Singapore Local News! + Crime & Punishment (Non Gay) (Compiled)

[Guest Bravo Company]

Very interesting... on one hand he had indeed open a fresh can or worms about the sort dirty things happening in every army camps in SAF all these years. That is Officers behave like kings, they practiced double standard and treat men like shit. I remember my times in the 80s those SAF officers and Senior NCOs really behave like tyrants, they disappear from the camp as and when they like and punished men like they are ones above all laws. Such double standard practice is so common and everyone think is normal.

On the other, I am no sure if I want to be the same camp as such people? I think everyone around him in the same camp have the potential to be complained by him. I am sure his OC will be under stress from day one that the PM son is in his company. Can understand the environment he is being brought up in, his grandfather could have influenced him a great deal!! :-)

[Riko]

A ploy to make citizens believe that Singapore is democratic.

[jazz]

... ... ...You cannot break the change of command... ... ...

You probably meant Chain of Command.

Anyway, it was totally unnecessary for him to have send the e-mail to so many people. Want to be a hero and let everyone know?

He could have seek consultation at home?

I am sure L & L would be able to direct him with the most appropriate and effective way of handling the matter. Ensuring the most actions with the least efforts!

[Guest Guest]

yes it is ok for him to voice for his rights coz he is the son of pinky lee but if a common nsf were to raise issue for his right, do u think mindef would carE? if the same letter were to be leaked, i think the common nsf will get more than just reprimand.

[Guest Guest]

I guess he has the vindictive character in his blood. That's why gotta copy to everyone.

[Guest Guest]

I am sure L & L would be able to direct him with the most appropriate and effective way of handling the matter. Ensuring the most actions with the least efforts!

Maybe this is the 1st introduction to the crown prince who one day will ascend the throne? It has to be put across as being fair and that he is treated as any other normal person would with no special privilege. Charge him in public, a gentle wap on the wrist. Oh boy.. I guess he's become hero already. "vote" for him in future!

A great PR excercise indeed.

[erection day]

REDHILL'S BRAZEN STREETWALKER

'She struts around in a striking red robe which occasionally flips open to reveal a black bra and hot pants. No wonder the skimpily-dressed woman has caused quite a stir in the 'usuallly quiet' Lengkok Bahru housing estate in Redhill. Residents are upset that she does her flashing act even when children are around. They say they have seen the woman standing at the side of the road shooting alluring glances at passing men for past several days. From her behaviour, they suspect she is a prostitute. Why she choose to operate in that neighbourhood in such brazen fashion is not known. One resident Mdm Chen added that the woman usuallly appeared around 1pm. She would then find a spot to wait, often posing suggestively and making eye contact with passing men.' For fuller report and pic please read The New Paper today.

These streetwalkers are really getting more brazen indeed. Shooting 'alluring' glances at men somemore.

[night listener]

Don't you think something funny?

Why didn't he ask papa for advice, since papa was a BG before.

Could it mean that papa and son not on close terms?

or is it that son wants to have a backbone and not depend on papa?

i'm sure if things have been discussed with papa these things won't have happen.

[reflection]

We can speculate possibilities but in this special case

[Guest Guest]

guess he wants some exposure so got chance to go in politic and take over the throne :swear:

[Guest Guest]

Very interesting... on one hand he had indeed open a fresh can or worms about the sort dirty things happening in every army camps in SAF all these years. That is Officers behave like kings, they practiced double standard and treat men like shit. I remember my times in the 80s those SAF officers and Senior NCOs really behave like tyrants, they disappear from the camp as and when they like and punished men like they are ones above all laws. Such double standard practice is so common and everyone think is normal.

On the other, I am no sure if I want to be the same camp as such people? I think everyone around him in the same camp have the potential to be complained by him. I am sure his OC will be under stress from day one that the PM son is in his company. Can understand the environment he is being brought up in, his grandfather could have influenced him a great deal!! :-)

ya, true... sometimes we as a "normal" citizen... we can afford to offend those "ruler" son or wise you will be vanished or condemned :yuk:

[Guest Guest]

we can afford to offend those "ruler" son or wise you will be vanished or condemned :yuk:

i mean "CANNOT AFFORD TO OFFEND".....

