PUB steps up efforts to prevent flooding [By: Rong Hua]

PUB is stepping up efforts to improve drainage and prevent flooding with heavy rain expected during the year end Northeast Monsoon season. 17 canal sensors has been installed island wide by the PUB to monitor the drainage system, bringing the total to 49, hat is almost half the targeted number of 90 sensors that the PUB wants installed by the end of the year.
A drain inspection camera is one of the new devices that can be immersed into water 10 metres deep and offers a view of up to 60 metres to speed up inspection of about 7000 kilometres of drainage in Singapore. It also reduces drain inspection time and is especially useful for drains like these which are too small for a man to enter
PUB is also speeding up drainage improvement works in 10 places from Bedok to Bukit Timah which includes widening of a 900 metre long drain by more than 20% to ease flooding at Lorang L Telok Kurau.

PUB also has distributed 200 flood advisories to residents and shop owners in severely flood-prone areas tips on the precautions that residents and shop owners could take to protect their belongings and properties in the event of flash floods.

I have chosen this article because it is good to know that PUB is doing something as heavy rain is expected during the year end. By installing sensors, drain inspection camera and widening of drain, I believe that it can help to prevent flooding and also inconveniency to the residents and shop owners located in flood prone areas.

If I am in charge of the situation, I would do more measures to ensure that flooding is minimised and make sure that the losses due to flooding is reduced. I will also advise residents not to litter in drains as it may slow down the flow of water and causes flooding.

Obama gets 12 stiches after 'elbow in the lip' (By Faezah)

US President Barack Obama had to get 12 stitches on his upper lip on Friday after being struck in the face by an elbow during a basketball game.

After being inadvertently hit with an opposing player's elbow in the lip while playing basketball with friends and family, the president received 12 stitches. 
Obama was given local anesthetic during the treatment, and he was given a smaller filament that increases the  number of stitches to ensure a smaller scar.

President Obama was playing defence in the fifth of five games at a gym in Fort McNair military base in Washington when Decerega went to take a shot and accidentally hit the president in the mouth by   Rey Decerega a ( programme director at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute).

 For President Obama  birthday this year he traded passes and scuffles at the White House with a number of the game's current greats, including Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James of the Miami Heat, and former NBA star Earvin "Magic" Johnson.

The article appeals to me because Obama is a renowned President across the whole world.

I would like to ask, what other types of game is President Obama interested in?

If i am in charge of the situation, I would join President Obama in playing Basketball because it is a one life time opportunity to play games with the President. 

Refund Process irks bus passengers (By: Elsa Ng)

Bus commuters who were overcharged for their fares and are eligible for refunds are annoyed at having to figure out how to get them. They are also irritated that, although the mistake was not theirs, the onus is on them to go personally to the add-value machines in bus interchanges and MRT stations or to TransLink ticket offices for yheir refunds. Twenty commuters who were interviewed were reacting to Monday's annoucement by Land Transport Authority (LTA) that bus operators SBS Transit and SMRT had wrongly measured the distance between 68 pairs of bus stops. Their neglecting to factor in detours on routes affected by roadworks resulted in commuters being overcharged by a total of about $300,000 since July, when the distance-based fare system kicked in. On average, commuters paid or will pay four cents more than they should on every journey passing through the affected bus stops between july and today.
Commuters have written in to The Straits Times Forum page, complaining about the difficulty in getting a refund and asking for more information on the process. They complained that the website that LTA pointed them to is hard to navigate and that they cannot remember all bus services they took or the bus stops thay passed.

Why did the article appeal to me ?
The artice appeals to me as I may be the one paying extra money for the MRT and bus rides. I want to know how to get the refund if I am the one being affected.

What questions do I have for the writer ?
I want to ask the writer that how do we know whether we are the ones that are affected by the overcharges?
Some commuters like me may not know whether we are the ones that are affected by the overcharging of the MRT and bus rides. I think that additional information should be given to commuters.

If I am in charged/ in control,would I have done the same or what actions would I have taken ?
If I am in charged of the situation, I would have also refund the commuters the overcharged fares. However, I will also give them additional $1 together with their refund for the mistake caused.

