2 month old baby escapes car crash unhurt

A 2 month old baby girl miraculously escaped death in a horrific car crash on Thursday morning that killed her parents, grandmother and brother on the North-South Expressway. She was flung out of the seven-seater vehicle the family was in when it skidded and slammed into two trees along the the 150 km stretch of the expressway near Muar.

The crash happened at about 7.30 am. The road condition was said to be dry then.

Jolene Bong, who was flung more than 10m from the wreckage, was unscathed but her grandmother Pang Chee Seng, 68, mother Kor Yee Lin, 36, and brother Justin Bong, two, died on the spot. Her father Bong Kwang Hong, 37, a travel agent, died shortly later at the Tangkak Hospital. (story)

Man sentenced to 6 months for mahjong attack

The four friends had played mahjong every week for more than seven years. On Nov 22 last year, the game took a violent turn when 40-year-old Chua Kim Poo was accused of cheating and beaten up.

Tan Leng Yuan, 43, was jailed for six months on Thursday for punching and kicking Mr Chua and stealing $216 from him.

His accomplices, Goh Fui Foo, 40, and Lek Swee Heng, 48, have yet to be dealt with.

A district court heard the four mahjong kakis or partners were playing at a flat in Block 9 Teck Whye Lane at 8.30pm.

When the game ended an hour later, Mr Chua won a total of $60 from the rest.

Lek accused Mr Chua of cheating and they started arguing on the 9th floor staircase landing.

Tan then joined in and punched and kicked Mr Chua. He then took $216 from Mr Chua and handed the money to Lek. (story)

Police searching for missing teen

Police are looking for a 13-year-old girl who has been missing for over a week. Shaik Saiwa Shaik Hanif, a pupil of Jiemin Primary School in Yishun Street 71, went missing last Thursday.

She was last seen near the school and was dressed in her uniform - a blouse with white and blue stripes and blue skirt.

Police said she is of average build, about 1.45m tall, with a fair complexion and shoulder-length hair.

Her father, Mr Shaik Hanif Shaik Mohd, 41, said she had run away from home a few times since she turned 12 in January last year but this is the longest she has gone missing. Anyone with information can call police on 1800-255-0000. (story)

Chinese Ambassador calls Dalai Lama a liar

“The Dalai Lama has been telling lies to the world for decades,” Lu Shumin told a group of invited journalists at the Chinese Embassy.

Lu said western media have been hoodwinked by the Dalai Lama. He also claimed that prior to China’s takeover in 1959, Tibet resembled “medieval Europe” and cited a mid-1930s trip to the mountainous enclave by a Nazi official who, Lu said, found much in common with the Tibetan system of governance.

The highly unusual event came as international pressure increases on China to show restraint in dealing with Tibetan demonstrators who are seeking greater freedom from Beijing’s control.

The ambassador showed a lengthy video which he said portrayed violent street demonstrations by Tibetan separatists in the capital of Lhasa that had to be suppressed.

Lu said the violence is a result of the Dalai Lama’s direct influence, adding he didn’t have time to recite all the evidence. (story)

Excessive drinking kills Chinese woman

A Chinese woman had so much to drink at a pub that she died of acute alcohol intoxication, a coroner’s court heard on Tuesday.

Ms Zhu Shaoyun, 31, had been drinking from 5pm till about 9pm at Dong Guang Entertainment Group Pub along North Bridge Road on Nov 12 last year.

In Singapore on a social visit then, she had ordered beer and a bottle of Cordonbleu from waiter Ng Wei Guang, 25.

By about 8pm, she was heavily intoxicated.

At an inquiry into her death, Station Inspector Eugene Lim Kuan Leng from Central Police Division said in his investigation report that out of goodwill, Mr Ng accompanied Ms Zhu back to Lorong 8 Geylang in a cab. She vomited on the way. (link)

Police search for 2 suspects in shopping complex attack

The police are searching for two men who sprayed a male Chinese victim with an unknown substance at the Golden Landmark Shopping Complex at around 4 pm yesterday.

One man is described as wearing a white cap with a dark top and jeans, and has a scar on his right cheek. The other is plump with tattoos on both hands. He was wearing a light-coloured, short-sleeved top with dark pants.

“The male Chinese victim was sprayed with an unknown substance by two unknown persons who subsequently fled the scene,” a police spokesman said.

He was spotted near the entrance outside the building, groggy and behaving aggressively. He was foaming at his mouth with saliva and mucus was dripping from his nose onto his T-shirt.

The victim was sent to Singapore General Hospital, where he received outpatient treatment. (link)

Singapore supports China during Tibet unrest

Singapore on Tuesday voiced support for China’s handling of unrest in Tibet and said there should be no ‘politicisation’ of the Olympic Games hosted by Beijing in August. ‘Singapore supports the declared policy of the Chinese government to protect the lives and property of its citizens from violent demonstrators with minimum use of force,’ a spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

‘We are opposed to the politicisation of the Olympics.’

Beijing has repeatedly accused the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, of masterminding the protests, saying the unrest was a deliberate campaign to sabotage the Beijing Games. (story)

Wanted man finally arrested after 10 years

Wanted by police for more than 10 years, Goh Chee Kiong was found out when the cops went to break up a quarrel between him and a Chinese national in Geylang on Jan 7.

Goh was jailed for two years and ordered to be given six strokes of the cane on Thursday for an attempted robbery in 1998.

He also admitted to stealing $45,400 from two companies and cheating a woman of $1,000, for which he was jailed another seven months.

A district court heard that Goh, an assistant manager with Studio Cinemas in 1997, stole $25,800 from the safe and went on the run. (story)

Muslims divorce / remarriage rates up

1 in 3 Muslim marriages in 2006 involved at least one partner who has tied the knot in the past. Of these 1,387 remarriages, one-third were between couples who had both been divorced. The re-marriage rate is rising in the community, from about 27 per cent of all Muslim marriages 10 years ago to 35.2 per cent in 2006, according to the latest available statistics.

Dr Mohamad Maliki Osman, Parliamentary Secretary (National Development), wants such families to get more help.

‘When a marriage breaks down, children are involved. When they remarry and they divorce again there is another set of children involved,’ he told reporters on Wednesday.

But the increasing numbers are weighing on the As-Salaam Family Support Centre which has been offering preparatory programmes for remarried couples since 2001. (story)

Elton John, Singapore, May 7

Sir Elton John loves Singapore so much he has requested a concert stop here for his latest Rocket Man Tour.

American concert organiser Live Nation’s senior vice-president for Asia, Ms Colleen Ironside, says: ‘As Elton John very much enjoys coming to Singapore, he asked if it was possible to arrange a show in Singapore en route to Australia for performances there.’

The English pop star last performed here in 1993 and 2001. The concert will be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on May 7. (story)