Allow partial withdrawal of CPF savings at 65

95 Pages·2015·40.33 MB·English

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FEBRUARY1,2015 n 102PAGESIN FOURPARTSn MCI (P)072/02/2014
BILLION-DOLLAR TTAARRTTSS FROM
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turned gem
normal guy,”
dealer Ben
SUNDAY LIFE!
insists the
PAGES28&29 Cheong’s
Godfather
life around
of Football
TTHHIINNKKPPAAGGEE4433
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CROWN
Keep your eye on
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Rohit Brijnath
SSPPOORRTTPPAAGGEE4477
PHOTOS: KUA CHEE SIONG, DESMOND WEE, NEO XIAOBIN, EPA, AFP
IN
‘Allow partial CPF review panel also the Minimum Sum to be adjusted “The (whole CPF) system really
CHUA suggests voluntary upwards, it pointed out that the isnotveryeasytounderstand,”he
amountmembersmustleaveinthe said.
MUI HOONG Minimum Sum top-up CPFatage55willcontinuetorise. CPFmembersmustmeetaMini-
for higher payout later Thisisbecausesavingsforretire- mumSumwhentheyturn55.This
Singapore Inc mentneedtokeeppacewithrising amount is locked away until they
withdrawal prices and standards of living so turn 65, when they start receiving
can’t
that payouts are adequate, panel monthlypayouts.
operate TohYongChuan chief Tan Chorh Chuan said at a The first set of recommenda-
ManpowerCorrespondent
like Sleepy mediabriefinglastFriday. tions from the panel will focus on
Hollow “Buttherateatwhichitwillgo theMinimum Sumand lump sum
of CPF A government-appointed panel re- up will not be as high as what withdrawals.
viewing the Central Provident we’ve seen in the preceding 10 The panel is not expecting the
Fund (CPF) is expected to recom- years,”hesaid. MinimumSumtostayat$161,000
mendallowingpeopletomakeone Givingapreviewofrecommen- –theamountsetforthoseturning
PPAAGGEE3399 partiallumpsum withdrawal from dationsitwillbesubmittingtothe 55fromJulythisyear.
theirretirementaccountatage65. Government this week, Professor Itwillhavetogouptoadjustfor
savings at 65’ It will also ask the Government Tan said his team had three main inflation,andhehopestheGovern-
WALTER SIM toallow thosewhowantto putin factors to consider – adequacy of mentwilluselonger-terminflation
more savings for retirement in or- savingsforretirement,flexibilityof rates to reduce short-term fluctua-
Mind the der to enjoy higher monthly pay- withdrawing the savings and whe- tions,sothatpeoplewillknowearli-
generation outslatertodoso. theritwouldbesimpleenoughfor er what their Minimum Sum will
Whilethepanelwillnotcallfor peopletounderstand. be,andplanforit.
gap at Prof Tan also revealed that the
work panel will ask the Government to
allow people to top up their CPF
savingsbeyondtheMinimumSum
Australia wins
in order to enjoy higher payouts.
“It’sanoptiontoputinmoremon-
PAGE39 Asian Cup final
eyifyou wantto.Butifyou don’t
wantto,youdon’thaveto.”
JOHN LUI Some have called for flexibility
HostAustraliawonfootball’s towithdrawmorefromtheirretire-
AsianCupafterbeatingSouth mentaccounts.
Online
Korea2-1inagrippingfinal The panel is in favour of allow-
blame
yesterday,withsubstituteJames ing CPF members to withdraw a
game’s Troisismashinghomethe lump sum of about 20 per cent of
a load of winnerinextratimeafter their retirement savings at age 65,
rubbish KoreanstarstrikerSonHeung eveniftheydonotmeettheMini-
Minsnatchedadramatic mumSumatage55.
injury-timeequaliserattheend PrimeMinisterLeeHsienLoong
PAGE41 ofnormaltime. suggested that 20 per cent with-
ThevictoryinSydneyisthe drawal cap at last year’s National
DayRallywhenhesaidtheGovern-
Socceroos’firstcontinentaltitle
RHEA KHANNA ment was considering whether to
sinceleavingOceaniatojoin
allowCPF membersto make lump
theAsiaFootballConfederation
Nobel sumwithdrawalswhentheyretire.
nineyearsago.
laureates See>>SportPage50 The panel also has suggestions
onwaystohelpCPFmemberswho
inspire
donotmeettheMinimumSum,as
passion for wellasfreelanceworkersandhouse-
science wiveswithlowerCPFsavings.
‘Deadlock’ over
Prof Tan thanked the 400-odd
PAGE42 hostage release Singaporeans who attended 10 fo-
cusgroupdiscussionsaswellasbod-
iessuchastheNationalTradesUn-
ionCongressandSingaporeActuar-
index JapanandJordanare ialSocietyforgivingtheirviews.
“deadlocked”intheirattempts STPHOTO:CAROLINECHIA The 13-member panel was
weather/tides ........................23 tosecurethereleaseoftwoof Chinese New Year light-up gets a rousing start formedlastSeptembertoreviewas-
letters.....................................41 theirnationals–journalist pectsoftheCPFsystem,suchasthe
comics ................................L13 KenjiGoto(right)andairforce Minimum Sum, withdrawals, pay-
tvlistings .............................L14 pilotMuathal-Kasaesbeh outsandboostingreturns.
OngYuYang,15,fromNamSiengDragonand thelightdisplay.
horoscopes .........................L14 –heldhostagebyISIS HeisconfidenttheGovernment
militants,officialssay. LionDanceActivityCentre,holdinguponeof Hewasjoinedbyhiswife,MadamHo would “seriously consider” all of
thetroupe’s50lionsduringtheChinatown Ching,aswellasMinisterforSocialandFamily thepanel’srecommendations.
Thesituationis
ChineseNewYearcelebrationofficiallight-up DevelopmentChanChunSingandTanjong A second set of recommenda-
unpredictableand
ceremonyyesterday. PagarGRCMPLilyNeo. tions on CPF payouts and returns
“anythingcould
will be submitted to the Govern-
happen”,said ToheraldtheYearoftheGoat,Chinatown’s Aspartofthecelebration,whichhasthe
mentinthemiddleoftheyear,he
Japan’sforeign streetslitupwith338goat-shapedlanterns themeAbundanceofJoyandProsperity,a
said.
minister. and1,500goldcoinlanterns. streetbazaarwith440stallswillrununtilthe
Tosubscribe,call6388-3838or See>>TopNews PrimeMinisterLeeHsienLoongofficiatedat eveofChineseNewYear. [email protected]
gotosphsubscription.com.sg Page4 thelaunchofthefestivitiesbyswitchingon ChineseNewYearfallsonFeb19thisyear. See>>TopNewsPage8
top news top news
2 3
thesundaytimesFebruary1,2015 February1,2015thesundaytimes
AirAsia captain Rain or shine, Award for youth with dwarfism whose talent and hard work took him from ITE to polytechnic
this logo holds
AmeliaTeng Art helps Hewentontostudyinteractive
the record media design at the Institute of
Technical Education, before join-
‘left seat to fix Abandoned by his father, and
ingTemasekPolytechnicin2011.
madefunofinschool,MrMuham-
Morethan3,000students mad Diroy Noordin never had it “TP is my dream school, even
andresidentsofBishan easy.The22-year-old,wholikehis Diroy thoughIhavetotakethreebusesto
Northhoistedredandwhite mother has dwarfism, sometimes getthere,”saidMrDiroy,wholives
umbrellasyesterdaytoform wondered why he was not born inatwo-roomSengkangflat.
computer glitch’ “Schoolisstillquitetough,espe-
Singapore’slargestSG50 “normal”.
ciallywhenIhavetogivepresenta-
logo. Withfewfriends,artbecamehis
tions, because I’m not confident.
HeldatBishan-AngMo sourceofexpression. stand out
But now, when some people still
Kiopark,theevent,which Nowthatpassionhashelpedsee
STPHOTOS:CAROLINECHIA ask about my condition, I don’t
madeitintotheSingapore him through Temasek Polytechnic
mindsomuchbecausetheyareon-
BookofRecords,wasledby (TP),fromwhichhewillsoongrad-
lyconcerned.”
