AleXX
What this MRA increase means is that for example, if a CPF account holder
has $150,500 in his Ordinary and Special accounts but zero in his medisave
account, he can only withdraw $24,600 (20 per cent withdrawal rule from 1
January, 2011 on current Minimum Sum (MS) of $123,000), at age 55,
regardless of any MS property pledge.
At the current rate of annual increase in the MS and MRA totalling $11,000 a
year (MS $6,000 plus MRA $5,000), when the MS withdrawal rule is phased out
to zero in 2013, those who have less than $183,500 (current $150,500 plus
$11,000 times 3 years), may not be able to withdraw anything at all at 55.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
In the near future, even if you have $200K in your supposedly CPF account,
you will never get the chance to kiss your money when you turn 55.
Remember to vote for all your money to be locked up in your CPF which many
think has no cash at all. Ho Jinx may have a very clear picture of where
those citizens' monies were. All converted to L$ (Lee dollars?)
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Man fined for sex act in toilet
SINGAPORE: A 47-year-old unemployed man was fined S$3,000 on Tuesday for performing fellatio on another man in a public toilet in Citylink Mall.
Tan Eng Hong was spotted peeking at another man in an adjacent cubicle through the gap below the partition walls on March 9 this year, the court heard.
When police arrived and summoned both men out, Tan was seen wearing only his shirt and tried to throw a condom into the toilet bowl, the court heard.
The other man, Chin Chee Shyong, 40, was busy getting dressed.
Chin had already been fined S$3,000 last month.
In mitigation, defence lawyer M Ravi said his client was very remorseful of his actions and has since sought help at a homosexual counselling centre that assists gays and addresses their social and psychological issues.
He urged District Judge Sarjit Singh to impose a fine on Tan as he had taken "positive steps to not repeat these acts in the public arena".
For performing an obscene act in a public place to the annoyance of others, Tan could have been jailed for up to three months, fined, or both.
Tan Eng Hong was spotted peeking at another man in an adjacent cubicle through the gap below the partition walls on March 9 this year, the court heard.
When police arrived and summoned both men out, Tan was seen wearing only his shirt and tried to throw a condom into the toilet bowl, the court heard.
The other man, Chin Chee Shyong, 40, was busy getting dressed.
Chin had already been fined S$3,000 last month.
In mitigation, defence lawyer M Ravi said his client was very remorseful of his actions and has since sought help at a homosexual counselling centre that assists gays and addresses their social and psychological issues.
He urged District Judge Sarjit Singh to impose a fine on Tan as he had taken "positive steps to not repeat these acts in the public arena".
For performing an obscene act in a public place to the annoyance of others, Tan could have been jailed for up to three months, fined, or both.
Monday, August 30, 2010
The Forgotten Tongue
Cerelia Lim
Should the use of dialects be encouraged once more?
This question was the focus of the Dialect Forum: The Forgotten Tongue hosted by the People’s Youth Association Movement at Toa Payoh Central Community Club on 27th June.
“I will say that dialects made my life colorful, but beyond that, in the area of work in the professional life, it was mandarin that made the difference,” summed up Mrs Josephine Teo, MP for Bishan- Toa Payoh GRC.
Mrs Teo, who speaks Hakka, Cantonese and Hokkien, is also the GPC chairman for education. She was present as one of the panelists at the forum.
Having studied in Dunman High, a Special Assistance Plan (SAP) school, Mrs Teo had a good grounding in mandarin. This stood her in good stead when she accepted a posting to work on the Suzhou Industrial Park Project. Although she spoke Hakka at home, she mastered English and mandarin at school. Cantonese was learnt from accompanying her grandmother to the market. And, as her family owed a shoe shop in Geylang, she learnt how to speak Hokkien and a smattering of Malay.
In the early days of Singapore, the majority of the Chinese community spoke their native dialects. Mandarin was rarely used and English only utilized for official businesses as we were a British colony then.
In 1979, in a bid to simplify the language environment and improve communication amongst the different dialect groups within the Chinese community, the Speak Mandarin Campaign was launched by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
The present Chinese community of today is mostly bilingual in English and mandarin. Amongst the Generation X and Y, dialects are a tongue unknown to them, a language of their grandparents’ era.
However, has the gradual phasing out of our dialects erased more than just a local lingo?
