Missing S'porean found in shallow grave in Selangor

A Singaporean who was reported missing by his wife, about six months ago, was finally located on Wednesday in a shallow grave at a rubber estate in Selangor, Malaysia.

Initial police investigations have indicated the 40-year-old man was murdered elsewhere and his body buried at the rubber estate in Kajang.

A 40-YEAR-OLD Malaysian suspect has been detained by Johor police, in connection with the decomposed body of a Singaporean found on Wednesday.

He is believed to be a close friend of the deceased.

The body, recovered from a rubber estate in Kajang, Selangor, has been sent to a town hospital for a post mortem, Johor police chief Datuk Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said.

The decomposed remains are believed to be that of businessman Nelson Quek, 58, who was kidnapped on January 26 in Stulang, Johor Bahru.

According to reports, a RM$1 million ransom (S$405,300) was sought. Family members lodged reports with authorities in both Singapore and Malaysia.

However, Mr Quek subsequently dropped off the radar, and no further news was heard from him or his kidnappers.

Malaysian police discovered the body following the arrest of a suspect involved in a separate murder. The man later led authorities to the forested area in Kajang where the body was found.

Kajang is over 300 kilometres from where Mr Quek was kidnapped in Johor Bahru – a five hour drive by car.

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'Warrant card' flashed at woman for requesting seat

A simple request to a young couple to give up a priority seat on the MRT almost turned violent. It ended with a 62-year-old woman being verbally abused and harassed.

The incident took place on July 19, on a train heading towards Kembangan from Raffles Place and it was reported on STOMP.

At Kallang station, an elderly Malay man boarded the train, the woman then asked the couple to give up their seat to him.

Her requests were ignored. Incensed by the fact that they were taking up the seats reserved for the elderly and pregnant women, she snapped three photographs of them.

Click on thumbnail to view (Photos: STOMP)

As she was alighting, the girl demanded that she deleted the pictures that she had snapped earlier.

The elder woman refused and the couple alighted with her.

The elder woman claimed that she was then subjected to more verbal abuse by the younger woman, who continued to swear at her.

She then lunged at the older woman, but was stopped by her male companion. Fearing for her safety the woman told the couple that she was going to report them to the station security.

He then claimed that his female companion was not able to give up her seat as she was not feeling well.

The man then stepped forward and flashed a card at her. The elder woman was only able to spot the word, "Warrant" on the card.

The elder woman rushed home in a taxi and called SMRT to report the incident.

She was told by the officer to call back the following day as he had just taken over and did not want to be involved in the incident.

Another STOMP reader who claimed to be a friend of the girl in the photograph disputed the events of the incident.

Going by the moniker of 'AshCroft,' the reader said that the 'victim' was a lady in her 40s and not a 62-year-old. The reader also confirmed woman's male companion was a police officer.

The reader went on to add that warrant card was flashed because the older woman refused to cooperate and delete the pictures.

Instead the reader claimed that the woman ran out of the station screaming, "Someone wants to arrest me!"

A check on Singapore Legal Advice about laws constituting public photo taking, a similar incident was quoted.

The site claims that an uncensored photo can be constituted to defamatory, when broadcasted with accompanying text that accuses the main characters of wrong doing.

In such a case the subject in the photograph can seek legal recourse through a defamatory suit.

However, it is perfectly lawful to take photographs of others in a public place as long as the photos are decent and non-sexual in nature.

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Serial Toa Payoh Housebreaker Arrested

Between May 2011 and mid-July 2011, several cases of break-ins were reported at HDB flats situated in the vicinity of Toa Payoh housing estate. There were no obvious signs of forced entry and the culprit is believed to have gain entry by climbing in through the unsecured windows.

Following the reports, officers from Tanglin Police Division conducted intensive investigations and ground enquiries and eventually managed to establish the identity of the suspect. However, initial efforts to apprehend the suspect proved challenging as he had no fixed place of abode and employment.

Despite this, the officers continued to make enquiries and eventually succeeded in establishing his whereabouts. The suspect was arrested on 20 July 2011 at about 12.15am at Toa Payoh Estate. Several identity cards, work permit, ATM cards and credit cards were found in his possession. These items were later established to be stolen from the victims when their premises were broken into. Follow-up investigations also led to the recovery of a laptop and i-pad, from a shop at Geylang area.

The accused, a 24-year-old Chinese man, will be charged in the Subordinate Court on 21 July 2011 for an offence of Housebreaking and Theft by Night under Section 457 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. This offence carries a maximum imprisonment of 14 years.

