2 US journalists shot dead on live TV; dead suspect was 'angered by discrimination', United States News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/two-us-television-journalists-fatally-shot-in-on-air-attack?xtor=EREC-16-1[ST_Newsletter_AM]-20150827-[2+US+journalists+shot+dead+on+live+TV%3B+dead+suspect+was+%27angered+by+discrimination%27]&xts=538291

2 US journalists shot dead on live TV; dead suspect was 'angered by discrimination'

WASHINGTON (REUTERS/AFP) - Two television journalists were killed during a live broadcast in Virginia on Wednesday (Aug 26), shot by a suspect who was a former employee of the TV station and who called himself a "powder keg" of anger over what he saw as racial discrimination at work and elsewhere in the United States.

The African-American suspect, 41-year-old Vester Lee Flanagan, shot himself as police were pursuing him on a Virginia highway hours after the shooting.

He died later at a hospital, police said.

The journalists who were killed were reporter Alison Parker, 24, and cameraman Adam Ward, 27. 

Both journalists were white, as is a woman whom they were interviewing.

The woman was wounded and was in stable condition, a hospital spokesman said.

Social media postings by a person who appeared to be Flanagan indicated the suspect had grievances against the station, CBS affiliate WDBJ7 in Roanoke, Virginia, which let him go two years ago.

The person also posted video that appeared to show the attack filmed from the shooter's vantage point.

Flanagan sent ABC News a 23-page fax about two hours after the shooting, saying his attack was triggered by the June 17 mass shooting at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, the network said.

Nine people were killed, and a white man has been charged in that rampage.

The network cited Flanagan as saying he had suffered racial discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying at work.

He had been attacked by black men and white women, and for being a gay black man, he said.

"The church shooting was the tipping point... but my anger has been building steadily," ABC News cited the fax as saying.

"I've been a human powder keg for a while... just waiting to go BOOM!"

The on-air shooting occurred at about 6.45am EDT (6.45pm Singapore time) at Bridgewater Plaza, a Smith Mountain Lake recreation site about 320km south-west of Washington.

The broadcast was abruptly interrupted by the sound of gunshots as Parker and the woman being interviewed, Ms Vicki Gardner, executive director of the Smith Mountain Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce, screamed and ducked for cover.

Hours after the shooting, someone claiming to have filmed it posted videos online. The videos were posted to a Twitter account and on Facebook by a man identifying himself as Bryce Williams, which was Flanagan's on-air name.

The videos were removed shortly afterward.

One video clearly showed a handgun as the person filming approached the woman reporter.

The person purporting to be Williams also posted "I filmed the shooting see Facebook" and said one of the victims had "made racist comments".

In the fax to ABC News, Flanagan praised shooters who had carried out mass killings at Virginia Tech University in 2007 and at Colorado's Columbine High School in 1999.

ABC News said Flanagan called the network shortly after 10am. He said he had shot two people, police were after him and then hung up.

ABC News then contacted the authorities and turned over the fax, which had arrived about 90 minutes earlier, the network said.

The suspect shot himself as Virginia State Police were closing in on a rental car on Interstate 66 in Fauquier County, WDBJ7 said.

Virginia state police said the suspect refused to stop when spotted by troopers and sped away.

Minutes later, the suspect's vehicle ran off the road and crashed, police said in a statement, adding that the troopers approached the vehicle and found the driver with a gunshot wound.

He was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital near Washington, where he died.

"It's obvious that this gentleman was disturbed in some way at the way things had transpired at some part of his life," Franklin County Sheriff Bill Overton told a news conference.

"It appears things were spiraling out of control, but we're still looking into that," he said. "We still have a lengthy investigation to conduct and that's our focus as we move forward." 

Flanagan had sued another station where he worked in Florida, alleging that he had been discriminated against because he was black.  

He said he was called a "monkey" by a producer in a lawsuit filed in federal court against a Tallahassee station, WTWC, in 2000.

He also said a supervisor at the station called black people lazy.

The Florida case was settled and dismissed the next year, court records show.  WDBJ7 president and general manager Jeff Marks said he could not figure out a particular connection between Flanagan and the two dead journalists.

Speaking to CNN about Flanagan, he added: "Do you imagine that everyone who leaves your company under difficult circumstances is going to take aim?

"Why were Parker and Ward the targets, and not I or somebody else in management?" he said.

According to his social media sites, Flanagan attended San Francisco State University. A university spokesman said he graduated in 1995 with a degree in radio and television.

The station's early morning broadcast showed Ms Parker interviewing Ms Gardner about the lake and tourism development in the area.

Gunshots erupted, and as Mr Ward fell, his camera hit the ground but kept running.

An image caught on camera showed what appeared to be a man in dark clothing facing the camera with a weapon in his right hand.

The station described the two dead journalists as an ambitious reporter-and-cameraman team who often produced light and breezy feature stories for the morning programme.

"I cannot tell you how much they were loved," Mr Marks said.

They were both engaged to be married to other people at the station.

On her Facebook page, Ms Parker – whose birthday was just a week ago – described herself as the "mornin' reporter" at WDBJ and a ballroom dancing enthusiast.

Her boyfriend, WDBJ anchor Chris Hurst, said on Twitter that he and Ms Parker were "very much in love," adding: "I am numb."

"We were together almost nine months. It was the best nine months of our lives. We wanted to get married," he said.

"She worked with Adam every day," he added. "They were a team. I am heartbroken for his fiancee."

Mr Ward's fiancee, Ms Melissa Ott, a producer at the TV station, was in the control room when the shooting occurred and watched it unfold, Mr Marks told CNN.

"It's hard to believe, isn't it," the grief-stricken station manager said.

Ms Ott was working her last day at WDBJ before moving on to another station in another city, and looking forward to a farewell party with her colleagues.

"This was going to be a day of celebration for her time here and wishing her good luck," Mr Marks said.

A couple living across from the shopping centre where the shooting took place said police burst into their apartment and awakened them at gunpoint.

Police said they were looking for the shooter, according to the woman, who identified herself only as Annie.

"I moved from Philly (Philadelphia) to get away from that kind of stuff," she said, adding that she had been in the area a few months.

The White House said the shooting was another example of gun violence that is "becoming all too common."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest, reflecting frustration that President Barack Obama has expressed over his inability to push through laws to tighten gun laws, told reporters that Congress could pass legislation that would have a "tangible impact on reducing gun violence in this country".

Media watchdog group Reporters without Borders (RSF) said initial reports seemed to indicate the reporters "were personally targeted in an act of revenge and not because of their jobs".

RSF secretary-general Christophe Deloire called the killings an "unprecedented tragedy."

Mr Marks said station staff were very emotional and planning a memorial gathering later on Wednesday.

Of the shooter, an emotional Marks said: "If he dies, he took the coward's way out. If he lives, he's due due process and this could be a mistake. I doubt it." 

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Polling Day on Sept 11, Nomination Day on Sept 1 as general election is called in Singapore, Politics News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/politics/parliament-dissolved-writ-of-election-expected-soon?xtor=EREC-16-2[ST_Newsletter_PM]-20150825-[Polling+Day+on+Sept+11%2C+Nomination+Day+on+Sept+1+as+general+election+is+called+in+Singapore]&xts=538291

Polling Day on Sept 11, Nomination Day on Sept 1 as general election is called in Singapore

SINGAPORE - A general election has been called and Polling Day will be on Friday, Sept 11. Nomination Day is on Tuesday, Sept 1.

The date of the long-anticipated general election was finally revealed with the Writ of Election issued by President Tony Tan Keng Yam at 4pm on Tuesday (Aug 25), an hour after he dissolved Parliament. 

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on his Facebook page: "I called this general election to seek your mandate to take Singapore beyond SG50, into its next half century. You will be deciding who will govern Singapore for the next 5 years. More than that, you will be choosing the team to work with you for the next 15-20 years, and setting the direction for Singapore for the next 50 years."

Cooling-off Day, which was introduced at the 2011 General Election, is on Sept 10. This is the 24-hour period when all political parties are prohibited by law from campaigning, so as to allow voters to reflect on the issues raised.

Veteran civil servant Ng Wai Choong is the Returning Officer, having taken over the post from Mr Yam Ah Mee in April 2013.

The dissolution of Parliament, which last sat on Aug 17, comes a month after the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee released its report on July 24.

An estimated 2.46 million eligible voters - up from 2.35 million in 2011 - will head to the polls. 

PM Lee, who will be leading the People's Action Party (PAP) into battle for the third time as Prime Minister, had set the scene for the general election when he hinted at it towards the end of his National Day Rally speech last Sunday (Aug 23). 

The ruling PAP is in the midst of announcing its slate of candidates for the 16 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and 13 Single-Member Constituencies (SMCS) being contested.

Its line-up for 12 GRCs and 11 SMCs has been revealed so far.

Three of the SMCs are new: Bukit Batok, Fengshan and MacPherson. There will be two new GRCs: Jalan Besar and Marsiling-Yew Tee.

Fourteen MPs have announced their retirement, with the PAP introducing 11 new faces - including former Chief of Defence Ng Chee Meng, who will be fielded in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC - so far. 

The number of elected MPs will increase from the current 87 to 89.

The last general election was held on May 7, 2011. The PAP won 81 of the 87 seats contested with a total vote share of 60.1 per cent. The Workers' Party (WP) took Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC with 54.7 per cent and 64.8 per cent respectively. In a by-election on Jan 26, 2013, it won Punggol East SMC after PAP incumbent Michael Palmer resigned.

The WP earlier announced that its existing seven MPs will be defending their seats. It also revealed on July 26 that it would be fielding 28 candidates in five GRCs and five SMCs.

The other eight opposition parties that have stated their intention to contest in the general election concluded talks in early August, during which they ironed out their differences and worked to ensure that the PAP will be challenged in all 29 constituencies.

Thus far, only MacPherson SMC - both the WP and National Solidarity Party (NSP) have staked their claims - and Potong Pasir SMC appear to be heading for three-cornered fights. Independent candidate Tan Lam Siong, the former NSP secretary-general, wants to run in Potong Pasir against the PAP and Singapore People's Party.

PM Lee added during Sunday's Rally that Singapore was at a turning point and that the coming election was critical.

"You will be deciding who's governing Singapore for the next five years; but much more than that, you will be choosing the team who will be working with you for the next 15-20 years. You will be setting the direction for Singapore for the next 50 years," he said.

"If you are proud of what we have achieved together, if you support... the future that we are building, then please support me, please support my team, because my team and I cannot do anything just by ourselves.

"We have to do it with you in order to do it for you... so that we can keep Singapore special for many years to come, another 50 years."

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MAS 'sorry' for typo on SG50 notes set packaging, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/mas-sorry-for-typo-on-sg50-notes-set-packaging?xtor=CS3-20

MAS 'sorry' for typo on SG50 notes set packaging

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) made an error in the newly launched SG50 commemorative notes sets by misspelling the name of Singapore's first President, Mr Yusof Ishak, on the packaging.

It is spelt on the cover fold and enclosed booklet as "Yusok Ishak".

A blurb explaining the design of the special $50 note reads: "The front design features Mr Yusok Ishak, our first President".

The late President's portrait is on both the $50 and $10 commemorative notes.

The notes, which were launched yesterday, do not contain errors.

Mr Ravi Menon, managing director of MAS, which issued the sets, said last night he took full responsibility for the spelling mistake.

"This should never have happened, (it) is not acceptable, and I take full responsibility. I apologise on behalf of my colleagues who worked hard to prepare the notes and folders but are deeply disappointed that we made this most unfortunate mistake. We will put this right," he said.

A spokesman for the MAS said it is now printing stickers to replace the misspelt part of Mr Yusof Ishak's name. They will be affixed to the folders from Tuesday.

Those who have already exchanged their old notes for the new ones may also obtain the same stickers for their folders from nine banks, including DBS Bank/POSB, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation and United Overseas Bank.

But Mr Jason Teng, 37, who obtained 15 sets yesterday, was not bothered by the error.

"I wouldn't have noticed it if it wasn't pointed out to me. I care more about the note than the packaging," said the jeweller.

He added candidly: "The error might even turn the commemorative set into an even more rare collector's item."

