Should you use your phone at the petrol station?

Should you use your phone at the petrol station?

Oct 06, 2009
AsiaOne

By The AsiaOne Techbot

You've probably seen or heard this before: using your mobile phone at the petrol station or while refueling your vehicle is dangerous because it might cause fires or explosions.

The rumour dates back to as far as the 1990s and is still making its rounds on the Internet via email. An example email posted on the Internet that dates back to 2002 had the headline "SAFETY ALERT - mobile phones and refueling don't mix".

Like other emails of its kind, this one alleges that the information first came from the Shell Oil Company, which had earlier released a warning against using mobile phones at the petrol station.

The email cited three cases in which accidents occurred when a mobile phone was used or activated while in or near a gasoline pump.

In all cases, a person was injured or there was significant damage to property, suggesting that the blaze ignited by the mobile phone was severe.

According to a BBC report, researchers have so far proven the rumour to be untrue.

A BP fire safety officer interviewed by the British news website was also quoted as saying that the rumour is but an "urban legend" and might have seen its origins in the fact that petrol station fires are often cause by discharges of static that ignite petrol fumes.

So, should you still worry about using your mobile phone while topping up gas? It might be safe to say that the rumour is all humbug, but precautions on using phones at petrol stations still exist.

Check the Shell website and you will see that in its Shell Safe page, the petrol company cautions its customers against introducing any ignition sources when at the filling station, and this includes mobile phones.

According to the website, dropping a mobile phone or turning it on and off can cause sparks, which might in turn ignite petrol vapours.

The petrol company also warns against its customers chatting away while refueling their vehicles too, as "using a mobile phone while refueling might cause a lapse in concentration", which might lead to the incorrect refueling of a vehicle, fuel spills and other hazards.

Teacher posts kids' errors on Facebook

Teacher posts kids' errors on Facebook

Tue, May 19, 2009 my paper

By CHERYL CHIA

NETIZENS are up in arms over a teacher's online posting of her students' poor English usage in their assignments on her Facebook account.

The female teacher, who teaches in a secondary school in the western part of Singapore, posted that she was "laughing at how creative students can be". She went on to list the numerous errors her students made in great detail, such as, "The mother is riding the son to school" and "The fish were swimming happily on the surface of the water".

A contributor, dissapoint, posted a screen grab of her comments and the students' mistakes to Stomp yesterday, saying: "I'm really disappointed with the calibre of our teachers. If I (were) the student...I would surely be discouraged and humiliated." As of last night, the post had been viewed at least 5,620 times.

Most students and teachers my paper spoke to say they do not agree with the teacher's action.

Polytechnic student Tay Shwu Yueh, 19, said: "The teacher is very immature and childish. Posting such errors only highlights her inability to teach well and does not reflect well on our education system."

Polytechnic lecturer Koh Joh Ting says: "It is definitely not ethical of the teacher to do that.

Students go to school to learn and we must give them the respect and space to make mistakes."

Stompers also cried foul, with one demanding the Ministry of Education (MOE) to "investigate and sack the teacher".

However, there are some Stompers who feel that the teacher had not done anything wrong.

Stomper iceman008 said: "If you guys visit Facebook and other social-networking sites that students set up to gossip about their teachers, then you will realise which party is the greater sinner... There are always two sides to a coin. Don't judge until you are well-informed."

Junior college student Lee Ailin, 17, said: "She did not pinpoint anyone in her posting."

A spokesman for MOE said: "Teachers should be rolemodels for their students and they are expected to uphold the integrity of the profession both in their professional and personal capacities."

One email account is all you need

One email account is all you need

Sun, May 10, 2009 The Straits Times, Digital Life

You can use your Gmail account to send out e-mail messages from your other e-mail addresses.

That is, you can send out an e-mail message from your Gmail account, but have the recipient see another e-mail address in the sender field.

This is useful, say, if you have forwarded your work e-mail messages to your Gmail account while travelling, and want your replies to originate from your work e-mail address.

To activate this feature, you need to set up your e-mail address in Gmail.

Log in to Gmail and go to Settings, then click on the Accounts tab.

Next, click on the 'Add another e-mail address you own' link (above).

A pop-up window will launch, where you can enter the e-mail address you wish to add.

You can add only e-mail addresses that belong to you or that you have access to.

Gmail verifies this by sending a verification e-mail to the address you have added.

Next, log in to the e-mail account you wish to add and follow the instructions in the verification e-mail to confirm your request.

Once it is set up, you can start sending out e-mail messages from the account using your Gmail.

This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

8 stupid things people do online

8 stupid things people do online

Tue, May 12, 2009 AsiaOne

Sure, people do stupid things on the Internet all the time. But before you dismiss this guide as a list only for bimbos and airheads, take a closer look.

You might already have done some of the things on this list without even realising that it is potentially harmful.
Don't wait till the repercussions come back to haunt you from cyberspace.

1. Talking too much about yourself

So you've got a new boyfriend, your dog's name is Greg. You have a younger sister in high school who annoys you like no one else does.

You just got a new car, and paid for it with your new credit card. Your birthday is on June 9 and you're 25 years old.

Right now, you live with your parents at Block 224 but really want to move out the moment you marry that cool guy from French class that you have a crush on.

Sounds normal? That's what everyone blogs about, or shares on Facebook, you argue.

That's true, but sharing so much information about yourself also opens you to malicious attacks by both real-world and cyber criminals alike.

For starters, someone can take over your online identity, and start posting things (racist, Satanist or pornographic blogs, anyone?) in your name.

If you're unlucky, cyber criminals might also be able to use your personal information to make unauthorised purchases with your credit card, or, gasp, withdraw funds from your bank account.

Sounds scary, it's happened, and I don't think anyone wanted to be a victim when they first gushed non-stop about themselves and their lives online.

The bottom line: Don't expect only yourself or your close friends to read your blog or Facebook page. Even with security features on, you'll never know if these features might lapse and expose your information to the world.

2. Bitch about work

Hate the boss? Think that slutty colleague stole your promotion and your bonus?

Strangling colleagues from hell in real life would land you in jail, but blogging about how terrible they are may mean the end of your job.

You'll never know when someone from the office might chance on your blog or post and rat about its contents to the boss.

For security reasons and to keep business practices confidential, many companies do not allow their employees to blog about their work as well.

The bottom line: Make sure you get the okay from your human resources department (they are the guys who know best) on whether you can discuss your work online, and even then, never speak badly about your colleagues, or anyone else for that matter.

3. Upload every photo you take

You take pictures of your room, your house, your dog, your computer, your parents and even the neighbours. Then you put them all into carefully sorted galleries and put them all on your blog.

They might be a treat for friends wanting to catch up with you, but when pieced together, these pictures can also reveal a lot about your life.

Just the other week I figured out where my new online friend worked and lived, simply because she photo-blogged every picture she took with her handy mobile phone.

The bottom line: Don't want an online - or scarier, offline - stalker? Quit being a camwhore and stop posting those pictures online. If you still insist on doing so, make sure you check the back seat the next time you take the car out for a spin.

4. Believe everything that strangers say

"Dear Sir, I am a lawyer and would like to offer you $50,000 which my dead client left in a bank account."
Sounds familiar? Now, most of us would be clever enough by now to hear our brains scream 'scam!' by the time we are three-quarters into reading that line.

But not all scams are created equal - some are very convincing and all are out to tempt you into giving these scammers money by promising you easy money.

Hungry children, cancer kids, crumbling churches and lawyers' dead clients - whatever the content of the emails are, just direct them to the spam folder and you'll be thankful you didn't lost thousands of dollars in real cash later.

