THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT !!!

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Audubon's "Birds of America" fetches $10 million

By GREGORY KATZ, Associated Press – Tue Dec 7, 4:41 pm ET

LONDON – It's quite a nest egg. John James Audubon's "Birds of America," a rare blend of art, natural history and craftsmanship, fetched more than $10 million at auction on Tuesday, making it the world's most expensive published book.

With its 435 hand-colored illustrations of birds drawn to size, the volume is one of the best preserved editions of Audubon's 19th-century masterpiece. The sale at Sotheby's auction house had been anticipated for months by wealthy collectors.

The book sold for $10,270,000 (6.5 million pounds) to an anonymous collector bidding by telephone, the auction house said.

Because each picture is so valuable, there have been fears the volume will be broken up and sold as separate works of art. However, experts believe that's unlikely. The tome is probably more valuable intact. And collectors hold Audubon in such reverence that the notion of ripping apart a perfect copy would be akin to sacrilege.

"Audubon's 'Birds' holds a special place in the rare book market," said Heather O'Donnell, a specialist with Bauman Rare Books in New York. "The book is a major original contribution to the study of natural history in the New World."

"It's also one of the most visually stunning books in the history of print: The scale of the images, the originality of each composition, the brilliance of the hand coloring."

Then there's the wow factor.

"No one can rival John James Audubon for frontier glamour," O'Donnell said. "The story of his lonely journey through the American wilderness and his struggle to record what he saw there gives the 'Birds' a resonance that no other book can match."

Part naturalist and part artist, Audubon possessed an unequaled ability to observe, catalog and paint the birds he observed in the wild. Experts say his book, originally published in 1827, is unmatched in its beauty and is also of considerable scientific value, justifying its stratospheric price tag.

Pom Harrington, owner of the Peter Harrington rare book firm in London, said it has been 10 years since the last complete edition of "Birds of America" was auctioned, going for a then-record $8.8 million.

He said it is unusual to find a copy not in a museum or academic institution.

"If you want to buy an example of a rare work of art, this is one of the best," he said. "It is valuable in its artistic nature because it is so well drawn."

He said other historic books — such as an excellent example of a Gutenberg Bible — would likely be valued even higher if they came up for sale.

Harrington estimated that a complete Gutenberg Bible in good condition would probably sell for between $30 million and $50 million, but none has been sold in more than 30 years. In recent years, he said, a complete First Folio of Shakespeare's works sold at auction for about $5.6 million while a Chaucer collection sold for more than $4 million.

"That's getting close to Audubon," he said.

While the Audubon volume holds the record for a published book, a 72-page notebook of Leonardo da Vinci's handwritten notes and illustrations went for even more. Known as the Leicester Codex, the collection was bought by Bill Gates in 1994 for $31 million.

Also on the block Tuesday was a Shakespeare First Folio from 1623 that fetched $2.05 million (1.3 million pounds).

Sotheby's books expert David Goldthorpe said the Audubon and Shakespeare volumes represent "the twin peaks of book collecting." Both came from the estate of the 2nd Baron Hesketh, a collector who died in 1955.

The "Birds of America" plates were printed in black and white and then hand-colored by "the best artists of the time," Harrington said. The collection, made from engravings of Audubon's watercolors, measures more than 3 feet by 2 feet (90 centimeters by 60 centimeters) because Audubon wanted to paint the birds life size.

The size of the illustrations makes them extremely valuable as stand-alone pieces of art, leaving the complete edition vulnerable to being broken up so the prints can be sold one by one. Harrington said the wild turkey depicted in the first big plate of the book can be sold for $200,000.

But Mark Ghahramani, a rare book specialist at Classic Bindings in London, said it is unlikely this "Birds of America" will be divided up.

"There are very few copies left of the entire book, so I would think that whoever bought it at the auction would be quite interested in keeping it whole," he said. "Anything to do with American natural history is quite valuable."

Audubon, who died in 1851, represents a unique figure in American history — a Renaissance man with shades of Huckleberry Finn. Like Mark Twain's fictional character, Audubon made an epic voyage down the mighty Mississippi — but with a scientist's inquisitive nature.

Taking along only a rifle, an assistant and a drawing pad, he made illustrations of as many birds as he could find.

He did not find a printer in the United States willing to take on the book with its oversize illustrations, so he sailed to Britain, eventually finding printers in London and in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The volume is seen as a vital piece of American history, Harrington said.

"It is the most important natural history book for America," he said. "That is the main point. It screams Americana. For an American patriot, it is the greatest book on American heritage. There is no competition."

Gillian Smith contributed to this report.

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Naked man arrested at McDonalds outlet

By Faris December 14th, 2010

A man was refused service by the McDonalds crew in Queensway after he walked in stark naked and tried to order breakfast in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The incident occurred at the Rideout Tea Garden McDonalds outlet along Queensway around 4am.

A witness, media coordinator Aslan Asat, 26, who was sitting in the alfresco area of the restaurant with three of his friends, told The New Paper they were shocked to see the man grinning as he casually walked into the restaurant totally naked.

The naked guy was holding on to a laptop case, but he did not attempt to cover his private parts with it, he added. The naked man also did not appear to be intoxicated.

It is understood that the Chinese man, who looked to be in his mid-twenties to early thirties , tried to order a cup of coffee over the counter but was refused service by the McDonalds crew.

Mr Aslan said, The McDonalds staff asked him to leave, but he loitered around in the restaurant for at least 10 minutes before walking out.

There were six other customers in the fast-food restaurant at the time, and they had the same reaction towards the naked man.

Everyone was gawking at him initially and started to giggle after a while, he said.

However, the naked man continued to loiter outside the restaurant even after being asked to leave.

He took out a phone from the laptop case and started to make a call. I overheard him complaining about the refusal of service by McDonalds staff in English, said Mr Aslan.

He left only after lighting up a cigarette.

A McDonalds spokesman confirmed the incident and said the restaurant had to turn the customer away due to the objectionable nature of his behaviour.

The fast-food restaurant has referred the case to the police and investigations are under way.

Police said they received a call at 4.35am on Sunday regarding a man appearing naked at a McDonalds outlet. They arrested the man and referred him to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for psychiatric assessment.

Lawyer, Foo Cheow Ming, told the paper that appearing naked in public and exposing ones private parts is regarded as an obscene act by Singapore courts.

If found guilty, the man faces a maximum sentence up to three months in jail and a fine of $2,000.

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China KTV hostess survives 12-storey fall

By Ewen Boey December 11th, 2010

A China KTV hostess miraculously survived a 12-storey fall from her condominium on Friday morning by landing in the condo swimming pool.

Chinese national Zhou Zhi Hui, 26, told The Straits Times that she had an argument with her landlord on Friday morning at about 1120am and was trying to get out of her apartment at The Citrine, a condominium in Jalan Datoh in Balestier.

Ms Zhou said she fell after losing her grip while at the balcony. She plunged about 40m into the swimming pool located on the second storey and was found floating in the pool, wearing only a pink negligee and holding a handbag.

As I was falling, all I could think about was how I would never see my parents again, she said, recounting the ordeal to ST from her bed in the high dependency ward at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

She also said that her chest hurt and her upper body was immobile.

She is currently out on police bail after police arrested her for attempting suicide, which is a crime under Singapore law.

Working as a KTV hostess in Singapore, Ms Zhou said she had arrived one month earlier from Shandong, and was planning to remain in Singapore for another six months.

She said that her landlord had forbidden her from leaving the apartment after a dispute regarding her visa and rent. She said she wanted to move out of the flat after another seven to eight women from China who were living in the same unit had left one by one.

I just wanted to get out of the house by climbing down to the unit below. I never thought of killing myself, she said, sobbing.

Before her escape attempt, she packed all her belongings and money into a brown handbag, and climbed out of the balcony when her landlord was distracted.

When she realised there was no way she could go down from the balcony, she panicked and began calling for help. The landlord rushed to try to help her but lost his grip on her and she plunged into the 20m-long lap pool which was between 0.5m and 1.35m deep.

I didnt even know there was water below. If it wasnt for the swimming pool, I would have fallen to my death, she said.

Bell-hop M. Fandi Abu Seman, 23, who works at a budget hotel opposite the condominium, saw the balcony struggle.

One person was holding the other by the arms but couldnt hold on and let go, he said. He then quickly asked the hotels front desk to call for an ambulance while he ran across the road to help.

Three other men from a nearby coffee shop, who had been alerted by Ms Zhous screaming and the loud sound as she hit the water, rushed to the scene as well.

By the time they reached the swimming pool, one of the estates cleaners had already helped Ms Zhou out of the water to the side of the pool.

Coffee shop assistant Branden Chia, 18, said in Mandarin, She had bruises on her left leg and her right elbow area.

Another coffee shop assistant, 63, who declined to be named, said that Ms Zhou emerged from the water clutching her handbag which was stuffed with cash.

All the money was completely wet. She even asked me to get her watch which was in the pool, he added.

Ms Zhou, who complained of pain in her lower back and legs, was taken to hospital by the Singapore Civil Defence Force, who arrived shortly after the incident.

Im realy scared that I may not be able to walk properly again, she said last night.

Ms Zhou also claimed that her landlord had confiscated her mobile phone and she was anxious to get it back so that she could call her friends to visit and help her.

Her apparently light injuries may have been caused by her body entering the water at an angle, and that she did not hit the bottom of the pool.

Dr Chin Khong Ling, a general practitioner with Healthway Medical Group, said the water may have absorbed the impact, although the height at which she fell may still have caused a forceful impact.

Generally with adults, you would expect the injury sustained from such a fall to be greater, she said.

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Housewife glues her eyes shut after pharmacy mix-up

By Faris December 15th, 2010

A woman ended up in the Accident and Emergency department after literally glueing her eyes shut.

This after she was given a dental paste instead of an eye medicine due to a mix-up by the pharmacy at Singapores National University Hospital (NUH).

The Straits Times reports that Madam Pang Har Tin first saw a doctor at NUH last Friday for a routine follow-up to several pre-existing eye conditions, including glaucoma. Procedures performed during the appointment left a corneal abrasion on her eye, causing irritation.

