Thursday, May 29, 2008

I got this from yahoo.. Hmm.. Read if you're bored..


SINGAPORE (AFP) - - Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew and his son Premier Lee Hsien Loong sought "unprecedented" damages Wednesday as the trial of an opposition leader for defamation came to an emotional climax.
The Lees, stung by two days of cross-examination by Chee Soon Juan, secretary general of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), asked a Supreme Court judge to punish the pro-democracy activist for his behaviour in court.

Their lawyer, Davinder Singh, said Chee acted like a "hooligan" and exhibited "loutish behaviour" when he grilled the two leaders on the witness stand and ignored the judge's admonitions about his manner of questioning.

Singh said that despite a court injunction, Chee repeated allegations of corruption against the Lees in court and posted them on the Internet, an action that merits an "unprecedented award" of damages.

"The case for substantial damages is very compelling," he said.

Chee, summing up his defence, told the packed courtroom he stood by everything that was written in a party publication at the heart of the case, but added he harboured no personal hatred against the Lees.

"I do not hate Lee Hsien Loong, I do not hate Lee Kuan Yew and I do not wish them ill for what they have done and continue to do to me and my family," he said.

Chee had been found guilty of defamation over allegations of government corruption made in an SDP newsletter ahead of general elections in May 2006.

The SDP and Chee's sister and fellow pro-democracy activist Chee Siok Chin were named as co-defendants.

Defence lawyer M. Ravi, representing the SDP, said the Lees only deserved to be awarded a token 50 Singapore cents (37 US cents) because their reputations were not hurt by what the SDP and the Chees said.

Hearings were held this week to determine the amount of damages and the Lees took the witness stand to press their case, allowing the defendants to cross-examine them.

Chee, acting as his own lawyer, used strong language as he questioned the record of the Lees and the necessity of strict political controls in Singapore, now Southeast Asia's most economically advanced society.

The Lees -- the father was prime minister from 1959 to 1990 and his son came to power in 2004 -- dismissed Chee's attacks and said he further damaged their reputations during the cross-examination.

The Lees and other Singapore leaders have won hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages from lawsuits against members of the country's tiny opposition.

Chee is already bankrupt after failing to pay 500,000 Singapore dollars (365,000 US) in libel damages to the elder Lee and another former prime minister, Goh Chok Tong, for remarks he made in the 2001 elections.


SINGAPORE: Another child has been hospitalised with encephalitis or inflammation of the brain after contracting the Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD).

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said the 10—year—old boy had been in contact with an active HFMD cluster in his school.

He developed symptoms on May 19 and was seen by a general practitioner who diagnosed the disease.

After he developed seizures on May 23, he was admitted to the intensive care unit the same day. His condition has since improved, and he is now in a general ward.

The boy’s throat swab tested positive for Enterovirus 71 — which MOH said continues to show a high circulation, with 32 percent of the samples tested positive for the virus so far this year.

The latest development came amidst a declining number of HFMD cases. It fell by 22 percent to 729 cases in the week ending May 24, compared to 940 cases reported the week before.

The total number of infections so far this year stood at 13,401. Twelve cases required hospitalisation because of poor feeding.

Last week, two preschools and childcare centres were ordered to close for 10 days, while another five were advised to close voluntarily to break the chain of virus transmission.



SINGAPORE: Emergency relief efforts in parts of Myanmar’s Irrawady Delta are still at Stage One, four weeks after Cyclone Nargis battered the country’s south. And time is running out for the farmers if they are to plant the next season’s rice crop.

That’s the assessment of a Myanmar—based Singapore—listed company, Yoma Group, which has employees bringing aid to some of the worst—hit Delta regions.

Local employees of the investment holding company made their way to a village on Hainggyi island.

Serge Pun, Chairman, Yoma Strategic Holdings, said: "I’ve never seen something like that. It’s really bad. The amount of devastation, the severity of it was unprecedented in Myanmar."

Mr Pun said a lot of the farmland has been destroyed by salt water and silt. He warned that if surviving villagers are not re—settled within three weeks, they will miss the planting season and will not have any income for the next seven months.

Yoma is the first private company the Singapore Red Cross is working with in its Myanmar relief efforts. And together, they aim to distribute the much—needed aid, some of which is still held up in Yangon.

There is already a Singapore government medical team based in Twante, about two hours from the capital. But for the Yoma Group, they have direct access into the worst hit part of the region, which is the southern part and it is only accessible by boat.

Thus, turning to the local supply chain for help made perfect sense.

Christopher Chua, Secretary—General, The Singapore Red Cross, said: "They’ve got resources and people on the ground, so that’s why it’s easier for them to get through.

"And up till now, until recently, they did not allow us to get into the delta region. So that’s why we have to look for other avenues to get our aid to the Myanmar people."

By last Friday, Yoma and the Red Cross had delivered four pre—fabricated medical barracks to Ngapudaw, Hainggyi Island and Hlaing Bone township in the Delta region.

This brings the number of temporary medical buildings the company has set up in affected areas to six. Yoma has also deployed 1,000 staff, all Myanmar nationals, to help in relief efforts



Read more news about Singapore and start getting updated.. =X


She ended her story at 1:00:00 AM

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.Shu Ting.
.Twenty.One
.24.November.
.Sagittarius.
.Needs Plenty Freedom.
.Love The Nature.
.Love Baby.
.Ngee Ann Poly Student Nurse
.A Future Nurse To Be.



[[ Wishes!]]

#1. Go Ubin to cycle
#2. Score at least 3.0 GPA this semester *awaiting 14 mar to come*
#3. Mahjiong session at home
#4. Bowling
#5. K Box
#6. Kayaking
#7. Rock Climbing
#8. Counter-Stike session
#9. Complete my stupid SGH posting for the last sem of Yr 2
#10. NIL

last revised : 4th May 2008