Importers have removed Organix baby biscuits from sale in Singapore as a precaution after authorities in Australia and New Zealand warned about their potential choking hazard to babies and young children.
The Food Standards Australia and New Zealand are recalling the Britain-imported food products, the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority said in a statement today (April 7).
The authorities there said Organix Finger Foods Baby Biscuits can crumble into pieces, which pose a possible choking hazard. They come in creamy vanilla, strawberry, and banana flavours.
Photo: AVA
Advice for parents
The AVA said parents who still wish to feed their young children the biscuits should follow the safety advice on the label.
Highlighted in red, safety advice on the packaging says that the biscuits are not suitable for children under seven months.
The text reads: “When feeding a child, please ensure that they are sitting down and supervised to reduce the risk of choking.”
chenj@sph.com.sg
Photo: AVA
Recalled products in Australia, as reported in Mums Grapevine:
Don Rickles, the master insult comic who created laughs with ridicule and sarcasm in a decades-long career that earned him the facetious nickname “Mr. Warmth,” died on Thursday at his Los Angeles home from kidney failure, his publicist said. He was 90.
Rickles, who said he devised his brand of mockery-based humour because he was no good at telling traditional jokes, had developed a bacterial infection in recent months that led him to cancel a number of performances.
His death was confirmed by his spokesman, Paul Shefrin, who said Rickles is survived by his wife of 52 years, Barbara, as well as their daughter, Mindy Mann, and two grandchildren. He would have turned 91 on May 8.
Rickles’ last appeared on stage in Las Vegas in late October. But he continued to work after falling ill in February, taping segments of an upcoming internet series for the American Association of Retired Persons titled “Dinner with Don,” hosting one-on-one conversations with various celebrities, Shefrin said.
The New York-born Rickles had an intense, often-ad libbed, rapid-fire delivery and a wide, impish grin. He delighted nightclub audiences, Hollywood royalty and politicians by hurling invective at them, all in good fun.
Encountering Frank Sinatra for the first time during a stand-up act in 1957, Rickles greeted the mercurial singer as Sinatra walked in with a retinue of tough guys by saying, “Make yourself at home, Frank – hit somebody.”
Luckily for Rickles, the line amused Sinatra, who became one of his biggest boosters and took to calling the short, bald Rickles “Bullethead.” The comedian soon became an ex-officio member of the Sinatra-led group of popular entertainers known as the “Rat Pack.”
Photo: Reuters
DISHING IT OUT
Performing decades later at the second inaugural gala of US President Ronald Reagan in 1985, Rickles did not hesitate to zing the commander-in-chief, asking, “Is this too fast for you, Ronnie?”
But the most frequent targets of the “Merchant of Venom” were the fans who packed his performances for a chance to be belittled as a “dummy,” a “hockey puck” or worse. Celebrities often showed up just for the honour of being mocked by Rickles, and no minority or ethnic group was immune to a Rickles tongue-lashing.
“He was called ‘The Merchant of Venom’ but in truth, he was one of the kindest, caring and most sensitive human beings we have ever known,” actor-comedian Bob Newhart and his wife, Ginnie, said in a statement.
Comic actor Jim Carrey tweeted: “Don once begged me for a couple of bucks, then told me to twist myself into a pretzel. Ego slayer! Comic Everest!” Oscar winner Tom Hanks also tweeted a tribute to his “Toy Story” co-star, saying, “A God died today. Don Rickles, we did not want to ever lose you. Never.”
Rickles also mocked himself and shied away from describing his act as insult comedy, insisting his humour stemmed not from mean-spiritedness but from wild exaggerations played for laughs.
“If I were to insult people and mean it, that wouldn’t be funny,” he once said.
Much of Rickles’ material played on racial and ethnic stereotypes that did not always keep up with cultural evolution.
He came under fire in 2012 for a joke that characterized President Barack Obama as a janitor. His spokesman defended the line as just “a joke, as were the other comments Don made that night.”
