It was an airlift of a different sort.

Madam Loh Ngiuk Lan and her family were going to lunch when they discovered that the lift to the second-floor restaurant was not working.

They were dismayed: Madam Loh’s 85-year-old mother-in-law uses a wheelchair and would not be able to make it up the stairs.

Luckily, a squadron of soldiers saved the day.

About 40 soldiers from Squadron 706 of the Air Power Generation Command were gathered at Swatow Seafood Restaurant in Toa Payoh that day, on Oct 8, for their squadron anniversary.

Master Sergeant Johan Paramasivan, 30, told The Straits Times that the Loh family had first approached them to ask how to get up to the second floor, but they later found that the lift was not working.

MSG Johan said they heard Madam Loh’s mother-in-law say she will wait downstairs while her family ate.

“We felt bad that grandma wanted to wait downstairs, so we offered to help,” he said.

With two men in front, two by the side and two at the back, they turned the wheelchair into a sedan chair and hoisted the senior citizen up to the second floor.

The group of six included two regular servicemen – MSG Johan and Third Sergeant Sukhdial Singh – and four full-time national servicemen – lance corporals Wong Kai Xiong and Javier Teo, and privates Malcolm Ng and Ko Kai Sheng.

They provide ground logistics and medical operations in support of the air force.

After the Loh family had lunch, they called upon the six soldiers to help carry Madam Loh’s mother-in-law downstairs.

“They thanked us and insisted on writing to Mindef,” said MSG Johan. After some persuasion, the six provided Madam Loh with their names.

Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen shared the story on Facebook yesterday, with a photo of Madam Loh’s letter dated Oct 14.

Said Dr Ng: “Earlier this month, six servicemen from the Republic of Singapore Air Force carried Madam Loh’s 85-year-old mother-in-law up the stairs to Swatow Seafood Restaurant when the lift was not working. She later wrote in to commend them.”

This article was first published on Nov 01, 2016.
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The Nanyang Technological University (NTU) yesterday announced that it will have two new schools – for humanities, and social sciences – next August.

Its current School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) will be split into two – the School of Humanities (SOH) and School of Social Sciences (SSS) – to accommodate more programmes and inter-disciplinary research.

They will occupy the same premises as the current school.

Existing programmes such as Chinese, English, history, linguistics and multilingual studies, and philosophy will come under the SOH, while the SSS will house economics, psychology, public policy and global affairs, and sociology.

Students can look forward to new programmes such as science, technology and society, and health and society, as well as the opportunity to read electives from other programmes and institutes within NTU, including the National Institute of Education (NIE) and S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies.

While acknowledging NTU’s reputation as a science and technology varsity, NTU president Bertil Andersson emphasised the importance of humanities and social sciences in developing “vibrant, creative societies”.

“Creative thinking is also needed for truly excellent scientists, engineers, mathematicians and other professionals who can solve complex problems by looking beyond their own fields of expertise.”

The new schools will offer the same admission and academic structure as HSS, with four-year direct honours bachelor’s programmes.

There will also be new master’s programmes and an expansion of inter-disciplinary research into areas such as gerontology, which involves social science, design, engineering and medicine.

A spokesman for NTU said it will release more information on the new programmes at a later date.

HSS was established in 2004 and has more than 3,700 students today. Professor Alan Chan, dean of NTU’s College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, said the growth of HSS has “reached a point where it has outgrown its current structure” put in place more than a decade ago.

“The new schools will enable NTU to fulfil the evolving educational needs and aspirations of our students.”

NIE don Jason Tan said: “The problems that modern societies face require inter-disciplinary approaches, so it’s not enough to have just scientific and technical knowledge, but it’s also important for people to understand how societies work, how human beings function.”

Earlier this year, NTU expanded its double-major offerings which combine arts, social science subjects and business.

This article was first published on Nov 01, 2016.
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Bank robbery suspect David James Roach, 27, is still being held in Thailand, as efforts by the authorities to repatriate him to Singapore have been at a standstill for at least two months.

Roach, a Canadian national, is accused of robbing the Standard Chartered Bank in Holland Village on July 7.

He allegedly handed the teller a note with his demands, before fleeing to Bangkok on the same day with about $30,000 in cash.

