It is said that the monk, Hua Chi has knelt in prayer so many times that his footprints remain deeply, perfectly ingrained on the temple's wooden floor. Check out the monk's footprints here.
No, really. I just don't get it. By choosing to convert its convertible preferred nots in Citigroup to common stock, GIC would pay 32% premium--more expensive!--compared to its other option to just buy the shares in open market.The Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) has said it will convert its convertible preferred notes in the US lender Citigroup to common stock in a bid to help shore up the troubled US lender.
The exchange price is US$3.25 a share – a 32 per cent premium to Citigroup's closing price on Thursday. The price is way under the conversion price of US$26.35 a share under the original terms of the investment.
With the conversion, GIC's stake in Citigroup will rise to an estimated 11.1 per cent, without any injection of additional funds.
In January 2008, the Singapore sovereign wealth fund bought about US$6.88 billion worth of perpetual, convertible notes in Citigroup. These preferred stocks would pay a 7 per cent annual dividend.
Preferred shares are similar to bonds in that holders receive a fixed dividend. By getting preferred shareholders like GIC to convert their holdings into common stock, Citi will be able to reduce its quarterly dividend payment.
The US Treasury Department has said it will convert part of its holdings of preferred shares into Citigroup common stock. So too will some other large preferred stockholders, including Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Abdulaziz Alsaud.
In a statement, GIC said it supports the initiative by Citigroup and the US government to strengthen the quality of the bank's capital base in view of the challenging economic environment.
The US government will now take a US$25 billion stake in troubled Citigroup, with the conversion of its preferential stock into ordinary shares.
Separately, Citigroup has announced it will record another US$10 billion worth of writedowns as part of its already-released fourth quarter results. This brings its net loss for the year to US$27.7 billion.
From Channel NewsAsia, "GIC converts preferred notes in Citigroup to common shares".
In another news (Source: UK. Reuters.com, "UPDATE 1-Singapore GIC converts Citi notes, pays $3.25/shr"), an analyst at an investment bank, who declined to be indentified was quoted to say: "It now means GIC are in the real danger zone. Equity holders are the first to absorb any losses. Or if the Treasury decides to inject more capital, they will get diluted,"
I've visited their 10th Anniversary microsite. Quite interesting to learn the 10 trivia about Channel NewsAsia. MediaCorp's Channel NewsAsia turns 10 on March 1 with a series of new initiatives on-air and online.
First up is the 10th Anniversary microsite, where viewers can revisit the top stories of the past decade and vote for what they think should make the Top 10.
They can also test their knowledge of the channel and even send in their birthday wishes.
The coming months will also see a varied programme line-up that showcases the best of Asia, its people, places and physical feats.
This includes a five-part series on Asia's most successful brands, premiering March 3.
MediaCorp's managing director for News, Woon Tai Ho said: "We made it to 10 years. It is a significant milestone considering we were a latecomer compared to well-established global news channels. We are now known for providing a viable alternative to these channels."
Channel NewsAsia was formed in 1999 in the midst of the Asian financial crisis. Since then, it has become the leading broadcaster in the region giving viewers an Asian perspective.
Its programmes and news coverage have also gone on to win multiple regional and international awards, including a silver for BlogTV.sg at the New York Festivals earlier this year.
From Channel NewsAsia, "Channel NewsAsia celebrates 10 years with online and on-air initiatives".
TOP GUN is a gay movie. Yes. Quentin Tarantino presents a compelling argument in this video clip. So, do you agree with him?
Sure. Whatever. Protect their identity by running away leaving them in Hong Kong, you mean?!
Anyway another mystery appears. Were the photos taken by Edison himself or by one unnamed female celebrity? There were two contradicting points brought up by two different sources.In a court hearing earlier in the week, Hong Kong actor Edison Chen revealed that some 40 obscene photos were taken by a female celebrity and given to him as a 'present'.
The case, in which obscene photos of Chen and four other Hong Kong female celebrities were seen involved in sex acts, is currently being heard in Canada, Shin Min Daily News reported.
According to the Chinese paper, Chen testified in court that 40 of the hundreds of photos that were posted on the Internet were taken by one female celebrity during one of their trysts.
The pictures were then burned on a DVD and given to him for his "personal appreciation". Chen also admitted to downloading the 40 pictures onto his computer.
The actor also told the court that the pictures were given to him by the female celebrity out of her own will, and that it was only meant for the both of them. The other women involved in the case had no knowledge of this, Chen testified.
He also stressed that the obscene photos were not meant to be shared with any third party, and that none of the people involved had given the photos away or spoke of their sexual encounters.
This, Chen reasoned, was why the photos, which existed since 2001, were not known to the public until February 2008. The pictures were taken between 2001 and 2006, Chen said.
Chen also denied accusations that he transferred the obscene photos from his computer to his mobile phone and showed the pictures to others.
During the hearing, Chen testified that he bought four Apple computers from the eLiTeMULTIMEDIA store in Chung Wan, Hong Kong.
One of these computers was the Apple laptop in which the obscene photos were extracted when the former action star took it back to the store for repairs. Chen said that the notebook computer remained at the store for a few days.
However, Chen told the court that the obscene pictures were already deleted before he sent the computer in. But he admitted that he did not know deleted files could still be extracted from a computer by persons with the knowhow.
Lianhe Wanbao reported Chen confirming the identities of the four female celebrities involved in the case as Cecilia Chung, Gillian Chung, Bobo Chan and Rachel Ngan.
The Chinese evening daily said that Chen was initially reluctant to testify to reveal their identities, speaking in English, "I'm determined to protect their innocence. They have suffered enough."
From Asiaone, "Edison Chen: 40 photos given as 'present'".
The above Asiaone has Edison Chen claimed that the racy photos were taken by a female celebrity (Uhm. To think that she must have been present during all the scenes between him & other celebrities. Yes. That's thought-provoking alright.)
The second news article from Taipei Times quoted Edison Chen saying that he's the one who shot the photos.MOUNTAIN GOES TO MOHAMMED: The former actor/singer refused to return to Hong Kong for the trial, so Chief Magistrate Tong Man and a team flew to Canada
Edison Chen (陳冠希) was shocked when he found his own sex photos posted on the Internet, the Chinese-Canadian pop star told a Vancouver court on Monday.
The Chinese-Canadian film star in a racy scandal over photos that showed him in bed with eight of Hong Kong and China’s best-known actresses and singers testified against Sze Ho-chun, a computer technician accused of accessing his private laptop, which held the images.
The scandal dominated Hong Kong headlines for weeks last year, and the Chinese government censured the country’s top Internet search engine for allegedly helping spread the photos of the stars apparently performing sex acts or in sexually suggestive poses.
Sze faces three counts of obtaining access to a computer with illegal intent and his trial is taking place in Hong Kong. Chen refused to return to the territory for the case but he agreed to a deposition in Canada.
The Hong Kong Department of Justice flew a legal team, including Hong Kong Chief Magistrate Tong Man (唐文), to Vancouver. The hearing was scheduled for a week but wrapped up in just a day.
The Hong Kong judiciary is allowed to take testimony in Canada under a mutual legal assistance treaty and Chen’s testimony will be presented in the Hong Kong case as a deposition.
Chen, 27, told the unusual hearing the photos were his, but that they had been on a personal laptop computer that had gone missing last year. He said that the computer was taken for repairs in the summer of 2006. He said he thought he had deleted the images from the computer.
He said he believed they were released by “some foul play” in a computer store he used.
“I’m quite a private person,” he said. “This was never meant for anyone else to see.”
On Jan. 29 last year he said his friends started contacting him about the images circulating on the Internet.
“This was a very huge shock to me,” Chen told the court.
A month later, a police inspector showed him a compact disk of photographs.
“Of course, I had seen these pictures. I took these pictures. They were in my personal computer,” he said.
He said the images were released in spurts.
“It was more of an attack, a well-planned attack in the way these images were released,” he said.
Chen called the theft of the photos an “invasion of privacy.”
“Everything was consensual,” he said.
He told the judges that he would not answer questions about the women.
“I am determined to protect their innocence,” he said. “They have suffered enough.”
A reluctant Chen was ordered by the Canadian judge to confirm the identities of some women in the pictures. They are actress Cecilia Cheung (張柏芝), actor-singer Gillian Chung (鍾欣桐), former actress Bobo Chan (陳文媛) and model-actress Rachel Ngan (顏穎思).
Chen, a Vancouver native of Portuguese-Chinese parents, returned to Canada last year in the face of intense public anger in China.
From Taipei Times, "Edison Chen testifies in stolen photos trial".
Oh yes, this vigilante's method might have worked. At least in his neighborhood hawker centers. Heh. Whenever he sees a packet of tissue paper used to reserve a seat, he'll remove & dispose it. Yes. That will work.
But hey, why just stop at that? That packet of tissue paper can be passed to the aunties who sells tissue papers & the cycle of life will be repeated again...Time and again, it is reported in newspapers and online that foreigners — unfamiliar with the Singaporean practice of using packets of tissue paper to “chope” (reserve) seats — are made to give up theirs seats at hawker centres and foodcourts when the “rightful” owners of the tissue packets return.
Tourists, expatriates and foreign workers who arrive in Singapore expect to see a courteous citizenry, corresponding to its modern infrastructure and efficiency.
However, the demeanour of indignant patrons, who return to find “their” seats taken by foreigners unfamiliar with the ubiquitous practice, puts our perpetual courtesy campaign to shame. More often than not, these people demand that the foreigners leave the table right away, even if they are halfway through their meals.
Unfortunately, this sort of behaviour leaves more than just a bitter taste for those hapless “offenders”; they will have the impression that Singaporeans do not know what true social etiquette is.
