March 17, 2016 5:00 PM
SINGAPORE – A panel tasked with developing a set of rules to govern mobility devices has recommended that bicycles be allowed on all footpaths.
Best Muay Thai gyms in Singapore
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It is easy to see that Muay Thai ranks high on the list of the hottest sports in Singapore today. Packed out classes across the island and the wide demographic of practitioners who have adopted the martial art is testament to its popularity. Besides the surge in adult males who have taken up the challenge of mastering the art, a growing number of women, children and even older persons have found it to be the perfect routine to combine training for fitness, athleticism and self-defence.
Developed in Thailand, Muay Thai is the national sport and has a reputation as the most efficient striking system in the world. Battle-proven through centuries of combat, Muay Thai is also known as “The Art of 8 Limbs” – a reference to the utilization of the hands, elbows, feet and knees for powerful strikes. Muay Thai has burst onto the global scene in a big way in the last decade due to the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) exploding across the world on television. Without a doubt, Muay Thai has proven on the world’s biggest MMA stages, to be the most effective striking style available today.
If you are ready to start your journey in Muay Thai, check out our list of the best Muay Thai gyms in Singapore today:
Evolve MMA is widely regarded as one of the top Muay Thai camps in the world, if not the best. Evolve is home to the world’s largest roster of Muay Thai world champions to have ever competed in the sport. As Singapore’s top Muay Thai school, it is the place to pick up the sport whether you are a complete beginner, or you are an advanced professional. Whether for fitness or competition, students get to train under the tutelage of legendary world champions like Orono Wor Petchpun, Nong-O Kaiyanghadaogym, Sagetdao Petpayathai, Penek Sitnumnoi, Pornsanae Sitmontchai and two recent superstar additions, Sam-A Gaiyanghadaogym and Petchboonchu FA Group. With the largest training area and the most premium facilities in town, Evolve MMA offers daily Muay Thai classes from 6am to 11pm.
Led by Singaporean Muay Thai pioneer Terence Cheah, Transcendence MMA features two floors of ample training space along Lavender Road. Cheah has been instrumental in developing the sport locally being one of the few World Muay Thai Council (WMC) and International Federation Muay Thai Amateur (IFMA) certified coaches and referees in Singapore. Muay Thai classes are available according to a student’s level of proficiency and the Fundamental and Intermediate classes are available throughout the days on weekdays and for half-days on weekends.
One of the very few gyms located in the heartlands of Singapore, Onyx MMA has a sprawling facility in the West side of the island. Started by a team of Singaporean enthusiasts, it now has a growing following of Muay Thai practitioners who have found the location ideal due to its proximity to homes in the West. The classes are comprehensive and cover a wide scope from cardio conditioning, technique improvement, pad work and fight conditioning. With classes in the morning, during lunch hours and in the evenings, be assured of a hearty workout when you visit them any day of the week.
Located along the bustling Tanjong Katong Road, BXG Boxing & Fitness has been a fixture in Singapore’s Muay Thai scene since the early days. Owner and head coach Joe Wijaya has competed at a professional level and is known as an excellent instructor who has groomed a solid crop of local fighters. Along with Wijaya are a team of passionate local trainers and a Thai champion trainer to hold pads and run classes. Peak physical conditioning is a mainstay at classes there so be prepared to work up a sweat!
Founded by Singaporean veteran Darren Da Silva, Fight G has been offering Muay Thai programs for the last decade in Singapore. Their in-house Thai trainer, Ajarn Udom, is a veteran trainer and former champion with over 300 professional bouts under his belt. As a certified Muay Thai instructor and former President of the Singapore Muay Thai Association, Da Silva also conducts classes regularly. The respected duo have been training up top Singaporean prospects for years and weeknight classes are usually packed to the brim in the two-story training facility along North Canal Road.
Having just moved to a spanking new training facility along Hong Kong Street in 2015, Juggernaut Fight Club remains one of the favorites on the local scene of fight gyms. Their Muay Thai programme features a hybrid style that was developed in consultation with fighters from the East and West. Somewhat similar to Dutch Kickboxing, their hybrid Muay Thai features combinations of battle-proven striking techniques. The classes are taught by a team of local trainers along with ONE Championship featherweight Major Overall who hails from the USA.
Home to some of the best Singaporean fighters who have found success on the global scene, Impact MMA completes this list of the best Muay Thai gyms in Singapore. ONE Championship’s Bruce Loh and Juan Wen Jie alongside with former UFC fighter Royston Wee lead the fast growing Muay Thai programme. The list of accolades between the three coaches include the top Muay Thai Championships in Singapore and gold medals in other disciplines like Sanshou. The gym is located in the heart of the business district along Shenton Way and has morning and evening Muay Thai classes every weekday and morning classes every weekend.
