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72-Year-Old Ferrari Driver Found Guilty Of Punching Face Of BMW Driver

A district court has found Ferrari driver Shi Ka Yee, 72, guilty of assaulting a fellow motorist in 2014.

Following a two-day trial, District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt convicted her on Thursday (Aug 17) of hurting Mr Raphael Chong Yen Ping by punching his face along Telok Ayer Street at around 5pm on Feb 25, 2014.

He suffered a cut above his right eyebrow.

On the first day of the trial on June 5, this year, Mr Chong, 39, testified that he was in his BMW and waiting for a parking space along the one-way road when Shi drove by in her red Ferrari.

Mr Chong said Shi started to shout and sounded her horn as she wanted him to move his car.

He told District Judge Chay that he stayed put as the road was wide enough for other vehicles to pass through easily.

He added that Shi became very upset and launched into “verbal diarrhoea” against him.

Mr Chong said she got out of her car to snap pictures of him, holding up traffic as there were other vehicles behind them.

He then told her: “Don’t know how to drive, don’t drive a Ferrari.”

Mr Chong said Shi then moved towards his car and punched him on the right side of his forehead through an open window.

The court heard that she was wearing rings on her fingers and the blow caused a cut on Mr Chong’s forehead. He called the police after she drove away.

An advertising agency executive director, Mr Stephen Choy Ying Whye, who also took the stand on June 5, said he was in another car nearby when he saw Shi stepping out of her car. When cross-examined by Shi’s lawyer, Mr Irving Choh, Mr Choy also testified that Mr Chong had not uttered any vulgarities to her.

Shi took the stand on June 29 and admitted that she had assaulted Mr Chong.

However, she said her behaviour was justified as he had abused her with vulgar language. She also testified that she had not punched, but slapped him.

She added: “I was very stunned, shocked and humiliated… He was not a respectable gentleman. My instinct was to give him a slap, (and) I did.”

She is now on bail. Her mitigation and sentencing will be held at a later date.

Besides causing hurt, Shi has six other charges against her which will be dealt with at a later date.

She was in the news last year over a case involving a rain tree on her Astrid Hill property, near Holland Road. Its branches were encroaching into her neighbour’s front yard and the judge ordered her to trim them and pay the neighbour damages.

Four of the charges against her that have been stood down for now relate to the Astrid Hill rain tree incident, including one count each of criminal trespass and committing a rash act.

The other two charges relate to an incident on June 29 last year, when Shi allegedly stopped her car between the third and fourth lanes of Orchard Road, just after the Claymore Road junction, causing an obstruction there.

Offenders convicted of assault can be jailed up to two years and fined up to $5,000.

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/

August 17, 2017
Indian Man Says His Xiaomi Smartphone Burst Into Flames Inside His Pocket

An Indian man claims that while he was riding his bike on Sunday, his Xiaomi smartphone suddenly exploded into flames inside his pocket.

Bhavana Suryakiran, the former owner of a Redmi Note, told the local Sakshi Post that because of the intense heat and flames he wasn’t able to pull his pants off until helpful onlookers arrived with a bucket of water. Even after being doused, Suryakiran says that the phone was still smoking and on fire.

The incident, which occurred in Ravulapalem in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, left Suryakiran with some nasty burns on his thigh. He said that he had bought the phone only 20 days before through Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart, adding that he planned to sue the company for compensation.

Xiaomi is one of China’s biggest business success stories, growing into the world’s largest smartphone startup in a matter of years, besting Apple in its home country while also expanding abroad, particularly to India where the company’s CEO gave an infamous speech in Chinglish in 2015.

During its rise to success, Xiaomi has been known to take ideas liberally from its competitors. When it launched its Redmi Note, the company was accused of stealing the name from the popular Samsung Galaxy Note. It now appears that they may have been inspired by the phone’s combustibility as well.

Xiaomi has acknowledged the incident, explaining that they are trying to get in contact with Suryakiran to get to the bottom of the matter. “We take such matters seriously as customer safety is of utmost importance for Xiaomi. All of our devices go through stringent quality tests,” a company spokesperson said.

Source: http://shanghaiist.com

August 17, 2017
Myanmar Football Team Rewarded $68,000 For Victory Over Singapore

The Myanmar Under-22 football team have been rewarded handsomely for their 2-0 victory over Singapore on Monday.

It is understood that the team received a US$50,000 (S$68,250) bonus after winning their SEA Games opener.

Facebook page Thai Futbol carried a picture of the team being handed a brown envelope supposedly containing US$30,000.

According to sources, the US$30,000 came from KBZ Bank, while Myanmar Football Federation president U Zaw Zaw and former Yangon United chairman U Tay Za contributed US$10,000 each.

Former Singapore national coach P N Sivaji, who is now technical director of Myanmar National League side Hanthawaddy United, told The New Paper that such gestures are not uncommon.

