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Wrestling Legend ‘Rowdy’ Roddy Piper Died Aged 61

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – Wrestling hall of famer “Rowdy” Roddy Piper has died at the age of 61, entertainment website TMZ reported on Saturday.

Piper , born Roderick George Toombs , died from cardiac arrest in his sleep at his home in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on Thursday night (US time). He was discovered the next day.

Piper was a wrestling icon and one of the biggest stars in the World Wrestling Entertainment(WWE) circuit in the 1980s, and participated in the 1985 premiere of Wrestlemania with other WWE favourites like Hulk Hogan and Mr T.

According to the WWE website, his career highlights include the titles of Intercontinental Champion, World Tag Team Champion, WCW United States Champion and 2005 WWE Hall of Fame Inductee.

Piper’s representative told TMZ: “I am devastated at this news. Rod was a good friend as well as a client and one of the most generous, sincere and authentic people I have ever known. This is a true loss to us all.”

Piper was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2006, but in November 2014, he said he was cancer-free. A family source said he was “cancer-free” at the time of his death.

Roddy is survived by his wife Kitty and his three daughters and son Colton who is also pursuing a career in professional wrestling.

A look at WWE Hall of Famer Roddy Piper

VIDEO: YOUTUBE/WWE

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 2, 2015
Lim Swee Say To Contest In East Coast GRC

Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say has confirmed he will continue to contest East Coast GRC in the coming elections. Mr Lim was speaking to reporters on Saturday (Aug 1) at the sidelines of a PassionArts event, organised by the People’s Association.

The event, held at Bedok Reservoir in the opposition Aljunied GRC, initially raised questions that he might be fielded there. After all, during the 2011 election, Mr Lim had been deployed at the last minute to East Coast GRC, from his Buona Vista ward in Holland-Bukit Timah GRC.

But Mr Lim dismissed the speculation, saying he was there simply to lend support to the event, which is part of Singapore’s 50th anniversary celebrations. He added that he has secured Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong’s agreement to remain in his current ward of Bedok in East Coast GRC.

Said Mr Lim: “I appealed to PM to please let me continue serving the residents in East Coast. PM has agreed, so therefore I will be surprised if, in the coming GE, I am not deployed to contest in East Coast.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

August 2, 2015
Lawrence Wong To Contest In Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong on Saturday (Aug 1) announced that he will represent the People’s Action Party (PAP) to contest in the new Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC.

This means Mr Wong will leave his Boon Lay ward in West Coast GRC for the upcoming General Election.

“The past four years have been wonderful for me in Boon Lay and I want to thank all the residents of Boon Lay for their friendship and also for the guidance they have given me over these past four years,” he said to reporters at a grassroots event at the Sports Park at Woodlands Avenue 1.

In the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee’s report released last week, Marsiling-Yew Tee became a newly formed four-member GRC while West Coast GRC was downsized from a five-member GRC to a four-member one.

“What’s important for me now is to spend time here, get to know residents, get to understand all of them, their families, their concerns and their aspirations,” Mr Wong said.

Photo: Kenneth Lim

Following the announcement, Sembawang MP Ong Teng Koon said he would like to contest in Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC as well. “We’ve known the residents for so long, they’ve almost become friends and family … And hopefully I’ll be given a chance to stand here, to work with Minister Lawrence Wong, a very popular minister, and hopefully we can create something even better for Marsiling-Yew Tee.

“I’m the MP for Woodgrove, Mr Hawazi Daipi is the MP for Marsiling, Alex Yam is the MP for Yew Tee, and now Minister Lawrence Wong is here, that’s as much as I know. But as you know, it’s PM’s prerogative, to deploy anyone up to the last moment, so it’s PM’s choice; it’s the party’s choice,” he added.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 2, 2015
New Face Sun Xueling Spotted In Pasir-Ris-Punggol GRC

A new face, and potential election candidate for the People’s Action Party, was spotted at a tree planting event in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC on Saturday.

Ms Sun Xueling, 36, an investment director at Temasek Holdings, was with Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, National Development Minister Khaw Boon Wan and MP Janil Puthucheary, at Punggol Promenade greeting residents and helping out with tree planting.

Ms Sun has been helping out at the grassroots since 2001 at Buona Vista and Punggol West.

According to grassroots leaders at Punggol West, Ms Sun has been spotted at closed-door PAP sessions “recently” and speculation is rife as to whether she is a new candidate.

She told reporters: “This is my first formal event. I’ve started working more with Dr Janil and participating at grassroots events on-and-off.”

As to whether she would be fielded, she added: “I’ll leave the decision to the party whether or not I will be contesting.”

“I started helping out in grassroots in Buona Vista, and through other grassroots members, I’ve come to know more of these events which I find meaningful,” she said.

DPM Teo, the anchor minister for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, told reporters that candidates will be revealed “in good time”.

PAP organising secretary Ng Eng Hen said this week that the party has been deploying its potential candidates to the constituencies early so people have time to know them, as much as possible.

More potential candidates are expected to be introduced this weekend.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 2, 2015
Former NSP Sec-Gen Tan Lam Siong To Run As Independent Candidate In Potong Pasir SMC

Former National Solidarity Party (NSP) secretary-general and lawyer Tan Lam Siong has declared that he will be running in Potong Pasir SMC as an independent candidate in the coming elections.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday (01/08) at the sidelines of a Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) walkabout in Sengkang that he was there to show support for, Mr Tan said he made the decision after regular visits to Potong Pasir in recent weeks to speak with residents.

“I’ve been going down to Potong Pasir and Toa Payoh frequently in the last few weeks, especially after Whampoa was absorbed, and residents tell me they want a choice,” he said. “I will be running there, and I won’t be donning any colours this time around.”

Mr Tan had previously expressed interest in running in Whampoa, where he had been working the ground and where he said he had become familiar with the residents there. But the SMC was merged with the reconstituted Jalan Besar GRC in the electoral boundaries report that was released last week.

Potong Pasir, which the People’s Action Party’s (PAP) Sitoh Yih Pin won over from the Singapore People’s Party (SPP) in 2011 with a wafer-thin 114 votes, had already looked set to be a battleground, with the SPP and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) both having declared their interest to contest the ward.

But Mr Tan said he was unfazed by the thought of jumping into a four-cornered contest as he wanted to give voters there “real choice” and that he would “relish the fight”.

“As an independent, I’m also not involved in the horsetrading talks between the different opposition parties,” he said. “Let the people have all the choices, rather than preselect for them.”

Opposition parties will hold their traditional pow wow session this Monday (03/08), where they are expected to divvy up the different constituencies with minimal overlap so that the opposition vote will not be split.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

August 2, 2015