The Ministry of Defence (Mindef) revealed that commercial shipping line APL (American President Lines) was contracted to transport the nine Terrex Infantry Carrier Vehicles (ICV) and associated equipment back to Singapore after an overseas training exercise.
Stressing that there is no ammunition or sensitive equipment on board, Mindef said in a statement that APL was required to comply with all regulations, including obtaining the necessary permits and declarations required to transit through ports.
The merchant vessel transporting the SAF vehicles was later seized by Hong Kong customs officials during a during a routine inspection at Hong Kong’s Kwai Chung Container Terminal.
Hong Kong customs officials told news agency FactWire that 12 containers suspecting of containing controlled items were discovered when the ship was docked at the port.
“APL officials have assured the SAF that they are working with Hong Kong authorities to resolve the issue,” Mindef said in its statement.
“The Singapore Consulate General in Hong Kong is also assisting in this matter.”
Noting that this incident was unprecedented, Mindef said that the existing requirements for civilian contractors have been effective over the years.
The statement said: “All commercial shipping lines used by the SAF are required to comply with stringent requirements for protection against theft and tampering of equipment during the shipment, in addition to applying for all relevant permits.
An SAF Terrex Infantry Carrying Vehicle. Photo: The Straits Times
“The SAF will review the circumstances of this incident and determine if added measures are required to prevent such occurrences.”
The Terrex vehicles are currently barricaded by over 30 containers, and is only visible by aerial view, with two Hong Kong customs officials on guard.
Singer Lee Hyori has confirmed her return to the spotlight.
After denying speculations around her comeback last month, Lee — from veteran K-pop girl group Fin K.L. — is working with composer and producer Kim Hyung-suk on new releases, according to entertainment agency Kiwi Media Group, where Kim serves as chairman, Thursday.
“Since signing on with Kiwi Media Group, Lee has begun her album production,” the company announced. “She will be collaborating with composer Kim Do-hyun, behind Lee’s hit single ’10 Minutes,’ and Kim Hyung-suk.”
Additionally, the 37-year-old singer will not be performing at this year’s Mnet Asian Music Awards, taking place in Hong Kong on Dec. 2, instead opting to focus on her new releases, according to local media this week.
Earlier this month, Lee collaborated with musicians Lee Seung-hwan and Jeon In-kwon on a new single titled “Tossed Out on the Streets,” which aims to provide solace to Koreans amid the growing political uncertainty facing the nation in recent months.
Lee’s album in progress is slated to be unveiled next year.
Two years and seven months have passed since April 16, 2014, the day when a passenger ferry sank in waters off the southwestern island of Jindo, leaving 295 dead and nine missing.
South Korea still remembers the trauma of the Sewol ferry disaster, not only due to the number of victims — most of whom were young students on a school trip — but also because their deaths may have been prevented or at least minimized if due measures had been taken in time.
Now, with a political scandal unfolding at the highest office of the country, the attention of the public is returning to the day of the accident, as there are suspicions President Park Geun-hye’s incompetence or negligence of duty may have led to the lax rescue actions.
‘Seven-hour mystery’
On the day of the tragedy, the National Security Office sent a message to the Blue House at 9:24 a.m., some 30 minutes after the initial report on the incident, confirming a reported sinking of a ferry with 474 passengers aboard.
This text message was soon followed by an official report, upon which President Park supposedly made a call back to the NSO, ordering it “not to allow a single death to happen.” She also was said to have called the Coast Guard chief at 10:30 a.m., demanding that all available forces be mobilized for rescue operations.
These two phone calls, which were only confirmed by Cheong Wa Dae and the two respective offices, were the last actions to be heard from the nation’s top chief until she finally appeared at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at 5:15 p.m.
Even after her appearance, Park came under fire for her apparent lack of awareness of the situation, her first question being, “The students are wearing life vests, so why aren’t they found yet?”
