The number of dengue cases is relatively low for now, but there could be an uptick in the coming months.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) warned yesterday that the increase could peak in the middle of the year.
NEA’s projection is based on data from its Gravitrap surveillance system, which detected about 60 per cent more Aedes aegypti mosquitoes last month than in last October.
“If left unchecked, the high Aedes aegypti population may lead to a surge in dengue cases in 2017,” the NEA said in a press statement.
Another factor which may lead to more cases is the high diversity of circulating dengue serotypes. DENV-2 was the dominant dengue serotype for much of last year, so anyone who contracted that type is immune, but the predominant serotype this year remains unclear.
“Historically, a change in predominant dengue virus serotype has been followed by a spike in dengue cases,” said the NEA.
The agency also urged those spring cleaning for Chinese New Year to properly dispose of any refuse, including large items, so that they do not become unintentional mosquito breeding habitats.
It asked residents to prevent mosquito breeding by changing water in vases and turning over all water storage containers that are not in use.
Those intending to travel during the upcoming holiday period should also mosquito-proof their homes by adding insecticide in roof gutters and making sure there is no stagnant water accessible for breeding.
Madam Grace Lee, who will be travelling during the holiday weekend, said she usually covers the toilet bowls at home when her family is away.
“Our area was a dengue hot spot previously, so it is better to take precautions,” said the 60-year-old cashier, who lives in Bishan.
A total of 13,115 dengue cases were reported to the Ministry of Health (MOH) from Jan 3 to Dec 31 last year.
More than 1.2 million inspections were conducted by the NEA last year, including 7,400 at construction sites.
The inspections were meant to prevent not only the transmission of dengue, but also that of the Zika virus, which mosquitoes can also carry.
The NEA discovered more than 16,000 mosquito breeding habitats. About 3,900 households were fined. More than 60 court prosecutions were taken against contractors for repeat offences, while more than 60 stop-work orders were issued to construction sites.
In February last year, the MOH and NEA warned that the number of dengue cases for that year could hit a new record high, exceeding 30,000. The NEA observed a 50 per cent increase in the number of mosquitoes caught in its Gravitraps in January last year, compared with the figure in January 2015.
“Despite an early surge in the number of cases early in 2016, the situation was brought under control,” said the agency.
This was due to various factors, such as intense vector control efforts and the unusually high temperatures, which can shorten a mosquito’s lifespan.
This article was first published on Jan 20, 2017. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
SINGAPORE – Diabetics are three times more likely to die from severe liver disease than those without the condition, a local study on over 60,000 Chinese Singaporeans has found.
And the surprise finding is that lean diabetics are at a higher risk than their overweight counterparts to die from fatty liver disease.
The findings were released at a media briefing on Friday (Jan 20).
Diabetes and obesity are known globally to increase the risk of fatty liver disease. This happens when fat accumulates in the organ, it becomes scarred and cannot function properly.
“At first I thought it could be double-whammy, overweight people who also have diabetes should have the higher risk,” said Professor Koh Woon-Puay, who is from Duke-NUS Medical School, and principle investigator of the study.
“But paradoxically and contrary to my expectations, among lean people, the effects of diabetes increases their risk even more.”
More research has to be done to find out why this is the case.
The researchers used data from the Singapore Chinese Health Study, which recruited middle-aged and elderly Chinese living in Singapore between 1993 and 1998, and correlated that with information from the Singapore registry of births and deaths through to the end of 2014. A total of 5,696 had diabetes, and 16 died from fatty liver disease, which is also known as cirrhosis.
In comparison, to a person without diabetes and who has a healthy body mass index (BMI) of under 23, an overweight diabetic is three times more likely to die from fatty liver disease.
But a diabetic with a healthy BMI has an even higher risk – he is 5.5 times likelier to die from it.
The paper on the findings will be published in the scientific journal Liver International in February.
Prof Koh said the findings have important implications in Singapore and other Asian populations, where patients develop diabetes at lower BMI levels compared to Western populations.