[Buaya]

Mr Brown on the issue...

http://www.mrbrownshow.com/2007/07/16/the-...show-swordsman/

Frankly... I think the kid is just TOO YAYA!!! Someone should just fxxk him upside down to show him the real world...

[Asura]

oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope Ah Brown not gona get up-side-down again.... he is so good...

Buaya, that is just what you had wish for a long time, isn't it ?

[Guest Bunny]

Firstly, it's no "publicity stunt". It was a measured, and very well calculated move on Lee Hongyi's part. He knew very well the consequences of his actions, and was prepared for it. Notice that he quoted a section of the Directive to

make his point. It would make perfect sense for him to ascertain the full extent of his punishment should he disseminate the letter to the so called "irrelevant" ppl thru the Directive. As such, i believe he deliberately included practically the entire Signal formation in that letter.

And for what reason? So that people like you and me and those no longer serving as NSFs can come to know of such an occurence. I believe he was also banking on the fact that the letter will somehow be leaked out onto the Web for civilians to read and make their own value judgement.

Lee Hongyi is not a stupid person. The way the letter was crafted was well thought out, leaving no space where one can accuse him of defamation, and scathing (albeit rather serious) comments of "corruption". In fact, such cases of especially lenient treatment towards officers in the SAF is an open secret, just that common NSFs are too jaded and impassioned in voicing out their displeasure at such a travesty of justice.

Lee Hongyi understood his RIGHTS as an NSF and a civilian. Unlike many other NSFs, he stood up for his RIGHTS and made known to the rest of NSFs that they have RIGHTS that are worth fighting for.

SAF has always been a "reactive" organisation. It always waits for incidents like these to happen before they -do- something to show that they are not as inefficient as they are being accused of, although those of us who have been thru NS knows exactly how the SAF functions.

Again i reiterate, this letter was no publicity stunt. it was a calculated and shrewd maneuvre to expose the prefrential treatment and moral corruption in the SAF at a tiny cost to himself. He had nothing more than a local disciplinary reprimand that wouldn't even register on his records.

Oh please! what calculated move?

Calculated to make himself look foolish and become the laughing stock of Sg and the world.

What honour and glory had the letter done for him? Every forum, people are laughing their heads off!

It is just the brash, impulsive actions of a young naive man who dun know any better.

[Takahome]

Well I thing the most he will kenna is do extra duties... but mostly should be let off with warning bah

[Guest Guest]

Sure or not? Son of PM Lee complain and no one listen? How is it possible in the first place?

[DragonRider]

In today's The Straits Times, there are two letters in the Forum page that's worth reading as they throw a completely new light on the matter.

One writer asked if the officer who went AWOL and wasn't reprimanded is a "princeling" (meaning a son of somebody powerful either in politics or business). He also asked that this officer be named so that everything is transparent.

If that's true then 2Lt Lee was a whistleblower who put his neck on the chopping block so that the Singapore Armed Forces wouldn't degenerate into an organisation with one set of rules for the privileged and another set for the rest of us unconnected poor souls.

If that's proven to be true then I say cheers to you 2Lt Lee though you may have contravened army discipline. Your cause was a higher one. :clap:

[Guest Guest]

One writer asked if the officer who went AWOL and wasn't reprimanded is a "princeling" (meaning a son of somebody powerful either in politics or business). He also asked that this officer be named so that everything is transparent.

Who else can be a bigger local princeling than that of the Lee family?

[oralb]

IMO

why is little little lee (LLL) unhappy?

- he was sabo by the LTA X, if you read his complaint details, he left his post of Duty Officer without handing over the duty to LTA X personally. Even with the assurance of LTA X that he was on the way back, LLL had to stay back until officially handing over. which also meant that if anything happened to the unit, LTA X could claim that he didnt receive the duty from LLL.