“Anyone who knows him knows he’s not a racist,” the spokesman told Politico then.
Photo: Reuters
HECKLING THE HECKLERS
Rickles, a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, proved especially adept in early nightclub engagements at handling hecklers. Eventually, poking fun at audience members would become a major part of his act.
In an interview with Reuters to promote his 2007 memoir “Rickles’ Book,” he said his flair for impromptu insults grew out of his shortcomings as a conventional comic.
“I just can’t tell jokes,” he said. “As a young man I had a personality that I could rib somebody and get away with it.”
Rickles, who served in the US Navy during World War Two, also built a resume as an actor, making his film debut as a junior officer alongside Clark Cable and Burt Lancaster in the 1958 submarine drama “Run Silent, Run Deep.”
He went on to appear in a series of 1960s “beach party” movies with Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon and in 1970 played Army hustler Sergeant Crapgame in the wartime caper “Kelly’s Heroes,” with Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas and Donald Sutherland.
He endeared himself to an entirely new generation by providing the voice of Mr. Potato Head in the computer-animated “Toy Story” movie and its two sequels in the 1990s. In 1995 he had a dramatic role in Martin Scorsese’s Las Vegas crime film “Casino.”
But Rickles’ biggest exposure came on television, both as a frequent sitcom guest star and late-night and variety show regular, especially on NBC’s “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson” and “The Dean Martin Show.”
On Carson, Rickles was typically introduced by Spanish matador music, signifying someone was about to be metaphorically gored.
Several Rickles TV series were short-lived, the most popular of which was the NBC comedy “C.P.O. Sharkey,” in which he starred as a US Navy chief petty officer in charge of new recruits. The series lasted just two seasons.
A TV documentary, “Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project,” directed by John Landis, aired on HBO in 2007.
SINGAPORE – The Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) has completed a recall for Organix Finger Foods Baby Biscuits from the United Kingdom, following an alert that it can crumble into pieces, posing a potential choking hazard to babies and young…
SINGAPORE – He enjoyed an impressive debut season in the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA) last year, finishing fourth eventually in the overall standings, and missing out on a spot on the championship podium by only one point.
And now, with one year of experience racing in the PCCA under his belt now, Singapore racer Andrew Tang believes he will be able to improve on his performances from last year.
Indeed, the 22-year-old is so confident in his abilities that he has set himself the target of winning the PCCA championship this year.
“Last year was my rookie year in the PCCA, and it was my return to motorsport in over two years,” Tang told TODAY.
“So it was all about learning and getting as much as experience as I could.
“But now that I have raced in the PCCA for a year, I know what to expect and so the target is definitely to improve on my final standing, and hopefully I can win the championship this season.
“However, it’s going to be a very close fight this season…we have about nine drivers who can all potentially win the championship.
“So it will be a huge challenge for sure, but it’s one that I’ll be up for.”
Last year, Tang had a shot at winning the title up to the final day of the season. Unfortunately, he had a bad case of the nerves in the last two races in Shanghai, and saw his title-winning hopes fizzling out.
It is why the Porsche China Junior driver has been working hard during the pre-season to improve his mental strength.
“At this level, everyone is quite capable technically and mechanically, so a lot of races are won by the driver who’s mentally the strongest,” explained Tang.
“Last year for example, towards the end of the season, I put more pressure on myself, and I suffered for it.
“So I decided to work on my mental strength during the offseason break. This year, I’m going to relax and enjoy myself in every race, which I believe will lead me to performing better.”
He will head into the PCCA’s season-opening races in Shanghai this weekend full of confidence, after posting the quickest lap times in both dry and wet conditions at the one-make competition’s test days last week.
But Tang, who is on a one-year contract with Porsche China, says things will be different when the competition starts on Saturday (Mar 8) at the Shanghai International Circuit.
“From the pre-season tests, things are looking good for me, but it’s still early days and everyone’s improving so you can never be too sure of a victory,” said Tang.
