A man is playing the mridangam drum on a makeshift stage in a courtyard at the Sri Mariamman Temple in Chinatown.

Across the courtyard, worshippers clasp their palms together in a show of devotion to the temple's deities, while volunteers nearby pluck neem leaves to prepare for prayers.

The festivities are part of the Navarathri festival, a nine-day celebration from Oct 1 to 10 that is part of the lead-up to the annual fire-walking festival to be held this Sunday.

Singapore's oldest Hindu temple has been a venue for the festival for more than 170 years.

"More than 4,000 male participants will walk on fire. It's one of the larger-scale festivals in the region," said chairman of the temple management committee S. Nallathamby, 57.

"During the ceremony, the grass patch is dug up and we replace it with charcoal," he added, pointing to the plot of land, about 6m by 3m, next to the stage.

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Oldest temple in S'pore draws crowds every day

Source:

The Straits Times

Devotees walk across hot coals in exchange for a wish or blessing granted by the goddess Draupadi.

The event has become so popular that the temple now streams a live telecast of the festival online for viewers to watch from home.

Visitorship to the temple throughout the year has also grown, said Mr Nallathamby.

Set up in 1827, the temple is the oldest in Singapore and was gazetted as a national monument in 1973.

Today, it hosts around 300 tourists on any given day, up from about 100 from five years ago, Mr Nallathamby said.

It is also on more travel itineraries.

"Whoever goes to Chinatown, will visit the temple," he said, adding that more tourists are bused to the temple as well.

He said: "In the old days, there were not so many visitors... there was not so much awareness. Today, it is so widely publicised, also because of social media... It has a lot of history behind it and that probably brings the crowd."

First built as a humble wood and attap structure in 1827, the Sri Mariamman Temple was founded by Penang government clerk Naraina Pillai, who accompanied Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore, on his second visit to the island in 1819.

Many of the temple's early devotees were Hindus who came from South India to Singapore to work as coolies, craftsmen or merchants.

The temple was a place of lodging for new immigrants till the 1900s, and also the registry of marriages, births and deaths for Hindus.

Mr Nallathamby remembers his visits during the 1960s. "As a child, I used to go with my parents to the temple, we were living close by in Tanjong Pagar," he said.

"In the early days, the place didn't have paved stones. It used to be full of sand. As kids, we used to play around with the sand."

Entire families would go to the temple on Fridays. Children would play while the parents prayed. "It was a space of social gatherings."

For retiree Ratha Krishan, 69, who started visiting the temple regularly after meeting his wife when he was 18, it is a special place.

"I was a little rascal before that," he laughed. "After I met my wife, I started going to the temple to pray and I feel changed."

The temple houses statues of deities such as Sri Ramar and Sri Murugan, each in a colourful shrine. It also has a wedding hall.

The temple has a tower crowning its entrance in South Bridge Road. The five-tiered structure is carved with images of Hindu deities, abstract floral decorations and Indian sepoys from the times of the British Raj.

Inside, the main deity Sri Mariamman faces the entrance to the east, where the sun rises.

"In the old days, before people had electricity, the rising sun would light up the whole temple," said Mr Nallathamby.

Over the years, the temple has gone through several restoration exercises, with the latest in 2009.

Long-time temple goers still maintain a deep connection with the place, no matter how it looks on the surface.

"The bond I have with this temple goes a long way," said Mr Nallathamby.

This article was first published on Oct 20, 2016.
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BEIJING - A week before a key meeting of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China has mounted a massive propaganda blitz against graft with the airing of a new series that dishes the dirt on disgraced officials.

The new eight-part series, titled Always On The Road, takes viewers behind the scenes of some of China's most high-profile corruption cases. The first episode was aired on Monday and it proved to be a hit among Chinese viewers.

"People everywhere are talking about Always On The Road," the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the party's much- feared discipline watchdog, said in a statement. It produced the series with state broadcaster CCTV.

The prime-time series will run through Oct 25, coinciding with the ruling party's sixth plenum which starts next Monday .

Two documents on strengthening party discipline will be discussed and approved at the meeting, reported Bloomberg.

"The series makes publicity preparations for the sixth plenum," said Professor Zhu Lijia, a public affairs professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance in Beijing.

"It aims to show that corruption is a deep-seated socio-economic and political problem and calls for an enduring battle," he told Bloomberg.

Law professor Yang Weidong at the Chinese Academy of Governance, a school for training senior officials, said the TV series holds lessons for party cadres.

"After watching the corrupt officials' stories, officials and CPC members will exchange their views on the lessons they will have to learn, and... regulate their own behaviour according to the new rules," China Daily quoted him as saying.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has waged a sweeping war on deep-seated corruption since assuming power almost four years ago, vowing to go after powerful "tigers" as well as lowly "flies".

Last year alone, 336,000 party officials were reprimanded or punished for graft, reported news website Sixth Tone.

Mr Xi's anti-graft campaign remains popular among average Chinese, with 83 per cent of those surveyed earlier this year by the Pew Research Centre describing corruption as a problem - a larger share than any other issue.

At the same time, 64 per cent said they believed the situation, which Mr Xi has cast as a life-and-death battle for the party, would improve over the next five years.

The first episode of the TV series was interspliced with excerpts from President Xi's speeches and opened with the courtroom confession of former security chief Zhou Yongkang, who was sentenced to life in prison last June.

Three of the so-called "tigers" get camera time in the first episode - Bai Enpei, the former party boss of south-western Yunnan province; Zhou Benshun, an ex-party chief of northern Hebei province; and Li Chuncheng, a former deputy party boss of south-western Sichuan.

Footage on Monday showed furniture and tea collected by Bai and jade jewellery gifts given to his wife, with one bracelet reportedly worth 15 million yuan (S$3.1 million).

Zhou was accused of spending more than one million yuan to employ two chefs and two domestic helpers - one tasked solely with taking care of his pets. His salary should be a little more than 100,000 yuan annually.

The programme cited his temple visits and multiple shrines as evidence of "superstitious activities" frowned upon by the officially atheistic Communist Party. When his pet turtle died, he transcribed a Buddhist text to bury with it.

The first episode was widely discussed on Chinese social media, with some saying they found Li's tears theatrical and unconvincing, according to Reuters. Li was given a 13-year jail term last year.

Bai was given a death sentence with a two-year reprieve on Oct 9 for accepting bribes of almost a quarter of a billion yuan. That same day, Zhou was formally charged with bribery.

This article was first published on October 20, 2016.
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So a well-intentioned Forum letter ("Working after school hours part of 'service'", Oct 8) provoked a backlash against the writer and against "the system".

Well-intentioned, because in a follow-up letter ("Teachers' overtime work driven by parents' expectations", Oct 13), the writer, Ms Lee Wei Yin, clarified that she actually agreed with the detractors, and called for all stakeholders to find workable solutions, particularly to help teachers manage their working hours.

Read also: MOE should control teachers' working hours

Let's backtrack. Ms Lee, a parent, wrote to highlight how she feels a school could improve - by providing an added service, among other concerns.

On taking up my current role as general secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement six years ago, I was surprised that students and parents were considered by the Ministry of Education (MOE) as "customers". I expressed my surprise and concern in discussion with my friends in the MOE management team.

What we call a thing has a big impact on how people perceive the thing itself. Would it really affect our treatment of teachers and the education system if we called our students and their parents "customers", I wondered.

The word "customer" is based on a commercial concept. It is by definition, a transaction with which parties buy and sell among each other. And in sales and service, an often-used cliche is that the customer is always right. Hence, the customer is more likely the one in the stronger bargaining position.

This thorny problem was anticipated by a 2012 publication, Case Studies In Public Governance: Building Institutions In Singapore, edited by June Gwee. It was already recognised that "education and learning were not for profit-making, and the commercial notion of 'delighting customers' threatened to be a misnomer and a source of tension".

Read also: Respect teachers' right to rest, private time

What then would be the implications on our education system? Should we pull through with this customer-centric service?