On Monday, she went to see another eye specialist at NUH and was prescribed a gel called Solcoseryl 20% Eye Gel, which would help her eyes heal.

However, instead of taking home the prescribed medication, she was given a dental adhesive tube paste called Solcoseryl Dental Adhesive Paste, an ointment used to treat inflammation and wounds in the mouth.

As the 63-year-old housewife could not read English, she failed to spot the mix-up by reading the label on the medicine. She later went home and applied the wrong paste on her eyes, causing her eyelids to stick together.

She was eventually rushed to NUHs A & E department to have her right eye flushed out. It is understood that she has since made a full recovery.

In a statement released on Tuesday, NUH apologised for the incident.

We are deeply sorry for Madam Pangs experience which resulted from our error. Her well-being is our priority, and we have arranged for our eye specialist to review her on Wednesday. We will do our best to see through Madam Pangs recovery.

An NUH spokesman added that the pharmacy staff involved have been counselled, and we have tightened our processes to minimise the risk of a similar error.

Madam Pang son, Austin Liow, 35, told paper, This is a very severe mistake, especially for the elderly who might not be well educated or read English. They will not know that they have received the wrong medication.

We were lucky that the box indicated it was a dental paste. If it had just the substance name, we would not even have realised there was a mistake, he added.

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Career 'GONE with the lusty WIND' !

Upskirt video man gets nine months jail

By Faris December 15th, 2010

A sales manager was sentenced to nine months jail on Tuesday for intruding the privacy of women by shooting hundreds of upskirt videos with a camera pen.

Soo Ee Hock, 35, pleaded guilty to 12 counts, with the remaining charges considered during his sentencing. He faced a total of 201 charges for the offence.

The father of one is currently out on $20,000 bail, pending his appeal against the sentence.

Two weeks ago, a district court heard how Soo would clip a black camera pen to the side of his laptop bag. He would then switch on the device and place the bag under the skirts of his victims as they were going up the escalators.

His offences took place from November 2008 to March last year. He admitted in court he targeted women wearing mid-length to short skirts, in places such as Ang Mo Kio Hub, Compass Point shopping mall in Sengkang, and Junction 8 in Bishan.

Videos transferred to his laptop were subsequently burned onto a CD. A forensic examination report stated that 528 upskirt video files were later found.

According to his lawyer, Mr Jeffrey Beh, Soo found the camera pen in early 2008 and used it later that year to record upskirt images to obtain sexual thrills until he was caught.

Soo was only arrested at Junction 8 shopping mall on July 7 last year when a woman reported him to a cleaner. He could have been jailed for up to one year and/or fined on each charge.

District Judge Lee Poh Choo noted in his judgement that even if Soo was active in community service, he must still face the consequences of his criminal acts.

He knew full well what he was doing and he was a serial offender, she said.

[kueytoc]

Mt. Pleasant homes deep, dark past

By iProperty.com Singapore December 10th, 2010

Singapores colonial black-and-white houses were built primarily by Britains civil construction administration, the Public Works Department (PWD).

The black-and-white buildings were built to house the colonial administrations senior officials and their families. Most were on a grandiose scale partly out of imperial ambition, but also due to the need for an open, airy living space in Singapores humid climate.

The PWD built many of the colonial administrations police buildings, including the Hill Street Police Station and Barracks in 1934, which is now the multi-colour shuttered MICA building.

However, one colonial house along Mount Pleasant Road, which was formerly the administrative and policing centre of Singapore, stands out.

The old police academy sits adjacent, while the gazetted officers - now known as senior officers mess hall is to the rear. Records report that that a Police Mess with Servants Quarters and Garages at Police Depot was completed in 1931. Here, mainly unmarried British police officers stayed, the upper floor housed the living quarters, while the ground held the dining room and bar.

The Mess even had its own servants and cook, while the Singapore Police Force website reports that Friday nights were social nights, with music and dancing, and these were attended by unmarried and married officers and their guests.

The current tenant, Kinchem Hegedus, believes that the Mount Pleasant house was built to house the senior police officer in Singapore.

While the PWDs records have been lost, Julian Davison, author of Black and White The Singapore House 1898-1941, believes that the theory is very possible as the style of the Mount Pleasant houses in general indicates construction in the late-twenties or early thirties by the PWD, which certainly did other work for the police at the time.

Unusually for black-and-white houses, the building is topped by a distinctive peaked room that perches atop the roof. Kinchem was advised by friends in the military that it served as a lookout point and gave the residence a commanding 360-degree view of the surrounding area.

A bastion of British power it may have been, but by 15 February 1942, the house was barely a few miles from the front lines of the advancing Japanese army that had swept through Malaya.

To the north, an observer would have seen a fluttering white flag being raised above the radio station on nearby Caldecott Hill to signal the unconditional British and Commonwealth surrender.

With the advent of Japanese rule, the house on Mount Pleasant was occupied by a senior officer in the feared Japanese secret police: the kempeitai - the equivalent to Nazi Germanys Gestapo - and the force behind the infamous Sook Ching Massacre of Chinese in Singapore.

Following the Japanese surrender, the post-war British commission into Japanese war crimes found that the outhouses and stables at the rear of the house were used to house comfort women women in wartime, primarily Chinese, who were forcibly kept as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers.

Ghost stories abound about the house and the nearby Bukit Brown and Mount Pleasant cemeteries.

Taxi drivers have refused to take passengers home at night for fear of encountering a vampiric pontianak ghost, a white-clothed female spirit who preys on the living and is reputed to haunt the area near the old police academy.

A Malay bomoh, a kind of Malay witchdoctor, has also offered to exorcise the house and the Singapore Paranormal Society is said to have detected multiple presences there.

In 2008, Mas Selamat, quickly to become Singapores Most Wanted, escaped from a nearby detention centre and the island-wide manhunt for him began at the residences along Mount Pleasant. Worse, food had gone missing from this homes fridge and the door to the dining room had somehow become unlocked.

A terrifying experience for those in house was to follow when 15 heavily-armed Gurkhas (elite Nepali mercenary soldiers searched the house the day after Mas Selamats escape.

To their relief, the Gurkhas reassured them there were no terrorists hiding there.

All images are property of Bud Hayman, a freelance photographer currently based in the USA, unless otherwise stated. To see more of his work, go to www.budhayman.com.

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Jail gave me a sort of freedom: Ionescu

By Faris – December 16th, 2010

One year on after a fatal hit-and-run crash that killed a young Malaysian, has justice been served?

In his first media interview following his release from a Bucharest prison late last month, former Romanian diplomat Silviu Ionescu, 50, shared that his time in jail “was the most peaceful in recent years of my life.”

The New Paper reports how Ionescu was given a VIP cell and although he had to wake up at 6am every day, inmates could decide if they wanted to play table-tennis and go to the gym or library.

Most of the time though, Ionescu and his cell mates — a former judge and ex-chief prosecutor — would play backgammon, chess and card games.

Ionescu served six-and-a-half-months in prison under preventive custody in Romania since his arrest in May over two hit-and-run accidents in Singapore that took place exactly a year ago from Wednesday.

The accidents left Malaysian Tong Kok Wai, 30, dead and two others injured. The former charge d’affaires at the Romanian embassy in Singapore is accused of being the driver of the embassy car that knocked down the three men, charges he still denies.

Currently free but under judicial supervision, Ionescu cannot leave Bucharest and has to report to the court when summoned.

“Even if people will not believe me, this period of six months and eighteen days that I spent in prison was the most peaceful in recent years of my life,” he told Romanian news website Cancan Online.

When asked by another Romanian news website Libertatea if it was better in jail than “outside”, Ionescu said that jail gave him a sort of “freedom” although he had to obey prison restrictions, such as a timetable and fixed sleeping hours.

“For me, it was a very quiet period in which I tidied up my thoughts. I rested as I have not done… in the past 20 years,” he said.

Still, Ionescu admitted that life in prison was not a bed of roses. “In prison, life is tough. I had to get used to restrictions,” he said.

These included showering with warm water only twice a week and having to boil his own water every day. As he is diabetic, food was also an issue.

But he added that he was not scared in jail and was “not demoralized”. He also claimed to have had nightmares during his first few weeks in prison. Cell mates had told him that they saw him “talking to various people who were not present”.

Although a Singapore state coroner found Ionescu guilty of being at the wheel during the hit-and-run accidents in March this year, Ionescu has steadfastly refused to to return to Singapore to face charges.

With no extradition treaty between Singapore and Romania, Ionescu has chosen to stand trial in his own country but this has been delayed several times. His trial in Bucharest opened on October 6 but was later adjourned. He’s now due to be in court again on Jan 12.

This time, Ionescu plans to do all he can “to prove my innocence”, he said.

“I will use all means possible. I’ll get to the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) of needed,” he told Libertatea.

When told of Ionescu’s description of his prison life, Mdm Yenny Young, the widow of Mr Tong Kok Wai, 30, who was killed in the hit-and-run accident on Dec 15, told TNP, “He had lost his freedom inside. I don’t think anyone can enjoy life in prison.”

“I saw his (recent photograph from papers. His hair (turned) all white and he looked so haggard,” she said.

Mdm Young added, “Maybe he said (that) to make himself feel better.”

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Like talking to dead people: Lee Kuan Yew

WikiLeaks: Singapore Lee says Myanmar 'stupid'

By ALEX KENNEDY,Associated Press - Wednesday, December 15

SINGAPORE – Singapore statesman Lee Kuan Yew considered Myanmar's junta leaders "stupid" and "dense," according to classified U.S. documents released this week by WikiLeaks.

The Singapore leader said dealing with Myanmar's military regime was like "talking to dead people," according to a confidential briefing on a 2007 conversation between Lee and U.S. Ambassador Patricia L. Herbold and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Christensen released by WikiLeaks.

The 87-year-old Lee is known for his outspoken and blunt assessments of world affairs, but avoids publicly insulting the leadership of foreign countries. Lee was prime minister from 1959 to 1990 and remains a senior adviser to his son, current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

A cable released by Wikileaks a couple of weeks earlier quotes Lee calling North Korea's leaders "psychopathic types with a 'flabby old chap' for a leader who prances around stadiums seeking adulation." The reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is from a cable citing a May 2009 conversation between Lee and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg.

