Category: Singapuraku

Walid J. Abdullah: Murali’s Win Illustrates That Sinicization Important Pre-Requisite For Winning

I have seen opposition supporters trying to put a positive spin on the by-election.

Honestly, whichever way you look at it, it was quite a disaster (but not an unexpected one) for the SDP and Dr Chee. This was a by-election, not a general election, so there was a greater chance for him. He was up against a minority candidate. And it was an SMC.

If he could not get more than 40% of the votes considering these factors, honestly, he’d probably find it hard to win in any other contest.

Perhaps then it is time for Dr Chee Soon Juan to consider stepping down. He can help build the SDP, but maybe, his time with regards to contesting elections should be up.

Of course, it is easy for me to say all these. I am not the one who has fought my entire life against all odds, just for what i believe in. So i may not feel the need to hold on as much as him.

As for our friend Ah Mu, congratulations are due. But more than that: scrutiny should also be applied. His attendance record in Parliament, the amount of time he spends in his constituency (visiting homes just during election period is not ‘walking the ground’), the promises he made during hustings: all these should be looked at closely by Bukit Batok residents and Singaporeans in general.

And a word on race: Ah Mu, it is hard enough for minorities as it is, so when someone who is as successful as you feels a need to be known via a Chinese name, it really does tell the rest of us that perhaps, being sinicized is a prerequisite for success. So please, Ah Mu and future minority candidates, bear this in mind.

I want to say that elections should henceforth be based on contests of ideas, and not personal attacks, but Singaporeans have shown that personal attacks are rewarded. So my point on this would be moot.

Source: Walid J. Abdullah

May 8, 2016
Heartbreaking Decision To Take Braindead Fiance Off Life Support

They were to be married today.

But instead of having cherished memories of her big day, Miss Khairunnisa Illyasha is left to reflect on what might have been – and to wonder about the circumstances in which her beloved was so cruelly taken away from her just days earlier.

Her fiance, Mr Noor Helmee Roslan, a 23-year-old Malaysian working in Singapore, suffered severe head injuries in an accident on the Seletar Expressway (SLE) last Friday.

A day later, Miss Khairunnisa, also a 23-year-old Malaysian, had the heart-shattering experience of seeing him being taken off life support and then laid to rest.

After The New Paper tracked Miss Khairunnisa down, she said in a phone interview from her family home in Johor Baru (JB): “I cannot believe that the love of my life was robbed from me mere days before the wedding. He is irreplaceable.”

Her first clue that something had gone very wrong was when one of Mr Helmee’s colleagues, whom she had never met, went looking for her at her mother’s food stall in JB at 5am that day.

He had photographs of Mr Helmee’s accident.

In between audible sobs, Miss Khairunnisa said: “Helmee would always message me once he reaches his workplace in Singapore – normally at about 4.30am. I waited and waited that morning, but there was no message from him.”

Mr Helmee, a bus driver with SBS Transit, lived in JB and was riding his motorcycle to work on the SLE when a car hit his bike from behind at about 3.40am, flinging him onto the road.

With little inkling how the collision had occurred, Miss Khairunnisa went to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, accompanied by a friend, and was told that her fiance was unconscious in its intensive care unit (ICU).

“I was shocked when the receptionist told me that he was in the ICU. When I saw the pictures, I didn’t think the accident was that bad,” she said.

Miss Khairunnisa was then told that Mr Helmee had been taken to the operating theatre.

“I just sat outside and broke down, I was really afraid to lose my fiance,” she said.

Four hours later, she was finally allowed to see Mr Helmee.

SPEECHLESS

“I was speechless when I saw him. He was all wired up and his face was so swollen I could hardly recognise him.”

Doctors warned her that Mr Helmee’s chances of waking up were slim and that even then, he might have suffered full memory loss.

Clinging to hope, Miss Khairunnisa, Mr Helmee’s mother and his sister, 22, remained outside the ICU in case he woke up.

“I kept thinking about things I could do to refresh his memory. I thought of pictures that I could show him to remind him of our love when he woke up,” she said.

