Crime rate in Victoria,10 times more than SG per 100,000 pax

• stupidissmart

  16 Sep 08, 21:59

  In case you're too lazy to click, here's the story.
  
  This happens on the ASEAN Charter signing date, 20th November 2007.
  A lady is going to Shangri-La Hotel, where the Charter is being signed, to meet her friend. On the way, the police stops her and asks her to leave, that being a protected area. Technically, it is LEGAL to pass that area to get to the Hotel, she's not loitering, but the police refuses to hear that, nor provide a reason.
  
  In Part 2, the lady argues with a police officer on whether she should be allowed to pass. She gets arrested, and everywhere, people are passing that area, but are not being stopped. Finally, the cameraman steps in and challenges the police officers, accusing them of bullying a citizen of Singapore and ignoring the Singapore Pledge, which goes:
  
  "We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, Regardless of race, language or religion, to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation."
  
  Not long after, the cameraman gets arrested as well, apparently for "disobeying a police officer's instructions", while the police officer still cannot come up with a valid reason on why of everyone, only the two of them are not allowed to pass. When they get arrested, a journalist is filming the police van, but she is not arrested or even stopped.
  
  Soon after, when they are in the van, the policeman prevents him from using his phone, even though it's legal.
  
  The twist is that the ASEAN Charter is meant to ensure the rights of humans within the ASEAN countries.

  I felt the policemen had done the right thing here. Keep the important people in and intruders out. If they cannot stop such petty intruders out, then they have really failed in their job and the security is lax. Who knows wat is their intention here ? Do terrorist have the word terrorist printed on their forehead ? These 2 troublemakers should be thrown into lock up and no sympathy should be given to them. I am sad tat people actually complain about such clear cut case of troublemakers and support them.

  Everybody here knows low crime is not no crime. No county in tis world can make crime rate goes to zero. Even batman or superman in a fiction story never succeed in keeping their city achieve zero crime. Listing out crime committed here and there is pointless because everyone knew and accepted tat crimes do occur. It is the rate of crime tat people r talking about.

   

• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  16 Sep 08, 22:39

  It's too bad that while we can afford to not be lax on "potential troublemakers", we can be lax in more vital areas:

  Dad flies off using son's passport

  He checks in at Changi, clears immigration and gets on Tiger Airways jet to Vietnam

  By Carolyn Quek

  WHAT A DAY: Mr Ang (left) was mid-flight when he realised he had his son Vincent's passport. The younger man (right) missed a Hong Kong meeting. The immigration authorities have apologised, and promised a thorough investigation. -- ST PHOTO: FRANCIS ONG IN HIS hurry to catch a flight at Changi Airport's Budget Terminal yesterday morning, retiree Ang Heng Soon, 61, grabbed the wrong passport and left home. He took his 39-year-old son's passport. They had left their passports on the dining table, because the son was also flying from Changi Airport. The father's mistake, and how he cleared all security checks at the airport and flew to Vietnam, led to a long day for both. Even with the wrong passport, Mr Ang first checked in at the Tiger Airways counter for his flight to Ho Chi Minh City, where he was headed for a six-day holiday. He next got past the security check by Certis Cisco officers at the entrance to the restricted passenger area. Then he ran into problems, failing repeatedly to scan his fingerprint at the immigration Automated Clearance System. Noticing his difficulty, an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officer directed him to a lane for manual clearance. There, an officer cleared him to leave Singapore, and he boarded his plane. Mr Ang told The Straits Times he realised his mistake only during the flight. As soon as he arrived at the Ho Chi Minh City airport at 8.15am, he owned up to immigration authorities there and they put him on the same plane back to Singapore. Around that time at Changi Airport's Terminal 1, his son Vincent, an electronics company sales and marketing executive, also discovered the mix-up. He was waiting to check in for his flight to Hong Kong when he realised that he had his father's passport. He cancelled his flight and went to Tiger Airways' office in the Budget Terminal, where he learnt that his father was heading back. Father and son were reunited at close to noon. Both made fresh arrangements and flew off to their respective destinations later in the day, correct passports in hand. By then, it was too late for Mr Vincent Ang to make it to his business meeting in Hong Kong. Speaking to The Straits Times before catching his flight, he said: 'The question is, how did this happen? From a security point of view, this is pretty shocking.' Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority confirmed that Mr Ang had cleared all the checks at the airport despite showing his son's passport. In a statement late last night, it said that the immigration officer who looked at his passport and did the 'face-to-face verification' let him through because he bore a resemblance to the photo in the passport. 'The officer should not have relied only on this but should have checked Mr Ang's boarding pass with his passport,' a spokesman said. 'He should also have conducted a secondary biometric check to ascertain Mr Ang's identity. The fingerprint scans would have led to the positive identification of Mr Ang and that he was holding his son's passport.' The spokesman apologised to Mr Ang for the inconvenience caused and said: 'ICA takes a serious view of such lapses. 'We will conduct a thorough investigation into the case. Appropriate disciplinary action will be taken against the officers responsible for the lapses.'

• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  16 Sep 08, 22:40

  Even our minister is APPALLED and FLABBERGASTED!

  Minister Wong’s statement:

  ‘I AM totally appalled and flabbergasted at this slip-up at the airport checkpoint.

  The officers who failed to spot the discrepancy between the name in the man’s passport and on his boarding pass, will be taken to task.

