11.11 Singles’ Day sales and Black Friday sales might be over, but that doesn’t mean that there are no more great deals to be found this year. Enter the last major sale event of 2019, 12.12 sales.
Come Dec 12, you will be able to score your final major deals in 2019 and do some last-minute shopping for yourself and your loved ones.
There will be massive discounts and awesome promotions too good to miss up on so get your credit cards ready and start adding items into your shopping carts.
As the 30th edition of the regional competition draws to a close on Wednesday (Dec 11), we take a look at some of Team Singapore’s highlights and learning points:
THE HIGHS
Softball: First gold a “dream come true”
Singapore men’s softball team celebrate their historic gold at the 2019 SEA Games on Sunday Dec 8, 2019. (Photo: Sport Singapore)
It was one for the history books.
Not only did Team Singapore’s upset of hosts and favourites Philippines give us our first ever softball gold at the Games, but behind that hard-won victory was proof of the tried and true adages of resourcefulness and perseverance.
Describing their victory as a “dream come true”, team captain Ivan Ng explained that their win did not come easy.
From long hours spent training on dimly lit, uneven ground to literally getting down and dirty with do-it-yourself sessions of weeding and transporting power generators, the men’s team showed us all that a little elbow grease and an attitude of “no excuses” go a long way to toppling a giant.
Underwater hockey: Gold rush in Games debut
Underwater hockey player Christina Tham poses with her gold medals at the SEA Games 2019. (Photo: Christina Tham)
New sport? No problem.
This was unexpected from the get-go as Team Singapore playing underwater rose above expectations.
The victories was that much sweeter for player Christina Tham who struck gold twice in two days at her third Games, a total of 36 years after her first medal.
The 50-year-old former national swimmer described herself as “third time lucky”, having previously taken home two silvers in 1981 and 1983.
“It feels incredible, awesome, unbelievable … I hope that it also sends a message out to everyone that age is really just a number and that you are only as old as you feel,” said Tham.
Badminton: First men’s final in more than a decade
Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew faces off against Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia in the men’s singles finals on Dec 9, 2019. (Photo: SNOC)
Not gold … but a smashing performance nonetheless.
Loh Kean Yew put up a strong showing when he came from behind to defeat top seed Kantaphon Wangcharoen in Manila to book a spot in the men’s singles final – the first time a Singapore badminton player has done so since 2007.
The Thai is currently ranked 13th in the world, while 21-year-old Loh is ranked 30th.
Loh finished with a silver medal after meeting Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia, who is world number 14.
The last men’s singles gold won by Singapore was when Wong Shoon Keat triumphed on home soil in 1983.
The Singapore men’s water polo team lost to Indonesia on Nov 28, 2019. (Photo: SNOC)
Singapore’s water polo reign came to a screeching halt this year after Indonesia trounced Malaysia on Nov 29 to take the lead in the men’s five-team round-robin competition, setting them clear at seven points at the top of the table.
Singapore had previously won gold for a record 27 consecutive editions – or 54 years – of the Games.
And just a day earlier, the men’s team lost 7-5 to eventual champions Indonesia – their first loss in Games history.
Indonesia had been runners-up to their arch-rivals Singapore in every edition of the biennial tournament since 2013.
The Singapore men’s water polo team eventually settled for bronze after beating Thailand 14-7. Former Singapore water polo players told CNA that the national team needed to go back to the drawing board and review their SEA Games performance.
Table tennis: Dashed dreams in women’s doubles
Singapore’s Goi Rui Xuan (right) and Wong Xin Ru in action at the SEA Games. (Photo: Sport SG)
Team Singapore was on course for a third consecutive gold at the event, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Instead, we had to settle for joint-bronze after our dream of defending the women’s table tennis doubles crown was dashed following the loss to Thailand in the semi-final.
Feng Tianwei and Lin Ye fell 3-2 to Thailand’s Komwong Nanthana and Sawettabut Jinnipa on Dec 7 while Goi Rui Xuan and Wong Xin Ru also lost 3-2 to Paranang Orawan and Sawettabut Suthasini.
The defeat meant Singapore could not retain the title previously won at the 2017 and 2015 Games.
This was one of the upsets of the Games.