“As usual, qualifying is going to be important. Doing well in qualifying, followed by a good start, should be enough to put me in a good position for the win.
“That being said, anything can happen in motorsport, and it’s a big track so overtaking is very possible.
“But I think I’m well prepared and ready to handle anything that comes my way, so I’m feeling comfortable.”
SINGAPORE: Measures have been unveiled to help the police step up their counter-terrorism efforts in light of recent global terror attacks
The Police Coast Guard’s (PCG) new Emergency Response Forces (ERF) have been set up to be part of a first response wave in an armed attack in Singapore’s waters and offshore islands.
The ERF, which will be operational from June 2017, is identical to the land divisions’ Emergency Response Teams (ERTs) introduced last year – which are specialist officers trained to respond to armed threats, police said during the Singapore Police Force’s annual Workplan seminar on Friday (Apr 7).
These officers will be able to respond to scenarios such as a boat charging towards a target, a routine boarding operation that escalates into a situation involving people carrying weapons and situations when there are gunmen on board a vessel or on any of the offshore islands.
Current PCG officers are able to act in such situations as well, police said, but the additional training in counter-assault skills will give them an edge.
Emergency Response Forces tackling a gunman as part of a mock-up. (Photo: Rachel Phua)
In addition to the current PCG training routine, which trains them in “boat operations and maritime law enforcement”, the police said that PCG officers preparing to become ERF officers will need to learn additional skills such as tactical firearm skills to enable them to better respond to armed incidents out at sea.
“With the formation of the Emergency Response Force, the Police Coast Guard will be better able to respond, engage and neutralise heavily armed threats in the maritime domain. This will augment the Police Coast Guard’s operational capabilities and allow it to continue to safeguard our waters,” said Ang Eng Seng, the head of operations and security of the PCG.
ERF training started in December 2016, Mr Ang added, and all PCG frontline officers will be trained to become ERF officers. Every PCG patrol boat will have ERF-trained officers on board by June 2017.
The ERF officers will use equipment similar to what current PCG officers have, which includes ballistic helmets and HK MP5 sub-machine guns, but ERF officers will be equipped with additional knee and elbow paddings and guards to aid them in their tactical movements along narrow corridor and cabins within the vessels.
Their sub-machine guns also carry optics and lights to help them take more accurate shots to neutralise the enemies, the police said.
The extra training for PCGs is a response to terror threats that have risen to “unprecedented levels”, said the police, citing the recent attacks in London and France as examples.
In a speech at the event, Minster for Home Affairs K Shanmugam said that fighting terrorism is also a long-term challenge, and efforts to fight it are all the more important today because of the security environment we are in.
“In the first three months of this year, you had attacks in Istanbul, Quebec, London, to name a few. And the nature of the threats we spoke about, returning fighters, self-radicalised individuals … that’s the nature of the world we live in, the nature of the region we are in. So enforcement challenges in the region continue to be high, and we have to be prepared to respond.”
MORE SPF OFFICERS, CHANGE OF FIREARMS
Besides PCGs, there will be more ERT officers and Rapid Deployment Troops (RDTs) on the ground this year. The RDTs serve as the second wave of response and support the ERT officers, making use of motorcycles to manoeuvre through traffic and reach incident sites quickly.
The police force will also be forming the PNSmen Public Order Troops in the Special Operations Command. These troops will provide support during national emergencies and major security events, and will comprise operationally-ready NSmen, who have served as Police National Service Full-time troopers.
During their reservist stint, they will be recalled for training and anti-crime patrols, and can also be deployed to support the Police Tactical Troops for public order operations.
Plans to replace frontline officers’ firearms are also underway. Officers will be equipped with pistols, which are able to provide greater ammunition and firepower, in line with the need to tackle the heightened terrorism threat. Currently, officers are armed with a revolver.
