Arm massage, courtesy of a determined Xylo the Cat

Mornings begin with a chin rub

A very special shirt

This shirt was purchased from Parkson Ria Penang, in the mid-90′s during my otter days. When summoned to Mediacorp studios as a guest in the Channel 5 and CNA news sessions in December 2001, this is what I grabbed as I left he house. They had guests during the news in those days. I remember the seat was too small and I was sliding off. At that point, it was just another stop in a ceaseless list of things to do. We didn’t realise the significance of the news ourselves.

And the news? It was the media release by the Ministry of National Development about the deferment of reclamation at Chek Jawa. The needed someone there to say something, it was all a rush, and we just winged it. At some point, I did say “Chek Jawa is alive!” – the counterpoint to the “Remember Chek Jawa” message we started out with, emblazoned on buttons Ria Tan had made for all and sundry.

2001 was a period of little sleep – the first Semakau Environment Education Workshop, opening of the RMBR Public Gallery, the Chek Jawa salvage collections, public education and submissions, International Coastal Cleanup Singapore, Toddycats ver 1., etc.

These days I wear it to meetings with my research students to cheer them up. It seemed to work today.

Photo by Amanda Tan

It’s been some twenty years since I got this shirt. Who says things don’t last anymore?

Thanks to Amanda Tan for persisting in taking and Facebooking the photo, while I was telling Buloh staff I’d be over in a jiffy.

Projecting from the iPad

Andreas demo-ing iPad apps using his iPad 1, after some modifications this afternoon! With the MW5201 class at the Active Learning Room @ S16.

Sent from my iPhone

Andreas is calling me an old fogie!

Andreas’ turn at the helm of the MW5202 class, and he’s using me as a counterfoil, hmph.

Sent from my iPhone

This search engine sucks! Instead of IDA’s “Enhanced Singapore Government Online Search”, just google.

About four years ago, all Singapore government webpages were revamped to bear a standard search tool on the top right hand corner of each site. This standardisation must have seemed like a really good idea to unleash on halpless users. What they forgot to add was the warning about the true state of affairs, namely “This search engine sucks!”

What am I talking about?

Well, this evening, I rode the Ulu Pandan Park Connector and discovered it had been reconnected with the opposite bank of the Sungei Ulu Pandan once more; very nice! In looking for the relevant NParks webpage for the park connector, I gave the site search engine a try. To my disgust the “Enhanced Singapore Government Online Search” declared that my search phrase “did not match any documents”.

Thankfully, there is Google, so you can circumvent this idiocy by making a domain-specific search like so: ulu pandan pcn site:nparks.gov.sg – this returns hits from within NParks webpages only (note that searches with “www” return a different, less useful result in this case).

Why can’t the government’s search engine do this?

In reality, the NParks webpage for Ulu Pandan Park Connector has been sufficiently well-referenced by bloggers, twitterers and users on flickr and youtube, that it will appear right at the top of a basic google search for “ulu pandan pcn” and even with a simple “ulu pandan”, the park connector page was ranked fourth.

Just Google! – Ulu Pandan Park Connector is well referenced and turns up easily

In order to get a feel of what some people think, or to view recent photos of the park connector, and for other miscellaneous information from the “crowd”, a blogsearch is always critical. Thankfully there are still some bloggers writing about their positive experiences! Such a search should be widened with the addition of the words “park connector” and canal – reading beyond the first page of results allows you some appreciation of the extent of the Ulu Pandan PCN and its users.

Blogsearch with additional keywords reveals experiences of the crowd quickly

Well, there is a lot more to search and we’ll leave that alone for now. Back to the original issue of sucky search engines on Singapore government webpages – on 16 March 2009, I went down to brief NParks about my perceived inadequacies of their post-revamp webpage as part of feedback for the National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan; my points did include the problem with the search engine. I even brought along two relevant individuals for additional comments – the prolific blogger and Singapore’s natural history online resource provider Ria Tan of WildSingapore and Lucian Teo who designed the fast loading and intuitive MOE webpage, an example of clarity for all other government sites. NParks was certainly open to the suggestions but the only real positive outcome we heard about from the webmaster later was that the search engine’s default setting had been changed. It would now search the NParks site by default instead of the entire Singapore government portal! Well, that certainly made search results less bewildering for a user, but would the results be enlightening?

There appeared to be some helplessness about this problem since every agency and ministry around 2008 and 2009 appeared to have been be reeled in, one by one, to adopt this plague of an engine, some earlier than others.

I first noticed when I lost the ability to make effective searches on NHB and NParks webpages, but more so when members of the pubic sought help to find the Chek Jawa page to book a visit – and this went on for a few years and still does, as Ria Tan from WildSingapore too can attest. So I helped, like she did, by putting in a direct link to the relevant popup window from the NParks site on the old Chek Jawa webpage.

So who is responsible for this ineffective search tool on our government webpages?

It seems it is none other than the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) who describe the “Singapore Government Metadata Standard (SGMS)” on their webpage:

“The SGMS serves to enhance the accuracy of search results obtained for searches on government-wide information and services on the Internet. Searches done through an SGMS-based search engine and user interface will provide for an integrated approach for the public to reach government e-services conveniently and effectively. The search engine known as the “Singapore Government Online Search” is available on http://www.gov.sg.”

