Joscelin Yeo to Marry New-Creation Pastor

From: wiseguy

Wedding bells are ringing for Singapore’s most decorated swimmer, 31-
year-old Joscelin Yeo.

The former national swimmer will marry her boyfriend of three years,
Joseph Purcell, in HortPark on July 9 this year.

Mr Purcell, 27, who relocated to Singapore from the US in 2004, is an
assistant pastor at New Creation Church. Miss Yeo works with the
church’s youth.

The three-time Sportswoman of the Year told The Straits Times last
year that she and Mr Purcell have “similar values which is really
important to me.”

“We click… We just really enjoy each other,” the star swimmer said of
their relationship.

Mr Purcell, who has three siblings, moved to Singapore with his family
6 years ago from Oklahoma. His parents, Joseph and Mary Purcell, are
directors of the Rhema Bible Training Centre in Singapore.

Miss Yeo hopes to have three children as her parents did because of
the close relationship she shares with her two brothers, Leonard, 32
and Gerard, 30. Like Joscelin, both her siblings were star athletes.
Leonard was a former national swimmer and water polo player, while
Gerard was the country’s top triathlete in the 1990s.

While the former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) avoids talking
to the media about her relationship, she appears more open about it
online, posting photos of both of them on her Facebook and Twitter
accounts.

The swimming champ told The Straits Times that she took on the
challenge of being an NMP because she felt she could contribute to
sports in Singapore.

“There was an opportunity and it’s something I see as an honour. If we
want to be a top sporting nation we need a change in mindsets. We need
people to see the value of sports and we need to allow people to enjoy
sports so that more will get involved,” she told the paper last year.

Miss Yeo, the country’s most celebrated sportswoman, was the only
Singaporean to ever compete in four Olympic Games, starting with
Barcelona in 1992. This was just two years after the then 11-year-old
competed at the Beijing Asian Games.

By the end of her 17-year swimming career three years ago, she had
bagged a staggering 40 gold medals at the Southeast Asia Games.

Graduating from the University of Texas with honours in kinesiology
and health education in 2003, she now works full-time in the New
Creation Church’s youth ministry.

After blazing a trail of glory in Singapore’s sporting history and
even dabbling briefly in local politics, a walk down the aisle is the
icing on the cake for this swim queen.

Singapore workers' median wage to rise to $3100

ESC targets $3,100 median wage for S'pore worker

SINGAPORE: Raising the wages of the average Singapore worker by one-third in the next decade is one target of the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC).

This would mean moving from a median wage of $2,400 today to about $3,100 in 10 years.

Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that to achieve this, Singapore must have workers with top quality skills and make the island one of the top liveable cities in the world.

He was speaking at a dialogue on the ESC Report and Budget 2010.

Singapore has never had it as good as now, and for the next five to ten years, said the Finance Minister.

The opportunities play to the country's strengths and its companies.

One area is that of urbanisation, with prospects in water management and sanitation, and organising a city that's liveable.

Mr Tharman said: "Everything to do with urban management, water, sanitation, clean air, traffic management, organising a city that is liveable, that is something we have some experience in, and where we have something to offer and something we are seeing a growing number of Singapore companies developing as leading specialists.

"So it's a trend that will play to our advantage. And it's not just Asia, it's an emerging market as a whole. The number one problem that they have is water management.

"The second reason why things have never been so good for us is the middle-class services - there's a huge wave of demand emerging in Asia from healthcare, travel, better education, entertainment, financial services, things that play to our strength, things that play to the experience we have and the products we have introduced in the market over the years and we have a whole slew of Singapore companies."

But a bigger challenge is to meet these opportunities with a limited manpower.

Mr Tharman said: "It's a bit of a puzzle as to why despite a good education system, good schools system and one of the better rated university system in the world, we are not achieving as much with the workforce in terms of skills, expertise and therefore productivity - there is a gap.

"And it requires a different motivation, moving beyond paper qualifications towards wanting to become expert on the job, more of us must want to be like that.

"Not just wanting to do something competently, being honest, being diligent but being very good at it.

"And how do you get this different motivation going? It's not just about incentives, it's not the promise of bonuses, it is the feeling that they are contributing to the company as a whole and the way the industry is moving ahead.

