EAT-ALL-YOU-CAN breakfast for $13.90 NETT at Peach Garden Thomson Plaza on Saturdays
Peach Garden: $13.60 Eat-All-You-Can Breakfast Buffet at Thomson Plaza from 29 Oct 2016
Peach Garden at Thomson Plaza will be having a new East Meets West Breakfast Concept promotion from 29 October 2016, on every Saturday (8 am – 10 am) exclusively at Peach Garden @ Thomson Plaza.
SHANGHAI – China’s yuan touched a six-year low against the dollar before partially recovering on Monday, as large state-owned banks sold dollars in an apparent effort to slow a rapid decline in the currency, traders said.
Three traders said big state-owned banks were selling dollars in the domestic foreign exchange market to help stabilise the yuan in morning trade.
Some traders suspect that state-owned banks occasionally sell dollars on behalf of the central bank to keep the yuan from sliding too quickly, while others believe big banks trade on their own behalf.
The yuan has encountered renewed pressure over the past two weeks as the dollar strengthened, buoyed by expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve would raise interest rates in December.
The yuan settled at 6.7718 per dollar at 0430 pm (0830 GMT), hitting a low of 6.7770 earlier in the session, compared with Friday’s official close of 6.7599. The yuan’s late session close on Friday stood at 6.7655.
China takes the official market closing price at 0430 pm (0830 GMT) into consideration when it fixes the official guidance rate, in an effort to let market forces play a bigger role in determining the yuan’s value. The market also has a special evening session, which lasts till 1130 pm.
TUGUEGARAO CITY – President Duterte on Sunday promised that every Filipino would get an equal share from investment pledges made by China, where he made a state visit during the week Supertyphoon “Lawin” devastated Cagayan Valley, the Ilocos and the Cordillera regions.
Mr. Duterte addressed families here who evacuated to safe ground, when Lawin’s 300 kph winds damaged houses and destroyed crops in Cagayan province on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Saying half of the 2016 budget had been spent by the Aquino administration, Mr. Duterte said the government was allocating P32.819 million (S$2.47 million) worth of certified rice seeds, 3,500 bags of certified corn seeds, and 1,004 kilograms of assorted vegetable seeds to typhoon victims.
He also directed the release of 1.4 million bags of rice as immediate assistance to the victims in Cagayan.
The President assured the province that his administration had resources, citing the Chinese investments worth US$13 billion to US$14 billion, “which would translate to P700 billion.”
“We have assistance…We have money if the deals with China proceed and if they take pity on us and give them out immediately,” he said.
Mechanized farming
“I promise you a big slice [from Chinese investments],” Mr. Duterte said, adding that he would develop mechanized farming that would be distributed equitably among the provinces.
“No one gets an advantage, regardless of whether he or she is a Visayan or a Moro. All would get equal share,” he said.
The President said people should pray his negotiations with Japan during his state visit there on Oct. 25 would also be fruitful.
“These are not doles, but soft loans, which are payable in 25 years. So, it may as well be considered a donation,” he said.
“We are OK. As a nation, we are OK,” he said.
Mr. Duterte said he and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not talk about military issues. “We spoke about how we can help each other,” he said.
But he added, “Wait for a few more days, we may return to Scarborough Shoal.”
He said the Philippines would assert that its owned the shoal, as much as China insisted it had rights over it. The shoal, also known as Panatag and Bajo de Masinloc, is 260 kilometers from Zambales province.
Preserving Scarborough
He said part of the discussion would be preserving the shoal, a rich fishing ground.
“I will assert, should we return to Scarborough Shoal as its rightful owners, although China says it is theirs. I will say let us no longer fish there so more fish can spawn,” he said.
“My understanding is China has driven away their own fishermen from the shoal. That’s what we talked about. I don’t know if they would fulfil it,” he said.
In Isabela province, Mr. Duterte distributed 1,000 boxes of rice and P37 million worth of seeds as emergency assistance to typhoon victims. He assured them that they would be the “priority [in government assistance] by next year.”
A Chinese-Indonesian community association has praised the government’s moves to abolish several discriminatory regulations against citizens of Chinese descent in the country.
The Chinese-Indonesian Social Association (PSMTI)’s national meeting chairman Gunadi Sindhuwinata said under the previous discriminatory regulations, Chinese-Indonesians had been treated unequally and categorized as “non-native”.