In response to media queries, a police spokesman said Singapore remains in touch with the Thai government to repatriate Roach.

The spokesman said this includes the return of evidence that was seized from him.

The authorities declined to give details of ongoing negotiations between the two countries, which do not have an extradition treaty.

In August, the Attorney- General’s Office in Bangkok reportedly rejected Singapore’s request to extradite Roach, saying it was “not in the position to consider it”.

Roach has been held at Bangkok’s immigration detention centre since his arrest on July 10 at a backpackers’ hostel.

He was found with 700,000 baht (S$28,000) in cash, as well as a notebook detailing his escape plan, which included stopovers in Chiang Mai and Dubai.

The Thai authorities cancelled his right of stay in the country after Singapore issued a warrant for his arrest.

But as an immigration offender, Roach would be deported back to Canada if he cannot be extradited.

Thai immigration police chief Nathathorn Prousoontorn had previously said the Canadian government was looking to have Roach deported back home.

Criminal lawyer Amolat Singh noted a possible complication could be that “Canada may want him handed over to them instead”.

In addition, “Thailand may not consider the evidence (to extradite Roach) as convincing or compelling enough”, he said.

Roach had left his home in eastern Canada to backpack across the world about a year ago, and was apparently on his first visit to Singapore when he allegedly carried out the first successful bank robbery here in more than a decade.

This article was first published on Nov 01, 2016.
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Ang Mo Kio residents will welcome a familiar site back to their neighbourhood today when the market at Block 453A reopens after a six-month revamp. But it may not be a happy opening day for many stallholders.

Tenants of Chong Boon Market in Avenue 10 find their new stalls too narrow, with a fishmonger lamenting that she has to “do a crab-walk” to get behind the counter.

They also claim that the two weeks they were given to prepare for the reopening of the 37-year-old market was too short.

Mr Wee Lay Keong, 40, a second-generation chicken seller, said he found out how narrow his two stalls were only when he was handed the keys on Oct 15.

The distance from the storefront to the back is only about 1.5m, compared with 2.4m before the revamp, he said.

A chiller for his chickens takes up about 1.2m, leaving him with just about 30cm of space to move about behind it.

“I don’t even have enough space to chop my chickens,” added Mr Wee, pointing to a row of pipes at the back of the stall. “When I chop, my arm will hit the pipes.”

Madam Linda Kwok, 56, a fishmonger of nearly 20 years at the market, had to shave off about 25cm of the table on which her fish are displayed, so that she can fit behind it.

“I have to walk sideways, like a crab, just to enter my stall,” she said.

Stallholders noted that tenants of a nearby market at Block 409 which also underwent a revamp were given about a month to prepare for its reopening, compared with the two weeks for Chong Boon Market tenants.

“It’s too little time. We need time to install shutters, put up tables and get permits for the electricity and water supply,” said a fruit seller who declined to be named.

This could mean that not all the stalls will be open today, she added.

When asked about the issues raised by stallholders, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said it has received feedback from two stallholders about the size of their stalls. But both their stalls were actually bigger after the renovation.

NEA added that the size of the stalls prior to the revamp was 3 sq m. Now, they range between 4.5 sq m and 5.4 sq m.

While stallholders concur – they noted that the stalls are longer – they said the stalls are not deep enough for them to carry out their business properly.

Now, they are hoping the authorities will allow them to place goods outside their stalls, even though this may obstruct walkways.

Fruit sellers said they are not allowed to hang bunches of bananas outside their stalls, a rule that they hope will be relaxed.

Mr Wee, whose chiller juts out slightly from the edge of one of his stalls, said: “I hope the authorities will ‘close one eye’ and let it pass.”

This article was first published on Nov 01, 2016.
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For six long hours, as she accompanied her brother’s body on the drive back to Singapore, she kept her eyes peeled for bridges.

And at every bridge on the 540km journey from Perak, Miss Koh Yu Xiang, 27, said: “Kor, we’re crossing a bridge now to take you home.”

The ritual was part of a religious tradition that the family believed would ensure Mr Koh Kah Wei’s “soul followed his body home”.

It had been an emotional roller coaster for the sister of the 30-year-old lifesaver and kayak instructor who drowned in Sungei Tesong, about 90km south of Ipoh after an accident on Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon, her hopes were raised when she was told that Mr Koh had been found and taken to hospital.