Police would also like to advise the public to adopt the following measures to prevent housebreaking.

a. Ensure all doors, windows and other openings are well secured with good quality grilles and close-shackled padlocks;

b. Secure all doors and windows before retiring to bed or when leaving your house unattended, even for a short while;

c. Keep large sums of cash in banks and expensive jewellery in a safe deposit box;

d. Install an anti-burglar alarm system or close circuit surveillance camera to record movements within your premises. The alarm and CCTV system should be regularly serviced to ensure they are in good working condition;

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Doc censured for delivering baby using unacceptable procedure

A DOCTOR from Raffles Hospital has been fined and censured for delivering a woman’s baby with an instrument not regarded to be within the norms of acceptable medical practice.

The inquiry on him was convened in response to a complaint in November 2008 from the patient’s husband.

Aside from being charged over using what is called a Hegar dilator to enlarge his patient’s cervix to induce labour, Dr Koh Gim Hwee, 49, faced a second charge of failing to inform his patient of the risks in going for a vaginal delivery after she had previously undergone a caesarean section.

Doctors would usually discourage women who have had two caesarean sections from trying for a vaginal birth.

This is because a woman with a caesarean scar on her womb could suffer a uterine rupture along the scar line during natural labour.

He also faced a third charge over his inducing of labour for that delivery without getting his patient’s informed consent after being advised of the benefits and risks of doing so.

The Singapore Medical Council (SMC) fined him $10,000 and censured him following proceedings in April and last month.

Dr Koh, who contested all three charges and was acquitted of only the second one, also had to give written undertakings not to use the dilator to induce labour, and to advise his patients of the relevant risks.

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Leopard mauls 11 in fierce fight

A snarling leopard mauled 11 people in an Indian village and terrorized wildlife officials trying to drive it away before it was tranquilized and died of injuries from the fierce showdown.

Forestry officials were forced to flee, dive for cover and even climb up on a jeep to escape the adult, male leopard's attacks in West Bengal state.

At one point, the big cat leapt through the air, fangs bared, and tackled a man, clutching him in its giant paws as it knocked him off the wall he was standing on.

The wildlife officials — wearing protective helmets and carrying batons and tranquilizer guns — had hoped to drive the cat into a nearby wildlife sanctuary after it wandered into the village near Siliguri, about 373 miles (600 kilometers) from Kolkata.

But the leopard stood its ground, crouching on a wall, hissing and attacking those who came near.

It injured six villagers, a policeman and four forest guards before being hit with a tranquilizer gun Tuesday. The people are recovering from their injuries, mostly swipes from the cat's claws.

Forest official Dharma Dev Rai says villagers used knives, stones and batons to beat back the cat.

The cat died within hours after the showdown, and a post mortem is being conducted.

Leopards are protected in India, though more are straying into villages for food.

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Denilson leaves Arsenal to join Sao Paulo

Arsenal have confirmed midfielder Denilson has returned to former club Sao Paulo on loan for the 2011-12 campaign.

The 23 year-old, signed in Aug 2006, struggled to hold down a regular place in Arsene Wenger's side last season.

Denilson said: "I will be playing in Brazil next season as I felt that this is a good opportunity for me to play regular first-team football. I move away with sadness because I have so many friends at Arsenal and everyone has always been so supportive towards me. I wish them well for next season."

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MAS raises Singapore inflation forecast

THE Monetary Authority of Singapore has raised the inflation forecast by one percentage point to 4 to 5 per cent due to unexpected higher housing and car prices.

The consumer price index which moderated to 4.5 per cent in April and May 'is expected to creep back up to slightly above 5 per cent for the next couple of months before slowly trending down towards the end of the year', said Mr Ravi Menon, managing director of the MAS.

With more economic uncertainty from Europe and the United States, the MAS and the Ministry of Trade and Industry are also reviewing their economic growth forecast for the year, said Mr Menon.

'For now our sense is that the 5 to 7 per cent forecast range remains intact,' he said.

Mr Menon was speaking at a briefing on the MAS annual report, where the central bank reported a record $10.9 billion overall loss due to the strong Singapore dollar eroding investment gains of $12.3 billion.

'If we had reported our profit and loss in an international currency like the US dollar, it would show a healthy profit,' he said.

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Friendly: Manchester United demolish Seattle Sounders 7-0

Introduced as a second-half substitute, Wayne Rooney quickly cut loose, drilling home his first just after the re-start and completing his treble 18 minutes from time.

