David Cassidy, teen heartthrob of ‘The Partridge Family,’ dies at 67 (Adds confirmation from publicist, details of his death) Nov 21 (Reuters) – David Cassidy, a singer and actor whose androgynous features and jaunty voice made him a 1970s teen heartthrob on the television show “The Partridge Family,” died on Tuesday at age 67, his publicist said.
Cassidy entered a hospital over the weekend for treatment of liver failure. He died in the intensive care unit of a Florida hospital, his publicist, Jo-Ann Geffen, said in a telephone interview.
In “The Partridge Family,” Cassidy played a young man named Keith Partridge, whose widowed mother formed a touring pop band with her children. Cassidy’s character sang lead.
The sitcom ran from 1970 to 1974 and produced a number of hit songs, including “I Think I Love You,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart in November 1970.
Geffen released a statement from his family that said Cassidy died surrounded by family “with joy in his heart and free from the pain that had gripped him for so long.”
A video of a snake inside a commuter train serving the Bogor-Angke route went viral on social media on Tuesday evening.
The 30-minute video was first posted on Instagram by @JktInfo, at around 5 p.m. and received 1,399 comments only after an hour.
Train operator PT KAI Commuter Jabodetabek (KCJ) spokeswoman Eva Chairunisa apologised for the incident, saying that the snake, which was found at around 11 a.m. on Tuesday, reportedly belonged to a passenger.
Eva urged commuter train passengers to obey the rules and warned that passengers found violating rules would be removed at the nearest station.
In the video, the snake is first seen in a luggage rack near a female passenger. The snake is then dragged by a male passenger, who goes on to smash the snake before disposing of it outside the train’s door.
SINGAPORE: Punggol, Tengah and the Jurong Innovation District will be the first areas in Singapore to have self-driving buses and shuttles plying their roads come 2022.
Three towns in these areas will be planned with autonomous vehicle (AV)-friendly features, Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said on Wednesday (Nov 22) at the opening of Singapore’s first AV test centre, called the Centre of Excellence for Testing and Research of AVs.
Starting from 2022, self-driving buses will be deployed in these three towns during off-peak periods. At the same time, autonomous shuttles will provide first-last mile connection for residents and workers in these districts, Mr Khaw said.
“We expect that the AVs will greatly enhance the accessibility and connectivity of our public transport system, particularly for the old, families with the young, and the less mobile,” he said.
“More importantly, we can gain further insights into how we can develop new towns or refurbish existing ones for the safe mass deployment of AVs.”
The inside of an autonomous vehicle (AV) shuttle by NTU. (Photo: Kevin Kwang)
He said a Request for Information was launched on Wednesday to seek feedback from industry and research institutions on the key requirements and enablers needed for successful pilot deployments in these towns.
The Request for Information will be open until May 31 next year, he added.
On the opening of the AV test centre, Mr Khaw said it will provide “a safe, controlled and configurable testing environment” for developers to trial their technologies using a range of simulated on-road scenarios, with advanced test equipment like pedestrian simulators.
Other scenarios include aggressive driving and interactions with other road users, including cyclists and users of personal mobility devices, he added.
To monitor the progress of AV testing, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) has installed seven 360-degrees closed-circuit television cameras at the centre. Real-time footage from these cameras will be streamed back to LTA’s Autonomous Vehicle Monitoring and Evaluation System, known as OLIVE.
Mr Khaw noted that ST Kinetics and NTU ERI@N have plans to start their autonomous bus trials at the new centre next year.
SINGAPORE: What happens when young Singaporeans with few or no friends of a different race become the house guest of a family they have never met, to experience life in another Singaporean culture?
Would the three or four days they spend outside their comfort zone leave them with a better cultural understanding – or would negative stereotypes and existing prejudices prove too much to overcome, for both the host family and their guest?
To find out the answers, On The Red Dot conducted this social experiment for a new series, offering several Singaporeans a rare chance to break out of their cultural bubble and uncover misconceptions about each other’s way of life.