Since 11:30 a.m., the ferry had been fully submerged with only its bow remaining above water, with most of the passengers trapped in the capsized vessel.
Such disconnection from the urgency of the matter later convinced many that Park’s unexplained hours of silence had not been spent on catching up with the accident.
But despite persistent calls for the president to clarify her whereabouts and actions during that time, the seven-hour mystery has never been fully explained.
For all these years, the Blue House’s official stance has been that it could not offer details due to “national security.”
Escalating rumours that Park was having a secret rendezvous or that she was undergoing cosmetic surgery on the day have not been enough to unseal the silence.
It was amid such unanswered speculations that Tatsuya Kato, a former Seoul bureau chief of the Japanese Sankei Shimbun, faced defamation charges over his column alleging a romantic relationship between Park and her former adviser Jeong Yoon-hoe.
‘Choi scandal’ kindles scorn toward Park
But following the recent series of revelations — that the president has long been manipulated by her confidante Choi Soon-sil and abetted her corruption — new light has been shone on those seven hours, suggesting that Park’s absence then may have indeed had nothing to do with national security.
With mounting circumstantial evidence that the presidential office abused its authority for the sake of the president’s private acquaintances, it has become easier for a sceptical public to suspect Park of neglecting her duty or carrying out irregularities on the day of the ferry accident.
The Choi Soon-sil scandal first started off with the allegation that the president leaked a number of confidential documents, including her key speeches, to her civilian friend Choi.
That a nation’s president was under the control of a private acquaintance, who is also strongly suspected of cult connections and corrupt acts, was in itself a shock to the nation, even to those most loyal to her.
But what really sparked the public’s fury was Park’s consistent reluctance to acknowledge the seriousness of her actions, clarify the suggested suspicions and take due measures.
Since her second address to the nation delivered on Nov. 4, her approval rating has remained at a record-low level, ranging from 5-9.6 per cent, depending on the pollster.
This record fall, which reflected the resentment felt even in her previous stronghold of supporters, came in line with weekslong candlelight protests held in central Seoul and throughout the country demanding Park’s immediate ouster.
Timeline of the event. Photo: Korea Herald/ANN
Also, burgeoning evidence that seemed to show that Park was indeed involved in some shady activity — be it cosmetic surgery or a romantic encounter during working hours — at the time of the Sewol disaster has led to scornful responses from the already disappointed crowd.
Reports that the president visited a local medical centre in secrecy to receive illicit stem cell injections, or that the Blue House purchased a list of dubious drugs including erectile dysfunction pills, do not seem so irrelevant any more. They, in fact, are considered as possible clues to the yearslong mystery of the president’s actual whereabouts on the tragic day.
Snowballing doubts create flashback to Sewol
The Blue House’s recent explanations of the seven hours, delivered hurriedly in a self-defensive tone, have boosted the public’s suspicion further.
Last Saturday, Cheong Wa Dae uploaded on its official blog a posting titled “These are the facts,” listing the president’s location and schedule on the day of the ferry sinking.
The upload took place just hours before a popular documentary programme by SBS aired, having pledged to dig into the president’s whereabouts on the Sewol sinking day.
The gist of the long post was that the president was at her residence, instead of her office, and that she received reports on the rescue procedures on a real-time basis.
But such a stance only pushed liberal Seongnam Mayor Lee Jae-myung to charge Park with negligence of duty, calling her liable for the deaths of the Sewol victims.
Grieving parents leave S Korea ferry victims’ rooms intact
“The president is admitting that she only spent some two hours on official operations, and in the privacy of her residence,” Lee said Tuesday, upon submitting the charge.
“As chief of the administration, the president has the duty to give orders and receive urgent reports on a real-time basis for the sake of the people’s safety, so Park’s actions clearly constitute a serious breach of duty.”
The presidential house also shifted the blame to the media, claiming that Park’s delayed visit to the headquarters was based on false reports that had earlier overestimated the number of those rescued.
