A baby who was born to a mum who got stabbed by her husband, died 9 days later, reported Shin Min Daily.
The coroner’s court last month concluded the child’s death to be unknown.
It can be noted that the stabbing incident involving the child’s mum and her husband took place on Dec 30, 2017.
BABY BORN TO STABBED PREGNANT MUM THROUGH C-SECTION
Accused of prostitution, the mum who was 27 years old then, sustained multiple stab wounds from her own husband’s attack. It was said that her husband, who was 30 years old at the time, refused to believe the baby she is carrying is his own.
Because of the injuries she sustained, she had to undergo an operation. Despite this, however, she managed to still keep the baby. Separately, the woman’s husband, whom she had been married to for 4 years and has a 3-year-old son with, was sentenced to 7 years of jail and 6 strokes of caning.
But 29 weeks into her pregnancy, investigator reports said she had been experiencing pain in her lower abdomen which prompted her to see a doctor at the National University Hospital (NUH) on April 12, 2018. She was discharged four days later.
A $5,000 hongbao (red packet) to a customer was one of the focal points in a recent Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) probe involving the executive chairman of Accrelist and its subsidiary Jubilee Industries Holdings, Terence Tea, and two Jubilee senior management staff.
One of the two Jubilee senior staff is Serene Tea Lay Sin, who is Mr Tea’s sister and senior vice-president for the company’s mechanical business unit.
The other staff is Natasha Teh, who handles business development and project management for Jubilee’s mechanical business unit, both companies shared in separate announcements on Friday night.
The companies said the questions posed by CPIB were focused on an annual $5,000 hongbao Honfoong Plastic Industries – a Jubilee subsidiary – gave to a customer during a dinner.
The hongbao is part of a Chinese New Year tradition, which Jubilee understands has been Honfoong Plastic’s practice for several years, it said.
The CPIB also raised questions on a Chinese New Year dinner and drinks expense incurred during the gathering where the customer was present.
SINGAPORE – Singtel will be implementing a wage freeze across the company, this year – except for operational and support staff – as part of a cost-cutting exercise by Singapore’s largest telco.
Group chief executive Chua Sock Koong said in a note to employees on Monday (March 9) that the company needed to brace itself for uncertainty because of the coronavirus outbreak and the weak business sentiment.
She said: “It’s been a worrying start to the year. As we announced our third-quarter results, the Covid-19 threat emerged, disrupting not just lives but in many cases, livelihoods.”
Ms Chua added that “risks to businesses have been significant enough to warrant interest rate cuts by central banks and budget measures from governments to help manage the economic fallout”.
She noted that Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has also “not ruled out the possibility of a recession”.
Ms Chua said: “The business and structural challenges we are already facing will be further aggravated by weak sentiment and economies made more sluggish by the virus threat.
An inconsiderate neighbour has been stepping on lift buttons at Block 234 Hougang Avenue 1 to avoid having to touch them – much to the dismay of other residents.
Photos that Stomp contributor Pissed Off took last week show dirty footprints left behind by the culprit.
PHOTO: StompPHOTO: Stomp
The Stomp contributor said: “Seriously, we don’t need neighbours with kampung spirit. No sanitisers, no toothpicks. This is fine. But why leave footprints on the lift buttons and panels?
“We have a selfish and inconsiderate neighbour who is extremely fearful of the coronavirus that he or she has to resort to using his/her feet to step on the lift buttons.”
It’s been 23 years since we embarked on Cloud’s journey to save the world from the clutches of Shinra Inc., Hojo, Jenova, and Sephiroth, and the excitement has never been stronger now that Final Fantasy VII Remake is set to be released in about a month on April 10, 2020.
Before that, however, fans can first get their taste (hah) of that nostalgia at an upcoming themed cafe in Singapore.
Come March 27, the premises of Watanabe Coffee at Orchard Scotts will be going heavy on the Final Fantasy VII Remake aesthetic – a rather apt follow-up from its previous collaboration with Dissidia Final Fantasy NT back in 2018.
Details about the project have remained sparse, but the new Square Enix Cafe in Japan has given an idea on what to expect.
In addition to character artwork on the interior, there’s also an interesting range of food options to look forward to, such as edible Buster Swords, Materia dumplings, Moogle desserts, and mocktails inspired by Sephiroth and Cloud.
