Tag: Singapore

Woman Stabbed Lesbian Lover After Refused to Patch Up Relationship

SINGAPORE — A 25-year-old woman is on trial for attempting to murder her lover, a 22-year-old woman whom she allegedly stabbed twice in the chest after the accused’s pleas to patch up were rebuffed.

On the first day of trial yesterday, the High Court heard that the couple had a tumultuous relationship and quarrelled frequently.

Giselle Shi Jia Wei is alleged to have stabbed Ummul Qurratu ‘Ain binte Abdul on July 22, 2012, in a hotel room in Geylang.

She later stabbed herself in the chest with a knife. The charge of attempted suicide was dismissed.

Testifying yesterday, Ummul said the two were acquainted in 2010 before becoming romantically linked in July 2011.

She later moved into Shi’s house without Shi’s parents’ knowledge.

As a result of this, Ummul confined herself almost exclusively to their room.

In May 2012, Shi’s mother found Ummul in the house and asked her to leave. The couple then moved to Malaysia and later returned to Singapore.

Ummul told the court that Shi was possessive, calculative and insecure. The accused even restricted her career options and asked her to terminate her Facebook account.

Ummul also testified that they would squabble over the use of toiletries and the smallest of things, such as financial issues, jealousy and over things that Ummul had said.

On July 14, 2012, Ummul said Shi blew up inside a toilet cubicle at the Mink Club after a male friend hugged Ummul, causing her to spill her drink on Shi’s heels. Shi later said that she wanted to end the relationship, before boarding a taxi.

At about 11pm on July 21, 2012, Ummul agreed to meet Shi for the last time at the latter’s request, believing that Shi wanted some closure.

After supper, the couple headed to a hotel room in Geylang and engaged in “physical relations”.

The next day at around 5pm, Shi repeatedly asked Ummul if they could start afresh while she watched television in bed.

But Ummul rejected the idea because of their frequent fights and disagreements. Shi then said that she would be together with Ummul, whether in life or death.

“She became more desperate and frustrated,” said Ummul.

Shi later whipped out a knife from her handbag and pierced the knife into Ummul’s chest.

Ummul put up a struggle and the knife was pulled out of her chest in the process before Shi stabbed her again.

However, she managed to escape and sought help from a couple. Ummul was later conveyed to the Tan Tock Seng Hospital for treatment.

The trial continues.

Source: http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/woman-trial-attempted-murder-lover

September 24, 2014
Singapore Writes to Indonesia Expressing “Deep Concern” Over Worsening Haze Situation

SINGAPORE – Air quality in the Republic has worsened, prompting authorities to write to Indonesia expressing “deep concern” over the situation.

A thin veil of grey hung over most areas of Singapore on Friday while the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) – a measure of air quality here – hovered between the high end of the moderate range and the low end of the unhealthy band from the early hours.

At 2pm, the 24-hour PSI across Singapore was in the range of 95 to 103. A reading above 100 refers to unhealthy air quality, in which prolonged or strenuous outdoor physical activity should be reduced.

At moderate levels between 50 and 100, normal activities can still be carried out.

– See more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/environment/story/singapore-writes-indonesia-express-concern-over-haze-20140919#sthash.O7M9Od2O.dpuf

September 19, 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
Bintan Resorts Stop Accepting Singapore Dollars, All Transactions in Rupiah

SINGAPORE: Several hotels and resorts in the Indonesian island of Bintan have stopped accepting Singapore dollars since the start of this month, citing a government policy that requires all transactions to be made in the Indonesian rupiah.

Five hotel operators, including Banyan Tree Bintan and Nirwana Gardens, told TODAY that they had been told not to accept foreign currencies. Prior to this, Singapore and American dollars were allowed to be used on the island, the operators said.

The Indonesian Embassy in Singapore, however, said the rupiah-only policy is not a new one. An embassy official from its information, social and cultural department referred TODAY to a Bill passed by the Indonesian Parliament in May 2011, which requires all financial transactions within Indonesia to be made in rupiah.

An online report posted on legal firm Allen & Overy’s website said the currency law took effect on June 28 that same year, but does not apply to “transactions related to the state budget, grants given by or to a foreign state, international commercial transactions, bank deposits denominated in foreign currencies and international finance transactions”.

While it is not clear why the law is being enforced only now, a report by the Antara news agency in June this year said the Bank of Indonesia is encouraging people to use the rupiah in their transactions ahead of the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community next year.

“Bank of Indonesia has asked all entrepreneurs and the Indonesian community to use the rupiah currency in every transaction across the nation, as the bank feared that other countries will be one step ahead of Indonesia,” the central bank’s Deputy Governor Ronald Waas had been quoted as saying.

Some travel agencies in Singapore said they had not been told about the rupiah-only policy. But an Asia Travel spokesperson said the company had been told by local operators in Bintan that travellers must use only the rupiah because of a “new government policy”, although it did not receive any official notification. Several travellers described the currency restrictions as inconvenient, but added that they will not be deterred from visiting Bintan.

Communications specialist Chua Ee Ghim, 27, is concerned about carrying too much cash as the rupiah comes in far smaller denominations than Singapore dollars. “I have to be very careful in keeping my notes and ensure that shopkeepers give me the correct change,” he said.

The policy appears to have not taken effect in Batam yet. Batam is another Indonesian island popular with Singaporeans seeking short getaways.

Three resorts there told TODAY that they still accept payment in Singapore dollars. Batam was in the news last month after Indonesian immigration officials at the Batam Centre began sending ferry passengers back to Singapore for talking too loudly.

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/hotels-in-bintan-no/1367636.html

September 18, 2014
BREAKING: 317,000 Personal Details of Members from K Box Singapore Leaked Online

SINGAPORE: Personal details of more than 317,000 members of Karaoke entertainment operator K Box Singapore appear to have been leaked publicly.

At 4.17am on Tuesday morning (Sep 16), a group calling themselves The Knowns emailed links to the list of members’ details to several media outlets, including MediaCorp.

The list includes names of K Box members as well as their contact number, email address, NRIC number, date of birth and marital status. It also includes K Box-specific data, such as membership numbers and “K Points” earned.

Channel NewsAsia has been able to verify the details of several of the individuals on the list. One member, who confirmed her details in the list were accurate, said that K Box has not yet contacted her about any leak.

“I’m a bit freaked out,” said the member, who asked to remain anonymous. “My main concern is that with those details, someone could sign me up for random stuff.”

Another member whose name was found on the list said he was “extremely concerned what other personal information got leaked” and that he was also worried if other companies’ databases had been hacked. He filed a police report reporting the leak on Tuesday afternoon.

K Box did not respond to phone or email queries from the media. A senior management staff at the company headquarters said the company had “no comment” on the issue.

Channel NewsAsia understands that the relevant government agencies are aware of the incident and are looking into it.

The group claiming responsibility for the leak said that it was in response to “the recent increase in toll at Woodlands”, saying that it was “an unnecessary financial burden on working Malaysians”.

“To show our displeasure, we are releasing the database of Kbox containing more than 300k personal details of its membership. We had done it before and will do it again.”

Source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/leaked-k-box-singapore/1364214.html

September 16, 2014