"That motivation is important. And secondly, they want to feel empowered."

Mr Tharman went on to say: "What we really have to do when we talk about raising productivity is raise our game in every regard - higher skills, higher standards, higher aspirations, transform our economy in every sector so that we can take advantage of these opportunities.

"Grow productivity, grow wages and grow profits. That's what it really boils down to.

"The opportunities are large, the challenge of achieving growth with a limited labour supply is also daunting but we can raise our game and make the most of these opportunities in the next five to ten years."

One way is to adopt the three "R" strategy - Repositioning businesses, Restructuring processes and taking Responsibility for the quality of workers.

Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong said: "Putting in incentives like profit sharing so that the workforce is motivated to raise their productivity and help the company improve the overall productivity.

"But productivity is also a partnership. It's not just about a company making efforts, it also involves the workers, so workers must take responsibility for their own skills upgrading."

In their efforts to enhance productivity, Singapore companies were also encouraged not to repeat some of the mistakes made in other countries.

Ministers on the panel emphasised that improving productivity levels does not necessarily mean down-sizing the workforce. Also, making workers work longer hours doesn't necessarily improve productivity.
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Finance Minister aims for median income of $3,100 in 10 years' time
By Cai Haoxiang

IF SINGAPORE gets it right, the income of the average Singaporean could rise by one-third in 10 years' time, and the country will also be one of the most liveable cities in the world, not just Asia.

That was the vision sketched by Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam yesterday at a dialogue with 600 bosses, finance and human resource managers organised by the Singapore Business Federation.

Putting it in dollars and cents, he said that the current median income in Singapore is $2,400 per month. That means that exactly half of income earners earn more than this, and the other half less than this.

But if Singapore succeeded in remaking the economy and seized opportunities that played to its strengths, the median income will rise to $3,100 in 10 years' time.

And after accounting for inflation, the figure will be around $3,800, Mr Tharman calculated.

'I think we've never had opportunities so good for Singapore as what we have seen now and what we are going to see in the next five to 10 years,' he said.

'A whole wave of opportunities is opening up for us, opportunities that play to Singapore's strengths and play to the strengths of Singapore companies.'

These included in areas such as dealing with urbanisation, water management and providing services to the region's growing middle-class in health, travel, education, entertainment and finance.

Mr Tharman was speaking at a panel discussion on the recommendations of the Economic Strategies Committee (ESC) that he had chaired.

The proposals, which were unveiled in February this year, recommended new and creative ways to grow the economy for the long term. One key thrust of the ESC's report was to boost productivity growth to 2 per cent to 3 per cent annually from the dismal 1 per cent in the last 10 years.

'It's useful to ask ourselves where we want to be in 10 years' time, what is the sort of Singapore we want to see? And I would just like to highlight three facets of Singapore that the ESC thought of as being desirable and essential,' he said.

First, he said, the ESC wanted to see an economy that has top quality skills to raise incomes for the average Singaporean by one-third in the next 10 years.

To do this, Singapore needs to become a leading hub in Asia for global businesses and high-value, complex manufacturing, and possess top-notch service standards, he said.

A second facet is a substantially deeper base of local companies that were internationally competitive.

And finally, Singapore - currently ranked the 28th most liveable city in the world by human resource consulting firm Mercer - must aim to get into the top 10 of that list, and join cities like Zurich, Vienna, Vancouver and Munich.

But Singapore must be attractive not only to internationally mobile and talented professionals, but also for the average citizen to live in, he added.

Other than Mr Tharman, three other ministers were on the panel: labour chief Lim Swee Say, who is also Minister in the Prime Minister's Office; Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong; and Minister in the Prime Minister's Office Lim Hwee Hua.

They answered a variety of questions ranging from tax deductions and productivity to the foreign worker levy.

Reacting to Mr Tharman's comments, economists said the median income target of $3,100 per month was broadly achievable.

'I don't think it's a stretch of imagination, assuming that inflation does not blow out of range,' said Barclays Capital economist Leong Wai Ho.

He also noted the significance of specifying a median income goal target, rather than just a gross domestic product growth goal.

