He allegedly preyed on schoolgirls at bus stops and tricked them into allowing him to take their photos, which he would later manipulate and post online.
The man in his 40s had approached several female students from different schools in the Bukit Timah area on the pretext of doing a survey over the past few days.
He would then ask them for their mobile numbers and take photos of them. Some of the girls agreed to let him do so.
Afterwards, he reportedly manipulated the photos and sent text messages to the girls to harass them. He would also post the pictures online.
It is not clear how he had manipulated the pictures.
He had been seen loitering at bus stops near the schools and an overhead bridge at Bukit Timah Road.
The police said yesterday that they arrested a 40-year-old suspect for public nuisance. Investigations are ongoing.
The New Paper understands that two police reports were made on Saturday and the suspect was picked up yesterday afternoon near Raffles Girls’ Primary School.
Yesterday morning, a policeman went to Nanyang Girls’ High School to warn the students about the man’s activities during their morning assembly.
The officer, who also showed them a photo of a suspect wearing a black T-shirt and light-coloured jeans, told the students to make a police report if they saw him or if they had been one of his victims.
The photo of the suspect has been circulating in parent group chats at Nanyang and Singapore Chinese Girls’ School.
The parent of a Raffles Girls’ pupil said her daughter was approached twice by the suspect but declined to comment further.
A mother of a Methodist Girls’ School student told TNP that when another mother showed her daughter the photo of the suspect, the girl recognised him because he had approached her.
She said: “My friend’s daughter just confirmed that she had been approached twice, to and from Tan Kah Khee MRT station, only after her mum shared this message with her.
“Their neighbour’s girl was also approached by the same guy. They live near Raffles Girls.”
This article was first published on October 25, 2016. Get The New Paper for more stories.
More than 70 students sat for the wrong GCE O-level mathematics paper last Thursday.
The 73 Secondary 5 students who were affected were from Woodgrove Secondary School and Ahmad Ibrahim Secondary School (AISS).
They had taken the O-level mathematics (Syllabus 4048) Paper 1.
The Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) told The New Paper yesterday that the students were supposed to take the GCE O-Level mathematics (Syllabus 4016), and were registered by their respective schools.
SEAB revealed that 24 of the affected students were from AISS, while the remaining 49 came from Woodgrove Secondary.
The board, which collaborates with the Ministry of Education (MOE) on all national examinations, said the mistake came about after the respective schools “indicated the wrong syllabus code during the registration process”.
TNP understands that both schools became aware of the error after the exam was taken.
Photo: Wanbao
In a statement, SEAB said: “They immediately notified us and worked closely with us to ensure that the candidates sat for the correct syllabus for Maths Paper 2 on Oct 21 (last Friday).”
SEAB also confirmed that no other schools were affected.
REALISATION
Shin Min Daily News reported on Sunday that “one of the students” from AISS “went home after the exam, looked through his 10-year series” and realised the different syllabus codes.
The student, who declined to be named, said: “We told our teacher about the inaccurate subject code that night and when we went back to take the second paper, we were given the paper with the correct subject code and syllabus.”
When asked how different the two papers were, SEAB said: “The GCE O-Level mathematics (Syllabus 4048) is a revised version of the mathematics (Syllabus 4016) and is being examined for the first time this year.
“While the affected candidates have sat for the revised Syllabus 4048, the topics examined are largely comparable with the Syllabus 4016.”
Principal of AISS, Ms Chew Ing Lim, told TNP in a statement yesterday evening that since the incident, the “school has reached out to the parents of these students to convey that SEAB is working with Cambridge International Examinations to provide a fair assessment for the students”.
Photo: Wanbao
She said she had “also met with the students the next day after Paper 2 to provide assurance and ascertain if further support was needed”.
“Our immediate focus is to provide the necessary support to the students who are still in the midst of taking the national examinations.
The students have been encouraged to stay focused.”
SEAB confirmed that the students will not have to re-sit the exam.
Instead, they “will take into consideration the circumstances of the incident, the candidates’ performance in the school preliminary examination, their performance in the other mathematics paper and the cohort’s performance in providing a fair assessment to the candidates for the mathematics subject”.
This article was first published on Oct 25, 2016. Get The New Paper for more stories.