Police officers learning to shoot with pistols. All police officers will be using pistols in due course – they are currently armed with revolvers. (Photo: Rachel Phua)
The police force aims to equip all regular officers with pistols by 2022, and some frontline officers have already starting using the weapon since Apr 1.
MORE CAMERAS TO BE INSTALLED
According to the media factsheet, the police will install more police cameras in public areas under its PolCam initiative. A total of 3,100 cameras will be installed by the end of this year in areas including town centres, neighbourhood centres, hawker centres and link ways leading to transportation nodes such as MRT stations and bus interchanges.
About 11,000 more cameras will be progressively installed over the next few years at 2,500 locations islandwide.
The initiative was first introduced in 2012 and since then, more than 65,000 cameras in all 10,000 HDB blocks and multi-storey carparks have been installed.
In addition, 150 police patrol vehicles will have the In-Vehicle Video Recording System by July 2017. The recording system is able to stream live videos to the Police Operations Command Centre, and these systems will also incorporate automated number plate recognition systems to help the police identify vehicles of interest quickly.
SINGAPORE: In a split decision on Friday (Apr 7), the High Court cut City Harvest Church’s pastor Kong Hee’s eight-year jail term to three-and-a-half years, along with those of five others convicted of misappropriating about S$50 million of church funds.
Judge of Appeal Chao Hick Tin and Justice Woo Bih Li, in the majority, convicted Kong and five accomplices of reduced charges, resulting in significantly reduced sentences for the six. Justice Chan Seng Onn dissented.
All six were in court on Friday to hear the outcome of their appeal against both their conviction and sentences after being found guilty in October 2015.
Former fund manager Chew Eng Han had his six-year sentence lowered to three years and four months, while deputy pastor Tan Ye Peng had his original five-and-a-half-year sentencecut to three years and two months.
Former finance manager Serina Wee Gek Yin’s original five-year sentence was halved to two years and six months, and former finance committee member John Lam Leng Hung’s three-year sentencewas similarly halved to one year and six months.
Former finance manager Sharon Tan Shao Yuen had her 21-month jail sentencereduced to seven months.
Friday’s hearing was the culmination of a five-day appeal heard in September last year by a three-judge panel, including Judge of Appeal Chao Hick Tin and Justices Woo Bih Li and Chan Seng Onn.
After the revised sentences were announced, Kong, Lam, Chew, Wee and Tan Ye Peng all asked for their sentences to start after two weeks, and the court agreed.
Sharon Tan asked to defer the start of her sentence by two months, as her family is relocating overseas in June and she said she wants to help her children adjust to the move. The court agreed to this, too.
Friday’s hearing before a packed courtroom took place nearly seven years after an investigation into the megachurch was launched in May 2010.
The six were convicted in 2015 of the most serious form of criminal breach of trust (CBT) – under section 409 of the Penal Code – for misappropriating S$50 million of church funds to secretly bankroll the extravagant lifestyle and budding Hollywood career of Kong’s wife, Sun Ho.
Kong, the “ultimate leader” of the group and “main player” in the conspiracy “had directed and influenced” Chew, Ye Peng, Wee, Lam and Sharon, “providing them with the overall direction and moral assurance for their actions”, JA Chao and Justice Woo said.
By virtue of their roles in the church – Ye Peng is a pastor, Chew and Lam were on the church’s board, and Wee and Sharon worked in the finance department – they were able to orchestrate a series of illicit transactions and cover ups for two years, between 2007 and 2009.
A LANDMARK FINDING
But in a blow to the prosecution, JA Chao and Justice Woo decided not all the elements of the aggravated CBT charge had been made out, choosing instead to convict Kong, Chew, Ye Peng, Wee, Lam and Sharon of the least aggravated form of CBT, under section 406 of the Penal Code.
In particular, the decision stemmed from a landmark finding that the six, despite being “directors” of the church entrusted with control over millions in the church’s coffers, cannot fall within section 409 because of the “internal” nature of their relationship with the church.
JA Chao and Justice Woo said “the relationship between a director (who is entrusted with the property) and the company (which is the one entrusting the property) is an internal one and this stands in stark contrast to the external nature of the relationship that (an agent) shares with his customer who entrusts the property with him.
“For these reasons, we do not think that a director who has been entrusted with the property of the company or organisation by virtue of his capacity as director can fall within section 409 of the Penal Code.”
CBT in “external” relationships – such as when a person “offers his services to the community at large” and from which services he makes a living – may fall under the aggravated provision.
“EXCEPTIONAL” MITIGATING FACTORS
JA Chao and Justice Woo said although the amount involved – S$50 million – is “substantial”, the “exceptional” mitigating factors in the case cannot be ignored, including the fact that the conspiracy involved no personal gain on the part of Kong and his accomplices.
“This case should not be viewed as a sinister and malicious attempt on (their) part(s) to strip the church of funds for their own purposes,” the judges said. “They were acting in what they genuinely believed to be in (the church’s) interests.”
The six resorted to “deceit and lies” to keep the conspiracy under wraps by inflating Sun Ho’s success and falsifying the church’s accounts to fool board members, auditors and lawyers, and lying to the congregation. But, the judges said, “it is telling that a substantial proportion of (the congregation) continued to support (Ms Ho’s career, in the name of evangelism) even after the full facts … were brought to light”.
Speaking to reporters minutes after his wife’s jail term was halved, Wee’s husband said he “(doesn’t) want to think about it”. “The first thing I want to do is talk to my wife and … go back and spend time with my family,” he said.
Sharon, who was in tears, is “disappointed” that she was not acquitted, her lawyer Paul Seah said. “But at least the court recognised (she is the least culpable). Now she wants to spend time with her family and pray.”
Lam said he would “accept the verdict” and “move on with wife”. But Chew seemed less resigned. He told reporters he is seriously considering bringing his case to the Court of Appeal.
Each party to the case has one month to apply for leave to refer a question of law to the apex court.
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The Society of Environmental Journalists (SIEJ) North Sumatra staged on Thursday a fund-raising event for the restoration of forests on Mount Lubukraya and across the Sibual-Buali Nature Reserve in South Tapanuli regency, North Sumatra.
The group said both conservation zones, which have become water catchment areas and homes for protected animals such as Sumatran orangutans and hornbills, should be well-conserved and protected from any practices that may lead to environmental destruction.
“Our sources have revealed that massive forest conversions have taken place in these areas. This is what has triggered flash floods there,” SIEJ North Sumatra member Mei Leandha said at Thursday’s event.
The activist was referring to flooding caused by the overflow of the Batang Ayumi River on March 26, which killed seven people, swept away livestock and damaged plantations, houses, schools and numerous public facilities.
Opening up access to conservation areas without implementing replanting and restoration activities would only bring further disasters, she added.
“If we care about the Earth and all it has to offer, let’s join this restoration movement,” said Mei.
Money raised at the event will be used to restore forests affected by flash foods, and fund the planting of 1,000 trees along the Batam Ayumi River. The replanting activity will be held on April 22 to coincide with Earth Day.
A scene in popular TV series Grey’s Anatomy’s episode 18 of season 13 featuring two hijabis received a positive response from netizens. Stepfeed.com reported that the two women portrayed a doctor and nurse in the episode titled Be Still My Soul.
Grey’s Anatomy is a medical drama series about a group of doctors at a hospital in Seattle created by TV producer-slash-screenwriter Shonda Rhimes.
The series is recognised as being “colorblind” as it frequently casts characters of different races. However, the episode, which aired on March 30, is said to be the series’ first that featured hijabis.
The series’ star Ellen Pompeo, who plays the role of Meredith Grey, reportedly was also the director of the episode. On Twitter, Pompeo said that the scene was intentional and she felt happy to be able to do her part and to make people feel like they mattered.