  But this will not be enough. I have been reminding officers of the need for vigilance repeatedly after each lapse of human error. Obviously the message is not sinking in deep enough to the last man.

  I want all the heads of departments in the Home Team to directly take charge and step up checks to ensure vigilance on the ground at all levels and leave no room for complacency. They will have to do whatever it takes to get this going.

  Just last week, I had directed the Ministry HQ’s Homefront Security Division to work with all the departments to review their security systems and processes. This may take time but we will get it done as soon as possible.

  Meanwhile, all the heads of department will be calling up their subordinate commanders and managers and tightening scrutiny and supervision on the ground.

  Each of the 26,000-plus officers in the Home Team has a sworn duty to do his or her job well. They deal with more than 350,000 people each day in the line of duty.

  Mistakes will happen occasionally, but the Home Team has to keep these to the absolute minimum, especially where the potential consequences are extremely serious. They clearly cannot afford to be complacent, and must stay alert at all times.

  There is no other way if they are to remain effective and not disappoint Singaporeans who put their trust in the Home Team to keep them safe. Any lapse by any department in the Home Team is a failure which all in the Home Team family must bear.’

• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  16 Sep 08, 22:41

  Singapore’s Security Makes News Again!

  The past year has seen an NSF going AWOL from camp with a SAR-21 rifle and live ammunition, a limping JI terrorist making a toilet break from custody, and an attempted breakout from the Subordinate Courts making headlines around the world.

  A new addition to the fray, however, is a security lapse at Changi Airport, though thank goodness this did not arise as a result of a deliberate escapade. Interestingly, Singapore is so well-known for its security that this lapse even made the papers in Azerbaijan.

  Here’s a quick recap of the story:

  • Retiree Ang Heng Soon (61) checked in at the Tiger Airways counter using his son’s passport, which he had grabbed by mistake in his hurry to catch the flight
  • The counter officer issued him a boarding pass in his own name.
  • The Certis Cisco Airport Police officers on duty checked Mr Ang’s boarding pass and the passport he was holding before clearing him for entry into the restricted area
  • Mr Ang failed the fingerprint verification checks at the enhanced Immigration Automated Clearance System and could not pass
  • The Immigration Duty Officer did a ‘face-to-face verification’ and cleared him to go
  • Mr Ang realised the folly only on his flight to Ho Chi Minh City where he owned up to immigration authorities there and he was placed on a return flight to Singapore.

  Deputy Prime Minister / Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng is naturally, not a very happy man. It is difficult to foresee him actually being happy with the recent unfolding of events which has tarnished Singapore’s squeaky-clean reputation as a security-tight state.

  Obviously, he should be taken to task for this (as well as the many lapses which occurred under his charge), instead of delegating the blame down the command chain and emerging relatively unscathed, which is probably akin to soldiers trying to fight a war with their commander retreating to his bunk and watching primetime television.

  Have all calls against complacency and for utmost vigilance gone unheeded in the wake of the recent escapades? It remains to be seen the punishments which will be meted out for the airport officers, though some sackings and demotions will certainly be in the air.

  Instead of talking about the “should have”s or “should have been”s, what next for the ICA? What will the “review” of the security systems and processes which DPM directed the Ministry HQ’s Homefront Security Division to front throw up?

  These are definitely questions which have to be answered.

• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  16 Sep 08, 22:42

  how lionnoisy how?

  can you save us from ourselves?

• stupidissmart

  17 Sep 08, 11:28

  Ahh.. U r right to say tat the security is lax in the passport case and probably some other cases. The home team really have to buck up here.

  However tat doesn't mean the policemen r wrong in stopping the 2 people from intruding into the premise where many important officials from all countries r present.

• lionnoisy

  20 Sep 08, 20:35

  Sydney,a nice city for 4.2 million and dream home of many SG and FT,

  suffer from   a series attempted abductions ----9 cases in few days!

  http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/police-warn-parents/2008/09/20/1221331262509.html

  extreme cases or lenient to criminals?

  yes ,there is one or two cases hoax.But do u think

  most of them are hoax?

  http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/news

  • Reported abduction at Greystanes a hoax
    Saturday, 20 Sep 2008 08:35pm
  • search fire arms,robbery etc for Sydney previous crimes
    

  Nine attempted abductions, September 20, 2008 - 

  An eight-year-old girl has escaped what police believe is the ninth attempted child abduction in Sydney within a few days.

  Police today again urged parents and children to be on alert after receiving a number of fresh reports of children being approached by men in recent days.

  In the latest incident the girl managed to flee to her home after she was approached twice in two days by the same man at Auburn in Sydney's west.

  In the first approach, about 5pm (AEST) on Thursday, the girl was walking along Dartbrook Road when a dark-haired man aged about 30 came up to her and asked a series of questions.

  "The girl did not answer and ran home," police said today.

  Then about 4.30pm (AEST) yesterday the same man again approached the girl, put his hand on her back and asked her to get in his car and go with him.

  Again, the child managed to run home.

  The man, described as being about 160cm tall and unshaven with short dark hair, is believed to have approached another eight-year-old girl in the same suburb last Sunday outside a shopping centre.

  "The man allegedly held the girl's shoulder, however, she broke from the man's grasp and ran away, informing her father of the incident," police said.