Mr Danny Yeo (Yang Jun Wei), a panelist and also a Chinese studies lecturer with Ngee Ann Polytechnic, told participants that in many of his drama performances at Chinatown, he often finds himself using dialects, instead of mandarin to engage the audience. He mentioned that his ability to speak Cantonese opened up doors and unlocked the obstacles between the audience and himself.
Medical doctor, Mr Yong Tong, who is also the chairman of the Chinese association (Youth Wing), recounted that learning English and Chinese at the first language level allowed him to do his Executive MBA in Chinese but it was dialect that allowed him to communicate with his patients in the hospitals.
Another participant of the forum, Ms Xuan Na, a Human Resources practitioner who studied in Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools, questioned if our pursuit of the bilingualism policy is at the expense of dialects.
In defense of the policy, Mrs Teo replied that as a parent if her children are able to master English and mandarin well, she would have no problems if they wanted to learn dialects as well. However, she reiterated that we should not have the belief that being able to speak a variety of languages is better than being able to speak well in a lesser number of languages.
“Must it be assumed from the Speak Mandarin Campaign and the educational policies that the advocation of dialects come at the expense of English and mandarin?” Sherman, a Nanyang Technological University undergraduate.
Elaborating further, he said that dialects have a role in society and their role is in our cultural identity. He also asked if there was a need to believe that learning of dialects will compromise learning standards of other languages and proposed that we appreciate our rich linguistics mix.
In response, Mr Yeo said that he is an advocate of promoting mandarin and protecting dialects. He feels that we need to look at the language abilities of the youths today and compare it to the youths 10, 20 years ago. He said that if the language capabilities of the youths have decreased over the years, then a review of the language policy should be conducted.
However, he also added that besides education, there are other ways of learning dialects such as watching popular Hongkong Cantonese dramas on cable.
Ms Jillian Tiong, a Fuzhou native who has lived in Singapore from more than 20 years, concurs and said that learning dialects is not a difficult thing.
“I learnt my dialects from speaking with children. If you really want to learn, it is not impossible.”
Should the use of dialects be encouraged once more?
This question was the focus of the Dialect Forum: The Forgotten Tongue hosted by the People’s Youth Association Movement at Toa Payoh Central Community Club on 27th June.
“I will say that dialects made my life colorful, but beyond that, in the area of work in the professional life, it was mandarin that made the difference,” summed up Mrs Josephine Teo, MP for Bishan- Toa Payoh GRC.
Mrs Teo, who speaks Hakka, Cantonese and Hokkien, is also the GPC chairman for education. She was present as one of the panelists at the forum.
Having studied in Dunman High, a Special Assistance Plan (SAP) school, Mrs Teo had a good grounding in mandarin. This stood her in good stead when she accepted a posting to work on the Suzhou Industrial Park Project. Although she spoke Hakka at home, she mastered English and mandarin at school. Cantonese was learnt from accompanying her grandmother to the market. And, as her family owed a shoe shop in Geylang, she learnt how to speak Hokkien and a smattering of Malay.
In the early days of Singapore, the majority of the Chinese community spoke their native dialects. Mandarin was rarely used and English only utilized for official businesses as we were a British colony then.
In 1979, in a bid to simplify the language environment and improve communication amongst the different dialect groups within the Chinese community, the Speak Mandarin Campaign was launched by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.
The present Chinese community of today is mostly bilingual in English and mandarin. Amongst the Generation X and Y, dialects are a tongue unknown to them, a language of their grandparents’ era.
However, has the gradual phasing out of our dialects erased more than just a local lingo?
Mr Danny Yeo (Yang Jun Wei), a panelist and also a Chinese studies lecturer with Ngee Ann Polytechnic, told participants that in many of his drama performances at Chinatown, he often finds himself using dialects, instead of mandarin to engage the audience. He mentioned that his ability to speak Cantonese opened up doors and unlocked the obstacles between the audience and himself.
Medical doctor, Mr Yong Tong, who is also the chairman of the Chinese association (Youth Wing), recounted that learning English and Chinese at the first language level allowed him to do his Executive MBA in Chinese but it was dialect that allowed him to communicate with his patients in the hospitals.
Another participant of the forum, Ms Xuan Na, a Human Resources practitioner who studied in Special Assistance Plan (SAP) schools, questioned if our pursuit of the bilingualism policy is at the expense of dialects.