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Separation 1965: The Tunku's 'agonised decision', Opinion News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/opinion/separation-1965-the-tunkus-agonised-decision?xtor=CS3-20

Separation 1965: The Tunku's 'agonised decision'

Did Singapore ask to leave Malaysia of its own accord or was it forced out against its will?

Fifty years after Singapore's separation from Malaysia, the question is still moot. This review of the events leading to the separation seeks to throw light on the conundrum.

Singapore separated from Malaysia on Aug 9, 1965, by a constitutional fiat that formalised an agreed settlement between the state of Singapore and the federal government.

The act of separation was effected by the Malaysian Parliament adopting an Amendment to the Malaysian Constitution and ratifying an Agreement on Separation signed by the governments of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. It was put into action by a Proclamation of Independence of Singapore by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew that was read over Radio Singapore.

That agreement was negotiated by leading members of the two governments to bring about an amicable solution to an increasingly bitter and intractable conflict between their ruling parties.

Was Singapore's exit from Malaysia in 1965 a 'coup' by Singapore leaders, or an eviction imposed on it by Malaysian leaders? It was the latter, says this writer, citing records that show it was then Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman who made the tough decision that the two go their separate ways.

However, it was then Malaysian Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman who initiated the move to "hive off" Singapore from Malaysia.

As he explained at a press conference after the passage of the Separation Act: "It was my idea that Singapore should leave the federation and be independent. The differences between the state government of Singapore and the central government of Malaysia had become so acrimonious that I decided that it was best that Singapore went its own way. Otherwise, there was no hope for peace."

This confirms that Singapore was forced to leave Malaysia at the Tunku's behest. It was not Singapore that sought to secede or initiated the negotiation to separate from Malaysia, as some scholars seek to argue.

Indeed, in the months leading to its constitutional eviction, Singapore had been warned by Malaysian leaders against seeking secession or a partition of Malaysia between the former states of Malaya and the new states - Singapore, Sarawak and Sabah, as well as Penang.

Even at the last minute, at the meeting to sign the Separation Agreement, Mr Lee Kuan Yew asked Tunku Abdul Rahman (left) if he really wanted to break up Malaysia, which they had spent years to bring about. - ST FILE PHOTO

That partition had been proposed by Singapore as an alternative constitutional arrangement for a looser confederation. The proposal had developed from the call made by political parties grouped in the Malaysian Solidarity Convention for a "Malaysian Malaysia" that would ensure equality among all the states and ethnic groups in the country.

This dual demand infuriated the ruling Alliance in Malaysia, especially the dominant Umno. Sections of the ruling parties called for strong retaliation against Singapore's ruling People's Action Party (PAP), which they accused of treason for seeking secession. Some "ultra nationalists" called for the arrest of Mr Lee and even imposing direct central rule on Singapore.

As the conflict of words raged and Malay passions were roused, Malaysia's senior leaders feared that violence might break out, leading to racial clashes across the whole country.

Tunku's surgical solution

It was against this deteriorating political situation that the Tunku began to consider a surgical solution to this intractable problem, to cut the Gordian knot, as it were.

The Tunku had left for London in mid-June for a Commonwealth Prime Ministers' Conference.

I interviewed him on behalf of Radio Television Singapore (RTS) before his departure at the Paya Lebar International Airport, but he declined to say anything about the altercations between Malaysian politicians and Singapore leaders.

In London, the Tunku was hospitalised with shingles and he thought long and hard about the problems with Singapore. His conclusion: "There would be no end to the bickering with Singapore except perhaps if Mr Lee Kuan Yew is made prime minister in the real sense of the word."

Indeed, the Tunku asked Minister Lim Kim San, who had gone to London with him, to tell Mr Lee ("your PM") that "he can attend the next Prime Ministers' Conference on his own".

That was the first indication by the Tunku that he would give Singapore independence, Mr Lim later said, although he missed the implication of the Tunku's cryptic remark at the time.

The Tunku wrote to his deputy, Tun Abdul Razak, telling him how he felt about the relations with Singapore and to talk things over with Mr Lee. Tun Razak met Mr Lee on June 29, but found it impossible to reach any meeting of minds. In Mr Lee's recounting of the meeting in his memoirs The Singapore Story, Tun Razak went back on his previous agreement to consider a looser arrangement for Singapore and insisted on total capitulation in political activity, defence, foreign affairs, security and finance.

However, as recounted by Dr Goh Keng Swee, when he met Tun Razak and Dr Ismail (Abdul Rahman), the Home Affairs Minister, in Kuala Lumpur on July 13, Dr Goh proposed that Singapore leave Malaysia to become an independent state. This proposal jived with the Tunku's idea for Singapore to leave the federation.

At a second meeting on July 20, Dr Goh told Tun Razak and Dr Ismail that Mr Lee was in favour of secession of Singapore and it should be done quickly, by Aug 9 when Parliament was to reconvene.

On his return from London on Aug 5, the Tunku was asked by pressmen at the airport, including me, if he would be meeting Mr Lee to discuss the political differences raging between the two sides.

His reply was non-committal, almost nonchalant, saying he would meet Mr Lee if there was anything to discuss. Little did we know that serious talks between Tun Razak, Dr Ismail and Dr Goh were going on in Kuala Lumpur, with Mr Lee in the Cameron Highlands consulted, on the total hiving off of Singapore from Malaysia.

Tun Razak gave a full report to the Tunku on his return home. After Tun Razak and Dr Ismail had negotiated the terms of separation with Dr Goh and Mr E.W. Barker, the Tunku held an emergency meeting of his core Cabinet members on Aug 6, and approved the draft Bills to amend the Constitution and get Singapore to withdraw from the federation.

On Aug 7, the Tunku said, the "big shots" of the PAP (meaning Mr Lee), called at his residency and signed the Separation Agreement, while other members of the Singapore Cabinet signed it in Singapore or at Singapore House in KL.

Even at the last minute, Mr Lee asked the Tunku if he really wanted to break up Malaysia, which they had spent years to bring about. Would it not be wiser to go back to their original plan for a looser federation or confederation?

But the Tunku demurred. "There is no other way out. I have made up my mind. You go your way and we go our own way," Mr Lee recalled him saying.

