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Mount Kinabalu Nudist May Face Both Native And Civil Courts

KOTA KINABALU — The four tourists arrested for stripping naked on Mount Kinabalu may not only be charged in the civil court but also the native court.

Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Masidi Manjun said this was possible as the tourists had breached native customs as well as civil law for public indecency.

“Technically, they can be hauled to both courts. Its for the courts to decide. Let’s let the law take its course,” he said when contacted by the Malay Mail Online.

Canadians siblings Ms Lindsey Petersen, 23 and Ms Danielle Peterson, 22, Dutch national Mr Dylan Snel, 23, and Briton Ms Eleanor Hawkins, 24 have been remanded for four days ending Saturday (June 6) by Ranau-based magistrate Dzul Elmy to facilitate investigations into their alleged stripping incident on Mount Kinabalu.

A lawyer who declined to be named, also agreed that the case could be heard in both civil and native courts if they deemed it necessary.

“It has been done before, and the native court does feel it is necessary in this particular case,” he said.

It was also reported by the Malay Mail Online on Tuesday that Ranau native chief Taip Rashman, in consultation with the native court council, said that the case should be tried there as it was a breach of customary law in their area.

He said that they will do their best to see that the proper “sogit” or “cooling down compensation” was imposed on the offenders to the aggrieved party.

Sabah Police Commissioner Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman had earlier said they were expecting to complete investigations pertaining to the stripping incident on Mount Kinabalu by tomorrow.

“We want to complete our investigations as soon as possible and pass the papers to the deputy public prosecutor for further action,” he said.

The four under police custody are part of the five out of the 10 suspects first identified by Sabah Parks. The fifth was arrested and released on Monday.

“The identities of the others could not be ascertained as they did not provide their complete name and passport when they registered prior to scaling the mountain,” he said, in urging Sabah Parks make it compulsory for climbers to provide their full passport details in the future.

The four tourists, who are not eligible for bail, are being investigated by Ranau district police under Section 294(a) of the Penal code for public indecency, which carries a sentence of up to three months jail or fine or both if convicted.

Police had arrested Ms Hawkins at the Tawau airport when she attempted to board a plane while the other three had surrendered themselves at the Kota Kinabalu police station.

All four are currently being held at the Kota Kinabalu police station.

A police report lodged by Sabah Parks staff alleged that 10 tourists had stripped and posed naked for photos on Mount Kinabalu’s peak on May 30 and reportedly rebuffed their local guide who tried to stop them, telling him to “go to hell”.

The act has angered natives who believe that the mountain is sacred and carries the spirit of their ancestors.

Deputy chief minister Joseph Pairin Kitingan has since blamed a magnitude 5.9 earthquake which has so far killed at least 18 people on the disrespectful act.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 12, 2015
Filipino Zero-Point Diver Retort On Comments

A Filipino diver who became a laughing stock online after a video of his failed dive went viral, has come back with a retort worthy of a perfect 10.

Local humour site SGAG uploaded a clip of John David Pahoyo’s botched attempt in the men’s 3m springboard event on Facebook late on Wednesday night, which has racked up more than 1.1 million views and over 10,000 likes in just under a day.

Among those who found the post funny was none other than Pahoyo himself. But more than just being able to laugh about it, the 17-year-old said that it was important to not only laugh at yourself, but also pick oneself up and try and try again.

Friends do not let friends do silly things alone… in this case getting ZERO POINTS for Diving at SEA GAMES 2015!…

Posted by SGAG on Wednesday, June 10, 2015

In a reply to the SGAG video posted in the comments section that drew close to 4,000 likes, he said: “I even laughed at myself after I did this dive hehe.

“But after all this was not the first time I failed a dive, and I was not the first one who did so. And I am still proud because not all of us has the privilege to represent our own country to such a big sporting event like this. And by the way can I ask all of you if you can still smile after getting embarrassed in front of thousands of people?”

The 17-year-old also posted a video of him and compatriot John Elmerson Fabriga executing a successful dive in the men’s synchronised 3m springboard on his own Facebook page, with the caption “Why share our failed dives when you can share the dives that we did well?”

Yey! I’m so proud of us pakner John Fabriga, we really did our best despite of we just practiced this synchro dives for just 4 days, even though we failed to win, but atleast we did overcame what we once knew was out limit, and that makes us a champion <3 Thanks coach Brian Palattao for your endless support and immeasurable love to us from the preparation until the end of this competition, and special thanks to the people who’s doing their best to make this experience possible, I owe you all of this 🙂 #SG2015 #SEA #Games #Singapore #Diving #Pilipinas

Posted by JD Pahoyo on Tuesday, June 9, 2015

SGAG’s 82-second video starts off with Fabriga attempting his fourth dive on the 3m springboard at the OCBC Aquatic Centre on June 6, which ends in embarrassing fashion after he landed on his back with a huge splash.

Fabriga is then followed by Pahoyo, who emulates his good friend and partner by executing a near-exact copy of the failed dive.

Both received a zero for their attempts. They eventually finished the event in the last two positions after six dives.

The majority of netizens who saw the post poked fun at both men, although a vocal minority defended them.

The duo, however, could be in trouble for their poor performances, with Philippine Sport Commission chairman Richie Garcia reportedly seeking an explanation from the country’s aquatics chief Mark Joseph.

“I will give the opportunity for the Philippine Swimming Inc. president to explain because he fought for these divers to come here and compete,” Garcia told Filipino website Inquirer.net.

He also questioned if they did it on purpose.

