Category: Sosial

United Nations Suspends Distribution Of World Food Program Vouchers In Embattled Middle East Countries Due To Lack Of Funds

A lack of funds has forced the United Nations to stop providing food vouchers for 1.7 million Syrian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Monday.

“Without WFP vouchers, many families will go hungry. For refugees already struggling to survive the harsh winter, the consequences of halting this assistance will be devastating,” said the U.N. agency, which needs $64 million to support the refugees for the rest of December.

Suspension of the assistance program comes as many vulnerable Syrian families enter their fourth bleak winter in difficult living conditions after fleeing a homeland racked by conflict since March 2011.

“This couldn’t come at a worse time,” said U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres in a statement.

The impact could be particularly devastating in Lebanon, where more than 1.1 million Syrian refugees — one-quarter of the country’s permanent population — are scattered across some 1,700 communities, according to the U.N. refugee agency. Many live in makeshift settlements, sheds, garages and unfinished buildings.

The electronic voucher program has already injected about $800 million into local shops in the countries hosting refugees, and WFP will immediately resume it if new funding arrives, it said in the statement.

It was not clear how hungry Syrian refugees might fill the gap left by WFP suspending its voucher program.

WFP had warned last month that it might be forced to impose such a suspension and said it might have to announce a similar measure in January for people reliant on aid within Syria, where at least 7.6 million people are internally displaced.

The Rome-based agency has already cut rations for 4.25 million people it is providing food supplies to in Syria.

“WFP will not be able to continue its life-saving operations inside Syria in February without additional funding,” WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs told Reuters on Monday.

The U.N. refugee agency has said that a lack of cash has forced it to prioritize as it helps those in need prepare for winter, with preference for people at higher, colder altitudes and vulnerable refugees such as newborn babies. REUTERS

Source: www.todayonline.com

December 2, 2014
Offer Malay As An Elective To Expand Its Use Among Non-Native Speakers

I AGREE with Ms Jong Ching Yee (“Teach all students to speak Malay”; last Monday) that learning Malay is useful in a multiracial society like Singapore.

As it is, Singaporeans already exhibit some understanding of the language, given that the island’s indigenous inhabitants were of Malay origin, the Republic shares ties with Malaysia, and our National Anthem is in Bahasa Melayu.

However, it is futile to make students learn the native language to better appreciate our history, if they are not interested in or aware of our history, just as how learning English does not necessarily lead one to learn more about the British.

The more crucial strategy here is to make our students more interested in local history and culture.

Given the perception that students already find their mother tongue languages hard to master, having them learn Malay too would add to their academic load.

Nonetheless, offering Malay as a supplementary elective in schools is achievable.

It should be pitched accordingly at a conversational level, rather than match the rigours of the Third Language modules at the Ministry of Education Language Centre.

Such a course should do away with final tests or grades, lest the fun of learning a new language is snuffed out.

This will also reduce the academic burden on students.

Such a module may also include field trips to Malay heritage sites.

Paul Sim Ruiqi

Source: www.straitstimes.com

December 1, 2014
Hearing Expert Claiming Relations With Michelle Yeoh Arrested For Filming Voyeuristic Video Of Patients

A Malaysian doctor, who boasted that he is Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh’s half-brother, has been jailed for five years in the UK.

The voyeuristic Dr Yeoh Lam Hoe, a renowned hearing expert, had earlier pleaded guilty to videotaping over 1,000 people using the toilet.

The doctor had installed pinhole cameras at hospital restrooms, train toilets across the United Kingdom, as well as the bathroom inside his own house.

He had used 23 secret cameras to film his victims, including James Bond-style devices disguised as memory sticks, pens, watches and hearing aid boxes.

Over more than three years, world-renowned hearing specialist Yeoh – who worked in NHS and private hospitals – amassed thousands of hours of footage.

5 years’ jail

Yeoh, 62, of Banstead, Surrey, who pleaded guilty to voyeurism on Tuesday, was given an eight-year sentence at Croydon Crown Court in London on Nov 26.

It comprises a five-year jail term and three years on extended licence after his release during which he will be supervised in the community. He can be returned to prison if he breaks the terms of his licence.

Victims felt violated by the doctor

Afterwards victims said they had been left feeling dirty and violated by his abuse, reported the Mail Online.

