*Gemma, 31, thought that she had found the man of her dreams but he turned out to be a control freak who obsessed over the way she looked and would threaten to break up with her if she gained weight.
Tired of putting her health at risk, she found the courage to stand up to him by listening to her body instead of him and became healthier and happier. She shares her story.
“For as long as I can remember, I struggled to be slim.
As a child and teenager, I was rounder and heavier than my peers, and when I was in university I developed an eating disorder and suffered with body image issues, which left me depressed for a time.
It wasn’t until I was in my early 20s that I stopped punishing myself and tried to accept myself as I was.
When I was 27 I started dating Eric*. He was handsome and sophisticated, and seven years older than me.
An entrepreneur in the fashion industry, he hung out with models and other good-looking people, and I felt the pressure to look like them.
FROM WEIGHT-OBSESSED TO FULL-BLOWN EATING DISORDER
In our early days together, Eric never failed to tell me how beautiful I was.
SINGAPORE: The architect whose redesigned MRT map earned plaudits and went viral has praised the version released by the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
Mr Cliff Tan, who published his map on Facebook in April – attracting thousands of reactions and shares – said the LTA version is “good” but has room for improvement.
“I feel the design is good, much clearer than before,” the 31-year-old told CNA on Wednesday (Dec 11).
“One thing I don’t like about the new map is the shape of Singapore island.”
While Mr Tan’s map featured a pretty accurate outline of Singapore, LTA’s version was a bit more distorted.
“It’s important to have that sense of familiarity when it comes to maps,” he said, highlighting that he spent almost as much time designing the island’s shape as the MRT lines themselves.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, LTA thanked Mr Tan and 17-year-old Faiz Basha – who also uploaded his latest design on Facebook in August – for their feedback during the design process.
“We first began to redesign the map in 2015 and we’ve since taken in feedback from map designers, Friends of Land Transport and members of public,” the authority said.
Faiz Basha’s design. (Photo: Facebook/Faiz Basha)
LTA contacted Mr Tan after he published his map and they discussed several design pointers. Both parties had a chance to explain their positions, especially as private designers might not have known of LTA’s operational constraints.
“On the day that we met, LTA showed me their original design, explained the various specialists they got in touch with,” Mr Tan said, stating that he gave them feedback.
For instance, he said LTA had originally used corporate logos of Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay and the Esplanade to embellish its map.
“I told them not to do this but create their own symbols, and this they seemed to have implemented,” he added, noting that he advised them to also include the Singapore River.
LTA “DIDN’T COPY” DESIGNS
After LTA released its version on Wednesday, a few netizens questioned if LTA had stolen Mr Tan’s design.
Mr Tan rejected this, pointing out that LTA’s map was still largely different from his and Faiz’s.
“I would say they didn’t copy from either of us, because the only similar thing is the circle, which is similar to Moscow’s (map) anyway,” he said.
Moscow’s metro map. (Source: russiau.com)
Faiz, who had also met LTA officials working on the map, agreed, stating that they take their work “very seriously”.
“Though some aspect of my or Cliff Tan’s map may have been manifested into their design, (the new map) was heavily developed by LTA,” he said in an email interview with Berita Mediacorp on Wednesday.
“I’d like to emphasise how due credit must be given to the hardworking architects and designers at LTA who have dedicated years of research and design into making the new map.”
After the MRT network started expanding, Faiz said he set out to create a redesigned MRT map that “would last and could become iconic”, although he only planned to use his design as his desktop background.
“A metro map is the identity of a city; it’s how people visualise and simplify the complicated reality of it,” he added, offering London’s classic Tube map as an example.
For Mr Tan, the pleasure comes from knowing that “something as banal as an MRT map can be an aesthetic yet functional piece of art”.
“Never did I do this for recognition or praise,” he said, adding that he still prefers his design to LTA’s.
“I am very happy with my design, and nothing can take that pleasure away.”
We all love a Seoul-id Korean barbecue that fills up our tummy with all kinds of grilled deliciousness.