For one, instead of the MOE and educational institutions having control over our education system, this terminology shifts the balance of power to the students and parents. This does not bode well for the education sector of modern Singapore, which already has a worrying number of able teachers leaving the profession.

For example, discipline, already a difficult area by many anecdotal accounts, would become even more difficult to enforce. It is not common or easy for vendors to discipline their customers.

In addition, when there is a "problem" in the food chain, be it homework or other schoolwork, which party is to be held responsible? In the marketplace, the "service provider" will have to shoulder the blame and correct his mistakes. Hence, if the student has a problem completing her homework, it need not be the student's fault.

National education cannot be treated as a mere commercial transaction. Teaching is a very noble calling, and our teachers are the best providers, not of a service, but of education itself, an indispensable block for nation-building. It should not be trivialised by commercialising it.

Effective teachers do not just teach: They mentor, they listen and help with the student's problems (be it academic or personal) and they walk the journey with the students in their personal growth.

So how do we make the education landscape right for everyone?

An end to being student-pleasers

First, let us get rid of the old, misplaced idea that students and parents are customers that the MOE, educational institutions, principals and teachers absolutely have to please.

Education itself is the institutionalised dissemination of information, knowledge and skills to a future generation. The overall objective is certainly not for a commercial benefit nor to service a customer base. The intent, according to the MOE's website, is to help our students discover their own talents, to make the best of these talents and realise their full potential, and to develop a passion for learning that lasts through life.

Teachers are not transactional vendors, but transformational mentors. They are educators, whose duties include guiding students and helping them develop skills and acquire a variety of knowledge. Their work is transformational, not transactional, and they must be empowered to do so. If they had to please their "customers", their work is immediately reduced to the transactional level.

Next, we should always give credit where it is due. I do not believe we can thank our educators enough for nurturing the future of our nation. Rather than critiquing how they should work their hours, we, as parents and grandparents, should support them and motivate them to continue nurturing the desire in our young to learn.

In any society, it takes a whole village to educate a child. All the more so in modern society. Today, the need for both parents to be at work makes the role of educators even more critically important in the lives of our children. We require more than just the parents to raise a child. We need able educators and a supportive workforce to understand one another, and to educate the child together as partners.

Finally, shouldn't we remember that we, as parents and extended family, have the prime responsibility of bringing up our children?

Including, yes, educating them - perhaps less so in formal education, but certainly in general knowledge and most importantly, values.

On the latter, more important than any words uttered, our personal conduct and role-modelling do far more in educating our young.

If we mistreat, or are otherwise excessively demanding of, and unreasonable with, our children's teachers, how do we think our children will regard them?

At the end of the day, in our relationship with our children's teachers, both we and they need to remember that kindness is, after all, up to each one of us.

And then perhaps, in modelling this thought, despite all the other influences now readily available, we may yet succeed in making kindness and graciousness intrinsic values in the next generation and in our nation.

stopinion@sph.com.sg

The writer is general secretary of the Singapore Kindness Movement.

This article was first published on October 20, 2016.
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Standing atop a hill in Kuala Kubu Baru, Selangor, a group of paragliders from Singapore gazed into the shimmering distance, the expanse of rolling hills beckoning.

This was the day they would go airborne, the thrill of flight and freedom theirs for the taking.

Searing midday sun and steady wind make for good flying, they knew.

The hills, baked all morning by the sun, would warm the air above, creating columns of rising air called thermals.

Paragliders can ride for hours on these columns, circling to gain altitude.

One by one, the gliders from Paragliders Association Singapore picked up their lines, ran down a slope and launched themselves into the sky, 426m above sea level.

Finally, it was my turn.

Tethered to my tandem instructor - I was certainly not going to fly solo - my heart was thumping hard and my hands turned cold. A man of few words, he had none to reassure me.

Suddenly, it was time to go.

"Run," he said.

Run, I did.

I drove my legs hard into the ground, and as we picked up speed, our sky-blue ripstop-nylon canopy blossomed into a fully-grown aerofoil, large enough to bear our combined weight.

Suddenly, the sandy slope beneath my feet gave way to a blur of treetops. We were airborne.

My heightened senses tried to pick up everything at once - the air rushing past my face, the smell of the rainforest beneath, the endless vistas of hills.

All at once, my excitement gave way to serenity as we glided soundlessly in a vast, three-dimensional space. I now understand why this sport is so addictive.

"Paragliding is the best feeling in the world," said Mr Christopher Hsieh. "Once you're in the air, you forget about all your worries."

"It is also the cheapest way to be your own pilot," added the 30-year- old design manager.

Mr Shane Soh, 25, an engineer, said the supportive community makes it an even more enjoyable experience.

"You fly in different sites in different countries and it seems like no matter where you go, you meet a lot of interesting and like-minded people."

Due to the restricted airspace in Singapore, paragliding is not allowed here.

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Paragliders on a soaring adventure

Source:

The Straits Times

Paragliders practise their ground-handling techniques in an open field in Marina East to familiarise themselves with their glider's characteristics, but actual flying is done overseas, said Mr Ivan Chang, vice-president of the Paragliders Association Singapore.

The association, which has about 50 members, organises weekend trips to nearby countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

Mr Chang, who has been flying for 19 years, was excited to learn that the Olympic Council of Asia would include paragliding in the 18th Asian Games 2018 to be held in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia.

He believes there is a good chance the paragliders might bring home medals for Singapore.

He cited the achievements of Ms Jessica Goh, a Singaporean whose exploits have largely flown under the radar.

Last year, Ms Goh was the female champion of the Paragliding Accuracy World Cup, the culmination of a series of competitions held in six different countries.

As the paragliders here are not familiar with competing in a multi-sport event, Mr Chang has written to the Singapore National Olympic Council to seek guidance on the requirements needed to send representatives to the 2018 Asian Games.

"I can't promise anything, but I can only hope for an opportunity," said Ms Goh.

"Given the training and if offered a chance to do my best, I believe I have a chance."

weejin@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on October 20, 2016.
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Senior Staff Nurse Noraini Umar left her job 10 years ago to care for her young son and ailing parents. Now that her parents are better and her son is older, she returned after a three-month mandatory refresher.

"There were so many changes. Now, technology is applied in many aspects of our work," she said of the the course.

Since April, 19 nurses have returned to the aged-care sector under a scheme to bring back nurses who had stopped work, part of a large-scale effort to ramp up the number of healthcare workers.

"With their previous nursing experience, they are valuable assets and contribute to caring for patients and residents and helping them to stay well in the home and community environment," said Health Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday, as he launched the Healthcare Manpower Plan 2020.

The plan includes a push to have Singaporeans' healthcare needs met within their community, and less in the hospital.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said it will expand and improve existing polyclinics and family medicine clinics even as more are built - allowing seniors to age in the neighbourhood they are familiar with.

It is also building more community hospitals, nursing homes and senior care centres in the community and making home care more accessible and affordable.

Family doctors too have a role to play. Now, 122 are working with the Institute of Mental Health so people with stable mental health conditions can get care close to their homes.

But with this expansion of primary and community care, more healthcare workers such as nurses, therapists and healthcare assistants will be needed.

Mr Gan told The Straits Times: "Given the current softening of the economic climate, we will want to ramp up efforts to build a stronger local core in the healthcare sector, in a few ways."

This will be done by expanding the training and recruitment to enable young job seekers, mid-career entrants, former nurses and part-time workers to get work in healthcare.

MOH will invest in skills training and job redesign "so that our healthcare workforce can do more at each level", he said.

To retain current workers, it will enhance both career development and work environment.

Mr Gan said Singapore will further develop community nursing as an option for nurses. "If we are shifting care beyond hospitals to community and home, we will need to change the skills profile of our future workforce," he explained.

Both Nanyang and Ngee Ann polytechnics have doubled the time their student nurses spend in community care, while physiotherapy and occupational therapy students at the Singapore Institute of Technology will have six to seven weeks of clinical work in a community setting.

Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam promised in the Manpower Plan: "We will be investing even more heavily in everyone working in healthcare, so that they have the skills to deliver the best quality care while taking advantage of new technologies."

