Singapore's parliament passed the Personal Data Protection Bill on October 15, 2012, meaning that any companies, organizations (excluding the public sector) or individuals sending junk messages such as market promotion messages shall be fined up to S$ 1 million ($800,000).

The new bill aims to protect personal data from being illegally stolen, collected or used for the marketing purpose. A Personal Data Protection Commission will be set up to enforce and oversee matters relating to the new act.

Singaporeans can register in a "Do-Not-Call" registry, which allow people to opt out of receiving intrusive marketing messages like telemarketing calls, faxes as well as text and multimedia messages including those sent via smart phone applications such as WhatsApp and Viber, could be launched by early 2014.

The Personal Data Protection Commission can impose fines of S$ 10,000 ($8,000) for every unsolicited marketing call or message to a number in the "Do Not Call" registry.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the bill has gone through three rounds of public consultation since last September. It is set to become law in January next year, with enforcement to begin 18 months later.

@MakikiH：The reason behind this move is that Singapore is a country where the government makes laws to deal with problems in almost all fields which may influence people's everyday lives. Laws lead to a clear country, high-quality citizens, protections for animals, and the safe society.

@依木阳：Although the law is severe, it is still can benefit the public.

@距离还远：China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecom are the biggest producers of junk messages in China. Those three operators send considerable number of junk messages to users' phones, let alone other companies and individuals who have other purposes.

@虎妞看天下：If China can use this way to regulate junk messages, users can reduce the frequency with which they charge their phones. I support China adopting this kind of law.