Tag: Singapore

Malaysia, Indonesia, Tighten Security Net

KUALA LUMPUR • Malaysia is on high alert for the festive season – with armed soldiers making their presence felt at shopping malls, clubs and hotels – after its neighbour Indonesia foiled a planned Christmas Day bombing.

Meanwhile, Indonesian police will deploy some 155,000 personnel to secure the country during the Christmas and New Year holidays, reported Agence France-Presse.

Neither country is taking the terror threat lightly.

In Malaysia, larger malls have deployed their own security teams, numbering more than 100 men each, to complement auxiliary police, according to The Star.

“Certain malls go further by putting up notices to remind visitors about the steps they can take if they notice someone or something suspicious,” adviser to the Malaysia Shopping Malls Association H.C. Chan told The Star.

The use of closed-circuit television cameras to keep an extra eye on crowded shopping spaces has also been stepped up.

Still, Malaysia’s malls have stopped short of installing scanners and metal detectors at entry points, a common feature in Thailand and Indonesia.

Malaysian police said on Tuesday that they had arrested seven people between Nov 3 and Dec 16 for suspected links to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and for planning attacks in Malaysia and abroad.

Earlier this month, they revealed that they had prevented some 14 ISIS-linked attacks in the country.

So far, the only successful assault by the Islamist group in Malaysia was a grenade attack in June on a bar in Puchong, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, which left eight people injured.

In Indonesia, national police chief Tito Karnavian said security will be boosted at churches, entertainment venues and public gatherings during the Christmas and New Year celebrations. On Wednesday, the police discovered a cache of bombs on the outskirts of Jakarta and killed three suspected militants to prevent a suicide bombing.

“Police will beef up security after these (raids)”, said national police spokesman Martinus Sitompul. Intelligence-gathering efforts and the monitoring of social media are also being intensified.

While Indonesia routinely deploys security personnel for year-end celebrations, this week’s events have given the exercise an extra edge.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

December 23, 2016
Nasir Zaid, Nur Farahdillah Antara 3 Individu Bantu ‘Cekup’ Pencuri Telefon Bimbit

Seorang lelaki yang disyaki terlibat dalam kes mencuri telefon bimbit berjaya ditangkap dengan bantuan tiga individu yang bersemangat masyarakat.

Demikian menurut kenyataan Pasukan Polis Singapura (SPF) yang dikeluarkan hari ini (21 Dis).

Ketiga-tiga individu itu – Muhammad Nasir Muhammad Zaid, Nur Farahdillah Abdullah dan Benny Yeo – menyedari tentang insiden yang berlaku di Blok 21 Rosewood Drive sekitar pukul 3.30 petang semalam (20 Dis) lalu mengejar dan berjaya menahan lelaki berkenaan daripada melarikan diri.

Mereka kemudian membawa suspek berusia 53 tahun itu ke balai polis. Telefon bimbit yang dicuri juga dijumpai pada suspek.

Menurut kenyataan polis, suspek akan didakwa di mahkamah esok (22 Dis) atas kesalahan mencuri di bawah Kanun Keseksaan, yang membawa hukuman maksimum penjara tiga tahun atau didenda, atau kedua-duanya sekali.

Source: Berita MediaCorp

December 22, 2016
Rochor Residents In Rush To Move Out As Dec 30 Deadline Looms

The clock is ticking for the last of the Rochor Centre residents.

Just eight days remain for them to move out of the iconic 39-year-old rainbow-coloured blocks.

The deadline given by the Housing Board is Dec 30.

There are some 30 households who are the final holdouts. The other residents in the 567 units have vacated their flats, leaving the estate a veritable ghost town.

A silence lingers in the air. The flats are empty but the common corridors are full of furniture, mattresses and appliances left behind.

But when The Straits Times visited the four blocks on Monday and Tuesday, some residents had yet to leave – and said it would be tough for them to meet the deadline.

They include housewife Nargis Banu, 39, and her family of five.

