Berita Hari Ini - 2007

fatz

Singapura : 12 Disember 2007         
         
AWAS! DUA REMAJA CUBA KUTIP DERMA DI WOODLANDS

Minta simpati penduduk dengan menggunakan nama syarikat yang sudah tutup

Oleh
Khalid Khamis

DUA remaja perempuan, yang mengutip derma dari pintu ke pintu kononnya untuk dana amal kanak-kanak dan orang tua, dipercayai cuba memperdayakan penduduk di estet Woodlands dengan menggunakan nama syarikat yang sudah gulung tikar.

Tembelang mereka diketahui apabila mereka mengetuk pintu seorang penduduk di situ yang kemudian membuat laporan polis.

Salah seorang remaja berkenaan telah mengunjungi flat Encik Kamal Abu Serah, 43 tahun, di Blok 787B Woodlands, malam Sabtu lalu.

Apabila berdepan dengan remaja itu, Encik Kamal memberi isyarat tidak berminat untuk menderma lalu menutup pintunya.

Tetapi kata-kata kesat remaja Melayu itu di belakang pintu membuat Encik Kamal rasa terguris dan mahu bersemuka dengannya. Beliau membuka pintunya semula tetapi remaja perempuan itu sudah menghilangkan diri.

Apabila Encik Kamal ternampak seorang lagi remaja Cina yang mengetuk pintu jirannya, beliau terus menyoalnya.

Kedua-dua remaja itu membawa sepucuk surat menggunakan nama syarikat 'Trust Leaf Worldwide' untuk meyakinkan penduduk tentang kesahihan kutipan mereka.

Encik Kamal, bapa dua orang anak, berkata: 'Saya membuat sedikit siasatan tentang nama syarikat dan mendapati ia sudah tidak beroperasi. Saya tak mahu budak-budak itu mengutip derma untuk diri sendiri dan dengan cara salah.'

Menurutnya, salah seorang remaja itu mendakwa mereka dari sebuah sekolah di Tampines.

Ketika dihubungi semalam, polis mengesahkan Encik Kamal telah membuat laporan di Pusat Polis Kejiranan (NPC) Woodlands.

Kes itu sedang disiasat dan polis menasihatkan orang ramai supaya memeriksa pas pengutip derma dengan teliti.

Bekas pengurus Trust Leaf, Encik Jackie Chan, 32 tahun, pula berkata syarikat penjualan langsung itu sudah ditutup sejak Oktober lalu.

'Ini mungkin kerja para remaja yang bekerja dengan syarikat kami semasa cuti sekolah dan tidak memulangkan semula surat-surat pengakuan daripada syarikat kami. Jadi saya nasihatkan orang ramai supaya berhati-hati,' tambah beliau.

Surat-surat itu mengesahkan si pemegang bekerja dengan syarikat itu dan digunakan apabila mereka membuat penjualan dari rumah ke rumah.

Menurutnya, sekitar 40 surat itu tidak dikembalikan dan beliau telah mendapatkan semula sekitar 10 surat tersebut apabila bertemu remaja-remaja di luar.

fatz

Benazir Bhutto assassinated in Pakistan
Posted: 27 December 2007 2059 hrs

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan : Pakistan opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a suicide attack on Thursday, just two months after the former premier returned from exile for a political comeback.

Bhutto, a two-time former prime minister, had just addressed a campaign rally for next month's parliamentary elections when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the venue, killing her and at least 10 other people.

There were unconfirmed reports that the attacker had also opened fire on her with a weapon before the explosion.

"It may have been pellets packed into the suicide bomber's vest that hit her," interior ministry spokesman Javed Cheema told AFP.

It was the second suicide attack at a Bhutto event since she had returned from exile in October, aiming to contest the elections, and comes amid an unprecedented wave of violence in the country.

The deadliest terror attack in Pakistan's history targeted her homecoming rally just hours after her return, leaving 139 people dead.

After that attack, authorities repeatedly warned her they had information that Islamic militants were trying to killer her.

Government officials said President Pervez Musharraf had been privately told of her death.

The killing will deepen the political crisis in Pakistan, where Islamic militants have vowed to disrupt the vote and Musharraf's opponents - including Bhutto - accused him of planning to rig the result.

There have been more than 40 suicide attacks in Pakistan this year that have left at least 770 people dead.

Bhutto, educated at Oxford and Harvard, became the first female prime minister of a Muslim country when she took the helm in Pakistan in 1988. Her father, also a Pakistani prime minister, was hanged by the military in 1979 after being ousted from power.

Recalling how she stood at his grave, Bhutto once wrote: "At that moment I pledged to myself that I would not rest until democracy had returned to Pakistan."

She had repeatedly accused President Musharraf of being dictator and had been campaigning with fierce criticisms of what she said was his autocratic rule, vowing her Pakistan People's Party would deliver democracy.