It was part of a seven-goal romp which takes the Red Devils' total in two games so far to 11, with Michael Owen, Mame Biram Diouf, Park Ji-sung and Gabriel Obertan netting the rest.

The only downside was a knock picked up by Rio Ferdinand near the end that left the defender limping at the final whistle.

United now fly to Chicago before further engagements in New Jersey and Washington and with just over three weeks to go before they begin their Premier League title defence

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Paraguay advances to Copa America final

Paraguay advanced to the Copa America final against Uruguay by beating Venezuela in a penalty shootout this morning (Singapore time) following a goalless draw.

Paraguay won the shootout 5-3; the only miss coming when Justo Villar stopped Franklin Lucena's shot. Dario Veron netted the final spot kick to set up Sunday's final against Uruguay, which beat Peru 2-0 in the other semifinal yesterday morning.

Venezuela, known more for its baseball, came up just short of reaching the final of the South American competition for the first time.

Paraguay advances to its first Copa America final since 1979 despite not having won any of its five matches so far. It eliminated Brazil in another penalty shootout in the quarterfinals.

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S'porean tour company offers space travel at $139,800 a person

SPACE flights are now possible as a travel agency in Singapore has been appointed by US-based Rocket Ship Tours to market tours at RM345,000 (S$139,828) per person, reported Sin Chew Daily.

Participants will experience a half-hour suborbital space flight during the five-day programme.

They will be taken to a resort at Camelback Mountain first, where preparations for the voyage and astronaut training will be conducted, including a medical examination and a fitting for the space suit required for the flight.

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Video: Police drop suspect with Taser after chase

Police took two people into custody after leading officers on a chase through the east Valley Tuesday morning.

The video showed nearly a dozen law enforcement vehicles surrounding a silver van stopped on Mesa Drive, south of McKellips Road.

At around 11:15 a.m. a female driver and male passenger came out of the vehicle. The driver walked toward officers, pulled her hair back and fell backward to the ground where she was handcuffed. It appeared police used a stun gun on her.

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Uruguay beats Peru to reach Copa America final (Video)

Luis Suarez scored in the 53rd and 58th minutes to lead Uruguay past Peru 2-0 and into the Copa America final.



Uruguay, which reached the semifinals of last year's World Cup, will be looking for a record 15th Copa America title in Sunday's final against either Paraguay or Venezuela, who meet in the other semi-final Wednesday in Mendoza. The final will be played on Sunday in Buenos Aires.

Peru, which was the worst team in South American World Cup qualifying just a year ago, has been one of the surprises of the South American championship and has played without its top two forwards, Jefferson Farfan and Claudio Pizarro.

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Hougang housebreaker arrested within 8 hours

Police have arrested a 45-year-old man who is believed to be involved in a break-in at Blk 620 Hougang Avenue 8 on Wednesday afternoon.

He made off with jewellery and cash with a total value of about S$6,500.

There were no signs of forced entry but the house spare key was missing.

This led to the suspicion that the culprit might be known to the house owner and had visited the premises.

Police managed to trace and arrest the culprit near Blk 114 Hougang Avenue 1 at about 8.00pm on Tuesday.

The suspect had already pawned away the stolen jewellery but which had since been recovered by the Police.

Investigations are still on-going.

If convicted, he could be jailed up to 10 years.

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This barber shop leaves some customers high

It was a barber shop that not only offered hair cuts but apparently also "highs" - in the form of illegal drugs.

On Monday, its dual operations came to an abrupt end after officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) raided the shop in Clementi and arrested a suspected drug trafficker, his suspected drug storekeeper and four suspected drug abusers.

CNB officers recovered about 1.4kg of heroin, 55.5g of "ice", 825.5g of cannabis, 34.6g of ketamine, 145 Erimin-5 tablets and eight Ecstasy tablets.

The total street value of the drugs is estimated to be more than S$261,000.

Cash amounting to about S$5,000 and two Singapore-registered vehicles were also seized. The CNB said yesterday that it had been monitoring the barber shop for more than a month.

The 46-year-old suspected drug trafficker, the shop's operator, would travel to neighbouring countries to collect drugs and then re-distribute them to his drug clients upon his return. He was assisted by an unemployed man, also 46, who allegedly acted as his drug storekeeper and runner.

On Monday, the suspected drug trafficker was seen coming out of the barber shop and retrieving a package from a black vehicle. CNB officers later stormed the shop and arrested him, the suspected drug storekeeper and two suspected drug clients.

That same night, CNB officers arrested two more Singaporean men, believed to be drug clients, near the barber shop.

