Rosmah Mansor, the wife of former Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak, has been allowed a temporary release of her passport for her to travel to Singapore to visit her pregnant daughter who is expected to deliver soon.The High Court in Kuala Lumpur on Friday allowed the application by Rosmah, who is currently on trial for graft, for the temporary release of her travel document after it was informed that the prosecution was not objecting to it.Justice Mohammed Zaini Mazlan made the order for…
Bisexual Superman comic ruffles feathers in Muslim-majority Indonesia
New Superman comics that depict the man of steel as bisexual are ruffling feathers in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.Jon Kent, son of the original Superman Clark Kent and journalist Lois Lane, comes out of the closet and kisses his male friend, the reporter Jay Nakamura, in the fifth and latest issue of Superman: Son of Kal-El, by DC Comics, which is to be released on November 9.While the news has been welcomed by LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender)…
Discord grows in Indonesia over noisy mosque loudspeakers but few complain fearing arrest, attack
Every night at 3am, Rina is jolted awake by blaring speakers so loud she has developed an anxiety disorder: she can’t sleep, she’s too nauseous to eat – but she is also too scared to complain because doing so could see her jailed or attacked.The noisy neighbour is the local mosque in her Jakarta suburb, and the clamorous sound is the call to prayer.Both are so sacred in Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation, that criticising them can lead to accusations of blasphemy, a crime…
Financial complaints data highlights need for firms to maintain robust controls
The UK’s Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) has released its quarterly complaints data, showing that while some Covid-related complaints are on the decline the impact of the pandemic on people’s financial lives remains profound.
Hong Kong-born Singaporean doctor who died from Covid-19 remembered for going beyond call of duty
An outpouring of tributes have flowed from former patients of a Hong Kong-born Singaporean doctor who died this month from Covid-19, with many recalling his altruism and readiness to go beyond the call of duty.Raymond Yuen, a family physician and an occupational medicine specialist, would charge patients only what they could afford or allow them to defer payment until their financial situation improved, according to stories shared with the TodayOnline news website.A devout Christian, Yuen also…
Build a security culture to manage cyber risk
A transparent, supportive and open security culture will make a business more resilient to evolving cyber threats by empowering their people to make the right decisions.
Singapore’s anti-foreign interference law will ‘substantially narrow’ civic space, rights groups say
Eleven prominent international rights groups on Wednesday said Singapore’s “already limited civic space” could be further narrowed as a result of the country’s contentious new anti-foreign interference law, and urged authorities to withdraw it altogether.In a joint statement, the groups – comprising organisations such as Access Now, Human Rights Watch, Article 19 and the International Commission of Jurists – reiterated concerns earlier flagged by local activists about the law’s broad provisions…
British chef Elizabeth Haigh’s cookbook pulled by publisher after Singapore author accuses her of plagiarism
A British publisher has withdrawn a cookbook written by a celebrity chef from circulation amid allegations that it contains material plagiarised by a Singaporean author.Written by former MasterChef UK contestant Elizabeth Haigh, the book Makan: Recipes from the Heart of Singapore was published in May this year to acclaim and buzz.The chef of Singaporean and British heritage wrote that she had wanted to collect, adapt and understand the recipes and techniques used by her Singaporean mother as…
Tropical Cyclone Kompasu causes deaths, landslides, flooding in Philippines
At least 11 people were killed and seven others were missing after heavy rain across the Philippines flooded villages and triggered landslides, authorities said on Tuesday.Severe Tropical Storm Kompasu drenched swathes of the most populous island of Luzon on Monday as it swept across the archipelago nation towards the South China Sea. Nearly 1,600 people were evacuated.Six people, including three children, were killed in four separate landslides that buried houses in the northern province of…
Singapore sets up vaccinated travel lanes with nine more countries
Singapore has announced plans to allow vaccinated residents of nine more countries to travel without quarantine.