News Today

2 S'poreans die in Ipoh crash
PHOTO: SIN CHEW DAILY Two Singaporeans were killed in a road accident near Ipoh on Tuesday evening. The pair, Mr Mohd Ridzuan Hussein, 25, and Mr Roslan Rahim, 24, were on a motorbike bound for Alor Star in Kedah when their... [Read more]

How the road tax on Lexus RX400h is derived
I REFER to Mr Steve Tan's letter, 'Anomalies on the road to 'greener' vehicles' (ST, Jan 24). Mr Tan commented that there is an anomaly in the pegging of road tax for environmentally friendly vehicles and mentioned the Lexus RX400h, a... [Read more]

Phones of the future
THESE phones may just make current 3G models obsolete. The phones of the future - showcased at the 3GSM World Congress trade show in Barcelona - are here in today's Digital Life.From Nokia's E90 communicator PDA phone to Motorola's Krzr K3, they... [Read more]

Thailand revives tax perk for new listings
BANGKOK - THE Thai government said yesterday that it had renewed a tax incentive for new stock market listings to encourage companies to go public. 'The Cabinet has approved the corporate tax measures,' a spokesman told reporters of a proposed extension... [Read more]

Sports World
JIAWEI, YUEGU BOW OUT OF QATAR OPENSINGAPORE'S Wang Yuegu was beaten by China's Niu Jianfeng in the women's singles quarter-finals of table tennis' Qatar Open in Doha yesterday.Wang lost 4-11, 8-11, 6-11, 4-11.Niu had earlier beaten Singapore's Li Jiawei 11-4, 7-11,... [Read more]

UN raises bird flu alarm over cats
NEW YORK - THE cat that ate the canary could be in for a nasty surprise.The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) this week warned pet owners in areas infected with bird flu to keep cats away from backyard poultry... [Read more]

Tokyo records longest snowless winter
TOKYO yesterday set a record for its longest snowless winter amid growing worldwide concern about global warming. The metropolitan area of the capital has not had snow this season, making it the longest snowless winter since statistics were first kept in... [Read more]

Airlines warn: No flights to Thailand's old airport
BANGKOK - INTERNATIONAL airlines yesterday threatened to halt flights to Thailand if the government forced them to move back to Bangkok's old airport, which is expected to reopen next month. 'Some members are going to review commitment to continue the services... [Read more]

Dressing-down for scantily clad actress
A STUDENT-ACTRESS has caused a stir in Thailand and made university officials see red after she wore a slinky black gown to the country's top film awards ceremony.Chotiros 'Amy' Suriyawong, a third-year liberal arts student at leading Thammasat University, set tongues... [Read more]

Homestays next to bring communities closer together?
IT BEGAN with visits to religious institutions. Then came Mandarin classes for the Malay-Muslim community. Now, a task force that is promoting greater interaction between communities is looking at homestay programmes. Details have yet to be worked out, but Senior Minister... [Read more]

Can algebra be used to solve PSLE maths problems?
SOME parents of primary school pupils seem to be confused about their children's mathematics as taught by some teachers.From comments I gathered when tutoring Primary 6 pupils, it appears that model-drawing methods have to be used in order to score more... [Read more]

Singapore Masters

Dates: Today and tomorrow

Venue: Laguna National Golf and Country Club, Masters Course

Total prize money: US$1.1 million (S$1.7 million)

Tee-off: 8am

Selected third-round tee-off times:

8.40am: Nick Dougherty

9.25am: Shingo Katayama

9.45am: Mardan Mamat

11.55am: Liang Wenchong, Peter Lawrie

12.05pm: Jyoti Randhawa, Iain Steel, Barry Hume

Tickets (through Sistic): $40 a day. Season pass: $80. Under-16s: free.

