2006) - Govt hasn't decided if GST hike will be in phases

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 16:15:00 +0000

The above quotes are taken from The Straits Times of 29 Nov 2006, "Govt hasn't decided if GST hike will be in phases".

While well intended to give the incumbent government more options to dip into the reserves, a poorly-defined change to the Constitution to allow only realised capital gains from past reserves can be a double-edged sword.

Let me illustrate: Take the example of the government's investments in Shin Corp via Temasek Holdings. If the government takes a prudent approach to mark-to-market the unrealised loss on the investment (probably in the billions now), such a conservative approach will give a better picture of the true "Net" Capital gain/loss position (including unrealised loss) of its investments.

However, if the government chose to take only the realised gains into the equation, this will mask the "true" net position since theoretically, the incumbent government can (and will) defer divesting the loss-making investments in order to dip into the reserves.

Therefore, to prevent a situation where a "rogue" government in the future can take full advantage of the above scenario in order to circumvent the loopholes, may I suggest any redefinition of "Net Investment Income" to include mark-to-market unrealised loss on investments in addition to realised capital gains.

(Note: It is ironic that the incumbent government is trying to tweek the Constitution to allow it to have wider scope to dip into the reserves (the people's money) by redefining the Net Investment Income while at the same time, it does not allow the citizens (CPF members) to dip into the capital gains on their CPF investments for withdrawal - they can't touch their very own money!!!)

As an aside, I find SM Goh's comments "We don't try to mislead the people" amusing. Wouldn't it have been even more upfront if this initiative to help the lower-income group (the justification for the GST hike) were part of the PAP's manifesto and was made an election issue? Surely such a noble gesture would have gone down well with the electorate? No?

KAYE POH

Your Views: How will GIC/Temasek/CPF members' returns compare with Google shares 10 - 20 years from today, 28 Nov 2006?

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 16:00:00 +0000

Recently, Temasek claimed they achieved annualised returns of some 18% p.a over 30 years while GIC claimed returns of some 8 - 9% p.a. over 25 years. However, CPF members' funds have been getting a paltry 1 to 2% p.a.and are now earning 2.5% p.a. on the Ordinary Account.

To illustrate how bad the returns are, I shall venture into buying Google shares today (28 Nov 2006) at the price of about US$485 per share.

With S$100,000, I will get 133 Google shares.

(I would have bought another 133 Google shares (amounting to S$100,000 of my CPF funds tied up with the CPF Board) if this were allowed, but unfortunately, this is not to be even if it is my very own money!)

Nonetheless, I have used cash to purchase the shares and we'll see how it will perform over the next 10 - 20 years since my investment horizon is long term, just like our very own GIC and/or Temasek.

I shall keep track of my investment and provide yearly updates to compare this investment with the 2.5% p.a. (or whatever the CPF Board pays periodically) to see how poorly CPF members are getting in returns on their investments.

If you look at Google, there are many similarities with Singapore:

1. Both aim to attract the best brains around;

2. Both are dealing with US$ billions of shareholder/stakeholder money: Google's valuation is in hundreds of billions US$, as is S'pore's reserves.

The major similarities may end here but there are major differences too:

a. Google's revenue base is global while Singapore's is still primarily local;

b. Google's potential shareholder base is in the billions while S'pore's is only 4m;

c. Google is the future while S'pore's old school.

d. Google's staff strength is lean but value-added (many PhDs) while S'pore's full of fat

e. Google's scholars and staff are enpowered, hence a thriving innovative culture (necessary in this rapidly changing world) while Singapore's system stifles innovation and creativity, turning its scholars into good administrators but lousy innovators.

...and the list goes on.....

Now you understand why I place my bet on Google?

Let's see where we are in 10 or even 20 years' time!

KAYE POH

Editorial Review: GST Petitions losing momentum. Was it expected ?

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 15:17:00 +0000

A 2 week online drive to petition against the rise of GST failed to generate any public awareness or impact as expected. As of today, the two petitions GSThike.com and petitiononline.com have garnered a combined total of only 3,100 votes.

When the GST hike was first announced by PM Lee Hsien Loong, it caused a furore amongst the online community of Singapore. Many netizens condemn the government's decision and were quick to voice their disapproval and unhappiness on internet forums.

An online petition was started to galvanize Singaporeans into action in the hope that a strong reaction from the populace will deter the government from implementing the unpopular hike. Many were optimistic that this marked the beginning of a grassroots movement to counter the establisment.

The petition received over 2000 signatures in a short week, still it lacked far behind the 30,000 gathered in 3 days in support of Mr T T Durai's resignation from the NKF 2 years ago in the aftermath of the NKF scandal.