AFP reported that there were poor showings as well from competitors in the women’s 10m platform event, as several landed awkwardly in the water despite choosing to dive from lower heights. Competitors had the option to jump from either 7.5m or 5m as well, although that meant that they earned fewer points.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 12, 2015
Singapore 19th In List Of Most Expensive Global Cities For Expatriates

Singapore has jumped 12 places in March 2015 from a year ago to become the 19th most expensive location for expatriates globally in a list of 30 topped by South Sudan capital of Juba.

The island nation, however, maintained its 9th spot in the Asia Pacific region where Shanghai took the top spot.

The list by ECA International is part of the bi-annual Cost of Living Survey carried out in March and September using a basket of day-to-day goods and services commonly purchased by assignees in over 440 locations worldwide.

It attributed Singapore’s leap on the list to “a strong currency”, a release issued on Thursday said.

“Although, like many currencies, the Singapore dollar has weakened against the US dollar between annual surveys, it strengthened against a number of other major currencies,” said Lee Quane, Asia region director of ECA International. “Assignees having been relocated from one of these locations into Singapore are likely to require a higher cost of living allowance in order to maintain their spending power.”

The allowance is part of pay packages to ensure that an employee’s spending power is maintained when they are sent on international assignment. It is affected by differences in inflation levels as well as exchange rate movements between an employee’s home and host country.

Shanghai has become Asia Pacific’s most expensive location for expatriates for the first time. Globally, the Chinese city has moved into the top 10 to 8th position – up from last year’s 18th spot – just ahead of Beijing (9th globally) and Seoul (10th).

Tokyo ranked two spots above Singapore in the region, as the goods and services in ECA’s shopping basket were just over 2 per cent dearer in the Japanese capital than Singapore as opposed to 14 per cent a year ago. It ranked 16th globally.

Seoul, the region’s second highest location a year ago has slipped to the third spot.

Hong Kong is Asia Pacific’s 4th most expensive location for expatriates and is now more expensive than Tokyo. Globally, Hong Kong has entered the top 15 leaping up from last year’s 29th position to 12th place. Prices of items in ECA’s basket rose more than 3 per cent in Hong Kong over the year between surveys. However, it is exchange rate movements that have had the biggest impact on cost of living for expatriates in Hong Kong.

“With the US dollar, to which the HK dollar is pegged, strengthening against a number of currencies over the past year, (Hong Kong) has become more expensive for many businesses sending assignees there,” said Ms Quane.

Australian locations continue to fall down the ranking – a reflection of the weakened Australian dollar as growth there slows. Sydney is 30th most expensive location ranked in Asia Pacific and 57th globally.

The United States cities of Manhattan, New York and Honolulu stood 20th, 29th and 30th in the global ranking.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

June 12, 2015
Catered Food For Workers Need More Regulation, Urge Researchers

The authors of a study that highlighted the dismal quality of food that Bangladeshi construction workers in Singapore were being fed have called for greater government regulation of such caterers.

The workers were provided catered food that was “foul-smelling”, “rock solid” and lacking in nutrition as it had been prepared hours in advance. The issue flummoxed many when TODAY reported on the preliminary findings of the study in March. The news report was widely circulated for more than a week and has since prompted two to three food-business owners to volunteer help to rectify the situation.

In their White Paper summarising findings from a two-year study released today (June 11), researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and non-governmental organisation HealthServe said regulating caterers would be an “important step towards ensuring food safety and security”. “We learnt about the large number of unlicensed operators that operate without accountability. These unlicensed caterers often work thorough middlemen and are unable to control the quality of food,” they wrote.

At a press conference today, Professor Mohan J Dutta, director of NUS’ Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation, which co-authored the White Paper, added: “Caterers who are not licensed (have) a variety of practices, such as food being left outside the dorm. And often, we hear stories of rats pulling away at the food.”

Currently, the National Environment Agency requires all caterers to be licensed. Packed food would have to come with time stamps, indicating when it was prepared and by when it has to be consumed.

Apart from greater oversight of these businesses, HealthServe director Goh Wei Leong said providing cooking facilities in all dormitories could be a solution. Foreign workers may also save costs by pooling money for ingredients.

The researchers’ findings also showed that foreign workers often liaise with a middleman for meals to be delivered to their dormitories. About a quarter of the average S$120 to S$130 they pay each month for the meals goes to the middleman, leaving the caterers scrimping on quality ingredients, said Prof Dutta, who suggested that employers work directly with caterers. “That’s so that the food is directly catered to a worksite. That could prevent the gap between the cooking and the delivery. Employers will have more ability to control the quality because they’ll be negotiating with the vendor,” added Prof Dutta.

Today, CARE and HealthServe launched a campaign to raise awareness of the food woes of foreign workers through bus and MRT ads and a TV commercial. A documentary will also be released online later this month. Materials for the campaign came from the interviews, focus-group discussions and surveys with Bangladeshi construction workers conducted between September 2012 and December last year.

A survey pertaining to the quality and hygiene of food, which involved 500 Bangladeshi migrant workers, showed 86.2 per cent had fallen ill after eating catered food. Common illnesses include vomiting. More than nine in 10 felt their food was unhygienic. Nearly all respondents (97.4 per cent) were dissatisfied with the quality of their food, with some describing it as “bread (that) is so tough, it … feels like eating a tyre”.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 12, 2015
South Korean Man Latest Fatility From MERS

SEOUL – A South Korean man with terminal lung cancer who had been infected with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus died on Thursday, South Korea’s health ministry said, in the 10th fatality since the country’s outbreak began last month.

The 65-year-old man, diagnosed with MERS on June 7, had been hospitalized in the same ward as another patient later diagnosed with MERS, the health ministry said in a statement.

Source: www.todayonline.com

June 12, 2015