Category: Singapuraku

Malaysian Gymnast Get Brickbats For Showing Aurat

KUALA LUMPUR, June 12 — Malaysian gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi has received a slew of criticisms from Muslims who attacked her for showing her “aurat” and the “shape of her vagina” in a leotard despite winning a gold medal at the SEA Games.

Several Facebook users slammed the 21-year-old Malay woman on Buletin TV3’s Facebook page that had uploaded Wednesday a photograph of her in the gymnastics outfit, along with a caption that announced her winning gold in floor exercise in artistic gymnastics.

“Until she’s dead too people can see the shape of her vagina and aurat,” wrote a Facebook user called Muhammad Nur Salam.

Facebook user called Amir Muhd said: “Just strip off your clothes lah… let everyone see.”

Another Facebook user said Farah Ann’s dressing was even worse than non-Muslims’ in terms of showing her “aurat”.

“This is the joy of the temporal world…even though our afterlife will be full of pain from Allah swt, what is it compared to the medal hung around that neck if our spirit in the afterlife suffer one day later,” wrote Addieputra Jentayu.

A screen capture showing the facebook post by Buletin TV3.Both Muslim women and men are prohibited in Islam from exposing their aurat, though criticisms are more often targeted against women.

Other Muslim Facebook users, however, have come to Farah Ann’s defence.

“So disgusting reading these religious comments from the so-called future members of heaven… just ignore them… Congratulations Farah Ann, it’s not easy to get a gold medal for Malaysia,” wrote Dina Nida.

A Facebook user called Siti Kasim congratulated the young athlete, saying: “Ignore those retards who can’t see beyond their limited brain capacity! Keep up the good work! We are proud of you!”

Singapore news website The New Paper reported that Farah Ann had pulled off a flawless floor routine to score 13.733, beating Indonesia and Vietnam.

The Malaysian athlete also reportedly won three bronze medals and a silver in individual events.

Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

June 13, 2015
MOE: TKPS Students Were On Simpler Via Ferrata Route

The Ministry of Education (MOE) clarified on Wednesday (Jun 10) that the Tanjong Katong Primary School (TKPS) team was on a simpler route on Mount Kinabalu when the earthquake struck.

Compared with the regular Via Ferrata route, where the elevation of the starting point is 3,520m, the pupils, teachers and their guides began on a route at an elevation of 3,411m, stated the MOE.

Mountain Torq, which manages the Via Ferrata, added that this was also a shorter route – 281m (indicated in red below) instead of the original route (in green), which is 430m long.

An MOE spokesperson said: “This is a less steep route compared to the full Walk the Torq route.” She confirmed that the TKPS teams have been using the simplified route since 2010.

On Sunday, the MOE, based on its initial interviews with teachers and pupils who survived the trip, said the team were on the well-known Via Ferrata route.

A Via Ferrata is a mountain path comprising a series of rungs, rails and cables on the rock face. Climbers must wear helmets and harnesses to attempt this route and must be at least 10 years old.

The school has been sending teams to Mount Kinabalu for the past seven years, attempting the original route for the first two years, said Mountain Torq marketing director Quek I-Gek.

She said the simplified route was also only for a selected group of trekkers. Referring to the TKPS pupils who had taken the Via Ferrata, Ms Quek added: “They’re the best students we’ve guided. Consistently, they’re better physically and mentally.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

June 12, 2015
Mount Kinabalu Nudist May Face Both Native And Civil Courts

KOTA KINABALU — The four tourists arrested for stripping naked on Mount Kinabalu may not only be charged in the civil court but also the native court.

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun said this was possible as the tourists had breached native customs as well as civil law for public indecency.

“Technically, they can be hauled to both courts. Its for the courts to decide. Let’s let the law take its course,” he said when contacted by the Malay Mail Online.

Canadians siblings Ms Lindsey Petersen, 23 and Ms Danielle Peterson, 22, Dutch national Mr Dylan Snel, 23, and Briton Ms Eleanor Hawkins, 24 have been remanded for four days ending Saturday (June 6) by Ranau-based magistrate Dzul Elmy to facilitate investigations into their alleged stripping incident on Mount Kinabalu.

A lawyer who declined to be named, also agreed that the case could be heard in both civil and native courts if they deemed it necessary.

“It has been done before, and the native court does feel it is necessary in this particular case,” he said.

It was also reported by the Malay Mail Online on Tuesday that Ranau native chief Taip Rashman, in consultation with the native court council, said that the case should be tried there as it was a breach of customary law in their area.

He said that they will do their best to see that the proper “sogit” or “cooling down compensation” was imposed on the offenders to the aggrieved party.

Sabah Police Commissioner Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman had earlier said they were expecting to complete investigations pertaining to the stripping incident on Mount Kinabalu by tomorrow.

“We want to complete our investigations as soon as possible and pass the papers to the deputy public prosecutor for further action,” he said.

The four under police custody are part of the five out of the 10 suspects first identified by Sabah Parks. The fifth was arrested and released on Monday.

“The identities of the others could not be ascertained as they did not provide their complete name and passport when they registered prior to scaling the mountain,” he said, in urging Sabah Parks make it compulsory for climbers to provide their full passport details in the future.

The four tourists, who are not eligible for bail, are being investigated by Ranau district police under Section 294(a) of the Penal code for public indecency, which carries a sentence of up to three months jail or fine or both if convicted.

Police had arrested Ms Hawkins at the Tawau airport when she attempted to board a plane while the other three had surrendered themselves at the Kota Kinabalu police station.

All four are currently being held at the Kota Kinabalu police station.

A police report lodged by Sabah Parks staff alleged that 10 tourists had stripped and posed naked for photos on Mount Kinabalu’s peak on May 30 and reportedly rebuffed their local guide who tried to stop them, telling him to “go to hell”.

