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Captive brown bears found living in their own filth in small cage at bus depot get rescued

The Independent
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Two brown bears have been rescued by tireless animal welfare workers after they were discovered a year ago at an Armenian bus depot, living in their own filth in a small cage.

The bears, lovingly called Max and Minnie by their rescuers, were found distressed and highly neglected in exceedingly poor conditions. The female bear had given birth to a cub in the squalid cage that barely left her any room, being mostly filled by the hefty 500kg male Siberian brown bear.

The squalid living conditions of the bears

The rescuers initial attempts to free the bears were met with resistance from the captive animals’ owner. Months passed and activists remained unflagging in their efforts to rescue the bears and finally succeeded in saving the creatures three weeks ago.

In what was the rescue team’s most challenging mission so far, the group sedated the animals and began preparations to transport the bears to a rescue facility. Max, being the biggest bear the rescue team has rescued so far, had to be transported in a horse trailer since he would not fit in a transport crate.

International Animal Rescue CEO Alan Knight said: “This has been an extremely emotional day for everyone. The two bears were being kept in shocking conditions and we were all desperate to set them free.

“We knew the rescue would be a particularly challenging one because of the size of the male bear. He is by far the biggest bear we have rescued to date. So there was great euphoria among the team when the bears were safely installed in their new quarters.”

The rescue group will give the creatures constant care and attention as they adjust to their new surroundings and begin a new life.

The rescue of Max and Minnie is part of the Great Bear Rescue campaign that was launched by the International Animal Rescue and the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets in the beginning of this year. The groups have rescued 21 bears so far.

84-year-old army veteran dies after nursing home staff failed to wash him, leading to gangrene infection that caused his private parts to rot off

The Independent
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An 84-year-old US army veteran who was receiving care from a nursing home in Florida has passed away after nursing home staff failed to wash him, leading to a gangrene infection that caused his private parts to rot off.

The veteran, Mr York Spratling, became a resident at the Consulate Health Care nursing home after his health worsened and as he began struggling to walk, feed and look after himself. His family told the local press that they had noticed issues with his care at the nursing home and had flagged these issues to the staff before.

At the nursing home, the veteran contracted gangrene due to poor hygiene. The elderly man was rushed to the hospital last February, where he died despite the doctors’ efforts to remove the dead tissue from his genitals.

The relatives of the deceased have since lashed out at the nursing home for rendering poor care to the elderly man. One nephew, Mr Derwin Spratling, who was with his uncle as he was rushed to the hospital, told the local press that the doctor “said he had never seen anything like that before, especially in this day and age. It didn’t just happen overnight, but it was quicker than you could imagine.”

Nursing home staff later admitted to state investigators that they could smell the veteran’s infection coming from the door to his room. Despite this, the staff did not check his wounds or infection and took an unbelievable five days to inform a doctor.

The staff further argued that the late veteran refused to take showers when his family blasted them for not providing adequate care.

A year before the veteran passed, state regulators actually noted that the home does not have enough manpower to care for its residents. The death review report by the Florida Department of Children and Families that investigated the veteran’s passing also concluded that the veteran’s death was due to inadequate supervision and medical neglect.

Despite this, state regulator – Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration – has not taken any action against the facility.

What is one thing the CEOs of Microsoft, Mastercard and Adobe in common?

Miren Gonzalez
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What is one thing the CEOs of Microsoft, Mastercard and Adobe in common?

The CEOs of Microsoft, Mastercard and Adobe, all powerful business leaders, have one thing little-known thing in common – besides being Indian-American, they are all the products of Hyderabad Public School in Begumpet, India.

Hyderabad Public School is clearly doing something right, having produced three CEOs in top global companies: CEO Satya Nadella of Miscrosoft, CEO Ajaypal Singh Banga of Mastercard and CEO Shantanu Narayen of Adobe.

The private school is located in Hyderabad, a southern Indian city that is no known as a bustling technology hub. And since the year 1990, Hyderabad has housed the Indian outlet of the great multinational technology company Microsoft.

Hyderabad Public School (HPS) was conceptualised in 1919 and established in 1923, for the purpose of educating the sons of aristocrats. The public school’s system was developed along the lines of Eton College in London, one of the leading independent all-boys boarding schools in the UK, and has been performing well, marked as on of the top 10 schools in India for the last 3 years.