Secrecy had to be of the essence on both sides of the Causeway for fear of opponents of the separation reacting with violence to the agreement.

Special Parliament session

The first inkling we in RTS had that something was happening was the departure of several ministers from Singapore to KL on Aug 7. I was instructed to fly to KL on Aug 8 to cover the special session of Parliament on Aug 9, a Monday.

I was joined in KL by fellow reporters Lim Kit Siang and Fuad Salim. In Parliament, we found only Mr Devan Nair, PAP MP for Bungsar, present. Some of the Singapore MPs were at Singapore House. Mr Nair and I listened to the Tunku's speech moving the Separation of Singapore Bill on a certificate of urgency, via the in-house sound system in his office.

When the session was adjourned, we learnt the Bill had been passed without opposition, although Umno Secretary-General Syed Jaafar Albar had left the chamber before the vote and expressed his disagreement with the separation. He, like the other ultras, wanted to maintain Malay rule over Singapore, forcibly if need be.

When Separation was announced by the Tunku over Radio Television Malaya and the Proclamation of Singapore's Independence read over Radio Singapore at 10am, Singaporeans received the news with a mixture of relief, regret and foreboding, although some quarters in Chinatown let off firecrackers in celebration.

And when Mr Lee went on Radio Television Singapore to explain the circumstances leading to the separation, it was clear that he had been forced to accept Singapore's eviction from Malaysia.

It was, he said, a moment of anguish for him, having devoted his whole life to bringing about a united Malaysia, whose people were bound by ties of kinship, geography and history.

He and Dr Goh had negotiated the terms of Separation to ensure that Singapore would be truly independent while continuing to have access to the water supply from Johor for its survival.

And Singapore would be on its own for all its multiracial population, living in peaceful amity with the rest of Malaysia. Thus did Singapore achieve independence while avoiding a forcible integration in a Malaysia riven by interracial tension and hostility from a communal political system.

That is the "coup" that Mr Lee and his PAP colleagues carried out for the people of Singapore, to achieve an independent and sovereign Singapore.

However, it was the Tunku who played the decisive role in this saga.

It was his agonised decision to let Singapore go that tipped the scales in favour of separation. Otherwise, the fracas between the state and central governments could well have become more intense and impossible to resolve, with no way out but an inevitable forceful denouement, that is, the arrest of Mr Lee and his senior lieutenants and the imposition of direct federal rule by the central government on Singapore.

The Tunku was magnanimous in telling Mr Lee to leave Malaysia. If there is one person that Singapore should thank for its independence, it is Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, the first prime minister of Malaysia.

---

•The writer, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, was a reporter with Radio Television Singapore from 1963 to 1966 and later with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1970 to 2001.

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Bangkok blast: Husband of Singapore victim hopes to return home with her body, SE Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/bangkok-blast-husband-of-singapore-victim-hopes-to-return-home-with-her-body?xtor=EREC-16-2[ST_Newsletter_PM]-20150819-[Bangkok+blast%3A+Husband+of+Singapore+victim+hopes+to+return+home+with+her+body]&xts=538291

Bangkok blast: Husband of Singapore victim hopes to return home with her body

BANGKOK - The husband of the Singaporean woman killed in the blast in Bangkok said on Wednesday (Aug 19) that he hoped to return to Singapore with her body.

Mr Ng Su Teck, 35, told The Straits Times that he wanted to return home together with his wife Melisa Liu Rui Chun, who was killed in Monday night's deadly bomb attack in the Thai capital.

He was waiting for Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to arrange for evacuation, he added.

The Straits Times understands that Mr Ng was discharged in the afternoon on Wednesday. 

Speaking at Ramathibodi Hospital, Mr Ng said he would speak to the media when he is back in Singapore and feeling better.

"Just let me rest and I do not want to talk about what happened," he said. "I don't want to make it a big thing."

Mr Ng sustained burns and his right leg was cut by shrapnel. His hearing was also affected by the blast.

Ms Liu, 34, died on the spot when the bomb blast ripped through the evening crowd at the Ratchaprasong intersection in Bangkok on Monday. The area is where the popular Erawan Shrine is located.

Mr Ng, who works in sales, and Ms Liu, an employee at AXA Singapore, had travelled to Bangkok with some companions for a holiday. Her brother was also among the seven Singaporeans injured.

At least 11 foreigners were among the 20 people killed in the blast, which left more than 120 others injured.

The Erawan Shrine reopened on Wednesday, with Thai monks leading prayers and some devotees, including tourists, turning up at the site.

xiaobinn@sph.com.sg

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'People were screaming and running away': Singaporeans caught in Bangkok blast recount ordeal, SE Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

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'People were screaming and running away': Singaporeans caught in Bangkok blast recount ordeal

Mr Ng Su Teck, whose wife Melisa Liu Rui Chun was killed in the blast, in hospital in Bangkok. The Straits Times understands he has been discharged and was due to return to Singapore last night. PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY

It is a yearly affair for the Ong siblings to visit Bangkok and offer their prayers at the downtown Erawan shrine.

Ms Betty Ong, 69, a semi-retired administrative executive, was there with her sister Jane, 59, brother Wesley, 53, and his wife Jennifer, 41, on Monday when the worst bomb attack on Thai soil took place.

Ms Ong said there were two blasts, the second very loud. All four suffered partial hearing loss.

"I thought it was some gas explosion. People were screaming and running away," she told The Straits Times yesterday.

"We are very lucky to be alive," said Ms Ong, who needed six stitches on her left thigh and has since been discharged.

Her siblings' injuries were more serious. Her sister Jane needed two operations, one to remove shrapnel in her leg and another last night to remove the fragments in her forehead.

Speaking to The Straits Times at a private ward in Hua Chiew General Hospital, the younger Ms Ong became emotional when she recalled the traumatic event.

"There was this blinding light and the next moment when I opened my eyes, my spectacles had been blown off by the impact. I felt as if my skin was burning off. I did think it was a bomb but I did not register the pain until I felt blood coming down my face," she said.

"I try to be positive but the images keep coming back to me. There were so many dead bodies. It's a very cruel thing. Very inhuman thing to do. These people owe the world an explanation. They cannot do this to innocent people," she cried. A psychiatrist is helping her cope with the post-trauma effects.

