Obama burger in Singapore

Oh gosh...O'Leary's, a restaurant at the Singapore Flyer, will include an "Obama burger" on their menu, in recognition of the US President who will be in town for the summit. The burger will cost S$16.
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Source: Channelnewsasia

Restaurant offers APEC-themed menu, including Obama burger

SINGAPORE: Delegates to the APEC Summit next week will have more to chew on than just meetings.

An APEC-themed menu at O'Leary's, which is a restaurant at the Singapore Flyer, will include an "Obama burger" in recognition of the US President who will be in town for the summit. The burger will cost S$16.

And for an additional S$4, APEC delegates will be able to have the country's signature cocktail - the Singapore Sling - all in celebration of the grouping's 20th anniversary.

- CNA/sc

How sensational can you get

The title is so inapt, or partially true.....

Source: channelnewsasia

Thomas Ong got engaged to a 17-year-old

SINGPORE : When Thomas Ong signed on to be the host of Channel U's new infotainment programme "Diminishing Horizons", there were a lot of things he wasn't prepared for. Landing himself a teen bride was one of them.

In the show, Thomas visits places around the globe with a rich sense of history and culture that are in danger of being wiped out, such as Harran, Turkey, one of the oldest cities in the world; the descendants of the Sino-Russians; and the headhunters of Nagaland.

It was in Harran that Thomas found he had unwittingly plighted his troth to be wed.

"We visited these very old houses made from clay and mud. According to them, their ancestors 5,000 years ago lived in houses like those," Thomas told TODAY. "There was this old man with a 17-year-old daughter. She offered me coffee. Then the father explained to me that I had to marry her. They had this silly rule that if the girl offers you a beverage and you accept, it's like you're accepting her. I was shocked, lah!"

Don't worry, Thomas escaped unscathed, bride-less and with no breach-of-contract troubles. "If you don't want to marry the daughter, you have to give them livestock. I offered her a small amount of cash and got myself out of it!"

Smart move if you're up the creek without a goat - but that wasn't the worst of it. The most memorable thing about his journeys, said Thomas, was "the hardship".

"The life there is very tough. Things we have been taking for granted, like clean water, electricity and flush toilets - most places I visited didn't have those. I wouldn't want to live there for too long.

"I'm very lucky that I could visit these places and share it with viewers. I come back a more humble person. I no longer take for granted clean water, electricity, things like that."

We're guessing he no longer takes his swinging singlehood for granted, either.

Catch "Diminishing Horizons" starting on November 11 at 8pm on MediaCorp TV Channel U.

Impact of Morakot in little red dot

Source: StraitsTimes

Typhoon slows down Internet

SOME Singapore Internet users may be experiencing slowdowns on the Information Superhighway, especially when trying to access websites hosted in the United States and Taiwan.

Typhoon Morakot, which has triggered Taiwan's worst flooding in 50 years, has damaged the Asia-Pacific Cable Network 2 submarine cable system through which bytes of information travel.

This means that people trying to connect to gaming servers in the US or trying to instant message friends overseas may find it difficult to connect.

A SingTel spokesman said that restoration works on the cable system have begun.

'Our engineers are in the process of diverting Internet traffic to other cable systems. We expect the situation to return to acceptable levels within the next 24 hours,' he said.

The last time a major outage happened was in December 2006, when quakes off Taiwan severed several cables at once, causing the Net to go down.

Non-supportive wife of a supportive fan

What is the world coming to? Has man's status in the family degraded in the 21st century?

Source: Yahoo.com
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Police have detained a Malaysian woman who allegedly stabbed her husband in the chest for coming home late after watching a football match between Manchester United and Malaysia, an official said Tuesday.

The man had promised to come back immediately after the match in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday evening, but his wife was "very angry" when he returned after midnight, said district police chief Abdul Jalil Hassan.

The woman stabbed him twice in the chest with a kitchen knife and then took him to a hospital, where a doctor reported the incident to police, Abdul Jalil told The Associated Press.

"He was with friends after the match, so that's why he came home late," Abdul Jalil said.

The man was recovering in the hospital, he said.

Police have not decided whether to charge the woman with any offense.

The English Premier League champions defeated Malaysia 3-2 on Saturday in their opening match on a preseason Asian tour.

RIP King of POP

My favorite song from the King of POP...



Make that change.

4 million dollars

I is the sad that my beloved town council lost 4 million in their investment. 'Fortunately', its ONLY 2.6 percent. Afterall, they have about 138 million in their sinking fund as at 31 March last year.

