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Film-maker Jason Soo has appealed to the Films Appeal Committee (FAC) for a PG13 rating for his documentary on detainees arrested in 1987 over an alleged Marxist plot.
The documentary, 1987: Untracing The Conspiracy, has been given an R21 rating by the Media Development Authority (MDA).
It features interviews with former detainees of Operation Spectrum, which saw 22 people rounded up in 1987 under the Internal Security Act over an alleged Marxist conspiracy to overthrow the Government.
The MDA, in giving the rating, had said in its advisory that “maturity will be required to understand the historical and socio-political circumstances surrounding the incident, and to discern that the film presents a perspective by the detainees”.
Mr Soo said in a Facebook post on Monday that he met the FAC, an independent 15-member panel, to ask for a PG13 rating instead.
He said his film includes not just interviews with seven former detainees but also archival material such as newspaper articles.
He added that the film presents “the established narrative of Operation Spectrum as well as alternative stories of what happened”.
In his appeal letter, he pointed to the extensive coverage of the operation by local newspapers in 1987, and prime-time TV programmes during the period. “If these television programmes were accessible to everyone and (were) not rated R21 in 1987, there is no reason that a R21 rating is needed now,” he said.
His documentary had a one-time screening during the Freedom Film Festival here last November. It was given an R21 rating.
Mr Soo had made a fresh application for a rating last December for future screenings. The MDA in April gave it an R21 rating.
This article was first published on June 1, 2016.
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SINGAPORE – Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Infocomm Media Business Exchange 2016 (imbX) on Tuesday, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim announced three initiatives: enhancing connectivity through a Green WiFi pilot; using robots in preschool teaching; and developing technology professionals.
Dr Yaacob announced that the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) will partner Aruba, M1, Skylab and Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) in a new Green WiFi Pilot@Sentosa initiative on Sentosa island.
To be deployed along Merlion Walk by early June, the pilot will explore the feasibility of using solar energy to power outdoor WiFi in a cost- effective and environmentally sustainable manner. IDA and SDC will review the results of the pilot (which is expected to last a year) and consider deploying more outdoor Wireless@SG hotspots across Sentosa. SDC will also be piloting a trial on its mobile app to ensure seamless connection to Wireless@SG.
The minister noted that, traditionally, deploying WiFi outdoors has been difficult and costly, due to the trenching works required. “As such, most of the Wireless@SG hotspots are indoors. If this pilot is successful, and I believe it will be, we could potentially expand Wireless@SG to reach more outdoor areas in a sustainable manner, and bring the public WiFi coverage in Singapore to the next level.”
From June, Sentosa’s free WiFi service will also cover the beachfronts of Palawan Beach and Siloso Beach, as well as Fort Siloso Skywalk. There are now more than 200 hotspots across Sentosa. The new Green WiFi initiative will allow SDC to explore a larger deployment of more outdoor Wireless@SG hotspots on the island, with the aim of expanding wireless technology to more visitors for a better guest experience.
Dr Yaacob noted that children, especially preschoolers, learn through imaginative play and storytelling. In this context, he added that IDA is collaborating with SoftBank Telecom Singapore and Nanyang Technological University Robotics Research Centre to explore the use of social robots in early childhood education. Since April, two social robots (Pepper and NAO) are being piloted at My First Skool Jurong Point and MY World @ Bukit Panjang respectively, to complement preschool learning through collaborative play and interactive storytelling. The pilot will run till October.
Providing details about the third initiative, the minister noted that there is huge demand for infocomm technology (ICT) talent around the world. “This demand is becoming increasingly specialised – meaning that it is no longer enough for, say, data scientists to be skilled in data analytics. They also need to have a good understanding of the sectors that they work in so that they can apply their skills to provide insightful analyses in context,” Dr Yaacob said.
He added that Singapore is making a big national push to help students and ICT professionals to constantly refresh and update their skillsets.
