FRESH evidence has surfaced to put the Romanian embassy’s charge d’affaires in the Sungei Kadut area where the embassy’s car – which was involved in a fatal hit-and-run accident – was found abandoned later that morning. A cabby yesterday told The Straits Times that he had picked up Dr Silviu Ionescu, the highest ranking Romanian embassy official in Singapore, at 3am-3.30am on Dec 15 in the Sungei Kadut area, after Dr Ionescu had flagged him down.

Source: ST

Circumstances suggest that the good doctor may be a suspect.  And where is he now?  In Romania, apparently.  We support Temasek Review’s call that the Singapore police should explain the following to the public:

1. Why wasn’t the passport of Dr Silviu impounded when he is the prime suspect?
2. Was a waival of diplomatic immunity put in officially to the Romanian government?
3. Why did they they so long to investigate the case?
4. What are their findings?
5. What are they going to do next to bring the culprit to justice?

Might the authorities have acted differently if the driver was an opposition party member?

MOGADISHU: Somali pirates on Tuesday released a Spanish tuna trawler and its 36 crew seized more than a month ago in the Indian Ocean, saying they had been paid a US$4 million (2.6 million euro) ransom. Speaking in Madrid, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero confirmed the boat, the Alakrana, was free and its crew safe. He would not confirm a ransom was paid, but said the “government did what it had to do… I can confirm that the Alakrana fishing trawler is sailing freely toward safer waters and that all of its crew members are safe and sound.”

Source: CNA

 I wonder what happened to the Singapore-registered tanker that was reportedly hijacked last month.  According to the MPA, there were 21 crew members and two permanent Singapore residents on board.  The last update appears to be dated 7 November.

If the Singapore government paid any ransom, we have a right to know.

 

To prevent [cyber attack] from happening, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is taking its biggest step forward in cyber-security, setting up a new agency under the Internal Security Department.
The Singapore Infocomm Technology Security Authority (Sitsa) will focus on “securing key national interests in the realm of IT security”, Law and Second Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said.

Source: Today

Sure, some idiotic hackers in this world might choose to cyber attack puny Singapore instead of focusing on more substantial targets such as US and China. But is it likely that a hacker would want to waste time writing virus for Mac, rather than to spend his efforts to hack the wider PC market (which is over 90% of user market)?

The Singapore government should just call a spade a spade. You don’t like online activity, you want to catch people, so you beef up your cyber police to deal with such people. We understand. No need to use terrorists as an excuse. Please. We are not stupid.

Arthur

We help ourselves. Don’t expect others to help

Tom Wright painted a bleak picture of Singapore’s property sector going forward at The Wall Street Journal. His article ended with the following:
“I’m yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel [for Singapore],” says Mr. Tan, the high-end broker.
We would expect people to continue to dig the dirt and tell it to [...]



Our skin isn’t as thick as it should be

The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) organised a seminar on March 4 to discuss Singapore’s political blogosphere.  Tan Tarn How, Senior Research Fellow and Research Assistant Tan Simin presented their paper on trends observed in the blogosphere.  As reported in the TOC, the researchers identified the following limitations:

The online-offline firewall, while somewhat alleviated by offline [...]



Singapore and Lee Kuan Yew – The answer to the African problem?

Recently, I followed a thread “Democracy and Economic Growth” which started in PoliticsForum.org.   Apparently, members there often question the role of democracy in a developing nation. “During the wave of democratization in Africa during the 90s, many people had renewed hope for the continent, immediately equating newly established democracies to economic growth. Are these democracies [...]



Tell Singapore government: Ask them a question or give a suggestion

We informed people about the “Tell Singapore Government” subsite and have received some interesting reaction at some forums.
See: 3in1 Kopitiam, Sam’s Alfresco Coffee, Singapore Kopitiam, SgForums
Our responses to some of the comments are listed below. If we are not answering some other specific questions, that is because we do not know how.
 

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To observe, analyse, present our position, and call for action. Read our articles, give your views, and learn together with us.