Body found in Singapore River

By Nurul Azliah Aripin | Yahoo Newsroom – 

A body of a man was retrieved from the Singapore River on Friday morning.
 
The police received a call requesting for assistance at 7:46 am and subsequently found a body floating in the river near Eu Tong Sen Street.
 
The body was retrieved and paramedics pronounced the man dead at the scene.

Police have classified the case as unnatural death and investigations are ongoing.

In January, two bodies were retrieved in the Singapore and Kallang river respectively. 
 

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/body-found-in-singapore-river-041943501.html

Summary judgment hearing against Roy Ngerng to be held on 18 September

By Nurul Azliah Aripin | Yahoo Newsroom – 

A summary judgment hearing for the defamation case between Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and blogger Roy Ngerng will reportedly be held on 18 September.
 
The hearing was announced following a pre-trial conference at the Supreme Court on Thursday. According to TODAY, it will be a full-day hearing in front of a High Court judge.
 
Lee filed for the court application of the summary judgment against Ngerng on 11 July.  A summary judgment means that Lee has claimed that Ngerng has no case, and therefore wants judgment in his favour without trial.
 
The report also said that Lee's lawyers had sought damages in the application and asked for Ngerng to cease the publishing or the disseminating of allegations that Lee had misappropriated monies from the Central Provident Fund.
 
Both sides have until 11 September to file and exchange their affidavits.
 
Former healthcare programme co-ordinator Ngerng had posted, on his blog, an article in May that appeared to accuse the latter of embezzling and misusing CPF funds via the vehicles of Temasek Holdings and the Government Investment Corporation, Singapore's two key investment arms.
 
Related stories:
 
Singapore blogger Roy Ngerng files defence in defamation suit initiated by PM Lee
Beyond the blogger: Who is Roy Ngerng?
Blogger Roy Ngerng fired from job
Singapore blogger Roy Ngerng sued by Prime Minister, turns to crowdfunding for legal fee
 

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/summary-judgment-hearing-against-roy-ngerng-to-be-held-on-18-september-040501574.html

AGO audit reveals ‘serious lapses’ in several Government agencies

By Elizabeth Soh | Yahoo Newsroom – 

The Parliament House compound in Singapore, pictured in January 2012. The Singapore parliament has passed legal …

Serious lapses in the administration of programmes, poor management of land and assets, as well as inconsistencies in procurement were some of the issues highlighted in the Auditor-General's Report for the Financial Year 2013/2014.

Presented to Parliament on Tuesday, the Report cited the Ministry of Defence, Central Provident Fund Board, National Library Board, Media Development Agency and National Parks Board, among others, as ministries and statutory boards where the lapses occurred.

The audit involves checks for waste, excess and financial irregularity in government ministries and in the use of government funds through test checks -- which may not reveal all lapses.

In its report, the AGO stated that the irregularities do not necessarily reflect the general state of administration but serve as "pointers" to areas where improvements should be made.

"Serious irregularity" in NParks

The AGO's audit of the National Parks Board's development of Gardens by the Bay turned up documents that were allegedly backdated to give the impression that they had existed when the transactions took place in order to satisfy AGO's queries.

This was done by an NParks officer who had created and backdated 16 letters appearing to have been issued to suppliers from NParks. In addition to that, he asked for the suppliers to issue another 11 backdated letters and falsified another five.

This was done, said the officer, to "regularise gaps… for completeness of record."

The Ministry of National Development will be taking appropriate disciplinary action against the officer.

MINDEF: Lapses in resource management

Out of the four lapses in resource management found by the AGO report, two originated from the Defence Ministry.

The first lapse involved a piece of state land licensed to Sembawang Country Club for use as a golf course in 1994 for an "indefinite" period of time. This happened despite there being a compulsory three-year cap on the licence agreement according to land rules.

