Can we save the earth?

Of course we can! But every action you do, affects the earth. Learn how to save the earth before taking actions. If not you will be...(example)burning down some part of the forest for growing crops while thinking "I can save the earth!".How to save the earth? You can save ELECTRICITY, burn less fuels(example:wood,oil,etc.), etc. One action can affect the whole earth! Example: burning down some part of the forest. Burning requires OXYGEN that WE NEED and produce CARBON DIOXIDE which we can also produce through repiration. Too much carbon dioxide in the air is not good at all.
This is because, the carbon dioxide will rise to the air as it is produced, then traps heat. Heat comes into the earth and goes out of the earth. When heat reaches the earth, the carbon dioxide will trap some of the heat while it goes out of the earth. As there is MORE carbon dioxide to trap HEAT, LESSER heat will travel back into the space. Thus, more heat will be trapped in EARTH and the temperature of the earth will INCREASE as there is MORE heat.

Causes of the change of climate

1. Rising of temperatures: Average global temperature have risen in this century. This is because of that the greenhouse gases build up with carbon dioxide. It affects human lives and animal lives.
2. Rising sea levels: Sea levels are rising hastily and made till low lying islands to have severe floods.
3. Melting ice: Antartica are affected by the hot weather as it has ice. Ice will melt, and animals living on the Antartica will die due to the weather. There will be lots of floods, which causes sea level to rise. Loss of Arctic ice also frees methane. It is a greenhouse gas from seas and soils which will worsen global warming.
4. Dying seas: Seas that has fishes and other living things growing in it will die easily as the seas absorb carbon dioxide which is turning the waters MORE acidic. Warmer waters have also killed a quarter of the world's coral reefs.
5. Severe storms: The frequency of downpours and the power of hurricanes have increased so dramatically that "100-year storms" are striking some areas once every 15 years.
6. Parched earth: Some areas were experiencing droughts, such as El Nino. High temperature bring less snow to Himalayas, causing that area to have lesser water supplies for people living downstream.
7. Smaller harvests: Farmers have complaint that the dry weather have made their crops 50 percent less yield.
8. Earlier springs: Japan's cherry blossom season came five days early this year and a week earlier than the average for the past three decades.
9. Spread of diseases: diseases and their carriers can travel easily because of warmer temperatures.
10. Endangered species: The most affected victim is the polar bears. They live in icy cold place. As the ice melts, they will lose their habitat.

Ways to produce electricity

Electricity is the one of the source we need in our daily lives. Producing electricity through burning fuels also harms the environment! The more electricity we use, the more the environment gets harmed.

There are different ways to produce electricity, but there are pros and cons. Yes, you can burn fossil fuels to produce electricity, but it is too harmful to the environment.

Ways to cut carbon dioxide to produce electricity:

1. Use solar power
2. Use wind power
3. Use hydropower
4. use geothermal power
5. use Nuclear power
6. use biofuels
7. use carbon capture and storage
8. do carbon trading
9. geoengineering
10. use osomotic power

Having HIV/AIDS instead of big brain disease? Which is MORE serious? Brain disease, of course! 2 boys with brain disease werebeing inserted with HIV genes to cure the brain disease. This is so called "exchange", but exchange for a better disease. As i think that HIV is better than brain disease, and not as serious as brain disease, altough it causes aids, it's very good exchange.

Everyone was shocked by the "School Closed". Pupils who decided to take on private schools can only see their money, busily flying away to a big fox. Cheaters... They were cheated by the "schools" for their money. Their money had gone to a waste. But at least they bought a lesson of not to always believe private schools!

"School closed???" Don't ever believe such private schools. Some will only cheat your money($$). When you started applying for their schools, their face will grow $_$. So, government schools is better than private schools although private schools meant that you are "rich". But it doesn't apply to all situations. You may be poor, but you enter a private school.

If there is ant-killer on your food, and you EAT the food... Don't you find it disgusting? Of course... Can you imagine a 70+ years old man being poisoned by ant-killer? His wife, whom he physically abused, poisoned him. She can receive up to 10 years of jail by doing this. She should just report to the police...

13 people died and 30 were injured as they were shot by a psychiatrist who should be treating them but instead, he killed them. Many soldiers were shocked while some began shooting the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist is a major and is then sent to study as a medical doctor. Shots in his chest were nothing. He killed 13 but he did not die? Isn't it funny? He is only injured. Feel so pity for those innocent ones...

2 "loan sharks" received a stiff punishment of 7 years of jail, 17 strokes of cane and 14 strokes of cane respectively. One of them had 70+ charges while the other had 50+ charges. Both of them were actually DEBTORS! They owed the loan sharks about $500 at the start but end up paying by working under them. The one with 70+ charges burnt the items outside other debtors' house. The other was looking around to see if anyone is moving towards them. At last, they were caught. Why do they want to do this kind of work? Don't they find it tough? Why not just find a company to work if they are not scared of tough work? Tough work= earn more money as other people may not want to do. Why risk of getting into jail?

What's the use of suiciding? This happened 1 year ago: A malay man, owed some money and therefore, sent to a zoo as a cleaner to earn money for his debts. Too bad, he jumped into an enclosure of the white tigers and then, suffered more than 90 injuries and died. Other zookeepers tried to stopped the tigers, but when the tigers stopped, the man had already died.

According to the investigations, a zookeeper said that the man may be recognised as a toy to the white tigers. But this is impossible... How could the white tigers play with a "toy" like that, even if it is a real toy? As this is a case of suicide, the zoo will not be responsible of compensating money to the man's family.

Can you imagine a prata man winning a poetry contest? What a joke! A prata man, closes his shop once a week to start prat icing on his poetry. Surprisingly, he was in the SECOND PLACE! Interesting, isn't it? A prata man, may not be as smart as a Junior Colleague, was in the second place! Does this means "practice makes perfect" make sense?

What would you do if you are the prata man? How will you decide on practicing poetry if you've signed up for the contest?

A) I will continue working and not care about the poetry contest i signed up. I will still work everyday and ignore the contest. I will also not turn up for the contest.

B)I love poetry. Poetry is my favourite subject. I will spend most of my free time to practice poetry. I will go to the contest.

If your answer is:

A) If you don't care for the contest, what for you go and sign up? Save a space for a contestant who is interested.

B) This is good! Go for it man! You may win the contest! Then. you will have pride to share with your family!

Are you having depression? Take in deep breaths and take a rest if you want to! In japan, a musician, hanged to his death was said to have depression. Most of the suiciders in Japan were man(71%). It was said that depression was the cause of these suicide. Being a human is to be happy and not to be unhappy. Be happy with your life, enjoy your life. Though life is hard, but do not do such a silly thing-suicide. You ought to be happy to be a human than be animals such as cats and dogs. Cats and dogs were being bought from pet shops and unlucky ones were abondoned on the streets. Some cruel and inhuman humans would definately tease them and be cruel to them, example by kicking them, using sticks to poke them.

Your life would definately be happier and better if you don't overwork yourself. Yes, you have to earn money. But in these times, be happy. Though there is economic downturn, don't worry, be happy!~ Being happy is the MOST MOST important thing in your life. Life is meaningless without any happiness. There is a limit of stress in everyone, even me. So, do not overstress yourself.

Wrong statement: Make yourself stressful and uninterested during work.
Correct statement: Make yourself happy and interested during work so you will get successful!

Life is all about happiness. Put all sadness and worry-ness away. Having sad and worrying life is terrible. Enjoy your life, do not go for suicide. Suicide is NOT a solution to everything. Think of something you can do to help yourself in that problem. I would rather someone to try to solve a problem till they die than dying even before trying to solve the problem. People suiciding to solve everything is just as dumb as nobody can be.

The keyword to SUCCESS is: TRY

Does happiness change your emotions? Yes, they do. Once you receive happiness, obviously you would SMILE.(unless you are emotionless) Give happiness to people, give happiness to yourself! I'm sure if you give out your happiness, there would be double happiness travelling back to you! Do not be sad, smile! Your life needs SMILE on your face. SMILE!! ^_^

Secret meeting in Singapore? Who are they? They were the South Korea and the North Korea! Why would they meet in Singapore? To make a secret operation? No! They met to discuss and yet, left each other without making a deal. Deal or No Deal? NO DEAL! I hope they are not planning to attack Singapore...

Impossible to have no disasters right? But if we treat mother earth well enough, the rate of disasters would slow down. Of course, it won't come to a stop. Only 1 disaster in 10 years is enough. People can live more well and their lives will not get destroyed by disasters.

Nice physical education lessons... Using Nintendo WII to exercise during PE lessons? Interesting! Its quite kind for the principal to fork out so much money just to "upgrade" the PE lessons. Not like my school, low budget, even canteen also don't want to upgrade. Furthurmore, my principal still promised to upgrade it but she FAILED to upgrade. She made a vote for what should be upgraded and there the next day, only the RUBBISH BIN were upgraded... Low budget....

Third typhoon on the way to Philippines? Filipinos were told to abandon their homes when the third typhoon comes. How are they going to re-build their homes like that? Disasters kept attacking them. Anyway to solve this problem? Maybe only the science "department" can invent something to solve natural disasters. Maybe invent a controller that the disasters would be controlled by it? I don't know, because i'm not a scientist. But maybe my method will work.

Natural disasters attacking one country to another is too terrible. This year, more than 5 disaster striked from june to now. Extremely terrible, that is why I said it is not fortunate to live in other countries. Disasters may strike anytime, anywhere, even man-made disasters like suicide bombing.

In countries, there are pros and cons. The pros for Singapore is that no natural disaster will attack us. The cons are just like what you said, no natural resources. Which would be better?
If you guess other countries, you are wrong. Yes, we envy other countries for their resources, but think using another way and you will see that you are so fortunate.

What a pity for those countries striked by disasters. But, i have a suggestion for them.

Suggested ideas from me to prevent one from dying in some disasters.

1.Earthquake: 24-hours helicopter for people to board and fly safely to a safe country. Start flying 1 month before the time disaster strikes as estimated.