He said: “There are quite a few patrons and well-wishers who have shown great willingness to support and reward the team.”

While Myanmar Under-22 coach Gerd Zeise has set an initial target of reaching the semi-finals, expectations are high as they have eight players who featured in the 2015 Under-20 World Cup and also won a silver medal at the last SEA Games.

They got off to a good start in Kuala Lumpur as Aung Thu’s goals either side of half-time were enough to seal three points in a group that also comprises hosts Malaysia, Laos and Brunei.

TNP understands that the Young Lions were offered $2,000 each to beat Myanmar on Monday, and that figure could increase for tonight’s do-or-die game against Malaysia in which they have to get at least a point to keep their semi-final hopes alive.

Elsewhere, the Sultan of Johor gave RM4million (S$1.27m) to the Football Association of Malaysia after their Under-22 side qualified for the AFC U-23 Championship for the first time last month.

The players were initially promised RM6,000 each for their efforts but can now look forward to a bigger payday.

Source: http://www.tnp.sg/

August 17, 2017
Man Found Dead At Fajar LRT Station Was Run Over Twice; Ruled As Accident

A 43-year-old man who was found dead at Fajar LRT station in March had been drunk when he fell onto the tracks, a coroner’s inquiry heard on Wednesday (Aug 16).

When he fell at 12.42am, Ang Boon Tong had 232mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood – almost three times the legal limit of alcohol for drivers, the inquiry heard.

CCTV footage showed that although he had hit his head, he was still alive and able to sit up. But he was unable to find his way off the tracks and was hit by an off-service train seven minutes later.

The sole passenger on the train – an SMRT employee riding the train back to the depot at the end of his shift – said he “heard a sound” as the train ran over Mr Ang’s body but did not think to investigate it, the inquiry heard.

Ten minutes later, at 12.58am, a second train pulled into the station, running Mr Ang over again. This time, the station controller, Mr Mohamed Ariff Mohamed Yusoff, noticed the train seemed to move in “a bumpy and erratic manner” as it pulled into the station, and suspected it had run over something.

It was when the train left the station that he realised there was a body on the tracks.

Mr Ang died of multiple injuries “consistent with a run-over”, including an open skull fracture, multiple rib fractures and hip, arm and leg fractures, State Coroner Marvin Bay said. Mr Ang also suffered a 15cm-wide wound running from his neck to his groin.

Bloodstains were found on both trains, although a forensic pathologist was not able to tell which impact killed Mr Ang, the coroner heard.

NO ALERT SYSTEM, SHOULD SOMEONE FALL ONTO LRT TRACKS

LRT trains are not equipped with obstacle detection systems, operator SMRT’s senior vice president for the Circle Line and Bukit Panjang LRT, Chia Chun Wah testified.

He added that there is currently no system in place to alert the station or Operations Controrunl Centre (OCC) should a passenger fall onto the tracks, aside from 143 CCTV cameras monitoring the entire Bukit Panjang LRT line. The line comprises 14 stations, including Fajar.

Around the time Mr Ang died in the early hours of Mar 24, one staff member based at the OCC in Woodlands was tasked with monitoring 46 CCTV feeds on 22 screens. At the time Mr Ang fell onto the tracks, the employee had been occupied with overseeing the closing of the station.

Mr Chia testified there are currently no plans to install such systems. He said the safest option for passengers who have fallen onto the tracks is to stay at the “safe location” in the middle of two electrified train tracks, which is not clearly marked out. “We don’t publicise that,” Mr Chia said, adding that there are, again, no plans to do so.

Another option for passengers who fall onto the tracks is to shout for help in the hope that someone on the platform would sound the alarm by pressing the emergency stop plunger located at either end of the platform. This would cut power to the trains.

But, Mr Chia said, there is no signage to tell passengers what happens when they press the plunger – and there are no plans to do so.

Yet another alternative is for a passenger who has fallen onto the tracks to make their way to the end of the platform, where there is a flight of stairs leading back into the station, Mr Chia said. However, there is “no signage to show where the stairs are”, he added.

Mr Chia said that the Land Transport Authority (LTA) is currently trialling a video analytics system, which may be able to detect foreign objects on train tracks. However, even if the system was able to recognise an object on the tracks, it was unclear whether it would also be able to send an alarm to the OCC and stop the train.

In ruling Mr Ang’s death an accident, State Coroner Marvin Bay said: “It is entirely conceivable that a person who falls onto the tracks may be infirm, inebriated, incapacitated or cognitively impaired and not have the required knowledge or ability to seek refuge at the (“safe location”) or make for the staircase to save themselves.”

He added that Mr Ang had survived the initial fall, but “it would appear that he was too intoxicated or disoriented to fully appreciate his precarious situation. He remained on the track without calling for help or making any attempt to extricate himself from his predicament,” the coroner said.

