Jurong resident Mumtaz Begam Aziz found a loanshark warning letter pasted on her door threatening to harass her and her neighbours if the debtor refused to payback the money he borrowed from them. The loanshark threatened to follow her family, neighbours and paint their cars if their demands for repayment was not met.

The recipient of this threatening letter has been advised to make a police report and not fear such empty threats.

<Credits: Mumtaz Begam Aziz>

Other people owe you money, why asking randomly to paste this on the debtor's door. I warning you, Go Face It Yourself..

Dear A.S.S. Editor

As a Goldcxxxt employee, I am very ashamed of my own company. There's a uncle working in our company delivering goods. He does a very good job, delivering on time and always helping us out when he's on break. He got in an accident and had to go through an operation. He have difficulty moving around as his belly area got injured in that accident.

He recently came back to work even though he was still on mc. He told me that the company only pays for the first two months of his mc and will not pay for the rest. He have two sons still studying in primary and secondary to support so he had to work for his pay. The Boss told him to work light jobs by helping us move stuff around and packing of goods. He asked the Boss if he can continue the delivery after he recovers. The Boss then said that his performance was not good and he cannot drive the lorry.

During lunch time, the Boss bought lunch for us and did not bought any for the uncle. I asked him why he never buy lunch for him, he simply said "he did not call me to buy for him" in Chinese. I gave the uncle my food. I was very angry but I cannot do anything. He was the Boss and we are his workers. We cannot go against the Boss. The uncle came back to work in that condition and they still mistreat him.

Please help me out I don't know what to do.

Lim

A.S.S. Contributor

<Credits: Boycott Straits Times & Zaobao>

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Dear A.S.S. Editor

Today is Oscars day. Not sure if anyone knows this, but we have a very own Singaporean who is in the running for an award! Ms Ai-Ling Lee is nominated in two categories - Best Sound Editing alongside Mildred Iatrou Morgan, and Best Sound Mixing with Andy Nelson and Steve A. Morrow, in the movie La La Land.

However, if Ms Lee wins, she will not be the first Singaporean with an Oscar. In 2013, Nickson Fong, an animator, won a Scientific and Technical Achievement Award for a technique that revolutionised visual effects. So, who says Singaporeans cannot challenge the big hitters in fields as far flung as movie making? We certainly have the talent, just need the exposure and opportunities.

Let's hope Ms Lee wins today. She has already made Singapore proud. Time for her efforts to be awarded with the highest accolade in her field.

Johan Tee

A.S.S. Contributor

<Facebook complaint by Mary Toh>

Amos has been in solitary confinement (in a cell alone with no one to talk to and nothing to do for the entire day) for 14 days now, for ‘criticising Islam in Muslim Studies’ in America, McHenry County Jail.

We have refused to publish and reveal this news to the public in fear that it will hurt his case, but now, I think it’s overly paranoid for us to think that revealing this news would harm his case as it’s completely non-related.

Because this news was not revealed, the sergeant of McHenry County Jail has been able to freely exercise his authority without any fear of consequences and has kept Amos longer in solitary confinement than he should have been. So I am now revealing this news.

Please share and spread the news that Amos has been unjustly sent to solitary confinement and he needs to be out immediately.

Dear A.S.S. Editor

PM Lee making us all laugh early this morning. In that sense, he is a terrific PM for Singapore, he knows we all facing Monday Blues, so he is doing his best to help us all laugh to work this Monday morning.

He said leaders must remain open to other views, and also important for leaders to not be surrounded by "yes men" who paint only a positive picture. He might say these things, but actually, who in his cabinet listening to him? Most of them are Yes Men in the first place, for them to get to where they are now. Of course, nobody will admit they are Yes Men, so let's just humour them and say they got to where they are through sheer hard work.

And leaders open to other views? Did anyone of them listened to the citizens who keeps saying prices are going up and up, and never down, but salary never go up at the same rate? Yup, they "listened" to us, that's why water prices increase, public transport prices increase, and S&CC also increased.

Yup, these are exactly the kind of leaders the PM was talking about.

