Category: Sosial

Boy, 15, Possibly Electrocuted In Shower

A 15-year-old boy, Tan Yao Bin, was apparently electrocuted and killed while having a shower on Tuesday night. He suffered cardiac arrest and despite attempts by paramedics, who administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), died later that night.

The tragedy happened at Block 233, Bukit Batok East Avenue 5.

Neighbour Wendy Wee, 60, an administrator, said she was alerted to the incident when she heard a boy cry out for his mother in Mandarin.

The victim’s brother, Mr Tan Qi Lin, 19, told The Straits Times he was doing his homework in the three-room flat at the time.

“My older brother, my dad and I immediately turned off the electrical supply at home. We saw that the wiring for the heater was exposed in the toilet itself,” said the Institute of Technical Education student.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call at 8.07pm and conveyed the victim to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital in an unconscious state.

The SCDF said paramedics administered CPR continuously throughout the journey to the hospital. But he was pronounced dead at the hospital at 9.56pm. The police are investigating the unnatural death.

Mr Tan said the family has been living there his whole life.

“I’m really worried about my mother. She’s not coping well.”

His mother works as a kindergarten assistant and his father is a production worker. Mr Tan has another brother, aged 21. His family and relatives were at the morgue yesterday morning to identify Yao Bin’s body.

Mr Tan described his brother as “an intelligent and playful boy”. He said the family will change the unit’s electrical wiring, urging others to check on their heaters and electrical works regularly. “Check that the wiring for your heater is properly installed so that the same thing doesn’t happen to your family.”

A neighbour who wanted to be known only as Mr Tan, 39, said: “We are all worried now. We don’t have knowledge of electrical works. It’s hard to actually identify these issues until something happens.”

The IT consultant continued: “We’re heartbroken that this happened to Yao Bin. He was a lively and friendly boy and had good grades.

“We saw him grow up and he would come by our home to play. His parents have sacrificed a lot for their sons. This kind of thing shouldn’t have happened.”

A 17-year-old was electrocuted in similar fashion on Aug 29, 2014.

A coroner’s inquiry into his death last year found that he could have received the fatal electric shock when his hand came into contact with an electrically energised metallic shower outlet hose that was attached to a water heater.

Source: The Straits Times

December 2, 2016
Tragic Crash Was A Near Miss For Many At Brazil Soccer Club

For soccer striker Alejandro Martinuccio, the surgery on his right knee two months ago was a tough blow, keeping him off the field as his small Brazilian team, Chapecoense, pulled off surprise wins against top clubs from his native Argentina.

But in the end, the surgery saved more than Martinuccio’s knee. It saved his life.

After most of his teammates died in a plane crash in Colombia on Monday (Nov 28) on their way to the final of the Sudamericana Cup, Martinuccio is one of a handful of players and staff at Chapecoense coming to terms with their escape from the same fate.

“If I’d been healthy, I would have gone to the match,” Martinuccio said, adding that it could take days to understand what had happened.

“The fact that I wasn’t there, it’s very tough. It’s too much for my head.”

Of the 77 people on the charter flight, only two crew members, a journalist, and three members of the Chapecoense squad survived after the plane crashed into a wooded hillside outside Medellin.

Psychologists counselling the club and surviving relatives in Chapeco say it may take far longer than just a few days for those left behind to work through feelings of relief, sorrow and guilt.

“Missing the flight is also a kind of trauma,” said Andre Pessoa, a psychologist from a local university volunteering his services to the team. “On the one hand, those people may be relieved at not being on that plane, but the suffering may be as bad as if they had been.”

For some, their absence was a simple accident. The son of coach Caio Junior was left behind in Sao Paulo because he forgot his passport.

Eliandra Valer, girlfriend of the team’s security chief, had just travelled with the team to Argentina using her Brazilian ID, but she lacked a passport for the trip to Colombia.

“I was planning to go, but I was unlucky with the passport – or I guess I was lucky… ,” she said, choking back sobs. “I don’t know what to think.”

Former coach Vinicius Eutropio had left the team last year.

“It makes you think about the value of your life, if there’s any meaning to when you go and when you stay,” Eutropio said.

Claudio Winck, a defender whom the coach left out of the travelling team, said he struggled to get to sleep after spending Tuesday imagining what could have been.

