Tuesday #sgroundup: Chinese worker kidnapped in Malaysia*s Borneo island

By Nurul Azliah Aripin | What's buzzing? – 

Here are today's top trending stories in case you missed them.
 
Chinese worker kidnapped in Malaysia's Borneo island
 A Chinese national has been seized in Malaysia's Borneo island by Filipino gunmen, a security official saY …
A Chinese national has been seized in Malaysia's Borneo island by Filipino gunmen, a security official said Tuesday in the wake of tension between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing over missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Mohammad Mentek, director-general of security in the east of Malaysia's Sabah state, identified the victim as 34-year-old Yang Zai Lin, who worked as a manager at a fish farm.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/chinese-worker-kidnapped-malaysias-borneo-island-073000786.html
 
Diver dies at South Korea ferry disaster site
 
A diver died Tuesday while working at a ferry disaster site in South Korea as further details emerged about how deception and negligence contributed to the 16 April tragedy.

The 53-year-old was on his first dive at the site and suffered breathing difficulties after reaching a depth of 25 metres (82 feet), coastguard spokesman Ko Myung-Suk told journalists.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/diver-dies-south-korea-ferry-disaster-045927479.html
 
Two explosions rock southern Thai tourist town, five wounded
 Cars are engulfed in flames after a bomb hidden in a car exploded at a police station parking lot in Hat Yai district …
Two bombs exploded minutes apart in the southern Thai city of Hat Yai on Tuesday, wounding five people, and police said they suspected Muslim rebels were responsible.

One bomb exploded outside a convenience store near a school while a second bomb went off near a police station.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/two-explosions-rock-southern-thai-tourist-town-five-090847504.html
 
6 injured in hacking attack at Chinese station
 In this photo taken by a mobile phone, a suspected assailant is taken away after being subdued in an attack at …
A hacking attack Tuesday at a busy railway station in southern China left six people injured, police said, in the third high-profile attack on civilians at a train station in a little more than two months.

It was not immediately clear if there was more than one assailant, and there was no immediate word on a motive for the violence in the Guangdong provincial capital of Guangzhou.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/6-injured-hacking-attack-chinese-station-054605455.html
 
Thai court to rule Wednesday in abuse of power case against PM
 Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (R) and Deputy Prime Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul arrive …
Thailand's Constitutional Court said it will rule in an abuse of power case against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Wednesday, with a guilty verdict likely to force her from office and possibly bring her supporters on to the streets.

That could lead to confrontation with anti-government groups who have been protesting in the capital, Bangkok, for six months in a bid to topple Yingluck and who disrupted a general election in February that she had been expected to win.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/thai-pm-court-hearing-may-lead-her-dismissal-032328231.html

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/what-is-buzzing/tuesday--sgroundup--chinese-worker-kidnapped-in-malaysia-s-borneo-island-110309408.html

Monday #sgroundup: City Harvest leaders have a case to answer: Judge

By Nurul Azliah Aripin | What's buzzing? – 

Here are today's top trending stories in case you missed them.

City Harvest leaders have a case to answer: Judge
 Sun Ho and Kong Hee leave court on 13 January 2014 at lunchtime on the first day of the CHC leaders' funds mismanagement …
The six accused persons in the City Harvest funds misappropriation trial have a case to respond to and will take the stand to testify in their defence when it resumes in July.

Sharing this decision in state court on Monday was Chief District Judge See Kee Oon, who said the prosecution has thus far provided sufficient evidence to support all the elements of the charges faced by founder Kong Hee, pastor Tan Ye Peng, John Lam, accountants Serina Wee and Sharon Tan as well as former church leader Chew Eng Han.

 https://sg.news.yahoo.com/city-harvest-leaders-have-a-case-to-answer--judge-090820373.html
 
Singapore plans centres outside city for migrant workers: report
 Singapore plans to build more recreation centres in the suburbs to draw migrant labourers away from the city after …
Singapore plans to build more recreation centres in the suburbs to draw migrant labourers away from the city after a rare riot in the congested Little India district last year, a report said Monday.

