Tag: Singaporeans

Top 5 Tips To Staying Safe In Johor Bahru!

Robberies, snatch-theft, carjacking and even attempted kidnapping – we have all heard our share of horror stories told by Singaporeans about their experiences in Johor Bahru (JB). Some are utter fantasy but (unfortunately) most have more than an element of truth to them.

No, we are not saying JB is an unsafe place and that Singaporeans should avoid it altogether. By all means, if you want to lepak at JB, go ahead! it is the perfect place to find lepak spots to chill.

But it would help you and your lepak buddies if you read these 5 tips to stay safe in JB!

1 Know your terrain

Don’t go in blind. Knowing what is in store helps keep you ahead of the game, or in this case, the muggers! Some areas in JB are more prone to mugging incidents than others. The petrol kiosk near the CIQ is notorious for the spate of crimes involving Singaporean victims. Other places to avoid is the Taman Universiti and Taman Sri Tebrau. You can find out more of such places to avoid here.

The funny thing is, most of these places earned their notoriety because of the sheer numbers of Singaporeans flocking there. If you can, avoid these places. If you can’t, then you need to read the rest of the tips.

2 Don’t take shortcuts.

Whether traversing a mall, big open areas or driving from one place to another, never, ever take short cuts. No matter how many times you visit JB, just know, the robbers LIVE there. What you think you know, they know much, much, much better. In fact, even more betterer! Keep to open, well-lit areas with a reasonable amount of vehicular or foot traffic.

However, even this may not be enough. There have been cases of Singaporeans and Malaysians themselves who were robbed by thieves on two-wheels as they are walking on pedestrian paths along busy roads.

So, what else can you do?

3 Do not flaunt your wealth

Especially for the Makciks, keep those gold chains/bracelets/necklaces for special occassions like your son’s wedding. No need to wear them if you only want to go shopping at pasar Larkin or Giant. The muggers can spot you from miles away…

Don’t carry too much cash with you too! If you need plenty of cash, change your currency in Singapore instead of JB and keep it safe and close to you. Counting your cash out in the open will only make you become a target.

4 Always be alert

Sometimes you feel so high after a very satisfying grocery run or a seafood meal by the sea. You feel so high and happy while you are digesting that ikan pari bakar, that you let your guard down. You walk but don’t notice the vultures moving in place before striking. Before you know it, your wallet and other belongings are gone.

For the drivers, always lock your vehicle. If someone knocks on your car window, don’t bring down the window fully. It’s not being rude. It’s being safe.

Those of you who are constantly glued to your smartphones or tablets, you need to get off your mobile devices! Put that phone down and look up and around you. Any strangers acting suspiciously? It pays to err on the side of caution but don’t go around looking like the whole of JB is trying to go out with your girlfriends.

5 Stay humble and keep a low profile

Finally, smile. For the Muslims, smiling is a form of sedekah (giving alms). Smiling is a sure way to disarm a tense situation and to form allies with the people you meet there. If you act like your father owns the restaurant, scolding the wait staff or making excessive demands, no one will help you if you get robbed in front of the restaurant.

When shopping, no matter how much you want to go, “Wah cheap ar!” when you spot the latest bargains, don’t! Just get it and go.

Before you do, remember to smile at the staff that served you.

Have any other tips to stay safe in JB or any other places? Write in to [email protected] or go to our Facebook page.

January 19, 2016
Warning! Look Out For Card-Knife Robbers In JB!

Subhanallah…to all Singaporeans, pls be care with this…incident at JB!

Share to all…yah.

***

Breaking News, Rakyat Malaysian

Just now, according to info received from a traffic police friend, there are already six car owner made police reports…if there is someone holding a name card and knock at your car window asking for direction, please do not open you car window as there is a cutter placed under the name card which is used for slashing victim’s face and rob.

Please be extra careful!

Kindly convey this message!

Please also send to those who are not driving too, for the same of their friends who are driving.

Source: Arshad Hussin

January 19, 2016
Panic Over Unattended Bags At Queen Street And Woodlands Checkpoint

Two unattended bags gave bystanders cause for worry in separate incidents – at a bus terminal in Queen Street and at Woodlands Checkpoint – last Friday.

Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao on Saturday reported witnesses as saying they were afraid the bags – a backpack and a luxury handbag – contained explosives.

Police officers were seen surrounding the suspicious-looking bags, which were later claimedby their owners.

Mr Xu Wei Lin, who was at the bus terminal on Friday, said: “The Jakarta bombing was still fresh in everybody’s mind.”

On Thursday, a bomb went off in Jakarta, killing eight people and injuring more than 20. Militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria terrorist group have claimed responsibility for the attack.

The owner of the bag found in Queen Street was a Mr Wong.

The 50-year-old electrician told reporters he was using the bag, which contained clothes and electrical appliances, to hold a spot in the queue while he parked his electric bicycle nearby.

The Malaysian, a permanent resident in Singapore, said he has been doing the same thing – using a bag to hold his place in the queue – for a year now.

Every Friday, he takes the bus back to Johor Baru, and a connecting bus to Kuala Lumpur to visit his 80-year-old mother.

He said: “I saw the police car, but I did not realise that they were here because of my unattended bag.

“I didn’t expect it to cause any misunderstanding.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

January 19, 2016
Zulfikar Shariff: Lee Kuan Yew Is Self-Serving Opportunist

The last few days, the PAP Internet Brigade had been trying to promote their party and the “late great LKY”. The way they speak of him is almost Messianic.

