Blog Posts by Ewen Boey

Foreign workers don’t have it so good in Singapore.

On 30 March 2010, the body of Chelladurai Lenin, 42, was dumped along Upper Changi Road after he had died from head injuries – a fractured skull and internal bleeding in the head after falling from a construction site, wrote The Straits Times (ST).

His employer, furniture repair business owner Tay Kok Eng, 56, was charged on Thursday with dumping the body, as well as illegally hiring Lenin at his company, Midas Maintenance and Services, the paper said.

The news report stated that Lenin, who was from Chennai and had a wife and three children, died after refusing medical treatment as he would have been deported for being an illegal worker.

Tay faces a maximum of six months in jail and a S$2,000 fine for illegally dumping of a corpse, as well as another six months to two years of jail and another S$6,000 fine for hiring an illegal worker.

The foreign worker demand in Singapore is continually rising, especially in the construction sector, withRead More »from Man charged with disposing of illegal worker's body

S-League's new deputy CEO Johan Gouttefangeas is revealed to be a bankrupt in France. (Yahoo! photo)

Local football fans are up in arms after the news that the S-League's new deputy CEO,  Johan Gouttefangeas, is in fact a bankrupt.

Some Yahoo! users expressed their displeasure at his appointment on Facebook, and said the Football Association of Singapore should not have hired a candidate with a questionable financial background for such a key post.

Facebook user Peter Tan questioned on Yahoo Singapore's Facebook wall, "If he can't take care of his finances, can he take care of S-League (which has its own finance problems)? Surely there are other potential candidates?"

Another user, Khiat Seet, said, "Bankrupt of not, the FAS should have done a proper background check before hiring Mr Gouttefangeas -- it's all a matter of good HR policy."

"A bankrupt can't hold directorship, can't have bank account, can't own any assets, and he's a key man in our league?" added Yantyaisyah Razak.

However, some were more open to the idea of the Frenchman's appointment as S-League's deputy CEO.

Lions XII coach V. Sundramoorthy (left) and Kelantan coach Peter Butler shake hands at the pre-match conference. (Yahoo! photo)

Singapore LionsXII coach V. Sundramoorthy can't wait to finally get the Malaysian Super League (MSL) campaign underway after much media hype over the last few weeks.

"There're a lot of off-the-field stuff going on, and we want to get this started as soon as possible on the field. Let's see how the players, fans and atmosphere is going to be," said the legendary Singapore player known as "The Dazzler" during his heyday.

With all 8,000 home tickets selling out by Sunday afternoon, Singapore's return to Malaysian football after a 17-year hiatus promises to be an electrifying affair.

Speaking ahead of Tuesday's much-awaited debut against Malaysian Super League defending champions Kelantan at Jalan Besar Stadium, Sundramoorthy said, "We will go there and do our best."

When asked if he and his team were feeling the heat, he replied, "Performance matters for me, and the players will have to go out there and give a good account of themselves. When you start performing well, the results will

People queuing for tickets to S'pore's match against Kelantan at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Look no further for signs that Singapore's much-awaited return to Malaysia Cup football after 17 year is going to be a hot-ticket item.

A snaking queue of about 300 people were already in line when tickets for next Tuesday's opener between Lions XII and MSL side Kelantan went on sale at noon at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Friday.

19-year-old student Mohammad Faisal, one of the first few people in line, told Yahoo! Singapore, "I'm quite happy I decided to come early. I never really expected such a long queue on the first day, especially since it's a working day."

Yahoo! Singapore understands that fans started queuing as early 8:30am, and ticket sales will go on until match day itself on Tuesday.

The Jalan Besar Stadium, which will host Singapore's opening match in the Malaysian Super League, has a usual capacity of about 6,000 but temporary stands have increased the ground capacity to 8,000.

"I think it's better that way, more supporters can watch the games, and tickets won't sell out

By Pete Thomas

A woman on a surfboard and two people aboard a kayak were nearly engulfed by a humpback whale that charged out of the water, its mouth agape, just a few feet away. Barb Roettger's video of the amazing encounter, which occurred near Santa Cruz, Calif., was posted Wednesday. The incident is one of several recent close calls in the area, where a small pod of humpback whales has been surface lunge-feeding on anchovies unusually close to shore. They've become a major draw for kayakers and boaters and at least one kayaker has been capsized, and a sailboat was struck by a whale. This circus atmosphere has led to an enforcement presence in an attempt to keep people at a safe distance from the potentially dangerous leviathans.

"We had our enforcement guy out on the Harbor Patrol boat yesterday trying to clear people away from the whales," Paul Michel, superintendent for the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, told the Santa Cruz Sentinel on Wednesday. "We were out

Dive into the drivers' seat for a unique view of this year's Singapore Grand Prix. (Photo courtesy of ESPN)

Formula One fans who will be watching this weekend's  Singapore Grand Prix on television will now be able to watch the entire race through the eyes of the drivers - from the cockpit.

ESPN is launching the first multiplatform experience for the Singapore GP, giving a fresh perspective to how the race is watched.

With a multitude of cameras trained on all the action from the tight and narrow street circuit, watching the live action from the driver's cockpit will be available online on ESPN Player.

This is the first time viewers can see a "driver's eye view" during the night race, putting viewers much closer to the action on the Marina Bay street circuit.

The adrenaline-pumping in-car cockpit views will feature nine Formula One drivers.

ESPN Player service is free for all mio TV Sports Pack subscribers.

The Dirt Radicals: Matt Cooper, Masashi Kimura, Sam Cooper (Photo courtesy of The Dirt Radicals)

Every first and third Wednesday of the month, Yahoo! MusicScene shines the spotlight on talented, up-and-coming bands or musicians in Singapore. In our final installment in a series of features on Baybeats bands, we speak to The Dirt Radicals.

The Dirt Radicals believe that Singaporeans should put their money where their mouth is, and support local musicians in action and not just words.

Speaking to Yahoo Singapore, Sam Cooper, 26, said, "Something that bugs me about the Sinagpore music scene is that people say they support it, but they don't do anything to show it, like buy a CD or go to a show."

"If you support it then support it; if you don't then don't say so," added the bassist.

The trio have a wealth of experience playing overseas, in addition to having spent 13 years in Singapore, to compare the support in different markets.

Drummer Matt added, "The support for local musicians here is probably not so dynamic as the people prefer pop music more."

The Dirt Radicals are a punk

In their heyday, My Writes played several times at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre. (Photo courtesy of My Writes)

Yahoo! MusicScene shines the spotlight on talented, up-and-coming Singaporean bands or musicians. This week, in the second part of our feature on bands playing at BayBeats 2011, we speak to My Writes, who were defunct for some time before their invitation to play at the festival.

A simple phone call woke them up from hibernation, just when they thought their days of performing were over.

Singapore band My Writes -- which was formed in 2005 -- was actually at a point where they could not even remember when their last gig was.

"Actually, if not for Baybeats, the band would still be in hibernation mode. So when we got the invitation, we met and pulled ourselves together and started jamming," the band's guitarist, Shaun, told Yahoo! Singapore.

The call from the Baybeats organisers could not have come at a better time too.

Having now sorted out their own lives after National Service for the guys, and settling down with a job, the band -- comprising Dhaniah, 24, Shaun, 25, Muhammad, 27,