When I Was Young

'Senile delinquents' roam HK's streets, all sharp elbows and killer shopping carts

Tabitha Wang

voices@mediacorp.com.sg

IT ONLY took a few seconds. I had chosen my stuff at a Salvation Army charity shop and placed it on the counter to pay.

In the time it took to open my purse and take out the money, someone had swiped a choice buy, a branded sweater selling at HK$20 ($3.65). I chased after the "thief".

It turned out to be an old woman, looking as fluffy as a kitten but with claws like a tiger. She refused to relinquish her ill-gotten gain even after I asked the shop assistant for help. "How dare you young people gang up on a helpless old lady," was the gist of her lament.

Except this was no helpless old lady. She was a member of the Hong Kong Ah Pak and Ah Por club. You know, the kind who leap tall buildings in a single bound and chew sheet metal for breakfast.

The Hong Kong elderly are a deadly species. They may look like the next typhoon would blow them away but don't be fooled.

That one-foot-in-the-grave image is all an act. These are no shrinking violets. They make their own rules - because they believe they are above the law of the land.

There's no stopping these "senile delinquents". Jaywalking, queue jumping, a bit of petty "thieving" ... when they're caught, they just invoke the Confucian "respect thy elderly" tenet and confidently wait to be let off.

When buses come, they insinuate themselves into a queue of people who have been waiting for hours and expect entry. Woe betide you if you get in their way - they have elbows of steel.

I've lost count of the number of times I've been jabbed in the stomach trying to board a bus with Ah Paks who look like they were about to collapse from lung cancer.

It's not just bus or train queues - they expect people to give them way everywhere. My friend went to a recent consumer fair hoping to get some bargains.

She came home empty-handed but with bruised toes. The old folk were bulldozing their way to all the good buys by running their heavily-laden shopping-bags-on-wheels over everyone's feet.

Another friend had a run-in with an Ah Por at a supermarket. He had selected some tomatoes and put them in his trolley, which he left at the end of the aisle to pick up something else.

He returned to find an old woman happily putting his tomatoes into her trolley. He tried to stop her by pointing out the pile that was on sale behind them.

Instead of apologising, she glared and said: "But these are so much nicer than the ones over there." And left with his tomatoes.

A Singapore friend says there are just as many senile delinquents back home. "It's the whole Confucian thing. They think they can get away with murder because they're old and we must respect their age."

Tsk, tsk, old people these days. Whatever happened to the nice old ladies that I had known when I was younger? They were always so patient and lovable ... and never stole branded sweaters from under your nose.

English poet Jenny Joseph's Warning, When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple probably best sums up their attitude.

Voted the United Kingdom's most popular post-war poem in a 1996 poll conducted by the BBC, it spoke of how the poet planned to misbehave when she grows old and included the lines:

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired

And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

And run my stick along the public railings

And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

And pick flowers in other people's gardens

And learn to spit.

Well, hopefully what goes around comes around. Maybe I should start working on those elbows of steel now.

Tabitha Wang is going to booby trap her tomatoes the next time she goes shopping, so senile delinquents beware.

From TODAY, Voices – Thursday, 24-Sep-2009

Image via Wikipedia

Image by Pete Ruscitti via Flickr

Image via Wikipedia

Still on the natural disaster side, monsoon rain has its impact on 5 villages in India. Read the news here.

Image via Wikipedia

While this gets a go in India, it does not in Singapore. Read the news here.

Bilingual, that is; it's so hard getting the simplest things done in a foreign land

Tabitha Wang in Hong Kong

voices@mediacorp.com.sg

AS A non-Cantonese-speaking Chinese living in Hong Kong, I get lots of snide remarks from the locals. The occasional "banana" (yellow on the outside, white on the inside) insult gets flung at me but my peel is so thick now it hardly registers any more.

But what is irritating about not speaking the language is that the simplest task becomes almost as complicated as flying a space probe to the moon.

