Tag: Singapore

Man, 25, Arrested In Connection To Unnatural Death Of 61-Year-Old In Bishan Flat

A 61-year-old man was found dead in the living room of his Bishan Housing Board flat on Saturday (Sept 24).

A 25-year-old man, believed to be his son, has been arrested in connection to the unnatural death case.

Police said they were alerted at about 8.20pm to the unit at Block 152B Bishan Street 11.

It is understood that at least one neighbour reported about noise on the fifth storey. It is believed that things were being thrown around.

The older man was pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene at about 9pm. No visible injuries were seen on him.

When The Straits Times arrived on the scene, police had cordoned off the corridor on the fifth storey.

Some police officers were seen leaving the scene with evidence at about 12.30am on Sunday (Sept 25).

A neighbour, who lives on the fourth story and wanted to be known as Ms Yaya, 33, said: “It’s normal to hear quarrelling upstairs in the last few days. It happens during the evening and lasts for only a few minutes.”

About 15 relatives, including the deceased’s wife, were seen at the void deck of the block at about 1am. She later broke down, as relatives hugged her.

The 25-year-old man is her younger son, according to a relative who declined to be named. Investigations are ongoing.

Source: The Straits Times

September 25, 2016
518 Penerima Anugerah MENDAKI Tahun Ini, Jumlah Tertinggi

Anugerah MENDAKI tahun ini menyaksikan jumlah penerima tertinggi iaitu seramai 518 orang.

Pada tahun lalu, 499 orang menerima anugerah itu.

Buat pertama kalinya, pengiktirafan juga diberikan kepada dua lulusan dari Program Penukaran Kerjaya.

Anugerah yang disampaikan oleh Pemangku Menteri Pendidikan Ng Chee Meng petang tadi (24 Sep) itu sebagai mengiktiraf pencapaian cemerlang dalam bidang akademik.

Memburu satu lagi diploma pada usia 24 tahun.

Kali ini dalam jurusan kejururawatan.

Sungguhpun sudah memiliki diploma dalam jurusan farmaseutikal, Khasminah Ismail terdorong untuk menukar kerjaya kerana terkesan apabila melihat para jururawat menguruskan arwah datuknya.

Hasratnya tercapai apabila beliau mengikuti Program Penukaran Kerjaya.

“Nak belajar balik itulah usia pun tidaklah semuda macam mereka yang baru lepas O level, sudah lama tidak pergi sekolah, empat tahun. Jadi saya juga susah hendak perlahan-lahan berlumba-lumba dengan sekolah semua. Bila saya ke hospital untuk bekerja sambil belajar, kebanyakan jururawat lebih muda dari saya. Mereka sudah jadi jururawat. Saya masih budak baru belajar. Jadi, terimanya dengan hati terbuka,” Cik Khasminah memberitahu BERITAMediacorp.

Seperti Khasminah, Al Fatimah Begum Abdul Karim juga adalah antara dua lulusan dari Program Penukaran Kerjaya yang mendapat Anugerah MENDAKI buat julung-julung kalinya. Fatimah pada asalnya bekerja dalam bidang perbankan.

10 tahun kemudian, beliau bertukar minat dan mahu mendalami bidang kejururawatan.

“Ia membantu saya dari segi kewangan. Saya tidak perlu bekerja sambil belajar. Saya dapat fokus kepada pelajaran dan capai cita-cita,” kata Cik Al Fatimah.

Program Penukaran Kerjaya yang ditawarkan Agensi Pembangunan Tenaga Kerja (WDA) sekaligus memberi lebih banyak pilihan bagi karyawan pertengahan kerjaya.

Tahun ini, Anugerah MENDAKI diagihkan kepada jumlah penerima paling ramai sejak ia diperkenalkan pada 1982.

“Kita rasa bangga bahawa ini menunjukkan bahawa bakat masyarakat kita begitu mendalam. Kalau kita berusaha, memberi dorongan. Insya’Allah kita akan dapat kejayaan. Apa yang mereka tunjukkan hari ini tidak kira mana kita mula, yang lebih penting adalah pencapaian mereka. Pencapaian mereka menunjukkan kita ada bakat, keupayaan untuk mencapai tahap yang paling tinggi, selari dengan gerakan SkillsFuture,” Dr Yaacob.

Di acara tersebut, inisiatif ‘Let’s-Pledge-A-Book’ juga dilancarkan untuk meraikan semangat membaca dan menggalak orang ramai supaya menderma buku-buku terpakai di MENDAKI.

Buku-buku ini kemudian akan dikongsi bersama keluarga-keluarga memerlukan menerusi program-program MENDAKI.

Source: Berita MediaCorp

September 25, 2016
Malays Welcome Minority EP Proposal But Stress ‘Meritocracy Must Be Preserved’

Malay/Muslim union leaders at a dialogue session with Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim yesterday welcomed the Government’s proposal to ensure minority representation in the office of the President.

However, they expressed concerns that the more stringent criteria could shrink the pool of eligible Malay private sector candidates further.

The closed-door dialogue session on the Elected Presidency (EP) and the Asatizah Recognition Scheme (ARS) was jointly hosted by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and Yayasan Mendaki.

Also present at the event, which attracted about 60 participants and was held at Wisma Mendaki, was Mr Zainal Sapari, Member of Parliament for Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and NTUC’s assistant secretary-general.

Speaking to reporters after the session, Dr Yaacob said: “What is heartening tonight is that when we ask them (participants), by and large, I think they want to see a Malay President as we have not had (one) in a long time. Yet, at the same time, they recognise that whoever the person is, must meet the eligibility criteria and I think that’s very important. The issue of meritocracy continues to be preserved.”