2. Tsunami: Go up to the highest tower, mountain, etc. to be safe.

3. Typhoon: Prepare to die, or wish you can escape or hope it stops in front of you

4. All strike together: Prepare to die, the only way.

We, Singaporeans, are very, no not very but EXTREMELY fortunate that no disaster would occur on our country. Nothing like Indonesia would happen. We would not get hit by disasters no matter how strong it is. We will not see people dying from disasters but only for diseases. In Indonesia, many people died just because of 1 disaster. 1 disaster can take away more than 1000 lives... Incredible...

Natural disaster, Earthquake, struck Indonesia, Sumatra. Lots of people were left homeless and some were missing. Everytime a natural disaster stikes, they would cry for their family members as they lost their loved ones. A teacher, miraculously survived in this earthquake when she was being squashed by her heavy students, dying and lying on top of her. She lay there, like a flat pancake. Though the blood was oozing out of her, she persevered and shouted for help, for 48 hours(2 days). Can you imagine a woman as flat as a pancake survived? That's miracle!

As you can see, normal people like us makes up a country and many contries with many oceans makes up earth. So, if there is no people, there is no earth. But then, there are some unfortunate countries, just nice situated at where natural disasters might happen, was striked by those disasters.
Have you heard of earth "dying" at 2012? For me, what i think, is impossible. Almost every decade, they were saying that everyone on Earth would die, but it never happen.

"BOOM!...." Now, looks like our dear planet, Earth, is geting ill. Typhoon, Tsunami, Earthquake, and many disasters are here. It may happen anywhere, anytime and any moment from now. Soon, the earth would get weaker and weaker and evntually... "vanish". The earth will "die". So do we. When the earth "die", it means that natural disasters would occur almost everyday and more and more people would die.

Rapist dad... A man, who is already a "daddy", raped his OWN daughter almost everyday ever since she was 12. She was raped and then, have had 2 daughters. This man is kind of crazy over raping, maybe. Nowadays, i do not know if it is that "one do, the other one follow" or "one crazy, all crazy. You must feel sad for this girl, feel pity and not feel funny...

A man, measuring 2.465 meters tall, which is around 2 times the height of me, is so called "the tallest man". Interesting, isn't it? 2.465 meters tall or 2.5 meters tall, is how many times of your height? 1.5 times? 1.75 times? or 1.25 times? What a special man... but he had stop growing ever since last year.

Remember Noordin Top? That "chief terrorist" that created much trouble. Now, Noordin Top was shot 3 times and, of course, dead. That's good, isn't it? We should show no mercy to troublemakers like him. "Killed... That's good." many people will think of this.<<<<<<

Mumbai attackers may set to strike again. Just like last time, when Mumbai was bombed and attacked, may be repeated again as tourist are able to spread into Mumbai again. Getting ready for fresh attacks, the Government, of course, must do something. So, let us just hope that it doesn't get attacked again, although it's none of my bussiness. This time, do not "mind your own bussiness",(MYOB), but to get ready to feel pitiful for Mumbai, getting attacked.

"ACHAAA!!!!"... "OUCH!!!"...."AAAHHHHHH!!!!!!" "PSSSSS".... "UHHH....".....

China's 60th birthday... just the previous day... 1 man, who claimed to be drunk, stabbed 2 security guards to death by whipping out a knife during the rehersal for China's 60th birthday. Not only 2 died, but also 14 injured. Everything came on suddenly. No one would predict that this will happen. A "sudden attack" to the security guards and a huge and enormous surprise for audience. They were sent to hospital. Only 2 cannot make it- the 2 security guards.

9 women were rescued by the Turkish military police after being tricked from a show contest. They were prevented on contacting their families and some families went to make a police report. If the police didn't solve this problem as soon as possible, the women would have been gone. As the saying goes, once bitten twice shy. They should be more careful next time.

America Remembers: Deadliest attack in America, causing over 3000* people to die. It happened at new york*, causing great damage. This day will be commemorated every year, as it was the "most" deadliest attack. Surviving in destrution is difficult.

* means that not confirmed, may be false information.

Needle attacks... Interesting... 9 suspects being detained over alleged syringe attacks in 3 new places in China. Six were in hotan, two in Altay and one in Kashgar. Can you imagine some "needles" poking into your eyes, decorating your face? That will be so funny... but it will not be if it pokes into someone's eyes...

Started stocking mooncakes? Lantern festival is about to come and... (I am not trying to advertise actually.) you have to prepare your mooncakes! This post is not talking about the mooncakes anyway.

Next news: Two dead in Air Force plant crash. A "Royal Malaysian Air Force" training plane crashed on Friday on Langkawi, killing 2 people on board. They were the 2 instructors were on board, looking after 2 experienced pilots who were busily controling the plane. The plane broke into 4 pieces and caught fire. It was a 2 seater plane, and a clear weather at the time of accident. The reason behind this is still being investigated.

Too bad for them. If you want to know what was the reason, I also want to know. So do not ask me as i do not know too. Let us see if this news comes out again.

Everyday, there are many things happening around you. Some may be accidents, some may be good news, like ... holiday, or even cheating. You will see lots of things happening, even through newspapers.

Today's news: Chen Shui Bian getting jailed for life, together with his wife. They had been involved in cheating, especially the taiwan minister, Chen Shui Bian. The arrogant Chen Shui Bian was finally caught while he did not escape. They were caught and then sent to jail. Jail cell is their new home, but not as comfortable as their home. Serves them right to cheat poeple's money. He was bribed using 9 million dollars too.

Note: There might be false information as I may type wrongly.

... 18 years of abduction. Can you believe it? A very young and innocent child... 18 years of rape... Can you imagine? Don't laugh... It is really very sad for her... 50+ years old man, raped her and have 2 daughters with the young girl. This is so pathetic, so don't laugh, it is not funny.

>>>>>>>>>>>>next post>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Living 18 years in the backyard with 2 daughters... That's inhuman... The "father" of the 2 daughters let the trios sleep in the backyard for years. He, himself, got a wife, which is also old and is like a "robot". Whatever the man wants her to do, she would do. But of course, i don't really know if it is real, or fake. 18 years later... did the teenager die?

Next post>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Getting raped and living at the backyard for 18 years... It's not a good place to live actually. Secretive backyard with no doors from inside and soundproof... That's obviously so secretive. Backyard entered from outside... Difficult to spot... and UNEXPECTED! This abductor is extremely professional i think and he, of course, should be sentenced to death. Abducting children below 14 years old is commited to a crime, but of course, how i wish was, commited to a crime, death sentence. This is of course for "beast" like him.

Surviving in such an environment isn't easy. Such things might happen: Bored to death, too tired of living, killing her daughters, stay peacefully alive, OR EVEN GETTING KILLED AFTER LIVING THERE FOR 18 YEARS! Just imagine if you were that girl, the young girl. Based on the above suggestion, tell me which one you would do. For me, of course bored to death. I would prefer to study than doing nothing like that, or just read a storybook(an INTERESTING one) rather than dying of boredness. Of course, the moment you don't give up, there is hope for you.(Just like the girl getting abducted)

So getting abducted may heppen any century, any decade, any year, any month, any week, any day, any hour, any minute and...? Of course, any second. So, get ready to be abducted, not mean to curse you, by thinking if what you are going to do after that. Though it took me 5 posts to complete this article, but it seems to be interesting... to me but to you, i don't know.

Teachers should not be the invigilator of his/her own school during PSLE. A woman, went on cheating and helped 3 of her school pupils to change his/her answer after the exam. She was then caught and sent to jail. What's the problem with her? why do she want to cheat?

Next post >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The reasons that she wants to cheat is:

1) She wants her school to be top for PSLE
2) She wants to help her students in her school.
3) She may be the teacher of the three students.
4) If she is, she might be helping them to score.
5) If she is, she might want to be the best teacher of her own school.

A 19-year-old Congo national was jailed on Thursday for using a French passport that did not belong to her to enter Singapore.Florida Luputu, who was jailed three months and fined $2,000, claimed she had done so to escape the war in her country.Luputu, arrived in Singapore on July 15 and an immigration officer at Changi Airport allowed her through, not knowing she was using a passport that did not belong to her.She was only picked up 15 days later when she tried to leave the country for Germany.

A new fully air-conditioned bus interchange in Boon Lay will open during the year-end school holidays.At 20,000 sq m and costing $24 million, it will be Singapore's biggest and most expensive bus interchange to date. It will also have the most number of bus services, with 31 in all.When open, Boon Lay will be the fourth town to have an integrated public transport hub, in which the bus interchange and MRT station are seamlessly linked together with retail outlets.The other integrated hubs are in Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio and Sengkang, while Clementi and Serangoon are expected to get air-conditioned bus interchanges in 2011.

Dr Charles Penn, a scientist with the Geneva-based agency, said on Wednesday who has received formal notification of seven cases. Dr Penn also revealed that WHO has been alerted informally to the discovery of 'a small number of other Tamiflu-resistant viruses' but would not say where they were found or how many there were in total.Tamiflu is one of only two flu drugs to treat H1N1 cases.Since its emergence earlier this year, the pandemic H1N1 virus has been resistant to two older flu drugs, amantadine and rimantadine.Dr Penn said the Tamiflu-resistent H1N1 cases 'look like individual isolated cases,' suggesting that there is 'no onward transmission, or implication of them having originated, from a common source."He added that laboratories around the world are on the lookout for changes in the pandemic viruses that might suggest a similar problem of resistance.'But so far, no evidence has been found,' he said. Wow, INTERESTING! Hope he can help in the cutting down of H1N1

Two more people with Influenza A (H1N1) have died in Singapore after developing complications. They were a 51-year-old Indian woman with Down's Syndrome and high body mass index (BMI) and a 78-year-old man with no medical history. This brings the total death tally from H1N1 to eight in three weeks. The woman with Down's syndrom died on Wednesday afternoon from pneumonia. She had gone to Tan Tock Seng Hospital's emergency department on that day after having flu-like symptoms for three days. There, she had breathing difficulties and low blood pressure and died later. The elderly man had no medical history and died on Thursday morning after having fever and shortness of breath for a day. While in the intensive care unit, his condition worsened and he died from a heart attack, with pneumonia as a contributing factor.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's National Day Message will be broadcast on Saturday, the eve of National Day, on local television channels and radio stations. PM Lee's message in English is shot in high definition (HD) with subtitles for the hearing-impaired. It will be given on Channel 5, HD5 and TV Mobile at 7.15pm; Channel NewsAsia at 7.32pm; and Okto at 9.45pm. On radio, it will be aired at 7.35pm on 938LIVE.

