Select Committee to look into fake news threat; public hearings in March 2018

Committee of MPs to consider online falsehoods issue including the need for legislation
Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam to move motion in Parliament to get feedback on response to online falsehoods
By Seow Bei Yi, The Straits Times, 6 Jan 2018

A rarely used parliamentary process is being kick-started to garner public feedback over the issue of "fake news" online - and to decide if Singapore should introduce laws to combat it.

Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam will be moving a motion in Parliament on Wednesday, 10 January, to appoint a Select Committee on deliberate online falsehoods.

This committee will take submissions from the public and hold public hearings to gather feedback before reporting to Parliament with its recommendations, which will also be published.

If appointed, it will be chaired by Deputy Speaker Charles Chong and comprise seven MPs from the ruling People's Action Party, one member from the opposition and one Nominated MP. The members have to be nominated by a Committee of Selection, which is led by Speaker of Parliament Tan Chuan-Jin.

This is a change in approach from that articulated by Mr Shanmugam previously. Last June, he said that new legislation to tackle fake news is likely to be introduced this year.

"A Select Committee process provides a platform to study the problem carefully, to talk to experts and other stakeholders, and to involve members of the public," said a government spokesman.



The Law Ministry (MinLaw) did not say why it is not proposing that laws be enacted immediately this year.

It is uncommon for the Government to set up a select committee to examine policy issues.

The last time was 22 years ago, in 1996, when a Select Committee looked into the healthcare subsidy of government polyclinics and public hospitals.



Yesterday, MinLaw and the Ministry of Communications and Information also issued a Green Paper on the issue. It is a discussion paper containing proposals on an issue for public discussion.

The last time one was issued was three decades ago, in 1988.

The new 21-page document said Singapore should be prepared ahead of time for the "real and serious challenges" posed by online falsehoods.

Personal Mobility Device users caught riding on roads will face tougher enforcement action from 15 Jan 2018; Mandatory registration of e-scooters from second half of 2018

Stiffer fines, possible jail time for offences involving Personal Mobility Devices (PMD) from Jan 15
Those riding on public roads to be dealt with more harshly, amid rise in number of cases
By Christopher Tan, Senior Transport Correspondent, The Straits Times, 3 Jan 2018

From Jan 15, personal mobility device (PMD) users caught riding on public roads will face fines of up to $2,000 and/or a jail term of three months, in addition to having their devices impounded.

In a toughened stance against an increasing number of offenders, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said yesterday that a composition fine of $300 will be imposed on first-time offenders who ride on local roads, and $500 on those caught on major roads.

First-timers nabbed on expressways will be charged in court. If convicted, they will face a maximum penalty of a $2,000 fine and jail term of three months.

Repeat court convictions will carry a maximum fine of $5,000 and/or a jail term of up to six months. This applies to those caught using PMDs on any public road.

The penalty now is a $100 composition fine for first-timers, regardless of the type of road they are on.

Second-timers are fined $200, and those caught for the third time onwards are fined $500.



Since the advent of PMDs such as electric scooters and hoverboards two years ago, more have been sighted on roads, even though they are strictly for use on footpaths and park connectors.

In the first 11 months of last year, an average of 40 users were caught monthly. This was 18 per cent more than the monthly average of 34 recorded in 2016.

The LTA said it is an offence under the Road Traffic Act to ride PMDs on roads. Electric bicycles, however, are allowed on roads, except expressways. But observers said the line separating e-bikes and other PMDs is fast blurring.

The new Active Mobility Act may address the situation. It will require users, among other things, to ensure their PMDs weigh no more than 20kg and measure no wider than 700mm. They also cannot exceed a speed limit of 15kmh on footpaths, and 25kmh on cycling and shared paths in park connectors.

Meanwhile, the LTA has increased the number of enforcement officers from 24 in June to more than 50. Officers are also being equipped with speed guns to check speed limits.

Sour grapes: The art of self-deception

By Gary Hayden, The Straits Times, 2 Jan 2018

When I was a child, I liked to leaf through the pages of a collection of Aesop's Fables in my primary school classroom. I enjoyed the pithy stories and the simple line-drawings that accompanied them.

One story I remember well was called The Fox And The Grapes. It went like this.

Driven by hunger, a fox tried to reach some grapes hanging high on the vine but was unable to, although he leaped with all his strength. As he went away, the fox remarked: "Oh, you aren't even ripe yet! I don't need any sour grapes."

Aesop's fables illustrate moral precepts, and these were generally obvious to me, even as a child. However, in this case, the moral eluded me. I knew that the story was supposed to teach something, but I had no idea what.

Nowadays, a quick search of the Internet is sufficient to determine that the accepted moral of The Fox And The Grapes is that "it is easy to despise what you cannot have".

Instead of admitting his failure to reach the grapes, the fox tells himself that they are not worth having. Similarly, rather than admitting to our disappointments and failures, we will often disparage the things we cannot have, or cannot achieve.

When I was at secondary school, I witnessed a splendid real-life illustration of this idea. A friend of mine plucked up the courage to ask a pretty girl to "go out with" him. When she refused, he reported back to me saying: "I'm not bothered. I didn't really like her anyway!"

SELF-PROTECTION

We humans will often try to protect ourselves from disappointment by belittling the things we cannot have.

In the same way, we will often try to bolster our self-esteem by sneering at the things we cannot do, or cannot achieve.

In American teen movies and TV-shows, you will often see this idea played out. The "nerds" despise what they see as the brute athleticism of the "jocks", while the jocks despise what they see as the effete intellectualism of the nerds.

In fact, both athleticism and intellectualism are good and desirable traits. But it is sometimes psychologically convenient to pretend that one or other of them is not.

As a rule, we attach far more importance to the things at which we excel than we do to the things at which we suck.

Singapore economy grew by 3.5% in 2017, says PM Lee Hsien Loong in 2018 New Year Message; Choosing next Prime Minister will take 'a little bit longer'

PM Lee credits productivity growth and global upswing for strong performance in 2017
Plans to mark 200th anniversary of the founding of modern Singapore in 2019
By Elgin Toh, Insight Editor, The Straits Times, 1 Jan 2018

Singapore's economy grew by 3.5 per cent in 2017 - more than double the initial forecast - and incomes rose across the board, especially for low-and middle-income earners, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong yesterday.

In his traditional New Year message, he noted that Singapore benefited from the global economic upswing. But more fundamentally, the better-than-expected growth was because Singapore's productivity - long a challenge for the country - has grown.



"Singaporeans are upgrading and learning new skills, while businesses are innovating and adopting new technology. That is how we will stay competitive and ready for the future," PM Lee said.

Singapore is finishing the year stronger than it started, and "we are ushering in 2018 with confidence and strength", he added.

In the past five years, productivity growth has languished at between minus 0.2 per cent and 1 per cent despite efforts to help firms and workers upgrade. Last year, it shot up to between 3 per cent and 3.5 per cent, due to an improving global economy and a tightening of the inflow of foreign workers, said analysts.

Looking ahead to 2018 and beyond, PM Lee announced plans to mark the 200th anniversary of 1819, when Stamford Raffles set foot on the island. Singapore marked 50 years of independence in 2015 but "the Singapore Story began way before 1965", he said. "We must understand truly how far back our history reaches, and how complex it is."

The history goes back at least 700 years. Singapore was a maritime emporium in the 14th century, though it declined in later centuries.

"We should commemorate this bicentennial appropriately, just as we marked the 150th anniversary in 1969. It is an important milestone for Singapore; an occasion for us to reflect on how our nation came into being, how we have come this far since, and how we can go forward together," he said.

With observers expecting firmer clues this year on who Singapore's fourth prime minister would be - especially with an imminent Cabinet reshuffle - PM Lee said younger ministers will play a bigger role in policymaking. Parliament will be prorogued after the Budget before a new session opens in May. The opening will see the President's Address laying out the Government's agenda for the rest of the term.

PM Lee said "this will bear the imprint of the fourth-generation leadership, who are taking on greater responsibilities, and putting forth their ideas for Singapore".



The home front will also see an upgrade of industries and workers' skills, improvements to healthcare, work to raise rail reliability and big infrastructure projects such as the Tuas Megaport, the High Speed Rail link to Malaysia and Changi Airport's Terminal 5.