The multi-million dollar centres are the latest in a series of government measures to better manage areas where foreign workers congregate after the rampage by South Asian labourers on December 8 injured 39 people and saw 25 vehicles destroyed.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-plans-centres-outside-city-migrant-workers-report-064010604.html

11 missing as cargo ship sinks off Hong Kong
 Ships enter Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong on November 18, 2013
Rescuers were searching on Monday for 11 crew members of a cargo vessel that sank after colliding with a container ship in waters near Hong Kong.

One crew member, a 47-year-old man, has been rescued by a fishing vessel following the accident, which occurred before dawn Monday in waters south of the southern Chinese city, Marine Department spokeswoman Heidi Cheng said.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/11-missing-cargo-ship-sinks-off-hong-kong-062904458.html
 
 
France scrambles military plane after jetliner loses radio contact
United Airlines was deemed the greenest airline in the world 
France scrambled a fighter aircraft Sunday after a jetliner slightly veered from its course and lost radio contact with the ground over western France, military officials said.

The Washington-bound United Airlines Boeing had taken off in Rome, the air force information service SIRPA said.

Airline officials declined to confirm or deny the incident when contacted by AFP.

https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/france-scrambles-military-plane-jetliner-234702364.html

Celebrities boycott Brunei-owned hotels over sharia law
 File photo of the facade of the Dorchester hotel in London, which celebrities, including Virgin group founder Richard …
Celebrities including Virgin group founder Richard Branson have vowed to boycott a hotel chain linked to Brunei's sultan after he introduced a controversial Islamic penal code in his country.Brunei's all-powerful Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah announced last Wednesday that he would push ahead with the sharia law that will eventually include tough penalties such as death by stoning.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/celebrities-boycott-brunei-owned-hotels-over-sharia-law-064532816.html

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/what-is-buzzing/monday--sgroundup--city-harvest-leaders-have-a-case-to-answer--judge-094519660.html

COMMENT: World Press Freedom Day: Free the mainstream media

By Kirsten Han | SingaporeScene – 

Kirsten Han is a Singaporean blogger, journalist and filmmaker. She is also involved in the We Believe in Second Chances campaign for the abolishment of the death penalty. A social media junkie, she tweets at @kixes. The views expressed are her own.

It was World Press Freedom Day on Saturday. It might seem like something that's very specific to journalists, but the state of press freedom has a huge impact on everyone.

The things we read in papers and on websites, see and hear on television and radio, inform and affect the way we form opinions. Its influence can be seen in everyday interpersonal relationships all the way up to state policy.

The stakes are high when it comes to journalism. All over the world journalists have been – and are – struggling to do their work of bringing important stories to the people. Some journalists have given their lives. Others wait behind bars as courts and governments hurl dubious accusations to justify the unjustifiable fact of their imprisonment.

Journalists in Singapore face significantly less dangers. Some might even say Singaporean journalists are molly-coddled. But the matter of press freedom - and all the associated issues relating to freedom of speech - is just as relevant here as anywhere else in the world.

Singapore's press freedom ranking makes for depressing reading every time a report emerges. While the rest of us react with sighs and shaking heads, the government has adopted the opposite approach: an eye-roll and a "we don't need them anyway". Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said that he doesn't take such ranking seriously. Who cares what Reporters Without Borders says, anyway? They aren't Singapore's major investors.

But press freedom does matter. Without press freedom, it would be difficult, even impossible, for there to be an informed, active citizenry. The lack of press freedom in Singapore has already had an impact – important discussions on serious issues such as politics, race and civil liberties have not appeared in the mainstream media, which has contributed to a blind spot in public discourse. It is with the advent of the Internet, social media platforms and blogs that Singaporeans are beginning to debate such complex issues. There is a lot of catching up for us to do.

As people turn to the Internet, the government sometimes finds itself losing control of the discussion and even the agenda. The increasing influence of the blogosphere has led to the implementation of the new MDA licensing regime. The government's justification was that it had to bring online websites in line with the regulated mainstream media.

But this race towards more regulation will not benefit society in the long run. We should not be trying to slap poorly-thought-out legislation on online websites. If we really want to establish parity, we would free the mainstream media.