What exactly went wrong ? Can internet grumblings ever be translated into political will and affirmative action in real life? Two crucial elements are seriously lacking here which will prove to be a stumbling block for similar drives in the future: a credible leader and support of the press.

Though the internet is dominated by vocal anti-government critics, these remain only a visible minority amongst Singapore netizens. A survey published by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), the survey showed half of all teens between 15 and 19 are on the Internet, blogging or podcasting. It meant about 120,000 of these teens take part in web activities. The miserly support for the online petitions showed that the silent majority are either not supportive or are unwilling to be involved out of fear of the authorities.

Without a credible leader of a certain stature to rally the netizens whom are mostly nameless nicks whose identities are a mystery to one another, this collective outpouring of grievances and frustrations will always be a mere cathartic release serving no useful purpose.

The mainstream media has also been cautious to shine away from reporting on anti-government sentiments prevalent on the internet, choosing instead to report on trivial matters unrelated to public governance. Even if the press did report the online petitions, it is doubtful if older, conservative Singaporeans who are alien to the internet, will jump into the fray.

Therefore it is perhaps premature to overestimate the political significance of the internet. While it is true that the internet has the potential to promote and increase the political awareness of Singaporeans, it still lacks a leader and an organization to harness its energy.

Taiwan has Shi Ming Teh, Malaysia has Tian Chua, Thailand has Sondhi Limthongkul and Myanmar has Aung San Suu Kyi. Who does Singapore have?

Maybe that is why the government has seen no need to engage the internet so far, for it has already been dismissed and vilified by the media as lacking credibility and truth. On the contrary, it may even serve their agenda by providing a small space for disgruntled citizens to express their bottled-up frustrations in peaceful and controlled manner without disrupting the rest of society.

Your Views: Why are billions of vehicle taxes collected not used to improve S'pore's public transport system?

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 15:10:00 +0000

I fully agree with the letter writer (ST 27 Nov, "Much to learn from HK public transport system" - see attached) as I have been to Hong Kong myself, so I am in a position to compare the public transport systems of both countries.

I am particularly impressed by the frequency of the trains there (very short waiting time when compared to our MRT/NEL trains) and the useful computerised information on destinations/next stops etc as highlighted in the letter.

Singapore's system is capable of matching HK's efficient system but my conclusion is that the government is not willing or prepared to spend the millions to upgrade them. As a motorist, we pay the highest taxes (PARF, COE, road tax, ERP, etc.) in the world, enabling the government to generate billions of taxes every year.

Where are these taxes and how are they used to improve the public transport systems, including the buses and MRT system, not just the roads?If the public transport is not up to scratch, why should motorists be made to pay such high taxes?

KAYE POH

Contrasting voices: The Internet and old media speak in conflicting languages, neither of them credibly yet.

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Sun, 26 Nov 2006 16:48:00 +0000

Seah Chiang Nee

Nov 26, 2006

IN the real world, the economy is humming strongly, more jobs are being created than at anytime in the last 10 years, the stock market is near record high and so are high-end properties.The Singapore dollar has strengthened to around S$1.55 to the US dollar on speculation that economic growth would quicken, thus encouraging investors to put more funds in the city-state.

The sanguine mood is reflected on the streets. With the school holidays on, the crowds are out in force. At night, it is virtually impossible to get a cab in the city centre without prior booking.
Restaurants and shopping malls are full, and people are spending ahead of a hike in Goods and Services Tax from 5% to 7% next April.

Year-end festivals are a month away but a fairyland of lights already covers the kilometres stretching from Orchard Road and Bras Basah Road to Marina Bay.

While the mood is upbeat, the Internet world, however, is painting a very different picture. Here, the talk is of continued weakness, rising unemployment and people committing suicide. (Read more...)

Singapore ranked 84th on The Economist's Democracy Index

noreply@blogger.com (mediawatchsg) — Sat, 25 Nov 2006 11:37:00 +0000

The Economist(UK) ranks Singapore 84th among 167 countries in a new Democracy Index. The index was developed by The Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU).

Singapore listed as hybrid regime (mixture of authoritarian and democratic elements) and ranks well below Finland(6), Malaysia(81) , Hong Kong(75), Taiwan(32), Indonesia(65) .

The index looks at 60 indicators across the five categories of electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation, and political culture .

Overall, The Economist considers having free and fair competitive elections, and satisfying related aspects of political freedom as a basic requirement for its definition of Democracy.

Click here for the full report by The Economist.