The SEA Games 2017 will be held in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 19 to 31. The games will see 405 events from 38 sports.
SINGAPORE: Team Singapore athletes are “quietly confident” in the lead-up to the 29th Southeast Asian Games in August, observed President Tony Tan Keng Yam during his visit to the athletes’ training sessions at the Sports Hub on Tuesday (Apr 18).
“They know that the competition has increased like everything else,” he said. “So they have to work doubly hard. But from what I’ve seen today, I’m very confident that they will do well in Kuala Lumpur and will do Singapore proud.”
Dr Tan watched demonstrations by the silat athletes and the fencing team. He also observed training sessions by the netball and volleyball teams and interacted with the athletes.
Dr Tan noted 2016 was an exceptional year for Singapore sport, citing the accomplishments of Joseph Schooling, Yip Pin Xiu and Theresa Goh at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“Also, our silat performers did well at the recent Pencak Games (Southeast Asian Pencak Silat Championships). So all of this shows how sports is very important,” Dr Tan added.
He said that more importantly, the attributes shown by athletes reflect the characteristics of Singapore. “We are disciplined, we work together in order to keep Singapore going and we can show the same spirit and perseverance which our athletes have shown.”
The SEA Games 2017 will be held in Kuala Lumpur from Aug 19 to 31. The games will see 405 events from 38 sports.
Team Game Changers, led by Hougang United chairman Bill Ng, will face-off with Team LKT, led by former FAS interim president Lim Kia Tong for the FAS presidency.
SINGAPORE: Both teams contesting the Football Association of Singapore (FAS)’s first ever elections have been officially cleared for the polls on Tuesday, the FAS said on Tuesday (Apr 18).
Team Game Changers, led by Hougang United chairman Bill Ng, will face-off with Team LKT, led by former FAS interim president Lim Kia Tong for the FAS presidency.
The FAS said in a press statement: “The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) confirms that the following candidates have qualified to contest in the Election of the FAS Council for the term 2017-2021 on Apr 29, 2017.”
An initial 34 candidates had submitted their nomination forms by the Mar 25 deadline.
Apart from the nine-member slate teams, 14 others are contesting council positions on an individual basis. 16 had applied to do so but two failed to make the cut.
One of them is Suresh Nair, who is affiliated to Game Changers. He had initially appealed against the decision but still failed. The other is Moklas Ma’arof, who withdrew his nomination.
Four of the 14 individual candidates are affiliated with Game Changers and six are affiliated with Team LKT. The remaining four candidates are running as independents.
The elections will take place next Saturday at the Sport Singapore Black Box Auditorium.
The cafe was thrust in the spotlight in October 2014 when AVA was alerted to allegations of mismanagement of diseased cats there.
SINGAPORE: The owner of the now-defunct Cuddles Cat Cafe was on Tuesday (Apr 18) sentenced to two weeks’ jail for giving false information about the health of the cats on his premises.
Jonathan Tan Wei-De was also fined S$3,500 for failing to comply with licensing conditions, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) said in a media release.
Tan’s cat cafe was thrust in the spotlight in October 2014 when the AVA was alerted to allegations of mismanagement of diseased cats there.
He was also believed to have provided falsified cat health records when applying for a temporary licence with AVA to keep animals for public interaction on the premises, AVA said.
AVA investigators found that Tan had breached licensing conditions by not keeping the cats in good health, and not ensuring that the cats tested negative for toxoplasmosis – a disease which can affect animals and humans – before keeping them in the cafe. Tan was then required to cease operations at once, and remove all cats from the cafe.
AVA added that it subsequently referred the case to the police for investigation into the alleged provision of falsified information in the application.
Tan was sentenced to one week imprisonment each for two counts of giving false information to a public servant, and one week imprisonment for one count of attempting to cheat. The sentences will run consecutively.
Tan was also sentenced to one count of failing to comply with licensing conditions, leading to the fine – in default of two weeks’ jail.
Five other counts on giving false information to a public servant were taken into consideration during sentencing, AVA said.
The cat cafe closed on Dec 18, 2014 and re-opened as an ice-cream cafe in February 2015.
AVA said it regulates pet cafes through licensing and routine unannounced inspections. “Pet cafés that fail to comply with our licensing conditions shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine not exceeding S$5,000,” it said. AVA also urged members of the public to provide feedback on animal welfare issues via its 24-hour hotline, 1800-476-1600.
Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean is on a working visit to Hong Kong from Apr 18 to 19.
SINGAPORE: Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean and Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying reaffirmed the longstanding friendship between Singapore and Hong Kong, said Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in a media statement on Tuesday (Apr 18).
DPM Teo is in Hong Kong on a two-day working visit until Wednesday.
The MFA’s statement on his visit is reproduced in full below:
Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean is in Hong Kong on a working visit from Apr 18 to 19, 2017.
On Apr 18, DPM Teo met Hong Kong Chief Executive (CE) and Vice Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Leung Chun-ying. DPM Teo congratulated CE Leung on his recent appointment as Vice Chairman of the CPPCC. DPM Teo and CE Leung reaffirmed the longstanding friendship at all levels between Singapore and Hong Kong and expressed appreciation that officials from both sides continue to have frequent exchanges to share experiences over the years.
CE-elect Mrs Carrie Lam hosted DPM Teo to lunch, during which DPM Teo congratulated her on her recent electoral success. They also exchanged views on developments in Singapore, Hong Kong and the region. DPM Teo expressed confidence in Hong Kong’s future development and reaffirmed Singapore’s commitment to build upon the strong bilateral cooperation in areas including the public service, housing, transport, culture and education. He also extended an invitation to CE-elect Lam to visit Singapore soon.
DPM Teo said that the stability and prosperity of the Hong Kong SAR is best assured under the “One Country, Two Systems” framework as an integral part of China. This arrangement is beneficial to Hong Kong SAR and China. In addition to building on Hong Kong’s extensive international links and advantages, Hong Kong can benefit from its integration with the Pearl River Delta region and the development of the “Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Big Bay area”.
On Apr 19, DPM Teo will have separate meetings with Vice Chairman of the CPPCC and former CE Tung Chee Hwa and a wide range of Hong Kong business leaders to exchange views on the developments in Hong Kong and the region. DPM Teo will also meet the Singaporean community in Hong Kong over a dinner reception.
BANGKOK – Thailand’s late King Bhumibol Adulyadej will be cremated on Oct. 26, a government official said on Wednesday, adding that the king’s funeral will take place over a five day period.
Confirmation of the cremation date sets a timeframe for the coronation of Bhumibol’s son, King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who ascended the throne in December but whose formal coronation has been put on hold until after his father’s funeral.
Political observers say the new king’s coronation will formally kick-start politics following a year-long mourning period and a general election should follow soon after.
“The palace has confirmed that the king agrees with the government’s plan. The cremation day will be October 26,” a senior government official, who declined be named because of the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters. ”
The funeral will take place over a five day period,” Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, told reporters on Tuesday.
King Bhumibol died in October 2016 at the age of 88 following a long illness. His death ended a seven-decade reign that saw the king become a rare unifying figure in an otherwise deeply polarized nation.
Thailand has been ruled by a junta since a 2014 coup which saw the military wrest power from an elected civilian government. The military has said the coup was aimed at ending months of unrest.
The United States and others have called for a swift return to democracy in Thailand and the junta has said a general election will take place after the late king’s funeral.
But some have cast doubt over the junta’s election timeline. “Political life is unlikely to resume until next year, after the cremation and coronation,” a Western diplomat based in Bangkok, who declined to be named, told Reuters.
“There’s an understanding among political parties that there will be no election this year. After the coronation seems the most likely time for things to start to happen.”
Officials have said King Bhumibol’s cremation will be a lavish affair befitting of a much-loved monarch. No budget has been publicly released for the funeral which is expected to attract huge crowds.
Thai Buddhists often wait a week or more before cremating their dead but royal funerals are exceptional.
The last royal funeral in Thailand was in 2008 for King Bhumibol’s elder sister Princess Galyani Vadhana. That funeral followed a 100-day mourning period.
The king’s cremation will take place at a public square in Bangkok, where an enormous wooden funeral pyre is being erected.
PRIVATE-HIRE car owners who drive for Uber or Grab will be entitled to protection if their insurers collapse, under a proposal that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is considering.
That proposal, as well as a cap on what can be paid out to policyholders when their insurers fail, are among a number of possible amendments included in a public consultation by MAS on the Policy Owners’ Protection Scheme.
