Blog Posts by Gail Chai

By Gail Chai

A church wedding that was proceeding smoothly was ruined by the appearance of an unwanted guest.

Totally naked, a man opened the large window shutters behind the priest officiating the ceremony.

The wedding, which appeared to be in Australia, came to a halt and buzz could be heard among the crowd as they stared at the man brazenly baring it all.

After a few moments, the bride could be heard saying, "Get him out, please get him out."

The flasher then obligingly closed the shutters, but appeared again seconds later for his "final show", causing the exasperated bride to say "get out" even louder than before.

The man then closed the shutters again but distraught the bride buried her face in her hands.

National University of Singapore (NUS) law scholar Alvin Tan Jye Yee apologised to NUS on Wednesday for putting up a joint sex blog with his girlfriend showing explicit photos of themselves, local media reported.

Tan attended the disciplinary hearing at 2:30pm alone and met with the members of the university’s Board of Discipline, which is responsible for meting out Tan’s punishment.

The school will inform Tan of the board’s decision in seven days time, an NUS spokesperson said.

Tan, a Malaysian who said the activities related to the blog were all done in his home country, arrived in Singapore on Tuesday ahead of his hearing. He was earlier reported as saying he would apologise to the board.

He and his girlfriend Vivian Lee, both aged 23, have been the talk of the town on both sides of the Causeway since their sex blog went viral.

In the blog, which they have since hidden from viewing by the general public “due to family pressure”, Tan and Lee said they loved posting about their sex

She and National University of Singapore (NUS) law scholar Alvin Tan Jye Yee have been the talk of the town -- on both sides of the Causeway.

Vivian Lee, 23, has been featured on tabloids, newspapers and online media in recent days for posting sexually-explicit photos and videos of herself and Tan on their personal blog “Sumptuous Erotica”, which has since been taken down.

But speaking to Yahoo! Singapore on Thursday, the Malaysian said she has no regrets about showing her private and sexual life to the world. Having said that, she admitted the blog was taken down due to “family pressure”.

“It’s not because we wanted to take down the blog but both our families were pressing us to do so. We were cool with the situation but my family was embarrassed and unhappy about it,” said Lee over the phone from Johore Bahru.

“My parents told me that I should have kept my personal life private and I didn’t need to show it to the world. I just thought: It’s my own life, why can’t you be more open

UPDATE (17 October 2012 9am) The law scholar behind a blog of erotic pictures has been called up to the National University of Singapore (NUS) to face potential disciplinary action.

According to an NUS spokesperson, the student concerned has been served a notice of Board of Discipline (DOB) inquiry.

The board will look into the matter and take appropriate disciplinary action against the scholar, who has also been advised to take down the offensive posts, the spokesperson said.

National University of Singapore law scholar Alvin Tan Jye Yee told Yahoo! Singapore on Tuesday afternoon that he has taken down his joint sex blog with his girlfriend "because there's been too much trouble for this and we want to stay out of trouble".

NUS’ spokesperson added that the student is on leave of absence and is not receiving scholarship funds.

“NUS adopts a rigorous process in the selection of scholarship recipients and scholars are selected based on their academic achievements and personal

Almost nine out of 10 employers in Singapore allow their staff to work from home, according to a survey by recruitment firm Robert Half.

87 percent of Singapore bosses let employees work from home compared to the global average of 79 percent, it said.

Only Hong Kong (94 per cent) and Switzerland (94 per cent) have a higher percentage of employees allowed to work from home, while Italy (45 per cent) and Chile (38 per cent) have the lowest percentage of employees allowed to telecommute, the survey showed.

While the vast majority of companies allow employees to work from home occasionally, a more significant statistic is the number of companies that have institutionalised it, the recruitment firm said.
 
In Singapore, 60 per cent of companies have a formal policy in place to manage employees who work remotely, compared to a global average of 47 per cent, the survey found.

Noting the benefits to embracing the work-from-home practice, Stella Tang, director of Robert Half Singapore, said,

The Government is studying proposals from the public on how to encourage Singaporeans to get married and have children earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean said on Tuesday.

In the townhall dialogue “Our Population, Our Future” attended by about 200, Teo, who also takes charge of population policies, said that people have suggested increasing government’s financial support for parents, improving the availability and quality of childcare, and promoting work-life balance and flexi-work arrangements.

“We are studying these proposals, including ideas to refine existing marriage and parenthood initiatives,” he said in his speech at the event, which was organised by government feedback channel REACH and the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD).

The government has been reaching out to the public to get feedback on how to improve the country’s falling total fertility rate, which has fallen to 1.2, far below the replacement rate of 2.1.

“1.2 means that for every 100 Singaporeans

The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has suspended training with smoke grenades, pending completion of the Committee Of Inquiry into a full-time national serviceman’s death in April this year.

In its latest statement obtained by Yahoo! Singapore on Thursday, Colonel Kenneth Liow, Director of Public Affairs at MINDEF said the COI convened by the Armed Forces Council to investigate the death has started its proceedings and is expected to complete its findings and recommendations.

21-year-old Private Dominique Sarron Lee Rui Feng, died on 17 April, following breathing difficulties while taking part in a platoon exercise.

MINDEF said at the time he was undergoing training that involved smoke grenades at Murai Urban Training Facility at Lim Chu Kang when he lost consciousness shortly after noon. He was sent to Sungei Gedong Medical centre and transferred to National University Hospital where he died after.

The police are also conducting their separate investigations and will submit their report

More than 1.4 million people are estimated to have fallen victim to cybercrime in Singapore in the past one year as “new” forms of cybercrime surface, according to the Norton Cybercrime report for 2012.

The report calculates that the victims suffered about US$944 million (S$1.17 billion) in direct financial losses as a result.

According to the survey released on Thursday, 72 per cent of online adults in Singapore have been a victim of cybercrime in their lifetime, an eight percent decrease compared to last year.

The survey shows an increase in cybercrime found on social networks and mobile devices, a clear sign that cybercriminals are targeting the more popular platforms, according to anti-virus firm Norton by Symantec.

According to the report, 20 percent of adults in Singapore have fallen prey to such cybercrime on those platforms in the past year.

“Cybercriminals are changing their tactics to target fast growing mobile platforms and social networks where consumers are less aware of