TR EMERITUS

[email protected] The TR Sports Team can reveal exclusively that an English Premier League club is currently in talks with the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) to bring the club over to Singapore to play a friendly match against the National team or an S-League Select come summer 2010. The TR Sports team understand that the club in question is not a top 4 club and has not been in the Premier League for too long. They are currently still in the midst of the relegation scrap and are battling to secure their Premier League status for the 2010/11 season. They have yet to be in Asia and will like to make use of the summer tour to promote the club and start a fanbase in this part of the world. The tour is likely to take place in mid July right after the 2010 SA World Cup and before the new league season begins and the club is looking at touring Singapore as well as either Malaysia and / or Thailand. The TR Sports team are aware that talks have already begun with the Football Association of Singapore over the logistics to bring the team over and issues yet to be ironed out include the choice of a suitable venue for the game, with the National Stadium a doubt given that demolition works might have begun by then. The TR Sports Team will like to find out from its readers their opinion about where this friendly should be held and how much fans in Singapore are willing to fork out to see a non big-4 EPL club play in Singapore.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Singapore actress Foyce Le Xuan claimed on her Facebook to have received another threatening call two weeks after making a police report against prominent movie director Jack Neo for allegedly sexually harrassing her more than six years ago. In her latest posting on Facebook, Foyce revealed that the voice seemed to come from the same pervert voice from previous calls: Since Foyce came open with her story about Jack Neo's making sexual overtures to her, she had been receiving such threatening calls from unknown persons. The story came to light after it was leaked to the press three weeks ago that Jack Neo had an affair with a 22 year old girl, prompting an immediate response from Foreign Minister George Yeo who issued a call to Singaporeans to "rally" around Jack. Jack Neo is a close associate of George Yeo and the two men shared the same blog - blogkaki.sg The saga is now considered over after Jack Neo had apologized openly to his fans on blogkaki.sg His wife has also forgiven him and he appeared to have saved his marriage from the brink of disaster. It has been more than two weeks already and the police still hasn't solved the case, judging from Foyce calling the Investigation Officer (IO). Perhaps she should trying asking for help on George Yeo's blog and see what response she will get.   Related articles: >> Foyce Le Xuan: I will stop commenting on Jack Neo scandal >> Foyce Le Xuan made police report against Jack Neo >> Foyce Le Xuan: If I confessed to having sex with Jack Neo...  Read More →

Dear TR,   I decided to write to you after reading the stories of Ms Judy Eng and Ms Melissa Quek. I am a 20-year-old poly student. My family and I live in a four room HDB flat that is fully paid up. I am fortunate that my father works for a Scandinavian company that really takes care of its workers (it fully restored pay cuts the moment sales improved). As a student, I am yet to be burdened with housing costs and raising a family, but I still feel that something is seriously dysfunctional in our little island. The denial of subsidized transport fares for poly students is an injustice. My peers in JCs and ITEs spend so much less. Polytechnic students are not all rich, you know. Despite a petition, there is little momentum in reversing this anomaly. When I see the refusal of the government to even subsidise public transport for disabled Singaporeans, I harbour little hope that our concerns will ever be heard. I am also very disturbed by the influx of foreigners, especially students. In my secondary school, 20 scholars from China were brought in each year. Within months they outperformed everyone else even in English. Many Singaporean students felt they were being denied the chance to be the first in the subjects and tests. I have always wondered why the government is bringing in these PRCs and giving them free scholarships. Shouldn’t public schools be focusing on nurturing our own talents? With the impending increase in poly, ITE and university fees, I worry how my parents are going to pay for my degree education. Why must the government keep raising fees for education when it can afford to lose billions in bad investments? Where is the sense of priority? Surely spending a few billion to absorb the increased costs is reasonable? As a 1st world country, we should have free primary and secondary education. The PAP is so greedy that it claims school is free but charges a “miscellaneous” fee. As a Singaporean Indian, I feel increasingly threatened by the rising numbers of Indian PRs and new citizens. Similar to the situation between PRCs and Singaporean Chinese, there is very little in common between Indian PRs and us. Little India has been all but overrun by them. Local Indians now try to stay away as far as possible. We have been crowded out from the restaurants, markets and temples. Most PRs who come from India are not Tamil-speakers and generally look down on South Indians, who Tamils belong to. When my mother was shopping in Mustafa Centre, a group of North Indians (likely to be PRs) walked past her and she heard one of them uttering “bloody Tamilians” to his friends. There is a belief among Indian PRs that they are in demand to work in Singapore because the local Indians are not as good as they are, and therefore they behave with a sense of superiority and snobbishness. The scourge of castes has completely disappeared in Singapore. We see each other as Indians and nothing else. But these PRs are bringing in their prejudices from India and corrupting our local culture. We are beginning to see advertisements put in the paper asking for brides and bridegrooms from a certain caste. Even the PRs in the parents’ support group in my sister’s school immediately enquired about our caste as soon as we introduced ourselves. We are losing our unique Singapore identity to the policies of the PAP, which seems to worship foreigners like gods and trample on Singaporeans. Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian and all other Singaporeans are one of a kind and special. No amount of money, social engineering or “integration” can ever transform foreigners into true-blue Singaporeans. I live in the area that was once part of Cheng San GRC. I remember when I was little, JB Jeyaretnam came to campaign and even after he lost, he graciously returned to thank the voters anyway. It has been nearly four years since the last election. My current MP (who daughter is infamous for an “elite” remark) has yet to visit my block even once. Without knowing residents’ concerns, it is no wonder why MPs have time to engage in frivolous debates about frogs, food museums and beauty secrets. The man who killed his children, set fire to his flat and jumped to his death recently, lived only a few blocks from mine. When that incident happened, the reality of Singaporeans struggling with their lives really hit me hard. It pains me each time I see an elderly Singaporean rummage through dustbins for cans to sell and toil as cleaners until their deaths. It is shameful for our leaders to proclaim our country as “first world” and being in a golden period when all the gold is flowing into the pockets of ministers. I think our seniors all deserve a big thank you and a comfortable retirement for their years of service to nation building. It is time for Singaporeans to take back our country, eject unnecessary foreigners and start providing decent lives for ourselves. Foreigners (including PRs) must always remember that in Singapore, they live on our terms, not vice versa. Singapore is our home. It's worth saving.   T. Rajendran   EDITORS’ NOTE: Please join our Facebook discussion on this article here and invite your friends to do so as well to raise awareness among fellow Singaporeans. Do you have any similar stories to share? Or have your heard of such stories elsewhere? Please email us at [email protected], we want to hear from you. Your article need not be long and we do not require you to write in perfect English.  If you are not keen to reveal your identity, we allow you to use a pseudomyn. Rest assured that we will keep your contacts 100% strictly confidential. We will not edit or censor any part of your article. Most importantly, it must come straight from your heart.   Other real life stories: >> 32 year old Singaporean: I am lucky to be born earlier >> 28 year old teacher burdened by hefty mortgage loan for HDB flat before marriage >> Young Singaporean expressed her worries at uncertain and gloomy future      Read More →