The "Singaporeans Defending Marriage and Family" page spoke up against Ariana Grande's upcoming appearance at the Singapore Grand Prix as it deemed her music as pornography and an "attack" on our social values.

"Ariana Grande’s ‘music’ is, very simply, pornography. EVERY SONG, and I do mean EVERY SONG has exactly the same theme...

Such trashy values propagated by her is a direct attack on our social mores, if not downright immoral. If Singapore authorities feel that it needs to be 'open' and 'inclusive' and allow such trashy, raunchy and lawless performers to influence the people, it will have to bear the consequences of corrupting the minds and eroding the moral values of the young generation of Singaporeans".

What do you think? Were you "corrupted" from listening to her songs?

<Facebook post by Liyana>

Please help, all. On Wed 30 Aug ~7.40 am. At junction between Jln tenaga and Kaki Bukit Avenue 1 (Jln Tenaga towards Kaki Bukit rd3). My mom and dad were in a m/cycle and passenger vehicle accident.

My dad's m/cycle has no video. Mom is still in ICU. We're appealing for videos or any witnesses.

Any info pls contact 92340408.

Thanks and God bless.

A 27 year-old private student Verma Gaurav forcefully restrained a 26 year-old maid at a Housing & Development Board (HDB) block on 24 February 2017 and molested her the next day.

He was jailed 3 years and given 4 strokes of the cane for his crime of outraging the modesty and wrongful restraint.

According to court documents, Verma and the victim did not know each other and were not romantically involved.

Verma had arrived in Singapore in mid-2016 on a student pass to study at the STEI institute.

In the evening of 24 February, the victim was at the void deck at McNair Road when Verma approached her from behind and spoke to her. The maid ignored Verma and fled to the lift, but Verma followed her and tried to forcefully kiss her.

She avoided him, but he pressed his left arm around her neck and put his left cheek against hers while trying to take photographs with her using his mobile phone. Verma then forced a kiss on the maid's lips for about 6 seconds before grabbing her neck and forcefully pulling her body close to his.

When the lift doors opened, he did not allow her to leave and allowed the door to close before grabbing her neck again and forcing her close to him, kissing her for about 3 seconds. He then tried to take more photographs of them together before forcing 2 more kisses on her.

When the door opened again, the victim tried to escape but he pulled her back and kissed her again, holding tightly onto her hand.

The victim only managed to escape after she was forced to key in her handphone number on his phone, after which he kissed her 2 more times before she broke free and ran away.

The next day, the victim was walking along Towner Road when Verma approached her and told her that he wanted to kiss her. She ignored him again but he grabbed her neck and kissed her on the lips.

She pushed him away and told him she would tell her employer about this.

Verma was arrested on 2 March a day after she lodged a police report.

He could have been jailed for up to 10 years for wrongful restraint, and 2 years jail or a fine and caning for outrage of modesty.

<Facebook post by Siew Lin YTF>

In the good old days, there was 1 government that handles all matters relating to gas, and it was all well and good for the end users, you and me. But it was deemed not good for the government, so they decided to privatise it, the same thing that they did to the bus service and the MRT.

Now, there are many many companies and departments and teams that handles gas matters. For example, there is 1 team that handles residential users, 1 team that handles hawker centres and canteens, 1 team that handles restaurants, 1 team that handles installation works inside your premises, 1 team that handles installation works outside your premises..... Yes, they do it to that level of detail. And the best part? The physical work of actual installation is outsourced!

So the way City Gas works now is they try to look like a private company, so the only one that you get into contact is City Gas. However, they work like a government department, or worse. When things don't happen on time, they tell you it is not City Gas problem, and push to another team, another department.

