I travel through the second link at Tuas at least twice a week and each time I am frustrated when I arrive at the Singapore customs on our way home. There will always be a congested line of Singapore and foreign cars trying to pass through the toll plaza. It usually takes from 30 to 90 minutes to pass through the checkpoint.

I just cannot understand why the Government constructed 4 barrel vaulted structured toll plazas (Block A1 to A4) but only 3 are being utilized each day. There are two toll plazas strictly for the use of motorcycles (Block A3) and heavy vehicles (Block A4) are cleared below the bridge.

There is ONE toll plaza (Block A1) for cars closed "permanently".

ONLY ONE toll plaza (Block A2) with 6 to 8 booths are opened to Singapore and foreign registered cars and it is this toll plaza that is ALWAYS congested with vehicles when passing through the Immigration checkpoint booth.

There are about 16 booth within each toll plaza (Block A1 & A2), so 32 booths were designed for cars but ONLY 6 to 8 are opened each time thereby contributing to the chaos and congestion. Only 19% to 25% of the intended facilities for cars are utilized each time irregardless if it is during festive periods, school holidays and on long weekend holidays.

As foreign registered vehicles needs a Cashcard to make payments to enter and I understand that checks on the foreign passports are more stringent, it is therefore these vehicles that usually hold up the traffic at the toll booths.

I would suggest that one of the toll plaza be opened ONLY for Singapore registered vehicles whilst the foreign vehicles can be directed to another toll plaza which would greatly alleviate the present situation.

This will be akin to the Changi airport where Singaporeans come home to a fuss free entry back to the country.

Alternatively if ONLY one toll plaza can be utilized for cars, then the installed CCTVs about 500m to 1km from the entry point should alert the officers that more or additional booths be open to man the increase in traffic.

I am sure that the Ministry of Home affairs in their $9.7 million revamp will consider the plight of Singaporeans and alleviate the ease of fuss free travel for Singaporean drivers.

Jin Jin Bo Song
A.S.S. Contributor

The Sin Chew Daily reported that a Chinese woman from Kota Kinabalu adopted five Muslim children in the past 20 years.

Kindergarten teacher Connie Wong, fondly known as Cikgu Wong, is a Buddhist but she makes sure the children, aged between 11 and 20, practise their faith.

She now has two children staying with her – Jefri, 13, and Ridzuan, 11.

They attend religious classes in school and go for Friday prayers.

Wong, 59, prepares halal food for them daily. During the holy month of Ramadan, she makes sure they observe fasting.

The two oldest children have started working while the third, Aiza, is in a learning centre.

Recalling her first adoption, Wong said a woman brought a two-day-old baby to her family and begged them to look after it temporarily.

A week later, the woman said she did not want the baby anymore.

Two years later, Wong adopted a baby boy after her sister’s neighbour wanted to put him up for adoption.

Wong adopted the third baby, also a boy, not long after that as his father had died and his mother could not afford to look after him.

Her fourth son was brought to her by a woman who said her tenant had left the baby and disappeared.

Her youngest adopted son was found by her family at a rubbish site near her family’s grocery store.

“It is not easy to raise the children but I am happy,” Wong said, adding that she would not give them up.

She supplements her income by collecting recyclable items and selling fruits at the market during weekends.

Something that I continue to believe in..

I made this post in June last year following a post about Malays indeed being given equal opportunities in e Military:
http://www.allsingaporestuff.com/article/malay-saf-major-if-you-are-best...

And so, my clarifying post had ended up being shared on two pages:

Fabrications About the PAP (FAP), and Rilek1corner (R1C).

Whilst the FAP drew positive comments, reinforced with even further proof and testimonials from people that actually served in the force, R1C was laced with negative insinuations and remarks from people who, mostly never served the force, had no empirical data, actual stats and only hear say stories to back up their claims.
Despite all that, it is the voices of the believers that will continue to give us reason to continue breaking boundaries and striving hard to excel in whatever we are tasked to complete, no matter what appointment we sit in.

