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Heartbreaking Decision To Take Braindead Fiance Off Life Support

They were to be married today.

But instead of having cherished memories of her big day, Miss Khairunnisa Illyasha is left to reflect on what might have been – and to wonder about the circumstances in which her beloved was so cruelly taken away from her just days earlier.

Her fiance, Mr Noor Helmee Roslan, a 23-year-old Malaysian working in Singapore, suffered severe head injuries in an accident on the Seletar Expressway (SLE) last Friday.

A day later, Miss Khairunnisa, also a 23-year-old Malaysian, had the heart-shattering experience of seeing him being taken off life support and then laid to rest.

After The New Paper tracked Miss Khairunnisa down, she said in a phone interview from her family home in Johor Baru (JB): “I cannot believe that the love of my life was robbed from me mere days before the wedding. He is irreplaceable.”

Her first clue that something had gone very wrong was when one of Mr Helmee’s colleagues, whom she had never met, went looking for her at her mother’s food stall in JB at 5am that day.

He had photographs of Mr Helmee’s accident.

In between audible sobs, Miss Khairunnisa said: “Helmee would always message me once he reaches his workplace in Singapore – normally at about 4.30am. I waited and waited that morning, but there was no message from him.”

Mr Helmee, a bus driver with SBS Transit, lived in JB and was riding his motorcycle to work on the SLE when a car hit his bike from behind at about 3.40am, flinging him onto the road.

With little inkling how the collision had occurred, Miss Khairunnisa went to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, accompanied by a friend, and was told that her fiance was unconscious in its intensive care unit (ICU).

“I was shocked when the receptionist told me that he was in the ICU. When I saw the pictures, I didn’t think the accident was that bad,” she said.

Miss Khairunnisa was then told that Mr Helmee had been taken to the operating theatre.

“I just sat outside and broke down, I was really afraid to lose my fiance,” she said.

Four hours later, she was finally allowed to see Mr Helmee.

SPEECHLESS

“I was speechless when I saw him. He was all wired up and his face was so swollen I could hardly recognise him.”

Doctors warned her that Mr Helmee’s chances of waking up were slim and that even then, he might have suffered full memory loss.

Clinging to hope, Miss Khairunnisa, Mr Helmee’s mother and his sister, 22, remained outside the ICU in case he woke up.

“I kept thinking about things I could do to refresh his memory. I thought of pictures that I could show him to remind him of our love when he woke up,” she said.

That moment never arrived.

They had met through her younger sister and were five days from their second anniversary of being together when the accident happened.

“We dreamed of having a big family. He wanted to have many sons, enough to form a soccer club.”

Hours later, doctors informed her and his family that he was brain dead.

“My mind went blank in that instant. I had been focusing on the possibility of him waking up. I would cry every time we spoke to doctors as it was never good news,” she said.

That night, Mr Helmee’s family decided to take him off life support so as not to prolong his suffering.

“I told his mother that the choice of whether to take him off life support is all hers and I’d respect her decision,” said Miss Khairunnisa, choking back tears.

“Hearing the long, dreadful beep of the heart monitor was the most difficult moment of my life.”

Mr Helmee’s body was taken back to JB and buried on Sunday.

Since then, Miss Khairunnisa has had to deal with the cancellation of their wedding and planned honeymoon. But she could not bear to call the 500 invited guests with the bad news and asked her mother to help her with that.

Miss Khairunnisa said she will eventually donate his bridal gifts to her – a watch, a pair of shoes and a prayer mat – to charity, but for now, they give her some solace.

She said: “Helmee was honest, loyal and compassionate. His last words to me, the day before the accident, were that I was his last love, and he could never love somebody else.”

About the case

Mr Noor Helmee Roslan, 23, was on his way to work when his motorcycle was involved in an accident with a car.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the accident on the Seletar Expressway at 3.40am last Friday.

Mr Helmee, a bus driver with SBS Transit, shuttles between Johor Baru and Singapore for work, and the journey takes an hour each way.