Football: Broken curfews, disciplinary action
Singapore’s footballers before heading off to the 30th SEA Games. (Photo: FAS/Instagram)
Time waits for no man and nine Singapore footballers learnt that the hard way after they were flagged for disciplinary action for breaking curfew at the Games.
The Football Association of Singapore, who named and shamed the players, called their behaviour “wholly unacceptable” with president Lim Kia Tong saying that the players had “let down the entire nation”.
Two sources who asked not to be named told CNA that the incident occurred on the night of Singapore’s 3-0 loss to Thailand on Dec 1. The team then went on to beat Brunei 7-0 on Dec 5.
The disciplinary scandal was yet another unfortunate black mark on the team’s poor showing at the Games, crashing out of contention against Vietnam after having gone four games without netting a single goal.
Reacting to the news that the footballers would face “stiff sanctions”, many fans rallied in support of the boys.
“Don’t kill their spirit, give a little grace once in a while,” said CNA reader Kenneth L Victor.
THE BITTERSWEET
Swimming: Strong showing by young athletes, “reality check” for Schooling
Singapore’s swimmers made a splash by matching their best showing at the Games with a total haul of 23 golds, on par with their 2015 Games bounty, while smashing several personal and competitive records along the way.
However, amid the celebrations was cause for reflection for Olympic medalist Joseph Schooling.
Schooling came second to compatriot Teong Tzen Wei in the 50m butterfly race on Dec 5. The Asian Games, national record and SEA Games record holder previously won the event at the 2011, 2015 and 2017 Games.
Three days later, Schooling failed to defend his 100m freestyle title against teammate Darren Chua, who pipped him to the top spot by 0.05s.
Although Schooling found his result “disappointing”, he said the race had been a “good reality check”.
He also admitted that he was not happy with his current physical condition, with seven months to the Olympics.
“I’ve got a lot of work to do, things to sort out, I know,” Schooling said.
The Olympic champion retained his 100m butterfly title, his pet event, but his time of 51.84 was a long way off his Olympic record of 50.39. In July this year, Caeleb Dressel shattered the 100m butterfly world record at the World Swimming Championships in Gwangju with a time of 49.50.
Follow Mediacorp’s coverage of the 30th SEA Games and get the widest Team Singapore coverage with four LIVE channels on Toggle. Go to toggle.sg/seagames2019 for details.
Offensive, disturbing, blasphemous — these are the words used to describe the content of a book that was assigned as a Secondary 2 student’s reading material for English class.
A photo of phrases such as “Let go of the f***ing dog, for Christ’s sake” from a page of the book, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, has been circulating on Facebook since Dec 7.
The parent who took the photo said, “(My daughter) came to me to complain that she was greatly disturbed by the language and overt attacks on her Christian faith in the book.”
In a letter he sent to the authorities, he wrote that his daughter also asked why teachers would give students literature that promoted vulgar language if it was forbidden in class.
Aside from the strong language, there are also mentions of drug use and pornographic magazines in the book, the dad-of-two said.
“I was shocked that a Singapore school would assign such a book (as reading material),” he added.
Despite its association with kids, the joys of toy collecting have brought immense pleasure to adults across the globe — a passion that ensures a tangible attachment to the memories and dreams of their childhood.
The thrill of the chase, the delight of securing an item that had once eluded you, that moment of ecstasy in thinking you’ve discovered something you don’t yet own (only to find you actually do); it’s all part and parcel when it comes to the hobby of toy collecting.
“I [just] couldn’t resist and started buying a few pieces as a means to connect with my childhood,” reminisced 47-year-old Derek Ho. “From then on, it progressively worsened until where I am today.”
Derek and fellow collector Mark Yeo, 44, started accumulating Star Wars action figures from a young after their respective parents had brought them to watch the original cinematic trilogy in theatres.
Coincidentally, both men had lost their collection before once in their lives. Derek had made the dreadful mistake of allowing his parents to give them away to his young cousins while Mark thought to get rid of them after finding that it was taking up too much space.
Out of the kindness of his heart (and also partly due to clever entrepreneurship), a drinks vendor has taken it upon himself to maintain the hoops of a basketball court located along Hougang Avenue 6.
As the online community got to learn over the weekend, a man known as Uncle Chen is said to have been fixing the nets of the basketball hoops every now and then for years — all done to see a steady stream of basketball players returning to the court.
Though he bears the costs of maintenance by himself, Uncle Chen actually profits from the endeavour.
