Tag: Singaporeans

Woman Posed Nude In Singapore Flyer Capsule In Broad Daylight

Dear Editors,

A woman stripped and posed nude in a capsule of the Singapore flyer. She also uploaded her nude photos online and they found their way to some local forums.

Here is the censored photo:
https://scontent-sin1-1.xx.fbcdn.net…

Here is a photo of the Singapore flyer’s empty capsule for comparison, so you know it is the real Singapore flyer she’s in:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia…

Should this nudist woman be arrested for indecent exposure of her body?

Eric
A.S.S. Contributor

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

October 2, 2015
ITE And Students On The Up And Up

It is heartening to read that more Institute of Technical Education (ITE) students are completing their courses (“ITE rate of success on the uptrend“; Monday).

I applaud the good news as more students further their studies at the ITE after completing their secondary school education.

Several decades ago, many parents and students viewed the ITE in a negative light.

Some even quipped that the ITE was an abbreviation for “It’s the end”, given that the vocational institute mainly took in students who were school dropouts and post-secondary school students who were not able to gain entrance to polytechnics and junior colleges.

However, the ITE has, in recent years, not only transformed physically, but its overall image has also improved tremendously.

In the past few years, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has held his annual National Day Rally at the ITE College Central in Ang Mo Kio.

This has signalled the Government’s strong support and endorsement of the institute.

The Government has also been investing heavily in the ITE and its various colleges across the island.

There are various courses available at the ITE now, including health sciences, digital animation, hospitality operations and early childhood education.

ITE graduates also have good opportunities to further their studies and their careers.

I have many friends and relatives who are ITE graduates, and most of them are doing well in their respective careers.

I hope that the Government will continue to support the ITE and its students, especially working adults who are looking to enrol in short courses at the institute.

Muhammad Dzul Azhan Haji Sahban

Source: www.straitstimes.com

October 2, 2015
Mobile Air Employees Convicted Of Cheating Using Modus Operandi Taught By Mastermind Jover Chew

Four former employees of now-defunct Sim Lim square electronics shop Mobile Air pleaded guilty on Thursday (Oct 1) morning and were convicted on 13 counts of cheating.

Koh Guan Seng, 38, Kam Kok Keong, 31, Kelvin Lim Zhi Wei, 32, and Lim Hong Ching, 34, had been employed by Jover Chew Chiew Loon as freelance sales executives in 2013 and 2014.

Chew devised a ‘sales modus operandi’, which he taught to the four men, to cheat unsuspecting customers of Mobile Air. The men would receive a 40% of commission of the profits made from their sales.

Together, the four accomplices cheated customers of almost S$16,000 by unscrupulous sales tactics. For example, Kelvin Lim pressured a customer, a Bangladeshi national working as a construction worker in Singapore, to sign a blank invoice. The foursome would also add additional items to invoices after they had been signed by customers, and refuse to hand over the purchased products until additional payments had been made.

THE ‘SALES MODUS OPERANDI’

Chew controlled the pricing of all mobile devices at Mobile Air, and instructed his salesmen to sell the devices at prices higher than what he would indicate on the packaging.

Chew would indicate this ‘price to beat’ on the packaging of each device by using the letters in the world ‘S-I-N-G-A-P-O-R-E’ to represent the digits ‘1’ to ‘9’, and any other letter to represent zero.

For example, S$1,148 would be represented by the letters ‘SSGR’.

Salesmen who sold the devices at a lesser price than indicated by Chew would be personally liable for the difference.

Mobile Air’s standard practice was to offer customers an attractive price for devices, and collect full payment from customers straight away. However, upon receiving full payment, the customer, instead of receiving the device, would be confronted with various sales tactics.

Salesmen would add additional items to invoices previously signed by customers upon agreement on the initial sale prices. The men would then withhold the devices and demand further payment. This method of collecting payment in two stages, and not stating any additional payment when negotiating the initial prices, was used to cheat at least 25 victims.