I dare these perpetrators to try the same tactic in food establishments in any other country, and then see how the locals will ridicule them for being obnoxious and impertinent.
For proponents out there, please do not deem this as another Singaporean trait that needs to be preserved for its uniqueness. This is different from the argument that colloquial “Singlish” defines our way of communication and that the Queen’s English is for the British.
“Chope-ing” seats is as disgusting a trait as spitting indiscriminately. Some social percepts are universal, but “chope-ing” is not one of them.
The rules should be thus: The first patron to sit down gets the table. If that person stands and leaves, then the next patron waiting gets the table. No reservations with tissues, umbrellas or whatever — leave them there at your own risk.
My solution, though drastic, is simple. From now on, I resolve to remove and discard all packets of tissue if I chance upon them at hawker stalls. Even if I do not require the seats, I will do likewise.
So yes, all guilty readers are forewarned — if your “choped” seats end up without the offending packets of tissue, chances are I was the one whodiscarded them.
And please do not blame the people sitting there; they would not have known that those seats were ever “reserved”.
From a letter from Rick Lim Say Kiong published in Today, "The ‘chope-ing’ vigilante: Leave your packets oftissue on hawker centre tables at your own risk".
I lamented about the issue before in my earlier post, "New EZ-Link Card: No Deposit, but need MINIMUM balance for travel???" & I'll do it again now. Arrgh!! If you are using the new ez-link card to take the MRT, remember, 3 is the new zero.
If the balance on your card falls below $3, the turnstiles won't open for you.
The old card lets you ride the train even if the balance is zero because there is an invisible deposit of $3 on it.
Said one commuter, who gave her name only as Mrs Siew: 'I took the bus from Hougang Avenue 4 to Ang Mo Kio and it cost me 93 cents. But I couldn't use the same card for my ride on the MRT to Braddell because my balance was only $2.90.
'As a result, I had to use another card and ended up paying another 82 cents. If I had been able to use the first card, I would have got a transfer rebate, which I think would have been about 40 cents.'
Commuters like her are upset about this and there have been a chorus of complaints on the Internet.
But the Land Transport Authority (LTA) explained that the new features of the card make this system more convenient.
The card now also allows you to pay Electronic Road Pricing charges and even some retail bills.
And for these, you can use your card down to a balance of zero.
Unlike trains, on buses, the minimum balance is not fixed. It can be up to $1.67, depending on the length of the journey.
The new requirement affects only adult cards.
An ez-link spokesman told The New Paper that whatever value is left on the new card will be returned to the owner if he decides to return the card.
So, how exactly is the new system different from the old?
When you bought the old ez-link card, you had to pay an extra $3, known as a travel deposit, and this was not reflected in the card's balance.
So, when the card reader shows a balance of $0.01, there is actually $3.01 still on the card. And you can still take a bus or a train.
With the new card, the $3, which is no longer known as a travel deposit, is reflected in the card balance. That's all.
But some commuters and netizens say they feel 'cheated' that they cannot use the full balance on their new ez-link cards.
Netizen Greenapples wrote: 'If there is a reason to require a minimum stored value, then put it aside as deposit, which is the proper way things should be.
Irritating
'Why re-invent the wheel? Why is it so difficult to retain the deposit system like before?'
Another forum writer, Rukanightmare wrote: 'It's so irritating if you see money inside, yet you can't use it because it is meant to be the deposit value.'
One website, sgclub.com, asked visitors whether they thought the new rule was reasonable. Out of the 109 respondents, 72 per cent said no.
Other commuters The New Paper spoke to were also not happy.
Bank manager Tan Kok Jwee, who is in his 50s, said: 'I sometimes use the card until the value is $1 or less. So, $3 is going to be an inconvenience if you are just going to travel from, say, Bugis to Raffles Place (for a fare of less than $3).'
An LTA spokesman said the new requirement was to ensure that cardholders had enough value in their cards to exit the MRT gate, even for the longest trip.
By removing the $3 travel deposit, the full value of the new card can also be used for non-transit purposes.
The spokesman explained: 'To illustrate the use of the card for non-transit applications, an existing ez-link cardholder whose card has a total value of $7 ($4 stored value and $3 travel deposit) won't be able to buy a $6.85 McDonald's Big Mac meal even though the card's full balance is more than sufficient to cover the cost of the meal.
'This is because only $4 of the card's stored value can be used to pay for the meal, as the $3 travel deposit can only be used for travel on trains and buses.'
With the new card, commuters can use the full value to pay for non-transit transactions, for instance the McDonald's meal.
The spokesman said alert messages will pop up on the card reader when the card value is low.
'With this alert feature, commuters would, on average, be alerted at least three times (starting from $5) to top-up their cards before their card value reaches the minimal required value for travel,' she said.
Not all commuters find the new requirement an inconvenience though.
Student Yeo Ming Qiang Ivan, 25, said: 'It's a bit weird that there's an amount there but you can't use it (on trains). But I guess I'll get used to it.'
The new ez-link card was launched on 9 Jan. Since then, more than 1.6 million old cards have been replaced. The old ez-link card can no longer be used after 30 Sep.
From The New Paper, "New EZ-Link Card: Users unhappy with 'no travel deposit' feature".
Interesting. Shopping vouchers as a bonus. Want to guess the shopping vouchers are of which shopping centers'? Heh. Shall we see the vouchers being auctioned in eBay anytime soon? CapitaLand
"Staff will receive shopping vouchers in March, and the amounts range from S$750 to S$10,000," a CapitaLand spokeswoman said. "About S$1 million worth of vouchers will be distributed in total."
CapitaLand earlier this month said it will raise around S$1.84 billion via a rights issue after reporting an 88 percent slump in fourth-quarter net profit due to weaker sales in Australia and China.
From Yahoo! News, "CapitaLand pays staff bonuses in shopping vouchers".
The things a star may say & view it as...what, sarcastic?! And it worked? Yeah, sure!REMEMBER Celest Chong?
Modelling, acting, singing, radio DJ - the 36-year-old has done it all.
Leggy Singaporean Celest was a regular fixture on the local entertainment scene until she left Mediacorp in 2005.
After her departure, she dipped her feet into the Taiwanese entertainment industry - and got a real shock.
In an interview with The New Paper, the naturally-tanned actress recounted the venomous remarks she had to put up with when she moved to Taiwan.
'All sorts of verbal abuse were hurled at me. I've been told things like 'you're so dark!' and 'you can't even speak Mandarin well'. It was a real culture shock.
'But you learn how to deal with them. You have to retort with sarcastic remarks like 'I'm ugly but not as poor as you.' Then you suddenly find yourself a best friend in the person who yelled at you first.
'It was inevitable that I was bullied. Everyone became territorial - they think that a foreigner is vying for a piece of their livelihood.'
Despite the negativity, she managed some limited success.
There, she released her third album, Snowflakes (2005), and played a reporter in C'est La Vie (2006) which also starred Taiwanese actor Lin Youwei.
After 1 1/2 years, Celest packed her bags for China, where she spent two years involved in several projects.
She moved back to Singapore last January due to a family emergency.
Viewers can soon see her on television again as she stars in Channel 5's new English drama serial, Red Thread, which starts on April 7.
The single actress also revealed that she has been reading Hollywood scripts, but does not want to 'you know, say two lines and die', and fade into oblivion'.
She also said she has been offered a hosting gig on an online Canadian variety show, but wants to deliberate on it.
Celest is in no hurry to accept more projects, and she just wants to 'take it easy'.
From Straits Times, "I was insulted in Taiwan".
Weird, but it happens!An infant boy was married off to his neighbors' dog in eastern India by villagers, who said it will stop the groom from being killed by wild animals, officials and witnesses said on Wednesday.
Around 150 tribespeople performed the ritual recently in a hamlet in the state of Orissa's Jajpur district after the boy, who is under two years old, grew a tooth on his upper gum.
The Munda tribe see such a growth in young children as a bad omen and believe it makes them prone to attacks by tigers and other animals. The tribal god will bless the child and ward off evil spirits after the marriage.
"We performed the marriage because it will overcome any curse that might fall on the child as well on us," the boy's father, Sanarumala Munda, was quoted as saying by a local newspaper.
The groom, Sagula, was carried by his family in a procession to the village temple, where a priest solemnized the marriage between Sagula and his bride, Jyoti, by chanting Sanskrit hymns, a witness said.
The dog belongs to the groom's neighbors and was set free to roam around the area after the ceremony. No dowry was exchanged, the witness said, and the boy will still be able to marry a human bride in the future without filing for divorce.
Indian law does not recognize weddings between people and animals, but the ritual survives in rural and tribal areas of the country.
From Yahoo! News, "Boy marries dog to ward off tiger attacks".
See the cartoon here & decide yourself if there's other interpretation...The article, "NY Post cartoon of dead chimpanzee stirs outrage" says it right, actually.
More about the chimpanzee, Travis:She fed the chimpanzee the finest food, and even wine.
They took baths together and cuddled in the bed they shared.
The chimp brushed her hair every night and pined for her when she was away.
When she left the house alone, it gave her a kiss. But when she left with someone, it would become jealous.
That was the intimate relationship Ms Sandra Herold shared with her 15-year-old chimpanzee, Travis.
Could this intimacy have caused the 90kg chimp to suddenly and savagely attack its owner's friend, MsCharla Nash, 55, on Monday in Stamford, Connecticut?
Experts believe it is possible, reported The Australian.
Travis was shot dead by the police, but not before badly mauling Ms Nash's face and hands. She is in critical but stable condition.
Experts say the unusually close relationship between Ms Herold and Travis would have been confusing for any animal.
'This is a crazy relationship,' said Mr Stephen Rene Tello, executive director of Texas chimp sanctuary, Primarily Primates.