Let us understand who Lee Kuan Yew was. Let us understand his values..

He is someone who will do anything for his own benefit.

During the Japanese occupation, Lee Kuan Yew was a collaborator.

He worked with the Japanese Propaganda service (the Hodobu). At the Hodobu, Lee Kuan Yew translated English language news for the Japanese propaganda department.

He admitted to being well informed about the progress of the war “because for a year and a half….(he) was working in the propaganda department…” (Han, Fernandez, Tan 28)

And yet, this hypocritical self-interested collaborator criticised the locals who collaborated with the Japanese during occupation. He said:

“Young locals learnt enough Japanese to be employable, but beyond that most people were decent. They did not want to cooperate or collaborate with the enemy…”

Further, he referred to those who worked closely with the Japanese as
opportunistic.

The luckiest of the opportunists according to Lee Kuan Yew were “contractors whom the Japanese needed to obtain basic supplies, or who were in building construction.”

However, he admitted to being one of this “lucky” opportunists. He was in construction and did work and supplies for the Japanese military.

With his partner, “a Shanghainese called Low You Ling… a small contractor in the construction business…we got odd jobs from Japanese companies and from the butai, the regiments that garrisoned Singapore.”

He also teamed up with a Japanese civilian Mr Kageyama to supply the Japanese military and companies.

When the Japanese started to lose the war, Lee Kuan Yew became worried.

“I decided it would be better to get out of Singapore while things were still calm, I could resign from Hodobu without arousing suspicion over my motives. I applied for leave and went up to Malaya to reconnoitre Penang and the Cameron Highlands, to find out which was the safer place.”

When he came back from Cameron Highlands, he found out that the Japanese Secret Police had become suspicious of him. He decided to stay put.

According to Lee Kuan Yew, after the Japanese surrender, “anti-Japanese groups took the law into their own hands. They lynched, murdered, tortured or beat up informers, torturers, tormentors and accomplices- or suspected accomplices- of the Japanese… But in the last days, many collaborators managed to melt away, going into hiding or fleeing upcountry to Malaya or to the Riau islands in the south.

The liberation did not bring what everybody wanted: punishment for the wicked and reward for the virtuous. There could be no complete squaring of accounts…”

If all the collaborators were arrested and punished, we probably would not have the PAP today.

References:

Han, Fook Kwang, Sumiko Tan, and Warren Fernandez. Lee Kuan Yew: The man and his ideas. Singapore Press Holdings, 1997.

Yew, Lee Kuan. The Singapore Story: Memoirs of Lee Kuan Yew. Vol. 1. Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd, 2012.

Source: Zulfikar Shariff

January 19, 2016
Abdillah Zamzuri: Berita Harian Must Ensure Proper Use Of Bahasa Melayu In Reports
Today, I woke up and as per usual, I was scrolling through my Facebook updates when I came across a Berita Harian link which a friend had posted, I thought long and hard and assessed all angles possible as to why the journalist had decided to use the word ‘HANFON’ instead of ‘Telefon Bimbit’ to describe, handphone.

So, I took out my mobile phone or handphone and checked on my Kamus Pro app as to whether or not Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) had decided to adopt and accept ‘Hanfon’ as an official Malay word.

I typed ‘handphone’ and I got nothing. I typed ‘mobile phone’ and I got nothing.

I typed ‘phone’ and I got 2:
1. n (colloq) telefon: can I have your address and – number?, boleh beri saya alamat dan nombor telefon kamu?
2. n (phonetics) bunyi, fon.
So, I saw the word ‘fon’ for the second one. MAYBE, I missed something out. I mean, I’m conducting Malay programmes in schools and it’s my personal responsibility to use the correct words and terms in the classroom. Perhaps, in the course of my busy schedule, I could have missed out on something.

So, I searched for ‘hanfon’ in the same Kamus Pro app, which is the official Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Malay Dictionary application, the same organisation that researches, writes, prints and distributes Malay Dictionaries which Singapore students and teachers (and I hope those who use the Malay Language as part of their work) use.

The search was futile.

Okay, so maybe DBP isn’t updated so I google searched for ‘hanfon’ and the first hit I got was that it was a WELSH translation on mymemory.translated.net which meant, ‘SENT’.

So, at this juncture, is where I feel extremely angry because the reporter had not exercised personal and professional responsibility to ensure that they were using the right words to report in a national publication read by thousands and used by thousands of students and teachers in schools.

I cannot imagine the horror of Malay Language teachers trying to explain to students that ‘hanfon’ isn’t a Malay word and that it cannot be used in writing compositions but then again, how can the Malay Language teacher justify it when a professional writing for the official Malay newspaper in Singapore is using improper words.

For us, Malays and Malay Language Teachers to claim that Malay Language is not being used by students and the young properly, and have difficulty to teach it isn’t just the responsibility of Malay Language Teachers alone. It is and should be the responsibility of all who use the Malay Language, especially so if you are a working professional publishing the NATIONAL MALAY LANGUAGE DAILY.

To cut corners in view of space constraint and switch with using a word that does not even exist in the Malay dictionary is simply irresponsible, lacks integrity, lacks professionalism and clearly, shouldn’t even be allowed to in the first place.

If this improper and unjustified use of the Bahasa Melayu continues at Berita Harian, I cannot imagine how the future of Malay journalism will look like.

So, I’m appealing to all of you reading this, to not only share this post but also, to write in to BH to provide your feedback. That is about all we can do.

Source: https://abdillahzamzuri.wordpress.com
January 19, 2016