The act has angered natives who believe that the mountain is sacred and carries the spirit of their ancestors.

Deputy chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan has since blamed a magnitude 5.9 earthquake which has so far killed at least 18 people on the disrespectful act.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 12, 2015
Filipino Zero-Point Diver Retort On Comments

A Filipino diver who became a laughing stock online after a video of his failed dive went viral, has come back with a retort worthy of a perfect 10.

Local humour site SGAG uploaded a clip of John David Pahoyo’s botched attempt in the men’s 3m springboard event on Facebook late on Wednesday night, which has racked up more than 1.1 million views and over 10,000 likes in just under a day.

Among those who found the post funny was none other than Pahoyo himself. But more than just being able to laugh about it, the 17-year-old said that it was important to not only laugh at yourself, but also pick oneself up and try and try again.

Friends do not let friends do silly things alone… in this case getting ZERO POINTS for Diving at SEA GAMES 2015!…

Posted by SGAG on Wednesday, June 10, 2015

In a reply to the SGAG video posted in the comments section that drew close to 4,000 likes, he said: “I even laughed at myself after I did this dive hehe.

“But after all this was not the first time I failed a dive, and I was not the first one who did so. And I am still proud because not all of us has the privilege to represent our own country to such a big sporting event like this. And by the way can I ask all of you if you can still smile after getting embarrassed in front of thousands of people?”

The 17-year-old also posted a video of him and compatriot John Elmerson Fabriga executing a successful dive in the men’s synchronised 3m springboard on his own Facebook page, with the caption “Why share our failed dives when you can share the dives that we did well?”

Yey! I’m so proud of us pakner John Fabriga, we really did our best despite of we just practiced this synchro dives for just 4 days, even though we failed to win, but atleast we did overcame what we once knew was out limit, and that makes us a champion <3 Thanks coach Brian Palattao for your endless support and immeasurable love to us from the preparation until the end of this competition, and special thanks to the people who’s doing their best to make this experience possible, I owe you all of this 🙂 #SG2015 #SEA #Games #Singapore #Diving #Pilipinas

Posted by JD Pahoyo on Tuesday, June 9, 2015

SGAG’s 82-second video starts off with Fabriga attempting his fourth dive on the 3m springboard at the OCBC Aquatic Centre on June 6, which ends in embarrassing fashion after he landed on his back with a huge splash.

Fabriga is then followed by Pahoyo, who emulates his good friend and partner by executing a near-exact copy of the failed dive.

Both received a zero for their attempts. They eventually finished the event in the last two positions after six dives.

The majority of netizens who saw the post poked fun at both men, although a vocal minority defended them.

The duo, however, could be in trouble for their poor performances, with Philippine Sport Commission chairman Richie Garcia reportedly seeking an explanation from the country’s aquatics chief Mark Joseph.

“I will give the opportunity for the Philippine Swimming Inc. president to explain because he fought for these divers to come here and compete,” Garcia told Filipino website Inquirer.net.

He also questioned if they did it on purpose.

AFP reported that there were poor showings as well from competitors in the women’s 10m platform event, as several landed awkwardly in the water despite choosing to dive from lower heights. Competitors had the option to jump from either 7.5m or 5m as well, although that meant that they earned fewer points.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 12, 2015
Singapore 19th In List Of Most Expensive Global Cities For Expatriates

Singapore has jumped 12 places in March 2015 from a year ago to become the 19th most expensive location for expatriates globally in a list of 30 topped by South Sudan capital of Juba.

The island nation, however, maintained its 9th spot in the Asia Pacific region where Shanghai took the top spot.

The list by ECA International is part of the bi-annual Cost of Living Survey carried out in March and September using a basket of day-to-day goods and services commonly purchased by assignees in over 440 locations worldwide.

It attributed Singapore’s leap on the list to “a strong currency”, a release issued on Thursday said.

“Although, like many currencies, the Singapore dollar has weakened against the US dollar between annual surveys, it strengthened against a number of other major currencies,” said Lee Quane, Asia region director of ECA International. “Assignees having been relocated from one of these locations into Singapore are likely to require a higher cost of living allowance in order to maintain their spending power.”

The allowance is part of pay packages to ensure that an employee’s spending power is maintained when they are sent on international assignment. It is affected by differences in inflation levels as well as exchange rate movements between an employee’s home and host country.

Shanghai has become Asia Pacific’s most expensive location for expatriates for the first time. Globally, the Chinese city has moved into the top 10 to 8th position – up from last year’s 18th spot – just ahead of Beijing (9th globally) and Seoul (10th).

Tokyo ranked two spots above Singapore in the region, as the goods and services in ECA’s shopping basket were just over 2 per cent dearer in the Japanese capital than Singapore as opposed to 14 per cent a year ago. It ranked 16th globally.

Seoul, the region’s second highest location a year ago has slipped to the third spot.

Hong Kong is Asia Pacific’s 4th most expensive location for expatriates and is now more expensive than Tokyo. Globally, Hong Kong has entered the top 15 leaping up from last year’s 29th position to 12th place. Prices of items in ECA’s basket rose more than 3 per cent in Hong Kong over the year between surveys. However, it is exchange rate movements that have had the biggest impact on cost of living for expatriates in Hong Kong.

“With the US dollar, to which the HK dollar is pegged, strengthening against a number of currencies over the past year, (Hong Kong) has become more expensive for many businesses sending assignees there,” said Ms Quane.

Australian locations continue to fall down the ranking – a reflection of the weakened Australian dollar as growth there slows. Sydney is 30th most expensive location ranked in Asia Pacific and 57th globally.

The United States cities of Manhattan, New York and Honolulu stood 20th, 29th and 30th in the global ranking.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 12, 2015