Ex—MOE scholar taught at school despite child porn charge (By: Elsa Ng)

Former Ministry of Education (MOE) scholar Jonathan Wong had already been arrested for possession of child pornography when he returned to teach in a secondary school here in Singapore. 23—year—old Wong, who is a history major at the University of York, was arrested in March and did his month—long teaching attachment in July at the school in the western part of Singapore. Besides teaching history and literature, he interacted closely with pupils when working on a project with them. But, the MOE only knew of Wong’s involvement in child pornography last month. In reply to queries, a ministry spokesman said: "His offence only came to light after he was charged in court in November." Wong, who is on bail, will be sentenced during the week of Jan 17 after the initial court date of Dec 13 was postponed. He could face up to 10 years in jail, though a non—custodial sentence is also possible, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

Why did the article appeal to me?
The article appeal to me as i read this news few months ago. I was surprised that the MOE only knew of Wong's involvement in child pornography last month. I was also shocked that an MOE scholar would do this to students that he was teaching. Teachers must be passionate in their work and they must also be responsible. Child pornography is a serious offence.

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 if this situation, I will not allow him to teach anymore to prevent similar incidents to happen again. Furthermore, I will also gather full and part-time MOE teachers and held a talk for them so that they know the consequences of certain offence.




   

S'poreans hit by 'mobile phone syndrome' (edmund)

Summary
A report shows that singaporeans are constantly thinking that their mobile phones are ringing, reported Sin Chew Daily.
It said that a random survey of 50 people found that some 80 per cent of them suffered from the mobile phone syndrome.
They would check their mobile phones incessantly to see if they were ringing or if there were any missed calls or messages.
A psychiatrist blamed this syndrome on stress.
'Such people should learn to relax to avoid stress taking over their daily life,' said the psychiatrist.
The psychiatrist advised sufferers to switch off their mobile phones or avoid answering their phones for a period of time.

Why I choose this article
I choose this article because i also want to check if i have the following syndrome too. To my shock, i think i have the same syndrome as what the report has written. I have check many times for my handphone when i thought someone had call me but in face there wasn`s anybody calling me.

If I Were To Control The Situation....
If i am the government, i will give the students less school hour so that they will be more relax and also make the school system less competitive. In this way, Singaporeans will be more happy and will have a better standard of living.

Quesion i have to ask..
I want to ask the psychiatrist why they want to blame this syndrome on stress and not other factors.

Europe Freeze Over (By: Elsa Ng)

Heavy snow blanketed Paris forcing the closure of the Eiffel Tower and briefly shutting its main airport as sub-zero temperatures turned Scottish roads into deadly ice sheets and Spain and Portugal cleared up after flooding and tornado-like winds. Road, rail and air travellers faced fresh disruption following last week's transport shutdown with Paris's Charles de Gaulle-Roissy airport closed for an hour-and-a-half and the mercury plummeting as low as minus 18.3 degrees Celsius (minus one degree Fahrenheit) at Tyndrum in the Scottish highlands. In Portugal the high winds carried off cars, uprooted trees, tore off roofs and blew over electricity poles Tuesday, leaving around 30 people injured. A second body was recovered in Spain Wednesday following flooding. France's meteorological service France Meteo said 11 centimetres (four inches) of snow fell in central Paris, the heaviest snowfall since 1987. Around 100 flights were prevented from taking off or landing at Roissy airport during the temporary closure while workers cleared the runways of the heavy snow that began falling around midday, airport officials said.

Why did the article appeal to me?

The article appeal to me because it is the headline of today's news. Furthermore, during december every year, monsoon changes and countries like Europe and China will have heavy snow. Around this time every year, newspapers headlines will be people injured because of the heavy snow and airport closes as thick snow prevents them from taking off.

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 will also close the airport and try to clear as much snow as pssoible so that planes can continue to take off as quickly as possible. Furthermore, I will warn people not to go out of their houses if possible so as to prevent anymore injuries or incidents from happening.

Something stinks in S'pore [By: Rong Hua]

Residents in Singapore were complaining of a bad odour which they described it as strong kerosene-like smell that spread across the island, affecting people from Punggol to Yio Chu Kang and Tampinies.