The bottom line: Don't believe everything that everyone says online, especially if they are people you don't know. If you want to do your part for a good cause, log on to a reputable site and check its records before you drop the buck, and even then, do so with a third party online payment service such as Paypal. As for the dead lawyers' clients, you'd probably have better luck finding buried treasure in the cemetery.

5. Believe every single good offer

It's the blue pill no more. Now, check out this green wonder pill that helps boost your sex life, lose weight, and make you irresistible to the opposite sex.

Or, check out this wonderful offer of a brand new iPhone, which will be mailed to you right after you sign up for a free ringtone trail service!

If these offers sounds too good to be true, they probably are. Unscrupulous sellers often peddle fake, untested or even harmful 'diet pills' and miracle remedies online.

Expensive gifts for free sign-ups too, are likely to involve additional invisible charges like a commitment period, exorbitant fees cancellation fees and other ways for such service providers to wring you of your cash.

The bottom line: Never sign up for anything online without doing additional research first. Google the Internet for comments from other buyers, or check the legitimacy and authenticity of a product from an official website before making a purchase.

6. Leave your email addresses everywhere

Have you ever signed up for a free online newsletter in order to get a small freebie? There's no way you can get into trouble just by submitting your email address, right? Wrong.

Leaving your email address with too many sites, or posting the addresses in online forums and blogs will tell little computer programs searching the Internet that the address is a legitimate one.

These little programs, called web crawlers, might belong to spammers eager to send you tons of useless email about sex pills and timeshare holidays. By posting your email address everywhere, you're only telling them that this is the place where they can contact you.

The bottom line: Don't want spam? Guard your primary email address closely and only submit it to reputable sites. For everything else, use a secondary email address in which you won't mind receiving the additional spam.

7. Download free software

This game is fun, and it's free, so you should download it because everyone else is doing it, right?

Downloading free software, or freeware, is not against the law, so you don't need to worry about going to jail just because you have Invaders 2009 in your PC.

But software from less reputable sources might include hidden programs that can be installed into your computer along with the downloaded software. These software have the potential to then compromise the security of your computer, or create an endless stream of popup ads on your browser as you surf the Internet.

The bottom line: Only download software from reputable, verified sources. Always let your anti-virus and malware/adware scanner check the program before starting the download or install process.

8. Read this story on your mobile phone without a data plan

If you're reading this page on your mobile phone and you have no idea what a data plan is, close your browser now. Worse, if you are reading this page on your mobile phone overseas, turn it off now and check your bank account for sufficient funds.

Data charges can amount to quite a hefty sum, and this is especially true for mobile phone uses with no data plan.
Surfing the Internet, receiving and sending email or chatting on instant messaging are just some of the things you can do with smartphones that require a data transfer. Because your local telco doesn't belong to Santa Claus, data transfer isn't free.

If you're overseas, data charges are even higher. Loading a simple, regular webpage like this can run up to about (gasp!) $8.

The bottom line: If your phone has Wi-Fi, make sure that function is turn on instead of the 3G feature when surfing the web. Want to use more broadband services while on the go? Get a data plan. For those going overseas, check with your destination country's local telco to see if there are any prepaid card plans and dongles for sale or rent. They won't come cheap, but at least you don't have to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars in phone bills.

Sun Tzu and the art of war

Sun Tzu and the art of war
27 Apr, 2009

In 1998, when we first started using the Internet to fight Barisan Nasional, there were only 280,000 Internet subscribers against 8 million registered voters. Today, ten years on, there are almost 16 million Internet subscribers against 12 million registered voters.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The Internet has been abuzz the last couple of days about the ‘accidental’ police report an NGO made against Malaysiakini. Those who had made the police report did not know the difference between Malaysiakini, The Malaysian Insider and Malaysia Today.

The following day, they ‘corrected’ the mistake and two more ‘Malay’ NGOs made a police report against Malaysia Today. While I am honoured that the news reports talk about Malaysiakini, The Malaysian Insider and Malaysia TodayMalaysia Today should not be compared to Malaysiakini or The Malaysian Insider.

Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider are proper or legitimate online newspapers or portals run by professional media personnel, most who have many years experience in the media industry. Malaysia Today, however, is not in that same league. We are not a proper or legitimate online newspaper. Neither are we run by professional media personnel. Malaysia Today is a ‘weapon’ that is meant to bring about political change in Malaysia.

We learned how useful the Internet can be back in 1998 when the Reformasi Movement first exploded onto the Malaysian political scene. More than 100 Reformasi websites mushroomed overnight to give Barisan Nasional a run for its money. Of course, then, most of these websites were aligned to Anwar Ibrahim and/or PAS. There were some that were aligned to DAP as well.

In 1998, however, there were only 280,000 Internet subscribers. But that was enough to sufficiently damage Barisan Nasional in the 1999 general election that was held about a year after the debut of Reformasi. No doubt the Internet was not the major contributor to the opposition victory in November 1999. But it did contribute enough, though in a small way, as to how Barisan Alternatif performed.

Then the opposition became complacent. Their 1999 ‘victory’ lulled them and put them to sleep. Not long after that DAP pulled out from Barisan Alternatif and that aggravated the problem. In the March 2004 general election, the voters demonstrated their disgust for the opposition coalition.

I have already talked about this matter so many times in the past so there is no need to go over all the issues and statistics again. The bottom line is: the opposition practically got wiped out.

Soon after that, Anwar Ibrahim was released from incarceration. There was jubilation all around. My wife, Marina, and I stood on the steps of the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya, quite amused at the chanting and cheering going on. My phone rang but I could not hear properly because of the noise. I handed the phone to Marina, who has better hearing than me. “It’s the BBC from London,” she told me as she handed me back the phone.

“Hold on,” I shouted into the phone. “It’s so noisy here. Let me move to a quieter place.”

Marina and I quickly walked to the side of the Palace of Justice where it was quieter and I spoke to the chap from the BBC.

“We heard Anwar has just been released. Can we get your statement?”

“Sure, but why me?” I asked.

“Well, you are the Director of the Free Anwar Campaign and you run the freeanwar dot com website. I suppose you are now out of a job since Anwar has just been released. What do you plan to do now?”

“I suppose you could put it that way,” I laughed. “I must be the only Director who got retrenched from his job because he is successful.”

The BBC chap laughed and asked, “So what do you intend to do now, now that you have been retrenched?”

“I am going to now focus fulltime on the new website I just started three weeks ago.”

“Oh, what is it called?”

“Malaysia Today. It’s at malaysia dash today dot net.”

“You said you started this website three weeks ago? Does this mean you anticipated that Anwar would be released?”

“Yes, I did. In fact, that was one of the first articles I wrote on Malaysia Today. I said that Anwar would be released with a two-one verdict and that the lady judge would be the sole dissenting voice.”

“How did you know? Do you own a crystal ball?”

“It’s my business to know. That is what I do. I find out what people don’t know or try to hide and publish the story, while crossing my fingers in the hope that I am right.”

“So what do you hope to achieve with your new website?”

“Let me put it this way. It took us six years to free Anwar from jail. But only Anwar is free. Malaysians are not yet free. And Malaysians will never be free until they can be allowed freedom of expression and freedom of choice. It may take us 60 more years to free Malaysians, I don’t know. I may even never see that happen in my lifetime. But that is the mission and vision of Malaysia Today, to free Malaysians by allowing them freedom of expression. Freeing Anwar was phase one. Phase two is to free Malaysians.”

“Thank you Raja Petra. And I wish you luck in your new endeavour. Can we call you again if we need anything further?”