Dr George Goh, a consultant at Singapore General Hospital’s department of gastroenterology and hepatology, and first author of the study, said the findings suggest that diabetics should be more actively screened for liver disease, on top of other conditions more commonly associated with diabetes such as heart disease, eye conditions like cataracts and glaucoma, and kidney disease.
“The message is that if you have diabetes, regardless of your BMI, you are at risk of fatty liver disease,” he added.
Dr Goh is also leading an ongoing study of diabetic patients to screen and assess the severity of fatty liver disease among the Chinese, Malay and Indian populations. The two-year project, which involves 400 patients and will end in December this year, will also try to understand the factors that can reduce the development of fatty liver disease.
Over 400,000 people here are diabetics, it is estimated. The incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is also rising in Singapore, according to a study by SingHealth doctors, and could well be affecting half of the adults in the Republic.
This article was first published on Jan 20, 2017. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
Just then, a taxi can be seen turning onto the same road and towards the Mercedes-Benz in the opposite direction. Fortunately, both cars managed to stop in time. Five seconds later, the Mercedes-Benz driver appeared to make an attempt to U-turn.
The 22-second clip was posted on community monitoring Facebook page Beh Chia Lor on Wednesday (Jan 18).
The location of the incident is unidentified, but netizens speculate that it took place at Bedok North Street 3.
The incident comes a month after a fatal accident on the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) in which a driver allegedly drove his Mercedes-Benz against the flow of traffic, killing a motorist and injuring three others.
A day later, The Straits Times reported that more such offences are coming to light thanks to the rise in use of in-vehicle cameras.
Parks officials yesterday mobilised staff from the Protected Areas Regional Office 3 to catch protected and endangered animals left at the Tiger Temple in Kanchanburi province.
The animals were left over from the last animal seizure at the controversial temple mid last year, and they will be moved to other wildlife breeding operations in nearby provinces for better care.
In the previous seizure, the animals were deemed to be confiscated assets.
That operation was led by former deputy director general Adisorn Nuchdamrong.
Photo: The Nation/ANN
He led a group of park officials and veterinarians to move 147 tigers and some others animals from the Tiger Temple, or Wat Pa Luang Ta Maha Bua.
The operation unearthed a lot of talismans and wild animal carcasses, including tiger cubs, in the compound.
The temple was suspected of being linked to wildlife trafficking.
The tigers were moved to the Khao Son and the Khao Prathapchang wildlife breeding stations in nearby Ratchaburi province.
Photo: The Nation/ANN
But a number of other protected and endangered animals, including barking deers and thamin deers, remained in the wild at the 400 rai (64 hectare) temple compound.
The wildlife sanctuary chief under the Protected Areas Regional Office 3 office, Sikhapong Krajaejan, led the operation on Thursday.
He said up to 120 animals were fed in the compound but they were scattered as they roamed free.
Only six were caught on Thursday.
It is estimated that the operation will take around a month to complete.
“We have to wait for them [the animals] somewhere on a rugged terrain and do so with patience, before putting them in cages.
And we can do this only during the morning and the evening because if we chase them during the day, they would be hurt,” said the office’s director Yanyong Lekhawijit.
They animals will be moved to the Khao Khor wildlife breeding station in Petchabun province, and the Huai Kha Khaeng wildlife breeding station in Uthai Thani.
Come backstage and meet the creative team behind Tropicana the Musical – a brand new show about Sexy! Sixties! Singapore! opening at Capitol Theatre this coming April!
This show will break your heart and bust your gut as you laugh, cry, discover and remember people, stories and music from in and around this one-of-a-kind establishment in 60’s Singapore.
A grieving family is claiming that their relative may have survived if a pick-up truck driver had not blocked an ambulance from rushing to her rescue due to a minor road accident.
On Wednesday, an ambulance collided with a pick-up in a minor accident in Nonthaburi province.
The ambulance driver Natchapon Sakhon, 35, said he jumped out to take responsibility and that he had asked the pickup driver to wait for him at the hospital because his team was on an emergency call to the house of Chusri Onsamphan, 74, to provide medical help.
