Football: Instructor Under CPIB Investigation
SINGAPORE: A Football Association of Singapore (FAS) coaching instructor is helping the Corrupt Practices Investigations Bureau (CPIB) in a probe over allegations that he sought kickbacks to pass candidates attending the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) 'C' certificate courses he conducted.
The man, whose identity is being withheld as investigations are on-going, allegedly approached them during the course and in private meetings for donations to help his sick grandchild.
It is believed he also illegally solicited money from candidates to invest in business deals he was involved in. “We are aware of this matter and will monitor the situation closely,” said FAS senior head of game development Jita Singh.
Each AFC 'C' certificate course lasts a fortnight and candidates must pass two theory and two out of three practical tests conducted and assessed by an AFC 'A' certified coaching instructor and his assistant.
A certified coach, who declined to be named, said instructors are paid a daily allowance and are given independence in conducting courses.
“We do all the assessments ourselves, and I make it a point to discuss assessment issues with the coach assisting me on the course. But as there are little checks on us when we conduct the course, our integrity is important,” he said.
He added the FAS should screen potential candidates for course instructors before sending them for certification.
Sources told TODAY that the coach helping the CPIB investigations has a history of asking colleagues for loans and not repaying them.
Other witnesses have also been interviewed by investigators.
When asked to comment, the CPIB issued a statement that they take a serious view of corrupt practices in Singapore, adding:
“We regret that we cannot confirm or deny whether any person or entity is or will be the subject of any criminal investigation by the bureau.” -
Channel News Asia
S'pore Opens Doors To Top Scientific Talent
SINGAPORE: Singapore will continue to welcome top international scientists to work here with local scientific talent.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Office S Iswaran said the government has earmarked S$3.7 billion, or about a quarter of public R&D investment to support five thrusts in the Biomedical Sciences in the next four years (2011 to 2015).
Key among these thrusts is to attract the most capable and committed scientific talent to nurture and sustain a world-class research hub.
Speaking Wednesday morning at a biomedical science (BMS) conference at the Biopolis, Mr Iswaran said: “Our accent will continue to be on attracting and nurturing top scientific talent, and fostering deep and broad collaborative research across the BMS landscape.”
The conference attracted participants from 19 countries.
Mr Iswaran said another key thrust is to double Singapore's pipeline of world-class clinician-scientists by 2015.
He said this is to help grow talent pool and thought leadership in Asian diseases and in areas such as cancer, neurosciences, eye diseases, infectious diseases, and metabolic disorders.
- CNA/cc
Channel News Asia
Sepah Berpecah! Jeff & Shuib Bergabung
Ditulis oleh wahida othman
Juara Maharaja Lawak 2011 yang juga merupakan Juara Raja Lawak musim Ketiga disahkan berpecah secara rasminya pada bulan Ogos yang lalu.
Biarpun sebelum perkara ini berlaku, ketiga-tiga ahli kumpulan ini menafikan khabar angin yang mengatakan Sepah mengalami masalah dalaman yang kuat dan mungkin akan berpecah, namun akhirnya mereka mengesahkan tentang perpecahan itu semalam.
Sepah dianggotai tiga orang anak muda iaitu Mohd. Noor Murad (Mamat), Shahmira Muhammad (Shuib) dan Mohd. Nazri Zainal Abidin (Jeff) dikatakan mengambil keputusan ini biarpun berat hati pada awalnya.
Namun, sebulan selepas perkara ini berlaku, Jeff dan Shuib mengambil keputusan untuk menubuhkan sebuah kumpulan baru iaitu Sepahtu tanpa kehadiran Mamat.
“Secara rasminya kami (Sepah) telah berpecah selepas menjayakan konset Maharaja Lawak Raya yang lepas, dan sewaktu saya dan Shuib beraya di rumah Mawi hujung September yang lalu, kami ada berbincang untuk menubuhkan satu lagi kumpulan untuk saya dan Shuib.
“Selepas berbincang saya dan Shuib bersetuju untuk menubuhkan Sepahtu, dan bernaung dibawah syarikat MW Entertainment Sdn Bhd dan Sheikh Qalam Records.
“Jujurnya, memang saya sayang dengan Sepah, sebab itu nama kumpulan baru ini juga mengambil sedikit nama Sepah, namun ada beberapa faktor yang membuatkan kami terpaksa berpecah sebelum ini,”jelas Jeff
Kenapa tiada pembabitan Mamat?
