When she was 14, doctors found that one of her kidneys was not functioning well.
Jerlyn Loh, 16, was then diagnosed with mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes.
As a result of this genetic disorder that can affect the brain and muscles, she suffers from headaches and migraines.
Sometimes, the pain was so bad that she had to be hospitalised. But that did not stop her from achieving her goals.
Yesterday, Jerlyn, who is a Normal (Academic) student at Greenridge Secondary school, collected her N-level results.
She did well enough to qualify for the Direct-Entry Scheme to Polytechnic Programme (DPP), but she intends to take opticianry at Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College East.
Her achievement did not come easy as her studies were often disrupted.
She said: “Sometimes, I had to be absent from school, and it could be for at least a week. The pain was so bad to the point that I was unable to move.
“But I made an effort to catch up on my studies, and my friends also collected notes for me and helped me with school work.”
SINGAPORE: The police on Friday (Dec 20) advised the public to be wary of a scam involving the sale of fake gold ingots.
This comes after an 83-year-old store owner filed a report with the police on Sunday, after being cheated of S$120,000 the day before.
The victim, who requested to remain anonymous, described the incident in a phone interview with the media.
On the morning of Dec 13 at around 10am, the man received a call at his shop. The caller said he had gotten the victim’s number from a friend. He said he had the same rare Chinese surname and asked if there were clans or associations related to their surname.
The caller then asked if the victim would like to have a meal together. The victim agreed.
Close to noon, the caller and a woman, whom the caller claimed was his wife, appeared at the victim’s shop.
The victim said they looked like they were in their 40s and believes they were both Chinese nationals.
The caller introduced himself as a construction worker, and said that he had excavated an old urn in at his work site in Holland Village. Inside the urn were some gold ingots, old Chinese currency and a will.
One of the fake Buddha statues sold to the victim. (Photo: Rachel Phua).
When they went for lunch, the caller took out a piece of gold that he claimed to have cut from one of the gold ingots. The victim asked if it was genuine, so the trio took a taxi to a pawnshop to verify its authenticity.
The pawnshop confirmed it was real and valued the 6g piece of gold at S$230.
The caller said that he had much more of this gold at home, and he wanted to sell it for S$120,000 to the victim, whom he affectionately called “shu shu” (uncle in Mandarin).
Life was tough in Singapore and he wanted to buy a tractor that cost 600,000 yuan back home, the caller told the victim. They were offering to sell the gold ingots at below market value as they were departing Singapore and would not be able to clear customs with the items, the scammers claimed.
The victim, feeling sorry for him, agreed on the sum. He told them he had the money at home.
The woman followed the victim home. About twenty minutes later, the caller turned up with two plastic bags weighing about 20kg in total,
According to the police, there were 159 gold ingots and six gold Buddha statues.
The victim retrieved the money from his safe deposit box. When he asked the scammers for identification, the caller said he had forgotten to bring it.
The fake will used to dupe the victim, an 83-year-old businessman. (Photo: Rachel Phua).
The next day, the man began to feel uneasy over the situation. Around 1pm, he took some of the items and went back to the same pawnshop to get them verified.
The store rejected the gold pieces. This was when the man knew he was duped. He called one of his daughters, who took him to Geylang Neighborhood Police Centre. They lodged a report at about 8pm.
He has not been able to contact the scammers since they took the cash.
Police investigations are ongoing.
This is the first fake gold ingot case since a similar scam was reported in 2014 involving businessman Mr Roland Tay Hai Choon.
Three male Chinese nationals were jailed the following year for attempting to deceive Mr Tay, the director of Direct Funeral Services, by selling him gold ingots for S$180,000.
To avoid falling victim to such scams, the police said members of the public should only buy from established and authorised retailers.
They should also be wary of offers that “sound too good to be true” and enlist a professional’s assistance to verify the authenticity and value of any high-value items before making payment.
SINGAPORE: Members of the public can now use an app to check if they live in an area with lots of mosquitos, as part of the authorities’ push to tackle dengue in Singapore.
Information on areas with relatively higher Aedes aegypti mosquito populations is now available as a new feature on the myENV app, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a news release on Friday (Dec 20).
This information will be updated every month on the app, and notifications will be sent out weekly if users enable this setting.