Lee has not commented on the releases, while Singapore's government has dismissed them as "gossip" and cautioned against taking them out of context.

In the most recently released cable, Lee said China had the most influence over Myanmar's leadership of any foreign country and that Beijing was worried the country would "blow up" and thus threaten Chinese investments there.

"Lee expressed his scorn for the regime's leadership," the leaked cable said. "He said he had given up on them a decade ago, called them 'dense' and 'stupid' and said they had 'mismanaged' the country's great natural resources."

Lee said India was engaging Myanmar's leadership in a bid to minimize China's influence, but that "India lacked China's finer grasp of how Burma worked," according to the cable.

Lee said a group of less 'obtuse' younger military officers could take control and share power with democracy activists, "although probably not with Aung San Suu Kyi, who was anathema to the military."

After more than seven years under house arrest, pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi was released Nov. 13, a week after Myanmar's first election in 20 years, which were won overwhelmingly by a pro-military party. Critics have slammed the polling as a sham aimed at cementing military rule.

Singapore has questioned the veracity of some documents purportedly leaked by Wikileaks and published by some Australian newspapers. The reports quote Singapore diplomats as making unflattering remarks about Malaysia, India, Japan and Thailand during meetings with U.S. diplomats.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, Singapore's Foreign Ministry said "what Singapore officials were alleged by WikiLeaks to have said did not tally with our own records."

"One purported meeting (between Singapore and U.S. diplomats) did not even take place," it said.

Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo told reporters earlier this week that, in any case, such cables were interpretations of conversations by U.S. diplomats, and therefore shouldn't be "over-interpreted."

"These are in the nature of cocktail talk," Yeo said. "It's always out of context. It's gossip."

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Former teacher jailed for lewd SMSes

By Kai Fong – December 16th, 2010

A former primary school teacher was jailed for 10 months on Thursday for trying to get two 13-year-old boys to join him in indecent acts.

According to The Straits Times, Chock Soon Seng, 33, sent a series of lewd messages to the secondary school boys and tried to get them to watch obscene films and masturbate with him.

The court heard that he committed the offences between 2008 and May 2009 when he was teaching at a government primary school.

He had taught for the past six years at the time and was single.

Chock met the first boy, a 13-year-old secondary two student, in 2008 through an online chat portal under the pseudonym “Alex”.

Upon exchanging mobile phone numbers, Chock sent the boy a lewd message that suggested they perform an indecent act together. The boy declined but Chock persisted and even requested to meet up.

He followed up with a video call asking the boy to perform a sexual act for him to see. The boy hung up.

Refusing to give up, Chock sent more than 40 SMSes to the boy on October 2, 2008.

The boy reported the matter to his mother and together, they lodged a police report the next day.

In May 2009, Chock attempted the same ruse on a secondary one student studying at an adjacent school where the ex-teacher worked.

He also got the boy to forward him the telephone numbers of two friends, messaging one of them the next day to invite him to watch pornography and masturbate together.

The victim told his mother and his parents reported the matter to the police. The mother and son then met up with the boy’s discipline master, who called Chock and arranged to meet at a neighbourhood police post that evening on May 7.

When confronted, Chock admitted sending lewd messages and apologised to the boy’s parents.

According to Channel NewsAsia, his lawyer, Mr Anthony Lim, mitigated by expressing the former teacher’s remorse. Mr Lim added that Chock did not target his own students nor did he persist after the victims blocked his calls.

The lawyer sought a week’s jail and fine for his client.

But Deputy Public Prosecutor Edmund Lam said the former primary school teacher “led a double life of trying to defile the innocence of and corrupt young persons”.

“He would have clearly known that procuring such acts over a video call (with) school children was clearly wrong and abhorrent,” added Mr Lam.

Chock, who pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted sexual exploitation of a child, could have been jailed up to two years and fined S$5,000 for each offence.

He has appealed against his sentence and is now out on S$20,000 bail.

[kueytoc]

ALAMAK !...'malu' lah.

Upskirt video man is former youth PAP leader

By Faris December 15th, 2010

A sales manager found guilty of shooting hundreds of upskirt videos with a camera pen has been revealed to be a former youth Peoples Action Party leader and a recipient of the Public Service Medal at this years National Day Awards.

Soo Ee Hock, 35, was sentenced to nine months jail on Tuesday after pleading guilty to 12 counts of intruding the privacy of women, with the remaining charges considered during his sentencing. He faced a total of 201 charges, committed between November 2008 to March last year.

The father of one is currently out on $20,000 bail, pending his appeal against the sentence.

Socio-political website Temasek Review first reported that Soo is the former young PAP Chairman of Punggol South. A check on the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) website also confirmed he was awarded the Public Service Medal this year despite the fact that he was arrested last July.

According to the PMO website, the medal, instituted in 1973, is awarded to any person who has rendered commendable public service in Singapore or for his achievement in the field of arts and letters, sports, the sciences, business, the professions and the labour movement.

Despite his arrest, Soo also continued to serve in his official capacity as young PAP chairman of Punggol South from 2009 to 2010. He was also a chairman of the Punggol Park Community Centre Management Committee, where he led a team of volunteers in planning and implementing grassroots initiatives.

In a short bio that was posted on the Peoples Association website, Soo wrote: Im deeply honoured that so many people trust me to hold this responsibility. When I was first appointed, I felt I had a mammoth task ahead. But with the tremendous support Ive been receiving from my team and residents, Im really enjoying every moment managing events at the CC.

Soo was arrested by the police on 7th July 2009 after he was caught shooting upskirt videos by a woman at Bishan Junction 8.

Two weeks ago, a district court heard how Soo would clip a black camera pen to the side of his laptop bag. He would then switch on the device and place the bag under the skirts of his victims as they were going up the escalators.

He admitted in court he targeted women wearing mid-length to short skirts, in places such as Ang Mo Kio Hub, Compass Point shopping mall in Sengkang, and Junction 8 in Bishan.

Videos transferred to his laptop were subsequently burned onto a CD. A forensic examination report stated that 528 upskirt video files were later found.

According to his lawyer, Mr Jeffrey Beh, Soo found the camera pen in early 2008 and used it later that year to record upskirt images to obtain sexual thrills until he was caught.

He could have been jailed for up to one year and/or fined on each charge.

During his sentencing, district judge Lee Poh Choo noted in his judgement that even if Soo was active in community service, he must still face the consequences of his criminal acts.

He knew full well what he was doing and he was a serial offender, she said.

Career 'GONE with the lusty WIND' !

Upskirt video man gets nine months jail

By Faris December 15th, 2010

A sales manager was sentenced to nine months jail on Tuesday for intruding the privacy of women by shooting hundreds of upskirt videos with a camera pen.

Soo Ee Hock, 35, pleaded guilty to 12 counts, with the remaining charges considered during his sentencing. He faced a total of 201 charges for the offence.

The father of one is currently out on $20,000 bail, pending his appeal against the sentence.

Two weeks ago, a district court heard how Soo would clip a black camera pen to the side of his laptop bag. He would then switch on the device and place the bag under the skirts of his victims as they were going up the escalators.

His offences took place from November 2008 to March last year. He admitted in court he targeted women wearing mid-length to short skirts, in places such as Ang Mo Kio Hub, Compass Point shopping mall in Sengkang, and Junction 8 in Bishan.

Videos transferred to his laptop were subsequently burned onto a CD. A forensic examination report stated that 528 upskirt video files were later found.

According to his lawyer, Mr Jeffrey Beh, Soo found the camera pen in early 2008 and used it later that year to record upskirt images to obtain sexual thrills until he was caught.

Soo was only arrested at Junction 8 shopping mall on July 7 last year when a woman reported him to a cleaner. He could have been jailed for up to one year and/or fined on each charge.

District Judge Lee Poh Choo noted in his judgement that even if Soo was active in community service, he must still face the consequences of his criminal acts.

He knew full well what he was doing and he was a serial offender, she said.

[kueytoc]

Controversial comments taken out of context: Foreign Minister Yeo

By Ewen Boey – December 12th, 2010

Foreign Minister George Yeo has defended past and current Foreign Affairs senior diplomats — Peter Ho, Bilahari Kausikan and Professor Tommy Koh — saying their highly controversial comments on Singapore’s Asian neighbours were taken out of context.

Mr Yeo slammed the release of the comments, which he described as “gossip” and “cocktail talk” that should have remained confidential.

While he did not deny the comments were made, he added that his ministry would not be checking the veracity of the remarks as they had taken place in an informal and confidential setting.

“I think it’s best that we respect the confidentiality of diplomatic communications,” he said on The Straits Times.

“People say things in a blunt and forthright way. I don’t think we should divorce (it), even if true what is said, from the context.”

The reactions come after a fresh batch of diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks contained explosive comments by the trio of high-ranking Singapore diplomats.

Among the comments made:

– Malaysia is a “confused and dangerous state” due to “incompetent politicians”

– M’sian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim did “indeed commit the (sodomy) acts he was indicted for”

– Thailand’s political elite is dogged by corruption and its crown prince is “erratic” and “easily subject to influence”

– Japan and India were struggling to deal with China’s influence due to their “stupid” behaviour

The remarks were made during separate meetings in 2008 and 2009 with US officials.

Mr Ho and Mr Kausikan were both permanent secretaries at the MFA at the time, and the latter still holds that position. Mr Koh is the ministry’s ambassador-at-large.

One cable that deals with Malaysian opposition leader Mr Anwar’s sodomy case, dated November 2008, reveals that Singapore intelligence officials told their Australian counterparts that Mr Anwar was indeed guilty of sodomy, a claim he has steadfastly denied.

It read: ”The Australians said that Singapore’s intelligence services and Lee Kuan Yew have told ONA (Australia’s Office of National Assessments) in their exchanges that opposition leader Anwar ’did indeed commit the acts for which he is currently indicted’.”

The document said this assessment was made on the basis of “technical intelligence”, a term likely to describe intercepted communications.

