A 41-year-old business development manager of property and retail giant Metro Holdings is facing eight drug-related charges.

Ong Jenn, who is the grandson of Metro founder Ong Tjoe Kim and son of former Metro group managing director Jopie Ong Hie Koan, was first charged on Nov 1, 2014.

His next pre-trial conference is scheduled for Aug 19.

He is accused of abetting Mohamad Ismail Abdul Majid, by engaging in a conspiracy with the latter to traffic in two blocks of cannabis, one weighing 92.68g and the other, 385.1g.

On Oct 30, 2014, Ismail was caught with the drugs along Jurong Port Road at about 4.20pm.

The next day, Ong was himself arrested. Anti-narcotics officers allegedly found a vaporiser for inhaling drugs in his car at the Ngee Ann City carpark at about 1.20pm.

Shortly after at about 2.10pm at 11 Bishopsgate, a landed property, they purportedly found two blocks of cannabis belonging to Ong, one weighing 75.32g and the other, 284.7g, for the purpose of trafficking.

They also found 1.44g of cannabis, and 8.41g of a mixture containing tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive component of cannabis, that allegedly belonged to him.

The same day, Ong’s urine purportedly tested positive for a metabolite of THC that is formed in the body after cannabis is consumed.

If found guilty of his four charges of trafficking in Class A controlled drugs, Ong faces a mandatory jail term of between five and 20 years, with five to 15 strokes of the cane, per charge.

For the two counts of having a Class A controlled drug in his possession, he faces up to 10 years’ jail and a $20,000 fine, if convicted.

If found guilty of having an utensil for consuming a Class A controlled drug, he faces up to three years’ jail and a $10,000 fine.

And if convicted of consuming cannabis, cannabinol or cannabinol derivatives, he faces up to 10 years’ jail and a $20,000 fine.

Ong’s father was group managing director of Metro Holdings from 1973 until his death in February.

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Singapore will not be able to watch the 2016 Olympics live on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) YouTube channel.

A report on Sports24hour.com making its rounds on social media said Singapore is one of 64 countries which can catch the Rio de Janeiro Games live on YouTube.

But a source close to talks between local broadcaster Mediacorp and rights holder Dentsu confirmed that there would be no live screening on YouTube, and that any website which streams content illegally could be shut down.

The IOC did stream the 2012 London Olympics live on its YouTube channel and Singaporeans could watch it.

But this arrangement will not be available this year as Dentsu has acquired the rights for all platforms here.

The Sports24hour report does not contain any official quote from the IOC.

It also appears to have reused information from an IOC press release sent before the London Games, including the fact that there would be 10 different feeds.

The report said the live streams will run from 9am to 11pm London time, which is 5am to 7pm in Rio de Janeiro.

This means viewers will not be able to catch events like the swimming finals, which start at 10pm in Rio and run till about midnight.

THE STRAITS TIMES

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At least three companies in Singapore are planning to buy “lures” for the latest mobile sensation, Pokemon Go, to attract players to their shops and events when the app launches here.

Local book retailer Times Publishing, and fibre broadband service providers ViewQwest and MyRepublic are trying to ride their marketing campaigns on this popular augmented-reality game, played through the lens of a smartphone camera.

Even as players try to catch virtual monsters in real-life locations, Times hopes to direct them – especially children aged 3 to 12 – to its first edutainment event, Happy Sparks, in November at Singapore Expo.

“Pokemon Go is very popular with kids of all ages. We don’t think this is the only reason kids will come to our event but this is another attraction,” said a spokesman for Times Experience, Times’ event management subsidiary.

The four-day event will feature mathematics and singing competitions.

It is not known when the game will launch in Singapore.

But since its release on July 6, the mobile game has been available in more than 20 places, including the United States, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong. It is free to download but offers in-game purchases.

“Lures” attract the virtual monsters to a particular location. Each lure costs about US$1 (S$1.34) – or 100 Pokemon gold coins – in the game, and will appear for 30 minutes each time.

ViewQwest also plans to boost awareness of its retail outlet at Suntec City by planting “lures” there, taking a leaf from the success in Japan, where game-starved diners were crowding McDonald’s 3,000 outlets.

“It’s about increasing foot traffic,” said Vignesa Moorthy, chief executive of ViewQwest.