“But he refused, demanding that I stand by at the scene of the accident,” Natchapon said.
Another ambulance had to be dispatched to Chusri’s home, but by the time it got there, the patent’s heart had stopped and she could not be revived.
Police said the accident had caused only minor scratches on the pick-up truck and Chusri’s relatives were angry that help did not arrive in time.
National Institute of Emergency Medicine secretary-general Anucha Setthasathian said the relatives blamed their loss on the pick-up driver.
“I hope nothing like this happens again. Giving way to an ambulance is in fact no less that giving lives,” he said.
Thai action star Phanom “Tony Jaa” Yeerum talks about his role in “xXx: The Return of Xander Cage”
Thai action superstar Phanom “Tony Jaa” Yeerum is back on the big screen this week and reunited with US actor Vin Diesel, with whom he worked on “Fast and Furious 7” two years ago.
Diesel, of course, is playing in the title role in “xXx: The Return of Xander Cage” after a 12 year break.
In the film, Jaa plays Talon, a martial art fighter from Thailand, who is dubbed the Rooster.
Talking to the Thai media at a recent press conference organised by UIP, which is distributing the film in Thailand, Jaa refuses to say whether he plays a good guy or a baddie, smiling enigmatically and telling the journalists to see the film and find out for themselves.
“It was a new experience for me, shooting action scenes in freezing weather and it allowed me to show muay thai in a way you have never seen before,” he says.
UIP’s general manager for Thailand Pannatat Phromsupa adds that Jaa’s part is different from the character he portrayed in “Fast 7.”
In “Fast 7,” Thai movie buffs were relieved to see that their home-grown actor was given his share of recognition in a key sequence scene in which he fights with the late actor Paul Walker.
He doesn’t have a special sequence in the new film but Pannatat says he remains part of the story until the end.
“We wouldn’t hold a press conference if his role were too small and unimportant,” he stresses.
The significance of his role is evident from the fact that Jaa has his own Character One Sheet – the movie poster on which special characters appear individually.
He is also a member of the promotional tour and gives interviews to the foreign press as well.
During four months of location shooting in Toronto, Canada, Jaa had to learn to deal with the cold weather. He wore four layers of long johns and warmed up hard before the shooting.Photo: The Nation/ANN
During four months of location shooting in Toronto, Canada, Jaa had to learn to deal with the cold weather.
He wore four layers of long johns and warmed up hard before the shooting.
“It’s totally opposite to the weather in Thailand and it really troubled me. I had a muscle injury, a kind of tearing because of not warming up enough. It was hard because no matter how long I warmed up, I didn’t sweat at all,” he says.
“xXx: The Return of Xander Cage” is the third instalment in the franchise that sent Vin Diesel to stardom in 2002.
In the first film, viewers were introduced to the extreme sports athlete, who is recruited by the government for a special mission.
The second film, “xXx: State of the Union” released in 2005, also starred Ice Cube, and bombed at the box office.
Diesel is hedging his bets by producing this latest film and personally chose Jaa for the project.
Directed by DJ Caruso, the film picks up when Cage emerges from the exile in which he’s lived since being left for dead.
Recruited by his handler Agent Augustus Eugene Gibbons (Samuel L Jackson) and Jane Marke (Toni Collette), his mission is to retrieve a doomsday device called “Pandora’s Box” from the supervillain Xiang (Donnie Yen).
The film also stars Indian sexy actress Deepika Padukone and Chinese-born Canadian actor Kris Wu.
Jaa says that even though Caruso had already prepared the action layout and choreography for his role, he was open to suggestions from the Thai actor.
The action scene that shows his signature “flying knee”, he says, will impress the audience.
“But every scene in which I appear in the movie is interesting so you must watch them all,” he laughs.
Pannatat says that it’s the good opportunity to hold a special press conference.
“It’s not often we have an actor starring in a blockbuster like this,” he says, adding that UIP didn’t arrange a media blitz for “Fast 7” due to the conflict between Jaa and Sahamongkol Films Company.
