SINGAPORE – The inaugural Kamp Singapore 2019 K-pop festival is happening on Nov 9 and 10 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
On Nov 9, South Korean boy group NCT 127, girl group GFriend, singer-songwriter Ha Sung-woon, and singer-dancer-choreographer Chungha are expected to perform.
The following day, boy bands Super Junior and Stray Kids, girl groups WJSN and Momoland, as well as singer Sonnet Son, are expected to take the stage.
The star-studded festival takes place at two main areas, the Kamp Stage, where all performances will be held, and Kamp Ground, where fans can meet their favourite artists up close, take selfies and get autographs.
Singapore is the first stop for the festival, which will also head to the United States, Europe and the Middle East.
The rise of machines, artificial intelligence, and automation in everyday life have been more or less unprecedented. It’s scary at how fast they’re starting to replace humans — from policing, cleaning, waitering, to even making your daily cup of joe. When the robopocalypse ends, they’ll even perform gymnastics routines over your bones.
But the time has not yet arriveth for the robot uprising. For now, let a six-foot-tall (1.83m) roaming photo booth snap and print pictures of you.
SINGAPORE: Parents who lie to their children out of convenience may be doing more harm than good, leading their offspring to lie more to them once they become adults.
An example of such a mistruth includes the common refrain: “If you don’t behave, I’ll call the police.”
While parenting by lying can seem to save time, a new study led by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) showed that lies intended to get children to behave may have lasting effects on their young minds.
The study found that adults who reported being lied to more as children were also more likely to report lying to their parents as adults.
The study, which polled 379 Singaporean young adults using a series of online questionnaires, also showed that these children were more at risk of developing problems that society frowns upon, such as aggression, rule-breaking and intrusive behaviours, NTU said in a media release on Wednesday (Oct 2).
“When parents tell children that ‘honesty is the best policy’, but display dishonesty by lying, such behaviour can send conflicting messages to their children,” said lead author Assistant Professor Setoh Peipei from NTU Singapore’s School of Social Sciences.
The research was published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology and conducted in collaboration with the University of Toronto, the University of California, San Diego, and Zhejiang Normal University.
The first questionnaire asked participants to recall if their parents told them lies about misbehaviour, eating, spending money, as well as staying or leaving a place.
Some examples of such lies are “If you don’t come with me now, I will leave you here by yourself” and “I did not bring money with me today, we can come back another day”.
The second questionnaire asked participants to indicate how frequently they lied to their parents as adults. It asked about mistruths concerning their activities and actions, exaggeration about events, in addition to prosocial lies or lies intended to benefit others.
Lastly, participants filled in two questionnaires that measured their self-reported “psychosocial maladjustment” and tendency to behave selfishly and impulsively.
LIAR LIAR, PANTS ON FIRE
Have you told lies to get your children to behave? (Photo: Unsplash/Jametlene Reskp)
Respondents in the study said they faced greater adjustment difficulties such as disruptiveness, conduct problems, experience of guilt and shame, as well as selfish and manipulative character.
“Parents should be aware of these potential downstream implications and consider alternatives to lying, such as acknowledging children’s feelings, giving information so children know what to expect, offering choices and problem-solving together, to elicit good behaviour from children,” Asst Prof Setoh said.
Asst Prof Setoh added that future research could explore using multiple informants, such as parents, to report on the same variables.
Limitations of the current study include relying on what young adults report about their retrospective experience of their parents’ lying.
The authors also pointed out that as the study is correlational in design and they are unable to draw causal inferences.
Asst Prof Setoh said that another area yet to be investigated would be the nature of the lies or goals of the parent.
“It is possible that a lie to assert the parents’ power, such as saying ‘If you don’t behave, we will throw you into the ocean to feed the fish’, may be more related to children’s adjustment difficulties as adults, compared to lies that target children’s compliance, e.g. ‘there is no more candy in the house’.”
Future studies could examine this more closely so that researchers can suggest what kind of lies to avoid, and what kind of truth-telling parents should engage in, she added.
