It’s been nearly a month since Trust Yoga was thrust into the spotlight after a former student accused an instructor of sexual assault, but the backlash has yet to cease, the studio claimed.
In a statement posted on their Instagram on Tuesday (Aug 25), the studio said that several staff members and students have been on the receiving end of cyberbullying.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Trust Yoga (@trust_yoga_sg) on Aug 25, 2020 at 7:14am PDT
A 38-year-old Malaysian man who reportedly slashed his ex-girlfriend’s new flame in the head with a vegetable knife this morning (Aug 28) has been arrested, the police confirmed.
The violent attack, which took place in a flat at Block 534 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, left the woman’s boyfriend with a 10cm long gash on his head and her sister with a cut in her arm, Lianhe Wanbao reported.
The perpetrator and his ex-girlfriend live together in the flat, along with her sister and brother-in-law, the Chinese daily said, citing interviews with several of their neighbours.
After finding out that his ex-girlfriend had brought her new romantic partner home, the man reportedly confronted the pair.
A heated argument ensued and the man began attacking them with a vegetable knife from the kitchen.
In the melee, the woman’s boyfriend was slashed in the forehead and the woman’s sister also suffered a cut on her right arm.
The three of them fled the house and ran to a nearby carpark, knocking on their neighbours’ doors and calling for help along the way.
An Instagram account sharing only pictures of pregnant women in Singapore who didn’t seem to know that their photos were being taken and uploaded online has been outed.
With over 5,000 followers, the Instagram account holds over 5,600 posts of random women in public, including on the MRT, in shopping malls or even on the streets. While most of the photos are of expecting women in Singapore, some posts appear to have been taken overseas, including Hong Kong.
Aside from the common thread of clearly pregnant women throughout the posts, the pictures shared appear to be hastily taken and without the subject’s knowledge.
Some of the women also appear as if they realised their photo was being surreptitiously taken, judging from their direct gaze into the lens. PHOTO: Screengrab/InstagramFurthermore, it seems the photographer takes multiple shots of the women each time.
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s National Day Parade (NDP) in 2021 may be held at The Float @ Marina Bay “if the situation allows”, said Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen on Friday (Aug 28).
Dr Ng was speaking at a virtual function on Friday for participating organisations, sponsors and key appointment holders of the NDP 2020 organising committee, in recognition of their support and contributions towards this year’s NDP.
“If the situation allows, we will bring NDP back to the Float @ Marina Bay – that’s the plan – NDP 2021, COVID-19 is under control, we will go back to the Float,” said Dr Ng.
“And if it does, it will be the tenth time that NDP is held at the Float – I think a good round number to end off the series of NDPs for what was meant to be a temporary floating platform before it is rebuilt into the permanent NS Square.”
The NS Square is set to replace the Float @ Marina Bay, which would be redeveloped into a permanent space to commemorate National Service and serve as the primary venue for the National Day Parade, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in 2017.
Dr Ng said that even if the COVID-19 pandemic persists in August 2021, he is certain NDP 2021 will carry on, just as how this year’s parade went ahead.
“Singaporeans have proven through NDP 2020 that how we celebrate NDP each year is a matter of choice, and we choose to celebrate NDP, come rain or shine, virus or no virus.
“Each year’s NDP celebration is that annual reminder to ourselves and to the World that this little red dot is determined to shine, no matter the difficulties that come our way,” he said.
SINGAPOREANS WANT TO BE PART OF NDP
Even amid difficulties, Singaporeans want to be part of the parade, said Dr Ng.
“This is a virtuous trait that we should further support and encourage in subsequent NDPs, even when conditions allow us to hold centralised NDPs,” he added.
Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen speaking at a virtual appreciation function on Aug 28, 2020 for participating organisations, sponsors and key appointment holders of the National Day Parade 2020 organising committee. (Photo: MINDEF)
Dr Ng asked, for example, if it was possible to continue having NDP packs for all households, Chinooks flying around Singapore with the state flag, Red Lion teams parachuting into HDB estates and fireworks across the skies as standard items at each parade.