These domestic priorities are essential investments for the future, which "will stretch way beyond this term of government", he said. "We have to plan well ahead for them."

Looking back on 2017, PM Lee said the year began with uncertainty at home and abroad. The economic mood was muted and there were worries about security and terrorism. "But Singaporeans pressed on, undaunted," he said. "We dealt with the urgent concerns, but we looked beyond immediate problems and did not settle for quick fixes."

What made Singapore tick: Soft options and hard rules

To go from Third World to the top of the world, Singapore went for 'soft' options - like changing mindsets - and hard rules, such as the Land Acquisition Act and congestion pricing.
By Cecilia Tortajada and Asit K. Biswas, Published The Sunday Times, 31 Dec 2017

A modern-day traveller arriving in Singapore's Changi Airport will immediately realise that he is entering a special airport. It is one of the busiest in the world, serving some 380 cities in about 90 countries through more than 100 airlines. It handles more than 58.7 million passengers a year - that is more than six times the city's entire population. Very seldom does one have to spend more than 25 to 30 minutes from the time the plane lands, to clear immigration and customs, collect baggage and be on a taxi to one's destination.

For many travellers, introduction to Changi Airport is a proxy for the rest of their Singapore experience.

When Singapore became independent in 1965, its economic and social conditions were poor. Trade with Indonesia, a key trading partner, had declined due to Indonesia's strong opposition to the formation of Malaysia.

The economy further suffered because of the withdrawal of British troops during 1968-71. British military expenditure contributed to nearly 20 per cent of Singapore's gross domestic product (GDP) and 10 per cent of employment.

During the 1960s, Singapore's population growth was one of the highest in the world. Unemployment was widespread. The majority of the population was living in overcrowded housing without access to clean water, sanitation or proper waste disposal. At Independence in 1965, very few people thought Singapore would do well in the future, with a land area of 581 sq km, no natural resources and no perceptible comparative advantages.

Not surprisingly, in 1965, Singapore's per capita GDP was US$519, only 13.5 per cent of the US' and 77 per cent of Hong Kong's. By last year, Singapore's per capita GDP had galloped to US$52,960 (S$71,000), 92 per cent of the US' and 1.21 times that of Hong Kong.

TRANSFORMATION: WHY AND HOW THIS HAPPENED

The question then is, how did Singapore achieve this remarkable progress in such a short period?

Numerous experts have tried to explain this development. Our view is that this has been possible because of the highest leadership, starting with Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his team. The fact that he was prime minister during 1965 to 1990 gave him time to transform his vision into reality.

Mr Lee had no dogmatic beliefs and was the ultimate anti-ideologue. Fiercely ambitious for Singapore's development, he guided its unprecedented economic and social growth for its people.

We were fortunate enough to meet Mr Lee. We had extensive personal discussions as to how Singapore became a global role model. In his own words: "We are pragmatists. We do not stick to any ideology. Does a policy work? Let us try it, and, if it does work, fine, let us continue with it. If it does not work, toss it out, try another one that may work."

Regrettably, we are not aware of similar political leaders elsewhere in the world. Leaders have become image-conscious and populist opportunists rather than honest pragmatists searching for the best alternatives for their countries. Mr Lee showed that forthright pragmatism is the antithesis of die-hard ideologies and political opportunism.

While visitors to Singapore may see its gleaming towers, excellent infrastructure and legal and governance systems, and a very safe and secure First World city without corruption, it was not so at Independence and several years after.

IPS Study on Social Capital 2017 in Singapore finds clear divide among social classes

Elite schools' spirit and culture unify people

The dividing phenomena between people from different categories of school origins and residential dwellings should never be a surprise (New study finds clear divide among social classes in Singapore; ST Online, Dec 28).

It is social behaviour observed since ancient times and in any corner of the world today, not just Singapore.

A society based on class also existed before one based on race.

I am not sure if the emphasis of this report is skewed towards the need to dilute the elite-school culture.



Let's take a step back.

We must ask ourselves what makes the elite schools so successful and how do they continue to preserve the rich heritage, esprit de corps and positive social values that span decades.

The spirit and identity of these schools truly bind men and women of different nationalities, races, religions, ages and backgrounds.

