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72 Year Old Man Jailed One Year For Molesting Maid

A 72-year-old man claimed that he was a doctor and instructed a maid to strip for health examination.

Chia Fook Kun later molested the 23-year-old maid, who was in his care as she was being investigated for stealing from her previous employer.

He was given one year in jail on Friday on one count of outrage of modesty, while two other charges were taken into consideration.

The court heard that Chia works part-time for a maid agency and would send domestic helpers from one location to another. He would also put up maids in his Jalan Minyak flat as and when required. On Nov 13 last year, the victim – who cannot be named because of a gag order – was arrested because she was caught stealing. Her agency had arranged for Chia to bail her out and to take custody of her during investigations.

The victim later asked Chia to help her as she did not want to go to jail.

Three days later, Chia lied to the victim that he was a doctor and showed her some photos and certificates on his computer to trick her into believing him.

After “examining” her with a blood pressure device and a stethoscope, he told her she was in poor health and he wanted to apply some cream on her chest.

Chia then made her go to the bedroom and remove her shirt and bra, before applying the cream on her breasts. He later unbuttoned her jeans but was interrupted by a phone call. While he was answering the phone, the victim dressed herself and left the room. She later made a police report.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) James Low called for a sentence of a year. He noted that Chia was also convicted of outrage of modesty in 2001 and was jailed for 15 months then. DPP Low added that the victim was vulnerable and Chia took advantage of her fear.

Another aggravating factor was the “significant degree of deception and premeditation” as Chia claimed he was a doctor and even produced documents to trick the victim though he was not medically trained, said DPP Low. “If not for his age, the prosecution would have sought a stiffer sentence.”

Chia’s lawyer Louis Joseph said that his client is in poor health and regretted his actions. He asked for a lighter sentence.

District Judge Liew Thiam Leng sentenced Chia to a year in jail, after considering the two other charges and his previous conviction. Chia asked to defer his sentence for two weeks and the judge raised his bail from $5,000 to $15,000.

He could have been jailed up to two years and fined.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 20, 2015
NTU Cancels Orientation Camp

One of the largest freshmen orientation camps at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has been cancelled.

Plans to hold NTU’s union orientation camp this year were axed after safety measures were found to be “lacking”.

A statement from the NTU Student Union says “the organisers were found not to have adequately planned for the camp”.

“Measures to ensure the safety and well-being of our freshmen and students, in accordance with the university’s guidelines, were lacking,” it adds.

An NTU spokesman told The Straits Times that this is the only camp out of 50 others that did not get approval.

“The student union executive committee is exercising their responsibility as student leaders to ensure the safety and well-being of participants,” he said.

It comes after four students were rushed to hospital after suffering seizures during a Nanyang Business School orientation camp last year.

Since the statement was posted on the union’s Facebook page on Wednesday morning, it has attracted several angry comments from students, with some questioning the decision to cancel the camp.

One comment, which garnered over 70 likes in seven hours, said that it seems “daft” to suggest the organisers would overlook safety given the camp has been running safely for 18 years.

NTU student union president Wu GuoYi told The Straits Times that the decision to cancel was made in consultation with the university’s management. “I think it was the right decision… We did not want to risk the safety of the freshmen.”

Such camps are normally organised by ad hoc student committees. In previous years, they attracted close to 200 students. They are normally held in July. Calls for students to register for the camp went out on June 1.

However, registrations have since been put on hold.

The camp’s website and the online application form have been taken down.

Incoming freshman Ng Lan Ying, 19, was disappointed to hear about the cancellation.

“I was looking forward to attending as I heard that unlike other camps, you can meet students from other faculties and seniors as well,” she said.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 20, 2015
Driver Gets Five Years Jail And 20 Years Driving Ban For CTE Crash

The driver who caused a horrific crash on the Central Expressway (CTE) on National Day two years ago that killed a Singaporean and three South Koreans was sentenced to the maximum five years’ jail and disqualified from driving for 20 years today (June 19).

Toh Cheng Yang, 35, had committed the “ultimate traffic offence” by driving so dangerously that he caused four deaths and nearly wiped out an entire family, said District Judge Low Wee Ping.

His culpability is among the most serious and falls within the band of cases for which the maximum sentence should be imposed, said the judge, who noted that the only mitigating factor was his timely plea of guilt.

“You also committed one of the most reprehensible traffic offences. You drove under the influence of drugs,” added DJ Low.

Toh was found to have consumed five to 15 times the therapeutic level of a sedative drug called nitrazepam, which was also more than twice the amount that would produce toxicity.