One former colleague, who asked to be called Sarah, said the experience had changed forever the way she behaves in public. “I can’t go to the toilet in a public place now without looking for hidden cameras,” she said.

Another woman, who worked with Yeoh for 12 years, said he made 47 videos of her.

She told the newspaper: “He spliced videos of me talking and laughing with videos of me using the toilet where we worked.”

“I felt frozen. I felt dirty as though I had been raped by him. I felt disgusting.” – One victim, recalling the moment police asked her to watch the videos back to identify herself.

“I knew the only way I could be free of him was to face him in the dock and see him vulnerable and small, just like he made me feel.”

While sentencing Yeoh, who has three grown children, Judge Warwick McKinnon condemned his “nefarious and despicable actions” and said he had disgraced the hospitals where he worked.

Source: Daily Mail, BBC News

Source: www.tnp.sg

December 1, 2014
New Trend: Girls Growing And Dying Armpit Hair

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – A new trend has emerged among women – growing their armpit hair and colouring it bright.

Ms Roxie Hunt, who works at a saloon in Seattle, United States, said in her blog that she always wanted to dye someone’s armpit hair.

“I’ve always wanted to colour someone’s pit hair, I have actually done it once but it was at late night with too much wine and without the proper tools available.

“I asked my co-worker Rain if she would be down to let me dye her pit hair blue to match her hair colour and she agreed,” Ms Hunt wrote.

In her blog titled Offbeat Home and Life, she also gave a detailed explanation on how it was done.

On Instagram, many women have posted pictures of their dyed pit hair using the hashtag #dyedpits.

There are also videos on YouTube showing how it is done.

When last checked on Instagram, there were 63 posts from women using the hashtag showing off their coloured hair pits.

Source: www.thestraitstimes.com

December 1, 2014
$20,000 Wedding Cancelled After Fight Between Bride And Groom

It was supposed to be a happy occasion at a wedding banquet in a five-star Sentosa hotel on Saturday night. But things turned sour and only the groom was present – there was no bride.

The groom, who called the wedding off the day before, was said to have entertained guests and was not seated at the main table with family members, but with guests, reported Shin Min Daily News yesterday.

There were also three to four empty tables, believed to be reserved for the bride’s guests.

There were 12 tables in all and the groom, who wanted to be known only as Mr Liu, said about $20,000 had been spent.

The 26-year-old told Shin Min that a week before the banquet, he and his fiancee, also 26, got into an argument.

“She slapped me seven times. My shoulder and chest were also bruised by her,” he said, adding that the incident upset him and his parents.

His fiancee is pregnant with his child. She told Shin Min that she is four to five months pregnant.

Mr Liu said he met her when he was in a polytechnic and claimed he waited for three years before he was able to win her heart.

After the recent argument, Mr Liu thought things through and made the painful decision to call off the wedding a day before.

“I think the problems between two people need to be worked out first before marriage. So I informed my fiancee about it. But since the wedding banquet had already been arranged, we decided to carry on with it and apologise to the guests,” he said, adding that he treated it like a family gathering.

“I’ve donated the money from the banquet guests’ red packets to charity.”

Mr Liu said he had bowed in apology to guests on Saturday and read out an apology letter to seek their understanding.

His fiancee said that she had hit Mr Liu only once, and had her reasons for doing so.

“Before the wedding, he (Mr Liu) said again that our marriage would break apart because of our quarrelling. It made me very angry, so I slapped him. My nails had scratched him, but I didn’t hit him seven times,” she said.

She added that her future in-laws were also difficult. This posed problems for her matrimonial matters and upset her.

“I’m also pregnant so my emotions are not stable. And because of many problems that cropped up, I was very unhappy. I haven’t been able to rest well for two weeks.”

The fiancee also said she could not imagine that the wedding would still take place.

“He (Mr Liu) only wants my child and doesn’t think about marrying me any more. Even if he wanted to, it’s one-sided. His parents would not approve,” she said, adding that even if she were able to mend things with the groom, the episode would leave a scar on her.

But Mr Liu claimed that he would not give up loving his fiancee even though the wedding has been called off.

“I hope to take her for counselling so that she can better control her emotions and not be so violent. I’m willing to wait for her and have our wedding ceremony,” he said.

Source: http://news.asiaone.com

December 1, 2014