Co-pilot apparently the co-pilot and hard or impossi- PrimeMinisterLeeHsien uatewithadiplomainvisualcom-
Hewantstousehis$5,000fora
munications.
ble to reach from the seat on the Loong.Itwaspartofthe
lost control of plane, new laptop and
leftside,wherethecaptainsits. constituency’scelebrations Yesterday,hewas
graphic design soft-
say people familiar Shortly afterwards, the junior forSingapore’sjubileeyear. one of three recipi- ware.
pilotpulledtheplaneintoasharp entsoftheYouthAs-
with the investigation Therewasalsoacarnival Mr Sim, who
climb from which investigators pirationAwardfrom
havesaiditstalledorlostlift. withgamebooths,abouncy theSPD,anorganisa- plans to use the
Paris–ThecaptainoftheAirAsia The captain eventually re- castleforkidsandroaming tion which repre- money for singing
plane that crashed into the Java sumedcontrol,buthewasnotina stilt-walkers. sents Singa- lessons, paid tribute
positiontointerveneimmediately Organisingcommittee to his mother, Mad-
Sea last December was out of his pore’sdisabled.
torecovertheaircraft. chairmanDaveTeosaidthe am Janet Woo, a
seat performing an unorthodox Also honoured
procedurewhenhisco-pilotappar- Data already published on the eventtookalmostayearto were15-year-oldGre- housewife. “She is
entlylostcontroloftheplane.By PHOTO:INTERNET plane’s trajectory suggests it may plan,andinvolved300 gory Ong, who did my greatest support
the time he returned it was too CaptainIriyantoissaidtohave also have been difficult for some- grassrootsvolunteers. notletcerebralpalsy because she helps
latetosavetheplane,twopeople fflaouwltnyfolinghthteausagmmeenptlaantieonwcitohmtphueter oanneutpowmarodv-teilatrinougnadndthbeyctohceknppitoisn- Speakingtothecrowd stop him from me every day, from
familiar with the investigation justdaysbeforethecrash. siblyunstableaircraft. beforetherecord-breaking dreaming of repre- taking me to school
said. “The co-pilot pulled the plane attempt,MrLeesaid:“There sentingthenationat toshoweringme.”
Details emerging of the final At yesterday’s
up,andbythetimethecaptainre- isonerecordwhichwehave the Paralympics,
moments of Flight QZ8501 are Peoplefamiliarwiththematter gained the controls it was too set,whichIdon’tthinkisin and Mr Sim Yu event at Safra Ju-
lmtcirikaaaeilinslnyihntteaogvn,efatonhsctocureues,sgashetptdeIrnnopdtcuioeobdnnliuecpslryiaearsntthlyoaatfnofinidt- sdeFarroeindnteichsthiawanncao,s-whCphiialsopotttlaoeRionseskmIrtiyheyxiaPspnlseettsoerepi,lea,,nnrwactIhenhdo-- lwaitteMh,”rthoTenaeitnaovnefgstthiKgeuartpinoeinoapdsliae,idcf.ahmieiflioarf tRhheaecvoeGrsduusicn)hnaneasdscatBhtoeegoyokdr(yoon–f’atnd XfUirnisiatv-nyeregsai,try oN2fa0tSii,onngaaa-l rgboaunvrsega,oriutehste$to3S5P7,D730l0aolwsino-
Indonesia’s National Transporta- income students
istooearlytodrawanyfirmcon- wasflyingtheplane. thatisthemostsuccessful pore sociology stu-
tionSafetyCommittee, saidthere with disabilities and
clusions. The outage would not directly had been no delay in the captain nation-buildingexperience.” dentwhohasDuch- thosewhoseparents
TheAirbusA320jetplungedin- upset the aircraft but would re- resumingcontrolbutdeclinedfur- Henotedhow,overthe enne muscular dys- havedisabilities.
totheJavaSeaenroutefromSura- move flight envelope protection, ther comment. Airbus also de- years,AngMoKioand trophy,amusclede- SeniorParliamen-
binagyaaltlo1S6i2ngpaepooprleeoonnbDoeacrd2.8,kill- wahpliacnhepbreevyeonntdsaitpsisloafteftryomlimtaitksi.nIgt clinLeadwtyoercsomfomr ethnet.family of the Bishanhavetransformed gMernSeirmatiiosnpasislilonneastse. tarySecretaryforEd-
It was reported last week that left the junior pilot flying the jet Frenchco-pilotsaytheyhavefiled frompigfarms,kampungs about singing and ucation and Man-
maintenance problems on the manuallyindelicatehighaltitude a lawsuit against AirAsia in Paris andcemeteriesintohousing his videos are on powerHawaziDaipi,
flight augmentation computer conditions. for“endangeringthelives ofoth- estateswithplentyof YouTube. who gave out the
(FAC),andthewaythepilotsreact- ThedecisiontocutofftheFAC ers”byflyingtheroutewithoutof- greenery. They received Youth Aspiration
ed to them, were at the heart of hassurprisedpeoplefollowingthe ficialauthorisationonthatday.In- “Ihopewewillworkhard $5,000 each to help awards,saidtheGov-
theinvestigation. investigationbecausetheusualre- vestigators have said the accident overthenext50years,”he them pursue their ernment has been
maTinhteenpalnanceefhaaudltsbweeinthstuhffiserkineyg stoetntionngpthroecoevdeurrheeiasdtopapnreesl.sabut- wsuaes. not related to the permit is- said. talents. (Fromleft)YouthAspirationAwardwinnersSimYuXiang,MuhammadDiroSyTPHOTOt:rMaAinRKinCHgEOfoNrGspepciraolvediduicnatgiontmeaochre-
flightcontrolcomputerforovera “You don’t pull the circuit AirAsiadidnotimmediatelyre- MelissaLin Mr Diroy is the youngest of Noordin,andGregoryOng.Theyeachreceived$5,000topursuetheir ers and expanding the capacity of
week. One person familiar with breaker unless it was an absolute spondtorequestsforcommenton three children. His parents di- interests.TheawardsaregivenbySPD,whichrepresentsSingapore’sdisabled. special education schools to help
the matter said the captain had emergency. I don’t know if there thelawsuit. Top,fromleft:Umbrellasraised vorced when he was in secondary thosewithspecialneeds.
flownonthesameplanewiththe wasoneinthiscase,butitisvery And although more is becom- school.Hismotherhadtobringup that way. “I didn’t know the an- sad faces on the exam paper,” he
andattheready,some3,000 But it was also valuable when
intermittently faulty device just unusual,” said one A320 pilot, ing known about the chain of participantswaitforthesignalto thefamilyonacleaner’ssalary.His swer,” he said. “I thought, ‘Why said. the community came together to
daysbeforethecrash. whodeclinedtobeidentified. events,peoplefamiliarwiththein- openthemtoformSingapore’s older brother and sister, who do can’tIjustbetaller?’” TheNormal(Technical)student
deaAlfwteirthtryailnergtstoabreosuetttthheedFAevCicteo, pulIlttihseaclisrocusiigtnbirfeiackaenrttbheeccaaupsteaitno vinegstiagsastuimonptwioanrnseadboaugtaitnhsetcmauaske- ltaorogkesptaSrtG,5in0cllougdoin.gYoDuenfegnacnedold not have dwarfism, have since Studies were also a struggle be- joined the art club in secondary “pberusioldnsawnitinhcdluissaivbeilistoiecsieatryewrehcoerge-
the pilots pulled a circuit breaker hadtorisefromhisseat. of the accident, which needed MinisterNgEngHen,PMLeeand movedout. causeoffamilydifficulties.“Inpri- school,designinglogosandposters nisedandempowered”,hesaid.
tocutitspower,Bloombergreport- The circuit breakers are on a moreanalysis. SeniorMinisterofState(Finance In primary school, his class- maryschoolwhenIknewIwasgo- for events. He picked up pho-
edlastFriday. wall panel immediately behind Reuters andTransport)JosephineTeo. mateswould ask whyhe wasborn ingtofailinEnglish,Iwoulddraw toshopskillsinSecondary4. [email protected]
PHOTO:HOPETECHNIK
top news
4
thesundaytimesFebruary1,2015
Hostage efforts in
deadlock: Japan
Tension mounts in Yoshihide Suga met at the Prime JordanhasofferedtofreeRisha-
Minister’sresidenceyesterday. wi,whowasconvictedforherpart
Jordan, Japan as ISIS’
Mr Suga told reporters after the intriplehotelbombingsinAmman
silence stretches past meeting that the Prime Minister in2005thatkilled60people,ifISIS
Thursday deadline had told the ministers to handle releasesthepilot.
thematterwithasenseofurgency But no communication from
“by closely coordinating with Jor- ISIShassurfacedsincethedeadline
dan and other countries con- passed. Tension is mounting in
Tokyo – Efforts by Japan and Jor-
cerned,asthesituationremainsex- both countries, with family mem-
dan to secure therelease of two of
tremelysevere”. berssteppingupemotionalappeals
their nationals being held captive
Mr Kishida was reported by onbehalfoftheirlovedones.
by Islamic militants is “dead-
NHK as saying that the situation Said Ms Rinko Goto in a state-
locked” and the situation is still
was unpredictable and that “any- ment to the BBC: “My husband
highlyunpredictable,Japaneseoffi-
thingcouldhappen”. andIhavetwoveryyoungdaugh-
cialssaid.
The Islamic State in Syria and ters. Our baby girl was only three
“It has become deadlocked,”
Iraq(ISIS)hadvowedtokillJordani- weeksoldwhenKenjileft.”