This article was first published on October 21, 2016.
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Insurance giant AXA will merge its life and general insurance entities here to create a one-stop shop, it said.

Europe's second-biggest insurer said the consolidated entity will operate from Jan 1 next year.

The general insurance business - called AXA Insurance Singapore - has been here since 1969 while AXA Life Insurance Singapore was set up in 1999.

Ms Doina Palici-Chehab, who is chief executive of both, told The Straits Times in an exclusive interview: "We've operated separately, due to the fact that we were created at different moments, but during the last few years, we realised we could have synergy, and had already merged some departments like communication, human resource and finance.

"We were already moving towards being more efficient in terms of cost. It was good for our stake holders, our employees - they didn't have to go to separate meetings - and it was a natural move to go even further in the concentration of staff and activities."

The insurer began working on the consolidation at the beginning of this year, including lodging an application for a composite licence.

AXA's 700 or so staff will be retained in the consolidation, which will cost around $1 million to effect.

"All assets and liabilities of the general insurance business will be transferred to the life company, and on Jan 1, it will be renamed AXA Insurance," said Ms Palici-Chehab.

"We can focus even more on our customers by being one company. The client has to have a seamless treatment by us, so irrespective of the type of insurance they've bought, they get equally good service served from one hand."

One of the new entity's initiatives is an upcoming digital platform called MyAXA, which is due for release by Jan 1.

"It's where clients, irrespective of being life or general insurance clients, can see policies on one app. MyAXA was developed in France and we brought it over with few redevelopments. We just have to link it to all our backend systems," she said.

The consolidation will affect AXA's health insurance set-up. Both the life and general insurance entities are selling such policies but the teams will come under one managing director.

"We've also gone digital in health insurance, with a health claims portal which is already active. If you're insured with AXA, you scan your claim and follow up with your payment," explained Ms Palici-Chehab, who added that the aim is to become the "preferred insurer in Singapore".

AXA is second in the market for general insurance and sixth in life insurance here. It was ranked 46th among the world's 100 best global brands this year by Interbrand, and Ms Palici-Chehab noted that "there's no insurance brand higher than AXA".

She also said that the firm's presence here is growing, recalling that it once needed an advertising campaign to teach people that AXA was not an acronym but one word.

"We've started being recognised as an insurance company for life insurance too, so more agents want to work for us. The life insurance agency force is growing a lot.

"In the first half of this year, we were, if not the only one, among the few who had a net increase in the agency force."

It has about 1,000 exclusive life agents, and a net 20 per cent growth in agency force manpower, compared with the same period last year.

The insurer said it values innovation, be it through products or sales. For instance, it started selling life and general insurance via SingPost's retail network last year.

With its commercial clients, AXA is also able to do things like pay in advance when there are accidents.

"There was a fire in a food court and there was no doubt insurance would have to pay, so we immediately paid half of the estimated loss," she recalled.

"Insurance is a difficult business because what we sell is a promise. When clients buy a product, they buy mostly by price, but they only know how good the product is when they need to make a claim," stated Ms Palici-Chehab.

"We need to be good at the moment when our clients need us, and sell insurance on a needs basis. We need to train our distributors and agents.

"In the AXA group, we think if we don't innovate, we die."

This article was first published on Oct 21, 2016.
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SINGAPORE - Korean actor Lee Kwang Soo, 31, is nowhere like his has-been idol role in the upcoming South Korean remake of American drama Entourage, which revolves around show business.

"My character brags a lot. He has a good heart, but he is unable to express his emotions. He looks irritated and annoyed. In real life, I'm quite different from him. I express my feelings more than him, I don't really get annoyed and I'm not nasty to people," says Lee, who is a regular cast member of popular South Korean variety show Running Man.

Another key difference is that the lanky comedian-actor is still at the peak of his career.

His popularity has translated into endorsements - he was invited here as the ambassador of duty-free chain The Shilla to celebrate the 1st Anniversary of Shilla Beauty Loft at Changi Airport on Thursday (Oct 20).

Lee was speaking at a press conference, ahead of an autograph session at Terminal 3 which attracted more than 250 fans.

Fans came armed with signboards emblazoned with Lee's name and giraffe plushies - in reference to his Giraffe nickname, which he was given because of his towering height of 1.9m.

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Korean star Lee Kwang Soo's fans greet him with giraffe plushies

Source:

The New Paper

Twitter / Straits Times Life

Young fan Karina Liswandy, 10, was one of those who turned up with a giraffe toy in hand. The contest winner not only won the chance to get up close with her idol, but she also snagged a hug and a selfie with the star.

Her housewife mother Miranda Liswandy, 42, says: "She was so excited that she knocked down two cups of drinks at lunch. Though the event only started around 4pm, she couldn't wait and we came a few hours earlier."

Primary Four pupil Karina says: "I like him because he is funny. I will print out my selfie with him and paste it on the wall of my room."

This article was first published on October 20, 2016.
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Bond holders of offshore and marine companies here are pushing for the repayment of their investments, as financial stresses in the troubled sector continue to rise.

The trustee-manager of Rickmers Maritime Trust said yesterday it has received a further letter from legal firm Rajah & Tann Singapore, on behalf of a group of bond holders, demanding the immediate payment of their share of the $100 million notes the trust is trying to restructure.

This comes less than two weeks before investors vote to decide if they want to accept the debt restructuring offer or send Rickmers Maritime into liquidation.

The trustee-manager said that in the letter, the bond holders were said to "wish to directly take such legal steps and actions against the trust to enforce repayment of the notes, together with accrued interest".

This was on the basis that DB International Trust, the notes' trustee, has "failed to institute any action against the issuer" since bond holders purportedly made a written request to the trustee on Sept 28, informing the trust that the notes are immediately repayable.

The trustee-manager added that it is in the process of validating the contents of the letter.

It also said it has not received any notice from the trustee that the notes are immediately due and payable, and that the letter does not provide any evidence that the trustee has become bound to give such notice or that the trustee has failed to do so within a reasonable period.

The trustee may, at its discretion, and if requested by holders of at least 25 per cent of the notes, give notice that the notes are immediately due and repayable, according to the statement.

"No note holder shall be entitled to proceed against the trust unless the notes' trustee, having become bound to do so, fails to do (so) within a reasonable period and such failure is continuing."

The trustee-manager has called for an extraordinary general meeting on Oct 31, where bond holders will vote on the proposed swap of the $100 million principal 8.45 per cent notes due next May for $40 million worth of notes due in November 2023.

The rest of the principal sum will be exchanged for 60 per cent of the trust, after the issuance of 1.32 billion new units.

A successful restructuring would allow the container ship operator to obtain a new term loan facility of up to US$260.2 million (S$362.6 million) from a consortium of banks.

Separately, bond holders of Kuala Lumpur-listed Perisai Petroleum Teknologi are angry the offshore services firm has yet to respond to their request to accelerate repayment of the $125 million 6.875 per cent notes, which had been due on Oct 3.

A bond holder told The Straits Times that Perisai has not been in contact with bond holders and their lawyers at Rajah & Tann since Oct 3. He said bond holders will take further steps to enforce their rights against Perisai - which includes filing for it to be wound up - if the firm continues to fail to provide a "satisfactory response".

Perisai on Tuesday announced that it received a notice of demand from the notes' trustee the day before. It is seeking legal advice on the notice and will make announcements as and when necessary.

Perisai is an associate company of Singapore's Ezra Holdings - the latest in the troubled sector that is appealing to bond holders to loosen bond convenants. But Ezra bond holders face a hard decision as the firm is seeking not only to waive financial covenants, but also for investors to give up their right to demand immediate repayment should any attempted restructuring prove unacceptable to bond holders.

This article was first published on October 21, 2016.
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Mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Tiffany Teo will face her biggest test when she makes her One Championship debut on Nov 11.

The 26-year-old holds a perfect 3-0 win-loss record, with all of her fights ending in the first round.

