STARTS TOMORROW: Shiseido sale (also ZA, Ettusais, NARS & more) at Suntec (20 – 22 Oct)
Shiseido: Sale at Suntec (ZA, Ettusais, NARS, Aqualabel, etc) from 20 – 22 Oct 2016
Shiseido will be having a public sale from 20 October to 22 October 2016 at Suntec Convention Centre. Brands include Shiseido, Cle de Peau Beaute, ettusais, NARS, Aqualabel, Majolica Majorca, Ma Cherie, Senka, Tsubaki and more
K-pop boy band VIXX is returning with a new release.
Inspired by Greek mythology, the group’s yearlong trilogy “2016 Conception” will conclude with the upcoming EP “Kratos,” referring to the Greek mythological god of war.
To gear up for the release, the group shared teaser images featuring the bandmates with their eyes covered by strips of black lace via official social media channels Tuesday morning.
The photos were created in collaboration with fashion and beauty photographer David Byun, who worked on the EP “Beautiful Liar” in 2015 by the group’s first subunit VIXX LR, according to management agency Jellyfish Entertainment.
The trilogy project kicked off earlier this year with the album “Zelos” in April, followed by “Hades” in August.
The lead tracks from both albums, “Dynamite” and “Fantasy,” respectively, appeared on Billboard’s World Digital Songs chart upon release.
“Kratos” will be available on local music sites on Oct 31.
According to Grab, commuters will have access to more than half of the nation’s taxi fleets after all 1,000 Prime Taxi drivers come on board.
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He had gone to collect a $100,000 debt.
But when the man he was looking for was not around, Tan Keng Hong ended up arguing with the man’s daughter and punching her face.
When her boyfriend tried to intervene, he, too, was hit several times in the face.
Yesterday, Tan, 53, pleaded guilty to two counts of voluntarily causing hurt to Miss Luah Wen Yan, 26, and Mr Jude Chan Peng Yong, 25.
Tan, a private car hire driver, was sentenced to two weeks’ jail.
The court heard that on the afternoon of Nov 25, Tan had gone to find Mr Raymond Luah Cheong Chuan at his office in Everton Park to collect a personal debt.
As Mr Luah was not around, his daughter attended to Tan and they started arguing.
When Tan called the woman a prostitute, she responded by throwing a desk calendar at him.
Investigations showed that Tan then punched Miss Luah in the face, and also grabbed and pulled her hair.
Mr Chan tried to intervene and managed to push Tan away from his girlfriend. The two men exchanged blows, and amid the scuffle, both fell to the ground.
Miss Luah called the police and an unknown delivery man also stepped in to stop the fight.
INJURIES
Tan, Miss Luah and Mr Chan all suffered injuries as a result of the altercation.
Miss Luah and her boyfriend sought medical attention at Singapore General Hospital later that day.
She suffered abrasions and injuries on her arm, lips and gum while her boyfriend had abrasions on his cheeks and limbs.
They were given four days of medical leave each.
Tan suffered abrasions and injuries on his scalp, back and arm and was given almost three weeks of medical leave after seeing a doctor at Tan Tock Seng Hospital that same day.
In his mitigation in court, Tan’s lawyer asked for a global sentence of one week.
She said that Tan, a former employee of Mr Luah, had loaned the man $100,000 more than 10 years ago, and had turned up that day to collect the debt.
She also said that Tan had called Miss Luah a prostitute in retaliation because she had called him a beggar, and added that her client suffered the most serious injuries in the fight.
However, in Assistant Public Prosecutor Koh Huimin’s submissions, she highlighted the fact that both victims were not parties to the debt and just happened to be at the company when Tan arrived.
Tan also has a previous conviction for affray in 2011 for which he was fined $1,000.
For voluntarily causing hurt, Tan could have been jailed for up to two years with a fine of $5,000.
This article was first published on October 19, 2016.
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He was on his way to work yesterday, when the bus he was in suddenly jerked and came to a stop.
Mr David Lim, 29, a merchandiser, was stunned for a few seconds before he realised the SBS Bus Service 185 had hit a temporary road divider.
The impact of the crash shattered a glass panel in the bus near its exit door.
Two female passengers sitting just behind the exit door were injured as a result.