Japan’s Deputy Foreign Minister PHOTO:EPA
an air force pilot Muath al-Kasaes- It was her first public comment RelativesofJordanianhostageMuathal-KasaesbehfixingapictureofhimattheentranceofafamilyhallinAmmanlast
YasuhideNakayamasaidinJordan
behbysunsetlastThursdayunless sinceISISthreatenedtokillherhus- week.TheJordaniangovernmentisawaitingproofthatheisalivebeforegoingaheadwithaprisonerswop.
late last Friday, according to Japa- Amman handed over an Iraqi fe- band.
nesepublicbroadcasterNHK. male militant in return for Japa- Japan, which plays no military
“Stayingvigilant,wewillcontin- nesejournalistKenjiGoto. part in the fight against ISIS, was tant said Tokyo had 72 hours to andavoiceidentifyingitselfasMr said Mr Izuru Sugawara, an inde-
ueanalysingandexamining infor- But Jordan has demanded evi- thrustintothissituationonJan20 pay a US$200 million (S$270 mil- Goto demanded the release of pendent political analyst who has
mationasthegovernment ismak- dence that the pilot, who crashed when a video appeared in which lion) ransom if it wanted to spare Rishawi. written several books on security
ingaconcertedeffort...” inSyriaonDec24lastyear,isstill MrGotoandMrHarunaYukawa,a theirlives. “If Islamic State was just doing and intelligence issues. “The fact
InTokyo,PrimeMinisterShinzo alive before freeing would-be sui- self-styledmilitarycontractor,were When that deadline expired, this for public relations, to make theyhaven’tdonethismeansthey
Abe, Foreign Minister Fumio Kish- cidebomberSajidaal-Rishawi,who seenkneelinginthedesert. newpicturesappearedtoshowthat peopleafraid,theycouldhavejust wanttogetRishawiback.”
ida and Chief Cabinet Secretary isondeathrow. A masked, knife-wielding mili- Mr Yukawa had been beheaded, killed the hostages right away,” AFP,Reuters,Bloomberg
Sri Lanka appoints minority Tamil as top judge
Colombo – Sri Lanka’s President The appointment comes two hadsaidsheonlywantedjustice. US$400million(S$540million)de-
MaithripalaSirisenahasappointed days after Mr Sirisena declared the TheSupremeCourthadbeenac- velopmentinSriLankaafteragov-
aTamiljudgeasthenewChiefJus- controversial impeachment of Ms cusedofpoliticalbiassinceshewas ernment ruling on gaming
tice–thefirstmemberoftheminor- Bandaranayake by the previous re- replacedbyMrMohanPeiris. projects.
itycommunitytoholdthepostin gime illegal, fulfilling one of the ThegovernmentofMrSirisena, Sri Lanka on Jan 29 said it will
decades. pledgeshemadebeforehissurprise amemberofthemajoritySinhalese notallowcasinosinplannedmixed
Mr Kanagasabapathy Sripavan, wininlastmonth’selection. community, has vowed reconcilia- developmentsinColombo.
62,wassworninlastFriday,ending MsBandaranayakelostherpost tionwithTamilssixyearsafterthe Melbourne-based Crown had
a crisis in the Supreme Court trig- in January 2013 after angering endofaseparatistwarthatclaimed proposedtoconstructafive-starre-
gered by the sacking of former formerpresidentMahindaRajapak- atleast100,000livesbetween1972 sort with gaming areas in the cen-
Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranay- sa with her judgments against his and2009.ThelastTamilChiefJus- tre of Colombo, according to a
aketwoyearsago. regime.Hersackingwaswidelycriti- tice was Mr Herbert Thambiah, 2013regulatorystatement.
Mr Sripavan becomes the first cised, with the UN Human Rights wholeftthepositionin1991. “We respect the Sri Lankan
Tamilinthetopjudicialpositionin Councilcallingitanassaultonjudi- In a separate development, government’sdecision,”thecompa-
24yearsas Sri Lanka’snew leaders cialindependence. CrownResorts,theAustraliancasi- ny said in an e-mailed statement.
PHOTO:AFP PHOTO:PRESIDENT.GOV.LK
MsShiraniBandaranayake,whose seek to mend ties with the She was formally restored as nocompanycontrolledbybillion- “Onthatbasis,ourprojectwillnot MrKanagasabapathySripavanisthe
2013sackingwasdeclaredillegal,was country’slargestethnicminorityaf- Chief Justice last Wednesday and aire James Packer, has said it will begoingahead.” firstTamiltooccupythetopjudicial
restoredasChiefJusticeforaday. terabloody37-yearwar. stepped down the next day. She not proceed with a planned AFP,Bloomberg positionin24years.
February12015thesundaytimes 5
top news
6
thesundaytimesFebruary1,2015
Pioneer heart patient thanks doc – 50 years on
JaneNg Heartfelt thanks
“I have been
MadamMaureenLimGekLianwas
wanting to thank
reading The Sunday Times last
weekendwhenshepausedat“This him for saving
Weekin1965”,thepagethatlooks my life 50 years
backatevents50yearsago.
ago and I finally
“I saw the picture in the paper
and said to myself, ‘This girl looks managed to do
likeme’,”saidMadamLim,aclean- that.”
er.
She startedreading andrealised –MADAMMAUREENLIM
GEKLIAN,whospoketo
it was indeed about her, and how
hersurgeon,DrN.K.Yong,
she was one of Singapore’s first onthephonelastFriday,
threeopen-heartsurgerypatients. afterreadingthearticlein
Shedashedouttobuyfourmore TheSundayTimes(left)
copiesofthepaper,andboughtan- onSingapore’sopen-heart
surgerypioneers
other five the next day. She lami-
nated the article to share with her
family.
Madam Lim’s only reminder of firstchildthefollowingyear,hergy-
Madam Lim, 59, is married to
the operation is a 20cm vertical naecologistwasconcernedthather
MrTanChongKian,65,anattend-
scardownherchest. heart history might complicate
ant in a recycling company, and
Apartfromabout ofkidneyin- matters. But she went on to have
theyhavefouradultchildren.
flammation, she recovered une- fourchildrenwithoutproblems.
ShetoldTheSundayTimesthat
ventfully. The one thing she always won-
whenshewas10,doctorsgaveher
Sherecalledherteenageyearsbe- dered about was what had hap-
just three years to live because of
ing a happy and active time when pened to the surgeon who saved
herworseninghealth.
herlife.
shecouldfinallyjoinherfriendsto
She was a “blue baby” with a She got her answer last Sunday
runandswimafterhavingwatched
holeinherheart,andtheslightest whenshereadthatDrN.K.Yongis
them from the sidelines for years.
exertionwouldleaveherbreathless now88andawell-knownwineex-
andblueinthelipsandfingertips. Shealsoenjoyedjoggingandbowl- pert. Madam Lim, who celebrates
She became thinner and weaker STPHOTO:KEVINLIM ing. her60thbirthdaytomorrow,recon-
andhadtobetakentohospitalal- MadamMaureenLimwithherhusbandMrTanChongKian,andtheirchildren(fromleft)Melvin,33,Melissa,32, Aftercompletingherprimaryed- nectedwithDrYongonthephone
mostweekly. Christine,28,andChristopher,24,ataplaygroundneartheirMarineCrescenthome. ucation in Balestier Girls’ School, lastFriday.
Then, in 1965, a team of sur- shewentontoMacPhersonSecond- Itwasthebestpresent,shesaid.
geons performed Singapore’s first friends with Maureen’s mother, a Not only did Maureen survive bearoundtodayandcouldn’thave aryandleftatSecondary3tohelp “I have been wanting to thank
open-heart surgery on 19-year-old anauntinheraquariumshop. himforsavingmylife50yearsago
singlemum.SheadoptedMaureen the operation, she also grew up to givenbirthtous.”
ChuaAhMoianditwassuccessful. At 21,she worked asan au pair andIfinallymanagedtodothat.
Maureen’s cardiologist told her who was two when her mother marry and have two sons and two HissisterChristine,28,areloca- in London for a year, for a family “I told him I’m well with four
adoptive mother, Mrs Irene Lim, diedofkidneyfailure. daughters. tion consultant, knew about the friendwhohadmarriedaBriton. kidsandit’sallbecauseofhim.
about the breakthrough operation Mrs Lim told The Straits Times Herchildrenwereexcitedtosee surgery but not that her mother She returned in 1977 because “I also told him to take good
andthatitmightgivethelittlegirl in1965 that shetooka chanceon herinthenewslastweekend. wasapioneerpatient. her adoptive mother was ill and careofhimself,”shesaid.
a50percentchanceofsurvival. the new surgery because Maureen EldersonMelvinTan,33,aprod- “I was shocked,” she said. “It eventuallydiedin1978.
Mrs Lim, a widowed teacher would otherwise “never be able to uct engineer, said: “If she had not soundsscary,andshewasonly10. MadamLimgotmarriedin1980 [email protected]
with two children, had been best marry”. gonefor thesurgery, she wouldn’t Iadmirehercourage.” and when she was expecting her See>>ThinkPage40
Rogue doctors ‘Onus on
HOOKED ON
CODEINE AT 18 individuals’
to drink
Formercodeineaddict
Brian,31,startedtaking
get taste of own medicine coughsyrupwhenhewas responsibly
18.Hisfriendssaidhecould
gethighfromcodeine
withouttheriskofbeing
senttojail,unlikeforother
Six doctors nabbed for selling cough syrup with codeine to drug syndicates and addicts illegaldrugslikeheroinor
ecstasy. MelissaLin
Hewassoonhooked,
takingupto360mladay. There is “only so much” that the
Ifhedidnotdoso,he authoritiescandotocurbtheprob-
wouldsufferfrom lemofnuisancedrinkers,soindivid-
withdrawalsymptomssuch ualsshouldtakeituponthemselves
asseverediarrhoeaanda to drink responsibly, said Law
runnynose. MinisterK.Shanmugamyesterday.