I am proud to be part of such a heritage.

The fellowship is made up of people ranging from top government leaders, senior corporate executives, businessmen and millionaires to social workers, labourers, hawkers and taxi drivers.

They live in diverse residential dwellings and can connect just fine when seated at the same table.

A study should be made on how to replicate and inculcate this culture in all other schools instead of diluting it.

It also doesn't help to keep exacerbating the problem of differing residential status by stating the obvious.

Let us drive behaviour by creating more opportunities and activities that promote common interests and volunteering for social services.

Christopher Lim Sim Cheng
ST Forum, 30 Dec 2017

What we can learn from a galaxy far, far away

By Tan Ooi Boon, Published The Straits Times, 25 Dec 2017

If you have felt an unexplained stir around you of late, it's because the Force is stronger now with the latest Star Wars movie back in the theatres.

The sci-fi saga has captivated fans for four decades since George Lucas introduced the world to light sabres, chatty robots and Jedi masters in 1977.

Fans love it because the film is, at heart, about the triumph of good over evil and the good guys win by using the Force, a mystical power said to exist around us. But there's more - beneath all that dazzling sword play and hyperspace jumps, there are down-to-earth management lessons to be learnt from Star Wars.



So, if you aspire to have your own empire, here are some things you need to do to achieve galactic success.

LESSON 1 : DO NOT LOSE YOUR TOP TALENTS

Before Darth Vader became the Republic's nightmare, he was actually its rising star and most talented employee, Anakin Skywalker. Even as a boy, he proved his worth by single-handedly stopping a hostile takeover of the Planet Naboo by destroying the enemy's command station. He continued to shine as a young man by eliminating his employer's arch enemy, Count Dooku, as well as saving the lives of both the Supreme Chancellor and his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi.

For his sterling achievements, the Chancellor made Skywalker his representative at the Jedi Council, the executive decision-making body. But it soon went downhill from there because some senior council members (read jealous older colleagues) were not happy and they barred him from using the title, Jedi Master, which came with the position.

As expected, young Skywalker was furious and his unhappiness made him vulnerable to poaching by rivals. He eventually joined them because he felt his new employers recognised his potential, offered training in new high-level secret skills, and to top it off, appointed him to a senior position that came with an awesome title, Darth Vader.

A rare peek behind the scenes at the nerve centre of SCDF operations

SCDF Operations Centre: Answering the (995) call with speed and efficiency
Singapore Civil Defence Force fine-tunes processes, uses technology at centre to better respond to emergencies
By Tan Tam Mei, The Straits Times, 25 Dec 2017

Phones ring off the hook and chatter fills the room at the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) Operations Centre, as officers take calls and monitor a panel of video screens on the wall showing footage from security cameras around the island.

The centre - housed in a room barely the size of a tennis court - is the little-known nerve centre of the force and the first point of contact for reports of fire, rescue or medical incidents.

Every time someone in Singapore dials 995 - last year, SCDF handled more than 290,000 phone calls, averaging 790 calls a day - an SCDF operations centre specialist answers it. Officially opened in 2002, the centre in the basement of the SCDF headquarters in Ubi was open to the media for the first time last Thursday.

Despite the high volume, the 23 to 25 people who man the centre - some operations centre specialists, nurses and monitoring officers - hit strict timing targets. Calls are answered within 10 seconds and appropriate resources are deployed within 80 seconds.

And officers there said the festive periods tend to be the busiest.

SCDF chief medical officer Ng Yih Yng said with more people in the festive spirit, there are more calls related to drinking and "sometimes too much partying".

Captain Shawn Tan, 29, an SCDF rotation commander with the Operations Centre, said that sometimes the calls involve rubbish chute fires, where people who have barbecues throw hot charcoal or ashes down the chute.

The Operations Centre can take calls in the four main languages and has team members who speak a variety of dialects and other languages, like Burmese.

"Additionally, our call takers are well-versed in medical knowledge so they're able to give pre-arrival instructions to members of public when they need to," said Capt Tan.

Over the years, the SCDF has also changed some of its processes and added technology to help make the centre more efficient.