According to Mr Lim, one of them had a bruise on her head, while another woman had cuts on her face.
Both were taken to hospital.
The windscreen of the bus was also smashed.
The accident happened at the junction of Commonwealth Avenue West and Clementi Road, near Darussalam Mosque, at about 9.30am.
LUCKY
Mr Lim, who was sitting on the facing seats at the front of the bus, told The New Paper he was lucky he had been holding on to a pole.
Some of the shards of glass from the shattered windscreen landed on his arm, but did not injure him.
His iPhone 6 Plus, which landed near the bus driver’s seat, was also undamaged.
He said there were at least 10 passengers on the bus. All were seated.
He added: “It happened so quickly and it could have been worse. Fortunately, the auntie who was sitting just across from me was holding the pole as well.”
Mr Lim added that everyone, including the driver, remained calm after the accident.
He said: “The driver also apologised to all of us. Everyone was quite shocked and just stayed in their seats for a while.
“Some people offered tissues to the (injured) women, and both of them didn’t seem to be able to talk for a while.”
The bus driver said a car in front of them had suddenly changed lanes, Mr Lim said.
“When I got out of the bus, I was shocked to see the damage at the front. I’m glad the bus driver was not injured.”
A Singapore Civil Defence Force spokesman said it sent two ambulances to the scene, and two people were taken to the National University Hospital.
The police said the two passengers, a 38-year-old woman and a 66-year-old woman, were conscious when they were taken to the hospital.
Ms Tammy Tan, senior vice-president of corporate communications, SBS Transit, said: “We are in touch with the two injured passengers to find out how they are. Both of them received outpatient treatment and we will be rendering them assistance as best we can.
“Meanwhile, we are assisting the police with their investigations.”
This article was first published on October 19, 2016.
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The Land Transport Authority says it has conducted several operations after receiving complaints of errant e-scooter rusers riding recklessly at high speed along footpaths and on roads.
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China’s economy has managed a curiously singular feat for any country: Growing a steady rate of 6.7 per cent for the third quarter in a row.
“It’s definitely unusual in an international context,” noted Julian Evans-Pritchard, a China economist at Capital Economics on Wednesday. “There are almost no countries that have such stable GDP growth rates.”
The GDP trifecta is the first since at least 1992 when Reuters began compiling data.
“It suggests quite significant smoothing of the data behind the scenes. Even by Chinese standards, this is quite rare,” Evans-Pritchard said.
China’s economic data routinely face market scepticism over accuracy, so it’s not terribly surprising that the release Wednesday of gross domestic product (GDP) data showing the third quarter’s economic growth kept an even keel for a third quarter – in line with forecasts and smack in the middle of the government’s 6.5-7.0 per cent target range – would also spur scrutiny.
Evans-Pritchard noted that the steady reports likely reflected that growth this year has stabilized somewhat in the world’s second-largest economy.
He noted that the slowdown earlier this year likely wasn’t fully reflected in the official figures.
“There’s incentive for the statistics bureau to take advantage of [the underlying recovery] to bring the official figures closer in line with reality,” he said. “It’s a question of reversing the previous distortions.”
Evans-Pritchard wasn’t alone in noting the stability of China’s data.
“In China, these numbers don’t tend to bounce around a lot. They tend to be remarkably smooth,” said Louis Kuijs, head of Asia economics at Oxford Economics.
“The authorities feel so strongly about the GDP numbers that the whole government apparatus are always doing everything they can, especially in terms of policies and stimulating growth to make sure that the activity numbers, the economic growth numbers are pretty close to what it’s targeting.”
Kuijs said he viewed the focus on meeting the 6.5-7.0 per cent economic growth target as a setback.
He noted that last year, high-level policymakers had indicated that it would be acceptable to miss growth targets, but then late in 2015, the government returned to a rigid interpretation.
“Many economists find that unfortunate,” Kuijs said. “If you have organic growth in your economy of around 5.5 per cent in a context of a pretty subdued global economy, if you continue to insist of 6.5 per cent growth, that means you have to rely on rapid credit growth and other macro-economic stimulus to achieve it.”
China’s economy has been expected to slow as the mainland transitions from manufacturing-led growth toward consumption. Concerns have persisted over the mainland economy’s health, as private-sector debt has surged even as the amount of growth from additional debt has declined.
