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Tomorrow is D-Day for the Football Association of Singapore (FAS), which will meet local football legend Fandi Ahmad in a last-ditch attempt to keep him in their fold.
The Straits Times understands that Fandi, whose contract with the FAS expires in December, is mulling over a lucrative offer from Malaysian Super League (MSL) side Pahang FA.
Currently an FAS staff coach, he played for Pahang from 1991 to 1992, winning the Malaysia League and Cup double in 1992.
He also has a good relationship with Pahang FA president Tengku Abdul Rahman Sultan Ahmad Shah.
The 54-year-old, who is on a scouting trip in Indonesia, could not be reached for comment.
An FAS spokesman said last night: “The FAS has been in talks with Fandi for several months. We see Fandi continuing to play an important and significant role in Singapore football but it is premature to comment as our talks are still ongoing.”
It is believed that Fandi, who is also helping national caretaker coach V. Sundramoorthy with the senior team, would prefer to stay – but only if the FAS backs his long-term plan for national youth teams over several major Games leading up to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
However, he was given no such assurances in his earlier meetings with FAS officials.
A source said Fandi’s head was turned by Pahang as he was promised full support from the club over footballing decisions.
Pahang general secretary Fuz Zemi Ibrahim tried to play down the speculation over the move yesterday. He told The Straits Times: “Fandi is under contract with the FAS. But yes, he has a great relationship with our president.”
Fandi’s future has been shrouded in uncertainty ever since he rejected an offer to coach the Garena Young Lions, a developmental team comprising mostly members of the national Under-21 team, earlier this year. He also interviewed for the post of national coach after German Bernd Stange’s contract ran out in April.
Should Fandi join Pahang, who are bottom of the 12-team MSL with three wins in 19 games, it would mark the end of his second stint in the FAS set-up. He had previously coached the Young Lions from 2003 to 2006.
The tactician, popular with the Lions because of his glorious playing career and man-management skills, guided them to two third-placed finishes in the S-League – their best showings.
The former national captain subsequently spent six years coaching Pelita Raya in Indonesia and Johor Darul Takzim in Malaysia. He returned as coach of the LionsXII after the 2013 season, taking over from Sundram. The now-defunct LionsXII played in the MSL from 2012 to last year.
Fandi’s crowning achievement with the LionsXII came in May last year when he won the Malaysia FA Cup. The LionsXII were booted out of the MSL after last year’s campaign.
Fandi also coached S-League club Singapore Armed Forces FC (now known as Warriors FC) from 2000 to 2002, guiding them to two S-League titles.
This article was first published on September 7, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
SINGAPORE – In conjunction with the recent revamp of Lianhe Zaobao, the Chinese flagship newspaper of Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) will be organising a reader’s engagement event on 10 September at Marina Barrage.
Entitled “Rediscovery”, the free admission event will offer games, food and performances from 1pm to 10pm.
The highlight of the event will be a mass singing session, where local singers will lead a 5,000 strong audience to sing Xinyao compositions, providing readers an opportunity to walk down memory lane and sing along to their favourite Xinyao songs which they grew up listening to.
The song list will also include classic pop songs made popular by local singers.
Local performers, including Xinyao veteran Liang Wern Fook, together with Chen Weilian, Tay Kewei, Alfred Sim and Huang Jinglun, will take to the stage at about 7pm to entertain audiences with a string of over 20 Xingyao songs.
About 5,000 people are expected to sing along with them.
Mr Goh Sin Teck, Editor of Lianhe Zaobao, said: “Readers are the main focus for Lianhe Zaobao’s revamp in July. We hope that they could rediscover the joy of reading newspaper and rekindle their interest in the Chinese language. With our readers in mind, we decided to organise a large-scale engagement event to thank them for their years of supporting Lianhe Zaobao.”
Readers can take part in “retro games” such as “Chapteh” or top spinning to relive their childhood memories.
Those who enjoy singing can take part in a karaoke singing competition to win some prizes.
In the afternoon, local singers Freshmen and Sugi Pan will entertain the crowd with pop tunes.
There will be food stalls selling local delights and UFM100.3 deejays will provide live broadcast and engage listeners on site.
The organiser has also prepared 1,000 picnic mats and goodie bags for Lianhe Zaobao subscribers who have pre-registered for the event.
There will be a grand lucky draw to pick a lucky reader to drive home a Hyundai car sponsored by Komoco Motors.
