SPORT can play a unique role in rallying people, but it is crucial for spectators to be supportive, said Singapore National Olympic Council president Tan Chuan-Jin.

Likening athletes to modern day gladiators, he urged Singapore fans “to learn to become better supporters”.

While most were behind the sportsmen at the recent South-east Asian Games, he was dismayed at some fans’ reactions at the football match between Singapore and Indonesia.

It got “a bit ugly” he recalled. The players, whom he met before the matches, gave their all, he said.

“As supporters, we need to be mindful that it really takes a lot to compete. Good, bad, you have to support.”

Team coach Aide Iskandar had hit out at some fans for their verbal abuse of the players.

Added Mr Tan: “I always hold myself back. I should not be commenting on that game as I am not an expert. It helps when athletes know people are backing them up. We need to learn to become better supporters.

After all, everyone – athletes and supporters – is on the same team: Team Singapore.

“In modern days when you don’t have wars, the athletes are your gladiators fighting and representing your country in a non-bloody way.”

Sport has “a unifying effect”, he said. “It’s a way of instilling pride. Pride isn’t just about winning. Pride is in the way you represent your country, which can have a very constructive and positive effect on nation building.”

In that regard, he believes the Games have given the host country’s celebrations of 50th year of independence, or SG50 for short, a sharp boost.

Singaporeans would not feel less proud if the Games were held on another year, said Mr Tan, who is also Minister for Social and Family Development.

But the marriage of both occasions amplified the sentiments.

“It gives you a sense of us coming of age as a nation in many ways,” he said. “It gives it an even more meaningful tone to what we have achieved.

“For a lot of athletes, they also knew that doing it in the 50th year, there was extra motivation. They were all very motivated. It provided a richer backdrop that went quite deep for many. It did make a difference.”

The Games, coming less than two months before National Day on Aug 9, were a wonderful warm up.

“My sense running around all the different games and talking to people, there was a strong sense of unity. We saw that in bucket loads when Mr Lee Kuan Yew passed away. But that was quite phenomenal.

“This also seemed to have quite a rallying effect, uniting together to cheer for the athletes – quite powerful. You couldn’t ask for a better build up,” he observed.

BEWARE OF THIS HOTEL SCAM

You arrive at your hotel and check in at the front desk. Typically when checking in, you give the front desk your credit card (for any charges to your room).
You go to your room and settle in. All is good.

The hotel receives a call and the caller asks for (as an example) room 620 - which happens to be your room.

The phone rings in your room. You answer and the person on the other end says the following: 'This is the front desk. When checking in, we came across a problem with your charge card information. Please re-read me your credit card numbers and verify the last 3 digits numbers at the reverse side of your charge card.

Not thinking anything wrong, since the call seems to come from the front desk you oblige. But actually, it is a scam by someone calling from outside the hotel. They have asked for a random room number, then ask you for your credit card and address information. They sound so professional, that you think you are talking to the front desk.

If you ever encounter this scenario on your travels, tell the caller that you will be down to the front desk to clear up any problems. Then, go to the front desk or call directly and ask if there was a problem. If there was none, inform the manager of the hotel that someone tried to scam you of your credit card information, acting like a front desk employee.

This was sent by someone who has been duped........and is still cleaning up the mess.

P.S. Please, consider spreading the word by forwarding this. Who knows, you might just help someone avoid a nasty experience. ANYONE travelling should be aware of this one.

My son is with Raffles Early Learning Centre (TelokBlangah) since April 2015. When he first started school, within the first week he had bump his head with a big baluku. I know all kids fell but the school didn’t contact me and let me know till I pick him up then the teacher told me that he had fell during lesson. Soon after, he was sick for 3 weeks and didn’t return to school till early May.

When he started school again, he often came home with lots of bruises on his leg and there was once he even came home with a cut in his penis! I was very disturbed with what had happened and started asking my son if someone in the school had beaten him and I start naming the teacher to him. He said no to all the teachers except one of them where he kept quiet and he even hide under the blanket.

