PINOY SHAME: Filipino couple who produces 'crush videos' for sexual gratification gets life sentence


Philstar.com, 30 Sep 2014
A local court has sentenced a couple in La Union to life imprisonment after being found guilty of crimes related to the production of "crush" videos two years ago.
The San Fernando Regional Trial Court Branch 30 also ordered Vicente Ridon and his wife, Dorma, to pay a fine of P9 million after being convicted of child abuse (Republic Act 7610), animal welfare crimes (Republic Act 8485), human trafficking (Republic Act 9208), and wildlife-protection crimes (Republic Act 9147).
The Ridon couple were convicted for filming scantily clad girls, one of whom was a 12-years-old, stepping on and crushing live animals to death. Full story


PAP MP Teo Ser Luck edits his Facebook page several times to change his stance on CPF blogger Roy Ngerng

Mothership.sg, 29 Sep 2014
PAP MP Teo Ser Luck can’t stop editing his Facebook status about CPF blogger Roy Ngerng. Either he is the most wishy-washy MP or has obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.
At first, Teo insists Roy Ngerng performs a dance for the kids he heckled to show his contrition:


Full story

PAP MP Baey Yam Keng accused Tampines resident of lying after complaint was lodged about estate cleanliness

Facebook, 29 Sep 2014
A resident emailed me claiming that a half-filled water was left dangerously on the staircase handrail for two weeks, and that the cleaner was slacking. As the town council Chairman, I am deeply concerned as this would be an unacceptable lapse of service. I tasked the property manager to investigate this and he did give me a report soon after that. Just to convince myself, I personally spoke to the cleaner Mdm Tan in charge of Blk 498L this morning
Mdm Tan vehemently denied any negligence on her part. She said she conscientiously walked every floor to clean any litter and would have removed the bottle if it were there. It is also unlikely that she would have missed it over that many days. She did take a couple of days MC during that period, but there would have been another cleaner covering her duty. Even if the other cleaner had missed it, she would still have noticed it when she went back to work. Hence, it is impossible that the bottle would have been there unattended to for two full weeks.
Of course, it is the resident's word against her word. Having spoken to her face to face, I do not think Mdm Tan lied to me. Based on her track record of work performance, I choose to believe her.
I do appreciate it if residents give genuine feedback as it is useful for the town council to improve its services. However, I hope people do not exaggerate the facts. And I sincerely hope that this resident had not fabricated this water bottle matter. Otherwise, it is very difficult for anyone to take their feedback seriously. It is also not practical nor fair for the town council to spend unnecessary efforts to attend to such emails. It is very disruptive to their work.
As this particular resident sends such emails frequently, I have instructed the town council to ignore him from now on until he changes his behaviour.
Link

Ex-PAP grassroot leader from China Yang Yin had applied for his PR using a fake degree bought with Madam Chung's money


TR Emeritus, 30 Sep 2014
According to a Chinese new media report yesterday (29 Sep), a friend of 87-year-old widow Chung Khin Chun told the media that he has the evidence to prove that PRC tour guide Yang Yin obtained money from Mdm Chung to procure a fake degree in China.
Mdm Chung’s friend said that at the time, Yang asked Mdm Chung to wire S$4,000 to him so that he can procure a fake degree in China. It is believed that the degree may have been used to help Yang obtain an Employment Pass to work in Singapore in 2009 and later apply for his PR.
The friend produced an acceptance letter supposedly from the “University of Financial and Trade Beijing China” (北京财经贸易学院) to show that Yang was accepted by the university to study for a bachelor’s degree in 2006 ...... Full story

VIDEO: Briitsh FT smashes car window with fist in Tanjong Katong leaving Singapore driver and his wife cowering with fear. If Singaporeans do not have the courage to defend their property and family, how can we expect them to protect the nation?

Comment: Have we turned into a nation of cowards?