Photo: Hyderabad Public School, Begumpet, India/YouTube screengrab

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella mentioned in an interview with Stephen Dubner on an episode of the “Freakonomics” podcast that he and his fellow Indian-American CEOs (of Mastercard and Adobe respectively) all went to the same school. Dubner had noted that several big American firms have CEOs that are Indian-American and wondered what contributed toward their “massive success”.

The public school, which in the United States would be considered a private school, has influenced the lives of the three top global companies’ CEOs who attended it.

In the case of Nadella, he has come away with fond memories of the school as well as business and leadership principles that he still utilises today in his work as a CEO. He cited his experience playing cricket at HPS as a strong influence in his professional career. Here’s what he says in his autobiography Hit Refresh.

“The first principle is to compete vigorously and with passion in the face of uncertainty and intimidation, then importance of putting your team first, ahead of your personal statistics and recognition and finally that leadership is about bringing out the best in everyone, when to intervene and when to build the confidence of an individual and a team,” he says.

Another principle that Nadella abides by in his career is something that his high-school cricket coach taught him – how to walk the line “between having confidence in your own capability yet having the ability to learn.”

Nadella revived his memories by visiting his old alma mater in 2017. HPS is also where Nadella met his wife, Anupama Nadella.

“Attending the HPS was the best break I had in my life,” Nadella said during the visit, as reported by another media source.

While Nadella was a cricketer, his fellow Indian-American and CEO of Adobe Shantanu Narayen was an avid debater at HPS.

“I think more than anything else, it gave us the freedom to think, learn, and pursue bold dreams,” said Nadella, speaking fondly of his school.

The success of HPS’ students can be contributed in part to the school’s approach. Nadella noted that one of the best things about HPS was that students were encouraged to develop and pursue skills and interests outside of the classroom.

By offering activities that range from playing cricket to rock climbing and horseback riding, HPS is able to “to take advantage of these benefits and also engage a wide range of students and help turn them into well-rounded and impassioned learners”. This is according to another media source, which also covered Nadella’s interview with Dubner.

 “HPS produces generals and not foot-soldiers,” said HPS principal Ramandeep Kaur Samra.

“We want our students to lead, whichever field they want, small or big, but in a passionate manner,” he said to another news site.

The school’s official motto is “Be vigilant.” Its core values include “strong self-esteem” and “tolerance and respect for others.”

“These words exhort young students to be mentally alert, physically ready to take up the challenges that life has to offer,” said HPS’ website.

Nadella attended HPS from 1977-1984, and he said that this was his biggest takeaway from the school:

“The ability to find your passion and get the confidence. This is what I learnt from this great institution,” he said.

Slowly but surely, Mahathir is breaking up a ‘corrupted’ UMNO

The Independent
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Slowly but surely, Mahathir is breaking up a ‘corrupted’ UMNO

HE was once hailed as one of the icons of UMNO (United Malays National Organisation) but, ironically, he is now planning the downfall of Malaysia’s oldest political party.

The latest fireworks came when Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, rather cheekily and belatedly, revealed that Umno deputy president Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and several senior party leaders had informed him of their wish to leave Umno months before the current exodus of leaders.

Photos were discreetly released to the media of him meeting the Umno leaders, and to add fuel to fire, the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) chairman denied Mohamad’s claim that they met him to urge him to spare their party from being disbanded.

“No, they just came to see me and told me that they were going to leave Umno. They wanted my advice; that is all,” Tun Mahathir said.

But the Umno deputy president confirmed that the pictures of him and several other party leaders meeting Tun Mahathir were genuine, amid rumours of further defections to the prime minister’s party.

However, Mohamad said the pictures – which depicted him, Tanjong Karang MP Tan Sri Noh Omar, Arau MP Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, and former Federal Territories minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Mansor having a meal with Tun Mahathir – were taken a few months ago, after the Prime Minister’s return from the September general assembly of the United Nations in New York.

‘PLEASE DON’T DISSOLVE UMNO’

“After the United Nations general assembly, Tun said he wanted to dissolve Umno. So we met him. We asked Tun not to dissolve Umno,” clarified Mohamad. “He said he wouldn’t do it.”