But with competition stiff among Korean barbecue restaurants here, one outlet has come up with an innovative way to appeal to customers.
Earlier this year, a hot pot restaurant in Taiwan offered customers shorter than 175cm free slices of meat; who would have thought an eatery in Singapore would adopt a similar sales tactic too?
Seoulid Korean BBQ, located in a kopitiam at Clementi, is taking the height and weight measurements of customers before every meal to find out if they qualify for a discount of up to 15 per cent off its $18.80 buffet.
SINGAPORE: Beleaguered family-run hardware firm Home-Fix may have pulled the shutters down at its stores for good after a 26-year run, but its founders are not giving it up without a fight.
The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) chain is in talks with potential investors and is looking to transform itself and come back in a “very different form”, co-founder and managing director Low Cheong Kee told CNA on Thursday (Dec 12).
“We have a game plan in mind. We are garnering support for it,” he told CNA at the Home-Fix building in Tai Seng, where the company’s offices, showroom and warehouse are located.
At its peak, Home-Fix had more than 20 stores across Singapore.
On Thursday, however, it closed the shutters at its last remaining store in Tampines One for a final time, becoming the latest casualty in the retail sector in Singapore. Home-Fix’s online store is still operational.
For Mr Low and his brother Low Cheong Yew, who set up Home-Fix together in 1993, the closure of its physical stores does not mean the end.
“Both me and my brother are fighting all the way,” he said.
Home-Fix at Bedok Mall has been boarded up for about two weeks. (Photo: Aqil Haziq Mahmud)
PLANS TO MAKE HOME-FIX MORE “NIMBLE”
The plan is to make Home-Fix smaller and more nimble, Mr Low said.
Mr Low did not say what form Home-Fix would come back in, but dropped hints that a “robust” enterprise resource planning system Home-Fix invested in will play a big part.
“It’s with this core fundamental that we hope to revive Home-Fix and be a bit more nimble,” he said.
Home-Fix previously used the system to optimise manpower in the accounting department, which was overwhelmed with paperwork, including delivery orders, payment orders, and invoices, he said.
Touching on the topic of Home-Fix being under interim judicial management, Mr Low said that the writing had been on the wall for some time.
Home-Fix began to see a decline in business three to four years ago, with the growth of online marketplaces.
“They come with a huge war chest to acquire customers and they are willing to sell things at a loss to do that,” he said.
Manufacturers selling directly to consumers and millennials veering away from DIY also took their toll on Home-Fix, said Mr Low.
Home-Fix tried to find solutions by expanding into services, experiences and online sales, and for that, was held up as an example by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his May Day Rally last year.
However, that wasn’t enough.
“I think we were on that right track. It’s just that we couldn’t do it as fast as we wanted to,” he said.
In its heyday, Home-Fix’s turnover was S$43 million, said Mr Low.
While he declined to disclose the amount owed to creditors, Mr Low said the reported figure of about S$20 million was “off”.
“The stress of paying rental, paying salary, paying suppliers was all piling up. This stress of maintaining these expenses with sales coming down has been going on for more than a year,” said Mr Low.
Judicial management is a form of debt restructuring where an independent judicial manager is appointed to manage the affairs, business and property of a company under financial distress. It also shields companies temporarily from legal proceedings by third parties, giving it a chance to be nursed back to health.
“In the next six months, before we undergo a review, it’s critical that I work on getting support for the transformation,” he said.
As Home-Fix’s finances turned for the worse, difficult decisions had to be made.
Describing it as a roller coaster ride, Mr Low said that the company tried to hold on to their employees and stores that were performing “borderline” for as long as possible.
But the interim judicial manager advised it to terminate the staff.
“We had to let go of a lot of people to cut down the burn rate. We had to close shops that we had for many years,” he said.
“I have people who have been with us for many years. I saw them grow up, I saw them get married. They are like family,” Mr Low said.
The close relationship Mr Low has with his employees was apparent when one of his branch managers, who had been with the firm for 11 years, dropped by during the interview for a final farewell.
