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Malay Butcher Was Drunk When Throwing Ofo Bike From 15th Floor Of HDB Flat, Given 9 Weeks Jail

A 47-year-old butcher was sentenced to nine weeks’ jail on Friday (June 30) for throwing a yellow ofo bicycle from the 15th floor of a Housing Development Board (HDB) block at Upper Boon Keng Road last week.

Selamat Mohamed Ali was convicted of one count of committing a rash act that endangered human life on June 22. Another charge of dishonestly converting a yellow ofo bicycle to his own use was taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that at about 5am on June 21, Selamat was heading home after a drinking session in Orchard Towers, when he decided not to return to his flat at Blk 11 in Upper Boon Keng Road.

Instead, he took a lift to the 15th-floor lift landing of the block to rest.

About half an hour later, he became worried about where he would stay as he had overheard that his uncle wanted to sell the flat, Deputy Public Prosecutor Dwayne Lum told the court.

Selamat then spotted two yellow ofo bicycles at the lift landing, which were left there by an employee of the bicycle-sharing company. The latter could not return them as there was no available vehicle to transport the bicycles.

The employee, whose job is to collect bicycles that belong to the company, is also living at a unit on that floor.

Selamat carried one of the bicycles and threw it over the corridor parapet of the 15th floor.

He did not check if there was anyone at the ground floor of the block before doing so. He also did not check if the bicycle had landed on anyone, or if anyone was hurt by his act, said DPP Lum.

Around that time, a witness and her husband were at the void deck sorting out newspapers for them to sell and deliver, when she heard a loud crash behind where they were standing. She turned to find a badly damaged yellow ofo bicycle on the ground and her husband called the police.

When the police arrived at the scene, they patrolled the building and found Selamat sleeping at the 15th floor lift lobby.

CCTV footage from a resident staying on the same floor showed him committing the offence.

Source: www.todayonline.com

July 1, 2017
Hue And Cry Over Pink Dot Event Shows Discrimination Exists

The letter writer Ho Lay Ping (“Don’t equate difference in opinion with discrimination”, June 20) said that because the Pink Dot event is allowed to continue, it shows that “discrimination does not exist”.

A minority community which faces no discrimination would not spark calls to have its event advertising material reported to the police on the basis of it being “divisive and polarising”.

The general tone of Facebook groups such as “We are against Pinkdot in Singapore” also makes the writer’s claim of tolerance and lack of discrimination nothing short of disingenuous.

Her comments that our government ministers may have religious affiliations and “that the majority of Singaporeans follow a religion” hint at laying out who has the authority of being the moral majority to steer our society.

Our pluralistic society comprises multiple ethnicities, creeds and religions, and protecting our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) minority community is not that great a stretch.

It is unhelpful to society if our reaction to something we find discomforting is to make police reports instead of having a reasonable and adult conversation.

We can be better than this.

Source: www.todayonline.com

July 1, 2017
Malay Couple Arrested For Instagram Online Raya Kueh Scam

A 23-year-old woman and a 32-year-old man have been arrested for allegedly cheating victims by advertising the sale of Hari Raya cakes and cookies online, but not delivering them after orders were made.

This was done through Instagram, said the police in a news release on Friday (Jun 30). Channel NewsAsia understands that the suspects are a couple and had been working together in the scam.

Several police reports were made between Jun 19 and Jun 21 from victims who said they did not receive the goods after making payment for their orders. They were also not able to contact the sellers on their Instagram account rayabakesale.

Following investigations, police arrested the two suspects on Thursday. The woman will be charged on Saturday with the offence of cheating, while investigations against the man are ongoing.

If convicted, the woman faces a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

July 1, 2017
Indonesia Says Seized Islamic State Propaganda Books Likely Used By Children

JAKARTA – Indonesian police displayed on Friday scores of notebooks inscribed with Islamic State propaganda seized during a raid on the home of suspected militant and said some appeared to have been used by children.

