Kinokuniya Books: 20% Off storewide – no membership required (till 9 Aug)
Kinokuniya: 20% Off Storewide ‘Reading Nation’ Promo from 8 – 9 Aug 2016
From 8 August to 9 August, Books Kinokuniya is offering 20% storewide for all customers. No membership needed.
Indonesian authorities said on Monday that several suspected radicals arrested on Batam island last week were part of a group that has “dozens of members” and has been active for two years.
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Nothing it seems, can prepare someone for the pressure of competing at the Olympic Games, as national shooter Teo Shun Xie found out to her cost yesterday.
The 28-year-old may be the reigning Commonwealth Games and SEA Games champion in the women’s 10m air pistol but suffered a case of stage fright in the same event at the Rio Games.
She compiled scores of 93, 95, 91, 96 during the qualifying round for a total of 375 – far behind her personal best of 385 – and finished 37th of 44 participants at the National Shooting Centre.
Russian Vitalina Batsarashkina was the top qualifier with a 390 score, while in eighth position was Spain’s Sonia Franquet (384).
The top eight shooters progressed to the final, which Teo would have done if she had matched her PB.
Such was the standard of competition that 18 shooters scored 380 or higher. When Teo won her Commonwealth and SEA golds, her qualifying score was 377 and 378 respectively.
At April’s ISSF World Cup Rio leg at the same venue as yesterday’s contest, Teo shot a 384 in qualifying en route to a bronze.
Wearing a rueful smile, the Olympic debutante admitted afterwards that the tension simply got the better of her yesterday morning.
“I guess you can call it Olympic nerves.
“The environment here is really intense, everyone is shooting well and the standard is very high.
“I didn’t handle my nerves well today and made some mistakes.
“At the end, things started to steady down but it was too late.
“I’ll learn from this and try my best not to repeat it for the 25m (pistol, her other event scheduled for tomorrow).”
In a sport that requires patience and zen-like stillness, demanding perfection for 40 shots in 50 minutes, the manifestation of Teo’s anxieties took on several forms.
It normally takes her six to seven seconds to fire each of her allocated 40 bullets at the target but she was taking longer to aim.
Her grip became tighter as the weapon shook harder in her hand from the delay.
The warning signs were clearly evident early on as her coach Zhen Tingling, sitting behind Teo’s Lane 28, called a time-out after the Singaporean’s sixth shot and tried unsuccessfully to calm her down.
Curiously, there was no sign of jitters leading up to the competition, Teo noted.
She had gone to bed at her usual time of 9pm the night before and slept peacefully, unlike her team-mate Jasmine Ser, who had a fitful night before her 10m air rifle event on Saturday.
During the 15 minute pre-shoot warm-up and sighting, nothing seemed amiss for Teo.
“I felt fine, my sighting was good.
“But the moment they said start, everything suddenly didn’t feel good and I couldn’t really control myself.”
What an athlete can control though, is the quest to get better.
Even as China’s Zhang Mengxue (with an Olympic final record of 199.4) was celebrating her gold medal in the specially-created final hall next door, Teo was back practising at the 25m outdoor range.
“I know not every competition will be smooth sailing.
“All I can do is learn from my mistakes and prepare as much as I can.”
This article was first published on August 8, 2016.
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1. The “National Day Photo Contest”(the “Contest”) is organised by Singapore Press Holdings Limited (“SPH”) and Canon (Singapore) Pte Ltd (“Canon”) (collectively, the “Organisers”. The Contest is only open to Singaporeans and PRs…
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SINGAPORE – A third-year university student who was injured in an attack in Nice, France, in July has returned home to Penang to recuperate from his injuries.
Mr Esmond Chuah, 22, from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), was one of 12…
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Tokyo – Japanese Emperor Akihito said Monday he is concerned his weakening health may make it hard to fulfil his duties, in a speech seen as signalling a possible future abdication.
“I am worried that it may become difficult for me to carry out my duties as the symbol of the state with my whole being as I have done until now,” he said in an address to the nation.