“I’m not making an edict here, but I’m just asking that subsequent (executive committees) study what Singaporeans are asking for, which elements can be incorporated at every NDP at a sustainable level, and of course, depending on the ground support for these activities,” said Dr Ng.
This year’s parade was held during the pandemic, which started in Singapore in January, about nine months before the event, he noted.
While the first iteration of the parade had included massive crowds and thousands of performers, these were dropped as the number of COVID-19 infections in the country began to rise.
“But as the number of infections rose through January, February, and the circuit breaker, I think it became quite clear that we had to jettison all these plans and instead come up with a relatively COVID-proof way to prepare for and celebrate NDP,” said Dr Ng.
Crowds could not gather to watch the parade, nor were mass performances allowed to take place due to COVID-19.
“So, if Singaporeans can’t come to watch the NDP, then we must bring the NDP to Singaporeans,” he said.
This was “the core concept” that led to many good ideas about celebrating NDP in the heartlands this year, said Dr Ng, adding that the feedback received from many Singaporeans were very positive.
The minister said he was glad that Singaporeans chose to come together during this year’s NDP to celebrate the country’s “unity, resolve and resilience as one people”.
The Red Lions land near Sengkang General Hospital on Aug 9, 2020. (Photo: Hanidah Amin)
“Whether it was during the decentralised flag raising ceremonies across the island, the mobile columns, the Red Lions in the heartlands, the naval sailpast or the F15s and Chinooks in our skies – Singaporeans did not shy from showing their support.
“They waved their flags vigorously and cheered through their masks,” said Dr Ng.
This year’s NDP was a “fitting tribute” to frontline and essential workers, the defence mininster added.
“(The night show) provided a glimpse of the innumerable displays of unity, resilience and ground-up acts of kindness among Singaporeans – all these were timely reminders that this is what we celebrate and defend – Singaporeans, who care for the country and one another, for Singapore.”
Dr Ng also thanked all the performers who “pulled off” a spectacular show at this year’s celebrations despite the difficult conditions imposed by the COVID-19 situation.
“Each performer I know had to undergo two swab tests and I am very glad that all were healthy and the show could go on,” he said.
He also thanked the NDP 2020 organising committee, parade participants, partner agencies including the Home Team, and sponsors for making NDP 2020 a safe and successful one.
“NDP 2020 uplifted Singaporeans to rise above present difficulties, to forge ahead with the assurance that we will surmount each challenge taking care of one another,” Dr Ng said.
SINGAPORE: Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) firefighters battling a raging industrial blaze can spend hours doing backbreaking work while enduring intense heat. Their body temperatures spike, not helped by the bulky protective equipment they have to wear.
These responders work in 30- to 40-minute shifts before rotating with another team. This is when they remove their gear, have a drink and rest under shade. But because they are so acclimatised to the heat, they might not realise their body temperatures have hit alarming levels.
Some can exceed 39.5 degrees Celsius, putting them at a higher risk of heat stroke. Left unchecked, heat injuries can have serious consequences, including multiple organ failure and death. The key is to reduce the body temperature as quickly as possible.
The SCDF wants to achieve this by rolling out a new purpose-built vehicle that can be deployed on scene to rehabilitate and treat first responders who show signs of heat injury. The Responders’ Performance Vehicle (RPV) was unveiled to the media on Wednesday (Aug 26).
The Responders’ Performance Vehicle combines three custom-built cooling methods on a single platform to help SCDF responders with heat injury. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
“The RPV leverages on science and technology and we really would like to have this vehicle to improve our operations as well as the welfare and standards of our responders,” RPV project officer Captain (Cpt) Edrick Lim said.