“Sure, no problem. Bye.”

That was my ‘interview’ with the BBC on the steps of the Palace of Justice on the morning of 2 September 2004. Malaysia Today was then only 20 days old. But Malaysia Today was created with a vision and a mission. It is not, as the government said, a hobby of bored and unemployed housewives. Malaysia Today was created to gain back the territory that we lost in the March 2004 general election when Barisan Nasional performed its best ever in the history of Malaysian elections.

“What do you think we are going to see?” Marina asked me. “This is going to involved a hell of a lot of work. And you are going to suffer all sorts of hassle from the police. Is it going to be worth it?”

“Hun (we call each other Hun, which is short for honey, not hantu),” I told Marina. “Come the next election, in 2008 or 2009, Malaysia Today is going to be the weapon we use to hit Barisan Nasional where it hurts most. We are going to engage Barisan Nasional in the cyber-world and use hit and run guerrilla tactics. They will be running around in circles trying to duck our hit and run attacks but they will not be able to do anything about it. By then the Internet will be the most powerful ‘terrorist’ weapon in the elections. And we will be there, ready to take on Barisan Nasional in 2008 or 2009.”

Yes, in 1998, when we first started using the Internet to fight Barisan Nasional, there were only 280,000 Internet subscribers against 8 million registered voters. Today, ten years on, there are almost 16 million Internet subscribers against 12 million registered voters.

Over the last ten years, the number of registered voters increased only 50%. However, in that same period, the number of Internet subscribers increased 328.9% (according to the official statistics). Today, the Internet reaches 62.8% of the Malaysian population. Malaysia has more Internet subscribers than it has voters. (See the statistics below).

Yes, that was our plan back in 2004 when we launched Malaysia Today. No, Malaysia Today is not a newspaper. And it is not in the same league as Malaysiakini and The Malaysian Insider. Malaysia Today is a guerrilla outfit. We are cyber terrorists. Our job is to hit the government whenever and wherever we can. And if hit and run is what it takes, then hit and run is what it will have to be.

We almost succeeded in meeting our aspirations in March 2008. But, in our books, that is a job only half done. We have to finish the job. We have to complete what we started back in 1998. And the completion would be when Barisan Nasional has been brought down from its high horse and made to eat humble pie. We will consider to have met our objective when the government admits that it serves the people, and not the people who serve the government.

On a slight digression, when I was in Kamunting from September to November last year, Marina sent me loads of books to read and one of those books was The Art of War by Sun Tzu. It was a most interesting book and took me only a day to finish. I must say that book gave me new insight into guerrilla warfare.

The government calls the Barisan Rakyat Bloggers cyber terrorists. Actually, I had never thought of it that way. I suppose, under the circumstances, since we have been classified as cyber terrorists, then we have no choice but to act as one. And terrorists must master the art of hit and run. in the same breath, I have to correct this misperception and declare that

***********************************************************

Internet World Statistics

Total world: 1,581,571,589
Asia Only: 650,361,843
Malaysia: 15,868,000 (62.8 % of the population) (user growth 2000-2008: 328.9 %)

Source: Internet World Stats
(http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm )

**************************************************************

The Art of War: Sūn Zǐ Bīng Fǎ

Chapter summary

1. Laying Plans explores the five key elements that define a successful outcome (the way, seasons, terrain, leadership, and management). By thinking, assessing and comparing these points you can calculate a victory, deviation from them will ensure failure. Remember that war is a very grave matter of state.

2. Waging War explains how to understand the economy of war and how success requires making the winning play, which in turn, requires limiting the cost of competition and conflict.

3. Attack by Stratagem defines the source of strength as unity, not size, and the five ingredients that you need to succeed in any war.

4. Tactical Dispositions explains the importance of defending existing positions until you can advance them and how you must recognise opportunities, not try to create them.

5. Energy explains the use of creativity and timing in building your momentum.

6. Weak Points & Strong explains how your opportunities come from the openings in the environment caused by the relative weakness of your enemy in a given area.

7. Manoeuvring explains the dangers of direct conflict and how to win those confrontations when they are forced upon you.

8. Variation in Tactics focuses on the need for flexibility in your responses. It explains how to respond to shifting circumstances successfully.

9. The Army on the March describes the different situations in which you find yourselves as you move into new enemy territories and how to respond to them. Much of it focuses on evaluating the intentions of others.

10. Terrain looks at the three general areas of resistance (distance, dangers, and barriers) and the six types of ground positions that arise from them. Each of these six field positions offers certain advantages and disadvantages.

11. The Nine Situations describe nine common situations (or stages) in a campaign, from scattering to deadly, and the specific focus you need to successfully navigate each of them.

12. The Attack by Fire explains the use of weapons generally and the use of the environment as a weapon specifically. It examines the five targets for attack, the five types of environmental attack, and the appropriate responses to such attack.

13. The Use of Spies focuses on the importance of developing good information sources, specifically the five types of sources and how to manage them.

Sun Tzu

South Korea's "prophet of doom" blogger acquitted

South Korea's "prophet of doom" blogger acquitted
Apr 20, 2009
Reuters

SEOUL, KOREA - A South Korean court acquitted a blogger on Monday of spreading false information, in a case that triggered debate about freedom of speech in cyberspace and crtics said was only launched because his economic doom postings angered authorities.

Defendant Park Dae-sung, who went by the pseudonym "Minerva" after the Greek goddess of wisdom became a household name last year for his predictions of sharp falls in the won and the local stock market and the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers.

"He's been found not guilty," a court official said by telephone. The court threw out charges that he purposely harmed market sentiment by posting false information on his blog.

Prosecutors said a posting Park made in December led to volatility in the local currency and caused financial authorities to inject billions of dollars to stabilise the Korean won.

"Even if there was recognition that it was false information, he cannot be seen as having acted on purpose to harm public interest considering the situation at the time including the special nature of the foreign exchange market," the court said.

As the markets tumbled last year, the main financial regulator warned it would crack down on what it considered malicious rumours. Some economic analysts said they had come under pressure from authorities not to voice negative views on the economy.

ONLINE VIEWS

South Korean markets appeared to have passed their worst turmoil in a decade at the time of Park's arrest in January but suffered another setback in March on lingering concerns about the country's ability to secure dollars to repay debt.

Since the arrest, legal experts have questioned whether authorities had legal grounds to prosecute individuals on views aired in online media. The conservative party of President Lee Myung-bak has been pushing for a tough law on cyber slander.

The Lee government has also been backing media reforms that would lift restrictions on big business from owning broadcast networks, which have led to protests at TV networks whose union members feel the move would lead to cuts in press freedom.

Park's lawyer said the case arose from a misguided attempt by the government to control public opinion in cyber space.

"The law itself is unconstitutional, and it is a dead law where the computer cannot be the subject of regulation," lawyer Park Chang-jong, who is not related to the defendant, told reporters after the verdict.

Blogger Park has been identified by prosecutors as an unemployed 30-year-old man who kept to his modest apartment in Seoul and learned of the financial markets with books he ordered online.

Since his detention, reports have flooded local media saying he was a quiet man with a humble education background, which experts said may be an attempt to discredit him in a society that places high value on elite education and prestigious jobs.

Seoul nabs blogger over economic gossip

Seoul nabs blogger over economic gossip
Jan 10, 2009
AFP

SEOUL, S KOREA: South Korea has arrested an elusive blogger whose predictions included the fall of investment firm Lehman Brothers, in a case that highlights government unease with the growing influence of online gossip in the world's most wired economy.