But on the day she turns 27, she has to get used to more raucous surroundings inside the Singapore Indoor Stadium, where she will fight former Egyptian boxing champion Walaa Abbas, 32, in the flyweight division.

Teo, who was born in Brunei but raised in Singapore, said: "It's going to be different from my past few fights.

Fighting in a One Championship event will be a big step up for me. This will be on a bigger stage and I have to cope with a higher level of stress and expectations, especially because I'm on a winning streak.

"To be honest, I didn't enter the past fights thinking that I will be able to win in the first round," she said of her experiences at Singapore Fighting Championship (SFC) 2, SFC 3 and Full Metal Dojo 11, which is held by Thailand's largest professional MMA promotion.

"My coach always tells me to take my time, but it just happened that it always ended so quickly."

To prepare for her upcoming bout, she has been throwing jabs and uppercuts and hitting the mats at Juggernaut Fight Club, as she brushes up on striking and wrestling. She trains twice a day - in the morning and evening.

In between the sessions, the therapist pulls off her fighting gloves, changes out of her sweaty gear, puts on her spectacles and visits the homes of children with special needs.

Her coach, Arvind Lalwani, 36, believes that his protege's talent has earned her a spot in the nine-bout fight card.

He said: "It will be a good test for her to see where she stands against the elite fighters.

"One (Championship) saw the potential in her and we believe that she has what it takes to become a world champion one day."

A day after Teo's fight, her training partner at Juggernaut, Singapore's first female professional boxer Nurshahidah Roslie, will also be putting her perfect 4-0 record on the line.

She will contest for the vacant World Boxing Association Oceania super featherweight belt when she takes on New Zealander Gentiane Lupi at SFC 4. Her Nov 12 fight will take place at the Singapore Foochow Association.

Lalwani, who also runs SFC, said: "She's already made a reputation for herself in South-east Asia, so it's hard to get good fights for her in this region. We have goals, we don't want to remain stagnant but we want her to grow."

Nurshahidah, 29, said: "It'll be a test for me because it'll be the first time I am up against a non-Asian boxer in my professional career.

"My goal is to make a legacy for female boxers in Singapore and show that Singaporeans can make it."

This article was first published on October 21, 2016.
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He gets paid to scare people

Halloween is Institute of Technical Education (ITE) student Mathias Lim's favourite holiday because he gets to dress up as his favourite villains, scare people and "not get thrown into jail".

The 23-year-old is not a prankster, however, but a scare actor - someone who acts as a zombie, ghost or psycho killer at Halloween events organised by *Scape, a youth hangout.

Over the past five years, he has morphed into knives-for-fingers killer Freddie Krueger, a werewolf, a clown and Ghostface from the Scream film series. He declines to reveal how much he is paid.

Beginning on Wednesday evening, the 10,000 sq ft Ground Theatre in *Scape will turn into The Doll Factory, the home of a deranged doll-maker who killed his family members in order to preserve them as dolls. This is adapted from a true story.

here will be seven zones in this maze. Participants will move from the gory slaughter house to the showroom where the evil doll- maker keeps his prized collection. Turn the wrong corner and visitors may run into a scare actor such as Mr Lim.

To maintain suspense, he will not reveal what he plays at this year's Halloween event at *Scape, but he shares some of his scare tactics.

"I stalk people from behind or sometimes, I stand very still and make a very slight movement or sound just as a person approaches," he says.

It helps that many Singaporeans "scare easily", he adds.

The one thing he will never do is to touch the participants and neither are participants supposed to touch him, but there are the "rare occasions" when a person reacts to a fright by punching an actor.

"Some people just react in more extreme ways," he says.

His most memorable moment was when he played Freddie Krueger and scared big and muscular man to tears. "It was very strange to see this huge guy cry and hide behind his girlfriend," he says.

Mr Lim enjoys cosplay, so he considers his part-time job as a scare actor a bonus.

While cosplaying, he has taken on the alter egos of characters such as the infamous Joker as well as the good guys such as Spider-man and Red Ranger from superhero TV series Power Rangers.

He makes some of his costumes from scratch and has participated in conventions such as the Singapore Toy, Game and Comic Convention.

He says: "When I put on the costume, I turn into someone else. It's an escape from reality."

MERMAIDS AND MANATEES GET INTO SPIRIT OF HALLOWEEN

A new breed of marine creatures will be sharing the waters with the gentle manatees as part of the Halloween programme at River Safari.

Four "mermaids" will perform a 15-minute choreographed underwater show called Mermaid Mania together with 12 manatees in the park's Amazon Flooded Forest aquarium exhibit.

The show will run on six evenings starting tonight.

With long glittery fish tails and the upper body of a human female, these "mermaids" are underwater dancers from the Singapore Mermaid School.

They wear fish tails custom-made from silicon and are trained to frolic in the water like the mythical creature popularised by the Disney princess Ariel from The Little Mermaid (1989).

They can hold their breaths for up to a minute, after which, they will re-surface for a quick breath.

The mermaid performers are led by Ms Cara Nicole Neo, or Syrena as she likes to be called when in character.

The 24-year-old is considered Singapore's first professional mermaid and founded The Singapore Mermaid School last year, a centre dedicated to teaching people how to swim in mermaid gear for fun and fitness.

While she often performs at children's parties and corporate events, this is her first aquarium gig.

"We weren't sure how the manatees were going to react to us initially but it turns out they love us," she says with a laugh.

They have been rehearsing with the animals once or twice a week for the past 11/2 months. The sessions are accompanied by aquarists to ensure the safety of both animals and humans.

The human swimmers have developed such good rapport with the manatees that the gentle creatures are beginning to mimic their actions.

Ms Neo says: "The aquarist told us that some of the manatees now move their fins like how we do when we wave to the audience."

Swimming in the aquarium is a "dream come true" for Ms Neo as she hopes to "spread the magic" of mermaids.

She says: "A mermaid is a very empowering role model for both little and big girls. I work with a lot of girls with low self esteem but when they go underwater, you can see how beautiful and strong and graceful they feel."

River Safari has held Halloween- themed events since 2014, typically family-friendly programmes where kids can dress up and also learn about the various creatures at the park.

This year, besides the mermaid performance, there will also be Monster Boo!, a live animal presentation during which children can get close to and even touch a slithery python, a large pelican and a furry binturong.

SAFARI BOO

Where: River Safari, 80 Mandai Lake Road When: Tonight to Oct 23 and Oct 28 to 30, 6 to 10pm. Mermaid Mania is at 7.45, 8.45 and 9.45pm. Monster Boo! is at 7,8 and 9pm.

Admission: $18 to $22 for adults and $5 to $10 for children (aged three to 12)

Info: Tickets are available only online. Go to safariboo.wrs.com.sg

Scary thrills

SINGAPORE HALLOWEEN FESTIVAL

Fend off an army of flesh-eating zombies while navigating a maze at the inaugural Singapore Halloween Festival held at Fort Canning Park.

Participants need to form teams of three to enter the zombie maze challenge. They will then battle the undead through a series of obstacles using Nerf guns. The group with the fastest time will win a PlayStation 4 for each of its members.

Those who want a less scary experience can check out the other activities in store - trampolines and bouncy castles for the children and, for the adults, DJs spinning music ranging from retro to deep house.

Food served from the likes of modern Japanese izakaya Neon Pigeon and booze from Irish pub Molly Malone's will be sold too.

The event is organised by events company Sensat1on.

Where: Fort Canning Park, Fort Gate When: Oct 29, 11am to 11pm

Admission: $25 for each entry into the festival and $15 for a team of three to enter the zombie maze challenge (minimum age to play is 12 and parental consent is required for those under the age of 18). Children under the age of 12 enter for free.

Info: www.sensat1on.com

HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS 6

Singapore's biggest scarefest has upped the ante this year with five themed haunted houses.

Held at Universal Studios Singapore in Resorts World Sentosa, this will be the sixth edition of the popular event, which drew more than 170,000 people last year.

One of the houses is inspired by the old Changi Hospital, considered one of the spookiest spots in Singapore.