Come 1st July, we celebrate SAF Day. It is not just a day to remind our servicemen on the purpose of our existence. Neither is it only a day where we rekindle the passion and fire that made us take up this responsibility.

SAF Day is also a day where were reaffirm to the people that we are there, because they are there. We protect those we love, or family, our friends and also our community. It is important that our community believes in this organisation and they MUST know that everyone that serves, is given equal opportunities to excel, move up and become an icon for the rest of his community to emulate.

Heck I am a Diploma Holder, taking precious time every other night attending classes just to get a Degree. When I look left and right, everyone else holds that Qualification, and I used to believe and still believe, that if I want to be given the same opportunities, it is then my responsibility to make sure I am on par with the rest.

Opportunities don't come, just because the organisation thinks there is a political impetus to. Opportunities come because, we in our own capacity and hard work, creates it. I may not be a high-flyer but I believe that I am still able to fly the flag high for the Malay/Muslim community. But we cannot do this if we continue disbelieving that change is already taking place.

If any parents or school children is reading this, please remember.

Tell your kids or yourselves, that if they/you have aspirations to join the service and be part of this organisation, step forward and do your very best. Believe that you will be someone and trust that you will be given what you deserve.

There is without doubt many Malay/Muslims holding even higher and more important appointments, much more important that mine. Those who know these people, you can bare testament, how good they really are. Shut out all those who don't believe.. because if I had listened to all these people 14 years ago, I would have never reached this milestone in my life.

Believe in yourself, continue learning and upgrading and serve the country and community because, if you don't, no one else will.

Happy SAF day my brothers/sisters in arms and to the generations that takes over, remember that we are the ones that craft our own futures.

Regards..

:: Be the change you wish to see in this world ::

I was in the bus otw back home going by upper changi road east, and i saw two ladies with this dog from the window and i got off bcos thr was obviously smth wrong. They were two very kind japanese stewardesses who also happened to see this poor thing when they were walking across the street.

He was lying infront of this private estate with their house gates wide open right by the main road where cars were speeding by.

He was shivering, lying in red ants and one of his eyes was so clogged with dirt and blood and he is blind, he had no reaction to any arm movements we made.
I let him smell my hand and touched his head and he immediately jolted out of fear.

Slowly i pat him and hugged him and carried him up. There's a blue string on his neck (the f-ing plastic type of string), so i assumed he belonged to someone. The ladies and i asked the people in the house with their gates open (which i deeply regret now bcos of what happened) if the dog belonged to them.

Their helper came out and said yes it's their dog and she called this old lady out.

The lady told me specifically in chinese 'No la he's just old he's very healthy theres nothing wrong with him la' with smiles and laughter.

'he's just old already he's my son's dog, don't worry ok give him back to me'.

Which i then refused and i just held him closer to me.

I tried looking for sosd's (save our street dogs singapore) number but i couldn't find it and i was rushing cuz my phone was dying so i just called spca (but im so scared they'll put him down.)

I explained everything and the guy on the phone told me he'll contact the inspector and they'll have someone go over to the address (I'm not going to expose it) tomorrow.
i told the old lady to let me bring it to a vet because he is obviously very very neglected and frightened. When i carried him all i felt was bones, his ribs, his spine, he was full of fleas and red ants crawling all over him yet he just sat there.

I asked the owner to call her son but she just nodded and said she'll call him later in the night and asked for her dog back again, telling me it does not need a vet and that it is fine.

She insisted that i return it to her. There was nothing i could do i had no rights to just take the dog by force.

I'm really so fucking heartbroken and i can't fucking stop crying to know that someone could just lie about this type of thing where an innocent life is at stake. It's so fucking clear this dog has not been taken care of and SEVERELY neglected and abused. When i passed the dog to her, she held it far away from her body like it was some piece of trash and walked back into her house asking the maid to close the gate.

The gates had very small spaces between them so i couldn't look inside but i peeked in and there the dog was, outside, the house doors closed lying beside their car.