I sense that something is not right and that’s why I decided to make an appointment to meet the owner (James) who I thought was the principal. During the meeting when I have share with him what had happened, he was very defensive and insisted that such things will not happen as the teachers are all professionally trained. I told him I didn’t come here to argue with him but to let him know what had happened and if he can investigate as I don’t think that a 21month kid will lie! The meeting didn’t end with a good note but he promised to look into it and get back to me.

After the meeting, my son didn’t come home with any bruises for almost 3 weeks and that’s why I just wanted to move on from there despite there is no follow up from the school.

However, I received a call from school yesterday (22nd June at 11.34am) that my son has fell and knocked his head with deep cut and they are trying to stop wounds from bleeding. I then rushed to school and bring him to his regular PD and get the wounded glued it back while he is crying and screaming in pain. I felt so sad that I allow my son to stay in the school despite signs that he had been mishandled!

I have stopped him from going to school and will be withdrawing him from school. I hope all parents with young children will take my experience as a learning lesson. A school should be a safe and fun place to be in and he definitely don’t deserve all these.

Attached are the pictures from some of the injuries that he had received from school. I hope you can share this to create more awareness and encourage a safer schooling environment for all kids.

District Court Judge Jasvender Kaur has sentenced Amos Yee to be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for 2 weeks while a report on his mandatory psychiatric treatment is done. His next court date is on 6th July.

According to today's proceedings, teenage blogger Amos Yee was found mentally and physically suitable to undergo reformative training. The doctor who assessed Amos Yee however, found that the teenager may be suffering from autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

A clinical definition of autism spectrum disorder says ASD sufferers are usually characterized by poor social communication skills, as well as restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests, or activities.

Amos Yee's parents turned up early this morning to see their son in court. Amos's mother, Madam Mary Toh, arrived shortly after Amos' father Mr Alphonsus Yee. She was seen wearing a white T-shirt with a #FreeAmosYee message showing a picture of Amos in a banana shaped submarine.

National netballer Kimberly Lim used to struggle with her studies as she had to work part-time supplement her single-parent family's income. The stress had become so bad at one point that she contemplated giving up netball.

But her passion for the game led her to stay on, and her team went on to win the SEA Games netball gold medal this year.

Hearing about her struggles, Kaplan president Leon Choong decided to give Kimberly one more surprise - a $32,000 scholarship to help her complete her psychology and marketing degree from Murdoch University.

"I know it has been so hard for her all this time, working and studying to help me. So there's a lot to be thankful for," said Madam Ginny Lau, Kimberly's mother, who has 2 other children.

Mr Choong praised Kimberly for being a straight-A student, and said: "After the SEA Games, I had friends telling me she was part of the netball team that won gold for Singapore, and I learnt about her family background. So I decided that we could do something to help her out."

With her scholarship, Kimberly can now rest easy about her remaining school fees.

"I was still trying to figure out how to pay for my next semester," she said. "Now, I can focus more on what I want to do and hopefully excel in it."

A 56 year-old PRC tourist was hit by an SBS bus outside the Sri Veeramakaliamman Temple in Little India yesterday afternoon.

According to witnesses, the PRC had tried to take a better picture of the temple and stepped out onto the road, ignoring the busy traffic and the fast moving bus.

The man was part of a group of about 40 PRCs who were visiting the temple as part of their tour package.

Eye witness 50 year-old Choo Meng Foo, an urban planner, said he was talking to temple staff by the entrance when he heard a loud bang and loud screams. He turned around and saw an angry PRC woman chasing after the bus and shouting at it to stop.

The victim was lying on the ground and bleeding from the head, while large cracks could be seen on the double-decker bus' windscreen.

Police confirmed they received a call for help at an accident which occurred along Serangoon Road after Belilios Road at about 4.34PM on Monday.