Hevisitedseveraldoctors, Speaking on the sidelines of a
aseachwouldgivehima communityevent,hesaidthatthe
maximumoftwobottlesper LiquorControlBillwaspassedinre-
visit.Whenhecouldnotget sponse to public feedback, after a
enoughfromthem,he survey by government feedback
wouldbuycoughsyrup unit Reach found that an “over-
fromtheblackmarket. whelming majority” of Singapore-
Hedidnotliketheblack ans supported curbs on public
marketcoughsyrupbecause drinking.
somesyndicatesaddedpaint SaidMrShanmugam,whoisal-
thinnerandturpentineor sotheForeignMinisterandanMP
diluteditwithwater. for Nee Soon GRC: “When people
Hestartedtakingmore come home late, they don’t want
drugs,includingecstasy,and to see others sitting around and
sleepingpills. drinkinginthevoiddeck.Thissort
Tofeedhisdrughabit,
of public drinking is what’s being
whichcostafewthousand
prohibited.”
dollarsamonth,heworked
The law, which is expected to
forloansharksandpeddled
takeeffectonApril1,makesitille-
drugs.
gal to drink in public places from
Heonlystoppedafterhis
10.30pmto7am.Thetakeawaysale
parentscaughthimsniffing
of alcohol from 10.30pm will also
glueandreportedhimto
bebanned.
thepolice.Sincethen,he
Itistooearlytotellwhetherthe
hasbeenlivinginahalfway
lawwillresultinmorepeopledrink-
houseandhasstayedoff
ing at home and causing a distur-
drugsforthepastfiveyears.
bance to their neighbours, but a
Nowachef,herecalled:
newBilloncommunitymediation
“Iwasstressedbyfights
maytacklethatproblem,headded.
withmygirlfriendandnot
TheCommunityDisputeResolu-
havingenoughmoney,soI
tion Bill, which sets out penalties
tookcodeinetorelieve
for those who cause unreasonable
stress.IthoughtIwouldn’t
disturbance to their neighbours,
behooked.”
was introduced in Parliament two
STPHOTO:KUACHEESIONG TheresaTan weeksago.
Coughsyrupcontainingcodeineoftencomesin3.8-litrecanistersthatdoctorsbuyfrompharmaceuticalfirms.Somesyndicatessmugglecodeineinto
“Intheend,therehasgottobe
Singaporebypassingitoffastyreshine,detergentandotheritems.Thecoughsyrupisoftensoldin90mlbottles(above)ontheblackmarket.
individual responsibility. There’s
onlysomuchtheGovernmentcan
TheresaTan hisclinic. fetchedonly$650. Onlydoctorsandlicensedphar- been jailed for stealing cough do,”hesaid.“Ithinktherecanbea
When he was arrested, he had For addicts, it means that a macists can sell cough medicine syrupfromtheiremployers. more responsible drinking culture
about $80,000 in cash at home, 90ml bottle of cough syrup now containing codeine. They cannot Last December, a 40-year-old thatSingaporeanscanhave.”
Sixdoctorswereamong10people
which was seized by the authori- costs$35,upfrom$20in2009. give a patient more than 240ml womanwasjailedforfourmonths Dr William Wan, general secre-
in the medical line caught selling
cough syrup to drug syndicates ties.Hewasjailedfor71/2months ProfChansaidofthedoctorsin- per visit, among other guidelines for stealing almost 500 litres of tary of the Singapore Kindness
in2012andfined$60,000. volved: “They are the black sheep to prevent abuse by addicts. Co- coughsyrupcontainingcodeine. Movement and a trained lawyer,
and addicts, raking in big money
In another case, an 80-year-old in the medical community. Doc- deinecanbeaddictiveandanover- She sold it to her former hus- saidthatultimately,itisuptoindi-
fromtherisingblackmarketprice
GP sold 500 litres of cough mix- tors caught selling cough syrup dosecanbefatal,ProfChansaid. band for more than $70,000 and vidualstothinkaboutothers.
of cough mixtures containing co-
ture to Malaysian gangsters, and containing codeine are not com- Besidesdoctors,someothersin heintendedtosellitontheblack “The law is not able to make
deine.
made a profit of more than mon.” thehealth-careindustryhavebeen market. people do the right thing. It can
Codeineistheactiveingredient
$30,000inthreemonthsbeforehe Drug counsellors say addicts caughtsellingcoughsyrup. Since 2009, 47 people have only prevent people from doing
in the cough medicine sold by
wascaught. Hewasfined$35,000 takecoughmedicineasitisnotille- A former drug offender, 45, set beenprosecutedfortheillegalsale thewrongthing,” hesaid. “Other-
thesedoctors,andaddictsuseitas
lastyear. gal, and they feel they need not up a clinic and hired a doctor to of cough mixture containing co- centrednessisstillthekey–it’snot
a substitute for other drugs to get
The HSA declined to name the worry about being jailed for get- run it. Although the doctor quit deine. The HSA seized almost justaboutyourself.”
high.
doctorsinvolved. tinghighoncoughsyrup. soon after and the clinic did not 12,000litresofsuchproductswith During yesterday’s community
Since 2012, one doctor has Its deputy group director of But a Central Narcotics Bureau receivepatients,hekepttheclinic a street value of $2.5 million be- event, 540 volunteers fanned out
been jailed, two have been fined, healthproductsregulation,Associ- spokesmantoldTheSundayTimes going and continued ordering tween2009and2013. across three divisions in Nee Soon
anothertwohavebeenchargedin ate Professor Chan Cheng Leng, that enforcement action will be cough medicine containing co- Offendersfaceajailtermofup GRC – Chong Pang, Sembawang
courtandinvestigationsareongo- said: “These doctors got involved taken against those suspected of deine from pharmaceutical firms. to two years or a fine of up to and Marsiling –to give out goodie
ingagainstthesixth. out of greed as it’s a fast way of abusingcodeine. He even forged orders from three $10,000,orbothjailandafine,for bags.
In the worst case so far, a makingmoney.Thisisareprehen- MrDonWong,founderofNew otherclinicstobuythedrug. importing or selling cough mix- About 1,900 needy households
41-year-old general practitioner siblecrime.” CharisMissionthatrunsahalfway He sold 3,800 litres of cough turecontainingcodeinewithouta in rental blocks received the bags,
(GP)rakedinmorethan$500,000 Shesaidtheblackmarketprice houseforaddicts,saidmoreabus- syrup on the black market and licence. which contained $50 worth of
in profit in just four months by ofcoughsyrupcontainingcodeine ersturnedtocoughsyrupafterthe made a profit of $650,000 in less Prof Chan said: “We have itemssuchasbiscuitsandnuts.
supplying 3,500 litres of cough hasnearlydoubledinrecentyears. authorities banned another sub- thansixmonths. steppedupoursurveillanceanden- This was part of a three-week
syruptothreepatients. Doctors pay $40 to $50 for a stance,Subutex. When he was arrested, he had forcementeffortsagainstthosesell- initiativebytheNorth West Com-
Thebuyersrepackagedthemix- 3.8-litrecanisterfrompharmaceuti- That was a drug used to wean more than $100,000 in cash in a ingcoughpreparationscontaining munity Development Council to
ture in small bottles to sell to ad- cal companies, but can sell it for heroinabusers off theirhabit, but LouisVuittonbag. codeine. We will not hesitate to promoteacultureofgivingbackto
dicts. The doctor continued his up to $1,100 on the black market it became widely abused by ad- He was jailed for one year and takeactionagainstthem.” thecommunity.
illicit trade even after the Health now. dicts.In 2006,itbecameillegalto 10monthsin2011.
Sciences Authority (HSA) raided In 2009, the same canister consume,possessorsellSubutex. Two clinic assistants have also [email protected] [email protected]
February12015thesundaytimes 7
top news
8
thesundaytimesFebruary1,2015
Separate
funerals
for two in
death fall
AmeliaTeng
Separate funeral arrangements
were made for a couple who
werefounddeadatthefootofa
PHOTO:FACEBOOKPAGEOFKENONG blockofflatsinChinSweeRoad
Almost40familymembersandclose onThursday.
friendswerepresentatMandai Yesterday evening, the
Crematorium(left)yesterdaytosend 27-year-oldSingaporeanwoman
offMadamKarenKoh,whodied
was cremated in Mandai, even
aftershewasslashedbyherhusband
asawakeinMarsilingbeganfor
KenOng(above).Hethenturnedthe
the dead 24-year-old man she
knifeonhimself.Itisbelievedthathis
wasfoundwith.
bodyremainsunclaimed.
