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A Look Inside The Most Expensive City In The World!

Singapore was just named the world’s most expensive city by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).

The cosmopolitan city-state is one of the most densely populated areas in the world, but it’s also one of the wealthiest, with about 105,000 millionaires living there — and that means that it has prices to match.

The EIU reported that Singapore is the most expensive place in the world to buy clothes, but the upscale malls of Orchard Road are still bustling as shoppers vie for designer goods.

And there are deals to be had: Singapore is world-famous for its inexpensive street food. And driving may cost a fortune, there’s no need to own a car since the city has one of the most efficient and cleanest metro systems in the world. There are also dozens of free parks to wander in — Singapore is called the “garden city” for a reason, after all.

Downtown Singapore’s skyline is dominated by massive modern towers.

The Marina Bay Sands isn’t necessarily the top hotel in the city, but it’s now become one of the most recognizable landmarks of the Singapore skyline.

It’s most famous for its rooftop pool, which overlooks the city from the 57th floor.

But the more traditional Raffles Hotel is probably the real most iconic hotel in the city. It’s where the city’s signature drink — the Singapore Sling — was invented, and it still embodies Singapore’s old colonial-era elegance.

The symbol of the city is oddly a Merlion — half lion, half fish — a mythical creature that was created by the city to generate tourism.

Much of Singapore is comprised of reclaimed land. The island was so tiny that it has nowhere to expand but up and out. Gardens by the Bay is a 250-acre park that’s built on reclaimed land.

The whole park is sustainable. Its artificial “super trees” power everything from the Flower Dome to the Cloud Forest.

Every year, the Formula One Grand Prix race is held in the city. Bystanders don’t just get a view of the race. They also get a great view of the skyline.

Even though the city is filled with massive towers, it’s easy to find peaceful respites. Singapore is called “the garden city,” after all.

The Singapore Botanic Garden, which is open to the public for free, is incredible. Singaporeans often come here to picnic and relax on the weekends.

There are also tons of walking and jogging paths all over the city — assuming it’s not too hot to work out.

Shopping seems to be the national pastime in Singapore, judging by the sheer amount of shopping malls, most of which are filled with designer shops. Meanwhile, the EIU reported that Singapore is the most expensive place in the world to buy clothes, with “the malls of Orchard Road offering a price premium that is over 50% higher than New York.”

Source: EIU

Most of the shopping centers around Orchard Road, and ION Orchard is perhaps the nicest shopping mall.

Because the city is so densely populated, traffic can be bad. Driving is also incredibly expensive. But Singapore makes up for it with one of the most efficient and cleanest metro systems in the world.

But Singapore isn’t all modern. Traditional Chinese culture still reigns in the bustling Chinatown.

And Indian culture is alive and well in Little India.

The food — perhaps Singapore’s strongest suit — reflects the cultural mix of the city, which is mostly comprised of Chinese, Indian, and Malay people. All of these cultures and cuisines come together at Hawker Centres, which are essentially government-regulated food courts.

At these Hawker Centres, you can try iconic Singaporean dishes, like the famous Chicken Rice.

Chili crab is another famous (and delicious) Singaporean dish.

Many people travel to Singapore just for the food — and we don’t blame them.

Of course there are fine dining restaurants here too, like Jaan Restaurant at Swissotel the Stamford.

There are lots of swanky restaurants along the river at Clark Quay. It’s the place to be at night.

Boat Quay is another hotspot for nightlife. This area is also popular with expats.

Dempsey Hill, which was once the base of the British military, is another popular area with expats. Today it’s home to cool shops, bars, art galleries, and restaurants, all of which are located in the former British army barracks.

Meanwhile, the hipsters hang out in Tiong Bahru, a neighborhood with cool coffee shops, bars, and vintage shops.

Singapore’s Changi Airport is regularly named “the best in the world,” and the international transit hub’s amenities include a butterfly garden, rooftop pool, movie theaters, hotels, spas, and showers, and even a four-story slide.