'This implies that they will look at measures and policies that improve the trickle-down effect of economic growth,' said Mr Leong.

OCBC economist Selena Ling also welcomed the target, saying 'it's quite good to have a hard target for transparency and accountability'.

'From the Government's perspective, they must be fairly confident that they can deliver it,' she added.

But Mr Tharman also noted that outlining these goals was not the end of the process for the committee and Government.

'It's not about one report, one set of recommendations, one Budget or one set of measures,' he said.

'It's continuous work over the next 10 years: creative, energetic work across all sectors with a lot of interaction between Government and businesses.'

SMRT Malaysian CEO say passenger numbers are acceptable

SMRT again failed to address commuters' daily concerns. Is this a world class transport system or a woe class transport network?

IN SUNDAY'S report ('SMRT: Tighter security will not mean higher fare'), SMRT chief executive officer and president Saw Phaik Hwa's response to the question of overcrowding in trains was unhelpful in bridging the gap between commuter perception and SMRT's stance.

Commuters complain that trains are overcrowded, but Ms Saw is sticking to SMRT's oft-stated view that passenger numbers are acceptable.

If both sides stick to their positions, then there will always be disagreement.
The fact is that there are many stations where passengers are unable to board the trains at all during peak hours.

It is not a matter of choice, as Ms Saw states, but whether commuters can fit in without the train doors closing on their faces.
From my experience, having to give three to four packed trains a miss during peak hours before finally being able to board one is common.
The situation at other stations towards the city are similar. The question Ms Saw should reflect on is whether the situation is acceptable regardless of train load figures.

If we collectively decide that it is, the matter ends there. But if commuters keep pleading that SMRT's train load figures do not reflect that inconvenience to commuters, we should find a solution to the problem together.
I would hesitate to cite passenger load figures in other cities to justify SMRT's train load figures and attempt to close the matter.
There may well be differences which render the analogy incorrect.

Chia Ser Huei

Quan Yi Feng is Back to Her Nasty Old Habits

This is what Quan Yi Feng did to the taxi.....



According to reports, a taxi driver blamed Singapore television host/actress Quan Yi Feng for verbally abusing him and involved in fights with him on Sunday. The 52-years-old taxi driver, Mr. Tan claimed that Yi Feng wrecked his taxi and beat him in front of crowd. The taxi driver also accused her of not only thrashing the car and beating him but also held responsible for forcefully taking the taxi car keys with her and locking him up in the taxi.

On the other hand, Quan currently spoke from Mauritius, where she is busy in her new project denied all the allegations and accusations and in return stated that the taxi driver was bad-mannered, drove carelessly and even slammed a car door on her. The taxi driver on the other hand also told the press that Quan has locked him inside the car for 15-minutes and pushed him forward on the road with a crowd watching. The Wanbao said police have charged Quan for theft of the taxi keys. Now the case is reportedly being transferred to the police and Quan has to seek a legal advice or compensate the driver over the issue.

In 1996, the 36-years television host was once fined of $1,000 for having a dispute with a bowling path attendant. Quan recently split from her husband after 10 years with the actor Peter Yu. Quan finally asked for the divorced which was finalized on Jan 3, 2009. The couple has a nine-years-old daughter which will be shared under the custody of both the father and mother.

Quan is seen here hailing for another taxi after the commotion...
--------------------------------------------
MEDIACORP host Quan Yifeng spoke to police for 6 hours on Friday over her alleged 'act of aggression' with a ComfortDelGro taxi driver.

Ms Quan was seen arriving at Bedok Police Division Headquarters at 3.45pm, several days after she made headlines for a dispute with the driver, identified only as Mr Chan.

She left close to 10pm, and declined to say why she had spent so long in the police station. Ms Quan, 35, has hired criminal lawyer Subhas Anandan to represent her.

In a statement on Tuesday, ComfortDelGro said Mr Chan was physically attacked by the television host. According to the statement, the fare meter was ripped out during the altercation,

In a Wanbao report, Mr Chan was quoted as saying that the star lost her temper after he did not help her load her luggage into his taxi and asked 'what sort of service attitude is this?'. He claimed Ms Quan also swore at him in Hokkien, kicked him in the groin and locked herself in the taxi for 15 minutes.

