Tuesday, 30 September 2008

The demise of ...

Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam (January 5, 1926 - September 30, 2008); more commonly known as "J.B. Jeyaretnam" or "J.B.J.".

He was the first opposition party candidate to be elected a Member of Parliament in Singapore, 16 years after the country gained independence. Representing the Workers' Party, Jeyaretnam defeated the People's Action Party's Pang Kim Him in the 1981 Anson by-election with 51.9% to 47.1% of the vote to become Singapore's first opposition MP

He passed away this morning and left behind a dream; true democracy for Singapore which I believe will be carried on by many.

My deepest condolences to his family. Mr JBJ will always be fondly remembered by many and especially so for residents in Anson.

Wednesday, 24 September 2008

Melamine Tainted Products in Singapore

Dear all...please take note of the brand and products listed below, these had been recalled and taken off the shelves.

Brand


ITEM DESC
1 BAIRONG GRAPE CREAM CRACKERS
2 DOVE H/NUT ALM & RAISIN CHOC
3 DOVE HAZELNUT CHOC
4 DOVE MILK CHOCOLATE
5 Dreyers Choc Cake Ice Cream 887ml
6 Dreyers Choc Cake Ice Cream 887ml
7 Dreyers Cookie & Cream Ice Cream 887ml
8 Dreyers Cookie & Cream Ice Cream 887ml
9 Dreyers Mint Chip Ice Cream 887ml
10 Dreyers Mint Chip Ice Cream 887ml
11 Dreyers Rocky Road Ice Cream 887ml
12 Dreyers Rocky Road Ice Cream 887ml
13 Dreyers Strawberry Ice Cream 887ml
14 Dreyers Strawberry Ice Cream 887ml
15 Dreyers Toast Almond Ice Cream 887ml
16 Dreyers Toast Almond Ice Cream 887ml
17 Dreyers Vanilla Ice Cream 887ml
18 Dreyers Vanilla Ice Cream 887ml
19 DUTCH LADY STER M LF BANANA
20 DUTCH LADY STER MK LF PLAIN
21 DUTCH LADY STER MK LF CHOC
22 DUTCH LADY STER MK LF SBERRY
23 DUTCH LADY STER M LF HNYDEW
24 DUTCH LADY STER M LF HNYDEW
25 DUTCH LADY STER MILK PLAIN
26 DUTCH LADY STER MK LF CHOC
27 DUTCH LADY STER MK LF SBERRY
28 DUTCH LADY STER M LF BANANA
29 FIRST CHOICE CALCIUM SESAME CRACKERS
30 FIRST CHOICE CALCIUM SALTINE CRACKERS
31 FIRST CHOICE CALCIUM S ONION CRACKERS
32 FIRST CHOICE CALCIUM SEAWEED CRACKERS
33 GINBIS PARTY ANIMAL BUTTER BISC
34 GINBIS PARTY ANIMAL SEAWEED BIS
35 GINBIS PARTY ANIMAL CNUT
36 GINBIS ANIMAL BISCUIT
37 Koala Cocoa Biscuit 40g
38 Koala Cocoa Biscuit 40g
39 KRAFT OREO WAFER STICKS 18S
40 KRAFT OREO WAFER STICKS 5S
41 KRAFT OREO W/STICK WH CHOC 18S
42 KRAFT OREO W/STICK WH CHOC 5S
43 Lotte Koala Cocoa Funpack 210g
44 Lotte Koala Cocoa Funpack 210g
45 M & M Chocolate Peanut 200g
46 M & M Chocolate Peanut 200g
47 M&M CHOC CANDIES PLAIN%
48 M&M CHOC CANDIES PEANUT%
49 M&M CHOC CANDIES-PLAIN
50 M&M CHOC CANDIES-PEANUTS
51 M&M FUNSIZE MILK
52 M&M FUNSIZE PEANUT
53 M&M Chocolate Candies Plain 200g
54 M&M Chocolate Candies Plain 200g
55 MEIJI UJIKINTOKI 2978
56 MEIJI UMAKABO CHOCOLATE
57 MEIJI FAMILY PACK-GREEN TEA
58 MEIJI CHESTNUT & REDBEAN
59 MENTOS BOTTLE YOGHURT PROMO PK
60 MENTOS BOTTLE YOGHURT
61 Monmilk BREAKFAST MILK MALT
62 Monmilk BREAKFAST MILK WALNUT 6S
63 Monmilk BREAKFAST MILKMALT 6S
64 Monmilk CHOCOLATE MILK 6S
65 Monmilk COFFEE MILK 6S
66 Monmilk HI CAL LOW FAT
67 Monmilk HI CAL LOW FAT MILK
68 Monmilk HI CAL LOW FAT MILK 6S
69 Monmilk HI CAL MILK
70 Monmilk HI CAL MILK 6S
71 Monmilk MILK DELUXE 12S
72 Monmilk PURE MILK
73 Monmilk PURE MILK
74 Monmilk PURE MILK 6S
75 MonmilkBREAKFAST MILK WALNUT
76 NABISCO IN A BISKIT CHICKEN
77 NESTLE NES D/STICK MINI VANILLA
78 NESTLE NES DISTICK MINI CHOCO
79 NESTLE MILK & BERRY STARS CRL
80 NO FRILLS WAFER BLUEBERRY
81 NO FRILLS WAFER CHOCOLATE
82 NO FRILLS WAFER PEANUT
83 Orion Fresh Pie 138g
84 Orion Fresh Pie 138g
85 Orion Tiramisu 138g
86 Orion Tiramisu 138g
87 PEITIAN CREAM BISCUIT
88 Rabbit Milk Sweet 150g
89 SILANG NATURAL OAT CRACKER
90 Snicker Candies Funsize 240g
91 Snicker Candies Funsize 240g
92 SNICKERS PEANUT CHOCOLATE%
93 SNICKERS SNACKSIZE BARS PNUT 5
94 TAKE ONE BABY BITES 24S
95 TAKE ONE BABY BITE CK VG
96 TAKE ONE BABY BITE CARROT
97 Vitasoy Chocolate Drink 4s 125ml
98 Vitasoy Chocolate Drink 4s 125ml
99 Vitasoy Melon Soya Bean Milk 4s 125ml
100 Vitasoy Melon Soya Bean Milk 4s 125ml
101 Vitasoy Q Soya Milk 4s 125ml
102 Vitasoy Q Soya Milk 4s 125ml
103 WANT WANT MILK CANDY
104 Want Want Flavoured Milk 250ml
105 Yili Hi Cal Low Fat Milk 1L
106 Yili Hi Cal Low Fat Milk 6s 250ml
107 Yili Hi Cal Milk 1L
108 Yili Hi Cal Milk 6s 250ml
109 Yili Pure Milk 1L
110 Yili Pure Milk 6s 250ml
111 Youcan Masterbean Multipack
112 Youcan Passion Multipack
113 Youcan Silk Sliced and Passion Strawberry
114 Youcan Stawberry Multipack
115 Youcan Traditional Sesame Multipack 4s
116 Youcan Unusual Multipack 4s