  Also on Thursday, a 16-year-old boy was offered a lift by a man driving a silver ute at Ingleburn in Sydney's south-west about 4pm (AEST).

  The boy ran away when the man got out of the ute and started to approach him.

  On the same afternoon two 11-year-old girls were walking along North Rocks Road at Carlingford when a man of Asian appearance driving a green Toyota Camry wound down his window and stared at the pair then waved at them.

  The girls ran to a nearby relative's home where police were contacted.

  About 3.15pm (AEST) the same day an 11-year-old boy was allegedly approached by a white Toyota van with a rusty towbar and white windows at the intersection of Walters Road and Bellevue Street at Blacktown.

  The boy told police the van, with two men on board, followed him and at one stage blocked his path, before he ran home.

  The reports are the latest in a series of incidents, including one on Wednesday when a nine-year-old girl managed to escape her attempted abductor by biting him on the arm after he grabbed her in a bear-hug at Carlingford in Sydney's north-west.

  Police have been criticised for their handling of the abduction attempts, with concerns that safety could have been compromised by delays in publicly releasing information about the incidents.

  NSW Deputy Police Commissioner Dave Owens yesterday said that in many cases there were legitimate reasons for the delays, which ranged from 12 hours to six days.

  Police have appealed to the public for any information about the incidents while parents are urged to escort their children at all times and make sure youngsters walk to and from school in groups.

  AAP

• lionnoisy

  20 Sep 08, 20:42

  http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/visa-ruling-row/2008/09/19/1221331218636.html

  Deportation order of a suspected Melbourne Mafia

  lifted after political donation

  so,now u understand what i mean gangsters and politicians always

  need support from one and other!!

  Nick McKenzie and Richard Baker
  September 20, 2008

  Page 1 of 2 | Single pageAdt

  THE deportation of a suspected Melbourne Mafia identity was overturned by the former immigration minister Amanda Vanstone 14 months after a large donation was made to the Liberal Party by the man's brother - an alleged Calabrian crime figure.

  Four Liberal MPs in two states lobbied or contacted the then Senator Vanstone - now Australia's ambassador to Italy - about Francesco Madafferi's case after being approached by his supporters, including businessmen who had also donated to the Liberal Party

  <!-- if(detailsstrpagination) { document.write(detailsstrpagination); } //--> 

  ...............................................

  so sad,

   

• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  21 Sep 08, 17:45

  This is sadder:

  Triple murder at Yishun apartment building

  Detectives have launched a multiple murder investigation after three women were found dead at an apartment block in Yishun.

  A fourth woman was wounded and is in hospital.

  A 42-year-old man was arrested at the scene, a Singapore police spokeswoman told AFP.

  She said the victims and the suspect were believed to be from China.
  One of the women was found lying face down outside the apartment building this morning.

  Police then entered a flat where they found three women with "multiple injuries", the spokeswoman said.

  Two of the women were pronounced dead at the scene.

  Police said they found two knives at the scene.

  AFP and MSN

• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  21 Sep 08, 17:46

  Triple murder in Yishun
  
  
  Police received a call at about 12.50am from a member of the public informing them of a woman's body at the foot of the block. -- ST PHOTO: SHAHRIYA YAHAYA
  
  
  Police rushed to the scene. Investigators combed the block floor by floor and found a blood-stained padlock on the main door of the sixth floor unit. -- ST PHOTO: SHAHRIYA YAHAYA
  
  
  'Moments after the loud thud, I heard several woman shrieking from a flat above. And then silence,' Madam Mala told The Straits Times on Friday morning. -- ST PHOTO: SHAHRIYA YAHAYA
  
  
  Some neighbours also said they heard a quarrel from the occupants in the flat moments before the shocking tragedy. -- ST PHOTO: LAU FOOK KONG
  
  
  The floor outside the murder scene has been cordoned off. A forensic team is still going through the flat. -- PHOTO: THE NEWPAPER
  
  
  Police are treating the three deaths as murder and the fourth as attempted murder. -- PHOTO: THE NEWPAPER
  
  
  Police are treating the three deaths as murder and the fourth as attempted murder. -- PHOTO: WANG HUI FEN
  
  'Moments after the loud thud, I heard several woman shrieking from a flat above. And then silence,' Madam Mala told The Straits Times on Friday morning. -- ST PHOTO: SHAHRIYA YAHAYA
  
  
  THREE Chinese nationals - two mothers and a daughter - were found dead and another teenage girl was brutally stabbed in a midnight triple murder that shocked residents of Yishun and the China community here.
  
  Two of the dead women, one in her 30s and the other in her 40s, were 'study mamas'. One of them was found at the foot of Block 349 Yishun Avenue 11 after midnight.
  
  The other woman and a 17-year-old teenage student were found dead in a corner five-room flat on the sixth floor. A fourth victim, a 14-year-old teenage girl, was badly injured with multiple stab wounds on her body.
  
  She was rushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and is still undergoing emergency operation.
  
  Police have arrested a 42-year-old China man, who is believed to be the murder suspect.
  
  He was found in the flat when police broke into it. The man did not resist when police arrested him. Two knives were recovered from the murder scene.
  
  The horror of the multiple murders unfolded at around midnight. But most of the residents in the block slept through it and they only knew about it on Friday morning.
  