In addition, Lianhe Zaobao will also give out 4,000 goodie bags for members of the public who are attending the event on a first-come-first-served basis. Collection of goodie bags will end at 7pm.
“With food, games and lucky draw, there will be something for every reader to enjoy at our upcoming event. Most importantly, they can also join in our mass singing session which we hope to attract 5,000 people,” added Mr Goh.
“Rediscovery” is organised by Lianhe Zaobao, with UFM100.3 as the official radio station and zaobao.sg as the official online media. The event is supported by Marina Barrage and sponsored by BreadTalk, Fei Siong Food Management, Qingjian Realty, Citigems and Komoco Motors.
VIENTIANE – There will be ups and downs in ties between the Association of South-east Asian Nations (Asean) and China, but both sides can turn a crisis into an opportunity to further strengthen ties, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Speaking at the…
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ViewQwest has become the first Singapore Internet service provider (ISP) to offer its services in Malaysia, following its official launch there today.
In an interview with The Straits Times, its chief executive Vignesa Moorthy said: “The cost of connectivity is so high in Malaysia. We see that as a business opportunity.”
Since the beginning of this year, the ISP has been rolling out its network in Kuala Lumpur. Currently, it owns about 100km of underground fibre optic cables in key business districts in Kuala Lumpur: the Golden Triangle, Bangsar South and Cyberjaya. Its joint venture partner, Malaysian telecommunications engineering firm Televenture, installed the underground cables.
The ISP has already started offering up to 10Gbps of dedicated Internet links to businesses at “competitive” rates. Mr Moorthy said a 100Mbps link in Malaysia currently goes for RM30,000 (S$10,000) a month.
By year end, ViewQwest will also start selling 1Gbp fibre broadband plans and virtual private network (VPN) services to private home owners in Kuala Lumpur. Its VPN smarts will be incorporated in its media streaming box to allow customers to access movie streaming services.
In Malaysia, a 30Mbps fibre broadband plan currently costs RM199 (S$66) and is available to only about one million out of 8.5 million households in Malaysia. Underground fibre optic links have not been laid yet to reach the rest.
The fastest available fibre broadband plan offering a surfing speed of up to 500Mbps for home users costs RM299 (S$99) a month. But the service is available to only 250,000 households.
Mr Moorthy said ViewQwest will price its 1Gbp fibre broadband plans and VPN services for home users “competitively”. He acknowledged the Singapore government-funded Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (NGNBN) – from which ViewQwest leases wholesale fibre capacity – for giving it the relevant experience. “If not for NGNBN, ViewQwest might not have the confidence to experiment with residential broadband services,” he said.
Mr Khoong Hock Yun, assistant chief executive of the Infocomm Development Authority, which spearheaded Singapore’s NGNBN, told The Straits Times that it is glad that the project “has not only given our ISPs the opportunities to innovate in the local market, but also enabled them to build capabilities and grow their presence overseas”.
ViewQwest now has more than 20,000 home and corporate customers in Singapore. With the experience gained here, it is confident of its ability to scale up to cope with tens of thousands of subscribers throughout Malaysia. It has plans to expand services to Penang or Johor Baru by next year.
The architecture of its fibre broadband network in Malaysia is similar to that in Singapore. In Singapore, fibre links are taken all the way to homes, with a termination point installed within the home.
Last October, ViewQwest also exported its network know-how to Oman, which plans to take fibre links to about 90 per cent of homes in its capital city of Muscat and 35 per cent in other governorates.
It is not the only local fibre broadband provider which has ventured overseas. Last May, telco M1 formed a joint venture with Oman telco Integrated Telecommunications Oman to offer fibre broadband services, among others, there. In 2014, MyRepublic started its fibre broadband services for business users in New Zealand.
This article was first published on Sep 07, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday morning, ahead of the opening of the 28th and 29th ASEAN Summits in the afternoon.
During the half-hour meeting, the first between the two leaders, PM Lee congratulated President Duterte on winning the presidential election.
Both leaders also reaffirmed the long and close ties between Singapore and the Philippines and looked forward to the celebrations of the golden jubilee of diplomatic relations in 2019, said Mr Lee’s press secretary, Ms Chang Li Lin.
Mr Duterte’s office said both leaders talked about the illegal drug trade and its effects.
The Philippine President explained his country’s drug problem to Mr Lee.
