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21 October 2002
News Stories:August Headlines

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1. Farewell for a fallen captain

2. Rugby club honours dead mates by getting on with the game

3. Complacency fuels surge in mosquito-borne killers

4. ‘Lenient’ verdict on Nicholas Tse could send wrong message to public

5. Arup Communications successfully completes The Esplanade - theatres on the bay, ICT consultancy

1. Farewell for a fallen captain
SCMP, 20 October 2002

Mourners accompany the coffin of Bali bombing victim Clive Walton into St John’s Cathedral yesterday. Walton, rugby captain of the Fottball Club, leaves a wife, Ariane, Oliver Tsang “We have lost what we could not afford to lose’.

2. Rugby club honours dead mates by getting on with the game
Victoria Button, Sunday Morning Post 20 October 2002


Through tears and laughter, fuelled by beer and memories, the Hong Kong Football Club yester- day turned out in force to do what members lost in the Bali bomb blast would have wanted - play rugby.

The ranks of the teams that lost members were swollen by dozens of retired players who pulled on their boots and jerseys for the first time in years to take to the field.

Hundreds of supporters brought their children to watch the day's games, cheering the club's teams with standing ovations as they left the field, regardless of the scores.

The scene at the club, packed with life both on and off the field, was a world away from the bombed-out devastation of what was once the Sari Club in Bali.

But before every game yester- day, the crowds stood still for a minute's silence, marked either end by a referee's whistle, to remember the players who could not be there.

Clive Walton's widow, Ariane, took her husband's place in the line-up for the Select team - for which he played fly half - along- side other bereaved family members. A child’s voice rang out to ask why everything was so quiet. No one could give her a real answer.

Nine people associated with either Hong Kong or the touring side are missing, and two have been confirmed dead. Five of these were serving or former members of the Select team.

One of the referees of the match was Barrie King, who was in the San' Club when the bomb exploded but who escaped with cuts and burst eardrums.

Earlier, another team, the Sequins, held a tearful ceremony in honour of engineer Tom "Tom- my" Holmes, 39, whose No 15 jersey they have retired.

Holmes, described as an avid sportsman with "200 per cent confidence", will not only be missed by the Sequins - one rug- by team could not satisfy his appetite for the game so he played for several. The full back was one of the first to sign up for the Vandals' tour to Ball.

"He never shied away from life. He played one, two, three games in a day. He epitomised life. He was everything," tearful teammate Michael Lamb said.
Sequins captain Keith Nicolle also wept as he asked team members to sign two No 15 jerseys, which the players plan to frame and send to Holmes' family. Players said there had been some de- bate during the week about whether to go ahead with the matches, but they decided that was what those who lost their lives in the tragedy would have wanted.

"It has been a very difficult 'time. There's been a lot of emotion. There's been a lot of anger, but the guys genuinely wanted to get on with the job of playing rugby," said Donough Foley, a club member coordinating communications.

One of the players, Aiden Whiteman, said playing had been difficult: "it wasn't like a normal game. It was hard to concentrate knowing what the occasion was, but, to a certain extent, it made me more focused."

An e-mail from another player which was stuck to a wall in the clubhouse - an impromptu shrine to those who died - expressed mixed feelings about playing.

"On the one hand, I'm finding it difficult to build any enthusiasm for the game at the 'moment. On the other hand, I'm reluctant to allow ... terrorism of this nature to achieve any flicker of achievement by disrupting normal life," it read.

3. Complacency fuels surge in mosquito-borne killers
Sunday Morning Post, 20 October 2002

4. ‘Lenient’ verdict on Nicholas Tse could send wrong message to public
Sunday Morning Post, 20 October 2002

CANTO-POP STAR Nicholas Tse Ting-fung was convicted of conspiracy to pervert, the course, of justice and sentenced to 240 hours of community service for switching drivers after crashing his Ferrari in March.

it is always useful, before commenting, to look at previous cases. Obviously, there will be discrepancies and it will be impossible to find two identical cases. Rather, it is better to look at what the cases establish in principle.

In the state versus Yeung Kwong-chi in 1989 - the leading case 'on perverting the course of justice - the court said: "The normal sentence is one of immediate imprisonment. It is necessary not only to punish and deter such wicked behaviour, but to mark the absolute repugnance, with which the public viewed such a deliberate abuse of the criminal process. it follows that in order to justify any other sentence, abnormal circumstances must be present."

The court further stated that, in offences of this type, a clear record, a good family and the likelihood of a future blameless life could not be considered "unusual". In other words, the fact that the deed was out of character is not sufficient to excuse the offender, from imprisonment.

When compared to similar cases, the Tse verdict is hard to reconcile - in particular with the virtually identical case of the SAR versus Mok Wal-hung in 2000. In that case, the motorist drove his car right up to some cleaning workers, causing them to fear for their safety. Although nobody was hurt, an argument ensued and one worker accused him of drink-driving. When the police arrived, the driver said his girlfriend had been at the wheel.

During sentencing, counsel argued that a community service or- der-identical to Tse's case - should be granted, because, amongst other things, the driver had no prior convictions, the wrongdoing took, place "on the spur of the moment" without reflection, he had co-operated, and the community service reports were favourable. Moreover, he came from a good family, did not have a police record, and the effect of the conviction had al- ready had a negative effect on his job and pension.