“I lay there with my head on the pillow just thinking of my teammates,” he said. “We all wanted to play in that final.”

Source: The Straits Times

December 2, 2016
Farhain Abu Bakar – Wanita Melayu Singapura Pertama Jadi Juruterbang Komersial

LEBIH dua dekad lalu, di satu sudut Sekolah Rendah Telok Kurau, seorang murid darjah dua mendongak kagum ke langit setiap kali pesawat dari lapangan terbang berdekatan menderum membelah angkasa.

Kini, murid itu, Cik Farhain Abu Bakar, 29 tahun, memandu pesawat sebagai kerjaya.

Beliau ialah wanita Melayu setempat pertama menjadi juruterbang komersial.

Bagaimanapun, Cik Farhain, seorang Pegawai Pertama di syarikat pesawat tambang murah (LCC) Scoot-Tigerair akur tetap kagum setiap kali berada di angkasa.

“Saya kagum melihat keindahan alam… warna angkasa yang berubah apabila malam menjadi siang… semuanya.

“Rasanya, saya tidak akan jemu dengan pengalaman dan perasaan ini,” ujar Cik Farhain, yang menyertai Scoot-Tigerair akhir tahun lalu dan menjalani latihan asas selama 10 bulan.

Bersama seorang kapten, Cik Farhain kini memandu pesawat Boeing 787 Dreamliner, yang boleh membawa lebih 300 penumpang, selepas menjalani latihan asas selama 10 bulan.

Paling jauh, beliau telah memandu pesawat itu ke Jeddah, Arab Saudi, penerbangan sekitar sembilan jam dari Singapura.

Namun, pengembaraannya menjadi juruterbang memakan lebih banyak masa daripada itu.

Walau memburu diploma sains biomedikal di Politeknik Singapura selepas meninggalkan Sekolah Menengah Tanjong Katong, jiwa Cik Farhain tetap terpaut kepada kerjaya di angkasa.

Beliau mendapatkan lesen juruterbang swasta (PPL) daripada Kelab Penerbangan Belia Singapura (SYFC) pada 2004 sebelum menyertai program Jurulatih Penerbangan Kadet di Kolej Penerbangan Singapura (SFC) pada 2007.

Selang setahun, beliau meraih Lesen Juruterbang Komersial (CPL) dan seterusnya mendapat tauliahan susulan sebagai jurulatih.

Beliau menimba pengalaman hampir enam tahun sebagai jurulatih penerbangan di SFC, melatih juruterbang baru – termasuk beberapa juruterbang yang kini menjadi rakan sekerjanya.

Walau menggemari kerjayanya di SFC, ‘bisikan’ menjadi juruterbang sepenuh masa kian lantang di benaknya dan Cik Farhain menyertai Scoot-Tigerair sebagi Pegawai Kedua.

Baru-baru ini, beliau, yang berpengalaman 1,900 jam penerbangan, dinaikkan pangkat sebagai Pegawai Pertama.

Matlamat beliau seterusnya, kata Cik Farhain, adalah menjadi kapten, tanggungjawab yang memerlukan 5,000 jam penerbangan.

“Keinginan (menjadi juruterbang) sentiasa ada dalam jiwa saya… dari saat saya berada di sekolah rendah.

“Apabila saya berada di kokpit, setiap butang, peralatan bak lanjutan jari-jemari saya… saya rasa senang hati,” ujarnya.

Mungkin Cik Farhain memang mempunyai bakat semula jadi memandu pesawat. Beliau masih ingat lagi penerbangan solo pertamanya – pada 2004 – memandu pesawat enjin tunggal selama 15 minit dari Lapangan Terbang Seletar.

“Saya tidak berasa gementar atau cemas apabila jurulatih meninggalkan pesawat. Tapi saya mula sedar betapa senyap kokpit itu.

“Pada masa yang sama, saya yakin saya mampu mengawal pesawat itu tanpa bantuan jurulatih,” kata Cik Farhain dengan matanya bersinar semasa mengimbas kenangan itu.

Tugasnya ini bermakna beliau sentiasa berjauhan daripada keluarganya, kadang kala sehingga 15 hari sebulan.

Namun Cik Farhain, anak keempat dalam keluarga lima beradik, berkata beliau mendapat sokongan padu daripada anggota keluarganya.