This, at a time when the younger generation is identifying less with the cultures of others, according to a Channel NewsAsia-Institute of Policy Studies survey of racial integration between Singapore’s three major races that was released this month.
Cheryl Lew, 24, who went to a SAP school which had few non-Chinese students, celebrated her first Deepavali with the Anand family.
As part of their new journey, a Chinese-Singaporean undergraduate had to attend a Malay wedding solemnisation, held in a mosque, for the first time, while another young Singaporean got to celebrate her first Deepavali.
For 23-year-old Divyadharshini, the experience in store for her with a Chinese-Singaporean family also offered an opportunity to heal old wounds, as she had been teased by some children when in primary school.
“You never bathe, lah. You’re dark, black,” she recalled of the taunts. The administrator, who works in an Indian company in Little India, has since shied away from mixing with other races.
Ms Divyadharshini, 23, works in an Indian company in Little India.
Before meeting her hosts, the Angs, she admitted:
I have no Chinese or Malay friends. I still don’t feel really comfortable talking to other races.
And indeed, being thrown in at the deep end threw up some uncomfortable moments for all three youths.
RACIAL REVELATIONS BY CHILDREN
One of things that shocked Ms Divya, as she is known, during her three days with the Angs was what their three children blurted out – such as how they dared not approach Indians.
During a dinner conversation, their son Aaren said: “When I was about four or five, I thought Indians were very scary.”
The admission hurt Ms Divya “a little bit”. She said: “Maybe kids are like that. As they grow, they’ll change.”
That is the hope that legal secretary Fiona holds out for her children. “There’s a particular stereotype somehow. For them, it’s because we’re of different skin colours,” she said. “We hope to change this in them, (to) accept that we can all be together.”
WATCH: The awkward things that kids say (4:17)
Ms Divya also felt a little offended when the children kept asking about the red dot on the foreheads of some Indian women. Called a “pottu”, it is to let people know that the women are married.
That explanation, however, did not satisfy Aaren, who does not have any Indian friends at school. He asked: “But then, when the Indians are married, why do they have to put (it on)? What’s the purpose?”
“(They) made me feel a little awkward and shy,” said Ms Divya, a mother of a one-year-old daughter.
CROSS-CULTURAL PUZZLES
Awkward questions turned out to be par for the course in this cross-cultural discovery for the young Singaporeans.
Nanyang Technological University student Felicia Toh, 21, who is studying Chinese, spent four days with the Umar family during a special time: The weddings of two of their daughters, Ms Amirah and Ms Hidayah.
But before Ms Toh could take her front-row seat at Al-Ansar Mosque in Bedok, where Ms Amirah, 27, was to solemnise her marriage, the bride surprised her guest by asking her: “Are you having your period right now?”
As Ms Toh wondered about the “sudden question”, Ms Amirah explained: “For women to enter the prayer hall, we must be clean.”
21-year-old NTU student Felicia Toh finds herself under-dressed when she meets her hosts, the Umars.
It became one of several things Ms Toh learnt about the Malay/Muslim culture. Having rarely mixed with other races in her day-to-day life, she had only known that the community was very religious.
“(They) aren’t allowed to drink alcohol, and they can’t eat pork. That’s all I know,” she said before meeting the Umars.
Part-time events host and aspiring actress Cheryl Lew, 24, also had questions for her hosts, the Anands, borne out of her limited contact with other races. She had attended a Special Assistance Plan school with hardly any non-Chinese students.
Though she was afraid that she might unintentionally offend the Indian family, Ms Lew ventured to ask: “When you all speak, do you really keep shaking your heads?”
Mr Shaun Anand took the question in his stride and replied: “It’s just like a form of acknowledgement, like yes and no. But probably, over time, it has become exaggerated.”
WHITHER MULTIRACIAL SINGAPORE?
On The Red Dot producer Poh Kok Ing was initially a little surprised that the show’s researcher found youths who did not have friends from other races in multiracial Singapore.