Source: www.businessinsider.sg

March 5, 2015
Convicted New Delhi Rape Perpetrator Blames Victim

NEW DELHI — In the months after the death of a young woman who was brutalized and gang-raped on a moving bus in New Delhi in 2012, thousands of politicians, activists and ordinary citizens crowded India’s airwaves and its public spaces to say their piece about the crime.

But there was no comment from the six slight, ordinary-looking men accused of her murder. Whisked in and out of the courtroom past shouting crowds of journalists, they listened impassively to testimony and offered monosyllabic answers on the stand. Courtroom guards said they hummed Bollywood tunes under their breath. Their opinions were anyone’s guess.

Now, one of the men on death row for the crime, Mukesh Singh, has told a British filmmaker that the young woman invited the rape because she was out too late at night and that she would have lived if she had submitted to the assault.

“You can’t clap with one hand,” said Mr. Singh, who was convicted of rape and murder, though he denied taking part in the assault. “It takes two hands. A decent girl won’t roam around at 9 o’clock at night. A girl is far more responsible for rape than a boy. Boy and girl are not equal. Housework and housekeeping is for girls, not roaming in discos and bars at night doing wrong things, wearing wrong clothes. About 20 percent of girls are good.”

Mukesh Singh, Credit Associated Press

The comments, released as part of a publicity campaign for the film, called “India’s Daughter,” were met with outrage in India, in part over why the filmmaker, Leslee Udwin, had been permitted to interview the defendant in jail.

After complaints by the home minister, an Indian court issued a restraining order, stating that Mr. Singh’s interview created “an atmosphere of fear and tension with the possibility of public outcry and law and order situation.” The order said the film violated four Indian statutes, including one against “intent to cause alarm in the public” and another banning acts “intended to outrage the modesty of a woman.”

Ms. Udwin said the order amounted to a ban.

“That means they have banned a film which is in the public interest without having seen it, without having requested a copy of it,” she said. The film will be distributed through social media, she added.

“No intelligent person can watch this film and not understand that these remarks are not being promulgated,” she said.

The woman, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student, had been to see “Life of Pi” with a male friend, and they boarded the private bus without realizing that it was off duty and that the six men aboard had been driving the streets in search of a victim. After knocking her friend unconscious, they took the woman to the back of the bus and raped her, then damaged her internal organs with an iron rod. An hour later, they dumped the pair on the roadside, bleeding and naked. The woman died two weeks later of her injuries.

In the interview, for a film that will air Sunday on the BBC, Mr. Singh said the woman had provoked the deadly assault by resisting the rape.

“When being raped, she shouldn’t fight back,” he told the filmmaker, Ms. Udwin, according to a transcript provided by the BBC. “She should just be silent and allow the rape. Then they’d have dropped her off after ‘doing her,’ and only hit the boy.”

In footage from the film, Mr. Singh tonelessly narrates the assault, saying that he heard the woman screaming for help but that his brother instructed him to keep driving as they “dragged her to the back” and “went turn by turn.” Afterward, he said, he saw the youngest of the assailants, who was 17 at the time of the crime, withdraw something from her body.

“It was her intestines,” Mr. Singh said. “He said: ‘She’s dead. Throw her out quickly.’ ”

He called the killing “an accident.”

Ms. Udwin, at a news conference in New Delhi, said the film crew had interviewed Mr. Singh for 16 hours and had seen no sign of remorse. “He is almost like a robot,” she said.

According to police records, the men divided the pair’s possessions: Mr. Singh took one cellphone, and Vinay Sharma, 20, took the other. Pawan Gupta took the man’s watch and 1,000 rupees in cash, a little less than $20. Akshay Kumar Singh took the woman’s rings. The juvenile was given a bank card and some cash.

Months before the trial, Mr. Singh’s brother, Ram Singh, hanged himself with his bedsheet in his prison cell. The juvenile defendant, whose identity has not been made public in accordance with Indian law, was sentenced to three years in a detention center, the heaviest sentence possible in India’s juvenile justice system. The remaining four men pleaded not guilty; they are appealing their death sentences.