“People will see your brand, and we hope it is an opportunity to reach out to them,” said Mr Moorthy, who was in Japan recently.

Similarly, MyRepublic wants to use lures in the game “as a fun way to attract crowds to our shops”, it said. As the game has yet to launch, it is not certain where it can buy lures to attract the virtual monsters.

Developed by Niantic Labs, Pokemon Go is already generating revenues of US$10 million daily through the sale of in-game items such as “lures” and “Pokeballs” from about 100 million app installations, according to San Francisco-based market research and analytics firm App Annie.

Assistant Professor Alex Mitchell of the communications and new media department at the National University of Singapore said businesses should think about how to convert visits to business.

“It should work if playing Pokemon Go and the desired outcome such as eating at McDonald’s are complementary,” he added.

Clement Teo, principal analyst at market research firm Ovum, said only companies that have close association with the game will benefit in the long-term as “lures” become commonplace.

“Times, for instance, will benefit if it sells Pokemon collectible game cards,” said Mr Teo. “Another opportunity is to allow gamers to pay for real-world goods in the game using mobile payments.”

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A fire broke out at a stall that was having its gas supply restored in Old Airport Road Food Centre yesterday, with three taken to the hospital with burn injuries.

The incident occurred at about 10am at Xin Mei Congee porridge stall, where two Union Energy repairmen had been working on its gas supply, Chinese evening daily Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday.

The owner of a noodle stall, who gave his name as Mr Wang, 52, told Wanbao that there was a loud explosion about half an hour into the repair works.

He called the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), and several passers-by pitched in to help put out the fire.

Four people were hurt, including two Union Energy maintenance workers and a female hawker from a fish soup stall just behind the porridge stall.

SCDF said in a Facebook post yesterday that the three victims were taken in stable conditions to the Singapore General Hospital.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the incident was “caused by a flash fire arising from repair works carried out on the gas supply to the food stall”, it added.

Mountbatten MP Lim Biow Chuan visited the hawker centre and asked about the affected hawkers as well as assisted in insurance and compensation matters.

Union Energy representatives were also on site to lend assistance.

A spokesman said it would investigate the incident and assist the affected hawkers.

The hawker centre resumed normal operations in the afternoon after the fire was put out.

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A syndicate which brought in workers from China for jobs that did not exist has been smashed.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) arrested 44 people in an islandwide operation over two days last week.

They include the syndicate’s suspected mastermind, a China national in his 30s, who was nabbed in his Ubi office.

He was among six alleged members of the syndicate who were arrested, along with 38 workers from China who were picked up at dormitories or construction sites.

MOM is still investigating the total number of workers the syndicate had brought in to work illegally.

In the last five years, MOM has taken enforcement action against an average of 20 employers each year for such illegal importation of labour.

MOM shed light yesterday on how such syndicates operate.

They typically set up shell companies which have no real business operations.

“Fall guys”, with no actual knowledge of what the company does, are hired as directors.

Their SingPass accounts are used to make fraudulent work pass applications.

The shell companies then obtain the quota to employ foreigners by pretending to hire “phantom” local workers.

The syndicates also collect large amounts of kickbacks from the foreign workers brought in. Many, said MOM, willingly pay for the chance to get a work pass to stay in Singapore and, thus, conspire with the syndicates.

Advocacy groups say they have seen workers fork out amounts of more than $14,000.

They are then released to find their own employment via illegal means.

Foreigners who work without valid passes face a fine of up to $20,000 or up to two years in jail or both, unless MOM determines they were victims.

Debbie Fordyce, executive committee member of foreign worker advocacy group Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), said some workers are willing to pay high kickbacks and risk stiff penalties as they can get paid two or three times more if they find their own work.

Those convicted of illegal labour importation face a jail term of between six months and two years, and a fine of up to $6,000 per charge.

Caning is also involved in more severe cases.

Employers who hire foreign workers seeking illegal employment face a fine of between $5,000 and $30,000, and/or up to a year’s jail.

Main contractors with illegal workers at their worksites are liable to be fined up to $15,000 and/or jailed up to a year.

They will also be barred from hiring foreign workers.

Singapore Contractors Association president Kenneth Loo said some construction firms, which are short on labour or need to complete a project quickly, might be tempted to take on illegal workers.

“But that’s no excuse,” he added. “It’s just like stealing, it’s a crime… It doesn’t pay in the end.”

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