2 dead, 17 injured after 15-year-old boy opens fire at Kentucky high school

BENTON ― A 15-year-old boy opened fire with a handgun just before classes started at his high school in rural western Kentucky on Tuesday (Jan 23), killing two fellow students and wounding a dozen other youths before he was arrested, the state's governor and police said.The shooter, who has not been identified, entered a common area at Marshall County High School in Benton shortly before 10pm (local time), pulled out a pistol and began firing at students, witnesses told local media.
"I see this guy draw from his side and he pulls out a pistol. I didn’t even know what was going on. And then it registered.

About the time it registered, this guy was sitting here pulling the trigger into all of us," student Bryson Conkwright told TV station WKRN."I can hear the gunshots. He was shooting in our group," said Conkwright, showing where a bullet grazed his hand Authorities declined to discuss possible motives for the shooting. There was no immediate indication of how well the suspect knew the victims, but officials said he was believed to have acted alone and faces multiple charges of murder and attempted murder.

"There's no good answer for it," Governor Matt Bevin said at a news conference. "There's 1,000 hypotheses we're not going to go into."

The bloodshed at the school of nearly 1,150 students in a small farming town about 130 miles (210 km) northwest of Nashville, Tennessee, was the latest outbreak of gun violence that has become a regular occurrence at schools and college campuses across the United States over the past several years.
After the shooting, signs of chaos in the school were abundant, Marshall County Attorney Jeff Edwards told the Louisville Courier-Journal newspaper.
"To walk in, the backpacks laying around, the phones laying around, going off “it’s indescribable,” he was quoted as saying.

Church vigils were planned for Tuesday evening.

A WOUNDED COMMUNITY

Tuesday's rampage occurred just 32 miles from Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky, where in 1997 a 14-year-old boy opened fire on a group of students, killing three.
At Marshall County High, 14 students were hit by gunfire, two of them fatally, officials said. A 15-year-old girl was pronounced dead at the scene, and a 15-year-old boy died at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center's trauma unit in Nashville, Bevin and hospital officials said.
Four of the other gunshot patients brought to Vanderbilt were expected to survive, doctors said.
Less severely wounded students were taken to other hospitals. Another five students suffered non-gunshot injuries, Bevin said, bringing the total number of injured to 17.
Mr Bevin said the youth was apprehended at the school "in a nonviolent" manner, but the governor did not elaborate.

Sanders said students followed training they had recently received from state police in how to respond to such incidents.
No further details of the circumstances of the shooting were immediately released. The students involved were not identified.
Agents from the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Federal Bureau of Investigation joined the investigation, officials said at the news conference.
The school serves Marshall County, which has population of about 31,000.
During the news conference at the county Board of Education, Mr Bevin's voice choked with emotion and he paused to collect himself. He asked the news media to exercise restraint in dealing with victims' families.
“I beg of you again - respect the fact that these children belong to this community and to specific families in this community. And this is a wound that is going take a long time to heal. And for some in this community it will never fully heal.”
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the shooting. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families there," she said. REUTERS

Flood prevention measures to be rolled out at 4 more locations by April: SMRT

SINGAPORE: Flood prevention measures that are now in place at Bishan MRT station following an unprecedented tunnel flooding incident last year will be implemented at four other locations by April this year.These measures, which include the relocation of a control panel that gives staff quicker access to activate pumps manually, will be put in place at Lavender, Redhill, Kembangan and Expo MRT stations.

Giving the media a behind-the-scenes look at the changes at Bishan MRT station early on Wednesday (Jan 24) morning, rail operator SMRT showed how the panel had been moved from an area that required access to the track to a restricted area at an end of the train platform.
SMRT’s director of buildings and services Siu Yow Wee said that this would mean quicker action in the event that the automated pumping system does not work. These pumps direct rainwater to street-level drains.

At its old location, during operational hours, it typically took staff at least 20 minutes to get to the control panel, as staff would need to gear up, gain track access and take a train to the area. Train services would also be disrupted.  With the change in location, track access is no longer needed.

