50 rifle live rounds welcome new house owner near Sydney
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Cleaner killed in Singapore
SINGAPORE: A Malaysian cleaner was found stabbed to death at a workers' dormitory in Singapore, news reports said yesterday.
The body of Sangga anak Runggah, 23, was discovered inside a steel storage room that doubled up as a rest area, The Straits Times said.
He had stab wounds on the chest and arms and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics on Friday.
The five-storey dormitory is home to primarily Indian and Bangladeshi labourers.
G.R. Gabriel, a security guard at a similar dormitory next door, said he was shocked when he heard about the stabbing as Sangga seemed like a “quiet and hardworking” man. – dpa
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How lionnoisy?
How to protect us from knife attacks? At least in NS we learn how to take cover from bullets! But nobody teach us how to avoid knife and parang attacks!
At least I go Oz I got NS training and know how to react to gun attack, but knife attack how?
And worse, all this is happening right here in Singapore!
How lionnoisy, can you hold a knife attack workshop for us Singaporeans?
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SINGAPORE : A woman's severed head and limbs were found next to Orchard MRT Station on Friday.
Police are investigating if a woman's torso found in a black canvas bag along a path near MacRitchie Reservoir is linked to the body parts found earlier at Orchard Road.
The police had responded to a call about an unattended bag at MacRitichie Reservoir earlier in the evening.
The body parts were stashed in a blue sports bag on the grounds near Orchard MRT Station.
The woman's head was wrapped in a red plastic bag, the arms and legs in two black trash bags.
A cleaner found the unattended sports bag behind the MRT station, between the mosaic wall and the park.
ASP Siow Cheng Cheng, Police Spokesman, said: "Police immediately cordoned off the surrounding area and conducted a search. We are presently working towards establishing the identity of the victim. The search for further remains and evidence is on-going."
The gruesome find drew a large crowd of on-lookers.
This is the second body parts case in less than three months - a grim reminder of the June 16 case where the body parts of Chinese national Liu Hong Mei were found in the Kallang River
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09/07/2008
Why So Many Murders in Singapore Lately? Another At AMK!
So many murders lately - the cleaner stabbed to death at Causeway Point, the transvestite murdered in his home at Ang Mo Kio, and now the latest in this recent spate of violent crime - an 18-year-old Indian girl, also at AMK. Is Singapore as safe as it used to be? Have we had a couple of months of 'full moons' perhaps?
In the latest incident, a 22-year-old male suspect has been arrested in connection with the homicide. The young girl's body was found covered in blood not far from her home in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5, early on Tuesday morning (8th July, 2008).
Is it still safe to go out at night in Singapore? Is this trend worrying?http://singabloodypore.rsfblog.org/tag/singapore+amk+murder+trend+violence+danger
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Woman, teenage lover to stand trial for DJ's murder
By Selina Lum
THE wife of a slain disc jockey and her alleged teenage accomplice are expected to go on trial next month for murder.
Aniza Essa, 25, and Muhammad Nasir Abdul Aziz, 17, on Thursday were committed to stand trial in the High Court.
Trial dates have been set for April 7 to 18.
The pair are accused of murdering Mr Manap Sarlip, 29, outside the couple's flat at Block 74 Whampoa Drive on July 1 last year.
They were arrested separately a day after the killing.
Aniza and Muhammad Nasir had apparently met while they were working at a Beach Road pub. The teenager is said to be Aniza's lover.
While the teen is charged with the murder, Aniza is charged with abetting his commission of the offence.
If convicted, Aniza faces the mandatory death penalty for murder but the teen will escape the gallows because of his age.
Under the Criminal Procedure Code, no one under the age of 18 at the time of the offence can be hanged.
Instead, the offender be detained 'at the President's pleasure', which means he will be held for as long as the President directs.
The prosecution has 57 witnesses lined up to prove its case against the couple.
Muhammad Nasir is defended by Mr Subhas Anandan, while Aniza's lawyer is Mr Noor Marican.
The case has drawn comparisons to the sensational Annie Leong murder in 2001.
A 15-year-old boy was convicted of killing Madam Leong on the instructions of her estranged husband Anthony Ler.
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Human Trafficking & Modern-day Slavery
Republic of Singapore
The Republic of Singapore consists of the island of Singapore and about 60 small adjacent islands at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, SE Asia [map]. Singapore city, the capital, largest city, and chief port, is administratively coextensive with the republic and the distinction between the two has virtually disappeared. Singapore has a highly developed and successful free market economy, enjoys a remarkably open and corruption-free environment, stable prices, and a per capita GDP equal to that of the Big 4 West European countries. The economy depends heavily on exports, particularly in electronics and manufacturing.