Deepest tunnel system to ensure power supply to Singapore

Transmission Cable Tunnel Project: Giant tunnels to safeguard power supply network
$2.4 billion effort to house 1,200km of cables is among deepest such projects worldwide
By Jose Hong, The Straits Times, 20 Dec 2017

A warren of giant tunnels which will safeguard Singapore's electricity supply network for the future has been completed.

The multibillion-dollar effort to house 1,200km of extra-high-voltage cables - more than thrice the distance between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur - is one of the world's deepest electricity supply projects.

Singaporeans will begin tapping this electrical source from next year, said energy utility company SP Group yesterday.

Given the depth, it will be easier to monitor and replace cables inside these tunnels and carry out upgrading works in the future, experts said.



Most tunnels will be about 60m beneath the earth - the height of a 20-storey Housing Board building - but some will be at 80m, the deepest among any tunnels here.

"We had to build 60m deep because Singapore lacks space. We had no choice," said Mr Michael Chin, SP Group's managing director of infrastructure and projects.

"If you look at the profile of Singapore, we have the MRT, which is 30m to 40m deep, then you have your Deep Tunnel Sewerage System, which is between 20m and 55m, so we 'choped' (saved) our space at 60m," said Mr Chin.

The three tunnels are named the North-South, East-West and Jurong Island-Pioneer tunnels, and work on the $2.4 billion project started in 2012.

SP Group said the high-voltage cables in the tunnels will mainly replace eight circuits running north and south or east and west across the country. These eight circuits, built in the 1980s, are the oldest transmission cables still in use here.

The laying of cables, which will begin early next year, is projected to be completed by 2022. The first cables will go online by the end of next year.

Death of Annie Ee: Guilty or not, every accused person deserves due process

Each of us can feel an innate revulsion for the acts committed by Singaporean couple Pua Hak Chuan and Tan Hui Zhen on their flatmate Annie Ee (Couple jailed for torturing flatmate until her death; Dec 2).

Yet our moral repugnance can be simultaneously coupled with a firm commitment to principles of access to justice for the accused involved. It is not an either/or proposition for right-thinking and right-feeling members of Singapore society.

The couple has been convicted by a court of law and no appeal has been filed. Legal representation was afforded by pro bono volunteer lawyers.

It is understandable that in cases such as Miss Ee's, the Internet community will be abuzz with comments (via social chat or chatter) including visceral disgust. However, a bright line needs to be drawn between freedom of speech on the one hand and incendiary, defamatory or hate speech (including against the pro bono lawyers involved) on the other.

This is part and parcel of the lawful boundaries of free speech (even under the cloak of anonymity) in a functioning democracy. The accused's lawyer's role in mitigation is not to call white black or black white. To do so is intellectually disingenuous. It would invariably result in the plea of guilt being revoked.

At the sentencing stage, criminal defence counsel identifies mitigating circumstances of both offence and offender to the sentencing judge. But in essence, the plea in mitigation is a plaintive cry for judicial mercy. Analytically, the court weighs all relevant factors (aggravating and mitigating). The ultimate goal is a fair and proportionate sentence meted out by the judge.



Three distinct stakeholder roles in criminal justice need to be better appreciated. First, the prosecution and its discretion to prefer charges. Due consideration will be given on, among other things, whether the charges brought can be proven beyond reasonable doubt.

Second, the role of our courts in considering all relevant facts and allowing due process before making a decision in accordance with the law. The courts' sentencing powers are circumscribed by the statutory minimum and maximum punishments prescribed for the penal offences concerned.

Third, the duty of criminal defence lawyers to give a voice to their clients on extenuating circumstances. That voice needs to be articulated professionally, responsibly and fairly. Lawyers are officers of the court.

To hold such criminal defence lawyers in contempt of the court of public opinion blithely ignores the golden principle of access to justice. We should not shoot the messenger because we neither like the message nor the client he represents.

Every accused deserves due process, even during sentencing after they have pleaded guilty. As Eleanor Roosevelt said : "Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both." This is a bedrock of our Singapore criminal justice system. It is a cornerstone of the Law Society's criminal legal aid scheme.

