Tag: China

15 Arrested In China For Providing Adult Breast Feeding And Prostitution Services

Fifteen people have been arrested on prostitution charges over their alleged involvement in websites that hired mothers with newborn babies to breast feed adults.

The Ministry of Public Security co-ordinated police from Beijing and Hebei, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces in China to break up two gangs involved in the business.

More than 200 people from across the country paid for the breastfeeding and prostitution services advertised on websites.

Police in Beijing started to investigate after The Beijing News reported in June that several websites offered to provide young mothers to breast feed adults for a fee.

Charges were discussed on instant messaging apps and photographs of mothers were provided for customers to choose from.

The Beijing News report said one website had been active since September last year.

Customers had to pay 60 yuan (HK$75) a week, or up to 780 yuan a year, to become a member and have access to mothers’ details.

An undercover reporter at the newspaper arranged to be breastfed for 1,000 yuan.

The mother then told the journalist she could also offer sex for 1,500 yuan.

She was quoted by the newspaper as saying that mothers who only provided breastfeeding services would only get regular customers if they offered sex.

A 23-year-old mother said one website offered a weekly and monthly service, costing 40,000 yuan for breastfeeding each month and 50,000 with sex.

Some mothers only breastfed their babies once a day, or even stopped breastfeeding their child, so they could focus on the business, the newspaper report said.

Source: www.scmp.com

December 30, 2014
Ng Eng Hen Justifies $25,900 English Language Course for PLA Officer

SINGAPORE: Officers from the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) participate in exchanges with other militaries for staff college courses.

The staff college courses attended are useful to establish good relationships with the militaries of other countries, and understand their perspectives, said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen on Wednesday (Nov 5). When incidents occur, they can also be very useful resource persons on the ground.

“So for these reasons, militaries all over have for many years exchanged officers to each other’s courses to establish better ties,” he said.

Dr Ng said this in response to a question from Non-Constituency Member of Parliament Lina Chiam. Mrs Chiam had asked about a tender that had been called to provide an English Language course for an officer from China’s People’s Liberation Army.

Dr Ng noted that the language of instruction can pose a problem for officers who attend courses run by other militaries, and language proficiency is important if the officers are to benefit from the course.

“For some foreign officers who attend SAF’s military courses, we have to help them gain language proficiency so that they can benefit from their time here,” he said, adding that Singapore’s military officers spend time gaining language proficiency when they go to other countries for the same purpose.

Dr Ng said that one officer from the People’s Liberation Army required a personalised 360-hour English Language course. The Defence Ministry had put out a tender on the Government’s e-procurement portal, and awarded the contract to the lowest offer that met the requirements. This came to S$25,900, which amounted to about S$70 per hour.

Dr Ng emphasised that this was in strict compliance with the Government’s regulations.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

November 6, 2014
Malay Race Being Discriminated When Apply for SG Citizenship

As promised this is the real-life story which I feel all true blue Singaporeans should know. Compare it with the ease with which PR and citizenship are dished out to foreigners, especially from the PRC, the PAP’s favourite hunting ground for immigrants to make Singapore more Chinese than it already is. And naturally Yang Yin’s case comes to mind.

This insulting tale which I’m about to tell I believe is not an isolated one. Many others may have been suffering – and still suffering – in silence.

Yaacob (not his real name) is the youngest in a family of 6 children – 5 boys and a girl. He is in his thirties and was born, bred and schooled in Singapore. He works and contributes to the economy as a forklift operator.His elderly parents and all his elder siblings are full citizens with pink ICs. Through some unexplained circumstances Yaacob is the only one holding a blue IC.

The fault could have been caused by an inadvertent mistake of his father, a simple folk, or that of the officer at the NRO.

Having faced all the inconveniences of a blue IC holder and missing out on all the rights and privileges of a citizen through no fault of his, Yaacob finally decided seek help. He did not say whether he had gone to see any MP because he might have thought that as a blue IC holder he would not be entertained. Incidentally he lives in Ang Mo Kio and the principal MP there is none other than the PM himself.

He went straight to the Immigration/National Registration Office at Kallang, armed with copies of his parents’ and siblings’ birth certificates and ICs.
After a lengthy wait he was interviewed by an officer. But instead of assisting him the officer, a Chinese, threw insults at him by telling him:

1. Though he might be born in Singapore it does not necessarily mean that he can become a citizen.
2. The issuing of pink ICs to his parents and siblings was a mistake, and this killer statement …..
3. His parents could have got married after he was born!