'He was probably bonded with her. I can kind of see it in his eyes this is his surrogate mother.
'If there is another person entering his space, he might consider it a threat to his territory, or even his mate.'
Mental health professionals say a strong bond between pet owners and their animals is generally good as it can be therapeutic and comforting.
The boundaries get blurred, however, when owners treat the animals like humans rather than pets, and expect a reciprocal relationship.
Chimp like a surrogate child
Mr David Baron, chairman of the Temple University School of Medicine's psychiatry department, said in cases such as Ms Herold's, the grief of losing loved ones could have made it easy for her to view Travis as a surrogate child and friend.
Her husband died in 2004 and her only daughter was killed in a car accident several years ago.
Mr Baron said: 'I wouldn't say she shouldn't have a pet, but this may be something that should be looked at as part of a grief reaction that's beyond normal.'
Ms Herold had Travis, who once starred in TV commercials for Old Navy and Coca-Cola, since it was 31/2 years old.
She was known to buckle it in her car for rides and dress it in baseball shirts.
Travis was also toilet-trained, dressed itself, took its own bath, ate at the table and drank wine from a stemmed glass.
It also brushed its teeth, logged on to the computer to look at pictures, and watched TV using the remote control.
Mr Don Mecca, a family friend, said Ms Herold fed Travis steak, lobster, ice-cream and Italian food.
Night of attack
The widow had tried to rescue Ms Nash by stabbing the chimp with a kitchen knife and hitting it with a shovel.
'I stabbed something I raised as a son,' she said later.
'He couldn't have been more my son than if I'd given birth to him.'
She told NBC's Today Show: 'He looked at me like, 'Mom, what did you do?'
Mr Earl Mason, whose son married Ms Herold's daughter, recalled when Ms Herold got Travis. The chimp would ride a tricycle.
'He grew up like a youngster,' Mr Mason said. 'He did everything a kid would do. He was a cute little guy.'
But Mr Mason was amazed at Travis' strength even as a baby. When the chimp jumped on him, Mr Mason said it would slam into his chest.
Mr Mecca said Ms Herold knew chimps became more difficult to handle as they got older, but she could not bear to part with her beloved pet. And by most accounts, Travis was also well-behaved and well-trained.
But, Mr Mecca said: 'I think (Travis) was lost. He belongs in the jungle with the rest of them.'
And Ms Nash was not the first person Travis had attacked.
Ms Leslie Mostel Paul said that in 1996, the chimp had grabbed her hand and bit it until it bled.
Travis was sitting in Ms Herold's car in a parking lot. Ms Paul said she had tried to shake its hand after MsHerold gave her permission to say hello.
Ms Paul said she reported the incident to the police but got no follow-up calls.
'I told them this was serious,' she said. 'If it was a child, it could have ripped the hand off or an arm out of a socket.'
In an earlier interview with NBC television, she said: 'I honestly believe if they had followed through, maybe the laws would have been changed sooner and this other woman wouldn't be in the hospital, fighting for her life now.'
The police said they have no record of any complaint, apart from a 2003 incident in which Travis escaped from a vehicle and led police on a two-hour chase before it was caught.
It is not sure if Ms Herold will face criminal charges. Connecticut law allows her to own the chimp as a pet, though several state leaders are now calling for tighter restrictions.
But Ms Herold has lambasted the media for its portrayal of her relationship with Travis, reported Connecticut newspaper The Hartford Courant.
She had been described as a 'lonely widow' whose relationship with Travis was 'closer than some spouses'.
The New York Post reported: 'Even if there was no monkey-panky, pals say they were intimate.'
Ms Herold dismissed the suggestion of a sexual relationship as absurd.
'Did I love him? Did I bathe with him? Did I sleep with him?' she said angrily.
'I bathed with him when he was a baby.'
When she was approached by two reporters on Friday, she lashed out at them.
From The New Paper, "Jealous chimp, 'crazy relationship'".
Lesson learnt? If you can't afford a mistress (let alone, FIVE mistress?!), you better don't. A married Chinese tycoon who could no longer afford to support his five mistresses during the economic slowdown held a contest to decide which one to keep, local media reported Tuesday.
The contest took a tragic turn when one of the mistresses, who was eliminated based on her looks, drove her former lover and the four other women off a mountain road in an apparent fit of anger, the Shanghai Daily reported.
The driver died in the December 6 crash while the man and four other women were hospitalised, the report said.
Initially, it was thought to be an accident, but then details of the bizarre contest emerged in a letter left by the dead woman, a 29-year-old former waitress surnamed Yu, the newspaper said.
The woman met the entrepreneur, surnamed Fan, at the restaurant where she worked in the coastal city of Qingdao in 2000 and became his lover, the report said.
Fan later introduced her to the four other mistresses -- two of his employees and two former clients -- with all given a 5,000-yuan (733-dollar) monthly allowance and rent-free apartment, the report said.
However, when Fan's business ran into tough times, he decided to lay off all but one woman, the report said.
Fan hired an instructor from a modelling agency to judge a private contest he held at a hotel in May, but he did not tell the women about his intentions.
Yu was eliminated in the first-round beauty competition and a woman surnamed Liu eventually won after dominating the drinking round, the report said.
When Fan told Yu she was dismissed and that he was selling her apartment, she decided to exact revenge during a group outing.
After the accident Fan paid Yu's parents 580,000 yuan as compensation for her death. His wife divorced him after learning of his affairs, the report said, adding the other four mistresses also left him.
The tale was reported in other Chinese media, but none gave further details about Fan, such as his age or profession.
From Yahoo! News, "China tycoon's mistress contest ends in tragedy: report".
Check out Zuji Reverse Auction here. Currently it has $1672.00 as starting price for 2 return tickets to Brisbane on Etihad Airways. At the time this post is written, the bid price is $$1611.89.
Might worth trying. Especially if one likes the excitement of bidding & winning something. (I miss Yahoo! Auction. Sigh...)
The latest news in Channel NewsAsia has SP Ausnet reported facing lawsuit over Australian bush fires. This information is not available (yet?) in SP Ausnet official website. (Yes, this does strike a similarity with the recent post of NOL's wholly-owned subsidiary APL having to settle $26 million. NOL too has not had the news put up on its homepage...although that may be due to the breaking news happened to be on Saturday?!) According to Australian media reports, Singapore majority-owned electricity firm SP Ausnet is facing a class action lawsuit from some survivors of the recent Australian bush fires.
They are alleging that a downed power line sparked one of the blazes.
The fire that spread last week through Kinglake, about 50 kilometres north of Melbourne, was one of the most ferocious - killing at least 100 people and destroying about a thousand homes.
"The Age" newspaper reported that police investigating the cause of the fires had apparently removed a length of fallen cable and a power pole as evidence.
However, Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon told Channel Nine Television that authorities are still trying to determine just how the Kinglake fire started.
SP Ausnet, which is 51 per cent owned by Singapore Power Limited, said in a statement that its priority was restoring power to fire-affected areas, and that it stood ready to assist relevant authorities with their inquiries, if necessary.
When contacted by Channel NewsAsia, Singapore Power, its parent company, declined to comment.
From Channel NewsAsia, "SP Ausnet reportedly facing lawsuit over Australian bush fires".
Check out the photos of the fire incident happened yesterday afternoon in Grand Hyatt Hotel here. As if Singapore is not hot enough already...A small fire broke out at the Grand Hyatt hotel on Sunday afternoon, forcing about 100 staff and guests to leave the premises.
The fire occurred at about 2.30pm at the staff kitchen office located at the back of the hotel.
The hotel's fire fighting team put out the flames within minutes, but a Civil Defence spokesman said staff and some guests left the hotel due to thick smoke.
No injuries were reported.
From Channel NewsAsia, "Small fire breaks out at Grand Hyatt hotel, no injuries reported".A fire broke out in an office on the mezzanine floor of the Grand Hyatt Singapore hotel on Sunday afternoon, but it was quickly doused by an in-house fire-fighting team.
The blaze was largely contained in the room, which is near the hotel's staff canteen.
About 100 staff and guests walked out of the hotel upon hearing the alarm.
According to STOMP, the fire broke out at the Grand Hyatt Hotel at Scotts Road in a small staff canteen office. The fire was discovered and put out by the hotel's fire-fighting team using a hose reel. No one was hurt in the blaze.
A spokesperson for the SCDF provided STOMP with more details:
"The SCDF received the call at 2.30 pm.
"The fire involved the staff canteen office, a small compartment about 2m x 1m.
"The SCDF dispatched one fire engine, one support vehicle and an ambulance to the scene.
"The fire was put out by the hotel's firefighting team using a hose reel before the SCDF arrived. The SCDF assisted by conducting ventilation to clear the premises of smoke.
"100 people were evacuated from the building, primarily hotel staff and a few guests.
"No one was conveyed to the hospital."
Here's what STOMPer valkyrie13, who was at the scene of the fire, had to say:
"At around 2.30pm today (Feb 15), thick smoke filled the area beside Grand Hyatt Hotel.
"We noticed that a fire had broken out - coming from the hotel building.
"Within minutes, the SCDF arrived and the situation was under control."
From Asiaone, "Fire at Grand Hyatt Hotel".
I read the news, "HK airport fury an online hit" & I couldn't resist not to check out the YouTube clip, "A woman missed her flight at the boarding gate HKIA".
The video which by the way has 129,917 hits (as per 16/02, 2:36 AM) is indeed incredible: the woman was truly furious! She ran screaming towards the departure gate & bounced off a female security guard after she learned that her flight has been closed. She then starts banging a desk before collapsing to the floor and rolling around, while maintaining a high-pitched wail. A man unsuccessfully tries to comfort her and get her off the floor, but the shrill screaming continues. (Read more in Asiaone, "HK airport fury an online hit".)