I honestly hope they will consider seeking help from MAS, since its unlikely they will invest in high-risk financial product. I am pretty sure more than one person read the bold print which states that the principal amount is not guaranteed. There must be some 'mis-selling'... It has to be that case....

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Source: StraitsTimes

$12m in troubled products

By Goh Chin Lian

TWO town councils - Holland-Bukit Panjang and Pasir Ris-Punggol - have about $12 million invested in troubled structured products.

These products include Lehman Minibonds and Merrill Lynch Jubilee Series 3.

Senior Minister of State (National Development and Education) Grace Fu gave this update in Parliament on Monday, in response to a question from Nominated MP Eunice Olsen.

Since Dec 1 last year, the amount that town councils can invest in non-government stocks, funds or securities has been capped at 35 per cent of the sinking fund.

Holland-Bukit Panjang invested about 6.7 per cent of its total funds available for investment in the structured products, and Pasir Ris-Punggol, about 2.6 per cent.

The sinking funds are used to pay for long-term or cyclical expenditure, such as replacing lifts, pumps and pipes, re-roofing, and repairing and redecorating blocks.

The funds are also used to pay for lift upgrading, so that residents pay a smaller percentage of the total lift upgrading cost.

The sinking fund is distinct from the operating fund, which is used for short term expenditures.

Ms Fu said town councils need to invest their funds prudently so that the accumulated funds are not eroded by inflation.

The investment guidelines - which her ministry has no plans to change - seek to achieve an optimal balance between reasonable returns and financial prudence, she added.

She noted that investments in stocks, funds or securities must be on the advice of a qualified person, such as an investment adviser holding a licence under the Securities and Futures Act, and an approved bank or a merchant bank approved as a financial institution under the Monetary Authority of Singapore Act.

The 16 town councils manage more than $1 billion in sinking funds.

Yoga to be banned in Malaysia

Disclaimer: Nothing against any religion.

Source: The Straits Times

Oct 29, 2008

Ban on yoga for muslims?

KUALA LUMPUR - MUSLIMS in Malaysia may be barred from the ancient practice of yoga if they engage in Hindu 'religious elements' during the exercise, a top Islamic cleric said on Wednesday.

Mr Harussani Zakaria, a controversial cleric from the northern Perak state, said the government-backed National Fatwa Council would soon release a decree, or 'fatwa', which would decide if Muslims were allowed to practise yoga.

'If it involves any faith or religious elements it is definitely not permissible but if it is just a form of exercise that is all right,' Mr Harussani said.

'Muslims cannot practice yoga in its original form because it involves another religion,' he said in response to a call to ban Muslims from engaging in yoga.

Islam is the official religion of Malaysia, where more than 60 percent of the population of 27 million are Muslim Malays who practice a conservative brand of the religion.

The practice of yoga, a popular stress-buster in Kuala Lumpur, dates back thousands of years in India, where it was a favorite of holy men before becoming hugely popular internationally, especially among western celebrities.

Prof Zakaria Stapa, a professor in the Islamic faculty of the National University of Malaysia, had called on Muslims to stop practising yoga, saying it could cause them to 'deviate from their faith', news reports said on Wednesday.

Muslims in Malaysia practised yoga not just for exercise but also as part of the growing urban lifestyle and involved 'chanting mantras while in various positions', he said.

'Why should we look for other alternatives to exercise and search for peace? Yoga could cause (Muslims) to stray from their faith because its movements are according to the style and traditions of Hinduism,' he said.

The fatwa council, one of Malaysia's highest Islamic bodies, last Friday banned women from dressing or behaving like men and engaging in lesbian sex, saying it was forbidden by the religion. -- AFP

Discrimination to flat-chested motorists

Its amazing what the lawmakers (in Vietnam) can come up with.

Source: StraitsTimes 

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Oct 29, 2008

Yes to flat-chested motorists?

HANOI - COMMUNIST Vietnam has suspended a much-criticised plan to ban very short, thin and flat-chested people from driving, state media reported on Wednesday.

The new draft guidelines on motorcycle and car drivers had drawn widespread criticism and ridicule from motorists, newspaper readers and bloggers since they were published by the health ministry two weeks ago.

Under the 83-point plan, people shorter than 1.5 metres, lighter than 40 kilogrammes or with a chest circumference of less than 72 centimetres would no longer qualify for new drivers' licences.

The proposal worried many in this nation of slender people and spurned jokes about traffic police with tape measures enthusiastically flagging down female motorcyclists, and predictions of a run on padded bras.

The justice ministry has asked the health ministry to temporarily suspend and review the plan, the Vietnam News daily reported.