In defense of the policy, Mrs Teo replied that as a parent if her children are able to master English and mandarin well, she would have no problems if they wanted to learn dialects as well. However, she reiterated that we should not have the belief that being able to speak a variety of languages is better than being able to speak well in a lesser number of languages.
“Must it be assumed from the Speak Mandarin Campaign and the educational policies that the advocation of dialects come at the expense of English and mandarin?” Sherman, a Nanyang Technological University undergraduate.
Elaborating further, he said that dialects have a role in society and their role is in our cultural identity. He also asked if there was a need to believe that learning of dialects will compromise learning standards of other languages and proposed that we appreciate our rich linguistics mix.
In response, Mr Yeo said that he is an advocate of promoting mandarin and protecting dialects. He feels that we need to look at the language abilities of the youths today and compare it to the youths 10, 20 years ago. He said that if the language capabilities of the youths have decreased over the years, then a review of the language policy should be conducted.
However, he also added that besides education, there are other ways of learning dialects such as watching popular Hongkong Cantonese dramas on cable.
Ms Jillian Tiong, a Fuzhou native who has lived in Singapore from more than 20 years, concurs and said that learning dialects is not a difficult thing.
“I learnt my dialects from speaking with children. If you really want to learn, it is not impossible.”
Saturday, August 14, 2010
When Wet Market Becomes NTUC - the poor suffers
Report by Tng Ying Hui / Photos by Wallace Woon
BARELY six months into the job, Mr and Mrs Teo, like many others stallholders in Sembawang wet market, were told by their landowner to move out in a month’s time.
With three mouths to feed –two children, one in polytechnic and the other doing ‘O’ levels and an elderly in the old folk’s home, the couple’s monthly income of about $500 provides just three meals a day.
Since they could not obtain bank loans, borrowing money to set up the stall was the only way out. Their business was just picking up pace when the initial decision to be evicted came.
“We didn’t sleep well for three days when we first received the news”, says Mr and Mrs Teo, who declined to be named.
“If our stall closes, we won’t get to eat.”
While relief came from the recent overturning of the decision by HDB to replace Sembawang wet market with a NTUC Fairprice supermarket on 11 October (see here), stall owners in other wet markets are not so lucky.
Health Minister and MP for Sembawang GRC Khaw Boon Wan has publicly reassured residents of his efforts to retain the wet market environment. But Sheng Siong supermarket will still be replacing six other wet markets all over Singapore while air-conditioning some (see here).
HDB has allowed the lease to be extended for three more years, but there is no telling if the averted disaster might strike with a vengeance once the lease ends.
While the stallholders could continue operating for now, one question remains. A fishmonger in Sembawang wet market asked: ” Is [closing the wet market] the right thing to do?”
The Online Citizen asked a spokesman from HDB about which supermarket will be replacing Sembawang wet market, but he evaded answering the question by insisting that they were “still evaluating” then. It was, however, revealed in The Straits Times that the vendor was in fact NTUC Fairprice.
Nonetheless, HDB did tell the Sembawang stall owners that their decision to allow NTUC Fairprice to take over was partly due to “problems with its appearance”, says a fishmonger in Sembawang, who do not wish to be named.
This “appearance problem” , however, is an important feature of heartlanders’ lives, one which everyone identifies with. The camaraderie that the stall owners and residents share can never be found in a supermarket despite its pleasant look.
Yes, the eventual verdict for Sembawang wet market seemed to have mitigate worries for many, but Singapore is still stuck in a quagmire of financial uncertainty and stall owners in other wet market is facing this malapropos eviction.
(Photo: A closed wet market shows none of the life it displays in the day.)
Mr Khaw did spare a thought for the residents, saying that their “interests will be preserved and protected.” But what about the stall owners?
“I am the sole breadwinner, so are many of the others,” said the 55-year-old father of three who wanted to be known only as Mr Sherll in another interview with the Straits Times.
“This is the disadvantage of being in a private market. Suddenly it’s sold off, and where do I go?”
This question seemed to be neglected by the landowner who claimed that she knew of Sembawang’s potential takeover by NTUC Fairprice two years ago. Yet, she continued to lease out these stalls without notifying the stall owners of the possibility of an impending eviction. Her decision has caused backlash from the stall owners.
A Filipino stallholder who moved in barely two months ago, called the land owner a “cheater” whose friendliness is just a facade as “she just wants money.” The land owner till date has yet to return this stall owner her contract. Some other stallholders share similar sentiments, feeling disappointed in her.