Itisnotknownifthemanis
STPHOTO:ONGWEEJIN
Singaporean.
Murdered woman cremated
At the crematorium yester-
day,arelativeofthedeadwom-
antoldreporterstostayaway.
According to Chinese
evening newspaper Shin Min
Daily News, the couple had
checked into a hotel in China-
Distraught father Before the crematorium service was hospitalised a week ago and town earlier on Thursday at
says son-in-law’s began,MadamKoh’smother,Mad- hadnotbeenbacksince. 11am. They had been drinking
amChengSweeWan,wailed:“She On Friday morning, while their in a room on the third floor of
allegations against diedsounjustly.” five-year-oldsonwasbelievedtobe the hotel, before leaving at
family were ‘all false’ Inthee-mailthat MrOngsent, in kindergarten, Mr Ong also at- 8.10pm.
withthesubjectline “JurongMur- tacked the family’s Filipino maid, Thereportsaidthepair,who
Ms Jasmen Jamelarin Corpuz, woreblack,walkedtotheblock
der”, he described his failed mar-
DansonCheong riage and accused his in-laws of when she tried to intervene in his offlats,wheretheyfellfromthe
attackonMadamKoh. 26thstorey,thehighestfloor.
treatinghimbadly.
The maid was seriously injured Police said they received a
Madam Karen Koh was cremated Healsosaidhiswifehadshown
butshe fledand survived. She was call on Thursday at about
yesterday evening with almost 40 himlittlerespectandwouldnotlet
slashedonhershoulders,backand 8.30pm,requestingassistanceat
family members and close friends himworkinherfamily’sbusiness.
leftupperarm. Block53,ChinSweeRoad.
presentatMandaiCrematorium. Madam Koh, 39, a Malaysian She was still warded at the Na- A spokesman saidthe bodies
Shediedofherinjuriesafterbe- andapermanentresidentinSinga- tional University Hospital yester- of a man and woman were
ing slashed by her husband Ken pore, was one of four directors of day. found lying motionless at the
Ong, 37, on Friday morning in TYTCorporation,whichspecialises At the couple’s Yuan Ching footoftheblockwhenpolicear-
theirYuanChingRoadhome. inofficefurniture. RoadcondominiuminJurongyes- rived.
Asshelaybadlywoundedinthe Her brother Andy and sis- terdayafternoon,amaleemployee A Singapore Civil Defence
three-roomapartment’smasterbed- ter-in-law Rachel Tan led the pro- ofTYTCorporationaskedtobelet Forcespokesmansaiditreceived
room, Mr Ong e-mailed a cessionoutofthecrematoriumhall in. a call at 8.29pm and an ambu-
2,047-word“FinalNote”totheme- aftertheservice. Heplacedasinglewhitechrysan- lance was sent. He said that a
dia and others, explaining his ac- Both of them declined to speak themuminfrontofthehome. male and female were pro-
tions.Hethenturnedtheknifeon toreporters. Amongthemournersatthecre- nounceddeadby paramedicsat
himself.Bothofthemdiedinhospi- Thefamilywentfromthecrema- matorium yesterday was Madam thescene.
tal. torium to a temple in Geylang Koh’syoungson,whowashanded “The man suffered fractures
aclutchofwhitechrysanthemums. to the skull, both hands, chest
Yesterday,MadamKoh’sfather, where more prayers were conduct-
He was carried around his and hip. The woman also suf-
who declined to be named, dis- ed.
mother’s coffin before he placed feredfracturestoherskull,right
missed the contents of Mr Ong’s ItisbelievedthatMrOng’sbody
theflowersinsideit–hislastgood- hand,chestandbothofherlow-
e-mailasapackoflies. remainsunclaimed. bye. erlegs.”
“It’sallfalse,allfalse,”hesaidin TheSundayTimesvisitedhislist- The incident has been classi-
Mandarin. But he did not wish to ed address, a one-room flat in Toa PHOTO:FACEBOOKPAGEOFKARENKOH [email protected] fied as “unnatural deaths” and
saymore.“It’sallinthepastnow,I Payoh,butneighbourssaidaneld- MadamKohfiledfordivorceaftershediscoveredthatherhusbandhadslept Additionalreportingby policeareinvestigating.
don’twanttotalkaboutit.” erlymaninhis70swholivedthere withanotherwomanontheirmaritalbed,accordingtoherdivorcepapers. JoyceLim In 2004, the bodies of a
34-year-oldwomanandhertwo
Relationship fraught with problems from the start daughters, aged two and one,
were found at the foot of the
sameblockafterfallingfromthe
25thfloor.
Whenshediscoveredthatherhus- Evenfromthestart,thetimeshe that we did wrong”, and give the finance his studies at the Building stabbedMadamKohintheirhome [email protected]
bandhadsleptwithanotherwom- and him spent together seemed childacompletefamily,hesaidin andConstructionAuthorityacade- before turning the knife on him- Additionalreportingby
anon theirmarital bed, it wasthe fraught with problems. She was hisaffidavitforthedivorce,which my, along with giving him an al- self.Bothdiedoftheirwounds. DansonCheong
last straw for 39-year-old Karen from a wealthy family, and one of he wrote on his own because he lowance of $1,000 a month. He DrThomasLee,medicaldirector
Koh,accordingtoherdivorceappli- fourdirectorsofthefamily’soffice saidhecouldnotaffordalawyer. claimedshebrokethedeal. oftheResilienzClinic,saidthereap-
cation.Shedecidedthatitwastime furniture business, TYT Corpora- Totakecareofthenewborn,Mr Butshe claimedhe never want- pearedtobeamajorbreakdownin HELPLINES
to end a relationship that had tion. Ongclaimedhehadtostopworkas ed to earn a living after her child themarriagewithdeepfracturesin
the couple’s “trust, communica-
spannedmorethanadecade. Hewasfromabrokenfamily. apropertyagentmaking$2,000to was born. When they quarrelled, LSamaritansof
tionsandmutualrespect”.
She accused 37-year-old Ken Hewasherfirstboyfriendwhen $3,000 a month. He wanted to she was the one to resume talking Singapore:
HesuggestedthatMrOngcould
Ong of being a narcissist and a they started dating 12 years ago. work at her family’s business, but with him. When she came home 1800-221-4444
have been suffering from depres-
chauvinist, wasting money, refus- But they broke up after five years shesaidno,heclaimed. late, he would lock the door. And LSingaporeAssociation
sion.“Inseverecasesofdepression,
ingtoworkandspendinghistime duetofinancialissues. Heallegedthathewasgivenan hisrequesttojoinherfamily’scom- suicidal ideas and even homicidal forMentalHealth:
infrontofcomputersandthetelevi- After their break-up, she started allowanceofonly$300to$500eve- pany was turned down to avoid ideascandevelop.” 1800-283-7019
sioninstead. dating another man. She did not rymonthwhileshekepttravelling. any misunderstanding between PsychiatristMunidasaWinslow, LInstituteofMental
In his reply, he said she acted realisethathewasmarried.Shegot Heclaimedhewasneverabletogo himandherfamily. who is in private practice, said: “I Health’sMobileCrisis
likeabossinsteadofawife,wasself- pregnant,andthecouplesplitup. out to enjoy himself and had to Earlylastyear,MadamKohsaid think the marriage was in trouble Service:6389-2222
ishand stayed out late with a girl- Soonafter,MrOnggotintouch make do with instant noodles and shefoundhairfromanotherwom- probablyfromthestart.” LCareCorner
friend,failedtogivehimenoughof withMadamKohonline.Heprom- Coca-Cola for food, and computer an on their bed. She confronted He added that couples with is- CounsellingCentre
an allowance, and that her family isedtobeafathertothebaby. gamesforentertainment. himandheadmittedthatawoman suesshouldseekcounsellingortalk (Mandarin):
refused to give him a job at their They married in October 2008, Healsoclaimedthathehadsaid hadvisitedtheirflat. toathirdparty. 1800-353-5800
company. so they could “correct the things yestoadivorceaftersheagreedto Last Friday morning, Mr Ong DansonCheong
Bangladesh cuts power CPF advisory panel to submit
supply to ex-PM’s office
ideas on flexibility and more
Dhaka – The Bangladesh authori- The power line was cut just
tieshavecutoffpowersupplytoop- hours after a government minister JoannaSeow accumulate savings, the NTUC Besides the NTUC and mem-
positionleaderKhaledaZia’soffice reportedly threatened to sever the hadsuggestedideassuchasraising bersofthepublic,thepanelalsore-
in an apparent bid to force her to office’s electrical supply and force The panel tasked with studying CPFratesandallowingmorework- ceived feedback from two groups
calloffacripplinganti-government MsZiatostarvetodeathifshedid ways to make the Central Provi- ers to benefit from the Workfare ofriskassessmentandinvestment
transportblockade. not call off the nationwide trans- dentFund(CPF)systemmoreflexi- IncomeSupplementScheme. management professionals. These
Localtelevisionshowedfootage portblockade. blewillnotonlysubmititsofficial CommentingontheNTUCsug- weretheSingaporeActuarialSocie-
of a technician from a state-run “Eventhefoodprovidedtoyou recommendations on flexibility gestions for the first time, Profes- ty(SAS)andtheInvestmentMan-
powerutilityclimbingaladderand by your party officials will not this week, but also give ideas on sorTancalledthem“verycompre- agementAssociationofSingapore.