Ms Quan denied his allegations and hit back by saying that he was rude, drove recklessly. She also claimed that Mr Chan slammed the taxi door on her, hitting her on the back and leg.

Police said they are investigating the incident.

Man! Gong Li is Now Available

A week after Gong Li's interview with Lianhe Zaobao in which she revealed that she became a Singaporean because of her family comes news that she has split from her husband.
In the Zaobao interview last Thursday, Gong nodded in reply when asked if she was referring to Ooi and his parents as "family".

Rumours about the actress's split from Singaporean businessman Ooi Hoe Seong surfaced after the actress told Zaobao that she stays in a hotel whenever she visits Singapore.

Her manager Christopher Tseng was quoted in a magazine as saying that Gong and her husband have separated "years ago" and "divorced only recently".

Reports of the divorce have also been confirmed after Mr Ooi was quoted by various Chinese websites as saying that "whatever the rumour, that is it".
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Chinese actress Gong Li (巩俐) is on the singles market again.

The 44-year-old reportedly divorced her Singaporean hubby, Ooi Hoe Seong (黃和祥), a year ago.

“Friends” of the actress said they seldom spent time together so decided to make the separation permanent.

The two were married in 1996 after Gong’s eight-year relationship with director Zhang Yimou (张艺谋) came to its natural conclusion, one year after the seven-year itch was scratched.

Gong became a Singaporean citizen in 2008.

Five years ago, Gong made it to Hollywood with her role in Memoirs of a Geisha (艺伎回忆录).

Although she was married, the 36D belle has had a colorful private life.

She has had rumored flings with various actors she has worked with, including Sun Honglei (孙红雷), Colin Farrell (Miami Vice) and John Cusack (in her latest movie Shanghai).

Two years ago, when Gong was shooting Shanghai in Bangkok, her agent was seen giving her hotel room card to Cusack, who visited the belle for two hours and did not leave her room till 2am.

Cusack and Gong were seen arm-in-arm at the Shanghai Film Festival recently.

Sands' SkyPark - Better Than MRT Track

With the opening of the wonder Skypark at Marina Bay Sands, Singaporeans who are thinking of jumping onto MRT tracks to quit this world, can now find a new and more exciting way to end their miserable lives on this tiny red dot on the map.

But before they take their final great leap, they must first go for a dip in the highest swimming pool on earth at 55-storey up, called the "Infinity Pool". They just need to take a short swim to the edge of the pool facing the downstream (see pictures), then roll-over or leap over the edge.








If you fancy a dip in this pool, you'll need a head for heights - it's 55 storeys up.

But swimming to the edge won't be quite as risky as it looks. While the water in the infinity pool seems to end in a sheer drop, it actually spills into a catchment area where it is pumped back into the main pool. At three times the length of an Olympic pool and 650ft up, it is the largest outdoor pool in the world at that height.

It features in the impressive, boat-shaped 'SkyPark' perched atop the three towers that make up the world's most expensive hotel, the £4billion Marina Bay Sands development in Singapore.

The hotel, which has 2,560 rooms costing from £350 a night, was officially opened yesterday with a concert by Diana Ross.

The Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, estimated to have cost £2billion when it opened in 2004, was previously the world's most expensive hotel.

But with its indoor canal, opulent art, casino, outdoor plaza, convention centre, theatre, crystal pavilion and museum shaped like a lotus flower, the Marina Bay Sands has taken its crown.

The infinity pool on the roof is in the 'SkyPark' which spans the three towers of the hotel. The platform itself is longer than the Eiffel tower laid down and is one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Infinity pools give the effect that the water extends to the horizon. In reality, the water spills over the edge into a catchment below, and is then pumped back into the pool. The pools have two circulation systems. The first functions like that of a regular pool, filtering and heating the water in the main pool. The second filters the water in the catch basin and returns it to the upper pool.

The Marina Sands resort was designed by architect Moshe Safdie who based it on a deck of cards.

Inside shoppers can ride along an indoor canal in Sampan boats styled on traditional Chinese vessels from the 17th century.

