60 people fall ill after mass food poisoning incident at ByteDance office; SFA, MOH investigating

By:
On:
In: South-East Asia

SCDF told CNA that it received multiple calls for medical assistance at One Raffles Quay at 3.15pm on Tuesday.

It had earlier said 15 ambulances were deployed to the scene, and that 30 people who experienced symptoms of abdominal pain and vomiting had been taken to hospitals.

The number of ambulances deployed as well as the number of people taken to hospital were later revised to 17 and 41 respectively. 

In its initial statement at 7.32pm, SCDF described the incident as “still ongoing”. In its update at 8.15pm, SCDF said that all its personnel and emergency vehicles had returned to their respective fire stations and fire posts.

“WHOLE OFFICE SMELLED LIKE VOMIT”

A 28-year-old ByteDance employee told CNA on Tuesday evening that the canteen on the 26th floor, which operates from 12pm to 2pm, serves “China-style Chinese food” and is “quite popular among employees”.

“It’s a new vendor which was only recently engaged, perhaps two months ago,” said the employee, who wished to remain anonymous.

“My colleagues felt nauseous about an hour after lunch (around 3pm). Mostly vomiting and diarrhoea. The toilets were all full and there were people lying on the floor. The whole office smelled like vomit.”

The staff member added that the scene was “quite chaotic” as people vomited on the floor and in the pantry, with cleaners “rushing around the office cleaning up the mess”.

“Two of my teammates went to the hospital via SCDF, while four went to the clinic. They didn’t want to go to the hospital.”

The employee noted that those who visited the general practitioner (GP) clinic obtained a three-day sick leave.

Continue Reading

CNA Explains: Why is Malaysia asking social media platforms to get a licence or risk getting banned?

By:
On:
In: Asia

For instance in March 2018, then-prime minister Najib Razak and his ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) government introduced a controversial Anti-Fake News Act that set out fines of up to RM500,000 and a maximum of six years’ jail for anything the government defined as “fake news”.

The move was condemned by the opposition – including Mr Fahmi’s Pakatan Harapan coalition – and political activists who feared it would be used to muzzle opinion that BN disagreed with.

The opposition made scrapping the law a key electoral promise in that year’s election that was held in May. After claiming a surprise victory, the newly-installed administration repealed the law in August 2018.

“I used to stand against tighter regulation,” Mr Fahmi told CNA on Monday.

“As a reformist, as somebody who fought against the status quo at that time, I’m very mindful of the things that we do today, how will it impact freedom of speech tomorrow and beyond.”

But Mr Fahmi said the TikTok influencer’s suicide was the “proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back”. The incident made the government rethink its relationship with online service providers and users, he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Anwar on Tuesday assured that the licensing regime will not curb freedom of speech in Malaysia, but instead tackle the spread of crime and harmful information online.

“This country is a democratic country, freedom must be given to people to voice their views, whether they agree, criticise or oppose,” he was quoted as saying by the Malay Mail.

“When we say we must block (such posts), it is said to restrict freedom. Is it freedom to cheat? Freedom to steal and cause others to kill themselves?”

What about those who support the move?

Dr Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin, a security and political analyst from Universiti Teknologi Mara’s Media and Information Warfare Studies Centre, told Bernama that the “well-timed” move is needed to balance the social media landscape, especially in relation to civil and criminal cases as well as cybercrimes.

“It is also crucial to ensure control over emerging elements such as artificial intelligence (AI) and, more concerning, generative AI that can produce misleading information or content used for malicious purposes,” he said.

Malaysians Against Rape, Assault and Snatch Theft founder Dave Avran told The Star that the move was a good measure for the country.

“Cybercrimes such as cyberbullying should be dealt with decisively to prevent more people from becoming victims,” he said, calling for more comprehensive regulations on social media and internet usage.

Following the announcement of the licensing regime, Mr Fahmi made a working visit to Singapore to meet with social media platforms.

In a Facebook post on Monday, he said he also discussed with Singapore’s Digital Development and Information Minister Josephine Teo the country’s experience regulating social media and the challenges it faced.

“It is not too late for us to ensure that social media platforms are responsible for the criminal activity that takes place on their platforms,” he wrote.

How are other countries regulating social media platforms?

Singapore’s Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) allows the government to compel social media platforms to post a correction on or stop publication of what it deems as falsehoods.

It can also use the Online Criminal Harms Act to issue codes of practice to require social media platforms to implement systems, processes or measures to counter the commission of offences like online scams.

If, despite the codes of practice, there continues to be a persistent risk of scams on the platform, the government can issue an implementation directive to the platform to reduce this risk.