cuttingthelineoutsideMsZia’sof- reachyourroom.You’llhavetodie other areas of concern, said its hensive and well thought When contacted, the SAS did
fice, where she has been holed up therewithoutfood,”ShippingMin- chairmanTanChorhChuan. through”. not provide details about its pa-
since the protests began early last ister Shahjahan Khan told a rally PHOTO:AFP Of the NTUC proposals which per,whichitsubmittedtothepan-
“Inthespiritoflookingatthis
month. latelastFriday,accordingtothelo- OppositionleaderKhaledaZia,whois fell within the panel’s scope, el last December. Members of its
in a somewhat broader way, we
“Wegotpermissionfrompolice calDailyStarnewspaper. confinedtoheroffice,hascalledfora manywerefairlywellalignedwith councilplantomeetthepanelto
will make some suggestions and
to cut the power line,”the techni- MsZiahasstayedinherofficein nationwidetransportblockade. thepanel’sdiscussionsandpublic discusstheproposals.
proposalsonthese(areas)aswell,”
ciantoldreportersashecuttheline Dhaka’supmarketGulshandistrict feedback at focus group discus- Whilethepanelwillgivebroad-
hesaidinaninterviewlastFriday.
yesterday. forweeksafter threateningtorally calledforanationwideblockadeof sions,headded. er suggestions, Prof Tan stressed
These could include ideas to
Private Channel 24 television her supporters against the govern- roads,railwaysandwaterways,trig- “We’ve looked at the recom- that its official recommendations
help people who do not accumu-
saidthatInternetandsatellitetele- mentofherbitterrival,PrimeMin- geringdeadlyunrestthathasleftat mendationsquitecarefullytogeth- have to be within the scope of
late enough to meet the Mini-
vision connections to her office ister Sheikh Hasina, on Jan 5, the least40peopledeadandnearly800 er with the other feedback we’ve what it was tasked to study. “It’s
mum Sum in their CPF accounts,
werealsosevered. firstanniversaryofadisputedgener- vehiclesfirebombedordamaged. got and they have contributed to not a panel to review the entire
suchashousewives.
There was no official comment alelection. She also called for a 72-hour helpingusshapeourrecommenda- CPF,”hesaid.
fromthepoliceorthepowercom- Her confinement coincided strike from today, despite nation- Helping CPF members to col- tionsonthefirsttwo(termsofref- “Therearemany,manypoten-
pany. with the death of her self-exiled widehighschoolexaminationsin- lect enough savings is also some- erence),”hesaid. tialthingsyoucouldlookatwith-
MrShamsuddinDider,aspokes- son, who died in Malaysia follow- volvingabout1.5millionstudents. thingthatthelabourmovementis Hewasreferringtothefirsttwo in the CPF, but (creating greater
man for Ms Zia’s Bangladesh Na- ing a cardiac arrest earlier last MsZiawantsMsHasina,herri- concernedabout. of four issues that the panel has flexibility in the system) was one
tionalist Party (BNP), said the month.Hisdeathpromptedtensof valfornearlythreedecades,tocall Two weeks ago, the National beenassignedtotackle. of the major elements that there
69-year-old leader was “shocked thousandsofmournerstoturnout fresh polls after last year’s contro- TradesUnionCongress(NTUC)re- Thefirsttwoarehowtoadjust was a lot of public interest in
and surprised” by the move. He last Tuesday in a massive show of versialelections,which opposition leased a list of 15 suggestions on theMinimumSumforfuturereti- whichthepanelisworkingtotry
said the mobile phone network support for the embattled former parties boycotted on the grounds the CPF, the national savings rees, and the amount and condi- tohelpaddress.”
around the office had also been premier. thattheywouldberigged. plan. tionsforlump-sumwithdrawalsat
jammed. While holed up, Ms Zia has AFP OnwaystohelpCPFmembers thedraw-downage. [email protected]
top news
9
February1,2015thesundaytimes
Muis builds villas STPHOTO:LIMSINTHAI
Viewingamodel
ofthesix
three-storeyvillas,
collectivelyknown
asAliasVillas,are
(fromleft)
to unlock value chairmanof
Warees
Investments
HaiderM.
Sithawalla;Muis
CEOAbdulRazak
HassanMaricar;
of wakaf land Muispresident
MohammadAlami
Musa;Warees
boarddirector
SallimAbdulKadir
andMinister-in-
chargeofMuslim
AffairsYaacob
Sale of luxury units in Bukit Timah will go towards mosque upgrading Ibrahim.With
themare(from
right)Aamer
ArchitectsCEO
YeoSamJo “SoIthinkthisissomethingwhichweareobligat- JasniNgahtemin
edtodoandwewilldoourbestwiththehelpofthe andAamer
The110-year-oldAl-HudaMosqueinJalanHajiAlias, community.” Architects
offSixthAvenue,willbegettingnewneighbours–six principalAamer
luxuryvillasthatcomewithaswimmingpool. [email protected] Taher.
And money from the sale of these villas will be
usedtofundthecurrentupgradingofthemosque.
Known as Alias Villas, the semi-detached strata
landedunitswere launchedyesterday by Warees In-
vestments,therealestatedevelopmentarmoftheIs-
lamicReligiousCouncilofSingapore(Muis).
Thethree-storeyvillashavea99-yearleaseandare
expectedtobereadyby2017.Theyrangefrom3,000
to3,670sqftandwillgoforatleast$1,500persqft,
oraround$5millioneach.
The launch is part of an ongoing revitalisation
schemebyWareesInvestmentstoenhancetheasset
valueofwakafproperties,whicharebuiltonlandbe-
queathed or willed by Muslims towards religious or
charitable uses. The 30,450 sq ft wakaf land parcel
thatwillhousethevillaswasdonatedin1905byIndi-
an landowner Navena Choona Narainan Chitty to
trusteesforbuildingtheAl-Hudamosque.
Upgrading works to the mosque began last June
andaredueforcompletionnextmonth.The$1.1mil-
lionupgradingcostisexpectedtobereimbursedwith
moneyfromthesaleoftheadjacentvillas.
“AliasVillasisareflectionofthesuccessoftheSin-
gaporean Muslim community,” said Mr Haider M.
Sithawalla, chairman of Warees Investments’ board
ofdirectors.
“Whatusedtobeahumbleplotoflandinthemid-
dleoftheoldKampungTempehisnowgoingtobea
prestigious residential development in the heart of
District10,”headded,referringtohowtheareaused
tobeakampungfromthe1920sto1980s.
AtthelaunchatMarinaMandarinhotelyesterday,
Minister-in-chargeofMuslimAffairsYaacobIbrahim
said:“Thewholeideaisreallytounlockthevalueof
our wakaf. So this is a good example... a mosque
which has been bequeathed with a little piece of
land...We’vebeenabletomaximiseittogeneratefur-
therincomeforthemosqueandforthebeneficiaries
ofthewakaf.”
HesaidhebelievedthedutyofMuisandWareesis
tomaximisethepotentialofthewakaflandbecause
thebenefitgoesbacktothecommunity.
One-stop website
for Malay heritage
Spanning news features, videos and even a digitised
traditionalgame,anewwebsiteaimstobeaone-stop
gatewayforresourcesontheMalaycommunity’sher-
itage.
The WarisanSG portal, warisansg.com, was
launched yesterday by the Malay Heritage Founda-
tion (MHF). Available in Malay and English, it in-
cludesnewsarticles,eventlistings,pictureandvideo
galleries,andevenacyberversionofcongkak,atradi-
tionalMalaygame.
More than 20 Republic Polytechnic and National
University of Singapore students who interned with
thefoundationcontributedtothesite’scontent.
Amobilegameappandbookwerealsolaunched
yesterday.Theapp,WarisanEnigma,isapuzzlegame
whereplayerscanfindoutmoreaboutthehistoryof
Malayartefactsdatingasfarbackasthe14thcentury.
The book, Faith, Authority And The Malays: The
Ulama In Contemporary Singapore, is the third of
five books in the Singapore Malays: Our Heritage &
Legacyseries.
WrittenbyMrNorshahrilSaat,adoctoratecandi-
dateatAustralianNationalUniversity,itlooksatthe
history of the Islamic religious elite and how Malay
Muslimshererespondtothechallengesofmodernisa-
tionwhilepreservingtheirIslamicheritage.
Ms Sim Ann, Minister of State for Communica-
tions and Information, and Education, attended the
launchattheMalayHeritage CentreinSultanGate.
Shesaidtheseinitiativeswillfacilitatethedocumenta-
tion,promotionandpreservationofMalayheritage.
