home 쐽 THE STRAITS TIMES SATURDAY, APRIL 4 2009 PAGE B2
Countdown
photos
on show
A PHOTOGRAPHY exhibition,
which showcases significant mo-
ments from last year’s New Year’s
Eve countdown at Marina Bay, of-
ficially opened yesterday.
Mrs Cheong Koon Hean, chief
executive officer of the Urban Re-
development Authority (URA),
said this was the first time it was
exhibiting photographs of the
event as captured by the partici-
pants.
The exhibition, titled Through
Your Lens: Marina Bay Singapore
Countdown, also features win-
ning entries from a photography
competition that URA held in con-
junction with the countdown
event, from mid-December last
year to early January.
The competition drew more
than 400 entries from almost
The photo exhibition at Millenia Walk features significant moments from last
year’s New Year’s Eve countdown at Marina Bay. ST PHOTO: MUGILAN RAJASEGERAN
100 participants.
The winner of the open catego-
ry was 76-year-old retiree Toh
Chew Seng, who won for his im-
age of fireworks across the sky at
Marina Bay.
He and the 15 other winners
walked away with prizes worth a
total of $12,000, sponsored by
Nikon Singapore.
The exhibition, which lasts till
April 13, is open from 11am to
9pm at the Great Hall at Millenia
Walk. Admission is free.
Netizens pounce
on Wolverine
Much-awaited movie leaked
onto the Internet despite
costly efforts to fight piracy
BY TAN WEIZHEN
IT IS a few weeks away from hitting the silver
screen, but Internet pirates have already got their
hands on X-Men Origins, which is slated to be a
summer blockbuster this year.
In a development that many in copyright circles
are calling unprecedented, hundreds of thousands
of Netizens, including many Singaporeans, have ille-
gally downloaded the movie.
The episode is a stark reminder that despite the
millions spent by movie studios on safeguards
against costly leaks – which can have potentially
devastating effects on box office takings – battling
piracy remains an uphill task.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the hotly anticipated
prequel to the X-Men trilogy, began hitting the In-
ternet on Wednesday night. Almost immediately,
links to it began popping up on local forums such as
HardwareZone, generating much interest.
It is not known how many Singapore Net users
have seen the movie, but as an indication of the tre-
mendous interest in it worldwide, more than
150,000 copies were downloaded from one
file-sharing website alone as of yesterday.
This is despite the fact that the leaked copy has
missing scenes, lacks special effects, and has poor
sound quality. Some Netizens couldn’t care less,
however, and called it “great”.
One, Mr S. Rajendran, 28, said it was of “DVD
quality”. When asked why he downloaded the mov-
ie despite being aware that doing so violated copy-
right laws, he said he could not wait for the official
release. Besides, he added, “normally, I would pay
for movies only if they are really good, or if it’s an
organised outing with my friends”.
“And no, I don’t have a problem with piracy,” he
said. He would not give his full name as download-
ing of pirated movies is illegal.
Though downloading pirated movies is nothing
new, the X-Men episode is troubling on several
fronts. For one thing, leaks before movies are re-
leased are rare as studios keep a tight lid on every
step of the production process. The leak also comes
at a time when more money and attention than ever
are being sunk into tackling piracy. The methods
used range from the subtle – for example,the “Say
No to Piracy” advertisement that plays in movie
theatres – to hauling offenders to court.
Mr Eric Garland, chief executive of the file-shar-
ing monitoring firm BigChampagne, summed up
the impact of the issue succinctly in an interview
with The New York Times: Widespread download-
ing of Wolverine, he said, is a “one-of-a-kind case.
We’ve never seen a high-profile film – a film of this
budget, with this box office potential – leak in any
form this early”.
The problem, experts here said, is that many Net
users, Singaporeans included, think like Mr Rajen-
dran: They expect everything to be free, whether it
is movies, music or news. If forced to pay, they will
turn to illegal downloading.
A Nielsen survey this year, for example, found
that one in four Singapore Internet users down-
loads movies; one in three downloads songs; and 21
per cent download television shows – all illegally.
Streaming movies direct from websites is even
more popular, with six in 10 doing so.
All this illegal activity costs the entertainment in-
dustry $9 billion a year, according to past news re-
ports. The experts said that efforts at education
from bodies, like the Intellectual Property Office of
Singapore (Ipos), have come to naught.
Professor Lim Yee Fen, of the National Universi-
ty of Singapore who specialises in intellectual prop-
erty and IT law, said: “I honestly feel that Ipos has
already done all it can to educate the community
with regard to respecting intellectual property.
What is required now is more in-your-face remind-
ers for Internet users.”
She cited the example of anime fans who were
brought to court in late 2007 for illegally download-
ing anime online.
When contacted, the Motion Picture Association
said it would not let up in the fight. “The fact that
the movie is available online and being viewed by
Singaporeans just says we have got to continue our
efforts here,” said Mr Edward Neubronner, director
of operations.
But some major players have given up, and have
adopted an “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” ap-
proach. In the last two years, top bands like Nine
Inch Nails and Radiohead have chosen to allow
their new albums to be downloaded for free.
tanwz@sph.com.sg
Partner not
perfect? Not
a problem
A $1.25 MILLION television advertisement cam-
paign which starts tomorrow aims to get Singa-
pore’s singles to have realistic expectations about
relationships.
A 2006 survey found many respondents to be
waiting for a suitable partner. Official statistics al-
so show that the median age of first-time brides
and grooms has been increasing over the years.
Mr Richard Tan, director of communications
and international relations at the Ministry of Com-
munity Development, Youth and Sports, which is
behind the campaign, said: “It’s to tell people that
in any relationship, there will always be flaws,
there will always be imperfections but you can
build on a relationship without this imperfection af-
fecting it.”
The ad broaches two themes, interracial relation-
ships and the taboo subject of funerals, where a wid-
ow talks about her late husband’s flaws and what
they meant to her.
Produced by award-winning film director Yas-
min Ahmad, 51, it was inspired by her relationship
with her husband. The imperfection she likes about
her husband: his crooked teeth.
The ad garnered positive reactions at a preview
screening for media and invited bloggers yesterday.
“It’s not rah-rah. It’s more realistic. It features
tragedy, sadness, humour and uplifting feelings,”
said paper designer and blogger Aida Haron, 45.
To further tap the power of new media and reach
the younger, Internet-savvy generation, the minis-
try has also made the ad available on YouTube.