“Anytime we see that there's a problem or some alert, or we think the pump is not working, we can just send a station manager to the buffer area to press the button,” he said. The buffer area lies between the track and the train station.
In addition, easier access to the water pumping system at Bishan MRT station through a ladder is in the works, said Mr Siu, explaining that of all the water pumping systems, Bishan's handles the largest capacity of water – enough to fill up two Olympic-sized pools.
Redundant float switches, which activate pumps automatically, will also be installed at the four other locations so that if one fails, additional float switches can ensure that pumps are activated when needed.

Flood prevention works at Bishan MRT station, which included the relocation of the panel, installation of additional float switches, and installation of new radar sensors that also work to alert SMRT and LTA in the event that water level is high, took three hours of work for 41 nights, he added.

PUMP MAINTENANCE WORK OUTSOURCED
 
Mr Siu, who was appointed to his role in the wake of the flooding incident which disrupted service for about 15 hours and affected 231,000 commuters, said that pump maintenance work has been outsourced to the original equipment manufacturer.

“Equipment reliability will definitely go up. This means that the commuter can travel in a more reliable and comfortable way,” Mr Siu said.

Previously, these contracted workers were only involved in corrective repair works.
Maintenance tasks include visual inspection, cleaning float switches and operational tests. Such tasks will also be conducted more frequently, from quarterly or yearly to monthly.

SMRT employees who were previously involved in maintenance work will take on inspection and supervisory roles, Mr Siu said. The Land Transport Authority, which said the flooding incident was entirely preventable in an investigation report released in December last year, found that there were adequate flood protection measures and that float switches, pumps and the pump motor control panel were functional.

However, it noted that a lack of maintenance, audits and managerial supervision could have led to the flooding incident. Floodwaters were up to 1m deep and spanned 100m of tracks in both directions.
SMRT later found that its staff had falsified maintenance records over seven months, and took disciplinary action against them.

Apple launches HomePod voice speaker, taking on Google, Amazon

SAN FRANCISCO: After missing the critical holiday shopping season, Apple Inc has jumped into the voice speaker wars with the HomePod smart speaker, a device that will use its Siri voice assistant and compete against offerings from Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google.
Apple on Tuesday (Jan 23) said it will start taking online orders for its HomePod smart speaker on Friday in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia, just over a month later than initially planned.

The US$349 voice-controlled speaker, introduced in June and originally scheduled for a December release, can make music suggestions and adjust home temperatures. The speaker also will be able to send messages and play news updates from National Public Radio and CNN, Apple said in a release.
Analysts have debated the impact of the shipping delay on the HomePod's eventual success. Apple has forecast between US$84 billion and US$87 billion in revenue for the holiday - mostly driven by sales of its US$999 iPhone X - so it is unlikely that missing a few weeks of sales of the HomePod will affect its financial results, Bob O'Donnell, founder of Technalysis Research, told Reuters in December.

The bigger danger for Apple, analysts said, is that consumers bought a rival speaker over the holiday season and have no immediate need for Apple's new product. Amazon and Google cut prices on their entry-level speakers over the holiday season in an aggressive push for market share, analysts said.
Apple is working to keep its Siri voice assistant relevant in the face of competition from Amazon's Alexa and Alphabet's Google Assistant, both of which are featured on smart speakers from those companies

Apple also is counting on HomePod to boost subscriptions to Apple Music and block the rise of rival Spotify. The smart speakers from Google and Amazon let users give voice commands to play Spotify but Apple Music does not work on the rival devices.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Bengaluru and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Martina D'Couto and Bill Trott)

Source: Reuters

3 more charged over Shell oil heist

SINGAPORE: Three more men were charged on Saturday (Jan 13) morning in connection with an alleged theft of fuel from Shell’s Pulau Bukom refinery.Two Singaporean men - Alan Tan Cheng Chuan, 45, and Ng Hock Teck, 54 - face one count each of dishonestly receiving stolen property at the refinery on Nov 11, 2017.