I called the spca again and talked to the same guy and coaxed him to tell the inspector right now, which he did, i also emailed the pictures to them.
I really hope they'll be able to help this dog tonight and take him away from that fucking cruel household.

He was so scared, but when i pet him, he licked my hand and was so gentle. He's a sweetheart and fucking does not deserve this type of shit.

If they even gave a fuck about him wouldn't someone have realized that he's outside by the road and not in the house?

Especially when the gates were left open and their helper was walking up and down in and out of the house, where there was a CLEAR VIEW of the dog lying by the road. No one cared.

THIS IS BULLSHIT I AM SO ANGRY AND SO FUCKING UPSET.

I offered to take the dog to a vet, she could follow me her son can follow me whatever ill pay for everything but she just insisted no and shut the fucking gates.

God bless this family please.

I applaud the Australian High Commission’s goodwill and generosity in organising 50 Aussie-style barbecues on Sunday evening (“It’s barbecue time for a taste of Singapore life”; Monday).

Having been a beneficiary of the Australians’ big-hearted hospitality previously, my group of friends and I had looked forward to being part of the festivities.

To our dismay, however, we were turned away at Bishan Park, as the organisers’ personnel indicated that a ticket was required to enjoy the food provided.

This was contrary to what we had understood in earlier reports of the event being freely open to the public (“Steak feast to mark 50 years of ties”; April 18).

Much as our group understood the need for crowd management, the means of ticket distribution left much to be desired.

The People’s Association was engaged as the local community partner for the event.

But only a select few community clubs had publicised the ticketing requirement prior to the event.

A sizeable majority of the ticket-holders were decked in grassroots attire, though we understood that it was not an exclusive event.

Many visitors were left disappointed and confused.

However, many, including my group, were undeterred and had picnics along the river to enjoy the street performances, while soaking in the atmosphere.

We had looked forward to an enjoyable evening of Australian hospitality, delectable food and entertainment.

But the poor public communications on the ticket allocation system had marred the true spirit and intent of our gracious Australian counterparts.

Marc Lim Swee Keat

At the start of the three day hearing to assess damages, blogger Roy Ngerng took the initiative to apologise to Lee Hsien Loong. He said: "I am sorry. I had no intent to defame you". But the apology was rebuffed by PM Lee who said that the apology was "not sincere" and "the record contradicts that".

When Ngerng had the opportunity to cross-examine PM Lee on whether the facts cited in the offending blogpost were true, Lee replied that "the quotes are factual but the article on your blog is not."

He added further that "we're not here to play games. There's no point going through it again other than to aggravate damages".

The Courts also heard that on 30 May 2015, Ngerng had offered to settle the damages for a sum of S$10,000 but his was rejected by PM Lee as "derisory", due to a series of posts published recently claiming he was being persecuted by PM Lee and the Singapore judiciary.

Ngerng shared that this amount was the best he could offer given his financial situation but PM Lee insisted that for Ngerng to cast doubt on the judicial system meant the blogger was "not serious" about his apology.

During today's hearing to assess the total damages blogger Roy Ngerng has to pay to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Lee's lawyers highlighted that previous awards in defamation cases involving government officials ranged from $100,000 to $400,000. As a result, they argued that a higher quantum should be awarded for Ngerng's alleged egregious conduct, malic and continuous attacks against PM Lee.

From the very first, the defendant set out to wound," PM Lee's lawyers said of Mr Ngerng and his initial blog post.

PM Lee's lawyers claimed that "from the very first, the defendant set out to wound". In addition, they said that "if the defendant's actions have proved anything, it is that he harbours a deep seated hatred of the plaintiff. That is the only explanation for the venom in his continuing attacks and his relentless aggravation."

For these, the lawyers urged the Court to "express, in strongest terms, its indignation" at Roy Ngerng's conduct as "the case for a very high award of damages, including aggravated damages, is compelling."

