Our Young Lions faced off against a physically imposing Timor Leste side in tonight’s final AFF U19 Championship group stage match, and were outmuscled with the Timorese scoring a goal in each half to triumph 2-0.
FT score: Singapore U19s 0-2 Timor Leste U19s
(Pufino Welter Garma 5′, Jose Maria Dos Reis Dias Oliveira 89′)
Indonesia has indicated it will now take up Singapore’s offer to help fight the ongoing haze, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said on Facebook today (Oct 7).
Jakarta had declined Singapore’s assistance package several times since the smog descended last month, saying it has the resources to manage.
But Dr Balakrishnan wrote last night that his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi has now indicated Jakarta will take up the offer following a “good discussion” the pair had this evening. “Good for our countries to work together to resolve this as soon as possible,” he added.
Singapore’s assistance package includes assets and personnel, such as a C-130 aircraft for cloud-seeding operations, a Chinook helicopter with a water bucket for aerial fire-fighting, and up to two C-130 aircraft to ferry the Singapore Civil Defence Force fire-fighting assistance team. In addition, Singapore also offered to provide high-resolution satellite pictures and hotspot coordinates.
Earlier in the day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said in a statement that the Indonesian government had yet to turn over the names of errant companies suspected of playing a part in causing the haze that has plagued Singapore since last month.
A formal request for the names of these companies was sent to the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Singapore, the ministry added.
“This was in response to the request by the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister, Ms Siti Nurbaya Bakar, who had previously said that if Singapore wanted the names of these companies to be officially sent to it, then this had to be done through the Government-to-Government channel,” an MFA spokesperson said.
“We look forward to an early response from the Government of the Republic of Indonesia on our requests so that we can take the necessary action against those who are responsible for the haze.” In its note to the Indonesia embassy, Singapore also reiterated its haze assistance.
Air quality and visibility improved significantly today, thanks to rain in the early morning. As at 7pm, the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading was 86 to 108, the three-hour PSI was 70 and the one-hour PM2.5 concentration was 22 to 41 microgrammes per cubic metre.
The NEA said prevailing winds are forecast to be weak and to blow from the east or southeast tomorrow, and the 24-hour PSI is expected to improve to the moderate range.
Eight hotspots were detected in Sumatra today, and the NEA attributed the low hotspot count to partial satellite pass, when the orbiting satellite’s field of view covers just part of a region of interest. The agency added that widespread haze continues to persist in parts of Sumatra, and some haze spreading westward from Kalimantan was observed over the sea at the far south of Singapore.
Source: www.todayonline.com
With free entrance to half of the sports contested and tickets priced as low as five dollars, the 28th SEA Games has been a very accessible Games indeed.
What’s more, with the Southeast Asian nations neighbouring each other; a short plane ride to Singapore was all that was needed to catch some live sporting action! We spoke to a few fans who were out and about in their national colours at some of the most gripping matches this week, and found out just how much they were enjoying the experience.
From those keen on revelling in the exciting atmosphere to those present to show support for loved ones, one overarching characteristic remained – the crowds were loud, proud, and extremely enthusiastic.
Spotted at several of Thailand’s competitions at this year’s Games were Parinya Weerawong, Sompong Kadkaew, Samart Kunsawat, all decked out in elaborate costumes inspired by the colours of their nation. Cheering their team on at the sold-out Thailand versus Vietnam football match recently, the group expressed their excitement at simply being here in person.
“The Singapore SEA Games is number one, best in [the Southeast Asian region]! There’s a big stadium, and the opening ceremony was also good,” enthused Samart, who also professed to be a fan of local football legend Fandi Ahmad.
On the other side of the stadium, Vietnamese students Annie Phan and Vivian Nguyen were just two faces in a sea of red roaring their support within the packed stand delegated to Vietnam fans. Remarking that the feeling at the stadium was “special”, Vivian said: “When you come here [to watch the match], it is stronger and more exciting!”
Thai fans Parinya Weerawong, Sompong Kadkaew, Samart Kunsawat have been incredibly vocal and passionate in their support for their country’s athletes and have travelled to almost every major Games that Thailand has participated in. Photo: SINGSOC
Yu Mei Ling, a netball player from the national pool present at the nail-biting Malaysia versus Singapore netball finals held at the OCBC Arena, offered her own opinion on the atmosphere there as well: “[Watching the match] in front of the television is so different! You can only see what the cameraperson [captures on] video. Over here, you can see everything, from the pushing, to the roars from the crowd.”
Meanwhile, impressed by the positive spirit palpable from both competing sides was Mohammad Nawar Ariffin, who had crossed the Causeway just to root for his fellow citizens in their final game.
