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Straits Times
06-07-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Hackathons produce scam simulation tool for education, platform identifying birds based on calls
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Tamagotcha team members taking dogs from Metta Cats And Dogs Sanctuary for a walk in February. Their web-based game teaches responsible pet ownership. SINGAPORE – A scam simulation where users role-play falling prey and losing money to scammers. A web-based game that teaches users responsible pet ownership. A platform that helps to identify local bird species based on their calls. These are among projects that were created during two hackathons in the last two years: the Hack For Public Good (HFPG) in 2025 and Build for Good (BFG) Environment in 2024. Organised by Open Government Products (OGP), an independent division of the Government Technology Agency (GovTech), HFPG is a month-long hackathon held every January since 2020 that encourages its employees to build solutions that tackle public issues. The BFG Environment, organised by OGP in partnership with the SG Eco Fund, is open to all Singapore residents aged 18 and above. Here, five winning teams will take part in an eight-week accelerator programme to develop their innovations, with up to $100,000 in funding, mentorship by industry experts, and product workshops. Innovations that have emerged from these hackathons include ScamShield, the anti-scam app that helps people filter scam messages and calls, and RemediSG, which collects and redistributes unused medication. The Straits Times sat down with three hackathon teams to find out what societal issues they are trying to solve, how their creations have evolved since the hackathons, and what plans they have. Unpacked: A scam simulation platform for up-close education Many people have probably seen countless anti-scam advertisements in public spaces and on social media, not to mention read about scam victims in multiple news reports. But have they ever assessed their own abilities to identify a scam? Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore First BTO project in Sembawang North to be offered in July HDB launch World Tariffs will kick in on Aug 1 barring trade deals: US Treasury Secretary Singapore Woman on SMRT's 190 bus injured after bottle thrown at vehicle leaves hole in window Business Great Eastern says Takeover Code not breached when it shared IFA valuation with OCBC Asia 'Don't be seen in India again': Indian nationals pushed into Bangladesh at gunpoint Asia Thousands evacuated as Typhoon Danas lashes Taiwan Asia Two women fatally stabbed at bar in Japan by man Life Star Awards 2025: Christopher Lee wins big, including Special Achievement Award and Best Actor They can go ahead and try out Unpacked, an immersive scam simulation built by a group of five OGP employees, which allows users to experience first-hand what it is like to interact with scammers posing as government officials. Created during HFPG 2025, the educational tool complements ScamShield, the anti-scam app that helps people filter scam messages and calls. 'The way citizens consume scam education, such as via advertisements in MRTs and on social media, is very passive,' said software engineer Rayner Loh, one of the team members. 'These traditional methods are not particularly effective in reducing scams and making the public more aware or able to protect themselves... We want to show things like how psychological manipulation happens in real time.' Accessed via a mobile device on Unpacked's webpage , the multi-sensory experience starts with a call from an unknown number. The 'caller', which is actually a voice created digitally, would then identify herself as a DBS Bank employee. The user is told that there has been unusual activity on his or her bank account, and that the bank suspects it is the result of identity theft. The call is then transferred to the 'police', and the conversation continues on a messaging platform that resembles WhatsApp. Throughout the experience, the user can respond based on choices provided. The simulation ends when the user simulates transferring his or her life savings to an unknown bank account. The team behind Unpacked, an immersive scam simulation created during Hack for Public Good 2025. PHOTO: OPEN GOVERNMENT PRODUCTS The manner in which scammers speak, type, and the communication channels used are specifically crafted based on information from advisories that the police have put out, and interviews with officers and victims of government official impersonation scams (Gois). 'Some of the insights were that the scammers would sound local, and they would be wearing a police uniform during the video call,' said Mr Loh. 'For Gois, it's also never on a single platform – they'll pass the victims around different platforms such as on phone calls and WhatsApp.' He added that while the team is working to simulate other scam variants in the future, it chose to focus on Gois first due to its high financial impact. There were 1,504 Gois cases reported in 2024, and an average of $100,622 was lost per case, according to the annual scam figures released by the police in February. This is the highest amount of money lost per case on average in 2024, compared with other scam types such as investment or social media impersonation scams. Immersive scam simulation Unpacked is based on information including those from interviews with victims. It ends when the user simulates transferring life savings to an unknown bank account. PHOTO: SCREENSHOT FROM UNPACKED Unpacked has hosted around 7,400 unique visitors since February when it was displayed during the HFPG demonstration day. The team is working on making improvements such as making the simulation available in Chinese, Malay, and Tamil. There are no plans now to integrate Unpacked as a feature in ScamShield's app, but the team continues to share about the simulation through word-of-mouth and online, said Mr Loh. 