Mr Bay added that the LTA’s video analytics system was “a step in the right direction”.

“It would also be useful to raise public awareness of the emergency stop plunger, the safety zone on the tracks and staircase access back to the platform to avert disaster whenever a person falls onto the tracks,” he added.

Mr Ang’s death was “a truly tragic misadventure,” the coroner said.

Mr Ang’s wife was in court for the inquiry. They have three children.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/

August 17, 2017
Sea Games: From Cheers To Jeers As Young Lions Lost The Match After Giving Away A 1-0 Lead

They were mercilessly jeered, heckled and taunted by a baying partisan crowd at the Shah Alam Stadium on Wednesday night (Aug 16).

But while they stood firm in the face of hostility for 45 minutes, the pressure of competing in such an atmosphere proved too much for Singapore’s national under-22 football team in the end as they gave away a 1-0 lead to eventually fall 2-1 to Malaysia in their second SEA Games Group A match.

The loss means that the Young Lions are stuck at the bottom of the five-team group with zero points. Malaysia are second, with six points, while Myanmar are top after beating Laos 3-1 last night.

Barring a miracle in the final two games — which would require Malaysia or Myanmar to lose their final two games, and Singapore to go on a scoring spree against Laos and Brunei — the Republic will crash out at the group stage for the second Games in a row.

As national coach Richard Tardy noted wryly after the game: “Physically we lost the game. In the first-half, our possesion was good, we were in control against Malaysia. We created some chances and managed to score. After one hour, the problem started, and at this kind of level, it’ll be difficult.

“Physically we disappeared. We gave the possibility to Malaysia to approach the box, they equalised with a nice goal. The second goal was a little lucky because we made a mistake.

“Now we must play to win the next two games because we are the national team. We knew that we needed a win today in order to stand a realistic chance of going through. Now we have a five percent chance of progressing to the next round. We must be realistic.”

Following their 2-0 defeat to Myanmar in their opening game on Monday, the Young Lions knew that they had to avoid defeat while a win would give them a chance of advancing from the group.

With that in mind,Singapore threw caution to the wind and began attacking the Malaysians right from the kick-off.

It took just five minutes for Singapore to test Malaysian goalkeeper Haziq Nadzli, who had to be alert to gather Muhelmy Suhaimi’s long-range drive.

The impressive Hami Syahin, a livewire in the final third the entire game, was the next to come close to breaking the deadlock in the 18th minute as he embarked on a storming run down the right which took him past two defenders, before firing a fierce shot from a tight angle at Haziq.

While Malaysia enjoyed more possession, it was Singapore who created the better chances and they were eventually rewarded in the 38th minute. After winning the ball up the pitch, Hami played a quick pass to Ikhsan Fandi, who laid it off for Amiruldin Nodin to fire a stunning 20m strike into the top corner of the net.

Their confidence boosted, the Young Lions continued pressing Malaysia hard and came close to doubling their lead just three minutes later when Hami’s cheeky free-kick from a tight angle smacked the post.

Unfortunately, that also seemed to stir the Malaysians out of their stupor and they fashioned their first real goalscoring opportunity on the stroke of half-time when Safawi Rasid’s 25m free-kick rocked the crossbar.

Perhaps it was the pressure of holding on to the lead but things began going downhill for the Young Lions in the second half as Malaysia, backed by their vociferous home crowd, turned on the pressure.

Singapore were eventually punished for their carelessness in the 68th minute, when substitute Azam Azih took advantage of some slack defending by the Singapore defence to rifle a shot from outside the box into the bottom corner of the net.

Things went from bad to worse for Singapore five minutes later.

This time, it was striker Thanabalan Nadarajah, another Malaysian substitute, who did the damage, as he slotted the ball home from close range after a lucky deflection found him in the box.

Needing a goal, Singapore decided to throw centre-back Irfan Fandi in attack to provide an aerial threat.

But it was all for nothing, as Malaysia hung on to secure a crucial victory and condemn their arch-rivals to a likely early exit from the tournament.

Despite the defeat, Tardy refused to believe that there is a huge gap between Singapore and Malaysia and Myanmar.

“I cannot say that we are no longer at the level of other Asean nations. If you see how we perform, we played well but couldn’t score. During one hour, we managed to challenge Malaysia,” said the 67-year-old Frenchman who led the Rwanda U-17 team to the 2011 Fifa U-17 World Cup in 2011.

“We are not so far between Myanmar and Malaysia. I believe in this team and these players, but this is football. You try to do your best, but today, we are very disappointed because we felt we could get a good result, but it was too difficult for my players.”

But Malaysia coach Ong Kim Swee observed: “Singapore is like a wounded lion. They needed a win. When they scored, they were very joyful.

“But unfortunately, it was not long enough. We showed them we had more character.”

Source: http://www.todayonline.com

August 17, 2017