“There are times when I feel various constraints such as in my physical fitness,” the 82-year-old said.
Akihito spoke obliquely – never mentioning the word abdication – but the government is expected to interpret his comments as meaning his wish is to eventually step down.
It can then begin creating the necessary legal mechanism which currently does not exist.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in a swift response to the emperor’s speech, said the government would take the emperor’s remarks “seriously”.
“Considering the emperor’s duties, as well as his age and the burden (of the job), we have to firmly look at what we can do.”
Speculation about the emperor’s future emerged last month with reports he had told confidantes that advancing age was making it harder to perform his ceremonial duties and that he would like to step down in a few years.
The address marked only the second time for Akihito to speak directly to the nation. The first was in the days after the March 2011 triple earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster as he sought to calm a nation undergoing its worst crisis since the war.
Japan’s imperial house is said to be the world’s oldest hereditary monarchy, and according to legend stretches back some 2,600 years in an unbroken line.
Akihito has keenly embraced the role of symbol of the state imposed after the war. He is credited with seeking reconciliation both at home and abroad over the legacy of the war fought in his father’s name.
He has ventured to a number of locales that saw intense fighting, including Okinawa at home and Saipan, Palau and the Philippines abroad, making sure to offer prayers for the souls of all the dead and not just Japanese.
Any eventual move by Akihito to step down appears to have wide public support.
A survey by Kyodo News last week showed that 85.7 per cent of people surveyed were in favour of legal changes that would allow abdication.
SINGPORE – Two manatees born and bred at the Singapore Zoo left the Republic early on Monday (Aug 8) for Guadeloupe as part of the world’s first repopulation programme for the mammal, which became extinct on the French Caribbean island.
Males Kai, 7, and…
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Two male sea cows from the River Safari set off on a 34-hour voyage to the Caribbean yesterday morning that could help save the rest of their kind.
Kai and Junior, two of the safari’s 14 West Indian manatees, were put on a chartered flight to the French territory of Guadeloupe to take part in the world’s first manatee repopulation programme.
The marine mammal, known locally in Guadeloupe as the “mother of the water”, could once be found in large numbers there.
However, they were over-hunted for their meat and can no longer be found there.
The hope is that Kai and Junior, as well as the 13 other manatees under the programme, could help repopulate the Caribbean region with their offspring, which would be introduced into the wild.
A farewell ceremony for the duo was held at the River Safari yesterday, attended by Mrs Laurence Beau, deputy head of mission from the Embassy of France to Singapore, as well as Mr Mike Barclay, group chief executive of Mandai Park Holdings, which operates the River Safari.
Kai and Junior were selected for the programme as they have reached sexual maturity, according to the River Safari.
Kai is seven years old this year, and Junior is six.
The repopulation project is spearheaded by the National Park of Guadeloupe, and will involve 15 manatees from zoos around the world.
Zoo animals are used for the project as the National Park of Guadeloupe hopes to reduce the impact on wild populations.
Furthermore, animals used to human contact would be easier to manage while under the programme.
The marine mammals will be sent to a 15,000ha bay where they will be protected from marine traffic by way of a no-entry zone.
Mr Barclay said: “Aside from maintaining a healthy living collection to educate and inspire an appreciation for wildlife among our park guests, we are also committed to breeding assurance populations for threatened species and, where possible, reintroducing them back into the wild.”
According to the National Geographic, there are three species of manatees – the West Indian manatee, West African manatee and Amazonian manatee – all of which are threatened by extinction.
Although manatees cannot be found in Singapore, their close cousin, the dugong, can.
Both manatees and dugongs are marine grazers – they are herbivores and feed on sea grass, algae and weeds.
This article was first published on August 8, 2016.
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Most of the five stars on the Chinese flags being used at medal ceremonies at the Rio Olympics are misaligned, officials said, prompting a diplomatic protest and online fury.
Chinese internet users were quick to detect a “plot” against the world’s most populous country, which came second in the medals table at London 2012, and branded the Brazilian organisers the “worst ever”.
