The dinosaur purse toted by Mrs Lee Hsien Loong at the White House has flown off the shelves, with 200 sold on Wednesday.

While it may be the first time the public has heard of See Toh Sheng Jie, the 19-year-old designer from Pathlight School, his talent for drawing dinosaurs has been known to Mrs Lee.

She first learnt about Sheng Jie five years ago when MP Denise Phua, who co-founded Pathlight School for autistic children and youth, showed her the teenager’s work, said Sheng Jie’s father, Mr Jason See Toh, 54.

Boy who designed Mrs Lee’s pouch loves dinosaurs

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The New Paper, Reuters

Soon after, a dinosaur expert from the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum visited the school with a real-life fossil for the students to view, said Mr See Toh, a taxi driver.

The teenager’s artwork sparked a flurry of interest from the public after Mrs Lee was spotted carrying the denim purse at a welcome ceremony at the White House earlier this week. She bought the $14.80 purse at a fund-raising event.

On the media attention, Mr See Toh said: “The first thing is, we’re shocked. It’s an amazing surprise.”

Mr See Toh and his wife, who have another 21-year-old son, said Sheng Jie has been fascinated with dinosaurs since watching the Disney animated movie Dinosaur when he was three years old.

He began sculpting models of dinosaurs using Blu-Tack, and insisted on checking out books on the prehistoric creatures during trips to the library. He soon had the facts and figures memorised, and now translates that information into detailed drawings and notes in his sketchbooks.

Mr See Toh said the family hopes to thank Mrs Lee in person for celebrating the achievements of autistic people.

He said: “There is a National Day walk in Ang Mo Kio. If Mrs Lee is there with the Prime Minister, we will thank her personally.”

This article was first published on August 5, 2016.
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Former China tour guide Yang Yin admitted to lying when it suited him after the prosecution produced evidence yesterday to show that he had lied about a painting he bought from Japan.

By the end of the day, he was left cradling his head in his hands, telling the court that he did not want to discuss his case any more.

Adding to his woes was a decision by the Court Of Appeal on Monday to throw out his application to appeal against a new will by wealthy widow Chung Khin Chun.

Yang, 42, who has been accused of misappropriating $1.1 million from Madam Chung, had paid about $106,000 in 2014 for a scroll painting of deer and pine by artist Shen Quan from Kansai Art Auction, an auction house in Japan.

Tussle over widow’s $40m assets turns ugly

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The Straits Times, Madam Hedy Mok, Lianhe Wanbao, Madam Chang Phie Chin, Court Documents

However, he failed to declare the painting under his list of assets in an affidavit for the civil proceedings despite being told by the court to do so. Yang also said on Wednesday that the painting was one of “Guanyin” or the Goddess of Mercy.

During the ninth day of the trial yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Sanjiv Vaswani charged that the reason Yang failed to declare this painting of more than $100,000 was that he wanted to avoid it being detected in the civil suit.

“You are willing to lie when it is convenient and it suits you,” said DPP Vaswani.

To this, Yang said through a court interpreter: “Agree.”

Yesterday, the court also heard that the Chinese national had faked his credentials on two namecards. One of these was used when he tried to sell a fake painting of a cat by Chinese artist Xu Beihong.

One namecard listed several fake titles including director of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce, as well as arts broker of Beijing Arts and Cultural Company.

On his other namecard, he identified himself as Simon Yang Yin and an antique art investment adviser.

When DPP Vaswani asked Yang if he had ever pretended to be someone else, he replied: “In order to make a living in society, perhaps…

“I was worried that others would ask about my status, but I’ve never used that to deceive others for my own personal interests.”

Tussle over widow’s $40m assets: A look at Madam Chung’s bungalow

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The Straits Times, Raymond Tan

However, the prosecution showed a namecard Yang had given to an art dealer when he was trying to sell the fake painting.

Documents were also produced to show that Yang had faked his degree, which he earlier claimed to have obtained from the University of Financial Trade Beijing.

Yang later requested to take his leave from the witness stand, saying: “I don’t wish to discuss my case. Can I?”

Deputy Presiding Judge of the State Courts Jennifer Marie granted his request, but told his lawyer Irving Choh to tell Yang that he had agreed to answer questions and give evidence. Yang returned to the stand about 15 minutes later. Mr Choh said his client understood he has to be cross-examined.

The trial continues today.

Separately, Yang had lost his bid to appeal against Madam Chung’s new will – which leaves most of her assets to charity – after it was thrown out by the Court of Appeal. This closes one chapter in the ongoing saga.

The new will replaces an earlier one made in 2010, in which Yang stood to inherit all the widow’s assets, which are estimated to be worth $40 million.

This article was first published on August 5, 2016.
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National broadcaster Mediacorp has struck an eleventh-hour deal to screen the 2016 Olympic Games live, one day before the opening ceremony on Saturday (Aug 6) morning Singapore time.

The deal, struck with rights holder Dentsu Inc, was termed a “breakthrough” by Mediacorp deputy chief excecutive Mr Chang Long Jong, in a press statement on Friday (Aug 5) morning.

He said: “As a commercial company with a social purpose, we needed to balance the cost of acquiring live broadcast rights and the expectations of our audiences.”

The two sides had earlier failed to reach a deal because Dentsu had reportedly asked for US$6 million (S$8.05 million).

There was no mention of how much the latest deal with struck for.

This is good news for sports fans who will able to watch the Games live every day from Aug 6 to Aug 22 on okto, Mediacorp’s designated TV channel for sports content, and on four Toggle channels. Toggle channels are free and no set top box is required.

The statement said: “With okto and Toggle, Singapore viewers have a choice of watching, at any one time, any of five Olympic events taking place in Rio.”

On July 22, The Straits Times reported that Mediacorp and Dentsu had inked a deal for only delayed telecasts of the Games. Only the opening and closing ceremonies would be shown live.

On July 31, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Grace Fu said that the decision not to have live telecasts of the sporting action remained a “commercial one”.

This came on the back of a Straits Times report that the Government was unlikely to provide additional funding to secure live broadcast rights to the Aug 5- 21 Games with a spokesman saying “the acquisition of rights for live sports content will remains a commercial decision.”

sujint@sph.com.sg