That storm died down completely when Sahamongkol Films Company president, Somsak Techaratanaprasert, told the Thai-language media some two years ago and after the release of “Furious 7” that he was calling off the courtroom showdown with Jaa.
He explained he was too old to have lawyers as ring men and, anyway, had forgiven the actor he once loved like a son and was happy to let him pursue his Hollywood dreams.
From now on they would have nothing to do with one another, Sia Jiang added, and hopefully Jaa could capitalise on international stardom.
Knowing his weak and strong points, Jaa and his manager Michael Selby are careful in choosing the parts that are right for him.
Jaa is now able to communicate in English and seems more relaxed and skilled in dealing with the press.
His agent is based in Los Angeles but Jaa remains for the most part in Thailand where he works on his martial art skills and flies out to shoot as needed.
After “Fast 7,” Jaa had a more significant role in the Hong Kong action drama “SPL2”.
He also played a Thai cop in the Hollywood film “Skin Trade”, which was directed by Thai director Ekachai Uekrongtham and co-produced by his manager Selby.
For now, Jaa still enjoys international projects and is not interested in Thai movies.
This year, he says, we will see him in another two movies but refuses to give details.
“We are also in negotiations on a few other projects,” he says.
Virat Kohli played a shot this week that had all of us holding our breath.
No, we said, he didn’t do that and yet he had.
It wasn’t an outrageous shot of the kind AB de Villiers plays for fun sometimes in the Indian Premier League; that reverse swept six over third man to a fast bowler.
This one was actually so correct, so aesthetic that you might actually wonder why it hadn’t been attempted more often.
So this is what happened.
Chris Woakes, of no mean pace normally, even given the flatness of the wicket, (that such surfaces are called “good” tells you that life is about batsmen!) bowled a cutter at 121kph.
It was shortish but it was coming into Kohli and decorum demanded that it be played towards the leg side.
By the way, I cajoled myself into using that word because it is almost extinct!
Decorum connotes respect and, especially in the shorter form, the bat isn’t showing too much of that to the ball!
A lot of good batsmen would have been happy flicking that into the open spaces between long on and mid-wicket and scurrying back for two.
I have seen Rahul Dravid play balls a bit fuller than that with that exquisite straight bat jab through mid-wicket.
Some others might have swivelled and tried to pull it around mid-wicket or square leg.
Instead, Kohli, took a ball that was just over waist high and with a delightfully straight bat played a short-arm jab over wide mid-on.
It took flight and by the time it landed, it was some rows behind, among the spectators.
It was astonishing, he didn’t have the room to free his arms and swipe at it, so he played a high elbow, elegant push at it. That it should sail for six tells us a lot about today’s game.
The first instinct would be to say: “Ah, these modern bats……ah, these short boundaries……ah, these flat pitches….” That is true but that is only part of the story.
It doesn’t tell you that the mindset of the modern batsman is completely different.
Yes, he has excellent bats but his ideas of risk and confidence are completely different.
For too long, we had assumed that some shots are risky and, without challenging the thought, just pretended they didn’t exist.
This generation is telling us that many of those are eminently playable.
Cricket was about caution, it is now about adventure.
Kohli’s shot also tells us that the modern player is much stronger than most players of the past.
It isn’t just about the bat, but the power through the shoulders and forearms that is propelling the ball to such distant parts of the ground.
For a long time, this power was used to play hoicks through mid-wicket.
And earlier the power came from jumping out, from a huge backlift and with the entire body participating in a giant heave. Not so any more.
Kohli’s shot was a great example of using power to play a composed, straight bat shot.
To that extent, batsmanship has gone to another level and I think it is time we acknowledged that.
I believe in course of time, it will go into folklore and acquire the same aura that Tendulkar’s upper cut to Shoaib Akhtar in 2003 has.
We didn’t see that shot too often and the occasion was substantial and so it is etched in our minds.
Now, we have become a bit immune to the audacious but even by that standard, this shot from Kohli took your breath away; in its conception, in the belief that it could be played, in the confidence with which it eventually was and in the nonchalance that accompanied it.