The rear tyre of his motorcycle was stuck under the car after the collision and he was flung onto the road, reported Lianhe Wanbao.

Mr Helmee’s body was covered in blood and he had severe head injuries. He was conscious when an ambulance took him to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, said SCDF.

Police investigations are ongoing.

His fiancee, Miss Khairunnisa Illyasha, 23, told The New Paper that she has no idea how the collision that killed Mr Helmee could have happened.

She is hoping that witnesses will come forward.

“I just want to find out what happened. There is an empty hole in my heart now because we did everything together, including shopping for groceries,” she said, choking back her tears.

Anyone with information can call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000.

His sister’s wedding supposed to be in 2 weeks

Mr Noor Helmee Roslan and his colleague would have been brothers-in-law had he not died after the accident.

The colleague, who wanted to be known only as Mr Arif, told The New Paper that he was supposed to marry Mr Helmee’s sister two weeks after Mr Helmee and Miss Khairunnisa Illyasha’s wedding.

He said: “My fiancee had insisted that we get married after her brother, none of us expected any of this to happen.

“Helmee’s family is still in shock. Our families are not discussing our wedding for the time being.”

“I lost a good friend and a future brother-in-law, but my grief is nothing compared to his family’s. I just want to do my part and be there for them.”

Ms Tammy Tan, the senior vice- president of corporate communications at SBS Transit, said that the company is “deeply saddened” by the death.

She said: “In the one year that he was with us, we have known him as a happy and joyful individual, who got on well with his colleagues.

“He was a good bus captain and we will miss him. We have extended our deepest condolences to his family and are rendering assistance as best we can.”

– See more at: http://www.tnp.sg/news/singapore-news/long-dreadful-beep-was-most-difficult-moment-my-life?utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1462603901

May 8, 2016
Pendakwah Singapura Rasul Dahri Dipenjara Di JB, Mengajar Tanpa Tauliah

PENDAKWAH bebas dari Singapura, Rasul Dahri, kini dipenjara di Johor Bahru setelah didapati bersalah mengajar tanpa tauliah di Johor Bahru baru-baru ini.

Atas kesalahan itu juga, dia turut didenda RM5,000 ($1,690.)

Jurucakap Jabatan Agama Islam Negeri Johor (Jainj) memberitahu Berita Harian bahawa Mahkamah Syariah Johor telah menjatuhkan hukuman penjara dan denda itu atas kegagalan Rasul Dahri mendapatkan tauliah dan menyebarkan fahaman yang bercanggah dengan Ahli Sunah Waljamaah.

Menurut Jainj, setiap pendakwah yang ingin mengajar agama sama ada dari Singapura atau Malaysia sendiri mesti mendapatkan sijil pentauliahan dan patuh dengan garis panduan yang dikeluarkan oleh Jainj.

“Prosedur yang ditetapkan itu perlu diikuti dan pentauliahan penting bagi memastikan pendakwah menyampaikan ceramah atau kuliah selari dengan fahaman Ahli Sunah Waljamaah.

“Jadi pentauliahan itu penting bagi Jainj mengawal umat Islam daripada menerima ilmu yang salah daripada orang yang tidak jelas ajarannya,” kata jurucakap Jainj.

Menurutnya, kegiatan Rasul Dahri mengajar agama di Johor telah dikesan sejak 2007 dan beberapa kali Rasul Dahri didapati tidak mendapatkan kebenaran daripada Jainj bagi menyampaikan ajaran agama.

Jainj telah memperketat ajaran agama di Johor dengan memperkenal pentauliahan bagi semua guru agama.

Setiap guru agama perlu membuat permohonan pentauliahan bagi memudahkan perjalanan kerja dan kegiatan dakwah mereka dipantau.

Malah, menurutnya, pendakwah terkenal dari Malaysia sendiri yang sering muncul di kaca televisyen juga perlu mendapatkan pentauliahan sebelum menyampaikan ceramah agama di Johor.

Jainj juga berkata pihaknya sebelum ini telah membenarkan ramai pendakwah dan guru agama dari Singapura memberi ceramah agama di Johor.