In an attempt to dismiss all the rumours of her unexplained seven hours, the Blue House went as far as stating the rumours suggested so far — ranging from Park’s alleged rendezvous with Jeong to a drug injection or even absence from office due to cosmetic surgery — were false.
Such an extensive statement, however, largely led to the inevitable question: Why would Cheong Wa Dae have refused to reveal these “facts” for all these years, if this is all there really was?
Ironically, the apparently loyal statement by former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon only seemed to back the rampant rumours Cheong Wa Dae is struggling to deny.
“I believe in the president’s words when she says she did not receive surgery (during the disputed seven hours), but I could not possibly ask her the question,” he said in an interview.
“I considered it a discourtesy to ask such a thing to a female president.”
His words echoed those of Yoo Yeong-ha, the legal representative speaking for Park in the ongoing prosecutorial probe and in the upcoming independent counsel investigation.
“Please show respect for her private life as a woman, not just as president,” the lawyer said last week in the press briefing following the announcement of his appointment.
Their common reference to the president’s “privacy as a woman” only added weight to speculation the president was either receiving a cosmetic procedure or involved in a romantic relationship during the “lost seven hours.”
The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Thursday denied rumours that two senior officials had resigned due to conflicts with President Park Geun-hye over the influence-peddling and corruption scandal.
It also hinted that the president would not respond to the prosecution’s repeated calls for questioning and that she would rather face an upcoming investigation by an independent counsel.
“The two officials offered to resign as they felt morally responsible over the prosecutorial probe result,” Presidential Spokesperson Jung Youn-kuk told reporters.
He was referring to Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong and Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Choi Jai-kyeong, whose resignation was confirmed Wednesday.
Their offers to step down from their posts come in the wake of the prosecution’s decision to indict the president as an accomplice to her confidante Choi Soon Sil’s wrongdoings.
Their moves were largely taken as a sign of insubordination to the embattled state chief.
They were also seen as indicating a divide within the Blue House, especially since presidential adviser Choi had only been in his post for less than a month, having been named on Oct. 30 and receiving his letter of appointment last Friday.
Tens of thousands of South Koreans stage protest in Seoul calling for President Park Geun Hye to resign
“(Park) has not yet accepted their resignations,” the spokesman added, claiming that the decision was for the president to make.
The resignations of the two top officials are expected to pose a challenge to the Blue House’s response to the ongoing investigation, as Kim was the top supervisor for the prosecution and Choi the presidential chief for legal affairs.
Meanwhile, Cheong Wa Dae continued to dodge the prosecution’s repeated calls for face-to-face questioning of the president.
The previous day, the prosecutors had issued another ultimatum, demanding that Park show up for questioning by Nov. 29 at the latest.
Their reinforced stance came in line with a seize and search operation by a special team affiliated with the senior presidential secretary’s office to find further evidence concerning former senior secretary Woo Byung-woo.
Woo is currently under investigation for a separate set of corruption allegations, but investigators are said to be seeking to expand the probe to his involvement in the Choi case.
“The attorney will answer (the question),” was the only response from Jung, when asked about the president’s plans concerning the prosecution’s calls.
The president’s legal representative, Yoo Yeong-ha, had earlier pledged, following the prosecution’s decision to indict Park, that the president would no longer co-operate with the investigation.
The ‘female Rasputin’ at centre of S Korean President Park Geun-Hye political scandal
In contrast to her resistance against the prosecutorial probe, President Park gave her consent to letting the opposition recommend candidates for an independent counsel, adding momentum to preparations for the upcoming investigation.
“President Park has signed the document, which will be delivered to the National Assembly within the day,” Jung said.
Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun had on the previous day sent an official letter to the president, requesting that she ask the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea and the runner-up People’s Party to pick two candidates to lead the counsel.
Within five days of receiving the president’s signed letter, the parties have to recommend two candidates, among which Park is to make the final selection.