Transport: From S'pore Expo MRT and car park J, 7.30am to 6.30pm.
Every 10min

Live on TV: Ch5, Ch24 (Today, tomorrow - 2-5pm)



Second-round scores

133 Jyoti Randhawa (Ind) 65 68 134 Barry Hume (Sco) 65 69 135 Iain Steel (Mas) 70 65, Gary Lockerbie (Eng) 68 67 136 Peter Lawrie (Ire) 66 70, Liang Wenchong (Chn) 64 72 137 Marcus Fraser (Aus) 64 73 138 Ghaurav Ghei (Ind) 68 70, Thongchai Jaidee (Tha) 69 69, Andrew Coltart (Sco) 69 69 139 Ross Bain (Sco) 69 70, Angelo Que (Phi) 66 73, Jean Van de Velde (Fra) 68 71, Matthew Zions (Aus) 68 71, Simon Khan (Eng) 69 70, Jean Francois Lucquin (Fra) 69 70, Scott Barr (Aus) 70 69, Richard Bland (Eng) 72 67, Mark Brown (Nzl) 66 73, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 66 73, Francesco Molinari (Ita) 69 70, Lin Weng-tan (Twn) 69 70, Mark Pilkington (Wal) 72 67. Selected scores: 141 Mardan Mamat (Sin) 68 73, Shingo Katayama (Jpn) 65 76 142 Nick Dougherty (Eng) 70 72, Jeev Milkha Singh (Ind) 69 73

Missed cut (selected scores): 143 Ian Woosnam (Wal) 73 70, Lee Westwood (Eng) 70 73 144 David Howell (Eng) 71 73 145 Lam Chih Bing (Sin) 75 70 147 Darren Clarke (Ire) 74 73 154 Khalid Yusoff (Sin) 77 77 155 Anton Haig (Rsa) 74 81

Other Singaporean scores: 158 Poh Eng Wah 81 77, Lim Kian Kee 79 79 160 Bill Fung 76 84, Patrick Tang 79 81 162 Poh Eing Chong 81 81 168 Lim Kian Boon 83 85 169 Mohd Ashiek 83 86.

M Murugiah 80 (withdrew - wrist injury)

News Today

$10m paper gain for CapitaLand CEO
CAPITALAND chief executive Liew Mun Leong is sitting on a paper profit of almost $10 million after he exercised options to buy 1.8 million shares in the property developer. Mr Liew on Thursday took up the shares at between $1.06 and... [Read more]

Lost Thai mother found, thanks to a simple song
DUSONGYO (THAILAND) - A THAI mother who was lost for 25 years after catching the wrong bus home has spoken of her ordeal after being reunited with her family, thanks to a simple song. The last time Ms Jaeyaena Beuraheng saw... [Read more]

Second report links military to murders in Philippines
MANILA - PHILIPPINE President Gloria Arroyo came under intense pressure yesterday to rein in the military after a second damning report implicated top commanders in a wave of political assassinations.The government inquiry, made public only after pressure from the United Nations,... [Read more]

Terrorists 'rigging stocks in India to raise funds'
NEW DELHI - TERRORIST outfits have tried to raise money for their activities by fixing stock-market operations in Mumbai and Chennai.'Isolated instances of terrorist outfits manipulating the stock markets to raise funds have been reported,' Indian National Security Adviser M.K. Narayanan... [Read more]

Homecoming kings
PHOTO: ALBERT SIMIt was a football homecoming to savour for Singapore skipper Aide Iskandar and the victorious Lions yesterday. They were mobbed by 300-odd fans at the airport upon their return from Bangkok, where they had clinched the Asean Football Championship... [Read more]

Wrong speech at the wrong time
GEN Sonthi Boonyaratkalin spoke unwisely last week in his speech to young volunteers about the nation and its military. The vow to recapture national assets sold to Singapore in the Shin Corp deal was as poorly phrased as it was incorrect.... [Read more]

A lot of planning went into the spy operation
THE mystery remains: Who ordered the filming of what was happening at Manchester United's training ground?Manager Alex Ferguson reacted with fury on Thursday, when he learned that his training sessions at Carrington were secretly filmed from the sky, reported The Mirror.The... [Read more]

Road closures this weekend
IT IS that time of the year for the Chinese New Year countdown celebrations. The following roads will be closed to traffic from 5pm on Saturday to 3am on Sunday for the festivities and bazaar: New Bridge Road between Upper Cross... [Read more]

World Quickly
CALL TO ATTACK U.S. OIL SOURCES DUBAI: A Saudi wing of Al-Qaeda has called for attacks on US oil sources across the world, saying targets should not be limited to the Middle East. It listed Canada, Venezuela and Mexico as US... [Read more]

