Fatal bus crash operator told to speak up
PUBLISHED: 22 Apr 2025 at 04 :03
The Transport Ministry has ordered the operator of the ill-fated vehicle which crashed into two vehicles killing seven people and injuring 53 people in Prachin Buri on Monday to issue a common answer and warned it may encounter legal effects, according to Deputy Transport Minister Surapong Piyachote.
He said the Department of Land Transport ( DLT) has launched a fact-finding probe which will also calculate compensation for victims and their families.
The DLT said it has has supplied regional police with information about the vehicle and is monitoring the situation carefully.
The business which operates the vehicle has been ordered to give speech to the DLT.
” If it broke the property transfer regulation, it will be subject to legal consequence,” he said.
Seven persons were confirmed killed and 53 injured early Monday night when their vehicle crashed into two vehicles in an incident blamed on broken pedals.
Pol Lt Col Siwaphas Phuripaschaiboonchu, investigator at Wang Khondaeng authorities place, said the vehicle was travelling from Rayong to Nong Khai. It rear-ended the two cars on roadway 304 in Na Di area around 2am.
He said seven persons were confirmed dead at the scene, including the bus drivers and his pleasure vehicle, while the 53 people who suffered wounds were rushed to regional hospitals.
Na Di district chief Somjai Phutthasena said the death toll could climb further.
A preliminary investigation found the accident could have been due to malfunctioning brakes on the interprovincial bus, Pol Lt Col Siwaphas said.
The bus was operated by 407 Pattana Co, which has a poor safety record.
Trucker Lamsant Phuangphu said he was following behind the bus as it descended a hill at an unusually high speed before hitting the two lorries in front of it. Mr Lamsant said he and other motorists stopped to help passengers escape the bus, which caught fire after the crash.
On Feb 26, an accident on the same stretch of road claimed the lives of 17 local government employees from Phon Charoen district in Bung Kan, and injured 40 others. They were on a study trip to Rayong when the bus overturned.
The road is notorious for the many S-shaped bends along it, which make it difficult for vehicles to negotiate.
Majesties to pay visit to Bhutan
PUBLISHED: 22 Apr 2025 at 03:30
His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Phra Vajiraklaochaoyuhua and Her Majesty Queen Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana may give a state visit to the Kingdom of Bhutan from April 25 to 28, the Royal Household Bureau has announced.
The statement said the imperial attend follows an offer from His Majesty King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan.
Their Majesties ‘ visit will further enhance friendship and cooperation between the two kingdoms, which have close relationships founded upon shared nations, belief in Buddhism and historic relationships between the aristocratic families and individuals.
Upon arrival at Paro International Airport, Their Majesties will be received by people of the Bhutanese royal family and then exit for Thimphu in the evening.
Their Majesties may be publicly welcomed by His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the Third Prince of Bhutan and Her Majesty the Queen of Bhutan in a meeting at Tashichho Dzong, which includes an assessment of a guard of honour.
Their Majesties may remain to Tendrelthang, where they will see a parade and historical performance. Bhutanese citizens will also accumulate to give their value and provide a comfortable welcome. A state dinner may be hosted by the King and the Queen of Bhutan at Dechencholing Palace in the evening.
On the next day of the explore, Their Majesties may attend a religious service at Buddha Dordenma, where 74 Thai and 74 Bhutanese priests will conduct Buddhist chants to give gifts to the imperial couple. Following this, the fourth King of Bhutan will meet Their Majesties.
In the afternoon, Their Majesties will visit prominent development projects and exhibitions, including a collaboration between the Royal Projects of Thailand and Bhutan, as well as the One Gewog, One Product ( Ogop ) initiative. In the evening, Their Majesties will grant an audience to the Bhutanese prime minister and spouse.
On the third day of the visit, Their Majesties will visit Lingkana Palace to experience Bhutanese culture, such as displays of woven textiles and garments. The royal couple will also visit the Thimphu central market to view an exhibition on a volunteer programme.