The presidential house, meanwhile, refused to elaborate on the possibility of impeachment, an ongoing move led by opposition parties and with the participation of some members of the ruling Saenuri Party.
Among the latter was Rep. Kim Moo-sung, the party’s former chairman and a once-anticipated presidential aspirant, who has vowed to give up his presidential candidacy and to take part in impeaching Park.
“The National Assembly has not yet moved to that stage,” the spokesperson said.
SINGAPORE: Call it magic, call it true – 100,000 tickets for both Coldplay shows in Singapore were sold out, after a second round of sales started at 10am on Friday (Nov 25).
Organiser Live Nation Lushington announced a second show, to be held on Mar 31, 2017, after tickets to the original Apr 1 show sold out in less than two hours on Monday. More standing tickets – Cat 5 (standing pen A) and Cat 6 (standing pen B) – were also added to the original show on Apr 1, while additional restricted view seats were opened up for both performances.
More than 1,500 people queued at the National Stadium main box office, with many having waited since Thursday morning to get the best seats, Live Nation Lushington said. Queues were also seen at SingPost outlets selling the tickets.
The queue outside the SingPost branch in Bishan for Coldplay tickets. (Photo: Adrian Kwek)
As many as 20,000 unique users tried to access the ticketing website during sales for the Apr 1 show, according to the organiser, which described the response as “never before seen”.
Coldplay last performed in Singapore in 2009, at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The band also announced that it would add Bangkok to its A Head Full of Dreams tour. It will play at Rajamangala National Stadium on Apr 7.
In a mall in Shenzhen, three political figures have been on display to welcome shoppers.
One of them is Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who was created with a wrinkly face and a moustache resembling that of Adolf Hitler. The wax figure of Abe was portrayed in a bowing posture, supposedly in apology.
The other two wax figures are of Russian President Vladimir Putin and outgoing US President Barack Obama.
Photo: Internet
Putin looked rather convincing, while Obama could do with a bit more work.
Photo: Internet
In a wallpaper behind Abe, the Chinese characters read: “Commemorating the September 18th Incident,” which refers to a Manchurian Incident where an explosion was staged in Shenyang, providing Japan with the pretext for its invasion of Manchuria in 1931, reported Shanghaiist.
This year is the 85th anniversary of that incident.
This is not the first time Abe is portrayed kowtowing. Last year, an Abe robot figure was also spotted in a bowing posture at an exhibition in Shanghai.
SINGAPORE: What happens when you get five acclaimed directors from the region together to collaborate on one movie project? You get to see Art Through Our Eyes.
After making its world premiere at the Busan International Film Festival last October, the anticipated omnibus made its local debut on Thursday (Nov 24) as part of the ongoing Singapore International Film Festival.
The project, which comprises short films inspired by artworks from the National Gallery Singapore, featured contributions by Singapore’s Eric Khoo, Thailand’s Apichatpong Weerasethakul, the Philippines’ Brilliante Mendoza, Malaysia’s Ho Yuhang and Indonesia’s Joko Anwar.
National Gallery Singapore director Eugene Tan (left) with Southeast Asian directors Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Joko Anwar, Eric Khoo, Brilliante Mendoza and Ho Yuhang. (Photo: Mayo Martin)
While gathering together such big Southeast Asian names – who have collectively garnered acclaim in various festivals such as at Cannes and Venice – may be seen as a rare, one-off project, the filmmakers say the region’s film scene is already collaborating in subtler ways.
“Yes, it is happening but more in terms of funding and exchanging talents,” said Weerasethakul, during the film’s post-screening dialogue. “For me, this is much more interesting than an omnibus. I’m really excited about (the idea) of co-productions, exchanging of talents, crew, equipment and the funding, which is the most important for us.”
“There could be films where everybody gets together in a different capacity, say a Singaporean producer, a Thai director,” Khoo told Channel NewsAsia.
But he also added there are challenges to such regional collaborations, such as language barriers, and the different demands and concerns as countries focus on building up their domestic markets.