“I announced last month that we are setting aside S$120 million to invest in the development of infocomm capabilities over the next three years. We are adopting an integrated approach – government together with industry – to grow these capabilities through the TechSkills Accelerator, or TeSA for short. TeSA is an integrated approach to ICT skills acquisition and practitioner training, both in core ICT and sector-specific areas.
“TeSA has two focus areas: TeSA Core which will focus on foundational ICT skills that are relevant across all industries such as cyber security and data analytics; while TeSA Sector will comprise more specialised skillsets that build on the TeSA Core foundation, starting with finance and healthcare sectors,” the minister said.
The objective is to create better job placement outcomes. To coordinate the development of TeSA, a governing council has been set up and chairmen of sector committees have been appointed, who will in turn look into appointing their members within the next few weeks. IDA will also be identifying specialised lead training providers for different sectors.
Dr Yaacob also announced the members of the governing council of TeSA. Gabriel Lim, CE-designate of the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and co-managing director of IDA, will chair the governing council. Members representing the ICT industry include Shirley Wong, chairwoman of Singapore IT Federation; Howie Lau, president, Singapore Computer Society; and Alvin Ong, president, IT Management Association. To represent the hirers in the economy, the council will include Robert Yap Min Choy, deputy honorary secretary, Singapore National Employers Federation.
As a whole-of-government initiative, TeSA will also see representation from Ng Cher Pong, CEO, Workforce Development Authority of Singapore; Augustin Lee, deputy secretary, Ministry of Manpower; and Jacqueline Poh, CE-designate, Government Technology Agency.
The governing council will be further supported by hirers of tech manpower in sector committees, starting with financial services, healthcare and ICT. They will all work collaboratively with the aim of creating job placement outcomes for working professionals.
The chairs and co-chairs of these three sector committees are also members of the governing council:
This article was first published on June 01, 2016.
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A 22-year-old student from China who overdosed on weight loss pills collapsed midway through a song at the K-Box at Cathay Cineleisure and died in hospital shortly after.
Ms Huang Guo, who stood at 1.54m and weighed 54kg, yielding a body mass index of 22.8, had likely bought most of the prescription- only pills from the websites of a clinic and a hospital in Thailand, with no dosage instructions given. A BMI of 22.8 is considered to be healthy.
Yesterday, State Coroner Marvin Bay found her death last June to be an unfortunate misadventure.
“Ms Huang’s sad demise underscores the perils of undertaking a drug-based weight-loss regime without consultation, support and supervision of a qualified medical practitioner,” said the coroner. “These weight-loss regimes should be undertaken only after prior clinical assessment and a commitment to continued follow-up throughout the duration of the regime.”
Ms Huang’s blood had about eight times the therapeutic limit for Phentermine, a stimulant used for short-term weight loss.
The amount of Fluoxetine, an anti-depressant that is sometimes also prescribed “off label” for weight loss as its side effect is the loss of weight, was about 61/2 times the drug’s therapeutic limit.
A forensic pathologist certified her cause of death to be acute toxicity from the two drugs.
Said Coroner Bay: “The ‘off-label’ use of medications like Fluoxetine for an unsupervised and unmonitored weight-loss programme is already inherently hazardous in departing from the actual pharmaceutical intent for which these drugs were formulated.
“This risk is raised exponentially if the medications intended for such ‘off label’ use are illicitly procured from unregulated sources from the Internet, where police and health regulators face obvious limitations to holding cross-border suppliers accountable in the event of an adverse outcome.”
Ms Huang collapsed at about 11.50pm on June 27 last year and two friends called for an ambulance. Resuscitation was done en route to hospital, where she was pronounced dead at about 2am.
A police investigator found 41 packets of medication in Ms Huang’s bedroom. They contained almost 400 pills of about 10 different drugs.
Some were found to be for weight loss, while others were for countering the latter’s side effects.
And some were the same drugs packaged differently. For example, Fluoxetine was found in three separate packets as three differently coloured capsules.
