Netizens can sieve out most
fake news but government
action needed in emergencies
SPH, Kajima break ground
at ‘future Bishan’
R
AIL operator SMRT Corpora-
tion is aiming for no more than
one delay per month by 2020 –
at least three times better than its per-
formance today.
At its annual review on March 28,
chief executive Desmond Kuek de-
scribed this as “a bold target”, which
“only a handful” of the world’s metros
can match.
“Our goal is to reduce any delay to
less than five minutes, and in the worst,
ensure that it does not last longer than
30 minutes,” Mr Kuek said.
“It is these major incidents, lasting
longer than 30 minutes, that we must
strenuously avoid.”
Last year, SMRT had nine such ma-
jor incidents, excluding those related to
a project to change-out the signalling
system — which determines how
closely trains can travel to each other. If
signalling faults were included, there
were 13 such long delays on the
North-south, East-west and Circle
lines – which are operated by SMRT.
This was one more than in 2016.
If delays of more than five minutes
were included, signalling-related de-
lays totalled more than 140 last year,
going by a chart provided by the
newly-privatised operator.
Signalling-related delays formed
the bulk of delays on its lines last year.
Mr Kuek said however, that inci-
dents related to the resignalling project
were “temporal”, and were thus ex-
cluded in its reliability count.
In response to questions on when
signalling-related delays would be in-
cluded, SMRT chairman Seah Moon
Ming said they should be included
from end-June, when the new sig-
nalling system is completely opera-
tional on both the North-south and
East-west lines.
Mr Seah said the early closure and
late opening (ECLO) of the two lines
since late last year had provided SMRT
“nearly three times the engineering
hours for maintenance, inspection and
renewal works”.
Asked how long ECLO will con-
tinue, the chairman said it would need
to continue for at least the rest of this
year.
“We cannot say forever,” he said.
“But if there’s a need, we’ll go for it.”
SMRT said that as of February, the
North-South line had clocked
447,000km between delays, while the
East-West line posted 289,000km, and
the Circle line 564,000km.
Mr Kuek said: “With the completion
of key projects and stabilising of the
new signalling system, we’ve seen posi-
tive results in rail reliability.
“While this is encouraging, there’s
more we can do to drive reliability even
higher.”
He noted that the company now
spends 60 per cent of fare revenue on
maintenance, up from 50 per cent.
“Going forward, we are gunning for
zero safety breaches and zero delays of
more than 30 minutes,” he added.
Altogether... The Woodleigh Residences and The Woodleigh Mall groundbreaking ceremony at the
construction site attended by top SPH and Kajima Corporation executives together with His Excellency
Kenji Shinoda, Ambassador of Japan to Singapore (fourth from left).
P
H
O
T
O
:
S
P
H
,
K
A
J
I
M
A
C
O
R
P
N
THE local online citizenry is so-
phisticated and can detect on-
line falsehoods quite quickly
most of the time, but there are
situations that warrant govern-
ment intervention, said two aca-
demics from the Wee Kim Wee
School of Communication and
Information, Nanyang Techno-
logical University.
On a normal day, “low-level
online trolling” can be easily
dismissed by local netizens, As-
sistant Professor Liew Kai
Khiun told a Select Committee
on deliberate online falsehoods
on Wednesday. However, in an
emergency (like a riot) or a ma-
jor event (like an election), the
Government should step in as a
lifeguard, he added.
In such cases, the Govern-
ment should issue take-down
notices of falsehoods and con-
duct closer monitoring of those
who create such fake news, he
said.
And such steps should not
be taken quietly, which could
fan conspiracy theories and sus-
picion, but rather be publicised
to send a message, he said.
Said Dr Liew: “In future –
and perhaps even as we are
speaking now – something that
is posted online cannot truly be
taken down, it will always exist
on some platform.
“But the take-down princi-
ple is important for expressing
a strong message... that the Gov-
ernment is serious about this,
the authorities are acting on it.”
Associate Professor Alton
Chua agreed, adding: “The tak-
ing down itself cannot be done
in isolation of other measures.
It has to be publicised on main-
stream media.”
Both professors also argued
for other longer-term measures
to be implemented.
Dr Liew said: “We have to
accept a certain level of false-
hood will persist. We cannot
come up with a new law and ex-
pect religious and racial har-
mony. (Laws) must be supple-
mented by political and admin-
istrative measures.”
Citizens have to be made
more aware of how to conduct
themselves online and what to
look out for, he said.
For its part, the Government
must be seen to take action
when citizens raise complaints,
because simmering underlying
tensions can be easily exploited
by online trolls to spark a crisis,
he added.
In his written submission to
the committee, Dr Chua called
for an expansion of the Na-
tional Education curriculum to
include the moral, legal and so-
cial implications of fake news to
“develop digital information
savviness in our students”.
He also suggested support-
ing and growing fact-checking
online communities.
“A starting point can be
found in the hubs of existing so-
cial networks, and in particular,
influential users whose views
can spread widely within a
short time,” he noted.
“Working as partners with
the Government, these users
serve as anchors in
crowd-sourced platforms to ex-
pose hoaxes and lies. In this
way, falsehoods are dealt with
from both top-down and bot-
tom-up.”
Rail operator aims to be at least
three times more reliable by 2020
SMRT: One delay a month, max
THE first private residential-cum-retail devel-
opment that is shaping up in the new Bidadari
estate will offer some 680 residential units and
close to 28,000 square meters of retail gross
floor area.
The project, being developed jointly by Sin-
gapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Japanese de-
veloper Kajima Development, will also fea-
ture Singapore’s first air-conditioned base-
ment bus interchange.
Condominium units of The Woodleigh Resi-
dences, ranging from two to four bedroom
units, are likely to be priced at above S$2,000
per square foot when the development is
launched, likely in September, sources say.
OrangeTee & Tie and Savills Singapore are
the appointed marketing agents for The
Woodleigh Residences.
As for the retail component The Woodleigh
Mall, it will be retained by the developers for
recurring income.The mixed-use project by
SPH and Kajima Development marked its
groundbreaking on March 28 .
“We aim to transform this parcel of raw
land into a much sought after oasis for home-
owners to live close to park-land surroundings
yet enjoy the convenience of a well provi-
sioned and vibrant mall,” said SPH chairman
Lee Boon Yang at the project’s groundbreak-
ing.
SPH and Kajima Development had in June
last year tabled a top bid of S$1.13 billion for
the much-coveted commercial and residential
site, which is the first Government Land Sale
site offered in the new Bidadari Estate.
Their winning bid worked out to a land rate
of S$1,181 per square foot per plot ratio based
on the maximum gross floor area allowed for
the 99-year leasehold site.
Widely referred to as the “future Bishan”
due to its central location, the Bidadari estate
spanning 93-ha is developed as part of Toa
Payoh town, bounded by Bartley Road, Sen-
nett Estate, Upper Serangoon Road and
Mount Vernon Road.
It is envisaged to be “a community in a gar-
den”, with new HDB flats launched in the area
so far being over-subscribed. Dr Lee noted
that the development will complement and
benefit from the adjacent Bidadari Park while
residents will enjoy views over the Alkaff
Lake and Bidadari Heritage Walk.
Page14
March30,2018
tabla
!
SINGAPORE