The research was funded by the Ministry of Education’s Social Science Research Thematic Grant and Nanyang Technological University’s Start-up Grant.
Unsecured surveillance cameras, routers, industrial sensors, smart energy meters and connected medical devices are fast rising in numbers, threatening to be a source of mayhem in an increasingly “smartened-up” world.
However, a universal approach to safeguard these connected devices – collectively known as the Internet of Things (IoT) – is wanting.
After studying the threat landscape for about a year, Singapore’s Cyber Security Agency (CSA) and its Dutch counterpart – the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Climate Policy, which is in charge of IoT security – have concluded that government bodies around the world need to play a more active role in tightening legislation, and form a universal certification regime to improve the security of IoT devices.
These are among several recommendations, including technical ones, highlighted in their 107-page joint study titled The IoT Security Landscape, released on Wednesday (Oct 2).
Stomp contributor Tiramisu witnessed the boys’ acts from her office opposite the block.
In a video she shared with Stomp, the boys can be seen leaping from a ledge on the second storey of the HDB block to the roof of a small building next to it.
“It was so scary to see them playing parkour,” she said.
“Nowadays these youngsters like to follow things they see on YouTube and Facebook.
“It may have only been on the second floor but if one of them fell, they could still get injured.
“Dangerous acts and any misstep will lead to serious consequences.”
With Gamescom Asia 2020 due to take place less than a year from now, it’s no surprise that various organisations are already trying to snag a piece of the pie for themselves.
That’s hardly surprising Gamescom is after all the largest gaming festival in the world and next year’s show will be the first time that the festival is expanding to Asia.
Well, that long list of “interested applicants” now includes Razer. The gaming tech giant has just inked a strategic partnership with gamescom’s organiser Koelnmesse via a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Brunei: With technological disruption and changes in the global economy, Singapore and Brunei must continue to explore new areas of cooperation and strengthen existing ones, said Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean on Thursday (Oct 3).
Mr Teo was delivering a lecture at Brunei’s University of Technology titled Singapore-Brunei Relations in the Global Context, where he addressed around 200 students, staff members and government officials.
Education is one area the two sides can collaborate further on, said the minister. He said universities must evolve to become students’ “partners” in lifelong learning and support them in picking up new skills and upgrading themselves.
This will help them to adapt to changing demands and tackle new challenges, he said.
Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security Teo Chee Hean delivers a lecture in Brunei on Oct 3, 2019. (Photo: Vanessa Lim)
In 2015, Singapore launched SkillsFuture, a national movement to support continuous learning. Under this, adult Singaporeans can apply for classes and workshops accredited by SkillsFuture Singapore.
“This is the new paradigm which every country needs to strive for, for the future,” said Mr Teo.
“It will help all our citizens embrace and share the benefits of advances in technology throughout their lives,” he said, adding that Singapore is looking to strengthening collaboration in this area with Brunei universities.
Electronic payments and food security were also highlighted as potential areas for cooperation. On Wednesday, Singapore and Brunei announced that they will form a joint working group to drive agri-food and aquaculture cooperation.
The working group will report its progress to a joint ministerial panel which includes Singapore’s Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing and Brunei’s Minister of Primary Resources and Tourism Ali Apong.
Both countries will also strengthen cooperation in existing areas such as defence and economy.
Currently, the Singapore Armed Forces conducts regular training in Temburong and both militaries have frequent bilateral exercises and visits.
But with the volatile geopolitical environment, Singapore and Brunei must further strengthen defence cooperation to safeguard each other’s security and ensure stability in the region, said Mr Teo.
With Brunei set to take over the ASEAN chairmanship in 2021, Mr Teo said Singapore looks forward to supporting the country in addressing issues of common concern.
One immediate area for cooperation is upholding free trade and economic integration, given the global trade issues that have emerged, he said.
Mr Teo also urged all members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to work towards concluding negotiations for the agreement expeditiously.
Negotiations for the trade agreement covering ASEAN and six other economies – China, India, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand – started in 2013, but progress has been slow.
If agreed to, RCEP will form the largest trading bloc in the world – accounting for a third of global GDP.