HDB had abided by the rules as the termination only came after the contract with the landowner had ended. But a caveat in the contract gleans starkly when the problem of eviction came — it is renewed monthly, such that to terminate the lease, there needs to be only one month notice.
The stallholders received a letter stating the termination only on 18 September.
“This one month notice is too short a time!”, says Mrs Teo
It is necessary to upgrade wet markets to improve hygiene, but to wipe it out from the face of Singapore portends means that we would lose something dear to our hearts, raising a generation further adrift from their roots.
The haggling for prices, the fishy smell, the jostling with people in the crowd, the slippery floor littered with rotten vegetables, all constitute what a wet market is, but above all these, a wet market is the heart of a heartland, irreplaceable and timeless.
If the wet market disappears, memories of it would erode with time, and an “air-conditioned nation”, as Cherian George’s book title reflects, would unfortunately materialize.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Singapore's suicide rate highest in 50 years
In 2009, a total of 401 confirmed suicides were recorded. 267 of them were male, while the remaining 134 were female.The suicide rate increased from 8.76 per 100,000 residents in 2008 to 9.35 in 2009.
These figures were revealed in a press release by Samaritans of Singapore (SOS), a confidential hotline for people in crisis.
Young men in the age group of 20-29 were found to be at high risk of suicide. Those who called in to the SOS hotline talked about difficulties and anxieties in coping with life's stressors.
Youths were also another high risk group. Such callers were concerned about their studies, family and relationship problems, as well as crisis and identity-related issues.
On 8 September, SOS will hold a workshop on suicide prevent among young people, conducted by Professor Graham Martin who is the national advisor on suicide prevention to the Australian government. Prof Martin is also the keynote speaker for a conference on suicide prevention on 9 September.
SOS handles an average of 3,330 calls per month, or 110 calls per day. The 24-hour hotline (1800-221-4444) is manned by trained volunteers. Ms Christine Wong, the Executive Director of SOS, said that the organisation's ability to help those in need is limited by the number of volunteers.
Those who are interested in volunteering with SOS may e-mail to pv@samaritans.org.sg. Those who wish to know more about the upcoming workshop and conference may visit http://samaritansofsingapore.blogspot.com for more information.
DBS posts $302m Q2 loss
Paying for past mistakes and abuses, the poor Indian FT CEO is placed there to be made scapegoat for some honest mistakes made by our selected genetically bred scholars.
------------------------------------
By Harsha Jethnani
DBS posted an unexpected $300 million loss in the second quarter after it took a $1.02 billion goodwill charge on its Hong Kong business. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO
DBS Bank, South-east Asia's biggest banking group, on Friday reported second-quarter losses of $302 million owing to a goodwill impairment charge of $1.02 billion for DBS Hong Kong.
The group had recorded $552 million in profits in the second quarter of last year.
Excluding the one-off impairment, earnings in the free months ending June were a healthy record-breaking $718 million.
The writedown is a legacy from 2001 when DBS took over Dao Heng bank in an expensive US$5.8 billion deal (S$7.9 billion).
DBS said there have been 'noticable and persistent strains' in wholesale funding markets, which is forcing banks to adjust their funding strategies.
Liquidity pressures and persistent strains in wholesale funding markets have increased the likelihood of interest margin compression for DBS Hong Kong. In conducting its six-monthly fair value test and adjusting earnings projections for 2010 to 2014 according to these pressing market conditions, the bank decided it was appropriate to take an impairment charge.
The charges will have no affect on operating performance or expansion plans, said DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta. He said at a results briefing on Friday that he does not anticipate further goodwill impairment charges.
Net interest income was four per cent down to $1.067 billion while net interest margin was down to 1.84 per cent from 2.01 per cent. More than half of the decline - six basis points - was due to a shift in the securities portfolio to higher-quality issues with lower yields, DBS said. Deposit costs were also higher due to competition for US dollar and Hong Kong dollar funding.
Non-interest income registered a positive 16 per cent growth to $748 million. The non-performing loans ratio fell to 2.3 per cent from 2.8 per cent and loans expanded nine per cent from demand by regional corporates and from draw-downs on housing loans in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Mr Gupta said on Friday that he was pleased with the quarter's results but added that it was unlikely for the momentum to continue to the second half of the year. Globally, economic growth rates are expected to slow down in the latter part of the year, he added. The chief executive also does not expect to see double-digit growth in loans.