In this haunted house, vengeful spirits, bloodied patients and a pontianak (a female ghost in Malay folklore) wander the hallways.

Another house has the familiar setting of the hawker centre. The patrons are victims of "radioactive food poisoning" and are now hungry for humans.

The other houses feature witches and demonic shape-shifters. One is a macabre art exhibition featuring the twisted memories of an artist whose family died in a fire.

Besides looking out for the walking dead played by actors, watch out, too, for 25 animatronics hidden in the haunted houses, such as a moving truck.

About 1,600 gallons of mist will be used to evoke an eerie, disorienting atmosphere.

After surviving the haunted houses, you can check out the stage performance Jack's Recurring Nightmare, featuring Jack the diabolical clown and his freaky disciples, who will execute daredevil feats.

Finally, there will be a carnival procession inspired by Mexico's colourful Day Of The Dead parade, an annual celebration to remember and honour the dead.

The procession will culminate in the March Of The Dead, an outdoor show featuring the sinister beauty Lady Death.

Where: Universal Studios Singapore, Resorts World Sentosa

When: Tonight and tomorrow and next Thursday to Oct 31, 7.30pm to 12.30am (Thursday, Sunday, and Monday) and 7.30pm to 1.30am (Friday and Saturday)

Admission: From $65 for Thursday, Sunday and Monday and $69 for Friday and Saturday. For those aged 13 and older

Info: www.halloweenhorrornights.com.sg

NIGHTMARE ON BUGIS STREET

When the lights go out, the meandering pathways in Bugis Street will turn into playgrounds for possessed dolls and ghosts.

Two of the three levels of the shopping arcade will be transformed into scare zones modelled after horror flicks Annabelle (2014) and Thirteen Ghosts (2001).

If visitors get too spooked out, they can head down to the first floor and distract themselves at a late-night flea market. There, they can get their faces painted to look like a zombie or spirit and spook someone else for a change.

Where: Bugis Street, 3 New Bugis Street When: Oct 28 and 29 and Nov 4 and 5, 10pm to 2am

Admission: Standard ticket from $45, $35 for students aged 13 and older with a valid student ID

Info: www.bugisstreet.com.sg

Dressed to kill

ZOUK HALLOWEEN 2016: THE SCREAM DINER

Torture chambers, chunks of meat hanging from the ceiling, bloody kitchen pots and other gruesome surprises will take over Zouk as the home-grown club is transformed into an American diner that is also a blood-soaked crime scene.

This is the story: The Scream Diner's owner Mr O'Donnell, a prime suspect in an unsolved case of missing patrons, is back and he is set to continue what he started.

Look out for his assistants, too, who will be roaming around the club, ready to pounce on unsuspecting diners .

There are prizes worth up to $15,000 for the best-dressed. These include the grand prize of $1,000 cash, four ZoukOut VIP tickets and complimentary accommodation at hotel W Singapore - Sentosa Cove.

Where: 17 Jiak Kim Street When: Oct 29, 10pm till late Admission: $33 for women and $38 for men (includes two standard drinks); those in full costume get free and priority entry

Info: www.zoukclub.com.sg

TRAIN TO NOVA

New club Nova is bringing the horrors of recent hit Korean zombie thriller Train To Busan (2016) to life in its first Halloween party on Oct 29 called Train To Nova.

The club will morph into a train station - similar to Daejeon station in the flick - where zombies lurk.

DJ duo Rave Republic will be spinning electronic dance music and open format tunes on the deck.

For revellers who dress in the best outfit, there will be prizes including five tickets to Swedish house duo Dada Life's party at the club on Nov 5.

Where: 02-29 Orchard Hotel, 442 Orchard Road When: Oct 29, 10pm till late

Admission: $18 for women and $25 for men (includes two standard drinks after midnight, free entry for those in full costume and before midnight)

Info: www.facebook.com/Clubnovasg

BATTLE ROYALE: HALLOWEEN 2016

Put on boxing gloves and a game face as it is going to get ugly at OverEasy Orchard's fight club.

There will be no ghosts and zombies, but visitors might spot martial arts legend Bruce Lee or heavyweight great Muhammad Ali battling it out on the dancefloor.

The best walk away with the grand prize of a four-day, three-night stay at a Bali villa, worth more than $1,000.

Where: 01-01 Liat Towers, 541 Orchard Road When: Oct 29, 10pm till late

Admission: Free

Info: Call 6684-1453 or e-mail orchard@overeasy.com.sg

CIRQUE LE SOIR AT CE LA VI

A human pincushion, a fire breather and a performer who combines drumming with swallowing tricks will be bringing the bizarre and outrageous to rooftop nightclub Ce La Vi Singapore for Halloween.

They are from the famed outlandish London nightclub Cirque le Soir, who was at Ce La Vi last year, too, for its Halloween party.

Where: SkyPark at Marina Bay Sands, Tower 3, 1 Bayfront Avenue When: Oct 29, 9pm till late

Admission: Online early-bird price of $48 (inclusive of one house pour) or $68 at the door

Info: sg.celavi.com

Family-friendly spooks

PARADE OF THE DEAD

Scary clowns will invade Downtown East's D'Resort next weekend as part of the Parade Of The Dead. They will be walking around the resort and barbecue pits and guests and members of the public are welcome to join the procession.

They can also take part in the Circus Carnival, which has Halloween face painting, games and tarot card readings.

Where: Rainforest Terrace, D'Resort, Downtown East, 1 Pasir Ris Close

When: Oct 29, 7 to 10pm Admission: Free

Info: www.downtowneast.com.sg

THE NOT-SO-CREEPY HALLOWEEN

Send your child on a secret mission at the Science Centre Singapore to catch villains scattered throughout the centre and unravel the science behind their destructive plots.

They might run into Lady Rust and learn how environmental conditions affect the rusting of metals. And an encounter with Lord Rubbor will show why electricity requires a conductor to flow.

Over at Snow City, an indoor snow centre, the kids can sit in for a spooky storytelling session or go trick-or-treating in the snow.

Where: Science Centre Singapore, 15 Science Centre Road

When: Oct 29 to 31, 10am to 6pm

Admission: $5 for each trail booklet in addition to admission charges to the Science Centre. Suitable for kids aged five and older. Standard charges apply for entry to Snow City activities.

Info: www.science.edu.sg/events/Pages/halloween.aspx

HALLOWEEN FUN IN THE HEARTLAND

The Halloween festivities are spreading to the suburbs as grassroots organisations organise familyfriendly events at community clubs (CC).

One example is the sixth edition of the Woodlands Fright Night happening tomorrow and on Sunday at the Woodlands Community Club.

Older kids can head into the haunted house maze while the younger ones can hop on a haunted train.

Over at Potong Pasir Community Club, the three storeys of the building will be converted into a Paranormal High School on Oct 28 and 29.

Participants will be armed with Nerf blasters as they make their way through scare zones where ghosts lurk. They also have to solve puzzles while at it.

Recommended for children older than seven.

Where: Various locations including Woodlands CC, 1 Woodlands Street 81; and Potong Pasir CC, 6 Potong Pasir Avenue 2

When: Throughout the month. The event at Woodlands CC takes place tomorrow and on Sunday from 5 to 10pm; the event at Potong Pasir CC is on Oct 28 and 29 from 6pm till late.

Admission: Depends on the event. $1 for entry into Woodlands Fright Night and $15 for Paranormal High School Info: Check with the CC if it has a Halloween event lined up

This article was first published on October 21, 2016.
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The difficulty some people have with long-term memory loss in old age could be linked to an abnormally high level of zinc in a special region in the brain, suggests a new finding by Singapore scientists.

The team of three from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found that the drug TPEN could help to reverse this.

Zinc is a mineral - found in food like cabbage and shiitake mushrooms - that is essential for a body to function well, playing a role in maintaining a person's sense of smell and a healthy immune system.

It is also found in the nerve cells in the brain's hippocampus, a region associated with learning and long-term memory, where it helps the cells to communicate with one another.