Back to my case. I contacted City Gas back in June. When I first contacted they, I was informed by the officer in charge that he will send me a Letter of Undertaking (LOU) to sign the next day. Installation to be completed 10 weeks upon signing the LOU. The exact date was 14 Jun that we spoke on the phone and was promised all this. To put it in a more readable format

14 Jun - I was promised that LOU will be sent to me the next day, and all installation will be completed in 10 weeks
23 Jun - LOU finally received in my mail
24 Jun - LOU signed and returned

As of today (week 10), our dear officer is still not able to tell me when will my shop be connected to the Gas network. And now he says it is 12 weeks, not 10 weeks. And you had guessed it, he is waiting for some other team and other department.

When I begged him to help expedite (yes, I used that word, beg - I really did beg him), all he said was "time line was just an indication, not a service standard". Yes, those were the exact words he used.

So much for government support towards small businesses. Of course we cannot blame the government, because they had privatised the thing, so they are now private companies, out of the government's hands.

<Facebook post by Grayce Chew>

MISSING - SINCE 14 AUG 2017 (20 DAYS SINCE)

A police report has been made. Suspect has refused to reply to any messages or calls.

You have that one last chance to return my cat before this gets nasty.

Call me back at 8366-37six6

A shocking post has emerged on Carousell by one user, godfatherrr, who posted a photograph of someone with the caption, "***** Slave", and put the person up for sale for $50.

According to the netizen, the person allegedly provides cleaning and other illicit services.

The netizen who contributed this photo denounced the post as rude and distasteful.

"Even if this is a troll post, it is done in bad taste. Treating any human being as a product to be bought and sold is deplorable!"

Dear A.S.S. Editor,

This Ang Mo Supermarket just opened at Ang mo kio St 21 and I find it problematic that their system which uses cash or card does not show the discount on the front screen panel. Only the cashier can see it. Why is that so? So they want us to pay blindly and then argue about it later? What is there to hide and only the cashier can see it?

When I asked why not showing, the cashier says after pay then on the receipt it will show. I asked, why after pay then show? Why cannot be shown on the display for customers to see but only the cashier to see. The cashier then asked me to view it from her side. I had to walk back to the isle to check the item's price to see if correct. Then another guy comes along.

This guy I have encountered before. Cant talk proper English, yet it seems he's in charge of this store. He also telling me the same thing. I told him off on the fact that if it is visible to them, it should be visible to us.

What is there to hide? His big "how lian" mouth open to say they will give money as refund if got mistake. I then asked him, what happens when we have the "smart nation" method happening and all cashless. How they want to justify and refund me if the item is punched in wrongly.

This is not the first time I have issue with this LOUSY Senior Staff (not sure if he's manager) at Ang Mo Supermarket. They got many stores in SG yet they got no quality people to look after nor do they have any idea that we,THE CONSUMERS, should view our bill before we pay.

Do they go to a restaurant and have a waiter just tell them how much to pay...or do they want to see the bill first? Do you pay your water bill blindly or you see how much first?

This Ang Mo Supermarket main office also, complain to them is useless. They don't return calls or care if a complaint is made or feedback is given. It is so convenient to go to them because it is just built so near my flat now, even thought Sheng Siong is a little further and has been around many years already...but each time I go I feel uncomfortable with their system that does not reveal the price properly & that particular senior staff that acts and talks like he is a big boss. That's not how to run a business.

I encourage all persons to ASK this company ANG MO SUPERMARKET why they don't reveal the discount price to be viewed before payment & why they have such lousy management staff?

Pissed Off
A.S.S. Contributor

The media staff who "accidentally" shared a petition about the Rohingya crisis on Mr Farid Khan's personal Facebook account has been counselled. According to his Campaign Manager, they have counselled the member and "also requested our media team to exercise extra caution henceforth. We consider that this issue has been adequately dealt with and is now closed."

Earlier today, Farid Khan's account shared a petition for Aung San Suu Kyi to be tried for human rights violations against the Rohingyas. The post was removed together with the account after gaining much (unwanted) attention.

Farid Khan also published a statement saying it was an "accident" due to the usage of a "touch screen device".

Do you think they need a better media team? :3

Dear All Singapore Stuff Editor,

Tan Chuan-Jin, 48, will resign as Minister for Social and Family Development to be nominated as Singapore's 10th Speaker by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong when the House sits on Monday (Sept 11).