The suspected drug trafficker and storekeeper, both Singaporeans, will be investigated for drug trafficking under the Misuse of Drugs Act. If convicted, both will face the death penalty.

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Clementi loanshark runners nabbed

A spate of attacks by loansharks in Clementi West, this month, saw the arrests of two suspects, yesterday evening.

The police said in a press statement today that officers from Clementi Police Division arrested two men, aged 19 and 20, in their latest crackdown on loansharks.

They said that since early this month, the police had received several reports of loansharks splashing paint and vandalising walls in the area.

On Tuesday, at about 6.40 pm, police officers spotted two men behaving suspiciously near a motorcycle near Blk 603 Clementi West Street 1.

Officers moved in and found two marker pens and a can of paint on one of them.

One of the suspects is a debtor-turned-runner and both are believed to have harassed victims for a loanshark.

They will be charged in court tomorrow with loanshark harassment under the Moneylenders Act (Revised Edition 2010).

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Bacteria in counterfeit CIBA Vision contact lenses

The Health Sciences Authority confiscated over 100 boxes of counterfeit coloured contact lenses after raiding five optical shops across the island. More than 10 people are also being questioned in connection to the case.

This is the first case of counterfeited health products being sold by legitimate suppliers such as licensed optical shops. Previous cases had always been restricted to the black market.

The counterfeits were fraudulently labelled as "FreshLook ColorBlends" Contact Lenses from CIBA VISION and found to be unsafe and of poor quality --- for instance, the solution in which the lenses are packed were tested and determined to have been contaminated with a harmful bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which is known to cause serious eye infections.

Investigations are still ongoing but HSA is issuing a warning advisory to customers as these contact lenses are still in circulation, and the packaging for the counterfeit is very similar to the actual thing.

Any persons found supplying counterfeit medical devices such as contact lenses are liable to a penalty of $100,000 and/or a jail term of up to 3 years if convicted.

Please email The Straits Times if you have encountered problems with this product. Members of the public who are aware of counterfeit health products being sold are encouraged to contact HSA's Enforcement Branch at Tel: 68663485.

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Business as usual for Borders here

On Monday, Borders Group, the second-largest bookstore chain in the United States after Barnes & Nobles, announced that it will sell itself to a group of liquidators led by Hilco Merchant Resources and Gordon Brothers Group.

It will close its 399 stores and lay off 10,700 staff in the US as early as Friday.

However, this does not affect the two Singapore stores as they are owned by Australian firm REDgroup Retail, which bought them from Borders Group in 2008.

The latter had brought the brand here in November 1997 when it opened its first overseas store at Wheelock Place.

Borders Singapore's executive manager, Ms Inge Wilhelm, said via e-mail: "Borders Singapore has no affiliation with Borders USA.

"Naturally, as fellow book retailers, any further store closures in the US is met with sadness on our part."

"Nothing, however, has changed here in Singapore, (and) we continue to conduct business as usual."

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Doctor accused of molesting Changi hospital staff

A DOCTOR was charged in court yesterday with molesting a female employee of Changi General Hospital (CGH) when he worked there.

Indian national Thiyagarajan Mathimaran, 33, is alleged to have squeezed the breast and later brushed against the buttocks of the 42-year-old in a staff toilet between 3pm and 3.30pm on Jan 1.

The tall and bespectacled doctor, who is no longer with the hospital where he was attached to the urology department, was represented by Mr K. R. Manicka.

He had worked in two other hospitals here before being posted to CGH last year.

Mr Manicka asked for four weeks to make representations to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

District Judge Christopher Goh extended Thiyagarajan’s police bail of $5,000 until the next mention on Aug 16.

If convicted of outrage of modesty, he can be jailed for up to two years, fined, caned or receive any combination of the punishments.

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Man stabbed 5 times with ice pick over petty incident

They knew each other and had been regulars at Grand City KTV & Lounge at City Plaza on Geylang Road.

But at around 1am on Oct 14 2009, an argument broke out between 64-year-old businessman David How Kim Fwee and Mr Sim Kim Hock, 46, a manager of an entertainment business.

The reason: During a game of billiards, How’s cue stick hit Mr Sim’s beer jug as the latter was pouring beer for his friends.

A heated exchange followed, but both parties cooled down when a mutual friend, Mr Raymond Ong Sim Eng, 49, intervened.

How continued with his game, but was still fuming.

He went behind the bar and picked up an ice pick, which he eventually used to stab Mr Sim to death at the carpark outside the lounge.

Yesterday, How appeared before the High Court and pleaded guilty to a charge of culpable homicide.

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