Bossini warehouse sale now on with prices starting from $5 onwards till 11 Dec
Bossini warehouse sale now on with prices starting from $5 onwards from 2 – 11 Dec 2016
Bossini is having a warehouse sale at 4 Leng Kee Road, SIS Building #01-04 from 2 December to 11 December 2016. The sale features men’s, women’s, kids’ apparel and accessories with prices starting from $5 onwards
Applications to be on the Fresh Start Housing Scheme are now open for families who once owned a flat but now live in public rental units.
The scheme allows the families, who must have at least a child below the age of 16, to apply for a new Housing Board flat with a grant of up to $35,000, the Ministry of National Development and HDB announced in a statement yesterday.
After getting on the scheme, families have a year to apply for a new flat in the HDB’s regular Build-To-Order or Sale of Balance Flats launches.
The scheme was first mentioned in last year’s National Day Rally, with details given in this year’s Committee of Supply debate.
During the rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said he was concerned about the future of a group of families who, without help, may be permanently out of reach of getting their own flat.
The scheme has several conditions. For instance, at least one of the applicants must have been in stable employment for the previous 12 months.
The family must also be assessed by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF). The MSF and HDB will do regular checks to ensure the families are on track.
In a blog post, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong said: “Some second-timer public rental families are ready and hoping to own a home again – they are in stable employment, manage their finances well, and have a stable home environment.”
But they might find it challenging to buy a flat, he added.
The scheme helps by letting them buy a two-room flexi flat on a shorter lease and giving them another HDB concessionary rate loan and a new Fresh Start Housing Grant of up to $35,000.
Mr Wong said: “We are starting with a more targeted approach. So the number of Fresh Start families may not be large to begin with.”
Interested families must apply and be placed on the scheme before applying for a flat.
They can do so on the HDB website, at HDB branches or at Toa Payoh HDB Hub.
Mr Wong has also appointed a Fresh Start Advisory Committee to support outreach efforts and give guidance on implementation.
This article was first published on December 2, 2016.
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A terrorist cell formed by a group seeking recognition from the ISIS terror network is already operating and planning a big attack in Manila.
This comes as the Philippine capital was placed on its highest terror alert for the first time in 16 years following the arrest of two alleged militants over a makeshift bomb planted near the US Embassy on Monday.
A senior police officer, who did not want to be named as he was not authorised to speak to journalists, told The Straits Times that the two – identified as Rashid Kilala and Jiaher Guinar – were part of a cell in Quezon City’s sprawling Novaliches district that security forces had been monitoring for over a month.
Three more suspects being hunted had already likely fled back to their jungle strongholds in the war-torn southern Mindanao islands, police chief Ronaldo de la Rosa said at a news conference yesterday.
The police officer told ST there were more than five members of the cell, including the group’s financier.
Mr De la Rosa said all five were believed to be members of Ansar al Khilafah, a militant group with ties to another faction of extremists, the Maute group, which has also pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Maute was the target of a military operation this week, after it took parts of Butig town, in Lanao del Sur province, in Mindanao, 840km south of Manila, last Saturday.
The plot to bomb the US Embassy was initially said to be Maute’s handiwork, to divert government attention from the Mindanao offensive.
Mr Rommel Banlaoi, an analyst with the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, said a relative of Omar Maute, one of the two founders of the Maute group killed early this year, was living in Novaliches.
“They have an existing network (in Metro Manila),” he said.
He added that the terrorist cell had long been planning a big attack in Manila to draw ISIS’ attention.
It was behind an aborted plot to bomb venues during a summit of Apec world leaders in Manila in November last year, he said.
Mr De la Rosa said: “They were seeking to be recognised by ISIS, that they are good enough to mount attacks, because of the tremendous funding support they were hoping to get.”
He added that with Manila under terror alert level 3, checkpoints and security were being increased around public places such as malls. He also predicted more police raids in pursuit of terror suspects.
The capital’s last level 3 terror alert was on Dec 30, 2000, following multiple bombings that left 22 people dead.
Mr De la Rosa urged Filipinos not to be alarmed. “Just stay alert. Be cautious, but don’t panic. Enjoy Christmas,” he said.
Communications Minister Martin Andanar said the heightened alert “is consistent with the declaration of a state of national emergency or the declaration of a state of lawless violence” after the Davao bombing last September. “We assure the public that there will be no disruption in their normal lives,” he said.