'However, if there are organisations that are interested in using Unpacked for their own anti-scam education and training purposes, we welcome the public to use it,' he added. Tamagotcha: A web-based game that teaches responsible pet ownership A record number of animal welfare and cruelty cases in Singapore prompted the creation of Tamagotcha – a game inspired by the popular 1990s pocket-size gadget on which players care for a virtual pet. Created by a team of five during HFPG 2025, Tamagotcha uses gameplay to teach existing and potential pet owners the responsibilities of caring for a furry companion. In web-based game Tamagotcha, players are faced with scenarios that test their knowledge on pet care. PHOTO: SCREENSHOT FROM TAMAGOTCHA Earlier in January, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) reported that the number of cases of animal cruelty and welfare concerns has hit a 12-year high , with a total of 2,190 animals falling victim in 2024. But it was not just statistics that inspired the team. Being pet owners themselves, they knew that new owners can be caught off-guard by the needs of their pets. 'As a first-time cat 'pawrent' some years ago, I was really surprised how different their needs are from that of dogs that I had prior experience with – such as their innate need to scratch, play, and explore,' said Ms Nitya Menon, lead policy and transformation specialist at OGP. 'With so many unanticipated scenarios that can make a new pet owner feel ill-prepared, we wanted to focus on upstream education to help new adopters make informed decisions.' Currently, players can choose between only a cat and a dog, although some pieces of advice given throughout the game are applicable to all pet owners. To collect information for the game while it was in development, the team surveyed 129 people based in Singapore including pet owners, community animal caretakers and rescue operators. The prototype was also tested by SPCA, and Metta Cats And Dogs Sanctuary. Some key insights were that healthcare, nutrition, training and costs were the most common areas where pet owners felt they lacked enough information. The game, which is currently a prototype, can be found on its webpage . Users can choose to play with Snowy, a cuddly and affectionate dog, or Nala, a feisty and fearless cat. They start with nine hearts and nine coins. The goal is to maintain good care of the pet, which would result in a decrease in coins (expenditure on pet care), but an increase in hearts (the pet is happy). In one instance, the player is confronted with a situation in which Nala pounces and tries to bite the owner's feet. The player can either choose to scold, or set aside playtime and provide suitable toys for Nala. 'Another area that often catches new owners by surprise is the cost of caring for a pet,' said Mr Goh Kyi Yeung, team member and assistant director at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information. Basic needs such as cost of food and toys, licensing, grooming, and vet visits can add up quickly, he added. 'The game includes scenarios around these practical aspects too, so players can better appreciate the financial commitment involved.' Moving forward, the team hopes to partner with agencies and animal welfare groups to integrate the game into adoption processes, licensing requirements, or broader public awareness initiatives. Said Ms Menon: 'We welcome pet owners and shelters to try Tamagotcha out and give us their feedback. This will help us decide on next steps, including whether OGP should invest additional resources to expand the game's role as a public education tool.' 'Our longer-term vision is for Tamagotcha to inspire the reimagination of other learning and training platforms by the Government, from Driver Improvement Point System (DIPS) retraining to election duty,' said Mr Goh, referring to the course meant to correct driving behaviour of errant motorists who have accumulated demerit points. Koel: A tool to identify wild birds by their calls Koel team members setting up equipment to record bird sounds. The online platform's goal is to make environmental impact assessments less challenging to conduct. PHOTO: MAX KHOO To make the process of identifying birds easier and less time-consuming when an area is being assessed for environmental risk during development, a group of engineers and developers came together to create an online platform that can identify species of birds via audio recordings. Koel was created by a team of five during the BFG Environment hackathon in 2024, and the goal is to make environmental impact assessments (EIAs) less challenging to conduct. Companies and agencies such as the National Parks Board (NParks) commission independent consultants to carry out EIAs, which evaluate the potential impact a new development can have on the environment. Currently, identifying animals in an area either requires someone to count them manually, or via a camera trap that can detect animals when there is movement. But these methods are not very effective when it comes to birds, said team member and engineer Ervin Cheng. 'Birds are often in trees, and cameras are not pointed upwards and have a limited view,' said Mr Cheng. 