45 Singaporean tourists in Jiuzhaigou safe

45 Singaporeans holidaying in scenic Jiuzhaigou are stranded in the north of Sichuan province - albeit in a six-star hotel.

They spent the third day at the Jiuzhai Paradise Hotel and are not clear when they can leave the resort place.

The group was into the fourth day of an eight-day excursion with SA Tours to Jiuzhaigou, Taoping Qiang Village and the Dead Sea of China when the powerful 7.8 magnitude quake struck southwest China on Monday.

They left Singapore on May 9 and were scheduled to return on Friday. Now the returned date may be delayed.

Tour guide Wendy Zhang Wei told The Straits Times on Wednesday that all the 45 are safe and calm.

‘They are entertaining themselves with the amenities at the hotel but are still anxious to go home. There is sufficient food and water in the hotel,’ she said. (story)

HK buyer owns “unluckiest” license plate

A Hong Kong woman splashed out 130,000 US dollars for a car licence plate carrying “4444″, despite the number’s traditional links to death in Chinese culture, a report said Monday.

The bidder paid one million Hong Kong dollars in a government auction of 270 unusual licence plates on Sunday, the Chinese-language Apple Daily said.

The number four is often avoided by Chinese people because its pronunciation is similar to the word for “dead”.

Some skyscrapers do not include floors that end with the number, such as 14th or fourth, as they are less likely to be rented. (story)

Life as prostitute ends for teen

She is only 17 but has a bank balance of over RM80,000 ($34,450).

The secret as to how the teenager came to own so much cash came to light after she was hospitalised in Kuala Lumpur.

The first bombshell she dropped would have caused concern to any parent - her vagina was injured.

The second revelation: She sustained the injury while providing sexual services to a man from the Middle East.

Her third shocking confession was the money in her bank account. She had earned that by selling her body.

The teenager who hails from Terengganu had been offering sexual services in Kuala Lumpur since 2006, reported Harian Metro.

According to the tabloid, the girl charged between RM 2,000 and RM4,000 for her sexual services.

A source at her school told the newspaper that the revelations were shocking and only then some in the school understood why she made almost weekly trips to Kuala Lumpur.

Her double life was exposed when she didn’t turn up in school for several days in March. A teacher was asked to go to her house and investigate. (story)

Edison has found religion

Edison Chen, the bad boy of the recent sex photo scandal, prayed every day after the scandal broke out but he did not become a Christian because of it.

Recent reports had said that Chen, who quit Hong Kong showbiz and went to the United States just before the scandal blew over, had adopted Christianity in repentance over the scandal. He was said to have befriended a Californian pastor.

But his elder sister Tricia, a singer, said Chen had converted when he attended a Christian school in his youth. (story)

Myanmar cyclone death toll rises

Myanmar’s foreign minister says the death toll from the cyclone that ripped through the country could reach 10,000.

Foreign diplomats said Foreign Minister Nyan Win acknowledged the possibility of the high casualty figure at a Monday briefing given to them and representatives of UN and international aid agencies.

State radio earlier reported that the official death toll from Saturday’s Cyclone Nargis had risen to 3,939 from an original count of 351.

The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting was held behind closed doors, said the foreign minister acknowledged 59 deaths in the country’s largest city of Yangon.

UN and private aid agencies say they are rushing to prepare assistance for victims of a devastating cyclone in Myanmar. (story)

China launching cyber attacks against India

China’s cyber warfare army is marching on, and India is suffering silently. Over the past one and a half years, officials said, China has mounted almost daily attacks on Indian computer networks, both government and private, showing its intent and capability.

The sustained assault almost coincides with the history of the present political disquiet between the two countries.

According to senior government officials, these attacks are not isolated incidents of something so generic or basic as “hacking” — they are far more sophisticated and complete — and there is a method behind the madness.

Publicly, senior government officials, when questioned, take refuge under the argument that “hacking” is a routine activity and happens from many areas around the world. But privately, they acknowledge that the cyber warfare threat from China is more real than from other countries. (story)

Singapore #1 among students

ASEAN university students are overwhelmingly gunning for one place to work and play - Singapore.

A survey of university students across the region last year finds the smallest South-east Asian country coming out the biggest winner.

More than half of the 2,170 undergraduates polled, or 54.3 per cent, said they would ‘most like to work’ in Singapore among the 10 Asean nations.

Malaysia is a distant second, garnering 11.2 per cent. This is followed by Brunei, Thailand and Vietnam.

As Mr Prapat Rucktajittakarn, 21, a senior-year student at Thailand’s Institute of International Studies Ramkhamhang told The Straits Times: ‘Yes, I would like to work in Singapore as well. As you can see from other students who used to work abroad, they probably gain more experience in their lives.’ (story)

“Untouchable” woman dies after refused treatment

An “untouchable” woman who gave birth outside an Indian hospital because doctors would not treat her died Thursday, a day after her baby, officials admitted.

The newborn boy of Maya Devi, 28, died Wednesday due to lack of medical help minutes after being born outside the maternity wing of Kanpur Medical College in northern Uttar Pradesh state.

Devi was only put in intensive care after giving birth but she died of a heart attack early Thursday morning.

Several doctors, including the hospital’s chief medical superintendent, had refused to touch her or provide medical care as she delivered her baby, the Press Trust of India reported. (story)

Suicide by detergent

A 14-year-old Japanese girl killed herself by mixing laundry detergent with cleanser, releasing fumes that also sickened 90 people in her apartment house.

Authorities say none of the sickened neighbours in Konan, southern Japan, were severely ill, although about 10 were hospitalized.

The deadly hydrogen sulfide gas escaped from the girl’s bathroom window and entered neighbouring apartments.

The girl’s suicide Wednesday night was part of an expanding string of similar deaths that experts say have been encouraged by Internet suicide sites. (story)

New visa rules for travellers visiting China

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday confirmed that China has temporarily suspended the visa-free facility for Singaporeans who plan to travel to the country for 15 days or less, from July 1.

This means that Singapore ordinary passport holders will require a visa for entry into China for short stays of under two weeks, which is not necessary since 2003.

An MFA spokesman said the ministry was informed of the new requirement on Monday.

‘We have been given the assurance that the visa requirement is a temporary measure. The visa-free facility for travels of 15 days or less would be reinstated after the Beijing Olympics,’ added the spokesman.

‘The Chinese authorities have not informed us of the exact date when the visa-free facility will be reinstated.’ (story)