I don't take mini-buses because I can't tell the driver where to stop.

It's worse over the phone. When my Internet broadband service is down, it takes three calls before I can get someone to understand what the problem is.

I had to fill in my health insurance form four times because the agent could not explain what she wanted. All she could say was: "Account number wrong. You check with bank, okay?"

It's become so bad that I refuse to do phone banking or indeed conduct anything over the phone, preferring to do everything face-to-face. This becomes tedious because it means dragging myself from one customer service centre to another.

But so far, I have been spared the harrowing experience of one Singaporean woman here. Last week, Sinead Yeo was stuck in a lift so she asked her friend to call the hotline for the lift maintenance company - in English. The operator, unable to understand, hung up on her friend 17 times in half an hour. Eventually, he had to call 999 before Miss Yeo could be rescued.

Imagine if all non-Cantonese speakers had to call emergency services for something as simple as a lift problem. Already, the police in Hong Kong are claiming they are overworked and underpaid - how much more overworked they would be if they had to come to the rescue of every expat stuck in a lift.

Ah, silly woman, you say. If you move to another country, should you expect them to speak your language? If you go to Mongolia, you wouldn't expect everyone there to speak English, would you?

True. In my defence, I am learning Cantonese so I can at least buy vegetables at Graham Street Market and order iced lemon tea at a coffeeshop. And I know enough now to be able to exchange simple pleasantries with my neighbours.

But it isn't as if I am expecting Hong Kong residents to speak Malay or even Hokkien. I am talking about English, the international lingua franca of business, diplomacy, air traffic control, rock '*' roll ...

And I'm not looking at some tiny country with hardly any contact with foreigners, am I? I am talking about Hong Kong, which bills itself as Asia's top financial centre and has an estimated expat population of about 100,000. Why should they not speak English?

"We do," said my Hong Kong friend. "But most don't speak it well so they are embarrassed to try."

I find that the younger generation, brought up under the Cantonese-only medium of instruction in schools, are the worst. Most people over 40 that I've met are bilingual, switching from Cantonese to English with ease.

My English-speaking Malaysian colleague, who married a local, complains that his sons' English is the pits. He speaks English to them but they answer in Cantonese. "I worry that they're limiting their choices to only local universities when the time comes," he laments.

Even scarier is the fact that many of the young ones can't even speak Mandarin. They can read but not speak it. So they have effectively imprisoned themselves in a monolingual world.

This is where I believe Singapore has an edge over Hong Kong in attracting big multi-national companies.

I was speaking to a British expat who is moving to Singapore. After five years in Hong Kong, he is looking forward to going somewhere where "it's so easy to be understood". He wouldn't need to mime (or "chicken dance" as he calls it) every time he wants to do anything from business negotiations to getting from Point A to Point B in a taxi.

As I heard him wax lyrical about the many things he can do, I began to realise how something as basic as being understood can make a difference between feeling isolated and fitting right in.

I wonder what's Cantonese for "I'm stuck in a lift"...

Tabitha Wang finds that though useful phrases still come slowly to her in Cantonese, she has already picked up a lot of swear words.

From TODAY, Comment – Friday, 03-Jul-2009

This is one legislation that will at least 'compensate' the athlete after the strength is gone… I saw this on the news in Singapore back then, and it is also one reason why not many individuals are keen to go into the sports arena… no support when the limelight is over… is it still the same old problem that athletes are facing, or is this already taken care of?

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06/27/2009 | 03:40 PM

MANILA, Philippines — a measure granting 20-percent discounts to athletes with disabilities who had represented the country in international events moved closer to becoming a law after it hurdled the committee level.

The House Committee on Appropriation approved the bill that also grants lifetime monthly pensions for the athletes once they reach age 55.

The measure gives such athletes a 20-percent discount from all establishments like transportation services, hotels and other lodging establishments, restaurants and recreational centers and for the purchase of medicines and sports equipment anywhere in the country.