“But… if you think about it, for some of us, our interaction with people of other races is merely transactional, like a Chinese buying food from a Malay stall, or colleagues working together,” he said.
On a personal level, many still stick to their own race and speak in their own language, whether it’s a conscious decision or not.
Ms Amirah’s sister Nadirah agrees that many Singaporeans stay within their comfort zone.
“When I first met Felicia, it was quite awkward to converse with her,” she said. “But after we talked things out, I just realised that maybe we just needed more exposure to each other to connect better.”
The encounters the three sets of strangers had were full of challenges. Ms Toh called Ms Amirah’s wedding solemnisation a “special experience”, yet she admitted: “There were times I didn’t really feel like I should be here.”
The experiment also marked the start of change. Ms Divya used to think the Chinese were “arrogant”, but after mingling with the Angs – her first Chinese friends, in her words – she said: “Not everyone’s the same.”
And she wants her daughter to grow up with friends of all races. She added:
I don’t want her to think Mummy only had Indian friends so (she) must have Indian friends (only).
Fiona Ang with Divya’s daughter.
To Mr Poh, what stood out in Ms Divya’s journey was what the children had said, “which showed that today’s children still harbour the same kind of racial stereotypes as the kids from a generation ago”.
“Where does that come from? And why is it so enduring? Our show doesn’t answer those questions directly, but you get a sense of why there isn’t greater interracial interaction – for example, the racial make-up of some schools,” he said.
“It’s a good starting point for an honest conversation about race in Singapore.”
Watch the series The House Guest on the programme On The Red Dot. New episodes every Friday, 9.30pm on Mediacorp Channel 5.
SINGAPORE: Bike-sharing service provider oBike said on Tuesday (Nov 21) it is working closely with police to identify two people who were seen throwing two of its bicycles into a drain in a video.
In a video that has gone viral on social media, a man and a woman in workout attire were seen pushing two oBike bicycles from the pavement into a drain.
In response to queries from Channel NewsAsia, oBike’s co-founder and chief marketing officer Edward Chen said the company was aware of the video and can verify that the bicycles belong to oBike.
A screengrab from a video circulating online shows a woman pushing an oBike into a drain. (Video: Facebook / Yeoh Pei Ching)
“It is evident that the perpetrators have damaged our bikes maliciously and we strongly condemn their behaviour. Our operations teams are working closely with the police to identify those responsible,” said Mr Chen.
The company added that it would like to take this opportunity to “encourage civic-mindedness” among its riders to create a pleasant experience for all.
The police confirmed that a report had been made and said that investigations are ongoing.
SINGAPORE: The school holidays have just started, but 10-year-old Deaclan Kua is already back in school for lessons, however it is not for the usual remedial class.
Together with several other students, the Mayflower Primary student is learning sign language, as the school prepares to take in six pupils with hearing loss in the primary one cohort next year.
A group of 12 students – most of whom had volunteered – were selected to be buddies to their deaf peers.
“Today, I learned some sign language and the roles and responsibilities of being a hearing loss pupil’s buddy. I want to help them feel normal and lead a normal life. I’m very excited to have a chance to help them as they enter this new environment,” said Deaclan.
“I volunteered to be a P5 buddy because I want to help them feel like a family member of Mayflower, so they feel comfortable and welcome,” said another student, Mary Le.
These students are being “coached” over the school holidays, so they are equipped with some basic sign language skills. They have also been given booklets and video links related to signing so they can practise at home.
The student buddies are given reading materials to help them practise their basic sign language skills at home. (Photo: Rachelle Lee)
The school said two buddies will be assigned to each deaf pupil and their role is to take care of them outside the classroom, for example, during recess time.
In class, a specialised teacher proficient in sign language will conduct lessons alongside the subject’s teacher. They will also help to look out for the deaf pupils and inform them when the school bell rings.