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Glider crashes into houses near Tokyo, kills 2 on board
TOKYO – A glider crashed into a residential area near Tokyo on Thursday, killing the two men on board, local police and fire officials said.
In the incident shortly after noon (0300 GMT), the light aircraft rammed onto the roofs of two houses in a densely populated neighbourhood near Narita airport east of Tokyo, local police said.
Television footage showed the white fuselage of the glider broken into several pieces and spread over the tile roofs of two residences.
The two men aboard, 69-year-old Shuji Fujioka and another man around the same age but not yet identified, were taken to hospital and later confirmed dead, officials said.
Investigators were looking into why the glider crashed, a local police spokesman told AFP.
Last year three people died when a small single-engine propeller plane crashed into a Tokyo suburb shortly after takeoff.
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Thursday, March 17, 2016 – 16:40
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More retrenched PMEs seeking help: NTUC
March 17, 2016 4:15 PM
SINGAPORE- More than 500 professionals, managers and executives (PMEs) – of which 23 per cent were below 40 – sought help for employment and employability matters from the labour movement in the past year.
Shangri-La shooting: Police had to act 'because of threat'
Instead of leaving it to chance, the police had to stop the car when it crashed through the final line of concrete security barriers outside Shangri-La Hotel last May, said State Counsel and Second Solicitor-General Kwek Mean Luck yesterday as the coroner’s inquiry into the death of 34-year-old driver Mohamed Taufik Zahar came to a close.
He was shot dead last May 31 by Gurkha officers at a security checkpoint set up near the hotel which was hosting the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major security summit attended by defence ministers and military chiefs from 27 countries.
Summing up the State’s presentation of evidence, Mr Kwek said: “When the car crashed through the concrete barrier, police did not know and did not have time or opportunity to find out why… what it carried, and where it was going. The threat of danger in those circumstances was real. The police had to act, and they did.”
Yesterday’s hearing also saw the car’s rear passenger, Muhammad Syahid Mohamed Yasin, testify for the first time on how he and his friends came under fire.
The 27-year-old, Taufik and another friend were headed to Orchard Towers after failing to pick up prostitutes in Geylang. The trio wound up at a high-security checkpoint outside the hotel because of a wrong turn. There were drugs inside the car. When a police officer said the car was to be searched, Syahid said he shouted: “Why are you checking me?”
Despite police shouts and knocks on the car to stop, he urged Taufik to drive off. “I was scared of being arrested. I just wanted to get out of that place… When I shouted the words ‘Jalan! Jalan!’, it was in an aggressive tone and it meant to ‘Go!'” After the car crashed through the barriers, it continued to pick up speed. They were around 35m away from the hotel.
“Suddenly, I heard three loud bangs. I was scared. I saw the front windscreen crack. At the same time, I saw (Taufik’s) head jerking backwards to the left side.
“I saw blood from the back of his head. It looked like someone attacked him on the back of his head with a parang,” said Syahid, who was sentenced to seven years’ jail and three strokes for abetment to commit a rash act and for drug offences last year.
The three-day inquiry – the first two days were on Jan 26 and 27 – had nine witnesses, including police officers and forensic scientists. A Gurkha officer, one of two who together fired five shots, said on Jan 27: “In my training, if a vehicle crashes through a barricade, we are trained to shoot the driver to stop the vehicle.”
Mr Kwek yesterday said some “what if” questions were raised in the inquiry, including what if the police had waited until they had an opportunity to verify why the car crashed through, and if its occupants did indeed have the intent to carry out a terrorist attack.
However, he said “this would not have been easy or even possible” for the police based on the facts. The lesson “cannot be that the police should hesitate from stopping threats in similar situations in future”.
State Coroner Marvin Bay will reveal his findings on April 22.
This article was first published on March 17, 2016.
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Friday, March 18, 2016 – 16:03
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Cambodian PM announces rare reshuffling of cabinet
PHNOM PENH – Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced a rare reshuffle of his cabinet on Thursday, and said several ministers due to be fired had already resigned as he moved to freshen up his government.
The self-styled “strongman”, whose three-decade grip on power is being tested by an opposition party growing in popularity, said parliament would vote on April 4 to approve a new lineup with changes at the top in eight ministries.
He did not say which portfolios would be affected, but had earlier warned that heads might roll and singled out the agriculture and transport ministers for working too slowly.
“This is for more efficient work,” Hun Sen said at a university graduation ceremony in Phnom Penh. “Here, no ministers are bad but some ministers are very slow so we have to make some changes.”
Reshuffles have been rare under the rule of Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), with some ministers having held the same posts for over a decade. Some of Hun Sen’s loyalists have served under him since the 1980s.