Also, the bill covers athletes with disabilities (AWD) who are recognized and accredited by the National Paralympic Committee Philippines (NPC Phil) and the PSC, including their trainers and coaches, and those who have represented the country in international competitions should be entitled to the benefits.

Under the bill, athletes with disabilities who reach age 55 will receive a lifetime monthly pension of at least P20,000 for individual winners and P15,000 for each team member in the case of team events.

Such athletes and their coaches and trainers would be covered by the National Health Insurance Program (NHIP) of the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) through the sponsored program of the PSC.

An article on the House of Representatives' website said committee chairman Rep. Junie Cua (Quirino) has asked the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) to submit to the committee an updated list of all the athletes with disabilities and their coaches and trainers since they would be the beneficiaries of this bill.

The bill imposes a fine of up to P200,000 and imprisonment of six months to two years to violators.

Any national athlete, coach or trainer who abuses the privileges given under this act would be punished with six months' imprisonment and a fine ranging from P5,000 to P50,000.

Authors of the bill include Reps. Jose Carlos Lacson (Negros Occidental) and Monico Puentevella (Bacolod City). - GMANews.TV

From GMANews.tv; see the source article here.

Posted: 24 June 2009 0844 hrs

Patricia Mok - Photo courtesy of Mediacorptv.sg.

SINGAPORE: MediaCorp artiste Patricia Mok was reportedly molested early Monday morning at a nightspot at Clarke Quay. She has made a police report against the 31-year-old man who allegedly groped her.

According to a newspaper report, Mok, who is known for being quite the 'party queen', was approached by a group of men and one of them pinched her buttocks.

Mok, 37, was then heard shouting angrily, "Don't play!"

However, the man who appeared to be drunk, took no heed of her warnings and reportedly went on to grope Mok's private parts. The feisty actress then informed the bouncers and asked that the man be thrown out of the club.

Mok later confronted the man when she realised that he was still in the club. The two took their argument outside and a heated war of words ensued. She then called the police and the man was arrested at around 3am.

When contacted by Channelnewsasia.com, Mok declined to comment on the case as it is now a police case.

The man is now out on bail.

- CNA/os

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

BUDGET TAI-TAI

Namely, the Singaporean love affair with food

Tabitha Wang, voices@mediacorp.com.sg

05:55 AM Jun 19, 2009

I WAS back in Singapore recently. It was my husband's last work trip before he lost his job and seeing as it was home, how could I not tag along?

Besides, since my last column was published, I had received so many encouraging notes from Today's readers that I suddenly felt a need to go home and lick my wounds among my people.

But I must say my two-day trip was a surreal experience.

Many things were achingly familiar, from the huge trees along the East Coast Parkway to the surly taxi drivers who refused to get out and help us with our bags. And yet, a lot had changed.

I got lost walking down Orchard Road because I didn't know you now exited the MRT station via Ion Orchard and not Wisma Atria. On my way back to my hotel in Orchard Road from Suntec City, I nearly died lugging my box of Milo three-in-ones across the road in a downpour because I didn't know that buses were now stopping on Orchard Boulevard, not Orchard Turn.

Train doors closed in my face as I stood on the platform bemused, wondering if going to Joo Koon meant I was heading west or east. Portsdown Road was nothing more than a huge expressway now, its charming black-and-whites and twisty lanes asphalted over.

Everywhere I went, I was whipping my head round and muttering: "Argh, they got rid of that building" or "Oooh, so that's the KPE" so fast I'm amazed I didn't get whiplash. It reminded me of the time I met this bewildered tourist at the void deck of my HDB block. The poor guy was staring at the public phone in despair.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"This phone card. I bought it when I was here two years ago and now it doesn't work."

I looked at the card. "It's the wrong kind. This is the old magnetic card, you've got to buy another one with a chip in it."

He shook his head. "Singapore changes so fast I can't keep up with it."