Tuesday, 16 September 2008

The moment that we, Singaporeans, should be truly proud of!

Paralympics: Swimmer Pin Xiu is Singapore's golden girl

BEIJING: She was nursing a sore throat, but the only thing Yip Pin Xiu wanted to do just before she launched herself into the water at the National Aquatics Centre in Beijing on Monday was to empty her mind.

Coach Ang Peng Siong was familiar with his swimmer's routine and kept his instructions to a minimum.

The strategy paid off spectacularly as the 16-year-old became the first Singapore athlete to win gold at the Paralympic Games when she touched home first in the 50m backstroke (S3).

Pin Xiu, who suffers from muscular dystrophy, touched the wall first in 58.75 seconds, finishing a whopping 7.32 seconds faster than silver medallist Fran Williamson of Great Britain (1:06.07), with Xia Jiangbo of China coming in third (1:07.97).

The Singapore star was clearly primed for gold, after breaking her own world record in the morning heats with a time of 57.92 seconds, bettering her previous mark of 1:00.80 set at the US Paralympic Games in April.

Pin Xiu's stunning achievement ensured the strains of Majulah Singapura were heard for the first time at the Paralympics or Olympic Games.

In a phone interview on Monday night, the Secondary 4 student at Bendemeer Secondary School said: "I didn't think of anything during my race, because I swim better when my mind is a blank.

"Even Uncle Siong (coach Ang) knows this and didn't really give me too many instructions. He let me swim my race.

"I just went out there and swam."