The pair, who are not Shell employees, allegedly received 300 metric tonnes of gasoil worth S$160,000. According to the men’s charge sheets, this fuel had been transferred onto a Singapore-registered vessel, Sentek 26.

The third, a Vietnamese National, is accused of receiving 1348.8 metric tonnes of fuel worth S$736,444.80 on Dec 31, 2017. Doan Xuan Than, 45, had allegedly received the stolen fuel on Panama-registered vessel MT Gaea.

All three will next appear in court on Jan 18.
Nine Singaporean and two Vietnamese men were charged over their involvement in three incidences of fuel theft in November last year and on Jan 5 and Jan 7 this year.

About 4,384 metric tonnes of gasoil, valued at S$2.4 million, were stolen from the refinery, Shell's biggest in the world.The 11 were arrested on Jan 7, when the refinery was raided by the authorities, who seized cash totalling S$3.05 million and 12,000-tonne tanker.

Source: CNA/rw

S’pore officially freezing, hits 21.9°C on Thursday, Jan. 11 night

According to data on the Meterological Service Singapore, 21.9°C temperatures have been recorded at Admiralty and Ang Mo Kio at around 10.30pm on Thursday night, Jan. 11, 2018
Over the next few days, the forecast is that temperatures could fall below 22°C.
MSS said on Jan. 11: “The monsoon surge that has been affecting Singapore since Jan. 10 is expected to persist for another one or two days before gradually weakening over the weekend.”
“For the next few days, the lowest temperature is expected to be 22°C to 23°C, but could dip to just below 22°C.”

More cooling days ahead

Since 5pm on Wednesday, Jan. 10, temperatures below 23°C were recorded at several locations around Singapore.
The lowest temperature recorded was 22.7°C at Newton at around 7.30pm.
The lowest temperature recorded in Singapore was 19.4°C on two days in January 1934. source https://mothership.sg/2018/01/singapore-cold-weather/

Japanese crime boss held in Thailand after 'yakuza' tattoos go viral

BANGKOK: A retired Japanese crime boss has been arrested in Thailand ending more than 14 years on the run after photos of his 'Yakuza' tattoos and a missing little finger went viral.The fugitive, Shigeharu Shirai, 72, was arrested by a SWAT team on Wednesday (Jan 11) in the sleepy central Thai market town of Lopburi while he was out shopping.

Japanese authorities have called for his arrest over an alleged role in the shooting of a rival in Japan in 2003, after which he fled to Thailand, married a Thai woman and drifted into a seemingly peaceful retirement.That was until a Thai local posted some photos of the diminutive, frail-looking retiree playing a streetside checkers game with his intricate gang tattoos on full show and a missing little finger - yakuza members often slice off the tip of a finger to atone for an offence.

The photos were shared more than 10,000 times online and caught the attention of Japanese police, who asked the Thai authorities to move in."The suspect admitted that he was the leader of the Yakuza sub-gang Kodokai," Thai police spokesman General Wirachai Songmetta said, referring to an affiliate of Japan's largest yakuza gang, the Yamaguchi-gumi.The yakuza emerged in the chaos of post-war Japan turning into multi-billion-dollar criminal organisations involved in everything from gambling, drugs and prostitution to loan sharking, protection rackets and white-collar crime.

They were long tolerated as a necessary evil to keep order on the streets and getting things done quickly - however dubious the means.

Unlike the Italian Mafia or Chinese triads, yakuza are not illegal and each group has its own headquarters in full view of police.Shigeharu Shirai stands accused of shooting dead the boss of a rival faction for which seven other members of his gang were caught and imprisoned for between 12 and 17 years."The suspect has not confessed to murder but has admitted that the victim used to bully him," the Thai police spokesman added.The mobster boss kept a "low profile" during his stay in Thailand, police said, receiving money two or three times each year from a visiting Japanese man.
With no passport or visa, he was officially arrested for entering Thailand illegally and will be extradited to face prosecution in Japan.