Tan K M

A.S.S. Contributor

Dear A.S.S. Editor

First, these PRC came here and taking over our jobs. Once they take over our jobs, they bring their whole family and taking over our neighbourhoods. Now, it seems like a business from China also coming over and taking over the Public Parks bicycle business!

Apparently, a bicycle-sharing company from China, ofo, is conducting business at some public parks, such as Pasir Ris Park without having to pay rent for using the public space. And since they don't have to pay any rental space, they are charging 50 cents a trip. Normally, Singaporean bike rental businesses charge about $7 to $8 for an hour of use. Of course, customers don't care whether you are a Singapore registered company, or a China one. They see a good and cheap rental fee, they will go grab it. Who wouldn't want 50 cents a trip compared to $8 for an hour of use?

Now the question is, is the business done by the China company legal? They did not have to go through any tenders to rent a space for their business, instead using public space for free. These China people are clever, they know how to take advantage of loopholes to make their business prosper. They would not care if they disrupt those legit businesses. Authorities, time to act. Don;t act blur This news already out in the open.

Abdul H

A.S.S. Contributor

Dear A.S.S. Editor

Read in the news today that the Cat Welfare Society (CWS) president, Ms Thenuga Vijakumar, has made overturning the ban on cats in HDB flats as one of her long term goals. This ban on cats has been in place since HDB's inception in 1960.

Some progress has been made - a pilot project for residents in Chong Pang to keep their feline companions in their flats was launched in 2012. Talks on funding to extend the scheme to two more precincts are ongoing. Once again, the debate between cats and dogs will be opened up. Most will ask why, if dogs are allowed in HDB cats, then cats are not allowed. After all, there are already thousands of cats living in HDB flats. Thus, by legitimising their ownership, this will allow for better education and enforcement against errant owners.

That is so true. Why do we have a ban on something that is unlikely ever to be imposed on? We are all pretending cats are banned in HDB flats, but how many of us actually know of someone who has a cat in their house? ANd we let them be, because the cats are unlikely to disturb your daily routine.

After all, cats are just like dogs. They are pets, and they can be trained. Just because there is one irresponsible dog owner, it doesn't mean all dogs should be banned, and that's exactly the same of cat ownership.

Michelle P

A.S.S. Contributor

Credit: Visakan Veerasamy

Today's coffee thoughts are about "what you can't say".

Recently a bunch of professor types got together at a forum to admonish civil servants for not speaking up. "Singapore needs more naysayers," they said.

I can't help but think of all the people who've spoken up over the years only to be told that they said the wrong thing. They get arrested, detained, searched, have their computers confiscated. This very obviously has a chilling effect on everybody else, and I think it's intellectually dishonest for "thought leaders" to avoid examining the institutional forces that keep people fearful. There were plenty of naysayers in the 1960s, what happened to them?

Nobody (as far as I know) teaches you to dissent elegantly. [EDIT: check out dialectic.sg] Most of the people I know who takes the trouble to speak up against the status quo do it because they have strong convictions and beliefs - and so they tend to be rough around the edges. (This is why there are so many opposition parties. If they were able to compromise on the issues they disagree on, they would've have joined the ruling party.)

When I look at someone like Amos Yee (just picking a recent public example), I see a dodgy rocket engine shabbily put together with duct tape. It's never going to meet safety standards, and it's definitely going to blow up and cause some damage here and there. But what do you think Steve Jobs was like as a teenager? Can you imagine being Shakespeare's English teacher?

I think 99% of naysayers are almost necessarily sassy smartass types. They're pranksters, tricksters, clowns. Cheeky. Mischievous. You can't really have it both ways. I've never met a compliant, well-behaved naysayer who has perfect knowledge of precisely how and when to criticize.

Anyway the point I'm circling around is this: I think our elites are being naive or intellectually dishonest when they bemoan that Singaporeans are uncreative, afraid of failure, of losing face, of dissenting or speaking up. They should be talking about the conditions that created the culture.

We crush the caterpillars and complain there are no butterflies.

