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Switch to backup system failed during Singtel outage on Oct 8: Janil Puthucheary​

Calls to emergency services and healthcare institutions, as well as as banks and businesses, were disrupted in the Oct 8 landline outage. ST PHOTO: GIN TAY

Anjali Raguraman
Correspondent

Nov 11, 2024

SINGAPORE – A backup system did not kick in as planned when an unprecedented Singtel outage occurred on Oct 8, causing intermittent service disruption that lasted several hours, said Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Janil Puthucheary on Nov 11.
On Oct 8, calls to emergency services and healthcare institutions, as well as as banks and businesses, were disrupted in the landline outage. The disruption lasted more than three hours before services progressively resumed in the evening.
According to preliminary findings, a network component in one of the two systems supporting Singtel’s fixed line voice service experienced a technical issue, said Dr Janil, who was responding to several questions raised by MPs in Parliament.
“The two systems, located in separate telephone exchanges, are designed to immediately take over the full load of the other when one system malfunctions,” he said.
“However, in this instance, the failover did not happen seamlessly, which caused the intermittent service disruption.”
All services were progressively restored over a four-hour time period from the start of the incident, he said, adding that half of all calls made could still be connected.
He said there is no evidence to suggest that the incident was related to sabotage or cyber-attack.

“IMDA takes a serious view of this incident and is investigating the cause of this disruption and whether Singtel’s incident response was adequate,” said Dr Janil, adding that investigations are continuing.
Singtel is held to a “high level of reliability” in the Government’s regulatory framework, he said, and noted that IMDA will not hesitate to take strong action under the Telecommunications Act, including imposing financial penalties should any lapses be identified.
Singtel previously said the disruption was an “isolated incident”.

Five MPs had asked about what could have caused the Oct 8 landline disruption, how such an incident could be prevented in future, and whether any action will be taken against Singtel.
Dr Tan Wu Meng (Jurong), Ms Tin Pei Ling (MacPherson) and Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang) had asked the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) what the root causes of the disruption were, and whether operational continuity plans are adequate for instances where a telco supports essential hotlines.
Dr Tan also asked the Ministry of Home Affairs whether critical landline hotlines such as 995 and 999 can be protected in the event of a single telco failure. Singtel is currently the only service provider for both hotlines.
Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling weighed in, saying that the SCDF and police are working with IMDA to consider additional resiliency measures for their hotlines, including considering the “feasibility of telco diversity for our emergency hotlines”.
Ms Sun added there was no public feedback about the SCDF or the police failing to respond to any urgent or life-threatening incident as a result of the disruption.

In a supplementary question, Progress Singapore Party Non-Constituency MP Hazel Poa asked how many people used the alternative SMS numbers to contact the emergency services, and about the public’s awareness of these alternatives.
During the outage, the SCDF and police had urged members of the public to use SMS – 70995 for SCDF and 70999 for the police – to contact them instead.
Ms Sun said she did not have the specific numbers, noting that the SMS numbers “are not new”. But following the outage, the ministry will be “even more enthusiastic” about putting out the numbers, she said.

 

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Ah neh has $93 million worth of DBS shares while the Sinkies suffer from ATM and internet banking outages because of his mismanagement.

DBS CEO Piyush Gupta sells $12.6 million worth of shares as DBS hits all-time high​

The transactions reduced DBS CEO Piyush Gupta's current holdings to 1.9 million shares from 2.2 million shares before. PHOTO: ST FILE
Benjamin Cher

Nov 11, 2024


SINGAPORE - Outgoing DBS chief executive officer Piyush Gupta sold lots of his DBS shares on Nov 7 and 8, amid a bank rally that sent DBS shares past the $40 mark.
In a bourse filing on Nov 11, the bank disclosed that he sold 300,000 shares over those two days – 100,000 shares at $41.7513 a share on Nov 7, and 200,000 shares at $42.2023 a share the following day.
The two transactions netted Gupta $12.6 million, and reduced his current holdings to 1.9 million DBS shares from 2.2 million shares before.
His transactions come as Singapore banking stocks rallied after consensus-beating performances for the third quarter of 2024. DBS, UOB and OCBC shares continued to rally on Nov 11, hitting new all-time highs at the close of trading.
DBS closed up 0.8 per cent or $0.35 to $42.75, OCBC closed up 1.6 per cent or $0.26 to $16.32, while UOB was the top gainer on the Straits Times Index, up 2.7 per cent or $0.96 to $36.65. THE BUSINESS TIMES

 

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Stupid policy by the Singapore Police Force:

- if they think that the key is to practise safe riding habits.
How many motorcyclists ride dangerous, split lines, weave in and out of traffic, and do not observe traffic rules?