The scheme, which is administered by Singapore Deposit Insurance Corp, offers compensation to individual policyholders if their insurers go bust. The scheme is funded by the insurance providers, which each pay a risk-based fee calculated from the amount of protected liabilities and premium income it receives.
The last time the scheme was reviewed was in 2011, and the current consultation is part of an attempt to keep it up to date with today’s circumstances.
The rise of businesses such as Uber and Grab, through which individual car owners can sign up to provide taxi services, has created uncertainty about whether the scheme’s objective of protecting only personal policies extends to insured property (like cars) that are sometimes used for commercial purposes.
“In recent years, there are increasingly more examples where it is less clear if an insurance policy should fall into the ‘personal’ lines category,” MAS said.
“In other words, the line between personal and commercial usage has become blurred, especially in the case of personal motor insurance and personal property (structure and contents) insurance.”
MAS is proposing to define the scheme’s scope of “personal” insurance policies to include any policies that are “owned by a natural person”. This would allow not just private-hire cars to enjoy the protections of the scheme but home offices as well.
MAS is also considering imposing caps on payouts under the scheme. The proposal will limit the payout to S$50,000 for damage to the policyholder’s own property, such as personal motor insurance, and to S$300,000 for property damage claims for personal property insurance.
The proposed caps will still be able to fully cover more than 99 per cent of claims, MAS said.
Imposing a cap, however, is a matter of prudence to ensure that the S$32 million Policy Owners’ Protection Scheme fund is not overly exposed to high-value property damage claims.
The proposals also include legislative amendments to cover riders attached to eligible annuities and non-voluntary group policies. Riders are currently not covered for those types of policies.
Another proposal considers what happens if an insurer collapses and there are no suitable buyers for the insurer’s policies and it is deemed preferable to terminate a policy. In such instances of “forced surrender”, MAS is proposing to waive surrender penalties.
Many of the other proposals involve clarifying ambiguities in the current rules or codifying existing practice.
For example, MAS is proposing not to extend the scheme’s coverage for pure accident and health policies to bundled products that also include other kinds of benefits, such as a pleasure craft policy that includes public liability and property loss.
MAS is also seeking to clarify the scheme’s coverage of death benefits that are linked to the net value of underlying assets.
The regulator is seeking to clarify that the scheme’s coverage extends only to guaranteed benefits, not variable ones, unless the variability is a ratchet that sets a minimum amount.
Since there is a minimum benefit that is guranteed, that policy will be covered by the scheme.
This article was first published on Apr 19, 2017. Get The Business Times for more stories.
A The $500,000 came from Tiong Bahru Football Club, in a donation made by its chairman Bill Ng.
The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) said that the money went to the Asean Football Federation (AFF) for its Football Management System.
In addition, the FAS said that it was former president Zainudin Nordin who requested the donation and Ng knew the money was intended for the AFF when he donated the $500,000.
However, this is disputed by Ng.
Q What is the Football Management System?
A In a statement, the FAS said it is an “online resource management portal” aimed at raising the capabilities and capacities of the AFF’s member associations in areas such as sponsorship management, corporate governance and coach education.
The AFF also said that it expects to launch the system, which is expected to cost about $2 million, within the next nine to 12 months.
Winston Lee Photo: The New Paper
Q Is the donation unconstitutional?
A Tiong Bahru FC’s constitution states that monies and profit accruing to the club can be applied “towards the furtherance, promotion and execution of the objects (sic) of the Club”.
According to its constitution, Tiong Bahru’s objectives include promoting and upgrading the standard of football towards professionalism as well as to cooperate with and give full support to the Singapore Sports Council (now called Sport Singapore) and the Football Association of Singapore.
If the donation is indeed intended for the AFF’s Football Management System, which according to the AFF would help its members, then the donation can be said to not be in breach of Tiong Bahru’s constitution.
Q What is the problem?
A The football community is riled that $500,000 was given to the AFF, a foreign entity. After all, this amount is double what the FAS spent on grassroots football in the last financial year.
The saga has also erupted just two weeks before the April 29 FAS election, where the 23 NFL clubs – who have been vocal about their struggle for support – hold a majority of the 44 votes at stake .
Sport Singapore said last night it has requested the FAS to provide full details on the donations and it is looking into the matter.