The saga of the belated photographs were spread online after Sabah Umno was routed on December 12, as nine out 10 assemblymen, four out of five MPs, and the bulk of the party’s state liaison committee announced their decision to leave the opposition party. Later, six more Umno representatives were reported to have quit the party.

Tun Mahathir makes no bones of the fact that there’s no room for a corrupted Umno. Behind the grandfatherly demeanour and soft-spoken voice was ruthless determination, and age had done little to dull his wits.

“You know I used to be the Umno president?” he was quoted as saying after a slip of the tongue where he mistakenly urged voters to back his old party instead of Pakatan Harapan during the election campaign trail, correcting himself a moment later. “Now I am trying to bring down Umno.”

But, going by the voices of the men in the street from Penang to Pahang, Sabah to Selangor and Kedah to Kelantan, Umno’s current disintegration is the result of alleged abuses under Najib Razak, who is already facing a record number of criminal charges.

Prominent DAP lawmaker Lim Kit Siang, a fierce anti-Najib critic, went on record to say that the former party president’s resignation may be the only way to salvage the dying political giant.

Seizing on Najib’s attempt to defend Umno’s leadership over the exodus of lawmakers from the party, Lim, the Iskandar Puteri MP, noted that those leaving have complained that there were no efforts to reform the party since its general election defeat.

“Najib is shedding crocodile’s tears as he has single-handedly destroyed Umno by his kleptocratic rule and the monstrous 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal as well as the other 1MDB-like scandals in Tabung Haji, Felda, Felcra, MARA, Lim said in a statement.

“The expulsion of Najib from Umno may be the only step to save Umno from total extinction although even this step may be too late.

‘PRINCIPLED LEADERSHIP NEEDED’

But Mahathir is candid, if not straightforward, to acknowledge that Umno needs principled and moral leadership in its efforts to rebuild the party. He said Umno would continue to be weak if its leaders did not have these traits.

“It will only recover if we can find leaders who believe that the real fight is the fight to hold on to our principles. The time has come to find those who still believe in Umno’s ideology, that is to champion centrist politics that will benefit Malays without neglecting the interests of other Malaysians.

“Only those who have faith in this ideology and embrace this thinking will be able to provide an authoritative leadership for a progressive Malay race and Malaysia,” he said,

He knows the exodus of more prominent UMNO politicians are on the cards in the coming weeks, certainly to Tun Mahathir’s rather mischievous behind-the-scenes promptings, and he described their action as “very sad”.

“This is politics…each has his own considerations and plans and we must respect them. There can be no coercion in any struggle and loyalty is not something we can demand from anyone,” he admitted.

“But one thing which we must have in our struggle is principles. A struggle without principles is one that is fragile and definitely not sustainable.”

For Tun Mahathir, the money-politics must end and he has vowed that he will go all out to ensure that the Pakatan Harapan administration is corruption-free. He reiterated his government and members of the Cabinet must set the best example in the fight against corruption.

Finishing Umno may not be a personal thriller but in his books, the party which ruled Malaysia for more than half-century, was non-existent as its sole aim now was to protect the disgraced Najib.

He claimed that the party he once helmed had always provided for the people but it has diverted from the objectives it was set up for. Some senior Umno members, flagging themselves as “warlords”, were blinded by loyalty and still believed that Najib did not commit any wrongdoing.

Going by Tun Mahathir’s no-nonsense books, the long-going corruption-trail at UMNO has to end, by hook or crook.

Is this a Galaxy S10+ prototype leak?

Anna Maria Romero
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Is this a Galaxy S10+ prototype leak?

On December 9, Sunday, a photo of Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus appeared on the Facebook page and website of Slashleaks, or (also stylized as /Leaks.)

Slashleaks’ main mission is to “help people discover tech leaks,” and it calls itself “The definitive source where to share, track, rate and talk leaks that are spreading all over the Internets every day.”

Hype over the Galaxy S10 has been growing over the past few weeks and months, especially since Samsung’s flagship phone supposed to have the innovative Infinity-O display—a continuous screen from end to end, without bezels, and with no notches for a front-facing camera either, with “higher screen-to-body ratio than ever before.” In fact, Samsung already launched a phone with the Infinity-O display in China, the new Galaxy A8.