The 30-year-old man, identified only by his surname, Park, is accused of undermining the country's financial markets with his doom-mongering.

He faces charges of spreading 'groundless' allegations late last month that the government had ordered major financial institutions and trade businesses not to purchase dollars. Seoul issued a denial.

Park was detained on Wednesday and has admitted to the allegations, prosecution spokesman Oh Se In said.

But yesterday, Park told opposition lawmaker Lee Jong Kul that he had obtained information about the government's alleged order from some other websites and did not concoct it himself, according to Mr Lee's aide Park Min Woo. Mr Lee volunteered to be part of the blogger's defence team.

Those who spread false reports or stories on the Internet can be sentenced to five years in prison or a fine of 50million won (S$55,000).

Park - known widely by his pen name 'Minerva', the mythological Greek goddess of wisdom - described himself in Web entries as a former securities firm worker with a master's degree earned in the United States and experience in the field of corporate acquisitions and take- overs, according to local media.

But prosecutors found that Park was an unemployed resident of Seoul who studied economics on his own after graduating from a vocational high school and a junior college with a major in information and communication, Mr Oh said.

Park's arrest has since triggered a heated debate over how much freedom of speech should be tolerated in cyberspace.

The case also comes amid government efforts to combat negative comments on the economy in the media and from private sector economists. South Korea's export-dependent economy has been among the hardest hit in Asia by the financial crisis.

In about 100 postings on the popular Internet portal site Daum last year, Park criticised the government's handling of the economy and made predictions, largely negative, on the future.

'This may be the first case of restricting freedom of expression in the name of banning groundless Internet rumours,' Professor Koh Young Chul, of Jeju National University, told Yonhap news agency.

The main opposition Democratic Party denounced Park's arrest as an attempt to silence criticism of the government.

The Korean government's panic over Minerva and other Web-based rumour-mongers reflects a greater concern about the political role of the Net in South Korea, which has the world's greatest per capita access to cyberspace.

An adviser to President Lee Myung Bak, a conservative former businessman, admitted to the Financial Times last month that the government was trying to determine how to counter the influence of Internet chatrooms in Korean society.

Mr Lee was shaken last year by street protests over imports of US beef. The government had been unprepared for the degree to which passions could be inflamed in chatrooms and mass demonstrations orchestrated online within hours.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS

The Top 50 Websites

The Top 50 Websites

Fri, Mar 27, 2009 The Straits Times,Digital Life

By Sherwin Loh & Tham Yuen-C

HOW do you pick the choicest 50 websites when there are 186.7 million?

Of course, trawling all of cyberspace is impossible and the mediocrity of numerous sites make them unworthy of mention.

In the spirit of toasting the 20th birthday of the World Wide Web, we have made the cuts, nevertheless. Rough cuts they may be, but clear ground rules were applied.

The sites had to cover more than one topic, which excluded specialist spaces like Divx, Google Maps and Skype.

Also, the top-of-mind recalls were ruled out: So out went the likes of Google, Wikipedia, Yahoo and YouTube.

Instead, the final 50 highlight a wide range of subjects covering beauty, entertainment, parenting, travel and health, and offer useful tips and ideas and share information online.

Also, we noted the rise in the number of people using their mobile phones to go online: Internet information provider comScore says that 63.2 million people accessed the Internet on their mobile devices in January this year compared to 36.9 million in January last year.

So, we have included three sites that have been formatted for a mobile device. These are sites with icons and text sitting in just the right positions on small screens.

The sites on the following pages are numbered, but the numerals are for neat visual order and not to signal any order of merit.

---

Parenting

1. Kiasu Parents
www.kiasuparents.com

Raising a child is difficult enough. In Singapore, bringing up children has additional levels of stress. This is where Kiasu Parents comes in.

Aptly named, the site is a portal for local parents to gather and exchange tips and ideas on bringing up baby.

2. Nymbler

www.nymbler.com

For a site dedicated to naming your newborn, Nymbler scores by having a distinct name to call itself. Sure, Baby Name Wizard (www.babynamewizard.com) may be easier to find on search engines, but it loses points on originality

Pets

3. The Daily Puppy

www.dailypuppy.com

Even if you are not an animal lover, there is no denying that dogs are one of the cutest looking creatures on the planet and there is no further proof than The Daily Puppy.

Food

4. Food Network

www.foodnetwork.com

If you cannot get enough of the cooking shows on TV, check out Food Network, where you can watch full episodes of various cooking shows, from Iron Chef: America to 30 Minute Meals, for free. The site is the home of the United States cable TV channel of the same name.

5. Epicurious
www.epicurious.com

Whether you are scrambling for a cake recipe or need to decide on what wine to take to a dinner party, Epicurious will have what you need. The site has been around for years and is a treasure trove of information on food.

6. TasteSpotting
www.tastespotting.com

All you will see on this site are pictures of delicious food.

However, TasteSpotting is not just a collage of food porn to drool over.
The site is a compilation of recipes from the Web and each picture is a link to the website or blog where the recipe resides.

Healthy Living

7. Spark People
www.sparkpeople.com

There are two types of dieters: those who want to be left alone doing their own thing and those who need lots of support and encouragement from others.

Spark People is a weight-loss website for those who need moral support.

The site encourages you to shed kilograms by dieting and exercising. It has many of the standard tools, such as calorie counter and exercise tracker, that weight-loss sites offer.

8. Zen Habits
www.zenhabits.net

Healthy living is not just about exercising and dieting, it is also about being stress free, and Leo Babauta has some ideas on how to do it which he shares on his blog Zen Habits.

9. Fail Blog

www.failblog.org

The success of this site is dependent on the failure of countless of people. Remember shows on television that air home videos of something stupid that took place by accident or a mistake caught on camera?

Fail Blog relies on users putting up occasionally embarrassing, silly or compromising pictures or videos for a good laugh. The end result is a collection of content that shames the subject, but entertains the viewers.

10. F*** My Life
www.fmylife.com

The site name may be a tad explicit, but it sums up the thoughts of visitors who leave postings about how they are experiencing a new low in their lives.

Each paragraph-long post bears a touch of irony, even as some are simply downright funny.

11. Oddee: A Blog On Oddities
www.oddee.com

Robert Ripley of Ripley's Believe It Or Not will feel right at home here.

From the 15 Stupidest Warning Labels, 20 Most Bizarre Mugshots to the World's Most Creative Buildings, Oddee tracks the weirdest, most quirky and some downright puzzling mistakes made by man.

Data managers

12. Evernote
www.evernote.com

Even if you have an elephant's memory, it is near impossible to remember everything.

Evernote aims to do this mammoth task for you.

Think of it as a huge manila envelope in which you can save any kind of information you want, whether it is a recipe you have torn off a magazine, a label off a wine bottle, a business card or a love note scribbled on the back of a napkin.

13. Scanr
www.scanr.com

Phone cameras these days can snap clear pictures of documents you want to keep. However, if you leave them in JPEG format, storage is a problem and they would be unsearchable.

To help, Scanr lets you convert these images into PDF or text files. The online application can convert pictures of written or printed documents ranging from notes, forms, receipts, business cards to even scrawlings on whiteboards. All you have to do is snap a picture of the document and upload it onto the site.

14. Geni
www.geni.com

There is no poking or sheep throwing in this social networking site.

Its aim is to help members build up their family tree.

Unlike a regular social networking site, you can add only members related to you on Geni. When you first sign up, you are asked to add biographical details of your parents, siblings and other relatives.

Inspiration

15. Notcot
www.notcot.org

Tune in to all that is amusing and aesthetically pleasing on the Net at Notcot.