The owners have also commissioned five well-known artists to create works of art to 'integrate' with the buildings. Among these is a 40m-long Antony Gormley sculpture made from 16,100 steel rods. The whole thing weighs 14.8 tons and it took 60 people to assemble it in the hotel.

Artist Chongbin Zheng created Rising Forest which is 83 three metre high pots with trees in them. The pots were so big the artist had to build a customised kiln the size of a small building to make them in.

Last night, the world's most expensive hotel was given a launch party befitting it. Singing legend Diana Ross performed for 2,500 VIPs in the resort's Grand Ballroom and pop singer Kelly Rowland headlined an outdoor concert.

The opening celebrations also featured a death-defying relay. Seven teams of three participants each scaled the three towers before sprinting across the 340-metre long Sands SkyPark, where the infinity pool is located, to the finish line.

The resort will employ 10,000 people directly and generate up to £48m each year. Entrance to the casino alone is nearly £50 a day - but an average of 25,000 people have visited the casino daily since its initial phased opening two months ago.

Thomas Arasi, president and chief executive officer of the resort, said he expects to attract an astonishing 70,000 visitors a day once it is fully open.

It was due to open in 2009, but was delayed thanks to labour and material shortages, and funding problems due to the global financial crisis.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1289194/Marina-Bay-Sands-resort-opens-Singapore.html#ixzz0rz8z1Yr7

Indian-FT Turned Citizen - Called Singaporeans "Dogs"

Want to make money? Follow the example of a Indian-turned-new-citizen-
turned PAP activist.

Mr Sinha Shekhar, who works as an occupational therapist at Thye Hua
Kwan Hospital, wrote that he paid “really high” for a resale HDB flat
and the rent he is collecting is not enough to pay for the bank
instalments.

Mr Sinha also revealed that he owns a private property, implying that
he bought the resale HDB flat NOT for staying but for renting and
making money.

This is yet another example of immigrants jacking up prices of HDB
flats by their entry into the resale market and then profiteering from
it by renting them out, a common practice in Singapore.

Some PRs are known to buy a few resale flats for rental before selling
them at a profit after they leave Singapore.

Due to a limited supply of new flats in the face of rising demand
fueled by the relentless influx of immigrants, the prices of HDB flats
have sky-rocketed in recent years, pricing young Singaporeans out of
the market.

Many of these PRs and new citizens are already established
professionals like Mr Sinha Shekhar when they arrived in Singapore and
therefore it is not surprising that they can afford to buy resale
flats which are unaffordable to most Singapore graduates fresh out of
school.

The Straits Times reported last year of an Indonesian PR who paid an
eye-popping $653,000 for a 4-room resale flat in Queenstown though he
could well afford to buy a condominium.

Despite the evidence on the ground showing otherwise, PAP Minister for
National Development Mah Bow Tan is adamant that HDB flats remain
“affordable” in Singapore and ticked Singaporeans off for being
“fussy”.

Mr Sinha Shekhar is notorious in Singapore blogosphere for his
description of PAP critics as “dogs” on the YPAP Facebook. Ironically,
he was later given an “Outstanding Contributors’ award” by Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong for the regularity of his contributions on
the PAP REACH Forum and Facebook.


This is an extract from Temasek Review.

Another 1-in-50-years Downpour Hit Singapore

The Gods must be really angry now. In less than 2 weeks, we are hit by super heavy rainfall in 2 occasions. And each of them is supposed to happen only once in our lifetime.

Blame it on nature or anything else, but surely it is not the fault of the authorities.

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Over 60% of June rain fell during morning downpour, causing road chaos

SINGAPORE: Heavy and intense rain fell in many parts of Singapore early Friday morning causing road chaos with fallen trees and floods. The PUB said 100 mm of rain fell within an hour, between 8 and 9.30am. That's the same amount of rainfall on June 16 which led to massive floods in Orchard Road. That amount is more than 60 per cent of the average rainfall for the entire month of June. PUB says the heavy rain caused localised flash floods in a number areas and the waters subsided within 30 minutes.

