The death of Coney Island’s lone cow has now made international headlines.

In a report headlined “Coney Island: The life and death of a lonely Singapore cow”, the BBC on Sunday wrote that the animal “quickly became a local legend among Singaporeans, most of whom live in the city or suburbs and have little interaction with livestock”.

The cow, which was really a Brahman bull, died last month during a routine health check.

It had been a hit among netizens, and visitors to Coney Island often tried to locate it, though it was famously elusive.

The National Parks Board (NParks) announced its death last Wednesday, saying that the cow “was a recognisable part of Coney Island Park and will be missed”.

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The Straits Times, NParks, Lianhe Zaobao

NParks had first found the lone bovine while setting up the 50ha park at Punggol, which was opened to the public a year ago.

The park got its name when a businessman in 1950 bought and named it after New York’s Coney Island amusement park with intentions to turn it into a resort.

It is not known how the cow got there or how old it was, although NParks told the BBC that it may “have wandered in” and was noticed only after dam crossings were built.

“But as no one has reported a lost cow, its presence on the island remains a mystery,” said NParks.

The Straits Times reported last week that the cow was sickly and malnourished when it was first found but recovered after foraging naturally on the abundant vegetation on the island.

Post-mortem investigations by the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) show that the cow had “chronic underlying illnesses, and that it likely died of heart and lung complications while sedated”.

Online, netizens reacted with sadness and some with outrage that it had died while sedated.

Twitter user Darryl Kang wrote: “Rest in peace Coney Island cow. Sad that we didn’t get a chance to meet each other.”

Some even compared it to Harambe, a silver back gorilla from a zoo in the United States that was controversially shot dead after a child got into its enclosure.

NParks said in a statement that “health checks are necessary for the cow’s own well-being and for public health reasons, for example, to prevent the spread of diseases between animals and humans”.

“Given its large size, sedating the cow was a standard procedure to ensure the safety of all personnel involved,” it added.

lydialam@sph.com.sg

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Father of three who raped a woman he met at a New Year’s Eve party was sentenced to nine years’ jail and six strokes of the cane yesterday.

Removal man Muhammad Farhan Mohamed Buan, 30, went to the party at a chalet at the D’Kranji Farm Resort with his wife and three children.

But as the party wound down in the early hours of Jan 1 last year, he left his family sleeping inside the chalet and went in pursuit of the victim, who had gone to a pavilion outside to rest.

Farhan, then 28, struck up a conversation with the single mother, then 30. He asked her for sex after she took a few puffs of his cigarette. But she told him to go back to his wife and children.

He then forcibly kissed her and pulled down his trousers to expose himself to her. Feeling insulted, she scolded him and said she was leaving.

Farhan offered her $10 for the taxi fare. He also offered to walk her out, saying it was not safe for her to walk alone along the road outside the resort.

At about 6am, at the junction of Neo Tiew Road and Neo Tiew Lane 2, he handed her $10.

He said he heard voices coming from the bushes and suggested they take a look.

When she refused, he grabbed her and pulled her towards the dense foliage by the side of the road. He carried the woman up, jumped across a large drain and threw her on the grass.

He raped her as she was trying to pick herself off the ground. After the rape, he gave her another $15 and told her not to tell anyone. He walked back to the resort.

She walked back to the road, where she waved down a taxi driver who had just dropped off a passenger. The cabby called the police immediately after she said she had been raped.

Yesterday, Farhan pleaded guilty in the High Court to one charge of rape and one of insulting the woman’s modesty by exposing himself. A third charge of sexual penetration was considered.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Kavita Uthrapathy sought 10 to 12 years’ jail and six to 12 strokes of the cane, arguing that Farhan’s actions were “deliberated”. But his lawyer, Sadhana Rai, sought seven years’ jail and no more than six strokes. She argued that his offences were not premeditated.

selinal@sph.com.sg

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A JAPANESE man, who had hoped to meet the Singapore girl whom he had a crush on 40 years ago and could never forget despite the passage of time, finally had his wish fulfilled this week, thanks to Facebook and Lianhe Wanbao.

