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3-Month Old Baby Left Blind In One Eye, Damaged From Camera Flash

A baby is left blind in one eye after a family friend forgot to turn off the flash while taking a close-up photograph.

Doctors said the three-month-old, who has not been named, has suffered irreparable damage from the flash of the camera, which was held about 10 inches away from the baby boy.

The parents noticed that there was something wrong with their baby’s vision soon after the photograph was taken, reported the People’s Daily Online.

Following the incident, the baby suffered from reduced vision in his left eye and blindness in his right eye. The damage is said to be permanent and cannot be fixed with surgery.

The strong flash has damaged cells on the macula, which is the part of the eye where incoming light rays are focused.

Damage to the macula can lead to the loss of central vision, which allows people to see straight ahead.

The macula is not fully developed until children are four, meaning youngsters are very sensitive to strong light.

Experts have said that while babies will shut their eyes when exposed to light on reflex, just milliseconds of strong light can cause permanent damage.

They added that parents should be careful of strong bathroom lights when their babies are taking a bath.

It is not clear whether the family friend will face any legal action following the incident.

Source:www.dailymail.co.uk

July 29, 2015
Man, 26, Charged With Committing Sex Offences Involving At Least 10 Underage Boys

A 26-year-old man was charged on Tuesday with committing sex offences involving at least 10 underaged boys.

Goh Jun Guan faces 30 charges involving boys who were aged between 10 and 15 years old at the time.

The alleged offences, which took place between 2012 and 2014, include giving and receiving oral sex from some of the boys as well as touching the genitals of some and getting them to touch his.

He also stands accused of persuading some of the boys to send him photos of their genitals or videos of themselves masturbating, and of sending them similar photos and videos of himself via WhatsApp.

These alleged acts happened at a different locations, including public toilets in Jurong West Public Library, Pioneer Mall, and Jurong Point Shopping Centre.

For each count of sexually penetrating or being sexually penetrated by a boy under 14 years of age, Goh could be jailed up to 20 years and also fined or caned.

For each count of procuring the commission of obscene acts by the boys, he could be jailed up to five years, fined up to $10,000, or both, on the first conviction.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

July 29, 2015
Another Escalator Incident In PRC Leaves Parents On Edge

Shortly after the fatal accident which saw a young mother being “swallowed” up by a revolving escalator in a PRC mall, another report of a chilling incident involving escalators in Guangxi Province has emerged.

According to local media reports, a 1 year-old toddler had gotten his left arm trapped in the grooves of an escalator at a mall. He was riding the escalator with his mother when the incident took place on Monday at about 10AM.

A distress call was sent out and local rescue workers were dispatched to the scene. They found the boy crying in excruciating pain and his mother in shock and a state of panic.

Rescue workers used hydraulic equipment to pry open the escalator steps and freed the boy within 5 minutes. However, according to eye witnesses, the boy’s left arm was “basically destroyed”.

Local PRC authorities are investigating the case.

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

July 29, 2015
I Don’t Like My Cabinet

It is so difficult to find a good cabinet nowadays.

The cabinet I now have is full of termites. Apparently it is made of plywood.. Despite looking stylish and sharp, when knocked, it sounds hollow. It sounds like a tin kosong.

I tried getting them renovated and visited a store called GE13. They offered various custom made compartments and were made of different types of wood. There were many options for the cabinet doors ─ metal, composite, laminate, and thermofoil. All good options, to be honest. I decided to give it a try and placed my order.

But for some reason, the order never came through. Maybe someone offered a better price for it. Sigh.

The truth is, they don’t make cabinets like they used to anymore like the cabinets we had back in my kampong. They were all made by my dad. He singlehandedly picked and chose every part of the cabinet. The workmanship was rough since dad was merely a hobby carpenter but he knew how to pick the woods and make the edges meet.

We’ve had those cabinets for more than 40 years now. The red meranti still stands firmly on my mom’s kitchen walls – slightly worn, but well kept. Even the paint is in good condition. And no matter how hard my crazy rough brother bangs the doors shut, not a single splinter comes off. The only thing that gets broken every now and then are the made in china door hinges.

But then again, the cabinets were made by a mamak – which explains its durability.

The truth is, when it comes to kitchen cabinets, you get what you pay for. There is the cheap plywood kind teeming with insects (like the one I have in my kitchen) of low durability but surprisingly sturdy and good looking.