“If you look at Indonesia, a lot of locals are supporting their own domestic product. There’s a sharp rise in the box office and they’re really building cinemas.”
From Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s short film. (Photo: National Gallery Singapore)
SNAPSHOT OF THE REGION’S BEST
Nonetheless, the Art Through Our Eyes project could be considered a portable snapshot of the region’s diversity, especially with plans for it to travel next year.
Khoo said it will be screened at the Hong Kong Internaitonal Film Festival and there is keen interest from the Berlin International Film Festival. There are also plans to eventually showcase it at Paris’ Centre Pompidou and New York’s Museum of Modern Art. “I think it has a lot of legs,” he said.
For the omnibus, each director was tasked to create a film based on an artwork from the National Gallery Singapore’s collection.
Khoo was inspired by Singaporean artist Chua Mia Tee’s painting of a portable cinema from the 1970s, which included an interview with the artist as well as a recreation of a retro-superhero film.
A still from Eric Khoo’s short film. (Photo: National Gallery Singapore)
Two artists took on works by Indonesian artist Raden Saleh: His two paintings of Mount Merapi erupting inspired Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s moody, shadows-and-light abstract piece, while Joko Anwar interpreted his famous Wounded Lion as a story of a struggling Javanese dancer plying his trade in the streets of Jakarta.
Ho Yuhang created a silent, black-and-white “horror film” based on Malaysian writer-painter Latiff Mohidin’s portrait of the Indonesian poet Chairil Anwar; while Brilliante Mendoza juxtaposed Filipino artist Fernando Amorsolo’s idyllic Japanese wartime market scene painting with the story of an impoverished family during the country’s recent elections.
BEYOND ARTISTIC INSPIRATION
But while the short films were based on artworks, the directors also hinted at indirect links to recent socio-political events happening in their respective countries.
Mendoza cited how one can find glimpses of the current political situation in the Philippines in his short piece’s election rally scene. He added that even his most recent award-winning film, Ma’Rosa, which featured drug dealers and is also screened at SGIFF, resonates with President Duterte’s drug war even if it came out months ago.
“We not only have to express our art but we also have to connect with where you are and that means being sensitive to what’s happening around you,” he said.
From Brilliante Mendoza’s short film. (Photo: National Gallery Singapore)
Meanwhile, Anwar also suggested that the emotions of humiliation and embarrassment he explored in his own Javanese dancer film echo the current controversy surrounding Jakarta’s Chinese Indonesian governor Ahok, which has led to protests.
“In Indonesia now, there are so many people who think that the only thing they have is pride, which they get through their identity based on religion and race.”
Finally, Ho said he incorporated in his film the back story of a man who has come back traumatised from an unnamed war — which was inspired by the idea of people who go to the Middle East to join IS. “I often wondered what happens when they come back,” he said. “The past few years have been very traumatic in terms of world events.”
From Ho Yuhang’s short film. (Photo: National Gallery Singapore)
Key Power International has started their Black Friday Sale till 28 November 2016 at their online store. HUGE savings on a wide selection of products. Brands include 2XU, Brooks, Aqua, Newton, Inov, Mizu and more
Three days, 20 pest control officers and 150 rat traps later, the rodent problem at the hawker centre at Block 505, Jurong West Street 52, may still not be over.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) has instructed the Jurong-Clementi Town Council overseeing the area’s cleanliness to remove structures such as gutters that may harbour rats or serve as easy routes for them.
The town council must also seal off entry points in the upper roof structures, and rat-proof manholes and gully traps, a spokesman told The Straits Times yesterday.
Rat infestation was observed in various locations within the centre, such as the bin centre and roof structures above the stalls, she said.
The NEA said it received 18 cases of feedback on rat sightings in the area this year.
“The town council is to also continue with daily trapping of rats in the common areas, particularly at the ceiling and roof structures, bin centre and dish-washing area as a control measure,” she added.