'Audio recording has a lot of benefits, such as being omnidirectional, and having a range of a few hundred metres.' At the start of Koel's development, the team used open source models mostly developed in the US and Europe, which can identify around 900 species of birds that are primarily from these regions. In order to beef up the platform's ability to identify birds found in the South-east Asian region, they reached out to Mandai Nature – the conservation arm of Mandai Wildlife Group – which allowed them to record the calls of birds such as the straw-headed bulbul and some hornbills from within its aviaries. The straw-headed bulbul is a critically endangered bird species, but Singapore is a stronghold for the songbird, with a third of its world population found locally. The team also chose to record the calls of five other bird species in Mandai Nature's aviaries, as these birds face potential threats to their natural habitats. 'Our focus currently is to bring up the accuracy of our model, to be able to better identify these species,' said fellow team member and engineer Ritwik Jha. After users upload their audio recordings, they can also give feedback on whether Koel's identification was correct – a process the team said will help to refine the system's accuracy. Singapore is home to around 400 species of birds, of which Koel is able to detect around 30 to 40 species at the moment. The team is working to increase this number over time. Koel began working with NParks in mid-2024, and the agency has submitted audio recordings for identification, said Mr Cheng. The main insight that can be derived from analysing audio recordings taken over a period of time is the presence and absence of species, and the general frequency of how often a species was heard calling in an area. Aside from birds, the platform is also able to identify reptiles and amphibians such as frogs, even though it is not able to distinguish between species currently. 'Mammals tend to not create as much sound, so there aren't as many audio recordings available as open source models,' said Mr Ritwik. 'But animals like frogs are a very good indicator of how healthy the biodiversity and habitat is.' For now, Koel accepts audio recordings only from NParks and not the community, as there are concerns about bad actors possibly using it for the wrong reasons. 'If the platform is made available to everyone, there could be potential for people interested in poaching or capturing endangered animals to also use Koel,' said Mr Ritwik. 'Perhaps at some point, if we develop the ability to segregate endangered species and keep that data secure, then we might open it up to the public.'
United News of India
15-05-2025
- Politics
- United News of India
Civil society organisations urge Sri Lankan govt to enact critical reforms
Colombo, May 15 (UNI) Civil society groups such as the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), together with its affiliates the Sri Lanka Working Journalists Association (SLWJA) and the Free Media Movement (FMM), has urged the new government to heed civil society calls to bring the country forward on critical reforms. Issuing a statement, the IFJ raised concerns over the Sri Lankan government's apparent reluctance to engage with civil society, warning that the administration under newly elected President Anura Kumara Dissanayake is falling short of its promises on transparency and inclusive governance, News Wire reports. Despite repeated efforts by civil society organisations, the government has so far remained unresponsive to calls for renewed commitment to the Open Government Partnership (OGP)—a global initiative aimed at promoting transparency, empowering citizens, combating corruption and improving governance. Critics argue that this silence undermines public trust and raises questions about the administration's willingness to foster meaningful citizen participation in decision-making. Under the mandate of the OGP, members are required to create a two-year National Action Plan through a multi-stakeholder process to implement governance reforms in collaboration with civil society. Organisations such as Transparency International Sri Lanka and the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, as co-conveners of the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) involved in Sri Lanka's OGP process, urged the government to recommit to the OGP or potentially be expelled from the multilateral initiative. In a statement, the groups said the continued silence underscored a broader pattern of weak consultative governance and emphasised that restoring trust in public institutions required a firm commitment to open, inclusive and participatory governance that reflects the voices and needs of the people. The current frustration from Sri Lankan civil society groups, while targeted at the new administration, is also underpinned by a long pattern of neglect by previous governments. From 2021 to 2023, successive governments failed to submit a National Action Plan under the OGP, prompting the global OGP Steering Committee to designate Sri Lanka as 'inactive' in a resolution passed on May 10, 2024. To restore its active status, Sri Lanka was due to submit a new Action Plan by May 10, 2025, but the current administration has yet to comply. The FMM said: 'The government's inaction – while retaining draconian legislation – exposes its indifference to constitutional freedoms. FMM demands immediate recommitment to OGP with civil society to repeal anti-media laws; embed press freedom in the National Action Plan and guarantee transparent policymaking. Media freedom cannot survive without institutional checks. The OGP is our last firewall against authoritarian regression.' The SLWJA said: 'We believe it's crucial to re-engage the current Sri Lankan government in a participatory governance model that includes civil society organisations. In the past, the Sri Lankan government has had positive experiences working with such civil organisations to implement 'Good Governance.' Reviving this approach could lead to more effective and accountable governance.' The IFJ said: 'Press freedom can only thrive within a functioning democracy, and the continued neglect of participatory governance and civil society engagement raises serious questions about the administration's commitment to legislative reform. It is urgent that press freedom is front and centre of such a discussion.' UNI ANV SS
