Category: Singapuraku

89 Singaporeans And PRs Evacuated By SAF C130 Plane

After bad weather and heavy air traffic foiled plans to evacuate them from quake-hit Kathmandu on Monday, 89 Singaporeans and permanent residents finally returned home safely from 12.30am today (April 29).

Worry-stricken since the 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit Nepal last Saturday, family members who were waiting for hours at Paya Lebar Airbase embraced the evacuees shortly after they disembarked from the two Republic of Singapore Air Force C-130 planes that flew them back.

One of them, Mr Chan Siong Cheong, 63, heaved a sigh of relief when he finally saw his 28-year-old son Jack, who had been trekking in Nepal, safe and sound.

Recounting his communications with his son after the earthquake, he said: “On his way out of the city, he said the place started shaking. After that, I couldn’t get in touch with him because there was no connection.”

Ms Murni Mastan, 38, who managed to get onto the plane only because her friends informed her about the flights on social media, said the experience has left its mark. “I don’t know how to come back to normal after the longest four days of my life.”

Another Singaporean tourist in Nepal, Mr Wong C C, said the ordeal has taught him “not to take things for granted … We saw a lot of things we haven’t seen before — houses crumbling everywhere, in villages especially.”

The three C-130s sent by Singapore, carrying medical supplies and aid personnel, touched down in Kathmandu at 4pm yesterday. Two hours later, two of the planes set off for Singapore with the evacuees.

As his ministry continues to contact Singaporeans in Nepal and help those wishing to return home do so, Second Foreign Affairs Minister Masagos Zulkifli, who was at the airbase this morning, said the Government is committing an additional S$150,000 for relief efforts in Nepal.

“Given the scale of this disaster, as they call for more help, the Singapore Government is putting in another S$150,000 … to help our friends in Nepal,” he said.

The funds will be disbursed through the Singapore Red Cross, which has already received S$100,000 from the Government as seed money.

Meanwhile, fundraising in Singapore for relief efforts continue. The Singapore Red Cross yesterday said it would quadruple its contributions to S$200,000 worth of relief items, including household kits, for those who have lost their homes in Nepal.

By the end of its second day of collection, a total of more than S$200,000 in walk-in donations and cheques had been amassed.

Singapore-based Mercy Relief also said it had collected more than S$195,000 in public donations.

Source: www.todayonline.com

April 29, 2015
Ex-SCDF Regular: The Boys Need To Learn Their Lesson, We Need To Help Them Move On

Tak surprising video budak-budak SCDF huru-harakan bunk mereka mendapat perhatian awam.

Apa kan tidak? Bunk dah bukan macam bunk lagi. Tilam ke mana katil ke mana. Yang satu lagi kelihatan meroko di dalam bunk. Ni semua perkara yang bukan diajar SCDF.

Tidak pernah saya dalam lebih 25 tahun saya dalam SCDF tengok loss of discipline macam ni.

We face the facts. Senang cakap,rata-ratanya budak-budak SCDF ni memang nakal-nakal. Their background, most of them, they do not have good qualifications some of them from broken homes, some of them parents keluar masuk jail. You have to look very hard to find a boy from a good school like RI or what not….Scholars and officers you don’t count.

But even though they come from unfortunate background, I can wholeheartedly say,for those people I trained and trained/worked with, I can trust my life in their hands.

They brave and courageous. Very good firefighters. You give them an order, they tak gentar tak terfikir berkal-kali. Dia pergi dia complete the task or the rescue.

Now the section commanders may not necessarily be the bravest or the fittest, but they are leaders and we epect them to lead. Some are reluctant. Most come from poly. A few sign-on after poly. They are very dedicated the regulars because this is their rice bowl. Cari makan orang Melayu kata. They don’t spit in that rice bowl.

So i don’t know how come his bunch so teruk gini.

I’m sure, you put men together,put them through thick and thin, in the end they forge a deep bond and camaraderie. They do naughty things. Blanket party. Play pranks. Like me. People put kiwi on my toothbrush. We laugh and we move on.

But these people destroyed property which was handed to them in good condition. They could have been told to sleep on matresses on the floor as part of the course. But no. Because SCDF care. It’s SCDF core values. Pride and care.

But these gentlemen never show that. This is not the kind of section commanders or leaders in the SCDF. What they think there’ll be Banglas or maids to clean after them? Ni kita tak nak fikiran macam gini, orang yang tak responsible dalam SCDF.

Should they be sent to DB or should they be removed of their ranks and FF badges? That is for SCDF to decide after investigation completed.

However pada pendapat saya, kita harus ingat yang mereka ni semua masih muda dan ada masa depan mereka. Some also may have to to take care of their familiy and may have young children or sick parents and grandparents that depend on them.

Whatever the punishment is, they have to understand that what they do is wrong and that future batches don’t follow the same way. But hopefully, we don’t destoy their future with the punishment. Build them up. Help them to reintegrate, especially the regulars. It’s not corruption or it’s not refusing to carry out their duties. If convicts can be rehabilitated, I am confident ini budak-budak boleh change their life.

Concerned Ex-Regular

April 29, 2015
SCDF: Bunk Wrecking Incident An Isolated Case, Not Reflective Of SCDF And Its Members

The behaviour of the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel who were captured on video wrecking their dormitory is out of sync with the rest of the force, said its spokesperson today (April 28), who stressed that the matter is being taken “very seriously”.