With his promotion to becoming the Speaker of Parliament, does that means that he will be out of the running to be the next Singapore Prime Minister. That will leaves us with Heng Swee Keat, Lawrence Wong, Ng Chee Meng, Chan Chun Singapore and Ong Ye Kung.

Desmond Lee will be taking over from Tan Chuan Jin at the helm of the Ministry of Social and Family Development. This means that it only leaves with Josephine Teo being the only Minister without portfolio.

From the resigning of Halimah Yacob, it clearly shows some clear signs of the succession planning of the PAP.

Jin KPO
A.S.S. Contributor

Hi All Singapore Stuff,

I am a Singaporean working in an international gaming company in the United States and happened to visit Games Com in Cologne, Germany, this year as an exhibitor. This was between 21st - 26th August, fairly recently.

For those not in the know, Games Com is one of the biggest gaming events of the year where hundreds of gaming hardware manufacturers, game developers and distributors showcase their stuff to the multitudes of gamers that come visit the event.

Being Singaporean, I was naturally delighted to learn that there would be a Singapore pavilion showcasing local games. But that delight quickly turned into disappointment after I visited it on one of the days.

Sloppy Attendance - At 11.15am, gamers were already swarming around but the Singapore pavilion was empty, except for a company showcasing their VR game to a decent crowd. Are you kidding me? I counted about 8 Singapore company booths but only 1 of them had people present and working hard to showcase their game? Where were the rest of the companies? Almost all the other exhibits were already bustling with activity except for Singapore's. What was the government unit leading the event doing? Does it not care how sloppy Singapore looks to the rest of the world?

I came back again in the afternoon at 2pm to check on the booths and I noticed that apart from Mixed Realms (the one present since morning), Kaiju Den, Gentle Bros and Daylight Studios, the rest of the companies are mostly empty. Namely One Animation, Zengami, Translink and GToken. Why put up an empty booth if you can't be be bothered coming and putting somebody up at the booths? Are these people getting grants from the Singapore government to pretend that they are in Europe to exhibit and do the country proud, but in fact just using the money to go on a holiday?

Sloppy Designs - The Singapore pavilion and its individual booths were very poorly designed and dreadfully small in comparison to pavilions from other countries like Korea, China, UK, Finland and even Spain which is supposed to be much poorer than Singapore! Look at the pictures for a good comparison. No effort was put into the design of the Singapore banner and booths at all. It was bare bone, boring and lackluster. I just cannot understand why the government 'helps' the Singapore game companies come all the way to look bad and poor. My colleagues and friends from other countries were literally laughing at how stingy our government is!

To the companies - If you don't have the heart to exhibit, do not 'chope' a spot and don't turn up. You are wasting the tax payers' heart earned money if you are going on grants. You are making Singapore look bad.

To the government agency leading the companies - If you cannot be bothered to put up a decent looking booth when Singapore is obviously not strapped for cash, why bother booking a pavilion and making Singapore companies look cheap? If you cannot be bothered to make sure that your booths are occupied by the companies who say they will turn up but don't, you are not doing your job and should be ashamed of yourself for wasting taxpayers money!

I sincerely hope that the government wakes up its idea and put in more heart into promoting its industry players, and also penalize those companies that leave their booths empty. It is Singapore's face and taxpayers' money you are throwing away!

Ashamed Singaporean Working Aboard In The Gaming Industry
A.S.S. Contributor

<Facebook post by Gilbert Goh>

The young woman suffering from stage 2 breast cancer will be facing eventual eviction from her home at Sengkang after owing HDB $14,415 ie 18.2 months of owed mortgage payment. The house will face repossession by HDB soon.

Her nightmare started almost 2 years ago when she lost her job of ten years after taking too much leave to care for her sick mother who is now deceased. Her father whom she hardly know also recently passed away last month at Surabaya.

The mother-and-daughter household only moved in to the new 3-room BTO flat less than 6 months before cancer took away the mother.