New Paper
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- New Paper
Experimental camera-based ERP system being trialled till October 2025
An experimental project using street-mounted cameras and vehicle licence plate recognition technology to compute Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges is being put to the test. The trial of the technology started in November 2024 and will run until October. There are no plans to roll out the technology, which is still in the exploratory stage. Called ERP X, the experiment by Open Government Products (OGP), an independent division of the Government Technology Agency that builds technology for the public good, was one of 35 projects from OGP's Hack for Public Good 2024, a yearly hackathon. Under the ERP X trial, nine cameras have been installed at different locations in the Bras Basah area. These cameras automatically recognise vehicle licence plate numbers, and toll payments are handled automatically through a smartphone app. In contrast, ERP charges are processed through hardware installed in vehicles under the current system. The Straits Times observed that in the Bras Basah area, the cameras are mounted on lamp posts and positioned to detect a vehicle's rear licence plate. An OGP spokeswoman told ST that the trial is intended to gather feedback that will help the team understand the technology better, and it is working with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on the trial. The spokeswoman said: "We are still in the early stages of figuring out how this technology can be used effectively to improve road and vehicle usage operations, including enforcement." She added: "There is a lot more development, testing and validation needed before we consider any large-scale application." While OGP sees potential in this technology, the spokeswoman said the team is looking for ways to test different ideas and situations in which it can be used across the Government. "We will have many such explorations." A spokesperson for LTA said the study was at an "exploratory stage" and it had no further information to provide. Other than charging a user when a vehicle passes through a location, as with the current ERP system, ERP X could also open the way for distance-based charges. "With enough cameras in place, we can track a vehicle's route and charge based on the distance travelled," the ERP X website said. Under the ERP X trial, cameras mounted overhead automatically recognise vehicle licence plate numbers, and toll payments are handled automatically through a smartphone app. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN ERP X was started amid "practical challenges" with the next-generation satellite-based ERP 2.0 system, which will replace the existing gantry-based system, the team said on its website. Some drivers felt ERP 2.0 was "somewhat obtrusive and inconvenient to use", the team added. There had been concerns about the bulkiness of the new system's three-piece on-board unit, comprising a processing unit, an antenna and a touchscreen display. In the latest quarterly update on the ERP X trial, for the first quarter of 2025, OGP said an "offences dashboard" has been set up for operations officers to review potential violations detected by the system. These include off-peak vehicles spotted during restricted hours and lorries being driven with inadequate safety measures. Twenty-six more cameras have also been installed, but the update did not state the locations, and they are not yet in operation. As at the end of March, there were 162 participants in the trial, and the accuracy of the cameras in identifying vehicle licence plates was 95.4 per cent. The trial incurred $362,773 in costs in the first three months of 2025. ST signed up for the trial in March using the publicly available web link. To be considered for the test, participants have to submit information such as the type of vehicle used, which may be a car, motorcycle or commercial vehicle, and whether the user has an iOS or Android mobile device. Other than charging a user when a vehicle passes through a location, as with the current ERP system, ERP X could also open the way for distance-based charges. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN Successful applicants will receive a WhatsApp text message with instructions on how to download the ERP X test app, which is accessible by invitation only. Multiple vehicle registration numbers can be added to the app, which has an interface showing a summary of transactions. The app also shows the route and distance covered by the vehicles. Meanwhile, the islandwide transition to ERP 2.0 is under way. For now, around 430,000 vehicles out of Singapore's total vehicle population of just over one million have been fitted with the new on-board unit, said LTA. The installation of the hardware in Singapore-registered vehicles is targeted to be completed by 2026.