Agency of National Environment Agency(NEA) said that they had received about 100 complaints about the odour. A large number of complaints were first received from residents in Sengkang and Punggol areas, followed by Seletar Hills and Serangoon Gardens, then Toa Payoh North and Ang Mo Kio areas.

Fortunately, no toxic gases have been detected and NEA is monitoring the situation. NEA has also contacted Malaysian counterparts to check whether any unusual smell has been detected in JB.

This article appeals to me because it is very important to ensure that the odour is not any toxic gases as it can cause harm to Singaporean’s health, and even death. I would like to find out what measure has the National Environment Agency (NEA) took and how they handled the situation.

I would like to ask the writer if the odour were toxic gases, what measures will the NEA takes and how they are going to inform the people island wide.

If I were in charge of the situation, I would make sure that the odour is not cause by some toxic gases to ensure people’s safety. And if it is cause by toxic gases, I would take the necessary action or measure immediately. 

Man Arrested for Loan Sharking Activities (by:Faezah)

Police have arrested a 30-year-old man for suspected involvement in loansharking activities.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect had opened at least four bank accounts and given away the victims ATM cards and Personal Identification Number (PIN) to loansharking syndicates to facilitate their business of unlicensed moneylending.

The man is also believed to have assisted the loansharks in the recruitment of other potential bank account holders and arranging to ferry other runners to carry out loanshark harassments islandwide.

The suspect will be charged in court on Saturday for offences under the Moneylenders Act.

The article appeals to me because, loan shark activities has increased for the past few years.


I would like to ask, how can we prevent from borrowing money from loan sharks? 


If i am in charged of the situation, I would stop  loansharking activities, as it brings threat to the victim and the illegal interest rate is high.

23 Year Old Molester Arrested ( Cheah Hock Seng Week 7 )

Summary
A 23 year old man was arrested by the police believed to involved several case of outrage of modesty at NANYANG POLYTECHNIC located at Ang Mo Kio.
Police received two reports of outrage of modesty in November, involving female students at the polytechnic.
The suspect was arrested at his home in Bukit Batok Street 31 on Wednesday.
Police said the suspect is believed to be involved in at least four cases of outrage of modesty in the Ang Mo Kio area.
Several pieces of lingerie, believed to be stolen items, were also recovered from the suspect’s residence and seized as case exhibits.
The suspect will be charged in Court on Friday.
If convicted, he may be jailed up to two years, fined and caned.

Why I choose this article
This is because i am a student from Nanyang Polytechnic and i did not know there was cases where female students in my school have been molested. I am quite surprise when i read this article and i hope my school mates will not be so deeply affected by this incident.

Question i have to ask
I am curious why NYP didnt announce to us this incident when there are female student being molested. I feel that the school should at least give us a notice so that we can be very caution when we see suspicious man behaving inside or outside our campus.

If I Were To Control This Situation
I would announce this incident to the school but not revealing the victim name so to protect the victim identity. I will also notice the security guard in NYP to ask them to be more caution about suspicion man behaving in the campus.

China Surgery Probe after death of TV Personality (By: Klaris Yang)

An incident has sparked the concerns about the dangers of going under the knife. Wang Bei, 24, a former contestant of “Super Girl "died on November 15 during "facial bone-grinding surgery" in Wuhan, capital of the central province of Hubei.

There were reports that her jaw suddenly started bleeding during the procedure, blocking her windpipe and causing her to suffocate.

Her death has fuelled concerns about the dangers of plastic surgery in a country where three million people go under the knife each year, according to figures published by state media.

Ministry of Health has tasked the Hubei health department to investigate and verify the situation and to announce results of the probe to the public without delay, said a Ministry Of Health Spokesman.

I have chosen this article because beauty has always been the dream of most girls. Many girls want to become beautiful but not everyone is born to be pretty. Thus, a lot of girls turns to cosmetic surgery to become beautiful.

If i was in charge of the situation, i would do the same as the Ministry of Health by asking the Hubei Health Department to investigate and verify the situation. After they had investigated, they are to announce the results of the cause to the public without delay.