Things went badly south after that as she too was diagnosed with cancer and she worked on and off as a cleaner doing the midnight shift earning $50/day to get by. Her previous income was $2000 plus working in the aviation industry and it was sufficient to pay for the monthly mortgage of close to $700 - funded partially by CPF contribution and some cash.

Moving in to the new flat was a dream for her and her mum then but everything seems like a nightmare now with mounting unpaid mortgage debts, joblessness and a very frail body trying its best to cope with the dark future.

It was also tough making ends meet for her during the past 18 months as she struggles to pay all sorts of endless bills that came in promptly plus trying to stay on top of her own treatment cost.

She has to quickly leave the hospital after each appointment so that they will bill her at home rather than facing the embarassment of having to answer to the hospital staff for payment isdue. Of course, most of the hospital bills sent to her home remained unpaid amounting to several thousand dollars.

The hospital MSW helped her cleared some initially but subsequent treatment cost went largely unassisted.

The future is bleak and our young Singaporean faces homelessness as she could not find anyone that could house her if her new flat is being repossessed. Her only sibling lives in a 2-room rental and there is simply no space left for her.

We are not asking Singaporeans to foot the massive mortgage default for her but wants to raise some awareness on the mounting issues face by the poor who are sick and could not work due to their adverse situation.

There is no concrete state-funded assistance plan for people like Huda who struggles largely on her own and if not for the many Good Samaritans who helped paid for her Pay U top-up and town council bills, she will be in worse shape.

We have also prepared her to face repossession by HDB eventually and prayfully she won't have to sleep in the street after that.

That will be truly tragic and heart-rending...

<Facebook post by the Workers' Party>

For the Parliamentary sitting on 11 Sep, Ms Sylvia Lim had on 28th August filed an adjournment motion "Counting from President Wee Kim Wee or President Ong Teng Cheong for Reserved Presidential Election - Policy Decision or Legal Question".

On 30th August Parliament notified MPs that there were two other adjournment motions filed on 29th August, namely "Community Sentencing and Other Rehabilitative Options" by Mr Murali Pillai (Bukit Batok) and "The Future of National Service" by Mr Vikram Nair (Sembawang). MPs were further advised that the adjournment motions filed would be subject to ballot under Standing Order 2(8)(d).

We wish to inform everyone that at the ballot conducted today, the topic by Mr Murali Pillai was picked. Accordingly, Ms Sylvia Lim would not be able to speak on her adjournment motion on 11th September.

Are you surprised?

I would like to share some strange occurrences I encountered, living at 110 Bt Purmei which directly faces the spooky St Teresa's Church columbarium. In fact, residents were not so happy when a place that houses the dead was built so close to the living! Remember the Sengkang columbarium saga?

At first, I thought it was some prankster trying to be funny when I heard crying coming from the direction of the columbarium a few months back when I just moved to the estate. As the months passed, the apparent "crying" sometimes became wailing and it will occur when it is about 3am in the wee hours on odd days.

I then asked my neighbours about this and what they told me next really got me startled. I would have never purchased this house if I knew it was like that as I really never noticed the columbarium there. My neighbours said it has always been so, ever since the new block of columbarium was built and they have even informed the previous Reverend who rubbish away their concerns as either superstition or an over active mind playing tricks on their part.

I thus consulted my monks at Mangala Vihara and they advised me to do puja and dedicate merits to those spirits as they could have grievances or died vengeful deaths. I can't help but feel sad if my religious leader did not bother about me after death, more so after collecting so much money from me when I was alive! #Mayallbeingsbewell&happy

p.s. check the surroundings of a new flat you're buying and be sure to find out its history from neighbours

Joeanne
A.S.S. Contributor

Yesterday evening at Harbourfront (Circle Line platforms), I noticed that passengers had to cross through each other to get to their respective escalator, and vice-versa.