The Chinese flag features one large star – representing the Communist Party – half surrounded by four smaller stars tilted to point toward the centre of the bigger one.
But the small stars on the Rio flags, including the one lifted by Chinese fencer Lei Sheng at the opening ceremony Friday, all point upwards.
The official design is intended to symbolises the four classes – workers, farmers, urban petty bourgeoisie, and national bourgeoisie, as defined by Mao Zedong in a 1949 book – supporting the Communist leadership.
China’s consulate-general in Rio de Janeiro said in a social media posting Monday that it had made a formal complaint to the Brazilian organising committee.
The organisers apologised for the mistake and will contact the manufacturer to correct it, it added, denying reports that the flag maker was a Chinese firm.
But Chinese internet users were unmollified.
“As a 20-year old who’s watched three Olympic games, this is really the worst one. They are the least dedicated and hold evident hostility” to China, said a poster on China’s Twitter-like Weibo.
Other users questioned Brazil’s ability to organise the world’s biggest sporting event.
“The Olympics organised by Rio are horrible,” said one. “The conditions are substandard and people are frightened by the gun fights.”
A democratically elected government will take power in Thailand at the earliest by December 2017, a senior Thai official said on Monday, after the country endorsed a military-backed constitution paving the way for a general election.
Thais handed the junta of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha a convincing win in the referendum on Sunday, with preliminary results showing over 61 per cent voted in favour. Full results are due on Wednesday.
A desire to see greater political stability drove the yes vote, analysts said. Thailand has been rocked by more than a decade of political turmoil that has stunted growth, two military takeovers and several rounds of often deadly street protests. “We think there will be an election at the earliest in September or October 2017 and a new government by December 2017,” Chatchai Na Chiang Mai, spokesman for the Constitution Drafting Committee, told reporters.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam on Monday also said an election will take place in 2017, confirming the timeline Prayuth laid out ahead of the referendum.
Prior to the vote, Thailand’s major political parties had criticised the draft constitution, saying it would constrict democracy, including one provision calling for an appointed Senate with seats reserved for military commanders.
ELECTING PRIME MINISTER
A second ballot question that would allow the Senate to elect a prime minister jointly with the lower house was also winning by a wide margin. “Although many suspected that the new charter could undermine their previously held democratic rights, the perceived risk of greater political uncertainty and economic instability, if the constitution had been voted down, was far less appealing,” said John Garrett, Research Analyst Asia at the Economist Intelligence Unit.
Interviews with military officers showed the military’s ambition was to make future coups unnecessary by weakening political parties and obliging future governments to follow a 20-year national development plan set by the army.
The referendum result would legitimise the junta’s bid to extend its hold on power through the constitution said Sinai Phase, Thailand researcher at Human Rights Watch. “It will embolden junta leader Prayuth to think he has millions of Thais behind him and it will extend military control not for one or two years but 20 years,” Sinai told Reuters.
Thai investors welcomed the result on Monday and the Thai stock market touched a fresh 16-month high.
The ‘yes’ vote would be positive for the economy and investment in the second half of 2016, Bank of Thailand Governor Veerathai Santiphrabhob said on Monday.
STILL DIVIDED
Thailand has been divided for more than a decade between rival camps. One of them is led by former populist premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a 2006 coup and later went into self-exile.
The Puea Thai Party, which carried his sister Yingluck to power in a 2011 election, was removed from office in the 2014 coup.
Pitted against Thaksin and his allies is the royalist and military establishment which accused him of nepotism and abuse of power, accusations he denied.
Preliminary results show the northeast, a Thaksin stronghold, and the three Muslim-majority southern provinces, where an insurgency has raged since 2004, voted against the draft.
The results show Thailand remains divided, said Sunai at Human Rights Watch. “In the south this is a denial of control of the Thai Buddhist state. In the northeast, it reflects how, regardless of the junta’s attempt to dismantle the Puea Thai machinery, hearts are still with Thaksin.”