Am I amused of the woman's plight of failing to catch her flight? (Sorry, the urge to use 'plight' and 'flight' in the same sentence is just irresistible.) Not really. Actually I'm more entertained reading how the comments posted in the YouTube clip, "A woman missed her flight at the boarding gate HKIA".
Like this one from jyip12:she said something on the lines of 'the plane hasn't left, the plane hasn't left.... how am i going to get back " then she said to the guy in the tie "I told you... I told you..... before i wanted to go and you didn't let me" the old man was trying to comfort her, and staff kind being n in a cynical way saying don't worry we got another plane we will organise it for you. But his tone sounded like "yeah whateva"
And this comment from joytutor:Moot proof that we really don't have ALL the nut balls in America. Maybe most, but not all. "Grief?" Actually, reason and emotion mix like oil and water. I've no idea about her mix, but if they have lawyers as we have, filming showed intelligent cover for whatever "emotional" claims might be made against persons trying to do their jobs as best and compassionately as they're able. Regardless, this is still a walking Fruit Loop who escaped the cereal box.
Likewise from quikatb:Just imagine waking up with this woman, I bet her family is so proud.
Also from dsgilly: Thats odd, Chinese security is nicer than in the good old USA! They would have drug her off as a terrorist and sent her to gitmo. Water boarding, tasers I have been treated worse by security at US airports for having an old bottle of pop in the bottom of our baby stroller. Great I will probably end up on some no fly list after this post.
And from tubester4567:Ya, i understand this. I react like that when i die playing Xbox.
And from JaX2MiLz:Just like Stan from South Park would say: "Holy shit dude...".
And from JohnstonsJungle: Such drama.
Such acting.
She should take up soccer.
I might be sore because of I'm a victim of Valentine's Day (yes, relax, you're so right), but I'd admit that this story does ignite Pity in me.
Last year Christmas Eve was supposed to be a happy day for Mr. Teo Boon Teck, 30. Within 30 minutes, he'd be married to his Vietnamese lady, Miss Dinh Thi Thom, 21. And suddenly the love of his world fell in coma after being hit by a lorry just metres away from the Residents' Committee Centre where the solemnisation cermony was to take place.
Mr. Teo who is a newspaper vendor is reported to has been keeping vigil by her bedside in NUH every day. He calls her Chinese name forlornly, pleading for her to wake up, grasping her hand.
'Xiang, wake up, I am waiting for you to be my wife,' he says in Mandarin and breaks down in tears.
He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand and continues to look at her, his face flushed with grief.
From The New Paper, "Wake up I'm waiting to marry you".
Not only the fiance has been so admirably loyal, the father-in-law-to-be was quoted to say (from the same article above): 'She is like a daughter to me. Even if she cannot give me a grandchild, it doesn't matter,' he said.
'I don't need the marriage certificate to acknowledge her as my daughter-in-law.'
The news also mentioned that both Mr. Teo and his father have prepared to sell their flat and downgrade or rent a three-room HDB flat to raise money for her hospital bills.
Very admirable. I know some of you may have the urge to assist/donate. You may want to contact Hedy Khoo, the New Paper journalist who have penned the wonderful article. Can't find the email address, but there's hotline 1800-7334455.
To answer the question in the title of this post, I'd continue to work--perhaps even to toil more at my workplace to drown the misery within. After all, I'd need the money to ensure my loved one to be well taken care in the hospital. And in whatever spare time I had, I'd visit her & play her the latest movies to keep her entertained (If I'm lucky, she would wake up & scold me for my poor choice of films).
How about you? What would you do if your wife-to-be/special-someone fell in coma?
What a gruesome murder! Yet the wife only faces up to 5 years in prison? There should be a swimming pool prison where she has to stay inside it cold & shivering & only fed cold meals for the next 5 years. A woman pleaded guilty to reckless homicide for exercising her 73-year-old husband to death in a swimming pool.
Police in Middlefield, Ohio, said surveillance video showed 41-year-old Christine Newton-John pulling James Mason around the pool by his arms and legs and preventing him from leaving.
Mason had a heart attack on June 2 after the extended swim session.
Newton-John pleaded guilty Thursday and faces up to five years in prison.
Police Chief Joseph Stehlik said he counted 43 times on the videotape in which Newton-John prevented her husband from leaving the water. He said Mason rested his head on the side of the pool several times while gasping for breath.
Stehlik says Mason's death was investigated because of previous complaints that he was abused.
Mason was a longtime friend of his wife's family. He knew her as John Vallandingham before she had gender reassignment surgery in 1993 and changed her name. They married in 2006.
Police did not immediately respond to a call Saturday seeking comment on a motive.
From MSNBC, "Wife pleads guilty in death-by-exercise case".
No, they're not gay koalas, mind you. Sam is a name for a female koala, while Bob is that for the male one. Really. So what if they're animlas, their love story is inspiring.
Colleen Wood from the Southern Ash Wildlife Shelter that is caring for Sam and Bob were quoted to say:"Sam had suffered second degree burns to her paws and would take seven to eight months to recover while Bob had three burned paws with third degree burns and should be well enough to return to the bush in about four months.
"They keep putting their arms around each other and giving each other hugs. They really have made friends and it is quite beautiful to see after all this. It's been horrific."
From Yahoo News, "Koala love story wins hearts after deadly fires".
No, that's not what the official reply from Neptune Orient Lines or NOL about the news concerning its wholy-owned American subsidiary, APL. The latter was reported on 14/02/09 to has agreed to pay more than $26 million to settle claims that it overcharged the U.S. military for shipping war supplies to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Officials commented that the amount was one of the largest payouts of its kind.
If that's indeed the case, logically this news must be announced in Singapore as well. At the very least in the official website of NOL or in the SGX about the listed companies' general announcements.
I checked both and I found nothing. Both sites have 10 February as the last date when an announcement was made. No news at all about its APL having to settle for a record payout of $26 million.
Outrageous, some of you may sneer. Just because of it's on Saturday--Oh, it's also Valentine's Day!!--the NOL official website was not updated, SGX was not notified, and shareholders were kept obliviously in the dark?!
Hey, the fact that the news was surfaced on Saturday could perhaps be the reason that the official website of NOL has not yet been updated. Maybe it's not possible also to notify SGX about such a breaking news on Saturdays?
So let's just wait on Monday, 16/02 & see if the announcement would ever be made. If nothing's done, concerned shareholders may want to raise the question. NOL's website has an informative 'Contact Us' link. Call or email your inquiry & give them a chance to explain.
Read also (yes, there's nothing mentioned in the local newspaper yet):
- Market Watch, "APL Ltd. to Pay U.S. $26.3 Million to Resolve Fraud Allegations for Inflated Shipping Costs to Military in Iraq and Afghanistan".
- SunHerald, "APL Ltd. to Pay U.S. $26.3 Million to Resolve Fraud Allegations for Inflated Shipping Costs to Military in Iraq and Afghanistan".
- Contra Costa Times, "APL to pay $26.3 million to resolve shipping fraud claim".
Yes, I found the girl!! Ha, I wish I could say that. Sorry, Neil. No good news yet. At least, not from me. (For a record, I'm still rather skeptical since I blogged about the quest: "GirlOnBus.com -- Singapore copycat of NYGirlOfMyDreams.com?")
Oh yes, the latest news has the mysterious owner of the site, "GirlOnBus.com"--and also the blog, "blog.girlonbus.com") revealed himself in this article, "Have you seen my dream girl?". He is one undergraduate, Neil Xu.
I must say that I admire his courage to eventually stand forward & let the irritated readers know that his site is not launched for an advertising gimmick for one local polytechnic.
The alleged fateful encounter happened in the bus on 08 January 2009, and till now the lovelorn undergraduate Neil Xu had not managed to find the mysterious girl. Well done, girl! If you give in so easily, it may encourage other cowardly guys to simply launch a similar site with the good or not-so-good sketch of you--appealing for readers who tire of rolling their eyes to help identifying you.
Let this Neil Xu dream on!Boy sees girl on bus, girl sees boy, boy chickens out of making a move - and regrets it later.
For most, that would be the end of the story. Not so for undergraduate Neil Xu, 24.
He launched a desperate search for his mystery crush, created a website, uploaded a sketch of her and appealed for help to get in touch with her.
He had noticed the girl when she hopped onto SBS service 74 from the Ngee Ann Polytechnic bus stop along Clementi Road on 8Jan at about 3pm.
For about 40 minutes during the journey, he claimed that they stole occasional glances at each other.
All this while, Mr Xu could not muster enough courage to speak to her. Before he knew it, she alighted at Ang Mo Kio central.
He was left in a daze. He did not know how to react. But he knew he was smitten.
Tells best friend
When he got home, he decided to describe her to best friend Johan Koh, 24, a student, and got him to draw a sketch of her.
Mr Xu uploaded the sketch onto the website, www.girlonbus.com, on 13Jan and appealed for the girl to come forward. He also asked netizens to help him look for her.
He believes that the girl should be 'around 18 years old' and could be a polytechnic student.
Why didn't he try looking for her at Ngee Ann Poly, where she got on the bus? He felt it would be difficult because of the large number of students there and the vast campus.
Was it a prank inspired by a similar search in New York for a mystery train commuter by a smitten American recently?
Mr Xu insisted he is sincere and even agreed to sign a legal declaration for The New Paper to prove it.
He knows that because he is unwilling to reveal his face, people will question his credibility.
'My greatest challenge is to convince people that I am real,' he said. 'I am concerned about my own privacy; yet I want this girl to know that my efforts are genuine.'
He claimed that he has received almost 20,000 hits on his website. Nearly 200 people have responded to his appeal by e-mail.
He claimed 90 per cent of the e-mails have been supportive. He has also received support from people abroad.
