TR EMERITUS

CONVICTED Buddhist monk Ming Yi's track record of performing death-defying stunts to raise funds for Ren Ci Hospital has earned him a reduction in his jail term for his role in an unauthorised $50,000 loan to his former aide. The High Court yesterday cut his 10-month jail term to six months upon appeal; his term is now shorter than that of his former aide Raymond Yeung, whose nine-month sentence was upheld. Both men started serving their sentences immediately. Ming Yi, 48, and Yeung, 35, were convicted in a district court last October on charges that included falsifying accounts and misappropriating funds after the unauthorised loan was made from the charity's coffers in May 2004. Both appealed last month against their convictions and sentences. Yesterday, Justice Tay Yong Kwang upheld the lower court's decision on their convictions and on Yeung's sentence, but allowed Ming Yi's appeal. Justice Tay said he accepted that misuse of funds in a charitable organisation was a serious offence and the amount involved in this case was not small. However, he noted, it was public knowledge that Ming Yi had risked life and limb in his much publicised fund-raising efforts. Saying it was unfair and unkind for sceptics to brush these off as manifestations of an egotistic, publicity-seeking man, the judge asked: 'How many among us are willing to undertake those risks to satisfy our egos? 'In my opinion, one wrongdoing does not have to be so overwhelming that the many good deeds are completely forgotten and interred with the bones.' His line was drawn from William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, in which Mark Antony said at the emperor's death: 'The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.' Justice Tay, explaining why jail terms were warranted for the pair, said they did not admit their wrongdoing; instead, they tried to mislead investigators and repaid the $50,000 only after the authorities started looking into Ren Ci's books. However, said the judge, the lower court had put too little weight on the monk's contribution to society, in particular the well-being of the poor and chronically ill in Ren Ci. A sentence of 10 months' jail, higher than that handed down to Yeung - the recipient of the money who was just as involved in the episode and whose credentials were 'nowhere as sterling' - seemed manifestly excessive, he said. In the same vein, Justice Tay dismissed Yeung's appeal against the sentence, on the grounds that it was the aide who had asked for the loan and benefited from the offence. Although Yeung was convicted on two charges against Ming Yi's four, the judge noted that Yeung had actively tried to cover up the offence from start to end, and that his contribution to society 'paled in comparison' with Ming Yi's. The pair were calm on hearing the verdict. Even with it being the eve of Vesak Day, Ming Yi did not request to defer his sentence. His lawyer, Senior Counsel Andre Yeap, later told reporters that if the courts felt Ming Yi had done wrong, it was only right that he serve his sentence: 'There's no point in putting it off. What good does it serve? The sensible thing to do is to take responsibility. That is something he has always done.' More than 20 of Ming Yi's supporters were in court yesterday. Some women quietly wiped away tears after the verdict. History:  Shi Ming Yi (birth name Goh Kah Heng; born 1962) is a Buddhist monk from Singapore, who served as the abbot of Foo Hai Chan Monastery prior to his conviction. In September 1994, Foo Hai Ch'an Monastery, under the leadership of Ming Yi, established the 175-bed Ren Ci Hospital and Medicare Centre for the poor and needy chronically ill patients. On October 7, 2009, Ming Yi was convicted of four charges of conspiracy, misuse of funds and forgery.http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_439198.html It was revealed in the court that Ming Yi bought luxury cars, race horses, country club membership in Perth, Western Australia and lived in lavish lifestyle, an unusual trait amongst Buddhist monks.  Read More →

By Lim Mun Fah from Sin Chew Daily It is understandable that some people are questioning the breakthrough agreement on the relocation of the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station achieved recently between Malaysia and Singapore. In fact, it is not something bad. Whether the agreement is detrimental to our interests? Whether it benefits only a small group of people? Whether it is a black box operation? All these are indeed essential and there is nothing wrong to raise such questions for the sake of the country and its people. In terms of the general direction, the agreement benefits both the countries. However, we cannot forever live with the burden of history. We must face the reality that Malaysia and Singapore are now two sovereign countries. We must try to solve all the outstanding bilateral issues as soon as possible and not to leave the problems to the future generations. The Tanjong Pagar Railway Station is a product of the British colonial era. The Johor-Singapore Causeway was completed in 1923 and on 1 Oct the same year, the first train thundered across the causeway and opened a new chapter for the transportation history of the two countries. Since that day, the connectivity between the two countries has been improved and the relations have been tightened. However, the two countries have undergone all kinds of vicissitudes over the past 80 years, leaving a lot of unresolved historical problems. Resentment has been accumulated and the bilateral relations have been hurt by the disputes on the negotiating table. The relocation issue should have been resolved 20 years ago. In 1990, the then Finance Minister Tun Daim Zanuddin had actually signed the Malaysia-Singapore Points of Agreement (POA) with former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew that agreed to relocate the station. But the POA became a dead letter later when it was opposed by the Malaysian Cabinet. The agreement this time is actually made based on the POA with some amendments and additional provisions. The more complicated questions would be about the interests of land swap and the joint development. Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has promised to visit Kuala Lumpur within a month with a proposal for a land swap and thus, we hope the questions will be clarified when he comes. It is still too early to judge whether the agreement is a win-win deal. In fact, the question of whether Malaysia holds the “absolute ownership”of the land, where the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station and its 20km track are situated on, must be clarified, too. It is not objective to say that “swapping lands equals to losing the absolute ownership of the land” or compare it with the issue of “exchanging Limbang’s sovereignty with two oil blocks”. I do not agree with the speculation saying that the relocation of the railway station is actually “an effort of the Singapore government to gradually ‘drive’ Malaysia’s sovereignty and rights out of Singapore”. I am afraid that there is no single country in the world will allow another sovereign country to forever extend its railway station and immigration checkpoints into its own territory, right? The future bilateral relations between Malaysia and Singapore are not decided as simple as the agreements made by the two governments. Instead, there will be more questions and supervisions from various parties. — mysinchew.com   Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.    Read More →

The year is 2030. The coalition government of Sinkapore has just agreed to IMF’s proposal of US$20 billions rescue package. The government has agreed to the austerity plans proposed by IMF. IMF spokeman said,”After many years of prospersity and with civil servants enjoying high salaries since year 1990s. The national reserves of Sinkapore has been drained out, as its SWF makes countless wrong moves in several investments in resources companies and civil service’s high expenses. There is nothing left in SWF. Sinkapore is technically bankrupted with papers of worthless companies.” TR reporter Diana Rose reports from CBD,” Riots have started at Raffles Place. The black camp are demanding that coalition party to demand money back from overpaid civil servants. THey are not backing down, they have camped at MBFC since Jan 2030. The whites are not push over too, they are demanding that their ex leader, who is on graft charges, should be allowed to return to lead Sinkapore out of the depression.” Taxi driver Lim told TR as he sighed, “How? I bought my Bushan 3 rm flat at $700k 10 years ago, now I need to service $3,000 per month. Now it is only $300k. My monthly income only $4,000 with 18 hours of driving. My wife who is a civil servant, is out of job. My one kid has to stop school and stay at home, because teachers walked out,as they are not getting any pay. My neighbour who is a PR, just went back to his native country and leaving the flat empty as he cannot find someone to rent it. Can someone from somewhere helps me” Sounds similar in the current 2010? Let’s pray that this will not happen. Someone got to make a difference now! Not in 2030! * This is a contributed article published verbatim. It should not be taken seriously and meant only to be laugh off, hopefully.  Read More →