World Of Tourism

ZDNet Asia, 23 Mar 2011SINGAPORE--The government's move to abolish the radio and TV (RTV) license has put in question a user's right to view and copy free-to-air broadcasts, and also casts uncertainty over a recent court ruling involving an online recording service.Announced last month as part of its 2011 budget, the Singapore government's said license fees were "losing their relevance" with

WorldScreen.com, 15 Feb 2011SINGAPORE: The Media Development Authority (MDA) has issued a call for projects to invest in for its International Film Fund (IFF), with completed projects potentially receiving a premiere at the new ScreenSingapore market and conference.Through the International Film Fund (IFF), the MDA is looking to co-invest in globally marketable films involving at least one

Taylor Vinters, 15 Feb 2011Greater collaboration may be seen between Singapore and UK games firms in the future, thanks to the launch of two new schemes.The Serious Games Institute in the UK and Singapore's Media Development Authority (MDA) have revealed that the expertise offered by the former organisation will be channelled through a new Games Solution Centre Full story

Malaysia Star, 12 Feb 2011After 46 years of regulated existence, Singaporean film producers are finding it tough to think of marketable fresh initiatives. There are times when they take the easy way out.There were times when producers took the easy way out. “Whether it is a local drama or a game show, much of what Singapore shows are copied from foreign countries like Hong Kong, Korea or Japan,”

AFPSINGAPORE — Local firms using Facebook and other social media to market themselves are garnering brand recognition on a par with luxury heavyweights like Gucci and Louis Vuitton, a study showed Thursday.Findings by research firm Firefly Millward Brown showed Singapore retail chains being identified alongside famous international labels as the most recognisable brands. Full storyRelateed:

CNET Asia, 26 Jan 2011Singapore national broadcaster MediaCorp will be rolling out its Web-based interactive TV in the second half of 2011. Also know as Over-The-Top (OTT) service in the media industry, it offers free news, radio and apps such as Facebook, as well as premium content for a fee. The latter includes live TV with behind-the-scene footage and synopses plus video-on-demand content.

MIS Asia, 13 Jan 2011SINGAPORE, 13 JANUARY 2011 - The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) announced yesterday (Thursday, 12 January) that it will be budgeting S$5 million (US$3.88 million) to fund projects on serious games.This is part of the MDA’s support on the joint call-for-proposals initiative on serious games with the Serious Games Institute (SGI) in United Kingdom (UK). Full

Reuters, 12 Jan 2011(Reuters) - Singapore plans to impose restrictions on a liberal, popular news website in what appears to be an attempt to prevent it from becoming a political force in general elections Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong may call this year.The Prime Minister's Office plans to designate "The Online Citizen" (www.onlinecitizen.com) as a "political association," which means the

Film Business Asia, 7 Jan 2011Two Singapore-based animation companies have closed down in recent days.Egg Story Creative Production announced its demise and the redundancy of some 30 staff in the week before Christmas. That was followed by the announcement that a rescue attempt at Storm Lion, which had dismissed most of its staff earlier in the year, had finally proved fruitless. Full story

Reuters, 31 Dec 2010HONG KONG (Hollywood Reporter) - Salon Films will launch a cross-border training program for young Singapore and Hong Kong filmmakers, and a funding initiative in connection with the Hong Kong government subsidy for filmmakers, Salon chairman Fred Wang told The Hollywood Reporter.The training program is organized with the Media Development Authority of Singapore to bring

C21MediaThe Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore and its UK partner have unveiled plans to jointly invest £100,000 (US$157,000) in online video projects and are calling for proposals.MDA and the UK's South West Screen are to launch the second phase of their Multi-Platform Content Across Continents initiative, aimed at fostering partnerships between media companies in the two countries.

Hindustan Times, 8 Dec 2010Singapore is fast developing into an animation hub and it is in keeping with the vision of the island city-state’s government to turn it into a “global digital studio”. MNCs like Lucasfilm Animation, Double Negative, Ubisoft, a major game company, Koei, Southern Star etc have set up their production studios in Singapore. Full story

TNW Asia, 3 Dec 2010The startup ecosystem in Singapore is to receive a huge boost after the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) has announced it will be launching its new “Superincubator”, a 16,000 sqm area dedicated to Singapore’s startups, incubators and service providers. Full story

Asian Correspondent, 26 Nov 2010Earlier this week FutureGov revealed that the Singapore government will use IBM software to 'trawl' the internet for sentiment from Singaporeans.Singapore is notably intolerant of dissenting voices, take for example British author Alan Shadrake whose recent prison sentence "confirms that there is no freedom of expression in the city-state island" according to

We are all desensitized, the media has supplied us with so many horrific stories that when we hear or read about murder, rape, abuse etc etc, we have the same reaction as brushing our teeth in the morning. I read two news stories today that evoked a strange reaction in me, both involve murder and to my surprise, I felt strongly against the first case and I was almost condoning the second. But murder is murder right? or is it?

Let me explain. In the first case, a 17 year old Spanish boy was hit by a car driven by two British tourists, instead of stopping and getting the boy help, the couple kept driving with the boy stuck under their car. They then proceeded to try and dislodge his body from their car by reversing and going forward a couple of times, when they managed to do this, they tried to cover up their crime but witnesses, of course, nailed them. Now they face a minimum of 13 years in jail. I felt an indescribable rage when I read this story, the punishment should fit the crime in my eyes and 13 years in jail just isnt enough, in fact, they should drag their bodies under a car, an eye for an eye right? Ok so that's a little harsh, the civilised have to deal with the uncivilised in an appropriate manner. Lock them up and throw away the key.

In the second story, a headless and handless man was found in a swamp, a couple of days later a man came forward confessing to the crime. It turns out that it was his girlfriends father who had been sexually abusing her since she was a child telling her it was 'her duty to pleasure him'. That makes me sick to my stomach. The man killed his girlfriends father in a fit of rage after he tried to abuse the girl again. Now I can't help but feel sorry for this man who felt the need to take another human beings life in order to stop a vicious cycle of abuse. They have both been charged with the murder because she was his accomplice. I say set them free....

But that brings me to my question, where do we draw the line? When is it acceptable to kill, if at all? I sometimes think I look at life as black and white and when I read stories like this, it brings me back to the reality that there is so much grey in between. How did we get to a point in our civilisation when murder becomes an everyday occurrence that is sometimes acceptable?