Window on new Vista
IT HAS been five years in the making, but Windows Vista has finally landed here.The new operating system has a snazzier interface and improved security, but all this comes at a price.Today's Digital Life gives you the lowdown on what you... [Read more]

Cambodia 'champ' shows way
IN 1993, the water supply in the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, was a sorry mess. Not only was the water unsanitary, but 70 per cent was also lost to leaks or thefts.Today, clean water reaches a million people - almost the... [Read more]

News Today

Budget 2007: Poised for the future
IT'S official: The goods and services tax (GST) will go up to 7 per cent in one step, and it will happen on July 1. Revealing this yesterday, Second Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said it is best to make the change... [Read more]

Tampines v Home pre-season cracker
TWO Sundays ago, they were the toast of Singapore after being crowned Asean champions. But, for national-team stalwarts S. Subramani, Lionel Lewis, Noh Alam Shah and Indra Sahdan Daud, it is back to domestic action. All four should feature when Tampines... [Read more]

Flexi-work at 3 places for single Malay mums
MALAY-MUSLIM single mothers can soon seek work at new businesses that will allow them to keep flexible hours. The move will also pave the way for them to receive Workfare.This community initiative, announced by labour MP Halimah Yacob yesterday, involves setting... [Read more]

ComCare has spent $68m to help 90,000 individuals, families
EIGHTEEN months after ComCare was launched to fund social assistance programmes, the scheme has delivered on its promise to deliver faster and better help to Singaporeans in need, an official report declared yesterday.So far, 90,000 individuals and families have benefited through... [Read more]

HSBC line of credit just won't go away
LAST month, I received my statement of account from HSBC with an annual fee payment of $60. As I have no use for my personal line of credit, I called HSBC to terminate it. The officer told me that, as the... [Read more]

Putting the squeeze on Abu Sayyaf in Jolo's jungles
JOLO - A PRIVATE from the Philippine 3rd Marine Brigade serves mugs of sweet black coffee to the 'surrenderees' - four rebels from the extremist Islamic group Abu Sayyaf who have come out of the jungle. They thank him politely. The... [Read more]

Final is this EPL fan's big game
FOR Chelsea fan Eric Perera, there is nothing more important on weekends than catching his favourite English Premiership team in action.Fortunately, he will not be torn between the Premiership and his love for another team in blue - the Lions.Singapore will... [Read more]

Soccer Shorts
ITALY THE NEW LEADERS IN FIFA RANKINGS ROME: World champions Italy have replaced Brazil at the top of the Fifa rankings. It is the first time the European country have been ranked No 1 in the world since November 1993, and... [Read more]

LA hospital dumps patient on Skid Row
LOS ANGELES - A HOSPITAL van dropped off a paraplegic man in a rundown downtown area here, allegedly leaving him crawling in the street with nothing more than a soiled gown and a broken colostomy bag, police said. Witnesses to the... [Read more]

Fund managers selling more Sing$ offshore unit trusts
THE next time you buy a unit trust in Singapore, don't be surprised to find that it is registered in an offshore location such as Luxembourg or Dublin, instead of Singapore. In the months ahead, most new unit trusts are likely... [Read more]

Harvard updates core curriculum
BOSTON - HARVARD University has announced its biggest curriculum overhaul in three decades, focusing on sensitive religious and cultural issues, the sciences and overcoming American 'parochialism'. The curriculum at the oldest US university has been criticised as focusing too narrowly on... [Read more]

News Today

More Chinese going abroad instead of heading home
BEIJING - CLUTCHING plane tickets in the teeming departure hall of Beijing airport, Mr Wang Wei is happy he is not going to his hometown for Chinese New Year. The 36-year-old engineer is one of thousands escaping China's frosty northern winter... [Read more]

Youth enterprise competition to return
IN A BID to instil the entrepreneurial spirit in the nation's youth, the Young Entrepreneurs Skills Competition, or Yescom, is back for the third year running.The competition has three parts. The first is a seminar on entrepreneurship - teaching participants the... [Read more]