Pin Xiu's feat comes a month to the day after the Singapore women's table tennis team bagged the country's first Olympic medal in 48 years, when they beat South Korea in the semi-finals in Beijing.

And on Monday - Sept 15 - Singapore won its first-ever Paralympic Games gold medal.

It is her second medal of the 13th Paralympic Games, following her silver in the 50m freestyle (S3) on Saturday.

The teenager was grateful for all the help from the Singapore Disability Sports Council and the Singapore National Paralympic Council (SNPC), and reserved special praise for coach Ang, team-mate Theresa Goh, and her parents, dad Yip Chee Khiong and mum Margaret Chong.

Pin Xiu and Goh had taken Sunday afternoon off to go to Beijing's Silk Street with coach Ang to get her mind off swimming.

"A lot of athletes tend to do better when they're relaxed, that was why we took them out to get their minds off swimming for a while," said Ang, 45, a two-time Olympian.

"The entire Team Singapore delegation, including the doctors, physiotherapists and sports psychologists, all did a good job in keeping the mood light-hearted.

"Pin Xiu tends to do better in a relaxed environment."

Pin Xiu's parents didn't talk to their daughter before the race for fear of piling the pressure on her.

"We saw her a few days ago and she said she wanted a gold medal," said Margaret, a senior officer at Singapore Airlines.

"But we didn't say anything more because we didn't want to put undue pressure on her. We're so happy that she has fulfilled her dream."

While the Games end on Wednesday, Singapore's six athletes have completed all their events and will return home on Thursday with one gold, one silver and two bronze medals, through equestrian dressage rider Laurentia Tan.

Under the SNPC's Athlete Achievement Awards scheme, Pin Xiu will receive $100,000 for her gold medal, while Tan, 29, will win $25,000.

Sunday, 14 September 2008

Saturday, 13 September 2008

Well done, REDS!

WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I'm so elated! This has to be the best score I had ever seen :)

Yes! Liverpool won Manchester United!!!!

Its been so long...2 days ago at work, my boss who is also a Liverpool fan was saying that its going to be a tough match because both Torres and Gerard are going to be on the bench...

To me, a draw would be good enough but the Reds won! ( 1st goal was an own goal by Man U)

Well done!

Tuesday, 9 September 2008

Why PCF can and WP cannot

This was the letter of response on ST Forum: (words in green fonts are my personal opinions)

Why WP didn’t get permit for event

Tuesday, 9 September 2008

I REFER to last Thursday’s letter by Mr Tan Ghee Gay, ‘Why ‘no’ and ‘yes’?', regarding police decisions with respect to the Workers’ Party’s (WP) proposed mass cycling event last year, and the carnival on Aug 31.

Police do not issue permits for outdoor political events in public places due to the potential for disorder and unruly behaviour. This applies to events organised by all political parties. For this reason, police rejected WP’s application to hold a mass cycling activity in East Coast Park, to commemorate its 50th anniversary in September last year.

My Tay, could you please kindly explain how come GE rally is approved? Its outdoor, held by political parties and in public places...

The event on Aug 31 was very different. The permit was issued after taking into account the organiser and the nature of the event. It was organised by the PAP Community Foundation, which is a registered charity and not a political party.

The PCF logo has got the PAP logo in it, it is hard for people to not relate it to a political party. For the past events that I had done with WP, if its an event that we don't wish to politicize it, we will make sure all of us not wear the party t shirt with the party logo. Because when we wear one with the logo, our aim is to create political awareness. Hence PCF should change their logo to prevent future misunderstanding.

The event was not assessed to have the potential for disorder and unruly behaviour. It was a carnival that involved children and families from various kindergartens and educational institutions.

The WP's 50th Anniversary cycling event is not one that is attended by gangsters and terrorists! It may and will also involved families and children, so why does it have a potential for disorder?

The Prime Minister, as guest of honour, and a few other guests, made their entrance by cycling a short distance. During the event, a sum of $664,000 (which had been raised earlier) was distributed to 17 charities, including Beyond Social Services, Children’s Aid Society and Chung Hwa Medical Institution.

Mr Paul Tay, I think the last few sentences is not relevant to the topic of discussion. Why the need to state the donated amount, etc? To further prove that PCF is a charitable organisation?