“As we celebrate our nation’s 50th birthday this
year,Iamheartenedbytheeffortsofindividualsand
organisations, such as the MHF, in the documenta-
tion and preservation of our local culture and herit-
age.Thisisataskthathasnoend,andismuchbetter
donebymanyhandsandminds.”
YeoSamJo
Wanted:
Your views
The Straits Times is being
revamped to serve you better.
Tell us what you think we can
improve, or what you think
we should not change.
Send your
views to
wehearyou@
sph.com.sg
top news top news
10 11
thesundaytimesFebruary1,2015 February1,2015thesundaytimes
Economist gets
first female editor
in 172 years
International news ate of both Oxford and Harvard,
she worked for the International
media hails choice of
Monetary Fund for two years be-
business affairs editor fore joining the publication in
as a ‘breakthrough’ 1994. Based in Washington since
1996, she moved to London as
businessaffairseditorlastyear.
The Economist Group’s chair-
PaulZach
man, Mr Rupert Pennant-Rea, de-
scribesherasa“fineleader”and“a
When Britain’s respected weekly,
true advocate for The Economist
The Economist, found out it was
anditsvalues”.
losingitseditor-in-chiefinDecem-
Tothatend,shehasurgedboth
ber, it took the unusual step of
rich and emerging countries to
e-mailingalistof13applicantsfor
tackle inequality, institute more
theopeningtoitsentirestaff.
progressivetaxsystemsandcutfis-
Oneformereditordescribesthe
caldeficits.
atmosphere at the magazine as a
Asearlyas2012,shewastaking
“littlebitliketheCollegeofCardi-
the lead in noting: “In the rich
nals”, which chooses the pope in
worldasawhole,thebestrouteof
Rome, and one candidate for edi-
allwouldbefurtherrisesinthere-
torwrotethatthee-mailledto“in-
tirementage.”
tense lobbying behind the closed
Inbeingnamededitor-in-chief,
doorsofthehutch-likeoffices”.
shealsobreaksanagebarrier.
There, they promptly shattered
Mr Gideon Lichfield, who left
the glass ceiling in yet another of
the magazine to help found
Britain’soldboys’clubs.
Quartz, wrote in his online maga-
Tomorrow,awomanmovesin-
zinelastweek:“Theeditorshiphas
to the office of editor-in-chief at traditionally been not only a
TheEconomistforthefirsttimein man’sjob,butayoungman’sone.
its172-yearhistory. MsZannyMintonBeddoes(top)has “OfMintonBeddoes’16prede-
ItnamedMsZannyMintonBed- atoughacttofollow,asMrJohn cessors, all but five were under 40
does,47,asits17theditor-in-chief Micklethwait(above)hasboosted whentheywereappointed.”
to succeed MrJohn Micklethwait, circulationanddoubledprofits. Still,shehasatoughacttofol-
wholeftto head BloombergNews low. During his nine years at the
inNewYork. Times within the same week,” helm,MrMicklethwaitboostedcir-
Thechoicewaswidelyreported Wan-Ifranoted. culation from 1.1 million to
asa“breakthrough”bytheinterna- AgossipcolumnistforTheSpec- 1.6millioninprint,digitalandau-
tional news media, according to tator,a conservativeBritish maga- dio combined, doubling the
the World Association of Newspa- zine, wrote that Ms Minton Bed- group’s operating profits and see-
pers and News Publishers (Wan- does was a popular choice among ingtheadditionof70,000Twitter
Ifra). her peers and colleagues, and is followersaweek.
While Time and Newsweek knownforherintelligenceandsar- The recent introduction of an
have had female editors, such torialstyle. appalreadyhashalfamillionsub-
long-standing bastions of journal- “She’s extremely sharp and scribers.
ism as Financial Times, The Wall wipesthefloorwithanyoneinan Thus far, Ms Minton Beddoes’
Street Journal, The Washington argument,” wrote the columnist ownreaction to her breakthrough
Post,TheGuardianandTheTimes knownonlyasSteerpike. hasbeenbusinesslike,andeconom-
of London have never been MsMintonBeddoescomeshigh- ical,tosaytheleast.
helmedbywomen. lyqualifiedtoleadTheEconomist, In a terse tweet last Thursday,
“It’s been ‘one step forward, as Europe grapples with what Mr shewrote:“Thanksforallthegood
twostepsback’forgenderequality Micklethwaitcalledinhis“Editor’s wishes.@TheEconomistisanamaz-
behindeditors’desksoverthepast Farewell”yesterdayinararebyline ing place with extraordinarily tal-
year, with two high-ranking fe- piece“thenear-permanenteurocri- ented staff. I’m thrilled to be ap-
male editors-in-chief being ousted sis”. pointededitor.”
fromLeMondeandTheNewYork Atrainedeconomistandgradu- [email protected]
Australia boots out
‘course-hopping’
foreign students
JonathanPearlman during holidays, while family
ForTheSundayTimes members can accompany and
InSydney work for up to 40 hours a fort-
night.
Navitas,thelargestlistededuca-
TheyenterAustraliaonstudentvi-
tion provider in Australia, said it
sastotakeuparecognisedcourse,
had slowed enrolment over con-
but switch to a cheaper unrecog-
cerns about “course-hopping”
nisedone soon after their arrival,
andotherfraudulentbehaviour.
inabreachofvisaconditions.
It said such cases had gone up
Aspikein“course-hopping”by
afterthegovernmentmadeiteasi-
foreign students has led the Aus-
erforstudentstoobtainvisasand
traliangovernmenttocanceltheir
put the onus on universities and
visas.
colleges to check documents and
Lastyear,thegovernmentcan- assessstudents.
celledmorethan7,000studentvi-
“What we started seeing last
sasasitsoughttocurbfraudulent
yearwasalargeincreaseinapplica-
practices in the A$15.7 billion
tions from Nepal and India,” Mr
(S$16.5billion)internationaledu-
James Fuller, Navitas’ public and
cationindustry. investor relations manager, told
STPHOTO:TIFFANYGOH,FILE “Course-hopping” was the The Sunday Times. “When we
ArtistMoNiandherhusbandThomasEganattheartgallery most common breach and ac- looked closer, we realised not all
(left)hostingherexhibition.Thecouplefirstmet18yearsago,
counted for 4,458 cancellations. weregenuinestudents.”
thankstoanarticleinTheStraitsTimes(above)aboutthe
Chineseartist’sfirstsoloexhibitionhere. Others include falsifying English HesaidNavitasdetecteda“cou- PHOTO:FACEBOOKPAGEOFTAUNTONSCHOOL
test results and failure to provide ple of hundred fraudulent visas” MrsJaneBarrie,thechairofgovernorsatTauntonSchool,andSirJayTidmarsh
properpaperstoshowthatthestu- from among its roughly 10,000 withthelong-overduebookborrowedfromtheschoollibrary.
dent can afford to live and study studentslastyear.Therewere300
The broad strokes dictionaryontheirfirstdates. Philadelphia from 2005 and inthecountry. to 400 students from Singapore Better late than never
“It sounds ridiculous, but I 2009. Figures provided to The Sun- but none was found to have any
wouldpointtothewordsIwant- Mr Egan, who was head of day Times by the Department of problems.
ed to say in Chinese so he could StandardChartered’stechnicalac- Immigration and Border Protec- Government figures showed to return a library book
of a fine romance counting department until last tion showed that 1,120 Chinese that 7,061 visas were cancelled
see the English translations,” she
December, has enrolled in a had their student visas cancelled, last year, up from 4,930 in 2013,
said.
post-graduate diploma course in followed by Vietnamese (896), and1,978in2012.
Loveblossomeddespitethelan-
financialstrategy. South Koreans (787), Indians Thecrackdownfollowedanon- London – A former businessman ingschoolinSomerset,alongwith
guage barrier, helped by her son
Looking back at their mar- (548), Thais (400), Indonesians linecampaignbythegovernment has returned a school book, 65 a£1,500donationtotheschoolli-
Louis,whoactedastheirinterpret-
LeongWengKam 30-somethingChengdu-bornartist myhomestateinWisconsin.” riage,bothsayitdoesseemanun- (321)and Malaysians(308). lastyeartowarnforeignstudents years after borrowing it, and gave brary.
