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Sunday, January 2 3:25 PM SGT
Asia holds breath as millennium bug fears lingerHONG KONG, Jan 2 (AFP) -Asia was holding its breath Sunday as celebrations that the feared millennium bug had left it largely unscathed gave way to fears that the Y2K gremlin was yet to make its presence felt in the region. Flights, bank systems, power plants and other utilities thought to be vulnerable to computer glitches as a result of the switch to the year 2000 were generally reported to be operating without any major problems in the first hours of the new millennium. But experts cautioned the worst could be yet to come. The following is a roundup of the situation in leading Asian capitals: BANGKOK: The government's Y2K control centre says "no problems reported." Thai Airways International dispatched its first flights of the century a few moments after midnight to Osaka and Tokyo. Only 20 percent of available seats filled. Thailand's Stock Exchange, which was holding a full day's simulation of trading, and the country's banks reported no problems. Cash machines in central Bangkok operating normally. BEIJING: A small number of banks in China experienced problems in its internal e-mail and credit card systems as a result of the Y2K computer bug, but no major troubles occurred, officials said Sunday. In Qinghai province, which borders Tibet in western China, branches of the People's Bank of China encountered breakdowns in their internal and interbank e-mail systems, said Chen Jing, director general of the People's Bank of China's department of technology. "It's an isolated case. They're using telephones to communicate in the meantime until the system is repaired," said Chen. The central People's Bank has set up a command centre to monitor problems in banks throughout the country. Machines which process credit card transactions also broke down at some banks on January 1, but have been repaired and were operating properly Sunday, Chen said. Many banks saw an increase in customers using automatic teller machines (ATMs) to print balance statements on December 31 so they would have a record in case any computer troubles cause problems in the banks' records, Chen said. But he said no bank runs or major incidents occurred. "We haven't received a single complaint from anyone so far," Chen said. "It's going better than we expected." ATM machines, most of which were shut down to avoid problems on December 31 and January 1, resumed operating on Sunday and did not show any hiccups. The government's emergency co-ordination body, the National Y2K Information Support Centre, on Sunday said China's two nuclear power plants, as well as its aviation, road, maritime, telecommunications and others systems did not report any problems. "All departments are functioning normally," said an official at the centre. Taxi meters in Jiangsu province in eastern China blanked out, forcing drivers and passengers to do calculations by hand, he said, but added they were isolated cases. China, while appearing to have passed the millennium switchover unscathed, is preparing for Monday when the bulk of businesses reopen for full operation after the holiday. "We'll stay on 24-hour alert until January 4," a Beijing city command post spokesman said. Every major city and every province has set up a command centre to report problems to the national centre. International experts have also warned some Y2K troubles might not appear until well into the New Year, with February 29, a leap year date, especially likely to trigger date-related computer errors. The national command centre plans and the People's Bank's command post plan resume their watch for the bug from February 28 through February 29. DHAKA: Bangladesh's key sectors, including defence and banking, "rolled over" smoothly through the Y2K computer deadline. But officials of the government's Y2K emergency unit said they would, continue to monitor the situtation until Monday. HANOI: "There have been no incidents related to Y2K until now," Chu Hao, chairman of the Y2K steering committee told AFP. But he noted during the next few days there was a risk of problems arising in sectors where systems have not been tested because of the holiday. HONG KONG: A government spokeswoman said not one single bug incident had been reported. Sectors considered the most vulnerable -- power, telecommunications, broadcasting, aviation and transport, and finance -- successfully completed post-New Year's checks, she said. Chief Secretary for Administration Anson Chan warned the "real test" would come Monday, the first working day of the new millennium here. KARACHI: Ijaz H. Khawaja the chief Pakistan's Y2K control centre said no immediate glitches were reported but the Karachi Stock Exchange remained closed Saturday due to fears of Y2K. Karachi Stock Exchange official, Abdullah Jan, said Saturday "we had a grand mock trading session. Like any other normal day it remained successful.". Salim Anwer, head of the Pakistan International Airlines reported normal flight operations. KATHMANDU: No Y2K problems were reported. The government spent nearly 1.2 million dollars replacing five switch-boards at the Nepal Telecommunications Corp to avert the collapse of over 250,000 telephone lines. KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian hospitals are to defer elective