Walking down Orchard Road, I knew how he felt. Only a few months and the stores had changed, roads had been realigned and bus stops removed.

Singapore has changed and I haven't been around to see it.

Every time I thought about it, it made me sad. So I did the one thing that was sure to cheer me up: I went on a tour of duty round my favourite hawker stalls.

Amazingly, they were all there.

Putri Hayyu in Waterloo Street, which serves the best sambal ikan bilis with petai in the country, was still going strong. I ordered two helpings of sambal and then went back for a third.

The woman at the stall was amazed. "Didn't I give you enough?"

"No," I replied. "I aim to make up for a year's worth of petai deprivation." At the end of the meal, I was so full I couldn't even get up from the table.

At Far East Plaza, I slipped into the famous chicken rice shop on my first night. It was 7.30pm. The guy took my order - chicken rice with extra liver - and then said: "That's last order. The chicken is sold out."

At Maxwell Market, I gorged on what used to be a lunch staple: Scissors-cut rice. The breaded pork chop melded with the creamy curry sauce. Heaven. I stuffed my mouth until my eyes nearly popped out.

Seeing as I was only back for two days, I couldn't go to all my usual haunts. But I made sure to check with my friends that they were all still there.

"I'm amazed," I said. "So many things have changed but the food places still remain exactly where they are."

"That's because we Singaporeans get our identity from food, not buildings," my friend replied. "You can raze our monuments, cut down our trees and we won't say a thing, but move our favourite loh mee place three stalls away from its usual location and we will turn it into a national issue and make TV shows about it."

I looked up from my char kway teow. "You're so right. I'll eat to that."

Tabitha Wang forgot to check if the Hoe Nam prawn mee shop is still around now that Jackson Centre is to be demolished. Does anyone know?

From TODAY, Comment – Friday, 19-Jun-2009

Posted: 17 June 2009 1610 hrs

Jet Li

SINGAPORE: Chinese action star Jet Li has taken up Singapore citizenship and bought a property in the city state worth nearly S$20 million (US$14 million), according to a report.

The Business Times did not say when the Beijing-born star took up his new nationality or bought the upmarket property. It did not give its source.

Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) would not confirm the newspaper report when contacted by AFP for reasons of confidentiality.

A Beijing-based staff member at Li's One Foundation contacted by AFP declined comment.

Li is the latest Chinese star to have taken up Singapore citizenship, following in the footsteps of leading actress Gong Li, who shot to fame with her roles in "Farewell My Concubine" and later "Memoirs of a Geisha."

Gong Li, who is not related to Jet Li, became a Singapore citizen last year.

- AFP/il

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Veronica Zaragovia, TIME.com

Posted: 12 June 2009 1124 hrs

Police officers stand guard near a box covering a bottle of acid where two bottles of acid were thrown at Hong Kong's shopping district Mongkok

Something is amiss on the streets of Mongkok. Ordinarily, the bustling 4.4 square mile patch of shops and food stalls is packed with some of the highest rates of pedestrian traffic in the world. In Hong Kong, Mongkok has become synonymous with the city's best bargains and slowest-moving sidewalks, but its over-saturation has always been part of its charm. Until this week. "The atmosphere has changed — I'll tell you that," says Daniel Clermont, a tourist from Toronto who visits Hong Kong frequently. "Usually it's filled wall-to-wall with people here."

There's a good reason for the thin crowds. On the rainy night of June 8, an unidentified person hurled an acid-filled bottle from a Mongkok building onto pedestrians below. It was the third acid attack in the neighborhood in six months, and it left 24 passers-by — including a four-year-old girl — with skin burns to their faces, shoulders, limbs and feet. Sammy Chan, a salesman at a shoe store across the street from the crime scene, said one family from the Philippines ran into his shop to throw water on their wounds. Five of them went to the hospital.