Remember to watch it! Listen to what he says.

At the age of nine, he was already a veteran on social networking websites. By the time he was 12, he was a regular on an online chatroom popular with homosexual men. When he was 15, he pimped himself out, posting online messages on the chatroom that he was up for some 'fun' - if the men paid him for it. At least six men, aged 21 to 50, took him up on his offer. Now, half are doing time for committing obscene acts with the teenager, who is now 17. On Wednesday, Victor Ng Yong You, 25, and Thomas Song Choong Chen, 37, became the latest to be jailed for the crimes under the Children and Young Persons Act. Both men will spend three months behind bars. They are among six men who have been taken before the court in connection with the teenager. The youth cannot be named due to a court order. Quek Hock Sing, 42, a tour guide, was the first to be convicted in January for a similar offence. He was jailed for four months. Both Ng, who was a property agent at the time, and Song, a supervisor, committed the offences two years ago

It is a sign of the times - More girls aged below 14 are having sex. The police have now tabbed this as a worrying crime issue, and are trying to keep a lid on the problem. Crime statistics issued on Wednesday for the first half of the year showed that the number of statutory rape cases involving girls under 14 jumped more than 70 per cent, to 37 cases, compared with 21 in the same period last year.The girls involved in such cases were not punished, even if they initiated the sex, lawyers said. But they were sometimes counselled or sent to homes. They should not do this as they are underage. Having sex below 18 will have to go to jail...

Noordin Top is finally caught! Noordin Top is actually the mastermind behind the Jakarta suicide bombings. As the saying goes, no one can escape from the long arms of law. He was "shot dead" by policemen.

Living in condo is good, but you must also follow the rules. But why should we? What are the rules?

1)No renting of rooms.
2)Do not hang your laundry outside your house.
3)Do not let your maids use the swimming pool.
4)You cannot use condo facilities to teach outsiders.

Rule Number One:

"One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven." "Hey, why are there so many residents in your house?" "No, officer, there are only eight over here, including me." "Are you renting your rooms to them? Strictly NO renting of rooms!"

Why no renting of rooms? Will it cheapen the image of condo? Yes it may but not as much as you think they may. If you want to rent rooms, why not buy a building to rent rooms? You can even buy a HDB flat and rent it to someone else.

Rule Number Two:

"Now, what? Hanging of clothes? Stop complaining to me! Too much complaints!" The officer looking for rule breakers will be getting more annoyed if these complaints goes on and on because residents in condos are just not listening to them! They broke the rules, repeatedly and continuously. If these residents can stop, there will be lesser complaints, which is good.

Rule Number Three:

No maids in the swimming pool? Why must they say that? What? Make their swimming pool cheap? INHUMAN! Maids, are normal people like us. They, in fact, are the more helpful ones who helps us to work, just like us, working for a higher level one. When you say that maids should not share the same pool as you, then does that mean you cannot share the same pool with bosses or those people who are in a higher position? Maids are also a human being. They may be low class, but not as low class as what you may think. Put yourself into their shoes and see how sad you will be if you are a maid.

Rule Number Four:

You cannot use condo facilities to teach outsiders. You only bought an APARTMENT not the whole building. So, you did not buy the facilities but you only pay to use the facilities. You cannot use things that is not yours to teach other people. People living in condos should respect this rule. For me, an air-conditioned HDB flat will be good enough.

Prices of Housing Board flats have reached a historical record, rising 1.4 per cent in the second quarter this year, reversing a first-quarter dip of 0.8 per cent. Fresh data released from the HDB on Friday shows the resale price index rising to 140.2 - beating the previous record set in the fourth quarter of last year when it hit just over 139. Nowadays, prices of houses are increasing rapidly. When will our pay increase?

A full-time national serviceman was fined $8,000 on Wednesday for attempted sex with a 12-year-old girl. Fong Kok Loong, 21, admitted to the offence at his Hougang Street 11 home in January last year.A Community Court heard that the girl, now 14, came to know Fong through Friendster, a social networking site, in December 2007. About a week later, they exchanged contact numbers and started sending short messages to each other. The victim told him she was 13. About three weeks later while the victim was with some friends, she received an SMS from Fong inviting her over to his home.She went to his flat where he tried to have sex with her, but she pushed him away.Fong could have been jailed for up to five years and fined up to $10,000 for the offence. Wow, what a shameless serviceman. He should be educated on sexual education.

More than 320 foreign-trained lawyers have applied to the National University of Singapore to attend a course under a new scheme by the Law Ministry that speeds up entry for them to practise law here.In the past, law graduates who returned to Singapore from foreign universities could practise law only after completing the Diploma in Singapore Law course which takes a year.The change allows law graduates who studied overseas and have at least two years of recognised legal experience to be called to the Bar, after passing what is known as Part A of the Bar examination. Wish them good luck for Part B examination.

Regular hand washing, do not self-medicate, go to a doctor if you are ill. <<<< Some people, do not follow these steps. It is very inconsiderate to not to follow these steps as you may give other people the flu.

H1N1 virus is spreading so much that almost... ?? people died. I forgot the amount as it is alot. No choice, but to fight the flu. Use the tamiflu and you can be cured from that flu! If everyone takes up these regularly, they will live or survive through this flu. Oh, i do not wish to have one. =.="

"BOOM!"..."AH!!!!".... Jakarta suicide bomber arrives! 2 suicide bombers, killed 9 people and hurt 52 people. Some were seriously injured. Blood splattered across the hotel. Blood spilled all over the floor, making the floor being "flooded" with blood. Want to know what happened? Stay tune to the next post.

>>>Continued>>>>

It was suspected that there were 2 suicide bombers, thus bombing 2 five-star hotel. One of the hotels was the JW Marriott while the other one is the Ritz-Cariton. What is their motive? Watch out for the next post.

>>>>Continued>>>>

The motive of the suicide bombers was actually to bomb the hotels that were in the contribution of the election of prime minister. Maybe they are not satisfied with the election and therefore wanted to destroy the two hotels.

>>>continued>>>

2 people were killed while some were injured in the bomb of JW Marriott and 7 people were killed while some were injured in the Ritz-Carlton hotel. Such a pity for these 5 star hotels that had been exploded into shards of glasses. What a waste...

What do you think about the suicide bombings? Isn't it terrifying? But at least not much people were killed. I pity those who died innocently, especially foreigners. They should not have killed so many people if they suicided on their own. This means that if they wish to die, go to the rooftop and jump down the building! Why make others suffer with them? This is real pathetic...

China, was stuck by an earthquake near Yao'an. 400 000 people were evacuated that day after the west of China was hit by it. It flattening over 18 thousand homes. One of the 329 people died and the rest were injured. Estimated of more than 1.26 millions life had been disrupted by the earthquake.

Second taekwondo competition and 17-year-old Vincent Tan was fighting an opponent that is higher than him by 2 ranks. Barely a minute into the sparring match last Sunday, his slighter-built opponent, who had a brown belt, gave him a kick in the neck which ruptured a main blood vessel to his brain. He was seen fumbling with his head guard for a few seconds before tumbling onto the ground. First aid was given to him, but he stayed unconscious. He then died at a hostpital on Thursday. What a pity teen that died at a young age...

Images captured by earth observation shows the Aral Sea's shoreline, which looks like to have shurnk by 80% from 2006 in this year. The Aral sea is actually the 4th largest inland body of water in the world. The shoreline is still expected to retreat more and more at the next year.

South Korea began to hack companies. Why not hack bank? If you hack the bank you can get more money or even become a billionaire! One of the hackers was caught. Hacking in games is enough. There is no need to hack companies, right?

Teachers should be a good example, shouldn't they? A primary school teacher had abused her maid at home. (It is not a good example, but a bad one.) This teacher should know the law and order right? She cannot possibly escape from the long arms of law.

Balloon sisters? It is so funny. 2 women, one was in her 50's while one was in her 60's are balloon experts. They did their best to help hospitalised people by making them happy, especially children. The so called "balloon sisters" will buy gifts for them. For me, i am not that generous actually.

Michael Jackson, also known as MJ, died of eating too many painkillers. He decides to host many concerts as he is going to be bankrupt. He wants to gain back his losses. In order to do this, he met many obstacles-his pain. This made him eat painkillers until he died.

In Singapore, we have finally achieved quite alot of golds in swimming. Of all of them, none of them are boys. What a disgrace! Anyway, they should strive to do their best to make singapore proud.

Teacher attempt to murder a student and assaulted 2 boys. The student, was being attacked by the teacher. Why did the teacher do that? She was threatened? The student had serious injuries and might die. What a pathetic student!

Hopeless mother... An evil woman that can even kill his own son was sentenced to jail for 7 years. She wanted to kill her son and suicide. After her 11 years old son fell asleep, she ate 50 tablets that was used to treat high blood pressure people. She failed to suicide and she lost a 11 years old child... It was said that at that momment, she had mental problems. Sentenced to 7 years of jail and loose a child. It will definately be a big blow to her.

Singapore's fourth gold is out! It is won by a swimmer which is so professional in swimming. In AYG, Asian Youth Games, many people participated in it. On Friday, Singapore got her forth gold. If Singapore were to win in the AYG, then we should be given at least 1 week holiday for celebration... haha, just joking...

Oh my... This H1N1 flu virus is getting worse. We surly can cure H1N1. If there is no H1N1 anymore, no more people will die. Say NO to H1N1! If you find yourself ill, go to see a doctor, do NOT self-medicate. Okay thats it, bye.

Michael Jackson died? He went for surgeries to make his face the way he likes. But he over-operated it. His face was like... so ugly! I heard that he took too much painkillers, therefore he died. He should not have done that. Base on what I imagine what his face look like, it will be very disgusting.

The decision he made was just as stupid. He just spoiled his face by doing that decision.