Gregory Vijayendran
President
Law Society of Singapore
ST Forum, 19 Dec 2017

Jurong Lake District: From the boondocks to boom town - and beyond

Singapore has thrived by betting big on future trends that make or break economies, whether in air or sea transport, urban development or water sustainability. It is how the Republic rose to become the world's top transshipment hub, a leading air hub and a model liveable city. In the last of a three-part series on major infrastructure projects, Insight looks at plans to transform Jurong into Singapore's second Central Business District.
By Rachel Au-Yong, The Sunday Times, 17 Dec 2017

A decade ago, the idea that the industrial - some might even say boring - town of Jurong would one day be transformed into a vibrant business district with pockets of tranquillity was often met with incredulity by developers and residents alike.

Yet today, long-time Jurong East resident Aimee Saw, 62, can point to an accelerated momentum in the Government's efforts to not just revitalise the area, but also to turn it into Jurong Lake District (JLD), the nation's second Central Business District.

The retired secretary says: "In the 60s and 70s, there wasn't much here besides factories and a few shops.

"But suddenly, in the last 10 years, you have so many new shopping centres and a big hospital, and people say there will be more to come. It's good to know Jurong is not forgotten."

In 2008, the Government unveiled a blueprint to turn JLD - a 360ha area comprising Jurong Lake and the area around Jurong East MRT station, where the Jurong Country Club was - into a lakeside destination for business and leisure over 10 to 15 years.

Almost a decade later, the Urban Redevelopment Authority launched a draft masterplan in August this year, ambitious in its promises to elevate the district to a second CBD, as well as a sought-after living destination.



The goal is to provide more than 100,000 new jobs in sectors such as maritime, infrastructure and technology, as well as a further 20,000 homes.

Given the monumental effort that lies ahead to achieve this, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong has cautioned that JLD will be realised only in 2040 and beyond.

Insight takes a look at the plans.

Euthanasia: A good life to the end, or a quick death

The Victorian state of Australia has legalised euthanasia. Concerns about a slippery slope are real. The alternative to euthanasia is palliative care to alleviate suffering.
By Chong Siow Ann, Published The Straits Times, 16 Dec 2017

The Australian state of Victoria recently legalised assisted suicide. This law, when enacted, will enable a resident who has lived in Victoria for at least a year, and who has a terminal, incurable illness with a life expectancy of less than six months, to obtain a lethal drug to commit suicide.

Victoria has now joined the ranks of the Netherlands, Canada, Belgium, Colombia and Luxembourg which have legalised euthanasia. Several states in the United States, including California, Washington, Vermont and Oregon, have passed laws allowing assisted suicide.

In physician-assisted suicide, a physician supplies a lethal drug or suggests a means by which a patient will use it to complete the act that brings about death.



In euthanasia, the physician performs the act of directly injecting the medication to cause death. These terms do not apply to a patient's refusal of life-support measures, or to the request for these life-prolonging measures to be withdrawn.

We would think that it would be terminally ill patients with grievous and irredeemable pain who are most likely to want physician-assisted suicide or euthanasia, but the laws permitting this were mainly motivated by the concerns of the "worried-well" - by healthy people who fear the unknown future and the possibility of dying painfully, and who want that control and assurance that they can have the legalised means to end their lives if things become unbearable.

But empirical studies of physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia in the Netherlands and the United States indicate that pain played a relatively minor role in motivating requests for assisted suicide. These studies showed that in only 11 to 32 per cent of all cases was pain the reason for requests for euthanasia.

Depression, general psychological distress, and fear of a loss of control or dignity, of being a burden, and of being dependent on others, were the common reasons. This prompted oncologist and bioethicist Ezekiel Emanuel to ask (in an article published in The Atlantic) if the wishes of these patients should then be granted. He followed with this riposte: "Our usual approach to people who try to end their lives for reasons of depression and psychological distress is psychiatric intervention - not giving them a syringe and life-ending drugs."



SLIPPERY SLOPE

One of the biggest - and perennial - concerns of legalising physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia is that it will lead to the "slippery slope".

The slippery slope argument contends that even a relatively conservative law like the Victorian model would evolve over time, becoming more permissive and with the right to receive assisted suicide extending to many others: from physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill and fully consenting adults to euthanasia for patients who cannot give consent - the unconscious, severely disabled children, and the mentally ill.