By keeping the basketball community in the Sengkang and Hougang district happy, they’ll keep patronising his wares — the man sells mineral water and 100 Plus drinks out of his motorbike near the court.
According to the local basketball community Facebook page Coach G Singapore, Uncle Chen would even bring his own ladder to fix up the metal nets and would take about an hour each time round.
When asked why he’s been doing this despite his old age, Uncle Chen said that he earns a living from selling his drinks to the thirsty folks playing at the basketball and futsal courts in the area.
SINGAPORE: MRT trains and buses have been dressed up for Christmas as the year draws to an end.
The festive decorations were launched on Monday (Dec 9) by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), in collaboration with SBS Transit and SMRT.
Inside a Christmas-themed train. (Photo: LTA)
Commuters can spot tropical elements like starfish and palm trees on the trains. (Photo: LTA)
Themed “Tropical Beach Christmas”, the decorations sport tropical elements like sandy snowmen, starfish, palm trees, as well as transport-themed ornaments.
“These aim to enhance commuters’ public transport experience and spread the Christmas holiday cheer,” said LTA in the media release.
The Christmas-themed trains will run on all five MRT lines and will roll out progressively.
A train with Christmas decorations. (Photo: LTA)
The decorations will feature on bus services 5, 7, 14, 61, 65, 197, 857, and 972.
Selected MRT stations will also be dressed up, including the Dhoby Ghaut station.
A wall mural wishing commuters Merry Christmas. (Photo: LTA)
Wall murals will also greet commuters at Bugis, Bukit Panjang, and Newton.
“Themed stations, trains and buses are part of LTA’s efforts to liven up the commuting experience during festive seasons, and foster positive commuter culture,” said LTA.
A man, who ran a renovation firm and posed as an HDB-approved contractor before misleading residents into engaging his services, has been jailed and fined.
Gary Lau targeted 15 people, including seven senior citizens, from March last year to this March and cheated 10 of them of $1,860. He attempted to cheat the remaining five people, a district court heard on Tuesday (Dec 10).
The Singaporean conducted so-called inspections of his victims’ flats, then convinced them that patching works had to be carried out on the walls or ceilings. He would then collect cash deposits or full payments from them.
Lau used to own a company called Home Patching Contractor before transferring its ownership to a woman in November last year. He currently owns a firm called Teamwork General Contractor.
Some homeowners later realised that he was not a contractor approved by the Housing Board and tried to get back their deposits.
He rebuffed most of them by pointing out that the invoices he had issued stated that deposits collected were non-refundable.
NEW CLARK CITY, Philippines: Constance Lien won Singapore’s second gold in jiu-jitsu after beating Nguyen Ngoc Tu by submission in the finals of the women’s ne-waza less 62kg category on Tuesday (Dec 10).
Lien’s gold follows Noah Lim’s win on Monday, as the sport made its debut at the regional competition.
Lim defeated Thailand’s Suwijak Kuntong by submission in the less 62kg ne-waza category, claiming Singapore’s first SEA Games gold in the sport.
Constance Lien (top) in action in the SEA Games 2019 jiu jitsu final. (Photo: SportSG)
Lien is Singapore’s first Asian Games medallist in the sport, having won a silver in 2018. She also won a gold at the 2019 World IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Long Beach, California earlier this year.
Jiu-jitsu, along with other martial arts like kurash and sambo, is one of the new sports making its debut in this year’s SEA Games.
Follow Mediacorp’s coverage of the 30th SEA Games and get the widest Team Singapore coverage with four LIVE channels on Toggle. Go to toggle.sg/seagames2019 for details.
SINGAPORE – The woman injured in the Bukit Batok fire on Nov 1 – where officers were unable to use the fire hose reels – died in hospital on Monday (Dec 9), said a spokesman for the Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
The woman in her 60s was rescued from the 13th-floor unit of Block 210A Bukit Batok Street 21 and had been receiving medical treatment at SGH for more than a month since the fire.
The woman, along with her husband believed to be in his 60s and their son in his 30s, had earlier been hospitalised for burn injuries and smoke inhalation, after the fire which began at about 4am that day.
The hospital had earlier said her husband was discharged from hospital about a week after the fire and her son was discharged on Nov 15.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Bukit Batok MP Murali Pillai wrote: “Friends, I regret to inform you that Mdm Goh, the Blk 210A fire victim on 1 Nov 2019, has passed away.