Trying to regulate online news websites simply makes it more difficult for responsible, established platforms to operate, while the anonymous trolls plumbing the depths of bigotry and rumour-mongering continue to churn their content with impunity. And if we keep trying to clamp down on alternative platforms we will simply be pushing more and more readers towards these irresponsible and anonymously-run websites.

If we free the media, the professional integrity of trained, experienced journalists will win over the trolls. The credibility of our press will be strengthened, the climate of fear will be eroded and there will finally be more space for residents of Singapore to engage in the nation's affairs, to step up and do our part in having a real Singapore Conversation.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/singaporescene/world-press-freedom-day-free-mainstream-media-005204170.html

Friday #sgroundup: Subway trains crash in South Korean capital

By Jeanette Tan | What's buzzing? – 

Here are the top trending stories from today in case you missed them:

Subway trains crash in South Korean capital, 172 people hurt

Windows of two subway trains remain broken after their collision at Sangwangshipri subway station in Seoul, South …

A subway train in Seoul crashed into another one at a station on Friday, injuring about 170 people, although no one appeared to be seriously hurt.

The accident came just over two weeks after a South Korean ferry capsized and sank leaving 300 dead or missing in the submerged hull of the ship in the country's worst disaster in 20 years.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/more-70-injured-seoul-subway-crash-075913685.html

New Malaysian budget airport opens amid MH370 mystery

Passengers check-in at the international departures of the low-cost carrier terminal at Kuala Lumpur International …

Malaysia on Friday officially opened a new airport built specifically for the fast-growing budget-travel sector, but with the country's aviation industry under deep scrutiny over the loss of missing flight MH370.

Complaints also abounded that the airport, which was opened three years later than it was supposed to, was built on "unstable ground", something that authorities acknowledged will require years on upkeep.

Budget carrier AirAsia already noted that depressions on runways and taxiways have already appeared, with the budget spent on the terminal's construction more than doubling from its original.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/malaysian-budget-airport-opens-amid-mh370-mystery-041743399.html

Ukraine forces seek to retake Slovyansk, 3 killed

Anti-government demonstrators storm the regional police station in Krasnoarmiisk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, …

Ukraine launched what appeared to be its first major assault against pro-Russian forces who have seized government buildings in the country's east, with fighting breaking out Friday around a city that has become the focus of the insurgency. Three deaths were reported in early fighting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said the offensive "effectively destroyed the last hope for the implementation of the Geneva agreements" which were intended to defuse the crisis.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/ukraine-forces-seek-retake-slovyansk-3-killed-085520500.html

Birth control law heralds liberal change in Philippines

Filipina mothers line up to receive contraceptives at a health clinic in Manila on April 23, 2014

A new birth control law highlights an increasingly liberal shift that could next see divorce legalised in the Philippines, activists and religious leaders say.

A 15-year battle by the Church to thwart state-sanctioned family planning ended last month when the Supreme Court approved the law, allowing the government to begin distributing free contraceptives to millions of poor Filipinos.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/birth-control-law-heralds-liberal-change-philippines-034404189.html

Chinese tourists storm office after fireflies failed to glow

Visitors shout at organizers during an event to release fireflies in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, April 30, 2014. …

Thousands of Chinese tourists in Hangzhou stormed the management office in charge of a firefly display show after the insects failed to light up.

The South China Morning Post reported that some 10,000 tourists had paid 30 yuan (S$6) for tickets to watch the release of some 30,000 fireflies, as part of a popular summer firefly display at the Xiang Lake plaza in Hangzhou, China. Some had reportedly paid up to 180 yuan (S$36) for illegally-marked-up entry passes, too.

But when the excited visitors sat down by 7:30pm for the show to begin, they faced nothing but darkness. Two hours of nothingness later, it became clear that the fireflies were not going to glow. The crowds then turned angry and marched to the office demanding an explanation and a refund.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/what-is-buzzing/chinese-tourists-storm-office-after-fireflies-failed-to-glow-085217310.html

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/what-is-buzzing/friday--sgroundup--subway-trains-crash-in-south-korean-capital-101852737.html

Chinese tourists storm office after fireflies failed to glow

By Jeanette Tan | What's buzzing? – 

Thousands of Chinese tourists in Hangzhou stormed the management office in charge of a firefly display show after the insects failed to light up.
 