Continue Reading

S0m to boost bus connectivity over next 8 years; Yishun East, Punggol residents among first to benefit

By:
On:
In: South-East Asia

FOUR KEY ENHANCEMENTS 

LTA said that there will be four categories of enhancements under the Bus Connectivity Enhancement Programme. 

For new estates, there will first be an increase in the pace of introducing bus services in new towns to serve early batches of residents who move into new estates.

For example, the first bus service to be introduced under the new enhancement programme will be a service connecting residents in new and upcoming Build-to-Order (BTO) developments in Yishun East to nearby Khatib MRT station that is scheduled to be launched by the end of September. 

Secondly, for estates with areas located farther away from major transport nodes and town centres, LTA will introduce express feeder bus services. This measure will primarily be adopted in new estates.

“Compared to existing feeder services, these services will take more direct routes with fewer intermediate stops, reducing residents’ travel time for the first and last mile of their journeys from major transport nodes,” said LTA. 

One example is the upcoming introduction of a bus service in Tampines North in December that will provide Tampines North residents with a more direct connection to Tampines MRT station.

The two other categories of enhancements will be for both new and existing estates. 

Firstly, LTA will step up improvements to bus services, such as the addition of trips, the adjustment of routes and the introduction of new services in response to changing travel patterns. 

An example of these efforts is an extension to a bus service to connect residents in Toa Payoh East to Caldecott MRT station planned for the end of the year. This will improve connectivity between Toa Payoh East and the Thomson-East Coast Line and the Circle Line.

“LTA will make more of such adjustments based on regular reviews of the bus network,” it said. 

The final enhancement will be to introduce more peak-hour express bus services as an alternative option for residents, to complement busier MRT lines. 

For example, under the programme, a new City Direct Service will be introduced in Punggol from around October, providing a direct route to the city.

Mr Chee said that the new bus services or enhancements to existing routes will be introduced depending on the needs of each location or town. 

“We don’t have a template that is the same across different parts of Singapore, it depends on the needs of the commuters in that location, and we will do this in consultation with the grassroots advisors,” he said. 

He added that the new or enhanced bus services will be introduced as early as possible, especially in new estates. 

“In tandem with when the residents first move into these new estates, we want the bus services to be ready as soon as possible,” he said. 

He added that during the initial period, the buses could have a lower ridership by definition. 

“So yes, this is a commitment (that) requires resources from the government, but we think that in exchange, we will be able to get better connectivity, and better services for our residents,” he said.

BUS AND TRAIN NETWORK TO BE ENHANCED IN TANDEM

Mr Chee also responded to a question from CNA on why the bus network is going through such a major revamp when there is already a strong focus on expanding the train network, with the expansion leading to the rationalisation of some bus services over the years.

Mr Chee said that, currently, longer bus services that run parallel to new MRT lines are often the ones that are adjusted or taken away, but this does not mean that bus service coverage has dropped.

“We do need to adjust some of (the bus services) so that we free up the resources to be able to add new services to serve new developments and new estates,” he said. “So overall, it’s not a reduction in bus services, it’s a reallocation of the resources.”

He said that the new programme serves to enhance this earlier exercise of reallocating resources, to put in additional resources “because we recognise that there are more new estates that are being developed”.

“To do this, we can’t rely only on the earlier exercise, which is to rationalise and streamline some of the existing bus services, and use that resource to be able to support the new bus services,” he said.

“We calculated that it would not be possible for us to meet the demand for all the new bus services if we only do that.”

Responding to another question on how many bus services will be introduced and how much manpower will need to be hired, Mr Chee said that it is “difficult for us to be too precise”.

“This is not a one-off, this is a multi-year plan,” he said.

Continue Reading

‘I didn’t know is an offence in Singapore’: Man fined for eating cigarette to block NEA’s enforcement

By:
On:
In: South-East Asia

SINGAPORE: A man who ate a teenager’s cigarette to allow the teen to avoid enforcement action by the National Environment Agency (NEA) was fined S$1,000 (US$744) by a court on Tuesday (Jul 30).

In mitigation, 53-year-old Ramamoorthy Reddiar Jayaraman said he did not know it was an offence to eat a cigarette in Singapore.

The judge told him it was not an offence, and that he could eat as many cigarettes as he wished, but obstructing an NEA officer was the offence he was facing.

The Singaporean pleaded guilty to one charge under the Smoking (Prohibition in Certain Places) Act for obstructing an NEA enforcement officer by eating a cigarette.

The court heard that Ramamoorthy was drinking beer alone at the void deck of Block 515, Hougang Avenue 10 at about 8.40pm on Mar 18.

