JOHOR BAHRU: The Johor chapter of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia on Wednesday (Mar 6) appealed to Singaporeans to urge their government to review the prices of the water deal with Malaysia, reiterating that the agreement is “morally wrong”.

The media director of Bersatu’s Johor chapter Mohd Solihan Badri was quoted as saying by Malay Mail: “Surely, your conscience will tell you that this is a raw deal for the people of Malaysia and especially Johoreans, many of whom may be your own family members.

“Do you not feel guilty that you are enjoying drinking water that you have bought so cheaply from your kin?

“I appeal to the people of Singapore to take cognisance of this fact and voice to their government how morally wrong it is to benefit from our goodwill through such a lopsided agreement.”

READ: Singapore and Malaysia: The Water Issue

Mr Mohd Solihan, who is also the assemblyman for Tenang, added that Malaysia has been suffering frequent water shortages due to climate change.

Malaysia cannot continue selling water at the “dirt cheap rate” of 3 sen per thousand gallons, he added.

“It is even more ludicrous that we are buying back this treated water from Singapore at the rate of 50 sen per 1,000 gallons,” he said.

The 1962 Water Agreement, which expires in 2061, entitles Singapore to draw up to 250 million gallons a day (mgd) of water from the Johor River.

Singapore pays 3 sen per thousand gallons of raw water and sells treated water back to Johor at 50 sen per thousand gallons, a fraction of the cost of treating the water.

Johor is meanwhile entitled to a daily supply of treated water of up to 2 per cent or 5 mgd of the water supplied to Singapore.

In practice, Singapore has been supplying 16 mgd of treated water to Johor at its request.

READ: Singapore, Malaysia met in December for water talks but discussions ‘overshadowed by new issues’: MFA

Last week, Dr Mahathir urged the Johor government and its people to speak up on what he described as the “morally wrong” water deal with Singapore, a “rich” nation.

“The state government must make their voices heard. The rich are depending on the poor?” Dr Mahathir said. “This is not only illogical but also morally wrong. We must put stress on this issue.”

READ: Johor crown prince claims ‘sovereignty’ over water in the state, prefers ‘no federal interference’ on the issue

Last Friday, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in Parliament that Dr Mahathir’s comments were a “red herring” and “strong, emotive words” that were intended to rouse public opinion.

“The 1962 Water Agreement is not about who is richer or poorer,” Dr Balakrishnan said. “It is about the fundamental principle of respecting the sanctity of agreements.”

The Johor state government has also said that it plans to be self-sufficient in treated water instead of relying on Singapore.

On Sunday, a spokesperson from Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that it noted Johor’s plans to increase its capacity to produce treated water to meet its own needs.

“This does not affect Singapore’s position that all parties, including Johor, must honour the terms of the 1962 Water Agreement, which no party can unilaterally change,” the spokesperson added.

SINGAPORE: A fire engulfed an HDB flat in Bedok North Road on Wednesday (Mar 6) afternoon, forcing the evacuation of about 50 residents.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to a fire on the 18th storey of 180 Bedok North Road at about 1.20pm.

The fire had engulfed the entire unit due to the “vast accumulation of combustible items” within the flat, they said in a Facebook post.

Donning breathing apparatus, firefighters had to force their way into the unit, SCDF said.

Their movement within the unit were impeded as they had to “carefully manoeuvre over the heaps of items”.

The fire was eventually extinguished with two water jets and two compressed air foam backpacks.

When Channel NewsAsia arrived at the scene at about 3pm, the fire looked to have been put out, although firefighters were still dousing the blackened unit with water.

One 18th-floor resident, who did not want to be named, told Channel NewsAsia she was alone at home at about 1.30pm when officers knocked on her door and asked her to evacuate. She said she had smelled the fumes, but thought it was haze.

As she made her way down to the ground floor, she witnessed a window at the burning unit shatter and objects fly out.

“We don’t know what started the fire, but according to the officer, no one was at home,” added the woman, who is in her 30s and works in human resource.

When asked if she was worried about her home being affected by the flames, she said: “Of course. You should ask the guy living above. His house turned black already.”

In all, about 50 people from the 16th to 20th storeys of the block were forced to evacuate.