“Tawaran ini dibuat secara individu oleh pihak syarikat, jadi mereka yang membuat pilihan antara kami berdua.
“Sebenarnya tiada masalah antara kami dan Mamat, cuma mungkin kami tidak lagi bersefahaman untuk bergandingan bersama.
“Kami tidak bermusuh antara satu sama lain, keputusan untuk berpecah ini sudah terlalu lama, iaitu semenjak kami dalam Raja Lawak lagi, dan sewaktu Maharaja Lawak, memang kami nak umumkan berpecah, tetapi kami tidak sampai hati untuk menghampakan peminat yang mengundi,”jelas Jeff
Adakah Mamat punca perpecahan ini berlaku?
“Saya tidak mahu memburuk-burukkan dia, lagipun dia juga mencari rezeki dalam bidang ini. Tapi, kami tidak boleh bertahan sahaja, setelah menasihatinya berkali-kali, dia masih dengan perangai lamanya.
“Ini kerjaya utama dan ini juga rezeki utama saya sekarang ini, jadi kalau boleh saya tidak mahu ia tersekat kerana beberapa sebab yang buat saya lakukan.
“Seperti Shuib, dia juga sudah mempunyai isteri dan bakal mempunyai anak, jadi kami perlu serius dalam berkarya dan bekerja, jadi saya tidak mahu ada perkara yang menjatuhkan kami dalam industri ini.
“Kehadiran kami semula dalam Sepahtu bukanlah untuk mencari jalan sengketa dengannya apatah lagi mahu menampakkan siapa yang salah ataupun jahat. Tetapi, untuk berkarya dengan tenang dan serius.
“Sepah tidak akan bersatu kembali, sebab bagi saya itu semua sudah terkubur,”jelas Jeff lagi.
Projek Sepahtu?
“Untuk Sepah, projek terakhir kami adalah Sepah Then Movie yang akan memulakan penggambaran pada 12 Oktober ini, kami terpaksa selesaikan penggambaran ini sebab ia sudah ditandatangani sejak awal dahulu lagi.
“Selepas pada itu kami akan tumpukan penuh perhatian pada Sepahtu, selain sebagai pelawak, kami juga akan merakamkan album dan berlakon. Segala urusan kerjaya kami diuruskan oleh MW Entertainment
Mangga Online
Big Bang's G-Dragon Busted For Smoking Marijuana
SEOUL: Korean authorities found K-pop boy band Big Bang's leader G-Dragon guilty of smoking marijuana, reported Korean media.
Korean police said Wednesday G-Dragon's urine tested negative for drugs when they conducted a drug test on the star in June, but further tests on samples of his hair in July turned up traces of marijuana.
The results suggest that G-Dragon had used marijuana sometime in May.
G-Dragon, whose real name is Kwon Ji Yong, had since confessed that he had indeed smoked marijuana at a club in Japan, when he visited the country earlier this year.
“At a club in Japan, I can't remember the name, a Japanese man gave me a cigarette that smelled different from regular cigarettes.
“I suspected that it was marijuana but it is true I smoked the cigarette,” investigators quoted G-Dragon as saying.
Under Korean law, marijuana users can be sentenced to a maximum of five years jail or fined up to 50 million won (S$55,000).
However, Korean authorities have chosen not to indict the 23-year-old star (which would have left him with a criminal record), but instead let him off with a warning, citing the extremely low levels of Marijuana detected in their tests and the fact that it is G-Dragon's first such offence.
“I am embarrassed,” said Yang Hyun Suk, CEO of YG Entertainment, G-Dragon's management agency.
Yang added that the company will release an official statement on the matter “once all the facts have been verified” and that “G-Dragon is reflecting on his actions”.
This incident is a big blow for G-Dragon, who is scheduled to release a new album later this year.
-CNA/ha
Channel News Asia
Killer Litter Hits Cleaner
SINGAPORE: A cleaner working in Yishun was hit by killer litter on Tuesday afternoon.
The cleaner, who is employed by Clean Solution, was hit by a mirror that dropped from a flat while he was carrying out his job at Blk 254 Yishun Ring Road.
His forehead was cut by the mirror.