The court threw out his argument, saying: "There are occasions when a community service order can be imposed, but this is not one of them." An appeal was also dismissed and the six-month jail term upheld.
It is true that Tse did come from a "broken" family and did play a "passive" role in the of- fence, but it does seem odd that

he should be treated so differently, especially when he was the prima- ry beneficiary of the wrongdoing.

His sentence seems unduly lenient compared to those of his co- defendants, Shing Kwok-ting and Lau Chl-wal, who received four and six months respectively. Al- though it is well known that the court has great discretion in sentencing, it is also equally important for it to have a clear appreciation of the respective criminally of each participant where more than one party is involved.

In practice, when a defendant pleads guilty, he receives a customary one-third reduction in sentence in recognition of his acceptance of wrongdoing. Furthermore, pleading guilty is often said to be the best evidence of remorse for one's actions. Tse did not plead guilty. It therefore seems odd that he should serve no time at all when Shing, who pleaded guilty, received four months. Although there are obvious differences between Tse's case and the examples given above, they cannot be sufficient to explain the difference between Tse's sentence, the four months received by Shing and the six months' imprisonment in the Mok case.

One of the central functions of the justice system is to discourage certain types of behaviour. A sentence must convey the amount of disapproval and condemnation proportionate to the nature of the offence. Perverfing the course of justice is a serious offence, and there is a real danger that a community service order could send the wrong message to the public. It is also unfair to those who received custodial sentences. Community service is not a "soft option", and the offender will inevitably lose a degree of liberty. But it is substantially less than the customary custodial sentence imposed in cases like this.

It is important the public does not feel offenders can get off lightly just because they are famous.

Carwil Milton is the pseudonym of an apprentice barrister.

5. Arup Communications successfully completes The Esplanade - theatres on the bay, ICT consultancy
Arup Communications News Release, 18 October 2002

The Grand Opening of the S$600m, Esplanade - theatres on the bay, Singapore marks the successful completion of Arup Communications' ICT Consultancy appointment. Arup was appointed two years ago to design, procure and project manage the implementation of a wide range of mission critical back-office and front-of-house information and communications technology (ICT) solutions.
Situated on the waterfront, The Esplanade is a world class major new performing arts centre that has the mission of entertaining, engaging, educating and inspiring the population. The Esplanade consists of diverse spaces including a 2000 seat Theatre, 1800 seat Concert Hall, three separate Studios, 2000 sq m Gallery, Ampitheatre, 300m Waterfront, Library, Retail and Restaurants.
Arup's Scope of Works had four distinct stages :
Phase 1: develop an ICT Vision
Phase 2: develop detailed designs for a range of short-listed ICT solutions
Phase 3: manage a tender process to select various contractors
Phase 4: project manage the contractors during the implementation of the solutions

Arup deployed an international team to complement its locally based staff and co-ordinated closely with both the client and design team.
Michael Tomordy, Arup Communications Project Manager for the assignment said "It is a great honour and privilege to be involved in such an important project that marks an important development in the evolution of the Singaporean society and nation. ICT is critical to the operations of the Esplanade and our solutions considered both back-office applications as well as how to improve the visitor experience. The solutions implemented are both high performance and resilient, with a future-proofed design enabling a wide range of advanced applications to be implemented in the future. The project was particularly challenging due to the complex architectural design (when compared to an office building for example) and the need to ensure that the IT carefully integrated into the overall design"

Benson Puah, CEO, the Esplanade said "The Esplanade has a long-term E-vision to enhance the process of delivering world-class customer experience where we will adopt an integrated electronic communications strategy to deliver information, interaction and transaction in order to build a long-term relationship with customers. When fully developed and implemented, anything from purchasing a ticket, calling to enquire about an event, making reservations, moving about in the centre or even locating a seat within the venues will be seamless and easy."

Alex Ong, the Esplanade, IT Manager said "Technology enables smooth business processes and can also differentiate visitors experiences at the Esplanade. Thus, the Company appointed a Consultant (Arup Communications) to ensure that the network architecture is guaranteed an upgrade path and is hence future proofed."

Background Information

Arup Communications
Arup Communications' technology and business consultants specialise in Information and Communication Technology solutions. Our core range of services includes strategic advice, business planning, telecommunications services, systems integration, audio-visual consultancy, security and IT design and implementation for buildings. These services coupled with our wide range of experience and independence enable us to add value to our clients' business objectives. With around one hundred members of staff in six offices on three continents, Arup Communications can offer a global perspective with local delivery. Arup Communications are also the ICT Consultants for the forthcoming National Library Board HQ and Singapore Management University City Campus in Singapore.
Arup
With our roots as consulting engineers, Arup is now a firm of designers and consultants in the broadest sense. From automobiles to infrastructure, structural engineering to communications consultancy, financial, and socially led engineering; our constantly evolving skill base reflects the diversity and dynamism of both our clients and our staff. Arup is a professional firm which spans the world. We currently operate out of 71 offices in 32 countries, and employ over 6000 members of staff.
Michael Tomordy michael.tomordy@arup.com is the Regional Manager for Arup Communications and helped establish the group in Hong Kong and Asia. He has worked on projects across Asia, including China, Singapore, Japan and Australia and internationally for a variety of clients in different market sectors, including finance, leisure, education and Government.
For further information on Arup Communications contact Siow Ting Ang
siow-ting.ang@arup.com
Arup Communications,
371 Beach Road
#03-01 Keypoint
Singapore
199597

T: +65 6415 3500
F: +65 6415 3501
www.arup.com




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