On the final day, Their Majesties will travel to Dungkar Dzong in Paro to pay homage to Shakyamuni Buddha and observe activities of the Royal Institute, including an exhibition on the Gelephu Smart City Project.
Their Majesties will depart from the air force base in Don Mueang at 7am on April 25 and return on April 28 at 7. 30pm.
The visit to Bhutan is the first official overseas state visit of His Majesty the King’s reign.
Ahead of the royal visit, the Tourism Authority of Thailand ( TAT ) organised the” Amazing Thailand Festival in Bhutan 2025″ campaign to stimulate travel interest and promote exchanges of cultural ties and goodwill.
Over 13m meth pills seized in North
PUBLISHED: 22 Apr 2025 at 03:30
About 13. 2 million meth tablets have been seized in two distinct activities against drug traffickers in the North, the Justice Ministry and Narcotics Suppression Bureau announced in a press event yesterday.
The press conference was led by Justice Minister Pol Col Tawee Sodsong and deputy federal police captain Pol Gen Prachuap Wongsuk.
On April 7, officials in Chiang Dao region in Chiang Mai received a tip-off about a drug trafficking effort through the city. A day later, they spotted a cautious vehicle heading towards a remote area that is mainly inhabited by indigenous tribes.
Officials stopped the vehicle at a station in Kaeng Pan Tao in tambon Mae Na, where they found about 12 million meth tablets hidden among vegetables in the rear.
In a split function on April 10, officials in Chiang Rai confiscated 1. 2 million meth tablets hidden in a vehicle parked at a department shop in the state’s Mae Sai area.
The vehicle, according to Pol Col Tawee, began its journey in Ha Mi town near the border with Myanmar.
According to Pol Col Tawee, the bulk of the seized drugs were meant for the north of Thailand. Most of the medications featured the brand” Y1″, he noted.
UN calls for sustainable goals unity
Collapse puts disaster comment on agenda
PUBLISHED: 22 Apr 2025 at 03:30
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific ( Unescap ) has called for regional cooperation to promote sustainable and inclusive urban development.
Unescap’s 81st meet program under the style” Regional Cooperation for Resilient and Sustainable Urban Development in Asia and the Pacific” was held yesterday at the UN Conference Centre in Bangkok.
The occasion gathered officials and key stakeholders from across the area to discuss plans for equitable and sustainable development in line with the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.
In her opening target, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra highlighted that almost 70 % of the world population may reside in urban areas by 2025, emphasising the urgent need for sustainable urbanisation in policy and practice.
She stressed that urban residents may be willing to cope with more storms, droughts and heatwaves by integrating disaster risk reduction into urban planning.
Moreover, she underscored the importance of health in urban places, calling for stronger safeguards against international crimes like drug trafficking, human smuggling, and crime.
Enhancing law protection, online exposure, and electronic literacy were cited as necessary measures.
Thailand, she added, is committed to fostering adaptable places that balance creativity and openness. One example is the government’s effort to create a 20-baht level fare across Bangkok’s industrial road network– aimed at reducing financial disparities, transportation costs, and improving connectivity.
” Urbanisation is not only about ensuring safety and well-being, but also about building a resilient coming,” Ms Paetongtarn said.
Via a video message, Philemon Yang, President of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly, said that cities play a pivotal role in the Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs ) by 2030. Urban places, he noted, accounts for 80 % of GDP in the Asia-Pacific territory and are key to tackling climate change and driving economic development.
However, he acknowledged that social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities continue to impact urban areas differently, hindering equal access to the benefits of growth.
To ensure equitable urban development, Mr Yang urged member states to invest in sustainable public infrastructure, expand green spaces, and pursue inclusive urban planning.
He also emphasised regional collaboration, particularly through platforms like the Pact for the Future.