In a league of his own, Aamir Khan is making and breaking records in Bollywood.
He is not one to rest on his laurels.
In week three of its release, Dangal has minted over Rs 356 crores (S$75 million) and continues to go from strength to strength.
The biopic that tells the story of Olympian wrestling sisters Geeta and Babita and their father Mahavir Phogat has cornered all box office records to become the highest grossing Hindi film ever.
Instead of celebrating this milestone, Aamir is holed up in an undisclosed location prepping for his next film.
“I am in a boot camp. All I do the whole day is exercise. I do weight training, boxing and spinning. I also go on treks and cycle,” the actor tells tabla! during a video-conference.
The celebrations would have to wait for now.
“Once I am back in Mumbai, I am hoping to meet the cast and crew of the film and celebrate with them. This film has been a wonderful journey for all of us.”
On the surface, it might seem as if Dangal might have brought the demonetisation drought to an end at the box office.
Still, the actor believes it might have affected the film’s takings.
Setting new benchmarks…Actors Zaira Wasim, Fatima Sana Shaikh, Aamir Khan, Sakshi Tanwar, Sanya Malhotra and Suhani Bhatnagar during a press conference to promote the film Dangal.Photo: IANS
“I’m sure there might have been some effect in the smaller centres, but it can’t be calculated. Regardless of that, I have to say that I am overwhelmed with the response the film has got. Its very rarely that the audience embraces a film like they have this one. I’ve had tears in my eyes while reading people’s responses on social media.”
There was one reaction in particular that has meant more to the superstar.
“Rishi (Kapoor) gave me the highest compliment that I could have imagined. He said I was the Raj Kapoor of today. I was over the moon when I read that. There’s no way that I can compare myself to Raj Kapoor, but the fact that this thought came to Raj’s son meant a lot to me,” says the 51-year-old actor.
Talking about reactions on social media about Dangal, Salman Khan had tweeted “love you personally, but hate you professionally”.
Ask Aamir about this and he laughs.
“It’s actually a very loving tweet. The fact that he is saying this publically is a huge compliment from a colleague. I don’t think there’s even an iota of hate in his ‘hate’.”
Whether it’s a current release or previous films like PK or Dhoom 3, Aamir’s films have been setting new benchmarks with every release.
“I am not trying to set any benchmarks. When we sign a film, we don’t know if it is going to work; if it would touch people’s hearts and minds. I only pick a film based on my gut reactions. No one can predict it’s fate. I just make films that make me happy.”
With box office numbers going up with every film, the pressure to surpass the collections from his previous films must get to him?
“Honestly, numbers is not a game I have ever been interested in. When I think of all the films I love like Pyaasa, Do Aankhen Barah Haath, Teesri Manzil, Mother India or Mughal e Azam, it doesn’t matter how much money they made or if they didn’t make any money. We love films and not how they perform at the box office.”
Aamir doesn’t let audience expectations or industry naysayers get in the way of his telling a good story.
“I was told that I shouldn’t make Dangal because Salman is making Sultan. Then there is no romance in the film. I was told that no one would want to see me being old and fat. This film doesn’t have any romantic songs.
“I was given so many reasons for not making this film. But I had only one reason for making it. I loved the script. For me, it was as simple as that.”
After a long time, Salman, Shah Rukh and Aamir have all been nominated in the Best Actor category for the Filmfare Awards this year.
For years, Aamir has stayed away from popular awards and it’s not going to change.
“The biggest award for me is the love we’d received from the audience. Popular awards are not of any value to me.”
In the film, Mahavir pushes his daughters to realise his dream of winning for the country.
In 3 Idiots, the message that the audience walked away with was that one shouldn’t push their children into careers they don’t love.
As a parent (he has three children), Aamir believes in giving “my kids the freedom to choose whatever they are interested in”.
“We support them completely. But that doesn’t mean that parents should not guide or suggest things to their children. Only don’t force them.
“In Dangal, Mahavir does push his daughters towards realising his dream, but you have to remember that Geeta and Babita have the passion and the drive to make his dreams come true.