Source: AFP/ad

Round up my ride! Bulgarian returns Singapore's damaged rental bikes

SINGAPORE: A sea of yellow and orange bicycles in Singapore's public spaces shows how quickly the city-state has embraced the shared-bike culture since major operators such as Chinese firms Ofo and Mobike first rode in a year ago.Bulgarian piano teacher Zhivko Girginov, who has lived on the island for nine years, has not been impressed by the broken bicycles he has encountered abandoned by roads and footpaths.

"My friends complained there were damaged bikes scattered everywhere and there was nothing that can be done," he said.

"But I did not agree."

The 32-year-old decided to take matters into his own hands, pulling together a team of like-minded individuals to round up and return the bikes to the warehouses of the respective companies.

Started in September, Girginov's Volunteer Bike Patrol initiative has taken off, collecting over 400 damaged bikes in about seven trips.The group gathers the broken bicycles in one neighbourhood, moving them to a central location. Girginov then rents a lorry for US$150 (S$200) a trip to pick up and carry the bikes back.

Girginov has funded the effort until now, but expansion might prompt him to consider crowd-funding or seek sponsors, he said.Singapore's three main shared-bicycle operators, Ofo, Mobike and domestic firm oBike, appreciate his work."We're talking to Zhivko about how we can work together to build an even stronger bikesharing environment," said Sharon Meng, country manager of Mobike Singapore, adding that Mobike has given Girginov an unlimited usage pass to help him retrieve its bikes.Singapore has sought to discourage indiscriminate bicycle parking in public spaces. In 2017, the Land Transport Authority marked out 4,000 additional yellow bike parking areas around public housing estates, bus stops and train stations.

The initiative is one of many similar projects Giriginov has embarked on, and he considers the time and money well-spent.In his opinion, such "social experiments" provoke people to consider how they can make an individual contribution to society."Some of my friends tell me my efforts are futile," he said, after devoting New Year's Day to a bike retrieval expedition."But I believe we are part of a community and we should do what we can."

Source: Reuters/aa

Man fined $5k for hitting boy, 6, 'who had not been disciplined enough by his mother'

SINGAPORE - A man who slapped a six-year-old boy in the face because he believed his mother had not disciplined him firmly enough was fined $5,000 on Wednesday (Jan 10).Liow Chuan Tiong, 52, was chatting with friends at a playground when he saw a woman reprimand her son after he spit in a girl's face, a court heard.

The mother asked the boy to apologise, which he did in front of the girl's mother.But Liow felt that the child had not been disciplined enough.e walked up to the boy and slapped him once on the right cheek, causing mild swelling and redness.

The victim's mother shielded her son and led him away before calling the police.Liow was fined after he admitted slapping the victim at the playground in Boon Lay Avenue at about 7.30pm on Oct 8, 2016.Deputy Public Prosecutor Grace Chua asked that Liow be given the high fine of $5,000, citing the age and vulnerability of the victim.

She said he had no business to assault the victim, who cannot be named due to a gag order.
Pleading for a light sentence, Liow, who was unrepresented, said his own child was still studying at the Institute of Technical Education.Liow said he himself had started working four months ago but did not reveal his job.

"I have learnt (from) my mistake," he added.District Judge Kessler Soh said he did not understand why Liow took it upon himself to hit a child."Learn from this lesson, and do not allow yourself to lose your cool at all times," he told Liow.Liow paid $1,000 on Wednesday and will pay the balance through eight monthly instalments of $500 each.He could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000 for voluntarily causing hurt.

Business class passenger loses earrings worth $5k on SIA flight, staff unable to retrieve item

Stomper Shirley lost a pair of Van Cleef & Arpels earrings worth $5,000 on flight SQ832 from Singapore to Shanghai on Sep 19, 2017, and has been in contact with Singapore Airlines to work out compensation arrangements.Shirley’s husband first alerted Stomp to the incident through email, and we subsequently spoke to Shirley herself over the phone, during which she shared her experience on the business class flight.