“Ramai penceramah dari Singapura kami izinkan mengajar, memberi ceramah, malah menjadi imam di masjid di Johor setelah mereka mendapatkan pentauliahan kami.

“Kami tidak menghalang mana-mana pihak dari Singapura yang selari dengan ajaran Ahli Sunah Waljamaah mengajar di sini selagi mereka mengikut peraturan Jainj.

“Sebelum memberi pentauliahan, kami akan menemu ramah setiap individu bagi memastikan ajaran mereka tidak memecahbelahkan akidah, pegangan serta kepercayaan umat Islam di negeri Johor,” tambah jurucakap Jainj.

Ajar agama tanpa tauliah, sebar fahaman bercanggah Ahli Sunah Waljamaah.

Source: www.beritaharian.sg

May 8, 2016
Ulamas Divided Over The Celebrating Of Mother’s Day, But Stresses Importance Of The Mother In The Quran and Sunnah

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger.

First of all, it goes without saying that every committed Muslim is supposed to pay his parents, especially his mother, due respect. One should try to show dutifulness to one’s parents, even if they happened to be non-Muslims, let alone being Muslims. What Islam goes against is to imitate non-Muslims by marking a special occasion such as celebrating the Mother’s Day in a way that shows that mothers do not deserve due respect and care save on this very day. If we are going to make the whole year a Mother’s Day, then Islam welcomes celebrating the occasion with open arms.

Indeed, Muslim scholars have maintained various opinions regarding the issue. Here below we will attempt to furnish you with Juristic views as regard this issue:

First of all, Sheikh Faysal Mawlawi, deputy chairman of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, states:

Dutifulness to parents, especially the mother, and treating them kindly is an act of worship enjoined in both the Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Being dutiful to parents is not confined to a specific time. It is an obligation that should be observed every time, as all people commonly know.

Yet, the Mother’s Day, as it’s known nowadays is a Western habit. The Westerners specified a day and called it the Mother’s Day. On that day sons and daughters show gratefulness to their mothers and offer them presents. It has become part of important feasts in the West, whereas we Muslims have no other festivals except the Lesser and the Greater Bairams. Any other celebrations are deemed mere occasions or anniversaries; and this is applied to the Mother’s Day.

The Mother’s Day implies paying more attention and exerting more effort in expressing gratitude to mothers. So there is nothing wrong in that.

However, there are two reservations worth mentioning; first, considering the Mother’s Day a feast; second, confining the task of showing dutifulness to mothers to that specific day, giving implication that throughout the whole year, just only one day is for showing love to parents. If such two anomalous points are addressed, then there is nothing wrong in considering the Mother’s Day a chance to give more care to mothers.

Thus, we may take the Mother’s Day as a chance to lay more emphasis on our duty towards our mothers, as Islam enjoins us, because dutifulness to parents is a genuine Islamic teaching. But Muslims, in doing that, should never deviate from the Islamic teachings, they should do things in Islamic manners, not in Western manners. Hence, they would not be imitating the non-Islamic habits of the West.

Hence, viewed in juristic perspective, we can say that celebrating the Mother’s day is controversial among the contemporary scholars. While a group of them consider it haram (unlawful) as a kind of blind imitation of the Western non-Islamic habits, which have no benefit for Muslims, another group see it halal(lawful) on condition that showing gratitude and dutifulness to parents should not be confined to that day only.

Moreover, the well-known erudite scholar Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi states:

The Arabs tend to blindly follow the Western in their celebration of the Mother’s Day, without trying to understand the wisdom behind inventing such an occasion.

When the European found that children do not deal properly towards their parents nor give them their due right, they resorted to specifying an annual occasion for children to remedy the situation. But in Islam, mothers are to be given due respect and love every time, not only one day a year. For example, when one goes out, he kisses one’s mother’s hand seeking her pleasure and blessing.

