Category: Sosial

New Faith, New Lives

When train captain Muhammad Joy Kumar Paul turned 25 in May, he celebrated by converting to Islam.

The ceremony was held at the Muslim Converts’ Association (MCAS) and witnessed by his closest friends and fiancee’s family. That same day, he attended his first Friday prayers as a Muslim at Assyakirin Mosque, near his home in Taman Jurong.

Mr Muhammad was brought up in a Buddhist family, but growing up with Malay friends, he knew “how a Muslim behaves, what they are supposed to do and what they do not do”.

Still, he never expected to become a Muslim until he met Ms Syuhaidah Sha’ada, a 24-year-old pre-school teacher.

The couple got engaged in June but it was not an easy decision. They had a serious talk about their relationship in the long term and considered breaking up.

On his own accord, however, he researched and watched videos by Islamic scholars online, as well as talked to Muslim friends, to learn more about the religion.

Mr Muhammad lives with his mother, who is divorced, and elder sister. Both felt it was his decision to make. He also attended beginner courses at MCAS last year.

Every year, about 600 people convert to Islam at the three-storey building located in Onan Road in Joo Chiat.

Also known as Darul Arqam Singapore, the one-stop centre for converts was set up in 1980 to oversee the welfare, religious guidance and problems of new converts.

All prospective converts are encouraged to take up basic courses on Islam. Mr Muhammad went through Ramadan as a Muslim for the first time this year. The ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar, Ramadan is a holy period of fasting, reflection, devotion, generosity and sacrifice observed by Muslims around the world.

While there have been challenges, he has been touched by the support of his loved ones.

His mother, a Buddhist, cooks the food he wants to eat and made sure there was food in the morning when he woke up to break fast during Ramadan. She buys meat and produce that is certified halal for his sake.

Like Mr Muhammad, Ms Rachel Aryssa Chung, 39, converted to Islam two months ago. The customer insight and communications manager at a gas company found fasting during Ramadan to be particularly challenging.

“What’s more, coffee is not recommended because it dehydrates the body but I don’t function well without coffee. I always tell my colleagues I’m not human until I have my coffee,” she said, laughing.

Divorced for 10 years, Ms Chung has two daughters. She has been dating a Muslim for a year and is still learning about her new faith.

It was her own decision to convert. She said of her new faith: “I feel that it’s a very comprehensive and disciplined faith. How you should treat other people, how you should behave as a person. We’re encouraged to pray five times a day. When you do things like that, I feel that it changes you as a person.”

Source: The Straits Times

July 21, 2016
Remains Of Missing Woman Found At Lim Chu Kang; Man Arrested

She was last seen on July 11 at 9.15pm around Fusionopolis Walk at one-north in Buona Vista.

When Ms Cui Yajie, 31, an engineer, did not show up for work the next day, her colleagues felt something was amiss.

Two days later, they filed a missing person report. The police made a public appeal for her whereabouts the next day.

Last night, more than a week after Ms Cui went missing, what were believed to be her remains were found at Lim Chu Kang Lane 8.

A 48-year-old suspect had led police to the gruesome find at the deserted road near dairy farms.

The man had been arrested earlier that day.

Because of the suspicious circumstances relating to the case, officers from Clementi Division worked closely with officers from the Criminal Investigation Department and Police Intelligence Department to identify and arrest him, the police said.

The suspect is expected to be charged with murder today. If convicted, he faces the mandatory death penalty.

Last night, the site at Lim Chu Kang was heavily cordoned off by the police, as officers armed with flashlights and cameras worked to recover the remains of the body.

A Health Sciences Authority forensics team joined them later but left at about 1am.

The New Paper understands that no weapon was involved in the murder, and an autopsy will be conducted to determine the victim’s identity.

A woman believed to be a colleague had posted an appeal for witnesses on Tuesday online.

According to the post, Ms Cui works as an engineer at a semiconductor company.

She was described as a cheerful and warm person who makes friends easily.

The 1.6m-tall woman from Tianjin, China, was wearing a black blouse and a green skirt when she went missing. She had stayed back at work until 9pm.

She did not arrive home or go to work the next day.

TNP understands that Ms Cui’s family, who is in China, is on the way to Singapore.

Source: The New Paper

July 21, 2016
Family’s Escape Blocked By Flames In Sengkang Fire

Grabbing their 22-month-old daughter, they started running down the stairs to escape the fire that was raging in their neighbour’s flat.

The stairs were their nearest escape route. But they froze in their tracks when they found their passage blocked by raging flames.

Fortunately, firefighters were there to escort them to safety.

The fire had broken out in a third-storey flat at Block 257B, Compassvale Road at 4.15am, forcing more than 20 people to be evacuated, said the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

No one was in the flat at the time of the incident, and police are investigating it as a case of mischief by fire.

The New Paper understands that a 37-year-old police officer was sent to the Singapore General Hospital for breathing difficulties due to smoke inhalation.

Mrs Elysha Suresh, 30, who lives on the fourth storey, told TNP how her family of four, including her 22-month-old child, escaped.

She said: “When I came out of my room, I smelled smoke. I could even see the flames rising up to our corridor through the windows.

“We were panicking, and we didn’t know where the fire was, but we immediately evacuated.”