OPINION: Teo Ser Luck, the ultimate keyboard warrior

Hardwarezone Forum, 29 Sep 2014


Link

Related:
  1. Teo Ser Luck: The children were my utmost concern - TR Emeritus
  2. TEO SER LUCK: I DEMAND THAT ROY NGERNG APOLOGISE FOR CAUSING SO MUCH TROUBLE - The Real Singapore

OPINION: When Special Needs Children Became Mere Pawns For Opportunistic Politicians


My Singapore News, 29 Sep 2014
These three words have now been used in a political battle to prove who is more caring and more like angels. Sad, very very sad that these children have become an issue in a political tussle for attention, become political tool or cannon fodder.
Anyone want to ask why I did not post a single photo of these children and actually refused to mention their condition? Let’s show some respect to them and their parents for a bit of privacy. I feel quite disgusted with people blowing their trumpets and carrying these Special Needs Children on their shoulders for cheap publicity and to score points for whatever agenda they have.
On hindsight, I love highsight, the best place to hold an event for these children, see I don’t use the phrase Special Needs Children, is the Istana ground. And the President could grace the occasion and chat with the children in full privacy from the public glare. I have been involved with many such activities in social service clubs and I am fully aware and very sensitive to these children and their families. I avoid intentionally to photograph them unless there is a very special reason to do so.
Let’s leave these children and their families in peace. Link

Related:
Suffer The Little Children - Singapore Notes

OPINION: Despicable politicians who have no qualms about using special needs children to score cheap political points


Singapore Notes, 29 Sep 2014
Right on cue, the mute button was toggled off. Politicians who stood idly by and played dumb for weeks while a 87 year old pioneer generation member was in grave danger of being robbed and pillaged by a foreign intruder were suddenly jostling to leap into a feeding frenzy.
You know brains have left the building when "Return our CPF" is construed as a phrase to "heckle" special needs children - unless the folks withholding our CPF are certified retards in the medical sense. Full story

Related:
Special Needs Children Caught In A Political Tussle - My Singapore News

SNAPSHOT: Teo Ser Luck more interested in taking selfies than watching a bunch of special need children dancing for him

Comment: Wonder how the children dancing on stage would have felt seeing that the special guest they are dancing for is more preoccupied with taking selfies with his party supporters.



Related:
TEO SER LUCK: I DEMAND THAT ROY NGERNG APOLOGISE FOR CAUSING SO MUCH TROUBLE - The Real Singapore

People's Association (PA) quietly conducts extensive door-to-door survey to gauge the popularity of Lee Hsien Loong government

Yawningbread.wordpress.com, 28 Sep 2014

I was asked to rate on a scale of ten my “confidence in the Lee Hsien Loong government”, my confidence in “public services” provided by other arms of the governments, in “courts of law”, in the army, the police and so on.
Somewhere down the list, I was asked about my confidence in “mainstream media” and “online media”.
After going through the “confidence in” questions, I was asked for my opinion as to the “competence” of these bodies or sectors, then about the “integrity of public services”, their “sincerity”, and whether they “understand the concerns of the general public”.
When the survey-taker left, I went to the People’s Association website to see if there is any information about this survey they are conducting. I could not find any.
The question on readers’ minds will surely be this: Assuming the People’s Association (PA) is paying for this survey, why it is paying for a survey loaded with questions unrelated to itself? What purpose are those questions intended to serve? Who else will have access to the results?
In fact, since the PA is funded with taxpayers’ money, shouldn’t the results be publicly available?

Full story

Two PRC women working as masseuses at Orchard Towers' sleazy massage shops fought over customers


Stomp.com.sg, 27 Sep 2014
The two masseuses, located on the same floor in Orchard Towers, had an acrimonious relationship due to the intense competition. The feud later deteriorated into a fight, reports AsiaOne.
At the time of the incident, Miss Xu, 43, and her rival, 36, were at their shopfronts trying to attract customers.
The 36-year-old masseuse was later irked by Miss Xu's behaviour, and subsequently rushed over to the latter's shop, shoved her to the floor, and started beating the victim with her three-inch heels. Full story

Emcee at YMCA's Hong Lim Park "non-political" event incite the crowd to chant "we love the CPF" - report

Lifttheveilofignorance.wordpress.com, 28 Sep 2014


Full story

Snapshot: Special needs children made to dance for donations in the hot weather at YMCA event and entertain VIP guest Minister Teo Ser Luck