The South China Morning Post reported that some 10,000 tourists had paid 30 yuan (S$6) for tickets to watch the  release of some 30,000 fireflies, as part of a popular summer firefly display at the Xiang Lake plaza in Hangzhou, China. Some had reportedly paid up to 180 yuan (S$36) for illegally-marked-up entry passes, too.
 
But when the excited visitors sat down by 7:30pm for the show to begin, they faced nothing but darkness. Two hours of nothingness later, it became clear that the fireflies were not going to glow. The crowds then turned angry and marched to the office demanding an explanation and a refund.
 
They received neither, however, and so many started vandalising nearby exhibition facilities, reported the China News Service. People were also pictured smashing windows and kicking down locker doors.

A visitor pours water on organizers during an event to release fireflies in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, April …
 
SCMP reported that the fireflies' failure to emerge and glow on Wednesday, the show's opening night, was attributed to temperatures in Xiaoshan being too low.
 
One tourist who was at the show criticised the event organisers on Chinese social media site Weibo for failing to give refunds, especially when some had travelled from far-flung provinces to see the show.
 
"We can live with the fact that no insects showed up, due to (the cold), but the organiser should have stopped selling tickets and offered us a refund," the tourist wrote.
 
A local tabloid also reported that show organisers cancelled the rest of the display, which was supposed to run until Saturday, and told visitors to claim refunds for their tickets in the coming 10 days.
 
Meanwhile, local police are reportedly investigating the havoc wreaked by the angry mob.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/what-is-buzzing/chinese-tourists-storm-office-after-fireflies-failed-to-glow-085217310.html

Touching Labour Day video puts spotlight on less popular jobs in Singapore

By Nurul Azliah Aripin | What's buzzing? – 

Refuse truck driver, quay crane operator or being the person who maintains train tracks while Singapore sleeps.

These are some of the less popular and recognised jobs in the city-state highlighted in a touching and eye-opening Labour Day tribute video titled "Unsung Heroes", which was done by local filmmaker Ryan Sylvia and his team.

While Labour Day may mean going on a short getaway or catching up with the family for some, the cinematographer and his team used the occasion to spread awareness about such local workers in Singapore.

"We pledge to stand with workers of Singapore" they said at the end of the meaningful video. Those who pledge to do the same can show their support by sharing the 5 minute 39 second clip on social media.

The video has garnered close to 40,000 views in just two days since it was uploaded onto YouTube on Wednesday. The video was also screened at a May Day rally in Singapore, said a video commenter.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/what-is-buzzing/touching-labour-day-video-puts-spotlight-on-less-popular-jobs-in-singapore-042608738.html

Malaysia’s hilarious ‘English Tuition Gangster’ video is one side-splitting parody

By Nurul Azliah Aripin | What's buzzing? – 

A group of Malaysian radio deejays recently did a hilarious parody of a scene from popular Malay movie "KL Gangster" (2011), and it is has been cracking up online viewers this whole week.

The action movie tells a story of a former gangster, played by Singapore's very own Aaron Aziz, who wants to change his life after leaving prison. The film contains a scene in which three separate groups of fierce gangsters congregate in the middle of Petaling Street talking about, well, gangster stuff.

But thanks to three ERAfm deejays Ray, Johan and Haniff, we can never see that scene the same way.

The three jokers did an English dubbing of the scene, putting words into the actors' mouths to make them appear as if they are talking about – of all things – tuition.

As ridiculous as that may sound, take our word when we say you'll never regret watching this side-splitting 3 minute 54 second video.

The clip "English Tuition Gangster" has been shared close to 10,000 times and garnered 5,000 likes ever since a Salha Zain uploaded it onto Facebook on 25 April.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/what-is-buzzing/malaysia-s-hilarious--english-tuition-gangster--video-is-one-side-splitting-parody-040545643.html