Passengers arriving on the full trains had to cross through passengers who were coming down the escalator towards the empty, departing train. ie. "Up" Escalator (left) <-- Arriving train (right) Departing train (left) <-- "Down" Escalator (right)

Surely this crossover can be avoided by simply switching the direction of the escalators?? The crossover is less of an issue at the top of the escalator as people split towards NE Line or VivoCity.

Am I missing something in station management's logic? Or is this an issue across the entire network? The crossover is worse at Boon Lay as it causes jams both at ground level and on the platform in the evenings.

Appreciate your thoughts!

This post first appeared on a popular local forum.

A netizen decided to translate a Straits Times Forum Letter about choping tables at hawkers into Singlish with funny results!

View the translation here:

"Really dunno why our own Singapore special way for customer to faster get sit at hawker centre oso can find fault until become problem.

Because messy no system tats why in Singapore come up with choping so easy less mafan wat.

If not then after buy food already no place then walk here walk there to find sit meh?

Liddat then oso no need talk about go hawker centre meet friends already loh, whole group must sit separate because so hard to find empty table.

I think hor, those complain one all only dunno how to follow or just purposely dowan because wan to act high class.

Most jialat is NEA make until so blur.

People just wan to confirm. Can chope or cannot chope.

NEA reply jitao make until more messy. House rule at Tampines Hub and Tiong Bahru Market is for what? Dun follow will kena anot?

If ban choping, I tink Singaporeans oso tink gahmen should come up with better idea."

The original Straits Times letter reads:

"It is beyond me how a uniquely Singaporean social norm that allocates hawker centre patrons seats efficiently and effectively can become an issue.

The practice of "choping" is an elegant and simple solution that has evolved in Singapore in the absence of a proper seat allocation system.

The alternative is to have patrons wandering around in search of a seat after purchasing their meal, simply because they do not have one to go back to.

And forget about hawker centres being communal places for interaction - groups will, in all likelihood, have to sit separately because the chances of finding an empty table are slim.

To my mind, the only ones complaining are those who either don't know how to "play the game" or who refuse to do so because of some that they wish to claim.

What is most perturbing is the National Environment Agency's waffling over this issue.

People are just asking for a little guidance. Either ban choping or don't.

The NEA's response only muddies things further (Two hawker centres set 'house rules' against choping; Sept 2). Just what purpose do the "house rules" at Our Tampines Hub and Tiong Bahru Market serve? Are there consequences for not heeding them?

If choping is banned, I am certain that Singaporeans would appreciate if policymakers could propose a more effective alternative."

Dear A.S.S. Editor

The monkey that had made the news in Punggol over the weekend has been captured by the AVA. The monkey was seen in the evenings at Punggol's Waterway Sunbeam estate,a ccording to residents who stay there.

Some pictures and videos of the monkey eating oranges and eggs that it had snatched from a passer-by, as well as hanging out at a playground were taken by a resident there. The resident also claimed that the monkey scratched the leg of a boy who is four or five years old and also climbed up outside the units of some flats. Acres and AVA were both highlighted.

A spokesman for AVA told The Straits Times yesterday that the agency has received "15 pieces of feedback from the public on monkey-related issues at Punggol Waterway" since Sept 1, and has been working with the Pasir Ris-Punggol Town Council to monitor and conduct surveillance of the area. Some cited safety concerns because the monkey snatched things from children and scratched a boy. "The monkey has been caught to safeguard public safety and we are exploring relocation options," said AVA.

AVA advised the public not to feed monkeys as this alters their natural behaviour and causes them to become reliant on humans for food.

Diana Ong

A.S.S. Contributor

36 year-old American foreign talent Peter Thomas Juliano was caught taking upskirt photos of a woman at 313@Somerset, Orchard. For that and other charges, Juliano was jailed 2 weeks.

The incident took place on 17 March 2017 in the morning, when the victim was riding the escalator up to meet her boyfriend.

The victim noticed something suspicious and turned around to realize that Juliano had positioned his camera under her. She grabbed Juliano and was assisted by her boyfriend, who was already nearby, to help detain the pervert while he tried to escape.

Mall security staff and the boyfriend later handed the man over to the police.