Industry experts expect the Galaxy S10 to be launched in late February of next year, which makes the hype build-up understandable. The phones should be available for purchasing shortly afterward.

But if the leaked photo is legitimate, Samsung fans may just be in for somewhat of a disappointment over what the screen looks like. The device in the picture has a bezel on top, as well as notches for the dual selfie cameras seen on the screen, instead of simple small holes for the camera/s. Additionally, it does not look like the screen is curved.

The phone carries the label “Beyond 2,” which is believed to be the Galaxy S10’s code name.

However, there are four versions of the Galaxy S10 planned, and reports have said that the screen of the least expensive version, the Galaxy S10 Lite, will be flat instead of curved. Some of the models are also expected to have dual-lens selfie cameras in the front display.

But it is possible that the phone on the /LEAKS site and Facebook page is the Galaxy S10 because it looks very similar to the 5G Samsung phone included at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon event. Samsung aimed to launch a minimum of one 5G phone in 2019, and it’s quite possible that it will be one of the Galaxy S10 phones.

How reliable is the leak on /Leaks? Well, the image of the Beyond 2 has gotten a 100 percent “Legit” score so far. It was leaked by NTKLEAK (whoever he or she may be) who has a 73 percent accurate score on the site and has contributed 179 leaks since he joined the site earlier this year.

Read related: The buzz around Samsung Galaxy 10’s innovative Infinity-O display

https://theindependent.sg.sg/the-buzz-around-samsung-galaxy-10s-innovative-infinity-o-display/

 

KL-Singapore: Everyone in the neighbourhood our enemy? Grow up

Tan Bah Bah
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KL-Singapore: Everyone in the neighbourhood our enemy? Grow up

 

My former colleague P N Balji is right. He says in his Yahoo commentary on Thursday Dec 14 that statecraft is the missing piece in KL-Singapore relationships. I would go further and say that statecraft has also always been the main lynchpin of Singapore’s relationship with an equally prickly and even larger neighbour – Indonesia. I will come to this in another column.

For Malaysia, whatever statecraft might come into play at the moment must start with understanding Dr Mahathir Mohamad, past and present. Our northern neighbour’s second time around Prime Minister is wily, yes. Otherwise, he would not have been such a dominant political figure all these years. He is a survivor – exiled from UMNO, returning to lead it, facing the Semangat 46 challenge, overcoming the ambition of Anwar Ibrahim, successfully pulling the strings when Abdullah Badawi was PM, then fighting back to unseat Najib Razak who unceremoniously tried to consign him to the dustbin of history. But, well, he is back, though he might not have had the chance to utter the Terminator’s iconic “I’ll be back” when he was away from Putrajaya.

“Wily” does not begin to describe Mahathir. He is undoubtedly complex. He is the father figure of modern Malay nationalism. In his earlier term, he has held controversial views that range from his insistence that non-Malay Malaysians must speak Malay to pro-bumiputra policies and programmes designed to break what he saw as the economic dominance of the Chinese.

But he has also been chiding his own race for their failings. He continues to do so, even now as part of Pakatan Harapan.

All this is well-documented.

In Malaysia, as far I know, not that much has been written publicly – in books or other substantial publications – about his relationship with Singapore leaders. Perhaps there have been papers done by think-tanks on both sides of the Causeway. But, otherwise, zilch. Obviously, abang (elder brother) – so-called in the way that KL has been conducting its business with its once 14th state – does not care too much about what adek (younger brother) has to say.

Instead, the allegedly kurang ajar adek always has lots to say about its relationship with Malaysia. The observations have sprung from what the first-generation Singapore leaders have personally experienced when we were part of Malaysia.

Inasmuch as Mahathir has baggage with Singapore, the early PAP leaders had their own baggage with him. Late PM Lee Kuan Yew’s memories and recollections were cast in print if not iron in the various books by and about him and the interviews he gave when he was alive about the PAP’s abortive forays into the Federation’s political arena. His perceptions came from his encounters inside and outside the Dewan Rakyat with Malay nationalist leaders, including Mahathir and others more ultra than him. PM Lee senior said he believed in a Malaysian Malaysia, a country which belonged to all races. The ultras did not buy this line. They still do not. Neither have a sizeable portion of the Malay base in the heartlands, as shown by the anti-ICERD rally in KL. Yet, ironically, the Malaysian Malaysia mantra is being echoed in the Pakatan Harapan coalition, in whose Cabinet are a couple of Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party ministers, the most prominent being Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng.