They made their way down the staircases right by their front door, but were met with thick smoke and strong flames. It was then they realised the fire had started in the flat directly below theirs.

Mrs Suresh said her 61-year-old mother-in-law was coughing and had breathing difficulties.

The four-room flat was destroyed by a fire, leaving the family living there to salvage whatever they could. TNP PHOTO: ISKANDAR ROSSALI

SCDF firefighters battled the blaze, and guided Mrs Suresh’s family up to the fifth storey to take the lift down to the first storey.

She said: “When we got out of the building, my mother-in-law got some fresh air, and the paramedic assisted her. Our daughter was also fine.”

When TNP arrived at the scene at 8am, the charred remains of a clothes rack, shoe rack, wooden cupboard, chair and table were seen outside the four-room flat.

BLACKENED MESS

The inside of the flat was a blackened mess with most of the furniture burnt beyond recognition.

The family who lives in the flat declined to comment.

At 9.30am, the family started to inspect the remains of their flat and salvaged items including watches, rice and shoes.

When TNP visited Mrs Suresh’s home, a hairline crack was found on the tiles of the living room, and the windows in one of the bedrooms had also cracked due to the heat.

A neighbour of the resident of the burnt flat, who declined to be named, said: “They keep a lot of things outside, such as furniture, a clothes rack and a shoe rack. Most were made of wood and plastic.”

A spokesman for Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council said there was no prior feedback or complaints regarding corridor obstruction at the unit.

Firefighters, who arrived at the scene at about 4.20am, had to force their way into the unit, and managed to extinguish the fire with two water jets within half an hour.

Student Marcus Yeo Jin Han, 20, sent a video of the fire to TNP’s Facebook account.

He said: “I was worried whether people would get injured because the fire was so big, it reached the unit above it. I even saw the windows shattering from the heat.”

They keep a lot of things outside, such as furniture, a clothes rack and a shoe rack. Most were made of wood and plastic.

– A neighbour who declined to be named

Source: The New Paper

July 21, 2016
California Fitness Closed… What Now For Its Members?

California Fitness has ceased operations in Singapore, after the last two outlets at Novena and Bugis shut down on Wednesday (July 20).

Customers could have bought gym membership packages at California Fitness up till the point of closure.

Some of these packages involved a lump-sum payment of $4,000 for a two-year membership. Others are paid through monthly instalments of about $100 each via GIRO or credit card.

Were you one of the gym’s members who paid for a package you can’t use anymore?

Here are some tips from the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), and lawyer Rajan Supramaniam on what you can do to try to get your money back.

1. Cancel your monthly instalment

If you are subscribed to a monthly payment scheme via credit card, Case’s executive director Seah Seng Choon

recommends contacting your bank immediately and asking for a chargeback due to non-delivery of services.

“If the chargeback claim is valid, consumers would not be liable for that payment and any recurring payment to California Fitness,” said Mr Seah.

If paying via GIRO, you should instead ask your bank to cease GIRO payment to California Fitness.

However, if the bank has already paid California Fitness in full, you may still be liable to monthly repayments.

2. Get yourself a lawyer

Mr Supramaniam recommends seeking legal advice from a lawyer, who can look at the clauses in the contract you’ve signed with California Fitness before informing you what you can do.

“We need to look at the terms (that were agreed upon) before seeing what further action can be taken,” he said.

3. Contact the relevant authorities

Mr Supramaniam also recommends exploring options with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, to see if they could render any assistance.

An online petition on change.org for California Fitness to refund its victims has 2,024 supporters so far. Should the petition be successful, it would be sent to Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang.

Mr Seah also recommends contacting Case for further assistance at their hotline number 6100-0315.

From the time the announcement was made this morning up until 5pm, Case has received 225 complaints from consumers.

Case is currently contacting the provisional liquidators and will update their advisory in due course.

Source: The New Paper

July 21, 2016
Second Phase Of Study On MRT Extension To Johor

A project to extend the Thomson- East Coast Line north into Johor Baru is gaining traction, with the second phase of an advanced engineering study under way.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, Singapore’s Ministry of Transport said the study will take up to the second quarter of 2018 to complete. But it could be completed by the third quarter of next year, it said.

Both Singapore and Johor launched the joint study in April.

“Phase 2 is intended to develop the detailed engineering design for the rapid transit system project,” a ministry spokesman said.

The Straits Times understands that this stage of the study will include a detailed look at the feasibility, merits and cost-effectiveness of various alignments, number of stops and whether the straits crossing will be made under the sea or via a bridge.

The project was first announced in 2010 by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said then that the cross-border rapid transit project would be an extension of the Thomson-East Coast Line, and would be completed by 2018.

This was pushed to 2019 when Singapore decided to lengthen the Thomson-East Coast Line.

Since then, there had been little progress reported on the 4-5km extension, with Singapore saying it was waiting for Johor to decide on the location of its terminal station.

But last August, Malaysia confirmed that the station terminus would be in Bukit Chagar, just north of JB Sentral. The Bukit Chagar terminus will have its own customs and immigration facilities, according to the New Straits Times.

Separately, the LTA said it embarked on a ridership study of the Singapore-Johor Baru extension last month.

It said the study is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Construction industry watchers said the line is unlikely to be completed before 2020.

Source: The Straits Times

July 21, 2016