Japan MP Hamada protests Moonies’ deprival of religious freedom – Asia Times
On March 25, a Tokyo district judge issued a judgement ordering the breakdown of a religious institution called the Family Federation of World Peace and Unification, originally called the Unification Church.
Japan’s strong Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology – Monbusho – had sought the Family Federation judgement over what the government alleged were outlawed requests of high-denomination funds by the church.
The father of the Family Federation of World Peace and Unification was founded in South Korea by Moon Sun-myung. Moon and his followers, generally termed Martians, much exercised enormous control over liberal politicians and political parties in South Korea, Japan and the United States.
While the Chinese government claimed it sought the breakdown ruling out of concern for people who had lost income to the Family Federation, the truth is more complicated. In July 2022, a lone shooter, Tetsuya Yamagami, is alleged to possess assassinated former prime minister Shinzo over Abe’s ties to the besieged religion.
Yamagami claimed, according to police reports, that his family had donated large sums of money to the World Federation, bankrupting the home. Abe’s support for the temple evidently pushed Yamagami to take out his frustration with the religious party on the team ’s social ally.
In the subsequent media frenzy, it was discovered that many other members of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party ( LDP ) had been using church connections for fundraising and to get out the vote on election day. Confronted with its relations to a religious group emerging in South Korea, the LDP scrambled to distance itself from the World Federation religion – in part by portraying it as a harmful firm equivalent to a gang organziation or violent religion.
Because the LDP had been content to use the church until it became a political responsibility to do so, the group ’s attempts to suppress the World Federation to many seemed to be inspired more by political analysis than by a desire to help Japanese people reclaim lost monies.
There is also considerable speculation in Japan over the extent to which Yamagami’s motives for targeting Abe really stemmed from Yamagami’s dissatisfaction with the World Federation church.
What has gone largely unreported in the media is that there is a ring of anti-World Federation lawyers and activists in Japan who have made a name for themselves by ginning up hatred against the church and its members.
Also missing from media reports in Japan is the fact that some of these activists have kidnapped church members and held them captive until the members have been “deprogrammed ” from believing in what the anti-church activists insist is a “cult. ”
Did Yamagami plot Abe’s death in isolation, or was Yamagami goaded into violence by hateful anti-church rhetoric?
Although the issue involving the World Federation church, the LDP and the assassination of former PM Abe has been covered at length in Japan, there has been very little substantial debate on the issue among politicians or in the news media.
The silence about anti-church human rights abuses in the midst of the media and political frenzy over the Abe assassination has become an issue in its own right. With such core principles as religious freedom and freedom of association on the line as the Japanese government exercises unilateral power to dismantle a religious organization, we have been struck by how little concern media and political leaders have shown over the controversy.
We spoke with House of Councilors member Satoshi Hamada, a member of a minority political party, NHK Kara Kokumin o Mamoru To ( Protect the People from NHK Party ). To our knowledge, Hamada is the only national politician to speak out against the LDP’s attempts to shut down a religious group for a crime that appears to amount to causing embarrassment for the LDP.
We first learned about your free speech activism in a recent book put out by a World Federation publication, a newspaper called Sekai Nippo. In the book, you question the one-sided media coverage of the World Federation. What sparked your interest?
The vice-director of Shokyo Rengo [ International Federation for Victory over Communism; IFVOC – a political movement organized under the aegis of the World Federation ] approached me for a consultation. Members of parliament are able to present the executive branch of government, the Naikaku, with formal written questions on government policy and actions. I submitted questions concerning matters related to the World Federation and received an official response in about a week.
One of the questions I asked was about the order that the government sought: to dissolve the World Federation as a religious organization. I wanted to know why the government – which had long held that the World Federation ought to be dissolved on the grounds that it had engaged in criminal activity – later, under the Fumio Kishida administration, changed the scope of its interpretation of World Federation activities and included civil offenses as well.
It was while I was working with the IFVOC representative on the preparation of the formal questions and then receiving the government’s response that I first became interested in issues involving the World Federation.