“We will rely very much on the teachers and the buddies to keep a lookout for their hearing loss friends. In the canteen, for example, there will be cue cards placed at the drink stall, where the children will use a choose-and-point system to indicate their preferred drink to the vendor,” said Mrs Lim Siow Ling, principal of Mayflower Primary.
“The vendors have all been briefed about this and they are preparing their cue cards. In fact, they’ve also expressed their wish to learn very simple sign language in order to do some basic communication with the students,” she added.
The rest of the school community is also looking forward to learning sign language. From next year, students and teachers can opt to take an after-school sign language module, which the school is introducing as an elective.
The lessons will take place once a week for a few months. So far, one-third of teachers have already indicated interest to take up the elective.
Previously, it was announced that school-wide infrastructure provisions such as visual announcement systems, visual fire alarms and visual door bells would be introduced.
However, these will only be available in 2021, as the school will be undergoing upgrading works soon and have to relocate to a holding site. It will not have such facilities at the temporary site.
To help the mainstream students better understand the needs of their peers with hearing loss, Mayflower Primary will be conducting assembly talks at the beginning of the new school year to “settle in the children and explain to them how learning is going to be different in the classroom”, said Mrs Lim.
“They are used to having a teacher in the classroom but now we’re going to have two. The challenges would be to quickly integrate the new community into the existing school community, and I think we have to do this by regularly having conversations with the children to help them understand that these children are no different from them,” she added.
Ms Barbara D’Cotta, one of the two specialised teacher at the school, said it is important for everyone in class to learn how to communicate with each other.
“Speaking is faster than signing and there might be that small time lapse where we have to wait for the deaf child when they answer a question in class, and I will have to interpret what the child is signing. They have to get used to the fact that one is signing and one is using speech and we have to accommodate each other.”
SINGAPORE: The French company which supplied the new signalling system for the East-West Line (EWL) on which a train collision happened last week “could have done better”, said Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Tuesday (Nov 21).
He acknowledged that Thales was faced with a “challenging situation”, having to deal with two different signalling systems on the EWL. Most of the line runs on the old signalling system, while a segment of the Tuas West Extension (TWE) runs on the new system provided by Thales.
“Still, Thales could have done better. They have acknowledged their mistake and have apologised,” said Mr Khaw.
The minister was speaking after a news conference by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), train operator SMRT and Thales detailing their findings on the train collision at Joo Koon MRT station on Nov 15.
The collision was caused when a protective “bubble” around the first train was “unexpectedly disabled” when it passed a trackside device at Clementi. This device had not been modified to be compatible with the new signalling system.
As the second train did not sense the protective “bubble”, which ensures safe distances between trains, it started to move forward automatically and hit the first train, said SMRT and LTA.
“There was no human error in this case,” the transport operator added.
For the time being, the signalling systems on the TWE and the rest of the EWL will be kept separate to “reduce the complications” of operating two different systems, said SMRT and LTA.
This means there will be no train service between two stations – Joo Koon and Gul Circle.
“I think that is a good decision,” said Mr Khaw. “To end their (Thales’) misery, we just keep this complete separation.
“Inevitably, the confidence (of commuters) will be shattered by events like this … we have to get over it and regain public confidence.”
When asked if the Government will be seeking compensation from Thales, Mr Khaw said: “That will be contractual obligations, I will leave that to LTA.”
Two trains after they collided at a train station in Singapore on November 15, 2017. (Photo: AFP / TOH Ting Wei)
On its part, Thales said it is fully cooperating in the investigation with SMRT and LTA.
“We have been organising extensively our resources from around the world to put deep emphasis, deep and meaningful understanding of that event,” said Thales vice-president Millar Crawford.
He also apologised to commuters and those injured in the train collision.
SIGNALLING PROJECT NEEDS TO BE COMPLETED SOON: KHAW
As part of the solution, the Transport Minister stressed the need to speed up the completion of the resignalling project for the entire EWL, which is why two-full day shutdowns of 19 stations on the EWL and North-South Line (NSL) are needed, to increase engineering hours.