  Several residents who were still up late on Thursday heard a shouting match from the 6th floor flat, then a loud thud, followed by piercing shrieks from several screaming women. Then it all went silent.
  
  When they went out of their flats to check, they saw a woman's body lying near the rubbish chute.
  
  She was clad in a floral sleeveless dress and beige panties. She is believed to have fallen from the kitchen window of the sixth floor flat.
  
  Madam Mala, who lives on the fourth floor said she was in her master bedroom when she heard a loud thud. She looked out of the window and saw a body on the ground floor.
  
  With her husband and son, they went down the block to check.
  
  Madam Mala said the dead woman appeared to be plump and in her late 30s or early 40s.
  
  'Moments after the loud thud, I heard several woman shrieking from a flat above. And then silence,' she told The Straits Times on Friday morning.
  
  Another neighbour, who lives on the fifth floor, said her husband was playing computer game in his room when he too heard a loud thud around midnight.
  
  Giving her name only as Mrs Loh, she said the woman had fallen from the kitchen window on the sixth floor.
  
  Mrs Loh, 30, a housewife, said two of the dead victims were mother and daughter.
  
  'The mother is tall, slim and appeared to be in her 30s or 40s. The younger girl looked like a student. She seemed demure,' she added.
  
  Some neighbours also said they heard a quarrel from the occupants in the flat moments before the shocking tragedy.
  
  Police said they received a call at about 12.50 am from a member of the public about a woman's body found at the foot of the block. She was facing down.
  
  She was pronounced dead by paramedics at 1 am.
  
  Police investigators searched the block floor by floor and found a blood-stained padlock on the main door of the sixth floor unit.
  
  They broke down the door with the help of the Singapore Civil Defence Force and found three Chinese women with multiple stab wounds on their bodies. Two of them were pronounced dead at 2 am, while the third was rushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
  
  Inside the unlit flat was the murder suspect.
  
  The Chinese occupants moved into the flat more than a month ago and kept mostly to themselves, said neighbours.
  
  The floor outside the murder scene has been cordoned off. A forensic team is still going through the flat.
  
  Police are treating the three deaths as murder and the fourth as attempted murder.

• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  21 Sep 08, 17:46

  how lionnoisy... we're very scared...

• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  21 Sep 08, 18:00

  Triple murder in Yishun A girl shouted 'don't', then there was silence Neighbour recounts moments before the mayhem By Chong Shin Yen and Amanda Yong September 21, 2008

  FOR days they had quarrelled, loudly enough for their neighbours to realise that they had relationship problems. SCENE OF VIOLENCE: Blood stains on the kitchen floor and kitchen toilet door of the rented flat. The injured 14-year-old girl - daughter of the suspect's lover - was found in this toilet. She is now fighting for her life in intensive care. Early on Friday, shortly after midnight, the neighbours heard loud noises from the Yishun flat again. But this time, the shouting was accompanied by loud screams, followed by a loud thud and a girl's crying. Neighbours who looked out saw a body lying below and blood on the window ledge of the sixth-storey unit. Soon, they would learn that two women and a teenage girl had been killed in a bloody rampage. As to what had sparked it, only the suspect and his lover's teenage daughter, who is fighting for her life in hospital, can say for sure. The triple murder was uncovered after the police received a call about a body at the bottom of Block 349, Yishun Avenue 11 at 12.50am. A 42-year-old woman in a blue floral sleeveless dress was lying face-down near the rubbish chute. She was pronounced dead at the scene. STUDY MAMA TRAGEDY: The police and undertakers removing one of the bodies from Block 349, Yishun Avenue 11 . The victims have not been formally identified yet. --TNP PICTURE: GAVIN FOO In order to establish where she had fallen from, the police went knocking on residents' doors floor by floor. That was when they noticed bloodstains on a padlock on the gate of a sixth-storey unit. The two women and their daughters lived together with a man in the five-room flat. The man was said to be the lover of the woman at the bottom of the block. When the police knocked on the door, he refused to let them into the rented flat. Instead, the 42-year-old man was heard asking them what they wanted. A neighbour, Averic Toh, 17, who lives on the floor above them, said the man sounded agitated. The student said: 'I heard him asking thrice in Mandarin, 'What do you want?'. 'The man then said 'China' in English. From his accent, I could tell that he was from China.' A Mandarin-speaking police officer then went to the unit. ARRESTED: The suspect. --PICTURE: LIANHE WANBAO 'I could hear a voice asking him in Mandarin to open the door. But the man did not respond,' Averic said. 'Not long later, I heard them breaking down the door.' When the officers got in, they discovered the bodies of a 36-year-old woman and her 17-year-old daughter in a bedroom. Chinese national The man, a Chinese national, did not put up a struggle when he was arrested. His lover's daughter, 14, was found with stab wounds in the kitchen toilet. She was rushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where she is in the intensive care unit. Her mother is believed to have been thrown out of the kitchen window. Both women were study mamas who had accompanied their daughters here from China. The police are not releasing their names as they have not been formally identified. Neighbours said they were awoken by piercing screams from at least three women soon after midnight. Averic said: 'I was woken up by my elder sister, who had heard screams and shouts coming from the unit below ours.' He said they lasted for a few minutes before he heard a loud thud. He then heard a girl crying. Averic's father, Mr Toh, said: 'I could hear a girl's voice shouting 'Don't, don't' in Mandarin. Then everything went silent.' The 54-year-old mechanic said that not long later, he heard a man shouting but he couldn't make out what he was saying. Averic then looked out of the kitchen window and saw the body of a woman downstairs. He said: 'The window ledge below was covered with blood and the unit was unlit. The windows were pushed open slightly but the window grilles were open fully.' Averic heard ambulance sirens soon after. He went out to the common corridor and that was when he heard the conversation between the police officers and the man inside the unit. Averic said: 'I saw a young girl on a stretcher being pushed into the waiting ambulance. 'Her clothes were soaked with so much blood that I couldn't even tell what colour they were. There were also many cuts on her face and legs.' Mr Toh added that it was not the first time they had heard quarrels from the occupants, who moved into the unit less than a month ago. 'The arguments had started a few days ago. I could hear both male and female voices. They were quarrelling about relationship problems,' he said. Quarrels Another neighbour, who lived on the ninth storey, said that just before the woman fell to her death, she heard things being dragged around loudly and the sound of something heavy being dropped on the floor. Miss Lam, 22, said: 'There were screams from a woman, but it didn't seem like she was asking for help. It sounded as though she was fighting with someone.' The Forensic Management Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department spent at least 15 hours inside the unit. Several items, including some foldable single mattresses, window blinds, kitchen utensils, a fan and dining chairs, were seized from the flat. Two knives, believed to be the weapons used, were also recovered from the flat. Police investigations are ongoing. A man is expected to be charged today with murder.