He was then asked to bring his school records and told to leave and wait for a letter from the authorities. He is still waiting.

Yang Yin forged a degree, joined the RC, allegedly cheated and stole from an elderly Singaporean, lied about his association with local organisations, took photographs with the MP and the PM and rumoured to have donated large sums of money to the PAP grassroots, etc and he got his PR. No question need to be asked nor a background check necessary.

Yaacob on the other hand is only making his contributions as a forklift operator but born, bred and schooled in Singapore. What is he getting? INSULTS! CAN YOU TAKE THIS?

To the PAP skin colour and money talk! Others don’t matter.

Authored by Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood*

*Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood is a politician from Singapore. He was a prominent opposition political figure in the country in the 1980s and 1990s, when he stood in elections as a candidate for both the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) and the Workers’ Party. He served as the Chairman of the SDP from 2011 to 2013.

September 29, 2014
MP Intan Azura Does Not Know Yang Yin Personally, Denies She Went Into Hiding

Member of Parliament Intan Azura Mokhtar said yesterday that she did write a letter of appeal regarding Mr Yang Yin’s application for permanent residency (PR) here. But she did so only at the behest of Madam Chung Khin Chun.

Questions had been raised over the former China tour guide’s role in the Jalan Kayu Neighbourhood Committee, after pictures of him at various grassroots activities surfaced online. The People’s Association confirmed that he had been a member of the neighbourhood committee since July 5 last year but resigned on Sept 8 this year.

Dr Intan, who is an MP in Ang Mo Kio GRC and adviser to the committee, said she did not know Mr Yang personally. She recalls meeting him only when he was participating in a cooking activity.

She does remember the time Madam Chung approached her.

“She first came to see me and sought my help in May 2011… for her grandson,” said Dr Intan. “This is what she told me and I referred Madam Chung’s request to the authorities.” She said she responded only because Madam Chung was “a resident of my constituency and a Singaporean”.

“If Mr Yang had come to me, I wouldn’t be able to help him because he’s not a Singaporean,” she said. “What I would have told him is that you probably can apply for PR to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority directly.”

Dr Intan also said she later received a piece of “feedback” on Mr Yang. She did not reveal the nature of the feedback as there are ongoing court proceedings concerning Mr Yang, but said it was forwarded to the authorities the same day.

Dr Intan also explained why she had initially referred to Mr Yang as a grassroots “leader”, when asked about him two weeks ago. She said she considers all grassroots volunteers “grassroots leaders”, reiterating that Mr Yang “did not hold a key position… he was just an ordinary member”.

In recent days, Dr Intan’s Facebook page has been inundated with questions about Mr Yang. Some claimed that she had gone into “Internet hiding” by not addressing the questions and making her Facebook page private.

When asked if comments about Mr Yang had been deleted from her Facebook page, she said the staff administering the site may have done so and she does not know what “Internet hiding” is.

Dr Intan also made it clear that only citizens and PRs can join the grassroots, although others can help out as ad-hoc volunteers. When asked if taking part in these ad-hoc activities can help in an application for permanent residency, she said that was up to the immigration authorities.

When contacted last night, Madam Chung said she remembered seeing Dr Intan “a few years ago”, but could not recall what was discussed.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, the ICA made it clear that volunteering in grassroots organisations is not part of its criteria when assessing applications for PR and citizenship.

It said: “Applications for Singapore Permanent Residence or Singapore Citizenship (SC) are evaluated on a range of factors including family ties, qualifications, income and length of stay in Singapore. While volunteering in community service such as with PA grassroots organisations had been suggested as a possible criterion, it has not been part of ICA’s criteria when assessing SC or SPR applications. Each application will be assessed on its own merits.”

The ICA also added: “Individuals who provide false information in their applications for immigration facilities will be dealt with firmly under the law. In addition, they will have their immigration facilities cancelled or revoked.”