------------------------------------
By Harsha Jethnani
DBS posted an unexpected $300 million loss in the second quarter after it took a $1.02 billion goodwill charge on its Hong Kong business. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO
DBS Bank, South-east Asia's biggest banking group, on Friday reported second-quarter losses of $302 million owing to a goodwill impairment charge of $1.02 billion for DBS Hong Kong.
The group had recorded $552 million in profits in the second quarter of last year.
Excluding the one-off impairment, earnings in the free months ending June were a healthy record-breaking $718 million.
The writedown is a legacy from 2001 when DBS took over Dao Heng bank in an expensive US$5.8 billion deal (S$7.9 billion).
DBS said there have been 'noticable and persistent strains' in wholesale funding markets, which is forcing banks to adjust their funding strategies.
Liquidity pressures and persistent strains in wholesale funding markets have increased the likelihood of interest margin compression for DBS Hong Kong. In conducting its six-monthly fair value test and adjusting earnings projections for 2010 to 2014 according to these pressing market conditions, the bank decided it was appropriate to take an impairment charge.
The charges will have no affect on operating performance or expansion plans, said DBS chief executive Piyush Gupta. He said at a results briefing on Friday that he does not anticipate further goodwill impairment charges.
Net interest income was four per cent down to $1.067 billion while net interest margin was down to 1.84 per cent from 2.01 per cent. More than half of the decline - six basis points - was due to a shift in the securities portfolio to higher-quality issues with lower yields, DBS said. Deposit costs were also higher due to competition for US dollar and Hong Kong dollar funding.
Non-interest income registered a positive 16 per cent growth to $748 million. The non-performing loans ratio fell to 2.3 per cent from 2.8 per cent and loans expanded nine per cent from demand by regional corporates and from draw-downs on housing loans in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Mr Gupta said on Friday that he was pleased with the quarter's results but added that it was unlikely for the momentum to continue to the second half of the year. Globally, economic growth rates are expected to slow down in the latter part of the year, he added. The chief executive also does not expect to see double-digit growth in loans.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Another 100k Foreign Talents Needed in Next Few Months : PM Lee
He is informing us that he will increase the number of foreign talents. His growth at all cost theory is coming back. The disapproval signal is clear but he choose to ignore because he knew that he will definately win the election.
He is not concerned about people, many office workers like me are now working 10 over hours for an 8hrs salary. Some even work 7 days a week because there is just too much work, as this monster drive his productivity programs into our lives. There is no life in Singapore anymore. This is absolutely because of him.
------------------------------------------------
Towkay wrote:
Singaporeans who believe that the government will regulate the import of cheap foreign workers have absolutely no idea how Singapore works.
Let me, the Towkay give you the basics:
1. Profiting Elites and Towkays is the only priority.
2. Cheaper foreign workers can do the job, so why hire Singaporeans? Why? Why? Why? Nobody has given me a good answer to this because they know there is no reason to hire more expensive Singaporeans.
3. Singaporeans only matter when we need you to work for free i.e. free security quards (NSmen), free volunteers for YOG, etc. Again refer to point 1, we earn more if we can get Singaporeans to work for free.
--------------------------------------------
15% economic growth does not benefit me at all.
I am a civil servant, and my pay will not rise by 10% because of the boom. I don't expect 5 months bonus or even a GDP-related bonus. That's strictly reserved for the top of the top, the best of the best, and not for mere mortals like us.
Cost of living is increasing. The cost of food in our office canteen has increased by 20%. Rent is up, so is cost of food.
Big freaking deal about having the best economic growth when none of us get to share in it.
I also hate it when Filipinoes (or Burmese or PRC or M'sian) become HR personnel. Instead of hiring Singaporeans or the best candidate for the job, they almost always end up hiring the best Filipino for the job.
----------------------------------------------
The best thing for the PAP about all this is that the opposition still remains weak and divided, with 50% walkovers by PAP at the next elections still a high possibility, let alone forming forming the next govt.
And somehow they can always managed to make 60% or more happy, whatever the circumstance.
And the minority who are not happy do not dare to openly protest, except through blogs.
And don't forget, those who criticise PAP strongly on the Internet may not necessarily be unhappy, but do for the fun of it. Just like the massive crowds at past opposition rallies compared to PAP ones doesn't mean they support the oppositions as the final results had shown and which is what really mattered.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
HDB Flats - Still Affordable
Would be interesting to hear from Mah Bow Tan regarding the latest increases in HDB prices. Are they still affordable?
