Blog

HPB Steps Up Effort To Promote Healthy Lifestyle Among Malay Community

When the National Disease Registry (NDR) reported in December last year stating that Malays are the unhealthiest in Singapore, it drew a backlash from some people in the community.

“If a certain issue is indeed worrying and needs immediate attention/solution, why would identifying a certain enthic/community make any difference?” said Facebook user Zulkifli Yusof.

According to the NDR report, Malays are more likely to suffer from a stroke, undergo kidney transplants or go through dialysis.

On Thursday, the Health Promotion Board announced nation-wide efforts stepped up to promote healthy lifestyle, with tailored programmes for the Malay community.

These programmes consist of establishing health-promoted madrasahs, running the Ramadan “I Quit” smoking cessation campaign, distributing health calendars – consisting of healthy recipes and tips – to Malay families and organising healthy living programmes at mosques.

During a visit to Al-Ma’arif Al-Islamiyah, one of the participating madrasahs, on Thursday, Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim and parliamentary secretary for the Ministry of Health responded to the reactions.

He said he has seen positive response on the programmes from madrasah teachers, students and people who go to mosques.

“The fact that they feel for it means that they are quite committed to their healthy habits and lifestyle.”

“I feel that those among the (Malay) community who have embraced it (healthy living) are doing their best to eat healthily.”

There are currently three madrasahs actively promoting healthy living in Singapore: Al Ma’arif Al-Islamiyah, Irsyad Zuhri Al-Islamiyah and Wak Tanjung Al-Islamiyah. HPB plans to extend the initiative to three more.

These madrasahs now have health programmes permanently fitted into their school curriculum; some of these include health workshops and a student health ambassador-training programme. There are a total of 107 student health ambassadors across the three madrasahs, and their roles include leading health workshops.

These health workshops are designed to educate students on being mentally and physically healthy. Student ambassadors will hold talks sharing tips on maintaining a balanced diet, healthy stress levels and good self-esteem.

Faishal said that he is happy with the progress of the programmes, noting that at least 1,800 madrasah students have benefited from them.

The principal of Al-Ma’arif Al-Islamiyah, Sukarti Asmoin, 61, welcomes the new initiatives as part of the school curriculum. Speaking in Malay, she says she feels that it is important to keep the students healthy so that they will not fall sick.

It is also encouraged in the religion to maintain good health, which is linked to having a healthy mind, she added.

The school has also changed the food served in the school. For example, the canteen vendors are only allowed to sell fried foods on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Other plans

For the wider Malay community, HPB aims to recruit 2,000 smokers for the 2015 edition of Ramadan “I Quit” 28-day programme. There were 1,500 sign-ups in 2014.

They also plan to increase health-screening sessions and venues — from six to 10 mosques.

The school has also changed the food served in the school. For example, the canteen vendors are only allowed to sell fried foods on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

July 10, 2015
Thai Consulate In Istanbul Attacked After Uighurs Deported

Turkish anti-Chinese demonstrators stormed the Thai consulate in Istanbul in protest at the deportation by Bangkok of dozens of Uighur Muslims to China, as diplomatic tensions flared Thursday in an increasingly combustible controversy.

The attack was the latest in a series of nationalist-tinted protests in Turkey during the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan over China’s treatment of the Turkic-speaking, largely Muslim Uighurs in the northwestern Xinjiang region.

Nine people were arrested after the action at the consulate building in Istanbul late Wednesday organised by a group calling itself the East Turkestan Education Association, the Dogan news agency reported.

They broke down the doors to the building, pulled down the sign outside and damaged the furnishings inside, television footage showed.

The Thai flag was pulled down as the building was also pelted with stones. Files and documents were flung outside and littered the street while a man was seen battering a window with a post.

Shocked consulate workers returned to the office on Thursday to find their workplace upturned, with broken glass and debris littering the floor.

Thailand said it had deported around 100 Uighur Muslims detained in the kingdom since last year to China, in a move sparking fears for the safety of the asylum-seekers.

The fate of the Uighurs, who presented themselves to police as Turkish, had been the subject of a diplomatic tussle between Ankara and Beijing.

Thai government spokesman Werachon Sukhondapatipak told reporters “some 100” Uighurs were deported to China Wednesday after finding “clear evidence they are Chinese nationals”.

He also revealed that an earlier group of Uighurs, 172 women and children, were sent to Turkey in late June.

– ‘Without consent’ –

In an address to Turkish ambassadors late Thursday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — who is scheduled to visit China later this month — condemned the violence and warned against “any provocations”.