The site is a collection of pictures that are not only pretty to look at, but also link to other sites. These pictures and links are contributed by netizens around the world, but curated by a team of editors who decide what is good enough to go on the site.

If anything, the pretty pictures can, hopefully, spark off some creativity.

16. Lovelines
www.love-lines.com

Take a peek into the hearts of people around the world through Lovelines. The website lets you discover what the rest of the world is feeling through their blogs and Internet postings.

It does this by harvesting people's feelings through analysing thousands of blogs every minute and then picking up lines where there are expressions of love or hate.

The results of this analysis are presented in the form of an interactive page with sliders and charts.

As the site also ties in the feelings with the geographical location of the poster, it can also provide a glimpse into the emotional health of countries.

Entertainment

17. Musicovery

www.musicovery.com

The only time I get to discover new pieces of music is when I'm listening to the radio while driving.

What if you would like to discover songs that are new to you, but might not necessarily be new?

Try Musicovery, an online music service that helps you discover songs.

The cool thing is that you can explore the world of music not just by regular genres like musical style, but also by mood, decade and tempo.

This is a good way to try out obscure bands.

18. The Digital Bits
www.digitalbits.com

Movie fans hankering for the latest DVD releases or Blu-ray releases of blockbusters like The Lord Of The Rings or the Star Wars Trilogy should bookmark this site.

The Digital Bits keeps track of the home-video market, with news and reviews of the latest and upcoming releases from the United States.

19. Kontraband
www.kontraband.com

For family friendly fun, there is YouTube (www.youtube.com), but for everything else, there is Kontraband. As the name suggests, this site hosts clips, jokes, pictures and games that are best viewed when you are alone.

20. Newsarama
www.newsarama.com

To fans of the graphic novel, the movie Watchmen is a work of art. However, for non-fans who cannot quite follow the plot, there is a reason: The comic book was deemed "unfilmable" by the novel's creator, Alan Moore.

Find out more about comics and comics-related tie-ins like movies and video games, where all forms of spandex and capes are acceptable.

This article was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life.

Malaysian Blogger Fights a System He Perfected

Palani Mohan for The I.H.T.

Former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad of Malaysia blogs in English and Malay.

By SETH MYDANS

Published: November 5, 2008

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — In a vast office at the top of one of the world’s tallest buildings, former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad sits at a broad, glass-topped desk, scribbling his thoughts on a pad of unlined paper.

For 22 years, Mr. Mahathir was the most powerful person in this land, and his thoughts were commands as he reshaped the country in his own image.

But he has become an irritant and a spoiler five years after stepping down, turning against his handpicked successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, and falling victim to the press controls he perfected as prime minister.

“Where is the press freedom?” he asked two years ago, apparently surprised at being suddenly ignored. “Broadcast what I have to say! What I say is not even accurately published in the press!”

This May, though, he discovered the power of the Internet. Like many other inconvenient critics, he joined what seemed to be a political wave of the future, creating his own blog — www.chedet.com — where he vents in English and Malay several times a week.

Around the region bloggers are becoming a Fifth Estate, challenging the government’s monopoly on information in Singapore, evading censors in Vietnam, and influencing events in places like Thailand, Cambodia and China.

In March, political experts said, Malaysia’s bloggers helped influence elections, contributing to the biggest upset that the governing party, the United Malays National Organization, had suffered since independence in 1957. For the first time in decades, it held fewer than two-thirds of the seats in Parliament, and it lost control of 5 of the 13 states.

Among the opposition winners in the national and state governments were several bloggers, most prominently Jeff Ooi, who claimed to have prodded Mr. Mahathir into starting his own blog.

“The government doesn’t have a clue how to handle bloggers,” Mr. Ooi said in an interview. “If I were a dictator, I would be despairing. What do you do against this?”

The Internet has become the main battleground against censorship in Malaysia, where a system of self-censorship in an atmosphere of government pressure and intimidation has produced a constricted press.

Mr. Mahathir, 82, seems to be reveling now in challenging the system he once controlled, and he is as acerbic as he was during his days as prime minister.

“It is time the so-called intellectuals realize they were being duped by the Master of Spin,” he wrote on Aug. 21, referring to his bitter enemy, Anwar Ibrahim, who was his deputy prime minister and now leads the main opposition party. He also accused Mr. Anwar of being “the pious Muslim, who is also the bosom pal of Paul Wolfowitz, the neo-con Jew,” referring to the former United States deputy secretary of defense.

Blogging on Sept. 3, he offered a sort of mission statement. Many are with him as he harasses the government, he asserted. “But they are not prepared to say it openly,” he wrote. “That was why I started my blog. About six million had visited my blog site, and tens of thousands have commented and supported me.”

In case anyone doubts this, he posts comments to his blog by the dozens and hundreds, page after page, day after day. It turns out he has a lot of fans.

“Amazingly brilliant!” reads one comment. “I can’t stop laughing...you made my day Sir!”

And just to clear up any possible misunderstanding, another writes, “You, sir, are the most brilliant politician Malaysia has ever been blessed with.”

Mr. Ooi, 52, a former advertising copywriter who was one of Malaysia’s first political bloggers, started in 2003 and built a loyal following at www.jeffooi.com.

The government began an assault on Mr. Ooi that included threats of imprisonment without trial, attacks in the government-friendly press and defamation lawsuits, which are popular among leaders in Southeast Asia.

But that seemed only to make him a hero, and when he decided to run for Parliament as an opposition candidate, he already had a big head start.

“As a person that has consistently faced threats as a blogger, I had a kind of iconism and imagery that this is someone you can trust, someone the government fears, someone you need to put into Parliament,” Mr. Ooi said.

But he said it was much harder to blog from the inside. “The trade-off is that I have to write with measured words,” he said.

Earlier this year, Mr. Ooi said, he attended a public forum with Mr. Mahathir. It was there that he claimed he persuaded Mr. Mahathir to begin a blog.

“I threw him a challenge,” Mr. Ooi said. “A blogger shares a few prerequisites. One, he is strongly opinionated. Two, he could be controversial. And, thirdly, he is an agent provocateur on issues.

“I thought Mahathir fulfilled all three.”

The result, Mr. Ooi said, was “a miracle, he scored about 10 million visitors within months.”

Now, a convert to free speech, Mr. Mahathir is using his blog to champion the most recent victim of government censorship, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, the country’s most prominent blogger, who posts on www.malaysia-today.net, his Web site. The site has been blocked, but readers are redirected to another Web site, which continues to be updated.

The government has fallen back on the kind of tactics that Mr. Ooi faced. It charged Mr. Petra with sedition and jailed him for two years without trial for comments he had posted.

Mr. Mahathir sounded almost like Che Guevara when he said in his blog that the arrest showed “a degree of oppressive arrogance worthy of a totalitarian state.”

Furthermore, jailing people is futile, he said in an interview in his office. There is no way the government can arrest all the bloggers, even if it wants to.

At least, he said, “I hope so. Otherwise I’ll be in, too.”

From The NY Times

Psychiatrist: Sex videos reveal his inferiority complex

Psychiatrist: Sex videos reveal his inferiority complex

Tue, Mar 24, 2009 The New Paper

SINCE Mr Gary Ng started posting his videos online, responses from netizens have been mixed.

Some have called Mr Ng 'disgusting' and 'shameless' for openly posting his videos.

One forum member wrote: 'I think it is really disturbing and disgusting that you (Gary) are so open (about it).'

Another added: 'What an animal. Nothing good will come of this.'

Others have praised him for his exploits, making him a mini-celebrity in the local blogosphere.