At the void deck, large crowds had gathered, including the elderly in wheelchairs and children in school uniform. Police officers stood guard in the area around the affected block, which had been cordoned off with police tape.

As the smell of smoke lingered in the air, at least two fire engines and one ambulance were on scene, while firefighters and paramedics could be seen at the lift landing of the block.

A woman carrying a toddler looked concerned as she asked an SCDF officer when she would be able to return home.

SCDF said there were no reported injuries, and that they are investigating the cause of the fire.

“Excessive accumulation of combustible items, even within the unit, can block escape paths and hinder firefighting efforts,” said the SCDF. 

“Residents are urged not to accumulate old newspapers, furniture and clothes within their units as these can fuel a fire causing serious damage and may even be life threatening.”

SINGAPORE: American Mikhy Farrera Brochez was ordered by a US court on Monday (Mar 4) to “immediately” surrender to Singapore’s authorities the data obtained from the HIV registry and all other confidential information.

The 34-year-old has been given a Mar 29 deadline to “permanently delete” from any computer, device, storage media or website the information obtained from the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Singapore Prisons Service, court documents showed.

This follows MOH’s application on Feb 14 for a preliminary injunction and a restraining order to stop Brochez from leaking more data. A temporary restraining order was granted on Feb 19.

In granting the preliminary injunction on Monday, the court also directed Brochez to remove all online posts and references relating to the data and prove that he has done so by Mar 29. 

Brochez has been accused of leaking the data of 14,200 people whose personal details are stored in the confidential registry.

It is alleged that from June 2018 through to at least January 2019, Brochez, while living in Kentucky, had emailed links from the medical database to several media outlets, including Alvinology, Mothership, the Straits Times and CNN.

In an interview with news outlet VICE, he also asked if it would “harm their story” if he released the names.

On Feb 16, the 34-year-old sent a list containing the NRIC numbers of 13 HIV-positive people to Singapore authorities and media outlets.

He previously told the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) he would leak more names and information if the Singapore Government did not release his husband, Singaporean doctor Ler Teck Siang.

District Judge Danny Reeves also ordered anyone who received the data from Brochez to permanently destroy the information.

The judge said: “Any agent, representative, companion, friend or acquaintance of the defendant [Brochez] in possession of the confidential, sensitive, or private information obtained by the defendant from the Singapore Government … shall delete and remove any and all confidential information in his/her/its possession or power, including copies saved or uploaded on any online website, platform, or other database.”

READ: Mikhy Brochez admits threatening Singapore Government over HIV data leak in FBI affidavit

THOSE IDENTIFIED COULD HAVE BEEN HARMED

MOH had, in its application, told the court those identified by Brochez could “be harmed” if their data was leaked.

In the grounds to his decision, Judge Reeves wrote: “The MOH asserted that the individuals on the HIV registry would face irreparable injury because dissemination of the information could lead to their losing jobs and insurance coverage.

“Likewise, the MOH contends that the stigmatisation associated with HIV in Singapore may lead to other harms as a result of being identified as being infected with HIV.”

The court said it is “likely” Brochez had broken US law, not just Singapore law, when he leaked the information.

“Brochez has shown that he is willing and capable of giving unreasonable publicity to another’s private life because he has disclosed the prisons list to news outlets,” the judge wrote.

“The information on the prisons list involves confidential information about prisoners’ private lives.

“And simply put, if this information is not recovered but further disseminated it will continue to give unreasonable publicity to the individuals’ private affairs.”  

The court also heard it would be likely Brochez would “continue in his efforts to disseminate this information if a preliminary injunction is not entered”, and had repeatedly threatened to do so.

READ: ‘Practical limits’ to verifying certificates: Low Yen Ling explains how polytechnics hired Mikhy Brochez

DETAINED

Brochez, who is currently held at the Fayette County Detention Centre, is facing charges for the unlawful transfer of stolen identification documents and possession with intent to distribute them.

The FBI has also filed two additional charges of transmitting threats for purposes of extortion and illegally transferring the identification of another person in connection with an unlawful activity.

Those charges carry a possible combined sentence of seven years in prison, and prosecutors could seek more.