While previous research found that the level of zinc in the blood declines as a person ages, the researchers from the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine claim that their study on animals indicates a significant increase in zinc in the hippocampus of aged brains.

They believe the level of zinc in the blood does not accurately represent the amount of zinc in the brain, and that their finding warrants further investigation.

The study was published recently in peer-reviewed scientific journal Aging Cell.

The scientists believe that the increase in zinc likely happens due to malfunctioning "transporters".

"These transporters within the hippocampus work as gatekeepers that ensure there is not too much or too little zinc," explained Assistant Professor Sajikumar Sreedharan, who led the study.

"But they go awry in advanced ageing," he added.

A study of rats found that this high level of zinc in the hippocampus - nearly doubled in an aged brain compared to an average adult brain - affects the animal's ability to form long-term memories.

Long-term memory is formed through a process called consolidation, where it is converted from short-term memory through association.

A person is more likely to remember the name of the wine he drank at his wedding than the wine he drank last week because in the first instance, the wine - which by itself is a short-term memory - is associated with his wedding, a strong memory.

The team found that this ability to associate is impaired when there is a high level of zinc in the hippocampus.

They also found that when they gave the drug TPEN to the rats, it helped restore their ability to associate and form long-term memories.

The drug is currently used only in pre-clinical studies. It has previously been used to study the role of zinc and how it is released in neurons.

Previous studies on animals have also suggested that a high-zinc diet leads to learning and memory deficits in old age.

"The common practice so far is to recommend the use of zinc supplements in old age as there is a lot of evidence that points to systemic zinc deficiency," said Dr Mahesh Shivarama Shetty, who recently obtained his PhD from NUS.

"What our study suggests is that perhaps you should rethink whether taking a lot of zinc supplements is really helpful," he said.

Next, the team plans to do further studies on the malfunctioning transporters and to study the level of zinc in post-mortem human brain tissues of older people.

Professor Christiani Jeyakumar Henry, director of the Clinical Nutrition Research Centre at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research, said the NUS study further reinforces the link between diet and memory.

"The association between zinc and memory opens up a new line of research that attempts to understand how diet may be used to modulate many aspects of human brain activity," he said.

This article was first published on Oct 21, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

Perhaps it is all that lamenting about the demise of Singapore hawker food, but the past year has seen some young people not only joining the profession, but doing a great job as well.

Among them is the group running Sumo Big Prawn, which opened early last month in Ang Mo Kio. Three young men and a woman - who look to be in their 20s - were running the stall when I dropped in before midday last Tuesday, busy serving a long queue of customers.

They offer an original take on prawn noodle soup by adding clams and having options that include crayfish or lobster. Prices start at $5 for the basic prawn noodle soup and go up to $8 for the big prawn version. The crayfish one is $13 and lobster is $18.90.

But when I was there, the $5 version was sold out and the lobsters were premium ones from Colombia, which bumped up the price of the noodles to $24.90.

After queuing more than half an hour, you would say yes to anything to get your food, which is why I forked out the most money I have ever spent at a hawker noodle stall - a decision I soon regretted. The lobster was tough and bland, and it was a struggle getting the meat out of the shell. In the end, I left half of it behind.

But the rest of the dish was excellent. The broth was rich and full of shellfish flavour, which the beehoon soaked up. The prawns were big and, with part of the shell already removed, easy to eat. The clams were cooked just right and were sweet and juicy.

So the next time, I will order the $8 bowl - which has all the good stuff - and skip the lobster.

WHERE: Sumo Big Prawn, 628 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4, 01-72

MRT: Yio Chu Kang

OPEN: 9am - 9pm daily, but may close early if stocks run out. Also, check its Facebook page for days it may close

INFO: Call 9299-2621 or go to www.facebook.com/Sumobigprawnnoodle

This article was first published on October 21, 2016.
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Greenwood Fish Market celebrates its anniversary in October every year with what it calls a "gala dinner", which is a one-night buffet featuring the seafood restaurant's popular items.

The dinner at the original Greenwood Avenue outlet for this year's 13th anniversary is full, but seats are still available at the new outlet in Sentosa on Wednesday.

For $99 a person, you get to sample a smorgasbord of cold and hot dishes. The buffet includes a cold station, sashimi station, foie gras station, whole roasts station and salad and dessert bars.

Drinks are an extra $49 for free flow of prosecco, house wines, beers and soft drinks.

You can expect freshly shucked oysters, house-smoked salmon, lobster cooked in various ways and, my favourite, steamed giant halibut with hollandaise sauce.

For this month, the two outlets are also offering steamed and grilled lobsters at $39.95 each as well as giant halibut at $29.95 a serving.

The fish can be steamed, grilled, pan-seared or battered and deep-fried.

WHERE: Greenwood Seafood Market, Quayside Isle @ Sentosa Cove, 31 Ocean Way, 01-04

MRT: HarbourFront

WHEN: Wednesday, 6.30pm to late

PRICE: $99 a person for food, $49 for drinks

TEL: 6262-0450

This article was first published on October 21, 2016.
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You get a beer belly when you consume more calories than the amount that is burned.

The excess energy is stored as "belly" fat, said Ms Gina Lin, a dietitian at Singapore General Hospital.

As alcohol is quite energy-dense (1g packs 7 calories), and it is easy to overindulge in it, drinking can actually contribute significantly to an excessive calorie intake.

It doesn't help that foods that are commonly consu med together with alcohol are energy-dense too, such as peanuts, potato chips, fried chicken wings and pizza.

10 ways alcohol wrecks your health

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

Various sources

But alcohol may not have much to do with beer bellies among older adults.

With age, it is easier to put on weight due to lower calorie needs. Many may also lead less active lifestyles as they get older.

There is no one magic diet that can help people lose abdominal fat more efficiently.

In general, eat fewer calories and participate in regular physical activity to burn more calories. Limit the amount of energy-dense food like alcohol, sugary drinks, pastries and deep-fried items.

This article was first published on May 4, 2016.
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A government survey has found that a majority of Singaporeans agree with the need for a minority president from time to time, but the level of support for a reserved election varies among the different races.

Law Minister K. Shanmugam cited these results at an Institute of Policy Studies forum on the elected presidency (EP) yesterday to show that while Singapore has come a long way in ensuring racial harmony, race is still a factor in elections.

The survey, which government feedback unit Reach conducted last month, showed that 60 per cent of 1,058 Singaporeans polled agreed or strongly agreed with the need to ensure that minorities are periodically elected to the highest office in the land.

But on a question about whether there should be a reserved election for minority candidates if a minority member has not been elected president for five terms, respondents of different races responded differently.

Among Chinese respondents, 28 per cent said they supported such a move. This number was 41 per cent for Malay respondents, and 40 per cent for Indian respondents.

"It's interesting if you say race doesn't matter. You look at the numbers and responses - the charts speak for themselves," Mr Shanmugam told about 200 participants.

He added that the "sharp difference" could become even more apparent in a close race.

During the question-and-answer session, a participant questioned the need for a reserved election, saying that it could lead to tokenism.

She argued that minority candidates have beaten their Chinese opponents in parliamentary elections, citing the Bukit Batok by-election in May, which People's Action Party candidate Murali Pillai had won running against the Singapore Democratic Party's Dr Chee Soon Juan.

Mr Shanmugam, who is also Home Affairs Minister, said it was a false comparison as parliamentary elections and presidential elections were different. He added that a candidate's party was a significant factor in voters' decisions during parliamentary elections.

"Don't go away with the impression that I'm suggesting that race is the be all, end all. (But) do you think it doesn't matter for 5 to 10 per cent of the population?" he said.

Ultimately, he said, the Government has to make a "judgment call" on how much racial issues swing votes and whether it will lead to minorities being shut out for long periods from the presidency.

He added that having a provision to ensure minorities are elected from time to time is "an area the Government believes is the right thing to do, (so) we have to convince people".

A Constitutional Commission set up to review the elected presidency had suggested having reserved elections that kick in for particular racial groups, if people from the group have not been elected president for five terms, or 30 years. The Government accepted the suggestion in a White Paper issued last month.