• maurizio13

  21 Sep 08, 18:52

   

  These days though the crimes might be lower, but the crimes are defintely getting more violent.

   

• redDUST

  21 Sep 08, 19:11

  the FTs are contributing more than economy to singapore, i might add.

  vice, crime, etc......

• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  22 Sep 08, 00:31

  09 July 2008

  Why So Many Murders in Singapore Lately? Another At AMK!

  

  So many murders lately - the cleaner stabbed to death at Causeway Point, the transvestite murdered in his home at Ang Mo Kio, and now the latest in this recent spate of violent crime - an 18-year-old Indian girl, also at AMK. Is Singapore as safe as it used to be? Have we had a couple of months of 'full moons' perhaps?
  
  In the latest incident, a 22-year-old male suspect has been arrested in connection with the homicide. The young girl's body was found covered in blood not far from her home in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5, early on Tuesday morning (8th July, 2008).
  
  It has been reported that 22-year-old suspect left Singapore before the violent crime was even detected. All the Checkpoints were subsequently alerted. At about 6.15pm on Tuesday evening, he attempted to return to Singapore via the Woodlands causeway, and was immediately arrested at the Checkpoint.
  
  The young victim's body was discovered by police after being alerted, at around 7.10 am on Tuesday. Her blood-spattered body was lying between some bushes and the PUB substation near Block 154. This is just two blocks away from Block 157, where she was lived with her parents.
  
  She had shoulder length hair and when found, was wearing a black sleeveless top and red shorts. She had injuries to her neck and upper body. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 7.25 am.
  
  The police were alerted by Ms Shoba, a resident of Block 154, who discovered the body when she looked out of her window on the sixth floor at about 7am.
  
  The teenage victim is believed to be the only child in her family and dropped out of high school some years earlier.
  
  A neighbour, Mr Koh Chew Ming, 18, a student, who lives on the fourth floor, said he had often seen the victim hanging around the block late at night on her own or with a 'tall and slim-built Indian boy'.
  
  Mr Koh works part time on night-shift at the Night Safari, and said 'I have seen her making calls from the pay phone in the next block.'
  
  Is this a trend we are seeing - or is it just an unfortunate set of circumstances and timing?
• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  22 Sep 08, 00:32

  Singapore was confronted with the horrible spectacle of the worst maid abuse case in its history.

  Muawanatul Chasanah was for nine months regularly starved, whipped, punched, slapped, kicked, jabbed with sharp objects and scalded with hot water by her employer, Ng Hua Chye. She eventually died after a severe beating on Dec 2.

  At her death, the 19-year-old girl - who was 50 kg when she arrived in Singapore - weighed only 36 kg and had more than 200 injuries on her body. Ng was originally accused of murder but the charge was changed to manslaughter. Last week, he was sentenced to 18 years and six months in jail and six strokes of the cane. Has the matter ended there? Most people assume so. They can't be more wrong.

  Ng has been found guilty, but he couldn't have carried out his deeds without the tacit approval, or at least inaction, of other parties.

  Let's consider some facts:

  Ng's wife and sister were present at many of the beatings and did nothing to stop him.

  Foreign maids are required to go for six-monthly checks for pregnancy, VDRL and HIV. During her nine months of torture, Ms Chasanah had two check-ups. Though her physical condition and injuries clearly showed she was in deep distress, no alarm was raised by the doctors and nurses.

  Going by a guidebook for employers produced by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), it has assumed that heavy punishment, along with an appeal that such action will 'undermine Singapore's effort to be a gracious society', is sufficient to check abuses.

  In fact, MOM doesn't seem to believe maids could actually die from abuse in Singapore. Its guidebook laid out 11 types of abuses ranging from rape to causing bodily harm to criminal intimidation to wrongful confinement. Death was not mentioned.

  Ms Chasanah may not be the first to die of abuse. There have been instances of maids jumping to their death, some of which could be linked to severe physical and psychological ill-treatment by employers.