A grand jury is set to be called to consider whether to indict him on federal charges, and it could take several weeks or longer before a decision is made.

SINGAPORE: “I don’t think I know anyone who doesn’t love Japan,” I declared with confidence during a recent conversation with friends about our favourite travel destinations.

After all, the land of the rising sun holds a special place in the hearts of many Singaporeans – there’s delicious cuisine, incredible shopping, unique culture, jaw-dropping landscapes and most of all, impeccably polite people who will go out of their way to help lost, bumbling tourists despite the language barrier.

Of course, I am proven wrong a few days later when a teenager, Audrey Chong, caused an online stir because she took issue with her trip there in a Facebook post.

She bemoaned the clockwork timing of Japanese public transport, where she might miss a bus if she were just a minute late. She had problems with her Wi-Fi router and could not make sense of Google Maps.

On top of that, she seemed to advise against travel “because no staycation in Singapore will ever prepare you for a trip in a foreign country”.

Cue social media storm. Many took offence that she did not enjoy traveling to a place they ranked among their favourites; others labelled her a snowflake for what they perceived as an entitled attitude.

GETTING LOST IS THE POINT

But something important got buried in all that chatter. It is an essential truth of travel that despite one’s best laid plans, delays, inconveniences and unforeseen obstacles will happen.

And these encounters often end up being the formative experience of a trip, so you might as well just roll with the punches and enjoy the ride instead of fretting about how things have gone wrong.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had the good fortune of embarking on frequent travels. From budget backpacking holidays as a university student to glampacking sojourns with my partner and luxurious trips in the name of work, I’ve experienced it all.

One of my favourite travel memories is of a high-altitude trek I did in Tibet where I was afflicted with a potentially life-threatening bout of altitude sickness. 

We were two days into a grueling four-day trek across a mountain range that connects two key Buddhist monasteries, which included traversing passes that were over 5,000m above sea level 

That night, I could not breathe without the aid of an oxygen tank. By morning, I could barely walk even a few steps unassisted. I wanted badly to push through and complete the trek, which I regarded as a personal pilgrimage, but for my safety, we had no choice but to descend to a lower altitude.

I was bundled onto a yak and spent the better part of the day clinging on for dear life as the obstinate creature took its time meandering along steep, rocky paths and wading through streams of melting ice. 

I may not have completed my track but I suppose I am now one of the few people on this planet who can tell the story of how a yak saved my life. It never fails to entertain.

More meaningfully, I witnessed the famed Tibetan Buddhist tenet of compassion in practice too – our guide took it upon himself to carry the heavy oxygen tank because he wanted to spare the animal the extra weight.

SMALL LESSONS

Not all travel epiphanies involve life and death situations, although I do recall that time when we drove through a massive strike in Oaxaca, Mexico, to get to the region’s famed mezcal distilleries. It was an intimidating sight, especially to travellers from orderly Singapore and we considered turning back.

Instead we decided to make our way through the roadblocks by following other cars through detours along dirt trails leading into small villages that we would have otherwise bypassed on the highway. 

Not only was it eye-opening to see how the locals lived, we also got a small lesson on the impact of globalisation too.

In recent years, the spirit has gained global popularity, and is now widely exported around the world. In this region, which is one of the poorest in Mexico, many mezcal producers who used to produce the spirit for local consumption are now selling it for international export.

Many have used their earnings to build homes with running water, electricity and plumbing for themselves and their families (an upgrade from the shacks they used to live in), and those who are more successful are investing in their communities too.

At least one particularly successful mezcal producer has even built roads and schools in his village. Knowing this made the tipple I sampled that day taste even better.

SNAFUS

I’ve had certainly had my fair share of transportation snafus – oh, to always travel to a place, like Japan or Germany, where your biggest worry is that the trains and buses leave on time! Once, a terribly delayed flight to Lima, Peru, put a coveted dinner reservation to Maido, one of the city’s most critically acclaimed restaurants, in grave danger.

I am aware this is a #firstworldproblem but nevertheless, I am forever grateful to my driver, hotel concierge and airport greeter for engineering a complicated series of phone calls and devising multiple driving route options through the city’s infamous traffic snarl to ensure we made it in time for our reservation. 