Mr Teo said in an uncertain and rapidly changing world, the depth and breadth of Singapore and Brunei’s close partnership will continue to be a pillar of strength for both sides.
“Singapore and Brunei have always shared a very special relationship, anchored by strong political and people-to-people ties; wide-ranging and substantive cooperation in many fields; and deep mutual trust developed over many decades.
“We should build on these strong foundations to take our cooperation further,” he said.
LAGOS – Police in Nigeria’s largest city Lagos said on Wednesday (Oct 2) they had discovered another illegal maternity unit where captives were impregnated and forced to give birth to babies for sale.
Authorities discovered the compound in the Isolo district after officers found seven pregnant women and girls who had fled the centre.
The revelation came just a few days after police said they had rescued 19 expectant mothers from several similar facilities in another area of the sprawling city.
“We got a tip-off about seven pregnant women waiting at a bus stop and our men went there to pick them up,” Lagos police spokesman Bala Elkana told AFP.
“After interrogation, the women said they were (among) 20 women who had been made pregnant in the home and all of them had escaped on Monday night,” he said.
He said only those seven, aged between 13 and 27, had been found and the remaining 13 must have fled to other locations.
SINGAPORE: A 26-year-old man charged with taking shower and upskirt videos of women at Yale-NUS College is a student there, the institution said on Thursday (Oct 3) in response to CNA’s queries.
Yale-NUS College added that Brandon Lee Bing Xiang, who was charged on Tuesday with 24 counts of intruding on a woman’s privacy to insult her modesty, has been suspended since March.
It was previously unclear if Lee was a student at the college.
“Brandon Lee Bing Xiang, a student at Yale-NUS College, has been charged in court for insulting the modesty of a fellow student. He was suspended the day after the College was notified about the incident in March 2019,” said the college.
It added that it has reached out to the affected female student to provide the necessary support.
“The matter is currently before the courts and it would not be appropriate for the College to comment further on Lee’s case,” the institution said.
The college added that it “takes a serious view of allegations of sexual misconduct”.
Lee’s offences occurred either in a classroom or a shower cubicle at the liberal arts college between August 2017 and March this year, charge sheets showed.
He is accused of targeting at least four different women, according to court documents.
Yale-NUS College campus. (Photo: Yale-NUS College)
Yale-NUS said it has in place “an established process to firmly address such matters” and “support systems to ensure the psychological well-being of our students”.
“When cases of sexual misconduct are formally reported to the College, an investigation will be conducted and disciplinary action meted out where appropriate,” said Yale-NUS.
It also said “security measures” were in place to protect students’ safety and well-being, and “multiple levels of support” available on campus, including staff members, senior students and psychologists.
“In addition, there is a full-time staff member in the Dean of Students’ office, whose responsibilities include overseeing these processes and coordinating survivor support.”
Affected students can approach a residential staff member or any of the 25 community members “on a support team that has been trained in survivor support skills”, Yale-NUS said.
Lee will return to court on Oct 22.
A conviction could land him in jail for up to a year, fined, or both for each charge of intruding on a woman’s privacy to insult her modesty.
Suspecting his wife was having an affair, the husband camped outside a hotel in the hope of catching her with her lover.
When he saw them entering a car, the man demanded they alight.
But Desmond Koh Wee Boon drove off instead, and ended up driving for about half an hour, up to speeds of 70kmh, with the victim hanging onto his front windscreen for at least 7km.
Yesterday, Koh, 34, was sentenced to 11 weeks’ jail and disqualified from driving for two years for one count of doing a rash act that endangered human life or the safety of others.
The court heard that on April 28, 2018, the victim, 27, and his friend managed to track down the victim’s wife and camped outside Fragrance Hotel in Kovan.
After waiting for several hours, the man saw his wife entering the car with Koh at about 3am.
He banged on the windscreen and the driver’s side door, demanding they alight.
But Koh drove off, and the victim clung to the driver’s door and shouted for him to stop, but he continued to drive for about 40m down Sireh Place, before making a left turn into Kampong Sireh.