Oh no! Its H1N1! The dangerous swine flu attack! More and more people are getting swine flu... Does that means that soon, the earth would be covered with swine flu??!! This is terrible! Start being healthy! Healthy ones can actually cure swine flu easily but not the unhealthy ones! If the unhealthy ones cannot win this battle, they will DIE!!!

I hope I will not get H1N1... So does the others.

Collectors collecting items for their collection is normal. Of course, if you ask someone if they have finished their collection, the answer will be NO. Collecting items are their hobbies. Desmond Chua, love to collect figurines, had his room full of it. It even spilled out into the living room. "No, not enough." He thought. I guess... Soon, he will stop collecting figurines and give them away as his house would be flooded with it...

Have you heard of Jo's early readers? It was actually typed out by a woman using microsoft word to her son. Her son, Bryan, was a 3 year 6 month child. This woman, Joanne, used to type out stories and read it to her son. What a great mother! Her son was then hooked to reading her stories. Even when she brought her son to the library, Bryan will say that he do not want to read books from the library but her mother's books. Soon after, Bryan loved to read.

You may think that this is a FAKE story, but it is really TRUE.

Oh... so pitiful... I heard that some girls from Philippines were prostitutes as they were poor and had no money. They are so pathetic... In order to earn some money, they were forced to sell themselves to clients who want to sex. So pathetic... What do you think? Aren't them pathetic?

Think... Imagine... And you will have this picture in your mind. A boy from Nepal, was believed to be the shortest person in the world. This person weighs 4.5kg and was 50cm tall. Guess, what is his age? What a sad case. You may think that he was maybe 3-5 years old but he was not. Let me tell you- he was 17 years old! I don't think you can believe it... Surprised? He cannot be confirmed as the shortest in the world until he was 18. What do you think? Will he be the shortest in the world?

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was faced with an unprecedented challenge yesterday as three of his Cabinet ministers quit in 24 hours despite efforts to reassert his authority with a government reshuffle. What should he do? How can he get another three cabinet ministers in such a time?

Less well-to-do kids get exposure to arts? I don't think so. 600 pupils from low-income families will have a chance to discover their artistic potential through highly subsidised art and drama camps. For me, i do not think that way. Like me, I don't really like arts. Moving around... So boring... I guess... Well, only some less well-to-do kids love arts.

I wonder why now teens love sniffing glue. Glue is for ART and not for SNIFFING. Why do they like glue so much? If they love glue, they should marry with them. What a stupid and dumb thing to do. There are many things to do. Why not do other things?

Okay... this is another incident... A stressed, scared and in debt gets high on glue and jumps to his death. What a waste! He was an 18 year old school dropout who gambled in soccer online. He owed a total of $1000 at first and after his mother had used her money to help him out. He promised on quitting gambling. Everyone knows, you get addicted easily and you will not get away easily. However, the worse thing is-he went gambling again.

Bad... Just too bad... He owed another $900. He was then addicted to glue sniffing with his friend. This made him jump to death from 13th floor.

20000 people in Sri Lankan died in a fight. Why must they fight? What is the purpose of fighting? It is of no use to fight over a matter... especially a small one. The death poll estimated that almost/more than 1000 people died in Sri Lankan per day. At least 1000 will die... Isn't it pitiful for the victims? I feel sad for them. If they do not cherish the life that the god gave them, they should not even ask for peace. Fighting ended when Sri Lankan troops crushed Tamil Tiger rebels accused of holding tens of thousands of civillians as human shields. Citing its own investigation, the paper said most of the 20000 deaths were caused by the government.

Sri Lanka has insisted its forces stopped causing heavy weapons on April 27 and respected a no-fire zone where 100000 men, women and children were sheltering. Confidential United Nations documents indicated 7000 civiliants hd died in the no-fire zone up to the end of last month, noting that journalists had been barred from the conflict zone. So pitiful... If they do not want to live, they should also not sacrifice people who wants to live. Cherish your life... Do you?

Guess what? Singpore was attacked by swine flu! 3 more H1N1 cases happened.
Their symptoms are relatively mild and all of them are in stable condition, said a statement from Ministry of Health on Thursday night.
The latest patients, bringing the total cases so far to four, are:
-A 43-year-old woman Permanent Resident who returned to Singapore from San Francisco via Manila on Tuesday at 5.50pm. She was on Singapore Airlines flight SQ917 and was seated at 33H. She became unwell while on board.
-A 28-year-old American woman who is working here. She returned to Singapore from Honolulu via Tokyo on Tuesday 11.53pm on United Airlines, UA803. She was seated at 33C.
-A 28-year-old Singaporean man who returned to Singapore from Chicago via Hong Kong just past midnight on Monday. He was on United Airlines, UA895 and was seated at 55H.
MOH said contact tracing of their close contacts, including passengers on the same flights, is ongoing. They will be quarantined and provided with antivirals. Passengers who sat within three rows in front and behind the affected person who have not been contacted by MOH yet should call the ministry hotline at 1800-333 9999 to enable the authorties to check on their health condition expeditiously. The affected rows for SQ917 are 30-36; for UA803, rows 30-36 and for UA895, rows 52-58. The ministry again reminded those who have travelled in the past one week to affected countries to seek immediate medical attention once they develop influenza-like symptoms.
They should call 993 for an ambulance. 'This will help minimise the risk of infecting those around them, especially people who are at higher risk of severe illness and complications of influenza,' said MOH. 'It is with the cooperation of the public that we can together help prevent the spread of the virus in Singapore and prevent unnecessary illness or death.' The Ministry has reminded all medical practitioners and healthcare institutions to continue to be vigilant to suspect cases. Singapore on Tuesday confirmed its first case of Influenza A (H1N1). The country's first victim was a Singapore Management University (SMU) undergraduate back from New York, where she was on a 10-day study mission.
Earlier on Thursday, three people in close contact with the first patient - her boyfriend and two travelling companions, a lecturer and another SMU student - cleared flu tests.

Wikipedia has blocked the Church of Scientology from editing entries at the communally-crafted online encyclopedia due to an unrelenting battle over the group's image. A 'longstanding struggle' between admirers of Scientology and critics of the group prompted Wikipedia on Thursday to bar online edits from computer addresses 'owned or operated by the Church of Scientology and its associates'. An array of editors believed to have taken sides in a Scientology public-image war at Wikipedia have also been barred from tinkering with topics related to the church. 'Each side wishes the articles within this topic to reflect their point of view and have resorted to battlefield editing tactics,' senior Wikipedia editors said in arbitration committee findings backing the decision.
'The worst casualties have been biographies of living people, where attempts have been repeatedly made to slant the article either towards or against the subject, depending on the point of view of the contributing editor.' A church spokeswoman downplayed the development, saying the Wikipedia arbitration committee is part of a routine process for handling conflicts at the website. 'Do Scientologists care what has been posted on Wikipedia? Of course,' said Karin Pouw. 'Some of it has been very hateful and erroneous. We hope all this will result in more accurate and useful articles on Wikipedia.'

Can she do it? Or will she crack? It's testing time for Susan Boyle, the Cinderella-like Scottish church volunteer who may or may not be a world-class singer. She goes on stage Saturday night in the finals of 'Britain's Got Talent,' even as tabloid newspapers call her a foul-mouthed lout and some critics suggest she isn't all that great at the microphone. All this untested amateur singer who suffers from learning disabilities has to do now is outshine nine other tough competitors on live television in front of millions of viewers in Britain and a huge Internet audience around the world. The pressure would rattle a pro - even Aretha Franklin admits she wasn't at her best at President Barack Obama's inauguration - and there are signs Boyle is feeling the heat. Already this week she lost her cool during a confrontation with two reporters that saw the police intervene, and, according to one contest judge, contemplated pulling out of the competition to soothe her frazzled nerves. Judge Piers Morgan has called for everyone to back off and give Boyle room to breathe. He said she would carry on, no matter what.
'She is one tough lady who has had to fight since the day she was born,' he wrote on his blog Friday. 'There is no way she's going to quit now as some of the papers seem to be suggesting, trust me.' 'Britain's Got Talent' has mesmerised Britain all week as a bizarre range of competitors vie for the finals. The last two finalists will be chosen Friday night under complex rules that give both call-in voters and the three celebrity judges a say. All 10 finalists then compete Saturday, with the winner announced at the end of the show. The prize: 100,000 pounds ($159,000) and a chance to perform before Queen Elizabeth II at the Royal Variety Show. It won't be shown live in the United States, or streamed over the Internet, meaning US fans will have to rely on video sharing sites like YouTube, where videos will be posted by fans and by the show's producers once it ends at on Saturday evening. Boyle sailed through her last test - a performance Sunday of 'Memory' from 'Cats' - although she started poorly and did not seem to captivate the audience as much as in her first round, when no one knew her dowdy looks masked a soaring, evocative voice.

Germany's finance minister says a high-level meeting in Berlin has approved a plan for Canadian auto parts maker Magna International Inc to move ahead with a rescue of General Motor Corp's Opel unit. Peer Steinbrueck says the agreement was reached early on Saturday. The agreement will see Opel put under the care of a trustee later on Saturday. The two companies were earlier presenting their plan to senior German officials and representatives of the US Treasury to win their support and ensure the release of 1.5 billion euros in financing that Opel desperately needs to survive over the coming months. 'We are seeing progress,' the official said, requesting anonymity. Sources at GM and Magna also said the talks were going well. An agreement between GM and Magna is a first step toward securing the future of Ruesselsheim-based Opel, which has been under GM's control for the past 80 years and traces its roots in Germany back to the 19th century.
The German government has been scrambling to safeguard Opel's future before GM files for bankruptcy, a step which is expected to come by Monday. A first round of talks collapsed amid mutual recriminations on Thursday morning, prompting Berlin to set a new round of negotiations for Friday. Italian carmaker Fiat, Magna's main rival in the battle for Opel, pulled out of talks, leaving the door open for Magna, a company that was started by Austrian emigre Frank Stronach in a Toronto garage nearly half a century ago. Magna plans to use Opel to push into Russia, Europe's fastest-growing car market before the economic crisis hit. The company, which has 70,000 employees in 25 countries, supplies components and systems to many of the world's leading carmakers, including fuel tanks and radiator grilles for the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and fuel filters for the BMW

Police went into a school in Bintulu town in northern Sarawak to arrest two 14-year-olds suspected of raping a 13-year-old student from the same school. The Form Two students were arrested on Friday following a police report lodged by the Form One girl. The alleged rape was said to have occurred during school hours inside the compound of the school on Thursday. 'We have placed the two suspects under arrest pending further investigations,' said Bintulu Police Chief Supt Sulaiman Abdul Razak.
'We have also referred the girl to the hospital for a medical examination. I cannot reveal more details for now,' he said. It is believed that in her report, the girl said she was attacked by the two boys while she was walking around the school. She claimed the two teenagers had dragged her into an isolated place behind the main office building and school block, where they took turns to rape her. Wow! I thnik the schoolboys have watched too much shows on "raping"...