DSP Paul Tay
Assistant Director (Media Relations)
Singapore Police Force

Friday, 5 September 2008

My opinion on Single mums

Single mothers and their predicament in Singapore

While other expectant mothers immerse in the joy of pregnancy, a group of mothers-to-be spend sleepless nights wondering what’s next for them and their unborn child.

This group of mothers-to-be is the unmarried, single mothers.

Even in today’s sophisticated society, single parent families, commonly known as ‘broken’ are often stigmatized and perceived as not entirely functional as two parent families.

I had send emails to MOM, MCYS, IRAS and HDB respectively and confirmed that all mothers, except unmarried single mothers, in Singapore, are entitled to the following:

-3 months of maternity leave (1st 2 months funded by employer and the 3rd month by MOM)Unwed mums are not entitled to the 3rd month unless they marry within 6 months to the man who fathered the child (amended in 2007).

-Baby Bonus which consists of cash gift as well as topping up of CDA account with cash.

-Income Tax Relief such as; parenthood tax relief, foreign maid levy relief, grandparents care giver relief and working mothers’ child relief

-The eligibility for new HDB flats (a single below age 35 and a child below age 21 do not form a family nucleus)

The question is why are they left out from these entitlements?

A report by Radha Basu in Straits Times on 15th April 2005, titled “Single mums’ plea: Don’t ignore us”, highlighted the plight of single mums in Singapore. Mr. Sin Boon Ann who is currently the MP for Tampines GRC, was not surprised that there were more unwed mums.

‘Being better educated and financially independent gives them the choice to raise babies single-handedly.’

To me, the response meant; our Society calls for and only recognizes a certain kind of family as family, and if you have chosen to be not in this category, then stop complaining that you are left out from the entitlements.

‘Single by chance, mothers by choice!

If being a single mum is a choice, then let us compare it with ex-offenders. Can I say that before one commits any crime, he is aware of the risk involved and that may end him up in prison? With that in mind, he went ahead to take the risk. So a choice had been made here. Ex-offenders are given a 2nd chance through the ‘Yellow Ribbon’ project.

What about single mums who made a choice to be one? Where is the 2nd chance for single mums who had so bravely took up the moral responsibility? She could have just made the choice of aborting the child. It seems that being responsible is now worse off than being irresponsible! Ex-offenders commit crimes and is given a 2nd chance, unwed mums had the most committed a sin but is more often than not, given the death penalty by the society.

Please note, I have nothing against ex-offenders, I'm simply using it as a comparison on why single mums should have their 2nd chance too.

Apart from choice, irresponsible fathers-to-be and broken relationships are probably other key factors why a woman would choose to do it alone. Let’s be realistic, very few decided to be single mums by choice from scratch. More often than not, it’s a case of ‘A moment of passion and a lifetime of regrets!’

Why should single-mums be given the same benefits as other mothers?

1) Single mums are tax-payers too. Their sons will serve National Service and daughters will continue to bear and nurture future generations for Singapore

2) Regardless of marital status, all mothers love and want to provide their children with the best they possibly can. All children have similar needs, these mothers need caregivers too, so why exclude them from tax relief, caregiver relief and maid-levy relief? Why penalize the child?

3) Most importantly, these mothers need to provide themselves and their children a roof over their heads. Why then exclude them from being eligible for application for new HDB flats? Yes, they do have another choice that is to purchase from the open market which is more expensive.

4) Maternity leave benefit for single mums (amended in 2007) is putting more pressure on them to get married to someone whom the marriage may eventually turn sour. This in turn may cause more social issues and mental or emotional turmoil which of course will increase the divorce rates. The objective of maternity leave is for mothers to recuperate and care for the child; hence her marital status is irrelevant!

5) Pre-marital sex that leads to unplanned pregnancy is often seen as immoral or sinful. An unwed mum who decides to do it single-handedly faces more difficulties and such bias policies may cause her to abandon the child right after birth due to massive stress or to abort! Newspapers reports such as ‘Dead baby found among trash’, is painful and uncalled for. Are we committing something more sinful and disastrous here? For instance, ‘indirect murder’?

6) See the value, not the cost. Was it because the government is not able to see the value that this group of mothers can bring to the society hence they are seeing the cost of providing for these mothers? We should acknowledge the value that they had and will bring to the economy. Because only when one sees the value then the cost becomes insignificant.

7) If two parent families are deemed to be best for children, then does it imply that children from single parent families are at a disadvantage? If so, all the more help should be rendered to them.