Some feel there has been too much hype over the videos.

One netizen said: 'You can get plenty of this stuff on many websites so I don't understand what's the big deal about this. It's not a recent trend.'

It is a form of sexual deviance, said Dr Tan Chue Tin, a consultant psychiatrist.

Three other psychiatrists and counsellors agreed that Mr Ng's act of filming his sex trysts were meant to be revenge on women in general.

Mr Charles Lee, senior counsellor at Tanjong Pagar Family Service Centre, said: 'It's a display of vengeance, not realising that in doing so, he is also shaming himself.

'He probably feels a need to prove to himself that he is good and can get so many women. And it becomes more a conquest (where) he needs to prove his sexual prowess more to himself than to others.'

Another explanation: an inferiority complex.

Dr Brian Yeo, a consultant psychiatrist, said: 'He probably feels belittled by his ex-girlfriends and now wants photographic evidence of his sexual attraction and ability to get so many girls.

'The videos are meant to boast to others and point to an inferiority complex.'

Psychologist Daniel Koh said: 'His acts reveal his pain and actually give him some comfort in thinking that he has made a mark with females in general.'

Dr Yeo added that Mr Ng is likely to be targeting the general group as he has had sex and made videos with so many women.

Dr Tan said: 'It's his form of punishment and retaliation against women. He sounds almost like a sexual psychopath.'

While some psychiatrists said he needed to be counselled, others felt it would not be sufficient.

Dr Tan said: 'I think he is at quite a hardcore stage as he seems to have been at this for quite some time.

'It will be difficult to change him just by counselling and it is better to have him kept away for treatment, rather than be let loose as he will not change.'

- Pearly Tan, newsroom intern

I secretly filmed women in bed

I secretly filmed women in bed

Tue, Mar 24, 2009 The New Paper

By Liew Hanqing

HE HAS an ordinary day job as a surveyor in a bunkering firm, but he also leads a secret life as an amateur pornographer.

TNP PHOTO ILLUSTRATION

And Gary Ng, 29, is fast gaining online notoriety after his self-filmed sex videos - posted on various amateur porn sites and sex forums - caused an uproar among local netizens.

The 33 videos, which have since been removed from those sites, featured him having sex with several women who, he claims, are from all walks of life.

The New Paper on Sunday managed to get in touch with Mr Ng through his e-mail address, which he displays on his videos.

In an online interview, he said he had removed the videos from the porn sites, but had later posted them on another website for his 'fans'.

Most of the videos begin with him in office wear before he undresses.

The video titles are telling - 'Gary Ng vs Beer Promo Auntie', 'Gary Ng vs Friend's Niece' and 'Gary Ng vs Chua Chu Kang girl' - just to name a few.

He even claimed to have had sex with a mother and her daughter on two different occasions. His other conquests range from waitresses and housewives to tertiary students and bank executives, he said.

When asked if Gary Ng is his real name, he said it is.

To attract netizens to view his videos, he also posted links on sex forums, where he has been given the dubious honour of being called Singapore's Edison Chen.

Edison, a Chinese-Canadian actor, was embroiled in a high-profile sex scandal after pictures of him having sex with several Hong Kong starlets were leaked online last year, after he sent a computer for repairs.

The comparison is not very apt, though. Edison did not intend to make the pictures public, but got himself and the women involved in a lot of trouble because they could all be easily identified.

Mr Ng, on the other hand, has put the videos online himself, but he has protected the women involved by keeping out their faces, as well as his own.

Although making or reproducing obscene films is a criminal offence (see box at right), Mr Ng apparently had no qualms about doing this over a period of time.

He started posting his sex videos online last September.

His reason for doing so, it seems, was to get back at women after he was cheated in previous relationships.

He said he was disillusioned after three consecutive failed relationships. Each of his girlfriends had cheated on him, he claimed.

His first girlfriend of three years - whom he met when he was just 15 - slept with somebody else behind his back, he said. His second girlfriend of six years did the same.

The final straw was when he was sent a video of his third girlfriend, a Thai national, having sex with somebody else.

He recalled: 'She was having a fling in Bangkok. They filmed sex videos and the guy posted them online to share with others.

'He sent me the link through the social network hi5.com. When I saw the video of my girlfriend and him, I totally turned numb towards life and relationships.

'We broke off in the end.'

Mr Ng said he sought solace in nights of endless partying and revelry.

He recalled: 'After all this, I was tortured mentally, asking why God had done this to me.

'My life was clubbing and drinking every day till the wee hours of the morning, and sleeping till the late afternoon before beginning another long night with my buddies.'

While partying, Mr Ng said he got to know women at various clubs, including Dragonfly, St James Power Station and Arena.

And he had sex with them on numerous occasions.

In the space of about a year, he claimed to have chalked up more than 50 sex partners - including polytechnic students, undergraduates and high-flying executives.

The women, he said, were attracted to him because he 'grooms himself well' and drives a 'nice car' - a Nissan GTR.

He started filming his sex trysts - taken mostly at home or at hotels - for his own viewing pleasure, and later decided to post them online on a whim.

He said: 'The response to the videos was shocking great. I kept receiving e-mails commenting on my videos and skills.

'Of course, I protect my partners by not showing their faces in the videos.'

He added that somehow filming himself having sex with random women served as an outlet for the frustration he had experienced in his previous relationships.

He added that his partying escalated and caused him to 'lose focus at work'.

But he was thrilled by the online attention his videos were getting, and continued posting them on amateur porn sites, and exchanging them with netizens who had added him to their MSN Messenger contact lists.

He now has more than 1,000 contacts, most of whom had got in touch with him after viewing his sex videos.

'Some are guys who ask me to introduce girls to them, and who exchange their own home-made sex videos for mine.

'Some ask me sex-related questions, like how to please a woman.'

He added that he also gets propositions from women he chats with online.

But he is not without his detractors.

Some netizens have said online that MrNg may be lying about his conquests and had paid prostitutes to be his video subjects.

When asked, Mr Ng said simply: 'I don't bother about these people. Perhaps they are jealous.'

He is also unabashed about approaching women for sex.

He said: 'Once, I was having dinner at a coffee shop near home and a woman tried to sell me a bottle of beer. She said it was her last bottle and that she could go home after selling it.'

He ended up chatting with the woman, who was in her 40s.

'She told me she was a divorcee,' he recalled.

He offered her a ride home but they ended up going to a hotel for sex. He secretly filmed the tryst and later posted it online.

Mr Ng said most of the women in his videos allowed him to film them during sex. But he admitted to secretly filming some women whom he had 'failed to convince'.

His tool of choice: a video camera.

Mr Ng said his family does not know about his online activities, and that he has told only a few 'close buddies' about his secret life.

On whether he fears being recognised, Mr Ng said: 'I always edit away my face and the faces of my girls, so as to protect them and myself.

'Even if I am exchanging videos with others, I still maintain my stand of taking away those face parts.'

He says this is to avoid jeopardising his partners' lives and careers.

'As some of these girls are either from polytechnics or local universities, I do not want to expose them.

'I care about their future too - many are also high-fliers in banking (and are of) executive level. I do not want to spoil their lives.'

Related links:
No way to ensure footage will be secure

This article was first published in The New Paper.

Blog with care, say lawyers

2009/03/15

Blog with care, say lawyers

By Sonia Ramachandran

Foong Cheng Leong says you are liable if someone posts an favourable comment on your blog

KUALA LUMPUR: You create a fake Facebook profile about your friend or foe, can you get away with it? No.