A further 6,842 sq m of land within the golf course was sublet by the club to a contractor in an unauthorised agreement.  The land was found to contain discarded vehicles, heavy machinery and other waste, despite an agreement that the club was to have maintained the area.

The second lapse occurred when MINDEF reached an agreement to rent 109 hectares of land from the Public Utilities board in 1971 for $68 a year, and then subsequently sublet part of that land to its contractor for $45 a year.

The AGO noted that  there were changes to the use of the land as well as increases in the land area which were not stated in the original licence agreement, and that the rental fee of $45 was far below market price.

A new agreement has since been signed, with the annual rent set at S$830,000.

Official Cash Cards from SCDF used for personal trips

A check of 78 transactions on official cash cards issued to Singapore Civil Defence Force officers for use on investigative trips showed 62 instances in which the cards were used on unofficial trips.

Another 19 instances were found to have missing supporting details for the cash card transactions or statements which did not add up.

The SCDF has since stopped issuing official cash cards, and responded that their officers had to drive their investigation vehicles at all times for quick responses to emergencies. The Ministry has recovered $,3700 from the officers involved.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/ago-audit-reveals--serious-lapses--in-several-government-agencies-113027444.html

Singapore’s MRT ‘Samurai swordsman’ gets 7 weeks jail

Yahoo Newsroom – 

In December 2013, swordsmanship instructor Peter Chua, 39, put on a samurai outfit and carried a Japanese sword known as a "katana" into Paya Lebar MRT Station.

He poked a passenger's stomach with the weapon, pushed a security officer who tried to approach him, and then boarded a train, wielding his sword in front of terrified commuters before he was arrested near Bugis MRT station.

For that, he has been jailed for seven weeks, reported local news outlets.

Chua admitted in court to causing hurt, threatening and using force on police officers.

According to previous media reports, the self described "expert swordsman" and tattoo artist has a history of substance abuse and was an errant patient at the Institute of Mental Health, rarely turning up for his medical appointments.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-s-mrt--samurai-swordsman--gets-7-weeks-jail-140558607.html

Wednesday #sgroundup: Literary judges quit as Singapore gay book row escalates

By Nurul Azliah Aripin | What's buzzing? – 

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

Literary judges quit as Singapore gay book row escalates
 Two online petitions have been launched, calling for the NLB to reinstate two children's books, which had …
A censorship row in Singapore escalated Wednesday when judges of a literary prize quit over the national library's plans to destroy three children's books deemed to be pro-homosexual.

In a statement, the three judges of the non-fiction category of the biennial Singapore Literature Prize condemned a National Library Board (NLB) decision last week to pulp three titles that went against its "pro-family" stance.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/literary-judges-quit-singapore-gay-book-row-escalates-072757459.html

Pirates attack Malaysian oil tanker in South China Sea
 Chinese ships are seen on the horizon guarding the Haiyang Shiyou 981, known in Vietnam as HD-981, oil rig (2nd …
Pirates attacked a Malaysian oil tanker in the Malacca Straits and siphoned off its load, the Malaysian navy and officials said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of hijackings raising tension in Southeast Asia's busy sea lanes.

The attackers stole 2,500 metric tonnes of oil and damaged the navigation equipment of the MT Oriental Glory late on Tuesday.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/pirates-attack-malaysian-oil-tanker-south-china-sea-084407624.html

Thousands flee as typhoon batters east Philippines, heads to Manila
 A delivery truck negotiates flooded roads as Typhoon Rammasun batters suburban Navotas, north of Manila, Philippines …
Thousands of people in the Philippines fled from their homes on Tuesday as the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year made landfall, toppling trees and cutting power as it made its way straight towards the capital, Manila.