The ONA is also recorded as saying that Mr Anwar’s political enemies “engineered the circumstances from which the sodomy charges arose” and that although it was a “set up job”, ”he probably knew that, but walked into it anyway’.”

However, on Sunday, Anwar questioned what was reported when he reacted via micro-blogging site Twitter and tweeted in Malay, “Source? Polis SB Msia. Bukti tak ada (Who is the source? Malaysian police special branch. There’s no proof of any such thing).”

Another cable at a meeting in September 2008 detailed Mr Kausikan telling US Deputy Secretary of Defence for East Asia, David Sedney, that there was a “distinct possibility of racial conflict” which could cause ethnic Chinese from Malaysia to “flee” and “overwhelm” Singapore.

“A lack of competent leadership is a real problem for Malaysia,” said Kausikan.

He added that ruling Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak needed to prevail politically in order to avoid prosecution in connection with the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.

“Najib has his neck on the line in connection with a high-profile murder case,” he said.

In a cable earlier the same year, Mr Ho reportedly described the Malaysian PM as ”an opportunist” who would ”not hesitate” to be critical of Singapore if it is “expedient for him to do so.”

Malaysia’s top politicians have yet to react to the comments but outspoken UMNO Youth Chief, Khairy Jamaluddin, blasted Singapore when he tweeted, “Seriously, where do the Singaporeans get off snitching on their neighbours as though the entire region is a basket case apart from them?”

He added: “Worst job in the world right now: Singapore diplomat.”

Damning assessments of other ASEAN nations’ politicians were also made in other WikiLeaks files.

In the same September 2008 meeting with Mr Sedney, Mr Kausikan condemned Thailand’s political elite, indicating that Thaksin Shinawatra is “corrupt” along with “everyone else, including the opposition”.

Mr Kausikan also criticised Mr Thaksin’s close relationship with the Thai crown prince, saying that he “made a mistake in pursuing a relationship with the crown prince by paying off the crown prince’s gambling debts”.

In a September 2009 memo, Mr Koh made damning comments about Japan and India, labelling Japan as “the big fat loser” with regards to improving ties between China and ASEAN, with another cable saying, “He was equally merciless towards India, describing his ‘stupid Indian friends’ as ‘half in, half out’ of ASEAN.”

Mr Koh is also recorded praising China’s ”investment and intelligent diplomacy in the region”.

He is reported to have said, “I don’t fear China. I don’t fear being assimilated by China” while he also hailed its decision to invest in Africa ”without lecturing them about human rights and democracy as the West does”.

Like talking to dead people: Lee Kuan Yew

WikiLeaks: Singapore Lee says Myanmar 'stupid'

By ALEX KENNEDY,Associated Press - Wednesday, December 15

SINGAPORE – Singapore statesman Lee Kuan Yew considered Myanmar's junta leaders "stupid" and "dense," according to classified U.S. documents released this week by WikiLeaks.

The Singapore leader said dealing with Myanmar's military regime was like "talking to dead people," according to a confidential briefing on a 2007 conversation between Lee and U.S. Ambassador Patricia L. Herbold and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Christensen released by WikiLeaks.

The 87-year-old Lee is known for his outspoken and blunt assessments of world affairs, but avoids publicly insulting the leadership of foreign countries. Lee was prime minister from 1959 to 1990 and remains a senior adviser to his son, current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

A cable released by Wikileaks a couple of weeks earlier quotes Lee calling North Korea's leaders "psychopathic types with a 'flabby old chap' for a leader who prances around stadiums seeking adulation." The reference to North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is from a cable citing a May 2009 conversation between Lee and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg.

Lee has not commented on the releases, while Singapore's government has dismissed them as "gossip" and cautioned against taking them out of context.

In the most recently released cable, Lee said China had the most influence over Myanmar's leadership of any foreign country and that Beijing was worried the country would "blow up" and thus threaten Chinese investments there.

"Lee expressed his scorn for the regime's leadership," the leaked cable said. "He said he had given up on them a decade ago, called them 'dense' and 'stupid' and said they had 'mismanaged' the country's great natural resources."

Lee said India was engaging Myanmar's leadership in a bid to minimize China's influence, but that "India lacked China's finer grasp of how Burma worked," according to the cable.

Lee said a group of less 'obtuse' younger military officers could take control and share power with democracy activists, "although probably not with Aung San Suu Kyi, who was anathema to the military."

After more than seven years under house arrest, pro-democracy leader Suu Kyi was released Nov. 13, a week after Myanmar's first election in 20 years, which were won overwhelmingly by a pro-military party. Critics have slammed the polling as a sham aimed at cementing military rule.

Singapore has questioned the veracity of some documents purportedly leaked by Wikileaks and published by some Australian newspapers. The reports quote Singapore diplomats as making unflattering remarks about Malaysia, India, Japan and Thailand during meetings with U.S. diplomats.

In a statement issued late Tuesday, Singapore's Foreign Ministry said "what Singapore officials were alleged by WikiLeaks to have said did not tally with our own records."

"One purported meeting (between Singapore and U.S. diplomats) did not even take place," it said.

Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo told reporters earlier this week that, in any case, such cables were interpretations of conversations by U.S. diplomats, and therefore shouldn't be "over-interpreted."

"These are in the nature of cocktail talk," Yeo said. "It's always out of context. It's gossip."

[kueytoc]

Attention seekers or a cry of help ?

By Faris – December 17th, 2010

Is it the start of a worrying trend or are Singaporeans finally breaking the shackles of conformity and daring to be “different’?

This after Singapore police arrested a woman in her 50s for boarding a bus stark naked near Ubi Avenue on Wednesday evening, the third such case of a “n.u.d.e” arrest this month.

Last Sunday, a naked man in his 20s or 30s was arrested after trying to order coffee in the buff from a 24-hour McDonald’s outlet along Queensway.

Earlier this month, a heavily tattooed man in his 40s sat naked for hours near an HDB block in Ang Mo Kio. He was later arrested after several warnings.

Psychologist, Mr Daniel Koh, 39, who owns Insights Mind Centre, told Yahoo! SEA, “Some of them might be attention seekers or would like to be the focal point of news while others might actually be crying out for help.”

“In the case of the latter, authorities should step in and such people should be reviewed, ” he said.

Mr Koh added that there are also those who do it out of sexual gratification or to arouse themselves.

In the latest case, the elderly woman who boarded the bus naked was initially dressed in a black blouse and pants. According to eyewitnesses, she later started to strip down by the roadside in full view of passers-by.

Oblivious to the stares by members of the public, the woman folded her clothes into a neat pile and put them in a plastic bag which she later placed on the pavement.

She then walked towards a bus stop in front of Block 302, Ubi Avenue 1, and stood a few metres away from the shelter, even though it was drizzling slightly.

Madam Huay who witnessed the incident said in Mandarin to The New Paper, “When she continued stripping, I felt more and more nervous. She was stark naked in front of peak-hour traffic. There were about 100 people staring at her.”

One of them, Mr Lim Fam Meng, a barber in his 50s said in Mandarin, “I was scared silly, but it was also an interesting sight. All of us who were in the shops came out. Passers-by also stopped to gawk.”

When bus service 22 arrived, she boarded the bus and sat in the back row. However, the bus did not move off and when she refused to budge or even accept a jacket to cover her modesty, passengers were told to sit at the front of the bus and women to the back, where they could help shield her.

Passengers were eventually transferred to a second bus service 22 that arrived later.

It was only when two police officers arrived and made her wear a yellow raincoat that she complied and left with them in a police car. She was later found to be of unsound mind.

The incident is the latest in a string of recent cases involving people appearing n.u.d.e in public. In the first six months of the year, there have already been 105 such incidents — one about every other day.

It is understood that those arrested and who are believed to be mentally unsound are usually referred to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for psychiatric review.

Dr Koh has also advised members of public to be cautious when confronted with such people.

While it is important for males not to go near them for fear of being accused of molest, he said whoever is around should determine whether the naked man or woman is in a rational mood.

“They should just monitor the situation because such people might act defensive and be aggressive towards whoever approaches them. In this case it is best to leave them alone and leave it to the authorities,” he added.

Those found guilty of being n.u.d.e in public, or in a private location, but visible to those outside, faces a fine of up to $2,000 and up to three months in jail.

[kueytoc]

Talk 'KOCK'...Sing 'SONG'

N.Korea vows to strike back if South holds island drill

AFP - 1 hour 29 minutes ago

SEOUL (AFP) - – North Korea's military threatened Friday to strike back with deadly firepower if South Korea goes ahead with a live-fire drill on a border island which the communist state shelled last month.

The North "will deal the second and third unpredictable self-defensive blow" to protect its territorial waters if the South holds the one-day drill scheduled sometime between Saturday and Tuesday, it said.

"It will be deadlier than what was made on November 23 in terms of the powerfulness and sphere of the strike," said the military statement carried on the North's official news agency.

The bombardment of Yeonpyeong island last month killed two marines and two civilians, injured 18 people and damaged dozens of homes, and came after a firing drill into the sea by South Korean marines based on the island.

The latest warning sharply raised the stakes in the regional crisis, amid diplomatic moves to ease tensions. The news agency said the military's message was delivered earlier Friday to the South. Related article: SKorea drill risks 'chain reaction': US general

The South, outraged at the first shelling of civilian areas since the 1950-53 war, has fortified Yeonpyeong with more troops and artillery and vowed to use air power against any future attack.

Its military has said artillery will be aimed away from the North as usual during the upcoming drill, but it will respond strongly if provoked.

Members of the US-led United Nations Command are scheduled to observe the drill and about 20 US soldiers will play a supporting role.

But a top US general Thursday voiced concern over a possible "chain reaction".

General James Cartwright, vice chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the drill was being held on a "well-established and well-used" range in a transparent way, but could draw a North Korean reaction.

"What we worry about obviously is... if North Korea were to react to that in a negative way and fire back at those firing positions on the islands, that would start potentially a chain reaction," Cartwright told reporters.

"What you don't want to have happen out of that is for... us to lose control of the escalation."

Russia urged South Korea not to go ahead, warning the action risked escalating tensions with North Korea "in order to prevent a further escalation of tensions on the Korean peninsula," according to a foreign ministry statement.