Lagipun, beliau jarang membazir masa apabila tidak bertugas, ujar Cik Farhain, yang belum berumah tangga.

Selain bersenam – kegiatan yoga kegemarannya – beliau sedang belajar menggesek biola.

“Lautan ilmu begitu luas tetapi kita baru menimba sedikit sahaja airnya… jika boleh saya ingin terus belajar sepanjang hayat saya,” katanya.

Source: www.beritaharian.sg

December 1, 2016
Zam Zam VS Victory: Hired Gangster Gets 6 1/2 Years Jail, 6 Strokes Of Cane For Slashing Victory’s Restaurant Supervisor

The owner of Singapore Zam Zam allegedly hired a secret society headman to slash a rival’s face, a court heard.

Zackeer Abbass Khan, the owner of the well-known murtabak restaurant in North Bridge Road, had been having a dispute with a neighbouring murtabak restaurant.

He allegedly paid $2,000 to his business associate Anwer Ambiya Kadir Maideen, who is purportedly a headman of the Sio Ang Koon secret society.

Anwer then allegedly told his secret society member Joshua Navindran Surainthiran to carry out the vicious assault.

It left the victim, Victory Restaurant supervisor Liakath Ali Mohamed Ibrahim, with a permanent scar.

Mr Liakath had a 7cm cut over his right upper lip, which extended to his right cheek, and a part of the cut went through to the inner surface of the lip.

On Tuesday (Nov 29), Joshua, 23, was sentenced to 6½ years’ jail and six strokes of the cane for the slashing and other crimes.

He pleaded guilty to five charges: one of causing grievous hurt, two of rioting, and one each of disorderly behaviour and using criminal force against a policewoman.

Five other charges were taken into account in sentencing as part of his plea bargain.

A district court heard that on Aug 22 last year, Mr Liakath, 52, stood outside Victory to tout for customers. He had previously worked for Zam Zam from 1985 to 2004.

When a policeman came by at about 6pm, Mr Liakath said he was touting for customers because staff from Zam Zam were doing so.

Zam Zam staff Koleth Navas, 29, overheard this and an argument broke out between him and Mr Liakath.

The officer told them to stop arguing before leaving.

VICTIM THREATENED

Shortly after, Zackeer, 45, allegedly threatened Mr Liakath in Tamil that he would “do him” within a week, the court heard.

Koleth Navas and Zam Zam’s chef supervisor Koleth Abdul Nasir, 41, both also allegedly threatened Mr Liakath.

Zackeer later contacted Anwer, 46, who owns As-Safeera Restaurant at Block 301, Serangoon Avenue 2, the court heard.

Anwer in turn told Joshua that Zackeer had asked for Mr Liakath’s face to be slashed, in return for $2,000.

Joshua got his elder brother Joel Girithiran Surainthiran, 24, allegedly also a Sio Ang Koon secret society member, to help him in the slashing. Joshua also asked his friend Ramge Visvamnathan, 19, to help him act as a lookout.

The next day, Joshua and Joel met Anwer near As-Safeera. The latter showed them a picture of Mr Liakath on his mobile phone.

The brothers then went to Golden Landmark Hotel, near Victory and Zam Zam, to observe Mr Liakath’s movements. At about 9.50pm, they saw him walking towards Victoria Street after work and trailed him to Little India MRT Station at Race Course Road. However, they were unable to find an opportunity to spring an attack.

VICTIM’S CAP DEFLECTED KNIFE

On Aug 26, Joshua, Joel and Ramge waited outside Victory. The brothers sat on a bench overlooking the eatery’s rear door, while Ramge stayed at the junction of North Bridge Road and Arab Street, where he could view Victory’s main entrance.

At about 9.50pm, Joshua and Joel saw Mr Liakath walking along Arab Street towards Rochor Canal Road and Little India MRT station.

They caught up with him at the junction of Rochor Canal Road and Sungei Road. Joshua swung a knife at Mr Liakath’s face. Although the weapon was partially deflected by the victim’s baseball cap, there were deep cuts to his right nose and right upper lip.

During the attack, Mr Liakath also took out a small fruit knife, which caused a cut on Joshua’s left hand.

Joel allegedly kept a lookout. The brothers fled after the slashing.