The Singapore Embassy has engaged an interpreter to assist the Ongs at the hospital.

Mr Ong, an engineer, underwent a high-risk operation yesterday to remove a 5mm bullet pellet that had pierced and torn his colon and to mend the tear.

The impact of the blast also broke his right shin and he had a first operation for screws to be inserted to join the bone. A bullet pellet lodged in the muscles of his left thigh will not be removed because it is lodged near a tendon and nerves so there are possible side-effects.

The Ongs have no immediate plans to return to Singapore because their priority is to get complete treatment and to recover until they are fit to travel.

Mr Ng Su Teck, whose wife Melisa Liu Rui Chun was killed in the blast, said earlier yesterday he hoped to return to Singapore with her body.

"If that is not possible, then perhaps a few days in between," Mr Ng, 35, told The Straits Times.

He said he was waiting for Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs to arrange for evacuation from the Thai capital.

The Straits Times understands he was discharged and due to return to Singapore last night.

Speaking earlier at Ramathibodi Hospital, Mr Ng said he would speak to the media when he is back in Singapore and feeling better.

"Just let me rest and I do not want to talk about what happened," he said. "I don't want to make it a big thing."

Mr Ng sustained burns and his right leg was cut by glass shrapnel. His hearing was also affected.

Ms Liu, 34, died on the spot when the bomb blast ripped through the evening crowd at the Ratchaprasong intersection in Bangkok on Monday. The area is where the popular Erawan Shrine is located.

Mr Ng, who works in sales, and Ms Liu, an employee at AXA Singapore, had travelled to Bangkok with some companions for a holiday. Her brother was among the seven Singaporeans injured.

Ms Liu joined AXA Assistance in November 2013 and her colleagues remember her as someone with a spontaneous personality and hearty laugh. She was a loyal friend to her peers and well respected by all.

"She was a valuable member of Claims team liaising with the AXA Assistance network and partners across Asia," said Mr Philippe Demangeat, CEO of AXA Assistance Singapore. "Melisa... helped to organise several employee engagement and corporate responsibility events that contributed significantly to the culture of our company."

Monday's blast killed 20 people, many of them foreigners, and left more than 120 others injured.

The Erawan Shrine reopened yesterday, with Thai monks leading prayers and devotees, including tourists, turning up at the site.

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Singaporean who died in Bangkok blast was a loving wife, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singaporean-who-died-in-bangkok-blast-was-a-loving-wife

Singaporean who died in Bangkok blast was a loving wife

She was a Manchester United fan, a chatty lady, and a loving wife - but above all, friends of Ms Melisa Liu Rui Chun remember her for her hearty laughter.

It is something they will now miss dearly after Ms Liu, 34, was killed in a bomb blast that ripped through the evening crowd at Ratchaprasong intersection in the Thai capital Bangkok on Monday night.

Her husband, Mr Ng Su Teck, 35, and her brother are among the seven Singaporeans injured.

Looking wan but alert on his hospital bed, Mr Ng cut a quiet figure at Ramathibodi Hospital yesterday afternoon. His

hearing has been affected by the blast and he was cut by glass shrapnel.

"I'm okay," he ventured numbly, before asking The Straits Times whether news about his wife had gone public.

Mr Ng, who works in sales, and Ms Liu, an employee at AXA Singapore, had travelled to Bangkok with some companions for a holiday.

Ms Liu died on the spot when the hidden bomb exploded some time around 7pm that day, the Thai authorities said.

Her body is being kept at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in central Bangkok. Her relatives turned up at the institute yesterday, but did not specify when her body would be flown back to Singapore.

According to one of Mr Ng's two male companions at his bedside, he wants to be transferred to a Singapore hospital as early as today, and has requested help from the Singapore Embassy to arrange that.

Yesterday, the couple's friends reacted in shock to the tragic news.

"I still don't want to believe it, I'm still hoping they have the wrong person," said Mr Marc Than, a sales and marketing manager.

Mr Than, 31, met Ms Liu in 2011 while they were both working as relationship managers in DBS bank.

"She was always laughing, very loud and outgoing. I saw her as one of the boys. Just a few weeks ago, we were complaining about (Louis) van Gaal," said Mr Than, referring to football club Manchester United's manager.

Ms Liu had the kind of winsome personality that could make anyone like her, he added.

"She could talk to anybody. If a customer came in speaking proper English, she could speak with him. If an aunty came in speaking Hokkien, she could talk to her too," said Mr Than, adding that Ms Liu was like an older sister to him.

He said that Ms Liu and Mr Ng had a strong relationship, and he knew the latter as the "strong, silent type".

Another friend of the couple, Ms Serene Boey, said they did not have children, but wanted to conceive and were planning to sign up for a fertility programme this year. "She just attended my baby's full month (celebration) in March. We've been keeping in contact. We're very close," said the 35-year-old auditor.

Ms Boey, who has known Ms Liu since they were in secondary school, said her friend was always "friendly and cheerful".

Speaking in Parliament yesterday about the attack that killed 20 people and injured another 120, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K. Shanmugam said: "Members will join me in extending our deepest condolences to the family of the young lady who was killed."

He added: " It is a tragic loss. To all who were injured, including the Singaporeans, we wish them speedy recovery."

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Youngest Singaporean to score A in physics: 9-year-old boy 'not born smart', Education News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/education/youngest-singaporean-to-score-a-in-physics-9-year-old-boy-not-born-smart?xtor=EREC-16-2%5BST_Newsletter_PM%5D-20150818-%5BYoungest+Singaporean+to+score+A+in+physics%3A+9-year-old+boy+%27not+born+smart%27%5D&xts=538291

Youngest Singaporean to score A in physics: 9-year-old boy 'not born smart'

SINGAPORE - With a chunky physics textbook laid out in front of him, Singaporean Mark Sim is a picture of cherubic enthusiasm as he flips through the pages, pointing out the topics he is particularly fond of.

"I like electricity, and oh, atomic physics because my dad explained to me how bombs work. Although I find the property of waves a little hard to understand..."