Dear A.S.S. Editor

Another monster employer caught and sentenced in the courts today. This time, it is a Singapore PR, Jacob Kumar Ross B. Isaac Ross, who started molesting his Filipino maid shortly after she started work for the monster's family in November 2015.

This monster even had the cheek to tell her that he wants her "by the end of the month" in January 2016. You hire a maid to help you with the housework, not to take advantage of her! How do you expect maids to work under such conditions, where they are worried for their life, especially with a monster employer whose main aim is to molest and have his way with her. Maid and employer live under the same roof, so imagine the kind of stress and fear the maid has to live through!

The monster a senior security specialist, was sentenced to 11 months' jail and three strokes of the cane. Just revoke his PR and send him back where he came from once he finish his jail sentence!

Annie P

A.S.S. Contributor

Dear A.S.S. Editor

This morning, woke u p to news that Nokia is relaunching a revamped version of its iconic 3310 model more than a decade after it was phased out. This new relaunched version will allow for web browsing, which the original did not have.

This iconic phone was first launched in 2000, and the original 3310 sold nearly 120 million units worldwide before it was discontinued in 2005, making it one of the world's best-selling mobile phones. So, for those thinking of it as a novelty, then this relaunch is a godsend. But be warned though. The phone is run on 2.5G. Singapore's 2G networks will be closed from April this year, thus Singaporeans who think they can use this phone are in for a tough luck. All 2G-only phones will not support calls, SMS and data services, so you will end up playing the "Snake" game only.

Sure they neglected to mention that no matter how iconic this phone is, it will not function as a handphone in the truest sense, since 2G networks are no longer supported in SG. Nostalgia only works in certain places, not SG.

Kurt N

A.S.S. Contributor

Salam to the Editor and all Muslim readers,

I would like to share extremely unusual activities taking place at the Kubors beside my Mosque and across the street where a Madrasah stands.

When I was praying and washing up at Malabar mosque's kitchen last Fri evening, I noticed lots of Indian foreigners as well as our local men entering the grave site in intimate manners. I immediately asked fellow Muslims if they are aware about this and was told by them that those people are going in there to "make out". At the holy sites I exclaimed in disbelief? They said yes and the imam have also informed authorities on several occasions but said that government inaction towards such activities is due to the liberal stance they are taking as a result of the Pink Dot campaign and the debate of 377A when Prime Minister promised not to pursue homosexuals even if caught indulging in perverse sex acts.

I feel it is very unbecoming expected of a Chinese society with Confucian values, to turn a blind eye to these immoral activities taking place nightly on Muslim Kramat and hope fellow Muslims can stake their own patrol team to drive out these infidels who have no respect for us! We should also expect Ministers Yaacob Ibrahim and Masagos Zuikifli to make a stand on the Pink Dot issue much like what MP Faisal Manap did when he wore white during 1 of their immoral campaigns.

Syed Jaffar
A.S.S. Contributor

According to one netizen, a resident at Sengkang found himself in a very sticky situation when he returned home one evening to discover that his bathroom's rain shower had become infested with bees.

The pictures show the aftermath of the man's battle with the bees, who wound up dead on the ground after pesticide was used to kill them. The netizen claims that the owner had used Baygon to kill the bees himself.

However, the use of simple pesticide to kill a bee infestation on your own poses significant risks. In other cases of bee infestation in Singapore, pest busters are known to use an auto-spraying pesticide that will keep the owners and the pest buster out of harm's way.

In this case, the bees were eliminated without much trouble. The question remains though as to why these bees chose to nest in the shower room.

Pest management experts say that bees move from their nests and actively seek out new dwelling areas when their original hive has been disturbed or destroyed. The netizen did not know whether there had been any bee nest in the vicinity of the house where the infestation took place.

Dear A.S.S. Editor

Singaporean sound editor Ai Ling Lee did not win at the Oscars today. She sadly lost in both categories she was nominated for. However, just to be nominated for the Oscars, which represents the highest accolade in the movie making industry in Hollywood.