The RPV comes with three types of cooling equipment for responders to dip their forearm or body in cold water. Studies have shown this technique is the quickest way of reducing temperatures, as compared to body cooling units, cooling packs and ice packs.
“They clearly state that in the event of heat stroke, where cold water immersion is available, it is the preferred mode of treatment,” said Major Dr Luke Tay, an SCDF operationally ready national serviceman (NSman) and consultant surgeon who was involved in the RPV project.
The responders are sent to three sections based on their body temperatures: Rapid cooling zone (below 37.9 degrees Celsius), deep cooling zone (37.9 degrees Celsius and above), and cold water immersion (38.5 degrees Celsius and above).
Based on research, Cpt Lim believes the vehicle is the “first in the world” for combining three custom-built cooling methods on a single platform.
The SCDF has one RPV ready for deployment during prolonged incidents or those that come with a higher risk of heat exhaustion, including massive factory fires or chemical leaks. The latter require personnel to wear bulkier hazardous material suits.
SCDF chief medical officer Colonel (Col) Dr Shalini Arulanandam said the force could get a second RPV depending on its future training and operational needs, including how frequently the first RPV is used over the next few years.
The SCDF has one RPV ready for deployment during prolonged incidents or those that come with a higher risk of heat exhaustion, including massive factory fires or chemical leaks. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
The RPV, manned by a pair of paramedics and emergency medical technicians, is an improvement on SCDF’s Responders’ Performance Module. The latter, launched in 2013, is a 20-foot container with similar capabilities that had to be towed.
The module took 45 minutes to set up and could treat 20 personnel at once, compared to the RPV’s 20 minute deployment time and treatment capacity of 37 responders. The SCDF usually sends a first wave of 28 to 32 personnel to an incident.
RAPID COOLING ZONE
At a scene, responders’ temperatures are taken aurally before being sent to the RPV’s three zones. The vehicle is hooked up to a fire hydrant to fill an internal tank that chills the water.
The rapid cooling zone is located outside the RPV under a retractable shade. Fourteen foldable chairs, with hollow armrests containing 15 degrees Celsius water, are deployed on either side of the vehicle. Responders dip their forearms and sit under a vent that blows cool air.
The RPV comes with foldable chairs, each with hollow armrests containing 15 degrees Celsius water to help cool the first responders at the scene. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
This is a step up from the Responders’ Performance Module, which could only deploy eight chairs without immersion capabilities on either side. Fans were used instead of cool air.
Responders sit in these chairs for 20 minutes before their temperatures are taken again. Those who measure below 37.9 degrees Celsius can be re-deployed to the operation.
Cpt Lim said the science shows that 15 degrees Celsius water achieves the best balance between comfort and cooling rate, while body temperatures drop the most in the first 20 minutes.
Responders can dip their forearms into the 15 degrees Celcius water and sit under a vent that blows cool air. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
DEEP COOLING ZONE
The higher-risk deep cooling zone is located inside the air-conditioned RPV, designed with darker colours and dimmer lighting to encourage mental recuperation.
There are two rows of four aluminium seats for optimal heat conduction. Responders again dip their forearms in 15 degrees Celsius water for 20 minutes.
The deep cooling zone is located inside the air-conditioned RPV. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
The difference is that these armrests automatically fill with water, with the ability to maintain its temperature regardless of how much heat is dissipated. Machines continuously monitor a responder’s temperature, heart rate and oxygen level.
The water temperature in the hollow armrests in the deep cooling zone is maintained at 15 degrees Celsius. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
COLD WATER IMMERSION
Responders at the highest risk of heat injury, including those who show symptoms like disorientation, are sent for cold water immersion in a single fibreglass tub located outside the vehicle. Responders lie inside the tub in five degrees Celsius water.
The tub circulates and regulates the water at a consistent temperature throughout, and directs jet streams to different parts of the body to speed up heat removal. Responders are only submerged for five minutes due to the ice cold temperature.