Her killing was immediately condemned by the United States, which counts Pakistan as a pivotal ally in the US-led "war on terror". - AFP/ac/de

fatz

       
Prima Food starts trial production under AVA supervision
By Chio Su-Mei, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 28 December 2007 1954 hrs

SINGAPORE: More than three weeks after Prima Food was ordered to shut down, the factory started its trial production Friday.

The entire process was conducted under the supervision of officers from the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) to ensure that Prima Food complied with manufacturing and hygiene practices.

The products tested Friday were the Hazelnut Indulgence, Chocolate Truffle, Truffle Divine and fresh cream cakes.

Food samples were also taken at every step of the operation for testing at the AVA's Veterinary Public Health Centre.

Preliminary test results should be released within the next two to three days. If necessary, more tests will be run to confirm the preliminary findings.

The Prima Food factory was ordered to close down earlier this month after a food poisoning outbreak that affected over 200 people, who fell ill after consuming PrimaDeli products.

Checks by the AVA had shown that the food poisoning was caused by the salmonella bacteria, which was detected in cake samples at its factory between 20 November and 1 December. - CNA/ac

fatz

       
Container truck driver run over by own vehicle, dies on the spot
By Lip Kok Wai/Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 28 December 2007 2026 hrs

SINGAPORE: A container truck driver was crushed to death Thursday in a freak accident at Gul Lane in Tuas.

Bok Weng Meng, 46, was believed to have parked his truck on a slope before he got off to secure it to the container unit. It was then that the vehicle moved forward and rolled over him.

According to the police, Mr Bok died on the spot, sustaining multiple injuries.

Relatives said they saw tyre marks on his abdomen and legs.

Family members were shocked by the accident, and his wife was so distraught that she almost fainted.

Although Mr Bok was not the sole breadwinner, his death will greatly reduce the family's household income.

Besides his wife, he leaves behind four school-going children who are between 12 and 17 years old. - CNA/ac

fatz

Fireworks display at Marina Bay countdown promises more surprises
By Chua Su Sien/Wong Siew Ying, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 28 December 2007 2303 hrs


SINGAPORE : The public can expect more surprises at the fireworks display during the New Year's Eve countdown party.

The eight-minute segment will include fireworks from nine pontoons on Marina Bay.

Workers are busy preparing for the year-end countdown bash at Marina Bay on December 31.

It will be orchestrated by fireworks choreographer Gideon Chiam.

He is the man responsible for the fireworks display at last year's countdown party and this year's National Day Parade.

This year, Mr Chiam promises some surprises.

He said, "It's the first time we've done (this) with a single pontoon in the middle, and surrounding eight other pontoons. So these other pontoons...we are using a lot of comets, a lot of tiger tails which are being angled in different ways, so (at) certain parts of the music, we can see the comets and tiger tails dancing with the music."

The nine pontoons are situated right in the middle of Marina Bay.

So workers had to lay electrical cables underwater to connect to the fireworks launchers.

That is not the only challenge.

Mr Chiam said, "Selection of fireworks is much more tedious (compared to) last year, because in terms of what we can fire on the water bed, these pontoons have their weight limitation."

Another first is that organisers will be using what is called the "carpet" fireworks, which will create a 'strobing' effect on the water surface.

The fireworks will be lighting up the skies to the score composed by renowned Singaporean musician, Iskandar Ismail. - CNA/ms

fatz

Singapura : 29 Disember 2007         
         
287,000 DAPAT HABUAN PERTAMA WIS SELASA

$146j diberi pada pekerja bawah Skim Tambahan Pendapatan Daya Kerja

SEBANYAK $146 juta akan diagihkan kepada kirakira 287,000 pekerja di bawah Skim Tambahan Pendapatan Daya Kerja (WIS) pada Selasa ini.

Habuan itu ialah bagi kerja yang telah dilakukan sepanjang enam bulan pertama tahun ini.

Ini merupakan bayaran pertama WIS. Bayaran kedua akan dikeluarkan pada April depan bagi pekerja dan Mei untuk mereka yang bekerja sendiri.

Lebih banyak pekerja dijangka menerima bayaran WIS apabila kerja sepanjang 2007 diambil kira.

Kementerian Tenaga Manusia (MOM) menyatakan para pekerja akan menerima bayaran WIS dalam dua bentuk - caruman ke dalam Akaun Simpanan Pekerja (CPF) dan tunai.

Komponen tunai akan diberi sama ada melalui akaun bank pekerja atau cek.

Bagi mereka yang bekerja sendiri (SEP) dan pekerja sambilan yang telah menyumbang kepada akaun Medisave, WIS akan dimasukkan ke dalam akaun tersebut.

WIS diperkenalkan pemerintah dalam Belanjawan pada Februari lalu bagi memberi pendapatan tambahan kepada pekerja bergaji rendah, iaitu $1,500 atau kurang sebulan, dan berusia lebih 35 tahun.