8) These babies increase the population of Singapore.

Braema Mathi, former Nominated MP said in the same article (15th April 2005) that, ‘if unwed mothers are not given the same benefits as married ones, this inevitably will affect the child.’ She also drew the line at providing benefits to women who had more than one child born out of wedlock. I totally agree with what had been said.

By giving this group of mothers equal benefits as what the rest are having does not means encouraging more women to go into single motherhood. It works the same way as the ‘Yellow Ribbon Project’, does creating awareness for this project means that we are encouraging crimes?

A different set of criteria can be given to this group. That is only the 1st child who is born out of wedlock will get the benefits like other mothers. Subsequently, they will not be eligible for the benefits.

A cursory search on Google showed that there isn’t much support network for single mums available in Singapore. Or probably it’s not as prominent or publicly aware of.

The only one I know of is, ‘Flyin Solo’, founded by two such mums in 2004. They have been petitioning the government for more benefits. However, they had not been successful in this aspect. Nevertheless, they had provided as much support as they can to these mothers.

The society and family should help, give encouragement, provide mental and emotional support, build their self confidence and self esteem, so that these mothers are able to provide a more relaxed and conducive environment for their children.Help should be easily available and accessible for these mothers.

Lastly, may I say this on behalf of all unwed mums - We are not asking the government to bend the policies for us. What we are asking for is equal and fair treatment from the government which brings us to our pledge, “…….based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our Nation."

Thursday, 4 September 2008

More on Single mothers from Straits Times, 4th Sep

The (illegitimate) way to more babies

Conservative Italy and liberal Britain provide lessons for Singapore
By Andy Ho, Senior Writer


MORE births are being registered here without the babies' fathers being named. There were 481 such cases in 2005, 495 in 2006 and 561 last year, accounting for 1.28, 1.29, and 1.42 per cent of all live births here in those years.

But despite a dearth of babies, Government policies do not support such births.

For example, unwed single mothers are not entitled to Baby Bonus benefits, nor can they get a new HDB flat.

Inheritance laws, which bandy about the term 'illegitimate' without defining it, discriminate against these offspring.

One might have thought that babies are babies and the authorities would welcome them no matter how they came into being, especially since fewer young people are getting married.

In 1997, 20,633 young men aged 20 to 34 got married for the first time; last year, only 16,765 did. The corresponding figures for women were 22,527 and 19,999 respectively.

Moreover, people are getting married later, so they tend to be less fertile. Last year, the median ages of those who married for the first time were 29.8 years for grooms and 27.2 years for brides.

Back in 1997, the figures stood at 28.4 years and 25.7 years respectively. And way back in 1977, they were 27.3 years and 24.2 years.

In the old days, men were the breadwinners while women were valued for their domestic skills and child-bearing capacities. The family was the main source of social support, especially for women.

Thus, the norms then favoured earlier marriages and more babies. Young people generally married earlier and were more willing to partner spouses they might have regarded as less than ideal, for the family was the primary source of social support.

Today, however, these norms have weakened. People marry later - or stay single. One reason is that nowadays a combination of state, market and welfare institutions provides the kind of social support that the family used to.

Women work and can provide for themselves, employers provide health-care coverage, there are state-run schemes like CPF and Workfare, charities care for the elderly or destitute, and so on.

Once crucial to one's golden years, children are no longer necessary to take care of the retired.

In sum, marriage has become a less crucial institution, which is why divorces in the early years after marriage have also risen. The social structures that supported it have become considerably attenuated.

And here is the rub: Since these trends - late marriages, rising divorce rate, fewer children - are largely due to changes in the social structure, it is going to be very difficult to reverse them without also altering the social structures that gave rise to them in the first place.

And since those social changes are directly traceable, in the main, to state initiatives, there is going to be no easy solution to the problem of falling fertility rates that the Government can crank out.

After all, no government is going to transform wholesale the very institutions and policies that it believes have resulted in social stability.

For example, the Government cannot possibly suggest that women should now refrain from entering the labour force and, instead, stay at home to have more babies. At any rate, the structure of the economy as it exists now will not permit that.

Thus the Government can do little more than tweak the birth rate with Baby Bonuses, longer maternity leave, token paternity leave, co-payments for in-vitro fertilisation, tax rebates for more children, and the like.