Responders with a temperature of 38.5 degrees Celsius and above will be asked to lie in a tub filled with five degrees Celsius water. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
The tub is also portable enough to be deployed outfield and in medical centres. Responders who undergo cold water immersion must be sent to hospital to be further assessed for heat injury.
CONCEPTUALISATION
The RPV was conceptualised in 2016 after the Responders’ Performance Module was shown to work during operations. It also built on an earlier predecessor called the Mobile Body Cooling Unit, which is an ambulance retrofitted with fans and pressurised water mists.
Over the next few years, SCDF studied the latest academic research, engineering solutions and medical science to come up with the RPV. The process involved SCDF NSmen doctors, National University of Singapore researchers and local engineering firm HOPE Technik.
SCDF said the RPV was designed and field tested with ergonomics and the user experience in mind. Responders including paramedics and emergency medical technicians tried out a prototype and gave feedback on its features.
“For example, things like dimensions and height of the cold water tub (and) making sure its corners are not sharp,” said Cpt Dr Arif Uzair Mohamad Roslan, an SCDF NSman who was also involved in the project.
“These are small things but played a major role in the eventual design of the tub.”
The cold immersion tub directs jet streams to different parts of the body to speed up heat removal. (Photo: Try Sutrisno Foo)
In the bigger picture, Col Dr Shalini said data from the RPV could be used to further study how responders physically react during operations.
“For vital signs collecting, we can deploy this RPV during training when they’re doing a live fire,” she said.
“We can monitor the trainees’ body temperature when they come out and after cooling. That’s very unique data that is not easily collected in a live situation without this vehicle.”
SINGAPORE: Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan on Friday (Aug 28) offered his condolences after two bomb blasts on a restive southern Philippine island killed at least 14 people, calling it a “heinous” act of violence on innocent civilians.
Dr Balakrishnan conveyed his condolences in a letter to Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Teodoro Locsin.
Monday’s explosions on the southwest island of Jolo in Sulu province killed a mix of soldiers, police, civilians and wounded at least 75 people. It is the Philippines’ deadliest attack since a double suicide bombing at a church in January 2019 left 20 people dead and wounded at least 100.
“I was saddened by the tragic loss of lives in the twin bombing attacks,” said Dr Balakrishnan.
“Please accept my sincere condolences for the victims and their families. I wish those injured a speedy recovery,” he added.
Military personnel and civilians stretcher away a soldier after an improvised bomb exploded next to a military vehicle in the town of Jolo on Sulu island on Aug 24, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Nickee Butlangan)
In his letter, Dr Balakrishnan also said that Singapore strongly condemned this act of violence on innocent civilians, which is “particularly heinous” at a time when the world – including the Philippines – is fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are confident that the Philippine authorities will be able to swiftly stabilise the situation in Jolo, and bring the perpetrators of this attack to justice,” he said.
“Our thoughts are with the people of the Philippines during this difficult time.”
Soldiers stretcher away a colleague injured in a bomb blast in Jolo on Sulu island in the Philippines. (Photo: AFP/Nickee Butlangan)
Monday’s twin bombings went off within an hour of each other in the main town on Jolo, a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic State-linked group that has intensified its campaign in recent years through the use of suicide bombers.
Philippines’ army chief said on Wednesday that two female suicide attackers who carried out the bombings were the widows of militants who had worked for Abu Sayyaf.
The military said the first blast, initially thought to be motorcycle bomb, happened around noon on Monday and went off close to two parked army trucks, killing soldiers and civilians.
As police and army surveyed the scene, a suicide bomber tried to breach a cordon and detonated her device, killing herself and several others.
No group has claimed responsibility for the country’s deadliest attack this year, but the military pointed to Abu Sayyaf as the likely culprits.
Army chief Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana identified the female bombers as Nanah and Inda Nay.
Sobejana said Nanah was the wife of Norman Lasuca, who is considered the Philippines’ first homegrown suicide bomber. He died in an attack outside a military camp on Jolo in June 2019, killing several soldiers and civilians.