She told Stomp that on the day of the incident, she had taken off her earrings and placed them on some napkins on the table due to the discomfort from wearing them while using the headset provided by the airline.Flight attendants then served Shirley her meal, and she was having it when she dozed off halfway. When she woke up, she found that her table had been cleared.Gone were the food tray, along with the napkins and the earrings.

She later found out that Flight Stewardess (FSS) Wong had cleared the table without her knowledge.
Shirley requested FSS Wong to retrieve the earrings immediately, but FSS Wong allegedly told her that she was having her meal and would do it later, despite the Shirley’s repeated emphasis on the value of the earrings. Shirley told Stomp that she even offered to search the bin herself but was supposedly rejected by FSS Wong.

FSS Wong also purportedly asked the reader if the earrings had diamonds on them, to which the S told her 'no', but they were Van Cleef & Arpels earrings, and had tremendous sentimental value to them since they were given to her by her husband as a birthday gift.   According to the Stomper, FSS Wong later informed Shirley that she was unable to search the bin thoroughly for the earrings as there were pieces of glass shards inside.

After the plane landed at Pudong Airport in Shanghai, FSS Wong apparently told the Shirley that she had advised the cleaning crew and ground staff to keep a lookout for the earrings, before leaving the plane. Through their conversation, Shirley was under the impression that the napkins were recyclable, and said FSS Wong reassured her that the earrings would probably be found during the cleaning process. Shirley added that FSS Wong had advised her to lodge a report at the Lost and Found counter within the airport.Said Shirley: "At that time, I was confused. Why would she ask me to report the loss at the Lost and Found counter when the earrings were lost on the plane?

"She was contradicting herself."
However, searching through the airport, she could not find a Lost and Found counter.
She thus decided to seek help from Singapore Airlines staff, but when she reached the company’s counter, found it closed. Upon asking other airport employees, she found out that it would only open at 9.30am, and she had to wait around four hours. Shirley waited in the airport until the counter opened, and told a local staff member, Zhang, about the incident on the plane.

Zhang allegedly told her that the ground staff did not receive any notifications from the cabin crew and cleaning crew, nor did FSS Wong inform them that anything was out of place. He said that Shirley that FSS Wong should have searched the bin for the earrings immediately, as chances of recovering them would diminish with time. Shirley became more upset after listening to his clarifications and believed strongly that FSS Wong should have immediately attended to her case instead of waiting.

The following day, Shirley and her husband received news that the company did not manage to recover the earrings. Since then, the couple has been in contact with Singapore Airlines to work out an agreement for the compensation of the earrings.According to Shirley, they received the first email from the company on Oct 20, 2017, where they were offered 10,000 KrisFlyer Miles.
The couple rejected the offer.They received a call from the company on Nov 3, to discuss the agreements again, although a consensus was not met. In another email on Nov 9, the company raised the amount to 18,000 Miles, which was rejected by the couple as well.Said Shirley: "We felt that the amount offered was too far off from the cost of the earrings, so we had to turn down the offer.
"I sent them at least two emails rejecting the offer, but they have not gotten back to me ever since."
Based on the redemption calculator on SIA's website, 15,000 KrisFlyer Miles can be used to redeem a return trip from Singapore to Jakarta on an economy flight (Saver Award Ticket).
Here are some comparisons for other Asian destinations with the same type of ticket:

• Bangkok: 25,000 KrisFlyer Miles
• Hong Kong: 30,000 KrisFlyer Miles
• Shanghai: 40,000 KrisFlyer Miles

Shirley’s husband, Mr Goh, told Stomp that the experience has left a bad impression on the two.
He said: "My wife is a kind person. She always thinks about other people. She had to remain patient and waited when the stewardess said she wanted to finish her own meal before trying to find her earrings.

"She also expressed the willingness to find the earring herself when the stewardess refused to look into the trash bin to search for it."