A teenager, who was not related to Ramamoorthy, joined him at the void deck and began smoking a cigarette, despite there being a prominent “No Smoking” sign.

Two NEA enforcement officers went to perform checks around the void deck and one of them saw the unnamed teenager smoking.

She walked towards him, introduced herself and showed him her NEA Authority Card. She told him that he had committed an offence and asked for his particulars.

The teenager looked at the officer nervously but did not respond, and the officer repeated her request.

Ramamoorthy then asked the teenager to pass him the cigarette that the teen had been smoking.

When he received the cigarette, Ramamoorthy put it in his mouth and ate it. Then, he told the teen to run away, and the boy fled.

Court documents did not state if the cigarette was lit or not.

Ramamoorthy’s actions had prevented the NEA officers from taking possession of the cigarette that was connected to an offence.

He later stated that he had acted on the spur of the moment as he wanted to help the teenager avoid having a “blemished record at a tender age”.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gabriel Lee sought a fine for Ramamoorthy, leaving the quantum to the court.

The maximum fine for a first offender is S$2,000.

Ramamoorthy was unrepresented.

He told the court: “Eating a cigarette, I didn’t know is an offence in Singapore.”

He said he was the sole breadwinner and asked to be pardoned and given a lighter fine. He also asked for his passport back as his grandmother is in Kuala Lumpur.

District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan told Ramamoorthy: “First and foremost, I would like to disabuse you of the error … you are not here because you ate a cigarette. You want to eat all number of cigarettes, that’s entirely up to you, the court has no issue with that. You are here for the offence of obstructing the exercise of an NEA officer’s power. I just want to disabuse you of the misimpression.”

Ramamoorthy paid the fine in full.

CNA has contacted NEA about whether any action was taken against the teenager.

Continue Reading

Indonesia keeps up hopes of hosting 2036 Olympics, as president-elect Prabowo meets IOC president in Paris

By:
On:
In: Asia

“Mr Prabowo’s passion for sports drives his vision for Indonesia to host global events again,” Mr Erick said.  

Mr Prabowo will take over as president in October from Mr Joko Widodo, who expressed Indonesia’s aspiration to host the Olympics in November 2022 during the G20 Summit in Bali. 

At the time, Mr Widodo expressed readiness for his country to host the 2036 Olympics in the new capital Nusantara, which is being developed to replace Jakarta as the country’s administrative capital and slated to be fully completed in 2045.

After the 2022 G20 Summit, the IOC confirmed Indonesia’s inclusion in the continuous dialogue phase of the bid process, reported GamesBids.com, an independent site with information about the Olympics bid process. 

As part of this phase, an Indonesian delegation with observer status would visit the Paris Games, and monitor preparations by the Los Angeles 2028 organising committee, GamesBids.com reported.

According to the IOC’s website, the continuous dialogue phase is flexible and does not require any financial commitment, written submission or other legal or financial guarantees. 

The IOC conducts a feasibility study to assess the state of progress of a project, help the interested party make improvements, and assist the IOC’s executive board with its strategic decision-making. 

Indonesia is also keen on hosting the 2030 Youth Olympics, NOC Chairman Raja told CNA on Monday (Jul 29). “We are chasing the 2036 Olympics but the priority today is the 2030 Youth Olympics, which is closer,” he said.

Countries that are keen to host the 2030 Youth Olympics include Thailand, India and Mexico.

Besides the IOC’s Mr Bach, Mr Prabowo and Mr Erick – who is chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) – also held discussions with international football governing body FIFA’s president Gianni Infantino. 

The talks focused on enhancing soccer collaboration and Mr Infantino praised Indonesia’s success in hosting the U-17 World Cup and acknowledged the establishment of FIFA’s new regional office in Jakarta.

“We discussed FIFA’s fantastic working relationship with Indonesia and @pssi and the fantastic progress that has been made by his beautiful country in recent times. We also talked about leveraging football’s popularity among the youth population,” Mr Infantino stated in his Instagram post on Sunday. 

“Indonesia was a fantastic host of the FIFA U-17 World Cup last year and everyone who visited, including myself, was struck by the warmth and hospitality. It was also clear that Indonesians live and breathe football,” he added.  

Continue Reading

CNA Explains: A hit-and-run at sea and the role of an alleged ‘dark ship’

By:
On:
In: South-East Asia

How did it happen?

The Hafnia Nile was en route to Kashima, Japan, and moving at 14.2 knots when the collision happened, according to automatic identification system (AIS) data.

The AIS provides information on the identity and location of all ships.

The 228m-long and 32m-wide tanker was carrying up to 60,000 metric tonnes of naphtha, a highly flammable mixture used to make petrochemicals, according to data from analytics firm Kpler.