This article was first published on December 02, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
Singapore and Malaysia have postponed a meeting between their prime ministers, at which both sides were to sign an agreement on the high-speed rail project that will shorten travelling time to Kuala Lumpur to 90 minutes.
The Leaders’ Retreat had been scheduled for Monday, but has been changed to a date that has yet to be finalised, officials from both sides said yesterday.
They are working out a new date.
A Malaysian newspaper report said yesterday that the signing of the agreement had been postponed owing to scheduling and administrative matters.
The New Straits Times cited Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan as saying Malaysia had suggested Dec 21 as the new date.
Datuk Abdul Rahman said he met Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan on Tuesday, and both had agreed to “fine-tune some details in the bilateral agreement”.
“All other issues have been ironed out,” he was cited as saying.
Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told The Straits Times yesterday that both sides are “working to hold the retreat soon”.
“We are in the process of finalising the key deliverables for the Malaysia-Singapore Leaders’ Retreat,” its spokesman said.
Singapore’s Transport Ministry said: “There has been excellent progress on the negotiations for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail Bilateral Agreement.
Both Malaysia and Singapore are finalising the text and look forward to its signing at the coming Leaders’ Retreat soon.”
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told Malaysia’s Bernama news agency on Monday that both sides had made “very good progress” on the agreement.
Construction of the 350km railway is expected to start in 2018, with trains running by 2026.
Mr Lee also told Bernama that he hopes both countries can sign the agreement when he meets Prime Minister Najib Razak at the retreat.
This article was first published on December 2, 2016.
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The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) will be getting its first woman CEO next year.
Madam Low Khah Gek, who is now deputy director-general of education (schools) and director of schools at the Ministry of Education (MOE), will step up to the role of director and chief executive, ITE said in a statement yesterday.
She will be replacing Mr Bruce Poh Geok Huat, 61, who will be retiring on Feb 2 after 35 years of service in the public sector.
Madam Low, who is in her mid-50s, will be the ITE’s third CEO and the first woman to helm the institution since it was set up in 1992.
Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Education (Higher Education and Skills), said: “We look forward to working with Madam Low Khah Gek and are confident that she will carry out her new role in ITE with the same level of commitment and dedication as she had done in schools and MOE Headquarters, and continue to build on the good work of Mr Poh.”
Madam Low, who joined the education service in 1984, has led initiatives such as the development of distinctive programmes in schools, and matching industry and community partners to support schools.
The former principal of Anderson Secondary School and Victoria Junior College also oversaw the implementation of subject-based banding, which allows pupils to take subjects at different levels according to their strengths.
She has also led the review of curricula at the primary, secondary and pre-university levels, and played a role in the curricula design for Crest Secondary School, the first specialised school for Normal (Technical) students.
Outgoing CEO Mr Poh has expanded the range of opportunities for ITE students by strengthening links with industry and overseas partners in the last 10 years.
He started his career as an engineer before joining the Singapore Economic Development Board in 1981. He was also deputy principal at Nanyang Polytechnic before taking up his current position at ITE in February 2007.
He oversaw the development of two out of three ITE College campuses, all of which now have modern learning facilities modelled after work environments. He also almost doubled the number of ITE courses from 54 in 2007 to 101 today.
In yesterday’s statement, ITE chairman Bob Tan thanked Mr Poh for his contributions to “level up Singapore’s career and technical education system, enhance the success and value of ITE students and graduates, and raise ITE’s quality and profile locally and globally”.
Mr Ong said Mr Poh “has been instrumental in driving key changes in ITE, with a focus on equipping students with skills for the workforce, in line with their interests and aptitude”.
This article was first published on December 02, 2016.
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Accused by critics of “moral policing” and “opaque, backroom censorship”, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) yesterday defended its decision to deny ratings to two shows in next January’s M1 Singapore Fringe Festival.
Performance lecture Naked Ladies and interactive piece Undressing Room were said last week to exceed the R18 rating under the Arts Entertainment Classification Code (AECC).
This means that both works would have to be changed and resubmitted for classification before being shown here.
IMDA’s latest statement said: “Naked Ladies includes a scene where the performer inserts her finger into her vagina and then into her mouth. Undressing Room involves the performer and an audience-participant completely undressing and then touching each other. Disallowing these scenes can hardly be considered retrograde moral policing; it is an objective application of existing guidelines.”