Singapore is a destination country for women and girls trafficked for the purpose of labor and commercial sexual exploitation. Some women from India, Thailand, the Philippines, and the People’s Republic of China who travel to Singapore voluntarily for prostitution or work are subsequently deceived or coerced into sexual servitude. A significant number of foreign domestic workers in Singapore faces the unlawful confiscation of their travel documents, restrictions on their movement, confinement, and/or physical or sexual abuse. Some Singaporean men travel to countries in the region for child sex tourism. - U.S. State Dept Trafficking in Persons Report, June, 2008
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Movie to be made on Human Traffacking in Singapore
Filipina actress Iza Calzado's upcoming film seeks to raise awareness about a serious crime that destroys the lives of many people, especially women: human trafficking.
In the film "Mona Singapore Escort", Calzado plays the title character, "Mona", a resident in a far-flung province in the Philippines.
Mona ends up in a brothel in Singapore after falling victim to a sweet-talking illegal recruiter.
A victim of human trafficking, Mona makes the best out of her situation in order to send money back home to her family.
Calzado said she had no qualms about accepting her first ever mature and sexy role because she believes in the project and in the director.
She also thought that the role of Mona would be good for her as an actress.
"My director Jowee Morel is so wonderful, even if he’s only new in the business. I don’t mind playing sexy roles as long as they can enhance my acting career.
“This is also an advocacy to stop illegal recruitment so that our Filipinas don’t suffer their fate abroad. I hope the government takes care of them," the actress told abs-cbnNEWS.com
Christmas screening
According to Pete Daza, one of the film's producers, the film is an eye-opener as well as a warning to other Filipinos to be very careful, and protect themselves from human traffickers.
Daza told abs-cbnNEWS.com that a few theaters in Los Angeles, California have expressed interest in showing "Mona Singapore Escort" knowing that there are a lot of Filipinos there.
Daza also mentioned that they are working on arrangements to show the film in other locations including London and Dubai.
Co-producer Malcolm Gochioco said he is currently negotiating with theater owners in the Los Angeles area, for a possible release date for the film before Christmas.
"This is one way of greeting our kababayans in America, 'Merry Christmas'. I hope this will enlighten a lot of our compatriots about illegal recruitment of our Filipinas who are driven to prostitution because of ignorance,” Gochioco.
True story
According to director Jowee Morel, “Mona Singapore Escort” exposes the reality of white slavery in Singapore, which counts Filipinas among its victims.
Despite Singapore's reputation as a strict, law-abiding society and its hardline stance on crime (the Singapore government has put to death even foreigners found guilty in illegal drugs cases), Morel said human trafficking and sexual slavery are disturbing realities in Singapore.
“This is a true story,” said Morel, “I hope the governments of the Philippines and Singapore would do something about human trafficking of our women in other countries. I know they are but there should be a massive drive about this."
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Matchmaking or human trafficking?
I have written two previous articles about the quickie-bride business in Vietnamese brides and Vietnam's house of virgins. In both, I expressed my strong opinion about how unsavoury this kind of quickie match-making is.
Now, a reader of Yawning Bread -- let's call him Terence -- has provided me with information about an even seamier underside of this business, which may qualify as human trafficking. Terence seems convinced that Singapore is looking the other way while other countries have been doing something about it.
Naturally, it is very difficult to get hard proof about the most disturbing aspects of his story, for the more sensitive the matter, the more closely the businessmen involved will guard those secrets. This is something that only determined investigators, able to set up undercover operations, can penetrate.
But Terence's inside information has an internally consistent logic and is very plausible as a business method. Perhaps not all matchmaking agencies operate like this, but among the lot, some will be using the business model described below, not least because Singapore and some other countries aren't doing anything to stop it.
* * * * *
To recapitulate a little, the matchmaking agencies arrange packaged tours to Vietnam (or Cambodia, Kalimantan, or wherever next), during which eager bachelors (almost always Chinese. often in their late 30s or 40s) choose a potential bride from a line-up. Then a few social dates are set up and a decision to get married is made in another day or two.
Within the same week-long packaged trip, a wedding is organised and by the week's end, they're husband and wife. If you believe this is all wonderfully romantic, if you believe these are affairs of the heart, God bless you.
On the face of it, such businesses make money from the package tours and the introduction fees. But the arrangements made between the matchmaking agency and the girls (or their families) comes in various shades, and aren't free from financial entanglements either. Some of the darker shades may involve daughters sold to these agencies by families in financial distress. See also the article, Parents in denial, children at risk where I wrote,
In Cambodia, a commonly reported scenario is one where the mother or older relative takes a young girl to a brothel, and using her as collateral, obtains a loan. The girl then has to work off the bond.