‘A BRAZEN CASE OF CHEATING’: DPPs

Deputy Public Prosecutors Eunice Lim, Charis Low and Victoria Ting called this “a brazen case of cheating”, noting that even the involvement of the police and the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) and the Small Claims Tribunal (SCT) did not deter nor limit the four accused’s resolve to cheat customers.

Many of the victims were low-wage workers, with limited understanding of the English language and consumer rights. The salesmen, in several instances, also demanded victims to hand over their ATM cards and threatened to call the victims’ employers and have their work permits revoked.

Kelvin Lim even accompanied a victim to an ATM machine to check his balance, and proceeded to empty the victim’s bank account, leaving him with a balance of just S$7.

The men faced between one and six charges of cheating each, for which they could be punished with up to 10 years’ jail and a fine.

DPPs Lim, Low and Ting are seeking imprisonment terms of between at least five and 16 months’ jail for the quartet.

The men are expected to be sentenced on Oct 14.

Chew’s case is still before the courts. He is facing a total of 28 charges.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

October 1, 2015
NUS Is Asia’s Top University, NTU 55th in Tmes Higher Education World University Rankings

SINGAPORE – The National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have both made a good showing in the latest Times Higher Education World University Rankings published today (Oct 1).

As the only Asian university in the global top 30, NUS was crowned Asia’s top university – a first for NUS in the ranking’s 12-year history – while NTU scaled six spots to rank 55th globally in the 2015-2016 rankings.

The rankings are based on 13 separate performance indicators to reflect a university’s strengths in five areas: Teaching, research, citations, industry income and international outlook. It draws on data from 1,100 institutions, 11 million academic papers and more than 11,000 academic surveys to list the top 800 universities across 70 countries.

In the latest rankings, NUS was at 26th spot globally. In the previous 2014-2015 edition of the rankings, NUS ranked a spot higher at 25th place and was the second best Asian university, behind the University of Tokyo (ranked 23rd globally).

In the latest list, the University of Tokyo dropped to 43rd place, just behind China’s Peking University (ranked 42nd). After NUS, these were the next highest ranked Asian institutions.

Screenshot showing the scores of NTU and NUS in five areas.

Within the five areas that the universities were scored, NUS was placed in the top 10 in the area of international outlook, which considers a university’s international-to-domestic-student ratio, international-to-domestic-staff ratio and international collaboration. In the areas of teaching (the learning environment) and research (volume, income and reputation), NUS was in the top 30.

NTU was in the top 20 in the areas of industry income – an indicator for knowledge transfer activity – and international outlook. Neither university placed in the top 30 in the area of citations, which is the research influence indicator that looks at universities’ role in spreading new knowledge and ideas.

NUS President Professor Tan Chorh Chuan said: “We are pleased that NUS has been placed among the leading universities in the world and top in Asia.” He credited the university’s achievements to “strong support from the government, as well as commitment to excellence by our faculty, staff and students”.

Pointing to NTU’s leap to 13th place from 39th in the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings a fortnight ago, NTU President Professor Bertil Andersson said: “Although the two indices use different methodologies, they show one common trend – that NTU is on a rapid upward trajectory.” At the 55th spot, NTU has leaped 114 places on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings over the last four years.

“We will continue to work hard to be a leading global university that is academically and intellectually rigorous and vibrant, and one that serves the needs of Singapore and Singaporeans,” said Prof Andersson. Still, he noted that while rankings are useful for young universities like NTU as it allows them to be benchmarked with the best, “rankings do not shape our strategies”. “We are focused on our fundamentals – to create a world-class environment for learning, teaching and research,” he said.

Times Higher Education World University Rankings’ editor Phil Baty said NTU’s “consistent rise is particularly impressive” given the 13 rigorous performance indicators used for the rankings. “Singapore is one of the most exciting countries in global higher education at the moment, and NTU is at the heart of that,” he added.

