TR EMERITUS

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) has filed a police report on Tuesday (3 Jun) alleging that 1,560 SingPass users may have had their IDs and passwords accessed without their permission. IDA was notified on Monday (2 Jun) by the SingPass operator, CrimsonLogic, that a number of users had received a SingPass password reset notification letter, although they had not requested for a password change. IDA's preliminary investigations show that 1,560 users' IDs and passwords were potentially accessed, of which 419 passwords were reset. Password reset notification letters were sent to the registered address of SingPass account holders. However, IDA said that there is no evidence to suggest the SingPass system has been compromised. Passwords of all affected users have been reset, and the IDA is in the process of notifying the users. IDA strongly urges all SingPass users to take the necessary precautions to enhance their cyber security by using strong passwords and anti-virus software. The SingPass is a single-factor authentification system for all government e-services covering 64 government agencies. These include services for the Central Provident Fund (CPF) Board, the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) and the eCitizen online portal. SingPass operator, CrimsonLogic is majority-owned by IE Singapore, which has a 55& share. The rest of the shareholders are split among SingTel and public sector agencies like the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. In 2005, CrimsonLogic's then CEO Velusamy Mathivanan and 3 other senior executives were charged with corruption. Velusamy Mathivanan, along with his vice president of trade and logistics, financial controller and general counsel, were charged in court for offering a bribe of $35,000 to Matthias Tan, IT head of supermarket chain Carrefour. In return, Tan agreed to recommend the IT services provider to his management for an e-supply chain contract worth $400,000. However, they were acquitted in December 2006. The current CEO is Saw Ken Wye who was born in Kuala Lumpur and intends to become a Singaporean soon [Link]. Mr Saw has been working in Singapore since 1983 [Link]. During an interview last year, he said, "We need to grow faster but not at the expense of productivity. We have about 1,000 people now. So each employee is contributing about $100,000, which is not great. We need to raise this a bit more." He said that he is likely to add 500 staff to the firm's 1,000-strong headcount.  Read More →

In the report Shanmugam: Criticise a minister but don't sling mud, the Minister for Law said that PAP leaders was not about to stop suing its critics for defamation, but added that lawsuits do not curtail political discussion. He could not be more wrong. Defamation lawsuits have had a chilling effect on political discussion in Singapore. Through the decades, many opposition leaders have been sued and this has effectively dampened political debate and participation. But while Mr Shanmugam says that PAP's critics should not sling mud, its leaders have not been shy of doing the same to its opponents. J B Jeyaretnam, Devan Nair, Francis Seow, Tang Liang Hong, Chee Soon Juan, etc. have been labelled and characterised in the most personal and vicious of ways. And while PAP leaders see no problem in slinging mud at their opponents, they are quick to sue when the mud flies the other way. The party has in recent years turned to suing civil society members and bloggers, the latest being Mr Roy Ngerng over the CPF issue. Such defamation suits do absolutely no good for political development in Singapore. It must stop. For the sake of progress, it is imperative that we raise the level of politics in this country. To do this, we must have two things: One, the government must be transparent and accountable. The PAP must remember that it is the custodian of public money and has the duty to make its accounts and transactions open for public inspection - without the opposition and citizens having to demand it. A good government avails the information as a matter of course. When the Government is not transparent, it engenders distrust among the people. In particular, Singaporeans are suspicious and unhappy about what is happening to our CPF money and reserves. Bad governance is non-transparency. Terrible governance is suing citizens when the distrust leads to suspicion and allegations. Two, the opposition must be constructive by drawing up an alternative and persuading the people that there is a better path. The SDP has tried to live up to this expectation. We have not only pointed out the PAP's policy flaws but also, and more importantly, published a series of policy papers detailing comprehensive and viable solutions to remedy the current shortcomings. It is important to raise the level of politics by showing who has the better ideas to take our nation forward than continually sue for defamation. We desperately need to change our political ways. Only then can we achieve a First World government - the type that Singaporeans demand and deserve. Singapore Democrats  Read More →

City Harvest Community Services Association Board and guests - Pastor Tan Kim Hock is 3rd from left (Photo: citynews.sg) TRE reported on 8 May that a reader had informed TRE ('CHC pastor unhappy with court judgment') about 2 controversial tweets from Pastor Tan Kim Hock of City Harvest Church (CHC). Pastor Tan tweeted on May 5 that he was "amazed at the efficiency of ST. They knew it while the court is still going on or do they know earlier". He then added a link to an ST article on the ongoing trial against CHC founder Pastor Kong Hee and five other church leaders. The ST article was an online news report about Presiding Judge See Kee Oon throwing out a court application to acquit CHC leaders. Judge See said there is enough evidence for the trial to continue with all of the charges intact. The next day (6 May), he twitted again. This time, he quoted a verse from the New Living Translation version of the Bible and broadcast it through Twitter: Ecclesiastes 3:16 – “I also noticed that under the sun there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt!” Taking the 2 tweets on 5 and 6 May together, it shows that Pastor Tan is not too happy with the judgment of the court. It is not known what he is trying to imply by quoting the bible verse. It is interesting to note that Pastor Tan quoted the bible verse from the New Living Translation Bible. In the more popular modern translations of the bible e.g. the New International Version (NIV) Bible (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_International_Version), the verse is translated as: Ecclesiastes 3:16 – “And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment — wickedness was there, in the place of justice — wickedness was there.” Yesterday (3 Jun), the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) issued a warning to Pastor Tan for posting the two messages on his Twitter account, that are deemed to have scandalised Singapore's judiciary system. AGC said one of the tweets had insinuated that the State Courts gave ST 'preferential and privileged access' to information on whether CHC leaders involved in an ongoing trial, had a case to answer even before the decision was delivered by Judge See Kee Oon. AGC added that the second tweet which cited the bible verse, insinuated that Singapore's courts are corrupt, including the court hearing of the CHC leaders. "AGC takes the view that the insinuations set out in the two tweets are insinuations which scandalise the Judiciary of the Republic of Singapore. These insinuations are scurrilous, false, and made without any objective basis," it said. The AGC has asked the pastor to publish an apology for the publication of the two tweets on his Twitter account within seven days. Pastor Tan has also been warned that publishing such insinuations can amount to contempt of court, and that action may be taken against him. A check shows both tweets have since been removed from his Twitter account. He also made reference to one of the tweets deemed objectionable, tweeting: "On 6 May, I tweeted a bible verse. On hindsight, I realise that the tweet may be possibly misinterpreted and I have since removed it." Meanwhile, a CHC spokesman told the media, "The church recognises that staff and congregation can post their personal views and opinions on social media but we do encourage them to post responsibly and within the limits of the laws of the country." Pastor Tan is said to be a founding member of CHC, together with Kong Hee and wife Sun Ho.    Read More →