Then you have laminates which are basically a thin layer of solid wood over an inner core of chipboard. The wood covering is deceiving, misleading and in the end the chipboard doesn’t last that long.

I don’t want that type of cabinets anymore. I need something solid. Something durable. Something with quality.

Seriously, I need to change the cabinets in my home. The IKEA ones look nice – quite pricey though, but nice nevertheless. However, I wonder if it can fulfil the real purpose of a cabinet.

You see, what I do know is that peddlers at furniture malls who want to sell me cabinets, try to distract me so that I forget the real function of a cabinet. Cabinets must serve a purpose and I know getting the wrong one means that the purpose is not achieved. On top of that you are left with a heck of a lot of trouble.

And I also know that a homeowner who keeps changing cabinets just for show should not be trusted completely. I mean, why would a homeowner change his/her cabinet(s) around Syawal? What is he/she trying to accomplish? Is he/she hiding some deep rot by refurbishing it with some good looking chipboard cabinet with an oak overlay?

Like I said, I hate my cabinet. Besides the termites eating away at the wood I paid for, I hate the fact that some of the doors which are made of dark shaded wood keep dark secrets. And I also hate that the old drawers in the cabinets don’t slide in easily. I think drawers should never fight with their master.

To be honest, I don’t think any amount of renovation or refurbishing or reshuffling can cover the unpleasantness of having this cabinet in my kitchen. It just needs to go. All of it.

I would really like to replace it with a nice, new, gleaming cabinet. Maybe one with transparent sides or a transparent glass door. One that will let some sun in so that everyone can see that it is not messy on the inside.

I want a cabinet with doors that don’t creak loudly every time they’re opened or shut.

I want a cabinet that doesn’t store candies and cookies in its’ recesses….hidden away from the kids.

And I want a cabinet with classy, durable, functional containers – not one screaming with red Tupperware and cheap plastic containers in pastel colours.

I guess I should start shopping for a good cabinet before it’s too late. As of now, one side of my cabinet is full of termites and the other side is also corrupted from absorbing too much water and dampness that didn’t belong in the cabinet in the first place.

Hopefully by 2018, I will get my cabinet replaced. Maybe with a meranti, maybe a jati. But definitely never a plywood or a chipboard ever again. I know it won’t be easy – good wood is hard to come by despite living in a tropical climate.

But then again, we must be willing to put in the effort if we want to enjoy having a good quality cabinet in the house.

Source: www.freemalaysiatoday.

July 29, 2015
Court: Headless Woman Killed By Husband

Upset that his wife was making a long-distance call to a mystery party, he reportedly punched her in a fight and left her lying on the bed.

It was only later, he told a friend, that he realised that she was not unconscious, but dead. That was when he decided to get rid of the body.

A coroner’s court found yesterday that Indian national Jasvinder Kaur, 33, had been murdered by her husband, Harvinder Singh, 35, on Dec 11, 2013.

Ms Kaur’s headless body was discovered floating in Whampoa River on the morning of Dec 12. Her corpse was wrapped in black trash bags, with the legs exposed and hands severed at the wrists.

Harvinder, a senior logistics coordinator, remains on the run. His friend, fellow Indian national Gursharan Singh, 27, was jailed for 30 months in April for helping to get rid of Ms Kaur’s body.

Gursharan, a forklift driver, had helped Harvinder carry a luggage bag from the latter’s residence at 228A Balestier Road to the canal near McNair Road.

When Gursharan grew suspicious at how heavy the bag was, he demanded to know what was in it. Harvinder then explained that he had fought that morning with Ms Kaur and punched her once on the neck.

He said she had fallen onto the bed and he had left her there. When he found her in the same position later, he realised she was dead and decided to dispose of her body.

Although Gursharan was then aware that the luggage contained a corpse, he helped Harvinder carry it to the canal. Harvinder then told him to walk away. As Gursharan left, he heard a splash.

Ms Kaur’s employer told investigators that after the deceased failed to turn up for work as a beautician on Dec 11, Harvinder called to say she was returning to India.

Harvinder fled the next morning to Malaysia, and then to India, where the authorities were unable to trace him. He is now on Interpol’s wanted list.

The exact cause of Ms Kaur’s death remains unknown as her head and hands were never found.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

July 29, 2015