In Indonesia, he said, ethnic-Chinese communities were now being treated relatively equally in all aspects of life. Apart from the abolishment of discriminatory regulations, which hampered activities related to Chinese culture, the issuance of Law No. 40/2008 on the elimination of racial and ethnic discrimination was another measure taken by the government to combat unequal treatment, he added.
“I thank the government for having provided more room to us [to express our culture]. There has been no more discrimination. Previously, we only could advance in the economic field but now we have expanded our activities in all fields-legislative, judicature and executive,” Gunadi told The Jakarta Post.
He was speaking on the sidelines of the 18th PSMTI national meeting, which coincided with the 8th ASEAN Chinese Clans Conference, in Batam on Sunday. Some 1,200 participants and representatives of 70 Chinese clans in the country attended the meeting, which ran from Oct. 21 to 22.
Gunadi said people of Chinese descent had been elected as leaders of several areas across the country. Several Cabinet ministers such as Trade Minister Enggartiasto Lukita and former trade minister Mari Elka Pangestu were also of Chinese descent, he went on.
“We want to encourage [Chinese-Indonesians] to continue contributing to this country,” he said.
New guidebook launched to help retail food establishments minimise waste.
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When witnesses asked her to stop and help the injured dog, the woman allegedly used an expletive, saying “it’s only a dog”, before driving off.
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By the time his killers were done with him, the body of Ranilo Maydan Jr. looked like it had been used for target practice. According to the police, he was shot 34 times.
“The rapid burst of gunfire came in staccatos, making you think someone had lit up a Judas Belt on New Year’s Eve,” said Jacklyn Habulan, a sister of Maydan’s live-in partner, Abby.
The 32-year-old Maydan, who made a living selling scraps, was gunned down outside his house on Jerusalem Street, Caloocan City, at 1:25 a.m. on Sept. 21.
Jacklyn said even Maydan’s fingers bore bullet wounds which showed that he was covering his face as he was being shot. However, that didn’t stop his killers from shooting him in the head.
Even his teeth were not spared. “A bullet was stuck in his lower teeth,” said Abby, whose real name is Abner Habulan.
Abby knew the damage to the body because he did the makeup for the weeklong wake. There were strips of packing tape wrapped around Maydan’s neck and shoulders to keep them from separating from his head. Bits of cotton covered the gunshot holes on his chest.
“I wanted to help prepare his body because I wanted him to know that I cared for him until our very last moment together,” Abby, 31, said.
Abby became teary-eyed while recalling how kind Maydan had been to him and his family. They were together for five years, their families having accepted their relationship.
“I will miss how playful he was. I will miss how he used to prepare breakfast for us,” Abby said.
In an effort to move on, Abby and his two sisters left their house right after the killing. They also gave away some of the things that reminded them of Maydan. Despite their efforts to forget, however, the trauma caused by his death remains.
“I have heard about people who were killed. I’ve seen dead people, too. But it’s different when someone you love gets killed. It’s far worse than having a loved one die of illness,” Abby said.
Abby and his sisters were initially reluctant to talk about the circumstances surrounding Maydan’s death. But during the wake, the stand for his coffin broke and it took 15 people to lift it onto another one.
They added that on the day of the funeral, the hearse suffered a flat tire with some people commenting about how heavy Maydan’s body seemed to be. According to what they had been told by their parents, when the body of a crime victim seems extraordinarily heavy, it means that the person is seeking justice for his death.
Although Maydan was in the watchlist of Barangay 150 as a drug pusher, he never sold drugs, Abby claimed. An occasional “shabu” (methamphetamine hydrochloride) user, Maydan stopped after Mr. Duterte took over, he said.
“Thirty-four shots. For someone who already kicked the habit, did he really deserve to die that way?” Abby asked.
When Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) went over the spot where Maydan was killed, they encircled 34 areas where they recovered slugs, Jacklyn said.
They also found two bullets, bringing the number of shells and slugs fired from .45-cal. pistols to 36-the equivalent of three magazines.
According to the Habulan sisters, armed men wearing black jackets and ski masks barged into their house, held them at gunpoint and then dragged Maydan outside.
News reports called the still unidentified men members of the “Caloocan Death Squad” but Maydan called them “sir.”
“He told them: ‘I’m not him, sir,” Abby recalled, adding that two of the killers wore camouflage shorts.
It’s not clear if Maydan knew them but he went with them “without resistance,” Abby said. As they were walking him out, he gently tapped the Habulan sisters on their heads.
“It was like he was telling us to stay put and not do anything,” Jacklyn said.