This and other proposed changes to the elected presidency will be debated when Parliament sits on Nov 7.

The other proposed changes have to do with the eligibility criteria for presidential candidates, the Council of Presidential Advisers and framework of the president's powers and provisions that entrench and safeguard the presidency.

The Reach survey also found that 64 per cent of respondents thought having elections was the best way to choose a president, compared with 14 per cent who wanted the president to be appointed by the Government, and a fifth who thought it did not matter.

The remainder said they were not sure.

A look at the presidents of Singapore

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

The Straits Times, Zawiyah Salleh, New Nation, Wee Kim Wee, The Business Times, The New Paper, The Ong family, Lianhe Zaobao

60 per cent: Out of 1,058 Singaporeans polled, this percentage agreed with the need to ensure that minorities are periodically elected to the presidency.

28 per cent: Chinese respondents who agreed there should be a reserved election for minority candidates if a minority member has not been elected president for five terms.

41 per cent: Percentage of Malay respondents who supported such a move.

40 per cent: Percentage of Indian respondents who backed the move

Read also: Elected Presidency changes: It's not just about the politics

Read also: Elected Presidency: Better checks, better candidates?

rachelay@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on October 22, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

A district court has thrown out claims by a show promoter, Midas Promotions, that a rival company, LAMC Productions, breached an agreement to share the spoils of a show starring superstar comedian Russell Peters.

Midas claimed the firms had agreed to a joint venture whereby both would share the rights and revenue from the 2012 event on a 50:50 basis. This was meant to avoid a bidding war to bring in the show.

Canadian-born Peters, once ranked by Forbes as the third-highest-paid comedian in the world, raked in US$916,544 for the show in May 2012 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. A second night was added by popular demand.

His total pay cheque last year was US$19 million (S$26.5 million), from playing to packed venues like New York City's Madison Square Garden.

Key players in the dispute were Midas director Michael Hosking, husband-and-wife co-owners of LAMC Ross Knudson and Lauretta Alabons, and Ms Marlene Tsuchii, the agent representing Peters.

The two firms have brought some of the biggest names to the region. LAMC is due to bring Guns N Roses next February to Singapore, while Midas has lined up famed singer Bryan Adams for Kuala Lumpur next January.

Midas offered to negotiate a "flat fee" deal on behalf of itself and LAMC, but alleged that LAMC inked a deal with Ms Tsuchii on its own to pay Peters a percentage of the takings.Represented by lawyer Han Wah Teng, it claimed that it was excluded from the deal between LAMC and Ms Tsuchii to promote the event, resulting in damages and income loss.

LAMC, defended by lawyer Salem Ibrahim, denied any such agreement with Midas as alleged and argued it made no commercial sense to go halves on the percentage deal with Peters as the profit margin would have been too thin to share.

On that deal, for which Peters got 80 per cent of the proceeds, Midas and LAMC would each get only US$46,976 on a 50:50 basis. In a flat deal arrangement, where Peters was to be paid US$200,000, they would each get US$134,880.

District Judge Koh Juay Kherng found that there was an agreement between Midas and LAMC to share 50:50 if either was successful, but on the understanding that it applied only to the flat deal offer.

"There was no agreement to share any profit if either party were to secure a deal on a percentage basis," he said in judgment grounds released yesterday. He added that LAMC had discharged its obligation to Midas when the latter was told Peters' agent would not accept a flat deal bid. The court found that at the time of the agreement between Mr Hosking and Mr Knudson, Ms Alabons and Ms Tsuchii had already settled on an 80:20 deal.

"Having considered all the facts before me, I am convinced that Midas had no real chance of obtaining a deal from Marlene, whether on a flat deal or on a percentage basis, simply because Hosking wanted a deal on his terms and Marlene was not interested.

"Hosking could well have secured a 90:10 percentage deal, if he had accepted Marlene's then counter-offer but greed got in the way, he wanted more...," said the district judge.

Midas is appealing against the judgment.

vijayan@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on October 22, 2016.
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Recent developments in the relations between China and Singapore have raised questions about how China sees Singapore and also how Singapore should see China.

The questions stem from several issues concerning Singapore as a small new state in a region still riven by division, amid growing rivalry between China and the United States. At the base are complex layers of understanding what is China and who are Singaporeans.

Despite the fact that both of them have had different borders over time, China has been in existence for thousands of years while Singapore is only 51 years old as a sovereign state. But it is also true that people of Chinese descent in Singapore have looked with respect to China for nearly 200 years while most people of China have noticed the achievements of the Chinese in Singapore only during recent decades.

Read also: China's perception of Singapore: 4 areas of misunderstanding

What is China?

During my recent visits to China, I noticed that many people are keenly interested in the question of just what China is.

Behind this interest is the idea that China was a great country and the time has come to restore China to greatness. Given the many calls during the US presidential election campaign for America to be great again, it is perhaps not surprising that a rising China should also be thinking of being great again. Both calls seem to reflect some anxiety that other people may not recognise that greatness.

For China, its public outlets reveal a paradox. On the one hand, the country has inherited a great civilisation-state and its people everywhere must stand up to ensure that it remains so. On the other hand, Chinese people understand that change is something they must always expect and prepare for. The world is in a state of flux and China must meet present and future challenges by adapting to every change it faces.

How to integrate a China that is unchanging with forces that are rearing to change is a perplexing task for Chinese leaders. When China was confident, its peoples saw it as a strong state that other strong states should treat with respect.

When it encountered the system of nation-states and national empires that spread out of Europe to the rest of the world, China's traditional strategy of controlling tributary relations with foreign rulers had to be abandoned.

Today it deals with scores of smaller nations that are trying their utmost not to be dominated by larger ones. These smaller nations are dependent on an international system of sovereign states where rules can be made to protect them.

China supports that system but is also aware that large states behave differently from small ones. It is not convinced that the system is ideal and believes that there is room for improvement.

Furthermore, in this world of sovereign nations, there are millions of people of Chinese descent who left China over the centuries and are now settled in other nations. Some segments of China's society - and indeed many among the overseas Chinese themselves - think that these overseas Chinese should identify with their ancestral values while they remain loyal to their respective adopted nations.

The China they look to has been changing. Its last dynastic rulers had accepted "international law" that acknowledged it as one of the empires of the 19th century. The Republic that followed in 1912 pronounced itself the Zhonghua-Chinese nation that consisted of multiple ethnic groups. It rejected the imperial system but inherited its extended borders.

When the Nanjing government moved to Taiwan and the People's Republic of China unified the rest of the country on the mainland, doubts were raised as to whether this was a nation-state, or an empire that had not been fully de-colonised.

China sees these terms as inappropriate in describing what it is, a multinational centralised state that is actively renewing itself through economic growth and socialist redistribution.

At the same time, the numbers of people of Chinese descent who have settled abroad have further increased. Large numbers from territories like Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau have greatly augmented those numbers during the past three decades.

China now has expectations that those among them who care for their cultural roots should return to the "motherland" to help the country advance further. Or they could remain in their host countries to help build bridges between China and their adopted countries.

It is in that context that Singapore with its majority population of Chinese descent attracts special attention.

What is being Chinese in Singapore?

For thousands of years, the tiny island now called Singapore, at the foot of the Malay peninsula, was but one of many islands in a watery Malay world.

In succession, the empires of Sri Vijaya and Majapahit, the Malacca and Johor empires, then the Portuguese and Dutch merchant fleets, all knew it as a useful port.

It was, however, the British in 1819 who chose Singapore to service their growing India-China trade and made it into a link in their global maritime empire. Later, the Japanese invaders appreciated its location and also used it as their forward naval base.

When the British returned after World War II, they reduced Singapore to a standalone colony, ready to let it become part of a federation of states that united all former British lands in South-east Asia. That plan failed and three states were established instead: Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

What made Singapore unique is that, although three-quarters of its population are Chinese, its leaders understood the exceptional position they inherited and did not stress the supremacy of its majority population. On the contrary, the Republic affirmed its plural-society base and the legal equality of its citizens, no matter what their ethnic origins.