Source: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/courts-crime/story/mp-intan-azura-mokhtar-says-she-does-not-know-yang-yin-personally-

September 26, 2014
Primary 5 Student Harbour Racist Sentiments Towards Minorities

How do you react to racism from a P5 child?

this is a convo that occurred at the very beginning of class. I teach creative writing to three classes of P5 students on Mondays. This was during my first class today, in fact, just an hour ago. I have been teaching these kids for half a year now.

girl: teacher are you singaporean? as in are you from India or are you from Singapore?
me: what do you think?
girl: I don’t know but I think you are from India
me: why?
girl: but if I say why then I can be sued
me: it’s okay, you can just say it
girl: cos your skin very dark so you must be from India
me: no such thing, there is a huge spectrum of skin colours. and do I ask you if you are born in China or singapore?
girl: but I’m not so fair like ppl in China
me: what? have you been to China?
girl: no.
me: I lived in China for a month, I can tell you for certain not all Chinese there are very fair.
girl: teacher you know just now when I was walking to class I was walking behind you
me: yes I realised, why you never say hi?
girl: I didn’t know it was you, you usually wear dress and then today you got braid. teacher you like braid ah?
me: I just felt like it today, why?
girl: just now got so many Indians at the busstop, so smelly you know, and then their hair already curly they go tie braid then so ugly, I hate it when my mother ties braid for me, after she tie I quickly take out and comb it straight again

You see this is a class of 9 kids. by this point of the convo we are 10 min into class time. I need time to cover the syllabus plus they need time to complete their essays in class. also, I refuse to combat racism with any equivalent racist stereotypes. I also have a very silent 8 other kids listening to this convo. what to I do? I don’t utter another word and begin the lesson.

I’ve run through the worksheet and they are now writing their essays. and I’m sitting here feeling annoyed, angry, sad, and incapable (of nipping racism in the bud).

And the one rare day I decide to dress down, I get closeted by racial stereotypes. and what are this girl’s parents teaching her? or not teaching her? I feel like I’m in primary school all over again dealing with and experiencing racism.

Teachers out there, parents also, how would you deal with this?

‪#‎feelinglikeatotalnoob‬
‪#‎ughhh‬

If you read the comment thread of this post, you would come across a particularly brilliant suggestion (among many good ones) by Hemma Balakrishnan. and I took her advice. let me update you on how this story ends.

After collecting their essays, I had 5 min left before I had to dismiss them. I drew a table on the board with 4 columns – Chinese, Malays, Indians, Others.

me: so this is a pretty fun activity, tell me what you think all Indians or Malays or Chinese are like
student: ang moh where?
student: others la
student: teacher I know why you doing this, cos of what she say just now right so the columns were filled up. We completed Indians first – black, braids, smelly. then Malays – men wear skirts, lazy. then Chinese.

student: white!

student: no la where got white.

After this there were no responses. They just looked at me blankly with nothing to fill in for the Chinese column

student: Chinese are nice!

me: (chuckling) wah for everyone else you said bad stuff and when it’s about you, you are nice?

me: okay since there are no non-Chinese here maybe you guys have never heard of these things but lemme tell you a few things ppl say about all Chinese. greedy. don’t shower in the mornings.

student: but teacher I shower in the mornings!

So here, I go on to explain how if what is in the Chinese column is not true, why would any other stereotype in the other columns be true. We went through each stereotype listed, debunking them. Specifically for the stereotype about Indians being black, I did not say something along the lines of “not all Indians are black”, rather I went on to say that there is nothing wrong with being black. students were mostly nodding their heads in agreement with me as we moved along each stereotype. For the Indians are smelly stereotype, apart from the fact that it isn’t true, I also spoke about how construction workers might be smelly but that’s only because they work so hard to build our houses and they are paid so little so they cannot afford to buy deodorant or perfume. also, everyone naturally has body odour after you hit puberty, it’s about how well you manage it by wearing deodorant etc.

It was such a ‘ting!’ moment for all the kids and the particular girl who had passed the remarks looked rather defiant but didn’t really say anything because all her classmates agreed with me. It was an amazing teachable moment.

Thank you so much Hemma and everyone else on this comment thread!

I will continue to monitor this particular girl and if I realise that she still harbors racist sentiments, i’ll speak to her parents. but things should be all good again a huge huge thank you! so glad I posted this on Facebook. you all played a part in turning my day around and enabling me to nip racism in the bud

Authored by: Jayasutha Samuthiran

September 18, 2014