An IT professional from India, Sachin Pravin Dere was jailed for 20 months yesterday after pleading guilty to 3 counts of sex with an under-aged girl. He befriended a 14 year old girl on Facebook and lured her to his home on the pretext of letting her play with his dogs. He had unprotected sex with her on that day and had sex with her again a week later.

It was heard in Court that after exchanging private messages, Sachin invited the unnamed girl to his condominium in Flora Drive to play with his dogs. After playing for a while, he sat the girl on the sofa and began kissing her. He later took her to his bedroom where he asked for her age. She apparently told him she was of 16, of age and was a virgin.

After they had sex, they adjourned to the bathroom where he continued to sexually violate her until she said wanted to stop. A week later on 22 October, he invited her over again and abused her once again.

He could have been jailed for up to 10 years and or fined on each charge.

Dear ASS, 

I find it a disgraceful act that we as Singaporeans do not support our own heroes. People like Roy Ngerng and Amos Yee, our countrymen who have the guts to stand up for Singaporeans are now being fixed by the cowardly government but I still see brainwashed Singaporeans slamming their actions.

Humanity is universal and it saddens me more when the people from Taiwan and Hong Kong can see the atrocities being committed here against Roy and Amos while our own blood are still blinded from the truth. 

Instead, we have mindless bootlickers like Nigel Kee who threatened to rape Amos Yee just because the insolent but gifted boy dared stand up against the PAP. 

It is also sad that our elected Opposition representatives have kept a low profile over these two gutsy Singaporeans. I think maybe election is coming so they prefer to play it safe. I think most Singaporeans will understand but it be good if they can speak up a bit to help Roy and Amos. Their voice is much louder than the bunch of us speaking up for them. 

I beg of you Singaporeans, please wake up from your slumber and eat the red pill that I am now offering you. Stand up for the Singaporeans that matter and make their efforts count. If we do not stand up for them now, who will stand up for Singaporeans in future? 

For our future, do the right thing and stand up for our heroes. Do not let them efforts be in vain. Do not be a daft Singaporean, be a smart, thinking, critical Singaporean!

MajulahSingapura. 

William Lim

A.S.S. Contributor

In what seems like a cruel attempt to play out one man's fetish for pornography movie scenarios, a 34 year-old man Tan Choon Keap was slapped with 12 charges yesterday for offences ranging from robbery, outrage of modesty, rape, wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation.

The court heard that Tan had robbed the home of 2 women on 3rd November last year and had forced them to strip naked and make "V" signs with their hands while he snapped their photos. He threatened to upload these pictures online if his victims made a police report about him.

Tan, who is married, did all this while out on bail for robbing a prostitute and making her perform oral sex on him without her consent on 25th October 2013.

He pleaded guilty to the charges in court and is awaiting sentencing.

25 year-old Madam Rabia’atul Sa’adiah and her 33 year-old husband Mr Norazri Suhaimi know all too well the pain of watching their child suffer from burns, which were caused by a fire at their Circuit Road home in May this year.

Then they read that another couple, 31 year-old Madam Masshitah Abdullah and her husband 30 year-old Mr Muhammad Al-Khair Salahuddin, were anxiously keeping vigil in KK Women's and Children's Hospital for their child, toddler Aafaa Zuhayr, because the young toddler had accidentally spilled hot oil over his face and body.

Without hesitation, Madam Rabia'atul and her husband made their way down to comfort Aafaa's parents, sharing with them their experience and reassuring them about how Aafaa and family might cope.

Because of this heart warming gesture, the couples realized even more uncanny similarities between their two children - Madam Rabia'atul's child had been treated in the same room and same Intensive Care Unit as Madam Masshitah's son Aafaa.

Meanwhile, well wishers and netizens from all walks of life continue to support and pray for baby Aafaa's recovery, with many netizens even expressing their interest in paying Aafaa and his parents a friendly visit.

Hi A.S.S.,

Please help me post this.

I went to Bali Thai restaurant at Causeway point to have my dinner with family. After 20 mins of waiting, a male Chinese waiter asked whether we have baby's foods for our baby?