These small trinkets carry big hopes for those who seek them.
They promise wealth, protection, business success and even sexual attraction to those who acquire these Thai amulets or similar items with “magical” properties.
You will not see such amulets displayed in shops here because it is illegal to sell or buy them.
But go online and you will find these exotic charms, made from the parts of protected animals such as the tiger, leopard cat, crocodile and python, readily offered by sellers, The New Paper discovered.
Mr Ricardo Choo, a businessman who has been trading in amulets for over a decade, told TNP that the illegal trade went underground after a crackdown by the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) several years ago.
Said Mr Choo: “Of course, you can still buy them, because these shops know their regulars and will show them what’s not on display.”
AGAINST THE LAW
When TNP checked with 10 amulet shops in the Golden Mile and Chinatown areas, all of them said they did not deal in contraband amulets.
They said it was against the law to trade in such amulets, which are also known as animal Takruts.
On the flip side, online amulet peddlers brazenly display photographs of their wares and their contact details
TNP saw close to 50 online posts for items containing protected animal parts on Facebook and online marketplaces Carousell and Gumtree.
This is despite Carousell having a policy against the promotion of items involving protected wildlife.
Nine sellers in Carousell were ready to meet a reporter who posed as an interested buyer.
The banned amulets are also sold, auctioned or rented out in members-only online groups.
Mr Choo, who published a book titled The Spirit & Voodoo World of Thailand in 2011, said: “During my travels to Thailand, I was told that people buying these non-mainstream (amulets) are basically from Malaysia, Taiwan and Singapore.
“When something is banned, there’s always a market for it.”
The amulets or items that are said to contain magical powers can cost between $60 and $4,500.
While most of them originate from Thailand, others also come from Indonesia or Cambodia.
They are often referred to as “barang”, Malay slang for “spiritual thing”.
Typically, the amulets, which the sellers claim have been blessed by famous Thai monks, feature sacred scriptures wrapped in tiger or snake skin and are encased in plastic tubes smaller than an adult’s palm.
Parts from cats and tigers are used in the amulets as they are believed to give the owners a sixth sense or make them feared.
Others sell animal parts strictly for business. Among the prohibited parts sold are tiger claws, teeth and skin, and elephant molars, tusks and tail hairs.
One online seller, who gave his name as John, insisted that the tiger claw and skin he advertised on Carousell were genuine.
He offered to sell a piece of tiger skin the size of a small book for $150.
The chief abbot of a Thai Buddhist temple in Singapore told TNP that people should not confuse culture with religion.
Phrakhru Udom of Wat Uttamayanmuni in Choa Chu Kang said: “Buddhism has nothing to do with these things (amulets and charms). They are all cultural beliefs.” He said amulets were traditionally made in the past to remind people of their Buddhist masters’ teachings.
Hence, they were designed in the image of the Buddha, temples or religious figures.
The abbot said, tongue-in-cheek: “If these things work as claimed, then you don’t need security, you don’t need to work. With an amulet, you can become rich.”
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AVA: Permit needed for amulets with animal parts
Real or fake, trading in amulets adorned with animal parts is an offence unless you have a permit, says the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA).
An AVA spokesman told The New Paper in an e-mail reply that it had received applications for Cites (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) permits to import elephant-hair bracelets and crocodile teeth as lucky charms and amulets.
In 1986, Singapore became a signatory to Cites, an international agreement ensuring trade does not threaten wildlife species with extinction.
The spokesman added: “We have zero tolerance on the use of Singapore as a conduit to trade in endangered species and their parts. “Any illegally acquired or imported products that contain or purport to contain endangered species detected will be seized.”.
Unfortunately, the trade in tiger parts continues, said Dr Chris R. Shepherd, regional director for South-east Asia at Traffic, a non-governmental organisation that monitors wildlife trade.
Dr Shepherd told TNP in an e-mail that wild tiger populations have been badly affected by poaching and illegal trade.
He said: “Online trade exacerbates illegal trade and provides a serious challenge to enforcement agencies. Also worrying is the fact that in these online forums, many of the underlying beliefs that drive the trade are left unchallenged.”
But offenders have been caught in Singapore.