The New Paper contacted some of his overseas supporters.
One of them, Ms Helena Chen, 22, from the US, in an e-mail to The New Paper said she felt that Mr Xu was 'very courageous' and that 'it was important that he has tried', if not he would go on to 'regret this for the rest of his life'.
Another supporter, Ms Lea Angelina Chen, 20, from Indonesia, said his efforts to locate the girl may be extreme, but his critics are in 'no position to judge' as they have 'never been in his position before'.
Mr Xu does not see himself as a hopeless romantic or desperado, as some of his critics call him.
He has received about 20 e-mails from critics, some calling him 'average frustrated chump' or 'unattractive guy'.
Even Mr Koh, who drew the sketch of the girl, had his doubts initially.
'I found his determination to locate this girl very weird. I didn't expect him to be so serious about this. I am surprised because in my 10 over years of knowing him, I've never known him to do such a thing.'
Mr Xu agreed, describing himself as an introvert. But he is irked by the doubters.
He said: 'I would appreciate it if people don't simply judge a person in this manner, especially if they don't know the real story behind this.
'When I saw her on the bus, I just liked the way she carried herself. I found her graceful and cute. My intuition told me that I should get to know her.'
Will he succeed in finding his dream girl?
He said: 'I think my chances are slim. It is definitely not as good as that guy who found his dream girl on the train in New York. This is because I think Singaporean girls are generally a conservative lot.'
But he's not giving up any time soon.
He will continue to maintain the website for the next few months and 'see what happens'.
The happiest thing that can happen, he said, would be for her to reveal herself on Valentine's Day today.
'I hope that I can get to know her. I promise she will not regret knowing me.'
Should he dream on?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Similar cases
- On 8 Nov 2007, a New York subway rider found his mystery woman through a website he created for her.
Mr Patrick Moberg, 23, created www.nygirlofmydreams.com, and posted a sketch of himself and the woman he saw on a train but was too shy to approach.
The woman, MsCamille Hayton, a 22-year-old magazine intern then, was quoted as saying she couldn't wait to meet him especially after he took the trouble to make a website for her.
They got together and hit it off immediately, according to ABC News.
- On 20 Jan this year, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that newspapers in Australia were duped by an actress who was hired by a viral marketing campaign company to promote a jacket.
This actress had earlier posted a video on YouTube telling the world that she was trying to find her Prince Charming - a man in a jacket - she met at a cafe.
From The New Paper, "Have you seen my dream girl?".
I'm glad to read how they choose to be responsible & not take an easy way out to abort the baby. Even better to know that they're not against some sort of Law. It's interesting to note that while statutory rape or sex with minor is a crime, the relationship between two minors is not.According to a report in The Sun newspaper, a 13-year-old boy has become a father in the United Kingdom.
When his 15-year-old girlfriend Chantelle Steadman gave birth to their daughter Maisie Roxanne, Alfie Patten was by her side.
'I thought it would be good to have a baby,' Alfie told The Sun. 'I didn't think about how we would afford it. I don't really get pocket money. My dad sometimes gives me 10 pounds (S$21).'
The pair kept the pregnancy a secret until Chantelle's mother discovered what was going on at 18 weeks after noticing her weight gain. Alfie was only 12 when Chantelle concieved but they decided against an abortion.
'When my mum found out, I thought I was going to get in trouble,' Alfie said. 'We wanted to have the baby but were worried how people would react
'I didn't know what it would be like to be a dad. I will be good, though, and care for it.'
Alfie lives with his mother and admited to the newspaper that he didn't know the cost of a packet of nappies. 'I think it's a lot,' he said.
Although separated from the family, Alfie's father, Dennis Patten, said his son didn't seem to realise the consequences of his actions but that he was proud he'd taken responsibility for the child.
'He could have shrugged his shoulders and sat at home on his Playstation. But he has been at the hospital every day,' Mr Patten said.
The young mother has defended her actions and said that she and Alfie were being responsible.
'We know we made a mistake but I wouldn't change it now,' Chantelle said.
'We will be good loving parents. I have started a church course and I am going to do work experience helping other young mums. I'll be a great mum and Alfie will be a great dad,' she said.
Mother and daughter were released from hospital on Thursday. They will live with her family.
From Straits Times, "13-year-old becomes a father".
Update on 27/03: After so much news about the so-called youngest father, a DNA test has proved that Alfie Patten could not be the father. Considering how ready he sounded about him going to be a father, he might be heartbroken learning that the mother of the child, Chantelle Stedman could have committed an affair behind his back. Alas, the tragedy of the youth!Alfie Patten, the 13-year-old who was reported to be Britain's youngest father, has been proven not to be the father of a child born early this year said reports on Friday.
The mother of the child, Chantelle Stedman, told Alfie her baby Maisie was his, after they had unprotected sex when Alfie was only 12-years-old.
However a DNA test has proved that the boy could not be Maisie's father reported the Daily Telegraph newspaper.
Alfie's story caused a worldwide media frenzy after it was first reported by Britain's Sun newspaper and politicians criticised what they called Britain's declining morals.
At first Chantelle said Alfie was the only boy she had ever slept with, but soon after other teens came forward saying they too could be the baby's father, because they claimed to have had sex with the girl reported news.com.au.
It is still not clear who the baby's father is.
Last month a friend of the Stedman family claimed Patten was scammed by the girl's parents who wanted to cash in on the sensational story said news.com.au.
From Straits Times, "Alfie not Britain's youngest dad".
Sure, Mr. Tan Tuan Khoon. I believe you. After all, you have observed very closely your preys & came with a wonderfully irrefutable claim that stray cats' life span is shorter (especially made so due to them being trapped & killed) and thus it's truly 'humane' to trap them & made their short life span shorter. Yes, indeed. I can't argue against you...
I plead AVA to set a strict limit of how many stray cats a same person can send to AVA to put down. To exceed a certain numbers (of cats sent to AVA) could be a signal that a sick & dangerous mind is in the rising. Although the prey at the moment may be a defenseless stray cat, I dread to think if the sicko would have a different target of victims next time.He admits he's responsible for the deaths of at least 300 stray cats.
And yes, he lives in the Seletar estate area, where the bodies of some 45 cats were found buried two weeks ago.
But Mr Tan Tuan Khoon said he's not the cat killer that some netizens have fingered as the prime suspect in the shocking Seletar cat deaths.
Since The New Paper reported the case on 2 Feb, netizens have been busy speculating who could be behind the killings, in forums such as Hardwarezone.com and Singapore Cats.
The comments were often emotional and sometimes vicious. One writer even suggested that Mr Tan should be 'put to sleep instead'.
Another, ProjectMayhem, wrote: 'This is not just the work of someone who does this malicious act to seek the pleasure of inflicting pain but rather (it's) a mass genocide in a bid to control the cat population.'
It may not matter so much that words are being bandied about with no great regard for what they mean.
But perhaps it does matter that the writer refers to a 'strong feeling' that Mr Tan is related to the incident and gives Mr Tan's home address on the forum.
Another writer, Fluffy, said: 'This man in the street is a killer, a serial killer to creatures smaller and defenceless to him, a bully murderer in our midst.'
Mr Tan, 62, who retired from working as marketing manager for an engineering company 10 years ago, said he had nothing to do with the case of the dead cats.
But he does not hesitate to say that he has been trapping stray cats since the 1990s, using his own cages and those provided by the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA).
He then hands the cats over to AVA to be put down.
'I stopped counting after I trapped around 300 cats,' said Mr Tan, who e-mailed The New Paper with his theory that the cats were killed by people who were fed up with problems caused by stray cats.
'What I do is humane'
Mr Tan insisted that trapping and putting down cats is actually the humane thing to do.
This stems from his observation that stray cats generally have a shorter lifespan because of the hazards they face on the streets.
Mr Tan, who feels that stray cats should not be fed, poses this question: 'Who is the cruel party - the one who humanely shortens their suffering or the one who feeds them and prolongs their suffering?'
Experts The New Paper spoke to said that stray cats tend to live shorter lives than indoor cats, but their lifespan can vary greatly.
Mr Tan claimed he used to keep cats and dogs when he was younger, but gave it up when he started travelling for work.
He started his trapping campaign because he was fed up with cats who defecated in his garden and driveway.
He also faced problems with cats who had kittens in the space between his roof and ceiling.
'The plywood ceiling boards gave way because of that. Also there were cats who chased my pet rabbit,' said Mr Tan, whose two adult children are studying or working abroad.
Mr Tan, who used to be a committee member of the Seletar Hills Estate Residents Association, lives with his wife, who works as a secretary, and his maid.
Mr Tan also believes that HDB flat dwellers should be allowed to keep cats.
Under current rules, cats are not allowed to be kept in HDB flats.
This is because of the high-rise, high-density of flats, which makes residents 'more prone to disamenities caused by their neighbours', said an HDB spokesman.
'In setting the rules on pet ownership, HDB's principal consideration is to preserve a pleasant living environment and good neighbourly relations. We need to strike a balance between residents who are pet lovers and those who are more sensitive to the disamenities caused by animals,' the spokesman added.
In spite of this, HDB said it receives an average of about 40 complaints each month on cat-related matters.
Problems include the shedding of hair and defecation by cats in public areas, as well as noises disturbing residents' sleep.
Mr Tan, however, said: 'HDB always says that cats wander and cause a nuisance. The root of such complaints is actually irresponsible owners who don't bother to train their cats.'
Besides changing HDB's law on keeping cats, Mr Tan wants proper regulations to ensure responsible ownership of cats.
He said: 'There should be limits on the number of cats that can be kept in one household. We have that for birds like chickens and ducks, why not for cats?'
Ms Sandy Lim, founder of SOS Animals, however, does not agree with Mr Tan's drastic approach of trapping and putting down cats.