Straits Times
12-05-2025
- Automotive
- Straits Times
Experimental camera-based ERP system being trialled till October 2025
The artificial intelligence-powered camera-based system is able to read vehicle registration numbers to handle ERP charges. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN SINGAPORE - An experimental project using street-mounted cameras and vehicle licence plate recognition technology to compute Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) charges is being put to the test. The trial of the technology started in November 2024 and will run until October. There are no plans to roll out the technology, which is still in the exploratory stage. Called ERP X, the experiment by Open Government Products (OGP), an independent division of the Government Technology Agency that builds technology for the public good, was one of 35 projects from OGP's Hack for Public Good 2024, a yearly hackathon. Under the ERP X trial, nine cameras have been installed at different locations in the Bras Basah area. These cameras automatically recognise vehicle licence plate numbers, and toll payments are handled automatically through a smartphone app. In contrast, ERP charges are processed through hardware installed in vehicles under the current system. The Straits Times observed that in the Bras Basah area, the cameras are mounted on lamp posts and positioned to detect a vehicle's rear licence plate. An OGP spokeswoman told ST that the trial is intended to gather feedback that will help the team understand the technology better, and it is working with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on the trial. The spokeswoman said: 'We are still in the early stages of figuring out how this technology can be used effectively to improve road and vehicle usage operations, including enforcement.' She added: 'There is a lot more development, testing and validation needed before we consider any large-scale application.' While OGP sees potential in this technology, the spokeswoman said the team is looking for ways to test different ideas and situations in which it can be used across the Government. 'We will have many such explorations.' A spokesperson for LTA said the study was at an 'exploratory stage' and it had no further information to provide. Other than charging a user when a vehicle passes through a location, as with the current ERP system, ERP X could also open the way for distance-based charges. 'With enough cameras in place, we can track a vehicle's route and charge based on the distance travelled,' the ERP X website said. Under the ERP X trial, cameras mounted overhead automatically recognise vehicle licence plate numbers, and toll payments are handled automatically through a smartphone app. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN ERP X was started amid 'practical challenges' with the next-generation satellite-based ERP 2.0 system, which will replace the existing gantry-based system, the team said on its website. Some drivers felt ERP 2.0 was 'somewhat obtrusive and inconvenient to use', the team added. There had been concerns about the bulkiness of the new system's three-piece on-board unit, comprising a processing unit, an antenna and a touchscreen display. In the latest quarterly update on the ERP X trial, for the first quarter of 2025, OGP said an 'offences dashboard' has been set up for operations officers to review potential violations detected by the system. These include off-peak vehicles spotted during restricted hours and lorries being driven with inadequate safety measures. Twenty-six more cameras have also been installed, but the update did not state the locations, and they are not yet in operation. As at the end of March, there were 162 participants in the trial, and the accuracy of the cameras in identifying vehicle licence plates was 95.4 per cent. The trial incurred $362,773 in costs in the first three months of 2025. ST signed up for the trial in March using the publicly available web link. To be considered for the test, participants have to submit information such as the type of vehicle used, which may be a car, motorcycle or commercial vehicle, and whether the user has an iOS or Android mobile device. Other than charging a user when a vehicle passes through a location, as with the current ERP system, ERP X could also open the way for distance-based charges. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN Successful applicants will receive a WhatsApp text message with instructions on how to download the ERP X test app, which is accessible by invitation only. Multiple vehicle registration numbers can be added to the app, which has an interface showing a summary of transactions. The app also shows the route and distance covered by the vehicles. Meanwhile, the islandwide transition to ERP 2.0 is under way. For now, around 430,000 vehicles out of Singapore's total vehicle population of just over one million have been fitted with the new on-board unit, said LTA. The installation of the hardware in Singapore-registered vehicles is targeted to be completed by 2026. Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.