In response to a Stomp query, an SIA spokesman said: "Singapore Airlines regrets the disappointment experienced by our customer who travelled on SQ832 from Singapore to Shanghai on Sep 19, 2017.

"Efforts were made by our cabin crew and ground staff to search for the customer's misplaced items, but we were unable to retrieve them. We have been in touch with the customer on this unfortunate matter." source http://stomp.straitstimes.com/singapore-seen/business-class-passenger-loses-earrings-worth-5k-on-sia-flight-staff-unable-to

Boy in Yunnan braves freezing cold to go to school

A Primary 3 boy in Yunnan, China showed up in school red-faced, with frost coating his hair and eyebrows, after braving freezing conditions to walk 4.5km to school on the first day of his final exams.

The image melted hearts on Chinese social media site Weibo after the 8-year-old boy's principal shared photos of him on the site.People's Daily reported that the photos were taken at about 8.15am on Monday morning (Jan 8) by a teacher.

The newspaper quoted the principal of the school in Ludian county, Fu Heng, as saying: "It was -9°C in the morning and it was the first day of the final exam. The temperature had dropped in the last half an hour, and as he lives pretty far from school by the time he got to class his hair was full of frost."
"The child is cute, he made a funny face when he got to class, causing his classmates to burst into laughter," People's Daily quoted the principal as saying.

The student, identified by Pear Video as Wang Fuman, lives 4.5km from school and usually takes about 1.5 hours to walk to school, People's Daily reported

In an interview with The Paper, the child - since nicknamed "ice boy" by netizens - said he thought it was sunny when he left the house and so wore fewer layers of clothing.Pear Video reported that Wang lives in a mud house with his grandmother and older sister. His father works elsewhere as a migrant worker and his mother has left the family, the child said in an interview with the social media startup.Aside from attending school, the boy also helps his grandmother with farming work, resulting in his calloused hands.People's Daily reported that there is currently no heating in the school's classroom, although Fu said the school had been fighting for it.

 

The boy's plight drew sympathy online, with one Weibo user saying: "Child, the pain you go through now will light up your future path."Another netizen encouraged him to study hard to change his destiny.

Wang likes reading science fiction books about aliens and playing basketball and hopes to be a policeman so that he can "catch bad people", he told The Paper.He also said his New Year resolution was to study hard and get money to help treat his grandmother, who is ill.

Photo: China Daily/

Flood in S’pore failed to dampen golden Mercedes woman’s sunny disposition

Floodwaters inundated multiple areas in Singapore on Monday morning, Jan. 8, 2018.
The flood ruined many people’s day, with many vehicles stalled and commuters forced onto higher ground to stay dry.

For those who required help, the Singapore Civil Defence Force were around to lend a hand, as one of the areas to be flooded was Upper Changi Road — right in front of Changi Fire Station.
Others who were baffled by the sudden rising waters, relied on themselves to get out of the watery predicament.

Woman and her stalled car

One individual, who stood out during Monday’s flood, is this golden Mercedes woman driver:
As her car stalled in the middle of the road — like another vehicle opposite her — she could only throw her hands up and shrug her shoulders in disbelief, like is this really how she was going to start her week?

Seemingly unfazed, she was later photographed pushing her stalled car by herself, with pants rolled up in knee-deep waters.

The aftermath

Some follow-up photos have emerged on social media the next day, showing the aftermath of the flooded out golden Mercedes.
The woman most likely got her vehicle to the side of the road, but was no longer able to drive it as it appeared haphazardly parked by the curb.The note on her dashboard read: “Sorry. My car died in this morning’s flood. Will pick it up as soon as I can. Thanks.”