That position has nurtured three main ethnic identities, Chinese, Malay and Indian, and grouped the rest as Others. For five decades, the state introduced numerous community schemes to optimise social harmony. It remained vigilant towards those affiliated to external organisations who are prepared to exploit ethnic and religious differences.

The Singapore state has also given priority attention to national education. Generations of students are encouraged to be science-literate and progressive, and master the skills essential in the global economy to which Singapore seeks to belong. At the same time, the Government has been sensitive to the cultural integrity that each ethnic group demands. It is in this context that the Chinese majority in Singapore seeks to balance economic and cultural ties with China and Chinese communities worldwide, with growing consciousness of what China's rise means for Singapore.

Its various groups have reflected on some of the labels that have been used for them and who these labels applied to. They considered what that meant, not only to themselves and their neighbours both within and without, but also to interested powers like China and the US.

Nation-state in transition

The three labels that attract attention are Singapore Chinese, Chinese Singaporean, and Singaporean.

The first has long been in use. It is inclusive in that it identifies all Chinese who are living in Singapore. It is ambivalent in that it could refer to Chinese who are Singapore citizens and also those merely residing in the country. However, the label implies an affirmation of being Chinese.

Chinese Singaporean is not a term in popular use although, for many, it is an accurate description of someone who feels Singaporean but acknowledges Chinese ancestry. Some also consider it as only a step towards full national consciousness.

The young today are ready to say they are Singaporean. Those of Chinese descent take for granted they belong to the majority in a plural society. For them, it is enough that the Singaporean label contains the Chinese connection.

By most accounts, Singapore has come a long way towards nationhood. Compared to China's wish to be seen as a multinational state with a deep and distinctive civilisation, Singapore seeks to be a multicultural city-state with modern values and a global outlook.

If China accepts Singapore as a multicultural nation with modern values and a global outlook, and understands that being multicultural and global are critically important to Singapore's very existence, it will make Singapore's task of nation building easier. After all, being Singaporean includes being Chinese, or Malay, or Indian, or belonging to other racial groups.

China will then see that the sentiments that lead Singapore to collaborate closely with it are natural and sincere, and not merely for profit, and that the state's efforts to speak and act so that this strategically located island never has to take sides are invaluable to the region's hopes for peace and prosperity.

Singapore's relations with China are now complicated by the growing rivalry between China and the US. China feels that its vital maritime interests are vulnerable to US pressures while the US sees China as a threat to its hegemony.

For Singapore, the US was part of the Anglophone alliance at the state's creation and expects its strategic connections with the city- nation to continue. Singapore hopes that China will understand why it still sees its security as dependent on that framework.

Where China is concerned, Singapore was grateful when Deng Xiaoping moved away from Mao Zedong's ideological hostility, and the city-state has responded by being actively involved in China's economic development. It would not be in Singapore's interest for China to doubt its friendship.

To counter that possibility, the Government cannot do it alone but must involve its citizens, especially those of Chinese descent, to prevent misunderstanding from growing into distrust.

Wang Gungwu is University Professor, National University of Singapore and Chairman of the East Asian Institute and the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. He is Chairman of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, and also Emeritus Professor of Australian National University.

stopinion@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on October 22, 2016.
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The body language of the famously loose-tongued Philippines President was notably subdued as his host, Chinese President Xi Jinping, escorted him to an honour guard.

The words that followed their meeting, however, were classic unfiltered Rodrigo Duterte.

"I announce my separation from the United States, both in military but economics also," he said hours later. "America has lost it."

Mr Duterte's words come as no surprise. A bit of a left-leaner ideologically, he has been railing against the lone superpower, his nation's treaty ally, for months.

But the context is notable.

The startling statement was made on Thursday to a group of Chinese and Filipino businessmen after his meeting with President Xi, who presides over the world's largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity.

For good measure, Mr Duterte added some curses against President Barack Obama as well.

Read also: Duterte calls Barack Obama 'son of a whore'

Incensed by Western, particularly American, criticism of his human rights record ever since he swore to clean up the drug scene in the Philippines (Beijing helpfully announced US$15 million (S$21 million) in support of his anti-drug programme), Mr Duterte may have just taken things to an extreme and taken the biggest gamble of his life.

Duterte sworn in as Philippines' 16th president

Click on thumbnail to view photos. Source: 

AFP, Reuters

For one thing, Philippine nationalism, once defined in terms of anti-Americanism until the US withdrew from Subic Bay and Clark Air Base in the 1990s, is these days reckoned in terms of anti-China sentiment because of Beijing's aggressive and unbending acts in the South China Sea.

Although Filipino industry and business, as with many nations in South-east Asia, is dominated by people of ethnic Chinese stock, the sentiments on the South China Sea issue are common across the board.

This contributed in large measure to the popularity of President Benigno Aquino III, Mr Duterte's predecessor.

The former mayor of Davao City clearly thinks his massive popularity - he has the second-highest ratings for his first 100 days in office since President Fidel Ramos - is backing enough for him to stand against the public sentiment where two in three Filipinos have a largely favourable view of the US versus 31 per cent who think poorly of the US and China.

Second, Mr Duterte, even as he announced his "separation" from the US in economics, does not seem to have taken into account a hard fact on the ground, which is that the boom his country has enjoyed in grabbing ever bigger slices of the outsourcing industry is on account of the Philippines' tight relationship with the West, particularly the US.

Manila now is considered to have displaced Mumbai, in India, as a favoured outsourcing destination.

Cities like Cebu in the Philippines have also come on the outsourcing map lately, as the world increasingly discovers the English-speaking talent resident in the archipelago.

Since Accenture set up the first outsourcing unit in the Philippines in 1992, outsourcing now employs nearly a million people and brings in more than US$16 billion in revenue.

Since the top clients are all Western multinationals, Mr Duterte may be putting at risk the fortunes of hundreds of thousands of young people should he move away from the US strategically.

There is also the question of remittances.

The Philippines, more than almost any other economy, is critically dependent on the US$30 billion in remittances it receives annually from the workers it sends overseas. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states dominate the pile of remittance sources, but the US follows closely. With oil prices having fallen, Gulf remittances are being hit.

Should the US, as a punitive measure, impose restrictions or a tax on remittances to the Philippines, there could be howls of protest from families across the nation that depend on these funds.

That said, there is no question that South-east Asia is in for a period of nervousness as Mr Duterte goes about attempting to realign his state's decades-long umbilical links with Washington.

Former president Ramos, at whose urging Mr Duterte ran for the presidency and is still widely influential in the Philippines, has cut away from his protege already.

The military is nervously watching as the new man at the helm orders an unravelling of long-tested strategic structures.

The next moves to watch would be not Mr Duterte's, but Mr Xi's.

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Photo Gallery

Duterte in China to promote economic ties

Source:

Reuters

At the very least, if he does not permit Filipino fishermen access to their traditional fishing grounds around Scarborough Shoal, it would prove a huge let-down for their new-found admirer in ASEAN, one that might prove politically lethal for him.

Returning control of the shoal to Manila, for now, seems out of the question despite the arbitral ruling in Manila's favour. That's because Beijing will be mindful of what might come should Mr Duterte abruptly leave the scene, or be removed. The Philippines, after all, has a long history of coups.

"I realigned myself in your ideological flow and maybe I will go to Russia and talk to (President Vladimir) Putin and tell him there are three of us against the world: China, Philippines and Russia," his office yesterday quoted him as saying.

For many in the Philippines, this might seem like a flight of fancy.

Washington, too, cannot be expected to sit idly by as Mr Duterte seeks to alter the chessboard it has set up in South-east Asia and the Pacific.

It was Mrs Hillary Clinton after all, who, as secretary of state, stood on a US warship anchored in Manila Bay and first spoke of the South China Sea as the "West Philippine Sea".

South-east Asia, clearly, is headed for interesting times.

velloor@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on October 22, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.