OPINION: For Yale in Singapore, It's Deja-vu All Over Again - Jim Sleeper

The Huffington Post, 26 Sep 2014
Singapore wants western tourists, investors, and contractors to enjoy superb seaside dinners and clean, efficient public services and private markets. It doesn't want them to notice, behind the façade, a tight-fisted governance that generates a subtle but pandemic self-censorship among its citizens that's even tighter than the self-censorship that some American business corporations generate among their employees. Is American higher education really going to liberalize Singapore, or is it becoming more like it?
A sad precedent for the current dance around the film "To Singapore With Love" took place two years ago. In 2012 Chee Soon Juan, a principled Singaporean opposition-party leader, faced a government ban on leaving the country. Chee, who holds a PhD from the University of Georgia, had been fired from his lectureship in neuropsychology by NUS in 1993 after joining the "wrong" political party. For protesting this, he was railroaded by Singapore's scandalous judiciary into a "defamation" conviction and fined into bankruptcy. Unable to pay, he was barred from leaving Singapore to accept a human-rights award in Oslo.
And now Singapore's Orwellian Media Development Authority has decided that "media or related courses... may require access to... films that are classified R21 or NAR," so it has approved "some leeway" to these institutions to screen films for educational purposes on condition that... prior approval has been sought from the MDA before the films are acquired." Full story

PAP Government to call for a snap election?


Beyondnewsnet.com
新加坡執政人民行動黨50年來從來沒有那麼慷慨過。政府從今年初以來不斷釋出的各種優惠、津貼、政策調整等等措施,從反對黨到小老百姓都看出來,這是選票帶來的改變,對執政黨可以反過來說,這是選票帶來的壓力。民間因此有輿論認為,執政黨很可能在近期就閃電舉行大選,讓反對黨措手不及。
近期以來,坊間陸續傳出有學校教師接獲通知去受訓,為選舉工作做準備。有人預料最快選舉可能在十一二月就舉行。本屆政府任期在2016年結束,但執政黨不可能拖到那時候,因為各方面變數太多。 Full story

Snapshot: Microsoft cuts another 2,100 jobs in US, but intensifies it's recruitment in India

BBC News, 18 Sep 2014


Link

Linkedin.com


Link

Discriminatory job ad by PRC startup angers developer community in Singapore

Tech In Asia, 24 Sep 2014

A job ad for a lead software developer in Singapore went viral today – for all the wrong reasons. Posted by Shanghai-based startup Sugar, the job description quickly raised the ire of the app development community.
In the section about the sort of person they’re seeking, they allegedly insinuated that being ambitious supposedly means eschewing family life:
You are ambitious, intense and entrepreneurial, and you dream of doing truly epic shit with your life. You recoil at the thought of having 1.15 kids, balloting for a flat, saving up for a Toyota and waiting to withdraw your CPF savings at 65 (or 70, or 80, or 120).
Full story

Snapshot: Even foreign prostitutes are given Singapore PR



Link

Pinoy Shame: Philippines biggest shopping mall selling children T-shirt that justify rape

Independent.co.uk, 23 Sep 2014
One of the biggest department stores in the Philippines has been forced to withdraw a T-shirt which appeared to justify rape after outrage erupted online.
The offending item, sold in the boys section at SM Supermalls, was emblazoned with the logo: “It’s not rape. It’s a snuggle with a struggle”.
An image of the T-shirt posted on writer Karen Kunawicz’s Facebook attracted nearly 4,000 shares with people taking to other social networking sites to express their outrage. Full story

PRC insurance agents going door-to-door to con senior citizens with false information about the insurance they are selling

Hardwarezone Forum, 24 Sep 2014
At about 8.40pm a Chinese speaking female agent that sounds a lot like a China women knock on my door asking if there are anyone between the age of 40-60 years old or 45-60 years old ( I did not pay much attention when she asked me the first time and I am the only 1 at home and I am not within this age group). I reply “no” and walk back to my bedroom.
While in my room I heard her knocking my neighbours’ door but resume packing my items. But as she kept on speaking none stop it gets more and more annoying to me as the way she speaks is CLEARLY SOUNDS LIKE SHE IS TRYING TO MISLEAD MY OLD NEIGHBOUR.
She repeatedly bring out the word “Singapore Government” many times and make it sounds like she is working on behalf of our local Government. Another reason why I assume she is China lady beside her China tone Chinese that is not commonly found in Singaporean Chinese is that she uses the word “Singapore” infront of Government. For locals, we merely says “Government”.
She claim it is an insurance that is brought by our “Singapore Government” for everyone between the age of 40-60 years old or 45-60 years old. Which I instantly know is NOT TRUE.
At this point I am really pissed and mad at her FALSE CLAIMS and MISLEADING so I stomp out of my house to interrupt their conversation by telling my neighbour that the money is deducted from her CPF account thus it wasn’t free as claimed by that agent. Full story