That moment never arrived.

They had met through her younger sister and were five days from their second anniversary of being together when the accident happened.

“We dreamed of having a big family. He wanted to have many sons, enough to form a soccer club.”

Hours later, doctors informed her and his family that he was brain dead.

“My mind went blank in that instant. I had been focusing on the possibility of him waking up. I would cry every time we spoke to doctors as it was never good news,” she said.

That night, Mr Helmee’s family decided to take him off life support so as not to prolong his suffering.

“I told his mother that the choice of whether to take him off life support is all hers and I’d respect her decision,” said Miss Khairunnisa, choking back tears.

“Hearing the long, dreadful beep of the heart monitor was the most difficult moment of my life.”

Mr Helmee’s body was taken back to JB and buried on Sunday.

Since then, Miss Khairunnisa has had to deal with the cancellation of their wedding and planned honeymoon. But she could not bear to call the 500 invited guests with the bad news and asked her mother to help her with that.

Miss Khairunnisa said she will eventually donate his bridal gifts to her – a watch, a pair of shoes and a prayer mat – to charity, but for now, they give her some solace.

She said: “Helmee was honest, loyal and compassionate. His last words to me, the day before the accident, were that I was his last love, and he could never love somebody else.”

About the case

Mr Noor Helmee Roslan, 23, was on his way to work when his motorcycle was involved in an accident with a car.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the accident on the Seletar Expressway at 3.40am last Friday.

Mr Helmee, a bus driver with SBS Transit, shuttles between Johor Baru and Singapore for work, and the journey takes an hour each way.

The rear tyre of his motorcycle was stuck under the car after the collision and he was flung onto the road, reported Lianhe Wanbao.

Mr Helmee’s body was covered in blood and he had severe head injuries. He was conscious when an ambulance took him to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, said SCDF.

Police investigations are ongoing.

His fiancee, Miss Khairunnisa Illyasha, 23, told The New Paper that she has no idea how the collision that killed Mr Helmee could have happened.

She is hoping that witnesses will come forward.

“I just want to find out what happened. There is an empty hole in my heart now because we did everything together, including shopping for groceries,” she said, choking back her tears.

Anyone with information can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000.

His sister’s wedding supposed to be in 2 weeks

Mr Noor Helmee Roslan and his colleague would have been brothers-in-law had he not died after the accident.

The colleague, who wanted to be known only as Mr Arif, told The New Paper that he was supposed to marry Mr Helmee’s sister two weeks after Mr Helmee and Miss Khairunnisa Illyasha’s wedding.

He said: “My fiancee had insisted that we get married after her brother, none of us expected any of this to happen.

“Helmee’s family is still in shock. Our families are not discussing our wedding for the time being.”

“I lost a good friend and a future brother-in-law, but my grief is nothing compared to his family’s. I just want to do my part and be there for them.”

Ms Tammy Tan, the senior vice- president of corporate communications at SBS Transit, said that the company is “deeply saddened” by the death.

She said: “In the one year that he was with us, we have known him as a happy and joyful individual, who got on well with his colleagues.

“He was a good bus captain and we will miss him. We have extended our deepest condolences to his family and are rendering assistance as best we can.”

– See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore-news/long-dreadful-beep-was-most-difficult-moment-my-life?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1462603901

May 8, 2016
By-Election The Latest Stop In Political Journey, Says Chee

Eight months after contesting his first election in 14 years last September, Dr Chee Soon Juan, 53, finds himself contesting his second.

While some political pundits had suggested that the Bukit Batok by-election was effectively last chance saloon for Dr Chee and as good an opportunity as it gets for him to enter Parliament, the man himself disagrees — opting to see the latest contest as simply one stop in the ongoing political process.

“It’s like an MRT station. You come to one stop, it doesn’t end there. You go on. I don’t think it’s ever an end goal in that sense. I’ve always seen it as a journey and not just for me personally — for the party, for the country as well,” said Dr Chee, who has parked himself at the MRT station many mornings and evenings leading up to the Bukit Batok by-election this Saturday, cycled and walked with his team around the Single-Member Constituency, and shaken hands with numerous patrons of the coffee shops there.