It's a bizarre serial crime by any city's standards, but especially for one with a relatively low crime rate on paper. While drug offenses have been up this year, Hong Kong police say the majority of all other reported crimes dropped several percentage points. In last year's Global Peace Index, a yearly listing of nations' peacefulness by Vision of Humanity, Hong Kong ranked a serene 23 out of 140. Yet when violent crimes occur, they can be exceedingly gruesome. This month, for instance, a mentally ill man was convicted of randomly butchering a three-year-old boy to death. In March, a man beheaded his former girlfriend for ending their relationship. "Any person with a sane mind would not do things like that," says Regional Crime Prevention Officer Peggy Yip.

In a city where a lot of people share a very little space, violent crimes leave a lasting impression on the population — and the police. After Mongkok's last acid attack, which occurred May 16, police installed eight CCTV surveillance cameras on two buildings in the area to try to catch the culprit the next time he or she struck. But after spending about $220,000 on the equipment, none of the cameras' footage caught this week's attack. Senior Superintendent Edward Leung Ka-ming of the Kowloon West regional crime unit said the collected footage needed to be "enhanced" because of its poor resolution to prove useful. While the district council decides what step to take next with the cameras, the police hope pedestrians might have some tips of their own. A large police van parked near the latest crime scene has posters in Cantonese and English offering a reward of over $37,000 for information.

In the meantime, dozens of policemen now roam Mongkok's normally chaotic streets — ubiquitous reminders that the neighborhood remains on alert. Circle Lo, an employee at a clothing store next to the attack spot, says she has noticed the drop in foot traffic and hopes business will return to normal within a week. But not everybody seems concerned. A LensCrafters employee, identifying himself as "Jacky Chan," works a only a few feet from where the bottle fell. "Some of the people who got hurt sat down," he said, "but it was like nothing happened." Perhaps, but judging by the pedestrians still looking up for a lurking villain two days after the attack, the mood in Mongkok is definitely down.

This article originally appeared on TIME.com

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Third attack in six months, Hong Kong believes culprit could be the same person

05:55 AM Jun 10, 2009

Victims of the acid attack receiving treatment by the roadside. AP

HONG KONG - Residents ventured out unafraid yesterday as police searched for suspects behind a third acid attack that injured 24 people in one of the city's most densely-populated shopping districts.

The latest attack on Monday night dominated headlines in Hong Kong, with several newspapers showing photos of victims washing off the acid on the roadside.

Police said a bottle filled with a corrosive liquid was hurled into a crowd in the busy Mongkok district, injuring 24 people. None of the victims, aged four to 49, were seriously burned.

It is the third such attack in six months in the neighbourhood, and 100 people have since been hurt.

On the same street last month, 30 people suffered burns when two plastic bottles filled with acid were thrown down into a crowd. Another 46 were injured in a similar attack in the same neighbourhood in December.

There were no signs the attacks had sparked widespread panic in the city of 7 million, as locals mostly went about their business.

But in Mongkok - a shopping hotspot that attracts thousands of people daily - some shoppers were staying away.

Hong Kong leader Donald Tsang condemned the attack, saying it was "cold blooded and evil" and that the assailant was "scum of the society".

Police superintendent Edward Leung was quoted as saying in the South China Morning Post yesterday that it was possible the same person had carried out all three attacks.

He added in a radio interview that officers were reviewing surveillance footage taken by cameras recently installed to monitor the area of the attacks.

Investigators have also posted a HK$900,000 ($170,000) reward for information leading to an arrest. - AP

From TODAY, World – Wednesday, 10-Jun-2009

Japanese snack succeeds with quirky campaign and distinct sense of humour

by Shermaine Wong | Updated 10:49 AM Jun 09, 2009

TRUST the Japanese to incorporate their signature kawaii (cuteness) culture into everyday life.

One advertising campaign which has borrowed heavily from Japanese culture has managed to enjoy success with the public with its quirky visuals and memorable catchphrase.

