The primary aim is to allow residents to get to know each other, fostering a deeper sense of community.
At the same time, they can get to know their leaders in a more personal way, and help them shape the community into an even better one.
When it first entered the World Wide Web in September 1995, it was called the Tampines Internet Project, maintained by Mr Lim Kin Chew of Temasek Polytechnic. It is driven by Chief Statistician Dr Paul Cheung, an active ideas man in Tampines.
Dr Cheung heads the steering committee of the Tampines Regional Library.
In November 1995, the project was transferred to the New Media and Internet Cluster(NMI)
of the National Computer Board. Under the NMI, the project was revamped to become the second generation Tampines home page. At the same time, the NMI was tasked to spearhead the development of a third generation version of the project.
The technical team for the project came from the NMI with Mr Quah Cheng Hai as the project coordinator and Mr Allan Tan as Webmaster. Mr Chung Sang-Hao contributed all the VRML Models while Mr Jerry Koh assisted in making the shockwave launch and provided technical support for the project.
In late 1995, Mr Mah appointed Ms Irene Ng, a correspondent with Singapore Press Holdings, to be web editor of the project.
She revamped the concept to make it more interactive, with features such as webchats, MPs online and a cyber counsellor. The project is renamed Tampines Webtown, to reflect a virtual community in the making.
The content is beefed up to include schools as well as shops, and to cater to a wider range of residents. They include children who have a page created for them, called Playground.
Mainah, the Webtown's friendly little bird, was introduced to give the pages a distinctive feel, and as a fun element. Hup, a cartoonist with SPH, made Mainah came to life.
The technical team for the prototype of the third-generation version came from the Internet Research and Development Unit (IRDU), National University of Singapore. It was under Dr Tan Tin Wee, who heads IRDU.
The present pages were jointly marked up by Mr Rudi Wong from the Internet Research and Development Unit (IRDU), National University of Singapore and Mr Allan Tan from NMI, with Ms Ng providing the content for the pages. They have scoured the latest technologies to make the Webtown an exciting and vibrant place.
The Webtown was launched officially on 27 April 96.