During the heavy downpour Friday morning MediaCorp received several calls about floods in various parts of Singapore. Among the areas affected were Upper Thomson Road near Sin Ming Road, Jalan Boon Lay, and Bukit Timah Road after the Balmoral Road junction in the direction of Corporation Road. Several roads also had traffic diverted due to fallen trees. An uprooted tree fell across the entire northbound carriageway after the junction with Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 in Friday’s morning's heavy downpour making the expressway impassable to traffic. The incident caused a massive jam which tailed back several kilometres. A van was also trapped by the fallen tree and the SCDF said two people in the van were injured and were sent to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. Traffic Police were also on hand to divert traffic away from the CTE towards SLE in between the Ang Mo Kio Ave 1 and Ang Mo Kio Ave 3 exit due to the fallen tree. On Orchard Road, a fallen tree near Orchard Central blocked two lanes of traffic. SCDF personnel were also called in to help evacuate children from a childcare centre at Telok Kurau Lorong G, affected by the floods.

They also had to pump water out of the childcare centre. Traffic police officers were also kept busy regulating traffic and directing motorists at jammed up roads. At the junction of Balmoral Road and Bukit Timah Road, traffic had to be diverted away from due to flood caused by heavy rains.

Swiss Foreign Talent Vandalised MRT Trains

Yet another highly educated foreigner in our helm caught practising his twisted talents in the wrong place.
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SINGAPORE (AFP) - – A Swiss business consultant was charged in court Saturday with breaking into a Singapore metro depot and spray-painting graffiti on a train, offences punishable by jail and caning.

SINGAPORE - He pleaded guilty but asked, through his lawyer, not to be given a "punitive custodial sentence". He claimed that he was "cajoled" into committing the offences of breaking into the SMRT Changi Deport and vandalising two train carriages.

But Swiss IT consultant Oliver Fricker (picture) - whom the court heard went on a three-day holiday with his alleged accomplice, Dane Alexander Lloyd, after committing the offences - failed to convince District Judge See Kee Oon that a deterrent sentence was not in order.

Finding that Fricker, 32, had displayed a "calculated criminal conduct", Judge See sentenced him to five months' jail and three strokes of the cane.

The sentence was handed down about six hours after Fricker pleaded guilty, around noon, to charges of vandalism and entering a protected place. A third charge stating that he had committed an act of vandalism by cutting the fence of the depot was taken into consideration.

Judge See agreed with Deputy Public Prosecutor Sharon Lim who said Fricker had committed "a very serious offence" - and that the whole incident had "alarmed the general public" and "shaken their confidence in the security of protected places".

DPP Lim told the court that Lloyd - who remains at large - used a wire cutter to cut a hole in a fence surrounding the depot.

He and Fricker then slipped into the protected area, each carrying a bag of spray paint. Fricker spray-painted the word "McKoy" on the left side of the train, while Lloyd spray-painted the word "Banos" next to it. McKoy Banos is believed to be the names of two persons who have vandalised trains elsewhere.

Lloyd then took photographs of the vandalised train carriages and both of them left the depot through the hole in the fence.

They flagged a taxi and went to Boat Quay before ending up at Fricker's apartment at Sail@Marina Bay. Lloyd showed Fricker the photographs he had taken, before they went to sleep.

The next day, the pair left for Hong Kong for a holiday, the court heard. Fricker returned three days later, while Lloyd, 29, decided to stay on in Hong Kong.

Fricker was arrested on May 25. Singapore police have issued a warrant for Lloyd's arrest.

On Friday, as the sentence was being read out, Fricker, brows furrowed, stood straight in the dock and looked at the judge, his expression unchanged throughout the proceedings.

In mitigation, Fricker's lawyer, Mr Derek Kang, told Judge See that there was no need for a punitive custodial sentence, and that Fricker was "cajoled" by Lloyd into committing the offence.

Speaking to reporters outside the court, Mr Kang said both he and Fricker felt the sentence was too "high" and would be appealing.

For vandalism, Fricker could have been sentenced to three years' jail, fined a maximum of $2,000 and given at least three strokes of the cane.

And for entering a protected place, he could have been sentenced to a maximum of two years' jail and fined up to $1,000.