Responding to fears that the proposed changes to the EP scheme will result in a smaller pool of eligible candidates, Dr Yaacob noted that apart from those in private sector, people holding positions in the public sector can also qualify.

“At the same time, (the participants) recognise that the role of the President is a unifying role. And as one person mentioned when he reflected on the elections in 2011, all this talk about the (unifying) role had totally disappeared. Nobody was talking about what the President was supposed to do,” he added.

The ARS, which has been around for a decade, recognises teachers and scholars who meet the minimum standards of qualification to preach and teach Islamic religious knowledge, and is run by the Singapore Islamic Scholars & Religious Teachers Association (Pergas).

The Government plans to make the accreditation scheme compulsory from Jan 1, with a transition period of around one year. Regarding the ARS, many participants were concerned with issues of implementation and the speed of the accreditation process.

“We would be as inclusive as possible. Even though (religious teachers) 80 per cent have registered, for the remaining 20 per cent, if there are specific problems, we will work with them. Most important thing is that we want to try and get everyone to be registered,” said Dr Yaacob.

However, he added: “There are specific instances we have to clarify. If you are having a religious ceremony, and you get somebody to run the religious ceremony that’s not a religious class … we don’t need an ARS-registered asatizah to do so.”

Source: TODAY Online

September 24, 2016
Singaporean Couple’s Car Stolen In Johor

A routine trip to Johor turned into a nightmare for a Singaporean couple after their car was stolen.

Mr Tengku Kamarudin Abdullah, 63, and wife Madam Fauziah Mohamed Ali, 59, were having lunch at a friend’s home in Skudai on Sept 18 when the incident occurred. They had just finished shopping in Johor Baru.

Mr Kamarudin, a taxi driver, had parked their silver Toyota Mark X two units away from their friend’s house when they arrived at around 1.30pm. When the couple were about to leave two hours later, the car was gone.

Mr Kamarudin told The New Paper: “We didn’t even hear anything. We only stepped out of my friend’s house and realised the vehicle wasn’t there.”

Their Toyota has a standard remote locking system. The couple lost all their groceries and a library book Madam Fauziah had left in the car, but no other valuables were lost.

She said: “We never leave our valuables in the car. I had my passport stolen from a car once, 15 years ago, and from then we always keep our valuables with us.”

Mr Kamarudin said that the car belongs to his eldest daughter and son-in-law.The couple filed a report with Malaysian police immediately and with Singapore police the next day.

Their eldest daughter, Madam Tengku Suhailah Tengku Kamarudin, 34, told TNP that they bought the second-hand car only last December.

“My husband travels a lot for his job, so my parents use the car more often,” she said.

She added that her parents would drive to Johor once or twice a month to do their grocery shopping. She said they had no plans to get a new car.

Car thefts are becoming a common occurrence in Malaysia, and Singaporeans have fallen victim several times.

Malaysian newspaper The Star reported last month that about 138 vehicles are stolen in Malaysia every day.

S’poreans losing cars in M’sia

JUNE 7, 2016

A Toyota Estima belonging to a Singaporean was reported missing at Plaza Angsana on June 7, Malaysian newspaper The Star reported.

The Toyota and five other cars were recovered after Malaysian police busted a car theft syndicate that used a master key to disable car security systems.

Seven people were arrested between June 15 and 17.

MAY 16, 2016

Animal welfare activist Derrick Tan’s Toyota Mark X was stolen in Johor Bahru while he was getting a massage at Jalan Serampang on May 16.

The Straits Times reported that Mr Tan, 35, had to pay a four-figure sum to car theft syndicates to retrieve his car 24 hours later.

SEPT 11, 2015

Housewife Nur Suliana, 28, had her black Honda City stolen while she was doing her grocery shopping at Perling Mall in Johor Baru.

According to Ms Suliana, who managed to review nearby CCTV footage, the car thief – whom she described as a medium-built, dark-skinned man – carried out the theft alone in about 20 minutes.

AUG 24, 2015

Mr Yunos Salajudin’s white Toyota Estima went missing after he parked it at Giant Tampoi Mall for half an hour.

To his surprise, Malaysian police contacted him in October to inform him that his car had been seized in a drug bust.

He was finally reunited with his car on Dec 31 last year.

Source: The New Paper

September 23, 2016
Car Crashes Through Road Divider, Cuts Four Lanes And Hits Public Bus In Eunos Link

A red Honda mowed through the road divider on Eunos Link on Friday (Sept 23) morning, cutting through four lanes to crash into a bus full of commuters.

No one was injured, but the car’s driver, a man in a white T-shirt and bermudas, was seen shouting and pushing officers who rushed to the scene around 7.30am.

He had to be restrained by three Singapore Civil Defence Force personnel and lay on the ground for around half an hour as they spoke to him.

On-lookers told The Straits Times that the bus’ passengers alighted and took the next service. The SBS Transit driver declined comment.

Mr Chung Sew Meng, 42, was driving to work in Kaki Bukit when he spotted the red car, moving very quickly from the opposite direction, crash through the road divider behind him.

“He was driving very fast. It happened within seconds… I then saw his car ram over to (one) side of the road. I was just beside the car,” said the furnishing company director. “It was quite shocking.”

“Luckily, there were no (other) motorists, no motorcycles,” he added. “(The driver) might have been panicked and stressed. He came out and shouted.”

The crash roused residents of the housing estate nearby, attracting about 30 on-lookers who stopped to see what happened.

Among them was Mandez Siow, 16, a secondary school student who lives in Ubi Avenue 1. Hearing a bang from his room, he went out to see what happened and spotted the driver walking around.

Security officer Ahmad Juhari was on his way home from his night shift at work when he saw the accident scene from a nearby bus stop.

“The driver got violent,” said the 50-year-old. “The officers were trying to help him.”

Source: The Straits Times

September 23, 2016