'After receiving public opinion about the decision, the health and transport ministries agreed there had to be changes,' senior health department official Tran Quy Tuong was quoted as saying by the state-run daily. -- AFP

Tuesday news in brief

Cost of living is going up in Singapore, don't really need the CPI to tell me that.

Should I skipped the Batman movie just to save a few bucks? I know this man in LA didn't, even if it means leaving his kid in a car just to catch that show of the year.

Maybe I should catch it, cos you never know what is going to happen tomorrow, or the next time you sit on the toilet bowl.

I think that guy who got whack in his butt must be cursing and blaming his luck...but I bet you he won't complain if he knew what happen to another man who actually died while taking a leak.

Life...so unpredictable...

When zeroes mean a lot...

The newspaper reported that Singapore now has 77,000 millionaires.

I wonder how many are born here...

ERP is good for business

This is from a newspaper I saw last week...I am still trying to figure out the how much truth are there in this statement.

Perhaps they meant the gantry suppliers or contractors that install or maintain these gigantic gate...

Power of sudoku

And I thought I was addicted to it....apparently the jury in Australia found it more challenging than what they were SUPPOSED to be doing...

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We were playing Sudoku, jury confess
Thu, Jun 12, 2008
AFP

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: A judge was forced to abandon a three-month drugs trial after jurors admitted they had been doing Sudoku puzzles.

Sydney District Court Judge Peter Zahra aborted proceedings on Tuesday after the jury foreman admitted she and four others had been playing the game to "keep my mind busy".

Their number was up after one of the defendants noticed the foreman writing vertically instead of horizontally.

Lawyers had presumed the scribbling they could see jurors doing was simply note-taking.

"We actually all thought they were quite a diligent jury," defence lawyer Robyn Hakelis told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

A new panel is expected to be sworn in within weeks.

In Sudoku, 81 squares must be filled with the numbers 1 to 9 so there are nine complete sets in each row, column and square. --AFP

Goodbye pluto

Change is the only constant - even a planet has been downgraded...

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Pluto gets a new name - plutoid

Thu, Jun 12, 2008
Reuters

WASHINGTON - PLUTO, demoted from planet status in 2006, got a consolation prize on Wednesday - it and other dwarf planets like it will be called plutoids.

The International Astronomical Union said in a statement that its executive committee meeting in Oslo, Norway, decided on the term.

Plutoids will be defined as celestial bodies in orbit around the Sun farther away than Neptune. They must have near-spherical shape, and must not have swept up other, smaller objects in their orbits, said the organisation, which names newly discovered planets and other celestial bodies.

The two known and named plutoids are Pluto and Eris, but astronomers expect to find more.

Another dwarf planet, Ceres, does not merit the plutoid designation because it is in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. -- REUTERS

Mother nature reminds us again

Nobody on earth is omnipotent.

Just when everyone thought the cyclone that tore through Myanmar was devastating enough, the earth rocks and took away many innocent lives, including young ones in China Sichuan province.

The main stream newspaper flooded front page with huge photo footage each day. Today was that of the remains of one town near the epicenter. I also read about a story about a young girl who has to have her limbs (not sure if its both) amputated to be rescued from the debris. TV news at night once again show videos of mothers who lost their child going berserk. Simply too heart wrenching for the emotional ones.

Just pray more will be saved.

To blog or not to blog

It's getting more and more precarious in blogosphere. Be careful of what you said, or you might lose your job.

Blogger Tan Kian Ann has this to say - Who should not blog?

S'pore cannot afford "revolving door" style of govt: MM Lee

Perhaps we should close the door (i.e. scrap election), or face the possibility of losing good leaders and losing control of the S$210 billion of dollars...
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S'pore cannot afford "revolving door" style of govt: MM Lee
By Asha Popatlal, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 04 April 2007 1918 hrs

SYDNEY: Singapore cannot afford to have a "revolving door" style of government where top leaders change every five years.

Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said the country needs good, competent people who will stay.

And this is why they must be paid market rates.

Mr Lee was speaking to reporters in Sydney at the end of his visit to Australia and New Zealand.

From parliamentary secretaries to ministers, the top level in the civil service is paid a total of S$46 million annually.

That is 0.13 percent of the total government expenditure or 0.022 percent of GDP.

On Monday, the civil service pay review will be announced in Parliament.

The Minister Mentor warned that the Singapore economy would be in jeopardy if it does not pay top dollar for top people.

He said if this S$46 million was cut to maybe S$36 million or S$26 million, the country would save S$20 million but in the process, would jeopardise an economy of S$210 billion.