On NUS, Mr Baty said its new position as Asia’s top university and among the very best of the world’s elite research universities is “thoroughly deserved”. “NUS has proven its strength in depth against the highest global standards,” he said.

Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings

Source: www.todayonline.com

October 1, 2015
Malaysians In ISIS Trained To Become Snipers And Suicide Bombers

KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Malaysians recruited by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror group in Syria are moving up the ladder in terrorism – they’re leaving their janitorial posts to become snipers and suicide bombers in Iraq.

Previously cleaners and guards at the camps, Malaysians who fell for the ISIS promise of a false “jihad” are now being trained to become snipers and suicide bombers with the specific goal of regaining the group’s grip on Iraq.

Malaysia’s Special Branch Counter-Terrorism Division head Ayub Khan said the terror group now counted on some Malaysians to carry out its special ops missions all over Iraq.

“The presence of the ISIS in Syria is quite solid but the group is losing control over Iraq as many territories have fallen back to Iraqi government forces.

“Our intelligence show that they are relying more on Malaysians now to carry out strike missions against several key structures in Iraq,” he told The Star on Wednesday (Sept 30).

Senior Asst Comm (SAC) Ayub said the Malaysian militants were plucked from the Khatibah Nusantara cell in Syria to join the special ops squads.

“The Khatibah Nusantara consists of Malaysian and Indonesian ISIS fighters. They band together as their language and interests are similar,” he said.

This new development came to light following the deaths of three Malaysians in Iraq, believed to be on special ops missions, he said.

One of them was Zid Saharani Mohamed Esa, 43, who died in a clash with Iraqi forces in Bayji, Iraq, on Aug 29.

“We believe he was one of the snipers assigned to take out targets at a Iraqi government structure in Bayji.

“Zid, also known as Abu Hoor, went to Syria in July last year. He went to Bangkok and took a flight to Turkey before securing safe passage to Syria by land.

“Prior to this, he was involved with Kumpulan Mujahidin Malaysia and was detained under the ISA (Internal Security Act) in 2002,” he said.

SAC Ayub said the two others killed were Muhamad Syazani Mohd Salim, 28, and Fadzly Ariff Zainal Ariff, 31.

Muhamad Syazani, known as Abu Aydan, was also killed in Bayji in a skirmish with Iraqi forces on Sept 18 and was believed to be part of an ISIS infantry trained to fulfil a specific mission objective.

“He went to Syria on Sept 23 via Istanbul along with his older brother Muhamad Syazwan,” said SAC Ayub.

Fadzly Ariff Zainal Ariff died on Sept 26 after driving a truck filled with seven tonnes of explosives towards a bridge in Buhayrat, located in Fallujah.

“The attack also killed a group of Iraqi soldiers.

“Our intelligence indicates that Fadzly Ariff, known as Abu Ubaidah, had attempted suicide bombings twice but failed as his explosives malfunctioned the previous times,” said SAC Ayub, adding that the former burger seller went to Syria on Oct 11, 2013.

SAC Ayub said Fadzly Ariff’s mother Azizah Md Yusof was detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act on April 28 last year for giving support to ISIS, and subsequently charged on May 23 the same year.

The latest deaths bring the number of Malaysians killed in Syria and Iraq to 14.

“As with some deaths involving Malaysians in both countries, it was hard to get a DNA sample to completely verify and identify the militants involved,” he said, adding that they relied on their intelligence gathering network.

He said the police had identified 69 Malaysians with ISIS in Syria.

“Previously, there were militants who joined other terror groups like Jabhat al-Nusra, Al-Qaeda’s official affiliate in Syria.

“However, this trend has stopped as all of them have joined ISIS,” he said.

While the official figure was 69, SAC Ayub said the actual number of Malaysians in Syria could be about 100, including children.

Source: www.thestraitstimes.com

October 1, 2015