SINGAPORE: Consumers have been warned against taking three health products found to have “potent medicinal ingredients” and a banned substance, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said in a press release on Monday (Mar 9).
The products include shen qi dan bai nian cao yao and Ricalinu, advertised to treat pain and pain ailments (such as rheumatism and gout), and Freaky Fitz that had “exaggerated claims” of helping consumers slim down “within days”, HSA said.
WOMAN EXPERIENCES CHEST DISCOMFORT AFTER TAKING PRODUCT
According to the authority, a woman in her 70s who consumed shen qi dan bai nian cao yao experienced chest discomfort. She got the product from a friend who sourced it from Malaysia.
The product claimed to only contain herbal ingredients like cordyceps and ginseng, but HSA detected “multiple medicinal ingredients”, including an antihistamine, a steroid, a painkiller and a medicine used to remove excess water from the body.
A woman in her 70s experienced chest discomfort after taking shen qi dan bai nian cao yao YAO. (Photo: HSA)
“These potent ingredients can cause serious adverse effects when used without medical supervision,” HSA said.
Ricalinu, believed to help with pain ailments like gout, also contained a steroid and multiple “potent painkillers”.
A man in his 40s, who had attempted to bring in 20 boxes of Ricalinu from Indonesia was stopped at the Singapore Cruise Centre by checkpoint officers.
HSA also cautioned consumers against a supposed slimming product named Freaky Fitz containing a banned substance. The item is being sold on local e-commerce platforms such as Shopee, Carousell, Lazada and Qoo10.
Freaky Fitz is promoted as a safe slimming drink with natural ingredients that claims to offer “fast slimming results” and fat burn without dieting or exercising.
HSA found the product to contain sibutramine, a prescription medicine that has been banned in Singapore since 2010 due to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.
The product also advertised itself as “safe to consume”, while carrying a false quality certification mark.
“This may mislead consumers into believing that the product is safe and manufactured under high quality standards,” HSA said.
The authority is working with the multiple e-commerce platforms carrying the products to take down the affected listings.
It also cautioned people who have consumed shen qi dan bai nian cao yao and Ricalinu to see a doctor as soon as possible because of the “potent steroids” in them that might cause withdrawal symptoms such as fatigue, confusion and low blood pressure if stopped without proper medical supervision.
HSA advised consumers to stop taking Freaky Fitz immediately as well, and warned them against products that advertise quick and miraculous results.
Facebook said on Friday it was shutting its London office and part of its Singapore base for “deep cleaning” after an employee in the Asian city state was diagnosed with coronavirus.
A staff member working at the US technology giant’s Marina One office in Singapore was on Friday diagnosed with Covid-19, a spokesman said.
“We have immediately closed the affected areas for deep cleaning and advised employees based in the affected area to work from home until March 13,” he said in an emailed statement.
The infected employee had also visited Facebook’s London offices between Feb 24 and 26.
“We are therefore closing our London offices until Monday for deep cleaning, and employees are working from home until then,” the spokesman said.
The company said it was getting in touch with individuals who had direct contact with the person infected, and had asked them to self-isolate and monitor for any potential symptoms.
Facebook has already closed its Shanghai office until further notice, while employees in Italy and South Korea have been encouraged to work from home.
SINGAPORE – New guidelines to raise hygiene and cleaning standards at hawker stalls are fast taking hold across the island.
The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said on Sunday (March 8) that about 2,100 hawker and market stalls and 400 coffee-shop stalls have earned the new SG Clean certification that shows they have meet the new standards.
Certification means they have set up processes to ensure that food preparation areas and equipment are sanitised, waste is handled properly and systems are in place to monitor staff health.
The SG Clean campaign was started on Feb 16 to raise cleanliness and safeguard public health amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Eight stalls and one coffee shop in Tampines were given their SG Clean labels by Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat and Tampines GRC MP Cheng Li Hui on Sunday.
Mr Heng said: “When residents feel comfortable that there’s a high standard of cleanliness and hygiene, they’ll come out and lead lives as normally as possible.”
SINGAPORE and MEKONG DELTA: Fish balls are not only a staple in Singapore’s hawker landscape, they are also one of Singaporeans’ two most favourite processed foods, according to the first study of its kind here.