Mr Liakath called his restaurant manager, who in turn contacted Victory’s managing director Abdul Raheem Muhamed, 46. The latter called the police.

At about 12.30am on Aug 27, Anwer deposited $1,700 into Joshua’s bank account, the court heard.

Joshua had earlier received an initial payment of $200. He told Anwer to keep $50 for getting him and Joel the job, and $50 for passing Ramge money to buy ice for the wound on his hand.

Joel, Ramge, Zackeer, Anwer, Koleth Navas and Koleth Abdul Nasir have all been charged with engaging in a conspiracy to cause grievous hurt to Mr Liakath and/or criminal intimidation by threatening to hurt Mr Liakath.

The cases for all six are at a pre-trial stage.

OTHER OFFENCES

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Claire Poh said Joshua had gone on a spree of violence across a period of more than two years, demonstrating “sheer lawlessness”.

At about 2.45am on July 2013, Joshua and four friends assaulted two others at Clarke Quay. The five assailants had kicked and punched the victims.

At the time, Joshua was on probation for an offence of causing hurt.

At about 5.30am on Nov 28, 2013, while out on court bail, he also slapped a person at Liang Court.

About 10 minutes later, he pushed a police woman’s right shoulder and spat at her face.

While inside a police vehicle at about 6am, he also hurled vulgarities at a policeman.

Out on bail again, and just two weeks before he was scheduled to plead guilty in court to his July 2013 rioting offence, Joshua took part in a gang fight at Liang Court, outside a club called Rumours.

Joshua and five friends belonging to the Sio Ang Koon gang fought with six people from the Ang Soon Tong triad society of the Ji It group on Oct 22, 2014.

Joshua did not show up in court and remained at-large until he was arrested on Sept 21 last year for slashing Mr Liakath.

DPP Poh asked for at least 7½ years’ jail and six strokes of the cane, while defence lawyer K Jayakumar Naidu asked for not more than six years’ jail and six strokes of the cane.

After passing sentence, District Judge Salina Ishak allowed Joshua to speak with his mother and fiancee before he was taken away to prison. His jail term was backdated to the date of his remand on Sept 23 last year.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

December 1, 2016
Political Activist, Uncle Yap, Gives Up On Selfish Opposition Politics

A well-known political activist, he had been seen by the side of leaders of various opposition parties for almost two decades, from the 1980s to mid-2000s.

During the 2006 General Election, there was even talk of Mr Yap Keng Ho, better known as “Uncle Yap”, contesting under the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) umbrella.

But little has been heard of this colourful character — who had been in and out of jail many times for breaking the law while participating in some political activities — for the past five years.

In a recent interview, Mr Yap, 55, told TODAY that he gradually stepped away from the local political scene because he grew disillusioned with some of the personalities in opposition parties and the “selfish politics” that were increasingly being played out.

“What we are seeing now is politicking for personal interest and freedom, it is not for the good of the entire nation … I was expecting to see more valuable voices and ideas by reversing the fear (of the establishment) … But what came out was not what I appreciated.”

Mr Yap said he first entered politics in the 1980s with a desire to “lift the lid of fear” that many opposition politicians had towards the governing People’s Action Party (PAP) and Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

During the 2006 election, even though he did not contest as a candidate, Mr Yap took an active part in the hustings to express his support for SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan and veteran opposition politician J B Jeyaretnam, whom he described as the late Mr Lee’s greatest adversaries.

The late Jeyaretnam could not run as a candidate in the polls because he had been declared a bankrupt for failing to pay damages from defamation lawsuits brought by several PAP leaders.

While he still keeps in touch with SDP members, Mr Yap spends most of his time now caring for his elderly mother and drives a Chrysler limousine taxi at night.

Two months ago, he was highlighted in the newspapers as the cabbie who responded more than 20 times to cardiac arrest cases, among the highest number under SMRT’s AED-On-Wheels programme. Mr Yap, who was an instructor with the St John Ambulance Brigade in his school days, said he volunteered for the programme because he wanted to refresh the life-saving skills that he had learnt earlier.

Mr Yap is also interested in raising awareness about the rapid depletion of natural resources.

“The globe’s resources are not able to withstand our living and consumption habits … We need to convey the urgency (of this challenge), adjust values to correctly influence lifestyles,” he said.

Source: www.todayonline.com

December 1, 2016