But it was dashed soon after she got there, when she realised the caller had meant that her brother’s body had been taken to the mortuary.

Around 5pm on Saturday, Miss Koh first got a call from her brother’s friend who told her that her brother had gone missing after an accident at Sungai Tesong.

On Sunday morning, she set off for Perak with Mr Koh’s girlfriend of three years and three other relatives. They flew to Ipoh and then drove for an hour to the accident site.

Miss Koh told The New Paper: “We were taken to assess the river at the first point at a bridge. The weather wasn’t very good, it was drizzling, and the river looked dangerous.”

Even then, she did not lose hope as her brother often went on kayaking expeditions overseas and had the highest kayaking qualifications.

“I was worried but I was still hoping he would turn up because I trusted his survival techniques. He’s always cautious and he’s experienced in this area,” she said.

Her hope was renewed when the group was called back to the base camp and heard that Mr Koh had been found and was on the way to the Tapah Hospital.

“I still had hope, perhaps slimmer but it was still there,” she said.

When she reached the hospital, hope was replaced with despair when she discovered that Mr Koh’s body had been taken there for a post-mortem.

“It’s strange because that was his second time taking that same trail. He went once in the morning and everything was fine. The weather must have been very bad,” said Miss Koh.

They had to wait for a few hours before they could identify Mr Koh’s body.

GLAD

Miss Koh said: “I’m glad that at least we found his body and it was intact, apart from a scar across his face that was probably caused by tree branches.

“It was his decision to go on the trip and I’m not blaming anyone for the accident.”

She then accompanied the body home and performed the bridge ritual on behalf of her family.

Mr Koh’s mother, Madam Mai Siew Hwee, 60, said she last saw her son on Friday around 7am before he left for his trip and she told him to take care of himself.

She told TNP in Mandarin: “I cannot say I regret letting him go because he went on kayaking trips a lot. Of course I’m heartbroken now.

“When he’s overseas, I’d always think about where he was and what he was doing.

“He went on these trips too many times for me to remember. Before he left to catch his last flight, I told him to take care as it’s dangerous.

“When we found out about his accident, I couldn’t sleep because I was too worried. I would wake up every two hours.”

Madam Mai said that once in a while, she would joke with her son and ask him when he would marry his girlfriend.

“He’d say he wanted to save money before getting married but I’d tell him that he could live with us, so there’s no need to worry about the cost of buying a house,” she said.

“I told him I could cook for the family, too.

“His favourite dish was curry. Sometimes I’d specially prepare it for him when he came home for dinner.

“I can’t do that any more.”

This article was first published on Nov 1, 2016.
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A woman vilified online for injuring a dog in an accident at Pasir Ris two Sundays ago has proclaimed her innocence.

Netizens had reacted strongly after posts made by Animal Lovers League and its volunteer Lixin Tan alleged that the driver of a car with the number plate SJR9248E had run over one of its shelter dogs, Sayang.

The woman had driven off after allegedly saying “it’s just a dog” during the incident at Pasir Ris Farmway 3 at about 10.45am.

Netizens took it upon themselves to out the alleged driver and posted pictures of the car owner Soon Kim Choo, along with her personal details.

Read also: Dog hit by car in Pasir Ris should recover from injuries

In a media statement to The New Paper, Ms Soon said she had made a police report against the posts and also denied being the driver or being in the car at the time of the incident.

She said she was informed of the incident by the driver, who has also filed a police report.

“Several untruthful posts of me have tarnished my name and affected my livelihood, hurting me and my family in the process, merely over unverified information,” said Ms Soon.

“The company I represent has also suffered loss of reputation and goodwill. My colleagues have been adversely affected as well.”

Ms Soon said she hopes the malicious comments will cease as “there is no more basis for vigilante action”.

Her lawyer James Ow Yong, in response to TNP’s queries on the driver’s identity, said: “Our client was not present and does not have first-hand information.”

Under the law, motorists are required to help when they hit and injure an animal. Failure to stop and help can result in a fine not exceeding $3,000, or a jail term not exceeding 12 months.

Dog tied to car’s rear dies after being dragged on road in China

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This article was first published on Nov 1, 2016.
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