Seoul military spokesmen had no immediate comment on whether it would proceed with the drill. The defence ministry, in a statement, suggested it would.

"Our military's stance is that we do not need to react to every single threat and unreasonable statement," it said.

US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Thursday there was "nothing provocative or unusual or threatening about these exercises".

The North Koreans "would be very unwise to react to what South Korea has announced", Crowley said.

Yeonpyeong is just south of the Yellow Sea border drawn by United Nations forces after the war, which the North refuses to recognise. It claims the seas around the island as its own maritime territory.

In an earlier message, Pyongyang's official website Uriminzokkiri warned that another war with South Korea would involve nuclear weapons.

Pyongyang's disclosure last month of an apparently working uranium enrichment plant -- a potential new source of bomb-making material -- also heightened regional security fears.

US politician Bill Richardson, a veteran troubleshooter with North Korea, is paying a private visit to Pyongyang to try to ease tensions.

And the US envoy to stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear disarmament, Sung Kim, held talks in Seoul Friday with his South Korean counterpart Wi Sung-Lac.

In Beijing, a US delegation led by Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg wrapped up three days of "useful" discussions on the Korean peninsula situation, the US embassy said.

The United States, China, the two Koreas, Japan and Russia are members of the denuclearisation forum which the North abandoned in April 2009, a month before its second atomic weapons test.

Host China along with Russia is trying to revive the forum to ease the crisis, and the North says it is willing to talk. But the United States, South Korea and Japan say it must first mend ties with the South and show genuine seriousness about abandoning its nuclear drive.

[kueytoc]

Bones found on island may belong to Amelia Earhart

AFP - Friday, December 17

WELLINGTON (AFP) - US aircraft history buffs are hopeful that tiny bones along with artefacts from the 1930s found on a remote Pacific island may reveal the fate of pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart.

In one of aviation's most enduring mysteries, Earhart took off from Lae, in what is now Papua New Guinea, while attempting to circumnavigate the globe via the equator in 1937 and was never seen again.

A massive search at the time failed to find the flyer and her navigator Fred Noonan, who were assumed to have died after ditching their Lockheed Electra aircraft in the ocean, according to the Amelia Earhart Museum.

Now aviation enthusiasts from US-based group The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) say they have evidence suggesting the pair made it safely to Nikumaroro Island in Kiribati and lived as castaways.

TIGHAR executive director Rick Gillespie said the group, which has carried out 10 expeditions to Nikumaroro over the past 22 years, found three small bone fragments on the uninhabited island earlier this year.

Gillespie said the bones appeared to be part of a human finger, although they could also be from a turtle, and had been sent to the Molecular Science Laboratories at Oklahoma University for DNA analysis.

"We're very hopeful that this will produce the result we're looking for," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Thursday.

Backing Gillespie's theory that Earhart ended her days stranded on Nikumaroro, he said TIGHAR also found artefacts dating from the 1930s, including a woman's make-up compact, broken mirror and small US-made bottles.

"We have every reason to believe that this is the site where Amelia Earhart lived and died as a castaway," he said.

Gillespie said his decades-long quest to determine Earhart's fate had involved "many ups and downs", so he was not yet claiming to have definitive proof she washed up on Nikumaroro but the possibility was worth investigating.

"The magic of the Earhart mystery is such that just having a bone, that may be a human bone, that may lead to DNA that may turn out to match Earhart's DNA is of great interest," he said.

He said even if the Oklahoma DNA tests showed a link to Earhart, the bones would be tested by a second independent laboratory to verify the findings.

"This has been a very rigorous investigation," he said.

[kueytoc]

Parents didn't want Sonia to wed Rajiv Gandhi: cables

AFP - Sunday, December 19

NEW DELHI (AFP) - – The parents of India's ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi opposed her marriage to former premier Rajiv Gandhi, US embassy cables provided by WikiLeaks revealed Saturday.

Gandhi, India's most powerful politician, also said in August 2006 she would "write a book someday with the whole story" as to why she did not take the job of premier in 2004 after engineering the Congress' surprise election win.

The unusually unguarded comments came in a conversation with Maria Shriver, wife of California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and were contained in a cable on the meeting marked "confidential".

The cable was titled, "A garrulous Sonia Gandhi opens up to Maria Shriver," suggesting how freely the normally reticent Indian leader chatted.

Shriver met Italian-born Gandhi on an official visit to India. A reading of the cable indicates the conversation might have been taped by accompanying US embassy officials, the Times of India newspaper reported.

The cable says Gandhi, who arrived in India as a shy bride in her early 20s, and is "reserved in public... revealed a rare glimpse of herself" as she spoke about women's issues and political life.

"Her comments and demeanour put the lie to cocktail party suggestions that she courts Manmohan Singh's job," the cable said.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was a quiet economist who was vaulted to power when Gandhi refused the premier's job after leading Congress to power in 2004.

The cable says: "Gandhi revealed her own parents objected to her marriage to Rajiv Gandhi and she 'resented their position' and went ahead and married him anyway."

Rajiv Gandhi became premier in 1984 and was assassinated in 1991 by a suicide bomber.

The Congress leader, daughter of an Italian builder, met her husband in Cambridge, where he was studying at the university and she was studying English.

After her marriage she transformed into a sari-clad Indian who speaks fluent Hindi. Her years in the Gandhi household, when her strong-willed autocratic mother-in-law Indira - slain in 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards - was premier, gave her an intimate insight into India's turbulent politics.

Among other things, the cable revealed Gandhi repeatedly implored her husband to avoid politics, fearing he too might meet a violent death.

She took up politics after Rajiv Gandhi's death when "the right was becoming strong in India and Congress weak".

The cable said Sonia Gandhi revealed left-of-centre leanings that supported a strong role for government in ensuring social progress and a staunch opposition to the social conservatism of the Hindu right.

"Despite her carefully erected Indian persona, her basic Italian personality is clearly evident in her mannerisms, speech and interests," the cable added.

[kueytoc]

Where to get free legal downloads

Posted Tue 21 Dec 2010 12:29 GMT

by Ben Gilbert in Behind The Music

As we all know, Christmas is a time for giving and sharing. Everyone is excited by the gifts that await on 25 December and even the music industry, which is still coming to terms with the host of new challenges brought on by the continuing online revolution, is getting in on the act, offering countless free songs to fans.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) recently revealed illegal downloads had hit 1.2 billion in 2010. But that's not stopped many of our favourite bands and artists getting into the festive spirit with exclusive giveaways. But where is the best place to snap up these songs and which are actually worth checking out?

As far as the big names go, at the time of writing you can click on each artist's name to download the new R.E.M. track, Discoverer', which is taken from forthcoming album Collapse Into Now' and the Monarchy remix of Kylie Minogue's Better Than Today''.

Elsewhere, some of the heavyweights in music commerce have launched special initiatives to tie in with Christmas. Amazon is giving away a free song every day for the first 25 days of the month, with Emma's Imagination, Macy Gray, Richard Thompson, Hurts, Tom Jones, Ellie Goulding and Chiddy Bang amongst those already featured.

As in previous years, when it has given away material by the likes of Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse, Elbow and The Smiths, Apple's annual '12 Days Of iTunes' launches later this month. A Kings Of Leon bundle, including latest video Radioactive' and Because Of The Times' album track Arizona', is reported to be amongst the offers.

Its exclusive series of giveaways, which allow music lovers to put the audio and video onto their iPod, iPhone or iPad, runs from 26 December until 6 January. It should also be noted that the content, which encompasses many other areas of entertainment, will only be free for 24 hours.

Free downloads are a regular feature at 7 digital, one of iTunes' biggest rivals, and it currently has a broad selection of music that can be grabbed for nothing (which you can check out here), featuring songs both from well known groups and other aspiring acts.

Another online destination, Bandcamp, specialises in showcasing independent acts, developing a pioneering relationship with musicians to distribute their music to fans. Amongst those currently available are former Grandaddy star Jason Lytle and a remix of Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' album by LMNtlyst.

Some of the other lesser known acts worth checking out include Alexandria, Sambillen, Secret Knives or, for those hanging out for this month's big day, a host of free Christmas MP3s, all of which are currently available at Bandcamp.

If that wasn't enough to leave your portable music player gasping for air, one of the world's biggest groups are scheduled to give away an entire, 15-track "sonic journal", for free online on 25 December. The new Gorillaz album, The Fall', will be posted on their official website. But be warned, this is for members only...

[kueytoc]

Ruling PAP a no-show at major political forum

By Faris December 17th, 2010

The ruling Peoples Action Party (PAP) skipped a major political forum on Thursday evening which was attended by the leaders of Singapores political parties.

Organised by socio-political website, The Online Citizen, the event which was held in a packed ballroom at the Quality Hotel in Balestier was attended by over 350 people, made up mostly of the public, party activists and the media.

Leaders of the various political parties including Kenneth Jeyaretnam of the Reform Party (RP), Chia Ti Lik of the Socialist Front and Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party, Goh Meng Seng (NSP), were guest panellists.

Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), Chiam See Tong of Singapore Peoples Party (SPP) and Gerald Giam representing The Workers Party (WP) were also present during the 2-and-a-half-hour dialogue.

However, as the political leaders took their seats, a chair was conspicuously empty the PAP was the only political party who chose not to send a representative.

Before the forum began, moderator Mr Choo Zheng Xi, 25, addressed the elephant in the room and said, We did actually invite the PAP. We sent an email to the Secretary-general of the PAP, Mr Lee Hsien Loong, and reached out to an MP who said was keen to come. He asked for clearance but did not get it.

Yahoo! SEA understands the MP in question was Mr Zaqy Mohamad, who is Vice-Chairman of the young PAP and head of the partys media subcommittee and new media engagement.

In an email reply to Yahoo! SEA, the MP for Hong Kah GRC declined comment and suggested we contact PAP HQ for an official comment.

When asked about the PAPs absence, Reform Party chief Mr Jeyaretnam said it was a definitely a huge loss for PAP itself. It was an opportunity to engage those in the forum just like the debates held in the US or the UK.