“We have our compatriots all over the world. Whatever happens to them directly concerns us. But we can never approve of what happened in Istanbul, such things don’t befit us,” Erdogan said, declaring all Asians visiting Turkey “our friends.”

In a statement released Thursday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned Thailand for sending the Uighur Turks back to China, accusing it of “acting against the international laws.”

Foreign ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic told AFP that Ankara was “saddened” by the attack on the Thai consulate, saying such actions “were not approved” and “do not benefit anyone”.

The UN refugee agency said it was “shocked” by the deportation to China after the earlier group of Uighurs had “benefited” from being moved to Turkey.

It is “a flagrant violation of international law”, said Volker Turk of UNHCR in a statement which added the Uighurs “indicated that they did not wish to be deported to China”.

Turkey last week had summoned the Chinese ambassador to convey its “deep concerns” over alleged restrictions on the Uighur community during Ramadan. Beijing has denied any such restrictions.

Protests have taken place across the country, dealing a blow to relations between China and Turkey which have noticeably improved over the last few years.

On Thursday pro-Uighur protesters who gathered outside the Thai embassy in Ankara attacked an Asian tourist, thinking that she was Chinese, news agency Dogan reported.

The woman, whose nationality was not immediately clear, was rescued by a plain clothes police officer.

On Saturday, Turkish nationalists attacked a group of South Korean tourists in the heart of Istanbul’s old city, believing they were Chinese.

The Royal Thai Embassy in Turkey on its Facebook page warned Thai citizens to be on alert.

Turkish media reported on Thursday that China Philharmonic Orchestra cancelled a performance scheduled to take place in Istanbul in mid-August in the face of the protests.

Opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chief Devlet Bahceli added further fuel to the fire by saying the attack on the Koreans was understandable given that both peoples have “slitty eyes”.

Meanwhile in a possible bid to ease tensions, a report by Turkey’s state Anatolia news agency from Xinjiang said it found there were no special restrictions on Uighur Muslims during Ramadan.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

July 10, 2015
36 Arrested In Islandwide Anti-Vice Raid

The police have arrested 36 suspects in HDB flats suspected to be operating as brothels in an island-wide operation.

The suspects, comprising two men and 34 women aged between 21 and 48, were allegedly involved in vice-related activities in residential areas, the police said in a statement on Thursday.

Officers from the Ang Mo Kio Division, Jurong Division and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) raided multiple locations, including Woodlands, Sembawang, Sengkang, Jurong West, Yishun, Chinatown and River Valley, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A woman who lives next door to Woodlands flat that was raided said she became suspicious after strange men pacing up and down while looking at their mobile phones on the common corridor.

The resident, who has young children, said she was shocked such things were going on just next door to them.

“It’s disgusting and I’m grossed out. I feel unsafe, especially for my kids. I don’t want such people anywhere near them,” she said.

Source: www.tnp.sg

July 10, 2015
5 Arrested And Heroin Worth $161,000 Seized In CNB Raid

The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) arrested five people on Thursday (July 9) and seized about 2.31kg of heroin during an operation.

The drugs are estimated to have a street value of more than $161,000.

The leader of the drug syndicate, a 44-year-old Singaporean man, was among those arrested.

Here’s how the CNB officers busted the suspects:

The drug bust has crippled the activities of the syndicate, said the CNB. Investigations into the drug activities of the five men are ongoing

If charged and convicted, all five may face the death penalty.

The Misuse of Drugs Act provides for the death penalty if the amount of pure heroin trafficked exceeds 15g.

That amount of the drug is equivalent to 1,250 straws, which can feed the addiction of about 180 abusers for a week, said CNB.

Source: www.tnp.sg

July 10, 2015
Odd-Job Labourer Jailed For Sex With 12 Year Old Girl

An odd-job labourer was yesterday jailed 12 months for having sex with a 12-year-old girl.

Xavier Lee Wei Jie, 24, got to know the girl through mutual friends on March 17. The girl, a Secondary 1 student, was meeting her friends at West Mall in Bukit Batok.

She cannot be named because of a gag order to protect her identity.

Later that night, Lee invited the girl to his flat, also in Bukit Batok, and she agreed.

They arrived between 2am and 3am, and spent some time talking in Lee’s bedroom where they started to get intimate.

Lee suggested that they have sex, but the girl was reluctant. He managed to persuade her to change her mind and they had sex in his room.

The girl later told her family about the incident and her mother made a police report on March 29.

When asked by the judge if he had anything to say, Lee said: “I’m sorry”.

Source: www.tnp.sg

July 10, 2015