Key collection for their new flat in a new Build-To-Order (BTO) project at Kallang Trivista in Upper Boon Keng Road began in April, but they collected their keys only on Nov 11.

This was due to her family’s delays in securing a $150,000 bank loan for the new flat, said Madam Banu.

Then on Nov 22, an HDB letter came in the mail: “As most of your neighbours have already moved out, for your own safety and security, we urge you to return your flat by Dec 30.

“By returning your flat to us as soon as possible, you will avoid incurring additional expenses in holding on to two flats concurrently.”

The Straits Times understands the “additional expenses” refer to the service and conservancy fees that Madam Banu will have to pay for both her Rochor and Kallang homes.

Her husband, who has been in talks with HDB for an extension, said he was verbally given additional time after Dec 30 to move.

Their contractor has been hard at work renovating their Kallang flat, she said. But judging by the state of her new home – the flooring is still not yet finished – meeting the new deadline does not seem likely.

Said Madam Banu, who has lived in their three-room flat for 14 years: “In the first place, we love it here and don’t really want to move, but we’ve already digested that fact and come to terms with it.

“But now with this deadline, it seems like we are being backed into a corner.”

In a statement, the HDB said it understands some residents collected their keys to Trivista later due to “individual circumstances, such as outstanding issues on bank loans, family issues etc”.

It added: “For those who are unable to move out by the end of the year and requested an extension, we have considered their individual circumstances and will continue to work with them to vacate the unit as soon as possible. For security reasons, we have advised the remaining residents to move out soon.”

It was earlier reported that the 39-year-old estate in the Bugis area will be torn down by the year end to make way for the 21.5km North-South Corridor (NSC), which connects towns in the northern region to the city centre.

Yesterday, the HDB said the site will be handed over to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) only “when it is completely vacated”.

An LTA spokesman said it has embarked on a call for tenders for the construction of the NSC. “Major construction works will commence in 2017 after the civil contracts are awarded, and the reconfigured NSC is expected to be completed around 2026,” said the spokesman.

At Rochor Centre, cleaners sent by the Jalan Besar Town Council are still tidying up the estate, especially at the common bulky refuse disposal point on the fourth floor.

But there is still plenty of trash generated by the mass exodus of residents.

All businesses at the first three storeys, including the FairPrice supermarket, have left.

Corridor lights and lifts still operate though, and homes still have electrical and plumbing services.

A block away, Madam Kee Lian Hua, 65, said she also needs more time to move.

Her family collected the key to their BTO flat in September and knew of the urgency to move. But there were just too many things to pack away, she said wistfully.

Her daughter has arranged for the movers to come only on Dec 29, the day before the deadline.

Source: The Straits Times

December 22, 2016
AYE Crash Victim: I Was Lucky

She was riding pillion on her husband’s motorcycle when she saw a car speeding against the flow of traffic towards them.

Before her husband could react, the Mercedes-Benz hit their bike, sending them hurtling through the air.

As Madam Janice Choo, 34, lay injured on the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE), her first concern was for the safety of her husband, Mr Teh Tze Yong.

Then, racked by pain in her left leg, her next worry was whether she would walk again.

The Malaysian couple, who live here, were among five people injured in the accident just before the underpass leading to the Tuas Checkpoint on Monday morning.

A Toyota driver was killed on the spot while his wife was injured. The Mercedes driver and a Mazda driver were also hurt.

Businessman Lim Chai Heng, 53, was charged with causing death by reckless or dangerous driving at his bed in the National University Hospital (NUH) on Tuesday.

A video clip of the Mercedes hitting the motorbike has gone viral online.

When she saw the clip, Madam Choo could not believe the woman in the video was her.

She told The New Paper yesterday from her NUH hospital bed: “I cried a lot, but it was very hard to register that the video clip was of me.

“It made me realise how lucky I am.” The administration officer said her husband was taking her to work at Tuas when the accident happened at about 8am.

“I remember seeing the car coming towards me. I was shocked but I could not do anything,” she said.

“I remember thinking to myself, the car is definitely going to hit me.”