The hawker centre was closed for rat control measures and routine cleaning from Sunday evening to Wednesday.
Star Pest Control officers hired by the town council checked the common areas and inspected the stalls.
Chairman of Jurong-Clementi Town Council and MP for Jurong GRC Ang Wei Neng said: “It is more effective for the town council to work with stallholders to engage the same vendor to do pest control, not only at common areas but at individual stalls as well.”
The NEA spokesman said the agency had observed “poor refuse management” there, with clutter in common areas and bin centre that might serve as refuge for rats.
When The Straits Times visited the hawker centre yesterday afternoon, the common areas and bin centre looked neat and uncluttered.
The spokesman added: “NEA will continue to assist the town council and Hawkers’ Association by reviewing rat control plans for the centre.”
One reason for a persistent rat problem is increasing urbanisation, including the mushrooming of eateries with “greater availability of resources” for rats, said Dr Chan Hiang Hao, a medical entomologist.
Mr E. K. Ong, 56, who has been running a nasi lemak and fried bee hoon stall there for more than 10 years, said the problem will persist.
“As long as there is food, it is hard to get rid of the rats,” he said, adding that he has noticed them scurrying along pipes near the roof.
The hawker centre was bustling with activity when The Straits Times visited at lunch time yesterday.
Some regulars said they had never noticed rats there before. Mr John Song, 71, a retiree, was unperturbed.
He said: “I grew up in a kampung, and there were rats running around then. I am not concerned, I think my stomach is strong enough.”
But stallholders like chicken rice seller Lina Azman are worried. “We are dealing with food, so hygiene is very important,” she said.
A 12-year-old boy who suffered severe injury five years ago when a taxi crashed into a railing that then fell on him will get $1.52 million in damages from the driver’s insurer in a court-sanctioned deal.
The consent judgment issued by Justice Andrew Ang last week, after the parties came to an agreement, averted a full trial next year to assess how much he should get.
The insurer had admitted liability for the accident two years ago, and at issue were the sums payable for pain and suffering, the extent of the boy’s injuries, the impact on his future earnings and the cost of future care, among other things.
The boy, then seven, was walking with his mother, Madam Elaine Sng, on a pavement in Whampoa Road on March 16, 2011, at about 10.15pm, when the accident occurred.
Among other things, the boy sustained head injuries which affected his cognitive ability, impairing his IQ, memory and verbal skills. His eyesight was partially affected and weakness on his left side caused him to walk with a limp.
The serious injury prevented him from carrying on with his Primary 1 studies. Instead, he repeated kindergarten while he rehabilitated.
Although he recovered sufficiently to attend school and is due to sit the PSLE next year, he continues to have permanent disabilities despite extensive medical treatment.
Madam Sng, 43, sued the driver Sng Chin Wah, 50, on her son’s behalf. Sng was separately convicted in 2013 of driving in a rash manner and jailed for two months and disqualified from driving for four years. He was also jailed concurrently for one month and fined $4,000 for failing to provide a specimen for a breathalyser test at the time of his arrest.
Madam Sng’s lawyers Raj Singh Shergill and Chia Aileen successfully argued in the run-up to the settlement that the boy was aware of his plight and thus felt more acutely his limitations, which deepened his pain and suffering. Moreover, his losses would span a longer period because there was no shortening of his expected lifespan. Medical reports from 18 doctors involved in his treatment were produced.
The defendants also agreed to pay about $114,000 in costs and disbursements. Madam Sng said yesterday: “We were touched by the effort of Singaporeans who rallied around our child. These included the staff of St Andrew’s Junior School, the medical team at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital and neurosurgeon Keith Goh.
“His life and our lives have changed since the accident and may never be the same again, but by God’s grace, we have grown closer as a family. We have learnt to see life through his eyes and be grateful for the little blessings. At least our child is still with us.”
This article was first published on Nov 25, 2016. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
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