South-East Asia (Page 1,340)

Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam subsequently voiced his concerns over the judgment. He said MHA was considering whether to seek permission to challenge it or enact laws to address gaps “between the policy intent and the position in law”.

One of MHA’s concerns was that the judgment would lead to defensive policing – where police officers on the ground do the least possible to avoid being over-analysed.

However, MHA ultimately did not mount an appeal because the apex court did not allow it to challenge the finding of bad faith. The High Court had also ruled in accordance with the law at the time.

ALIGNMENT OF LEGAL POWERS

Under the Bill, the Police Force Act – which governs the Singapore Police Force – will be amended to align the powers of apprehension in MHCTA, as well as other laws, with the powers of arrest under the Criminal Procedure Code.

This will allow police officers to search, restrain and use necessary force when apprehending someone under MHCTA and other laws that empower police officers to arrest someone.

MHA said in their press release: “As the apprehended person may turn violent or possess offensive weapons, such powers are needed to protect the safety of the person being apprehended, as well as those around him.

“Currently, the law does not set out what powers are available to the police in apprehending a person.”

The Bill also makes clearer the thresholds that must be met before a police officer can apprehend someone under MHCTA.

At the moment, Section 7 of MHCTA imposes a duty on police officers to apprehend anyone believed to be dangerous to himself or other person, and if such danger is reasonably suspected to be attributable to a mental disorder.

Police officers must take the person for a medical examination, along with a report of the facts of the case, “without delay”.

MHA also gave a scenario to demonstrate why it was necessary to clarify the thresholds of apprehension under MHCTA.

In this scenario, the police receive a call for help about a person who threatened to kill his family members but did not say he would do it immediately. He has a history of mental disorder in the police’s records.

MHA said the complaint appears to be credible, and the threat of physical harm appears reasonably likely to occur and likely attributable to a mental disorder — even though it does not appear that the person would be carrying out his threats immediately or in a matter of hours.

“Without the proposed amendments, the current Section 7 of the MHCTA would not allow the police to apprehend the person, as the danger posed via the threat of physical harm was not sufficiently imminent,” MHA added.

“The proposed amendments will address this operational gap.”

OTHER AMENDMENTS

Separately, the Home Affairs ministry is looking to allow the police to decide not to take further action in non-arrestable offences. This is if they have reason to believe the case is not of a serious nature, or there are insufficient grounds for proceeding with the matter.

It is not a good use of public resources to investigate such cases or refer the informant to a magistrate or mediator at the Community Mediation Centre, which is the current practice, said MHA.

Similar provisions are already in place for arrestable offences.

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According to the MHA, the number of regional mobile lines involved in schemes and other attacks has quadrupled dramatically, going from 5, 867 in 2021 to 23, 519 in 2023. Costs have roughly tripled from S$ 137 million to S$ 384 million.

Scams continue to be Singapore’s biggest violence drivers. The number of cases increased by almost 50 % to 46, 563 last year, the highest level since the officers began tracking schemes in 2016, while victims lost S$ 651.8 million next year.

Scammers have used native mobile lines to get scam money, such as through the PayNow system, as well as to create messaging accounts like WhatsApp, in addition to making calls and sending SMSes.

Unregulated moneylending is one other crime in which local cellular lines were used.

IRRESPONSIBLE RECORDING

According to MHA, the “rampant use” of native SIM cards has been caused by those who give away their cards or who offer their details to others who sign up for SIM accounts. Generally, this is exchanged for money.

The police must demonstrate that they knowingly gave the cards apart for unlawful functions or that they knew they would be used for criminal activity in the current regulations.

It’s difficult to prove this because they can make up ignorance, according to MHA.

This burden of proof is being reduced by The Bill. If they are aware of or have reasonable grounds to believe that the SIM cards will be used to undertake or promote a crime, or to inflict a wrongful death on another person, they may be prosecuted.

If someone did it for their own gain, did n’t take reasonable steps to discover the recipient’s identity and physical location, or did n’t take reasonable steps to discover the reason the recipient obtained the SIM card, they will be presumed to have done it.

However, if someone has a good reason to give in with their local SIM card or information, they wo n’t be prosecuted. For instance, if they print a passport on behalf of community members.

The proposed legislation, according to MHA, are not intended for those who have been” truly duped” into providing their information, which are used to file for regional SIM cards.

From January 2021 to May 2023, the government cited a sampling research based on 127 SIM cards used for moneylending schemes and unregulated moneylending. Nearly 80 % of the cards were not the registered members ‘ power.

Individuals will only be able to purchase and record a maximum of 10 post-paid SIM cards starting on April 15, according to the police’s recent announcement. These are primarily purchased by locals and have been increasingly used for fraud purposes.