That caveat, tinged with child-like uncertainty, is a reminder that the soft-spoken Mark is all but nine years of age - but already believed to be the youngest person in the world to score an A in the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) physics examination.

The IGCSE is an internationally recognised qualification equivalent to the GCE O-levels.

Mark was eight years and three months old when he took the exam - consisting of three papers spread out over two days - at the British Council last November.

The feat earned him a place in the Singapore Book of Records when his result was ratified earlier this year.

"We tried to check with Cambridge if he was the youngest in the world, but they don't keep such records," Mark's father, Mr Harry Sim Lim Onn, 48, told The Straits Times.

Mr Sim had originally intended for him to take the GCE O-level exam, but the Ministry of Education would not allow it as they had imposed an age limit in order for parents not to put undue stress on their children.

It cost Mr Sim $300 for his only child, now a Primary 3 pupil at Nanyang Primary, to take the exam. But he reckons it was money well spent.

Mr Sim, a Singapore permanent resident from Malacca who has lived here for 27 years and is married to Singaporean Wun Ju Sing, 46, revealed that Mark displayed a precocious talent for grasping basic physics concepts.

"I was explaining to him about acceleration and how my car differed from a Ferrari when he was six years old, and to my surprise, he understood," said the section manager at a semi-conductor firm.

Mr Sim subsequently bought Mark a physics textbook, and the boy was hooked when he was told it was meant for students aged 15 years and above.

For a year leading up to the exam, Mark would study for half an hour every day on weekdays, while Mr Sim spent up to three hours on weekends coaching him.

Mark seated at the desk in his room where he usually does his revision. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

But both parents, who graduated from the National University of Singapore with bachelor degrees, were keen to stress that Mark was unlike the usual geniuses who were born smart.

Singaporean prodigy Ainan Cawley, for instance, set a world record at seven when he passed his chemistry O-levels in 2007.

"It took Mark a lot of hard work and determination, along with a commitment on my part to allow him to focus on something he was really good at," said Mr Sim.

"His English was not very good to begin with and he had to make an extra effort to improve in order to fully understand the questions."

In fact, Mark's growing up years were a source of constant worry for his parents, who feared that he might have been slower than other children.

"Our maid warned us not to expect too much from Mark; for example, he could not roll over on his own until he was nine months old," revealed Mr Sim, who has written a book about his parenting experiences.

"He was also constantly at the last of his class in kindergarten."

Madam Wun, an accountant-turned-housewife, supervises Mark's daily schedule and coaches him on other subjects such as English and Mathematics. She is also his constant "sparring partner" in chess.

Mark bent over a chessboard in his home. ST PHOTO: ONG WEE JIN

Mark was previously a member of Singapore's national junior chess squad, but he left last year in order to concentrate on preparing for his physics exam.

And Madam Wun says that her son also enjoys computer games and travelling overseas - his small but tidy bedroom is filled with books a child his age would read, while he is also a huge fan of the film Minions.

"He has been getting attention in school and his classmates know of what he has done, but we try to keep him grounded and down-to-earth," she added.

So what's next for Mark?

There are plans for him to take the A-level physics exam within the next two years, although Mr Sim is wary of the demands of such an undertaking.

"Mark was the one who suggested it. He dragged me to the bookstore and made me buy the A-level physics textbook," he said. "We'll take it slow but he should have no problems scoring a B or C with the right preparation."

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Bangkok blast: 34-year-old Singaporean woman among those killed; husband injured , SE Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/bangkok-blast-singaporean-woman-among-those-killed?xtor=EREC-16-2[ST_Newsletter_PM]-20150818-[Bangkok+blast%3A+34-year-old+Singaporean+woman+among+those+killed%3B+husband+injured+]&xts=538291

Bangkok blast: 34-year-old Singaporean woman among those killed; husband injured

BANGKOK - A 34-year-old Singaporean woman was killed in the bomb blast that rocked the heart of the Thai capital on Monday night, while her husband was injured.

Madam Melisa Liu Rui Chun died on the spot, according to Thai Police Major-General Dr Pornchai Suteerakune, commander of the Institute of Forensic Medicine.

Her husband Ng Su Teck, 35, who was injured by glass shrapnel,  told The Straits Times that he plans to return to Singapore on Wednesday.

Mr Ng, who works in sales, did not want to talk much when The Straits Times visited him at  Ramathibodi Hospital.

In a statement on Tuesday, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said: "Our embassy in Bangkok is currently providing consular assistance to the family of the deceased.

"We extend our deepest condolences to the bereaved family for their loss. We are deeply saddened by this development, and reiterate our strong condemnation of this indiscriminate act of violence,'' MFA said. 

Mrs Chua Siew San, Singapore's ambassador to Thailand, visited the other injured Singaporeans at various local hospitals on Tuesday, said MFA. All are receiving medical attention, while those with light injuries have been discharged.

The Singapore embassy will continue to provide consular support for the injured Singaporeans and their next-of-kin, MFA said without elaborating on how many Singaporeans were injured.

"MFA has also contacted the majority of the registered Singaporeans in Bangkok. We are monitoring the situation closely," said the ministry.

At least 21 people were killed and more than 120  wounded in the bomb attack at the Erawan Shrine which is popular with both locals and tourists. The dead also included citizens from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand.

The bomb reportedly contained up to 3kg of explosives. 

"The bomb aimed at killing as many people as possible as the shrine is crowded at around 6 to 7pm," Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri told AFP on Tuesday.

The bomb was detonated at around 6.30pm, sending a fireball into the sky as commuters and tourists fled in panic. 

The blast occurred at a major traffic intersection flanked by upscale hotels and shopping malls. It was still cordoned off  onTuesday.

Hundreds of schools were closed, with the police tightening security by setting up checkpoints across the city. 

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Indonesia plane with 54 on board found crashed in remote Papua region, SE Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/crash-reported-in-indonesia-after-plane-goes-missing-media?xtor=EREC-16-1[ST_Newsletter_AM]-20150817-[Indonesia+plane+with+54+on+board+found+crashed+in+remote+Papua+region]&xts=538291

Indonesia plane with 54 on board found crashed in remote Papua region

JAKARTA (REUTERS) - An aircraft with 54 people on board crashed in Indonesia's remote and mountainous region of Papua on Sunday, a government official said, the latest in a string of aviation disasters in the South-east Asian nation.