During their exchange, Mr Low checked in on whether he had found another job, and promised to visit him. Their eyes filled up as they shared a hug.
In the short term, Mr Low said he hopes to use the proceeds from an upcoming four-day warehouse sale at its Tai Seng showroom to pay his employees.
Items that are not sold will be moved to an 18,000 sq ft storage space in Bedok loaned by a friend temporarily, he said.
Despite the turmoil, Mr Low said he is grateful for the encouragement and support he has received.
In a townhall meeting with creditors two days ago, people pledged to support the firm in its transformation, he said.
“It’s sad that this chapter has to end but I think in life there a lot of things that need to end and need to be reborn and restarted,” he said.
SINGAPORE – A taxi driver got behind the wheel after consuming medications that have side effects such as drowsiness and caused a fatal accident last year.
Desmond Tan Tat Siong was driving along Sungei Kadut Avenue at around 3.50pm on Sept 19 last year when he failed to slow down as he approached a left bend.
He lost control of the taxi, which mounted a centre divider before hitting a motorcycle and a lorry.
The Malaysian motorcyclist, carpenter Chong Ah Hee, 57, landed on a nearby pavement and the lorry ran over him. He was pronounced dead at the scene about 20 minutes later.
Tan, 34, pleaded guilty in court on Thursday (Dec 12) to causing Mr Chong’s death by performing a rash act.
He said he had felt a “severe headache” shortly before the tragedy. He went to his girlfriend’s home and took two Anarex pills prescribed to her.
Don’t waste it away by spending it at home because there are lots of activities happening around the island to enjoy with your friends and family. Weekends will never be the same again with this weekend planner.
CATCH SESAME STREET LIVE AT MARINA SQUARE
Well-loved characters from Sesame Street are in town to celebrate the show’s 50th anniversary in Marina Square!
From now until Dec 22, count down to Christmas with Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby and The Count and if you’re one of the first 50 families in the queue, you’ll even get to meet them on stage and have an unforgettable time.
SINGAPORE: I was driving along Lornie Road on a sunny day. Traffic was light with few cars on the road.
I prepared to turn left at the traffic light onto Upper Thomson Road – I even remembered to signal. Out of nowhere, a cyclist appeared from the blind spot on my left. I braked quickly, but the car jerked and the next thing I knew, I’ve knocked him over.
A red bubble popped up on the screen in front of me: ACCIDENT!
While I waited for the simulation to reload, the instructor who stood next to me, Mr Yussof Bari, chastised me, stressing that I should have waited for the cyclist to pass first next time.
The simulation stops once you are involved in an accident, and will explain why and where you went wrong. (Photo: Rauf Khan)
Discovering an indecisive cyclist in your blind spot is just one of the 15 scenarios learner drivers and riders will face come Dec 16, when compulsory simulator training kicks in.
All Class 2, 2A, 2B, 3 and 3A learner motorists will have to complete the training before they are allowed to book their practical driving or riding test.
The 15 scenarios, which make up three modules, include the top 10 causes of traffic accidents that often result in injuries, like high-speed expressway cornering and driving or riding in wet weather conditions.
As a former learner driver who failed to get her manual licence five years ago, the simulator training sounded like a good idea at first.
But while Mr Yussof briefed us about how to use the machines, I started to worry that it would feel like a 4D adventure video game.
While the simulator machines may look like advanced 4D video game setups, the 15 scenarios are certainly not as fun or easy as you expect. (Photo: Rauf Khan)
When the compulsory simulation training was announced on Saturday (Dec 7), the police said it would provide learner motorists with the opportunity to practise defensive driving or riding in a safe and controlled environment. This would help them better prepare for various road situations, and inculcate good driving habits.
When asked about whether the simulator training would improve passing rates, Mr Yussof said: “In some way or other it does help because it allows learners to operate the devices that you control. Where is the wiper, the start engine button, and so on.