Do note however, that in the above paragraph, I was referring to child prostitution. In this article I do not imply that the "girls" or "women" from Vietnam or wherever are underage.
* * * * *
Below is what my reader, Terence, told me. He has a trading company, for which he has to travel frequently to Vietnam. He has been watching this match-making business for some time, and in fact has made enquiries out of curiosity.
According to his email, the match-making agencies who advertise in Singapore are more than just trans-national between Vietnam and Singapore. They have either branches or affiliates in Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia as well, a point that will become pertinent further down.
Not only do they have girls on parade in Saigon, they generally have some girls available on the spot in Singapore too. If you go to their local offices, he told me, you will be shown 6 or 7 girls behind a big glass window.
The matchmakers are likely to tell you that the girls have been "certified by local doctors to be HIV-free, VD-free and are virgins," according to Terence.
He did a round of these places pretending to be an interested customer and when he said he might be in financial difficulty, he was "even offered an installment scheme by 3 agencies." He was quite convinced the financing would come from "their friends in the money-lending business." That is, loan sharks.
Terence has also spoken to matchmakers in Vietnam itself -- these are the native Vietnamese matchmakers, to be distinguished from the Singaporean/Taiwanese matchmakers. Two part-time matchmakers there are his friends. From them, he learnt of a very different side to this whole business.
An important distinction is made by the Vietnamese matchmakers between the 'good' girls and the, well I suppose we have to call them the 'not so good' ones.
"Good parents," Terence was told, "will never allow their good daughters to travel overseas for matchmaking."
In any case, "the usual time period for good, pretty girls to be chosen in HCM city is approximately 1 to 2 weeks. They will not take the risk of going overseas."
So who are those who are taken out of Vietnam by the matchmakers? Terence tells me, these ones have been sold by their families. Or perhaps they bonded themselves for a large loan.
They are then rotated around Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia on social visit passes. If our officials want to do something about this, Terence said, they can easily "check their passports for verification."
If the girls are successfully matched, they have to pay "a tidy sum... in return for the lodging and marketing cost."
But if 3 months (usually) have passed without success, they "will be forced to take up part-time prostitution to repay the... costs incurred by the matchmakers."
Thus Terence concluded: "Behind the scenes, these matchmakers are actually big-time human traffickers as, in actual fact, they're selling these girls to anyone, not just Singaporeans .....under the cover of matchmaking."
"Many of these girls end up in the Middle Eastern countries as prostitutes."
Terence learnt this from the Vietnamese matchmakers on his many trips to Saigon.
Until a few years ago, girls were also on display in Taiwan and Korea, but these countries, said Terence, have stopped this. Singapore has not.
In fact, the agencies here are beginning to talk of girls from Cambodia. The tentacles of this business are reaching more countries.
* * * * *
Being able to speak Chinese is presented as an asset in a potential bride; virtually no Singaporeans are able to speak Vietnamese. But here, Terence had something interesting to report, too. "According to the Vietnamese matchmakers," he said, "those girls who are able to speak Mandarin are mostly divorcees from Taiwan or karaoke and massage palour girls who have worked in HCM city."
As massage parlour girls, they might have had motivation and opportunity to pick up some Mandarin to please travelling businessmen from the region.
Yet, these matchmaking agencies invariably advertise that all their girls on offer are virgins. If you believe that divorcees, karaoke hostesses and masseuses are virgins, God bless you again.
The real virgins are likely to be daughters sold by families in financial distress, which in turn creates another set of problems. After a successful match, they get very needy about money from their husbands, and not surprisingly, many marriages end in divorce (or the women simply run away). But by then, they may have picked up some Mandarin, which means they can re-join the line-up at the matchmaker's, this time with an additional language asset. Given their circumstances, they have to try for another husband, otherwise how will they continue to send money to the family? The cycle is difficult to break out of.
* * * * *
Terence wrote to me because, watching the business, he feels "that it is really shameful that the government is actually closing more than an eye to it."
We let this business develop under our noses. Our Sunday Times write glowing feature articles about Vietnamese and other quickie brides.
If any reader knows what investigation and enforcement agencies can intervene, whether domestic or international, please pass them a copy of this story. Do something, or else we'll all be collectively culpable.
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this should shut that noisy fella for a little while....
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Seems like his topics ultimately always end up showing what's wrong with Singapore instead of Australia...
I wonder if he realizes the irony of it.