OPINION: Treating Singapore-born citizens like Dalits

My Singapore News, 22 Sep 2014


The above opinion was posted as a comment here

Related:
Who are the Dalits? - Wikipedia

OPINION: Mega projects – what have we gained other than the intangibles


My Singpaore News, 24 Sep 2014
We have done great things, built great cities like Suzhou, Tianjin Eco city, F1, great Gardens By the Bay, and now we are going to build smart city or cities in India. We have contributed no small sum to the building of Nalanda University. How much have all these great projects cost us and what were the returns in absolute monetary terms? Let me touch on the intangibles first, like great publicity value, everyone now knows where is Singapore, endearing relationships, building goodwill, they will love us surely, if not at least for our money, they will help us now that we have helped them….etc etc. Ok, now that the intangibles are out of the way, let’s talk real numbers, the bottom line. How much we have spent and how much have we gotten back.? In other words, accountability. Full story

Government-linked Capitaland's mega township project in Iskandar hits a snag


Reuters India, 23 Sep 2014
Amid growing anxiety over a glut of high-rise residences in Malaysia's Iskandar, a mega waterfront township project there appears to have hit a snag.
The Business Times understands that CapitaLand, South-east Asia's largest real estate developer, recently sought a six-month extension on the launch of its 900-unit high rise condominium, which is the first phase of a S$3.2 billion ($2.52 billion) Danga Bay project, which spans some 28 hectares on a man-made island. Link

Singapore takes step towards first nuclear facility in SEA

MSN Malaysia, 23 Sep 2014
Singapore has deposited the instrument of accession to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) and the instrument of acceptance to its 2005 Amendment.
Singapore will become a party to the CPPNM 30 days after the instrument of accession is deposited with the IAEA, said the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) in a press release today.
The CPPNM is the only internationally legally binding undertaking in the area of physical protection of nuclear material.
Its scope was broadened through its 2005 Amendment to include the protection of nuclear facility and material for peaceful domestic use, storage and transport.  Full story

SPH-owned Paragon's attempt to get free creative pitch from advertising agencies described as a 'farce' by key industry players


Mumbrella Asia, 22 Sep 2014
Paragon, which is owned by Singapore Press Holdings and located on the citystate’s shopping district of Orchard Road, sent out a creative tender for branding and promotions work that tasks agencies to send in ten pieces of creative by the middle of next month for no pitch fee.
The tender stipulates that Paragon, which houses luxury brand stores such as Gucci, Prada and Salvatore Ferragamo, “is not bound to accept the lowest tender, and the project may be awarded in whole or in part.” There will be no retainer fees for the winning agency.
One agency invited to pitch described the tender as a “farce” and will not be participating.
The agency’s boss, who wanted to remain anonymous, told Mumbrella: “I can’t imagine how any self-respecting agency would decide to do this pitch. It’s a farce.”
“The amount of work they demand for an unpaid pitch, a “shortlist” that reads like the 4As agency listing, and a miniscule budget on the back of a “we’re not unhappy with our current agency, we need to do this for audit purposes” statement – and an agency is supposed to want to do this?” Full story

Foreign Talent Policy has contributed to greater income inequality, expert panel warns in 2012

lkyspp.nus.edu.sg


Link

Singapore makes it easier for Chinese companies with dodgy corporate governance to list in SGX

Bloomberg, 21 Sep 2014
Singapore Exchange Ltd. (SGX) is forecasting an end to a two-year hiatus for Chinese listings after regulators made it easier for companies from Asia’s biggest economy to sell shares in the city-state.
After a flurry of Chinese companies known as the S-chips listed in Singapore in 2007, IPOs dried up as debt defaults and accounting scandals saw stocks from FerroChina Ltd. to Sino Techfibre Ltd. delisted or suspended.
SGX has been holding seminars across China to explain the new rules to state-owned enterprises and private companies, and has received enquiries from manufacturers, property developers and mining companies interested in a Singapore IPO, Wong said. Full story