Thereafter, I had the opportunity to speak with someone from the World Federation. It is true that, in the past, there were problems with large-sum donations to the Unification Church. In 2009, however, the organization issued a statement vowing strict adherence to all governing rules and regulations.
What is most important, to my mind, is that some members of the World Federation church have been forced out of the church. The way this has often been accomplished has been to abduct a church member and hold him or her against his or her will until the person vows to leave the church. The number of people who have been so abducted and held captive is quite high – in the several thousands.
This is, of course, an extremely important fact, but I had known nothing about the abductions and detentions. I came to understand that something of great consequence was unfolding, and that the people of Japan ought to be informed about these things. I therefore brought this up in the Japanese national assembly.
There’s another grave problem, namely people called “dakkaiya, ” or those who specialize in forcing people to give up their religious beliefs. The most well-known of these so-called dakkaiya is a man named Takashi Miyamura.
Miyamura has been in communication with an attorneys ’ group working for the Constitutional Democratic Party ( CDP ) of Japan. I also asked about this in my formal question to the government, as it was brought to my attention by the World Federation side during their visit with me.
The gist of this aspect of the issue is that a nationally recognized political party is aligned with those who use force and imprisonment against people who believe in a certain religion. I found this problematic.
Are there any other members of parliament who have said that they share your concerns?
No.
Are there other members who speak out in public about the importance of religious freedom?
As of now, none.
What about the Japanese people? Do they have an interest in religious freedom?
It seems that such people are in the minority. Some public intellectuals and political commentators are speaking up about it, but their numbers are still few as well. The news media have a very big effect on what the public thinks, and the mainstream media in Japan are still attacking free-speech advocates in a very aggressive way.
The abduction of innocent people and the interference in religious beliefs with the backing of a part of the government are indeed serious problems. And yet, the Japanese news media have spent very little, if any, time covering these matters. Do you see the media and the government as working together?
Each television station will have its own political stance, of course. In Japan, many television stations are sympathetic to the Constitutional Democratic Party.
Also, because the World Federation is allied with a political group dedicated to overcoming communism, the IFVOC, the World Federation is greatly disliked by the Japanese Communist Party.
The Japan Communist Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party get along very well, and both are in very good standing with the Japanese media. Therefore, many stations will not run reports on people who have been forced to abandon their religious beliefs or on the dakkaiya who are effecting these forced abandonments. However, many media outlets have covered extensively the connections between the LDP and the World Federation.
Recently, I have said publicly that I attend World Federation events and speak there, and that I do so as a current member of parliament. I have questioned out loud why the media do not go into a frenzy over this, or why the media seem not to cover it at all. I have invited the media to contact me at any time, saying that I will be happy to answer questions and do interviews. But nobody contacts me.
The media have been portraying the World Federation as a cult. Do you think it ’s troubling that the media seem uninterested in covering World Federation issues from more than one predetermined angle?
The media have engaged in one-sided coverage of the World Federation, showing almost nothing but bad things about the organization.
Article Four of the Japanese Broadcasting Act ( Hoso Ho ) calls for fairness in covering political topics. However, the media’s coverage of the World Federation has been very far from fair, such as in not covering the thousands of abductions of World Federation members, and in not reporting that the number of negative cases involving the World Federation has decreased dramatically following the 2009 initiative to enforce stricter compliance on donations from members.
And then there is the incomprehensible order that the World Federation be disbanded. There are many problems with the media and the government.
The LDP often partners with Komeito, a political party that works closely with the Buddhist-themed religious group Soka Gakkai. The media also do not cover this apparent contradiction.
Komeito has long been part of the ruling coalition with the LDP and will most likely go on in this position of power into the future. Komeito surely must have known from long ago that the LDP might order another religious organization to disband, and so therefore must be aware of its own tenuous position.