(Pro tip: If you are arriving in an entirely new destination and it is within budget, make arrangements for an airport transfer. This significantly eases travel-related disorientation.) 

For the record, the meal was well worth the stress of getting there. The restaurant’s chef Mitsuhara Tsumura is a master of Nikkei food, a unique cuisine featuring Peruvian ingredients prepped using Japanese techniques.

I never would have conceived of a dish like guinea pig karaage, much less imagined I would enjoy eating it but there I was, snacking on moreish, crispy and juicy morsels of the fried rodent like any regular bar snack.

Most recently, all that online ruckus about Japan inspired me to hop on a last minute flight to spend a few days in Tokyo. On my last day, which happened to coincide with the Tokyo Marathon, I had to get to Tokyo Station, which is the finishing point of the race.

I was concerned that the station would be shut down because of this event but besides the presence of many runners wandering its halls after their run, everything seemed to be functioning as normal.

However, for the first time on this trip, Google Maps and my Wi-Fi router did not work, possibly because the network was overloaded and I worried that I would miss my scheduled train because I was lost.

And for the first time in a long time, I looked up from my cellphone to ask people for directions, communicating with hand gestures where necessary. I made it, heavy luggage in tow, to the right train platform, pleased with myself for navigating the complicated train station with the help of kind strangers.

Sometimes, the minuses are actually plusses in disguise.

Karen Tee is a freelance travel and lifestyle writer. Six years ago, people thought she was crazy to leave the security of her full-time job. Today, most want to know how she does it

SINGAPORE: An infrastructure rejuvenation programme will be carried out for junior colleges (JCs) in phases from 2022, Education Minister Ong Ye Kung said on Tuesday (Mar 5).

Speaking during the Committee of Supply debate, he said that a few of the JCs that were merged this year are among the oldest government JCs, with campuses that have become “somewhat dated”. 

“We have been progressively improving the building infrastructure of our ITE and polytechnics,” he said. “I think our JCs deserve new campuses too.”

In his speech, Mr Ong also explained how the ministry chose which JCs to start with for the rejuvenation programme. MOE took into consideration factors such as the age of the buildings, state of existing facilities and the availability of suitable holding sites.

In the first phase, three JCs – Anderson Serangoon, Jurong Pioneer and Temasek – will be rebuilt, while Yishun Innova JC will be upgraded. This is expected to be completed by 2025.

Anderson Serangoon JC will move temporarily to the former Serangoon JC site while its current campus in Ang Mo Kio is being rebuilt.

READ: Current approach to streaming in secondary schools to be phased out by 2024

Mr Ong explained that it was decided that the merged JC will be located at the former Anderson JC site as it is next to Yio Chu Kang MRT station. “The same consideration is still valid in deciding the future permanent site of Anderson Serangoon JC,” he said.

Temasek JC, which has the oldest campus among the government JCs at 43 years old, will move to the former Tampines JC site while its current campus in Bedok is being rebuilt.

A new campus will be built for Jurong Pioneer JC at the site of the former Jurong JC. Mr Ong explained that the permanent site was chosen for the merged JC as it is near the Jurong Lake District, and will be served by the future Jurong Region MRT Line.

Yishun Innova JC, which is currently located at the former Yishun JC site, will move to upgraded premises at the former Innova JC site. Mr Ong said the permanent site was chosen because it will be served by the new Thomson-East Coast MRT Line.

The second and third phases of the rejuvenation programme will involve the upgrading of the fourth merged JC – Tampines Meridian, as well as Victoria JC and the older government-aided JCs.

“The new premises will support the evolution of JC education, where lessons are a lot more interactive, and learning more holistic,” he said. “So instead of just the classrooms we have today, we will have seminar rooms which are modular and flexible, to support more interactive pedagogies.”

He added that the campuses will be made “more digitally enabled” and also have facilities such as indoor sports halls that will be designed so they can be open for community use.

“The JCs will have campuses that are fit for the future.”

In his speech, Mr Ong also announced that streaming in secondary schools – which was implemented more than three decades ago – will be phased out by 2024.