The annual M1 festival is noted for its boundary-pushing fringe performances.
Its 13th edition will run from Jan 4 to 15 next year.
IMDA had said last Friday: “The performances had excessive nudity which included scenes of audience-participants stripping naked, and graphic depictions of exposed genitalia.”
Artists’ network Arts Engage on Wednesday issued an open letter on its website in response to IMDA’s decision.
The letter expressed support for the festival organisers.
It questioned IMDA’s grounds for censoring both works and the process used.
It also asked whether IMDA representatives had seen the works.
And it wanted to know what advice had been given by the Arts Consultative Panel, a 40-member panel of housewives, artists, educators and working professionals, which can make recommendations to IMDA on ratings for arts shows.
Arts Engage called nudity “a legitimate and time-honoured device of artistic expression”.
It said: “Where is the artist’s voice in this decision process and how is nudity in these works ‘excessive’?”
It called the ratings denial “opaque, backroom censorship” and an “unmerited and retrograde step which runs counter to the move towards a reasonable, open and fair regimen of arts regulation in Singapore”.
IMDA’s response said it “has conducted itself transparently, contrary to Arts Engage’s allegations.
We have engaged the applicant every step of the way, and communicated our concerns clearly. It is therefore regrettable Arts Engage has accused IMDA of being opaque.
“If the applicant modifies the performances to meet the AECC guidelines, IMDA will license them accordingly”.
“In discharging our regulatory responsibilities, IMDA aims to strike a balance between a performance’s artistic merits, and prevailing social norms. Artistic expression cannot be an end in itself, without due consideration for social mores.”
This article was first published on December 2, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
Mayer 2.6L Air Fryer (MMAF68) going at $69 only till 4 Dec! Buy two for $108 ($54 ea) & save more
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The Jakarta Police announced on Friday that they had arrested eight people for alleged treason, several hours before the start of a large-scale rally to demand the arrest of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama in a blasphemy case.
“Eight people have been arrested and are undergoing interrogation by the Jakarta Police. We will wait for the interrogation results,” National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said at National Monument (Monas) Square on Friday morning.
A message circulating among journalists suggests that a number of activists, including musician-cum-politician Ahmad Dhani, retired two-star Army general Kivlan Zein, former lawmaker Sri Bintang Pamungkas and Rachmawati Soekarnoputri, sister of former president and ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) chairwoman Megawati Soekarnoputri, have been arrested on treason charges.
Boy, however, refused to confirm the information, saying the investigation was currently under way.
Last month, the Jakarta Police issued a circular to remind people that an act of treason could face the death penalty amid a plan by some Islamic conservative organisations to carry out a large-scale rally on Friday to push for the arrest of Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama in a blasphemy case.
“In expressing one’s thought in public, it is illegal to carry out [an act that will jeopardize] the nation’s security such as treason against the president or the vice president,” the circular stated, which was signed by Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Mochammad Iriawan.
“[The person responsible for] the act could be sentenced to death or with a life sentence,” the circular added.
Singapore – SPH Magazines Pte Ltd (SPH Magazines) has clinched 16 awards at the recent International Creative Media Award (ICMA) 2016.
An annual awards organised in Germany, the winners this year came from Singapore, United States, Russia, Brazil, Slowenia, Greece, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Germany.
SPH Magazines’ publications – The Peak Selections: Gourmet & Travel and Nu You, and custom-published titles – The Johnnie Walker House Edit, Building A Better World (a book produced for the Singapore International Foundation) and Savour, were honoured with 16 awards across various categories.
Mr Loh Yew Seng, Chief Executive Officer of SPH Magazines, said: “We are delighted that SPH Magazines’ luxury, fashion and beauty as well as custom titles have been honoured at the prestigious International Creative Media Awards. These awards reinforced SPH Magazines as a leading publisher in delivering quality and attractive content for both our readers and advertisers across multi-platform media on our wide networks of women, men and luxury titles.”