Zainudin, meanwhile, has steadfastly refused to comment on the matter.
Q What are the parties saying?
A Ng’s team have resolutely denied two claims.
On Monday, Game Changers issued a statement claiming that it was FAS general secretary Winston Lee, and not Zainudin, who had requested the $500,000 donation.
The statement also said: “When Bill Ng agreed to Winston’s request for a donation, it was strictly on the basis that the money was to be used to benefit Singapore football, especially our local clubs.”
Yesterday, the FAS produced a letter with the Tiong Bahru FC letterhead.
In the letter, signed by Ng and addressed to Zainudin, Ng wrote: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for sharing and giving us the opportunity to contribute to the Football Association of Singapore and Asean Football Federation through the proposed Football Management System… I am happy to inform you that we will contribute S$500,000 to Asean Football Federation through FAS to develop this Football Management System.”
Zainudin Nordin said last night that he was unaware of the latest developments and would not comment for now. Photo: The Straits Times
Lee has called on Ng to “wholly and unconditionally apologise for his statements”.
Ng’s subsequent reply contradicted his earlier claims that he did not know what the $500,000 was for.
His latest statement said: “It was Winston Lee who met me on multiple occasions in 2014 to seek the donations from Tiong Bahru FC for a Football Management System to be developed for the benefit of Singapore football and Asean football”.
He also claimed that Lee prepared the letter, directed him to reproduce it with the Tiong Bahru FC letterhead and told him to address it to Zainudin.
However, Ng has not submitted any evidence to back his latest claims.
Pressed on why the presidential hopeful would sign off on such a letter, a spokesman for Ng said he had signed the letter as “his intent has always been to support FAS and football”.
This article was first published on Apr 19, 2017. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
As development continues and housing estates are built adjacent to green belts, the likelihood of wild encounters, such as monkey attacks could go up, say experts.
With nature areas being encroached by urbanisation, it is believed that less space is left for wildlife. The Segar area in Bukit Panjang is one recent example.
Since last October, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has received about 160 pieces of feedback on monkey attacks and nuisance in the estate.
The agency has deemed the monkey situation a public safety risk, adding that it has been conducting monkey control operations there. It is aware of five reported monkey attacks in the Segar area this week.
Holland-Bukit Timah GRC MP Liang Eng Hwa said: “While it is not uncommon for monkeys to appear at the estate, given our proximity to the nature reserve, this recent encounter has been the most serious, with incidents of residents being bitten by the monkey.”
The Segar area is near the Central Catchment Nature Reserve.
Wildlife rescue group Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) said such wild encounters “will become inevitable, as the animals will use the green corridors adjacent to housing estates”.
Experts noted that “hot spots” for conflicts between wildlife and humans often include areas near large swathes of nature, such as Bukit Timah Hill.
Mr Ben Lee, founder of nature conservation group Nature Trekker, said one problem is that the public may resort to feeding the wild animals.
“The monkeys become reliant,” he said. “They may end up becoming aggressive.”
In the Segar area, the monkey is so emboldened that it has been entering flats through the windows, stealing food and making a mess in residents’ homes. Some people have also been bitten by it.
Acres said in a Facebook post yesterday that the behaviour of the monkey has been altered due to public feeding and harassment.
The Straits Times understands that the public has been feeding and provoking the monkey, such as throwing stuff at it. AVA said it is working with Acres to safely remove the monkey.
However, catching these intelligent creatures can be challenging.
“The many high-rise buildings in the area also make it easy for the monkeys to be out of reach by climbing up the blocks,” it said.
The authority has worked with the Holland-Bukit Panjang Town Council to prune trees and harvest fruits from trees in the estate to mitigate the situation.
Meanwhile, AVA advised that residents can make their premises less attractive to monkeys by keeping food items out of sight and practising good refuse management.
•Additional reporting by Ng Wei Kai
This article was first published on Apr 19, 2017. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
<p>As development continues and housing estates are built adjacent to green belts, the likelihood of wild encounters, such as monkey attacks could go up, say experts.</p>
He had placed flour in the station to mark a trail for other members in his running club called Seletar Hash House Harriers, which organises hash runs in Singapore every Tuesday evening.
The incident also cast the spotlight on the outdoor activity. So, what exactly is ‘hashing’?