Embattled former President Roh Moo Hyun - a reformist shamed by a corruption scandal that tarnished his image as a 'clean' politician - jumped to his death while hiking in the mountains behind his rural home in South Korea, his lawyer said. He was 62. Mr Roh was hiking in Bongha village when he threw himself off a steep cliff around 6.40am on Saturday, lawyer Moon Jae In told reporters in the southern city of Busan. He said Mr Roh left a suicide note. Mr Roh was taken to Busan National University Hospital, where he was declared dead several hours later. A self-taught lawyer who lifted himself out of poverty to reach the nation's highest office, Mr Roh prided himself on his clean record in a country with a long history of corruption. He served as president from 2003 to 2008. But he and his family have been ensnared in recent weeks in a burgeoning bribery scandal. The suicide - the first by a South Korean president - stunned the nation. South Koreans nationwide huddled around TV screens watching news broadcasts.
President Lee Myung Bak said Mr Roh's 'sad and tragic' death was 'truly hard to believe', spokesman Lee Dong Kwan said.
Mr Roh, who after leaving office moved to Gimhae, some 280 miles (450km) south of Seoul, had gone for a walk in the mountains behind his house. He was accompanied by a security guard, Busan police said. Part way up, Mr Roh hurled himself off a 100-foot (30-metre) -high cliff known as Owl's Rock, the Yonhap news agency said. Police said they were still investigating the circumstances of Mr Roh's death. Later on Saturday, Mr Roh's coffin, draped in dark red, was taken into his home as his children, sobbing, followed the casket to the village community centre. Mr Roh is survived by his wife, Kwon Yang Sook, son Roh Gun Ho and daughter Roh Jeong Yeon. Funeral arrangements were not immediately available.

German President Horst Koehler won a second five-year term on Saturday, a victory that gave a symbolic boost to Chancellor Angela Merkel's hopes of forming a centre-right government after a national election this September. Mr Koehler, a former International Monetary Fund head and a member of Ms Merkel's conservative Christian Democrats, secured the required majority by a single vote in the first round of voting by a special parliamentary assembly. That was enough to see off a challenge from centre-left Social Democrat Gesine Schwan, who was bidding to become Germany's first female president - a largely ceremonial job. The popular 66-year-old won 613 votes in the 1,224-member parliamentary assembly, made up of lower-house lawmakers and delegates nominated by state legislatures. Ms Schwan, who had hoped to force further rounds of voting, won 503. The presidency is supposed to be above the political fray and carries little real power, but Ms Schwan's challenge shook up the usually genteel election process and raised doubt over Mr Koehler's re-election.
The vote came before Ms Merkel and Social Democrat Frank-Walter Steinmeier, her foreign minister, face off in a Sept 27 national election in which both hope to end their tense 'grand coalition' of Germany's biggest parties. As opposition leader, Ms Merkel installed Mr Koehler in 2004 with the help of the pro-business Free Democrats, her preferred future coalition partner. They backed Mr Koehler's re-election, along with a smaller centre-right group. Ms Merkel and the Free Democrats' leader, Guido Westerwelle, appeared together to congratulate Mr Koehler. 'Every election has its own dynamics, but it is no secret that we are working to achieve a majority together,' Ms Merkel told reporters. 'Today we achieved what we wanted together.' Senior conservative ally Horst Seehofer described the outcome as 'a clear signal' for a centre-right victory later this year. Still, Ms Merkel failed to secure such a victory in 2005, a year after Mr Koehler was first elected. Mr Koehler himself said he was 'looking forward to the next five years.' He said Germany has 'a lot of work ahead of us' to emerge from the global crisis that has hit its export-driven economy hard, 'but we will make it'.

A royal chauffeur allowed two undercover journalists into Buckingham Palace for cash and let one of them sit in Queen Elizabeth II's Bentley car, a newspaper reported on Saturday. The News of the World tabloid said the security breach took place after two of its journalists, posing as wealthy businessmen from the Middle East, paid a chauffeur 1,000 pounds (S$2,300). The Bentley is used to drive the queen on state occasions. A spokeswoman for Buckingham Palace said: 'Any security matter is taken very seriously and we will look into these allegations. 'London's Metropolitan Police also said they were worried by the report, which featured in early editions of Sunday's News of the World. 'We are naturally concerned about the issues raised by this story and are liaising with palace officials about their staff security arrangements,' Scotland Yard said in a statement.
The apparent breach would not be the first time security at Buckingham Palace and other royal palaces has been violated in recent years. In 2003, a journalist from the Daily Mirror newspaper got a job as a footman at the queen's London residence with a false reference. This allowed him access to the queen's breakfast table and the bedroom where then US president George W. Bush and his wife were due to stay on an imminent state visit. At Windsor Palace - the queen's favourite home, just west of London - two journalists from the Sun newspaper claimed to have smuggled a fake bomb past security days before the wedding of Prince Charles and wife Camilla in the town in 2004. And in 2003, Aaron Barschak, a comedian dressed as Osama Bin Laden, gatecrashed Prince William's 21st birthday party at Windsor. It is not known whether Queen Elizabeth and her husband Prince Philip were at Buckingham Palace when the latest apparent breach took place.

Japan health officials said swine flu has infected 200 people in the country, even as the government shut down schools and cancelled community events in affected cities. Australia reported two confirmed cases, while Taiwan reported its first confirm case - a foreign national who arrived in Tao Yuan.-CDC says 47 US states and District of Columbia have combined 5,469 confirmed and probable cases. Most probable cases are eventually confirmed. The outbreak has switched from one initially linked to schools or travellers to one with true community-wide spread in much of the country, said CDC's Dr. Anne Schuchat. Twenty-two states are reporting widespread or regional flu activity, particularly in the Southwest and Midwest. Health officials say Missouri man with swine flu has died, and testing is under way to determine if the disease caused his death.
New York City health department says it's investigating death of a 16-month-old boy as possible case of swine flu. WHO says drug manufacturers won't be able to start making a vaccine until mid-July at the earliest. The virus isn't growing very fast in laboratories, making it difficult for scientists to get a key vaccine ingredient. WHO urges drugmakers to reserve some of their vaccine for poor countries, asking them to donate at least 10 percent of their production or offer reduced prices for countries that could otherwise be left without vaccines if there is a sudden surge in demand. Japan says it will phase out airport quarantine checks after 41 more swine cases were confirmed in the port city of Kobe and nearby Osaka. A total of 176 cases have been confirmed in Japan, making it the world's fourth-most infected country.

National rugby coach Danny Tauroa has called on his men to stand up and be counted in today's crunch match against Hong Kong. The Lions must win their Asian Five Nations encounter at the Hong Kong Football Club ground if they hope to retain their place among the continent's elite.
Disappointed by the narrow 19-22 loss to Kazakhstan last Saturday, when his men were leading at the Yio Chu Kang Stadium until 10 minutes from time, Tauroa has called on them to be 'ruthless' and minimise mistakes today. After opening their campaign with a 0-65 loss to South Korea last month, the Lions were let down by basic errors against Kazakhstan.
The losses have left them bottom of the five-team table and on the brink of relegation, as the last-placed side will drop to Division One.
A win may not be enough though. With an intimidating encounter looming against powerhouses Japan at the Yio Chu Kang Stadium next Saturday, the Republic must win tomorrow's game and need Hong Kong to lose in Kazakhstan next week, on top of that, to avoid the drop. Tauroa is not worrying about Japan though, as he keeps his team fully focused on today's task. Having studied videos of their opponents' matches, he highlighted their forwards as a possible weakness. He said: 'They have looked a bit lazy in the ruck and sit in their defence too much. We've worked on our scrums this week and will look to be aggressive from the start, running the ball at them as often as possible.'

The newest 'local international' school here has seen enrolment boom since it first began accepting students two years ago. In fact, St Joseph's Institution (International) now has about 40 expatriate children on the waiting list for its primary section, which has filled all its 320 places for the new academic year beginning in August, said principal Andrew Bennett at the school's official opening on Friday. The success of SJI (International) mirrors that of the two other similar schools here - ACS International and Hwa Chong International, both of which opened in 2005 and have seen enrolment grow five or six times since then. On Friday, the chairman of the SJI (International) board, Mr Lawrence Da Silva, retraced the school's successful arc since it first began accepting students in 2007.
Its pioneer batch had just 112 students, and this has grown to 725, all of whom are enrolled in the school's 12-year programme, which leads up to the International Baccalaureate.
Demand is so strong that the school, in Thomson Road, expects enrolment to grow to 1,000 by next January. In his speech at the event on Friday, guest-of-honour Dr Tony Tan, a patron of the SJI International Leadership Council, a group of old boys who raised funds and helped set up the school, pointed to one factor in its success. Dr Tan, an old boy of SJI himself, said the school's Lasallian mission provides for a unique learning environment. This mission aims to provide students with the skills and knowledge to lead productive lives, while inculcating sound moral values wthin the context of Singapore's multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural society.