Residents called the police and ambulance.
The cleaner was sent to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, where he received treatment.
A spokesperson from the Sembawang-Nee Soon Town Council confirmed the incident happened at about 1.30pm.
Police are investigating.
-CNA/wk
Channel News Asia
Girlfriend Recalls "coughing" As Jackson Lay Dying
LOS ANGELES – A cocktail waitress and friend of Michael Jackson's doctor Conrad Murray recounted Tuesday how she heard mumbling and coughing while on the phone to him at around the time the singer was dying.
Sade Anding testified that Murray called her at 11:51am on June 25, 2009, when she was in Houston and he was at Jackson's rented mansion, trying to help the star get to sleep.
About five or six minutes into the conversation she realised that Murray was no longer answering, and the sound became muffled, as if the telephone was in a pocket.
“I said 'Hello, Hello,' and I didn't hear anything .. I pressed the phone to my ear,” she told the LA Superior Court. “I heard mumbling of voices … and I heard coughing,” she added.
She listened to the muffled noises for about three to four minutes before hanging up, she said, adding that she tried twice to call him back, but got no answer.
Murray is accused of involuntary manslaughter over the singer's death, allegedly by administering an overdose of the powerful sedative propofol while trying to help Jackson with his insomnia.
The trial has already heard from paramedics who arrived at Jackson's Holmby Hills mansion at 12:26pm after receiving a 911 call at 12:21pm – about 20 minutes after the mysteriously-ended phone call with Anding.
Anding had met Murray in February 2009 at a steakhouse restaurant in Houston, where the doctor came in as a guest. The pair stayed in touch over the next four months, up to Jackson's death, the court heard.
She said the pair were friends, although Murray once “playfully” referred to her as his girlfriend.
The waitress recalled how the following month she was told that LA detectives were trying to contact her. She called Murray to tell him about the interest from the LA Police Department (LAPD).
“He told me, 'Why are they calling you? I'm so sorry they're contacting you',” she said, before giving her his lawyer's details, and telling her to call the attorney before getting back to the LAPD.
The court also heard on Tuesday from Nicole Alvarez, who was living with Murray and had a son by him in March 2009, and still lives with him in her apartment in Santa Monica.
Alvarez, a 29-year-old actress who met Murray in a club in Las Vegas in 2005, described how Murray would routinely leave at around 9:00pm to look after Jackson, and return the next morning.
The trial has heard testimony about how the 58-year-old medic would stay at Jackson's mansion overnight to care for the singer, who was also regularly seeing a dermatologist and was found to be on a cocktail of drugs when he died.
Alvarez also told of her excitement when the doctor surprised her by introducing her to Jackson. I was speechless when I met him. I couldn't believe I was meeting Michael Jackson,” she said, an excited smile on her face.
Jackson was “interested” in her baby son, who was born three months before the star's death. “He wanted to schedule visits so that he could see my son,” she told the court.
In the final months of his life they were busy preparing to leave for London, to accompany Jackson on his “This Is It” series of concerts at the O2 Arena, for which he was rehearsing when he died.
“I thought I was going to see the show,” she said, adding: “I never finished packing.”
- AFP/al
Channel News Asia
IPhone 4S Sales Ban Sought
SEOUL: South Korea's Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it would seek a ban in France and Italy on sales of Apple's newly released iPhone, in the latest round of its legal battle with the US technology giant.
A spokesman for Samsung warned that it was “virtually going into an all-out war” with Apple as the two computer giants continue to row over copyright infringements.
Samsung said in a separate statement it would file preliminary injunctions in the two countries to ban sales of the iPhone 4S, citing what it called two patent infringements regarding mobile technology.
The company said it would also file preliminary injunctions in other countries “after further review”.
The move came a day after Apple unveiled its iPhone 4S, which goes on sale in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Britain on October 14 and in another 22 countries including Italy from October 28.
“Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free-ride on our technology, and we will steadfastly protect our intellectual property,” Samsung said.
The world's number two mobile phone maker claimed the US firm infringed its technology patents on wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) standards for 3G mobile handsets.
It said the infringed technology was essential to the reliable functioning of telecom networks and devices and described Apple's violation as “too severe”.
The two firms are already at loggerheads in a series of patent lawsuits over the technology and design of smartphones and tablet computers.