“If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have succeeded. You can’t force someone to excel at something. That passion has come from the individual. It can’t be taught or forced. This was a true-life story so I had to follow Mahavir’s story.”
Babita and Geeta’s real life coach didn’t appreciate how their coach in the film was made the villain.
Aamir explains: “There’s a disclaimer right at the beginning of the film that states that Dangal is the story of Babita, Gita and Mahavir Phogat. All other characters are fictitious. The coach in the film has a fictitious name. even the cousin in the film Omkar is fictitious.
“The girls have three-four cousins who they could wrestle with. Nitesh (Tiwari, director) thought it would have more impact if there was one cousin. We had to take cinematic liberties for drama and conflict. All biopic mention that some liberties have been taken to dramatise and that’s what we’ve done.”
Both Kiran Rao (wife) and your mother weren’t very happy with your physical transformation for the film because it harms your health. Would you ever do it again?
“Don’t tell them but if the role and the film is exciting enough, I will do it,” Aamir says with a laugh before signing off.
Aamir’s plans for 2017
The actor is looking forward to realising a long-cherished dream of making a film with Amitabh Bachchan.
The duo star in the period drama Thugs of Hindoostan and the film goes on the floor some time in March.
“I am also looking forward to the release of a very special film called Secret Superstar that we’ve made. It’s a very different film and my role is going to shock people,” he says with a laugh, “its quite chatpata”.
Singer and actor Leon Lai is known to be a private person, but the star opened up recently about the romantic setbacks in his life on a popular Chinese television show.
Regarded as one of the four Heavenly Kings in Hong Kong pop culture, Lai fessed up on Dragon TV’s The Jinxing Show last week that he was heartbroken after ending a seven-year relationship with actress Shu Qi in 2004.
“Everyone experiences pain. If there isn’t pain, we won’t be able to come together,” he told show host Jin Xing, who felt that the pair make an ideal couple.
When the host asked him if their split was due to pressure from society, Lai, who is 50 today, said he could not talk about the reason and suggested that it was pointless to do so since Shu Qi, 40, had already married.
The media had speculated on the causes then, highlighting fans’ disapproval of her because she was once a soft-porn actress and Lai’s reluctance to admit he was in a relationship with her.
Leon Lai told talk show host Jin Xing he still believes in love despite his romantic setbacks.Photo: Screengrab of The Jinxing Show
Shu Qi, who tied the knot with longtime friend, actor-director Stephen Fung, 42, last year, was also depressed after breaking up with Lai, she told Elle magazine in 2010.
She was first linked to Fung when they acted together in Bishonen in 1997 but went on to have a serious relationship with Lai after both co-starred in City Of Glass in 1998.
Leon Lai and Shu Qi in City of Glass in 1998.Photo: Golden Harvest
Lai, who divorced model Gaile Lok in 2012 after four years of marriage, said he still believes in love, adding that he would give his best shot in a new romance, despite his romantic failures.
“If I don’t believe in it anymore, I might as well become a monk. You definitely have to make sacrifices when it comes to love. That is what love is about. If you don’t make sacrifices for it, then other person won’t do it either. I still believe in fate, and I will cherish it when it comes,” said Lai, who had admitted in 2012 that he had been selfish in the marriage.
The still-dashing debonair star, also revealed that he first fell in love at 18 or 19 with a classmate. In recent years, the media have reported him seeing a model half his age.
On The Jinxing talk show, Leon Lai said singer Faye Wong is a woman of integrity.Photo: Screengrab from The Jinxing Show
When questioned about the type of woman he desires, he said: “One day, we will all get fat. We can’t just focus on looks alone.”
He was also asked about the strong points of several female celebrities named by the host. He said singer Faye Wong epitomises integrity, while he would safely share a secret with actress Maggie Cheung.
As for the woman he admires most, it is none other than Shu Qi.
chenj@sph.com.sg
On a TV show, Leon Lai said he admires Shu Qi the most and that he would share a secret safely with Maggie Cheung.Photo: Screengrab from The Jinxing Show