Inda Nay was the wife of Talha Jumsah, who acted as liaison between Abu Sayyaf and the Islamic State militant group.
Things have really been on the up and up for Charles Yeo this year since his introduction as one of the Reform Party (RP) candidates taking on the People’s Action Party team in Ang Mo Kio GRC during the General Election.
The 30-year-old lawyer’s popularity continues to soar in the online realm post-GE thanks to his continued advocacy and unabashed criticism of the ruling government on his social media channels — so much so that people set up a subreddit dedicated to all things Charles Yeo.
But it’s on Instagram that he commands the most influence. The now-RP chairman and Dota 2-loving activist has over 16,000 followers on his Instagram account, where he churns out political commentaries on a daily basis.
SINGAPORE: Five people were arrested for suspected drug activities after the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) conducted raids in Ang Mo Kio and Bukit Panjang on Thursday (Aug 27).
About S$230,000 worth of drugs were seized during the raids, CNB said in a news release on Friday. The seized drugs comprised about 2kg of cannabis, about 291g of heroin, and about 550g of Ice or crystal methamphetamine.
On Thursday evening, CNB officers intercepted a car in the vicinity of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5. Two men, aged 30 and 50 years old, were arrested.
A bundle containing about 537g of Ice and a torn cigarette box containing about 13g of Ice were seized from the car.
They then brought the 30-year-old to his residence at Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10. The officers conducted a search there and found three bags containing about 291g of heroin and a bundle containing about 1kg of cannabis.
A 26-year-old woman was also arrested in the man’s residence.
A black bundle containing about 1kg of cannabis was seized from a unit in the vicinity of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 on Aug 27, 2020. (Photo: CNB)
In a follow-up operation, CNB officers arrested a 47-year-old man at Bukit Panjang Ring Road. Two packets containing about 10g of cannabis were found in his possession.
CNB officers also raided a flat in the same block and arrested a 42-year-old man. Prior to his arrest, the man “was believed to have discarded a package out of the unit’s window”, CNB said. Officers recovered the package, which contained about 965g of cannabis.
A bag containing about 965g of cannabis was recovered from the ground floor of a block in the vicinity of Bukit Panjang Ring Road on Aug 27, 2020. (Photo: CNB)
“The total amount of 550g of Ice that had been seized in the operation is sufficient to feed the addiction of about 314 abusers for a week, while the total amount of 2kg of cannabis seized is sufficient to feed the addiction of about 287 abusers for a week,” said CNB on Friday.
Investigations into the drug activities of all the suspects are ongoing, the bureau added.
All one student wanted was to learn how to drive. But the lesson went way off track when his instructor from Soon Tien Driving School allegedly questioned his nationality, demeaned Burmese people and insinuated that his mother was a mail-order bride.
The driving school has apologised to the student, refunded his lesson fees and are “rethinking their employment” of the freelance instructor, identified only as Anthony, its owner confirmed to AsiaOne today (Aug 28).
The apology came after the student, who goes by the handle u/emporius_opt_max, related his ordeal in a Reddit post on Tuesday (Aug 25), gaining online traction and receiving over 2,600 upvotes.
Wanting to obtain a Class 3 driving license, the student had engaged Anthony via SgDrivingInstructors, an online platform which matches students with private driving instructors.
According to the student, the lesson got off to a rough start when Anthony assumed right off the bat that he was doing a foreign license conversion course due to his deep complexion and Burmese ethnicity.
Stay in the know with a recap of our top stories today.
1. How to turn your HDB flat into a loft-style apartment (no special approval needed)
The appeal of living in a loft-like space reminiscent of the loft apartments in SoHo, New York lies mainly in the openness, the bright, expansive space and the high ceilings… » READ MORE
2. Hong Kong star Michael Miu finally talks about why he broke up with late Anita Mui
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