She said: 'He has a serial culling background. I've also heard negative feedback about how he traps cats...
'So I feel he's in no position to talk about the welfare of community cats in Singapore.'
From The New Paper, "Seletar Cat Murder | The Cat Trapper: I'm not the cat killer".
I read about the review of the game, "RapeLay" (basically it's a Japanese computer game that lets players simulate raping girls) & I must admit I'm curious. Not. Okay, just kidding.
I really am curious. I'm intrigued about how 'creatively' sick some people can be (that goes to the team who design the game & those who buy it). Of course, it's their money & they have the right to spend it as they like. (With the same logic, it's my blog & I can criticize these sickos as I like. Heh.)
Oh well...at the very least, it's a good thing that Amazon yanked "Rapelay" from its virtual shelves.
Update on 08/05: Japan software firm shrugs off rape game protests. With such an arrogant game maker, would there be really any customers (besides the sickos) buying this "Rapelay"?A Japanese computer game maker on Friday dismissed a protest by US rights campaigners against the game "RapeLay", which lets players simulate sexual violence against females.
New York-based Equality Now launched a campaign this week "against rape simulator games and the normalisation of sexual violence in Japan".
It urged activists to write in protest to the maker and Prime Minister Taro Aso, arguing the game breaches Japan's obligations under the 1985 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women.
The Yokohama-based games manufacturer Illusion brushed off the campaign.
"We are simply bewildered by the move," said spokesman Makoto Nakaoka. "We make the games for the domestic market and abide by laws here. We cannot possibly comment on (the campaign) because we don't sell them overseas."
Players earn points for acts of sexual violence, including stalking girls on commuter trains, raping virgins and their mothers, and forcing females to get abortions, according to the group's online statement.
Japan, often criticised as a major producer of child pornography, in 1999 banned the production, distribution and commercial use of sexually arousing photos, videos and other materials involving those aged under 18.
However, the law did not criminalise possession of such materials, and the ban also failed to cover child porn in animation and computer graphics, often categorised as 'hentai' (pervert).
US online retail giant Amazon in February took RapeLay off its websites after receiving complaints but clips of the game were still available this week on popular video sharing websites.
A Japan Committee for UNICEF spokeswoman said the Japanese loophole hindered international efforts to crack down on child porn.
"In this globalised world, connected via the Internet, even one loophole could jeopardise all the regulations," she said. "The world trend is to try to ban even the accessing and looking at websites of virtual images."
A spokeswoman for the Japanese government's gender equality bureau said the office "realises the problem is there"
"While we recognise that some sort of measures need to be taken, the office is currently studying what can be done," she said.
From Asiaone, "Japan software firm shrugs off rape game protests".
Titled "6 Success Strategies for a Bad Economy", this MSN Careers article by Robert Half International is actually generic and thus, applicable for all.
No, it doesn't have anything to do with Jamie Yeo "just being honest" about having her first orgasm at 6. STOMP star blogger Jamie Yeo and her husband, radio deejay Glenn Ong have announced that they are getting a divorce.
This will be the second divorce for Ong, who married Kate Reyes, a deejay from the same station in 2003.
After their divorce in 2003, he married Yeo in Dec 2004. They have no kids.
From Asiaone, "Jamie Yeo and Glenn Ong have split".
Her latest STOMP post, "Give me an apathetic SG guy over a gushy romantic Frenchman any day!", perhaps, does have a literal meaning into it. So, apathetic SG guys out there, please take note!
PS. The title is inspired by ABBA song, "Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)". Check out the YouTube clip of the song--from Mamma Mia the movie: here.
Read also Channel NewsAsia, "Celebrity couple Glenn Ong, Jamie Yeo call it quits":At least one celebrity couple won’t be celebrating Valentine’s Day together.
MediaCorp Radio’s Class95 DJ Glenn Ong announced in a brief statement at 8.30 am during his morning radio show Morning Express — on Friday the 13th - that he and wife Jamie Yeo have gone their separate ways.
“To my close friends and family who are finding out about this only now, I apologise. Jamie and I have parted ways. Okay. That’s it,” said Ong, 38.
Two songs followed: Kanye West’s "Stronger" and Duffy’s "Rain on Your Parade".
MediaCorp subsequently announced that the couple had “grown apart in recent years due to their careers and individual differences”. The decision was a “mutual” and “amicable” one.
Ong and Yeo have officially filed for separation and have been “living apart for a while”.
Before Ong made the announcement, his show’s co-host Mark Van Cuylenberg spoke up on-air on the decision to announce it on radio.
“Glenn has the feeling he should be the first one to break the news, and what better way than on the programme he hosts? He will make this announcement only once. He ain’t picking up the phone.”
Ong and Yeo were unavailable to comment as of press time.
The couple started dating in 2001 and was married in December 2004 in New Creation Church.
Prior to this, Ong was married to former Gold90FM DJ Kate Reyes. They divorced in 2003.
Yeo, 31, was a full-time DJ at 987FM for six years before joining ESPN Star Sports as a television presenter in 2006. She also blogs on a local online portal.
In her last entry on the topic “Are Singapore men romantic?”, Yeo wrote: “(Men,) it is your duty to romance us, even if we’re fussy, picky and annoying. For we are also beautiful, sexy, loving and endearing. And don’t forget, you need us. We bear you children.”
The couple has no children but have a pet Jack Russell terrier named Fudge that they shared in their East Coast apartment.
The news came as a shock to their friends, colleagues and fans. “I had no idea, honestly. I didn’t get an inkling of anything,” said a surprised Florence Lian. The former "Singapore Idol" judge and current senior vice-president of marketing/creative services at MediaCorp Enterprises had hired Ong in 1993 during her tenure as programmes manager for MediaCorp Radio.
Liana Osman, 25, a long-time fan of Ong, didn’t expect the disclosure. “When he first said he had something to announce, I thought it might be that Jamie’s pregnant,” she said.
Perhaps the split had been coming for some time. An industry insider, who declined to be named, interviewed Yeo in early January and found it odd that Yeo neglected to mention her husband. “Every time I brought up the issue of Glenn, she would evade it.”
“Celebrity relationships in general are hard,” said Lian. “You’re under the microscope and it provides stress in a relationship.”
Also from The New Paper, "Sad news on the radio":IT'S Valentine's Day, a time when couples share their love for each other.
Glenn, 38, made the surpise announcement yesterday morning during his Morning Express show with co-host Mark van Cuylenburg, better known as the Flying Dutchman (FD).
At about 8.30am, Glenn mentioned that he and Jamie had parted ways. He didn't return to the subject for the rest of the show.
Efforts to reach Glenn and Jamie, 31, were unsuccessful, but MediaCorp Radio released a statement confirming their split.
It read: 'Glenn Ong and Jamie Yeo have officially filed for separation and have been living apart for a while.
'Their marriage broke down simply due to the couple having grown apart in recent years due to their careers and individual differences.
'They will not be taking any calls, replying any texts and email or answering any questions.'
This is Glenn's second divorce - he and Lush 99.5FM DJ Kate Reyes separated in 2001.
The split came as a surprise to many people as Glenn is known to gush over Jamie on air.
But two of Glenn's good friends told The New Paper that they knew about their break-up before the announcement.
Radio DJ Rod Monteiro, who calls Glenn 'my brother', said that he first heard of their break-up late last year but did not confirm it with Glenn.
Rod and Glenn worked together when they joined van Cuylenburg on Class 95's Morning Express. Rod left the show in 2005 and is now with Radio 91.3FM.
Rod said: 'We were at (Class 95 radio DJ) Yasminne Cheng's wedding on 17 Jan. I could see that something was bothering him but I didn't want to probe.
'During Chinese New Year, I sent him a simple SMS to encourage him. But it wasn't because he told me about it. As a friend, I just wanted to be there for him.
Rod said he spoke to Glenn yesterday while Glenn was having his hair done at asalon.
'Go with your heart'
'He sounded okay. I asked him what I should say if reporters called. He simply replied: 'Go with your heart. Say what you have to say.'
'He's a passionate person. I've seen him with Jamie and he was always spoiling her.
'I'm sure Glenn is down. Jamie was his world. I was there when they hooked up (in 2001). Jamie told me before Glenn did. I don't know if he still loves her but he definitely did.'
Mr Bernard Lim, who is executive vice-president of Lifebrandz, which owns Zirca Mega Club, said that Glenn broke the news to him about a fortnight ago.
He also told Mr Lim on Thursday that he was going to announce it on radio.
Mr Lim, who hosted the couple's wedding in 2004, said: 'I was surprised when Glenn told me. I've always known them as a loving couple and have never seen him quarrel.
'He seemed pretty calm and appeared to have moved on. I called Jamie afterwards and she confirmed it too.
'Glenn just said they've drifted apart. Perhaps they realised their personality differences were too great.'
Mr Lim added that the last time he saw the couple together was about four months ago, at a gathering.
Local celebrity couple 987FM DJ Daniel Ong and actress-singer Jamie Teo were shocked by the news, especially when they had just seen Glenn and Jamie together at The Prodigy concert on 3Feb.
While Daniel confirmed that rumours have been floating in MediaCorp, he has not 'heard nothing from (the couple)'.
'I'm not too sure what happened. Both Glenn and Jamie are very good friends of mine. I'm sure they have their reasons for the split.'
Rapper Sheikh Haikel, also a good friend of Glenn and Jamie, sounded distraught when he found out about the split after The New Paper contacted him.
He said: 'This is really shocking, I love them both dearly and I didn't see it coming at all.'
It was hard to pin down reasons for the break-up, even from their close friends.
Rod said: 'All I can say is, there have always been temptations.'