On Aug 9, 2013, Singaporean trainee pilot Amron Ayoub, 23, was driving his girlfriend Song Jisoo, 24, and her family to Changi Airport for a flight to Hong Kong when a car tyre went flat. They stopped on the chevron marking the Yio Chu Kang exit on the CTE to retrieve the breakdown sign and tools from the car boot, and did not have the hazard lights on.

Amron, his girlfriend and her parents, who were standing behind the car, were killed after Toh plowed into them.

Part of the arm of Song’s mother Kim Mee-Kyung was sheared off, while the others suffered near-amputations and multiple fractures. Song’s older brother Seounghwan, a professional golfer, was unscathed as he was standing beside the car.

After Toh pleaded guilty to one charge of dangerous driving resulting in the deaths and another charge of driving under the influence of drugs last month, DJ Low had adjourned sentencing, saying he was too shaken upon seeing photographs of the accident to make a decision.

Today, Toh’s lawyer Abdul Hamid Sultan indicated that his client would be lodging an appeal but would begin serving time in jail.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 20, 2015
NTU Top Scientific Research Institution In Singapore

An increase in high-quality research output has helped the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to emerge as the top scientific research institution in Singapore, according to Nature, one of the world’s most prestigious specialist research publications.

The Nature Index Global, which was released on Wednesday (June 17) in the United Kingdom, showed NTU moving up two spots to be ranked 40th in the world — beating out other local institutions, such as the National University of Singapore (NUS) (42nd), and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) (107th).

NTU, NUS and A*STAR are the only Singapore institutions in the top 200. NTU and NUS also beat other top universities such as Duke University (52nd) and University College London (45).

Last year, NTU published 371 scientific research articles, and the index tabulated that the university had a 6.7 per cent increase in high-quality research output as compared with the previous year.

The top three institutions are the Chinese Academy of Sciences, followed by Harvard University in the United States and the French National Centre for Scientific Research.

The Nature Index, which is in its second year, tracks author affiliations of around 60,000 scientific articles published every year, spanning across 20,000 research institutions worldwide.

The index also ranked research done according to different disciplines, and NTU was ranked ninth internationally for its chemistry research, followed by NUS at 28th place.

For physical sciences research, NUS is at 27th and NTU at 35th spot.

Responding to NTU’s showing in the index, NTU president Bertil Andersson said it “testifies to the high quality and impact of the work being done by (NTU’s) outstanding faculty and researchers”.

A*STAR chairman Lim Chuan Poh, noting the institution improvement in rankings, added that it will continue to collaborate with other industry partners in Singapore’s R&D landscape. A*STAR was ranked 133rd last year.

NUS president Tan Chorh Chuan noted that the university’s position is “a strong recognition of the (NUS’) high-quality research and capabilities”.

Among 100 countries ranked in the index, Singapore also went up by two places to 15th place. The top three countries are US, China and Germany.

Publisher of Nature Index Richard Hughes said China is ranked highly given the country’s substantial investments in research. Mr Hughes also noted that northern and western European institutions tend to collaborate with other institutions in the same region, whereas researchers in the East and South-east Asia will partner with institutions in North America or Europe.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 20, 2015
Mobile Air Employees Plead Not Guilty

Four former employees of the defunct Mobile Air shop at Sim Lim Square did not plead guilty to cheating offences yesterday despite earlier indicating they would do so.

Kam Kok Keong, 31; Edmund Lim Hong Ching, 33; and Kelvin Lim Zhi Wei, 32, yesterday asked the court for more time because they wanted to engage lawyers to “reduce charges”.

They each face one to eight cheating-related charges, with the amounts involved ranging from S$330 to S$3,710.

Koh Guan Seng, 38, the fourth accused, has engaged lawyer Edmund Wong, who told the court he had not been instructed if his client would plead guilty. Koh faces 15 charges of cheating involving S$9,789.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Eunice Lim said yesterday that she was prepared to proceed with seven charges against Koh and have the remaining eight taken into consideration for sentencing, if he pleaded guilty.

Kam will have four charges proceeded with and the remaining four will be taken into consideration for sentencing if he pleads guilty, she said.

All of the accused are out on bail and their cases have been set for a pre-trial conference on Thursday, the same day as that of co-accused and Mobile Air owner Jover Chew Chiew Loon.

Chew, 33, faces 25 cheating-related charges involving a total of S$14,449 as well as one charge of criminal intimidation.

Mobile Air gained infamy last year after Vietnamese tourist Pham Van Thoai was filmed going down on his knees to beg for a refund for a phone he had purchased from there. The shop also made the news for returning S$1,010 in coins to a customer. However, both victims are not named in the charges.

After the five men were arrested last month, the police said that their victims ended up paying for mobile phones at much higher prices or had to pay fees to cancel the deal.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 20, 2015