In other words, the return of Mahathir is not a negative development. It is a complication but it is also an opportunity to work out a relationship based on a realistic acceptance of the latest developments and whatever is in the best interests of both countries.

PM Lee Hsien Loong appeared to have tried to leave the baggage behind and find a workable relationship with the former PM Najib Razak. They got along fine. Both are of the same age group – Najib is 65 and LHL, 66. More important, both are princelings, being sons of former PMs (Najib’s father is Abdul Razak, the late second Malaysian PM). It looked like everything was possible between KL and Singapore. Until May 9.

Now that Mahathir is back, does that mean we are in for a period of seriously unstable relations?

I believe not.

Mahathir’s testing of Singapore’s new generation leaders will continue and will be part and parcel of the to-ings and fro-ings. Amid all the usual satay and festive parties organised by our leaders and Malaysian leaders, which include Johor royalty just across the Causeway, both sides will continue to realise the limits of brinksmanship and kompang-beating.

Just as crucial, both sides will also have to accept that it has been 53 years since we have been separated. Much has happened since the LKY years. There are signs that Mahathir has come around to the Malaysian Malaysia concept, without saying so and without abandoning the affirmative pro-bumiputra policies.

The PAP itself has to work out a less-angst ridden set of statecraft which is less based on LKY’s edicts and perceptions – “We’ve got friendly neighbours? Grow up.” – and produce one that is more dynamic, nuanced, balanced and in touch with what is happening in Malaysia.

After all, LKY could not have foreseen either the comeback of Mahathir or that, despite his so-called baggage with Singapore, the Malaysian leader may have moved on and has realised the indispensability of a more progressive New Malaysia, all the hiccups notwithstanding.

Maybe it is we who have to grow up and be less stuck in an old mode inflexible statecraft coloured by the biases of a bygone era.

Tan Bah Bah is a former senior leader writer with The Straits Times. He was also managing editor of a local magazine publishing company.

Into the life of a male escort, a job that does more than getting women laid

The Independent
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Into the life of a male escort, a job that does more than getting women laid

There is a saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, which is somewhat a fitting description for someone working in the sex industry.

While male escorts may have very prejudiced reputations and often stereotyped as a whole, there is definitely something more that the job entails making it an interesting choice of study.

One man, named Ryan James, tells all about his life as a male escort through a book entitled A Memoir of a Male Escort – Secrets of the Sex Industry. An extract from the book is as follows.

Male Escort
Male Escort, Ryan James Photo: YouTube screengrab

Ryan talks about the backgrounds and reasons why women hire him as a male escort. He also expounds on the deeper role he plays in their lives which is actually therapeutic in nature. As a male escort, Ryan shares that the best part of his job is the people he meets. Women from different religions, races, shapes, sizes and relationship situation. His only requirements for accepting a client is that she’s female, respectful, hygienic and an adult. There is no such thing as a typical client for Ryan because just when he thinks he’s seen them all, he is faced with a new situation.

Reasons

It’s a bit upsetting that women go to him for reasons that could have been avoided completely. Reasons such as a woman being afraid her partner would hurt or criticize her for being virgin hence she goes to Ryan for a positive first sexual experience or a woman getting over sexual abuse and wanted to experience having sex again without the trauma or married women who have been disregarded by their husbands for years. Because of this, Ryan explains that his job is so much more than making sure his client “gets laid”.

He definitely broke the misconception that women only go to male escorts as a last resort because they can’t have sex elsewhere. In fact, he reaffirms that every single client of his, without exception, could have easily gone to a bar or online dating sites and hooked up with someone like how it’s usually done nowadays.

But no. Ryan explains, “Instead, they all came to see a male escort because it was their choice. In every case, the client wanted to have control, to decide what she wanted to do and what she didn’t want to do.”

This is why single mothers choose to go to him because they just don’t have the time to juggle work and kids plus the risk of hurting her kids by bringing a new guy into their lives and him not committing.

