TR EMERITUS

Agence France-Presse, 5 June 2010 A Swiss business consultant was charged in court Saturday with breaking into a Singapore metro depot and spray-painting graffiti on a train, for which he could be jailed and whipped with a cane. Oliver Fricker, 32, was accused of committing trespass and vandalism in mid-May, and a district judge who described him as a flight risk set bail at 100,000 Singapore dollars (71,000 US). His passport was also impounded. A worried-looking Fricker told the judge he needed a lawyer and asked that bail be lowered to 40,000 dollars. But the judge cut him short and rejected the bail request, stressing the seriousness of the offence.   The official charge sheet said Fricker, who was arrested on May 25, was with a Briton identified as Lloyd Dane Alexander when he broke into the suburban depot, a restricted zone surrounded by fences topped with barbed wire. Sources familiar with the case told AFP that Alexander was in Singapore on a tourist visa and left before a police report was filed. The charge sheet said Fricker and Alexander vandalised public property when they cut through a fence and spray-painted two carriages. A police spokesman described Fricker as a company consultant but further details on him were not available from Singapore officials or Swiss diplomats. A man named Oliver Fricker is listed in the business networking website Xing as a senior consultant in Singapore working with a Zurich-based information technology firm specialising in the financial sector. Vandalism is punishable by up to three years' jail or a maximum fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars, plus three to eight strokes of a wooden cane, a punishment dating from British colonial rule. An American teenager, Michael Fay, garnered global headlines in 1994 when he was jailed and caned in Singapore after he was found guilty of vandalising several cars. Fay was caned despite a US appeal for clemency. Prosecutors in the train vandalism case, arguing for the high bail amount, said Fricker had been due to leave for Switzerland two days after his arrest. The break-in, believed to have taken place before dawn on May 17, was not immediately detected and the train plied its route in full view of commuters, one of whom filmed it and posted a clip on video-sharing site Youtube. - AFP *Photo of Flicker taken from his Facebook   Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →

Berita Harian, 5 June 2010 Minggu lalu ruangan ini memaparkan soal kepentingan angka dalam kehidupan manusia. selain maklumat yang amat penting untuk memudahkan seseorang membuat keputusan, angka juga mempunyai peranan yang sama. Pelabur yang ingin menanam modal di sesebuah negara perlu mengetahui terlebih dulu pelbagai maklumat mengenai suasana politik, budaya, sikap rakyat, kemudahan yang disediakan, insentif dan sebagainya. Mereka tidak mahu melakukan sebarang kesilapan yang boleh menyebabkan syarikat rugi. Lihat saja apa yang berlaku kepada beberapa syarikat Malaysia yang terpaksa menanggung rugi kerana melabur di luar negara. Begitu juga, pelabur perlu mengetahui angka yang membabitkan jumlah penduduk, nilai wang, kadar upah pekerja dan nilai hartanah selain faktor permintaan kerana ia penting untuk mengukur kedudukan sesebuah negara. Pertumbuhan suku pertama 10.1 peratus Keluaran Dalam Negara Kasar (KDNK) negara menjadi tarikan pelabur dan kemudian kedudukan Malaysia di tempat ke sepuluh dari segi saingan lebih meyakinkan pelabur untuk meluaskan perniagaan mereka di negara ini. Jika lengkap dengan maklumat dan disokong angka yang meyakinkan, ia meningkatkan keyakinan dan menyukarkan mereka daripada dieksploitasi atau ditipu. Selain maklumat dan angka, satu lagi faktor penting ialah emosi. Dalam suasana politik di Malaysia, soal emosi rakyat sangat dititikberatkan. Kerajaan menjadikan “Rakyat Didahulukan, Prestasi Diutamakan” sebagai gerakan untuk membantu rakyat menerusi Gagasan 1 Malaysia. Semua ini berkait rapat dengan cara kerajaan menangani isu rakyat dengan berkesan dan cuba memahami emosi rakyat. Pembangkang juga mempunyai cara mereka dan ada kala melakukannya secara agresif. Pada dua pilihan raya kecil Parlimen Hulu Selangor, Selangor dan Sibu, Sarawak jelas menunjukkan faktor emosi mempengaruhi keputusan pengundi. itulah sebabnya emosi adalah satu elemen yang perlu dipelihara. Pada pilihan raya, emosi pengundi diterjemahkan kepada angka. Pengundi yang menunjukkan sikap tidak berpuas hati dengan parti atau calon, akan menyokong parti dan calon saingannya. Pada sesuatu pilihan raya, faktor calon sangat penting. Calon perlu diterima pengundi. Sikap calon yang bertentangan dengan emosi pengundi tidak mendapat undi pengundi selain faktor politik yang lain. Untuk mendapat sokongan, parti atau calon mesti berkongsi emosi politik dengan pengundi. Emosi juga mempunyai komponen sosial dalam sesuatu keputusan. Pengundi yang marah, akan menunjukkan kemarahannya dengan mengundi parti lawan kerana kemarahan mempunyai merit dalam keputusan politik. Emosi juga boleh ditunjuk secara terbuka. Demonstrasi di seluruh negara berikutan tindakan Israel menyerang misi kemanusiaan di atas kapal Mavi Marmara luar perairan Gaza menyebabkan 19 terbunuh, menunjukkan betapa emosi rakyat dunia boleh digabungkan. Hanya dengan satu kejadian, emosi rakyat berbeza latar belakang, warna kulit dan agama digabungkan dengan satu tujuan – mengecam kezaliman zionis. Cuma, seperti biasa, ada kuasa besar yang terus membisu atas dasar ikatan politik dengan Zionis. Kebanyakan negara dunia mengutuk Israel bukan disebabkan komando Yahudi melanggar peraturan dan undang-undang antarabangsa semata-mata, sebaliknya, kemarahan mereka berikutan tindakan tidak berperikemanusiaan dan zalim Yahudi membunuh mereka yang memperjuangkan keamanan dan kedamaian sejagat. Sikap Israel itu memberi kesan emosi negatif kepada masyarakat dunia. Berikutan kesan emosi inilah rakyat di negara yang benci Israel menunjukkan pendirian dan kemarahan dengan mengadakan mengadakan demonstrasi membantah perangai buruk Israel itu. Sepantas kilat, masyarakat dunia berarak di jalan raya dan di tempat tertentu untuk menunjukkan benci mereka kepada rejim Yahudi. Masyarakat Malaysia menerusi pelbagai pertubuhan politik, badan bukan kerajaan (NGO), organisasi sosial, agama dan individu turut mengadakan demonstrasi dengan melaungkan kecaman keras terhadap kekejaman yang dilakukan itu. Isnin ini, satu usul khas akan dibentang di Parlimen Malaysia berhubung isu ini. Tindakan emosi rakyat dan negara dunia, mungkin boleh menimbulkan gejala lebih buruk seandainya tidak dikawal. Apabila emosi tidak dapat dibendung, ia berkesudahan dengan peristiwa tidak diingini, malah boleh mencetuskan pertempuran dan peperangan. Masyarakat dunia mempersoalkan, ketika Amerika Syarikat dan sekutunya berusaha menggempur sebarang kegiatan pengganas, mengapa perbuatan tidak berhati perut Israel ini tidak dianggap sebagai pengganas. Perbuatan ganas Israel yang tidak disusuli tindakan politik bukan saja menimbulkan persoalan besar tetapi bantahan politik. Jika rakyat dunia diminta mengundi sama ada Israel perlu atau tidak dikenakan hukuman, jawapan paling besar diterima ialah “Ya”. Emosi rakyat dunia sering dijolok sekian lama berikutan satu demi satu perbuatan jahat Israel terhadap masyarakat dunia khasnya di Palestin. Ia sudah sampai ke tahap sukar dibendung. - Berita Harian  Read More →

Senior pastor Kong Hee who has not made a public appearance since news broke last week that he had been called up to by the police for investigations over alleged misuse of church funds is taking a "needed rest", according to the City Harvest Church's executive pastor Derek Dunn. "I just also want to let you know that Pastor Kong is well. He's just taking the needed rest this weekend, so he can assist with the ongoing investigations, so let's continue to stay united in this church family. Whatever the outcome, let's continue to press on together for all that God has prepared for us," Pastor Dunn was quoted as saying in the Straits Times. He repeated the statements put up on CHC's official website that the church was "cooperating fully with the authorities and was unable to provide further updates or details." A check on Pastor Kong Hee's Facebook shows that the latest post was made on 30 May 2010 on the eve of the probe. There were no more updates subsequently. Neither did the media manage to contact him for an interview. City Harvest Church has come under the spotlight of late for its multi-million dollar purchase of a stake in Suntec which raised eyebrows among some Singaporeans. However, the police clarified that the latest probe has nothing to do with the Suntec transaction. The Commissioner of Charities (COC) revealed that it has received complaints about misuse of CHC funds and has transferred the case over to the Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) and the police. Pastor Kong Hee became the third high profile charity figure to be implicated in a police probe after NKF's TT Durai and Ren Ci's Ming Yi, prompting calls from the public for the government to tighten its scrutiny of charitable institutions.   Related articles: >> Senior Pastor Kong Hee called up for questioning >> City Harvest Church members raided by police >> The thin line between religion and business >> Singaporeans question CHC over Suntec purchase >> City Harvest Church questioned over Suntec stake   Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →