Swimming: Joseph Schooling ready to bounce back after NCAA wake-up call
SINGAPORE – Olympic champion Joseph Schooling has vowed to bounce back from the disappointment of failing to retain his 100- and 200-yard butterfly crowns at last week’s NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Indiana.
The 21-year-old told Singapore media over Skype on Wednesday (March 29) that he will come back stronger at the Fina World Championships in Budapest.
He said: “Being sick doesn’t take me off the fact that I didn’t win my pet events, but I think it will spur me on to do better at the next meet … right now I’m more motivated to get back to training because I don’t want to get beaten like I did this past weekend.
“I’m back, I’m ready to start fighting again.”
The University of Texas junior was second in the 100-yd butterfly final and crashed out of the heats of the 200-yd event owing to a stomach bug and fever.
Schooling will now set his sights on the July 14-30 World Championships, where he will swim four individual events – the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly and the 100m freestyle.
There, the 100m butterfly Olympic gold medallist is also aiming to break the world record in the event.
“As far as preparations for the World Championships go, I don’t think anything changes,” he added.
“I’m getting back (in the water) earlier to kind of get a headstart and catch up on my preparation – I think that’ll be good.
“I definitely have space to work on my training and be where I need to be at worlds.”
This article was first published on Mar 29, 2017.
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Man decapitated from 15th-storey hotel room fall
A Malaysian businessman staying at Hotel Boss in Jalan Sultan was woken up from his sleep early yesterday morning by the commotion in a room nearby.
Although it lasted about half-an-hour, he did not think it was anything serious and went back to sleep.
He was blissfully unaware of the drama that developed as he slept.
A Vietnamese man, Mr Nguyen Ngoc Duy, 23, fell from height and was decapitated.
His body was found in a drain at the hotel’s sky garden on the fifth storey, while his head was found just outside a restaurant on the fourth storey.
Another man, 21-year-old Vu Truong An, had a slash wound on his cheek.
He was taken conscious to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
Both men were on a staycation at the hotel.
They were staying on the 15th storey.
After Mr Duy fell, Mr An sought help from hotel employees, who called the police, reported Chinese evening daily, Lianhe Wanbao.
The Malaysian businessman, who gave his name only as Mr Chong, told The New Paper he had heard someone banging on the door of a room on the 15th storey at about 2am.
Soon after, he heard the commotion.
The 46-year-old country manager said: “A man was also shouting, but I could not understand what he was talking about.”
He only found out what had happened when TNP approached him yesterday afternoon, and he was surprised to hear that someone had died.
“I initially thought it was just a heavy drinker creating trouble,” he said.
BLOOD
The floor and wall were also covered with blood, he added.
Lianhe Wanbao also reported that Mr Duy was on a short-term visit pass and was supposed to return to Vietnam at the end of this month.
The hotel room had been booked by Mr An, an Institute of Technical Education student, and he had invited five friends, including the dead man, for a staycation, the daily reported.
Mr Duy’s body was taken away at 8am, and police investigations are ongoing.
tnp@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on March 30, 2017.
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Man found dead on Telok Blangah playground slide
SINGAPORE – A 61-year-old man was found dead at a children’s playground, near a coffee shop at Block 11, Telok Blangah Crescent, on Tuesday (March 28) morning.
Mr Wu Xiongguang, who was found lying in a sheltered slide, was a mute and was nicknamed “Ah Kow”, according to Lianhe Wanbao.
Customer service officer Ms Ou Ji, 45, who knew Mr Wu for over 40 years, described Mr Wu as a friendly person who lived with his younger brother.
It was in the past three or four years that Mr Wu started frequenting the coffee shop, drinking there every night, then falling asleep afterwards.
The coffee shop owner did not chase him away, as he was a regular customer.
Lianhe Wanbao understands that Mr Wu’s younger brother was the one who found him, when he came downstairs to look for him for breakfast together.
He tried waking Mr Wu up but to no avail.
Ms Ou added that everyone in the neighbourhood knew Mr Wu as he was friendly and kind to people he met.
In response to The Straits Times’ query, police said it was alerted to a case of unnatural death at the location at 11.50am.
A 61-year-old man was found lying motionless and pronounced dead by paramedics at the scene. Police investigations are ongoing.
This article was first published on Mar 29, 2017.
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A Librarian's World – Cover to Content: Magazines from the National Library’s Legal Deposit
from Thursday, April 27, 2017 at 7:00 PM to Thursday, April 27, 2017 at 8:00 PM
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STARTS TOMORROW: Tigerair 24hr FLASH sale featuring fares fr $34 all-in to over 25 destinations! (30 Mar 8am – 31 Mar 8am)
TigerAir will be having their weekly 24hr Tigerflash from this Thursday 8am to Friday 8am. Go island hopping in the Krabi region!
Malaysian actor gets punched in the face by Scarlett Johansson in new movie
PETALING JAYA – How many Malaysian actors can say they have been punched by Scarlett Johansson? Well, Pete Teo can.
Teo has a small but significant role in Hollywood blockbuster Ghost in the Shell, in which he plays Tony, the “slightly crazy” owner of a Yakuza (Japanese triad) nightclub that deals in illegal cybernetic enhancements.
Johansson’s character, Major, who is there following up on a lead, ends up handcuffed to a pole in a small room with Tony, and in the ensuing fight, punches him in the face, sending him flying.
The 44-year-old singer-songwriter, actor and filmmaker said that it took about a week to shoot the scene, which amounts to less than four minutes in the actual movie.
“We shot it this time last year in Wellington, New Zealand. I was there for a few weeks. The first week was mostly physical training to prepare for the role.
“Then it took a couple of weeks to get the look of the character right, and the actual shooting took about a week,” Teo recalled.
He also had to wear heavy makeup for the role, which took two hours to put on each day.
According to him, Johansson was very professional and very easy to work with.
“She’s really sporting and chatty, with no attitude at all. She’s a really great actress, and definitely knows what she’s doing,” he said.
Teo, who saw the complete movie a couple of weeks ago, said that seeing himself on-screen took some getting used to at first.
“My initial thought was, ‘Is that really me?’
“Overall, I enjoyed it. I was expecting the density or the darkness of the original anime, but I thought they paid homage to the whole thing very well,” he said.
Ghost in the Shell is Teo’s first Hollywood film after several local productions including Ho Yuhang’s At The End Of Day Break and Afdlin Shauki’s Papadom.
Ghost in the Shell is based on a manga by Masamune Shirow, and also stars Pilou Asbaek, Takeshi Kitano, Juliette Binoche and Michael Pitt.
Singapore's first Zika cluster of 2017 reported at Simon Place
SINGAPORE: Two cases of locally transmitted Zika virus infections have been confirmed at Simon Place in Hougang, the National Environment Agency said on Wednesday (Mar 29).
This is the first Zika cluster reported in Singapore this year.
Both cases are residents from the same household, NEA added in a media release.
The Zika cluster was confirmed on Tuesday and vector control operations are being carried out in the area.
“As of Mar 29, NEA has inspected about 120 premises out of about 400 premises in the Simon Place cluster to check for mosquito breeding and also conducted ground checks in the vicinity,” said the agency.
“10 breeding habitats – comprising seven in homes and three in common areas/other premises – have been detected and destroyed.”
The location of the active Zika cluster at Simon Place. (Image: NEA)
NEA added that it has carried out indoor spraying of insecticides, as well as thermal fogging and misting in the outdoor areas. In addition, outreach efforts are being conducted by NEA officers and grassroot volunteers in the area to distribute Zika information leaflets and insect repellent to households.
NEA also urged residents to allow officers to carry out inspections and indoor spraying of residents’ homes if required.
“Most people infected with the Zika virus do not develop symptoms, which heightens the risk of a Zika resurgence as it may take some time before a reintroduced Zika virus is detected. With the presence of the Aedes mosquito vector here, everyone must therefore continue to maintain vigilance and play his part to prevent future localised transmission through eradicating mosquito breeding habitats in our neighbourhoods,” said NEA.
100,000 housing units to be built next to Kallang River in next 20 years
Good news for those who have always wanted to live near a river: A total of 100,000 new residential units will be built next to Kallang River over the next 20 years.
Minister for National Development Mr Lawrence Wong said the new home units will be within 2km of both sides of the Kallang River, with Kampong Bugis being one of the key residential precincts.
He made the announcement Wednesday (Mar 29) at the launch of ‘A River Runs Through It’, an exhibition on the rejuvenation of Kallang River by the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA).
The Kampong Bugis area is about 17 hectares in size, and is envisioned as a new residential precinct “that is people-centric and car-lite”, said Mr Wong.
There are currently about 800,000 people living within 2km of the Kallang River.
Also primed to be developed into a new waterfront housing area is Kallang Distripark, said the URA in a statement on Wednesday.
As such, URA said it will introduce “vibrant commercial and recreational nodes along the river to provide more avenues for both work and play.”
For example, within the Kallang Basin itself, Singaporeans will be able to enjoy greater access to water sports.
One such idea that is being developed for implementation is an eventual stream, cascading waters and rain gardens between Bishan Road and Braddell Road, according to the URA.
Older industrial estates can be transformed into new mixed-use areas, said Mr Wong in his speech this morning.
The minister said: “This will provide more opportunities for businesses seeking to leverage on the area’s proximity to the city centre and its good connectivity.”
Future residents within the Kallang River area will also have more jogging and cycling paths along the river promenade.
However, Mr Wong did point out the fact that the park connectors that run along the river are over twenty years old and “are not entirely seamless”.
This includes an intersection at the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) where pedestrians and cyclists need to cross an overhead bridge that extends across the 16-lane expressway.
But there are possible solutions to create a more seamless inter-town cycling route, said Mr Wong.
One idea is to have elevated cable bridges. More of such ideas to overcome major obstacles along the river bank can be viewed at the Kallang River exhibition, URA said.
ssandrea@sph.com.sg
First Zika cluster of 2017 reported at Simon Place near Kovan MRT: NEA
SINGAPORE – Two cases of locally transmitted Zika virus infection in Singapore have been confirmed at Simon Place near Kovan MRT station, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said on Wednesday (March 29).
The NEA was notified of the cluster on Tuesday, after two Simon Place residents from the same household contracted the virus. That afternoon, NEA commenced vector control operations and outreach activities in the vicinity.
Ten mosquito breeding habitats – seven in homes and three in other premises – were detected and destroyed, the NEA said in a press release.
Altogether, the NEA inspected about 120 premises out of about 400 premises in the cluster to check for mosquito breeding, and also conducted ground checks in the vicinity. Thermal fogging and misting were also carried out on Wednesday.
Residents at Simon Place were advised to apply repellent as a precaution. They were also told to maintain vigilance and continue to eliminate mosquito breeding habitats, as there could still be asymptomatic or mild, undiagnosed cases which might result in further transmission of the virus if there are mosquitoes in the vicinity, the NEA said.
Most people infected with Zika do not develop symptoms, so it heightens the risk of the virus’ resurgence as it may take some time before a reintroduced Zika virus is detected, the NEA added.
Members of the public are advised to seek medical attention if they are unwell, especially when they show symptoms such as fever and rash. They should also inform their doctors of the location of their residence and workplace.
The first Zika case in Singapore was confirmed in May last year. Since then, 458 cases of Zika infection were reported. Wednesday’s update brings the recorded number of Zika infections here to 460.
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