“I hope commuters will be understanding. We will make sure that the affected stretches have enough buses.”
He added: “Having settled this one, I think SMRT will come back to its original job – which is to raise (rail) reliability.
“This is a multi-year effort. I gave myself four years, we are halfway through. If not for this incident as well as the flooding incident, we are actually making good progress, as PM described it before.”
Mr Khaw pointed out that the resignalling project “adds complications” to efforts to improve rail reliability.
“And therefore I can understand why commuters – especially those travelling on the NSL – could not understand: ‘You said things have improved, I still experience delays.’ But that is because of resignalling.”
He added that transport authorities have “turned the corner” for the NSL signalling project, which is expected to be completed by next month.
“We will wrap up the NSL and speed up implementation on EWL so that the improvement in reliability can be more visible to commuters,” said Mr Khaw. “I’m confident.”
Those were some of the more kid-friendly comments that emerged while we were battling the undead and making sure they do not breach the makeshift fort we were housed in, as we “fought” to stay alive while waiting for help to arrive.
Strapped with a game pack on our backs, customised virtual reality headsets and Razer-branded headsets sitting snugly on our heads and cradling futuristic-looking guns, six of us from Channel NewsAsia got an up-close-and-personal experience of the latest entertainment option to be made available in Singapore from Friday (Nov 24).
The military-grade backpack contains an Alienware gaming computer, says Zero Latency Singapore.
Enter Zero Latency Singapore, a 4,200-sq-ft VR gaming zone located at Suntec City that allows gamers to roam around untethered while tackling three virtual worlds: Engineerium, Zombie Survival and Singularity.
Engineerium is positioned as a “family-friendly fantasy alien world” where gamers collaborate to solve puzzle challenges, and tackle their fears of heights and the unknown, at the same time, while Singularity is for hard-core gamers looking to down killer robots and drones in zero gravity. Zombie Survival is one where players have to shoot their way to safety, protecting their fort, as help arrives (belatedly).
Singapore-incorporated operator Tomorrow Entertainment, which brought indoor adventure arena Bounce here last year, partnered Australia-based VR entertainment and gaming developer Zero Latency to bring the latter’s offering here. Customers can purchase a ticket, which includes 30 minutes of gameplay, for S$69 – although the launch price in the initial stages will be at S$59.
How the 4,200-sq-ft gaming zone, located at Suntec City, looks like.
PRICING ASIDE, GAMERS WILL COME
Executive director Simon Ogilvie, speaking to Channel NewsAsia ahead of the launch on Tuesday (Nov 21), said the company had discovered Zero Latency 18 months ago and have been in talks to bring its VR content to Singapore since.
The next step was to identify the site where Zero Latency Singapore will be based at and, from there, the whole process of setting up operations took a total of three months, Mr Ogilvie said, adding that the whole set-up cost the company “north of a million dollars”.
Players will be briefed by game masters on how to put on the VR headset and Razer headphones, as well as how to handle the weapon, ahead of entering the gaming zone.
Singapore is the first market in Southeast Asia to host Zero Latency’s VR games, and the executive director said this is because he recognises that the local consumer is “willing to pay for value” when it comes to looking for the best – whether it is in food or entertainment, among others.
With that in mind, he is confident that there will be people here keen to pay for this gaming experience.
“Do I think it is a sustainable market? Yes,” Mr Ogilvie said, noting that the company did an independent market study to suss out consumers’ appetite for premium-priced entertainment.
There will be some “sticker shock” initially, he acknowledged, but said the offering is likely to draw people back “multiple times”.
“I liken Zero Latency to be the ‘business class’ of gaming,” he said. “It won’t be available for everyone because of the price.”
However, given that there have been “several hundred tickets sold” ahead of its launch on Friday, Mr Ogilvie is optimistic that Singaporeans will take to its VR gaming and the “social experience” it elicits.
He also revealed that the company will be bringing Zero Latency to other Asian markets in the next seven months, including Hong Kong, Macau and Bangkok.