The tourist was conveyed conscious to Tan Tock Seng Hospital for treatment.

Investigations are ongoing.

Japanese horror films in recent years have been on a downhill trajectory, with many critics harking back to cult classics such as The Ring and The Grudge as the "Gold Standard" of Japanese horror movies.

Despite their critics, who criticized the films for their bad acting and cheesy dialogue, The Ring and The Grudge have been enshrined in the Japanese horror movie canon because scenes from these movies have become almost impossible to erase from the memories of movie goers. For those in the know, scenes of Sadako crawling out of the TV set from the Ring and the hand-in-shower spook from The Grudge immediately come to mind.

Director MasayukiOchiai hopes to achieve this effect for fans with one more go at the tired Grudge franchise, and for now, his efforts seem to be paying off.

One of the latest trailers for The Grudge : Final has received over 100 complaint letters from Japanese TV viewers, which forced TV stations to remove the commercial and replace it with something more tame.

Do you have what it takes to watch the original trailer? Click on the YouTube link to find out!

Dear Editors of A.S.S.

I saw the news on increasing incidences of rats infestation in many HDB estates and it even mentioned that residents have to do their part. While I agree that residents should not feed cats and pigeons so else the leftover food can lead to infestation of rats and cockroaches, I believe the dropping standards in estate maintenance is also one major contributing factor. While service and conservancy paid by residents keep increasing, it is surprising that EM Services which is the managing agent for many PAP-controlled HDB estates can lower its charges per residential unit in the last few years in the face of rising costs like manpower, etc.

I believe residents do not touch the rubbish chute covers so the spoilt rubbish chute covers cannot be blamed on residents. My neighbour said he had complained to the town council many times over many weeks as he lives on the ground floor, meaning his back door is just beside the rubbish chute. His many complaints over many weeks had fallen on deaf ears, this old man is very angry so he request i help him post online as he does not know how to do it. Besides taking photo of the one he told me about, i just take a casual walk around and saw at least two others. Even spoilt rubbish chute covers are left unattended, so who should take the blame for infestation of rodents and roaches? (3 photos attached.)

The washing of the block takes place once a month. But it seems like there is no sweeping of corridors and staircases during the one month between one washing and the next. so the staircases are allowed to become very dirty with very much litter for one month. (2 photos attached.)

To Mr Lawrence Wong, high profile events like SEA Games will not win you support during general election if ground issues (like these shown in the 5 photos) are mishandled.

From: Angry resident of Boon Lay

For reasons unknown, a 16 year-old secondary 4 student from Damai Secondary School commited suicide by hanging himself from the ceiling of his own room. He was discovered by his parents, who had knocked on the door of his room several times before realizing something was amiss.

According to neighbors of the family, the suicide took place last night. They had reported hearing anxious knocking on a door for several minutes before hearing loud wails from the mother. Concerned neighbors who had gone up to the family to ask what was wrong were informed by the father of the boy that his son had hung himself.

The secondary 4 student was described as a distant boy by neighbors. They said that the family had 3 children, a daughter who studies at a local polytechnic, and a younger boy aged 9. When probed further, neighbors recalled that the deceased was more reticent because he would hardly greet others when he met them as compared to his older sister and younger brother.

The parents and the sister of the deceased boy were in the mortuary today to identify the boy's remains. The mother of the boy was emotional and refused any requests for comments while her daughter placed her hand on her mother's shoulder to comfort her.

Police have confirmed they are investigating the case as "unnatural death".

Scoot chief executive officer Campbell Wilson has issued an apology over a technical fault, which caused flight TZ8 bound for Perth to be delayed for more than 21 hours.

According to the statement, the delays were due to scheduling problems resulting in technical crews being unable to perform repairs in time.