The Soyjoy campaign - which began last June and is promoted via traditional and online media platforms - has been tickling audiences with its humorous take on weight watching and a memorable tagline, "Much Effort, Little Effort!"

Earlier efforts of the campaign include a series of television commercials (TVCs), and print and bus stop ads. It is currently in its second phase, in which promotional efforts have been moved online.

Soyjoy is positioned as a new healthy snack from Japan with a low glycemic index (GI) count. GI is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood glucose levels. Generally, foods with low GI are viewed as healthier options.

As such, the campaign, created by Ogilvy & Mather Singapore (O&M), revolved around the concept of GI.

For TVCs and print ads, O&M's trio comprising creative director Maurice Wee; regional creative director Takuya Matsuo; and group head copywriter Troy Lim created ads which played up the extreme methods women employ to keep trim.

In the Soyjoy ad titled Office, a woman is shown at work on her computer, while struggling to maintain a squat - hence, "much effort". This is juxtaposed with the "little effort" method another woman is seen using: Eating Soyjoy.

Mr Matsuo said: "Office was shot entirely in Tokyo since Soyjoy is 100 per cent Japanese. We're riding on the Singaporean fascination with Japan and its products. The result is a memorable, quirky campaign that carries a distinctly Japanese sense of humour."

The campaign's current effort, conceptualised by Ogilvy PR and its 360° Digital Influence team, is a five week-long blogger challenge which started on May 25.

Five local bloggers will go head-to-head in a series of tasks, which include writing the most informative blog post on GI and its benefits; and capturing the best way they like to enjoy Soyjoy in a picture and blog post.

Through these tasks, the bloggers will educate readers and raise awareness about Soyjoy in an interactive way. The public can vote by visiting www.gi-joy.com. Two winning bloggers - one a judges' choice, the other an audience's choice - will walk away with a trip to Japan at the end of next month to visit the Soyjoy factory.

On why Soyjoy decided to incorporate social media into their campaign, Mr R Suhendar, product marketing manager of Soyjoy, said: "In the online world, consumers no longer just receive messages, but also respond to them. That prospect excites us. The channel provides us with opportunities to engage with our consumers on a deeper, more intimate level than ever before."

While more people may be turning to digital platforms, Mr Suhendar acknowledges that "despite the soaring success of social media, organisations need to recognise it isn't a silver bullet solution".

He added: "Any effective outreach programme can and should employ a mix of both social and traditional media."

Future outreach programmes Soyjoy has planned include another round of TVCs and workshops to help the public understand more about the concept of GI.

From TODAY, Business – Tuesday, 09-Jun-2009

Posted: 09 June 2009 1336 hrs

Shoppers walk in the busy district of Mongkok in Hong Kong.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong police were Tuesday scouring CCTV footage for clues as to who tossed a bottle of acid from a building onto one of the city's busiest shopping streets, the third such attack in six months.

The attack in the Mongkok district of the city on Monday evening injured 24 people, including a four-year-old girl, who all suffered from burns to their limbs and faces.

"We are still investigating the incident and do not rule out the possibility that the same person or people were behind the three attacks," a police spokesman told AFP.

In December, 46 people were injured when two bottles of corrosive liquid were tossed down from a building onto the street. Another similar attack occurred near the same spot in May, injuring 30 pedestrians.

No one has so far been arrested over the attacks.

The latest incident came just hours after a new surveillance system was installed in the district, one of the most densely-populated parts of the world. The system was brought in as a result of the previous attacks.

The police are offering a reward of 900,000 Hong Kong dollars (115,000 US) for information leading to the arrest of those involved.

Hong Kong's chief executive Donald Tsang on Tuesday condemned the attacks.

"This was a cold-blooded and evil act. These people are the dregs of society," Tsang said.

He pledged that the police would do all they could to catch the culprits as soon as possible.