“(They will also) know when they are supposed to start braking, and how far they should follow (the vehicles in front) when they are in an adverse condition scenario.”
As I buckled my seatbelt and started the engine, I asked Mr Yussof if any of the 15 scenarios included ones with errant PMD riders on the road. He laughed at my question, and stressed that PMDs are not allowed on roads, reminding me to keep my eyes on the screen.
“You’re going the wrong way. The instructions are saying keep to the left lane,” he added.
After 40 minutes with the simulator, I found that my concerns were unfounded. There is feedback from the machine as you drive – you can feel the engine rumbling gently. If you mount a curb the car tilts sideways, and most importantly, I still felt the pressure of making the right call for the scenario before me.
The simulator cars cater to both manual and automatic learner drivers. (Photo: Rauf Khan)
My only gripe – the accelerator and brake pedals felt almost too smooth, and I sometimes found it difficult to gauge how much I should step on them, without the usual feedback from a real car pedal.
“Error! Forgot to signal!” the machine declared, as I changed lanes to avoid a parked car in front of me.
If you fail to navigate out of a tricky situation, a play-by-play explanation of where and why you went wrong will show on the screen.
Head of the simulator training department Kent Goh demonstrates how to use the motorbike machine. (Photo: Rauf Khan)
While learners are not required to “pass” the scenarios, they must complete all five scenarios within the allotted 20 minutes before they can move on to the next module.
During in-person lessons, I had maneuvered through several tricky situations with an instructor guiding me through them. But the simulator training gave me a chance to make my own decisions in real-time.
I also usually had my lessons in the morning or afternoon, and only in good weather conditions. With the simulator, I got to try driving in the dark (with my high beam on) and in heavy rain.
At one point, I nearly drove off a highway after skidding in the rain. Not my proudest moment.
But after completing two modules, I do feel more confident about dealing with tricky traffic situations, and am compelled to pick up where I left off and finally get my license.
SINGAPORE: Two suspected drug offenders were arrested on Wednesday (Dec 11) during a drug bust that saw about S$113,000 worth of narcotics being seized, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said in a news release on Thursday.
On Wednesday evening, a 48-year-old Singaporean suspected drug trafficker was spotted leaving a second-floor flat in Woodlands Street 13. He was then arrested at the void deck by CNB officers.
He was taken back to the flat where a 42-year-old female suspected drug abuser was arrested.
In the flat, about 1.4kg of heroin, a bottle containing methadone and S$11,000 worth of cash were found.
Cash seized in a CNB operation at Woodlands Street 13 on Dec 11, 2019. (Photo: CNB)
The male suspect had a sling bag on him which contained Ice and some heroin. A small packet of heroin was found in the suspect’s jeans pocket as well.
SINGAPORE – A lack of maintenance was the most common reason why windows fell from buildings in the first 11 months of the year, the Building Construction Authority (BCA) and the Housing Board said on Thursday (Dec 12).
This is even as the authorities reminded home owners to check and maintain their windows every six months.
They added that if windows fall because they are not maintained enough, home owners, if found guilty, can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for up to a year, or both.
There were 48 cases of fallen windows from January to November, similar to 2018’s full-year total of 49 incidents.
Corresponding full-year figures were 56 in 2017, 45 in 2016 and 35 in 2015, the year with the lowest number of cases in the past 14 years.
“All windows may detach and fall when window parts become loosened or defective over time due to wear and tear,” the BCA and HDB said in a joint statement on the importance of checking windows regularly.
SINGAPORE: Police are investigating an accident which resulted in a car overturning along Havelock Road on Thursday (Dec 12).
In photos online, a red car, believed to be an Alfa Romeo, was seen overturned next to a bus bay. Parts of the car were seen strewn on the street, including a tyre.
A car overturned on Havelock Road on Dec 12, 2019. (Photo: Facebook/SG Road Vigilante)
Police said they were alerted at about 12.50pm to an accident along Havelock Road towards Upper Pickering Street.
The driver refused to be taken to hospital, the police said.