Nearly 8,000 Singaporeans ranked fish balls alongside chicken nuggets in the survey of ultra-processed foods conducted by the Singapore Management University in collaboration with the programme Talking Point.
And of all the fish that fish balls here are made from, the one that a lot of Singaporeans prefer the taste of, said Randall Ang, is itoyori (threadfin bream).
That is what goes into the fish paste, or surimi, used in the BoBo brand of fish balls produced by Ha Li Fa, where Ang is the business development director.
Randall Ang (right) with Talking Point host Steven Chia opening packets of surimi for processing.
His company, one of the largest among the 30-plus makers of fish balls in Singapore, imports this paste from a few countries in the region.
One of them — one of the top three sources of Singapore’s surimi — is Vietnam, which exported 9,300 tonnes of it to the Republic in 2018.
To find out what exactly goes into this paste, and why Singaporeans are so hungry for fish balls, programme host Steven Chia visited Vietnam.
What he learned was that Singaporeans’ fish balls could get unhealthier in future because of a dwindling supply of itoyori.
WATCH: What’s really in my fishballs? (24:02)
THE COST OF OVERFISHING
From 2018 to last year, sales of processed meat and seafood products increased by 10 per cent at Singapore’s largest supermarket chain, FairPrice.
But in Vietnam, the fish wholesalers at Tac Cau Wharf in Kien Giang province — one of the busiest wharfs in the Mekong delta — said the haul of itoyori has dropped by about 40 per cent in the past three years.
The reason is overfishing. Over the years, fishermen had been increasing their catch to make more money, resulting in fewer fish in their waters now.
With the supply dropping, itoyori prices have increased by about 50 per cent over the past three years for Li Chuan Food Products, a fish ball and surimi factory in southern Vietnam that exports mostly to Singapore.
About 70 per cent of the surimi produced here is exported to Singapore.
It produces surimi made from pure itoyori as well as surimi that comes from a mix of different fish, which costs less.
But because it has been able to absorb the price increase by eliminating middlemen costs, said general manager Tan Han Wei, most of its exports to Singapore are still made from pure itoyori.
Other fish ball manufacturers, however, may mix other kinds of surimi with itoyori surimi or use lower-grade fish to lower the cost, he warned.
“The final step they may be (taking) would be to reduce the fish meat content,” he added. “They could be adding a bit more water … (and) starch to lower the cost.”
Tan Han Wei (left) has overseen the factory’s production since 2015.
As the supply of itoyori continues to fall, this means a higher chance that fish balls sold in Singapore may have more mixed surimi or more starch than before.
A LOOMING ‘DISASTER’?
Currently, the amount of fish meat in Ha Li Fa’s BoBo fish balls ranges from 50 to nearly 100 per cent. Starch, water, ice and seasoning make up the rest of the fish ball.
This complies with Singapore Food Agency regulations, which state that fish balls sold here must contain at least 40 per cent fish meat.
The packaging of some of the fish balls sold in supermarkets, however, does not show the proportion of meat and type of fish used.
And the problem with fish balls that contain more starch is that they contain more carbohydrates than fish balls with 100 per cent itoyori surimi, said dietitian Jaclyn Reutens from Aptima Nutrition and Sports Consultants.
“People who are diabetic need to watch their carbohydrate and starch intake,” she noted. She is especially concerned, however, about what other additives there are inside the fish ball.
For example, one fish ball could about 50 to 70 milligrammes of sodium, she said.
That is about 300 to 400 mg of sodium from eating five to seven fish balls in one sitting, which she warned is a “significant” percentage of the 2,000 mg of sodium a person should have a day.
Some fish ball manufacturers do add flavour enhancers such as monosodium glutamate (MSG), pointed out Jerome Lim, who manages fish ball noodle chain Ming Fa Fishball. But there is no good substitute for itoyori surimi up to now, he said.
“No other fish can have the same texture,” he added, lamenting the possibility of a dwindling supply. “If that’s the case, we’d have to fall back on (fish balls with more starch). Then I think there’d be a disaster.”
Watch this episode of Talking Point here. New episodes on Channel 5 every Thursday at 9.30pm.