We should congratulate her for a job well done, and surely this will represent another stepping stone for the veteran sound editor. She had previously worked on some 70 movies including blockbuster action flicks like Deadpool, X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Thor, Man Of Steel, Godzilla, Mr. And Mrs. Smith and Spider-Man 2. This is someone that we should also use as a shining example of Singaporeans who can make it big in a world stage.

So how about it? Maybe can give her a special mention in Parliament? Singapore heroes are not only found in an Olympic swimming pool.

Yi JM

A.S.S. Contributor

Dear A.S.S. Editor

Someone wrote in to the forum in the local media today about having the need for a tiered childcare leave. His suggestion is really thoughtful, and the authorities should do well to have a re-look at the current childcare leave allocation.

Currently, no mater how many young kids you have, the Government had made it mandatory to have childcare leave for the labour force, but it is capped at six days per year per parent for children below seven years old. Now, this hardly sends a correct signal about the noises the Government have been making lately for Singaporeans to have more kids. How is six days enough for someone with more than one young child? A simple virus itself will take off probably two days of the childcare leave, so how to sustain for the whole year?

The writer suggested tiered childcare leave, where rather than having a limit of six days per child, it could be 10 days for parents of two, and 14 days for three children. This way, parents will not find it hard to juggle the demands placed upon them of having kids, but being forced to work on days their children are not feeling well. Many will inevitably point towards utilising their own leave days, but this hardly helps with the Government's call for Singaporeans to have more babies, does it?

Chen SL

A.S.S. Contribitor

<Credits: A Muslim Convert Once More>

This is a video, from the 6th January 2017, of the imam at Jami' Chulia Mosque cursing Christians and Jews. This was during the Friday khuthbah. He did it again today.

In summary, he said, "God Grant us victory over the disbelievers, God Grant us victory over the polytheists, God Grant us victory over the hypocrites and the people of envy, God Grant us victory over the Jews and the Christians, God Grant us victory over the Jews and the Christians ..." The last part was repeated twice as an emphasis.

This is 2017, and we still have unlettered people leading prayers in the mosque and supplicating as if we are all living in the Crusades and there is a huge religious war. How is this acceptable in the context of Singapore? It is only because he said it in Arabic that most people in the congregation likely did not realise. 

Islam is not at war with people of other faiths, particularly the Ahl al-Kitab, People of Scripture. This is an unbecoming relic of a different age. We should not encourage this sort of thiking or condone this sort of supplication

====

Mr Terence Hekiaon Nunis, the contributor of the video confirmed in an online interview that this was not the only time he heard such supplications made in the mosque and reaffirmed that everything he wrote was factual. 

"It should be noted, also, that this was not a solitary occurrence. It was first noted on the 17th January and then again, on the day I posted this.

Some people went there for Friday prayers. At the end of the sermon, this is what was recited as a supplication. The first few lines are innocuous and paraphrased from the Qur'anic supplication. The last part about overcoming the Jews and Christians is his own, or likely, taken from some similar supplication elsewhere, and is not from Scripture.

The word used is "fanswurna" which I have translated as "grant victory over", but more accurately means, "to overcome". Translating from Arabic to English is not always easy because there are words which have no direct translation without losing the flavour of the meaning.

In this case, the flavour is far from benign and the implicit meaning is more than just being better than them, the Christians and Jews, but to dominate them."

Dear Editors,

With the recently death of a 22 year old uber driver, I have got some comments to make. There is certainly a flaw in our driving system and also laws governing it, let's drop uber or grab drivers aside, but generally drivers as a whole.

In Singapore, one needs to be only 18 to hold a Class 2 and 3 driving license, 21 years old to hold a bus vocational license and heavy vehicle driving license, and soon, only 2 years driving experience required to go for private hire vocational license. I think that for new driving license holders, be it local or foreigners, the first year is very crucial and they are still very new to the traffic conditions and laws here, hence they are very unfamiliar and unconfident at times, this is what resulted in an accident.