Seiichiro Isoda, managing director of an international food company now based in Singapore, met Yvonne Chua again on Sunday in the lobby of Furama Riverfront Hotel at Havelock Road, reported the Chinese evening daily.

That is the hotel where they first met in 1976, then called Novotel Apollo Singapore, when she was an 18-year-old cafe waitress, her very first job, and he, a 15-year-old spending his New Year holiday here with his mother.

Despite the lapse of 40 years, he immediately recognised Ms Chua when she appeared on Sunday with her family members, and rushed out from the restaurant, where he had been waiting, to greet her, reported Wanbao.

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Japanese man meet with Singaporean ‘dream girl’ after 40 years

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Lianhe Wanbao

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Ms Chua froze for a moment but she quickly recalled his face in the Oct 2 Wanbao article about his search for her.

“I was surprised. I’ve changed so much, yet he could recognise me,” the managing director of a logistics company told Wanbao.

“Although it has been 40 years, her bright eyes and sweet smile are the same as before,” said Mr Isoda.

The two communicated in English for two hours, sharing about their lives and looking at the photos they took together in 1976.

That year, he saw her twice, first in the cafe when she was serving drinks to customers, and then the next day when they specially met up in the lobby for the photo-taking, which was secured by his mother as he could not speak English then.

However, to his regret, he could not remember her name and he had not got her address and number.

His effort to find Ms Chua during his posting here by a bank from 1994 to 2000 was futile as he had no clue to start with.

Then, last year, he was again posted to Singapore, and this time he resorted to Facebook to disseminate his story.

A friend, who saw the post, linked him up with Wanbao, and three days after the report was published, the newspaper received a call from Ms Chua’s daughter.

Fearing that the meeting would generate gossip, Ms Chua originally did not agree to it, but her husband urged her to show up, saying he was moved by Mr Isoda’s sincerity and perseverance.

Mr Isoda said his dogged search for Ms Chua also had the blessing of his wife, who often heard him praise the looks and serene charms of the “most beautiful girl” he has ever met.

“If I were a Singaporean, I would certainly have tried to seek her hand,” said Mr Isoda.

Now he hopes only that he could remain in contact with Ms Chua, who is a grandmother of three children.

“But I never regret spending so many years looking for her,” he said.

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Heavily armed troops from the police and Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) turned out in force yesterday across the island, from Marina Bay to Jurong East, to seek out and neutralise a mock terror threat in the country’s largest counter-terrorism exercise yet.

The 18-hour operation involved over 3,200 officers, including those from the Singapore Civil Defence Force and other Home Team agencies.

It climaxed at malls in Bishan and Tampines, where “terrorists” armed with M16 rifles and explosive vests took hostages, including in a cinema, before being subdued early this morning.

Earlier yesterday, joint patrols between police and the SAF’s Island Defence Task Force, which protects key installations here, were stepped up at over 360 locations such as the financial centre, public transport nodes, shopping malls, residential areas and immigration checkpoints – after receiving intelligence about an imminent attack.

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Singapore holds largest islandwide counter-terror exercise

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The Straits Times

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There are two reasons for the exercise, said the police.

One is to test the combined response between the Home Team and the Singapore Armed Forces to a terror attack. The other is to raise public awareness to “the current threat landscape and to encourage continued vigilance”.

Over 50 community volunteers also took part in the operation, which began at 10am yesterday and ended at 4am this morning.

The exercise comes as Singapore ramps up its readiness in tackling terror attacks.

On Sept 24, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong launched SGSecure, a nationwide movement which aims to increase the public’s preparedness and resilience.

Last Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, who is also Coordinating Minister for National Security, launched an SMS alert system which will notify people if there is a major emergency, such as a fire or a terror attack, nearby.

These developments are a response to the growing terror threat from Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and self-radicalised lone wolves to Singapore and the region, which is at its highest level in recent times.

dansonc@sph.com.sg

ISIS activities in Southeast Asia

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BHM, The Star/ANN, Royal Malaysian Police, Utusan Malaysia, AFP, Reuters, YouTube screengrabs

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