Hence, Komeito’s silence as the World Federation, another religious group with ties to politics, was killed off by Komeito’s political partner, the LDP. Komeito will therefore, undoubtedly, be even more eager than before to stay in the LDP’s good graces and hold on to its position of power.
That said, there have been reports in the past of large-sum donations to Soka Gakkai, just as had happened in the World Federation. So it ’s conceivable that Soka Gakkai could meet the same fate as the World Federation. At this point, though, the media do not seem interested in covering this issue at all. Komeito still has many members in the Diet and so still has political power.
Justice remains elusive for Hasina killing machine’s victims – Asia Times
Alliance for Witness Transparency, a US-based human rights organization, has published a series of interviews with people coerced by Hasina into giving false statements against leading opposition officials handed out living words by Hasina’s court.
“ I hope he forgives me. May God forgive one whom only a human being has the right to accept? ” a teary-eyed poverty-stricken old Bengali Muslim man in the Northwestern Bangladeshi district of Rangpur, a couple of hundred kilometers far from the capital city of Dhaka , said, speaking in a native Bengali slang.
The man’s title is Mokbul Hossain. During the 1971 civil war in previous East Pakistan, Mokbul saw his mother fatally wounded by Muslim military people as the mother and son were fleeing to safety. He had to leave his dying mother on.
They had fled to escape the fury of the military unleashed on the Bengali-Muslim-majority East Pakistan by West Pakistan’s fundamentalist, pro-Soviet head Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto. Bhutto dreaded the idea that military king Yahya Khan had transfer power to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, a Bengali Muslim bagging the 1970 public votes, as Bhutto himself wanted to be the elite, notwithstanding the poll results.
About five decades after the civil war that led to the formation of Bangladesh from the remains of East Pakistan, the Bangladeshi authorities contacted Mokbul and asked him to speak in his mother’s murder trial.
The accused was not a part of the Muslim infantry, as the criminal had been, but a crucial criticism Bengali Muslim innovator combatting Hasina’s increasingly autocratic turn – so much so that she would have a bloody revolution in 2024 to remove her after she removed all political means to oust her.
Mokbul had no say in who had to taking responsibility for his mother’s dying. He could only testify against this politician by the name of A T M Azharul Islam, the then Secretary General ( Acting ) of the country ’s second-largest opposition party, Jamaat-e-Islami.
Mokbul’s hands were tied. He did not witness the presence of Azhar or any Burmese male in his mother’s terrible death, but Hasina’s forces in uniform chased him down and terrorized him into testifying that the younger Mokbul saw Azhar provide alongside the army during the incident.
In addition, Hasina had Mokbul testify that Azhar was involved in a mass killing in Dhappara, Rangpur.
Based on Mokbul’s testimony, in 2014 a court that Hasina had set up in Dhaka to try whomever she labeled collaborators of the Pakistan army pronounced Azhar to death. After that, Azhar languished in a death row cell in Bangladesh’s horrifying prison system. Now, although Hasina is gone, Azhar remains imprisoned.
Azhar is lucky, however, to survive the Hasina regime. Hasina executed six of his colleagues – all top leaders from the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party and its ally Jamaat – between 2013 and 2016. Several others died in prison.
After Hasina fled to India – her prime backer in consolidating and retaining her authoritarian regime – on August 5, 2024, following the student-led July Revolution, Mokbul appeared on camera and recalled his experience of being forced by Hasina to be a party to the misery of a man he considers innocent.
Deeply suffering from moral and spiritual crises, Mokbul now seeks redemption – for both himself and the man his testimony almost sent to the gallows.
A judicial killing machine
Others have come out and recalled to the public how Hasina instrumentalized their grievances into unjustly murdering– or attempting to murder – opposition politicians. Alliance for Witness Transparency ( AWT), a US-based rights group, has so far interviewed five individuals, including Mokbul.
Ainul Haque, the first person interviewed by AWT, was hanging out at a local tea stall when he was picked up by Hasina’s police officers and then forced to testify against Matiur Rahman Nizami, the then-chief of Jamaat, in a war crimes case. Nizami was later executed based on Ainul’s testimony.