A Muslim must not allow any gap between him and his mother, he must offer her presents every time. This indicates that Muslims can dispense with such an occasion, the Mother’s Day. Unlike the case in the West, where it’s a vogue for some children to show indifference to their mothers’ feelings, and, what’s more, it is so common to see some parents being dragged to infirmaries (as their kids have no time for them), dutifulness to parents in Islam, alongside with worshipping Allah, is a sacred duty.

In this concern, Almighty Allah says: (And We have commended unto man kindness toward parents. His mother beareth him with reluctance, and bringeth him forth with reluctance, and the bearing of him and the weaning of him is thirty months, till, when he attaineth full strength and reacheth forty years, he saith: My Lord! Arouse me that I may give thanks for the favor wherewith Thou hast favored me and my parents, and that I may do right acceptable unto Thee. And be gracious unto me In the matter of my seed. Lo! I have turned unto Thee repentant, and lo! I am of those who surrender (unto Thee).) (Al-Ahqaf 46:15)

Reflecting on the aforementioned Qur’anic verse, we find it stressing both parents’ right, but reviewing the following verses we find them paying special care to the mother and tackling the hardships she suffers in pregnancy, fosterage and rearing children.

In this verse, Almighty Allah informs man of the debt he owes his mother since he was a fetus, passing by the process of childbirth, infancy, childhood until he comes of age. A child normally forgets the hardship which his mother underwent during pregnancy. Hence Almighty Allah draws his attention to such hardships, laying emphasis on her great status in Islam.

Finally, Dr. `Abdul Fattah `Ashoor, professor of Qur’an Exegisis at Al-Azhar University, concludes,

Holding celebrations in honoring others and commemorating anniversaries are neither feasts nor Islamic. But one may seize any chance to express gratitude to those who deserve it. This is how we should consider the Mother’s Day. The mother has a special place in the Islamic culture, and all other civilized cultures. So it is something good to do anything to please her and show gratefulness to her.

So dedicating a day to showing good feelings towards parents, especially the mother, is by no means blameworthy as it does not contradict the Islamic teachings, nor can it be merely considered a form of joining the Western vogue of making celebrations. Conversely, it is a kind of devotion to Allah’s orders that we should be dutiful to our parents.

Allah Almighty knows best.

Source: www.onislam.net

May 8, 2016
By-Election The Latest Stop In Political Journey, Says Chee

Eight months after contesting his first election in 14 years last September, Dr Chee Soon Juan, 53, finds himself contesting his second.

While some political pundits had suggested that the Bukit Batok by-election was effectively last chance saloon for Dr Chee and as good an opportunity as it gets for him to enter Parliament, the man himself disagrees — opting to see the latest contest as simply one stop in the ongoing political process.

“It’s like an MRT station. You come to one stop, it doesn’t end there. You go on. I don’t think it’s ever an end goal in that sense. I’ve always seen it as a journey and not just for me personally — for the party, for the country as well,” said Dr Chee, who has parked himself at the MRT station many mornings and evenings leading up to the Bukit Batok by-election this Saturday, cycled and walked with his team around the Single-Member Constituency, and shaken hands with numerous patrons of the coffee shops there.

Political analysts have weighed in on what is at stake this time for Dr Chee, who first entered politics in 1992. They said that the by-election offered Dr Chee the best shot at winning a parliamentary seat in his colourful political career so far — due to factors such as the by-election effect and the ignominy of former People’s Action Party Member of Parliament David Ong’s resignation over an alleged extramarital affair.

Any result lower than 35 per cent would raise questions on his electability, an analyst said.

In response, Dr Chee pointed to the lack of a democratic system and media freedom here.

“Let’s put that in context and then we can start talking about electability … We don’t analyse the system first. Before you do that, let’s not start throwing words like you would in a democratic system,” Dr Chee told TODAY in an interview last Saturday.

When reminded of how opposition parties have made breakthroughs in the current system, Dr Chee called for “even-handed” media coverage and said his team would just have to continue to appeal to voters.

The tentative and sometimes tetchy relationship between the SDP and the mainstream media came to the fore in the past week as several speakers at its rallies criticised a front-page headline used by Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao after an interview with him, which the newspaper later corrected online.