Here are SPH Magazines’ list of winners:
1. The Peak Selections: Gourmet & Travel (#17: Jun-Aug ’16) – Gold, Food and Drink
2. The Peak Selections: Gourmet & Travel (#16: Mar-May ’16) – Gold, Visual Storytelling
3. The Peak Selections: Gourmet & Travel (#18: Aug-Oct ’16) – Silver, Photography in General
4. The Peak Selections: Gourmet & Travel (#18: Aug-Oct ’16) – Bronze, Photo-Reportage
5. Nu You (Aug ’16) – Gold, Women and Fashion
6. Nu You (Sep ’16) – Gold, Women and Fashion
7. Nu You (Sep ’16) – Bronze, Front Pages
8. Nu You (Aug ’16) – Award of Excellence, Photography in General
9. Nu You (Sep ’16) – Award of Excellence, Photography in General
10. Building A Better World (a book produced for the Singapore International Foundation) – Gold, Corporate Books
11. The Johnnie Walk House Edit (Vol 4 (Obsession)) – Gold, Lifestyle and Fun
12. The Johnnie Walk House Edit (Vol 5 (Black & White)) – Silver, Typography / Layout
13. The Johnnie Walk House Edit (Vol 4 (Obsession)) – Award of Excellence, Visualization
14. The Johnnie Walk House Edit (Vol 4 (Obsession)) – Award of Excellence, Illustration
15. Savour (Jul / Aug ’16) – Bronze, Food and Drink
16. Savour (May / Jun ’16) – Award of Excellence, Cover and Coverstory
Jakarta – More than 100,000 Indonesian Muslims protested Friday against Jakarta’s Christian governor, the second major demonstration in a matter of weeks as conservative groups push for his arrest on accusations of insulting Islam.
People in white Islamic robes packed out a massive park in the capital, chanting Islamic verses and singing the national anthem, with over 20,000 security forces deployed to prevent a repeat of violence that erupted at the last protest against Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.
Purnama, known by his nickname Ahok, is being prosecuted for allegedly committing blasphemy over comments he made about the Koran during an election campaign, which have sparked widespread anger in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.
The case is seen in part as a test of religious tolerance in Indonesia, where a reputation for pluralism has been eroded by a surge in attacks on minorities, but critics say it is also about politics as the governor’s foes whip up anger to reduce his support.
The decision to prosecute Purnama, Jakarta’s first non-Muslim governor for half a century, has not been enough to quell anger and conservative groups are now demanding his arrest. Protesters waved banners that read “jail Ahok” as they marched en masse through the city’s streets in the early hours to converge on the park.
“All we want is justice, and by justice I mean Ahok being detained,” said Ricky Subagia, 26, who had come 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the town of Garut to take part in the demonstration.
Read also: Daughter of Indonesia’s first president Sukarno arrested along with 7 others for alleged treason
National police chief Tito Karnavian was shouted down when he went up on stage in the park, with the crowd pumping their fists in the air and yelling “jail Ahok”, who is also a member of Indonesia’s small ethnic Chinese minority.
Jakarta police spokesman Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono estimated at least 100,000 protesters had converged on the park by mid-morning and said so far the rally was peaceful.
Friday’s rally looked set to dwarf the first major protest against Purnama on November 4, which drew 100,000 Muslims – both hardline and moderate – onto the streets in the biggest demonstration that Jakarta has seen in years.
It was peaceful during the day but descended into violence as night fell, with Muslim hardliners hurling missiles at security forces and setting fire to police cars.
Security forces responded with tear gas and water cannon, in clashes that left one person dead and hundreds injured.
Fears have been running high that there could be a repeat of the violence, with foreign governments warning their citizens to avoid Friday’s demonstration.
Authorities and Islamic leaders agreed to restrict the latest demonstration to the downtown park and the event is scheduled to end by 1:00 pm (0600 GMT).
Police named Purnama a suspect in a blasphemy investigation earlier this month following the first protest. He is due to face trial and could be jailed for up to five years if found guilty of breaking Indonesia’s tough blasphemy laws.
The controversy started in September when the governor accused his opponents of fooling the electorate by misusing a Koranic verse to persuade voters not to support him in governorship elections.
Purnama’s opponents said the verse forbids Muslims from choosing non-Muslims as leaders.
Purnama has apologised for the remarks, saying he was criticising his political rivals who were using the verse rather than the Koran itself, but the scandal has seen him slip into second place in the polls.
He had long been the favourite to win the February election after he gained huge popularity with his no-nonsense style and determination to clean up Jakarta, a crowded, polluted metropolis of 10 million.