The new feature comes as the population of Aedes mosquitoes – which are the primary vectors for spreading dengue – rose by 20 per cent from October to November this year.
There has also been a 20 per cent increase in the detection rate of Aedes aegypti larval habitats found in homes in November, as compared to October.
Although the number of weekly reported dengue cases over the past few weeks has fallen, with cases dropping 22 per cent from Nov 17 to Dec 14, this is still higher compared to the same period last year.
The number of active dengue clusters also declined from 79 to 67 from Nov 17 to Dec 14.
As of Dec 14, authorities have closed 1,427 or 96 per cent of the dengue clusters notified since the start of the year.
Large dengue clusters at Jurong West Street 61 (75 cases), Bedok Reservoir Road and Jurong East Street 13 (54 cases each), Rivervale Crescent (52 cases) and Chuan Hoe Avenue (42 cases), have closed and are under surveillance, said NEA.
However, there are still other large dengue clusters in areas including Choa Chu Kang Avenue 2, Elias Road, Jalan Bangau / Bukit Mugliston and Begonia Drive / Sunrise Avenue.
As of Dec 14, there are 67 reported active dengue clusters, added NEA.
About 60 per cent of the Aedes aegypti mosquito breeding habitats detected across Singapore have been found in homes, with this figure at 70 per cent for dengue cluster areas.
Between January and November, NEA found about 14,800 mosquito breeding habitats after conducting more than 800,000 inspections islandwide.
In the same period, about 7,500 instances of enforcement action were taken against premises owners for mosquito breeding.
With an increasing Aedes adult mosquito population, prevention efforts must continue, said NEA Director-General of Public Health Chew Ming Fai.
“As we continue to observe an increase in the Aedes aegypti adult mosquito population, we must continue to sustain prevention efforts to stem dengue transmission in cluster areas, as well as prevent new clusters from forming,” he said.
Users must update their myENV app to the latest version to set up notifications for high mosquito population areas.
The new notification is available for all iOS users, while an update will be pushed out progressively over the next few weeks for Android users.
Don’t fret if you didn’t manage to get away this year-end holiday season to somewhere cold and snowy.
At least those left behind can take heart that the temperatures in Singapore are at its coolest this year, though you’d have to bring your brollies out.
But if it’s snow you’re after, there’s never any dearth of places or malls in Singapore where you can let your kids run wild in a snowy “avalanche”.
Facebook user Joseph Lam said in a post at 2.55am on Wednesday (Dec 18) that he got a Gojek to pick him up from Changi Airport Terminal 1 where the fare was $14.
Joseph said: “This driver had been showing signs of weirdness when he picked us up.”
He described that the driver had welcomed him back to Singapore and then asked if that entitled him to a tip.
Joseph offered to give him a five-star rating, to which the Gojek driver said it is of no use unless it’s for a Grab driver.
The driver then said: “Grab surge is $21 for a trip to Tampines now, so it will be nice if you can leave me a tip. Do you mind?
“Normally I will suggest my clients to leave me a tip of $3 if they don’t mind. Do you mind?”
Joseph said in his post that at this point, he was “already kind of pissed” as he had just arrived from a red-eye flight.
SINGAPORE: Several MRT stations on the North-South Line will close early between January and March next year for maintenance works.
Novena, Toa Payoh, Braddell and Bishan stations will close at about 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays between Jan 3 and Jan 11, said SMRT in a media release on Friday (Dec 20).
(Image: SMRT)
On selected Fridays and Saturdays in February, and all Fridays and Saturdays in March, Yishun, Khatib and Yio Chu Kang stations will close at about 11pm.
(Image: SMRT)
SHUTTLE BUSES PROVIDED
During the early closures in January, shuttle bus service 9 will be available for commuters travelling between Ang Mo Kio and Newton stations.
For the early closures in February and March, commuters can use shuttle bus service 10 to travel between Canberra and Ang Mo Kio stations.
The buses will serve designated stops near the affected MRT stations.
(Image: SMRT)
The timing of the last trains from each station during the planned early closures will vary. Commuters can obtain the departure times at the affected stations or on SMRT Trains’ online platforms.