NEW CLARK CITY, Philippines: You can’t succeed if you train in Singapore.
You only won an Asian Games relay medal because of teammates like Joseph Schooling.
You can’t do it.
The naysayers make noise, but swimmer Darren Chua doesn’t listen.
“I’m the kind of guy that likes to prove people wrong,” said the 19-year-old.
“A lot of people tell me that I can’t do it because I train in Singapore. I’m like: ‘I’m going to prove you wrong, I’m going to show you that I can do it.’”
And show them he did. Chua took to the pool in his debut SEA Games – winning five golds – two in individual events and three in relays.
Chua competed in the 4x100m individual medley, 4x100m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle, helping set two new Games records in the process.
In his individual events, Chua upset defending champion Welson Sim in the 200m freestyle, then stunned defending champion Schooling in the 100m freestyle.
Both timings were personal bests, a fitting riposte to those who had told him his 2018 Asian Games relay bronze was only due to teammates like Schooling or Quah Zheng Wen.
“I want to prove to people that individually I can do it as well,” said Darren. “It’s really one of the motivations that helps me really want to prove them wrong.
“I am an individual swimmer and I can win a gold medal.”
AN UNORTHODOX PATH
While this is Chua’s first SEA Games, he had already competed at a higher level – the 2018 Asian Games – before the Philippines.
Chua, along with Schooling, Quah and Darren Lim combined to bag a bronze in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay at the Asiad, setting a new national record.
“The experience at the Asian Games really helped me a lot, winning the bronze was my first major games medal,” said Chua.
“There was a lot to learn from that competition, how I raced with bigger, stronger and faster swimmers.
“It gave me a lot more confidence and trust in myself that I’d be able to race in these competitions.”
Darren Chua is congratulated by Joseph Schooling after the 4x100m individual medley relay. (Photo: Matthew Mohan)
Coming into this SEA Games, the 19-year-old was eyeing wins in the relays and possible top three finishes in his individual events.
“I was just expecting to win the relays for sure because the Singapore team is so strong and (for) individual events I wanted to get podium (finishes) every time I made the finals,” Chua explained.
“My coach Leonard (Tan) told me to not focus on the future and what you can get – just focus on the process, so that really helped me a lot to race in the finals.”
What Chua attributes much of his success at the Games to is a strong support system.
This extends from his family, to his teachers and his coaches.
“(Some) swimmers always think Singapore is stressed out because with school and everything you can’t really train properly and the environment just sucks,” said Chua, who is studying at Temasek Polytechnic.
“I think you just got to manage it properly and for my part my school really helped me a lot. Temasek Poly really gave me so much support that I was able to train together with (going to) school … there’s a lot of support in Singapore that no one really appreciates.”
His school has been instrumental in their help, providing flexibility for when he is able to take exams and allowing him to extend the length of his course from three to five years, explained Chua.
“The teachers are so understanding and they really help me a lot,” he said. “They’ve messaged me to congratulate me – and my teacher told me I’ve been causing a buzz in the office!”
Darren Chua with his family. (Photo: SNOC/Andy Chua)
And Chua is keen to prove that he can succeed without having to train overseas.
“I feel like I’m not missing out at all because I’m improving every time I race. Coach Leonard is such a good coach for me so I don’t really want to change up anything just because people say training overseas is better,” he added.
“In Singapore it’s so comfortable, there’s so much support around, I don’t think I can get that overseas. There are so many great coaches in Singapore and I really want to stay here and train.”
Following his SEA Games golds, Chua has a clear goal – Olympics qualification in the 100m and 200m freestyle.
“I’m going to train even harder, and show people that I’m going to the Olympics next year.”
Chua trains twice a day, every day of the week. But before he gets up in the wee hours of the morning to head to the pool, his parents are already hard at work.
“Every morning, my dad would send me to training at 5.30am … My mum wakes up earlier to prepare my stuff so I can get in a bit more sleep. She will cook for me every day, so that I can go back to have a good nutritious meal,” he said.
“My parents sacrificed a lot. I really want to thank them. Everyone contributed. My family, my friends, my teachers, my coaches.
“Everyone helped me get to where I am right now, if I didn’t have them, I wouldn’t be here.”