Shelther by Family ( Cheah hock seng Week 6)

Summary

Fugitive terrorist Mas Selamat was harboured in a brother's Housing Board flat in Tampines two days after he broke free from the Whitley Road Detention Centre (WRDC) in 2008, and provided with food, money and a disguise.

His brother, Asmom, Asmom's wife Aisah, and their children Nur Aini and Mahadir was said to help Mas Selamat on his escaped.

Three were convicted last week and sentenced to between three months and 18 months in jail. The fourth, Mahadir, was let off with a stern warning.

Why I choose this article

I choose this article because this news was very epic and shocking on the year 2008. Everyone was really curious where did Mas Selamat hide and after reading this news, i felt that it was not fully the family fault on habouring Mas Selamt, rather partially was also the Police fault. They did not check his brother house thoroughly and allow Mas Selemat to be on the street freely.

Question I want to ask
Singapore is a very small country and why governement still cannot find Mas Selamat in a short time.

If i were to control the situation
I will take this incident as a lesson learnt and do not repeat it again. I will also give their family councelling and also not punish them severly as i think it was normal for family to help with their relative.

Where have all the orchids gone? (By: Elsa Ng)

It started in february last year as a well-intentioned move- to jazz up the already glitzy Orchard Road shopping belt with orchids, a flower long associated with Singapore. But within six months, the blooms were gone, stolen from totems lining a part of Orchard Road. The SInagpore Tourism Board (STB), which oversees the regeneration of the area, was not amused. It is not known how many orchids were stolen, but the totems used to be filled with six rows of dendrobium hybrid orchids. The orchids were then replaced with bromeliads. " the hardier bromeliads have been less susceptible to the pilferage," said the spokesman, adding that totems are now maintained on a quarterly basis. Since the switch to bromeliads, none of the blooms have gone missing.

Why did the article appeal to you?
The article appeal to me as I thought that plucking of flowers is illegal in Singapore. Furthermore, orchid is the flower of Singapore. People should not be so inconsiderate to pluck them.

What questions do I have for the writer?
I want to ask the writer why did The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) realised only when the orchids are all gone? They should have realised it earlier and impost a regulation like a fine so that people will not pluck them.

If I am in charge/ in control, would I have done the same or what actions would I have taken?
If I am in charge of the situation, I would have also change the orchids to bromeliads as it is not as attractive and it is also harder to pluck.

Student posts O Level paper on Twitter [By: Rong Hua]

A Student, Xavier Ong took a picture of his O Level Social Studies examination paper with his camera phone and posted it on Twitter last week. In the tweet, Xavier challenged other students to follow what he did and post it in twitter. This action shocked numerous Twitter users. A girl from the United Kingdom even commented on his picture and asks if the action is legit.
He hoped to gain more twitter followers by posting the publicity stunt and also a video to explain how it all happened. However, such attention has only made this teenager's resolve stronger to make more controversial comments.

This article appeal to me because it is known that a cell phone is not allowed to be brought into an examination hall. However, Xavier brought his camera phone in and took pictures of his O level social studies examination paper. Furthermore, he even challenged other students to follow suit in his tweet.

If I am in charge of the situation, I would make sure that Xavier admits to his mistake and make him retake his O level paper to serve as a warning to other students and to prevent any similar incident from happening.

Pay by cellphone in 2012 [By: Rong Hua]

Singaporeans could be using their cell phones, instead of their ez-link card or Nets Flashpay Cards, to gain entry into train station or pay for their meals and groceries in more than a year’s time. That would happen when a new wireless standard known as near field communication rolled out in Singapore.

The Government announced that it will appoint a consortium to lead the building of such a national platform for mobile payments. Key to the consortium will be a company known as a trusted third party which will build and operate the NFC payment infrastructure. The trusted third party will work with two types of partners, telco’s like SingTel and StarHub and card issuers like banks to roll out the mobile payment system by 2012.

This article appeals to me because it surprises me how technology has advanced. Mobile phone used to be a device used only for communication. Now, mobile phone is not only used for communication but also a device for games, surfing the net and can even be used for payment in a year’s time.

If I am in charge of the situation, I would make sure that the company that operate the mobile payment infrastructure can be trusted so as to prevent any problem that will happen when using the mobile payment system.