Since 2010, AVA has handled about 56 cases of illegally imported wildlife used in amulets originating from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Africa
FINED
That year, 358 pieces of amulets allegedly made of tiger teeth, claws and skin were seized in 39 cases, with the offenders fined between $300 and $3,000.
Last year, there were six cases in which 37 pieces of amulets consisting of monkey bones, leopard and tiger claws, and seal skin were seized. The offenders were fined between $500 and $5,000.
Under the Endangered Species Act, trading of Cites-listed specimens without a permit is an offence which carries a fine of up to $50,000 per specimen, or a jail term of up to two years, or both.
The same penalties apply if anyone is caught advertising or selling illegal wildlife or their parts on the Internet.
tnp@sph.com.sg
This article was first published on October 19, 2016.
Get The New Paper for more stories.
A man in his 60s fell ill after taking two health products with undeclared potent ingredients, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said on Wednesday (Oct 19).
He had taken LongRed Oyster-X to prevent prostate problems, as well as LifeSparks 100 per cent Natural Pain Relief Supplement to ease joint pain.
Although the supplements provided pain relief on the day he consumed them, he developed severe gastric pain and facial swelling a week later. He sought help from a general practitioner and has since recovered.
HSA’s investigations revealed that the health products contained prescription-only medicines that are not allowed to be used in complementary health products.
A chemical compound related to sildenafil, which is used to treat erectile dysfunction, was found in LongRed Oyster-X.
Misuse of this compound can lead to impairment or loss of vision and hearing, low blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks.
Meanwhile, dexamethasone, a potent steroid usually prescribed for inflammatory conditions, was found in LifeSparks 100 per cent Natural Pain Relief Supplement.
Prolonged use of this oral steroid can increase blood glucose levels leading to diabetes, high blood pressure, cataracts, increase the risk of infections, and Cushing’s syndrome (a round face and upper body obesity with thin limbs).
HSA advises consumers of the above products to:
– Stop taking LongRed Oyster-X and seek medical attention if they are feeling unwell
– Not to stop using LifeSparks 100 per cent LifeSparks 100 per cent Natural Pain Relief Supplement but consult a doctor as soon as possible. Sudden discontinuation of steroids can cause serious withdrawal symptoms such as weakness, fatigue, confusion and low blood pressure.
Following HSA’s advisory, Paul Harrison International Pte Ltd, the distributor of the above products, has since stopped sales. Those with enquiries on product return can call the company at 6635 8684.
minlee@sph.com.sg
A man in his 60s fell ill after taking two health products with undeclared potent ingredients, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said on Wednesday (Oct 19).
He had taken LongRed Oyster-X to prevent prostate problems, as well as LifeSparks 100 per cent Natural Pain Relief Supplement to ease joint pain.
Although the supplements provided pain relief on the day he consumed them, he developed severe gastric pain and facial swelling a week later. He sought help from a general practitioner and has since recovered.
HSA’s investigations revealed that the health products contained prescription-only medicines that are not allowed to be used in complementary health products.
A chemical compound related to sildenafil, which is used to treat erectile dysfunction, was found in LongRed Oyster-X.
Misuse of this compound can lead to impairment or loss of vision and hearing, low blood pressure, strokes and heart attacks.
Meanwhile, dexamethasone, a potent steroid usually prescribed for inflammatory conditions, was found in LifeSparks 100 per cent Natural Pain Relief Supplement.
Prolonged use of this oral steroid can increase blood glucose levels leading to diabetes, high blood pressure, cataracts, increase the risk of infections, and Cushing’s syndrome (a round face and upper body obesity with thin limbs).
HSA advises consumers of the above products to:
– Stop taking LongRed Oyster-X and seek medical attention if they are feeling unwell
– Not to stop using LifeSparks 100 per cent LifeSparks 100 per cent Natural Pain Relief Supplement but consult a doctor as soon as possible. Sudden discontinuation of steroids can cause serious withdrawal symptoms such as weakness, fatigue, confusion and low blood pressure.
Following HSA’s advisory, Paul Harrison International Pte Ltd, the distributor of the above products, has since stopped sales. Those with enquiries on product return can call the company at 6635 8684.
minlee@sph.com.sg
