A director of an Indonesian company suspected of contributing to last year’s haze did not turn up for an interview with the authorities here, even though he was served with a legal notice to attend it when he was in Singapore.

But the director, who has since left Singapore, can be detained if he tries to enter Singapore again.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said yesterday that it has obtained a court warrant against the director to secure his attendance when he enters Singapore. It did not name him or his company, which is believed to have started fires or let its concessions burn.

“This means that if the director enters Singapore, he can be detained by NEA officers for the purpose of investigations,” said an NEA spokesman, adding that the move is in accordance with Singapore’s Transboundary Haze Pollution Act.

The Act, passed in 2014, was wielded for the first time last year to punish those responsible for causing or condoning fires if burning results in unhealthy levels of haze here. Those found guilty can be fined up to $100,000 a day, capped at a total of $2 million, for causing unhealthy haze, defined as a 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) value of 101 or greater for 24 hours or more.

NEA sent six Indonesia-based firms notices under the Act asking them to explain steps they are taking to put out and prevent fires on their land. NEA’s latest move comes after Environment and Water Resources Minister Masagos Zulkifli said in April that only two firms had replied. Referring to the same director who missed the interview, Mr Masagos said the director, who is from one of the other four firms, had been served a notice to give information about his company’s steps to mitigate fires on its land and prevent a repeat of last year’s haze.

This article was first published on May 12, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

A Singaporean who, together with his Vietnamese wife, earned a tidy sum of $25,000 to $28,000 a month from vice was jailed for 33 months yesterday.

Quek Choon Leong, 34, and Huynh Thi Kieu Trang, 35, had operated a large-scale and sophisticated enterprise with 32 prostitutes and 10 other staff for two years until their arrest in July 2013.

Huynh was serving a 29-month jail sentence, having admitted to 34 of 103 vice-related charges last year, but was brought back to court to face nine charges for similar offences committed while she and her husband were out on bail for the earlier offences.

She pleaded guilty in April this year to three of the nine charges while Quek admitted to 33 of 97 charges, which were mainly for living on prostitution earnings and harbouring women for prostitution.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Zhou Yihong said Huynh first came to Singapore in 2005 and got to know Quek, a hawker. She began visiting regularly and living with Quek, at a lodging house in Tembeling Road.

In 2006, a housemate advised Huynh to source more Vietnamese women to rent out rooms to. She succeeded in securing tenants and would have five or six staying at her lodging house at any point in time.

Afew months later, Quek went to stay with friends in a condominium in Geylang while Huynh returned to Vietnam to give birth to their first child.

In Vietnam, she told acquaintances she would be able to rent them a place to stay in Singapore. A few did come after she had returned.

Around early 2010, Huynh got involved in another enterprise whereby she would meet women arriving at the airport, offer them a place to stay while they worked as hostesses, and collect money from them to remit to her contact in Vietnam.

After the couple were kicked out of the condo following a police raid, they rented two lodging houses in Geylang. Later, they began to hear from a lodger, a freelance prostitute, that she earned more from vice than as a hostess.

In early 2011, Huynh suggested to her husband that they propose that their tenants work as prostitutes under them. Quek initially disagreed but relented after his wife told him it was “trade practice” for prostitutes to hand over $10 per $70 to $80 earned from each customer.

To run the enterprise, the couple recruited several helpers, including two agents in Vietnam to procure attractive women. Each woman would pay Huynh $450 a month, raised to $600 in 2013, for lodging. They signed a tenancy agreement, with a set of “rules” imposed by the couple.

Huynh would arrange for the women to solicit customers in Geylang and hire lookouts for law enforcement officers so she could warn her workers.

On average, the couple had about 20 women working under them per month, and received prostitution earnings of $25,000 to $28,000.

Quek used part of the earnings to gamble at the Resorts World Sentosa casino, converting chips worth between $23,630 and $29,000 on three occasions in June and July 2013.

DPP Zhou said investigation showed that in October 2014, Quek rented a unit in Changi Road at $3,000 a month. They were on court bail at the time.

