It’s not one, but two little bundles of joy for Hong Kong actress Charlie Young and her Singaporean husband this year.

The 42-year-old shared the good news on Wednesday (April 27) by posting a photo of her newborn twins on her Weibo page.

In her post, she thanked her children for helping her and her husband understand a new aspect of love.

Young also expressed gratitude for the doctors and nurses who helped with the delivery and the people who sent well wishes during her pregnancy.

Although she did not disclose the names or gender of her babies, netizens are guessing that the twins are boys because of the blue blankets in the picture that she posted online.

The actress married Khoo Shao Tze in a star-studded wedding held in Singapore in November 2013.

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2017-01-03 16:18:04

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It’s twins for actress Charlie Young and Singaporean hubby

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minlee@sph.com.sg

BANGKOK – An heir to the Red Bull fortune failed to meet with prosecutors in Bangkok on Thursday over an alleged hit-and-run that killed a police officer five years ago — a case that has raised questions whether the justice system favors the rich and famous.

It was the eighth time that Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya has missed prosecutor orders to report to court since legal proceedings against him began in 2016.

Vorayuth was charged with speeding, hit-and-run and reckless driving that caused death in the 2012 incident.

“He sent a letter requesting to move the appointment but he can’t do this again,” Suthi Kittisuppaporn, director general of the prosecution office of the Bangkok South Criminal Court, told reporters.

Asked whether an arrest warrant would be issued for the Red Bull heir, Suthi said his office would act “according to procedure.”

Read also: Thai prosecutor again postpones indictment of Red Bull heir

“If we find him we must arrest him,” he said.

Attempts by Reuters to reach a lawyer for Vorayuth went unanswered.

Vorayuth is a grandson of the late Chaleo Yoovidhya, creator of the Kratin Daeng, or “red bull” in Thai, energy drink.

Chaleo, 88, was listed as the third richest person at the time of his death in 2012, with an estimated net worth of US$5 billion (S$7 billion), according to Forbes magazine.

Read also: Thailand’s deadly rich kids

His grandson Vorayuth, who has spent much of the past five years abroad, including in London and Singapore, according to social media posts, has previously cited work commitments abroad

In 2012, Vorayuth allegedly crashed his Ferrari into a police officer on motorcycle patrol in Bangkok’s upscale Thonglor neighborhood. He is accused of fleeing the scene and

dragging the officer’s body for several dozen meters with his car.

Vorayuth’s speeding charge expired a year after the accident. The charge of hit-and-run carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and expires in September while the reckless driving charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years of jail and expires in 10 years’ time if left unchallenged.

TONDANO, Indonesia – In a remote corner of the Indonesian archipelago, a modest synagogue stands in a tiny Jewish community that has found acceptance despite rising intolerance in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

The red-roofed building on Sulawesi island is the only synagogue in the nation of 255 million people.

Here, unlike other parts of the country, the Jewish community feel safe to practise their faith openly.

“We can wear the kippah (Jewish skullcap) in the mall or anywhere we want, it’s not a problem,” Yobby Hattie Ensel, a Jewish leader from the nearby city of Manado told AFP.

In Tondano, the “Shaar Hasyamayim” synagogue sits close to several churches and residents of different religions live, work, and worship alongside each other without incident.

Indonesia has long been praised for its moderate, inclusive brand of Islam — and this enclave of diversity is a testament to that.

But across the archipelago, intolerance has risen in recent years as more conservative forms of Islam have become popular, driven by increasingly vocal hardline groups.

Tensions in the Middle East, particularly between Israel and the Palestinians, spill over here and deepen religious divides.

Outside the safe haven on Sulawesi, those who refuse to hide their faith have faced hostility.

Yaakov Baruch, an Orthodox Jew who runs the Tondano synagogue, revealed how he was threatened with death in a Jakarta busy mall as he walked along with his pregnant wife.

“From a few floors up, they shouted at me ‘Crazy Jew’,” he told AFP, adding the group of men then ran towards him and demanded he remove his skullcap.

“They said to me: ‘We don’t want you to use your kippah in this country. If you continue to use it, we’ll kill you’.”

In 2013, the country’s only other synagogue in the city of Surabaya was demolished.

It had been the site of anti-Israel protests for years, and was sealed off by hardliners in 2009 and left to decay.

Secret worship

Indonesian rabbi Benjamin Verbrugge concedes any flare-up of tensions in the Middle East provokes hostility towards the local faithful.

“Problems between Israelis and Palestinians are a liability for me — when someone is stabbed there, it makes me uneasy here,” he said.

Faced with such open hostility, the Jews in the capital worship in secret.

Last month Verbrugge, head of the United Indonesian Jewish Community (UIJC), held celebrations for the festival of Purim, traditionally one of the most joyous days in Judaism’s calendar, hidden in a small hotel room with a handful of fellow worshippers.

The UIJC estimate there are around 200 practising the faith in the country, believed to be the descendants of traders from Europe and Iraq who came to Asia to trade.

The organisation was set up to bring the nation’s Jews together.

The Jewish population in Indonesia is believed to have peaked at around 3,000 in the years before World War II, according to Rotem Kowner, a professor from the University of Haifa in Israel.

The fact that those remaining are scattered across the archipelago means Verbrugge has to defy rules that forbid Jews from using electrical gadgets on the Sabbath to lead group prayers online via the LINE messaging app.