Ainul now claims that he barely knew Nizami back in 1971 and he did not witness Nizami involved in the events in which Hasina implicated Nizami but had to falsify his testimony due to the pressure from the state.
Mahtab Hawlader and Altaf Hawlader told AWT that they were targeted by Hasina’s police to put another senior opposition leader with Jamaat, Delwar Hossain Sayedee, to death. Sanaullah, a police officer, held the Hawladers at gunpoint and threatened to dispose of them in the Buriganga River if they refused to testify against Sayedee, a wildly popular preacher and two-time member of the parliament.
Training the Howladers in what to tell the court were state minister Kamrul Islam, former top leader of Bangladesh’s most influential communist student body Golam Arif Tipu; prosecutor and Hindu communal leader Rana Dasgupta; and prosecutor-turned-politician Barrister Sumon, the duo told AWT.
As if forcing them to lie were not enough, the top judge of the court, Nasim, assured the Howladers that they should not worry about lying since he was in charge of sending Sayedee to the gallows.
The Howladers ’ testimony made Sayedee out to be complicit in rape, murder and persecution of the Hindu minority during the 1971 civil war. That triggered Sayedee’s death sentence, later commuted to life imprisonment following country-wide protests condemning the death sentence.
Hasina had over a hundred pro-justice protesters massacred, prompting the opposition leader Khaleda Zia to term the brutality a genocide.
The irony of the matter is that Hasina’s judges did not need to coerce these individuals to perjure themselves in the first place. Such was the law under which these trials were conducted that individuals could have been convicted based on unsubstantiated news reports and dominant caricatures of these individuals masquerading as “facts of common knowledge. ” In other words, this court was a specifically designed killing machine.
Defying India and Hasina
From the tragedy arise the stories of Prodip Kumar Dev and Sukhranjan Bali, two Bengali Hindu men who dared to speak truth to India and its lackey Hasina. While Bali’s story has attracted the attention of rights groups, Dev’s story has recently been made available to the public by AWT.
In his interview with AWT, Dev tells a story of state-sponsored kidnapping, coercion and illicit offers ( of a million Bangladeshi taka, approximately US$ 8,500 ), all of which he defied on the day of his testimony against Nizami. Although Hasina presented Dev as a witness against Nizami’s alleged war crimes, Dev informed the court that he had no knowledge of Nizami’s wrongdoing, thereby forcing Hasina to declare Dev a hostile witness.
Although Dev’s heroic efforts could not help Nizami, the leader of the country ’s largest Islamist outfit, escape the death penalty, his standing up against the oppressive state shattered the Indian narrative that Hasina was the friend of the Hindu and the likes of Nizami, the enemy.
Dev’s bravery can be better appreciated when we look at Bali’s experience and understand what Dev was up against.
Hasina charged Sayedee for the murder of Bali’s brother during the civil war and enlisted Bali as a witness to the incident. When Bali refused to play ball and, instead, offered to be a witness to Sayedee’s innocence, Hasina had him picked up in front of the courthouse.
Bali was later found in an Indian prison, underscoring India’s complicity in judicial killings of politicians critical of Indian hegemony in South Asia and enforced disappearances in Bangladesh.
A committee set up by the interim government of Nobel laureate Yunus to investigate the allegations of enforcement disappearances during Hasina’s rule has found over 3,500 cases of enforced disappearances. India was involved in many of them.
What now?
Even nearly a year after Hasina’s ouster, Azhar remains in prison. Those who were executed through this judicial killing machine still remain the villains in the dominant narrative, as well as on paper.
The reason for this is that the India-sponsored nationalist history of Bangladesh has made the 1971 civil war a sensitive issue. Anyone perceived to have supported Pakistan during the civil war is automatically rendered a war criminal.
