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Is Singapore online journalism served as a barometer for the health of stand-alone web journalism, or are journalists grappling with how to feed the mass audience that visits their sites while trying to remain distinctive? Anyone hoping to get some Internet surfing done is likely to be surprised at the accessibility of computers in Singapore. The room behind the smoked-glass windows, housing several matte-black terminals and a two-head espresso machine, is a typical Internet café that can be found in almost any shopping mall in the country. This café, built to accommodate germinating legions of Internet users— mostly technologically advanced individuals, generally interested in getting juiced on high-octane caffeine drinks and exposure to magnitudes of information. Public access of the Internet was available in 1994 and Internet services are currently made available from these 3 most-highly-used Service Providers (ISPs) - Singnet, Pacific Internet, and Starhub Internet. Total subscribers number to 2.31 million out of a population of 4.452 million. The Straits Times Interactive (STI), [http://www.straitstimes.com/] owned by Singapore Press Holdings, is the Internet version of Singapore's oldest daily newspapers— The Straits Times. This online news site breathes life into the daily reports and greatly takes advantage of technology to give readers more than what the printed edition offers— Breaking news, photo galleries, webspecials, interactive graphics.
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