Related:
Singapore Government bends to attract China IPOs - The Rakyat Post

Singapore Overtaking Mumbai for India Futures With Longer Trading Hours, Influx of Cheaper South Asian Traders


Bloomberg, 21 Sep 2014
Singapore is overtaking Mumbai as the biggest market for Indian stock-index futures, a sign of foreign investors’ growing influence over equities in the world’s second-most populous nation.
The CHART OF THE DAY shows open interest, or the number of outstanding contracts, for CNX Nifty Index futures on the Singapore Exchange Ltd. climbed 55 percent during the past four years to about 345,000. That compares with a 60 percent decline for similar contracts traded on the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd., according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Singapore is luring foreign investors with longer hours and lower trading costs, Kotak Institutional Equities said in a report this month. Full story

Heng Swee Keat admits Lee Kuan Yew's birthday photo was photoshopped to mask the mysterious "glare" on the background

Hardwarezone Forum, 19 Sep 2014

Education Minister Heng Swee Keat has responded to online queires about the “strange” photo of MR Lee Kuan Yew’s 91st birthday which he first uploaded this week.
The photo, pictured above, showed Mr Lee Kuan Yew and several of his close staf members celebrating his birthday but netizens were confused as to why the background was pitch black and there were lighter ‘halos’ around the people gathered around Mr Lee.
Many netizens had speculated that the photo was photoshopped and questioned why such a thing was necessary.
In response, Mr Heng explained that the strange photo was indeed digitally altered.
"This was a personal photograph taken with a simple camera. The photograph had some glare in the background. An amateur adjustment was made to remove the glare,” he explained. Link

Related:
NETIZENS SPECULATE THAT LEE KUAN YEW’S 91ST BIRTHDAY PHOTO WAS PHOTOSHOPPED - The Real Singapore

PAP's two-time loser Desmond Choo abandons Hougang, joins Tampines GRC to seek back-door entry into Parliament


Hardwarezone Forum, 18 Sep 2014
SINGAPORE - The People's Action Party (PAP) candidate who twice lost in election bids in the Hougang single-seat ward appears unlikely to contest there for a third time.
This is because Mr Desmond Choo, 36, has been named as the second adviser to grassroots organisations in Tampines East, a ward in Tampines GRC, on Wednesday. Its MP is former National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan, 66.
His move as second adviser in Tampines East was announced in a People's Association (PA) statement on Thursday on the appointment of long-serving grassroots leader Goh Chee Koh, 69, as the new adviser in Hougang, succeeding Mr Choo.
Mr Goh, who served as a grassroots volunteer in Punggol for 40 years, including as Punggol Central Citizen's Consultative Committee chairman, took over in Hougang on Tuesday. Full story

PSI crosses 150 on Friday morning covering Singapore in thick smog

AQICN.org


Link

Related:
Smoke haze over Singapore for highly popular F1 night race - GPToday.com

Vietnam authorities investigating BreadTalk for gutter oil

Talkvietnam.com, 16 Sep 2014
Vietnamese authorities are investigating several international food companies operating in the country after Taiwanese authorities put them on a list of customers buying illegally-recycled cooking oil.
The list includes the Bakery Cafe outlet, owned by Maxim’s Group. A representative of Maxim’s Group admitted that in the past they have bought oil from Chang Guann. Another familiar name embroiled in the controversy is Bread Talk Concept HK, which runs nine restaurants in HCM City. Full story

Snapshot: Straits Times editor sleeping on the job - it is BreadTalk, not BreakTalk



OPINION: Why ISD detainees won’t be sending LKY birthday greetings any time soon

Atans1.wordpress.com, 18 Sep 2014
From the accounts of Dr Lim Hock Siew, Ms Teo Soh Lung, Francis Seow and others, the ISD used the following techniques:
  • standing against a wall for hours
  • hooding
  • subjection to noise
  • sleep deprivation
  • very little food and drink.
These are rough, very rough, though to be fair not as rough as “waterboarding” (a US favourite) or electric pods on genitals a Latin American, Russian favourite). Full story

Haze threatens to derail Singapore F1 as pollution Index crosses 110 on Thursday morning

AQICN.org, 18 Sep 2014


Link

OPINION: Pioneer Generation Card is overhyped

Hardwarezone Forum, 17 Sep 2014
Pap gov even did a tranny tv ad to praise the PG card everyday. I thought it really will help the pioneer generation cope with the medical cost. But when I saw my mum's medical bill for her regular checkup at poly clinic, I realize the card is overhyped.
Her medical bill is around $76. The PG card only gives her a miserable discount of $3.20, less than 5% discount. My mum told me the pg card only cover the consultation fee, not the prescription.