US and Iraqi troops push into Baghdad
BAGHDAD - AMERICAN and Iraqi forces pushed into Baghdad yesterday to clean up insurgent and militia hotbeds, launching house-to-house searches in a major operation to restore order in the battered Iraqi capital. Witnesses said US and Iraqi troops had cordoned off... [Read more]

CTE traffic faster after ERP rate hike
VEHICLES were moving faster along the Central Expressway (CTE) yesterday, when ERP charges went up by 50 cents at two gantries along its stretch. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) also said traffic along the arterial roads - which motorists use when... [Read more]

Fires begun by children doubled to 73 last year
A CHILD and a flammable substance make for a dangerous pairing. Last year, 73 fires were playthings for children that grew out of control - double the 37 cases of blazes started by children in 2005. And while there were no... [Read more]

Ascott nets $22.2m gain from sale of Hotel Asia
SERVICE apartment operator The Ascott Group has sold its Hotel Asia property in Scotts Road for $147 million, from which it will reap a net profit of $22.2 million.The sale price represents a 41 per cent increase over the price of... [Read more]

Building flats with less sand
NOT everything needs to be cast in concrete. The Housing Board says public housing can be built with 25 per cent less sand by substituting concrete with other material like steel and steel-concrete mixes. It has already been putting into place... [Read more]

Ongoing legal battle
THE Beijing Zhonghongji Construction company successfully sued two developers for unpaid wages after building two workers' dormitories. But by then, both developers, including one owned by a central government agency, had gone bankrupt. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac)... [Read more]

Baby-machine gaffe shows Japan leaders' mindset
TOKYO - EVEN his wife was angry. When Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa called women 'birth-giving machines' last weekend, he outraged many Japanese who have shed traditional gender stereotypes, confirming their suspicions that Japan's leaders are out of step with the times.... [Read more]

Gas water heaters linked to three deaths
TOKYO - GAS water heaters manufactured by Japan's Rinnai Corp have been linked to at least three deaths over the past seven years, according to industry ministry officials.Japan's Ministry of Trade and Industry issued a statement late week detailing the poisonings... [Read more]

N. Korea, US more optimistic over talks
BEIJING - NORTH KOREA and the United States appeared to be entering a fresh round of six-way nuclear talks, which begins here today, with a greater willingness to compromise, analysts say.While negotiators are unlikely to reach a final deal over the... [Read more]

News Today

No response to complaint of unfair charge over excess baggage
I had a bad experience when travelling with my family on Air Asia recently. We have a son, who was 10 months old at the time. We knew we would be travelling with plenty of luggage, so I booked an adult... [Read more]

Lakers left hot and bothered
LOS ANGELES - AFTER Eddy Curry dunked an alley-oop pass to give the Knicks a one-point lead on Tuesday, Hollywood director Spike Lee scurried down the sideline to high-five with the actor Denzel Washington. Denzel did not bite, because he knew... [Read more]

Premiership's bottom clubs dominate signings
THE rewards for Premiership survival has never been greater, with a £900 million (S$2.72 billion) television deal that kicks in next season. The bottom clubs' dominating the January transfer window is proof of that. The top 10 clubs made 23 signings... [Read more]

OCBC-linked China bank set to list this year
OCBC Bank expects China's Ningbo Commercial Bank, in which it has a 12.2 per cent stake, to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in the second quarter of this year. The listing of Ningbo is likely to push up the value... [Read more]

Expired cards add to SMRT's 9-month gains
TRANSPORT operator SMRT Corp posted a decent 19.2 per cent rise in net earnings to $99.64 million for the nine months ended Dec 31, 2006.The improvement was fuelled by a number of factors, including a $4.85 million rise in other income... [Read more]

Thailand threatens to override more patents
BANGKOK - THAILAND will likely override international patents on more drugs, including those for cancer and heart disease, if pharmaceutical giants do not significantly cut their prices. 'We have thought about this for more than five years. It's long enough,' said... [Read more]

Don't Horse around, get act together
THE impeding curtain fall on the Crazy Horse nude revue here only goes to show that Singapore has not got its act together.Singapore's half-hearted attempt at liberalisation is glaring. If not, why allow a class act like the Crazy Horse in... [Read more]