Singaporeans interviewed by Media-Corp gave mixed reactions to Fricker's sentencing. Of the 10 people interviewed, about half felt that the sentence was too harsh, while the others felt it was appropriate.

Boutique assistant Joseph Wee, 25, who felt the sentence was fair, said: "This is Singapore, we must keep our reputation as a country which is clean and safe to live in."

However, bank officer Mark Sim thought a jail term and a fine would have been more appropriate.

Mr Christoph Oggenfuss, head of marketing and communications at Swiss company Comit AG, where Fricker is employed, noted that this is a "private matter", and "Mr Fricker will stay suspended until he returns to Switzerland".

In the Swiss city of Zurich, several people interviewed by Weekend Today felt that Fricker's sentence was harsh but agreed that one has to abide by the laws of a country one is in.

Economist Felix Kaufmann described caning as being "unusual" in Switzerland. "I think the punishment as a whole - the caning and imprisonment - is unacceptable," said Mr Kaufmann, 38.

While student Christina Frick, 21, believes that the punishment "is not correct", she added that Fricker knew "vandalism is against the law".

Teacher Mrs Verena Dutzi, 52, said: "If you go to another country, you have to be informed of the rules and accept the rules and customs of the country." Additional reporting by Venessa Lee in Zurich
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Oliver Fricker, 32, was charged with committing trespass and vandalism in mid-May, and a district judge who described him as a flight risk set bail at 100,000 Singapore dollars (71,000 US). His passport was also impounded.

A worried-looking Fricker told the judge he needed a lawyer and asked that his bail be lowered to 40,000 dollars.

But the judge cut him short and rejected the bail request, stressing the seriousness of the offence.

The official charge sheet said Fricker, who was arrested on May 25, was with a Briton identified as Lloyd Dane Alexander when he broke into the suburban depot, a restricted zone surrounded by fences topped with barbed wire.

It was unclear why Alexander was not charged along with Fricker, and police had no immediate information on the Briton's whereabouts.

The charge sheet said Fricker and Alexander vandalised public property when they cut through a fence and spray-painted two carriages.

A police spokesman described Fricker as a company consultant.

A man by that name is listed in the business networking website Xing as a senior consultant in Singapore in the information-technology field.

Vandalism is punishable by up to three years' jail or a maximum fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars (1,424 US), plus three to eight strokes of a wooden cane, a punishment dating from British colonial rule in Singapore.

An American teenager, Michael Fay, garnered global headlines in 1994 when he was jailed and caned in Singapore after he was found guilty of vandalising several cars. Fay was caned despite a US appeal for clemency.

Prosecutors, arguing for the high bail amount, said Fricker had been due to leave for Switzerland two days after his arrest.

The Swiss embassy is providing consular support to Fricker but says it will not interfere in the trial.

The break-in, believed to have taken place before dawn on May 17, was not immediately detected and the train plied its route in full view of commuters, one of whom filmed it and posted a clip on video-sharing site Youtube.

The train has been scrubbed clean but the clip can still be viewed online.
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What if it is not just Graffiti, but Bombs???
The MRT graffiti saga which rocked the entire nation took another twist yesterday when it was revealed that SMRT took more than 48 hours to lodge a police report.

A Swiss FT was hauled up to Court yesterday for trepassing into a MRT depot at Changi and vandalizing one of the trains by spraying graffiti on one side of the carriage.

It also transpired that he had an accomplice with him Briton McKoy Banos who has since left Singapore.

The security breach allegedly took place on 16 May 2010, but a police report was made only on 19 May 2010 which contradicts an official statement by SMRT that it “reported the breach to the police immediately when it was discovered.”

When queried by the Straits Times, SMRT Head of Security Mr Choy Kin Chong declined to comment on the time lapse, saying that “more security staff had been deployed to increase patrol at its depots.”

Singapore’s biggest security lapse since the dramatic escape of famed terrorist Mas Selamat Kasteri two years ago drew widespread concerns from both law-makers and Singaporeans who wondered what the consequences might be had the vandals been terrorists instead.