- if they say defensive riding courses for motorcyclists are available.
Would foreign (Malaysian) motorcyclists sign up for the course?

- if they think talks and activities organised by the TP are effective.
- What percentage of the motorcyclist population attended the courses?
- Are there any foreign (Malaysian) motorcyclists who attended?

Forum: Road safety a shared responsibility​

Nov 11, 2024

We refer to the letter by Mr Ong Kim Bock, “Regulate lane splitting by motorcyclists” (Oct 30). We share his concern on road safety for motorcyclists, and note his suggestion to regulate lane splitting or lane filtering, as it is known in some jurisdictions.
However, making lane filtering an offence may not be a practical solution and would be challenging to enforce. Instead, we believe that key for the safety of motorcyclists is to practise safe riding habits, including defensive riding, and to avoid weaving in and out of traffic.
Defensive riding courses for motorcyclists are available at all driving centres in Singapore. The Traffic Police (TP) also incorporates defensive riding knowledge and tips in road safety advisories, as well as in our engagements with motorcyclists.
This year’s Singapore Ride Safe campaign is just one of our engagements with the motorcyclist community. TP organised a series of talks and activities for motorcyclists in collaboration with our partners. They covered important topics such as how to conduct proper pre-ride checks and the importance of wearing appropriate riding gear to prevent serious injuries.
In addition, all motorists should be fully aware of the road situation around them, check their blind spots, and signal their intent before changing lanes or turning.
Road safety is a shared responsibility, and all road users must abide by the traffic rules to keep our roads safe for everyone.

Patrick Pang
Deputy Superintendent of Police
Covering Assistant Director (Media Relations Division)
Public Affairs Department, Singapore Police Force

 

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CapitaLand warns of China losses as Singapore property investor cuts exposure​

CapitaLand's current exposure to China is 27 per cent of its $113 billion in funds. PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO

Nov 22, 2024

SINGAPORE – CapitaLand Investment, one of Asia’s largest property investment managers, warned of potential losses as it seeks to extricate itself from China’s real estate crisis.

The Singapore-listed firm wants to reduce its exposure in the world’s second-largest economy to 10-20 per cent of its expected $200 billion in funds under management by 2028, it said in an investor day presentation on Nov 22.

In doing so, the company may incur “potential fair value or divestment losses” that impact near-medium term non-operating earnings, it added.

Its current exposure to China is 27 per cent of its $113 billion in funds.

The listed investment arm of CapitaLand Group, which is owned by Singapore state investor Temasek, has long been a major investor in China, but a years-long property downturn there has made these bets, spanning from office space to malls, turn sour.

These struggles have hit the company’s stock, which is down almost 12 per cent in 2024 compared with a 16 per cent gain in the Straits Times Index.

Selling its property in China has been difficult, with the bulk of the $4.6 billion divestments in 2024 up to early November coming from Singapore and other countries like Japan.

CapitaLand Investment is seeking to more than double its operating earnings to more than $1 billion by 2028-2030, and could do new real estate investment trust listings in Australia, China and India, it said in the presentation.

So far, it has sought to increase its exposure elsewhere, including most recently announcing it will buy out SC Capital Partners Group, a Japan-focused property investor.

CapitaLand Investment’s management said in an analyst call earlier in November that it hopes to divest about $1 billion in China in 2024, according to a Citigroup Nov 6 note, which added that it estimates the company has just sold about $300 million so far.

Citigroup also said that the Singapore firm is aiming to divest about $3.5 billion Chinese assets on its balance sheet over three years, although it will stop giving divestment targets in 2025. BLOOMBERG