Many moons ago (possibly a decade) NUS too had a unique search engine. However, it had become inferior to google, and I pointed this out to the web team then, as I am sure many others did. Today, if you use the search box on the NUS webpage, guess what is does? Why, it takes you to google and conducts a domain-specific search; how smart of them!

I’ll email IDA to ask about this – as a user, this aberration on Singapore government webpages doesn’t make sense. Especially since the button to initiate a sucky search is near the word “Excellence”.

TTSH Family & Friends Charity Ride on Sat 25 Feb 2012 – raise funds for needy sick elderly

The Tan Tock Seng Hospital Community Charity Fund is organising a Family & Friends Charity Ride in conjunction with the launch of a Park Connector in the Northeastern part of Singapore by the National Parks Board (NParks).

About the Event
The event will be held on on Saturday 25 February 2012 from 8.30am to 12.00pm. Cyclists will ride along a 9 or 11km Park Connector to enjoy the beautiful green space and waterways. Deputy Prime Minister Mr Teo Chee Hean will be the Guest-of-Honour of the NParks event. There will also be a Carnival in the Park for the community to join in the celebration. More than just a fun outing or morning exercise in the park connector, the event also aims to raise at least $100,000 for our needy elderly patients who require long-term medication and treatment in TTSH.

Registration
Individual registration fee is $50 and groups of FOUR and above need only to pay $30 per person. All participants will receive a T-shirt and a goodie bag worth $50. Rental of Bike is available on event day at SGD10.00 per bicycle (payable onsite). More information is available on http://ttshcharityride.com.

I want to ride my bicycle

Photo by Kenneth Pinto

Some 20 kilometres after Holland Village, on the straight at Tampines Industrial Ave 5.

When the “cure is worse than the disease”

Media companies need to get their act together and adopt a new economic strategies instead of trying to make us more tech-savvy. Think iTunes.

When I finally stumbled onto the internet in the 80′s, there was no manual for the dummy IBM3270 terminals stuck in the NUS libraries. But put in some effort and even I could find the e-manual and acquire the necessary files from a chatterbox or a geek.

One night, green text finally appeared on my screen and I was chatting with a Norwegian undergrad. He was surprised I knew about his fjords and embarrassed he knew nothing of Singapore. We’re a small country, I explained, we have to know about the rest of the world. And anyway, I learnt about the fjords from Slartibartfast.

Actually I wasn’t even supposed to be in that room. I was matriculated as yet.

SOPA and PIPA will aim to restrict, but if successful, will simply make everyone more IT-savvy. Believe you me, we’ll immediately learn how to get around all of this, propagate the instructions and be all the more determined to do so.

What have media companies done in the past? Well, each time I buy an original DVD, I find it is restricted to a particular region. Thankfully DVD makers shrugged off that stupid idea, and a “secret” key combination transform most DVD players into a region-free device. That ensures our legitimate purchases from e-shops in Australia, US and Europe will all work. Sheesh. However, I then have to sit through an FBI warning about how I, the legitimate customer, should not be indulging in piracy – and I can’t fast forward past this bit. Bah!

Never mind all that, there is now SOPA and PIPA. I’ve read about the implications from EFF for some months now, and s’alright, no thanks.

If you’re a wordpress user, you can express yourself by joining the 24-hour blackout today (20120118: 0800 EST = 2100 SST) or add a ribbon. And its not just us. Wikipedia is already undergoing a 24-hour blackout until 1300 SST tomorrow.

Many die for that single illegal animal purchase

A man tried to smuggle 302 birds from Johor to Singapore. Three-quarters of the animals died. Every animal captured and put in a cage is a survivor of untold deaths. I learnt about this in the early 90′s when reading John Nichol’s excellent book, “The Animal Smugglers” and it made me even less enamoured (if possible) with the cage bird trade.

Animal smuggling has been on the rise in Singapore. I hope that news of this $18,000 fine from an original $230 purchase will act as a deterrent to other would be miscreants. There are bigger fish to fry but this is a start.

Thanks to our ICA officers at Woodlands Checkpoint for detecting this and for AVA in a successful prosecution. The fine of $18,000 was $8,000 for bringing birds in without an AVA licence, $5,000 for causing unnecessary suffering and $5,000 for not providing the birds with food and water.

As in everything else, this sort of idiocy will be common as long as there are people willing to pay to buy these animals. They should be prosecuted too.

“Man fined for smuggling more than 300 singing birds into Singapore.” by Alvina Soh. Today Online, 17 Jan 2012.

“A site engineer was fined S$18,000 yesterday for smuggling in more than 300 singing birds from Johor, three-quarters of which died as a result of their confinement.

Winston Boo Kiang Cheng, 38, was convicted of three counts of contravening the Animals and Birds Act, after he brought in the birds without a Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) licence and causing them unnecessary suffering.

Boo committed the offences on Nov 1 last year, a day after he purchased the birds for RM558 (S$230).

The birds were found hidden in the boot and beneath the rear passenger seat of his car. All 302 birds – 253 Spotted Munia, 48 Oriental White Eye and a Shama – were packed into 11 cages, toilet roll cardboards, a pipe and two plastic trays.

The AVA said the birds were confined in cramped and restrictive conditions. The birds were also not given food and water during their seven-hour journey here.”

More reports with other details compiled at WildSingapore.