Forum moderator, Mr Choo, a 25-year-old law graduate added, It was not just plain debate, it was a debate of substantive quality. Real, significant issues were profoundly discussed tonight and the PAP missed out on it.

A member of the public who called himself Chetan said the PAP missed a chance to connect to their constituents ahead of the next General Election.

They missed an important process of dialogue with other political figures. Perhaps they are still suspicious of the new media, said the 30-year-old engineer.

However, a blogger who was present, Donaldson Tan, said that although their absence was disappointing, the party actually did not have much to lose.

Its not much of a loss for the party. The PAP conducts its own forums and meetings with its activists to gain feedback from the ground. But their absence did mean that there was no robust debate between the ruling party and the opposition, said the editor of the New Asia Republic.

Among the broad range of issues covered during the forum conducted in an open QnA style were housing, income inequality, the role of the media and civil liberties such as freedom of assembly and the Internal Security Act (ISA).

During the session, the audience was allowed to pose questions specifically to a political party or general questions which all speakers on the panel could answer.

Housing proved to be the hottest issue of the night with Mr Chee of the SDP calling on the Housing Board Development (HDB) to be more transparent and reveal the true costs of building flats in order to solve the issue of high housing prices.

But all came to an agreement that public housing should be made accessible for the bottom 30 per cent of the population.

On the role of the media, Socialist Fronts Mr Chia said, We can use the internet to force the mainstream media to be more objective. Media in other countries is supposed to be the watchdog and that is the role that the media has to rise up to.

On the issue of the controversial ISA law, which allows people to be detained without trial, Mr Chiam said, It is arbitrary. Very dangerous. There is no emergency now unlike the 1940s before calling for compensation for those who have been unfairly detained.

An audience member also raised the question on whether the ruling party, PAP, was divorced from reality and creating policies which are not in tune with its citizens.

62-year-old retiree, Mr Bentley Tan told Yahoo! SEA, I have grown up with PAP and they have done well in the initial years but now they are not listening to the ground.

The old guard is passionate, sincere and dedicated in serving the people, but now public service is more of a career, he added.

WPs Mr Giam addressed the issue during the forum and said, The PAP has a extensive network of grassroots who provide feeback. But worse than being out of touch is to ignore that feedback. It is time to get the opposition more representation in parliament.

On what voters can expect in the next GE, due to be held by Feb 2012, Reform Partys Mr Jeyaretnam said, Dont keep grumbling and then on polling day, you vote for the incumbent, and then go on grumbling for the next four years. Do something about it.

Summing up the event, Andrew Loh, 44, and co-founder of organiser TOC, said the forum was organised to allow the public to see political parties talking about real issues which have affected Singaporeans since the last general election in 2006″.

Human rights activist, Ms Braema Mathi, added, I can sense a maturing in way public approach opposition and their response. (The opposition parties) seem to have greater clarity on the approaches they want to take.

[kueytoc]

Confidence in public sector shaken this year: experts

By Alicia Wong – December 20th, 2010

From the bumpy hosting of the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) to the Orchard Road floods, confidence in the public sector may have been shaken this year, according to some political observers.

And in the year ahead, Singaporean residents will continue watching the government closely, in particular its measures toward housing and immigration.

Yahoo! Singapore spoke to several political observers, as they took stock of this year’s significant events and shared their expectations for 2011.

One highlight was the inaugural YOG hosted in Singapore in August. While it was a celebrated event for some, the event was marred by a string of issues ranging from food poisoning to an over-blown budget.

Senior Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Dr Terence Chong, termed the YOG a “bittersweet event”. It celebrated youth and sports but triggered doubt over the government’s strategy of using“mega events” to distinguish Singapore as a global city when the YOG received poor international attention.

“I don’t think (the YOG) turned out the way the Government had hoped for it to be,” commented another political watcher and law lecturer Eugene Tan. He questioned if the plan to showcase Singapore to the world and excite young Singaporeans “backfired”.

“It was a tremendous success to all those involved but to the average Singaporean, the price tag of close to half a billion SGD was perhaps a bit too much for most Singaporeans,” he pointed out.

Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Viswa Sadasivan also highlighted events that collectively ”jolted public confidence” in the public sector usually touted for its efficiency.

He cited, the floods, SMRT’s train graffiti, the S$12m Singapore Land Authority fraud saga, gang violence and the revelation of Mas Selamat Kastari’s escape.

Mr Tan also felt public confidence has been “dented but not severely affected”. Since the government prides itself in being effective and efficient, this dent is “of course a significant setback”, he said.

He acknowledged, Singaporeans could have unrealistically high expectations that will have to be managed going forward.

But former NMP Zulkifli Baharudin disagreed public confidence was affected this year.

“All these events, to me, reinforces the fact that Singapore is vulnerable,” said Mr Zulkifli, citing vulnerability in the country’s physical and social make-up.

He said, Singapore must do things well because it lacks natural resources, but mistakes are inevitable. “The key is to learn from mistakes and not repeat them.”

He urged Singaporeans not to be “armchair critics” but to “do something about it”.

On the bright side, 2010 was also a year of highs in other areas.

The Republic’s economic growth surged an estimated record-breaking 15 per cent.

The land swap deal between Malaysia and Singapore provided closure to a “decades long thorny issue” and paved the way for “deeper trust and substantive cooperation”, said Mr Viswa.

Watchers highlighted the launch of the integrated resorts (IRs), Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa, as significant in boosting tourist arrivals and tourist dollars. Yet, the IRs have also given cause for concern for social ills such as problem gambling, they cautioned.

Dr Chong also pointed to the public censure of Christian pastor Rony Tan’s insensitive remarks about Buddhism in February indicating a “self-regulatory mechanism at work in society”.

Going forward, observers predicted immigration, housing and cost of living will continue to be hot topics in 2011 and key issues in the General Election, due by February 2012.

This year, escalating property prices and immigration policy drew some of the hottest debates, prompting the government to introduce property cooling measures. In 2009, the government signalled a slower intake of immigrants.

Mr Viswa cautioned, it would be difficult for the government to “adequately satisfy the ground” even if HDB prices rise at a slower pace as this is an emotional issue.

He added, top civil servants’ salary is likely to be “a hot-button issue” linked to many other concerns as there appears to be a “diminishing tolerance for mistakes by (the) government.” It is a case of being a victim of its own success, he noted.

Mr Zulkifli also predicted some structural adjustments in the economy, for instance, as Singapore looks toward exporting to China, rather than selling mainly to the West.

“We saw terrorism of a different kind (this year),” he said, referring to WikiLeaks. “That is something that may also occupy our time.”

Mr Tan, who expects the GE to be in the 2nd quarter of 2011, and the Presidential Election to be in August, said next year should see “new levels of political excitement”.

“Immigration and the associated issues of high property prices, sense of over-crowdedness and increased competition in schools and at work will feature in the GE,” he said.

Added Mr Tan, “The PAP (People’s Action Party) government has sought to assure that Singaporeans do come first but a deep sense of unease persists. If that unease gets heightened in the GE, we could expect the PAP to pay a price.”

[kueytoc]

Dilemma over Singapore’s national identity

By Ewen Boey – December 21st, 2010

By Seah Chiang Nee

In the midst of a historical demographic change, Singapore’s hard-headed government seems less inclined nowadays to talk about national identity than it once was.

This is a departure from the earlier post-independence years, when promoting values like patriotism and nation-bonding were top priorities.

Today, they remain important goals but are more discussed among citizens than the policy-makers.

Many Singaporeans are worried about the erosion of national fervour in an island state bloated by the recent arrivals of hundreds of thousands of foreigners.

On the government’s part, priority seems to have shifted – at least for now – from promoting nationalism to persuading Singaporeans “to embrace foreigners”.

I suppose there’s a time for everything.

It probably seems untimely for the authorities to preach an intensification of national feelings at a time when so many foreigners – and new migrants – are settling here.

“They are caught in a bind. Harping on national sentiments now could be seen as isolating the new arrivals,” said a neighbourhood doctor.

With its short history, Singapore still needs to continue to build a national identity among Singaporean citizens or risk losing its economic achievements, he said.

The question is: How, when citizens may soon become a minority?

Recent conflicting remarks by ministers have not helped to clarify to citizens where they are heading – or indeed if Singapore is a country or merely a global city.

Law (and Home Affairs) Minister K. Shanmugam surprised everyone when he told visiting American lawyers that Singapore was not a country.

He was defending the government’s human rights records. The minister said Singapore was viewed as a deviation from the democratic norm because it was seen primarily as a country.

“This is where most people make a mistake. I have tried to explain that we are different. We are a city. We are not a country,” he said.

It sparked off a public debate, especially among young national servicemen sworn to defend the nation. Baffled party members sought an explanation.

In an indirect effort to control damage, Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said Singapore could not afford to have a ratio of more than 40% foreign workers.

“We felt we are more comfortable with that than thinking we are nothing but a global city. We are also a country,” he said.

In an earlier unrelated event, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said that despite its achievements, Singapore was not yet a nation.

“Are we a nation yet? I will not say we are. We’re in transition. Please remember this is an ideal which we may not completely reach, but because we have this ideal, we’ll continue to make progress,” he said.

All this talk has not gone down well with Singaporeans, who find it incomprehensible and reflective of government uncertainty.

Songshus blogged: “From my observation over the last two or three decades, it seems to me that our government is only trying to succeed economically.

“We should also develop on other fronts that would bind our people together, and promote cultural and identity awareness. The average Singaporean really does not know what future direction we are heading towards.”

Critics of the government, however, are less surprised.

For years, they have accused the People’s Action Party (PAP) of governing Singapore like a profitable corporation, even paying themselves as Board members.

Increasingly during the past decade, the political leaders had been talking more of Singapore as a global city.

During his recent visit to Moscow, MM Lee said his vision of Singapore was that it would no longer be seen as just an Asian city one day – but as cosmopolitan and connected to the world.

In view of this line of thinking, Shanmugam’s description of his country as a city – not a country – should not be surprising.

The question is: what will happen to the national identity that the PAP had wanted to forge from day one of independence?

Can it work with so many foreigners coming and going as though it were a hotel?

