Category: Sosial

Noted Criminal Lawyer Subhas Anandan Passed Away Aged 67

Criminal lawyer Subhas Anandan, 67, died in the Singapore General Hospital on Wednesday morning.

Mr Sunil Sudheesan, who is Mr Subhas’ nephew, told The Straits Times he was informed about his uncle’s death before an appeal case on Wednesday.

But he stayed in court till the case was over before going to the hospital. Tearing up, Mr Sunil said: “(Subhas) would have wanted me to finish the appeal.”

Mr Subhas had been in ill health, and he was diagnosed with heart and kidney failure last year. He had three heart attacks since 1978, lost one kidney to cancer in 2001, suffered diabetes and blocked intestines.

The prominent lawyer, a senior partner at RHTLaw Taylor Wessing and president of the Association of Criminal Lawyers in Singapore, had earned a reputation for defending notorious criminals, many a time pro bono.

He defended Anthony Ler, who hired a teenager to kill his wife in 2001; Took Leng How, a vegetable packer who befriended eight-year-old girl Huang Na, then killed her in 2004; and Leong Siew Chor, who chopped up a woman he killed in the Kallang body parts case.

Another client was ex-stewardess Constance Chee, who abducted her ex-lover’s four-year-old daughter and caused her death after a fall from a flat in 2004.

In his career, he had taken on more than 2,500 cases since he was called to the Bar in 1971 after graduating from the then University of Singapore.

Said senior lawyer Amolat Singh, a long-time friend of Mr Subhas: “Everybody is in utter disbelief. It’s a very shocking piece of news, like a bolt out of the blue. He was out and about, always giving people encouragement. There was never a moment that we thought he was going so soon. He was always a fighter.”

Mr Subhas had a second book, titled It’s Easy To Cry, that is due on the shelves later this year.

He leaves behind his wife, Vimala, 56, and son Sujesh, 24.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

January 7, 2015
Sofware Phone Scam Alert!
There have been several reports of victims receiving calls from unknown people claiming to be the technical support from major software companies, soliciting user information and passwords, police said in a news release on Tuesday (Jan 6). Victims would see their computers being remotely controlled or files deleted after being duped.

Police said callers would inform victims that their computers required security or software updates, and victims would be asked to download and install one or more software programmes from the Internet. The victims would also be asked to provide software user account identification codes and passwords to the caller and, in some instances, were instructed to enter some commands into their computers, police added.

“Some victims observed that their computers were remotely controlled or files were deleted after following the instructions of the callers. The callers would then convince the victims to buy additional software by making online payments or by providing their credit card details,” police stated.

Police have the following advice for you to protect yourself from being scammed:
- Ignore such calls. Do not follow the instructions of the callers to install any software for your computer or enter any commands
- Do not make any payment or divulge your credit card and/or bank account details to the callers
- If you had followed any of the caller’s instructions, immediately change your computer’s log-in password and all other passwords associated with your online accounts (e.g. social media accounts and email accounts), especially your online banking and credit card passwords. Where possible, try changing the passwords from another computer other than the affected one
- Scan your computer with a commercial anti-virus software to find out if malware has been installed on your computer
- If you have any information related to this crime, call the police hotline at 1800-255 0000, or 999 for urgent assistance
Source: www.channelnewsasia.com
January 7, 2015
Singapore PR Jailed Two Months For Blackmailing Teenage Couple

A security guard has been sentenced to two months in prison for blackmailing a teenage couple, after catching them having sex on the staircase landing of a condominium.

Nagindran Dharmiah, 32, a Singapore permanent resident, worked as a security guard at a condominium on Simei Street. While making his rounds on the night of Mar 31, 2014, he stumbled upon the couple – a girl and her boyfriend, both 19 and whose names have been withheld to protect their identities – having sex and in various states of undress on the 11th floor staircase landing in the 27th block of the condominium, where the girl was a resident.

He accused the boyfriend of trespassing and told the couple that their act had been caught on CCTV camera, and that he would be able to playback the recording by connecting his clocking device which resembled a black torchlight, to the camera. He also took a photo of the couple using his mobile phone. Investigations later revealed that Nagindran had been bluffing and that there was no CCTV camera on the 11th floor.

Nagindran also made threats to call the police and the couple’s parents — to which the pair responded by pleading with him not to do so. He then agreed to break the clocking device if the couple paid him S$1,000 in cash as an initial sum to replace the device.

Afraid that they would get into trouble since Nagindran knew her home address, the girl withdrew the amount and gave it to Nagindran, after which he deleted the photo from his mobile phone and took down her contact number.

The next day, Nagindran sent the girl a text message demanding an additional S$850, claiming that it was the remaining sum to replace the clocking device he had promised to break. He asked her to meet him at Tai Seng MRT station to handover the money. The girl then made a police report. Later that evening, the girl met Nagindran at the MRT station and handed him an envelope containing S$50. He was then arrested by police officers who were at the station.

Nagindran was charged with three counts of aggravated cheating, which each carries a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment, or fine, or both.

However, in delivering the sentence at the State Courts today, District Judge Lim Tze Haw took into consideration that the amount of money involved was small and that this was Nagindran’s first offence.

The judge chastised Nagindran for neglecting his duty as a security guard and for “committing the very crime (he) was supposed to prevent”. He imposed a two-month jail sentence for each charge, to run concurrently starting on Monday (Jan 5), and also ordered for the money to be returned.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

January 6, 2015
Defending Malay Culture With The Keris

The keris has captured their hearts since they were little, when the traditional weapon was wielded by a Malay warrior in old films.