The small community also faces more practical challenges, such as the fact kosher food is not widely available in Indonesia, said Phinechas, a local convert to Judaism.

“I try my best to be a good Jew but I can’t manage it 100 per cent,” he added.

Increasing intolerance

Faith-based tension has been mounting in Indonesia, undermining its pluralist reputation.

Christian churches and mosques where Muslim minorities pray have been closed due to pressure from hardliners.

Shiites and Ahmadis — regarded as heretics by some Sunnis — have been forced from their homes in mob attacks and on occasion even killed.

Successive governments have been criticised for failing to tackle the radicals for fear of being accused of attacking Islam.

Due to their small number and the fact most live in the shadows, the nation’s Jews have not been a major focus of radical Islamic anger in Indonesia and have largely escaped the serious attacks directed at other minorities.

But having a low profile also brings problems.

According to the law, freedom of worship is guaranteed for all religions, including Judaism, but in practice Jews cannot be honest about their faith.

Authorities allow Indonesians to put six different religions on their all-important ID cards — Islam, Protestantism, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Confucianism.

ID cards are vital for accessing government services, and for doing things such as registering marriages and births, meaning most Jews lie and put “Christianity” on the documents.

The religious affairs ministry said in 2013 people who do not follow one of the six authorised faiths can choose to put nothing on their cards, but Indonesian Jews AFP interviewed had all put “Christian” to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

Despite the challenges, Indonesian Jews nevertheless insist they are an integral part of the nation.

Baruch said: “[The] Jewish community of Indonesia, we were in this country far before the country was born. It means we are part of this country as well.”

PHUKET – The distraught Thai mother of a baby girl killed by her boyfriend in a murder he broadcast on Facebook Live has described the harrowing moment she stumbled across the video and rushed to alert police.

The killing on Monday evening caused revulsion both in Thailand and around the world, sparking renewed debate about what can be done by social media giants to more quickly remove live broadcasts of violent crimes, suicides and murders.

Jiranuch Trirat, a 22-year-old from Phuket, was left devastated after her boyfriend Wuttisan Wongtalay hung their 11-month old daughter Natalie from the side of an abandoned building before taking his own life.

He broadcast Natalie’s murder on Facebook Live, a video that Jiranuch came across that evening.

Read also: Father hangs baby daughter on Facebook Live in Phuket, then hangs himself

“I was with my older brother and he was logging onto his Facebook,” she told AFP on Thursday from a Phuket temple where daily prayers were being held for Natalie ahead of her cremation on Saturday.

“He was scrolling down and suddenly we saw the live broadcast. I turned to take a look and saw him (Wuttisan) drop my daughter with the rope and I couldn’t continue to watch.”

The horrifying realisation of what was unfolding sparked a desperate search by relatives and police, with the bodies of Wuttisan and Natalie found just a few hours later.

The murder video remained on Facebook for around 24 hours, prompting cries for the social network to move more swiftly to take down clips of grisly crimes and killings.

But Jiranuch said she harboured no ill will towards Facebook, stating the social network had little initial control over what users choose to upload.

Read also: Outrage after Facebook Live murder of baby in Phuket

“I don’t blame Facebook. They are not part of the problem, we can choose to broadcast happiness or sadness,” she said.

What prompted Wuttisan to take such a horrifying step remains a mystery.

Jiranuch said the two frequently argued, particularly over her ex-husband with whom she has a son nicknamed Sanook — the Thai word for fun.

“He often abused my son Sanook,” she said.

But Wuttisan had always been kind to their daughter Natalie, she added, looking after her in the day while she took classes at a nearby school.

As for what her boyfriend did, Jiranuch said: “I forgive him because holding onto anger for a long time will not get my daughter back.”

KATHMANDU – Rescuers on Wednesday (April 26) found two Taiwanese trekkers who went missing in a remote mountainous part of Nepal seven weeks ago, but only one survived the ordeal.

Liu Chen-chun, 19, died just three days before the rescue team located the couple in north-west Nepal, but her boyfriend managed to survive despite running out of food.

Liang Sheng-yueh, 21, is being treated in hospital in Kathmandu where he was airlifted after being rescued from the steep slope where the couple had been trapped for over a month.

“He was sleeping when we found them,” one of the rescuers Madhav Basnyat told AFP.

“He woke up after he heard us. We were very surprised to find him alive. He said that the girl died three days earlier.”

Basnyat said that the two had followed a river downhill in the hope of finding a village but became stuck when they reached the edge of a waterfall and were unable to climb back up.

“They had been trapped there for 47 days when we reached,” he said.

Speaking haltingly and in broken English as he sipped hot soup, Liang told AFP it had been “very cold” on the mountain, and difficult to sleep.

Doctors treating Liang said that he had lost 30 kilos and maggots had infested his right leg.

“When he was brought in he had maggots and was starved because he hadn’t eaten,” Sanjay Karki, his doctor said.

The couple survived on potatoes and noodles until they ran out of food and had to keep going on water alone.

Liang’s father had travelled to Nepal after the couple went missing and chartered a helicopter to search for them.

Spring is peak season in Nepal’s snow-capped peaks, a popular hiking destination with around 150,000 trekkers visiting the Annapurna and Everest regions every year.