And some time before early August last year – weeks before she was jailed – Huynh again arranged for three Vietnamese women to come and work as prostitutes.

For that, she was given an additional 10 months’ jail in April this year which will take effect after she finishes her current jail sentence.

This article was first published on May 12, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Neighbourhood shops may be a familiar aspect of Housing Board life, but many have been grappling with poor business of late and are exploring new ways to keep afloat.

Owners of these heartland businesses cite the sluggish economy and rising competition from neighbourhood malls and e-commerce as some reasons for their struggle.

Mr Yeo Hiang Meng, president of the Federation of Merchants’ Associations, Singapore (FMAS), said footfall at HDB shops has quietened considerably this year.

“It usually picks up after Chinese New Year, but there seems to be fewer people now,” said Mr Yeo, 60, who also chairs the Toa Payoh Central Merchants’ Association.

“(Because of) the (strong) Singapore dollar… many find it cheaper to buy things from abroad and online instead,” added the owner of a jewellery shop in Toa Payoh.

Mr Ho Kim Long, 40, who owns video and CD chain Veegoo, said sales across his four outlets in Ang Mo Kio, Jurong East, Marine Parade and Tampines have dipped by about a third in the past year.

“Meanwhile, my employee salaries and rent are increasing. Things are not looking good.”

Ang Mo Kio Constituency Merchants Association president Peter Lai has noticed more empty shops in his neighbourhood.

“Usually, all of them would be rented out, with people waiting to take over leases before they are over,” said Mr Lai, 65, who is also vice-president of FMAS. “But now, for every 100 shops, about three to five are empty. And they sometimes stay that way for a year.”

There are altogether 14,640 HDB shops, of which 8,500 are sold. The other 6,140 are rental shops, the Housing Board said.

Singapore Polytechnic’s retail lecturer Sarah Lim said HDB shops, just like malls, may face a manpower shortage. “Not many Singaporeans want to work the long and wrong hours,” she said, referring to how these shops usually stay open on weekends and public holidays.

The HDB started the Revitalisation of Shops scheme in 2007 to provide partial funding for upgrading and promotional events.

This was enhanced earlier this week, with the upgrading budget for each shop raised to $35,000 and the co-payment portion for shop owners reduced. New funds to form merchants’ associations and engage consultants for upgrading were also introduced.

Meanwhile, the FMAS organises training and awards to encourage innovation among heartland enterprises. Shops have also devised their own ways to stay in the game.

Ms Pia Chew, 42, who started clothing store Dustbunny Vintage at a Bukit Purmei block five years ago, offers personal styling and tailoring services to add value to her customers’ experience.

She has also turned to social media to reach more people. “My customers find it convenient to look at pictures of my clothes on their phones,” said Ms Chew.

Later this year, close to 400 HDB shops in Tampines could be wired up with Wi-Fi hotspots that allow customers to visit a dedicated online portal to browse for shops and ongoing promotions.

“We want them to come into our neighbourhood and feel like it’s just like a big shopping mall,” said Tampines Merchant Association chairman Kwek Hong Lim, 39.

For all the challenges they face, heartland shops seem set to stay.

In HDB’s latest Sample Household Survey in 2013, 89.9 per cent of respondents said they were satisfied with HDB shops and neighbourhood centres – up from 89.1 per cent in 2008.

Ms Lim said such shops will remain relevant as they “cater to the immediate needs of residents, and shopkeepers know you by name”.

She added: “Don’t underestimate the value of a personal touch. HDB shops have their nostalgic charm – most of us grew up with them and they’re part of our heritage.”

yeosamjo@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on May 12, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Friends of Ms Cheng Shi Min, the 21-year-old Singaporean who died after plunging down a waterfall in Australia, described her as a jovial and friendly girl who also had a humorous side.

Ms Cheng, also known as Angel to her friends, was hiking with her father, her boyfriend and a family friend in the Blue Mountains National Park when the accident happened at about 1.30pm on Tuesday.

She was taken to Sydney’s Westmead Hospital with head and chest injuries, but died yesterday.

Her friends who spoke to The Straits Times were shocked to hear about her death.