The hipster shopping scene is getting hotter. At least 50 retail stores at two locations are set to open this year to cater to the young adult crowd. Relatively unburdened by mortgages, kids and retirement concerns, this group is still thronging the malls. One of the new locations is at Ngee Ann City, where the space that housed the former Sparks disco will be turned into a chic lifestyle cluster called the Eighth Floor at the end of the year. Next month, a new retail enclave with a concept of small stalls called The Ramp will woo shoppers at the new Orchard Central mall. It is called The Ramp because stalls will be located on the connecting ramps of the fifth and sixth floors. The new shopping locations add to other established locations in town targeting the youth dollar.
They include the first on the scene, the Level 4 and Level 5 enclave at The Heeren Shops. Both levels (formerly The Annex) are known for their indie and cult fashion retailers such as the multi-label Queen's Couture and target young adults aged 19 to 35. Then came the street-themed LevelOne at Far East Plaza followed by LevelOne@Central shopping mall near Clarke Quay.

A 29-year-old paedophile who sexually abused a six-year-old boy in a library toilet was sentenced on Friday by the High Court to 12 years' jail and 12 strokes of the cane, the mandatory minimum number for the offence. Chan Kok Weng had regularly sought out little boys from the time he was a Secondary 2 student, said a psychiatrist from the Insitute of Mental Health (IMH), testifying on whether Chan's paedophilia could be successfully treated.
On Thursday, the boyish-looking delivery driver pleaded guilty to one charge of performing oral sex on a six-year-old boy inside a cubicle in the men's toilet at Yishun Community Library. He was caught on the spot after the boy's mother, who was waiting outside, was told by her son what had happened and sought help from library staff. The incident happened on April 27 last year. It is not known how many children he preyed on. During his two-week remand at the IMH after he was charged in court, Chan told Dr Stephen Phang that since he was a teenager, he had sought out young boys and performed oral sex on them.
Chan told the psychiatrist that he himself had been exploited this way by an older schoolmate when he was in Primary 1. He said he always went for boys younger than 10 years old 'because it's the easiest target'. After spotting a 'target' and making sure he was not accompanied by an adult, he would plan his move. Chan told the psychiatrist that he found his actions enjoyable and did not think that he caused harm to the children. Dr Phang concluded that Chan was a paedophile who was only interested in boys. Chan once had a girlfriend but admitted this was just a 'cover-up'. In his report to the court, the psychiatrist stressed that Chan - who has been in custody since his arrest - represented a real danger to potential victims, who he selected at random.

A year-old story on the California Supreme Court's decision to overturn the state's gay marriage ban got the blogosphere buzzing on Friday. A Web version of the Los Angeles Times story on the justices' May 15, 2008, ruling was misread by some inattentive bloggers, who apparently didn't notice the exact date of the article. Postings began showing up on the social networking site Twitter and celebrity gossip blog PerezHilton.com, saying the Supreme Court had issued a new decision in the case. Since last year's decision, California voters have passed Proposition 8, which makes gay marriage once again illegal. That is being challenged in court and a ruling is expected soon. Hilton jumped on Friday's buzz, writing a post titled 'Gays Can Marry in California!!!!' He later issued an apology, saying that he misread the Times' old story.
According to a blog on the Times site, a Web producer there noticed the Internet traffic and meant to clarify that the story was a year old, but instead sent out an incorrect headline on the Times' own Twitter feed that further fanned the misinformation. The Times has since labelled the story as 'archive' and posted on Twitter that the story 'does not reflect any new news.'

The normally sombre Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng allowed himself a slight show of emotion yesterday when he recounted how his friends congratulated him after they read reports about Mas Selamat being captured in Malaysia. 'I am happy, I am sure Singaporeans are also happy.'I received many SMSes this morning congratulating ISD (Internal Security Department) for the capture. 'I also met friends at my club this morning; they also congratulated me,' said Mr Wong. Mr Wong, who is also Home Affairs Minister, was addressing a press conference on the capture of the Jemaah Islamiah leader by the Malaysian authorities on April 1. His capture ends 14 months of anxiety for the Home Affairs Ministry, which came under severe pressure and public criticism after the dramatic escape from the Whitley Road Detention Centre on Feb 27 last year.
The escape led to a massive manhunt, strict border checks and hours of grilling in Parliament for Mr Wong. Yesterday, a visibly happy Mr Wong said Singapore was told of Mas Selamat's arrest by the Malaysian authorities 'soon after' April 1. When he received the news, he immediately called Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. The PM's reaction: 'Well, it's good we finally got him.'
Mr Wong had words of praise for ISD staff, noting the teamwork and camaraderie that enabled them to continue functioning.

Mas Selamat Kastari, one of the region's most wanted terrorists, was nabbed while he was asleep in a secluded kampung house in Skudai, Johor, The Star reported on Saturday.
He could barely put up a struggle in his shorts and T-shirt when he was caught during a dawn raid on April 1.The Jemaah Islamiah leader of the Singapore chapter, who had a S$1 million bounty on his head, had been living the life of a simple villager, without arousing the suspicions of residents there,said The Star. Skudai, 25 km north-west of Johor Baru and near Senai Airport, is a sprawling working-class town in Johor that many Singaporeans frequent for its giant supermarket. Malaysia's official news agency Bernama, quoting a Special Branch source, said Mas Selamat has relatives in Skudai.
About 15 km away from the town, across the North-South highway, is Ulu Tiram, another small town but notorious for being a breeding ground for Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorists. The Star said Malaysian Special Branch officers had been working on various leads since March and, upon confirming his whereabouts, planned the dawn raid that resulted in his arrest. Malaysia's Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan Musa on Friday said the arrest was made possible as police in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia had been sharing intelligence reports over the past year. 'We have been in contact with our international counterparts who were informed about the arrest as well as what we have gathered from Mas Selamat since his arrest last month. Our officers are still investigating his activities and networking,' he said at a press conference. Mas Selamat has been on the run since he escaped a maximum security detention centre in Whitley Road on Feb 27 last year, by climbing out through a toilet window, and eluded a massive manhunt launched by Singapore authorities. He fled to the northern part of Singapore before swimming across to Johor.

Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari was plotting attacks on Singapore at the time he was captured in Johor on April 1. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak disclosed this to Malaysian media yesterday, hours after Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng told local media the JI leader escaped Singapore by swimming across the narrow stretch of water that separates Singapore from Johor, with the help of an 'improvised flotation device'. Datuk Seri Najib told Malaysian reporters: 'We apprehended him here (in Malaysia), his main focus at the time was Singapore. He was planning a lot of things in Singapore.' He did not provide details, but said he had 'mentioned this' to Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong when they met in Pattaya, Thailand, on April 10-11 for the Asean summit that was eventually aborted because of protests.
Mr Lee was 'very happy and grateful that Malaysia has succeeded in apprehending Mas Selamat', said Mr Najib. Mas Selamat, leader of a group of Singaporean JI members, escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre on Feb 27 last year. He was captured in Johor on April 1, according to regional intelligence sources The Straits Times spoke to. This was confirmed by Mr Wong at a press conference in Singapore yesterday, the same day The Straits Times broke the news of the capture. Mr Wong said that as far as the authorities know, no local JI network was involved in aiding Mas Selamat's dash from Whitley to Singapore's northern shore. Mr Wong, who is also Home Affairs Minister, said the Singapore Government did not inform the public of the capture earlier because doing so could jeopardise operational secrecy and perhaps even endanger sources of information.

The re-arrest of Mas Selamat Kastari in Johor, where he sought shelter while on the run, vindicates the Singapore Muslim community's stand that they have no sympathy for those who plot violence in the name of Islam, several leaders of the community said on Saturday. After the Jemaah Islamiah regional leader escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre in February last year, there was suspicion among some that he might be harboured by sympathisers here.Mr Abdul Mutalif Hashim, the chairman of the Darussalam Mosque in Clementi, said that for as long as he was on the run, some suspicion lingered over Muslims here. 'I feel very relieved now, as that assumption did not help race relations,' he said. Mr Masagos Zulkifli, the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs and Education, stressed that the Malay-Muslim community was just as alarmed as other Singaporeans were over Mas Selamat's escape. 'Now that Mas Selamat has been caught, a sense of relief is as much felt by the Malay community as by the community at large. 'This reflects the fact that the Malay-Muslim community is mature and rational and understands that whatever threatens the nation is also a threat to them, and therefore, we are as single-minded about how we need to address and look at the threat of terrorism,' he said.

Two men and a woman employed by a Canadian mining company were jailed for 20 years each for forcing a 13-year-old girl to have sex with a dog, Tanzanian court officials said on Wednesday. Magistrate Gadiel Mariki passed sentence on Tuesday on the trio after finding them guilty of 'forcing a girl to have sex with a dog' in the northern city of Mwanza in March 2008, an official told AFP by phone from the Lake Victoria city. Job Mlama, 30, Anicet Edward, 30, and Shija Madata, 18, were employed by Canadian mining exploration company, Barrick Exploration Africa Limited (BEAL) at Mwanza, some 800 kilometres north of the capital Dar es Salaam.
They were sacked from their jobs shortly after the incident.
In his judgement, Judge Mariki said the trio lured the schoolgirl into the BEAL workers' campsite, and convinced her to spend the night there before forcing her into bestiality. The court ordered that the dog, owned by one of the expatriates at BEAL, be turned over to the police, Human rights activists condemned the sentence as too lenient. 'These people deserved the death penalty or a life term. It is a horrible, despicable offence,' said Ichikaeli Maro, the former head of a women's rights group. 'They deserved a punishment that should be a lesson to others with such a habit,' said Rehema Kerefu, director of the Tanzania Women's Legal Aid Committee.

A new High Court ruling here may create problems for car owners on both sides of the Causeway. The court has held that insurers of Malaysian- registered vehicles involved in accidents in Singapore cannot be forced to pay up. Currently, insurers settle claims based on the contracts signed with the vehicle owners. But this new ruling could bring such arrangements into review. Justice Kan Ting Chiu ruled in a judgment earlier this week that the relevant Singapore law for third-party risks and claims applies only to insurers of Singapore-registered vehicles for collisions on roads here. Similarly, a road accident victim who seeks damages in a Malaysian court for an accident caused by a Malaysian vehicle in Singapore will also not be able to sue the Malaysian insurer in a Malaysian court for the same reasons.
This means that accident victims can pursue the claim against only the offending motorist, and not against the latter's insurer. But insurers and lawyers The Straits Times spoke to said that while the judge had made clear the position in law, in practice, insurers are still obliged to honour such claims based on the contracts signed with their clients. Senior lawyer Niru Pillai, who represents several insurers on both sides of the Causeway, said the contract signed between the insurer and the insured obliges the insurer to pay up, and it is sacrosanct. 'The judgment does not accord with the practical realities on the ground. The fact of the matter is, insurers do not walk away from their contractual liabilities.' In the case for which the judgment was delivered, Malaysian motorcyclist Lee Choon Keng, 30, had serious leg injuries after a collision with a Malaysian-registered motor trailer and a Singapore car. The accident occurred on Jan 13, 2006, along the Ayer Rajah Expressway. Mr Lee subsequently sued the drivers of both vehicles.