Mr. Singh told the filmmaker that he believed the harsh sentences, instead of acting as a deterrent, would drive more rapists to kill their victims. “Before, they would rape and say: ‘Leave her alone. She won’t tell anyone,’ ” he said. “Now, when they rape, especially the criminal types, they will just kill the girl. Death.”

Source: www.nytimes.com

March 4, 2015
Vice-President Jusuf Kalla Reminds Singapore And Malaysia To Be Grateful For Fresh Air For Most Of The Year

Jakarta. Vice President Jusuf Kalla has denounced neighboring Singapore and Malaysia for complaining about the severe haze caused every year by Indonesian forest fires. He said he took note of the way the neighboring countries had kept complaining when toxic haze from adjacent areas in Indonesia, Riau in particular, fouled their air.

“For 11 months, they enjoyed nice air from Indonesia and they never thanked us. They have suffered because of the haze for one month and they get upset,” Kalla said on Tuesday.

Environmental group Greenpeace Indonesia reported forest fires in Riau have worsened from 6,644 hotspots in 2011 to 15,112 hotspots in 2013.

Kalla said Indonesia has repeatedly and profoundly apologized for the forest fires and for the inconvenience and pollution the haze caused in neighboring countries.

However, the outspoken vice president has previously sparked controversy when he claimed that foreign technology was behind the forest fires and therefore foreign countries must share the burden of responsibility in dealing with the forest fires.

“Somebody once told me that Indonesia must restore its tropical forests, and I told him, ‘Excuse me? What did you say? Do you know who damaged our forests?’” Kalla added.

Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency, or BNPD, said the potential economic losses from the fires and haze that took place during the emergency period that ran from Feb. 26 to April 4 last year were estimated at Rp 20 trillion ($1.6 billion).

Nearly 22,000 hectares of land were adversely affected, including 2,400 hectares in biosphere reserves. Nearly six million people were exposed to the haze, and 58,000 people suffered respiratory problems as a result.

Source: http://thejakartaglobe.beritasatu.com

March 4, 2015
Bali Nine Australians Andre Chan And Myuran Sukumaran Moved To Execution Site
The ringleaders of the “Bali Nine” Australian drug gang are being transferred from Bali to another Indonesian island to be executed.

Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran are among nine foreigners expected to face a firing squad in the coming days.

Australia has pressed Indonesia not to go ahead, with Prime Minister Tony Abbott saying he was “revolted”.

The pair were convicted in 2005 after being caught attempting to smuggle heroin from Bali to Australia.

Indonesia has some of the toughest drug laws in the world and ended a four-year moratorium on executions in 2013.

President Joko Widodo has said the drugs trade destroys lives in Indonesia and he will show no mercy to convicted dealers.

Chan and Sukumaran left Kerobokan jail in Bali in the early morning in armoured cars and are being transferred to Nusakambangan, the prison island where the executions are due to take place.

Chan’s brother Michael and Sukumaran’s mother Raji, who have visited the pair regularly, were seen talking with prison guards after the convoy left.

Australian media said they were refused a request to see the pair.

It is not clear when the executions will take place, but a formal announcement will be made by authorities 72 hours before.

There have been unprecedented levels of security for this transfer. Some media outlets have reported that members of Indonesia’s anti-terror unit Detachment 88 are also involved – highly unusual for the transfer of two drug convicts.

But that may be because of the unprecedented level of media interest in this case.

Chan and Sukumaran have had all their appeals and applications for clemency rejected by the Indonesian government, despite repeated representations on their behalf by the Australian government and human rights activists who say the two men have reformed.

Their planned executions have raised tensions between Australia and Indonesia, at a time when the two countries were just starting to repair ties after a spying incident.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said that no amount of foreign pressure will stop the executions from going ahead.

Speaking to ABC News on Wednesday, Mr Abbott said millions of Australians were feeling “sick in their stomachs at the thought of what’s likely to happen to these two men”.

He acknowledged that they had “committed a terrible crime”, but added: “We abhor the death penalty, which we think is beneath a country such as Indonesia.”