Full story

OPINION: How many fake FTs like Yang YIn are out there in Singapore?

All Singapore Stuff, 15 Sep 2014
Undeniably, our loose immigration has brought in fakes from all over the world.
We just had Yang Yin from China who was granted PR and EP almost instantaneously when he claimed to have graduated from the prestigious Zhejiang University of China, a China Ivy League in the class of Fudan University and Shanghai Jiaotong University.
However his job was a tour guide in China and ICA valued him so much as a rare Foreign Talent. He went on to cheat a rich 87-year widow of $40 million of her assets.
Imagine the stupidity of ICA, a graduate from an Ivy Leage University whose occupation was a tour guide. Clearly something is wrong, his qualification got to be a fake.
Worst than that he even managed to infiltrate the PM’s AMK GRC as a grassroots leader and impersonated as a Director of the Singapore Chinese Chamber Of Commerce and Industry. Full story

AMK GRC PAP MP Intan Azura Mokhtar being questioned on her Facebook page whether she had supported Yang Yin's PR application

The Alternative View



Link

Three travel agencies have come out to expose Yang Yin's fake credentials

The Alternative View, 16 Sep 2014


Link

MAS steps up scrutiny of some Indian bank branches in Singapore as bribery scandal over bad loans rocks India's banking system


Reuters UK, 13 Sep 2014
Singapore regulators have stepped up their scrutiny of some local branches of Indian banks on concerns about asset quality, three bank executives told Reuters.
India's slowest economic growth in a decade and a weakened rupee have weighed on the balance sheets of heavily leveraged Indian companies, including those that have raised money from Indian lenders in offshore centres such as Singapore.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is looking more closely at the books of the local operations of some Indian banks to assess the credit quality of loans made from the branches to Indian companies, bankers said. Full story


Related:
India bribery scandal over bad loans are only tip of iceberg, says former Comptroller and Auditor General of India - Firstpost.com

OPINION: Ang Mo Kio GRC MP Intan Azura Mokhta clueless about foreign grassroots parasite


Likedatosocanmeh.wordpress.com, 12 Sep 2014
Thanks to social media, Singaporeans are now aware that PAP members could likely be local leeches or foreign parasites. In the incident involving an Ang Mo Kio GRC grassroots leader, Chinese national Yang Yin, PAP MP Intan immediately jumped to his defence without knowing the facts. But as a member of PM Lee’s Ang Mo Kio GRC, Intan should really have known better.
Just 10 months ago, another active PAP member had accused a Singaporean taxi driver of bumping into her car. Fortunately, there was video evidence to proof otherwise. Video link Back to the issue of Yang Yin. Intan claims Yang Yin “does not hold position” in grassroots but was somehow active and had the privilege of being photographed with her and PM Lee on a number of occasions.
If Yang Yin did not hold any position in grassroots, how did he “resign from grassroots” after a police report was filed by SCCCI against him? Full story

NTU holds convocation in Beijing for its 190 PRC graduates of master's degrees


China Daily, 15 Sep 2014
About 190 Chinese graduates of master's degrees from Singapore's Nanyang Technological University attended a convocation ceremony and received their diplomas in Beijing on Saturday.
This year, 360 Chinese students graduated from NTU's seven master's degree programs and a fellowship program, including Master of Science in Managerial Economics, Master of Public Administration, Master of Science in Financial Engineering, Master of Education, Master of Science Technopreneurship and Innovation Program.
About 50 of the 360 graduates are Chinese officials who received MME and MPA diplomas.
NTU has been holding convocations for its Chinese graduates in Chinese cities since 2006, and this is the first time the convocation was held in Beijing. Full story Full story