SeniorWriter whose parents were both Chinese LikeO’Keeffe,MoNi’ssemi-ab- er.Thecouplemarriedin1999. likely match as he still cannot Australia had 583,714 interna- and education providers of the £1,500(S$3,000)ascompensation. “I don’t know why, but I just
ink painters, and how she had stract and realist works included BothSingaporepermanentresi- speak Mandarin and her English tional students in total last year, consequences of “course-hop- Sir Jay Tidmarsh, 82, was clear- happened to open the front cover
Artist Mo Ni’s exhibition of 27 movedtoSingaporefiveyearsearli- largecanvasesofflowersoverpow- dents, they live in a three-room remainsfarfromfluent. including 153,155 from China, ping”. ing out his shelves when he came andwasshockedtosee‘Propertyof
er to teach, as well as her fascina- ered with energy and erotic ten- Housing Board flat in Waterloo But he quipped: “That’s per- 62,346 from India and 29,584 “There is definitely a loop- across the long-forgotten copy of Taunton School’ printed inside,”
modernworksopenedataBukitTi-
tionwithorchids. sion. Street.Louisisnow30andaneu- hapsablessingbecauseitalsore- from Vietnam. There were 8,438 hole,” Mr Thomson Ch’ng, presi- Ashenden by Somerset Maugham, hesaid.
mah gallery yesterday, marking a Mr Egan, then 38, single and Brought together by a newspa- rosurgeoninCalifornia. duces the chances of us quarrel- fromSingapore. dentoftheCouncilofInternation- thePressAssociationreported. “I thought I should do the de-
special milestone for her and her workingatthe AmericanEmbassy per story and art, the pair soon MoNi,whograduatedfroman ling.” ToobtainastudentvisaforAus- alStudentsAustralia,toldTheAus- When he opened the cover of cent thing and return the book –
AmericanhusbandThomasEgan. here,wentto her showafterread- starteddating. art school in Tianjin, won the tralia,applicantsneedtoberegis- tralian. thebook,a collectionofshort sto- payingmyduesatthesametime.”
It is 18 years since they first ing the article, which included a MoNi,whowasdivorcedwitha 2001 UOB Painting of the Year [email protected] tered for a recognised course, Hesaid:“(There)areafewrot- ries about a British spy during the SirTidmarshwastheLordLieu-
met, thanks to an article in The picture of the petite woman with 13-year-old son at the time, re- competitionintherepresentation- MoNi’sArtExhibitionatDing showtheycanaffordtostudyand tenapplesouttherethatarelead- World War I, he was surprised to tenantofBristolbetween1996and
YiXuanArtCentre,#02-15,
Straits Times about the Chinese twoofherpaintings. called:“Iwasveryapprehensiveat almediumcategory. BukitTimahPlaza,isondaily live in Australia, and have ade- ingthewayinsendingnon-genu- see the stamp of his alma mater 2007, an honorary position ap-
artist’sfirstsoloexhibitionhere. Hesaid:“Iwenttotheshowbe- firstbecause I couldn’t speak Eng- Shedidthreeyearsofpost-grad- from10amto6pm(Mondays quateEnglishskills.Thevisastypi- ine students to Australia, and it’s TauntonSchool,whichhehadleft pointedbytheQueen.
Headlined “Taken by the flow- cause her works looked like those lishandhedidn’tunderstandany uatestudiesattheCentralAcade- toSaturdays),and callyallowstudentstoworkforup becomingmorewidespread.” in1949. HemadeatripbacktoTaunton
er, artist zooms in on part of or- of the modern American painter Mandarin.” my of Fine Arts in Beijing before 1pmto6pm(Sundays)tillFeb to 40 hours a fortnight during jonathanmpearlman@gmail. Sir Tidmarsh decided to return withhiswife,wheretheyweregiv-
chid”, the report described the Georgia O’Keeffe who came from They took a Chinese-English teaching art at the University of 15.Admissionisfree. term time, and unlimited hours com thebooktotheindependentboard- enalunchintheirhonour.
home
12
thesundaytimesFebruary1,2015
Gri e
expectations
at condos
BCA to remind condo condo’s MC wrote to The Straits
TimesForumPagetosayithadal-
managements to allow
ready suggested other safety mea-
grilles for safety, but sures, like installing grilles inside
the sliding balcony doors. There
designs need approval
wasalsoa“sunkenconcreteboxar-
ea” in front of the balcony wall
whichcannotbeeasilycrossed.
YeoSamJo When asked if these were
enoughtoguaranteeachild’ssafe-
TheBuildingandConstructionAu- ty, a spokesman for the MC told
thority(BCA) willsend a noticeto TheSundayTimes:“Parentalsuper-
management corporations (MCs) visionisimportantaswell.”
remindingthemthathomeowners She added that the MC did not
shouldnotbestoppedfrominstall- considerexternalbalconygrillede-
inggrillestopreventharmtochil- signs because they would mar the
dren. facade’s look and obstruct mainte-
Thiswasrevealedinalettersent nance.
to The Sunday Times, in response “The entire design, facade and STPHOTO:CHEWSENGKIM
toseveralreaderswritingintocom- structure of ONR is intended to SalesautomationdirectorChristinaTeng,withher16-month-oldsonChowYannAn,hadinstalledinvisiblegrillesather19th-floorbalconyatTheEstalast
plainabouttheirgrillewoes. projectanopenandfencelessambi- September,butwaslatertoldtheywerenotsanctioned.Atthecondo’sannualgeneralmeetingyesterday,itwasdecidedthatMsTengcouldkeephergrilles.
But residents still have to first ence...ManyownersviewONRasa
getapprovalfromtheirMCsonthe uniquedevelopment.” Shesettled for grilles on the in-
designofthegrille. DrSinghtoldTheSundayTimes sideofherbalconydoorsinstead. BCA LETTER
thatinstallingthegrillesinsidewas
And this could lead to rejec- SalesautomationdirectorChris-
a“completelyunsatisfactory”solu-
tions,hassleandunwanteddelays,
tion, as his family would not be tina Teng, 45, also ran into obsta- Werefertothearticlesandlettersonthe TheBuildingandConstructionAuthority(BCA)
several condo owners said, calling
forafasterandeasierprocess. abletousethebalcony. clesatTheEstaatAmberGardens, installationofsafetygrillesforcondominium issuedacircular“InstallationofAdditionalSafety
Onesolution,saidMrChanKok He added that the planter box whereshelives. windowsandbalconiesthatwerepublishedin Barrier/GrilleatBalconyofaLot”in2013toall
Hong,presidentoftheAssociation ranalongonlyonesideofhisbalco- She installed invisible grilles at TheStraitsTimes. MCSTstoremindthemof(1)theaboveprescribed
ny,andthatthebalcony’sglassbar- her19th-floorbalconylastSeptem- Undertheprescribedby-lawoftheBuilding
of Strata Managers, could be to by-lawthattheownerofanindividualunitshall
riers rest on a ledge which a child ber after receiving approval from Maintenance(StrataManagement)Regulations
make all developers and architects canstillstandon. thecondo’smanagingagent. 2005,aSubsidiaryProprietor(SP)orownerofan notbepreventedfrominstallingany
come up with grille designs from Inthepasttwoyears,theBCAre- But after another agent took individualunitshallnotbepreventedfrom device/structurethatpreventsharmtochildren
theget-go.
ceived feedback on nine cases in over in November, she was told installinganylockingorothersafety and(2)theneedtosetthedesignguidelinesfor
“Once imposed by them, there
which developers or MCs rejected that her grilles were not sanc- device/structuretoimprovesafetywithinthat suchdevices/structuresfortheirdevelopmentto
won’tbeissueswithhowthegrilles
requests by unit owners to install tioned. unit,oranysafetyfeaturestopreventharmto addresstheissueofuniformityofappearanceof
affectthelookofthebuilding.”
grilles for their windows or balco- It was finally decided at the children.Thisincludestheinstallationofsafety suchstructureswiththerestofthebuilding.To
The problem that some resi- nies. In that time, the STB heard
dents face was highlighted when onecase–DrSingh’s. condo’s annual general meeting grillesatthebalcony. furtherheightenawarenessaboutthis,wewill
Dr Sujit Singh Gill was forced to Some residents do not want to yesterdaythatMsTengcouldkeep Toaddressresidents’safetyconcernsandensure sendanothercirculartoallMCSTsandcontinueto
turn to the Strata Titles Boards taketheriskofwaiting. hergrilles,andotherresidentsnow uniformityintheappearanceofsafetydevicesor raisethisissuetotheMCSTswhomwemeet
(STB) after the MC of One North Housewife Estella Young, 36, havetofollowasimilardesign. structureswiththerestofthebuilding,the periodicallythroughourdialogues.
Residences(ONR)twicerejectedhis was told by Park East But the mother of a ManagementCorporationStrataTitle(MCST)
grilleplans. Condominium’s management two 16-month-oldsonsaid:“Iinvested shouldsetdesignguidelinesfortheinstallationof ChinChiLeong
hadLaesvtermyoringthht,tothiensStaTlBlthruelegdrillhees yexeaterrsnaaglobtahlcaotnshyegrciolluelsd. notinstall ainltoottohfism.Iyt’tsimfrues,terfaftoinrtga.ndmoney sbuecphafsesaedtuaressa.Tbhy-elsaewdaetsiagngegnueirdaellmineeestsihnoguslodatshteon CommissionerofBuildings
athis13th-floorunittoprotecthis “It’squitenerve-rackingforpar- “I only have a simple request – bindtheMCSTandallSPs/tenants.AllSPs/tenants GroupDirector,BuildingPlan
mustensurethatsuchinstallationsareconsistent andManagement
two young children if they climb ents,” said MsYoung, whose son, tomakemylivingspacesafer.”
withthedesignguidelinesby-law. BuildingandConstructionAuthority
thewaist-highbalconyglasswall. nowthree,hadjuststartedtowalk
In the wake of the ruling, the then. [email protected]