But Samsung will become more aggressive from now on, the spokesman told AFP on condition of anonymity. “We are virtually going into an all-out war”, he said.
The battle began in April in the United States when Apple accused Samsung of “slavishly” copying its market-leading iPhone and iPad.
Apple has since sought a ban on sales of Samsung's Galaxy S and Galaxy Tab in Germany, Australia and other countries, prompting Samsung to file counter-suits.
Apple won a crucial battle with Samsung in Germany last month when a court ruled the Galaxy Tab had copied the iPad, and banned it from sale in the country.
But Samsung filed counter-complaints in France, vowing to defend its presence in Europe.
-AFP/wk
Channel News Asia
COE Prices Up Only In 3 Categories
SINGAPORE: Contrary to expectations, COE prices in the first bidding exercise in October were higher in only three categories.
Car dealers had expected COE prices this round to rise sharply, after the Transport Ministry announced plans to cut the growth in Singapore's vehicle population.
But in the tender that ended on Wednesday, the COE price for big cars fell S$1,289 to S$63,600 while that for small cars, which include taxis, rose S$2,283 to S$50,289.
Meanwhile the COE price for the open category – where the COEs can be used for any vehicle type but are normally used for cars – increased S$2,556 to S$65,058.
For goods vehicles and buses, the COE prices rose S$2,712 to S$32,801.
Motorcycle COE prices, however, decreased S$31 to S$2,078.
Car dealers said the impact of the government's decision will likely be felt in the next round of bidding.
Auto Eurokars general manager Michael Peck said: “In response to the recent news from the Ministry of Transport, the medium- to high-end car companies will react by pushing out innovative, value-for-money propositions for consumers.
“The impact may be greater towards the lower-end, entry-level car market because we are looking at an entry-level car being at least S$90,000 to S$100,000, if the COE is going to increase further.
“Therefore, I think the impact to small cars is more substantial.”
But some dealers said COE prices are determined by other factors.
Cycle & Carriage Kia senior manager Chin Kee Min said: “One is the growth which our minister (Lui Tuck Yew) talked about.
“Another factor is the deregistration figure, which is a factual figure. It's uncontrollable.
“So it also depends on how these factors are going to be balanced.
“It might just be that one cancels out the other, or one is slightly more than the other.
“So the net impact is very hard to determine and only going to be determined in the next round of adjustments in February.
“I believe a lot of the consumers might not feel the effect so soon.”
Observers said the increase in premiums for small cars is mainly due to taxis taking up most of the quota, whereas the increase in the Open Category is the result of dealers bringing in new models.
-CNA/wk
Channel News Asia
Subway Sues Singapore Firm Over Trade Mark
SINGAPORE: A nyonya kueh chain in Singapore has been embroiled in a legal tussle with American sandwich chain Subway.
The owner of the sandwich chain, Florida-based Doctor's Associates, is suing the owner of Singapore company Subway Niche for trade mark infringement.
The hearing started on Tuesday.
According to Subway's website, which has been selling sandwiches since 1965, it is the world's largest fastfood chain with 35,383 stores in 98 countries.
There are five Subway Niche outlets in Singapore – the first of which was opened in 1987 in the basement of Wisma Atria – which sell local favourites such as nyonya kueh, nasi lemak, mee siam and mee rebus. It also sells sandwiches, cakes and pastries.
On October 29, 2007, the owner of Subway Niche received a “cease and desist” letter from Subway alleging that the former had infringed on its trademark rights. About a year later, the case went to court but it was subsequently dismissed.
In May last year, the American sandwich chain recommenced legal proceedings against Subway Niche. The hearing continues on Wednesday. -
Channel News Asia
NSman Charged With Having Sex With Minor
SINGAPORE: A 22-year-old National Serviceman was charged in court on Wednesday with having sex with an underage student.
The girl, who cannot be named to protect her identity, was 15 years old when the offences were first committed in May 2008.
The accused was charged with three counts of having sex with a minor, one count of sexual exploitation of a minor and one count of criminal intimidation.
He allegedly committed the offences on five occasions between May 23, 2008 and June 2009 at a flat in Jurong.
He also allegedly performed oral sex on her and threatened to post her nude pictures online.
His case will be heard again on November 14.
- CNA/cc
Channel News Asia