SINGAPORE, Oct 25 (Reuters) – A subdued growth outlook for Singapore’s trade-reliant economy is expected to keep inflationary pressures modest, the central bank said on Tuesday, highlighting a bumpy road ahead for the city state amid lingering weakness in global demand.
Singapore’s economy is likely to have a small negative output gap in 2016, and the gap could widen slightly next year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said in its half-yearly macroeconomic review.
“Amid a subdued outlook for GDP growth, emerging slack in the labour market, and contained imported inflation, the medium-term outlook for MAS core inflation is for it to trend gradually towards the historical average of 2 percent.”
There could be downside risks to the inflation outlook if weakness in global demand persists, it added. “Cross-border spillovers of disinflationary pressures may pose some downside risks to Singapore’s inflation outlook, taking into account the possibility that weak global demand could persist for an extended period of time,” the MAS said.
Earlier this month, the central bank held its exchange-rate based monetary policy steady despite a surprisingly sharp economic contraction in the third quarter.
The MAS said a neutral policy stance will be needed for an”extended period”, underscoring a dim outlook for the economy with a growing number of analysts saying the risk of a recession meant the central bank could be forced into an off-cycle easing.
Over the past two years, Singapore’s economy has been hobbled by a slowdown in China, weak global demand and falls in global oil prices.
The MAS said the cumulative effects of its policy easings since January 2015 will continue to provide support to economic growth and help ensure medium-term price stability.
The MAS reiterated that core inflation is expected to average around 1 percent this year and rise to 1-2 percent in 2017.
Energy-related components will begin to contribute positively to inflation, the central bank said.
Global oil prices have risen nearly 38 percent so far this year, but are still down more than 55 percent from their mid-2014 peak above $115 a barrel.
The all-items consumer price index is likely to turn positive in the fourth quarter of this year, the MAS said. It kept its forecast for headline inflation to rise to 0.5-1.5 percent in 2017 from around -0.5 percent this year.
All-items CPI has declined from a year earlier for a record 23 straight months, weighed down by falls in oil prices, lower housing costs and falls in the prices of car permits.
The central bank said its analysis suggests that “nearly three-fifths of the effects from MAS’ past policy easing moves since January 2015 have yet to be transmitted through to the economy.”
A survey by the Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise (raiSE) and NUS Asia Centre for Social Entrepreneurship and Philanthropy showed a five-fold increase in awareness of such enterprises from 13 per cent in 2010 to 65 per cent in 2016.
SINGAPORE – The world economy is struggling, but Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is confident that Singapore, in the long term, will do well.
He said the country has every reason to be optimistic: It is highly connected, and has a reputation as an outstanding place to do business.
Also, it is also creating many new jobs, and continues to invest in its “hard-working and talented” people through education.
“If any city in the world is in a position to do well in the new world economy, Singapore should be that place,” he said.
“We are feeling the pains of restructuring, but not yet seeing the dividends of our hard work. But we are pursuing all the right strategies, and I am confident that given time, they will work,” he added.
But how well the country does, and the society it will be in the next 30 years, depends on the next generation, Mr Lee said in a speech to 500 students and faculty members at the Singapore Institute of Technology on Monday (Oct 24) that sought to assure them the future was theirs to shape and determine.
“As young Singaporeans, the world is your oyster. You have many opportunities, many more than your parents had,” he said.
“But you have to seize them, make the most of them, and create further opportunities for yourself.”
Singapore’s future will also depend on whether today’s young are resilient in the face of uncertainty and change, and whether their generation works together as one united people, Mr Lee added.
The Government, he said, was opening up educational opportunities for students to not only earn a good certificate, but acquire the know-how to find good jobs and achieve their aspirations.
He added that creation of job opportunities for Singaporeans and companies here is almost always on the agenda when he travels, citing recent visits to China, Japan, India and Australia.
To make use of these opportunities, Singaporeans must be be able to adapt to new conditions when they arise, he said.
“We’re not the strawberry generation. These are durians – very tough,” he quipped, to laughter from the crowd.
He cited how taxi companies are worried about competition from Uber and Grab, when driverless cars are on the way, as an example of how quickly technology is progressing.
One way to cope with the changes is to make use of SkillsFuture schemes, he said: “You must have the resolve and spirit to take up the schemes , to switch jobs or move to a different industry if the economy shifts – to learn, unlearn and relearn things all your life.”