In sum, if the baby dearth is the outcome of seemingly irreversible structural changes in society, the problem may well be an intractable one.

Still, whether to couple up with someone of the opposite sex remains a decision that pivots on what one wants to get out of the relationship - love, companionship, even children.

For some couples, being legally married is not necessary in order to gain any of these benefits

If more children are born out of wedlock, Singapore will have more babies. In fact, that is why the Britain's fertility rate has stayed around 1.7 since 1995 whereas Italy's is a paltry 1.2.

In a University of Pisa study this May, Italian economists noted that Britain's illegitimacy rate, which had been a stable 5 per cent for more than a century since 1845, first began to rise after 1960.

In tandem with that rise, the age of first marriages and the numbers of cohabiting couples in Britain also began to grow after 1960. By 2004, some 42 per cent of British babies were born out of wedlock.

Later first marriages also plague Italy. However, because the Catholic Church still plays a vital role in Italian culture, cohabitation and illegitimacy are frowned upon.

In 2004, only 14 per cent of Italian babies were born out of wedlock.

Crucially, while Britain affords its single mothers adequate public resources, Italy does not. Their differing fertility rates can clearly be construed as rational responses on the part of their respective citizenries to public policy.

In Singapore's case, even if its Government wished to go the British way and provide support to unwed mothers, it would have to contend with the conservative majority in the electorate.

On this matter, the Government is likely to remain pinched between a rock and a hard place for a very long time.

Wednesday, 3 September 2008

From Straits Times on Single mothers, 1st Sep

More kids born to unnamed dads

Some single mums say keeping father off birth cert is better for baby
By K.C.Vijayan, Law Correspondent

MORE babies are being born here without their fathers named on their birth certificates.

The numbers, on a march north for the last three years, are taken as an indication of the number of illegitimate births.

Last year, there were 561 such births, up from 495 in 2006 and and 481 cases in 2005.

Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) records show that of these 1,537 births, only 91 or about six per cent had the father's name inserted subsequently.

An ICA spokesman said that occasionally, the father's details are unavailable at the time of the registration of the birth, such as when the identity of the father is unknown.

But if the father's particulars become subsequently available, they can be inserted later, as long as there is acceptable evidence that he is the biological father.

The ICA spokesman added that a child's birth details are normally recorded at the time of birth - whether or not the parents are married - on the strength of evidence, documents and information.

Lawyers add, however, that if a newborn's parents are not married, the father's name is inserted only with his consent.

Single mothers The Straits Times spoke to said they have kept the father's names out of the birth certificates to avoid complications in the long term over custody and access.

A 31-year-old single mum who asked to be referred to as 'Jenny Tan' to protect her child said: 'For unmarried mums, not having the dad's name is probably better because there is the issue of custody where sometimes, after many years of neglect, the father may for some reason or other come back and fight for custody, which is particularly worrying if you have a young daughter.'

Another single mother who wanted to identified only as Ms Wang said she decided not to insert the name of the father of her child after learning from the experience of others.

Among other things, the 35-year-old human relations senior executive does not want to have to look for her child's father when it is time to register her daughter for school. Having two names on the certificate will mean that she would have to produce both his and her identity cards to register the child.

Excluding the father's name however does not absolve him from taking responsibility for the child.

In one case, a 37-year-old senior manager who fathered a child had to be hauled to court and ordered to pay child support.

But for some single mothers, maintenance is not an issue because they want a clean break from the man.

Both Ms Tan and Ms Wang said they became single mothers because their partners left them when they became pregnant.

'My baby had nothing to do with a swinging singles lifestyle, but because I am against abortion. My parents nearly killed me then, but now they are fond of my kid,' Ms Tan said.

Another single mother asked that more be done for such mothers - like giving them the Baby Bonus benefits.

She said her application for a new HDB flat was turned down despite appeals from her Member of Parliament on her behalf. The reason: She and her child were not recognised as a family nucleus.

'I was left with two choices - get a flat on the resale market or go through an adoption process and adopt my own child, to set up that family nucleus.'

But she pointed out that having to adopt her own child could endanger support payments as the father could refuse to pay maintenance for an adopted child.

Her ex is now paying her $300 a month in child support, she said.

An illegitimate child is also not entitled to inherit his father's property, unlike a child from his legitimate wife.

