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Netizens can sieve out most

fake news but government

action needed in emergencies

SPH, Kajima break ground

at ‘future Bishan’

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).

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.

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March30,2018

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