But Mr Lim said: 'One thing for sure, there is no third party. I can vouch for that.'
Perhaps...to under-expose?! The first photo was taken with the minimum exposure (of "-2") & the second photo with the zero exposure. The latter failed to have the sun captured in the picture whereas the former got the sun nicely (if I may say) but with the dark foreground objects.
Even when the investment house was bleeding with losses last year!! Impressive. And outrageous.
But the news will surely motivate many to try to join the company. Hey, it's a dream job; despite suffering the loss, the company can still afford to pay bonus--generous bonus up to US$1M--to its employees.
Darn. I should have taken finance courses more seriously last time during my university days. =(Merrill Lynch quietly paid out at least US$1 million (S$1.5 million) bonus each to about 700 top executive even when the investment house was bleeding with losses last year, a probe has revealed.
They were part of US$3.6 billion in the firm's bonus payments in December before the announcement of its fourth quarterly losses and takeover by Bank of America, the investigation by the New York state Attorney General's office showed.
'696 individuals received bonuses of US$1 million or more,' New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said of the Merrill scandal in a letter to a lawmaker heading the House of Representatives financial services committee.
Mr Cuomo said 'these payments and their curious timing raise serious questions as to whether the Merrill Lynch and Bank of America boards of directors were derelict in their duties and violated their fiduciary obligations,' according to a copy of the letter.
Bank of America said recently it was aware of the amounts and timing of the bonuses even though previous reports had suggested the top bank was surprised by the payout.
Mr Cuomo said in his letter to Democratic lawmaker Barney Frank that his office was also examining whether senior officials at both companies 'violated their own fiduciary obligations to shareholders.
'If they did, this raises additional serious issues with regard to the inappropriate use of taxpayer funds,' he said.
'Merrill Lynch's decision to secretly and prematurely award approximately US$3.6 billion in bonuses, and Bank of America's apparent complicity in it, raise serious and disturbing questions,' he said.
Shareholders and experts had expressed concern over Merrill's US$15.3 billion fourth-quarter loss, which caused Bank of America to request a second round of government bailout on Jan 16.
Bank of America's shareholders voted to approve Merrill's takeover on Dec 5.
Former Merrill Lynch chief executive John Thain, Bank of America chief administrative officer J. Steele Alphin and other top executives have been summoned to provide testimony in the probe.
'One disturbing question that must be answered is whether Merrill Lynch and Bank of America timed the bonuses in such a way as to force taxpayers to pay for them through the deal funding,' Mr Cuomo said.
Mr Cuomo said the Merrill Lynch bonus payment was 'nothing short of staggering.' While more than 39,000 Merrill employees received bonuses from the pool, the vast majority of these funds were 'disproportionately distributed to a small number of individuals.'
'Indeed, Merrill chose to make millionaires out of a select group of 700 employees.
From Asiaone, "Merrill made 696 millionaires".
"How can they do that? They're owned by Temasek, what! A government-link company, you know? Don't they even know about the Jobs Credit scheme?! Hallo?? It was mentioned clearly as part of the Resilience Package!!"
Keeping my silence, I observed my colleague closely from a safe distance. He was very furious. He had a friend working in STATS ChipPAC & her job got axed.
I decided against asking how long his retrenched friend had served the company. The retrenchment package, while it may seem a norm, still is appealing. One month salary for every year of service with a minimum 3-year working period with the company. If you slave less than 3 years, the retrenchment package would be 2-week pay per year.
Not a good time to satisfy my curiosity.
Anyway, it is indeed disappointing to read how a company--despite Government's initiative to help the economy with its Resilience Package--still retrenched its workers. And even a more dismay to note that the company is 83 per cent owned by Singapore investment company Temasek Holdings.
While I fully agree that any companies are not supposed to be charitable in nature, shouldn't they try to give a chance for the Jobs Credit scheme? The act of retrenching workers after announcing a drop of profit--despite a rise in revenue--seems irresponsible (something along the line of "Hey, we don't care to even give a face to the Government program!") & just a quick way to appease the company's various shareholders ("We don't know if the profit drop is due to the workers' meagre pay or our management's obscenely high remuneration--but the heck, if we're to announce that we'll suffer a pay cut to protect our employees!")
I dislike those companies who hastily implement some "solutions" without properly studying what the root causes are. (Note to self: to study more about STATS ChipPAC financial records for the last 3 years. If I have the time.)
REFERENCES:
Channel NewsAsia, "STATS ChipPAC's FY net profit falls 73% to US$25.7m"
Channel NewsAsia, "650 jobs axed at STATS ChipPAC?"
When she woke up, she was amnesiac. She couldn't recognize her husband & her only child. She even had forgotten how to speak.
But her faith endures.
The latest hot news in Singapore has a 32-year-old mother of one pleaded guilty for having sexual relationship with a 15-year-old student. And yes, the unnamed culprit was a teacher for Chinese language and civil moral education in a primary school where the victim was in Primary 6 in 2007. But no, she did not teach his class.
As if that matters. She's supposed to be an adult here & should know better, some of you may say with an accusing finger--which may also be triggered by jealousy. What a lucky boy! Even if she's not a teacher in his class.
While the case may indeed be the first here in Singapore, such a relationship is not the first in the world. Remember the hot teacher Debra Lafave, an American model and former teacher at Angelo L. Greco Middle School in Temple Terrace, Hillsborough County, Florida, who pleaded guilty in 2005 to statutory rape charges for having sex with a 14-year-old student in 2004, when LaFave was 23 years old.
However let me emphasize the significance difference of the two cases.
The one in Singapore has the teacher tried to break off the relationship when she found the teen becoming overly possessive and temperamental. She shared her dilemma to the school counsellor, who I guess might just following the procedure, referred the matter to the school principal. It was reported that the next day she made a police report. (No, it's not clear for me, either whether 'she' in that sentence refers to the guilt-ridden teacher or the principal.)
Now in Lafave case, it's the boy's mother who foiled the relationship. Both parties were very much enjoying the relationship. No cry of distress from the boy at the very least.
Just like the latest female teacher-boy teen relationship in South Shore. A 29-year-old Abington elementary school teacher who's described as "cool, young, and very pretty" by another (yes, you read the age that right) 12-year-old student.
The victim who was 13 suffered a sexual relationship that lasted for 18 months. He claimed that the teacher, Christine A. McCallum & he had intercourse every other day for a total of "approximately 300 times". Sounds more like a boast to me & I do notice a hint of regret that the relationship is over.
Again, it's a mother to the rescue. One of the victim's friends (I can imagine he's no longer considered a friend by the victim) reported the affair to the victim's mother. She, in turn, told the father (the victim was raised by a single father), who after recovered from a moment of shock, I believe, brought the issue to the police.
Both cases involving the Singapore teacher & the South Shore teacher are still on going. Harsh penalties might await them to deter a similar fulfillment of any hormone raging boy students. Let's wait & see.
REFERENCES:
The Straits Times, "Ex-teacher, teen had sex".
CNN, "Guilty of sex with student, teacher avoids prison"
CNN, "Teacher-student sex plea deal rejected"
Wikipedia, "Debra Lafave"
The Boston Globe, "South Shore teacher accused of statutory rape"
Since this is the first case here in Singapore, I'd have expected the punishment to be harsh. A former school teacher had sex with a 15-year-old student six times in chalets and even in her matrimonial flat.
On Monday, the 32-year-old mother of one pleaded guilty to having sex with the youth, which began in March last year. She tried to break off the relationship when she found the teen becoming overly possessive and temperamental. But he refused.
A district court heard that when she insisted on ending their affair and ignoring his phone calls and text messages, he threatened to kill her and her family.
Fearing that he would carry them out, she confided in her school counsellor, who referred the matter to the school principal on May 15 last year. The next day she made a police report.
In court on Monday, the bespectacled woman, clad in a long white-sleeve blouse and dark blue pants, admitted to one charge of sex with a minor under 16. This is the first case of its kind involving a woman. If convicted, she faces a jail term of up to 10 years or fine or both.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Royce Wee said the woman was teaching Chinese language and civil moral education in a primary school where the victim was in Primary 6 in 2007. She did not teach his class.
After a school trip to China, the two began calling and SMSing each other frequently. Over time, she became fond of him and began to treat him as her godson, showering him with a lot of care and attention.
When he was promoted to secondary 1, they continued to meet. They also went window shopping, watched movies and had meals together.
They began to develop intimate feelings for each each. The boy finally told her he had fallen for her, and she agreed to be his girlfriend. On March 10 last year, she booked a chalet in Pasir Ris and had sex with him.
Senior Counsel Sant Singh said she was under a lot of work and family pressure, having to look after her five-year-old girl with learning disability. He said his client had wanted to end the relationship after realising that it was inappropriate and not right for her to do so.
'She was also ridden with guilt, and it was consequent to this that she could not handle the situation that she spoke to the school counsellor and made a clean breast....'' he added.
District Judge Sarjit Singh will pass sentence on Feb 23.
From Straits Times, "Ex-teacher, teen had sex".
Update on 10/02: it's clarified that the unnamed culprit is actually a mother of two. Not one like mentioned in the previous article. I personally must express sorry that she's the only one prosecuted. I mean, how about the boy?! Didn't he threaten to kill her & her family? Shouldn't that threat be considered seriously? Yes, recall this particular case: a teen boy killed his lover's husband.She was a teacher in his primary school, and it was during an overseas trip which she led that trouble began.
While on that trip, the married teacher and her young charge, then 14 and in Primary 6, struck up a friendship.
They kept it up after the trip, and stayed in touch with each other through frequent phone calls and SMS texting.
The friendship continued developing, and before long, the woman declared the boy her godson and began showering him with care and attention.
Even after he left the school to go on to Secondary 1, they continued to meet, going window shopping, watching movies and having meals together.