Di bawah WIS, pekerja berusia 35 tahun ke atas boleh mendapat habuan itu sehingga $900 setahun.

Mereka yang berusia lebih 45 tahun pula boleh mendapat sehingga $1,200 setahun.

SEP boleh menerima antara $600 dengan $800, bergantung pada umur.

SEP yang bekerja tahun ini dan masih belum mendaftar atau membuat sumbangan Medisave masih boleh melayakkan diri untuk mendapat jumlah penuh WIS melalui tiga cara menjelang 31 Mac depan:

# Mendaftar dengan Lembaga CPF

# Mengisytihar pendapatan kepada Lembaga CPF atau Penguasa Hasil Mahsul Singapura (IRAS)

# Menyumbang kepada Medisave.

Mereka yang membuat sumbangan bagi kerja yang dilakukan pada 2007 selepas 31 Mac depan akan menerima WIS selepas Mei.

Maklumat lanjut boleh didapati laman di www.wis.sg atau dengan mengirim e-mel kepada [email protected] atau menghubungi talian 18002222-888.

LoLiPoP

baru nak tepuk tangan sebab ingatkan dapat..baca balik rupanya tak qualify

fatz

Dec 30, 2007         
Monkey business at reservoir continues
By Arti Mulchand


contoh papan tanda


THERE are fines, heaps of signs, and numerous reports about monkeys attacking and feeders and picnicking families for food.

Yet many park-goers are oblivious, and seem to think the National Parks Board is monkeying around when it tells them not to feed the primates that call the reserves around Macritchie and Pierce reservoirs home.

On Sunday, barely five metres from a sign asking visitors to 'Stop feeding the monkeys... Fine $250' at Lower Pierce Reservoir, engineer Joseph Ng hung out with his sister, young niece and nephew, and maid, armed with a bag of bananas and small mandarin oranges.

Within seconds, he was surrounded by at least 15 fiesty long-tailed macaques, demanding to be fed, with yet more bounding over.

This, just a day after this newspaper reported that monkey-feeders were to blame for a horde of monkeys attacking a food-bearing pregnant lady and her toddler.

'It's just a way to entertain the kids... It's only natural for us to feed them,' he said, adding that he did not know feeding the monkeys was an offence. The sign he thought, was just a poster, and the 'fine is too small to read'.

'I didn't see it,' he declared, adamant.

So far this year, 151 people have been caught red-handed and fined. NParks may also up its fine, and rope in security companies to nab more culprits.

Mr Ng was among braver feeders - scores of other park goers were spotted throwing everything from fruit and potato chips to empty crisp packets to the scores of monkeys waiting on the road side from the safety of their cars.

But just as Mr Ng stated that he knew of the danger - and therefore just was more watchful of the primates - a cheeky long-tailed individual jumped up, twice ripping the red plastic bag he was clutching to free the rest of the treats.

According to the experts, feeding the monkeys changes their dietary habits and makes them aggressive when they are denied food.

They search for food outside the forest, recognise vehicles and plastic bags as potential food containers, and often end up invading homes around the nature reserves.

Read the full report in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.

fatz

Late applications for GST offset credits lead to long queues at CPF building
Posted: 31 December 2007 1639 hrs

SINGAPORE: For quite a number of Singaporeans, New Year's Eve meant, standing in a long queue outside the CPF Building.

At least 100 people were lining up at the Bishan branch on Monday, to get their GST Offset Credits.

31 December 2007 is the last day for those who do not make regular CPF contributions, to register for their GST Offset Credits.

The GST Offset Credits were introduced to help Singaporeans cope with the impact of the GST increase.

And many only now discovered that the deadline was 31 Dec.

Some Singaporeans revealed that they were unsure if they had to apply in person, so they just joined their friends in the queue.

The snaking queues could have been avoided if they had signed up earlier either via the website, at Community Clubs, Community Development Councils and even at SingPost branches.

Despite much coverage in the media and efforts by grassroots leaders to inform the public, more than 80 thousand Singaporeans had not registered to collect their credits, as of 26 December 2007.

The Finance Ministry said those who do not sign up by 31 December 2007, will not be eligible to receive their 2007 GST Credits and Senior Citizens' Bonus. And as of 26 December 2007, over 2.2 million Singaporeans or 96 per cent of the 2.3 million who qualify have signed up to receive their GST Credits.

Singaporeans only need to sign up once to receive their GST Credits and Senior Citizens' Bonus for all the four years from 2007 to 2010.

Those who do not sign up for their 2007 GST Credits will still be eligible for future payouts and will receive a notification letter to sign up for their 2008 GST Credits from the CPFB in May 2008.

But there will be no retrospective payment of 2007 GST Credits and Senior Citizens' Bonus.

More information can be found at www.gstoffset.gov.sg or you can call the CPF Board at 1800-2222-888. -CNA/vm