"So for the average family earning S$1,500-S$3,000, we are talking of astronomical figures but for people like me in government, to deal with the money which we have accumulated by the sweat of our brow over the last 40 years, you have to pay the market rate or the man will up stakes and join Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers or Goldman Sachs and you would have an incompetent man and you would have lost money by the billions," said Mr Lee.

While other countries may have leaders who are paid less, Mr Lee said rewarding Singapore leaders well is a system that has worked and is above board.

He said: "If you are going to quarrel about S$46 million – up or down another S$10 to S$20 million – I say you don't have a sense of proportion."

And when it comes to benchmarking, Mr Lee said his own annual income, which is S$2.7 million, is a fraction of what the top manager in the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) earns.

He said: "The cure for all this talk is really a good dose of incompetent government... your asset values will disappear, your apartments will be worth a fraction of what it is, your jobs will be in peril, your security will be at risk and our women will become maids in other persons' countries - foreign workers."

When asked to comment on the perception that political leaders should not be in it for the money, and instead, be ready to make that extra sacrifice for the good of the people, the Minister Mentor said it is an admirable sentiment.

But he added that it had taken much persuasion to get leaders like Dr Ng Eng Hen and Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, who had lucrative private practices, to give it all up to join politics, with no guarantee of success.

Innocent until proven guilty

Saw this in StraitsTimes today.

I was pretty astonished to find out that the guy is still in pursue of his hot wheel dream. I do hope he learns to be a more cautious driver from that accident. To be involved in a motorcar accident is already quite traumatic, at least to me. To get someone killed, I think I would remember it for life, whether its actually my fault or not.

I personally had gain some valuable lessons from my own motorcar accident. I remember there is a chinese saying, 马路如虎口, literally translated to 'the road is as dangerous as putting yourself at the front of a tiger's mouth'.

Slow down, breathe in, cruise on.....
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Driver crashes test car, sales exec dies
# MARCH 21, 2007: Now he's shopping for these hot wheels

Netizens outraged that he's shopping for another fast car while still under probe over fatal test-drive
By Christopher Tan, Senior Correspondent

ONLINE forums used by the community of car enthusiasts have been aflame lately.

The target of their ire: the young man who got into an accident while test-driving a Mazda MX-5 in October 2005, which caused the death of the Mazda sales executive seated beside him.

These netizens are worked up because the said young man is - just 18 months later - shopping for a new high-performance car in an apparently nonchalant fashion.

Mr Regan Lee, 26, declared in a posting on mycarforum.com on March 21 that he was undecided between a Volkswagen Golf GTI and a Subaru WRX STI-S.

'Really in a dilemma at the moment,' he wrote. 'Would really like to own the GTI, but an extra $10k in car price would mean i gotta eat less every month ...lol...What you guys think?' ('lol' stands for 'laughing out loud' in online forum parlance.)

Discussions had begun on a cordial note, with forum participants offering their personal assessments of the GTI and the WRX.

Soon enough, someone recalled that Mr Lee was the one at the wheel of the Mazda MX-5 in the crash that left 22-year-old sales executive Angelia He Xueli dead.

That was when civility went out the window.

'Put him behind bars,' went the posting by Hamster Fest.

Legendkiller declared: 'He can run but he cannot hide. I will do my best to ensure that he does not get to drive another car again.'

The online attack spilled into other online forums such as Sammyboy.com and Hardwarezone.

In the latter, the discussion thread in the current affairs section pulled in a whopping 63,000 views - more than 50 times the average number that other topics in the section attract.

On the day of the accident, Mr Lee took a $110,000 Mazda MX-5 convertible for a test-drive.

Barely five minutes into the drive, while along Upper Paya Lebar Road, Mr Lee lost control of the MX-5, a car known for its above-par road-holding.

The car flew over the divider, smashed head-on into a black BMW, flipped over it and came crashing down onto a van on another lane.

He was unhurt, but Ms He died an hour later in hospital.

Mr Lee was arrested but was released on bail.

He has not been charged to this day, and police said yesterday that investigations were still being carried out.

Since the accident, Upper Paya Lebar Road has been repaved and realigned. Mazda Motor (Singapore) has received an insurance payout for the badly crushed MX-5, which is believed to have been scrapped.

Mr Lee could not be contacted for comment.

Hardwarezone member James Ng, 25, when asked why he thought forum participants have come down so hard on Mr Lee, said it probably had to do with the perception that justice had not been served, and that 'he still has his driving licence and he still poses a danger to others'.

Mr Ng, an undergraduate at SIM University, said forum posters were assuming Mr Lee was responsible for the accident.

He added that people also had not forgotten that it cost the life of a young woman.

christan@sph.com.sg