This is why a lesbian went to him to try having sex with the opposite gender, realizes she still preferred women and ticked off an item from her bucket list.

Sex and Therapy

Then there are his clients who have sexual issues such as the involuntary tightening of the vaginal muscles known as vaginismus. They go to him because they find dating a guy and explaining to him her condition quite difficult to overcome or prepare for. Because there are no strings attached having done it with a male escort, such clients can ease into sexual activity without worry.

Women with disability, a condition, a dead husband, a traumatizing sexual past or not, Ryan breaks the common judgement that if a woman doesn’t have a “good reason” for going to an escort, then she should not even be considering it at all by saying: “Sometimes a woman just wants to have an hour or two of fun in the bedroom. There’s nothing wrong with her wanting to see an escort for pure sexual enjoyment.”

The Schedule

Being a male escort doesn’t just mean having sex, as much as others would assume. One escort, whom we will keep anonymous for confidentiality purposes said that his bookings tend to last between 4-6 hours and occasionally, “they’re 24 hours, which is my preference because I get the opportunity to create a real fantasy for her”. And this doesn’t mean it’s an everyday thing.

Because this job requires a lot of research, planning and customization, escorts usually book only 3-5 appointments a week. A lot of them also have other lives to live. They also have full control on which clients to accept and entertain or politely decline. A lot of them also set rules and limits which cannot be trespassed otherwise the booking would have to be cancelled.

The Downsides

As much as this profession would be highly satisfying, there are some sacrifices and compromises to be made. Male escorts have admitted that the main problems revolve around emotions and relationships.

There would be times that they would develop a deep emotional connection with a client which would eventually turn into a friendship. They would then need to apply the ability to keep a distinct separation from work and personal affairs.

Dating and relationships is another issue that most face in this line of work. According to the men, women who are in a relationship with a male escort will need a lot of understanding, open-mindedness and trust in order to keep the relationship functioning and healthy.

7-year-old girl remains unable to speak after stranger allegedly snatched and molested her during Christmas shopping trip

The Independent
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7-year-old girl remains unable to speak after stranger allegedly snatched and molested her during Christmas shopping trip

A seven-year-old girl, who was allegedly snatched and molested by a stranger during a Christmas shopping trip with her mother, has been left so traumatised by the incident that she remains unable to speak to the police five days on.

According to the Sun, the little girl was abducted from a Kmart outlet in Brisbane, Australia and taken to the bushes where she was allegedly molested. The stranger who snatched the child drove the child back to the Kmart and left her there after the incident.

The police have since arrested a suspect after reviewing CCTV footage. The accused has since appeared in court, where he was charged with taking a child for immoral purposes, deprivation of liberty and indecent treatment of a child under 12.

The suspect cannot be named due to a court-mandated suppression order.

Earlier, the distraught mother of the child alleged that the stranger had been staring at her daughter while they were shopping. She wrote on social media:

“I never normally leave my daughter so I feel sick thinking about this. There was a guy standing there leaning on the shelf…his eyes were just fixed on my daughter and he was only an arm’s length away from her.

“I called for her and then he was startled, he looked at me and walked away. Straight away, I 100 per cent had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right… now that I know what happened I just feel sick.

“I just feel sick. I had a gut instinct that guy was really creepy. I just had the worst feeling.”

Latest Facebook bug allowed apps to access up to 6.8 million users’ private photos

The Independent
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Latest Facebook bug allowed apps to access up to 6.8 million users’ private photos

First, there was Cambridge Analytica, a third-party firm that was able to get their hands on the personal data of 87 million users without prior consent, followed by hackers gaining full access to the Facebook accounts of millions of users, and just recently, the social media giant is faced with yet another security breach.

On Friday (Dec 14), Facebook announced through a blog post via their Developer News page that a Photo Application Program Interface (API) bug was found in the platform that granted permission to third-party apps to access user’s photos. The bug went as far as accessing photos that were not uploaded in Facebook. By default, the app saves someone’s posts as drafts for three days in case the user wants to push through with posting the photo later on. Drafts alongside photos shared on Marketplace and Facebook Stories were breached by the bug.