"The latest information is that the Trigana aircraft that lost contact has been found at Camp 3, Ok Bape district in the Bintang Mountains regency," Air Transportation Director General Suprasetyo told reporters. "Residents provided information that the aircraft crashed into Tangok mountain."

There was no immediate word on whether anyone survived.

Earlier, the National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS) said a twin-turboprop plane had lost contact with air traffic control as it flew over the forested area of eastern Indonesia but efforts to trace it were difficult because of failing light.

Trigana Air Operations Director Beni Sumaryanto said that within 30 minutes of hearing that the aircraft was missing, the airline sent another plane to scour the same flight path but it had found nothing because of bad weather, local media reported.

According to the official BASARNAS Twitter account, the aircraft, a short-haul ATR 42-300 airliner belonging to Trigana Air Service and built in France and Italy, was carrying 44 adult passengers, five crew and five children and infants.

The plane was flying between Jayapura's Sentani Airport and Oksibil, due south of Jayapura, the capital of Papua province.

Air transport is commonly used in Papua, Indonesia's easternmost province, where land travel is often impossible.

According to the Aviation Safety Network, an online database, the ATR 42-300 that went missing made its first flight 27 years ago. ATR is a joint venture between Airbus and Alenia Aermacchi, a subsidiary of Italian aerospace firm Finmeccanica.

The airline has been on the EU's list of banned carriers since 2007. Airlines on the list are barred from operating in European airspace due to either concerns about safety standards or the regulatory environment in their country of registration.

The airline has a fleet of 14 aircraft, according to the airfleets.com database. These include 10 ATR aircraft and four Boeing 737 Classics. These have an average age of 26.6 years, according to the database.

Trigana has had 14 serious incidents since it began operations in 1991, according to the Aviation Safety Network. Excluding this latest incident, it has written off 10 aircraft.

Airline officials were not immediately available to respond to enquiries from Reuters.

Indonesia has a patchy aviation safety record and has seen two major plane crashes in the past year, including an AirAsia flight that went down in the Java Sea, killing all on board.

The AirAsia crash prompted the Indonesian government to introduce regulations aimed at improving safety.

Indonesia's president promised a review of the ageing air force fleet in July after a military transport plane crashed in the north of the country, killing more than 100 people.

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Memorial bench at Tampines Tree Park, AsiaOne Singapore News

http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/memorial-bench-tampines-tree-park

Memorial bench at Tampines Tree Park

The memorial bench is at Tampines Tree Park because Mr Heng used to visit the park often with his family.

His widow, Mrs Sally Heng, 45, and children Daniel, 20, and Joann, 18, attended the ceremony with former colleagues and friends.

Mr Phornamdaeng, who has not seen Mr Heng's family for four years, said: " I'm happy that his children have grown up and are so well behaved... It's sad they had to grow up without Ah Heng, but I'm glad that they have grown up well."

The 2004 Nicoll Highway collapse is one of the worst construction accidents in Singapore's history.

The steel support for the tunnel that was being built for the Circle Line collapsed and the highway caved in, resulting in a 30m-deep cave-in that spread across six lanes of Nicoll Highway.

Construction foreman Heng Yeow Peow, 40, lost his life helping his workers escape the chaos of the collapse by shepherding them to safety.

Mr Suphathip Sanya, 37, and Mr Kabkaew Suriphon, 52, two of the eight workers whom Mr Heng helped to rescue from the MRT tunnel, said that all they remember of the day was the sound of beams falling.

The last thing they heard was Mr Heng shouting for them to run to the surface.

Mr Suruphon said in Thai: "I remember panicking, and climbing up the ladder.

"By the time we got out, we were exhausted because we had run 100m out of the tunnel and climbed 35m up the ladder to the surface."

Mr Heng was one of four men who died in the accident.

His body was the only one never found as rescuers had to call off the search due to the unstable ground.

Mr Heng was posthumously awarded the Medal of Valour during the 2004 National Day Awards.

This article was first published on June 19, 2014.
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Huge blasts kill at least 50, injure hundreds in China, East Asia News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/seven-dead-in-tianjin-warehouse-blast-chinese-state-media?xtor=EREC-16-2[ST_Newsletter_PM]-20150813-[Death+toll+from+blasts+in+Tianjin+rises+to+44%2C+more+than+500+injured]&xts=538291

Huge blasts kill at least 50, injure hundreds in China

TIANJIN, China (AFP) - Enormous explosions at a chemical warehouse in a major Chinese port city killed at least 50 people and injured more than 700, official media said Thursday, leaving a devastated landscape of incinerated cars, toppled shipping containers and burnt-out buildings.

An AFP reporter in Tianjin saw shattered glass up to 3km  from the site of the blast, a storage facility for dangerous goods where the detonation unleashed a vast fireball that dwarfed towers in the area, lit up the night sky and rained debris on the city.

The explosion was felt several kilometres away, even being picked up by a Japanese weather satellite, and images showed walls of flame enveloping buildings and rank after rank of gutted cars at an import facility.

"When I felt the explosion I thought it was an earthquake," resident Zhang Zhaobo told AFP. "I ran to my father and I saw the sky was already red. All the glass was broken, and I was really afraid."

Residents, some partially clothed, ran for shelter on a street strewn with debris.

"I heard the first explosion and everyone went outside, then there was a series of more explosions, windows shattered and a lot of people who were inside were hurt and came running out, bleeding," 27-year-old Huang Shiting, who lives close to the site, told AFP.

Paramedics stretchered the injured into the city's hospitals as doctors bandaged up victims, many of them covered in blood.

Citing rescue headquarters, the official Xinhua news agency said 50 people had been killed, including at least 12 firefighters.

Scores of firefighters were already on the scene before the explosion, responding to a fire.

At one city hospital a doctor wept over a dead firefighter still in uniform, his skin blackened from smoke, as he was wheeled past along with two other bodies.

Xinhua said 701 people were hospitalised, 71 of them in critical condition.

Mei Xiaoya, 10, and her mother were turned away from the first hospital they went to because there were too many people, she told AFP.