Following the publication of these aftermath images, there have been some speculation about the woman’s identity.Besides noting how independent she was and her sunny disposition given the conditions, some are guessing she could be a medical professional, judging by the same-coloured shirt and pants she was seen wearing.Others noted that regardless of vehicle type or how new it is, anything would have drowned under these circumstances.A pity, judging by how sturdy that old-school but looking slightly worse for wear Mercedes had been — until Jan. 8, 2018 when it finally met its match. source mothership.sg

Man arrested for armed robbery at Woodlands Checkpoint

SINGAPORE: A man armed with a sickle was arrested after he was involved in a stand-off with police officers at the Woodlands Checkpoint on Friday afternoon (Jan 5). Police said the 43-year-old man had stolen the car from a woman along Upper Bukit Timah Road. He then crashed the car into a lamp post just before Woodlands Checkpoint and was arrested at 1.45 pm.

The man was suspected to be under the influence of drugs. Controlled drugs, a knife, an axe and a sickle were found in his possession. He was arrested for armed robbery, possession of offensive weapons and suspected drug-related offences.

A video of the incident was uploaded onto Facebook by user Shuan Tan. She said her husband was at the checkpoint and witnessed the incident, which happened around 1.30pm.
According to her husband, the man crashed the red car at Woodlands Checkpoint and started to "go crazy". The man then took out a sickle and started shouting at other drivers to get down from their vehicle. When police officers told him to stop, the man did not respond.

In the video, the man was seen walking in an unsteady manner, holding a weapon in his right hand. A police officer was seen engaging with him. A subsequent video uploaded around 3pm showed numerous police officers at the scene, with the man subdued on the ground.
Police said investigations are ongoing. 

Source: CNA/ng

Ex-Singapore Idol Hady Mirza a Grab driver now

Singapore Idol Season 2 winner Hady Mirza is now a Grab driver.A screenshot of Hady’s Grab driver profile has been shared on social media the past few weeks.

The screenshot showed the profile photo of the 37-year-old.Also visible is his full name, Muhammad Mirzahady Amin. He drives a Toyota Wish.The “JustGrab” sign indicates that Hady signed up as a Grab driver. JustGrab automatically assigns the nearest vehicle, either a taxi or car, to the commuter.
Since winning the singing competition in 2006, Hady has been a motivator for local youth group FRHM Youth.

The singer-turned-entrepreneur-turned-Grab driver, known for his song, You Give Me Wings, also runs a chilli tempeh snack business.

If you’re a frequent Grab passenger, chances are you might come across a driver singing along to the tunes of “You Give Me Wings”.That’s because Singapore Idol’s Season 2 winner Hady Mirza is now a Grab driver, it seems.

A screenshot of the singer, entrepreneur and now JustGrab driver was shared on Facebook via the page @rilekonecorner in late December. It was shared again on @allsgstuff on Wednesday morning (3 January).The screenshot showed a profile photo of the 37-year-old, along with his full name, Muhammad Mirzahady Amin, and the type of car he was driving – a Toyota Wish.

The post was shared on the first Facebook page more than 300 times, with several commenters expressing their excitement. 

“Nice… I always take Grab. Would love to meet my Sg Idol!” said a Clark Kento.

“Wow. He’s working a lot huh,” said a Roseleeza Ramlee. Since winning the singing competition, Hady Mirza has spent a big part of his life as a motivator for local youth group FRHM Youth and running his chilli tempeh snack business.In 2014, he tied the knot with Malaysian Nurjannah Nur Wahid, who was selected by his mother.

Najib claims that S’pore government debt higher than our GDP, but here’s why you shouldn’t panic

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak wants to settle talk about government debt once and for all.
His former political ally turned rival, former PM Mahathir Mohamed, has repeatedly brought up the issue of Malaysia’s government debt during his campaign speeches.

Blog post

On Jan. 5, Najib wrote a blog post on his personal website to address the issue
Here’s a translated version of the first part of his post:

“Dear Malaysians, there is still a mistake and slander that the so-called Federal Government debt is at a dangerous level. I firmly state that this is not true at all. At the end of June 2017, the Federal Government’s debt amounted to 50.9 per cent of GDP, which is still below the Government’s designated limit of 55 per cent of GDP.
This shows that the Government’s debt remains manageable and it’s decreasing by 53.2 percent by the end of June 2016. This is an achievement that we should be proud of.”