However, Suhaimi Nasrain, Sharif Rashid and Shahrial Tahar collect keris not to become swordsmen. On the contrary, they have turned their hobby into an effort to preserve Malay culture.

Their passion has cost them tens of thousands of dollars. A good-quality antique keris in their collection, which are between 100 and 500 years old, is worth $500 to $10,000.

“The aim to collect these keris is not only to please myself, but also to study them in detail to defend the Malay people’s culture and existence,” said Mr Suhaimi, 44, a public transport worker who is one of the founders of the Yayasan Keris Singapura (YKS).

He has been collecting keris for eight years, and has nearly 30 antique keris.

Mr Shahrial, an information technology analyst aged 47, began his hobby 30 years ago.

“As a symbol of Malay tradition and philosophy by its design and workmanship, the keris can offer a glimpse into the Malay culture from various areas in this Malay archipelago,” said the owner of 20 keris of good grade, who also has nearly 100 reference books on the weapons.

He is also active in researching the background and history of keris.

“Although my interest in Malay culture generally lessens with each day, I feel proud because there are those who try to preserve Malay culture,” said Mr Shahrial, who is also a founder of YKS, the cultural wing of Perguruan Seni Silat Gayung Singapura.

Mr Sharif, a driving instructor, has been active in the world of keris collecting for 25 years and owns a collection of 50.

Other than buying keris and other traditional Malay weapons from the Malay Art Gallery in Bussorah Street, the three keris collectors source for the artefacts on Facebook and eBay, linking up with suppliers and keris enthusiasts from Malaysia, Indonesia, Europe and the United States.

“Keris enthusiasts are not limited to one area or race. In fact, it is a global hobby,” said Mr Shahrial.

Mr Shahrial, Mr Suhaimi and other members of YKS conduct talks about keris at schools and cultural events to raise awareness among the Malays on the various aspects of Malay culture.

Mr Sharif, 58, feels that the first step that has to be taken to raise interest in the art of keris collecting is to dispel misconceptions.

“It’s quite sad if the Malays associate keris only with the occult, because the keris is a work of art that was like the calling card of ancient times,” said Mr Sharif, who is also secretary of a body known as the Sri Ikatan Pusaka Melayu Singapura.

“By studying the unique properties of a keris, we can ascertain the origins and even the rank of the person owning it.”

BERITA HARIAN

Source: http://mypaper.sg

January 6, 2015
Tommy Koh: I Am Disturbed By The Inequality In Singapore

Dr Tommy Koh has revealed that the poverty rate in Singapore can be as high as 33 percent in Singapore and 60 percent of university students come from families which cannot earn enough to survive.

“I am disturbed by the inequality in Singapore,” Dr Koh wrote in an opinion piece in The Straits Times on Jan 3.

“We have one of the highest Gini coefficients in the world. I am unhappy that many of our children are growing up in poverty. About a third of our students go to school with no pocket money to buy lunch.”

Indeed, the poverty rate in Singapore has been estimated to be as high as 30 percent. National University of Singapore economist Tilak Abeysinghe has also calculated that 30 percent of Singaporeans cannot earn enough and have to spend 105 percent to 151 percent of their incomes.

“As a trustee of two education trusts, I am reminded each year of the large number of needy students in our schools and tertiary institutions. I was shocked when the president of one of our universities told us recently that 60 per cent of his students need financial assistance,” Dr Koh also said.

Indeed, a Straits Times survey had shown that two-thirds of middle-income households in Singapore are able to earn enough only to spend on basic necessities and nothing else.

“At the other end of the spectrum, I am worried about the growing number of the elderly poor. Many of them are in poor health and have inadequate savings. Many of them live in loneliness, having no family or been abandoned by family and relatives,” he said.

It is indeed the case that over the past few years, there have been a growing number of stories of how older Singaporeans have chosen to die because they cannot afford their medical fees.

What Dr Koh say is not new but it is the first admission from someone who is close to the establishment to have detailed these facts.

Today, Singapore has risen to become the most expensive country and city in the world.

But Singaporeans still continue to earn one of the lowest wages among the developed countries in the world. In fact, there is still no minimum wage in Singapore – one of only 10 percent of countries in the world not to have one.

In 2012, Dr Koh also wrote in an article comparing the GDP per capita of Singapore with the Nordic countries. Singapore’s GDP per capita was on par with the Nordic countries, but wages are drastically different.

Dr Koh revealed that cleaners in Singapore would only earn $800 when cleaners in the Nordic countries would earn between $2,085 to $5,502, or several times more.

However, because Singaporeans also have to pay for the highest cost of living in the world, this has also meant that Singaporeans have the lowest purchasing power among the developed countries.

Dr Koh had then also written, “The truth is that we pay these workers such low wages not primarily because their productivity is inherently low, but largely because they are competing against an unlimited supply of cheap foreign workers.

“The solution is for the State to reduce the supply of cheap foreign workers or introduce a minimum wage or to target specific industries, such as the hospitality industry, for wage enhancement.”

It is debatable whether the government has done so. The government has said that the basic wages of cleaners will be increased to $1,000 every month and for security guards, this will be increased to $1,100 but the new base salary will only take effect in 2016 for the latter.

However, critics argue that $1,000 or $1,100 is still insufficient when Singaporeans have estimated that a minimum wage of $1,700 or more would be necessary to have the most basic of living in Singapore.

Source: www.therealsingapore.com

January 5, 2015