Family lawyer Jan Koh from Harry Elias Partnership said the men who shirk their duties as fathers range from businessmen to coffeeshop owners.

One unmarried doctor in his 30s dumped a student in her early 20s, refusing to believe that a one-off fling could make her pregnant; in another case, a businessman in his late 40s ditched his pregnant mistress after initially planning to divorce his wife and marry her. The woman in her 30s had to take him to court to get child-support payments.

Tuesday, 2 September 2008

Double Standards?


PAP held a carnival at West Coast Park which was known as the 'PAP Community Foundation Event'. I' m not sure if a PAP logo was present but since the Straits Times reported the event as 'PAP Carnival', the logo should be there isn't?

According to ST, "Mr Lee and a host of ministers and MPs made their entrance on bicycles, much to the delight of the spectators."

From the picture, I could not see too clearly if he was wearing the logo on his T-shirt.

Last year August, a permit that was applied for a celebratory cycling event at East Coast Park was declined.

The response given by Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Assoc Prof Ho Peng Kee was that the East Coast Park is a recreational park for Singaporeans and their families. It is not meant to be used by a political party to promote its cause. Apart from displacing the usual recreational users...it is an open area where there is greater potential for breach of the peace, public disorder and unruly behaviour. He said that police required political events to be held indoors or in stadiums where problems could be contained, adding that the WP could consider these venues. The policy applied to all political parties, he said.

This year, another political party, don't know if they applied for a permit a not, was seen CYCLING at an OUTDOOR premise.

They too are a Political Party.

Venue used was also an outdoor recreation park (West Coast)

There is also a potential for breach of public disturbances, etc.

There are too many similarities between the 2 cases but one was declined with the above reasons, the other was accepted and published in Straits Times.

Not surprising?

Monday, 1 September 2008

Ladies, look out!

To all female readers out there, take note of the below personal account of a friend's friend.

In November, a rare kind of breast cancer was found.

A lady developed a rash on her breast,
similar to that of young mothers who are nursing.

Because her mammogram had been clear, the doctor treated
her with antibiotics for infections. After 2 rounds, it continued to get worse, so her doctor sent her for another mammogram. This time it showed a mass.

A biopsy found a fast growing malignancy. Chemo was
started in order to shrink the growth; then a mastectomy was performed; then a full round of Chemo; then radiation. After about 9 months of intense treatment, she was given a clean bill of health.

She had one year of living each day to its fullest.

Then
the cancer returned to the liver area. She took 4 treatments and decided that she wanted quality of life, not the after effects of Chemo. She had 5 great months and she planned each detail of the final days. After a few days of needing morphine, she died. She left her experience behind for all women:

Women, PLEASE be alert to anything that is not normal,
and be persistent in getting help as soon as possible.

Paget's Disease: This is a rare form of breast cancer, and is on the outside of the breast, on the nipple and aureole. It appeared as a rash, which later became a lesion with a crusty outer edge. I would not have ever suspected it to be breast cancer but it was. My nipple never seemed any different to me, but the rash bothered me, so I went to the doctor for that. Sometimes, it itched and was sore, but other than that it didn't bother me. It was just ugly and a nuisance, and could not be cleared up with all the creams prescribed by my doctor and dermatologist for the dermatitis on my eyelids just prior to this outbreak. They seemed a little concerned but did not warn me it could be cancerous.

Now, I suspect not many women out there know a lesion or
rash on the nipple or aureole can be breast cancer. (Mine started out as a single red pimple on the aureole. One of the biggest problems with Paget's disease of the nipple is that the symptoms appear to be harmless.It is
frequently thought to be a skin inflammation or infection, leading to
unfortunate delays in detection and care.)

What are the symptoms?

1. A persistent redness, oozing, and crusting of your nipple causing it to itch and burn (As I stated, mine did not itch or burn much, and had no oozing I was aware of, but it did have a crust along the outer edge on one side.)

2. A sore on your nipple that will not heal. (Mine was on the aureole area with a whitish thick looking area in center of nipple).

3. Usually only one nipple is effected. How is it
diagnosed? Your doctor will do a physical exam and should suggest having a mammogram of both breasts, done immediately. Even though the redness, oozing and crusting closely resemble dermatitis (inflammation of the skin),
your doctor should suspect cancer if the sore is only on one breast.

Your doctor should order a biopsy of your sore to confirm what is going on.
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