Who are the Bali Nine?
- The eight men and one woman were arrested in April 2005 at an airport and hotel in Bali, Indonesia after a tip-off from Australian police.
- They were trying to carry 8.3kg (18lb) of heroin back to Australia
- In 2006 a court ruled that Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran had recruited the others and paid their costs. They were sentenced to death
- The other seven are serving sentences of between 20 years and life, after some had death sentences revoked on appeal
- Chan and Sukumaran have repeatedly appealed against their sentences and say they are reformed characters – Chan teaches Bible and cookery classes in prison while Sukumaran is an artist
Who are Chan and Sukumaran?

Chan and Sukumaran’s relatives and supporters have pleaded for their lives to be spared, arguing that they have been rehabilitated while in jail.

Lawyers for the two men said they were still attempting to mount a legal challenge but Indonesia’s Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo said on Monday that any legal appeals were no longer valid following the earlier rejection of clemency by President Widodo.

Earlier in the month, all of Australia’s living former prime ministers made a united plea for Indonesia to spare the lives of Chan and Sukumaran.

Brazil and France, whose citizens are also on death row in Indonesia, have expressed their unhappiness in recent weeks.

Paris has summoned the Indonesian envoy and Brazil’s president refused to accept the credentials of the new Indonesian ambassador.

If the executions go ahead, the nine foreigners and one Indonesian national would be the second group of drug offenders to be put to death since Mr Widodo came to power.

In January Indonesia executed six people, five of whom were foreigners, for drug offences.

The Netherlands and Brazil, whose citizens were executed, recalled their ambassadors to Indonesia in response, saying this severely affected diplomatic relations.

Source: www.bbc.com
March 4, 2015
Masagos Zulkifli Urges Singaporeans To Be Eyes And Ears In Fight Against Terrorism

With terrorist content proliferating rapidly through social media, Singaporeans can help detect and prevent radicalisation of individuals by reporting terrorist material found online to the authorities. Parents can also keep a close watch for signs of radicalisation among their family members.

The call for the community to be the eyes and ears for counterterrorism efforts was made by security experts and Senior Minister of State (Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs) Masagos Zulkifli at a security conference on Tuesday (Mar 3), amid concerns of self-radicalised individuals finding inspiration from the Islamic State extremist group’s materials that have gone viral on the Internet.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Global Security Asia 2015 conference, Mr Masagos said members of the community, such as parents, can help watch for signs of radicalisation among their family and friends.

“At the end of the day, we have to take responsibility to watch over our children, our community, so they do not take up arms … Indeed, we should prevent them and look out for all these tell-tale signs as early as possible,” he added.

Describing social media as the Islamic State’s “most powerful weapon” for spreading ideas and recruiting followers, conference chairman Dr Rohan Gunaratna said it is paramount for governments and their community partners to counter the threat in cyberspace in addition to existing efforts.

“Governments and their community partners should, on a minute-by-minute basis, counter the online and offline threats. Online, the Islamic State has invested significant resources to politicise, radicalise and militarise vulnerable segments of our community,” said the professor of security studies from the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

Dr Gunaratna said websites should be set up to counter the group’s extremist ideology and there should be “active engagements” to rebut its ideology online.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: HELP NOTIFY AUTHORITIES

Singapore-based Certified Counter Terrorism Practitioner programme director Yaniv Peretz said service providers such as Google cannot keep up with the speed and volume at which Islamic State materials and related content are being shared online.

“The problem is the videos are being posted too fast. By the time they are taken off, there are already thousands of copies of these videos all around the Internet,” he said.

To address this problem, Mr Peretz cited the example of how citizens in Israel have kept a lookout for terrorist threats, such as bombs, in public areas. On one occasion, a bag containing a bomb was spotted by a civilian who alerted the police, he said.

Similarly, by raising public awareness of the terrorist threat on the Internet, the public can help notify the authorities of terrorist content proliferating on social media, he added.

The three-day conference, which will end on Wednesday, will see experts discussing issues related to the threats posed to Asia by the Islamic State. Held at Suntec Singapore Convention & Exhibition Centre, the event also features an exhibition showcasing more than 170 international security contractors with cutting-edge equipment.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

March 4, 2015