Photo: YouTube screengrab

Facebook developers perceive the bug affected up to 6.8 million users through 1,500 applications built by 876 developers. Apps that were given permission via Facebook are the ones that the API bug manipulated to access user photos. Even though the issue has been resolved, a span of 12 days between September 13 to 25, 2018 serves as more than enough time for photos that were not meant to go public to be accessed.

Through the blog post, Facebook has expressed their apology for such an occurrence. They also reassured the almost 2 billion users currently active in Facebook that by next week, the platform will be providing tools for app developers to track down which users were affected by the breach in privacy. From there, Facebook will be assisting the third-party app developers in deleting the leaked photos.

Facebook will be notifying those affected by the bug via an FB alert that will redirect the user to a Help Center link and from there pinpoint which apps were affected by the bug.

While the gravity of the recent events is not as severe as the first few, users were definitely shocked and unhappy at the capacity and capabilities Facebook has in accessing user data.

FB users Kevin W. Pierce, Stanley Davidson, and Jennifer Ashley were some of the many that were shocked at how private photos that were meant to be private were accessed.

While some, like Pamela Bennett, understand that there is a relationship between the user and Facebook and with that comes a sense of responsibility as to what is shared or not.

As for the penalties and fines this violation entails, the public can rest assured that there will be plenty. Aside from the concurrent federal investigations for the earlier privacy breaches, this most recent one has also broken the 2011 agreement Facebook signed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) which required the former to improve its privacy and security measures when it comes to data protection.

Furthermore, the social media giant will also be facing additional penalties for overstepping some of the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that was established by Europe in hopes to further tighten rules and policies as to how information is handled by companies to ensure EU citizens’ privacy and security.

The GDPR states that companies have to inform policymakers within 72 hours if a breach were to occur. Facebook, however, discovered the bug on September 22 but only notified regulators towards the end of November after an investigation was made.

 

The Substation’s heritage-themed competition winners

The Independent
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The Substation’s heritage-themed competition winners

Singapore – The Substation has announced the winners to its two-heritage-themed competitions entitled Utterly Changed, The Substation Writing Competition and BIG4ENBLOC, The Substation Insta-Film Competition.

The Substation is Singapore’s first independent contemporary arts centre which was established in 1990 by the late Kuo Pao Kun. It is the goal of the centre to engage with the public through cultural conversations and to expose them to contemporary art that are meant to address larger questions about Singapore.

The theme for 2018 is an exploration of how and why heritage is an emotional and political topic for the public to be portrayed through film and written work. Social media platforms were exploited to reach a broader range of voices and to appeal to millennials.

Utterly Changed, Writing Competition

The winner for the writing competition is Diana Rahim, the editor of a blog called Beyond the Hijab which shares stories of Singaporean Muslim women. Her submitted work was entitled [Losing Farther, Losing Faster], an essay on the theme of change and loss in landscape, loved places and heritage that was written in such a compelling and poignant manner.

Out of 62 entries, Diana will be taking home the First Prize of $3,000 for her intricately sewn narrative and commentary.

The following is a glimpse of her opening paragraph:

“Everywhere, we live with this violence. Everywhere there are ghosts. It is as if our unpoetic government has taken Elizabeth Bishop’s poetry to heart: “The art of losing isn’t hard to master; / so many things seem filled with the intent / to be lost that their loss is no disaster.”

Photo: YouTube screengrab

BIG4ENBLOC, Insta-film Competition

The short film competition on Instagram was presented in collaboration with the Singapore Heritage Society and supported by Goethe-Institut Singapore. The three judging organizations unanimously voted for Nadarajan Rajendran’s work which was an interview of a resident of Golden Mile Complex, an area in line for an en bloc sale.

Because the work of Nadarajan was so personal, polished and concise, showing the experiences of someone directly affected by the issue, his piece stood out among the 94 submitted entries.

Even though the entire film only had a 40-second limit, he was able to tell a complete story in a fast-paced yet unrushed manner.

The Grand Prize for this competition is $1,500 and a round trip to a German city, which was sponsored by Goethe-Institut Singapore.

The prizes will be given in a ceremony to be held on March 23, 2019, 2pm at The Substation’s SAD Bar along with the introduction to the forthcoming programme season called The Vanishing, or Time Goes Away which will start on March 2019.

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