Although Scoot apologized for the incident, it said "Scoot has never shied away from the fact that low airfares come with a quid pro quo, which is that hotel accommodation is not assured in the rare event of disruption, and that travel insurance is highly recommended. These conditions are made known to and are acknowledged by every passenger at the time of booking."

It added that it has gone the extra mile by providing guest vouchers, lounge access and F&B vouchers at Changi Airport to those booked for TZ8.

Scoot's full statement:

Scoot deeply regrets disruption to guests affected by the flight delays over the weekend. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to their travel plans.

The principal cause of the disruption was a technical fault experienced upon arrival of TZ220 at Hong Kong on Friday morning. Initial attempts to resolve the issue failed and, ultimately, a spare part and team of engineers had to be dispatched from Singapore.

With a small fleet and one aircraft out of action in Hong Kong a number of flights were rescheduled, including Saturday’s TZ8 from Singapore to Perth. During checks prior to this flight, a tyre issue was detected requiring a wheel to be changed, a process that took three hours. Regrettably, this new delay meant that the operating crew could not complete the flight in their legal duty time and were obliged to stand down but, because of earlier rescheduling of flights, no standby crew were available. Consequently, TZ8 was delayed overnight until a new, rested crew was available.

The safe operation of our airline is paramount and will not be compromised. Occasional technical issues nonetheless happen, to any airline, and the smaller the fleet, the larger the effect on schedules. As Scoot’s fleet grows from 6 to 11 aircraft this year our ability to absorb such events will significantly improve but, even so, Scoot is also reviewing the handling of these two flights to refine our processes and procedures.

As readers will be aware, Scoot has never shied away from the fact that low airfares come with a quid pro quo, which is that hotel accommodation is not assured in the rare event of disruption, and that travel insurance is highly recommended. These conditions are made known to and are acknowledged by every passenger at the time of booking. Notwithstanding, Scoot elected to provide hotel accommodation in Hong Kong to passengers on TZ221 and lounge access and F&B vouchers at Changi Airport to those on TZ8. Scoot has also reached out to guests on the two affected flights with compensation vouchers over and above the Guest Promise stated on our website as an indication of our regret.

We again apologize to those affected, assure them that their safety was at the core of our actions at all times, and commit that we will learn from this experience.

Campbell Wilson
Chief Executive Officer

Just one week after Izwan Mahbud's stunning performance against Japan, he already has an invite to train with a J-League team Matsumoto Yamaga.

Newly-promoted Matsumoto Yamaga, is currently 14th in the 18-team J-League after 16 games, are keen on giving Izwan Mahbud a trial.

Yamaga's vice-president Yoshiyuki Kato said: "It's hard to judge from one game, but he had a dominating performance. The way he threw himself about and kept his concentration throughout was very impressive. "We would like to see him in practice."

When queried if that constituted an invite for the custodian, Kato said: "Yes."

Kato was speaking at a press conference to unveil the three Singapore Under-14 players who are joining the Japanese outfit for a week-long training stint.

Speaking to a former police sergeant, who wishes to remain anonymous for his own protection.

Commenting on the recent shooting at Khoo Teck Puat hospital, he said that its very rare that a policeman’s gun can be snatched because of the safety mechanisms put in place.

“This is credit to the Singapore Police Force. The gun holsters have what’s known as a ‘double-lock’ system. If you look at the holster, there’s a safety catch (circled in red here) that needs to firstly be unlocked, then pushed forward. The gun can only be drawn upwards, so if you’re trying to prise it away from an officer, you can’t just pull at it. Officers are trained to release their guns quickly, and its not something that anybody can just do on the spur of the moment. That whole mechanism was put in place for our safety, because the police force wants to prevent out guns from being snatched. We were also trained on the proper steps to take when someone is trying to take our revolver.”

As for reports that the policeman’s baton was first snatched and used to beat the policeman before his revolver was taken, the former policeman said:

“The snatching of the T-Baton is possible, and its happened before. Unlike the gun holster, the T-Baton holster is meant for quick release. You can remove it from the holster with a quick and strong tug. That’s meant for quick-draw during emergencies, like riots that break out all of a sudden, or when a person is behaving violently, but his actions do not warrant the use of your firearm.”