SDP central executive committee member Dr Paul Tambyah also disagreed that this by-election spells the best opportunity for Dr Chee to get elected. Many in the opposition believe Bukit Batok SMC was carved out of Jurong Group Representation Constituency in the 2015 General Election because it was a PAP stronghold, said Dr Tambyah.

Other challenges include what Dr Tambyah called attempts by the ruling party to smear the SDP and Dr Chee, and distortion of statements they made.

Dr Tambyah — who was part of the SDP Holland-Bukit Timah team with Dr Chee and two others that won 33.4 per cent of the vote last September — also took a longer-term view of the SDP’s efforts to get into Parliament.

“We hope that by running a clean and fair campaign and focusing on the issues, we have moved the cause of democracy forward so hopefully Dr Chee will be in Parliament, if not this time, perhaps in the next GE,” he said.

Dr Chee said the response from Bukit Batok residents has been encouraging.

He has come to know many residents, who are beginning to feel “very comfortable with us around”. But he said: “How can you tell until the final poll comes around (on) Saturday?”

TODAY tagged along twice when Dr Chee was at Bukit Batok MRT Station and once as he walked around several coffee shops. Some commuters resolutely kept their earphones plugged in and refused to be distracted from their journey home, some politely smiled and accepted the brochures he gave out. Others stopped for a chat, wished him well and requested photos and autographs. One man stuffed a S$50 note into his hands.

The SDP is trying a more nuanced and gradated approach in reaching out to voters this time around and has covered all the residential blocks in Bukit Batok, said Dr Chee, who has pledged to be a full-time MP.

“For example, you come across a pro-PAP supporter or Residents’ Committee supporter, you say thank you and if they don’t want to support you, they don’t want to support you,” he said. “For those people who say, ‘I’d like to meet Dr Chee’, (my activists) will let me know and I’ll go visit them.”

Whatever the outcome on May 7, Dr Chee said he will keep at his cause. “Life is a journey. That which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. And change takes persistence, takes perseverance, but we’ll get there,” he said.

Source: TODAY Online

May 7, 2016
Diabetes: The Rice You Eat Is Worse Than Sugary Drinks

The health authorities have identified one of their top concerns as they wage war on diabetes: white rice. It is even more potent than sweet soda drinks in causing the disease.

Sharing his battle plan to reduce the risk of diabetes, Health Promotion Board chief executive Zee Yoong Kang said that obesity and sugary drinks are the major causes of the condition in the West.

But Asians are more predisposed to diabetes than Caucasians, so people do not have to be obese to be at risk. Starchy white rice can overload their bodies with blood sugar and heighten their risk of diabetes.

Mr Zee is armed with data. A meta- analysis of four major studies, involving more than 350,000 people followed for four to 20 years, by the Harvard School of Public Health – published in the British Medical Journal – threw up some sobering findings.

One, it showed each plate of white rice eaten in a day – on a regular basis – raises the risk of diabetes by 11 per cent in the overall population.

Two, it showed that while Asians, like the Chinese, had four servings a day of cooked rice, Americans and Australians ate just five a week.

But Mr Zee does not plan to ask Singaporeans to stop eating rice, a popular feature of meals here. What he would like is to see more people turn to healthier varieties.

Long grain white rice is also better than short grain when it comes to how it spikes blood sugar – a rise in sugar levels causes the pancreas to produce more insulin, and frequent spikes can lead to diabetes.

He would also like people to try adding 20 per cent of brown rice to their white rice. This amount is enough to reduce their risk of diabetes by 16 per cent.”There is no need to fully replace what they now eat. Just increase the quantity of whole grain and brown rice.”

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said last month that this disease is already costing the country more than $1 billion a year. Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure and amputations in Singapore.

Dr Stanley Liew, a diabetes expert at Raffles Hospital, advised people to eat less rice. He added that most junk food and sodas are just as bad and should be discouraged.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

May 6, 2016