  Maids seem uninformed of their basic rights as residents of Singapore, such as protection by the police. Many maids come from a background which carries with it a natural fear that the police are working for the rich, and are reluctant to seek their protection even when the opportunity presents itself.

  Concerned neighbours have become the only check against abuses for some maids. It was Ms Chasanah's bad luck that Ng's neighbours either didn't know or didn't care. A Mr Neo told the Straits Times that even if he knew, he wouldn't report to the police. 'It's not my business. He (Ng) can do what he wants, that's his problem. And anyway, God can see,' he was quoted as saying.

  There's a good chance Ms Chasanah's family won't get a cent from insurance. Employers are required to buy a minimum $10,000 insurance for maids, benefiting herself or her next of kin. But this is meant only for accidents in the course of work that led to death or disability. Insurance agents told BT this probably won't apply in the case of Ms Chasanah.

  So, is the matter of Ms Chasanah closed?

  The answer should be obvious. Two courses of action must be pursued. The first is to see whether there are other parties to be punished for helping and abetting the wrongdoing.

  This would deter others who can, but do not, help the victim. The second is to remedy the system to prevent similar abuses in the future.

  And if Singapore is indeed serious about being a gracious society, there's also a third course: do something for Ms Chasanah's family. Punishment is the job of the state and all eyes will be on the public prosecutor to see whether other parties involved in Ms Chasanah's abuse and death will be charged. But this could take some time.

  Meanwhile, some steps could be taken immediately to protect maids. For instance, the government can make it mandatory for doctors and nurses who conduct regular check-ups to ask specifically whether they have been hit or beaten and to identify maids in distress and report the cases to the police. Agents could also be required to make regular checks on maids placed by them. Any agent whose placements show a high number of abuses should have his licence revoked.

  Such measures are, of course, not foolproof. Abuses will continue, no matter what the government does. Some maids, who owe their agents vast sums (at least to them), might be too scared to complain. But at least the government would be doing something on prevention. Given the nature of Singaporeans, this very fact should go a long way to reduce maid abuse. Singapore, it has been said, is little more than groups of people tied together by economic interest. The government is trying hard to change this impression. Ms Chasanah's case presents a perfect chance.

  To show how a gracious society should behave, the government can set up a fund - perhaps draw upon the half-a-billion dollars of maid levies it collects every year - to compensate abused maids and their families. It need not be a large sum, as abuse cases are not common. But at least victims, such as the family of Ms Chasanah, now deprived of a daughter and a breadwinner, will be able to get something out of the tragedy.

  After all, Singapore has failed Ms Chasanah. Isn't it only right, now, for the country to give something back to her loved ones, over and above punishing her tormentor?

• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  22 Sep 08, 00:34

  Singapore accused of maid neglect

  Affluent Singaporeans often hire maids from abroad Female migrant workers in Singapore face what amounts to forced labour due to a lack of legal protection, US-based rights campaigners say. Human Rights Watch (HRW) said domestic workers were overworked and frequently denied food, pay and social contact, as well as suffering physical abuse. Singapore's government said the report "grossly exaggerates" the situation. Maids working throughout South East Asia complain of abuse. HRW produced a similar report on Malaysia last year. Some 150,000 women work as maids in Singapore, mainly from Indonesia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. The report paints a grim picture of young women trapped in apartment blocks, beaten, sometimes raped, killed or driven to suicide by their employers. The authors of the report say they believe such abuse is widespread in Singapore. In the past six years, at least 147 domestic workers have died in the city state. Excluded The rights group interviewed 90 people and conducted case studies to compile its 128-page report, Maid to Order - Ending abuses against migrant domestic workers in Singapore. HRW argues that by excluding maids from its Employment Act, Singapore is failing to comply with international law. "A system that excludes a class of workers from labour protections, leaving them to work for 16 hours a day, seven days a week, for pitifully low wages is one that demands serious and meaningful reform," it says. But Singapore's government denied it was exploiting the maids. "On their own accord, FDWs [foreign domestic workers] choose to work in Singapore because of better conditions here compared to their home and other countries. "Contrary to HRW's report, the majority of FDWs enjoy meaningful and safe employment in Singapore. An independent poll by Singapore Press Holdings in Dec 2003, revealed that over 80% of FDWs were happy to work in Singapore," the Ministry of Manpower said on its website. Harsh conditions One domestic worker cited in the report complained of overwork. "Sometimes employers want the maid to clean until 2200 or midnight and to start working again at 0600," she said. Another maid told HRW: "Sometimes there was not enough food... They bought food from outside, but not for me. When angry, [the employer] would throw my food in the rubbish... I was very scared. My employer told me, 'Tomorrow you have a punishment, no eating.'" Foreign and domestic workers in Singapore at present have no right to any time off. As of next year, employers will be obliged to give them one day off a month or financial compensation. But the report says the women should be given the same rights as other workers in Singapore. The authors say Singapore is by no means the worst offender in the region, but they argue that this tightly controlled city state could improve conditions very easily, giving many thousands of vulnerable women greater control over their lives.