However, this former policeman says the KTPH snatch-and-shoot incident possibly happened because of lax behaviour on the part of the two policeman involved – the injured policeman, and his partner.

“You can’t blame the Singapore Police Force for this. We’re taught proper methods to escort a subject. There’s two ways. One, the subject is handcuffed and the officer will hold him from behind by the arm, and the handcuffs. If the subject is not handcuffed, he or she is always made to stand on the left side of the officer, even when seated in the police car, so that the subject cannot snatch your revolver.”

“That is probably how the subject managed to snatch the officer’s T-Baton, which is on the left side of the officer’s belt for right-handed officers. The protocol, however, is for one officer to hold the subject, while his partner stands a short distance away from them, so that he can react in the event of any emergency. In this case, if the partner had been around, he would have been able to subdue the subject straight away. If there was anything to see to, it’s my opinion that the subject should be led out by both officers rather than being left alone with just one without any supervision by a partner officer.”

But how can it be that one policeman cannot be trusted to handle a subject? What if there is a situation whereby both partners need to be separated?

“Look, if you are made to detain and escort a subject, that means he’s under arrest. You can’t just anyhow take people off the street and make them come with you for no reason. Unless, say, you’re escorting a witness who’s not accused of any crime. If you have detained someone, the proper way to do it is to handcuff him, hands behind the back. That’s the proper way to restrain a subject. There’s no such thing as ‘this fella is ok, so don’t need to be so hard on him’. You do your job and protect yourself because you never know what can happen. Subjects have turned violent in the past, even when restrained.”

This former law enforcer believes that the Singapore Police Force can do more to remind officers of proper procedures to follow:

“There’s many refresher courses for officers, as it is now. Maybe the police force can hold more training sessions and relate more real-life encounters as case-studies for officers to hit home the message that they must follow the right procedures, and safety of yourself, the public, and the subject is very important.”

“Of course I’m not happy to hear that an officer has been shot. But if you ask me, I can’t see how anyone can blame the police force for this incident. Sometimes, things happen. Until a full report is out, there’s no knowing what happened in that room. But I think that officers should have practised better handling of this incident. Even if it wasn’t a shooting, if the subject were to escape from custody, the safety of members of the public could have been compromised.”

Dear Editors,

Scammer and cheater Ng Chun Kiat Ben of Behome Design Concept cheated and scammed at least 9 families of renovation fees and his sub contractors up to a sum of more than $150K.

Knowing very well that his company is in financial trouble, Ng Chun Kiat continued to accept renovation projects and took money without delivering anything, churning out loads of excuses to delay jobs.

Now he is in hiding and threatening to use declare bankrupt to get away with the cheated money. His wife works in Abacus International Pte Ltd as HR Executive.

Please share this with Singaporeans so that no one else gets scammed by this fraud.

MJ

A.S.S. Contributor

BAGHDAD (AFP) - An Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) video released on Tuesday showed the militants murdering 16 men by drowning them in a cage, decapitating them with explosives and firing a rocket-propelled grenade into a car.

The video, apparently shot in Iraq's Nineveh province, was one of the most brutal yet in a series released by the militants of killings of opponents in areas under ISIS control. The men killed in the latest video are said to be "spies", with some of them making recorded "confessions".

First, the militants lead four men to a car and close the doors, after which one fires a rocket-propelled grenade under the vehicle, setting it alight. A militant is later shown locking five men inside a metal cage, which is then lifted by a crane and submerged in what appears to be a dirty swimming pool.

Two cameras affixed to the outside of the cage show the men's deaths in the murky water. The last killings show a militant looping blue detonating cord around the necks of seven kneeling men, after which the explosives are set off and some of the men are decapitated.