But Singapore’s real strength lies in the unity of its people, which he said accounts for why Singapore has the best workforce in the world, and urged the students not to take it for granted.
“Our unions, management and goverment trust one another, we adopt a win-win mindset,” he said.
This article was first published on October 24, 2016. Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
A freak accident on set scared the entire cast and crew except for one plucky actress.
Local actress Jeanette Aw was filming a scene for the second season of long-running local TV drama 118 on Sunday night when the glass panel of a door shattered.
The 37-year-old, who has been acting for about 15 years, posted about the accident on her Instagram, calling it “the most epic yet”.
She walked away with abrasions on her arms and knees, telling The New Paper she was thankful she was wearing a long-sleeved top instead of her usual sleeveless shirt.
After the glass pieces fell over Aw, her co-stars and crew, who were in shock, rushed over and quickly brushed the shards off her clothes.
Bryan Wong, who plays a goody two-shoes real estate agent, even helped comb her hair to remove the shards before Aw was rushed to Mount Alvernia Hospital for a check-up.
“While I was at the hospital, I told the doctor my scalp was a little painful,” Aw told TNP.
“After she checked through my head, she found a glass shard on my scalp.”
Photo: Jeanette Aw
Aw said she had no time to be shocked and was quite calm when the accident happened.
“I placed my hand over my head and bent over to shield myself.
“I get injured on set quite often so I was quite calm when it happened.
I think the crew were more anxious than me.”
Aw admitted that while her body is still aching from the impact, she was thankful to have just suffered minor injuries.
Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia may scrap the Formula One Grand Prix race after its contract ends in 2018 given the event’s failure to spur economic benefits for the country, sports officials said Tuesday.
High costs combined with falling ticket sales and TV viewership have dented returns, according to officials, who are due to meet later this week to discuss the future of the race.
“The locals are not buying the tickets to watch F1,” Razlan Razali, the chief executive of Sepang International Circuit (SIC) where the races are held told AFP.
“If there is no economic value, why should we continue. We better take a temporary break.” Razlan said the huge circuit can accommodate 120,000 fans but this year’s spectator figures for the weekend race were only around 45,000, compounded by poor race-day TV ratings.
Hosting F1 was “very expensive… it runs into millions of dollars,” he added.
In comments on Twitter earlier, Sports Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said competition from other venues outside of Malaysia was also taking its toll and the number of foreign tourists attending the race was dwindling.
“When we first hosted the F1 it was a big deal. First in Asia outside Japan. Now so many venues. No first mover advantage. Not a novelty.” “F1 ticket sales declining, TV viewership down. Foreign visitors down b/c (because) can choose Singapore, China, Middle East. Returns are not as big.”
“I think we should stop hosting the F1. At least for a while. Cost too high, returns limited.” Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit hosted its first Grand Prix in 1999, making it one of the oldest in the region.
State energy firm Petronas, which is the title sponsor and backs the championship leading Mercedes team, has been badly hit financially due to volatile oil prices, which along with other commodities have also battered Malaysia’s growth prospects.
In four months this year, he exposed himself to at least seven women and girls.
The 31-year-old also brushed his crotch against a woman in a crowded MRT train.
Yesterday, Budiman Shah Mohd Noorel Azman was jailed nine months after pleading guilty to four charges of committing an obscene act in public and one charge of molestation.
Three other charges of committing an obscene act in public and one of insulting the modesty of a woman were taken into consideration in sentencing.
Budiman, who was working as an assistant chef or a cleaner at the time, was on court bail when he committed two of the offences.
The court heard that Budiman, who had a string of similar offences dating back to 2007, had exposed himself to at least seven female victims, some of them as young as 12 to 15 years old.
The first incident happened on May 4 when a girl, 15, and her friend were at a bus stop at Yishun Ring Road at 6.50am.
Court papers said the girl noticed Budiman standing beside her and when she turned to look at him, she saw that his shorts were down.
He was not wearing underwear and exposed himself to her.
The two girls ran towards their school nearby and made a police report two days later.
Block 358, Yishun Ring Road where Budiman Shah Mohd Noorel Azman flashed one of his victims. Photo: The New Paper
On June 11 at 2.45pm, a 20-year-old woman, accompanied by her maid, was at a bus stop at Yishun Avenue 2 when she saw Budiman approaching her.