• sgstars

  22 Sep 08, 04:02

  the lion vs the t-rex saga goes on :)

  come on ty ! i m rooting for u ! he didnt feel badly pwned enough in the defence forum that he came here to get his ass pwned even more ?

  eh i m honestly thinking of writing to straits times to showcase lionnoisy as a "model of disgrace to all singaporean forum posters". they love this kinda sensational article of singaporeans being absolute disgraces online or overseas and being practical idiots.

  maybe new paper would be better. if whole singapore know about lionnoisy, i think he will finally feel badly pwned enough and stop posting nonsense

  is he going to hop from subforum to subforum untill he gets pwned and publicly humiliated in every single one before he gives up ?

  i m admiring his persistence. like a cockroach. u empty one can of baygon on it or shelltox and it still isnt dead.

• redDUST

  22 Sep 08, 13:18

  reading the straits times/today/new paper daily is like being insulted on a daily basis.

  so, i do so only on sundays.  need that reality check that i am in singapore. 

• lionnoisy

  22 Sep 08, 13:55

  ll

  Journalism will tell u balance in reporting.

  There are too many pple here praise almost every things for oz.

  cant i just share info unconventional to your established

  thinkings?

  Have i blacked the name of oz in general term?NO.

  If i am anti--oz for telling bad news of oz here,then

  how about Dr Chee Soon Juan?Have any Singaporean citizens

  here written to him to scold him?He just posts only bad news

  of SG.

  i just copy and paste the news from Oz medias and official

  sources.I try not to comment too much.

  My faults are i have given too many suprises here.

  I am sorry my info just not tally your long established

  but not vertified postive perceptions on oz.

  SG guy stayed in Oz for sometimes dunt know about water shortage!!

  @@@@@@@@@@

  Parents,have u prepared for culture shock?

  U give u your career and will migrate to oz for your kids' future.

  I am sure u know many plus sides of Oz.

  Have u known the another side,ie the risks of drugs.

  In Down under,u are just an arm's length from drug.

  I am not asking u not to go.Have u prepared?

  @@@@@@@@

  29 % of teens have tried drugs.some tell me it is a country good for family.

  Come on.If u dunt tell me so many positive stuffs,i dunt bother.

  But i am anti--establishment.

  

  http://www.drugs.health.gov.au/internet/drugs/publishing.nsf/Content/2A9A83C961FD8E1FCA2573380078E9E4/$File/parents_booklet.pdf

  Sg Ty,no need telling me recent drugs cases in SG.

  Most of forumers here know what is the differences between

  general picture and routine cases.

  This is a matter of probability and number game.

  The general picture in oz is,according to this official report,

  teens easy to get drugs.

  Almost every week some drugs are seized in Sg.

  It is routine.

  u and i know if teens easy to get drugs,

  or u can say how many dare to sell or taffick drugs in SG.

  How many teens u know take drugs in SG?....

• Gedanken

  22 Sep 08, 14:31

  ROTFL!  Anti-establishment?  I suppose you're getting all of your cut-and-paste fodder from underground sources?  Surely it isn't from what's published in the "establishment" media in Australia?

  You utter, utter self-aggrandising fool.

  Come on.If u dunt tell me so many positive stuffs,i dunt bother.

  Whoops, there it is.  If you didn't have an inferiority complex the size of the Empire State Building, why would you bother about what anybody said?  So, tell the truth and shame the devil - how loudly did DIMIA laugh when you applied to migrate?

• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  22 Sep 08, 19:56

  Il

  Journalism will tell u balance in reporting.

  There are too many noisy lions here praise almost every things for sg.

  cant i just share info unconventional to your established

  thinkings?

  Have i blacked the name of sg in general term?NO.

   

  i just copy and paste the news from sg medias and official

  sources.I try not to comment too much.

  My faults are i have given too many suprises to lionnoisys here.

  I am sorry my info just not tally your long established

  but not vertified postive perceptions on sg

  SG guy stayed in SG for sometimes dunt know about maid abuse problems and triple murders and problems in SAF!!

  @@@@@@@@@@

  lionnoisy,have u prepared for culture shock truth about sg?

  U give u your career and will stay sg for your kids' future.

  I am sure u know many plus sides of sg.

  Have u known the another side,ie the risks of parang choppings.

  In sg,u are just an arm's length from parang.

  Have u prepared?

  @@@@@@@@

  teens in sg get chopped by parang some tell me it is a country good for family.

  Come on.If u dunt tell me so many positive stuffs,i dunt bother.

  But i am anti--establishment.

  lionnoisy ,no need telling me recent drugs cases in oz.

  Most of forumers here know what is the differences between

  what happen here and cases in oz not our concern.

  This is a matter of probability and number game.

  probabily and number games prove SIA only 70+ ranking in safety

  yet you want to show Quantas unsafe

  why u dun use probability and numbers games?

  anyway back to parang games in sg:

  With their heavily pregnant wives looking on, the two teenage brothers appeared in the dock handcuffed together.

  They choked back tears as the judge packed them both off to jail and ordered them caned. What they did: Set upon two youths with a parang (machete), slicing off one teenager's hand and slashing the other on the head and back.

  Muhammad Rudy Ramlee, 19, will serve six years and be caned 15 times while his younger brother, Muhammad Raymi Ramlee, 18, was sentenced to five years' jail and nine strokes.

  All that violence was over a dispute during a soccer game.

  Unhappy that Puvaneshvanan Bala, 18, had pushed him during the game, Rudy planned revenge and roped in his brother to help in case he was outnumbered.