- AFP/il

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

By 938 LIVE | Posted: 08 June 2009 1740 hrs

Cartons of contraband cigarettes

SINGAPORE: Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers have arrested a Malaysian man for trying to smuggle contraband cigarettes into Singapore at midnight last Wednesday.

Close to 1,000 cartons of cigarettes were found under the floorboard of a broken down Malaysia-registered bus. It was being towed by a Singapore-registered tow truck via the Woodlands Checkpoint.

ICA said potential customs duty and GST payable for the cigarettes amounted to more than S$76,000.

When questioned, the 31-year-old Malaysian claimed that he was a relief driver. He said another Malaysian by the name of "Louis" had instructed him to take some passengers from Jalan Skudai to Singapore.

After clearance at Woodlands Checkpoint, he was supposed to leave the bus at the mosque near the checkpoint and await further instructions.

The case was referred to Singapore Customs for further investigations.

Upon conviction by the court, first-time offenders can be fined up to 20 times the amount of duty evaded and are liable to a jail term of up to three years.

- CNA/so

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Crime, crime, crime… will it ever end? Or is it just waiting for the next form to take its shape – yet again?

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KUALA LUMPUR — Human trafficking and drug smuggling have replaced pirate attacks as the leading crime threat off Malaysia's long coastline, a top maritime official said yesterday.

"Piracy has been gradually reduced. But the main challenges (now) are smuggling of humans and there is also the smuggling of drugs," said Admiral Mohamad Amdan Kurish of the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency.

"That needs to be checked. Last year we scored a major drug bust, there was an attempt to bring in 200kg of ganja (marijuana) from the Golden Triangle," he said.

The Golden Triangle, second to Afghanistan as Asia's top drug-producing region, straddles the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.

Adm Mohamad Amdan attributed the problems to Malaysia's long coastline and extensive mangrove swamps which hamper security patrols and provide smugglers with hideouts to launch their operations.

More than 30 per cent of world trade and half the world's oil shipments pass through the Malacca Strait. AFP

From TODAYOnline.com; see the source article here.

Time is GMT + 8 hours

Posted: 2-Jun-2009 14:09 hrs

A toddy tapper climbs a palm tree. Twenty five people including four foreigners have died from drinking methanol-laced palm wine on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, police said

Twenty five people including four foreigners have died from drinking methanol-laced palm wine on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, police said.

American Rose Johnson, 48, Briton Alan Cole, 57, and Irish and Dutch citizens whose families requested anonymity were among the people killed over the past two weeks, hospital staff said.

A local man has been arrested for allegedly making the lethal concoction with methanol -- a toxic chemical compound often used as an antifreeze or solvent -- instead of ethanol found in alcoholic drinks, police said.

"He is suspected of producing and selling alcohol containing methanol ... which can cause death. We are investigating whether he did it on purpose," police spokesman Gede Sugianyar said. — AFP

From TODAYOnline.com; see the source article here.

Some events are really that unfortunate… do you have yours to tell? The below story tells of how really unfortunate some things are, especially if your expectation and image of the company is high. As has always been the case, a small dot of ink of a clean, white sheet will be noticed, immediately noticed, and will always be remembered…

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Letter from Dinakar Sethuraman

I HAD an unfortunate incident when I went to receive five friends from India who were visiting Singapore on May 24.

We booked an SMRT limousine at Terminal 3 and paid $16 as limo charge. My wife has a neck problem and there were two old women and a child in that group of five.

When they got into the cab, my wife told the driver that he must drive carefully and slowly because of a neck problem.

In the past taxi drivers have always been careful. But this limo driver drove recklessly, above 90kmh, even after repeatedly being asked to slow down. He claimed that he cannot drive below 90kmh in Singapore.

My tourist friends, who had been impressed with Terminal 3, were very unhappy with the experience. My wife experienced severe neck pain for two days because of the ride.

I called SMRT to complain and they filed a report. Subsequently, someone called back, did not give his name and said that they would monitor the driver, before putting the phone down.