Some analysts noticed that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who faces a tough general election soon, recently talked of wanting to build – not nationalism – but “The Singapore Spirit”.

Not many people remember now, but in 1989, Singapore’s leaders called for a “national ideology” to prevent a “harmful drift towards Westernisation” and promote a national identity.

No one bets it will be revived anytime soon.

While moulding a national identity has not been a popular leadership topic these days, the same cannot be said of Singaporeans. Many are pushing for a stronger rallying effort.

During National Day, another popular discussion centred on the question: “Will the rally make us feel for Singapore again?”

Some Singaporeans believe the country now has an identity crisis as a result of foreign arrivals now making up one third of the population.

Others agree that while it is causing some social dislocation, “we should not blame the whole problem on the government”.

Muhamad Nur appealed to all to treat Singapore as a nation – not just a city. “This is our only solution.”

A visiting student from Switzerland, Christabel, disagreed with those who declared that Singapore has no identity or is a sanitised corporate state.

“Remember as a country, you are only around 40 years old. Identity will come naturally, given more time.”

A former Reuters correspondent and newpaper editor, the writer is now a freelance columnist writing on general trends in Singapore. This post first appeared on his blog, www.littlespeck.com on Dec 5, 2010.

[kueytoc]

China bars English words in all publications

On Wednesday 22 December 2010, 16:43 SGT

Chinese newspapers, books and websites will no longer be allowed to use English words and phrases, the country's publishing body has announced, saying the "purity" of the Chinese language is in peril.

The General Administration of Press and Publication, which announced the new rule on Monday, said the increasing use of English words and abbreviations in Chinese texts had caused confusion and was a means of "abusing the language".

Such practices "severely damaged the standard and purity of the Chinese language and disrupted the harmonious and healthy language and cultural environment, causing negative social impacts," the body said on its website.

"It is banned to mix at will foreign language phrases such as English words or abbreviations with Chinese publications, creating words of vague meaning that are not exactly Chinese or of any foreign language," it said.

"Publishing houses and the media must further strengthen the regulated use of foreign languages and respect the structure, glossary and grammar of the Chinese and foreign languages."

GAPP said companies which violated the regulation would face "administrative punishment" without offering specifics.

English abbreviations such as NBA (National Basketball Association), GDP (gross domestic product), CPI (consumer price index) and WTO (World Trade Organization) are commonly used in Chinese publications.

They are also often used in everyday conversation, and government officials routinely use the abbreviations at press conferences.

The body left a small loophole, stipulating in the regulation that "if necessary", English terms could be used but must be followed by a direct translation of the abbreviation or an explanation in Chinese.

The names of people or places in English also must be translated.

One editor at a Beijing publishing house told the China Daily that the new GAPP regulation could actually result in reduced understanding.

"The intention of protecting the Chinese language is good. But in an age of globalisation, when some English acronyms like WTO have been widely accepted by readers, it might be too absolute to eliminate them," the editor said.

"Conversationally, people also use these words all the time, so the regulation could create discord between the ###### and written uses of language."

China has launched several campaigns in recent years to try to root out poor grammar and misused vocabulary in official usage.

Sometimes those campaigns go awry, resulting in awkward Chinglish. In the run-up to last month's Asian Games in Guangzhou, signs were posted in the metro that read "Towards Jichang". "Jichang" means airport.

Earlier this year, China Central Television and Beijing Television told the China Daily that they had received notification from the government to avoid using certain English abbreviations on Chinese programmes.

But English abbreviations are still commonly heard on regular news and sports broadcasts.

The Global Times quoted an editor at a Beijing publishing house as saying finding translations for globally used acronyms would be time-consuming and confusing.

"I wonder how many people understand 'guoji shangye jiqi gongsi', when IBM is instantly recognisable," the editor said.

[kueytoc]

Ex-MOE scholar escapes jail time for Child P.O.R.N. Charges

By Faris – December 21st, 2010

Singaporean undergraduate, Jonathan Wong, who was arrested and charged with 17 counts of being in possession of child pornography videos, was given a suspended sentence for his offences in a York Crown Court hearing on Monday.

The 23-year-old received a six-month sentence suspended for two years. The suspended sentence means that if he commits offences again withing the next two years, he will put be put in jail for six months.

Ms Elizabeth Ogborn, communications manager for the Crown Prosecution Service said that Wong’s sentence is a typical sentence for the nature of such offence. She added that the maximum would have been five years.

“He has also been given an eight-month supervision order, which means he has to work with the probation service to address his behaviour during that time,” she told The Straits Times.

In addition, the ex-scholar has to forfeit his computer and sign the sex offenders’ register for seven years. This will ensure that he is known to police as a sex offender. Wong also has to notify them if he changes his name or address, or spends more than a week away from home. He will also not be allowed to work with children.

A few hours after the hearing, his university, the University of York, said it was expelling him. However, it is unclear whether Wong, 23, will have to leave the country, as he could potentially lose his student visa.

Ms Ogborn could not explain how the arrangements would be affected if Wong has to leave Britain as a result of expulsion from his school. She added, that will be a matter for the probation service and the immigration authorities to decide.

Shortly after the hearing, the University of York issued a statement saying it was “a matter of great regret that a member of the university has been convicted of these criminal offences”.

“On the recommendation of the Vice-Chancellor, University Council has permanently excluded Jonathan Wong on grounds of gross misconduct,” it added.

The university had earlier suspended Wong, a third-year history student, after he pleaded guilty in October to 17 charges of downloading child pornography between July 15, 2008 and March 19 this year.

After a police raid in March, Wong was arrested for being in possession of about 50 video clips of child pornography in which 25 were rated in some of the highest categories of hardcore pornography. Some of the videos also featured girls as young as 6-years-old.

A former gifted education programme student at Hwa Chong Institution, Wong had secured a Ministry of Education (MOE) overseas teaching scholarship to study in York. The Ministry revoked his scholarship last month and promised to tighten selection procedures for potential scholars in the future.

In 2002, it was revealed that Wong was publicly caned when he was a student in the then-Chinese High School for peeping in a primary school girl’s toilet, but the incident had not been included in his testimonials.

According toThe New Paper, Wong’s parents also plan to sell their house in order to pay the scholarship bond fee of $S175,000 to MOE. It is not known where the Wongs live in Singapore and the type of property they own.

Reaction to news of Wong’s suspended sentence has been mixed.

A 23-year-old former schoolmate of Wong’s, who only wanted to be known as Mr Lim, told TNP, “It’s ridiculous. It’s as good as not punishing him. People like him with past offences should be dealt with more severely.”

Mr Balint Ovari, 22, a Hungarian student in York University, felt that Wong should be “watched closely” for more than the two years in the sentence.

He added, “Wong had a very large number of child p.o.r.n videos, so it seems to me he has serious issues. I think he should be made to seek psychiatric help.”

On the other hand, there are those who said the sentence was fair. Some of Wong’s friends continue to reaffirm their support for him.

Ms Catriona Chau, a 21-year-old Singapore student at Durham University and a close friend of Wong, said, “He has always been a good friend to me and a genuinely helpful and friendly person. Maybe that’s why people are more ready to support him.”

Singaporean Leslie Tay, 22, who lived in the same college campus as Wong, felt that the sentence was fair. “I believe the greatest punishment for Wong was having his scholarship revoked and having brought shame to himself,” he said.

[kueytoc]

Penang named city with best street food

Fatty Loh vs Fatty Loh

ANN - Sunday, December 19

Kuala Lumpur (The Star/ANN) - TIME magazine has acknowledged what food connoisseurs in the region already know -- that Malaysian state of Penang is home to the Best Street Food in Asia. Although the honour was made six years ago, no other place has since come close to knocking it off the coveted spot.

With a reputation to live up to, food is serious business in Penang. Over the years, some establishments have resorted to legal action to protect their trademark or gone to court over partnership dispute. In a few cases, it has resulted in simmering family feuds, especially when relatives or siblings set up branches to continue the family legacy.

Mention Fatty Loh and chances are most chicken rice lovers would have heard the moniker. While debate continues over whether the dish originates from Malaysia or Singapore, it matters little to Loh Seng Hooi who has been selling chicken rice in Penang's Fettes Park for over 30 years.

Seng Hooi, 45, is more concerned with preserving his grandfather's nickname Fatty Loh for his business. His business card says "Fatty Loh only at Fettes Park" and he believes the location where it all started is enough to set him apart from others trying to take advantage of the "Fatty Loh" name.

His shop, voted "King of Chicken Rice" by a local Chinese daily, offers more than 10 side dishes to the main attraction.

As the eldest of three siblings, Seng Hooi helped his late father, Kok Keong, run his chicken rice stall as a child and claims to be the only one who learned his secret recipe. The elder Loh started the business at a coffeeshop stall in 1969, operating over a covered monsoon drain. The old shop in Jalan Fettes has since made way for development.

"Now we have a restaurant near the original location that can accommodate up to 240 diners. Until today, the chicken rice is prepared by me and my wife Mei Mei as I want the quality to be consistent. Believe me, the art of boiling and roasting the chicken is tricky," says the jovial towkay.

His younger brother, Seng Lee, 44, has an outlet in Nagore Road, less than 3km away. In 1998, Seng Lee, took their uncle to court over the use of the trade name and won the case. He regrets resorting to legal action to solve the dispute.

"At the end of the day, we are family. But if an outsider tries to use the Fatty Loh Chicken Rice name, I will definitely sue," he warns.

While Seng Hooi takes pride in his skilful preparation of the chicken, Seng Lee says it's his thick, spicy and tangy sauces that distinguish his chicken rice from competitors. His customers include those from Japan, Hong Kong and Britain and his outlet's Facebook page is filled with reviews from both locals and foreigners.

On sibling rivalry, Seng Lee says they are both their father's children and each has a right to the famous moniker. "Our mother is 76 now and she won't want to see her children fighting. Family squabbles will only make us a laughing stock."

Another iconic street food is the Penang tau sar pneah and Him Heang, which was established in 1948, is considered the Gucci of traditional biscuits. Fans wax lyrical over its traditional authenticity and fragrant golden brown filling.

Him Heang's popularity is largely due to its exclusivity as it does not have any agents or outlets elsewhere other than its flagship store and bakery along Burma Road.

