The Tamil Internet Steering Committee (TISC) has made good progress in helping the Tamil community to be infocomm savvy and in promoting the use of Tamil internet.  Today, 73.8% of the Indian households in Singapore own computer and 68.5% of them have Internet connectivity, which is above the national average of 65%. This was achieved through the TISC’s multi-concerted efforts in maintaining interest through publicity and organising numerous activities for business, technology and content development.

2          After four years of helping the Indian community, the effort of the Tamil Internet Steering Committee (TISC) to develop and aggregate Tamil content on the Internet will be continued by the Tamil Language Council. Formed on 13 April 2000, the TISC was appointed under the auspices of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore and the previous Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.

3          In thanking the members of the Tamil Internet Steering Committee at an appreciation lunch he hosted, Dr Lee Boon Yang, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts said, “The members and volunteer teachers of the TISC have done a great deal in developing and aggregating curriculum-based Tamil content on the Internet. In view of the recent changes in our education system, these efforts are important and this is why MICA has decided to continue to support them through the Tamil Language Council.”

4          With the foundation strongly in place, MICA and the TISC are confident that the Tamil community will continue to have easy access to infocomm technology and be well equipped to harness opportunities available in the infocomm industry. Chairman of the TISC, Mr R Ravindran said, “For the past four years, the TISC has done whatever it could in areas of technology, business and content promotion to bridge the digital divide in the Tamil community. Now there are numerous initiatives by the government, Tamil organizations and groups of individuals to keep the community abreast with infocomm developments. Indian Singaporeans can now continue to make use of these opportunities to develop their skills and stay relevant.”

5          The Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) is one of the community organisations that has been very active in getting the community connected. Under IDA’s NeuPC Programme, SINDA has helped to equip more than 2,500 low-income Indian households with a computer. In addition, SINDA has enabled 15,518 people to have basic IT skills with the National IT Literacy Programme.

MINISTRY OF INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE ARTS

12 JAN 2005

Notes to the Editor

About Tamil Language Council

Tamil Language Council is a registered charity constituted to promote the awareness and greater use of Tamil language among Indian Singaporeans; to popularize the Tamil language particularly among the young, to work with the government, educational institutions, social organizations and individuals to achieve the above objectives.

For Media Clarification, please contact

Joyce Lee(Ms)

Assistant Director, Corporate & Marketing Communication

Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore

DID: 6211 0225

Email: Joyce_Lee@ida.gov.sg