IMPACT

The impact sent her flying and when she landed, her first thought was of her husband.

She said: “I wanted to find him to make sure he was all right. I was relieved when I saw him alive. I told him my leg hurt a lot. I did not know if I could walk again.” Madam Choo has since undergone a five-hour operation on her fractured left leg.Her brother-in-law, Mr Teh Tze Wei, 29, said his brother has had two operations for fractures on both hands and injuries on three fingers.

The quality control inspector said he was unsure if Mr Teh will need to go under the knife again.

The couple, who registered their marriage in 2005 and held their wedding ceremony in 2011, are both warded at NUH but they have not been able to see each other due to their injuries

Madam Choo is now worried how the injuries will affect their future.

Mr Teh had just started working as a warehouse assistant at Yang Kee Logistics about a month ago.

“We will not be able to work for at least three months.

“I’m worried how we are going to pay the monthly rent for our home,” she said.

The couple pay $650 a month to share a three-room flat in the Pioneer area with three relatives.

A Yang Kee Logistics spokesman told TNP it had been in contact with Mr Teh’s family and will work closely with them “to render support through this difficult period”.

Her parents, Mr Choo See Chan, 58, and Madam Choy Moy Chai, 62, drove eight hours from their home in Perak, Malaysia, to visit her and her husband at NUH.

Madam Choy said: “We never thought something like this would happen. We were worrying throughout the drive here.”

The accident has made Madam Choo swear off motorcycles.

She said: “I feel too afraid to ride a motorcycle ever again.”

Crash ‘permanently embedded’ in victim’s mind

Whenever Mr Tan Han Boon, 34, recalls the sight of the Mercedes-Benz charging towards him against the flow of traffic, it sends chills down his spine.

The project human resource manager, whose Mazda was badly damaged in Monday’s accident on the AYE, said: “I think it is permanently embedded in my mind.”

Mr Tan, who suffered abrasions and neck pain, thinks his car, which he bought in April for about $120,000, is beyond repair.

“I don’t think it can be fixed, but this will be confirmed by the insurance company,” he said.

Recalling the accident, Mr Tan said: “It was very unreal, like something in a movie.”

He said he had swerved his car to the left to avoid the oncoming Mercedes, causing him to collide into a bus.

After that, he lost track of whatever happened.

“After the accident, I remember a burning smell, my airbags were out and my glasses on the floor,” he said.

Mr Tan later went to the hospital on his own for a check-up to set his mind at ease.

Source: The New Paper

December 22, 2016
Award-Winning ITE Graduate Now Proud Co-Owner Of Hair Salon

He obtained his National ITE Certificate (Nitec) in Hair Fashion and Design in 2010, but stayed on in ITE College East to work nine-hour days five times a week for a year.

Mr Noel Ng was preparing for the WorldSkills competition, a biennial event that showcases young people’s skills in various crafts and measures them against international standards.

Working from 9am to 6pm with just a 15-minute lunch break for a year paid off – and he received a medallion for excellence during the competition held in London in October 2011.

The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) graduate, 24, is now a co-owner of Harts Salon at Tan Quee Lan Street, in the Bugis area.

He had also won a gold medal for hairdressing at the 8th Asean Skills Competition in 2010.

‘HANDS-ON APPROACH’

He told The New Paper: “I owe a lot of my success to the handson approach to learning that ITE offers.”

After completing his N levels, Mr Ng decided to forgo taking his O levels and started his Nitec course in 2008. He later graduated with a Nitec in Hair and Scalp Therapy in 2012.

After national service, Mr Ng worked as a stylist in a Joo Chiat hair salon, where he learned from the owner how to run a business.

He said: “I learnt a lot from her as it is my lifelong dream to be my own boss.”

His aunt and cousin helped him raise capital for Harts Salon, which opened last month.

Said Mr Ng: “I think young people should find an area they would like to pursue as their career and work towards it.

“For me, being an ITE student made me who I am today, and my school has played a very important role in helping me achieve my goals. Dreams can come true.”

Source: The New Paper

December 22, 2016