Tuesday, May 30, 2006

PENTAX K100D


PENTAX NEWS release 2006 : PENTAX K100D
and then there were 2. after konica minolta comes this new pentax that uses a built in anti-shake sensor...now to whip out a comparo of specs on paper...here

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Sony VAIO - UX Series


Sony VAIO - UX Series
another cool looking micro PC, this time from Sony. amazingly, it runs Windows XP and has a 30GB hard drive.

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

voting must be seen to be secret

TODAYonline
offthebeatenpath personally feels that the heading should be, "voting must not only be secret, it must be seen to be secret"...

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voting must be seen to be secret

Review current voting practices to ensure that the objective of a secret vote is always achieved

Tuesday • May 16, 2006

Siew Kum Hong

YOUR polling card states which voting lane you must use. The serial number of the ballot slip issued to you is recorded against your name. "They" can trace you, and "they" will blacklist or even "get" you, if you vote for the Opposition.

This is the urban legend that never dies, is raised and dismissed every election. It surfaced before and during the recent campaign, and continues to be talked about even days after Polling Day. It has a longevity surpassing the campaign and the issues raised.

Yes, credit must be given where it is due. I have voted twice, and voting was a breeze on both occasions: Fast, simple and efficient, a bit of an anti-climax even. That is no mean feat, and the Elections Department deserves fulsome praise for it.

But people do fear that voting is not secret, and it is not limited to the uneducated, the paranoid or virgin voters.

On Polling Day, a civil servant in her mid-30s told me how proud she was of herself, and how adult she felt — because she had finally overcame her fears and voted according to her conscience, something she had not been able to do in past elections.

It is worrisome when even professionals and repeat voters are afraid. It would be a mistake to simply dismiss these fears as being irrational and unjustified, without taking concrete steps to address them.

The main grouses surround the serialised ballot slips, the recording of serial numbers, and the allocated voting lanes.

The Elections Department has stated that the reasons are to deter ballot stuffing, prevent voter impersonation, and make voting smoother ("Why your vote is secret", May 10). But have they accomplished those objectives?

The serialisation of ballot slips neither prevents nor deters ballot stuffing. It only makes obvious any attempt to do so.

But even without this, any discrepancy between the number of voters and ballots would still be obvious — given how strictly the identities of voters are tracked. In any case, the only way to prevent ballot stuffing is to ensure the presence and vigilance of election officers and candidates' agents at all points of the process — which is already done.

The recording of serial numbers is to prevent impersonation. But a voter must produce both his identity card (IC) and polling card before voting. This is known as the two-factor authentication, whereby there are two criteria to be fulfilled before a person's identity is authenticated. It is more secure than the single-factor authentication used for online governmental transactions (SingPass) and Internet banking (password).

If a person loses or misplaces his IC, the polling card would have been sent to his address and would not have been lost. If a person changes his address, whoever received the polling card would not have the IC. Only persons close to someone would have access to both his IC and polling card — a situation that is hardly conducive to electoral fraud.

And if a person's identity is impersonated, then the problem lies in a failure by the voting officer to match the photograph in the IC with the person presenting it. The recording of serial numbers does not prevent this risk at all.

Furthermore, what happens if someone does allege that a third party had impersonated him to cast a vote? Will the Elections Department search through every ballot to identify the ballot corresponding to the complainant? But what would this achieve? And without CCTV footage of every single vote cast, how would the authorities ascertain that the complainant had not, in fact, cast the vote which is now being challenged?

Finally, I am not convinced that allocation of voting lanes is necessary for smooth voting. Why can't allocation of voting lanes be done on the spot? After all, that is how Changi Airport manages its taxi queues, and it does a wonderful job of channelling masses of people to different stations.

Just as justice must be done and seen to be done, voting must be secret and seen to be secret. The reality is that some voters are unconvinced that their votes are secret. Therefore, the onus is on the authorities to review the practices in question and determine whether they are needed and whether they actually achieve their stated objectives.

Otherwise, say what we will about the integrity of the electoral process and the need to defend it, some people will always view the process as flawed and suspect, and that is not an ideal situation to have in an otherwise efficient system.

The writer is a lawyer commenting in his personal capacity.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

2006 Parliamentary Election Results

Singapore Elections
Constituency (Electorate) Name of Candidates
Party
Votes Polled
% of Votes Polled
Aljunied (145,141) Goh Meng Seng
James Gomez
Lim Swee Lian Sylvia
Mohd Rahizan B Yaacob
Tan Wui-Hua
Lim Hwee Hua
Phua Siok Gek Cynthia
Yeo Guat Kwang
George Yong-Boon Yeo
Zainul Abidin Rasheed
WP





PAP
58,593





74,843
43.91





56.09
Ang Mo Kio (159,872) Abdul Salim Bin Harun
Gopal Krishnan
Han Su May
Lee Wai Leng
Tan Kian Hwee Melvin
Yaw Shin Leong

Inderjit Singh
Lam Pin Min
Lee Bee Wah
Lee Hsien Loong
Sadasivan Balaji
Wee Siew Kim
WP






