TR EMERITUS

来源：星洲日报 2010.02.17 （新加坡）开业3天，进出赌场的人数已达6万人！ 名胜世界公布的最新数据显示，截至周二（2月16日）晚上8时，单是光顾赌场的赌客已有6万人，不包括参观环球影城 (Universal Studios)及名胜世界其他设施的人数。 赌场上周日中午12时18分准时开业，当晚6时已有6500名赌客，到了第二天赌客人数已高达3万5000人，周二单日（截至晚上8时）则有另外2万500人进场。 由此推算，农历新年的3天长假，赌场共迎来了6万名赌客。 本地赌客比外国人多 赌场热潮开始降温，今日（周三，2月17日）早上当地赌客比外国赌客多。 另外，记者周三早上走访名胜世界赌场，发现从上午9时半至10时15分，短短45分钟内，就有百多名赌客从当地人通道进入赌场，反观外国人通道则人数寥寥，大多是随团游览名胜世界，顺道参观赌场的游客。 周二和周一（2月15日），赌场内外都被赌客挤得水泄不通，不少赌客因等候时间太长而怨声载道，与周三早上的情景判然有别。 许金顺（57岁，机械人员）和太太趁周三孩子上学，特地来赌场参观和过二人世界。 他说︰“我们预料初一初二赌场一定人山人海，刚好那几天也是家庭日，所以直到周三才来赌场看看，果然人比较少。” 在赌场厮杀一夜的刘小姐（40岁，行政人员）说︰“周二和10多个朋友进赌场，等了很久都没法下注，现金出纳柜台也大排长龙，周三早上就有很多空置的赌桌和老虎机，我在出纳柜台只排了45分钟就领到了现钞。” 豪客团分18人一队进赌场 消息人士透露，豪客们在小赌时，往往单鎗匹马，各自作战，但是在下巨大的赌注时，就会群策群力，而且喜欢分成特殊的18人“小纵队”进赌场。 消息人士解释︰“18是‘实发’的谐音，豪客相信这会给他们带来好运，所以每次进场都是18人，进去之后一般会兵分多路，两三个人到一张赌桌下注，但有时也打团体战，20多个人同赌一桌。” 据了解，在周四（2月18日）进赌场前，豪客们都已分别得到风水师的指点。风水师根据他们的生辰八字，算出每人的有利方位和幸运颜色等。  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent Faced with a potential backlash from Singapore voters angry at its pro-foreigner policies, the ruling party will be raising the school fees at ITEs and polytechnics for both PRs and international students to "sharpen the differentiation between Singapore citizens, PRs and foreigners to reflect the responsibilities and privileges of citizenship." According to a joint statement announced by the five polytechnics in Singapore, they will raise tuition fees for diploma courses by $50 for Singapore citizen students, and between $480 and $800 for new Permanent Resident (PR) students while will have to pay between $480 and $1,070 more. Previously, PRs only pay about $200 more than citizens for diploma courses. The statement added: "The fee hike will also apply to existing PRs and foreign students admitted before the 2010 academic year 'to achieve a sharper differentiation by citizenship'....Fees for PRs and IS remain competitive as compared to those charged by international and private schools to allow Singapore to to continue to attract quality students and add diversity in the educational environment." The latest measures may be another ruse to persuade PRs to take up Singapore citizenship. The ruling party has updated the electoral rolls again in the hope of getting more new citizens onto the register of eligible voters for the next general electio which is widely expected to be called this year. As new citizens will usually vote for the incumbent, their rising number may tilt the balance in favor of the ruling party in closely fought contests. With more and more Singaporeans becoming disillusioned with its leadership of the nation over the last four years, it can no longer count on locals to deliver the votes needed for another "overwhelming mandate." While the latest changes have little impact on Singaporeans, at least one news site is lamenting the "loss" for foreigners: The Singapore Business Review, which was run by Charlton Media Group headed by a Caucasian needs not fret. The polytechnics have given the assurance that there are sufficient financial assistance schemes in place so that no student 'will be denied the opportunity of a tertiary education because of financial difficulties.' Even before the fee hike, there are already a number of scholarships and bursaries catered solely for foreign students. No matter real the "wayang" appears to be, the ruling party will never leave any foreigners behind.    Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent According to influential Asian online gay portal fridae.com, some 85 people including prominent young filmmakers Sun Koh and Royston Tan have lodged police reports last weekend against Lighthouse Evangelism Senior Pastor's disparaging remarks about homosexuals in video clip which was initially posted on his website, but had been taken off after he was hauled up for questioning by the Internal Security Department (ISD) last Monday. Pastor Rony sparked a massive outcry in Singapore for trivialising some teachings of Buddhism and Taoism during a church session which was uploaded to Youtube and widely circulated in cyberspace. He has since apologized for his "mistake" and promised to spread the message of religious harmony to Singaporeans from now onwards.  The video in question now featured the testimony of Ms Cheryl Bachelor, a part-time employee of the church who claimed that she was "healed" from lesbianism. It was on the website for several months. A blogger by the name of Kenneth Tan watched the video on Monday night just before it was removed and decided to rip it. The 80-minute long video revolved around the interview with Cheryl Bachelor which was used to highlight Pastor Tan's views on homosexuality. According to Pastor Rony, homosexuals are not born "this way" and people end up "turning" gay either because of abuse or an absent parent when young. He felt it is necessary to "warn" people of the pitfalls of homosexuality: "If we don't warn people against this, then there will be more and more homosexuals because many of these people will be harassing and seducing young boys, and they in turn will become homosexuals," he exclaimed. He insinuated that homosexuals are not "normal" people because they do not procreate: "Proper sex means life — it propagates life. Lesbianism and homosexuality simply mean death and barrenness." Sun Koh, who won the Best Director and Best Fiction awards for her film "Dirty Bitch" at the Singapore Short Film Awards recently told Fridae in an email that she had made a police report by telephone against Pastor Rony. “I want to send a message that gays and lesbians in Singapore will no longer stay silent when provoked by religious groups that actively promote disinformation," she was quoted as saying by Fridae.com. Kenneth Tan, who tipped us off with this news added: "If the gay community doesn't choose to make its voice heard now, then we should forever hold our peace the next time another pastor comes along and says the same thing.” Read rest of Fridae's interview here  Read More →