ISIS has executed hundreds of people by gunfire, dozens by beheading, stoned some to death, thrown others from buildings and burned a captured Jordanian pilot alive.

Videos of the killings are a key propaganda tool of the militants, used to shock and terrify their enemies as well as to draw in new recruits seeking the most brutal and active militant group.

ISIS spearheaded an offensive last June that overran large areas north and west of Baghdad, and also holds significant territory in neighbouring Syria.

Its military gains and atrocities drew a US-led coalition of countries to launch an air campaign against it last year, as well as to provide training and arms to Iraqi forces.

SINGAPORE - The National Environment Agency (NEA) will be taking action against food court operator Kopitiam after one of its employees was caught washing her shoe in a sink at its National University Hospital (NUH) branch.

Kopitiam apologised for the incident. In a post on Facebook on Tuesday morning. It assured customers that the washing equipment used by the employee had been replaced and the sink disinfected. It added that the employee has been sacked. A hygiene briefing for all staff members working in the food court will also be conducted.

In a statement, the NEA said, "The wash basin is usually used by food handlers to wash their hands and food containers. This episode was a flagrant breach of hygiene that could have resulted in contamination of food and utensils," said the statement.

The clip, which lasts almost two minutes, shows the woman scrubbing both her shoes with a brush under a running tap at the cold desserts section. She then return the brush to a container which held other kitchen utensils.

According to the NEA, food retail outlets who are convicted for hygiene lapses may be fined not more than $2,000 and have their licences suspended. Public can the 24-hour NEA Call Centre on 1800-2255632 to report of poor food handling.

Just had this BIZARRE experience—

I was walking to my car in the carpark of Paragon when i saw this very cool Mercedes AMG with gull-wing doors. I took my phone out and snapped a photo of it. Just then the owner, a lady, comes up and starts SCREAMING at me for taking photos, saying "I didn't give you permission! Stop! I'm calling the police!"

I was so shocked and asked her what the problem was, and that I took the photo because she had a very nice car. She continued to shout and said she would call the police, at which point I said, 'Fine call the police" and she takes out her phone and starts taking my photo. I just stood there and smiled at her as she snapped photos.

Then when I walked back to my car, parked nearby, she screamed, "Your cheapskate car! You are so cheapskate!" As I got into the car she ran in front of it and snapped photos, saying "See your cheapskate car! Get lost! Cheapskate!"

WTF!!???

And yes, she was a local.

‪#‎MoneyCantBuyYouClass

Editor's Note: This post was shared to us by a concerned netizen. If you are the original poster and have concerns with this article, please send us PM to discuss.

I am not interested in hateful or racist explanations. To me this is obviously a social and cultural issue, and not about Chinese or Asian people as a race.

I have noticed several news articles popping up recently about poor behaviour of Chinese tourists, such as this one about tourists at a Thai temple, and videos like this one about queuing.

I work as a part time cashier and I've also noticed that Chinese people who are** new** to the country treat me and and my coworkers rudely. They ignore greetings and questions, grunt at you rather than speaking, throw money at you rather than handing it to you, and are generally argumentative and unfriendly. I understand not speaking English, but it seems people from other cultures are able to communicate this and still be able to have a polite and pleasant exchange.

Where is this coming from? I have heard people say that these tourists are poor and from villages, but then how are they able to afford international travel? Is this how people behave while they are in China?

I would have thought a collectivist culture which also places a lot of value on saving face and how one is perceived wouldn't be tolerant of unsocial behaviour? Is it a reflection of how China feels about the rest of the world? Has it always been this way or is this new?

It just runs so contrary to what I would expect from Chinese culture. I've also heard that the government is trying to do something about it. How has this come about and what solutions are there?

Is there a culturally sensitive way I should be responding, or should I just grin and bear it? I'm sure there are many factors responsible but this is an area I just don't know much about and I'd really like to understand.

Eli5