PAP
49,479






96,636
33.86






66.14
Bishan - Toa Payoh (115,323) Hri Kumar Sangaran
Ng Eng Hen
Josephine Teo
Wong Kan Seng
Zainudin Bin Nordin
PAP




Uncontested

Bukit Panjang (30,452) Ling How Doong
Teo Ho Pin
SDP
PAP
6,400

21,652
22.81

77.19
Chua Chu Kang (24,975) Steve Chia Kiah Hong
Gan Kim Yong
SDA
PAP
9,292

14,156
39.63

60.37
East Coast (116,653) Abdul Rahim B Abdul R
Chia Ti Lik
Siow Wei-Min Brandon
Tan Heng Chong Eric
Tong Tzee Kwang Perry

Abdullah Tarmugi
Lee Yi Shyan
Lim Siang Keat Raymond
S Jayakumar
Tan Soon Neo Jessica
WP





PAP
37,873





66,931
36.14





63.86
Holland-Bukit Timah (118,155) Christopher De Souza
Foo Yee Shoon
Liang Eng Hwa
Lim Swee Say
Vivian Balakrishnan
PAP
Uncontested

Hong Kah (144,677) Ang Mong Seng
Khor Lean Suan Amy
Yeo Cheow Tong
Yeo Khirn Hai Alvin
Zaqy B Mohamad
PAP
Uncontested

Hougang (23,759) Eric Low Siak Meng

Low Thia Khiang
PAP

WP
8,308

13,989
37.26

62.74
Jalan Besar (93,025) Cheo Chai Chen
Fong Chin Leong
Muhamad Ali Aman
Teo Kway Huang Sebastian
Yeo Boon Keng Vincent

Heng Chee How
Lee Boon Yang
Lily Tirtasana Neo
Phua Lay Peng Denise
Yaacob Ibrahim
SDA





PAP
26,151





58,913
30.74





69.26
Joo Chiat (21,858) Chan Soo Sen

Tan Bin Seng
PAP

WP
12,226

6,580
65.01

34.99
Jurong (116,636) Fu Hai Yien Grace
Halimah Bt Yacob
Lim Boon Heng
Ong Chit Chung
Tharman Shanmugaratnam
PAP
Uncontested

MacPherson (21,041) Sin Kek Tong

Matthias Yao Chih
SDA

PAP
6,067

13,184
31.52

68.48
Marine Parade (155,149) Goh Chok Tong
Fatimah Bt Abdul Lateef
Lim Biow Chuan
Muhammad Faishal bin Ibrahim Khan Surattee
Ong Seh Hong
Seah Kian Peng
PAP
Uncontested

Nee Soon Central (23,152) Lian Chin Way

Ong Ah Heng
WP

PAP
7,529

14,211
34.63

65.37
Nee Soon East (32,586) Ho Peng Kee

Poh Lee Guan
PAP

WP
20,949

9,535
68.72

31.28
Pasir Ris-Punggol (178,443) Ahmad Magad
Chong You Fook Charles
Low Penny
Palmer Michael Anthony
Teo Chee Hean
Teo Ser Luck

Ishak B Haroun
Lineker Lee Hock Huat
Lim Bak Chuan
Mohamad Hamim Aliyas
Ong Beng Soon Elvin
Yen Kim Khooi
PAP






SDA
113,322






51,618
68.70






31.30
Potong Pasir (15,888) Chiam See Tong
Sitoh Yih Pin
SDA

PAP
8,245

6,527
55.82

44.18
Sembawang (184,804) Chee Siok Chin
Mohamed Isa B Abdul Aziz
Narayanasamy Gogelavany
Neo Ting Wei Christopher
Sng Choon Guan
Yong Chu Leong

Hawazi Daipi
Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam
Khaw Boon Wan
Ellen Lee Geck Hoon
Lim Wee Kiak
Mohd Maliki Osman
SDP






PAP
39,537






130,170
23.30






76.70
Tampines (126,163) Abdul Rahman B Mohamad
Lim Tung Hee Arthero
Ng Say Eng
Ong Hock Siong
Tan Lead Shake

Mah Bow Tan
Masagos Zulkifli B M M
Ng Phek Hoong Irene
Ong Kian Min
Sin Boon Ann
SDA





PAP
36,948





80,376
31.49





68.51
Tanjong Pagar (148,141) Baey Yam Keng
Indranee Thurai Rajah
Koo Tsai Kee
Lee Kuan Yew
Lui Tuck Yew
Tan Chin Siong
PAP
Uncontested

West Coast (137,739) Fong Jen Arthur
Foo Chee Keng Cedric
Ho Geok Choo Madeleine
Lim Hng Kiang
Iswaran S
PAP
Uncontested

Yio Chu Kang (25,072) Seng Han Thong

Yip Yew Weng
PAP

SDA
15,726

7,307
68,28

31.72

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Media holds its own in trust poll

BBC NEWS
This discovery doesn't bode well for our world. Not that offthebeatenpath feel that people should trust their governments more. People should not simply trust something without checking, regardless of the source.