NEW YORK/LONDON/SINGAPORE – Regulatory scrutiny of precious metals trading at JPMorgan Chase & Co., one of the world’s largest gold brokerages, has expanded to Singapore and ensnared two more bank employees, according to people familiar with the situation.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is looking into the bank’s precious metals trading unit, three sources confirmed. A probe in the United States has resulted in criminal charges against six current and former employees of the bank.
Regulators in the United Kingdom are also interested in the matter, Reuters has reported.
JPMorgan’s global precious metals trading staff has shrunk to around half a dozen people, industry sources say.
Tonny Ka, the bank’s head precious metals trader in Singapore, has been put on leave, two of the people said. The regulatory attention has also forced out Donald Turnbull, who until recently led JPMorgan’s global precious metals trading operation out of New York, one person told Reuters.
SINGAPORE – A 52-year-old car driver has been arrested for knocking down an auxiliary police officer at Woodlands Checkpoint on Nov 28.
The police said on Friday (Dec 20) that they were alerted to the accident at 8.11pm on Nov 28. The driver was arrested for causing hurt by performing a rash act.
The 24-year-old victim was conscious when taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.
The accident was caught on video and posted on social media. In the video, the officer, who was waving his lit baton, can be seen falling onto the ground after being hit by a slow-moving Toyota MPV.
Police investigations are ongoing.
When contacted, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said that it is aware of the accident and would not be making any comment, as the police are investigating the accident.
SINGAPORE: Travellers using the Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoints during the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays can expect delays and heavy traffic, the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Friday (Dec 20).
Traffic flow through both land checkpoints is expected to be particularly heavy between Dec 20 and Jan 1, and the weekend before Christmas (Dec 21 to 22 this year) is one of the busiest weekends, it said.
“Travellers using the land checkpoints during this end-year holiday season can expect delays and are advised to adjust their travel plans where necessary,” ICA said.
“Security at our checkpoints remains the ICA’s top priority against any potential threats to Singapore.”
With security checks coupled with a large number of travellers using the checkpoints at the same time, traffic build-up is “inevitable and delays can be expected”, it said.
ICA encouraged travellers to factor in the additional time needed for immigration clearance into their plans.
PASSPORT VALIDITY
It also reminded them to bring the right passports and check that they are valid for at least six months before setting off on their journey.
“During peak periods, ICA has encountered many instances of travellers turning up at the land checkpoints either with a wrong passport, or without a passport,” said ICA, noting that such cases will cause unnecessary delays, add to traffic build-up and inconvenience other travellers.
Passports that have been reported to be lost can no longer be used for travelling, even if they are subsequently found, as they will be cancelled by ICA.
Any attempt to use such passports may be punished by a fine of up to S$10,000, up to 10 years’ jail, or both.
Such passports that have been recovered must be surrendered to ICA within 14 days. failure to surrender the recovered passport may be punished with a fine of up to S$3,000, up to two years’ jail, or both.
PROHIBITED ITEMS
Travellers were also reminded not to carry prohibited items such as firecrackers, pop pops and chewing gum.
Travellers who carry dutiable or controlled items such as eggs, meat products and potted plants should also declare these to ICA officers before checks.
AVOID QUEUE-CUTTING
ICA also said there have been “many instances of queue-cutting” at both checkpoints during peak periods, which can cause congestion and compromise safety.
It reminded motorists to observe traffic rules and cooperate with checkpoint officers.
Before embarking on their journeys, motorists are advised to check the traffic situation at the Woodlands and Tuas Checkpoints through the One Motoring website or via the Expressway Monitoring & Advisory System installed along the BKE and AYE.
Motorists can also check ICA’s Facebook page for updates on the traffic situation at both checkpoints.
Checkpoint officers will monitor traffic conditions on a real-time basis and ensure optimal deployment of resources, with ICA also working with traffic police to ensure road discipline at critical junctions leading to the land checkpoints.
ELECTRONIC ARRIVAl CARDS FOR FOREIGN VISITORS
ICA encouraged foreign visitors to submit their arrival cards online via the SG Arrival Card e-service on the ICA website or mobile application for greater convenience.
They can submit the electronic arrival cards up to 14 days ahead of their arrival in Singapore.
This means that they do not need to fill up the paper-based disembarkation/embarkation card and will only need to produce their passports for immigration clearance upon arrival.
