Wei Kiat's Blog

Garyl Tan Jia Luo, simultaneously the most suay person with the stupidest neighbor of all, to such an extend that foreigners commenting on foreign sites bashing Singapore had this to say:

Lol, Neighbor from Hell.

The seventeen year old had his fortune screwed when his neighbor made a police report, complaining that his wifi connection has been "stolen" by Garyl to do some silly emailing and instant messaging.

My take on this is that this incident is incredibly stupid, but is bound to happen sooner or later. Some points that I am too lazy to put into paragraph form:

1) Since the passing of the new Computer Misuse Act, the relevant authorities are on their toes looking for the first person who commit the offence, so that they can dish out outrageous punishments (much like the racist bloggers incident that illustrates Singaporeans' immaturity), in order to frighten future offenders. This work very well. (Who dares to become another Chee?)

2) Since the neighbor is so IT-savvy has to be able to determine that someone is "stealing" his wifi, and so selfish when it comes to sharing his wifi, he certainly has enough motive and expertise enough to secure his own wireless connection. Something is strange here. Is Garyl's neighbor in liaison with the relevant authorities?

3) Garyl is lame. Just go Macdonald got free wifi already!

4) Some people say that his neighbor is correct, and that Garyl is a thief. Because, they say, even if a house owner forget to lock his door, it is still wrong for a person to walk in and steal stuffs. Well, I can slap these people in their face because what the neighbor is doing is like walking naked in the street (broadcasting his radio waves without any protection), and then calling anyone who look at him a peeping tom (a thief!).

5) The punishment awarded to Garyl don't make sense. 18 months of no internet connection? Even more motivation to steal wifi!

Sure sure, I know this stunt will help the government enforce the law by frightening people off. But do they have even the slightest knowledge of technology?

Imagine I go my friend's house to LAN party regularly. My friend's wifi SSID is "Nabei". I connect to "Nabei" and have fun.

I then go home, and turn on my computer. One of my neighbor's wifi SSID is "Nabei" too. Due to the way the wifi selector on Windows work, it is likely that my computer will automatically connect to my neighbor's "Nabei". According to the law, I die liao lor.

With this news reported all over the cyber space, another massive run of Singapore bashing (so soon after IMF) had began, while a certain figure with charming smile that wins the heart and votes of many Ah Sohs will still insist "Singapore enjoys good reputation worldwide".

I shall end this off with some comments and an image from foreigners.

I guess Singapore changed from the old fashioned, and undoubtedly painful, caning to the more civilized finning.

what? no caning?

Well does it beat the CANING for spitting gum on the side walk?
Nah!