Also: Water usage to double in Singapore and hackers access Sun Ho website. Thursday ASEAN links.


A team of Australian scientists have discovered a new shark species near the island of Ternate on Indonesia’s eastern coast. The team managed to catch two specimens of “Hemiscyllium halmahera” – a never-before documented “walking shark.”

“Rather than swim, these slender-bodied sharks ‘walk’ by wriggling their bodies and pushing with their pectoral and pelvic fins,” said Sci-News. “The newly discovered species reaches 28 inches (70 cm) in length.”

A short video of the new shark can be seen prancing across the sea bottom here.

Moving from saltwater to fresh water, Singapore’s national water agency (called PUB) has predicted that national demand for water will double in 50 years. The non-domestic sector—anything outside of the home—is expected to account for 70 percent of the increased demand.

PUB has increased funding for companies that initiate water audits, offering to cover 90 percent of the cost (up from 50 percent previously). The funding would allow companies to monitor their water usage.

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Grace Fu, Singapore’s Second Minister for Environment and Water Resources, told Channel NewsAsia, “All of us have to do our part to conserve water. Achieving a sustainable level of water consumption requires our commitment, whether as individuals, households, or industries.”

In other Singapore news, six members of the City Harvest Church (CHC) are on trial for allegedly misusing church funds amounting to approximately $50 million, most of which was used to boost the singing career of pop star Sun Ho, a CHC co-founder.

A hacker, claiming to be a member of “hacktivist” group Anonymous, gained access to Sun Ho’s website. Using the nickname “The Messiah,” the hacker has pledged to release secure data found on the site, including names, addresses, phone numbers, and passwords.


“It took us less than 15 minutes to gain access,” he said in an interview with Yahoo News.

In other corruption news, the former head of Indonesia’s traffic police force has been sentenced to ten years in prison for money laundering. Djoko Susilo received nearly $3 million in kickbacks for driving simulators used in driver’s license testing, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The long sentence “mark[s] a major advance in the country’s fight against corruption during the final year of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s administration,” said WSJ.

Meanwhile, Vietnam’s national air carrier Vietnam Airlines Corp. is seeking a strategic investor ahead of an initial public offering that could happen next year. Vietnam Air could choose an investor as early as the fourth quarter.

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“The plan has been revived as VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Co, the country's only privately owned carrier, said last week its considering an IPO to fund expansion,” said Bangkok Post. “The government has been trying to conduct an IPO of state-owned Vietnam Airlines since at least 2010 amid intensifying domestic competition. The company expects to hold the share sale in the second half of next year, after a planned offering in 2012 was delayed twice.”

Vietnam Air carried more than 7 million passengers between January and June, a 6.4 percent increase from last year.