Two short clips uploaded in the past two days show a trashed dormitory where SCDF personnel sporting close-cropped hair were flouting rules, such as smoking. The videos have attracted criticism of the bad behaviour from members of the public.

But Colonel Abdul Razak Abdul Raheem, director of the SCDF Public Affairs Department, stressed today this was “an isolated incident”.

“It does not reflect the culture, discipline, decorum and conduct of SCDF officers and men, be it our front-line National Servicemen and regulars, or even our Operationally-Ready NSmen,” he told reporters in Joo Koon Crescent today, where firefighters put out a factory blaze. There were no reported injuries in the incident.

“As you can see in today’s fire, this is what we do day in, day out, putting ourselves in harm’s way, taking calculated risks to mitigate incidents, to minimise damage to property and save lives. This is SCDF.”

Col Abdul Razak added that investigations into the incident are ongoing and “will leave no stone unturned”.

The SCDF has said “disciplinary action will be taken against those who are involved”.

The two clips appear to be of the same incident.

The clip uploaded to YouTube today showed an individual using his boot to smear the dormitory floor with what looks like black shoe polish. Like the previous clip that was circulated on Monday night, the new video captured bunk beds and cabinets toppled over in the messy dormitory, with mattresses and litter strewn all around.

Shouts of “POP lo” could also be heard in the background. The acronym purportedly refers to “Passing-out Parade”, which is the graduation ceremony from training.

Firefighters interviewed by TODAY on condition of anonymity acknowledged that emotions can run high when trainees graduate, but said they have not seen such behaviour.

One of them said it is inevitable that trainees will “let loose and get a bit rowdy, but definitely not to this extent”.

He added: “It’s sad because there are so many people in the force who work so hard and selflessly to save lives and keep the country safe, and then a video like this surfaces and our reputation gets bashed.”

Another person who has been with the force for eight years said it was the first time he had heard of people celebrating by destroying the place they had been sleeping in during their months in training: “It’s definitely not the norm. We are quite taken aback because this affects everybody; it’s representing SCDF as a whole.

“The video spread quite fast, and we were told by SCDF today not to continue spreading it around, and not to let it affect our morale,” he added. “Officers said they will investigate and deal with it by the book.”

A third firefighter agreed, saying: “There’s quite a thick line between stupidity and bravery. It’s disappointing to see their actions.”

Source: www.todayonline.com

April 29, 2015
Policeman Fine $4000 For Illegally Accessing Police Computer System To Check On Mistress

A married cop who illegally accessed the police computer system to check on a woman he had been having an affair with was fined $4,000 on Tuesday.

Senior station inspector Rick Goh Fu Yuan, 39, had wanted to lodge a police report against 28-year-old Joice Rosiana as he had suspected her of making nuisance calls to his wife.

He carried out an unauthorised search using the Frontline Officers’ Computerised System (Focus) by keying in her identity card number in the search field on Nov 11, 2011.

The system enables authorised officers to lodge police reports and carry out searches on reports filed by members of the public.

Goh, who was deployed as a court officer, pleaded guilty to one of three charges of computer misuse at Central Police Division headquarters.

Goh’s lawyer Michael Chia said in mitigation that his client had Ms Joice’s details as she had been a very close friend for some time. He wanted to make sure the information he had was accurate before he lodged a report against her.

He said the officer of 18 years is likely to face further disciplinary proceedings and lose his career in the SPF.

Mr Chia added: “He actually had a bright future ahead of him and he would have had the opportunity to serve the nation had this one foolish act not occurred. Of course, he should have known better.”

Goh got to know Ms Joice, an assistant admin executive, when he was studying at the Singapore Institute of Management University in 2010.

Mr Chia said that by June 2011, he had begun to distance himself from her as he felt their relationship was developing into an improper association as he was still married at the time.

He said his client committed the offence “in a moment of absolute folly and desperation to protect his then wife from harassment”.

He did not benefit from the act, nor cause any damage.

Goh could have been fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed for up to two years.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

April 28, 2015
Thousands Of Saudi Forces Flee Bases, Refuse To Participate In Ground Assault In Yemen

Almost 4,000 Saudi forces fled their border bases in anticipation of Riyadh’s order for launching a ground assault on Yemen, European diplomatic sources said on Sunday.

“The intel gathered by the western intelligence agencies showed that the Saudi military forces have fled their bases, military centers and bordering checkpoints near Yemen in groups,” diplomatic sources were quoted as saying by Iraq’s Arabic-language Nahrain Net news website.

The European sources said that the Saudi forces’ mass AWOL forced Riyadh to declare ceasefire and dissuaded it from launching ground attacks against Yemen.

Other reports also said that over 10,000 soldiers from different Saudi military units have fled the army battalions and the National Guard.

Experts believe that the Saudi army lacks strong morale to launch a ground invasion of Yemen and such an attack would be considered as a suicide for Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia has been striking Yemen for 32 days now to restore power to fugitive president Mansour Hadi, a close ally of Riyadh. The Saudi-led aggression has so far killed at least 3,005 Yemenis, including hundreds of women and children.

Hadi stepped down in January and refused to reconsider the decision despite calls by Ansarullah revolutionaries of the Houthi movement.

Despite Riyadh’s claims that it is bombing the positions of the Ansarullah fighters, Saudi warplanes are flattening residential areas and civilian infrastructures.

On Tuesday the monarchy declared end to Yemen airstrikes after four weeks of bombings, but airstrikes are still underway.

Source: www.globalresearch.ca

April 28, 2015