On the other hand, Bangladesh has given blanket immunity to pro-India forces for their crimes committed between March 1, 1971 and February 28, 1972. The indemnity order, put into effect by Hasina’s father in 1973, prevents prosecution of the non-Bengali genocide and other crimes against humanity that pro-India forces in East Pakistan engaged in before, during and after the war that lasted from March 25, 1971, until December 16 the same year.
The famous Anthony Mascarenhas report on the atrocities of the Pakistani army, dubbed by BBC “one of the most influential pieces of South Asian journalism ” after it was published in The Sunday Times, tilted global public opinion against Pakistan during the civil war. The same report claimed that anti-Pakistan forces had initiated the Bihari genocide much before the Pakistan army’s “counter-genocide” began and massacred hundreds of thousands Biharis within a few weeks.
Amnesty International called for bringing to justice everyone who violated human rights during the war irrespective of their allegiance. But pro-India forces in Bangladesh responded heavily to this demand and claimed that only Pakistan was responsible for war crimes in 1971.
Although India’s proxy Hasina was ousted in the July Revolution, justice for Azhar and non-Bengali victims of the long civil war, be they Bihari or Chakma, us still denied because the hegemonic Indian narrative cannot see beyond the “good India, bad Bangladesh” dichotomy. Insofar as Azhar and other victims of the continued battle over the war’s narrative are categorized as pro-Pakistani, it is difficult for any Bangladeshi government to deliver justice to them lest the pro-India forces wreak havoc in the country.
Md Ashraf Aziz Ishrak Fahim has a first degree in International Relations and Global Affairs from Mahidol University, Thailand, and an MA in Social and Political Thought from the University of Leeds, UK. He is currently a graduate student of Contemporary Islamic Studies at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar. He can be reached at mdfa48907@hbku. edu. qa
Man who allegedly molested stewardess on flight to Singapore to be charged
SINGAPORE: A 20-year-old man will be charged on Tuesday ( Apr 22 ) after he allegedly molested a 28-year-old female cabin crew member during a flight to Singapore. The Singapore Police Force said that it was alerted to the event on Feb 28 at about 12. 05pm. Preliminary studiesContinue Reading
GE2025: SPP optimistic about chances in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, after PAP’s Ng Eng Hen retirement from politics
SINGAPORE : Singapore People’s Party ( SPP ) secretary-general Steve Chia believes his staff may do better in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC at the May 3 General Election, then with Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen stepping down from the constituency’s People’s Action Party ( PAP ) team.
Dr Ng entered politicians more than two decades ago in 2001, and has served in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC since then.
During a haywire at Block 75 Lorong 5 Toa Payoh Food Centre on Monday night ( Apr 21 ), Mr Chia said : ” When we read that Dr Ng Eng Hen has retired, in a way, it’s a great pleasure for me, because he’s a big for the PAP in this area. “
He added that without Dr Ng at the reins, he hopes SPP is garner over 40 per cent of the vote in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC.
” We are fighting to get, but we recognise that is a very steep work, and we’re doing whatever we can to make sure that it’s a good struggle, it’s a good struggle, it’s a dependable fight,” he noted.
Dr Ng has served Bishan-Toa Payoh for about 24 times, having defeated an Genus team in the last three primaries. During his political career, he had served as Minister for Education, Minister for Manpower, and is the longest-serving Defence Minister.
In the 2020 election, Mr Chia led his SPP staff at the GRC against Dr Ng’s staff, garnering 32. 77 per share of the voting.
This vote, he may be up against a PAP team led by Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat. Mr Saktiandi Supaat and two new faces, donation director Elysa Chen, and social investor Cai Yinzhou, round out the four-member stone.
Mr Chia may direct a slate of two new eyes: Mr Muhammad Norhakim, an businesses administrative, and Mr Lim Rui Xian, who is self-employed.
He did not reveal the fifth part, but hinted that it would probably be either group president Melvyn Chiu or treasurer Williiamson Lee- both of whom had contested alongside him in the last election.
Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC has 98,505 registered votes. It is one of five GRCs to keep its electoral boundaries in the recent Electoral Boundaries Review Committee ( EBRC ) report.
” We think there’s a better opportunity or similar prospect,” said Mr Chia.
Nevertheless, he acknowledged that for most opposition parties, defeating the president remains an uphill struggle.
” I think that the possibilities for all opposition parties is an upward job, its not easy,” he said.
He said that in his watch, the “only group” that has a “very good opportunity” is the Workers ‘ Party.
” I am rooting for this Workers ‘ Party, and I think that they have a very good chance of winning another GRC this time,” he said.
” The other events, we are essentially making sure that the PAP MPs are responsible for their guidelines,” he added.
This will be Mr Chia’s fifth time standing in a General Election. He was a Non-Constituency Member of Parliament from 2001 to 2006 – landing the couch after he contested Chua Chu Kang SMC under the Singapore Democrat Alliance’s symbol.
Singapore leaders send condolences after death of Pope Francis, hail his ‘legacy of love and faith’
” TIRELESS ADVOCATE”
Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936 to European immigrants from Argentina, Pope Francis was the first Latin American president of the Roman Catholic Church. He became its nose in March 2013.
He died on Monday night at his home in the Vatican’s Santa Marta hotel, where he had been recovering after being hospitalised for five months with lethal asthma.
Pope Francis ‘ visit to Singapore was the first catholic visit to the state in 38 years.
Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong, who served as the priest’s Minister in Attendance therefore, said he was “overwhelmed with a deep sadness ” after hearing of his death.
Describing the pontiff’s funny sense of humour and likeable nature, Mr Tong recounted how the bishop had joked with him during the silent moments of the visit.
“ He was entirely brutalizing, and made me feel at ease in his appearance, and by doing so, he showed that whilst he was the bishop, he was still also very much one of us, ” he said.
GE2025: PM Wong thanks Ng Eng Hen, Maliki Osman for service to Singapore as they retire from politics
SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Monday ( Apr 21 ) thanked Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Maliki Osman for their service to Singapore as they retired from politics.
Dr Ng announced his retirement on Apr 18, with Dr Maliki doing the same on Monday. In a Twitter article, Mr Wong said both officials had been “deeply missed”.
” But I have to let them go, so as to maintain the management staff for Singapore. I wish them the very best as they begin fresh pages and do coming pursuits,” he wrote.
Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong even thanked Dr Ng and Dr Maliki, with both having served as officials on Mr Lee’s Cabinet when he was prime minister.
” I thank Eng Hen and Maliki for their years of service and efforts to Singapore, and wish them both all the very best in the next step of their life,” Mr Lee wrote in a Twitter post.
Doctor NG “STEADY IN CRISIS”
In his Instagram post, Mr Wong said Dr Ng brought quality and detail to every Cabinet conversation.
” He is stable in turmoil, bold in thinking opportunities, and intelligent in analysing problems. I experienced all these personally during my early days in politics when I had the chance to work with him in MINDEF ( Ministry of Defence ),” said Mr Wong.
Calling him a role design and source of advice for both him and another younger officials, Mr Wong noted that Dr Ng had served in the workforce, education and military departments.
” But he will be best remembered as Minister for Defence, a position he held for more than a decade. Also respected locally and abroad for his attentive and insightful assessments, he raised Singapore’s appearance and standing,” said the primary minister.
Dr Ng has been the Minister for Defence since 2011. He guided the modernisation of the Singapore Armed Forces ( SAF ), which acquired and developed next-generation skills, said Mr Wong in a text to Dr Ng.
The SAF not merely stood ready for battle but proved its worth in peace, playing a vital role in supporting COVID-19 answer activities.
” You never lost sight of the people who form the center of the SAF,” said Mr Wong, listing Dr Ng’s efforts as defence secretary.