Tag: Singapore

Former Malaysian National Footballer Jailed 24 Months For Corruption And Immigration Offences

A former Malaysian national footballer was sentenced to 24 months’ jail for corruption and immigration offences, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) said on Thursday (Apr 9).

Thana Segar S Sinnaiah (Thana Segar), 40, had earlier pleaded guilty to four charges. These include one count of abetment by conspiracy with Selvarajan Letchuman for corruptly giving gratification a sum not more than RM15,000 (S$5,600) to referee Shokri Bin Nor to fix the Malaysian Super League match between the LionsXII and Sarawak on May 22, 2012.

He also pleaded guilty to two counts of abetment by conspiracy with Selvarajan and Shokri to cheat Singapore Pools, and for one count of failure to present his passport when leaving Singapore.

Four other charges of abetment by conspiracy to cheat Singapore Pools were taken into consideration for the sentencing, according to CPIB.

Thana Segar was first charged on May 24, 2012, for one count of engaging with Shokri, in a conspiracy to corruptly agree to receive gratification to fix the Malaysian Super League match on May 22.

While out on bail, Thana Segar failed to turn up for the pre-trial conference scheduled for Aug 7, 2012. He was later apprehended in August 2014 with the assistance of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, CPIB said.

“The popularity of football and the lucrative business of football betting have made the matches susceptible to illegal practices including match-fixing. These practices must be eliminated to protect the integrity of the sport and to keep the local sports scene clean,” the agency said.

“Singapore has always adopted a zero-tolerance approach towards corruption, and match-fixing of any form is not condoned in Singapore. The CPIB investigates into match-fixing through bribery cases and will not hesitate to take action against any parties involved if they had given or received bribes to fix a match.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

April 10, 2015
One Of Two Accused In Sheng Shiong Kidnap Case Face Reduced Charge

One of the two accused in the Sheng Siong kidnapping case now faces a reduced charge, sparing him the possibility of life imprisonment or the gallows.

Heng Chen Boon, 51, was previously charged under the Kidnapping Act, which is punishable by life imprisonment or death. His charge was reduced on Thursday (Apr 9) to abducting with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine Madam Ng Lye Poh, 79, who is the mother of Sheng Siong CEO Lim Hock Chee. This charge carries a maximum jail term of 10 years, with fine or caning.

Heng, a former credit card promoter, had allegedly driven a car used to confine Mdm Ng to the Sembawang Park area, where he kept watch over her between 8.30pm and 11.30pm on Jan 8 last year.

Heng is accused of being an accomplice to Lee Sze Yong, 41, who allegedly kidnapped Mdm Ng that morning with the intent to hold her for ransom. The two men let her go after Mr Lim dropped off the S$2 million ransom they had asked for, at the park. Heng and Lee were both arrested at about 1am the next day, while the ransom money has been recovered in full.

Lee still faces the charge under the Kidnapping Act.

The State Court will fix a date for Heng’s case to be heard again next Wednesday (Apr 15).

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

April 10, 2015
Michel Sablon: Youth Development In Singapore Needs To Be Addressed

Michel Sablon, who was officially unveiled as the new technical director of the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) on Thursday (Apr 9), has said youth development in Singapore is an area that must be addressed.

The 67-year-old Belgian, who has been appointed by the FAS on a two-year contract, said this during his official presentation at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Thursday.

“First of all, I need to analyse. We first need to look out for the positive things and elaborate from there,” said Sablon. “Let me give you an example, we have academies which are in clubs and the FAS to develop youths and the way we do things here could be changed or improved.”

He added: “It’s a plan which is first of all based on the different age categories. We start from under-7, under-8, till under-18. That will be the basic thing, what we can learn from each level. Each level has its specific learning points. A child of nine years is not the same as the child at 12 years old.”

Part of Sablon’s plan is to improve the quality of coaches, through workshops and conferences – and he is confident that the efforts will lead to better results.

“I cannot imagine when you do all these for two years, that we don’t see the difference. I think you can see the difference after one year, from the way of playing. I saw some games from the national youth teams and so on, I think it can be improved,” he said.

“We have to give the coaches the opportunity to learn more and to be better coaches. When they improve themselves, they improve the players. And when the players are better, the teams are better.”

Sablon is best known for his stint as technical director at the Royal Belgian Football Association, where he drew up their long-term strategic blueprint that transformed Belgium’s footballing fortunes which had dipped in the nineties.

The system has since produced the likes of Premier League stars Eden Hazard, Vincent Kompany, Marouane Fellaini and Thibaut Courtois – all part of Belgium’s golden generation that reached the quarter-finals of last year’s World Cup in Brazil, where they lost 1-0 to eventual finalists Argentina.

Sablon was also assistant to then-Belgium national coach Guy Thys at the 1986 World Cup, where they finished fourth, and was part of his country’s coaching staff at the 1990 and 1994 World Cups.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

April 10, 2015
The Singapore Sports Hub Will Be Ready For SEA Games 2015

The Singapore Sports Hub will face its biggest test in less than two months when the S$1.33 billion facility hosts 10 of the 36 sports to be competed at the 28th SEA Games from June 5 to 16.