Here is what will happen if you land at Changi Airport and have been in Mexico in the past week: You will have to fill in a form declaring that you were there. After that, you will have to stay at home for seven days under a Home Quarantine Order which is backed by law. For those who are visiting Singapore but have also set foot in the epicentre of the swine flu epidemic, they will be put up in chalets, hotels or flats. No, it does not matter if the returning traveller or tourist is feeling perfectly fine. This 'interventionist' approach is needed as the virus can slip past thermal screening at border checkpoints as symptoms may not haven yet shown up. Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said that other affected areas might be placed on the list too, but for the moment, a start will be made with travellers who have been to Mexico.
As during the Sars crisis, those quarantined will get calls to check if they have developed symptoms. If so, an ambulance will convey them to the Communicable Disease Centre for a thorough assessment. Under the Infectious Diseases Act, those who contravene the order can face a fine of up to $10,000 and up to six months in jail. Asked why New York, with more than 90 cases, was not on the list, given that more Singaporeans go to the city than Mexico, Mr Khaw said that it could well happen later. Besides Mexico and New York, California, Kansas and Texas in the United States, and Nova Scotia in Canada, are considered swine flu affected areas.

The pair of undergraduates who sauntered through Holland Village in the buff in January have paid for their prank. They were fined $2,000 each on Thursday, the maximum fine for an obscene act. Court papers state that Eng Kai Er, 24, and Jan Philip, 21, did what they did 'to seek thrill'. Considering that all those who witnessed their stroll through Holland Village on a busy Saturday evening saw every bit of them there was to see, the pair used umbrellas to keep their faces hidden from press photographers waiting at the Subordinate Courts on Thursday. Philip was in a full suit with tie, and Eng, in a black skirt suit and cap, sunglasses and a face mask. The A*Star scholarship holder, who is pursuing a biomedical science course at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, was heard saying to photographers from behind her mask: 'You won't get anything.'
In mitigation, their lawyer William Chan said they did try to check whether public nudity was an offence before their stunt.
Philip, an exchange student at the National University of Singapore, looked up the Penal Code, which said obscene acts were illegal, but he did not realise that public nudity was considered obscene and hence, was an offence. He told Eng about his findings. But Mr Chan said their walk down Lorong Mambong, which has several restaurants and watering holes, took place 'at the spur of the moment'. Their lawyer also tried to explain their actions in the context of their experience of a different culture: 'While certain things are accepted overseas, they may not be in Singapore. They are students. Perhaps they were immersed in a different culture,' he said, adding that their act took place late at night, not in broad daylight or near where children were around.

Oil rose above US$51 (S$75) a barrel on Thursday in Asia as investors took heart from optimistic comments from the US Federal Reserve that the worst recession in decades is likely easing. Benchmark crude for June delivery was up 49 cents to $51.46 a barrel by afternoon in Singapore, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract on Wednesday gained $1.05 to settle at $50.97. Investors have brushed off recent dismal news - such as the 6.1 percent contraction in the US economy in the first quarter - and pointed to so-called 'green shoots,' positive signs that the economy may be turning around. Federal Reserve policymakers said at the end of a two-day meeting on Wednesday that while the economy is still receding, the pace of decline 'appears to be somewhat slower' than the last time they met in mid-March. Investors, cheered by signs that US consumer spending is growing, sent the Dow Jones industrial average up 2.1 per cent on Wednesday.
'Investors are looking ahead and betting that the worst economic declines are over,' said Victor Shum, energy analyst with consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. 'In the past few weeks, investors have pretty much ignored any bad news.' This month prices have crisscrossed $50 a barrel as surging crude inventories tempered renewed optimism about the economy. The Energy Information Administration reported on Wednesday that oil inventories jumped by 4.1 million barrels for the week ended April 24, more than twice what was expected by analysts, according to a survey by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. US stores of crude have reached levels not seen since Aug 31, 1990. Government data also show that petroleum consumption is down to 18.4 million barrels a day, the lowest since May 28, 1999.

Guangzou with China's rising affluence, increasing numbers of infertile couples have been seeking surrogate mothers to bear them babies.In recent years, officials have largely turned a blind eye to this underground womb-for-rent industry that defies the country's strict childbirth laws. Now, there are signs the authorities are starting to crack down by forcing some surrogate mothers to abort their fetuses. In the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, three young surrogate first-time mothers were discovered by authorities hiding in a communal flat. Soon afterwards, district family planning and security officers broke into the flat, bundled them into a van and drove them to a district hospital where they were manhandled into a maternity ward, the mothers recounted to Reuters. 'I was crying 'I don't want to do this',' said a young woman called Xiao Hong, who was pregnant with four-month-old twins.'But they still dragged me in and injected my belly with a needle,' the 20-year-old told Reuters of her ordeal which happened in late February.
The woman, who declined to give her full name for fear of reprisals, said the men had forced her thumbprint onto a consent form before carrying out the abortion. Another of the surrogates, who said she'd come from a village in Sichuan province, recounted how officers made her take pills then surgically removed her three-month-old fetus while she was unconscious. 'I was terrified,' the 23-year-old said. A spokesman for the Guangdong Provincial Family Planning Commission Zhong Qingcai declined to be formally interviewed by Reuters, but said authorities were investigating. The official Guangzhou Daily newspaper quoted district family planning officials as saying the women were all unmarried and acting as 'illegal' surrogates. It added the three had 'agreed' to undergo 'remedial measures' in accordance with the law. But the head of the surrogacy agency caring for the mothers, disputes this version of events.'It's an absolute crime,' said Lu Jinfeng, the founder of the 'China Surrogate Mother' website (www.aa69.com) which has run for over five years without encountering any problems like this. 'By forcefully dragging people away like this to undergo an abortion is a savage illegal act that violates human rights.'

South Korean police said on Friday they would charge nine people in the case of a TV actress who committed suicide after suggesting she had been forced to provide sexual favours to advance her career. Police said the nine, who were not detained, would face various charges such as coercion, physical assault or defamation. Three are entertainment agency officials, two are television programme-makers, three are bankers and one is a businessman. A probe into five other suspects has been suspended until the actress's former agent returns from Japan, police said in a statement.
Police have issued an arrest warrant for the man identified only as Kim and have formally asked Japan to deport him. Kim is suspected of having forced actress Jang Ja-Yeon to have sex with influential figures in the entertainment and media industry to promote her career, a police spokesman told AFP earlier. The former agent has protested his innocence. Jang, 26, hanged herself at her home in early March, leaving a note reading: 'I am a powerless young actress who can't fix what is so evidently wrong.' Media reports say the note contains names of people who had drinking parties or sex with her but police declined to give details. Jang starred in 'Boys Over Flowers", the nation's most avidly watched soap opera.

Four out of 10 workers laid off last year were foreigners, according to latest figures from the Manpower Ministry (MOM). The proportion is a 10-year high, and analysts say it shows that contrary to popular belief, Singaporeans have not unfairly borne the brunt of layoffs in the current recession. 'A lot of foreigners are employed in lower-skilled service industries which slowed down in the later part of last year, so they have been affected,' said Nanyang Technological University economist Choy Keen Meng. A total of 16,880 workers lost their jobs last year, double the figure for 2007. Of these, 13,920 were retrenched and 2,970 had their contracts terminated prematurely.
The bulk of those in the latter group - 2,380 - were foreigners. Of the 13,920 retrenched, 9,770 were locals - Singaporeans and permanent residents - and 4,140 foreigners. As MOM pointed out, the proportion of foreigners laid off last year broadly reflects their presence in the workforce. Foreigners made up 36 per cent of Singapore's workforce last December. In actual numbers, they form 1.2 million of Singapore'sl population in June, driving it to a record 4.84 million. The number of layoffs last year is the highest since 2003.

The National University of Singapore (NUS) is intiating a new 'think-tank' to enhance education and teaching methods at the university. Professor Tan Chor Chuan, the president of NUS, announced the launch of the new Teaching Academy at the University Awards 2009 presentation ceremony yesterday evening. The Academy will be involved mainly in areas such as pedagogy research and innovations aimed at improving teaching methods in NUS for its staff and students. Its fellows will also serve as mentors to younger academics at the university, to help them in developing new approaches to education.
The Academy will comprise 18 members at first. These will include past University Award winners as well as other distinguished faculty. NUS hopes to expand the number of fellows to 30 over the next five years. Professor Tan expressed confidence in the success of the new initiative, saying, 'The Teaching Academy will inspire and nurture future generations of outstanding educators, and enable NUS to make great strides forward in educational quality and innovation.' -No comments

Over a period of 16 months, a full-time national serviceman trailed girls as young as nine into lifts, threatened them with a penknife, then forced them to secluded spots where he sexually assaulted them. On Friday, Huang Shiyou, 22, paid a heavy price for his crime spree in the eastern part of Singapore between April 2007 and July last year. The cleancut young man was jailed for 32 years and ordered to be caned the maximum 24 strokes after he pleaded guilty to five charges - for aggravated molest, sexual assault and attempted rape - involving two of his nine victims, a nine-year-old primary school pupil and a 14-year-old secondary school student. His lawyer, Mr Chia Kok Seng portrayed his client as a good person who crumbled under depression from a failed relationship and had problems adjusting to life in the army. But Justice Chan Seng Onn said a long deterrent sentence was justified to protect the public against serial sex offenders.
Said the judge: 'Words cannot sufficiently describe the extent of the trauma, suffering and distress that you have caused to the very young victims of the horrendous sexual crimes.'
Justice Chan agreed with Deputy Public Prosecutor Shahla Iqbal that Huang had deliberately and systematically targetted young victims who were alone and had used a penknife to frighten them into submission. In passing sentence, the judge took into consideration another nine charges involving seven other victims aged nine to 13. Oh my god, this is really stupid, real stupid.