Successive gunshots
The Habulan sisters hugged each other as gunshots rang out. When the noise subsided, Jacklyn cried out: “He’s dead.”
It took about an hour before Maydan’s body was taken to the funeral home. His blood and innards were scattered all over the narrow alley in front of their house.
That night, a crying Jacklyn used a broomstick to sweep Maydan’s blood down a drainage as her neighbours watched. “That was all I could do,” she said. “I was very mad.”
Abby was in a corner crying, too. There was also anger in his heart.
Jacklyn said: “While sweeping his blood, I was talking to him in my head, asking him to never stop pricking his killers’ conscience. I told him: ‘Never ever give them peace of mind.'”
This month alone the local entertainment industry has been hit with a number of K-pop idols suffering from fatigue and other stress-related mental health issues. With all these stars taking time out from their hectic schedules, one question needs to be answered — where do we draw the line?
In a span of three weeks, a member of mega hallyu boy band EXO fainted at Incheon airport, a Crayon Pop starlet suspended all her music activities due to anxiety, and a member of the newly debuted WINNER halted the group’s new album endeavours in order to tend to his “psychological issues.”
On Oct. 11, EXO member Lay, along with the rest of his group members, were at the Incheon International Airport getting ready to board their flight to Japan when the K-pop idol suddenly collapsed. Those who saw the incident occur at the airport said that Lay remained unconscious as he was transferred to a hospital.
After being rushed to the hospital, the K-pop star’s agency released an official statement saying, “Lay momentarily lost consciousness due to a lack of sleep. Thankfully, the doctor said he will make a full recovery after he gets some rest.”
However, the incident led to a massive online outrage by dedicated EXO fans who bashed and lashed out against the entertainment agency for overworking the idols to the point of causing damage to the young entertainers’ health.
Following the incident, Lay later went to urge fans not to blame S.M. Entertainment for the incident.
“The fainting was my fault, please don’t curse out my fellow company colleagues,” he said in a press conference for his upcoming Chinese drama “The Mystic Nine,” eight days after the incident occurred. “The schedule arrangements were all mostly my choice. I’m the type of person who doesn’t like admitting defeat, so I always try to do everything I can. The agency respects my thoughts.”
However, this is not the first time the K-pop star has lost consciousness. A similar incident occurred last May during filming for a Chinese variety show. It was concluded that Lay once again passed out due to exhaustion and fatigue.
Earlier this month, both Crayon Pop member Soyul and WINNER member Nam Tae-hyun announced they were halting all of their public appearances and recording sessions.
On Oct. 12, YG Entertainment announced that Nam will be suspending his role as a member of the popular new boy band WINNER indefinitely, claiming the young singer is currently seeking treatment for “mental health issues.”
Although the agency did not specify exactly what sort of health issues Nam has been diagnosed with, they claimed that his issues were something that he had been dealing with since his days as a trainee, adding that his condition has “taken a turn for the worse.” It has been reported that the singer has moved out of his dorm room at the agency and is back living with his mother and is receiving treatment for his illness.
In the case of Soyul, a representative of Crayon Pop’s managing agency stated that she would be suspending all group activities for the foreseeable future as the singer was recently diagnosed with having an anxiety disorder. “Her conditions are worse than expected,” the agency stated, noting that for the time being, Crayon Pop would be continuing as a four-member act.
It is certainly no secret in Korea that the training process to debut as a K-pop star is no quick or simple venture. Often referred to as music “boot camp,” K-pop training among some of the nation’s biggest talent agencies is intense, to say the least.
And with only a fraction of trainees able to become K-pop stars, the atmosphere among trainees can be fiercely competitive and cutthroat.
With popular K-pop reality shows such as “WIN: Who Is Next?” and “Sixteen,” the public eye has been given a rare behind-the-scenes glance at the extreme late hours, stressful pressure and sheer competitive nature of the local music industry.
Many ex-K-pop trainees go on to share their various experiences online through various blog postings such as “Confessions of an EX-SM Trainee” and “K-pop Secrets!,” further shedding more light on all the gritty, cut-throat reality of life as a K-pop trainee.
“We had all begun to work extremely hard. Education turned out to be our last priority and making an impression on the reps, staff and CEO was (the) first priority,” wrote one former Korean-American ex-YG trainee. “This was a terrible time for me. Friends that I had made were slowly turning to rivals.”
“We all began to battle each other and whatnot. I have to say that YG is definitely a serious agency, as in like the competition is dead on, there is no time for laughing and fooling around,” he continued. “Being in an agency that focused mainly on talent made things extremely difficult.”