I said"yes."

The waiter said we are not allow to dine at their place because we have baby's food. My baby is only 1 year old!

I said" I have my own utensil for my baby, why can't?" The food well pack n kept in vacuum thermos container.

The waiter still said "No."

Anyone come across this in Bali Thai or any other Halal Restaurant? Actually I'm quite piss off.

Upset Singaporean Mother

In a shocking case of child sexual abuse, the court heard today that a 6 year-old girl had gotten a sexually transmitted disease after being sexually assaulted by her step-father!

The 38 year-old security guard, who cannot be named to protect the young girl, had gotten married with the 6 year-old girl's mother in 2011. The three of them stayed together in a flat.

When the relationship between the man and her mother suffered, ending in a divorce in 2013, the girl and her mother continued to stay in the flat until February last year when they finally found another place to stay.

However, by April 2014, the mother of the girl noticed that the girl's genitalia showed signs of sexually transmitted disease infection. She brought the girl to a doctor, who confirmed that the girl had been infected with chlamydia.

Child protection services were called in, and investigations revealed that the stepfather of the girl had sexually assaulted her on 3 occasions in 2012.

Once, while the girl's stepfather was watching TV with the girl while her mother slept, when he decided to put his fingers under her pants and touch her private parts. The girl said in an interview that she felt a sharp pain when her stepfather did that, but did not utter a word because she was afraid and confused. He later asked her to put on her clothes and warned her not to tell her mother about this.

On another occasion, he made the girl strip herself bare and used his own sexual organ to molest her private parts.

During the man's sentencing in court, the judge condemned the man's beastly actions and dismissed the defence lawyer's plea that the stepfather had simply lost control of his own actions due to lust.

The judge ruled that even though the man was a first time offender and had lost control of his senses, the man had indeed betrayed the trust of the little girl and forced himself on her against her will.

The man was sentenced to 8 years jail and 12 strokes of the cane.

Hi A.S.S.,

As you know, I have worked in property for a few years and so I've seen my share of ups and downs.

But I tell you the truth, although it is natural that property prices will gradually go up over the years, you will notice that between 2007 and 2013, prices have increased extraordinarily. This is not natural at all.

The fact is that under PAP Minister Mah Bow Tan, HDB prices went up so high, almost 400% higher than before! Coupled with pressures from inflation and large scale property development in Singapore, the average Singaporean now has to take 30+ years to pay off his loans for his house.

Gone are the days when Mr Lee Kuan Yew said every Singaporean should own his or her own home. Today, Singaporeans are effectively living in rented flats, paying out of their noses for a property that they hope will finally belong to them.

Now the prices are dropping, but to what extent? A slight dip in the short term will not "make up" for the sudden upsurge in prices since 2007. If we are extremely generous and say that the price drops at a constant rate for the next few years, it would take 7 quarters before prices go back down to pre-2007 levels. Yet that is no longer an option, because our young couples now have signed leases from HDB to pay for super expensive flats and even if the value falls, the loans that they have to pay will still remain the same.

Edwin
A.S.S. Contributor

The millionaire pastor of City Harvest Church, 50 year-old Kong Hee, has put his luxurious penthouse family suite in Sentosa Cove up for sale, and he is asking for a record smashing $10 million for the duplex unit. Kong Hee and his celebrity wife, Ho Yeow Sun, paid $9.33 million in 2007 for the unit

Kong and 5 other CHC personnel are involved in a high profile trial over the alleged misuse of $50 million of church funds, which has been slow in its execution. Court proceedings have dragged on for at least over 2 years, which has led some netizens to accuse Kong and his followers of purposely delaying proceedings to waste time and court resources.

The penthouse in Sentosa Cove had allegedly come under scrutiny during earlier parts of the trial, where a witness to the court, CHC supporter Wahju Hanafi, had told the court that the penthouse was co-owned by him and Kong. Mr Hanafi had told the court that he and Kong each paid monthly instalments of $17,000 for the Sentosa property. Kong lives in the penthouse in Ocean Drive with 45 year-old Ho Yeow Sun and 10-year-old son Dayan.