Australia will not go to Chennai for the Davis Cup tie against India next month due to security concerns, Tennis Australia said on Saturday. Australia were told by the International Tennis Federation on Friday that they must play their Davis Cup in India despite their objections on security grounds. Australia had appealed against the decision to play the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group I third round tie in Chennai from May 8-10, but the ITF said they were satisfied with the security conditions in the Indian city. 'We asked for the tie to be moved because we have major security concerns for the players, particularly during the (Indian) election,' Tennis Australia president Geoff Pollard said in a statement.
'The ITF decision has left us with no other option. We cannot send the team. It is extremely disappointing. 'It would be irresponsible of us to send our players into an area of such high risk.
'Davis Cup is very important to us but some things are more important than tennis,' Pollard said. Australia risks a one-year suspension from the competition.

A man who stole about $218,000 worth of welding cable wires from his employer was jailed for 42 months on Friday. Mohamed Sofi Mokri, 36, was a company driver with Nexus Sealand Trading at the time of the thefts from the company's warehouse at Tuas South Street 1. The court heard that he was heavily in debt in May last year when he asked his colleagues, K. Subramaniam Kathiranu KK, 41, and Kannan Sangalam, 44, if they were interested in stealing welding cable wires stored in the warehouse where they worked. He knew that the two were in need of money and could easily steal the items without being detected.

He had liaised with a buyer and told him to collect the cable wires from the warehouse. He admitted to three counts of theft of 316 rolls worth almost $160,000 between last July and September and had two other similar charges considered. He has a previous theft conviction.
The case against the other two employees and the buyer are pending. He could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined on each of the charges.

A Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) regular serviceman collapsed on Friday morning after completing a mass run at the SAFTI Military Institute Sports Complex. P. Jegathesan, 45, was taking part in the 3 kilometres run as part of the SAF Commanders' Sports Day when he fell unconscious at 8.30am.
He was immediately evacuated to the army medical centre where doctors tried to resuscitate him and subsequently sent to the National University Hospital (NUH). Two SAF doctors and a medic continued their attempts to revive him on the way to the hospital but to no avil. Jegathesan was pronounced dead at 9.49 am at NUH. He was the Chief Warrant Officer of the Republic of Singapore Air Force Air Combat Command's transport group. The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) is investigating the incident.

It was jealousy that drove Wu Yun Yun - opposition party member Tan Lead Shake's China-born wife - to stab her 34-year-old brother-in-law to death and to slash his wife. Wu, 26, suffered from major depression which qualified her for the defence of diminished responsibility, the High Court heard on Friday. Originally charged with murder, the Singapore permanent resident pleaded guilty to committing culpable homicide, not amounting to murder, by stabbing Tan Lead Sane, 33, and to attempted culpable homicide for her attack on 36-year-old Madam Huang Meizhe. Justice Kan Ting Chiu adjourned sentencing for six months to allow psychiatrist George Joseph Fernandez to monitor Wu's mental state. The senior consultant of the Institute of Mental Health testified that he needed this time to check if her mental condition would improve.
The couple shared a house in Paya Lebar Crescent with Madam Ng, her eldest son Tan Lead Hand, and Mr Tan Lead Sane and his wife, who is also from China. Wu became jealous of Mr Tan Lead Sane and his wife, as they appeared to be more 'loved' by her mother-in-law. She began to think about killing her brother-in-law and in early June last year bought a fruit knife and hid it. At 5.30am on June 28, Wu stabbed Madam Huang in the neck. The commotion woke Mr Tan Lead Sane; he was stabbed twice in the chest and once in the abdomen. When Madam Ng tried to stop Wu leaving the house, she too was slashed. Wu later called her husband and surrendered before being arrested. She could be jailed up to 20 years or for life.

Eighteen people were killed and three injured in an explosion at a mine in central China, an official said Saturday, in the latest deadly accident to hit the nation's coal industry.
The tragedy struck on Friday afternoon at a mine in Chenzhou city in Hunan province when a detonator and explosives warehouse blew up, an employee at the city's coal industry bureau, who would only give his surname Li. Up to this morning we have confirmed there are 18 dead and three injured.
Mr Li said the victims were in dormitories next to the warehouse at the time of the explosion.
According to the official Xinhua news agency, a further two people were missing, and police have said the detonators and explosives might have been illegally bought and stored. China's coal mines are notoriously dangerous. Official figures show that more than 3,200 workers died in collieries last year, but independent observers say the actual figure could be much higher, as many accidents are covered up.

Eleven Taiwanese fishermen were rescued and two remained missing after their boat capsized near a disputed island chain in the East China Sea, Taiwan's coast guard said on Saturday.
The boat sank near the islands known as the Senkaku in Japanese and the Diaoyu in Chinese after it was involved in a collision with a Panamanian oil tanker on Friday, a coast guard official said. Rescuers from Taiwan and Japan were continuing to search for the missing fishermen, including the skipper of the boat, the official said.
The Diaoyu islands are at the centre of a heated territorial dispute between Taiwan, China and Japan, which all claim the uninhabited islets. Japan's dispute with China has intensified in recent years after rich gas reserves were found nearby. Last year, Japan apologised after a Taiwanese fishing boat sank near the disputed islets following a collision with a Japanese patrol ship.

A new Jersey man who is divorcing his wife has accused rock star Bruce Springsteen of having an affair with her. Springsteen, who is married to singer Patti Scialfa, was accused by Arthur Kelly of Red Bank, New Jersey, of having an affair with his wife, Ann Kelly, in papers filed in Monmouth County Superior Court on March 27. A spokesman for Springsteen told local media the musician stood by a statement he posted on his website in 2006 following rumors of infidelity.
In the statement, Springsteen wrote of his marriage that 'our commitment to one another remains as strong as the day we were married.' Mr Kelly's divorce papers said: 'The defendant (Ann Kelly) has committed adultery with one Bruce Springsteen, who resides in Rumson, New Jersey, and Colts Neck, New Jersey, at various times and places too numerous to mention.' Arthur and Ann Kelly have been married for 17 years and have two daughters, aged 10 and 12. Springsteen and Ms Scialfa were married in 1991 and have three children. Springsteen was previously married to actress Julianne Phillips, and they divorced in 1989.

The National Enquirer has published confronting new pictures of cancer-sufferer Patrick Swayze claiming the actor now weighs only 47.6 kilos said reports on Thursday.
Battling pancreatic cancer, the actor is reported to be in 'good spirits' and taking his battle 'one day at a time'.
"You know what, he's doing what everybody else is doing, he's taking it one day at a time," friend Whoopi Goldberg revealed on British TV. "He does not have an expiration date on his backside - none of us do - we just know at some point it's going to happen and that's how he's looking at it. " The star of hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost revealed in January this year that he was scared after having been diagnosed. "Yeah, I'm scared. Yeah, I'm angry. Yeah, I'm (asking), 'Why me?,"' he told American TV's Barbara Walters in an interview. "You can bet that I'm going through hell, and I've only seen the beginning of it."

A teenager who had sex with a 10-year-old girl in late 2007 and early last year was placed on 18 months' probation yesterday. Xia Yun, 19, who pleaded guilty to two counts of carnal connection, was 17 when he had sex with the girl in his Woodlands home on Nov 9, 2007. When they had sex again a few weeks later, she had turned 11. Two other similar charges were taken into consideration. He was in court with his parents, who signed a bond of $5,000 to ensure his good behaviour. A permanent resident, Xia looked relieved after Community Court Judge Soh Tze Bian decided to place him on probation instead of sending him to jail.
Under the probation order, Xia, who is now married with a two-month-old son, has to do 100 hours of community service work. The girl he had sex with came to know Xia, who is now waiting to be enlisted into national service, in December 2006 when she was surfing a multi-player online gaming website. They began contacting each other through calls and text messages. Soon after he sent her a love poem on Valentine's Day of 2007, they became a couple and met often in Tampines.

Rats were writhing on pieces of cardboard laid out between stalls at the Geylang Serai Temporary Market when pest controllers got there on Thursday morning. Rows of them were stuck in the green glue, part of traps laid out the night before, in an effort to spring clean the temporary structure, now infamous for the Indian rojak stall which is the focal point of Singapore's worst outbreak of food poisoning.
By noon, pest controllers had cleared away 61 rats, said Mr Kwok Kim Poh, who oversees the day-to-day running of the market for its management committee.Whether the rats have a role in the food poisoning that has affected at least 144 victims since last Friday and caused two deaths is uncertain.Stallholders said that because the cleaners do not work after 7pm, plates with leftover food are left at the centre overnight - drawing the rats. Direct contact with the rats or their urine and droppings can cause Weil's Disease. This starts with influenza-like symptoms and can end in kidney failure.

A couple who caused a stir by strolling down naked along Lorong Mambong earlier this year were charged in court on Thursday. Jan Philip, 21, a Swedish student on exchange programme, and Eng Kai Er, 24, a university student in Sweden, are accused of appearing nude in public at Holland Village at about 11pm on Jan 24. Both were clad in black suits when they appeared before District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan.
Their lawyer, Mr William Chan, asked for an adjournment to write in to the Attorney-General's Chambers. If convicted, both may be fined up to $2,000 and/or jailed for up to three months. As Philip is a foreigner, he was offered bail of $5,000 but Eng, a Singaporean, need not post bail. Philip's passport was impounded. They will be back in court on April 30.

Frictional force

Without frictional force, you will slip and fall easily when your shoes does not have enough friction. If there are too much friction, you will trip and fall easily! It increases frictional force. It will help you to lessen the chance of falling. It does not really help when you are stepping on the water.Too much frictional force is also bad. So, it must have neither too much frictional force when it comes in contact with the ground.

I feel that it is very helpful as it produces frictional force. Frictional force prevents us to fall easily. This is how useful frictional force are!