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Stay In Singapore Over National Day Long Weekend, Urges Halimah Yaacob

Singaporeans have been urged to stay in the country to take part in its 50th birthday celebrations over the Golden Jubilee weekend that now spans four days after Aug 7 was declared a public holiday yesterday.

Speaker of Parliament Halimah Yacob said it will be “really sad if a quarter of Singapore goes overseas to celebrate”, The Straits Times reported on its website.

“My appeal to Singaporeans is to please stay in Singapore during the long weekend. I understand that Singaporeans take the opportunity during periods of long weekends to chill out with their families overseas, and on other occasions that’s all right, but on this occasion, I hope that they will stay and really celebrate together as a nation,” Madam Halimah was quoted as saying.

She hopes that the travel industry will support her call, The Straits Times added. With National Day falling on Sunday this year, making Monday a public holiday, one can get a 10-day break by taking just four days off from the rest of the week.

“I know the travel business will be affected but I hope they will understand and see the reason why we are making this call. In Singapore, the government does not declare public holidays willingly, it is really something that they thought about carefully,” Madam Halimah said in The Straits Times report.

“It is important that everybody come together and celebrate in their own way together with family, friends and neighbours and then really we have that real meaning of being part of a nation.”

Source: http://news.asiaone.com

March 16, 2015
LionsXII Held At Home By Terengganu

The LionsXII’s winless streak in the Malaysian Super League (MSL) was extended to four games after they were held to a 1-1 draw by Terengganu on Saturday.

Fandi Ahmad’s men have not won since beating Malaysian police side PDRM 5-3 on the opening day.

The 7.45pm kick-off at Jalan Besar Stadium was delayed for more than an hour as heavy downpour triggered the Lightning Warning System.

A marking mismatch allowed Terengganu to take an early lead in the ninth minute as Khairul Amri was powerless to prevent Cameroonian defender Vincent Bikana from thumping his header past a hapless Izwan Mahbud in goal.

But the LionsXII equalised through a swift counter-attacking move in the 55th minute. As a Terengganu corner was swept clear, the ball fell to the feet of substitute striker Sahil Suhaimi, who ran at the retreating backline before steering the ball onto Faris Ramli’s path. The winger turned a defender before calmly slotting the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.

Sahil could have won all three points for the home side but his stoppage time free-kick from 25m rebounded off the post.

The LionsXII’s next game is a Malaysian FA Cup tie against second-tiered Malaysian Premier League side Spa Putrajaya FC at Jalan Besar on March 21.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

March 15, 2015
Rude Taxi Passenger Exposed

Dear All Singapore Stuff,

By now many Singaporeans already watched or listened to the video of a cab passenger’s extremely rude conversation with a taxi driver who was just doing his job.

The passenger was clearly out of line and did not treat the taxi driver as a human being. He treated him like dirt and talked to him as though the driver was his slave.

According to astute netizens on a popular online forum, they quickly CSI-ed out the rude passenger’s identity and quickly exposed his face online.

This super obnoxious passenger is called Jerrel Phua. He is a professional nurse with an attitude problem. Based on his speech in the video, he obviously has an ego problem and talks down to people around him.

Perhaps he should look himself in the mirror and do something for himself rather than take his anger out on others. I hope he learns to have more respect for others and change his attitude for the better. His behaviour is very unbecoming of a career nurse.

Jay

A.S.S Reader

Editor’s Note: We hope that this man will learn from this mistake and sincerely apologise to the taxi driver for his bad attitude and behaviour. As you can see, in the short time since the video of his actions went viral, contributors have stepped up to expose his identity. Goes to show how well-liked he is as a person. We hope he will change for the better after this episode and give others their due respect.

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

March 15, 2015
Singapore Team Sends Rats Into Space

The team hoping to send a Singaporean to space has completed a groundbreaking experiment – after three rats sent to space returned to Earth alive.

Mr Lim Seng, founder and Managing Director of InGenius – the company behind the project – told Channel NewsAsia that all three rats survived the flight, which crossed the Armstrong Line, using stratospheric balloons. The flight lasted 110 minutes, achieving an altitude of 29.5km.

“This is quite remarkable,” Mr Lim said.

The experiment, conducted in Hyderabad, India, saw the rats contained in a prototype capsule designed to reach an altitude of 32km. Pressure was kept constant, and the temperature was a comfortable 28 degrees Celsius. The rats returned to land in “very good condition”, Mr Lim said.

“They were active, jumping around – this is after they sustained a good amount of free fall,” he said.

This experiment was conducted as a test run, before Mr Lim’s team plans to send a Singaporean to space on May 12, in Alice Springs, Australia.

“We wanted to send a first Singaporean to cross the Armstrong line into space, to open up the minds of our people – so they can go beyond the boundaries,” he said.

Mr Lim added that the successful experiment was “very meaningful”, as it shows the oxygen supply within the prototype capsule is sufficient to prevent hypoxia. “The oxygen is good, the landing system is good, the pressurisation is sufficient for the rats, which means it is good for humans,” Mr Lim said. “All the components survived the vacuum, which is very important.”

He added that the project would not be able to take off without the help of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

As for now, Mr Lim and his team from INGenius will be applying the lessons learned from this experiment, as they want to ensure it is “totally safe to do so” before sending a man into space.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

March 15, 2015
National Silat Athlete Muhammad Nurshahrin Bin Baharuddin Passed Away In His Sleep

National silat athlete Muhammad Nurshahrin Bin Shahruddin, 22, died on Saturday (Mar 14) at his home in Pasir Ris.

According to the Singapore Silat Federation (PERSISI), Shahrin passed away in his sleep.

The student who was pursing his Higher NITEC has represented Singapore in numerous international and regional competitions since 2007.

Shahrin won a gold medal at the inaugural Asian Pencak Silat Championship held in Singapore in 2011 and was also a bronze medallist at the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar.

In a Facebook post, Culture, Community and Youth Minister Lawrence Wong expressed his condolences. “Saddened to learn that national silat athlete Muhammad Nurshahrin Bin Shahruddin passed away today. Nurshahrin was an accomplished silat exponent; just two years ago, he partnered Sheik Ferdous to clinch a bronze at the Myanmar SEA Games,” he said.

Post by Lawrence Wong.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

March 15, 2015