When I Was Young

LONDON - A public school teacher in Britain has been jailed for 15 months over an affair with a 15-year-old schoolgirl.

Helen Goddard, 26, was also banned from working with children for life, and will be registered as a sex offender for 10 years.

Goddard, a music teacher, admitted six counts of sexual activity with a child. She befriended the girl when they met for coffee after lessons. The Southwark Crown Court in London heard that the affair included a sleepover at Goddard's home and a weekend in Paris. The relationship continued for five months but remained a secret until an anonymous tip-off to the school.

Goddard wept as Judge Anthony Pitts sentenced her to 15 months.

It is against British law to engage in sexual activity with a person under 16, even with the person's consent.

Mr Pitts said the girl had made it clear she consented to sex. The judge said it had been a "difficult case".

The court heard that a former colleague had warned Goddard of the "dangers of being over-friendly" after noticing girls "flocking to her room at break times". The Guardian

From TODAY, World – Wednesday, 23-Sep-2009

Ageing in 2030

Likely scenario for older Singaporeans in 20 years' time

ESTHER NG

estherng@mediacorp.com.sg

WHAT will it be like to age in Singapore in 2030? Experts at an ageing conference yesterday threshed out four possible scenarios, starting with: Singaporeans enjoy good health and understanding between different generations.

Or, we could have strong bonds but suffer from disabilities and poor health. Else, it would be case of weak inter-generational bonds and poor health.

But the most likely scenario emerging, in the view of Minister-in-charge of ageing issues Lim Boon Heng, is that Singaporeans will enjoy good health but weaker family ties because of global trends. "Younger Singaporeans, in particular, have many opportunities to work worldwide," he pointed out. "They will leave their parents, who will age here in an empty nest."

Thus, the Government is looking at strengthening family ties. But it is also focusing on relationships between the young and old in the workplace and the neighbourhood.

"For instance, when you have an older person reporting to a younger person, what kind of issues would arise," he said, at the C3A-Oxford Institute of Ageing: Active Ageing Programme.

At some stage, he added, the Government will have to come up with a programme to help employers handle a diverse workforce of employees of various age groups.

Experts agree that Singaporeans now enjoy strong familial ties, but if we head towards the scenario of poor health and disabilities, Singapore men would have to "step up" in taking on care duties, as Singapore women would not be able to cope with the pressure of caring for children, aged parents and career, said Ms Sarah Harper, a professor of gerontology at the University of Oxford and director of the Oxford Institute of Ageing.

And with more people becoming caregivers, the way we work and shop would change. "We might see more online shopping and telecommuting" from home, said Prof Harper.

By 2030, it is possible caregivers would have to be paid by the Government, as they would not be able to work as much - and so, we could also see more assistive technology and novel work arrangements at the workplace.

"Your co-workers may be frail but they still want to contribute and they can, with the help of technology," said Prof Harper. "Or respite care at work - where you take your elderly relative to work and leave him or her in the care of a healthcare worker."

From TODAY, News – Thursday, 17-Sep-2009

KUALA LUMPUR - Close to a quarter, or 22 per cent, of urban Malaysians say they have broken up with someone via Short Message Service (SMS) while 20 per cent say they were dumped by their partners via SMS.

In a recent survey by research company Synovate, 39 per cent said that they had flirted with their partners through SMS while 49 per cent admitted to lying about their location or being late through SMS.

Over 8,000 people from 11 countries including Malaysia, Russia, France, Taiwan, the Philippines, United Kingdom and Singapore took part in the survey, which explored the attitudes of men and women toward mobile phones and factors surrounding their choices.

"It's clear that urban Malaysians opt for a non-confrontational approach when it comes to dealing with difficult and sometimes touchy situations," said Mr Steve Murphy, managing director of Synovate Malaysia.

"They find it easier to express themselves through a text message as oppose to face-to-face communication."

Close to half, or 49 per cent, of urban Malaysians also found it easier to say "no" to something they did not want to do via SMS.

The survey revealed that urban Malaysians preferred using a keypad instead of a touch screen-based phone.

About 61 per cent of respondents rated taking pictures as the most popular mobile phone related leisure activity, followed by 43 per cent who said they played games and 38 per cent who downloaded or listened to music.

Urban Malaysians were also found to have a strong attachment to their mobile phones, with 66 per cent admitting that they never leave home without it while 62 per cent said that they sleep with their mobile phones close by.

"We compared views of urban Malaysian mobile phone owners against other nationalities and found similarities across different nations," said Mr Murphy.

"With the exception of urban Taiwanese, all other urban mobile phone owners said that they never leave home without their mobiles.

"Urban Filipinos found it the hardest to turn off their mobiles while urban English (47 per cent) and Russian (40 per cent) mobile phone owners flirted with their partners the most through text messaging or SMS. Interestingly enough, over a quarter (26 per cent) of urban Singaporeans (the highest across all markets) were found to have flirted with someone who was not their partner via SMS." THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

From TODAY, World – Wednesday, 16-Sep-2009

RECORD MARRIAGES

MELBOURNE - The number of Australians tying the knot has hit a 20-year high, reversing the trend for an institution that appeared to be going out of fashion only a few years ago, according to official data.

The figures show that 118,756 marriages were registered in Australia last year, up 2.1 per cent on 2007 and more than 12 per cent on the recent low of about 104,000 in 2001.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics said the increasing popularity of marriage coincided with a fall in the number of divorces, which hit a 20-year low of 47,209 last year.

The data, released on Monday, showed almost 80 per cent of couples lived together before going down the aisle and the average age of people getting married was increasing, now 29.6 for men and 26.3 for women.

Analysts said the fact that couples were waiting until they were more mature before committing to marriage may explain the falling divorce rate.

"Basically, we are much more cautious and we're also now much more knowledgeable about the negative effects of divorce than we used to be," Relationships Australia vice-president Anne Hollonds said.

"There's been a lot more research that's been publicly discussed in the last decade, particularly about the negative effects on children."

Almost two-thirds of couples were married in a civil ceremony, rather than at a church or other place of worship, with November the most popular month to get hitched.

"Marriage hasn't gone out of fashion, people still want to get married," Australian Institute of Family Studies director Alan Hayes said.

"It's consistent with the institute's research, which indicates the majority of men and women across all ages endorse marriage as an institution." AFP

From TODAY, World – Wednesday, 02-Sep-2009