Parts of the Philippines are still recovering from Typhoon Haiyan, one of the biggest cyclones known to have made landfall anywhere, which killed more than 6,100 people last year, many in tsunami-like sea surges, and left millions homeless.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/philippines-evacuates-coastal-areas-typhoon-aims-manila-035902711.html

Israel: Hamas to pay price for its 'no' to truce
 Smoke rises after an Israeli missile strike in Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, July 16, 2014. …
Israel resumed its heavy bombardment of Gaza and warned that Hamas "would pay the price" after the Islamic militant group rejected an Egyptian truce plan and instead unleashed more rocket barrages at the Jewish state.

Late Tuesday, the military urged tens of thousands of residents of northern and eastern Gaza to leave their homes by Wednesday morning, presumable a prelude to air strikes there.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/israel-hamas-pay-price-no-truce-194817399.html

Chinese oil rig moved away from disputed waters off Vietnam
 A Chinese Coastguard ship (R) uses a water cannon to attack a Vietnamese Fisheries Surveillance boat near the site …
A Chinese oil rig has finished drilling near the disputed Paracel islands in the South China Sea after finding signs of oil and gas and is being moved away from the area, more than two months after its deployment damaged relations with Hanoi.

The Vietnamese coastguard said the $1-billion rig had been towed from contested waters. China's official Xinhua news agency said the rig would be relocated off the southernmost island province of Hainan. It gave no timeframe.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/chinese-oil-rig-moved-away-disputed-waters-off-083621470--finance.html

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/what-is-buzzing/wednesday--sgroundup--literary-judges-quit-as-singapore-gay-book-row-escalates-091357576.html

Taxi driver caught watching porn while driving has ‘stopped’ working

By Nurul Azliah Aripin | What's buzzing? – 

A Premier Taxi driver, who watched a pornographic video when fetching a female passenger last Thursday (10 July), has "stopped" working for the company.
 
A spokesperson, speaking to Yahoo Singapore on Tuesday, confirmed this after the company completed its investigations.
 
On Sunday, a passenger known as Jenny shared with Singapore blog All Singapore Stuff about her experience boarding a cab with the driver. Jenny was on her way to the office in the morning around 10am when the incident happened.
 
"After boarding, I noticed that the taxi uncle had a tablet fixed on his dashboard. He was playing some movie that I did not know of. But after a while, I realised that it was a porn movie," she said.
 
She added, "It was so disgusting to see the taxi driver watch porn when fetching a passenger."
 
She also called the driver "unprofessional" and blamed him for not being considerate to passengers who might not be able to "tolerate" what he did.
 
Jenny pointed out that the driver was being "unsafe" — she said that watching shows while driving might cause him to "become distracted from the roads".
 
She was also worried that the "uncle might lose control of himself and do something bad" to her.
 

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/blogs/what-is-buzzing/taxi-driver-caught-watching-porn-while-driving-has--stopped--working-053410696.html

Mirrors installed in HDB lifts for extra crime deterrence: reports

By Nurul Azliah Aripin | Yahoo Newsroom – 

Two-panel mirrors have been installed in elevators of 450 Housing and Development Board (HDB) blocks in Jurong West, Bukit Batok and Choa Chu Kang in the first quarter of 2014.
 
The Singapore Police Force (SPF) told Yahoo Singapore that the installation of mirrors on lift doors was initiated by the Jurong Police Division. The project aims to deter crime in elevators by allowing residents to be more aware of their surroundings, including the people standing behind them.
 
"The police will continue to monitor and evaluate the feedback received from the public to further enhance our crime prevention efforts," SPF said.
 
However, many residents were reportedly clueless about what the mirrors, about a metre long, were for.

Some even said that they might be installed for so that people in the lifts could check on their appearance, according to TODAY.
 
Jurong GRC Members of Parliament said the mirrors would act as extra deterrence in addition to CCTV cameras even though crimes such as theft, robbery and outrage of modesty are not a common concern among residents in the area, the report said.
 
SPF has been tightening security at HDB blocks by installing police cameras at staircases since rolling out the Community Policing System (COPS) in 2012.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/mirrors-installed-in-hdb-lifts-for-extra-crime-deterrence--reports-091046569.html