Woman attacked in Yishun (by cheah hock seng)

Summary
A 26 year old woman was enjoying happy hour with two male friends at Ginza Pub in Yishun along Sembawang Road on Nov 10 when the unexpected happened.
She was confronted by a group of five women and one man in their late 20s, who asked if she belonged to a gang.
When she said no, the gang started attacking her with glass bottles and knives.
She suffered multiple slashes on her face, arms and legs, and was sent to the hospital.
Her two male friends were also injured while trying to protect her.
The victim said no one came to her rescue during the attack. The pub management did nothing to mediate the situation until the police and the ambulance arrived.
This attack comes after two gang attacks that have resulted in one death, 7 injured and nearly 40 arrests.

Why I choose this article
I choose this article because this is happening in Singapore and also there is many slashing cases happening now. This show us that Singapore is not very safe as what we think. I think the that the youths are getting really brave and didnt care about the law in Singapore. They do not know what is the consequences in slashing people and involving in gang related activities.

Question I have to ask
I would like to ask the youth involving in the slashing activies why they would want to do this stupid act and also i would like to ask the police if they have caught the gang of youth.

If i were to in charge the situation
I will ask many undercover policeman to go around the city acting as gangster to lure all the youth gangster out. After that if the youth gangster approach the undercover policeman then the policeman will take action and catch them.

Scholar admits child porn ( by cheah hock seng)

Summary
A SINGAPOREAN student on a teaching scholarship at the University of York in Britain has pleaded guilty to downloading indecent videos of children.
Jonathan Wong, 23, who was once in the gifted education programme at Hwa Chong Institution, was caught after undergraduates became suspicious of files on the university's intranet and told the authorities, said The York Press newspaper.
The files were traced to him and police raided his home on the university's Heslington campus.
They took away his laptop and hard drive, where they found 50 videos of hardcore child pornography, some of which were graphic, had audio, or lasted more than an hour.
They also featured girls as young as six, Mr Martin Butterworth, from the Crown Prosecution Service, told magistrates in York on Wednesday. He described the videos as 'quite serious offences'.
Wong, said to have few friends at York, where he was studying history on a Ministry of Education (MOE) scholarship, pleaded guilty to 17 charges of downloading child pornography between July 15, 2008, and March 19 this year

Why i choose this article
I choose this article because he is also an singaporean which is the same as me and also he is one of the gifted student in Singapore. This article shocked me when i found out he was caught with child pornography

Question I have to ask
I would like to ask Johnathan why he want to do such a thing. I find it normal to watch pornography but not child-pornograhy. I would also like to ask what is his plan now after this incident had happen.

If i were to in charge of this situation

 I would send johnathan to counselling and hope he will change for a better person. Of course he must be punish  for his act but not too heavily because he did not killed anyone and harm anybody, he is just watching pornography.

Ang Mo kio Slashing: 17-year old arrested (by Faezah)

Police have arrested a 17-year-old who is believed to have assaulted another teenager, 16, with a bread knife on Thursday.

The victim was found at Block 448 in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10 with cuts on his arm, shoulder and stomach. The police said the assault was not gang-related, but believed to have arisen from a personal dispute.

The suspect will be charged in court on Saturday. If convicted, he faces a maximum of seven years in jail, with caning, a fine, or all three.

The article appeals to me because i felt that we need to educate teenagers about the danger of gang fights. 

If i am in charge of the situation, i would educate the youngsters of the importance of education and gang fights as gang fights  would bring harm to yourself as you may end up in jail.

Hong Kong says no signs of bird flu spreading in humans (by Faezah)

There was no sign of bird flu spreading among humans after the densely-populated city recorded its first case of the virus in seven years.

The 59-year-old woman who tested positive for Influenza A (H5), a variant of bird flu, after returning from a trip to mainland China, was in a serious but stable condition in hospital.

Millions of poultry were culled in the 1997 outbreak, which was followed six years later by a full-blown panic when the deadly respiratory disease SARS emerged in 2003, killing about 300 people.

Public anxiety returned to the city of seven million people last year with an outbreak of swine flu that has so far claimed about 80 lives.

This article appeals to me because in the previous years, there are a lot of cases regarding bird flu that spreads among human beings.

If i am in control of the situation i would ensure that the bird flu disease would not spread among  human beings by taking precautions such as wearing mask.