1. It is an activity that combines cross country running and treasure hunt
Hashing was created by a group of British expatriates in Malaysia in 1938, and fashioned after an outdoor racing game called ‘hares and hounds’.
In the game, a ‘hare’ lays a trail using toilet paper, coloured powder, or chalk for a pack of ‘hounds’, who figure out the clues and aim to catch the ‘hare’ before it reaches the end of the trail.
The temporary markings used in the trail may disappear over time, which makes the game challenging.
A ‘hare’ may throw the ‘hounds’ off its track with false trails, short cuts, and dead ends. These are designed to keep the pack of ‘hounds’ together regardless of their fitness levels or running speeds.
Participants also often find themselves going on runs in places ranging from the jungle to the city.
There’s bike hashing for those who prefer to travel around the island on their mountain bicycles, while canine lovers have created ‘Dash‘ where runners can bring their dogs along for the hash run.
5. Hashing is a social activity
These groups often describe themselves as ‘drinking clubs with a running problem’. Hashers often wind down from their runs in a ‘circle’ where they socialize, sing drinking songs and enjoy some drinks (usually beer) and food.
For three decades everyone from police and builders, to street cleaners and partying rich kids have gorged on noodles at Uncle Pan’s street-side stall in Bangkok’s chic-est neighbourhood.
But now the 67-year-old food vendor is no longer welcome at his pavement spot, amid a purge of food stalls by the city governor, who says they clutter up the capital’s curbs.
With dishes that average Bt35-55 (S$1-2) a plate, most of the city’s kerbside cooks don’t make a fortune selling their fare, which ranges from grilled seafood skewers to somtam.
But they have won global acclaim as some of the finest fast food chefs in the world, fuelling a booming city besotted by eating.
Like his peers, Pan Chaiyasit works behind a small pushcart from where he dishes out yellow egg noodles, topped with pork and wanton dumplings, to customers who sit together on plastic chairs spread across the pavement.
The family-run stall is a fixture of a neighbourhood that has exploded with development over the past few decades.
But with the deadline to clear off the street expiring this week, Pan must either uproot his restaurant to a new locale or downsize so it doesn’t spill onto the sidewalk.
“I’ve been selling here since there was nothing,” the genial, apron-wearing uncle told AFP, explaining that the Thong Lor area was a tree-studded backwater when he first set up.
Today, his customers sit ringside to a central artery of Bangkok’s ritziest neighbourhood, lined with tower blocks, upscale restaurants and nightclubs.
That makes for a varied clientele that pulls from all layers of the social fabric.
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“Office workers, police, soldiers… even if they drive a Mercedes-Benz, they have the same right to eat here,” Pan said, wiping away a bead of sweat as waiters buzzed around him to serve an after-work crush.
Good business, which sees Pan rake in around Bt30,000 a month, rests on these close ties to the neighbourhood.
“We all know each other in this street. Everyone, factory workers, company staff, they know me and we are friends… if we move, we won’t have these relationships.”
Yet city officials insist the footpaths must be “returned to the public” and have laid out a plan to bar tens of thousands of street stalls from main roads, instead squeezing them into side-streets or hawkers’ centres.
Wanlop Suwandee, the Bangkok governor’s chief adviser, said local residents wanted to reclaim their pavements, so the BMA had to undertake a tough task to do just that.
“After the successful mission [to reclaim] several areas such as Siam Square and Pratunam, the BMA will manage the area in Bang Lamphu, as the next target,” Wanlop said.
“For areas that have already been managed, there will be strict law enforcement to prevent illegal vendors from returning to those areas.
And if anyone finds illegal vendors, they can contact BMA officers to deal with |immediately.”
He said this operation stemmed from many complaints sent to the BMA from local people, who were inconvenienced by being unable to walk on pavements occupied by street vendors.
So, the city’s administrators had to take action and get street vendors to move into markets, where space was provided for them.
“City Hall used to allow these street vendors to legally sell [food] on the street in the specific areas, but since the city is growing, these areas where street vendors were allowed have to be revoked – to return the space because of the increased urban population,” he said.
However, workers such as Pan, whose lives look set to be greatly affected, are not sure what the future holds – other than more bowls of soup.
“Even though we sometimes face troubles we have to keep selling. We have to fight to survive,” he said.