Political analysts have weighed in on what is at stake this time for Dr Chee, who first entered politics in 1992. They said that the by-election offered Dr Chee the best shot at winning a parliamentary seat in his colourful political career so far — due to factors such as the by-election effect and the ignominy of former People’s Action Party Member of Parliament David Ong’s resignation over an alleged extramarital affair.

Any result lower than 35 per cent would raise questions on his electability, an analyst said.

In response, Dr Chee pointed to the lack of a democratic system and media freedom here.

“Let’s put that in context and then we can start talking about electability … We don’t analyse the system first. Before you do that, let’s not start throwing words like you would in a democratic system,” Dr Chee told TODAY in an interview last Saturday.

When reminded of how opposition parties have made breakthroughs in the current system, Dr Chee called for “even-handed” media coverage and said his team would just have to continue to appeal to voters.

The tentative and sometimes tetchy relationship between the SDP and the mainstream media came to the fore in the past week as several speakers at its rallies criticised a front-page headline used by Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao after an interview with him, which the newspaper later corrected online.

SDP central executive committee member Dr Paul Tambyah also disagreed that this by-election spells the best opportunity for Dr Chee to get elected. Many in the opposition believe Bukit Batok SMC was carved out of Jurong Group Representation Constituency in the 2015 General Election because it was a PAP stronghold, said Dr Tambyah.

Other challenges include what Dr Tambyah called attempts by the ruling party to smear the SDP and Dr Chee, and distortion of statements they made.

Dr Tambyah — who was part of the SDP Holland-Bukit Timah team with Dr Chee and two others that won 33.4 per cent of the vote last September — also took a longer-term view of the SDP’s efforts to get into Parliament.

“We hope that by running a clean and fair campaign and focusing on the issues, we have moved the cause of democracy forward so hopefully Dr Chee will be in Parliament, if not this time, perhaps in the next GE,” he said.

Dr Chee said the response from Bukit Batok residents has been encouraging.

He has come to know many residents, who are beginning to feel “very comfortable with us around”. But he said: “How can you tell until the final poll comes around (on) Saturday?”

TODAY tagged along twice when Dr Chee was at Bukit Batok MRT Station and once as he walked around several coffee shops. Some commuters resolutely kept their earphones plugged in and refused to be distracted from their journey home, some politely smiled and accepted the brochures he gave out. Others stopped for a chat, wished him well and requested photos and autographs. One man stuffed a S$50 note into his hands.

The SDP is trying a more nuanced and gradated approach in reaching out to voters this time around and has covered all the residential blocks in Bukit Batok, said Dr Chee, who has pledged to be a full-time MP.

“For example, you come across a pro-PAP supporter or Residents’ Committee supporter, you say thank you and if they don’t want to support you, they don’t want to support you,” he said. “For those people who say, ‘I’d like to meet Dr Chee’, (my activists) will let me know and I’ll go visit them.”

Whatever the outcome on May 7, Dr Chee said he will keep at his cause. “Life is a journey. That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. And change takes persistence, takes perseverance, but we’ll get there,” he said.

Source: TODAY Online

May 7, 2016
Diabetes: The Rice You Eat Is Worse Than Sugary Drinks

The health authorities have identified one of their top concerns as they wage war on diabetes: white rice. It is even more potent than sweet soda drinks in causing the disease.

Sharing his battle plan to reduce the risk of diabetes, Health Promotion Board chief executive Zee Yoong Kang said that obesity and sugary drinks are the major causes of the condition in the West.

But Asians are more predisposed to diabetes than Caucasians, so people do not have to be obese to be at risk. Starchy white rice can overload their bodies with blood sugar and heighten their risk of diabetes.

Mr Zee is armed with data. A meta- analysis of four major studies, involving more than 350,000 people followed for four to 20 years, by the Harvard School of Public Health – published in the British Medical Journal – threw up some sobering findings.