An investor who expressed interest in buying the home told the media yesterday: "The agent tried to persuade me to make an offer and sweetened the deal by saying that if I buy the penthouse, the owner would take me out to sea on his yacht."

He visited the penthouse and told reporters that the property and its furnishings looked "lavish and opulent".

"The agent tried to persuade me to make an offer and sweetened the deal by saying that if I buy the penthouse, the owner would take me out to sea on his yacht," He said. "The home is decorated with quality furniture and top of the range equipment. It gives me the impression that the owner sure knows how to enjoy the high life."

The 5,242 sq ft duplex comes with a huge rooftop infinity pool and overlooks the upmarket One Degree 15 Marina Club.

A property agent said the unit boasts spectacular views of luxury yachts entering the marina and the city's skyline, and of fireworks during festivities.

A private lift takes visitors to the 11th-storey penthouse featuring four rooms on the first level - a master bedroom and other rooms.

The living and dining areas have giant crystal light fixtures and works of art.

A walk-in wardrobe connects the master bedroom to a huge bathroom with a jacuzzi. The wardrobe area also features two watch display cabinets filled with fine timepieces from Cartier and Bvlgari.

A spiral staircase in the dining area leads to an entertainment area on the second level and a roof terrace with a huge infinity pool.

One of Kong's property agents says that Kong was willing to move out of the unit as soon as September, which is the same month that he will appear in court again for prosecution and defence to make their closing statements.

The property has yet to be sold as no one has met Kong's asking price.

The last time an Oceanfront penthouse was sold, in April 2010, the single-storey 4,510 sq ft unit went for $7.5 million, or $1,663 psf. A 4,112 sq ft single-storey penthouse on the 10th floor with a full sea view is on the market for $9.5 million.

Courts

Once you are charged and convicted for an offence and is sentenced to a custodian sentence in prison, you will be put in the Court's lockup manned by SPF and Prison officers assisted by Certis Cisco Auxiliary officers.

You will then be transported to Changi Prison in the evening in handcuffs and shackles.

Cluster "B"

Once you are there, you will be temperorary housed in what they call cluster "D" or "Queenstown" (Note Queenstown is not referred at the location of the old prison there but as a name for remand prisoners)

You will be stripped searched, fingerprinted, etc. Your properties are then hand over for safekeeping until the day you are released.

You can be house here for a few days or up to a couple of months.

You are also give a plastic stripe that you wear at all times during your imprisonment. This will state your name, Prison number, length of imprisonment (LT = Long Term more than 1 year, ST = Short Term less than 1 year)

You are issued with 1 straw mattress, 2 blankets, 1 plastic container, 1 toothbrusth, 1 plastic spoon, 1 mug, 1 soap, 1 small towel.

You will house together with 2 others and up to 3 others prisoners of ideally the same race who had committed various crimes. You are house in a lock up which is smaller than a HDB room. You shit, urine, bathe and eat in this cell.

This is where you spend up to 23 hrs a day on weekdays or 48 hrs on weekends.

A U.K. teenager who has a phobia of toilets has died after going 8 weeks without clearing her bowels.

According to U.K. news media, The Independent, 16 year-old Emily Titterington, who also suffers from mild autism, had died of a heart attack as her lack of bowel movements had left her with compressed chest cavity and displaced organs.

Post-mortem examinations revealed that Emily had suffered a "massive extension of the large bowel". The medical examiner told the media that it was "like nothing I have ever seen before - it was dramatic."

A coroner's inquest found that Emily's life could have been saved with the appropriate medical treatment, but Emily herself had refused any form of treatment and rejected going to the hospital.

Emily's family doctor Dr Alistair James said that Emily's mother, 59 year-old Geraldine, had fought and tried to force her daughter to be medically examined in the period leading up to her death, but to no avail.

