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[fivestars]

FIVE men who carried out what police described as a 'cruel' and 'inhumane' spate of attacks in the Kallang area on Sunday have been arrested after an operation involving more than 100 policemen.

The five, all Sarawakians who worked here as cleaners and odd-job labourers, went on a planned orgy of violent theft which has rarely been seen here.

The men, some of whom stayed at a Syed Alwi Road lodging house, are believed to have hatched their crimes with two others. The gang went on a knife-wielding rampage that left one person dead, two others in intensive care and another with half his palm hacked off - all for $400 cash and three cellphones.

 

[fivestars]

SINGAPORE Armed Forces (SAF) soldiers are giving themselves a bad name, with a recent spate of misdemeanours.

One posted a photograph of himself in full army attire, holding a cigarette and leaving his SAR21 rifle unattended.

In another incident, a group of soldiers was caught visiting a brothel during a military exercise in Taiwan.

According to a May 22 report by The Liberty Times, a Taiwanese newspaper, a certain Sergeant Wang and three other SAF soldiers were caught visiting a massage parlour that also operated as a brothel in the southern city of Pintung.

It was reported that Sgt Wang broke away from the trio of Singaporean soldiers, as well as four accompanying Taiwanese soldiers, to visit the parlour.

After getting their dinner, the rest went to the parlour to wait for him and were ambushed by Taiwanese police, who were raiding the brothel that evening.

The news article was published on citizen-journalism website Stomp yesterday.

Also fresh on Stomp were an article and photograph of a full-time national serviceman squatting and posing with a cigarette, a "rocker" hand gesture and an unattended SAR21 rifle.

The soldier, who is believed to be on duty at a sentry post, uploaded the photograph onto a social- networking site.

The post drew a slew of reactions from Stomp users.

One user named Decadent wrote that the soldier was going to get into huge trouble, but that he deserved it because uploading the photos was stupid.

On the contrary, ToShac68 was unfazed, and said that duties in the army were only a simulation, and that the man simply wanted to "pose like American or British soldiers, holding guns and smoking in uniform".

Full-time national servicemen, however, took the postings in a more serious light. One of them, Private Timothy Tan, said: "It tarnishes the image of the SAF as most soldiers are usually very disciplined.

"They are poor representatives of the current soldiers and poor examples to future generations of soldiers."

Another NSF, Lance-Corporal Li Wen Hao, said: "It is irresponsible of them, as they represent our country. Now that it has gone public, it will affect the good reputation of other NSFs."

When NSFs were found to be forming groups on social-networking website Facebook last year, the Ministry of Defence said that all SAF personnel are not to disclose or post classified or sensitive information and photos online.

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[fivestars]

They come here seeking a better life, hoping to make money or find a husband.

But they often end up stranded and desolate with no one to turn to for help, mainly because – as most of them are fully aware – they are breaking the law.

Some, however, claimed that they are victims of rogue agents who misled them into believing “there’s a pot of gold in Singapore”.

Miss Ke-er is here on a student’s pass but confessed that she “has yet to attend a single English lesson” in the private school. She paid only the first instalment of her fees.

Each day, she starts work at noon in a massage parlour, providing “any and every kind of service to anyone who is willing to pay”.

Around 6pm, she rushes home to a three-room flat in Chinatown for a change of clothes and a quick bite before heading for a KTV lounge on Havelock Road.

At this lavish nightclub, she morphs into “someone whom even my parents will not be able to recognise” and “sell my voice, my smiles...even my body”, said Miss Ke-er.

Her “lifestyle” turned out to be quite different from what she had been told.

She claimed: “The agent in China said we didn’t have to worry about finding work here, but that it was more important to ‘land on the shore’ first.”

With her parents’ help, she raised nearly $14,000 – part of the sum was to pay for the security deposit – by borrowing from relatives, friends and a moneylender.

Miss Ke-er said: “I didn’t want to end up like my parents, working from morning till night and earning barely enough to put three warm meals on the table.”

She also wanted to earn more to keep her brothers, 15 and 11, in school.

“What I couldn’t accomplish (in studies), I hope my brothers can,” she said.

Her first shock on arriving here came when the agent took her to a “seedy-looking bar” in Geylang.

Miss Ke-er said: “It wasn’t like I was dumb. I knew there were ‘sacrifices’ that had to come with the easy money, but I just didn’t expect the place to look worse than some of the karaoke lounges back home.

“I was also uncomfortable with the way the bar owner kept smiling lecherously at me.”

She worked all of three days there before asking the agent for a “transfer”.

Miss Ke-er said: “That was the start of a bad mistake.”

She claimed her agent told her she had to fork out another sum of money for grooming services, which included vocal and dance training.

“By then, it was too late to turn back – I could not let my parents down. There were debts to pay and I couldn’t simply walk away. I had no choice but to agree.”

She got three days of lessons.

She now pays the man about $500 a month from her earnings and reckons it’ll take another eight months before she can clear the debt here.

The first few months were terrible, said Miss Ke-er.

“I threw up every other night, and each morning when I looked at myself in the mirror, I wanted to smash the reflection.”

She also caved in and offered sex to a Singaporean businessman who had been her regular supporter at the nightclub for four months.

He paid $1,200 for taking her out and the extra service – half of which she quietly pocketed and did not give to the mamasan.

Miss Ke-er said: “I’d sacrificed my dignity, my body... I didn’t see why she (the mamasan) was entitled to anything for doing nothing.”
Her family is in the dark about what she does.

“They only know I’m working in a nightclub, earning about $3,000 a month. I tell them it’s just drinking and singing with the customers,” she said.

“My mother is doubtful but I always assure her that the strict laws in Singapore don’t allow any hanky-panky.

“But no one’s really complaining because each month I send home $2,000 to $2,500.”

Yet what she really wants now – even though she has settled into a better routine – is to return home.

By comparison, Miss Na-li, a 20-year-old from Shenyang, started on a rockier path.

She came here shortly after her father’s death in 2008.

She said: “We didn’t have any assets except for the house, which we sold to settle my father’s gambling debts.

“It’s just my mother and me – two women with no skills. I decided that I might as well take the risk and come here.”