He said some cabinet members had submitted resignations before he had the chance to sack them and four provincial governors would also be removed.
CPP officially won a disputed election in 2013 but its house majority was greatly reduced, signaling widespread disenchantment with Hun Sen’s iron-fisted rule, even with economic growth of more than seven per cent a year.
The premier has since promoted his sons and top allies within the party, government and military top brass in what experts see as a political dynasty taking shape.
The next election, scheduled for 2018, is expected to a close contest between CPP and the Cambodian National Rescue Party and relations between them have soured lately, suggesting the run up to the poll may not be smooth.
Kung Phoak, president of the Cambodian Institute for Strategic Studies (CISS), said there was some skepticism about Hun Sen’s real motives, but he agreed a shakeup was needed.
“What is most needed now is more proactive, effective and strong ministries that have fresh ideas, energy and determination to bring the best out of those policies and programmes,” he said.
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TungLok Teahouse Now Offers Ala-Carte Dinner Buffet @ Far East Square From 17 Mar 2016 |…
TungLok Teahouse now offers Ala-Carte Dinner Buffet at Far East Square
Available from 6pm to 1030pm. Prices at $32++ for adult & $22++ for child
TungLok Teahouse Now Offers Ala-Carte Dinner Buffet @ Far East Square From 17 Mar 2016 |…
TungLok Teahouse, a new dining concept in the city centre with the ambience and feel of an old teahouse in Singapore between the 1950s and 1970s, complete with Peranakan period furniture now offers ala-carte dinner buffet
4 MOH and 12 SGH senior employees disciplined for Hep C outbreak
SINGAPORE – Four Ministry of Health officials and 12 Singapore General Hospital staff in leadership positions have been disciplined for falling short in last year’s Hepatitis C outbreak at SGH’s renal ward, which affected 25 patients, of whom eight have…
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New Lee Kuan Yew tour highlights his personal life
With the first anniversary of Singapore’s founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s death just around the corner, local company Tribe, which organises local tours in Singapore, has launched a new tour on the personal and private life…
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Artillery shell casings from gun salute at Mr Lee's funeral to be given to individuals, groups
SINGAPORE – You probably thought that they would be discarded after they were used even in a historic event.
But no, the artillery shell casings from the 21-gun salute fired during last year’s State Funeral procession of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew were collected and are being given to people and organisations closely associated with him.
In a statement released today, the Prime Minister’s Office said: “The Government has decided to present the shell casings to the eulogists at the State Funeral service, the organisers of the State funeral and institutions and organisations that have been closely associated with Mr Lee.”
PM Lee Hsien Loong said in a Facebook post this morning that he had asked the SAF to collect casings so that they would be “be presented to people, institutions and organisations that were closely linked to Mr Lee”.
Among the recipients will be the Singapore Parliament, Singapore Armed Forces, the Singapore Police Force, the People’s Association, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), the Housing and Development Board (HDB), the National Parks Board, and PUB, Singapore’s national water agency.
Singaporeans who will be given the casings include Old Guard leader and former education minister Ong Pang Boon, and former senior minister of state for education and environment Sidek Saniff.
PM Lee wrote: “My deep thanks to all of them for the roles they played in my father’s life and for their contributions to the nation.”
The death of Mr Lee on March 23 last year saw a week of unprecedented national mourning.
The solemn funeral procession on March 29 was accompanied by booming sounds from the 21-gun salute fired at the Padang by four ceremonial 25-pounder howitzers from the Singapore Artillery’s 21st Battalion.
Casings can be viewed at CPIB exhibition, HDB gallery
The CPIB said the shell casing it received will be displayed at its exhibition “Declassified – Corruption Matters”, to be held from April 7 to May 22 at the Plaza @ National Library.
The exhibition on Singapore’s anti-corruption drive will also highlight the CPIB officers’ experiences in their fight against corruption. It will be launched by PM Lee on April 7.
“Recognising the CPIB’s instrumental role in keeping the system clean, the late Mr Lee backed the Bureau with the resources, the legislation and the independence to carry out its work without fear or favour,” said CPIB in its press statement today.
The casing that HDB is receiving will be displayed at the HDB Gallery in the HDB Hub in Toa Payoh.
Dr Cheong Koon Hean, HDB CEO, said: “The late Mr Lee Kuan Yew is the key driver of public housing in Singapore. His vision of a home-owning society has given Singaporeans a tangible stake in the nation. Without his vision, Singaporeans today would not have a home they can call their own, upon which they can build their family and lives. Nor would HDB have the privilege to house almost an entire nation.”
chenj@sph.com.sg
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Thursday, March 17, 2016 – 15:41
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