In the past, Girls’ Generation member YoonA went public about her ongoing battles with depression, as well as other famous stars including Park Bom of 2NE1 and Hee-chul of Super Junior, Epic High’s Tablo, who all claim to suffer from depression. Singer-songwriter IU has also gone public with her struggles with bulimia, while f(x)’s Amber, SHINee’s Sung-gyu and MBLAQ’s Lee Joon have all been diagnosed with insomnia.
SEOUL – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Monday it is offering an upgrade programme to Galaxy Note 7 customers in South Korea who trade in their recalled device for a Galaxy S7 phone.
In a statement, Samsung said customers who trade in their Note 7 phone for either a flat-screen or curved-screen version of the Galaxy S7 can trade up for a Galaxy S8 or Note 8 smartphone launching next year through an upgrade programme.
Users in the upgrade programme will have to pay half of the price of a Galaxy S7 device before exchanging to the S8 or the Note 8, Samsung said.
Given his previous work experience, one might not expect Mr Darren Thng to end up working for a community hospital.
The 46-year-old, now a manager in the chief executive’s office at Bright Vision Hospital, had been managing a German subsidiary in China that built musical fountains.
But he now puts his experience to good use in a different setting.
“I used to oversee the operations of the whole company, but now I assist the CEO and director in running the hospital,” said Mr Thng, who came back to Singapore a year ago. “The managerial skills are almost the same, but the services we provide are different.”
The Agency for Integrated Care (AIC), which coordinates healthcare services for seniors here, helps mid-career professionals like Mr Thng with the transition to new jobs in the community care sector.
Through its Senior Management Associate Scheme started this year, the agency hopes to attract professionals, managers, executives and techniciansto join the sector.
Participants attend a training programme that provides an overview of the sector, as well as short-term attachment programmes with community care groups. For instance, they join volunteers in delivering meals to seniors who live alone and accompany patients on hospital visits.
The AIC then follows up on their progress. Seven people who joined the sector – including Mr Thng – have gone through the training.
Ms Teo Sio Hoon, chief of intermediate- and long-term care at the AIC’s manpower development and resourcing division, said professionals with managerial and operational experience are in demand, given the growing community care sector, which includes community hospitals and senior care centres.
“The programme is meant to prepare and assimilate them into their new jobs,” she said. “Coming from a corporate background, you may realise that you have all the work skills, but the setting in this sector is very different.
“In a corporation, the bottom line is the key thing, but in community care, while we are conscious of cost, the welfare of patients is more important in making decisions.”
Last week, Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said more healthcare workers will be needed with the expansion of primary and community care. To build a stronger local core in the healthcare sector, training and recruitment will be expanded to enable young job seekers and mid-career entrants, among others, to get work in healthcare.
Mr Soon Cheok Seng, 58, who previously worked as a senior business analyst for Motorola, said the training helped him to understand the nature and expectations of his current job.
Mr Soon, now IT manager at Ling Kwang Home for Senior Citizens, said: “The focus is different. If you want to work in this sector, you have to realise it’s more about giving back to society. Pay becomes secondary.”
Bright Vision Hospital CEO Chua Puay Hian said Mr Thng and Ms Doris Tan, 55, who both underwent the training and now work at the hospital, are doing well. “We are happy that both have had extensive work experiences across Singapore and Asia and are putting their work and life skills to good use here,” he said.
New healthcare network launched
A new network made up of groups such as hospitals and universities was launched on Friday to tackle Singapore’s healthcare challenges.
The new Centre for Healthcare Innovation Co-Learning Network will bring local and overseas institutions together to deal with challenges sparked by the country’s ageing population and slowing labour force growth. A total of 21 partners have joined the network led by Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the National Healthcare Group.
The initiative will focus on training healthcare workers differently so they can support the move from hospital to community care, said Minister of State for Health and Communications and Information Chee Hong Tat, who announced the network on Friday.
The group, which will meet a few times a year, will also look at how robotics can be used so that healthcare workers can focus on more important tasks to meet the needs of patients.
Tsao Foundation, a non-profit family foundation focused on ageing issues, hopes to bring in a community perspective of the patient and caregiver so that hospitals and healthcare staff can learn how to better care for them.
Separately, the Centre of Healthcare Innovation that was announced in 2014 will be ready in 2018. The training and medical hub will feature living labs and training facilities, among others.
kcarolyn@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on October 24, 2016.
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