Landmark deal marks victory for North over US
BEIJING - NORTH Korean leader Kim Jong Il received an early birthday gift in the landmark deal reached in Beijing yesterday. Diplomats say the North Korean delegation drastically lowered its demands for energy aid after an ultimatum that the talks would... [Read more]

What if a giant asteroid were going to hit Earth?
SAN FRANCISCO - A DRAFT UN treaty to determine what action would need to be taken if a giant asteroid were on a collision course with Earth is to be drawn up.An expert group of international lawyers, diplomats and scientists will... [Read more]

Free trade talks with Japan
WHAT IT IS INDIA and Japan will hold the first round of talks from Wednesday on a bilateral comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa), similar to the pact India has signed with Singapore. Indian Commerce Secretary G.K. Pillai said the two sides... [Read more]

Case File
SEVEN CHARGED WITH IMMIGRATION OFFENCESIT IS never a good time to be a criminal, never mind if it is the festive season. Several alleged offenders found this out yesterday at a special sitting of the Criminal Mentions Court. Chinese national Tang... [Read more]

News Today

Fuck you, just read something!
General insurers turn to Govt as workplace injury claims riseA SPATE of costly lawsuits by construction workers seeking bumper payouts has prompted general insurers to seek government action. General insurers have asked the Ministry of Manpower to increase the benefit limits... [Read more]

Platini's new Uefa boss by four votes
DUESSELDORF (GERMANY) - MICHEL Platini was yesterday named Uefa's new president, ending Lennart Johansson's 17-year reign in European football's top job by just four votes. Johansson, 77, looked totally stunned as he realised that delegates had rejected him in favour of... [Read more]

Qantas urges shareholders to accept takeover bid
SYDNEY - A CONSORTIUM led by Macquarie Bank came closer to clinching an US$8.7 billion (S$13.3 billion) takeover of Australia's Qantas Airways yesterday, after the airline released an independent report saying the offer was fair.The report said the offer price of... [Read more]

Scouting out residents in case of emergencies
BEHIND the robust turnout at Sembawang's Emergency Preparedness Day yesterday were people like volunteer coordinator Rafiah Yan and her colleagues. The grassroots volunteers' efforts helped draw about 100 residents from HDB blocks in Madam Rafiah's neighbourhood to witness the annual event... [Read more]

Put Asia's foreign reserves to better use: ADB
TOKYO - ASIA'S huge foreign reserves can and should be used more productively for the region's infrastructure development, a senior official of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said yesterday. A portion of the region's roughly US$3 trillion (S$4.6 trillion) in reserves... [Read more]

Trouble ahead in the property market?
THE property market is starting to give off that scent of money once again.With prices shooting up at the luxury end of the market, talk that a small number of people have made paper gains worth millions of dollars is now... [Read more]

'Greening' of barren mountainside gets brush-off from villagers
SHANGHAI - VILLAGERS in a south-western county are scratching their heads over the local government's decision to paint a barren mountainside green. Workers began spraying Laoshou mountain in Fumin county, Yunnan province, last August. They told the people of Lihua village... [Read more]

Ghosts and lollipops for 'chair-ity'
GHOULS and gingerbread men helped raise $7,500 for charity. They were featured among the creations of 150 youths from 10 schools for the 100 Chairs project to raise funds for the Singapore Children's Society. Three Nanyang Technological University mass communication students... [Read more]

Evacuees short of food and clean clothes
JAKARTA - AS OTHER women take care of their babies and toddlers, Madam Maya nonchalantly wipes water off the feathers of her two chickens. 'I don't want them to get the flu,' she says. Her birds as well as her two... [Read more]

Comedian not joking about Senate race
COMEDIAN Al Franken, known for his lacerating satire of the American right, discarded his customary wisecracks as he announced soberly that he would run for the US Senate. In a video posted on his website on Wednesday, there were no gags... [Read more]

Tiger Air plans to enter domestic market Down Under
SYDNEY - SINGAPORE budget airline Tiger Airways announced yesterday that it is planning to enter the Australian domestic market by year-end.Its chief executive Tony Davis said the airline had filed applications with Australian regulators and that the response from officials was... [Read more]