Tag: Singaporeans

Warning: Hidden-Cam Menace On The Prowl In Singapore

The Real Singapore has been alerted to a blog online which is showcasing many illegally taken videos of upskirt shots around Singapore.

The videos featured on the blog also show feeds from spycams in the female changing rooms of malls in Singapore.

In many instances, the victims are young girls.

We would like to remind our readers to be very careful and aware of your surroundings when in public and to check the changing rooms that they use. It seems that even public toilet cublices are not safe as the blog features videos of women using public toilets.

None of the videos bother the censor the face of the victims and they are proudly uploaded online.

The serial up skirt videographer has taken videos on Singapore buses, shopping mall escalators and even stairs along sheltered walkways:

He has then uploaded them online in a huge collection onto his tumblr blog.

The videos on the blog also show some instances where girls have been video taped in public toilets showing girls peeing and from the background voices it is clear that it took place in Singapore.

The blog is even shared on social media for all to see.

Ladies, please be careful. The police have already been alerted to the blog but we wanted to remind women to be extra careful.

Always be aware of your surroundings when using public toilets and changing rooms and always keep a look out for pinhole cameras or suspicious objects.

Please Note: The name of the blog has purposely been left out of this post. If you do know which blog this is or come across it in future, please do not share the link further with others as this may be illegal and can further distress the victims whose faces are not censored.

Source: www.therealsingapore.com

February 16, 2015
Commercial Debts In Malay Households Rising Even As Incomes Rise

Malay households in Singapore may be earning more money now, but they are also spending more.

As a result, their debt situation, while not alarming, is a cause for concern, said Mr Azmoon Ahmad, chairman of the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) yesterday.

While household balance sheets remain generally healthy, he added, figures from a survey the AMP conducted last year showed “increased expenditure, which may or may not be supported by real income gains”.

Speaking at the association’s annual Community In Review seminar, which focused on debt this year, Mr Azmoon pointed out that the median income for Malays had risen from $2,709 in 2000 to $3,844 in 2010.

This “creates the impression that they are doing well financially”, but does not account for how their liabilities have changed, he said.

Citing the AMP survey, he said increased spending has become “entrenched”, and “even in times of financial difficulties, households may not revert to initial levels of consumption”.

For example, 83 per cent said they would not unsubscribe from their cable television services in bad times.

Other panellists at the forum said overspending due to lifestyle preferences is the most common cause of debt.

Mr Azmoon said: “Higher expenditure could be supported by purchases made on credit, thus increasing the liabilities.”

He also warned that the problem was not restricted to low-income families. PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians) are a “risk group”, he said, as they have easy access to credit and thus may borrow above their means.

National University of Singapore economist Sumit Agarwal, also a panellist, cited a graph showing that Malays have the highest credit card debt although they have the smallest credit card spending compared with other races.

Moneylenders, both licensed and unlicensed, also contribute to the problem because they do not offer stringent safeguards like those of banks, the panellists said. They suggested that more financial literacy camps be conducted.

Mufti Mohamed Fatris Bakaram, Singapore’s top Muslim religious leader, urged prudence when the panel sought his comments. “It is an ethical issue of behaviour, attitude and self-responsibility of trying your best to limit borrowing only for necessities – not for lavish purposes – and the commitment of paying it back.”

Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs Masagos Zulkifli, who also spoke at the forum, said: “Even though our debt problem is not endemic, it is something we need to constantly pay attention to.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

February 16, 2015
AHPETC Saga: Separate The Facts From The Myths

Know the facts from the myths in the AHPETC saga…

Myth:
The TC Secretary and its General Manager, who are the main directors and shareholders of the Managing Agent (MA) are freely being given contracts without tender and paying themselves handsomely without accountability.

Fact:
The MA has no decision-making power in relation to the award of tenders. Tenders are awarded by a Tenders & Contracts Committee consisting of Members of Parliament and appointed Councillors with no interest whatsoever in the MA.

The MA is not involved in evaluating any tender in which it is participating. When the MA and EMSU (essential maintenance services unit) tenders are involved, the MA is excluded from the deliberations.

Myth:
AHPETC has shown disrespect to auditors or Parliament for not submitting documents as requested.

Fact:
Throughout the audit, thousands of documents were provided. For example, more than 16,481 payment vouchers were produced.

In Appendix C of the AGO report (p.3, Attachment 2), Members will see there is just one out of 22 requests outstanding. In Attachment 3, just three out of 75 are outstanding.

Myth:
The Secretary and General Manager issued invoices, certified work done and approved and signed cheques to FMSS. Appendix C Attachment 1 and its total amount for 84 invoices of $6.6 million has been the subject of a front page headline on 9 February 2015. The Lian He Wan Bao headline entitled: “TC Secretary and GM pay their own company $6.6 million”

Fact:
The TC adopted an SOP on 8 September 2011, soon after the new management took over.

It was the policy that no cheque to FMSS, of whatever amount, could be issued unless either the TC Chairman or one of the Vice-Chairmen co-signed the cheque.

Thus, it was not possible for FMSS to pay itself unless authorised by the TC Chair or Vice-Chair, who have no interest in FMSS whatsoever.

Myth:
In the TC’s audit for FY 12, our auditors put in a disclaimer that because the project management fee details were not disclosed in the Financial Statements, they were unable to determine the completeness of the related party disclosures

Fact:
There was no clarity of practice in the financial statements of Town Councils. For instance, the same auditors audited us in FY 11, and only required a related party disclosure of the MA fees. The former Aljunied Town Council management also had related parties, and yet there were no related party transaction disclosures in Financial Statements, which had no disclaimers.

Source: The Alternative View

February 16, 2015
Beware of Durian Scam By Malaysians

Dear TRS,

I wanna share about this conman!

Happened to me last week at Woodlands HDB. He cheated my mom to buy 4 durians that cost $252!

He’s rounding at HDB block for people to buy his durian. But will come back with his ‘guni’ bags of durians.

He’ll tell you 1kg cost $15.

He will say once he peeled the skin, must take. He will keep on peeling the skin. Until the fourth one, he’ll take the weight of the durian and tell you the cost!

Ridiculously, for my mum case, cost $252!

He even ask my mum to go to atm! My mum paid him $50 and went to the atm. That’s when i decided to call the police. He even dared to make sure that my mum went to the atm.

He will keep on pestering for the money! I’d reported to the police! He is believed to be a malaysian man. Cause he say he’ll leave his passport at your house, to drive you to the atm. But my mum prefer to go by herself. And he drive a blue malaysian plate car.

If anyone saw this guy, do not hesitate to inform police!

I am not the only victim either, I have seen this facebook post being circulated and wanted to also share my experience:

Source: www.therealsingapore.com

February 16, 2015
Schools Turn To “Smokerlysers” To Combat Worsening Underage Smoker Problem

The problem of underage smoking looks to have worsened, as some schools turn to detection devices to help them smoke out offenders.

Last year, more than 6,200 smokers below the legal age of 18, including some in primary school, were caught. This was about 17 per cent more than the 5,311 in 2013, according to data from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

Most underage smokers caught were 15 to 17 years old and the rise in numbers could be because of greater enforcement, said an HSA spokesman.

But a 36-year-old teacher who spoke to The Straits Times on condition of anonymity said she has noticed a growing number of student smokers in her neighbourhood secondary school, where she has taught for 14 years.

There are those who pick up the habit in primary school, smoking as many as 10 sticks a day by the time they enter secondary school. Some light up in school, with habitual offenders using hidden corners or toilets to take a puff, she said.

Several schools, such as Greenridge and Chestnut Drive secondary schools, have used “smokerlysers” – portable devices that measure carbon monoxide, a by-product of cigarette smoke – to monitor if students smoke.

Newer versions of these devices can detect cigarette use from as far as two days back. A Health Promotion Board (HPB) spokesman said these carbon monoxide meters are used in its smoking cessation programme in schools.

Over in Choa Chu Kang, Regent Secondary School plans to install cigarette smoke detectors in the common areas of five of its male toilets. It wants detectors that can log the exact location and time when someone smokes, and send an alert to the school’s general office and a message to a staff member’s mobile phone.

“The initiative is one of the school’s efforts to promote deterrence,” said Regent’s vice-principal Sheree Chong, adding that it also holds anti-smoking talks.

Mr T.C. Lim, 48, whose company distributes cigarette smoke detectors, said such products have been in Singapore for more than a decade, but demand from schools has been low as most found the device too costly. He began getting enquiries from schools last year. A toilet with four cubicles should ideally have two detectors, he added, each of which can cost $500 to $700.

The effectiveness of such efforts remains to be seen, as “it would take more influence than detection to curb the problem of underage smoking”, said Ms Gracia Goh, deputy director of the Singapore Children’s Society. Its Youth Centre runs anti-smoking campaigns and has encountered smokers as young as eight.

“Influence by family, friends and community has a much stronger impact for them,” she said, referring to young smokers.

Take Varun, a 17-year-old student, who took his first puff two years ago “because all my friends were smoking”. Now the Institute of Technical Education student, who declined to give his full name, is a habitual smoker but his family does not know.

Persons below 18 caught using, buying or possessing tobacco products can be fined up to $300. First-time offenders can have the fines waived if they finish an online smoking cessation module.

The HPB said it works closely with the Ministry of Education to discourage youth from experimenting with tobacco products.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

February 16, 2015