surgeries until January 14 amid minor glitches during the transition into the year 2000, a report said Sunday. Health Minister Chua Jui Meng was quoted as saying by the Sunday Star that there had been minor problems in hospitals due to the millennium bug but these were resolved quickly. "Some problems were Y2K-related and some were mechanical glitches but they were minor. No patients were affected," he said. Authorities would review whether to resume elective surgeries earlier following the generally successful rollover into the new year, Chua added. The health ministry earlier ordered all elective surgeries to be deferred to January 14 under its Y2K contingency plan. The National Y2K Operation Centre, which is monitoring potential glitches nationwide, said Sunday the disruptions in hospitals involved equipment which did not have any impact on operations. "The health ministry gave further reassurance that the minor disruptions do not pose any real problem and that the services and operations continue as usual," a statement from the centre said. Other critical sectors, including energy, banking and financial, reported no Y2K-related problems, it said. The center will continue its round-the-clock surveillance until early Tuesday. The New Sunday Times said in an editorial that the real test of the financial system would come on Monday when businesses resume but added the country have been prepared to deal with any eventuality. "It is too early for the scale of the Y2K phenomenon to emerge but no one should be unduly worried," it said. "It may well be that the most dangerous aspect of the bug is not the bug itself but the complacency and the procrastination of some people." The National Y2K Operation Centre reported no problems after months of anxiety and the spending of 1.85 billion ringgit (487 million dollars) in various sectors. MANILA: The bug caused no problems in the Philippnes, a government monitoring task force said. No disruption was reported to utilities, transport and communications systems. Transportation Secretary Vicenete Rivera joined a Philippine Airlines flight to and from the central city of Cebu to demonstrate it was safe to fly on January 1. NEW DELHI: India said nine key sectors of the economy including power, banking and telecommunications had rolled over the Y2K computer deadline without faltering. Indias Information Technology Secretary P.V Jayakrishnan, said the National Informatics Centre, which had monitored the economy's key sectors, had given a "safe" verdict. India's banking and insurance sectors faced no problems, but wanted to "wait and watch" till January 3, before giving their final okay. SEOUL: The government crisis centre reported no problems with defence systems or in other vulnerable sectors. Captain Lee Sung-Jai, the defense ministry's Y2K official, said: "After the passage into the new year, we checked all the systems, including missiles and jets, but could not find any problems." Officials cautioned problems could yet emerge once normal business resumes January 3. SINGAPORE: Singapore reported no problems and the stock exchange successfully simulated trading. But the bill for Y2K compliance was estimated at more than one billion Singapore dollars (602 million US). More than 50,000 people worked through the night monitoring critical operations. The total cost of making systems Y2K compatible in Singapore might have been up to three billion dollars. SYDNEY: The only reported mishap related to mobile bus ticket validation machines in South Australia and Tasmania. Electricity services and broadcasters reported no problems while major telecommunications carriers experienced only the usual New Year congestion. More than 50 banks and building societies advised the Reserve Bank of Australia of a smooth transition. The Stock Exchange said its trading system had survived. Air Services Australia said rollover in aviation was smooth. Fears surrounding the bug were evident with the government's special Y2K website recording more than five million hits in the 12 hours after midnight -- exeeding the record number of visits to the Atlanta Olympics website. Australia spent more than 12 billion dollars (7.8 billion US) on anti-bug preparations. TOKYO: Minor computer-related faults struck seven nuclear facilities in Japan at the start of 2000 Saturday and a few could be related to the millennium bug, officials said. None of the glitches, three of them occuring within one hour into the new millennium, posed any danger despite vexing a nation still haunted by a serious nuclear accident three months ago, they said. Six of the facilites were nuclear power plants. Some ticket vending machines broke down or showed false data. The problems were quickly solved. Two million state and corporate officials were on guard around the country and many people had followed government advice to stock up with three days' worth of food and water just in case. The head of Japan Airlines (JAL) flew home safely from Hawaii Saturday in a flight across the international dateline to demonstrate his company's readiness against any year-2000 problems. YANGON: A government spokesman said there had been no disruption from the millennium computer bug. Computers have not penetrated deep into Myanmar society -- many government offices and businesses operate on age-old principles of paper pushing administration. |