One, it showed each plate of white rice eaten in a day – on a regular basis – raises the risk of diabetes by 11 per cent in the overall population.

Two, it showed that while Asians, like the Chinese, had four servings a day of cooked rice, Americans and Australians ate just five a week.

But Mr Zee does not plan to ask Singaporeans to stop eating rice, a popular feature of meals here. What he would like is to see more people turn to healthier varieties.

Long grain white rice is also better than short grain when it comes to how it spikes blood sugar – a rise in sugar levels causes the pancreas to produce more insulin, and frequent spikes can lead to diabetes.

He would also like people to try adding 20 per cent of brown rice to their white rice. This amount is enough to reduce their risk of diabetes by 16 per cent.”There is no need to fully replace what they now eat. Just increase the quantity of whole grain and brown rice.”

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said last month that this disease is already costing the country more than $1 billion a year. Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure and amputations in Singapore.

Dr Stanley Liew, a diabetes expert at Raffles Hospital, advised people to eat less rice. He added that most junk food and sodas are just as bad and should be discouraged.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

May 6, 2016
SQ Girl Shows Why SIA Is The Only Way To Fly

*Updated: The kind lady is none other than Kren Choong Shi Qi !

Through a 12 hour flight from Singapore to Frankfurt, I made a friend. ?

Draga is a 92 year old lady who grew up in Slovenia and moved to Australia with her husband in the 70’s. Ever since her husband passed on 5 years ago, she makes an annual pilgrimage to Slovenia to hang out with her sister for a couple of months.

Traveling alone at that age can be tough and while she is helped by the ground staff armed with a wheelchair, her entire ride on the plane can be quite challenging.

Unable to figure out any technology, she sits there without any movies or entertainment to pass time. Even to the point of being unable to turn on the light when she needed it desperately to inject insulin into herself or to prick her finger when checking her glucose level.

I befriended her when she needed help with unlocking the tray as the clip was a little stuck. Saw her rummaging through her bag to figure out the glucose count machine in the dark and that reminded me of a time when my late grandfather asked me to sit down on a bench with a strange old uncle at K-Mart who was about to inject his stomach with insulin.

With Draga, she reached a point in the flight where I noticed her visibly shaking. Concerned, I asked if she was alright. She mentioned that she had accidentally shot too much insulin and because of that, her blood sugar had dropped to a level where it could get dangerous.

Trying to give her as much diabetes-appropriate food to slowly bring up her sugar levels, a Singapore Airlines stewardess, Karen Choong, came by telling us to switch off the overhead lights and instead use the lights located by the tv screen. When I explained that we were trying to get Draga’s sugar levels up, Karen suggested eating an apple. Draga could not bite into the hard apple and I was touched when Karen excused herself to grab a pair of gloves and a knife to cut the apple into bite sized pieces.

On her knees in her SQ kebaya, she patiently assisted Draga even wanting to feed Draga. Draga shyly declined and was appreciative of Karen’s kind gesture.

Draga was happy that at least the crew cared for her well being. Caught by surprise by Karen’s care and concern for her, she felt embarrassed as she did not want to be seen as a liability to the crew. They had other passengers to care for and Draga didn’t want to take up any more of their time, especially Karen’s.

Knowing that I was helping Draga too, Karen came by my seat to tell me quietly that if I noticed Draga’s health deteriorating, please call for her immediately. She took note of our seats and I assumed it was to alert her to rush over if our call button lighted up.

Flying with other airlines in the past, I’m not so sure if other crews would have gone to such lengths to ensure the comfort of their passengers.

Karen did not have to do what she did. Yet, she took it upon herself to monitor Draga once in a while to see if there was anything else she could provide to make Draga’s flight experience a better one.

If anyone could share and tag Karen Choong who is seen in this picture, I would appreciate it. She has acted out of such kindness without expecting anything in return. She, at least, deserves to read about how her actions have affected Draga’s life and mine too. ??

Thank you

Source: Shazy Tan

May 6, 2016