“The Malaysian netball team wants to show that they have the calibre. They are doing it for the country, not for themselves,” he affirmed.
“You can feel that these girls have vibrant inner power. They have been second to Singapore for a very long time, so they want to come back and show that they can [win it].”
But of course, the experience could not have been complete without the cheers from the rivals. Nawar praised: “I think that the Singapore supporters are so fantastic… The way that they organise, the way that netball has a special [place] in the hearts of Singaporeans. I can see that. That is very special.”
Roar of support: Malaysian fans erupt in cheers as their team scores a point in a Netball match at the OCBC Arena. Photo: SINGSOC
Some spectators, on another hand, bore a larger degree of vested interest than the rest. These included Romero Yu and his family. Having flown to Singapore to watch his daughter, swimmer Roxanne Yu, compete in her first SEA Games, the group stood out among the largely Singaporean crowd at the OCBC Aquatic Centre, waving their Philippines flags.
Nevertheless, Yu maintained: “We support all the swimmers!”
“The 11 countries are a Southeast Asian family. It’s more meaningful to compete in a friendly competition among family members,” he added.
“We have Malaysians, we have Filipinos, we have Singaporeans seated beside each other here, and it’s fun and it’s exciting.”
Fully embodying this show of camaraderie was Scotland-born Natalie Trench, who was part of the audience at the netball finals as well. Having been a Singapore resident for five years now, the netball enthusiast was there to show support for her adopted community.
“The most thrilling part of today is just the crowd in here. The crowd’s support, and all [of us] being one family!” she exclaimed.
“I just like the atmosphere here. It’s better here than it is at home!”
Source: www.seagames2015.com
A reader contributed this disturbing screenshot to All Singapore Stuff. In it, it showed a Myanmar football fan making incendiary comments against Singapore. This was after Myanmer defeated Singapore 2 – 1 in last night’s SEA Games qualifying match at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
The Myanmar netizen with the online moniker Guidingstar Mmu (https://www.facebook.com/guidingstar.mmu) threatened to takeover Singapore and make Singaporeans jobless.
He claims that Myanmar will soon takeover our jobs, economy and even replace our local population. He tells Singaporeans to work harder and stop blaming others. He ended off by saying that hardworking Myanmar people will take over all Singapore jobs and make Singaporeans jobless.
This is reminiscence of the previous incident where a Filipino nurse made similarly incendiary comments about Singapore. For his seditious comments, he was charged in Court for Sedition and giving false information to the police (http://www.allsingaporestuff.com/article/pinoy-nurse-edz-ello-charged-se…).
Being a city state that is one of the most prosperous nation in South East Asia, it is no wonder upcoming ASEAN countries like Philippines and Myanmar have set their sights on overtaking Singapore.
Are we ready to welcome the competition and deal with the spiteful comments from these wannabes?
Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com
One of the reasons why Singapore has been so successful is because “it has been able to bring together people who may look different, but they all think of themselves as part of Singapore”, said US President Barack Obama yesterday (June 1).
“That has to be a strength, not a weakness, but that requires leadership and government being true to those principles,” said Mr Obama, who was speaking to 75 emerging leaders from countries in the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN). The group, aged 18-35, was the first to visit the United States as part of the Young South-east Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Fellowships announced by Mr Obama in November last year.
Mr Obama, answering a question from an attendee, was calling for an end to the discrimination against the Rohingya in Myanmar, when he noted that one of the reasons for Singapore’s success has been the Republic’s ability to integrate the different races.
“The one thing I know is that countries that divide themselves on racial or religious lines, they do not succeed,” he stressed. “Each country is different, but there are some rules if you look at development patterns around the world that are pretty consistent, and those are two pretty good rules. Don’t divide yourself on religious and ethnic lines and racial lines, and don’t discriminate against women. If you do those two things, you are not guaranteed success but at least you’re not guaranteed failure.”
Answering an attendee’s question about economic development in Myanmar, Mr Obama also pointed to Singapore. He noted that businesses know they can find a very skilled workforce here and the rules are “international standard rules, in terms of operations”.
Mr Obama noted that in the age of the Internet, when companies can be located anywhere, “the most important thing is to find some place where there’s security so there’s no conflict, where there’s rule of law and the people are highly skilled. And if you have those those things, then people will invest”.
The session lasted for more than an hour, where Mr Obama spoke on topics including America’s relationship with South-east Asia and Anwar Ibrahim’s imprisonment. He also spoke about his “special attachment” to the region.
“As a boy I lived in Jakarta; my mother spent years working in villages to help women improve their life. So South-east Asia helped to shape who I am and how I see the world,” he said.
Source: www.todayonline.com