While the Sports Hub has experienced some glitches since it opened last June, its chief operating officer Oon Jin Teik is “confident, but not complacent” that the 35ha venue will hold up well during the Games.

The National Stadium had experienced issues with its grass pitch, as well as a roof leak during Taiwanese singer Jay Chou’s concert last December, but Oon is hopeful of restoring the public’s confidence in the Sports Hub when the Games roll into town.

“We want to redeem (ourselves) on every occasion and not just the SEA Games,” he said at a media briefing at the Sports Hub yesterday.

“We want it to continue to be functioning at every event, that’s always the objective. There’s a lot of work (to be done). We are confident but not complacent. “The bigger issues that are publicly known, we are fixing them and we see the improvement there and we’re also fixing the other smaller issues.”

The lay-and-play natural grass turf will be placed in the 55,000-seater National Stadium after the opening ceremony on June 5, and in time for the athletics competition two days later as well as for the football semi-finals and final on June 13 and 15,
respectively.

“The preparation for this (lay-and-play) has already started. Progress is good and we will monitor it on a daily basis,” said Oon. “Yes (it’s a short turnaround), but it is within the scope of what we have planned for and what our partners and suppliers can do.”

Four venues within the Sports Hub — the National Stadium, OCBC Arena, Singapore Indoor Stadium, OCBC Aquatic Centre — will host aquatics, athletics, badminton, basketball, billiards and snooker, fencing, football, netball, table tennis and volleyball during the SEA Games.

The organisers aim to attract 800,000 to one million visitors for the 10 sports at the Kallang cluster, while the remaining clusters at Marina Bay and the Singapore Expo will stage the rest.

The Games’ biggest venue host plans to pull out all the stops to draw spectators and fans to the Sports Hub during the multi-sports event, with a slew of activities and programmes planned throughout this month and the next to promote awareness among the public and drive support for the national athletes.

Dubbed the Pre-SEA Games Roar, activities include venue tours, meet-and-greet sessions with Team Singapore athletes, a Games-inspired fashion show, and Experience Sports Super 10s, a fun challenge to give the public a chance to play and compete in the 10 sports featured at the SEA Games. Entry to events such as the Cuesports Festival (April 18 to 19) and the 11th men’s SEABA Basketball Championship (April 27 to May 1) will also be free of charge.

The Sports Hub is promoting the SEA Games in tandem with the Singapore SEA Games Organising Committee, and Oon explained that, as the biggest venue cluster for the region’s biggest multi-sport meet, the Sports Hub is obligated to hype excitement levels.

“Through this initiative called the Pre-SEA Games Roar, we want to help Singaporeans discover, support and play,” Oon said. “Help them experience, understand and meet the athletes, form a relationship between the venue, sport and athletes.”

Visit www.sportshub.com.sg for more information on the Pre-SEA Games Roar activities.

Source: www.todayonline.com

April 10, 2015
Experts: Key To Sustaining Sports Tourism Is Singaporeans

The Republic is hosting various global sporting events and apart from having world-class facilities, Singaporeans can help sustain the industry, according to sports tourism experts.

Sporting events – from tennis and the Singapore Grand Prix, to golf tournaments and the World Rugby Sevens Series coming to our shores next year – are helping to bring in the money.

“Definitely, there will be a boom of business related to tourism,” said Ms Christine Khoo, a lecturer at Republic Polytechnic’s School of Sports, Health and Leisure. “When we have tourists coming in, there will definitely be additional spending in terms of accommodation, F&B, entertainment and merchandising. All these will create additional income.”

Those in the industry expect more fringe activities to pop up in the lead-up to major events, which will further boost tourism.

Said Ms Lorraine Gan, a Tourism and Resort Management lecturer at Singapore Polytechnic: “The actual event sells itself. But I think it is how we package the rest of it. The clinics, the other extra events – Formula One has the big concerts, Maroon 5 coming. Things like that.

“It is how you package the deals. How can you get a person who is coming for the WTA Open Finals to stay a few more days and visit our museums, our local attractions, our heritage and cultural centres?”

One way is to come up with attractive tour packages, or have local athletes promote the sporting event. Another is to make use of Singapore’s most vital resource – its people.

“Each one of us is like a Singapore ambassador,” said Ms Khoo, stressing that the country wants to be known as fun and vibrant, with a lot of heart and spirit. “And what better way to show it when we have tourists coming in to attend world-class sports events than for us to play our part?”

She explained: “I could be sitting with someone in the F1 paddock and he is from Germany, US, or Australia or other parts of Asia. I just say hello and have a chat with him. This sharing actually forms part of the entire experience that the tourist brings home with him.”

Tourism experts said Singaporeans are generally welcoming to visitors.

With more events slated in the next few years, they expect locals to warm up to taking on more roles – from interns and volunteers, to active supporters of the games.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

April 10, 2015