Pre-paid SIM cards have always been a source of concern, with today’s only being able to purchase three pre-paid accounts.

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The item has previously attracted media attention all over the world. The resort’s general director, Andreas Kraemer, told CNN,” I was chatting with a group of friends about what’s next in luxury vacation, and one of them joked that having good conditions would be the next stage of ultimate luxury travel.” From it, the concept for the item was born.

The National Environmental Agency Weather Station’s rainfall information is used to quickly determine the registration of the hotel’s tickets, according to the resort. Customers are not required to provide an itinerary.

Claims are brought about when a four-hour wall of rain exceeds 120 combined minutes between 8am and 7pm. A card may be provided for example, if it rains from 4 pm to 5 p. 30 p.m. and again from 6 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The tickets must be redeemed within six months of the day of issuing because the deal is only applicable for a limited period.

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Kylie turned into an instant celebrity after her moment of glory. 

“She got a lot of attention,” recalled Caslin. “She was wearing the hat and going to the toilet was impossible because she had to stop to take pictures with people. It got to a point where, during one of the toilet breaks, I told them to just not wear the hat because we are not going to be able to make it there and back quickly.” 

Caslin continued: “I think she was a bit nervous and overwhelmed. On our way back there were so many people congratulating her and offering her friendship bracelets, we came back with so many more because people were very friendly and enthusiastic.”

How does Kylie’s little sister Stella feel about her big sister getting chosen and not her though?

“A bit disappointed,” admitted Caslin. 

“She asked us if she could go up too, and I told her ‘No. Only one child gets to go up but you get to see Taylor super up close’,” she added.

Well, Stella did get a little something from Taylor too.

“If I’m not wrong, when Taylor was at the end of the stage, she gave (Stella) a flying kiss because my husband was carrying her right next to Kylie and they were wearing the same outfit. So I told her: ‘Hey, Taylor also gave you a flying kiss!’ but I think she’s still a bit disappointed. Such is life,” chuckled Caslin. 

What makes this entire experience even more surreal was how the family almost didn’t make it to the concert.

Caslin shared that she actually did not manage to get tickets during the actual sale period and had to resort to other ways but the “mark up was insane”. 

“About two to three weeks before the concert, a friend shared an opportunity with me and I managed to get four tickets. I didn’t even dare to share the news with my children in case those tickets didn’t come through,” she laughed.

Before those tickets came along, Caslin was planning on just spending the night vibing to Tay Tay’s music outside the stadium with her family.

“I mean, you know children right? They don’t mind because they don’t know what they’re missing out on. They were doing all the friendship bracelets and I said: “Oh, are you sure you want to do those ‘cos we’re not actually going in”. But children being children, they were like: ‘Sure!'” she said.

“We even went to buy outfits, not knowing we were going to make it to the show. I only told them when I received the actual tickets, which was just a couple of days before the show.”

So what is Kylie going to do with her precious 22 hat now? 

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SINCE WE’RE TALKING ABOUT EFFECTS, IT WAS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED THAT THE SHOW WAS FILMED IN THE SAME STUDIOS AS THE MANDALORIAN. HOW DO YOU APPROACH ACTING WITH A GREEN SCREEN WHERE THERE AREN’T A LOT OF ELEMENTS FOR YOU TO INTERACT WITH

Actually, my first scene was not (with a) green screen. It was the same studio that shot The Mandalorian that has all these panels. So it was just so beautiful with the clouds going by, and the birds flying and all the buildings.

I was very overwhelmed very first. But ultimately, it’s very inspiring, because that’s where the genocide of the Southern Air Temple takes place. And I was aware of that.

I also felt: “My goodness. This whole place, everybody’s gonna be killed.” So there was a really deep stirring emotion in me. And then it came out. (Gyatso) translated his love for Aang but there was a certain kind of uncertainty about telling him that he was going to be the Avatar.

LET’S TALK ABOUT YOUR CHARACTER’S LAST STAND AGAINST THE FIRE NATION. HOW DID YOU PREPARE FOR THAT?

I was very daunted by the kung fu; I had to learn quite a lot of kung fu with a stick. There’s a whole routine that I had to learn in three stages. 

From the first time I flew to Vancouver, each time I flew, I would have to practise kung fu. And they gave me time; they didn’t shoot it immediately, so I’m just practising kung fu all the time with the stick. By the time we got to filming, I could do my movements. 

But I knew that I wasn’t that smooth. I had done tai chi before as a theatre actor in Singapore and a certain amount of Shaolin but it didn’t prepare me for the stick work.

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