TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent In one of the most protracted case for a minor offence, High Court Judge Choo Han Teck yesterday overturned District Judge John Ng's decision to acquit five Singapore activists for conducting a "procession" in 2007 and ordered the matter return to him for conviction and sentencing. The five Singaporeans were charged for taking part in a "procession" without a permit on 16 September 2007. They were wearing T-shirts with the words ‘Democracy Now’ and ‘Freedom Now’ with a picture of a lighted candle and walked from the Speakers’ Corner along North Bridge Road to Parliament House and then along Bras Basah Road to the Istana and then along Orchard Road to the Queenstown Remand Prison. The case was heard by District Judge John Ng in October last year who acquitted the five for taking part in an illegal procession: “I am fortified in my views when I consider that the principal [Miscellaneous Offences] Act and the Rules were meant to relate to offences against public order, nuisance and property. The walk which had taken place did not impede or cause any disruption to the flow of vehicular traffic or the movement of pedestrians,” he concluded. The Attorney-General’s Chambers has filed an appeal against the acquittal which was subsequently overturned by High Court Judge Choo Teck Han. An associate professor of NUS Law Faculty told the Court that she had agreed with DJ Ng's submissions "because no disturbance occured and that the respondents were sometimes in pairs and sometimes singly, the activity could not be interpreted as a procession." She added: "It is respectfully suggested that the Miscellaneous Offences Act Rules refer to processions that are organised and cause-based nature, based on the findings of the lower court, the respondents' behaviour does not fall within this definition." Despite the opinion of the expert witness appointed by the Court, High Judge Choo went ahead and overturned the acquittal. It is not known how much the case, which has dragged on for more than three years, had cost Singapore taxpayers. International NGO Human Rights Watch had described Singapore as a “classic textbook example of a politically repressive state” in its annual report released recently which is surely corroborated by this case.  Read More →

Reuters, 1 April 2010 The Wall Street Journal is cutting new subscription prices by as much as 80 per cent in some cases as it prepares to confront its rival, the New York Times, with a New York City edition. The move comes amid a plunge in US newspaper circulation and three years after Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp paid more than US$5 billion (RM16.5 billion) for the Journal and jazzed it with more general interest news, sports and culture. The newspaper, the first read for many in the business world, has mailed some Times subscribers an offer for home delivery for US$10 per month, undercutting the US$40 price that existing Times subscribers pay in the New York City area. A virtually identical offer for US$2.29 per week is available for new subscribers who apply online, though it excludes access to the Journal’s pay-to-see website. Existing Journal subscribers pay about US$30 per month and get website access. A Journal spokeswoman declined to comment on the new edition’s start date or prices. The Times, which is owned by the New York Times Company and has built a national subscription base by specializing in US and world affairs, offers a 50 per cent discount to new subscribers for daily delivery. That is double the price the Journal offers for six-day delivery per week. The Journal does not publish on Sundays. Tom Fiedler, ex-Miami Herald executive editor and the dean of Boston University’s College of Communication, said the Journal risked alienating its traditional business readers and might not be successful by slashing prices. “History hasn’t been kind to (price cuts). It rarely is successful in the long run,” Fiedler said. “Whether this is just ego on the part of Rupert Murdoch, I can’t know. It looks like that.” John Morton, a veteran newspaper analyst and media consultant, called the Times readers extremely devoted, “probably the most unassailable readership in the world.” “There’s a reason it’s considered to be the world’s greatest newspaper, because of its huge staff. It’s also, by the way, why the New York Times Company’s profit margins tend to be much lower than their peers because they spend more on news,” Morton said. The Journal is also spending on additional staff in contrast to some of its competitors, including the Times, who have cut jobs. The Times, however, declared itself ready for the competition. “We don’t shrink from it,” spokeswoman Diane McNulty said. “We are motivated by it.” — Reuters  Read More →

We are here at that time of the year again, where we pull pranks on each other, April 1, 2010. While you surf the vast Internet today, see if you can notice the certain small changes around your cyber environment. Let us give you a hint; Google’s a big player in this category. If you can spot these even before we list them down here, you can safely say, “No joke can pass by my eyes!” So, here we go again. Google: Google Wave - http://wave.google.com/getwavewave.html Have you heard of Google Wave? We have and it was said that Google will send a real human to inform you when there is a new Wave in your personal inbox. Cool right? Too bad, it is just a prank. Nuclear Google - http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/31/exclusive-google-to-go-nuclear/ According to Techcrunch, Google is going into nuclear research by building a uranium enrichment plant. China treat? Maybe. Google Search - http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/different-kind-of-company-name.html Whenever I do a search on Google, I used to get my search results timed. Today, I got weird terms like “jiffies” or “nanocenturies”. To top it off, Google is now known as Topeka? Google Books – http://books.google.com/books Wow! We can view books in 3D today and it is real! Try it. Google Documents – http://googledocs.blogspot.com/ Google is the name you associate with cloud computing but literally upload everything? We are not so sure but if it works, you do not have to worry about losing anything ever again. Check it out! Google UK - http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/landing/translateforanimals/ The team at Google UK is bringing you closer to animals, for sure. Google Japan - http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/03/31/google-japan-releases-the-new-keyboard-drumset-for-one-stroke-input/ The land of ingenious ideas come the keyboard of drums, completed with various cute emoticons. Google Maps Australia - http://maps.google.com.au/ Aussie speech for directions is observed, for example, “Turn left, mate”.  YouTube - http://youtube-global.blogspot.com/ YouTube introduces “TEXTp” mode for you to view your videos in text! Wow! Others: Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page If you are looking into selling your wife, you are in luck today. Reddit - http://www.reddit.com/ Whee! We’re an Admin on Reddit today, you can be one too. Kodak - http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier.jhtml?pq-path=2/6868&pq-locale=en_US&_requestid=42014 Aromaphotography? Are you kidding us? Atlassian - http://www.atlassian.com/fourwalls/ Fourwalls? A spoof of Foursquare? A high percentage of locations are cubicles and restrooms. Something is fishy. TripAdvisor - http://www.tripadvisor.com/InfoCenter-a_ctr.SpaceTravelROW Wow! We contacted someone in space. Hear their review now. ThinkGeek - http://www.thinkgeek.com/ Eyeing a can of unicorn meat? You can get it now at ThinkGeek.com. Still have more to inform us about? Leave us a comment below. And also, Happy April Fools!  Read More →