The prices of HDB rose by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter (April - June) of this year. This rise is also mirrored in private properties which rose more than 5% in each of the last 2 quarters of this year - that is a whopping rise of more than 10% in 6 months. There are many negatives associate with the increase in property prices. Property prices rising much faster than income means that ordinary Singaporeans have to take up more debt for housing. The price rise also worsens the effect Singapore's income gap which is already the highest among developed countries - middle and lower income families have to purchase smaller homes and are unable to upgrade while wealthier Singaporeans more than 1 property can enjoy the wealth effect of higher prices by selling at these lofty prices.
Things are not going to get better with another 100,000 extra foreign workers that PM Lee said will be here in the coming months. They too will need housing and that will worsen the situation. In the recent BTO for Ponggol Waterway Terraces, the number of applicants was 18 times the units on offer. We have a very hot market set to get hotter in the coming months unless HDB does something to meet the demand. One can argue whether we are in a bubble or not. Bubbles are obvious only on hindsight. However, price rise that is so much faster than income growth means that the debt burden for ordinary Singaporeans buying homes has increased rapidly in the past few quarters. For an economy that depends on workers to be faster, better and cheaper, rising debt burdens and increase in cost of living will undermine their ability to save, cause their living standard and quality of life to fall and lower their ability to start a family and have children. The govt is asking workers to be cheaper while it does little to arrest the risning cost of housing.
Last week NMP Viswa Sadasivan urged the govt not to focus solely on GDP growth and use other economic indicators that measure the general well being of the ordinary Singaporean. I would go even further than that by saying that the high GDP growth is negatively correlated with improvement in quality of life for a large segment of the population. For many Singaporeans, the GDP growth in recent years simply translate to increase cost of living without the correspondng rise in wages. It has to do with the way the PAP govt generate such high growth by importing foreign labor. When the economy grows, you see headlines like the on today's Straits Times "Resale HDB Prices hit new highs" but you won't see headlines like "Wages of Singaporeans go up by 5% last quarter". ...as property prices, transport costs, utility rates, conservancy charges rise to negate any economic benefit of growth.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Casino Levy Returned to Community - Minister Lied
With over $200 million collected so, and all given to the ToteBoard, one wonder why the NKF and the other charity organisations are still struggling to raise money, desperately canvassing for donation publicly and on TV Charity shows. It simply has got to be some big white lie by these Pap Ministers. None of them (including the custodian of the reserves - the President) even know how much reserves there are in the govt coffers.
------------------------------------------------------
Casino fee given back to public
By Rachel Chang
THE money collected by the two casinos in entrance fees from Singaporeans and permanent residents (PRs) is already being recycled back to the community.
This is being done via the Tote Board which is given all the money collected.
It then hands them out as grants to community projects, said Second Minister for Finance Lim Hwee Hua at a dialogue with Bukit Gombak residents.
Mrs Lim, who is also Second Minister for Transport, did not specify the types of projects that gained from the collection.
The Tote Board website, however, states that it donates to six areas: arts and culture, education, social services, health, community development and sports.
'So if we have more money coming through, in other words more money will be available for all these different projects,' said Mrs Lim. 'That's one consequence of it.'
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Male Version of Ris Low - found
Hu Hanxiong...
Meet "the male version of Ris Low". That's what some netizens on file-sharing site YouTube and citizen journalism site Stomp are calling this Singaporean.
He's Hu Hanxiong, Mr Singapore World 2010.
The 25-year-old events organiser is being slammed online for his poor English in a self-introduction video for the Mr World finals held on March 27 in Incheon, Korea.
The video was first uploaded on the pageant's website, but has since found its way to YouTube, where it has been viewed more than 8,000 times, and Stomp, where it received more than 5,000 hits.
Low, you'll remember, was crowned Miss Singapore World last year but had to relinquish her crown after it was discovered that she had been convicted of credit card fraud.
She was flamed for her bad English and for using nonsensical words like "boomz".
Netizens who compared Hu to Low were particularly caustic about his poor pronunciation.
Hu began his video by saying: "Harrow everybody, I'm Hanxiong, twenty-fise years of age..."
Other boo-boos include pronouncing basketball as "buttsketball", and saying "I love any sports that leads me to a healthy lifespou..."and "warming hospitality".