Dr James said that he had prescribed laxatives but had not examined Emily's abdomen. "Had I done so, we would be having a different conversation. Her death could have been avoided with the right treatment at the right point."

Emily collapsed while at home in St Austell, Cornwall on 8 February 2013. Paramedics attempted to revive her but she was later pronounced dead in hospital.

Editor's Note: The following story was told by a US Navy soldier stationed in Singapore in 2002.

In 2002 the John C. Stennis battle group was steaming towards the Middle East. We stopped in Changi Naval Base Singapore for a few days of port call. My duty day was the last day. That morning when I reported to watch I pulled bus rider for 8 hours. My watch was to ensure that everybody riding the bus from downtown Singapore had military ID and the proper sticker on their ID Card. I could only get off the bus at the Naval base and had to stay on for the entire ride into town. I did however get to wear civilian clothes (khaki pants with a polo shirt tucked in wearing a belt, lucky!!!)

The Bus route took us to someplace downtown where we would park for about 30 minutes and pick up Sailors and Marines. Everybody getting on the bus had to show proper ID.

This happened at the half way point waiting for Sailors and Marines.

Middle eastern bus driver wearing full Arab garb sans Keffiyah, "My friend, why don't you go use the bathroom or get a drink."

Me with headache needing to use bathroom and probably thirsty, "No, I can wait. Thank you any ways."

For the 30 minutes we were parked, he would ask me once or twice if I was ok and if I needed to get off the bus. My response was always what I had just said more or less. This continued for my entire watch.

Anyways, it's my second to last ride with the same bus and we are parked at the rendezvous. He asks me again if I am ok and I respond I am good.

At this point a guy tries to get on the bus. He is dressed like any other Sailor and has a backpack, he looks like he could be Filipino. I ask for his ID and he just looks at me. Doesn't say anything. I ask him again, same thing.

Bus driver, "It's hot outside, let him on?"
Me, "I can't let him on without ID. Hey man, did you lose your ID, go tell Security, cause I can't let you on."

Again nothing, this guy is outside the bus, just looking at me. That's when the bus driver starts speaking Farsi or something to this guy and he takes off his back pack and shows it to the bus driver. He walks away and sits in the shade. At this point my heart is beating like crazy.

Bus driver is quiet and starts smoking. I remember I wanted to get off the bus and find a CDO or something but I can't, nobody comes by while we are parked. I was worried that guy would get on the bus with his bag.

Sailors start coming back and getting on the bus. I check all their IDs in turn. We fill up and the bus driver takes us back to Changi. I get off the bus and find a CDO and tell him everything.

Angry CDO, "You're just paranoid!" He said something like that, I remember walking away nonplussed.

So I confided in the other bus riders. And they all told me that had also happened to them during their watch. At this point we were really freaked out and told the CDO who in turn said this.

"I can't wait to get off this watch, all of you shut up, you get off watch in an hour and a half!" He walked away pissed off.

I remember telling all of them to make sure they don't let anybody on the bus without ID and to never leave the buses. Also we all agreed to pass down what we had all talked about.

We finished the last bus ride without incident and upon returning to the ship I saw the CDO talking to another Khaki doing passdown. I remember he was angry when he saw me I actually felt embarrassed.

The next day they secured liberty and we set out to sea as normal. I was sitting in the shop telling my shipmates about the crazy bus drivers for a while.

We were watching CNN when it broke the headlines a few days later that something like 27 people were caught in Singapore in a foiled plot to commit terror while the John C Stennis Battle Group was in port. All the bus drivers were arrested along with some of the security. They confiscated maps and explosives.

No one ever came to talk to me. I never saw any paperwork, I was never talked to or thanked. I never even got to see the guys I stood watch with and congratulate them cause our crew was so big, I was night check. We spent another 6-7 months in the gulf dropping bombs in Afghanistan. It was in the back of my mind what we had did, but I was so busy working I never really had time to talk to anybody else.