"I'm not afraid, it's just a scratch," she said pointing to the bandage on her arm. "But mum was hurt badly, she couldn't open her eyes."

- Plumes of smoke -

Plumes of smoke still billowed over buildings hours after the blast, which occurred shortly before midnight local time.

"Of course I was afraid, how can you not be afraid?" said a man as he looked at his apartment block behind a police cordon. "I ran. I grabbed my child and my wife and ran."

The blaze was brought "under initial control" on Thursday afternoon, Xinhua cited the public security ministry as saying, after 1,000 firefighters and 143 fire engines had been deployed to the site.

A 217-strong specialist nuclear, bacteriological and chemical warfare military unit arrived to help with the clean-up operation, Xinhua said. 

But officials were unable to say what triggered the initial fire or the subsequent explosions.

Xinhua described the facility as a storage and distribution centre of containers of dangerous goods, including chemicals.

Executives from its owner, Tianjin Dongjiang Port Rui Hai International Logistics, were taken into custody by police, it said.

Wen Wurui, head of Tianjin's environment protection bureau, told a televised briefing that "poisonous and harmful" chemicals had been detected in the air.

He said they were not at levels "excessively high above standards".

Death toll from blasts in Tianjin rises to 44, more than 500 injured

But environmental campaign group Greenpeace warned that substances from the site could be dangerous, saying it was "critical" that the potential toxins in the air were monitored closely.

- 'All-out efforts' -

State broadcaster CCTV said that President Xi Jinping had urged "all-out efforts to rescue victims and extinguish the fire".

China has a dismal industrial safety record as some factory and warehouse owners evade regulations to save money and pay off corrupt officials to look the other way.

In 2013, a pipeline explosion at state-owned oil refiner Sinopec's facility in the eastern port of Qingdao killed 62 people and injured 136.

In July this year, 15 people were killed and more than a dozen injured when an illegal fireworks warehouse exploded in the northern province of Hebei, which neighbours Tianjin.

And 146 were killed in an explosion at a car parts factory in Kunshan, near Shanghai, in August last year.

Tianjin, about 140km southeast of Beijing, is one of China's biggest cities, with a population of nearly 15 million people, according to 2013 figures.

A manufacturing centre and major port for northern China, it is closely linked to Beijing, with a high-speed train line cutting the travel time between them to only 30 minutes.

Several countries were granted trading "concessions" there, as they were in Shanghai, during the 19th and early 20th centuries – settlements that were administered by a foreign power – starting with Britain and France in 1860.

Tianjin's city centre retains a legacy of historic colonial architecture, along with more recent skyscrapers.

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In memory of Mr Lee, Singapore News & Top Stories - The Straits Times

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/in-memory-of-mr-lee?xtor=EREC-16-1[ST_Newsletter_AM]-20150810-[In+memory+of+Mr+Lee]&xts=538291

In memory of Mr Lee

Yesterday's National Day Parade (NDP) marked not just the nation's Golden Jubilee, but also its first parade without Mr Lee Kuan Yew.

The absence of the nation's founding father was keenly felt when cameras panned to his empty seat and the orchids that took his place.

The Aranda Lee Kuan Yew, a bright golden yellow orchid with a green tinge, was named after Mr Lee following his death in March.

Emeritus Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong wrote in a Facebook post: "He was not there but his presence was palpable. I imagined Mr Lee Kuan Yew feeling nostalgic, joyful, proud and confident about Singapore's future.

"This is his last parade."

Parade People

I love the atmosphere here. It's very lively. I'm definitely proud to be Singaporean. I've seen every single parade since 1966 - either live or on TV. My favourite part today is the tribute film to Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Without him, we wouldn't be where we are.

MR WINSTON KO, 58, wushu coach

A sombre three-minute film tribute to Mr Lee brought many in the audience, including politicians, to tears. "I was crying so much during the tribute," said private tutor Sherley Williams-Servos, 44.

"He's the main architect of Singapore's success. It's the least we can do for him."

Dr Lily Neo, MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, where Mr Lee served as MP, was also in tears. "I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with emotion," she said. "I am so thankful to Mr Lee for his whole life's dedication to ensure Singapore's success and I miss him dearly."

Fellow Tanjong Pagar GRC MP, Dr Chia Shi-Lu, said: "I think no-one was left untouched by the tribute."

The parade's multimedia director, film-maker Boo Junfeng, said the tribute was strung together from different documentaries.

It was set against NDP creative director Dick Lee's stripped-down rendition of this year's National Day song, Our Singapore.

"The key challenge was in differentiating the tribute at NDP from the films that have already been seen many times during the mourning period," said Mr Boo, 31.

"(It) is meant for everyone at the Padang to say that we miss him."

The tribute to Mr Lee also took to the skies, in the form of a "Five Stars" fly-past salute by the Republic of Singapore Air Force's aerobatics team, the Black Knights.

The five F-16s represented Singapore's ideals of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality. It was a fitting salute, especially given that the Black Knights were unable to honour Mr Lee with their "Missing Man" formation on his funeral day due to rainy weather.

Referring to clips of Mr Lee speaking, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Tharman Shanmugaratnam said: "Mr Lee Kuan Yew's words always move.

"They went to the heart of why Singapore came to be, why it is special 50 years on and what we have to keep reminding ourselves of as we make our future."

Education Minister Heng Swee Keat, who was Mr Lee's principal private secretary from 1997 to 2000, said he was moved that Mr Lee's fellow pioneer leaders - Mr Othman Wok, Mr Jek Yeun Thong and Mr Ong Pang Boon - joined the parade. "If Mr Lee saw the parade, I think he would have had a deep sense of satisfaction at our progress and said, 'Well done, our people can achieve great things when we work together.'

"Then he would say, 'Life goes on, let's get back to our work of keeping Singapore and Singaporeans safe, stable and happy'," he added.

"The best tribute we can pay to Mr Lee, and our pioneers who gave us the first 50 years, is to stay united and commit ourselves to do our best for Singapore."

Retiree Tan Bee Leng, 64, said: "The fact that we are here celebrating 50 years is something to be happy about. Rather than feel sad that (Mr Lee) is not here, we should remember what he has done for us."

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