I suggest that the LTA to look into quarterly or half yearly review for these new license holders, which means to say, every 3 months, make them go for a mandatory refresher course and evaluate their driving habits and their interactions to road users and traffic conditions. Should they fail to attend or fail the evaluation, suspend their driving license till they pass it. Subsequently, 21 year old and 1 or 2 years driving experience to hold a vocational license is way too young, imagine a inexperienced guy driving a bus carrying up to 16 passengers, or even hold a Class 4 and carry 50 passengers, one accident who mean all these passenger's life is a stake!

So I suggest that new license or newly converted license holders have to go through more orientation and training programme to ensure safety of themselves and other road users. And for those young or new heavy vehicle and vocational license holders, send them for a monthly evaluation, ensure they know the safety procedures of it and also passengers safety, make train them with this for at least a year before allowing them to hold the vocational license. Most accidents here are cussed by young, inexperienced and worse still, foreign drivers.

I hope that the LTA can really consider this thoroughly.

Choo

A.S.S. Contributor

Dear A.S.S. Editor

I read with misgivings about news that those big rats are now found everywhere in Singapore. It seems like the rats are not even trying to hide from people anymore. The next palce that seems infested with them are in Bedok.

What is happening to Singapore? Bedok is not the only place where these huge rats can be found scurrying around. It seems they are everywhere, even in Orchard! Is it because of all the digging we are doing for the MRT lines, the shopping malls, and new expressways? These rats have no where else to go but upwards. Thus, we see more of them now.

Hopefully, the authorities do something about this. We certainly don't want to go back to the old days when rats carrying disease are everywhere around us, and some of us might fall prey to them.

Terry Xu

A.S.S. Contributor

Hi Editors

How to have innovation when Oscar award wining film is not screened in Singapore?

So there has been a lot of talk about innovation recently which has been hard to take seriously. Here’s an example, how can Singapore and Singaporeans stay relevant when the latest Oscar best picture winners Moonlight, a film about a young gay black man growing up and coming of age isn’t being screened nor does it have a release date in Singapore. It seems that Moonlight might not see the light of day in Singapore just because of its positive and accurate portrayal of LGBT persons in it’s film.

This is what happens when the government sees a need in curating the national content and conversation in Singapore instead of allowing it to grow and moderate itself. How can Singaporeans get used to the idea of different people from different walks of life with varying opinions existing if our media constantly erases LGBT persons? How will Singaporeans learn to cope and trade in the market place of ideas of the government needs to child proof content for the entire population? Without freedom of speech and independently run media outlets there is not way Singaporeans can truly be innovative and sensitive the issues of the 21st century.

After all if a film deserving of an Oscar does not deserve to be screened in our country maybe the problem isn’t the rest of the world. Maybe the problem is our little island not being able to keep up with the times.

Ben Matchap

Dear A.S.S. Editor

In the end, it was the taxi driver that lied to the police that a Caucasian man was the one who slapped him in an incident in September 2014. His lies in court led to the Caucasian man, a Norwegian, to be sentenced by the Singapore courts to jail in the first place.

Arne Corneliussen, a Singpaore PR, had been given 10 weeks jail after he pleaded guilty to causing hurt by grabbing Chan's neck and choking him after a night of drinking. He also paid $30,000 compensation to Chan. However, after reading reports of the case, Mr Roslan Zainul and his friend Mohamed Ayub Shaik Dawood came forward and told the police that Chan's version of events was not true and that Chan, and not Mr Corneliussen, was the aggressor. Corneliussen had already served half his sentence, and subsequently re-tried and fined $2,000 after he was convicted of causing hurt by wrapping his arm around the cabby's neck.

As for the cabby, he was jailed 18 months for lying and punching Corneliussen. When the case first came out, vitriol were poured into the direction of the Singapore PR, just for the fact that he was not a Singaporean, and that he was perceived to have beaten up an honest, hardworking cabby. Now that the truth is out, would all those who slammed the Caucasian man come out and apologise? He was not the aggressor, and he did what most of us would have done, and that was defend ourselves against a manipulative cabby.

Peter S

A.S.S. Contributor