Nizam Bashir Abdul Kariem Bashir says the strongest defence for defamation is justification

Someone takes an unflattering photograph of you and posts it on his blog. Can you do anything about it?

Apparently not.

These were among the clarifications given yesterday at a question-and-answer session at the eLawyer Law Conference 2009 themed "Blogging and Law" yesterday.

For unflattering photographs, intellectual property lawyer Foong Cheng Leong said: "So long as it is that person who has taken the photo of you, he has the copyright to it. Unfortunately, even if that photograph is not that nice."
What about taking a video from YouTube and posting it on your blog?

"You would have infringed copyright laws as you have reproduced material without consent," he said.

What if someone posts an unfavourable comment about a minister on your blog but you reply to the post saying the comment is inappropriate. Are you liable?

"Yes. Your response will help only in the mitigation of your sentencing or damages against you."

On copyright, Foong said if you drew a caricature and commissioned someone else to do illustrations for your blog, you would own the copyright to the caricature and illustrations.

"Even if you paid the person just RM1 or RM2 to do it."

If an image is taken of a website and posted on a blog, said Foong, the defence of fair dealing would be available if the website was credited to the proper owner.

On the fake Facebook profile, lawyer Nizam Bashir Abdul Kariem Bashir said the person responsible would be liable for defamation.

"The strongest defence for defamation is justification. If you express an opinion and the facts are reasonably accurate and it is published in the interest of the public, then it is acceptable," said Nizam

What if you link your blog to a website that contains defama-tory information or images?

The courts, said Nizam, had held that it was fine if the link just contains the name of the site as opposed to its uniform resource locator.

Are you still liable for defamation if you use someone's name in your blog , and in brackets, explain that it is just an example?

"Even if the comments were humorous, parties have still taken matters like this to court. It would depend on the context of the information. Brackets might not necessarily work on all occasions."

Nizam said it was defamation if a blogger's writing injures the reputation of another person.

"How much damages you get would depend on how much your reputation is worth. There is also innuendo, where someone reading the comments would jump to the conclusion that the person being written about is you.

"This will allow you to bring a suit against the person who wrote the comments although you were not named.

If I say that there was this person who was allegedly speaking to the chief justice on the phone, you would immediately know who I am speaking about," said Nizam.

If there is a defamatory comment on a blog but the blogger subsequently removes it, is he still liable?

"Yes. It will only help in the mitigation of sentencing. There is freedom on the Net, but there must also be responsibility."

'I wish I kept a copy of my nude photos'

Fri, Feb 27, 2009

STOMP

'I wish I kept a copy of my nude photos'

by Maia Lee

There is a reason why I can only buy new laptops and hard disk - over my dead body would I ever send mine in for repair.

Wouldn't be surprising to anyone since I'm pretty infamous for being ‘liberal' in many ways.

If you're among the few (sensible and mature people) who can relate to how my mind works and why I do what I do, you know that I trust easily and I always give my all to the other half.

Who doesn't think of his/her other partner as The One?

Ok fine, many people don't and I don't understand why they would still be with each other and do things a married couple would do.

So a few people had my nude pictures and videos. It is all history and if it surfaces, it would only throw me into the limelight yet again.

And then?

Do I have anything more to lose, or a lot more to gain? My life has been such that, things (which any average being would've killed themselves over) happen and I just keep picking myself up over, and then move on.

With each experience came more understanding of how the world works, and how miserable it actually is - hence I should live it happier than the shallow.

I wouldn't want my dad to be seeing those very private stuff of his daughter, but if they are all over, he should - and would most probably - look at it this way:

I am the same old person he gave birth to 26 years ago, I am his daughter and I have proved to be the person I would have been. I am not ashamed of whatever I have done and I learned a lot. It isn't going to change the fact that I am who I am.

At the end of it all, I am smiling even as the world takes a kick out of saying bad things about me. I reject whatever bad they say (as always, obviously).

Come on, it's either you look like a man or a woman. We are all the same.

When the Edison-Chen-and-whoever-else scandal broke, even my seemingly mature friends (I would NEVER ever have imagined they would be the ones) sent me the leaked photographs. I deleted them all without looking.

If someone's nude or even explicit photos are leaked, SO WHAT? If it says so bad of that someone, WHAT ABOUT THOSE WHO LOOK AT / DELIBERATELY DO A SEARCH ON / FORWARD IT TO FRIENDS?

Who is the beast here? Who should be shamed here? That said, you should really wake up your idea and look at how many despicable people there are amongst us.

I once did an interview with a local paper regarding the same topic a few years back. I didn't mind being named but I was still referred to as ‘Jane' or something.

I readily admitted that an ex-boyfriend had kept all videos and pictures of myself (and us, of course) that I have long deleted. He still stalks me till today, even though it's really been YEARS.

He's perverted, God knows if he has shown it to his friends or even his dad. Maybe after this blog entry of mine, something might surface?

I know what I want and I know who I am. Not many things can shake me anymore, dear world.

I would look back, and at, my pictures and videos and go, "Oh! They used to look like this...!" And I would definitely be so turned on. Wished I had kept a copy for myself.

This article first appeared on www.stomp.com.sg

Saturday February 21, 2009

She holds up ‘half the heaven’

Insight: Down South
By SEAH CHIANG NEE

Globalisation has changed the face of society, so much so that today’s Singapore Girl has closed the gap with her sister in the West, in her sexual mores, too.

IN GOOD times or bad, the emerging New Singapore Woman out-performs the man in many areas – and more than holds up “half the heaven” (as Mao Zedong once said of China).

During the past decade or two, this young confident, better-educated and increasingly independent-minded person has become as sophisticated as her sister in the West.

But there has also been a controversial part of the transformation; her sexual values, too, have closed the gap with other global cities.

Recent events have shown just how much society, and our women, have been changed by modernisation, including the following:

1. As if taking a cue from the US, a 32-year-old school teacher and mother pleaded guilty to having sex on six occasions with her student aged 15. She has made history by becoming the first Singaporean woman to be charged with having sex with a minor.

2. TV and radio celebrity Jamie Yeo, 31, recently blogged about how she lost her virginity at 18, and other intimate details of how she found pleasure at six.

In a message no one’s grandmother would likely have voiced, Jamie told the men: “It is your duty to romance us, even if we’re fussy, picky and annoying. For we are also beautiful, sexy, loving and endearing, and don’t forget, you need us. We bear you children.”

3. Parents reacted angrily when a 32-year-old primary school teacher posted photos of herself in G-string bikinis that were accessible to her pupils. Her defence: Teachers, too, are entitled to live their own private lives.

Nowadays chat-sites frequently carry discussions about married women having affairs with their office colleagues, a trend that was virtually unheard of 20 years ago.

One report estimated that one in seven married women has had affairs at least once in her lifetime.

“My male colleague told me that he prefers married women because there won’t be strings attached ... and these flings are more exciting,” a blogger related.

Before I proceed, I must hasten to say that two-timing is a predominantly male game, which happens much less often among wives. Neither is promiscuity confined to youths. In fact, the older adults are probably more guilty.

Secondly, in case anyone should misread this, Singapore society (of all races) remains broadly serious, conservative and religious.

However, the increasing global influences in recent decades have eroded traditional values among a growing minority of young people – particularly women.

What was viewed as “immoral” by their grandmothers is considered “normal” by many girls and boys today.

In a recent web posting, Randolph remarked: “I spoke to a relative who used to be a taxi driver stationed at the Mandarin Hotel for more than 20 years.

“He told me that whenever there were US marines here there would be so many girls to pick up early in the morning for trips to NUS (National University of Singapore) hostel.”