Netizens also jeered at how often Hu blinked his eyes in the video, with one claiming he blinked more than 65 times in the 30-second clip.
When The New Paper contacted Hu over the phone at work, he called the video "tragic".
He had first seen the clip when he was competing in Korea and wished he could record it again.
He is aware of the brickbats on YouTube.
Sounding light-hearted throughout the interview, he added: "While I was waiting for my turn to film the video clip, I had prepared in my head what I was going to say.
"I wanted to talk about how I prepared for the competition, and how much I loved Korea.
"But when I sat down to do the video, the producers (from the UK) told me that I only needed to give my name, age, where I was from and my hobbies."
He confessed that he got nervous and tongue-tied.
It was hard to fill up those 30 seconds, he said. Hu, who was unplaced in the finals, also didn't want to do a second take like some of the other pageant contestants allegedly did.
"The producers had spent the whole day filming and they weren't in a very good mood. I wanted to make Singapore proud by going for just one take.
"I didn't want them to think that Singaporeans can't speak proper English," he admitted.
When asked about the excessive blinking in the video that netizens complained about, he explained that there were several strong spotlights shining on him during filming, which made his eyes very dry.
He admitted that he was initially upset by the harsh comments,but he has learnt to take things lightly.
"Everyone has their point of view and I can still accept their criticism," he said.
"They don't know me and I can't tell every one of them that I'm not that bad in real life."
During the interview, even though Hu's English was occasionally ungrammatical , he spoke confidently and conveyed his thoughts well enough.
Hu said he barely spoke English in school and was more fluent in Mandarin.
On being called Mr Ris Low, Hu said he thought it was funny, especially because they are friends. They met when she took part in Miss Singapore World last year
Meet "the male version of Ris Low". That's what some netizens on file-sharing site YouTube and citizen journalism site Stomp are calling this Singaporean.
He's Hu Hanxiong, Mr Singapore World 2010.
The 25-year-old events organiser is being slammed online for his poor English in a self-introduction video for the Mr World finals held on March 27 in Incheon, Korea.
The video was first uploaded on the pageant's website, but has since found its way to YouTube, where it has been viewed more than 8,000 times, and Stomp, where it received more than 5,000 hits.
Low, you'll remember, was crowned Miss Singapore World last year but had to relinquish her crown after it was discovered that she had been convicted of credit card fraud.
She was flamed for her bad English and for using nonsensical words like "boomz".
Netizens who compared Hu to Low were particularly caustic about his poor pronunciation.
Hu began his video by saying: "Harrow everybody, I'm Hanxiong, twenty-fise years of age..."
Other boo-boos include pronouncing basketball as "buttsketball", and saying "I love any sports that leads me to a healthy lifespou..."and "warming hospitality".
Netizens also jeered at how often Hu blinked his eyes in the video, with one claiming he blinked more than 65 times in the 30-second clip.
When The New Paper contacted Hu over the phone at work, he called the video "tragic".
He had first seen the clip when he was competing in Korea and wished he could record it again.
He is aware of the brickbats on YouTube.
Sounding light-hearted throughout the interview, he added: "While I was waiting for my turn to film the video clip, I had prepared in my head what I was going to say.
"I wanted to talk about how I prepared for the competition, and how much I loved Korea.
"But when I sat down to do the video, the producers (from the UK) told me that I only needed to give my name, age, where I was from and my hobbies."
He confessed that he got nervous and tongue-tied.
It was hard to fill up those 30 seconds, he said. Hu, who was unplaced in the finals, also didn't want to do a second take like some of the other pageant contestants allegedly did.
"The producers had spent the whole day filming and they weren't in a very good mood. I wanted to make Singapore proud by going for just one take.
"I didn't want them to think that Singaporeans can't speak proper English," he admitted.
When asked about the excessive blinking in the video that netizens complained about, he explained that there were several strong spotlights shining on him during filming, which made his eyes very dry.
He admitted that he was initially upset by the harsh comments,but he has learnt to take things lightly.
"Everyone has their point of view and I can still accept their criticism," he said.
"They don't know me and I can't tell every one of them that I'm not that bad in real life."
During the interview, even though Hu's English was occasionally ungrammatical , he spoke confidently and conveyed his thoughts well enough.
Hu said he barely spoke English in school and was more fluent in Mandarin.
On being called Mr Ris Low, Hu said he thought it was funny, especially because they are friends. They met when she took part in Miss Singapore World last year
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