She did a double take when she noticed the front of his shorts had been pulled down to his knees, exposing his private parts.
She took photos of him with her mobile phone.
When Budiman saw this, he walked away and the woman reported the incident to the police that day.
He later confessed to the police that he had committed the offence because he had an urge to expose himself and it had helped him relieve stress.
On July 6, Budiman exposed himself to a 12-year-old girl who was cycling with her younger brother at Woodlands Ring Road.
She saw Budiman standing near a lamp post with his pants unzipped, exposing himself.
The siblings left immediately when Budiman made eye contact and started walking towards her.
A police report was made later that day after the girl told her mother about the incident.
A week later, at about 4.30pm on July 13, a 15-year-old saw him touching his private parts at a bus stop near Block 701, Woodlands Drive 40.
On the morning of May 17, Budiman molested a 32-year-old woman while on board a crowded train.
The woman said she had felt something knocking against her several times and initially thought it was because of the jerking motion of the train.
As the sensation became more frequent, she looked at her right forearm and saw Budiman standing beside her. She also noticed a bulge in his crotch area.
She was outraged and took photos of him, but Budiman moved towards the train doors and alighted.
She later made a police report.
Court documents said Budiman had admitted to molesting the woman on the train.
AROUSED
He said he felt aroused when his crotch area accidentally touched the woman’s forearm the first time and decided to take advantage of the situation by brushing himself against her.
He added that he wanted the “good feeling” and to feel “shiok” (Singlish for enjoyable).
According to two reports from the Institute of Mental Health, Budiman suffers from exhibitionistic disorder and substance use disorder.
He was not of unsound mind when he committed the offences, and he also has a high risk of re-offending.
In his submissions, Deputy Public Prosecutor Michael Quilindo asked for a global sentence of nine to 10 months.
He told the court that aggravating factors include Budiman’s repeated obscene acts and the fact that he had targeted young victims.
In his mitigation, Budiman, who did not have a lawyer, said he has since reflected on and realised his mistakes.
Through a translator, he told the court in Malay: “I’m really remorseful. I had a long talk with my mother and I realised I should change so that I don’t disappoint her, and I should change for myself as well.”
He also asked for leniency as this would be his 10th time going to jail.
For committing an obscene act in public, Budiman could have been jailed up to three months’ jail and fined on each charge.
For making a gesture to insult the modesty of a woman, he could have been jailed up to a year and fined, and for using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a person, he could have been jailed up to two years, fined and/or caned.
This article was first published on Oct 25, 2016. Get The New Paper for more stories.
Washington – It took just seven days for “Wizard of Oz” nostalgics to raise more than $300,000 in a crowdfunding drive to restore Dorothy’s iconic slippers to their ruby red glory.
The US Smithsonian’s Museum of American History, which owns the slippers, said Monday that its Kickstarter campaign had gone “over the rainbow.” The sequined pumps were famously worn by Judy Garland as she skipped down the yellow brick road in the 1939 musical, one of Hollywood’s first colour films.
Support for restoring them “spanned six continents and 41 countries,” the museum said in a statement.
Since the crowdfunding campaign runs for another 23 more days, the museum announced a “stretch goal” Monday of $85,000 to help conserve and display the movie’s Scarecrow costume (worn by actor Ray Bolger), in an exhibit set to open in 2018.
The Smithsonian Institution – which oversees museums and research centres in and near Washington – receives federal funds to support its core operations, but that money does not cover repairing the shoes.
The institution often solicits corporate and private donations to pay for projects beyond its budget.
Dorothy’s slippers, one of the film’s most iconic props, have been on near-constant display at the museum since they were anonymously donated in 1979.
Conservators say the shoes’ sequins are flaking, leaving them more of a washed-out auburn than the glittery ruby colour for which they’re known.
MGM Studios’ prop department created the shoes by dying commercially manufactured low-heeled slippers red and attaching red sequined netting.
The Kickstarter campaign is the Smithsonian’s second, after it raised $719,779 last year through crowdfunding to conserve Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit.
“Inviting the public to support this project gives our audiences the opportunity to have an active role in the preservation of the Ruby Slippers,” said museum Director John Gray.
“It provides a better understanding of what museums do to ensure that our national treasures are preserved and on display.”