AIS data meanwhile showed the 330m-long and 60m-wide Ceres I moving at zero knots at the time.

The National University of Singapore (NUS) law faculty’s Emeritus Professor Robert Beckman said AIS spoofing may have contributed to Ceres I colliding with the Hafnia Nile.

The practice involves the deliberate manipulation of AIS data to disguise the actual location of the ship, explained Prof Beckman, who co-heads an ocean law and policy programme at the university.

In a LinkedIn post, maritime information service Lloyd’s List Intelligence’s principal analyst Michelle Wiese Bockmann called Ceres I a “serial spoofer”.

Its AIS records before the collision showed an unchanged or identical course and speed for long periods, an improbability given navigation and weather adjustments, she added.

Why would Ceres I be spoofing?

Prof Beckman pointed to maritime journal reports of the Ceres I shipping sanctioned Iranian and Russian oil over the past five years, and engaging “in a range of dangerous and deceptive shipping practices”.

That would render the tanker as what’s known as a “dark ship” and part of a “dark fleet”, which employs illicit or evasive tactics to transport across the world oil from countries subject to global sanctions, he explained.

Operated by China’s Shanghai Prosperity Ship Management, Ceres I is categorised as a very large crude carrier (VLCC) – among the biggest out there, and capable of carrying around two million barrels.

Kpler data showed the Ceres I carrying cargo from Iran and Venezuela earlier this year and the last.

Ceres I also discharged heavy Iranian crude in the waters off eastern Malaysia around June, according to Ms Bockmann.

“The area is well-known for storage and ship-to-ship transfers of sanctioned Iranian, Venezuelan and Russian oil destined for China,” she noted.

Iran’s Ministry of Petroleum has issued a statement saying the Ceres I was not carrying Iranian crude oil.

Continue Reading

The artist behind the samsui woman mural on life before, during and after the controversy

By:
On:
In: South-East Asia

Still, he could n’t quite pinpoint the source of his discomfort, until he attended an exhibition at Gajah Gallery located in Tanjong Pagar Distripark: Customised Postures, ( De ) colonising Gestures. &nbsp,

The show was about “reshaping the imperial glass, the colonial eye, and about how contemporary artists view these ancient photographs”, he shared. And it “opened my gaze to the reason the pictures felt this way.”

Unfortunately, Dunston’s critics, including AWARE in their first declaration before they apologised for misinterpreting his labor, accused him of this same attitude that he’d taken sufferings to shop. ” I know what they’re talking about. ( The gaze ) does exist. There’s a lot of it and it’s a true issue. But I felt really bad because they believed that I was even me, he said. &nbsp,

” I was n’t thinking that I wanted to make ( the samsui woman ) glamorous. Really not disgusting, only not roughed up. I’m confident that they were, at specific points, in new clothes”.

The cigarette in the mural was basically the only thing that made sense, which was the primary source of conflict for authorities. ” At one point, we were like, maybe she could own a hen. The chicken did n’t work out. At another time, she did n’t have anything in her hands, her other hand was in her lap”, said Dunston. &nbsp,

We simply liked the picture of the smoke ideal. My customer and I both decided that’s the best course of action after considering the situation as one of those that you’re looking at.”

Continue Reading

‘Feathers everywhere in the house’: Residents of Depot Road HDB block plagued by pigeons

By:
On:
In: South-East Asia

West Coast Town Council, which manages the house, told CNA it was conscious of the bird problem. However, it did not respond to inquiries about the number of complaints about pigeons that it had received exclusively for 103A Depot Road and its immediate vicinity. &nbsp,

” ( West Coast Town Council ) has been working on resolving this matter for an extended period now”, it said. &nbsp,

The city council referred to a pilot project by the National Parks Board, National Environment Agency, and Singapore Food Agency, which launched next month.” We are closely following the steps of the new pilot program by multi-agencies and community councils to control the dove population.” &nbsp,

Under the six-month program, three city committee estates with huge clusters of pigeons – Ang Mo Kio, Bishan-Toa Payoh and Tanjong Pagar– will move up the culling of the birds.

In an effort to reduce birds ‘ food sources, authorities will collaborate with the three village councils, hawkers, F&amp, B companies, and cleaners to improve fail and food waste management. &nbsp,

West Coast Town Council did not respond to CNA’s inquiries about whether it would acquire developing permanent solutions to the problem of the bird community. Rather, it stated that it would continue to support this with federal authorities.

More personnel have been stationed in the area in recent years, according to PAP-West Coast MP Rachel Ong. &nbsp,

” We hope to see further development and may proceed to do our best for our people”, she added. &nbsp,

Continue Reading