  He already had a parang hidden in the bushes near Block 421 Jurong West Street 42, where they lived in a four-room flat.

• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  22 Sep 08, 19:57

  SINGAPORE: A man has been badly injured in a fight at Block 162 of Tampines Street 12.
  A Channel NewsAsia viewer said a parang might have been used in the attack.
  
  Police said they received a call about the incident around 6.30pm.
  
  But when they arrived at the scene, all they found were bloodstains.
  
  The man, known as Fan, had already been sent to Changi General Hospital.
  
  Police believe he suffered injuries to his head, arms and back.
  
  Police are investigating the case.
  
  Rusmah Ramle, Fan's mother, said: "From my unit upstairs, I saw three people running with parangs."
  
  Muhammad Afandi, eye-witness and Fan's friend, said: "I saw Fan being chased by three other guys holding parangs. But my view was blocked by the bushes. Then there was a sudden silence and people started to gather around Fan. I went over and saw that he was badly injured."
  
  - CNA/so
• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  22 Sep 08, 19:58

  Is this safe for your children lionnoisy?

  I saw 3 human fingers on the grass

  >CLEANERS are used to picking up after people's dirty habits. But a contract cleaner's day turned gruesome when he picked up parts of a person. The  cleaner, known only as Mr Ismail, found three fingers at a Bedok school compound yesterday (August 21, 2008). The fingers are believed to have been cut off in a parang attack on an 18-year-old in the area four days earlier. Mr Ismail, who is in his 60s, was cleaning a grass verge within the compound of CHIJ Katong Convent Primary School when he saw the fingers, just before noon. School principal Margaret Tan told The New Paper that the verge was beside a gate that opens from the school to the HDB blocks outside. Mr Ismail did not immediately realise that he had found human fingers. The school's operations manager, who gave his name only as Mr Ho, said: "Mr Ismail calmly came to the general office and told me he had found something unusual in the grass.When I went to have a look, I saw three human fingers in the grass. I told Mr Ismail to continue his work and called the police." Mrs Tan said Mr Ho informed her of the discovery after he called the police. When The New Paper team reached the school around 1pm, we saw three severed fingers on a drain grating close to where Mr Ismail found them. They looked like they were turning brown. They were later covered with a plastic container before being taken away by police for examination. It was unlikely that the fingers could be re-attached to the victim's hand because of the likely lapsed time and their rotting state. Attempts to reach Mr Ismail were unsuccessful. Most of the students The New Paper spoke to said they were unaware of his find as they were in class at the time. The fingers are believed to be from the right hand of Muhammad Raihan Massba, who was attacked by four men with parangs at the void deck of Block 401, Bedok North Avenue 3 at 11.45pm onSunday. The attack occurred less than a minute's walk from a fence that surrounds the school. It is not known how the fingers landed behind the fence. Muhammad Raihan, 18, is believed to have used his right hand to defend himself when his attackers aimed for his face and severed his fingers. Berita Harian reported that Muhammad Raihan's mother, who did not want to be named, said he and two friends were having dinner at Block 110, Bedok North Road that night. She said Muhammad Raihan later received a telephone call from friends and went to Block 401 to meet them. When Muhammad Raihan did not return, his dinner companions went to look for him. They found him unconscious and bloodied. She did not know why Muhammad Raihan was attacked. She described him as easy-going, with manyfriends. Muhammad Raihan also suffered a fractured jaw from the attack. He was initially taken to Changi General Hospital and warded in its Surgical Intensive Care Unit. He was transferred to Singapore General Hospital yesterday. When we visited him there, he was asleep andhis right hand was bandaged. Police spokesman Danny Tan said a youth in his late teens was arrested on Wednesday in connection with an incident of voluntarily causing grievous hurt with a dangerous weapon. He said the youth was charged in court for the offence yesterday. This article was first published in The New Paper on August 22, 2008

• SingaporeTyrannosaur

  22 Sep 08, 20:14

  CASES of physical abuse of foreign maids in Singapore have risen despite tougher penalties for errant employers, including stiff jail terms, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said Monday (Dec 10).

  There were 39 convictions of Singaporeans found to have abused their maids in 2000, compared with just four such cases in 1997. Apart from jail terms and fines, maid-abusers are banned from hiring domestics again.

  "MOM takes a serious view of employers and Singaporeans who abuse their foreign domestic workers," the ministry said in response to a query from AFP.

  "Any complaint of physical abuse will be thoroughly investigated by the police. Errant employers will be prosecuted in court and punished if convicted," it said.

  There are some 140,000 foreign domestic workers in the city-state, mostly from Southeast Asia and South Asia,and the local media have recently highlighted the problem of people beating their maids.

  Singapore's Chief Justice Yong Pung How has warned the island's affluent citizens against ill-treating their maids.

  "A maid sells her services, she does not sell her person. An employer should not exploit his maid's dependence on him for food and lodging, for these are basic rights," he said in a written judgment.

  "A maid's abased social status does not mean that she is any less of a human being and any less protected by the law," Yong said.

  With the stiffer penalties imposed in 1998, anyone caught hurting their maids can be jailed for more than seven years, up from the previous five years.

  Employers also face more than 10 years in jail if they knowingly cause grievous hurt, such as a fracture or disabling injury, to their maid.

  A Singaporean must earn at least S$30,000 (US$16,393) a year in order to hire a foreign maid.