Ms Clarise Ong, 19, who knew Ms Cheng when they were primary schoolmates at CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School, said: “We have not spoken in a long time, but I would get updates on Facebook and we would sometimes comment on each other’s posts. I can’t believe her life has ended this way when she had so much potential.”

Ms Ong told The Straits Times that Ms Cheng, her senior by two years, would chat with her after classes while waiting for their parents to pick them up from school.

“She was caring, friendly and funny. Not many people would want to talk to a junior they don’t know, let alone strike up a friendship,” she said.

Another friend, who declined to be named, said Ms Cheng was friendly and cheerful. “We are still trying to accept that she is gone.”

Ms Cheng attended CHIJ St Nicholas Girls’ School for her primary and secondary education, and later studied at Jurong Junior College. She then left the junior college to do her foundation studies at the University of New South Wales.

She was most recently studying early childhood education at Macquarie University in Sydney.

In a blog post four weeks ago, Ms Cheng revealed that she had recently entered into a new relationship.

A day before the hike, she had written about the upcoming trip to the Blue Mountains and how she had bought ingredients on the way home for “a mini-picnic”.

In the post, she also said her boyfriend had taken the day off from work to accompany them to the national park. “He doesn’t have to, but he has been nothing short of sweet,” she wrote.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed its deepest condolences to Ms Cheng’s family. Its spokesman said the High Commission in Canberra is in close contact with the family and will provide the necessary consular assistance.

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

Facebook/ChengShiMin, Video screengrabs

This article was first published on May 12, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

A decade ago, a mosquito breeding check by environment officers at an empty, dilapidated house in Upper Thomson led to a grisly find of a human skeleton lying on top of a toilet.

Fast forward to Sept 9 last year, and a worker clearing rubble from the guest room of the same house at 17 Jalan Batai in Sembawang Hills Estate discovered another set of bones – this time an adult human skull and a thigh bone.

Were these the remains of a pair of reclusive sisters, Madam Pearl Tan Leen Hee and Madam Ruby Tan, who had lived in the house?

There is no conclusive proof, said State Coroner Marvin Bay yesterday, but the circumstantial evidence does not point to anyone else living there, he added.

“Further, both sets of remains are notably those of elderly women, with the present set found to conform more closely to Madam Ruby Tan’s chronological age,” said the coroner. A pathologist had estimated that the latest set of remains belonged to someone who died at least a few years ago and was likely to be 60 to 70 years of age.

Madam Pearl Tan, a former civil servant, would have been 81 in 2006, when the first skeleton was found, and her sister, 68.

While the coroner excluded foul play, he could not say for certain what the cause of death was, for instance, misadventure or natural causes, in the latest case.

“Because of the very considerable time elapsed before the discovery of the second set of remains from the date of probable demise, as well as the reclusive manner that the two sisters lived their lives, eschewing social support and company of others, this case remains an enduring enigma,” he added as he declared an open verdict.

The same decision was reached by another coroner in 2007 in the previous case.

Last year, a contractor was engaged by the Building and Construction Authority to clear debris such as discarded items and fallen-in roofing from the house. After the discovery of the skull, police uncovered other skeletal remains in the same guest room. Some of the bones were covered or buried in soil. Residents told the police then that they never heard any commotion or dispute in the house, and the sisters had not been seen for at least 10 years.

Madam Ruby Tan had suffered from schizophrenia, and had an outpatient treatment history with the Institute of Mental Health.

However, Madam Pearl Tan, who was last seen at the wedding of a relative in 1991, had $227,000 in bank deposits, and had last drawn from the account in 2004.

Investigations showed that she apparently left Singapore through the Woodlands Checkpoint on July 18, 2004, and nothing was ever recorded of her returning.

After the first inquest, a niece came forward. Madam Woon Sook Han, 56, had never met her aunts, but found out that their mother, Madam Wong Gek Lin, was the sister of her grandfather.

She applied to the Public Trustee’s Office to administer the estate in 2013. The High Court issued an order last year that both sisters be presumed dead.

This article was first published on May 12, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.