GPC chairman for Home Affairs and Law, Mr Alvin Yeo was quick to jump to the defence of the Swiss FT:

“MRT trains are potential soft targets. I dare say that the suspects probably did it in the spirit of fun and adventure and not for something more sinister. But this could have been something more harmful than just graffiti,” he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times.

Netizens were equally flabbergasted at how SMRT could allow the security breach to go unnoticed for so long.

Eddie Chin commented:

“This is a real security concern. If someone can sneak into an MRT depot and spend a sizeable amount of time spraying the graffiti, he would have enough time to plant bombs on many different trains. I wonder what our Minister for Home Affairs going to say about this, that he’s doing a harmless prank so it’s ok?”

Salihin added:

“Worse of all is that SMRT actually deployed the vandalized train with the huge graffiti. Let’s not ask how they actually secure their depots when their staff cant even notice a huge graffiti on their train.”

There are no immediate comments from the Home Affairs Ministry or its Minister Wong Kan Seng yet.

Maybe they are keeping a distance as far as possible from the incident out of fears of re-igniting Singaporeans’ memories of Mas Selamat.
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Swiss national charged with vandalising SMRT train
By Lynda Hong
SINGAPORE: A 33-year-old Swiss national has been charged with trespassing into an MRT depot and vandalising a SMRT train.

Oliver Fricker appeared in Court Saturday morning to face the charges.

He is accused of trespassing into Changi depot on late night of May 16 and early hours of May 17 this year.

He also faces two charges on vandalising an MRT train by spraying paint, and damaging public property by cutting a wired fence belonging to LTA.

Fricker has been offered a bail of $100,000.

He said in Court that he cannot afford the amount and asked it to be lowered to $40,000. But the judge said that his is a serious offence, and therefore kept the $100,000 bail.

His case will be heard again in two weeks' time on June 21.

Another man, a Brit named Lloyd Dane Alexander, is also allegedly involved in the offence. It is not known if he is still in Singapore. Police are still investigating.

Singaporeans Prefer Staying Single

SINGAPORE: Singapore's resident Total Fertility Rate (TFR) fell to its lowest at 1.22 in 2009. This is in line with the general trend of higher singlehood rates and later marriages.

The "Population in Brief 2010" publication also noted that marriages between citizens and non-citizens have gone up.

Singaporeans are having fewer children. The National Population Secretariat said this might have to do with the global recession in late 2008.

It added that the impact was smaller compared to previous economic downturns.

This perhaps explains the lowest TFR of 1.22 last year.

The Chinese continued to have the lowest TFR followed by Indians and Malays.

The rate for Malays showed the most significant decline over the past decade.

The median age of citizen mothers at first birth increased from 28.6 years in 1999 to 29.6 years in 2009.

The decline was more pronounced among the younger cohorts aged 30-39 years.

Based on current trends, the National Population Secretariat said this group is less likely to achieve an average of two children by the time they reach 40-49 years old.

Overall, the fertility rates for the prime childbearing age of 20-34 years declined between 1999 and 2009.

The peak childbearing age group also shifted from 25-29 to 30-34 years.

The low TFR may also be due to more Singaporeans staying single.

Last year, of those aged 30 to 34, 42 per cent of men remained single, up from 33 percent ten years ago.

Likewise, 30 percent of women remained single compared to 22 percent in 1999.

Singlehood rates were the highest among males with below secondary educational qualifications and among females with university qualifications.

The secretariat added that those who marry are doing so later.

More are also marrying foreigners from around Asia.

The general marriage rate for male citizens dropped from 53 per 1,000 unmarried males in 1999 to 42 per 1,000 unmarried males in 2009.

Similarly, marriage rates for female citizens also fell from 56.0 to 38.2 over the same period.

The NPS said between 1999 and 2009, the median age of citizens at first marriage increased by one and a half years from 28.4 to 29.9 years for males, and from 25.9 to 27.4 years for females.

Proportionately, more Singaporeans are marrying non-citizens.

Such marriages increased by 10 per cent over the past decade from 31 per cent in 1999 to 41 per cent in 2009.

In particular, close to 80 per cent of such marriages were between Singapore men and foreign brides.

The majority of non-citizen spouses came from Asia, although non-citizen grooms came from more diverse regions. - CNA/vm By Claire Huang