So yay, well done.

Surprise diss track

But Najib didn’t stop there.
He threw in a dig at Singapore’s government debt levels in the next part of his post.

“Not only that, Government debt to GDP ratio is better than developed countries like Singapore at 112 percent, United Kingdom at 89.3 percent, Canada at 92.3 percent and many other examples.”

Is Najib right? According to the World Bank, the central government debt as a percentage of Singapore’s GDP stood at an eye-watering 117.2 per cent in 2016.
Is it time to panic?

Misleading statistic

Well no, because while the figures are accurate, they also paint a misleading picture.
The misunderstanding lies in the difference between gross debt and net debt.

• Gross debt is defined as the amount of debt the government owes, whether to itself or others.
• Net debt however takes into account the financial assets the government also holds.

For example, I have $100 but I still take out a bank loan of $100 to invest all in a small company.
After a while, the company succeeds, grows bigger and my $100 share has doubled to $200. I still owe the bank $100, but I have more assets ($200) now than before.
Meanwhile, I continue working and use the money I earn to pay off expenses for food, transport, etc. I don’t borrow from the bank to cover my spending.
That’s basically what the Singapore government has done. We don’t borrow to spend, but to invest. And our assets are worth much more than our liabilities.

No borrowing

The issue of high levels of government debt was previously addressed by the Ministry of Finance in 2012.

“Having debt means that we have liabilities. However, looking only at the liabilities alone (i.e. gross debt) does not discriminate between two countries with the same level of debt but with very different levels of assets.
In Singapore’s case, we do not borrow to spend. We instead invest all borrowing proceeds. All borrowings are thus backed by assets. What we earn in investment income from our assets is more than sufficient to cover the debt servicing costs. The Singapore Government in fact has a strong balance sheet with assets well in excess of our liabilities.
This makes us a net creditor country, not a net debtor country.
This is why international credit rating agencies give the Singapore Government the highest short and long-term credit ratings of AAA.”

MOF also stated regularly that it operates on a balanced budget over each term of Government and does not borrow externally to fund its yearly Budget.
Under the Constitution, the Government requires Presidential assent before they can borrow to fund spending.
In Nov. 2017, Malaysia’s Finance Ministry stated that RM22.7 billion (S$7.54 billion) of government debt was in offshore loans.
In contrast, the Singapore government has not borrowed to finance deficit expenditures since the 1980s, and Singapore has no external public debt.
So there’s no need to worry about debt other than the $20 you borrowed from your kakis for Christmas dinner that you haven’t paid back yet.mothership.sg

Top image by Florian Gaertner/Photothek via Getty Images

This Reason Why Local celebrity Sharon Au set to leave Mediacorp after 22 years of service

SINGAPORE: Actress and host Sharon Au is set to leave Mediacorp on Feb 1 after 22 years of service, according to an announcement made on Thursday (Jan 4).  The 42-year-old is getting ready to head to France to pursue other challenges.

“I look forward to exploring new opportunities in France where I had spent a year studying,” she told Channel NewsAsia."After 22 years of service to Mediacorp, I have decided to embark on a new professional challenge. The journey has been varied and interesting – I spent 10 years as an artiste, five years studying under a company scholarship for which I am eternally grateful, and the last seven in fashion and online portals management.

"It was a hard decision for me to resign, having dedicated more than half of my life to Mediacorp. With my resignation, I will be leaving the world of entertainment and fashion to pursue another path," she added in a media statement.Au has hosted popular television programmes such as the President's Star Charity and is the lead of Mediacorp's fashion community portal styleXstyle.

She is also the publisher of fashion magazine ELLE Singapore.After an extensive career in the entertainment and fashion industries, she will be pursuing other paths. Mediacorp wished her well in all her future endeavours.

"She has demonstrated her talent, passion and genuine curiosity in diverse areas of the business. We’re sure she will continue to do well and surprise and delight those around her. Sharon has all our very best wishes as she embarks on new adventures," said Mediacorp