They also touched on the topic of the West Philippine Sea, including the freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea and the need for a peaceful settlement of disputes.
Mr Lee welcomed Mr Duterte to make a visit to Singapore.
Mr Duterte sparked controversy even before he left the Philippines for the annual ASEAN leaders meeting when he launched into a tirade against United States President Barack Obama for questioning his anti-crime extrajudicial killings.
The Philippines will take on the ASEAN chairmanship next year, with Laos set to formally pass the baton at the close of this year’s summit tomorrow.
PM meets China, Australia leaders
ASEAN summit Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday. He congratulated Mr Li on China’s successful chairmanship of the recent G-20 summit, PM Lee’s press secretary Chang Li Lin said.
“Both leaders affirmed the dynamic, broad and deep relations between ASEAN and China at all levels,” she added.
ASEAN and China will celebrate their silver jubilee of dialogue relations at the ASEAN-China Commemorative Summit today.
PM Lee said Singapore, as country coordinator for ASEAN-China dialogue relations, will continue to work constructively and objectively with ASEAN members and China to advance the relationship for mutual benefit.
Mr Lee recalled his good meetings last week with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Hangzhou, as well as Chongqing party secretary Sun Zhengcai during his visit to the city.
Meanwhile, Mr Turnbull welcomed Mr Lee’s visit to Australia next month, and looked forward to Mr Lee’s address to the joint sitting of the Federal Parliament.
Both leaders affirmed the excellent relationship between the two countries and welcomed the elevation of bilateral relations arising from the Singapore-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
This article was first published on September 7, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
The family of a diabetic 82-year-old woman, who wanted to lose weight for health reasons, visited a branch of London Weight Management in 2013 after seeing its TV commercial touting a weight-loss trial session for $18.
They were eventually persuaded into signing a nearly $400,000 package with the slimming centre.
The treatments not only failed to improve her health, but they also caused Madam Gan Siew Hong to suffer diarrhoea, a skin rash and pus discharge, she claimed in a lawsuit filed in the High Court seeking compensation of close to $450,000 from the slimming centre.
Madam Gan, now 85, wants a full refund of the more than $400,000 her son paid for weight-loss treatments and products.
She is also seeking damages of about $41,000 for medical fees incurred in treating the alleged adverse effects of the services.
In court documents obtained by The Straits Times, Madam Gan claimed the centre repeatedly pressured her, her son and her husband into signing up for the package.
On July 23, 2013, she, together with her son, Mr Tan Kok Wah, and husband, Mr Tan Ee Leong, went to the centre’s Ngee Ann City branch after seeing its commercial.
She said her son and husband had asked for a medical assessment before starting the programme but were assured by the therapist that it was suitable for her.
Apart from diabetes, she has a heart condition, high blood pressure, kidney problems and water retention in her legs.
At the trial session, her son was persuaded to pay $10,914 for an eight-month package. Six days later, while she was going through her third session, her son and husband were “brainwashed” into extending the package to two years for an additional $66,768.
Her son paid a portion using two credit cards, and a therapist accompanied the family home to collect a cheque for the balance.
Two days later, Madam Gan was made to believe that she needed more than two years to see progress, the lawsuit claimed.
A therapist again accompanied the family home, where her son made out two cheques totalling $321,000 for a six-year package.
He also paid $4,662.40 for “detox drinks”, which allegedly caused her to suffer diarrhoea, and $3,595.29 for ginger masks to reduce the swelling in her legs.
After she was told by a skin doctor that the rash on her abdomen which oozed pus was an allergic reaction to products applied on her skin, she returned to the centre for more treatments. She finally stopped in June 2014.
In its defence, London said it is willing to refund her the unused portion of the package amounting to $43,408.15 out of goodwill.
The centre said Madam Gan’s family declared only that she had diabetes and that it is not liable for injuries resulting from non-disclosure of medical history.
The centre also said it had advised her to seek medical advice on the suitability of its treatment and products and told her that successful weight loss depended on a balanced diet and regular exercise.
This article was first published on September 7, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.
In his role as dialogue coordinator, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong presents relations between the Southeast Asian bloc and China as “much broader than any one issue”.
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SINGAPORE – As it reorganises its philanthropic arm into six foundations overseen by a trust, investment company Temasek has identified two additional strategic areas of interests – innovation and sustainability.
These are being overseen by Temasek…
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