News.com.au
06-05-2025
- Science
- News.com.au
Truth about female orgasms finally revealed in new study
If this was a newspaper and not a nice shiny website plugged into the wall with a few blue cables coming out the back, then there is only one headline we would use on this story: Come again? Today we have new research out of the US where some academics have dedicated themselves to the burning question: Why aren't women having more orgasms? Sadly, big tech, big pharma and big porn, despite being industries worth a combined $21 trillion, have failed to solve this. Enter a new study that has some answers. Published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, this research has identified what is really going wrong in the bedroom - we are suffering from an Orgasm Pursuit Gap (OGP). That is, how much perceived effort, both partners, put into a woman orgasming. The study found that, essentially, straight men and women both prioritise the bloke getting there (sly wink) and that far less effort, on everyone's part, went into the woman achieving similar results. Sigh. Great. Just great. We (writing as a cis gender woman) are, statistically, paid less, do more housework and childcare, report higher rates of feeling rushed and pressed for time, and are more likely to die of stroke. And now, it turns out that we are being even further short-changed in the bedroom. Who do we ask for a refund? The study was led by Carly Wolfer, a doctoral candidate in social psychology at City University of New York, who asked 127 people in heterosexual relationships aged 18-40-years-old to keep sex diaries for three weeks, a span which ultimately tracked 566 sexual events. Ms Wolfer found that men orgasmed during 90 percent of their sexual encounters while women only got to the same place just over half the time, at 54 percent. It gets worse. Not only are men 15 times more likely to orgasm than women but when they do they have more satisfying orgasms. (Programming note: I vehemently refuse to use the word 'climax'. We are not trapped in the early aughties badlands of mags doing stories like '15 ways to blow his mind'.) That's 'not because it's 'just naturally harder' for women to orgasm - a common myth,' Wilder told the HuffPost, 'but because we put less effort into the sexual practices that support women's pleasure, like clitoral stimulation.' Or to put it another way, heterosexual couples have a general tendency to do the things, positions, and upside-down, back-to-front, standing-on-your-head gymnastics that help men orgasm over what works for women. Moreover, while this is going on, the research showed that both him and her are more focused on the guy orgasming, rather than the gal equally. Et voila, the orgasm pursuit gap. As Wolfer explained to the HuffPost, the OGP is about 'how much someone wants an orgasm to happen - whether it's their own or their partner's - and how much effort they put into making it happen.' From a feminist standpoint this all makes me want to grind my teeth and start emitting the sort of noises better suited to a pitbull chained up to a fence who is having a very bad day. When it comes to female sexual enjoyment, the figures are a real turn off. Last year the sex toy company Womanizer's We-Vibe sex and relationships study found that barely 40 per cent of women across all age brackets are actually satisfied with the amount of sex they are having. Meanwhile, an Australian study has previously found that only one in four women regularly masturbate, dealing a devastating blow to double AA battery sales. Overall, researchers found that in the past year, nearly three quarters (72 per cent) of men had masturbated but only just a bit more than one in three women (42 per cent). According to Womanizer's numbers, overall, 62 per cent of women don't own a single sex toy. So women of Australia it's time to unite: We are being shortchanged, and short changing ourselves, in the bedroom. Forget budget deficits, we are massively stuck in a far more pressing orgasm deficit, strangely an issue that has not come up during this election cycle. (Imagining Prime Minister Athony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton even spluttering their way through saying the word 'orgams' as they turned various shades of puce and became increasingly flustered is the best fun you can have with your pants on today. No one should ever lie back and think of Canberra.) The moral of all this: When it comes to your next sexual event, everyone needs to try. Everyone needs to come to the party.