"My grandfather Seow Oh Thor founded Him Heang. He was very creative and came up with the original Tambun biscuit which is smaller than the tau sar pneah.

"Some say the biscuits originate from Tambun on the mainland but it's rubbish. My grandfather just decided to call it that," a third generation family member, who only wanted to be known as Seow, says.

Him Heang's operation, which began in a pre-war house in inner George Town, moved into its current double-storey building along Burma Road in 1993.

"We are still a family-run business and all biscuits are made by hand. If you didn't get it from here, it's not an original Him Heang," she tells, adding that the company does not have aggressive marketing strategies, confident that it would thrive entirely on the strength and freshness of its products.

Indeed, the regular traffic jams outside the building attests to its popularity.

No doubt, its main business competitor is Ghee Hiang -- Penang's oldest tau sar pneah maker. Opened in 1856 by the Teng family, Ghee Hiang has grown into a household name. The founder invited a Fujian pastry

chef to Penang and adopted the name Ghee Hiang. Then in the 1900s, Ghee Hiang Baby Brand Pure Sesame Oil was introduced, using methods and techniques learned from Fujian, China.

In 1926, it was bought over by three friends (remembered today as Ch'ng, Ooi and Yeoh).

In the past, Ghee Hiang had a reputation of having bad customer relations but many felt it was a small price to pay for the tasty traditional treats. Frustrated customers used to leave the shop empty-handed, after being chided for not making their orders early.

In the late 1990s, machines were brought in to cope with increasing demand. Harder pastries resulted and customers shunned the brand.

That was in the past. Workers went back to kneading dough by hand and spearheaded by one of its directors, Ch'ng Huck Theng, the company embarked on an ambitious marketing campaign.

Today, while its old shophouse remains standing near the island's old ferry terminal, modern outlets with adorable baby mascots (inspired by its logo) have mushroomed around town. One is located just a short walk away from Him Heang.

Singaporean Joanna Qua, 44, spent two days hunting for Penang's famous tau sar pneah.

"I knew it was a 'must-buy' product but I didn't know which was the best since both Ghee Hiang and Him Heang popped up in an online search. I asked a local and she told me Penangites preferred the latter, so I went on my quest.

"Because we weren't familiar with the roads, we went around in circles before ending up at the Ghee Hiang outlet, thinking it was Him Heang!" the housewife laughs.

Retiree Lee Hong Chuan, who lives in Petaling Jaya, says Ghee Hiang's history makes it his top choice.

"When I visit Penang, I usually get 'orders' from friends for biscuits from both Ghee Hiang and Him Heang."

Penang-born Lee also speaks of his love for the Nyonya apong across the road, outside the Union Primary School.

There are two stalls there -- Apong Guan and Apom Chooi -- run by the Uan brothers. Both brothers, according to their customers, are not on speaking terms. But they are not short of fans -- their rich and creamy apong attracts crowds like bees to a flower.

Refusing to reveal much about his elder brother, Cheng Guan, 61, says he has been there for more than four decades.

From the moment Cheng Guan starts pouring the batter into the nine-hole apong pan griddle at 9.30am, the orders start to pile up. The friendly Penang Free School old boy is busy cracking jokes even as he tells his customers of the wait ahead.

Local and outstation cars pulling up beside the road is a usual sight.

"My customers include those from Britain and Australia. They always come for my apong whenever they are here on holiday. For a fee, I teach others my skill but classes are not for locals -- otherwise I will have too much competition," he says only half in jest.

Cheng Chooi, who says he has been selling there since the 1960s, is less chatty but similarly, a nice chap.

"Please don't ask me about our relationship because I don't want any more squabbles. I am already 68 and have been selling apong for more than 50 years now. I will retire soon and pass on the trade to someone else," he says.

Cheng Chooi believes that all Nyonya apong are the same. There is no secret recipe and the only thing that makes one better than the other is how generous the seller is with the ingredients.

Post-graduate student Karen Lai, 29, who is back from Japan for a break, is full of praises for Apom Chooi.

"My mother studied at the primary school here and she used to eat Chooi's apong. Now I'm hooked," she grins.

Cheng Guan's kuih is 40sen each while his brother's is 5sen cheaper. Orders of hundreds of pieces per customer is quite normal.

Like the Lohs and Uan brothers, keen competition among hawkers selling similar items are a norm rather than the exception on the island. And each rival trader can have his or her own strong following from as far as New York to Kuala Lumpur. These foodies will always return to their favourite haunts like a homing pigeon every time they make a stop on the island.

[kueytoc]

Temasek Holdings’ Indonesian assets to be seized ?

By Kai Fong – December 22nd, 2010

The Indonesian Anti-Monopoly Agency reportedly wants to seize the assets of Temasek Holdings in Indonesia over unpaid fines amounting to over S$17 million.

According to Indonesian newspaper Koran Tempo, the Singapore state investment company has failed to pay fines to the Indonesian government after being found guilty of violating the country’s business competition laws in 2007.

It added that the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) has begun compiling a list of assets owned by Temasek, although KPPU would have to go through the courts to seek the confiscation of any assets or to enforce fines.

Temasek reportedly owes fines 15 billion Rupiah (S$2.2 million) for each of its eight subsidiaries — including SingTel and ST Telemedia — that are operating in the country.

“We’re working with the central Jakarta district court to gather data for the plan,” said Erwin Syahril, a KPPU commissioner, in a phone interview with Reuters.

“If they don’t want to pay, then we have to seize assets worth as much as the fine,” he said, adding the agency had not set a deadline for the recovery.

However, Goh Yong Siang, senior managing director, strategic relations at Temasek, told Channel NewsAsia that “Temasek has not received official notification from the supreme court.”

The court ruling was first made in November 2007 after KPPU accused Temasek of engaging in monopolistic and anti-competitive behaviour in the country’s cellular market through two Indonesian telecommunication companies — Telkomsel and Indosat.

By managing the two telcos through its subsidiaries, Temasek had control of more than 50 per cent of the local cellular market which led to decreased competition and resulted in price leadership by Telkomsel, causing consumer loss, said KPPU.

Maintaining that the KPPU’s allegations were “misconceived”, Temasek began filing appeals in December 2007 but lost the final appeal in May this year after the Indonesian Supreme Court upheld the KPPU judgement.

Experts CNA spoke to were surprised by report.

Anand Srinivasan, Associate Professor of Finance, NUS Business School, said: “I’m not sure if they would actually seize the assets — I’m thinking this is more of a threat than an actual desire to seize the assets. That’s my personal opinion.”

Bernard Lee, deputy director, Sim Kee Boon Institute for Financial Economics, SMU, meanwhile, says the case will be closely watched by the business and investment community.

He said: “If this particular action is actually being taken, you’re probably going to hear uproar from the institutional investment community… First, they’re probably going to ask for clarification on the rules and secondly, people are going to worry about the political risk involved in investing in any particular country.”

[kueytoc]

'Call of Duty: Black Ops' sales top one billion dollars

AFP - Wednesday, December 22

NEW YORK (AFP) - – "Call of Duty: Black Ops," the new videogame from Activision Blizzard, has crossed the one-billion-dollar mark in worldwide sales, the company said Tuesday.

Activision, citing internal estimates, said "Call of Duty: Black Ops" reaped more than 650 million dollars worldwide in the first five days after it went on sale in November and has gone on to earn more than one billion dollars.

"In all of entertainment, only 'Call of Duty' and 'Avatar' have ever achieved the billion dollar revenue milestone this quickly," Activision Blizzard chief executive Bobby Kotick said in a statement.

Activision said more than 600 million hours have been logged playing "Call of Duty: Black Ops" since the launch of the game on November 9.

Activision said that according to Microsoft, the average player logs on more than once a day and plays for more than one hour each time.

"Even more remarkable than the number of units sold is the number of hours people are playing the game together online which are unprecedented," said Eric Hirshberg, chief executive of Activision Publishing.

"Call of Duty: Black Ops" is the seventh title in a franchise that has won a devoted following since the first version was released in 2003.

The latest installment takes gamers on a series of Cold War-era military adventures.

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" was last year's biggest grossing console game with more than 20 million units sold around the world.

[kueytoc]

Japan's Gundam robot crushes Chinese imitator

By AFP Monday December 20, 2010 09:00 pm PST

TOKYO (AFP) - - Japan's 18 metre (60 foot) tall Gundam combat robot, hero to millions of sci-fi animation fans, emerged victorious Monday after apparently banishing a lookalike rival from a Chinese amusement park.

Japanese devotees of the "Mobile Suit Gundam" anime series had been up in arms after television news reports showed a giant golden figure that closely resembled their beloved battle-bot towering over a fun park in China.

Japan's Fuji Television showed images of the robot, of similar height and with similar features to a giant Gundam that has been on show and drawn large crowds in Tokyo and then coastal Shizuoka in recent months.

Like Gundam, the Chinese figure bears the logos EFSF and WB on its shoulders -- short, as all Gundam fans know, for 'Earth Federation Space Force', which controls space colonies, and 'White Base', Gundam's mothership.

A spokesman for China's Floraland park in Chengdu, Sichuan province, was quoted as telling Fuji TV that the design was "completely original", but that the park was "remodelling" it because some people said it looked like Gundam.

On a Japanese chatroom, one outraged writer thundered that "they have no shame", another critiqued the Chinese robot's colour scheme, and a third suggested it should be called "Gansaku" -- Japanese for "counterfeit".

Gundam's human defence forces were readying for a possible copyright battle.

"We have got information that a copied statue of 'Mobile Suit Gundam' is being built at a theme park in Sichuan," said an official of Sotsu Co., which handles trademark and merchandising issues for the TV and movie series.

"We are now collecting information as the details are still unclear."

Officials at the Chinese theme park denied the existence of the statue on Monday. A witness told AFP the statue had been removed from the premises.

The Gundam anime series, first aired in Japan in 1979, and its spin-offs, have won legions of enthusiastic fans in many countries, including China.

The copyright battle may not be over yet. Fuji network also showed figures at the park that resembled characters from Japan's "Ultraman" sci-fi series.