It seemed quite a callous dismissal of a complaint from a customer.

I wonder why one should pay a premium for a limousine for such poor service. I would expect SMRT to take action again the driver and refund the premium of $16 paid.

A country's image is formed at the airport and such experiences do not do justice to this otherwise hospitable city.

From TODAYonline.com, Voices – Monday, 01-Jun-2009; see the source article here.

BUDGET TAI-TAI

The husband's been retrenched — and they didn't do it kindly

Tabitha Wang, voices@mediacorp.com.sg

IT HAS finally happened. The day had started well. My landlord had offered to lower our rent, I'd just won a plushie on Facebook ... then my husband came back with the dreaded news: He'd been retrenched.

There had been no warning. One moment he was working his heart out, grateful for a job, and the next he was called into the office and told to go. No, not fired — because then they'd have to pay him compensation.

He didn't fit in with the culture, they said — which is a bucketful of horse manure because if that had been the case, they'd have told him that during his annual review. They were simply looking for a chance to trim their budget.

Just like that, he will be out of a job soon. Which leaves us stuck after having cut ties and moved here. Worst, as we didn't see it coming, I didn't go for a full-time position in my office when it came up last year so now there is no job security for me either.

It's all the more worrying, given the figures. That same week, it was announced that Hong Kong's jobless rate is now at its highest in three years and expected to rise to 8 per cent, higher even than during the Asian financial crisis in 1998.

So, I am not optimistic about him finding a job soon.

Just as it had been five years ago, the crisis has shown me who my true friends are. One dropped everything to spend a night with me while my husband was away to make sure I didn't do anything stupid, another invited us to her home for a brainstorming session while numerous others generously shared contacts and job opportunities with us.

The ones who drive me up the wall are those who say: "You think that's bad? Wait till you hear about my life" then go on to complain about something banal like some guy not liking her or kid not doing well at school.

Watch your words

If you meet someone who has lost his job, please don't say:

"How are you today?"
(Just as miserable as yesterday, thank you.)

"Found a job yet?" (What? In two days?)

"Why don't you go to church/temple/synagogue?" (To everything there is a season and this is not it.)

My mum said the right thing: "Come home." But it's not that easy. Singapore also has problems of its own, with its unemployment rate at a four-year high.

As Hong Kong's economy is still faring slightly better than Singapore's, we probably stand a better chance staying put.

Besides, the stories I hear coming from Singapore are equally depressing. One guy, a vice-president in a big firm, was summoned into his boss' room and scolded for bad performance.

That, after 20 years of brilliant appraisals.

The boss kept at him until he agreed to resign. That was the boss' aim all along so that, as in my husband's case, they wouldn't have to pay compensation. The company was still making money and the truth was, the boss wanted to put his own man in that post — the credit crunch was just an excuse.

Never mind that the poor guy had two young kids and that his wife's contract was already not going to be renewed.

In the face of the 2Cs, credit crisis, it seems that employers are missing the third C: Compassion. The worst are opportunists who see the crisis as an excuse to fire even through the firm is still profitable.

So newsflash, employers: When making someone redundant, don't come up with pathetic "it's not me, it's you" excuses like bad performance or not fitting in with company culture. Just tell the real reason: You want him out because well, maybe your mum wasn't married to your dad.

The excuses may help you sleep at night but think about the poor employee who will have to piece back his self-respect before he can look for another job again.

Well, I firmly believe that what comes around, goes around. So, employers, how you treat your staff in these trying times will find a way to get back to you.

The day you lose your job, your hair falls out, your kids turn juvenile delinquents and you have to take up residence with my old friend Mr Loony in the lift lobby, know that your former employees will be queuing up for front-row tickets to your downfall.

Tabitha Wang wants to know if anyone has any openings for an editorial director, financial analyst or business/finance academic.

From TODAYOnline.com; see the source article here.