Before long, the boy told the woman that he had fallen for her, and she responded by saying that she would be his girlfriend.
She then began booking rooms at a Pasir Ris chalet to spend private time with him, and he was 15 when they eventually wound up having sex.
Yesterday, in the first case of its kind here, the mother of two young children who is in her early thirties pleaded guilty to having sex with an underage boy.
The court heard that after the first encounter, the pair had sex five more times, either at the chalet or at her home.
Then the woman decided to end the liaison, and that eventually led to the exposure of the illicit affair: Angered by her move, the boy threatened to kill her and her family, and she went to the police and spilled the beans.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Royce Wee told the court yesterday that the woman had agreed to be the boy's girlfriend after he confessed his feelings for her.
The DPP said the two first discussed having sex at the Pasir Ris chalet, and the woman asked the boy to buy condoms.
When he said he was too young to do so, she bought them and they had sex for the first time last March 10.
But after a few more sex sessions over the following weeks, she began to feel that the boy had become 'overly possessive and temperamental', the DPP said.
She felt that she could not manage him, and began to regret their relationship.
But when she tried to end the affair, he refused.
When she insisted and began to ignore his calls and text messages, he threatened to kill her and her family members.
Afraid of what might happen, she decided to come clean. She confided in a school counsellor on May 15 and lodged a police report the next day, owning up to her crime.
Pleading for leniency, Senior Counsel Sant Singh said his client, now unemployed, faced considerable pressure at work and at home when she had sex with the boy.
He said her husband worked long hours and his grassroots activities kept him away from home.
Mr Singh pointed out that it was his client who wanted to end the relationship as she realised that it was inappropriate.
He said she was deeply remorseful and was now suffering from depression.
The slim, bespectacled woman was seen wiping away tears with a piece of tissue paper while her lawyer delivered her mitigation plea.
Mr Singh said her chances of working in any school after her conviction would be almost zero, and it was unlikely that she would offend again.
'Her reputation and family life has been ruined by her wrongdoing, and she has been forced to give up her career as a teacher, a profession in which she has excelled,' he said.
DPP Amarjit Singh urged the court to impose an appropriate sentence.
He said the new law - Section 376A(1) and (2) - did not distinguish between male and female accused.
'The sentence prescribed applies to both,' he added.
He told the court that since it was enacted a year ago, two men had been sentenced separately to 16 months and 15 months for similar offences.
District Judge Sarjit Singh will pass sentence on Feb 23.
From Straits Times, "Teacher had sex with boy".
Update on 11/02: The boy was said to be referred to the Institute of Mental Health's Child Guidance Clinic for assessment. Yes, good move. He could indeed be dangerous.Last May, a female teacher walked into the Criminal Investigation Department to make a police report.
In the report, she accused a student of threatening to kill her and her family members.
It also contained these explosive words: 'The reason why he threatened to kill me is because I had sexual relationship with him on few separate occasions. Currently I wish to break off with him but he refused to let me go.'
And this was how Singapore's first case of a woman having sex with an underaged boy came to light.
At the time of their relationship, the married teacher was 31 and the boy was 15.
Their illicit affair took a nasty turn when she wanted to end it. She felt the boy had become too possessive. She also began to regret having the relationship.
But the boy was upset with her over wanting to end their relationship and for ignoring his calls and SMSes. Hence his alleged threat to harm her and her family.
Resigned
The teacher, a mother of two, has since resigned.
Yesterday, the teacher, now 32, pleaded guilty to one charge of having sex with a boy below the age of 16.
Five similar charges will be taken into consideration when she is sentenced on 23 Feb.
This is the first case of its kind after amendments to the Penal Code last year made it an offence for a woman to have sex with a boy under 16.
The offence carries a jail term of up to 10years, a fine, or both.
The woman cannot be named to protect the identity of the boy.
In all, she had sex with him six times - twice at her flat and four times at a chalet - between March and May last year.
The court heard that she used to teach Chinese and Civic Moral Education at a primary school.
The boy was not her student, but they got to know each other on a school trip to China in 2007. He was then in Primary 6.
She had the handphone numbers of the students who went on the trip. When they returned to Singapore, she SMSed the boy to ask him how he was.
The two began calling and SMSing each other often.
She also guided him on a school project and coached him in Chinese to prepare him for his PSLE.
Over time, she became fond of him. She treated him like a godson and showered him with care and attention.
She also attended his birthday celebration, together with other teachers and students. That day, she hugged him in private for the first time.
The pair became so close that when he went overseas during the December school holidays that year, they talked on the phone almost every day.
The boy started Secondary 1 the following month and they continued to meet. They went window shopping, watched movies and had meals together after school hours.
The two developed intimate feelings for each other and after she questioned the boy on a few occasions, he finally admitted that he had fallen for her.
She then agreed to be his girlfriend.
Sex at chalet
From end-January, the teacher made several bookings at a chalet in Pasir Ris so that they could spend time with each other after school.
She took the boy there and they would get intimate by hugging and kissing.
She also discussed the issue of sex with him. Worried that she would get pregnant, she told the boy to buy condoms.
But he told her that he could not do so as he was underage. Subsequently, she bought the condoms and handed them to him to keep.
They had sex for the first time at the chalet on 10 Mar. They later showered and went home separately. They had sex five more times at the chalet and her flat.
In May, the teacher felt that the boy was getting overly possessive and temperamental. She also began having regrets about the relationship.
When he refused to end the affair, she ignored his calls and SMSes.
Threatened
On 13 May, the boy threatened to kill her and her family members.
She was worried that he would carry out the threat and two days later, she confided in her school counsellor.
The matter was referred to the principal, who, in turn, informed the Ministry of Education (MOE).
MOE directed that the teacher lodge a police report, which she did on 16 May.
The boy was referred to the Institute of Mental Health's Child Guidance Clinic for assessment on 20 May.
A medical report prepared by a psychiatrist stated that he had been emotionally upset after the break-up and that he would benefit from counselling and emotional support.
The teacher, who turned up in court alone yesterday, sobbed quietly in the dock and wiped her eyes with a tissue paper during the proceedings.
Her lawyer, Senior Counsel Sant Singh, said in her mitigation that she had been under a lot of work and family pressure at the time of the offences.
She wanted to end her relationship with the boy after realising that it was inappropriate.
He added that she was guilt-ridden and could not handle the situation on her own, which was why she decided to come clean.
From the New Paper, "She wanted to end affair because he was getting possessive".
Update on 23/02: the verdict is out. The ex-teacher has been sentenced to 10 months' jail.A former primary school teacher who had sex with her student has been sentenced to 10 months' jail.
She is the first woman to feel the weight of stricter laws passed last year to protect minors from sexual offences. Her name has been withheld in order to protect the identity of the boy.
Their relationship began innocently - with phone calls and text messages after an overseas school trip to China which she had led. Then came meetings - where they window-shopped, watched movies and had meals together.
But the relationship took what Judge Sarjit Singh called an "inappropriate turn".
In March last year, the two had sex for the first time at a chalet in Pasir Ris, when the boy was 15. They had sex five more times after that.
The matter only came to light after the woman, 32, tried to break it off, but the boy refused and threatened to harm her family. She ended up going to the police.
In passing sentence, the judge said the case involved a "serious breach of trust".
He said that "teachers command a position of authority and respect in… society" and "parents should not have to worry about the safety of their children in school".
He made it clear that when such trust is broken, the courts must send a clear message - whatever the gender - and that the "punishment will be significant whatever the gender of the victim or the offender".
Only two people have been sentenced so far under stricter new laws on sexual offences passed last year to protect minors. Both are men and they had been sentenced to 16 and 15 months' jail each for similar offences.
The judge also pointed out the vast discrepancy in age and maturity between the former teacher and student.
He added that the "total lack of insight when she should have been aware of the consequences of her action" ... caused "tremendous harm to the victim" who "felt betrayed", according to the psychiatrist who examined him.
The petite bespectacled woman, who is married with two young children and who had been described by her psychiatrist as someone with chronic low esteem and poor self-worth, stood quietly throughout the sentencing, breaking down when she was led away by police officers to start her jail term.
From Channel NewsAsia, "Female ex-teacher gets 10 months' jail for having sex with student".
Update on 24/02: The ex-teacher's husband forgives her. Love does conquer all, I guess, including a silly tryst with a silly teen boy who turned out to be violent & threatening & yet, nothing was mentioned to what happened to the boy! The husband of the woman who became the first woman to be jailed for having sex with an underaged boy will not ask for a divorce.
'He told me he will not divorce his wife no matter what,' the man's mother told The New Paper. 'He is supporting her throughout this ordeal.'
The man's wife, 32, a former primary school teacher, was jailed 10 months on Monday for having sex with her student six times - twice at her flat and four times at a chalet.
Her husband did not show up in court on Monday and was also a no-show at her previous court appearances. But his mother, who is in her 60s, said he was supportive of his wife and had even driven her to court earlier on Monday morning.
'As his mother, I know he's heartbroken that his wife betrayed him. But he didn't show his sadness or cry in front of me. He is being very strong.'
She said that her daughter-in-law, whom she described as a quiet person, apologised to her after confessing to her son about the affair. 'My son had already forgiven her, so we did too,' she told the TNP.
The man's mother added her son was determined to keep the family together and not let the matter affect his work.
'He is working even harder now that they've become a single-income family and he has to continue paying their housing loan,' she said.
As the woman left for court on Monday, she bade her children farewell, the mother-in-law said. 'She didn't cry because if her children see her crying, they will cry too.' The family intends to tell the children that their mother has gone overseas to work.
'What happened was shameful but she is facing up to the consequences of her mistake,' the mother-in-law said.
From Straits Times, "Hubby forgives wife".