Based on the labelling of the plastic bags and packaging information, most of the pills likely came from a clinic and a hospital in Thailand. Ms Huang received a SingPost parcel from Thailand on May 9 last year; its contents were listed as “Vitamin”.
This article was first published on June 1, 2016.
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For fans of hit TV drama “Descendants of the Sun,” there is great news: A director’s cut DVD will be released in the second half of this year.
Broadcaster KBS and the show’s production company on Tuesday said the director’s cut will feature a reedited version of the last and 16th episode, as well as deleted scenes, a music video and behind-the-scene footage.
Drama fans began requesting a director’s cut even before the show had its finale in April. But previously, the broadcaster and production company had expressed difficulties involved in such a move. However, they decided to produce the new version thanks to fans’ continuous requests.
KBS2 TV drama “Descendants of the Sun,” starring Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo, centres on the romance between an army soldier and a doctor set in a fictional war-torn country.
Professor Sahar Amer talks about the “ridiculous” link often made between Muslim women’s dress and terrorism, in the season premiere of interview programme Conversation With.
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A total of 5,042 foreign workers were found residing at the Blue Stars Dormitory, exceeding the approved occupancy limit of 4,500.
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TOKYO – Japan’s military on Wednesday joined the search for a seven-year-old boy missing in the country’s north since his parents said they abandoned him in a bear-inhabited mountain forest, officials said.
A total of 75 personnel from the Ground Self-Defence Force — Japan’s army — joined some 130 fire rescuers, police officers and volunteers to look for the boy, rescuer Satoshi Saito told AFP by telephone.
Yamato Tanooka has been missing since Saturday after his parents said they made him get out their car on a mountain road as punishment for misbehaving. He is reportedly without food or water.
Rescuers have admitted it is a frustratingly difficult task to find the vanished boy due to a lack of evidence found so far of his presence in the rugged mountainous area on the wild bear-inhabited island of Hokkaido.
The boy’s parents originally told police their son had got lost while they were out hiking to gather wild vegetables — but later admitted they were angry and tried to punish him because he had thrown stones at cars and people.
The local town of Nanae requested military support after rescuers and police officers had already scoured the area for four days, with heavy rains at times hampering the search.
“We asked the SDF to go into places which people can’t easily access such as deep crevasses along creeks,” town spokesman Mitsuru Wakayama told AFP.
“We have already covered the same areas over and over again,” he said, but added that it is hard to imagine even a lost adult being able to travel over such an extensive area on foot.
“We have not taken such a long time before to find signs of a person in distress,” he said.
The parents told police they abandoned Yamato on a road, bounded on both sides by thick mountain forests, but quickly returned to find him missing.
On the northern side of the road where the boy is believed to have been abandoned is a slope of Mount Komagadake, which rises to an altitude of 1,131 metres (3,710 feet).
“The military personnel will scour the mountain slope,” said Saito, the rescuer.
“Unless he started climbing the mountain, he would have hit a main road after walking for two-three kilometres (1.2-1.9 miles) in any other direction,” Saito said earlier.
Actor Lee Min Ho and actress Jun Ji Hyun will star in the forthcoming project of Park Ji Eun, writer of the 2013 hit K-drama My Love From The Star, say industry sources.
Chinese media platforms are already battling for distribution rights to The Legend Of The Blue Sea, Park’s adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Little Mermaid.
It has been reported that one media agency has offered about 590 million won (S$684,000) per episode, and that the production company expects more bidders in the near future.
Many industry insiders are assuming that the deal, if successfully inked, will break the record price for this year’s mega hit, Descendants Of The Sun.
Industry sources say top-tier stars Lee (The Heirs, 2013) and Jun (My Love From The Star) have confirmed their roles since receiving information on the synopsis of The Legend Of The Blue Sea.
The project will mark Jun’s return after a maternity break and will be Lee’s first drama in three years.