Police found hundreds of notebooks containing Islamic State propaganda in Indonesia during the raid in connection with the stabbing death of a policeman in Medan, the capital of North Sumatra province on June 25.

At the top of every page of the books read the inscription: “You are all obliged to go to war”.

Authorities believe Islamic State has thousands of sympathizers in Indonesia and are increasingly worried about the group trying to get a foothold in Southeast Asia as it loses territory in the Middle East.

“We’re still investigating who funded the printing of these books,” police spokesman Rikwanto told a news conference.

The material was displayed at the national police headquarters, alongside an air gun and other items.

The front covers of the notebooks had a picture of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and quotes attributed to him as made at Friday prayer,

“Tell all the apostates in the Muslim countries, these are their last days. And tell every infidel, we’re not playing anymore,” a quote attributed to Baghdadi read.

Children’s handwriting was found in some of the books, including notes about the solar system, which police said could mean the books had been used by children to take notes in school.

Police believe the men were part of Jemaah Ansharut Daulah, an umbrella organization on a U.S. State Department “terrorist” list which supports Islamic State and has hundreds of Indonesian followers.

Source: www.todayonline.com

July 1, 2017
SAF Day – This Now 88 Years Old Malay Man Is Singapore Navy Pioneer

During his time in the navy, Osman Jaffar, now 88, carved out a reputation for being every inch as stern as one would imagine Singapore’s military pioneers to be.

“When I was coxswain, I was in charge of a crew. If I had joked with them, they wouldn’t have taken my orders,” the retired first warrant officer told Channel NewsAsia with a warm, wide and single-toothed grin.

“When I was a seamanship instructor, I was also very strict. They used to say: ‘Wah, Encik Osman coming, be careful!’”

A reminder of his steely, mustachioed past hangs on the wall in Osman’s Woodlands flat. The sergeant major’s pace stick he brandished in the photo has since been replaced by a walking aid, the ramrod-straight posture bent by the scoliosis of aging, and a full head of jet-black hair dispersed into thinning wisps.

Yet his eyes still flashed with the same duty-bound verve and vivacity as he traced his beginnings in the Singapore division of the Malayan Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, circa 1954.

It all started on a rather mundane, if not vain, footing: 24-year-old Osman signed up because he was keen on wearing a uniform – not just any, but the navy’s dashing white.

“Also we would be able to go on sea trips, to follow the (British) Royal Navy ships for training,” he laughed.

“During the first few days, we really enjoyed being part of a gathering of all sorts of people who didn’t know each other. But when our instructors started teaching us, we were also very concentrated on learning.”

It was a good thing he paid attention – in 1966, Osman was mobilised for Confrontation, a drawn-out conflict arising from Indonesian opposition to the formation of Malaysia. He took charge of four radar stations surrounding Singapore’s waters – Bedok, St John’s Island, Raffles Lighthouse and Pulau Sakra – and described his task as “protecting Singapore from the enemy”.

“We had to look after our waters. The enemy had so many ways to come in, so we had to be alert.”

‘WE JUST THOUGHT ABOUT WORK, NO OTHER THING ’

When Confrontation ended, Osman was appointed coxswain – in charge of navigation and steering – on, at different times, the RSS Panglima and RSS Bedok.

“We just thought about work and no other thing. Because as you know, during those times, we could not relax. We had to defend Singapore. We didn’t want the enemy to come – they were very near,” Osman reiterated.

He admitted however that the toughest part was having to see his family – wife and five small kids – for only two days at a time before leaving for long spells on board ships.

Of greater difficulty was having to “shoulder the burden of protecting our homeland and safeguarding Singapore’s territorial waters” after separation from Malaysia, said Osman in a transcript of a 1988 interview for the naval archives.

The mantle rested with just two seaworthy ships, 12 officers and 40 enlistees at the time.

Said Osman: “To achieve this, a few things the individual soldier must have had – faith, courage, bravery, respect and honour at all times.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

July 1, 2017