He appears worried about the trend. “We must stop this degeneration caused by policies that displace families and the proper upbringing of our children and future generation.”

A Dr Lee wrote about his experience of living for five years at NUS Residence Halls: “Co-inhibiting and intimacy are often sights at all NTU (Nanyang Technological University) and NUS residence halls.”

The boys and girls were placed on separate floors, he said. “You’d see half-naked guys running around the girls’ floor in the middle of the night. Some couples don’t even close their doors when making out.’’

In a way it was good, Dr Lee added, “because most couples I know ended up marrying and having kids, which is good for reproduction health and numbers”.

The interactive Straits Times reported about a girl prostituting herself online “in order to support her family”. Its informant said: “Online soliciting is increasingly common in Singapore.”

The report added: “Singaporean websites with sexually explicit content were also brought into the media spotlight in recent months. Cases include explicit posts on an air stewardess’ blog.”

The teenage girl who offered sexual services named the price: S$200 (RM478) per 45-minute affair. Several racy photos alleging to be her were posted.

Newspapers sometimes carry news of the clubbing habits of the younger set, while counsellors have expressed concern about the rise in teenage drinking.

There had been instances when fashionable young women were seen lying drunk on the street outside Yuppie bars covered in vomit.

To be sure, they’re far from being an everyday habit, but excessive drinking among women is growing.

Melissa Lim, centre director of Students Care Service (Yishun), has urged parents to talk about sexuality with their children to reduce unwanted pregnancy and venereal disease.

“There’s definitely a trend of younger children experimenting with sex, pornography and online sex chats,” she said.

In some ways, Singapore is reaping what it has sown. Forty years of prudish, high-pressure living had produced an unexciting society when it came to sex.

Most parents avoid educating their children about it, leaving them to find out – and experiment – from less desirable teachers.

Is the new world good or bad? Great, say many youths, since they believe there’s nothing wrong about a little fun now and then.

The vast majority of parents think otherwise. This trend is already dealing a blow to the sanctity of marriage and the family.

When it comes to sexual initiative, the Singapore woman apparently tops Asia – just as she excels in other fields.

Some 18% of the women here initiate sex, a higher proportion than anywhere else in the continent, according to a Time magazine survey.

Netizens mourn blogger's death

Netizens mourn blogger's death

Tue, Jan 06, 2009 The New Paper

THEY did not know her.

Yet, dozens of netizens found they could empathise with Miss Shandy Sim, a 30-year-old bank manager who blogged about her six-month battle with cancer.

Sadly, her story ended last week with the post: 'Shandy passed away this morning. We were all beside her when she left us peacefully.'

Her brother, Mr Edmund Sim, 28, a banking executive, had written this to inform those who had been following Miss Sim's online account of what turned out to be her last weeks.

She died of cervical cancer on 26Dec.

Mr Sim told The New Paper on Sunday that his sister was much loved by family and friends, with 80 mourners turning up for her funeral on Tuesday.

More than 10 strangers also sent condolences through the blog and text messages to Mr Sim.

The end came just six months after a cancerous mass was discovered on Miss Sim's pelvis. In June, she began feeling pain in her left leg.

Mr Sim said: 'Initially, she thought it was aching muscles as she had gym sessions. She had a healthy lifestyle and never drank or smoked.

'Only when her leg swelled up did we go for a medical check. By then, doctors said her cancer was at Stage3.'

What followed were four days of crying as the illness ended Miss Sim's hopes of having children.

Soon after being diagnosed, Miss Sim, who was single and lived in a Tanglin condominium, set up a blog on her fight with cancer and her optimism that she would win the battle.

The blog, at http://shandysim.blogspot.com, touched the hearts of many netizens because of its positive attitude towards life and death, said her brother.

Titled 'Adventures of Radioactive Girl', the blog details her experiences while undergoing chemotherapy.

Despite the pain and discomfort, Miss Sim still managed to inject humour into her posts.

In one post, she wrote that she had lost a lot of weight after chemotherapy, ending the post by saying, 'Am waiting for Marie France Slimming Centre to endorse me. hehehe.'

In another, she wrote about losing control of her bladder while on heavy sedatives.

'My mum and aunt had put me in these amazingly huge diapers. I totally hate them. Not that I don't have a choice about wearing them. I can live in the loo. Haha,' she wrote.

Before getting cancer, Miss Sim was a high flyer in a bank, becoming a branch manager at the age of 25. She earned enough to holiday in London every summer and drive a Saab car.

Mr Sim said his sister had a passion for her job.

He said: 'She was very much like the young executive - full of confidence and passion for her job and life. My sister enjoyed working where she felt important and her contribution to the company was never left unnoticed.

'Never once did I hear her say she was tired from working.'

Menopause

Miss Sim also went through early menopause as her reproductive system shut down.

In one entry, she quipped: 'I am most probably your youngest menopausing friend.'

Her blog gained a following, so much so that fellow cancer sufferers offered to visit her in the National University Hospital, saying they understood what she was going through.

As the cancer spread through her body, Miss Sim became too weak to update her blog and her brother took over from 20Oct.

Even then, her family wanted those who came to visit to project a positive attitude by wearing brightly coloured clothes and avoiding solemn expressions.

By mid-December, doctors told Miss Sim's family to be mentally prepared to lose her as the cancer had spread to more parts of her body.

She died on the morning of Boxing Day, surrounded by her family.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Jan 4, 2009.

Who in the world is Pablo Banila?

Who in the world is Pablo Banila?

Bianca Consunji Wed, Nov 12, 2008 Philippine Daily Inquirer, ANN

HE began as a series of mysterious avatars popping up on my Multiply viewing history. He didn't bother me at first, because I was used to friendly strangers visiting my site. But when he began visiting on an almost daily basis - and under different usernames, although with the same avatar?

I started to wonder who in the world was Pablo Banila.

Visits to his websites offered no clue. His avatar showed a creepy-looking guy with matted chin-length hair (think Severus Snape from Harry Potter) and a flashing sign that read, "Pablo Banila has a crush on you! That's why he visited your website!"

That would have been almost flattering had I not already known that he had visited the websites of at least a hundred other people - all under different usernames and the same annoying avatar. He also has a dotcom, www.pablobanila.com, but it offers no clues, only rambling passages of text and close-up photos of himself.

People started complaining. "Please get a life, you pervert," wrote one girl in her blog, after listing down his many usernames - pablobanila, ppaabblloobanila, rainbowinmycoffee, carrotperfume, laughingmankuze, edwardward, blackbetweenthestars, theblackbetweenthestars, etc. People left similar comments on that entry, saying, "OMG he viewed me too!" or "He views mine too, it's so creepy!"

Others chimed in, "He views me every other day, more often than I check my own Multiply site," while guys posted nervous comments like, "He checks me out too, and I'm a boy."

So far, his visits to sites have been harmless (all he does is view homepages; he doesn't leave comments), but creepy - there's just no other word for it. Attempts to discover his identity have so far been futile. But identity aside, what everyone wants to know is, how does he find time to check out all those Multiply pages?

Is Pablo Banila actually a team of high school kids with nothing better to do?

Is Pablo Banila actually a group of college students doing a psychology research project for their thesis?

Is Pablo Banila a new Internet virus?

Is Pablo Banila actually just the government looking for suspected terrorists by combing through the pages of unsuspecting Multiply users?

Is Pablo Banila merely the victim of pranksters who are out to get him?

Or is Pablo Banila just really a sad person with no friends and nothing better to do?

In any case, Multiply users are waiting for an answer. But until then, Pablo Banila continues to stalk our websites - and our nightmares.