TR EMERITUS

Suing blogger Roy Ngerng is ‘a PR disaster of their own making’ for Singapore government Legal action taken against Singapore blogger Roy Ngerng by the country’s Prime Minister is a PR disaster of the government’s own making, a prominent former ad man has said. Calvin Soh, the former vice chairman of Publicis Asia Pacific, wrote on his Facebook blog Future Singapore that “Whoever is advising the PAP [Singapore's ruling political party] needs to get their heads out of their own crevice.” The Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, is suing Roy Ngerng, the author of blog The Heart Truths, for defamation over comments he made about the Central Provident Fund, a compulsory savings plan for working Singaporeans. In response to legal proceedings from the PM, Ngerng has apologised, deleted a number of the articles he has written about the issue, as well as a video. But the Prime Minister, via his lawyer, called an offer from the blogger of S$5,000 (US$4,000) to settle the matter “derisory”. He claimed that Ngerng has used the legal action to raise his profile, repeat the libel by republishing the offending posts and go back on his apology. Ngerng is trying to raise funds to cover the legal fees through a crowd-funding initiative on his blog. He expects legal costs to amount to S$70,000 (US$56,000). He has posted a video on YouTube to galvanise support. Calvin Soh commented: “Whoever is advising the pap needs to get their heads out of their own crevice. It is a PR disaster of their own making. What if Roy raises $500,000? It’s not just the sum; crowdfunding shows you market size. What if people don’t support Roy, but want this to go to court so the issue of CPF will be brought up?” “What if you [Singapore's government] have turned Roy into a symbol of the ordinary guy being bullied because you’ve pushed too hard?,” Soh said. “The Queen doesn’t sue her subjects. One can’t be a benevolent leader if you sue your own people. Really, the old methods don’t work in this new era. This is shooting yourself in the foot and stuffing it in your mouth.” Meanwhile, in neighbouring Malaysia, Prime Minister Najib Razak is suing independent news website Malaysiakini for defamation. In an interview with Australian TV network ABC, the website’s editor Steven Gan said that the Malaysian government was “taking a leaf out of Singapore’s book” by using strong arm legal tactics to silence critical voices. * Article first appeared in mumbrella.asia – a site about Asian media and marketing.  Read More →

[Letter sent to Mr Masagos Zulkifli Bin Masagos Mohamad, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and MP of Tampines GRC; copied to TRE.] 2 June 2014 Geylang nightlife Dear Encik Masagos, Salam and I would like to feedback of the not-so-peaceful, Peace Centre and its rowdy/sleazy activities taking place with your ministry licensing permit. My relative who lives across the street and runs a provision shop in the centre, runs her store literally with fear. In the daytime, anyone who passes by the place could never have imagined that come nightfall, the place effectively turns into a "second Geylang" with rampant coyotes, drugs and the likes of gangsters pitting for influence/control over the scene. Lawlessness is the norm and order of the night with police not daring to bring crime rates there under control. Rioting with damages to property, blatant smoking in prohibited spots, open selling of controlled and sex enhancement drugs are all but a common and frequent sight. The toilets hygiene standards are also severely lacking. We knew there were some ongoings but only realised the magnitude of the problem when we went there to unload some goods that had arrived for our store in the middle of the night. Thank goodness nothing bad happened to us as we were in Hijab but I could see that decent folks would avoid the place for fear of sexual harassment. I had also previously thought that the zone comes under the exclusive "no alcohol zone" and thus wonder how can this still take place? This is also where diplomat Silviu Ionescu would patronise call-girls after getting intoxicated, causing the infamous "2009 Romanian Diplomat Incident". In view of the worsening situation, I hope you can instill measures to prevent this part of CBD from turning into another hopeless Jln Suka. Thank you. Begum Abdul Rahma * Submitted by TRE reader.  Read More →

LTA Dty Chief Executive Chua Chong Kheng At a dialogue on "Smart Mobility" at the World Cities Summit in Marina Bay Sands yesterday (3 Jun), LTA's Deputy Chief Executive Chua Chong Kheng said LTA wants to explore the use of driverless buses to remove "major risks in terms of heavy reliance on manpower". Mr Chua said, "How can we tap on the benefits of it (driverless vehicles) in Singapore context? Driverless buses is a possibility, the use of driverless buses will remove major risks in terms of heavy reliance on manpower, and lack of people to drive." "It takes off stress from drivers, and in terms of elderly and less mobile, this will give them better flexibility in mobility," he added. LTA will be introducing these "driverless vehicles" to Singapore. Driverless buggies, which will have programmed routes, are expected to ply the footpaths of the Chinese and Japanese gardens in Jurong by the end of the year. Mr Chua said the pilot aims to gauge the public's acceptance of using such a transport option for short trips. "If it comes through, it will provide Singapore with another form of transport," he said. However, he acknowledges that there are other issues that need to be ironed out. "Issue relating to liability, does a responsibility fall on car maker, car owner, or technology supplier? Does the passenger have the means to seek legal recourse against any of them? This is something that we need to study carefully." Driverless technology has been around for over 10 years in places like the United States and Europe. LTA said it is studying the use of driverless vehicles as a viable mode of transport that could save commuters time, money and the stress of driving. It is working with MIT to test the driverless buggies in the Jurong Lake District. Last week, Google unveiled the latest version of its driverless vehicle, a two-seater with no steering wheel. Mr Chua said Singapore is keen to test these vehicles. Problems with driverless vehicles In spite of the various benefits with driverless vehicles, some foreseeable challenges persist according to experts: Liability for damage as acknowledged by Mr Chua Resistance for individuals to forfeit control of their cars Software reliability Cyber Security: A car's computer could potentially be compromised, as could a communication system between cars Loss of driver-related jobs Loss of privacy Autonomous cars relying on lane markings cannot decipher faded, missing, or incorrect lane markings (e.g. old lane markings left visible can hinder autonomous cars ability to stay in lane) Temporary construction zones which are not posted to any maps or data bases Determination of the severity of traffic lane obstacles (e.g. potholes or debris) Even Google admits it still has many problems to solve before self-driving cars become commonplace on our streets [Link]. In an interview [Link], Maarten Sierhuis, the director of Nissan's Research Center in Silicon Valley, said autonomous technology "is moving fast and moving forward," but it's not 100% there just yet. And even when it is road-ready, Karl Brauer, a senior analyst at Kelly Blue Book, noted, "you will have autonomous cars screwing up and causing accidents."    Read More →