- when he tried to complain, LTA X gotten some extra duties which he claimed never materialized. now i can imagine that wouldn't go well with someone that's familiar with getting one's way.

Punishment

- read his posting again, he posted the letter on the EVE of his disruption, so officially he is out of the army now. extra duties wouldn't matter much.

- Disclosing miltary info can be serious, it would be interesting to see what's his punishment will be, if it is reported...

[BigBalls]

now i can imagine that wouldn't go well with someone that's familiar with getting one's way.

I think it is not whether the someone is familiar with getting one's way in life. It is about responsibility.

Many a times, I notice that people keep mum and suffer in silence when an injustice is being done to them. If everyone were to behave like that, then people (read: those who adopts a 'couldn't be bothered' attitude knowing that no one will make a noise anyway) gets away with being irresponsible. I am not encouraging people to be complain king or complain queen, but we need to voice it out.

[metalmickey]

If I would think it in the normal kind citizens on the street, that LTA X is probably another white elephant, and our PM Li's son, probably no happy that he is not doing better, so stab behind.

Begging your pardon, but I believe you meant to say "white horse," and not "white elephant." A white elephant is a very expensive but totally useless thing, often originally meant for public use but somehow is not used or simply under-used -- kind of like what Buangkok MRT Station used to be before it was opened to the public. On the other hand, a white horse -- if my definition is correct -- is the offspring of one of the top political or royal leaders of a country, and this offspring (usually a son) is often quietly accorded special, subtle privileges if he happens to be serving national service in the armed forces of the country where his dad is a top minister, or a prince (cf. Prince Charles' sons, William and Harry), or even a king.

Hope this makes things clearer. Hehe!

[reflection]

If I would think it in the normal kind citizens on the street, that LTA X is probably another white elephant, and our PM Li's son, probably no happy that he is not doing better, so stab behind.

Begging your pardon, but I believe you mean "white horse," and not "white elephant." A white elephant is a very expensive but totally useless thing, often originally meant for public use but somehow is not used or simply under-used -- kind of like what Buangkok MRT Station used to be before it was opened to the public. On the other hand, a white horse -- if my definition is correct -- is the offspring of one of the top political or royal leaders of a country, and this offspring (usually a son) is often quietly accorded special, subtle privileges if he happens to be serving national service in the armed forces of the country where his dad is a top minister, or a prince (cf. Prince Charles' sons, William and Harry), or even a king.

Hope this makes things clearer. Hehe!

I believe white elephant is more appropriate here to describe LTA X as he is fooling with a white horse

[Buaya]

Erm, I think he MIGHT really meant to say White Elephant in this case... In a sacarstic kind of way...

[metalmickey]

I suspect white elephant is more appropriate here to describe LTA X as he is playing pun with a white horse 

If that is so, is Asura implying that the LTA in question is a very expensive (to upkeep) and totally useless thing? LOL! I wonder!

[oralb]

on white horse and Mr Foo's "intelligent" explanation

http://www.newsintercom.org/index.php?itemid=274

"we tagged pple so that they will NOT be recognized..." (imaginary dialoge)

[erection day]

Another news that should keep us on our toes.

'More Singaporeans could be infected with HIV than they realise.

According to a recent Ministry of Health (MOH) study of more than 3,000 anonymous blood samples collected in hospitals, 0.28 per cent were HIV-positive.

The study, done earlier this year, excluded blood samples from known HIV patients.

This means one in 350 hospital patients who think they are free of the disease are actually HIV-positive. In comparison, there were 2,852 known HIV-infected patients in Singapore as of June last year

[Guest Guest]

Singaporean man was chopped up into 11 pieces and stuffed inside a fridge in Malaysia.

Full story: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...nation/18461547

SMRT suicide.

Watch the video: http://lucretius.vox.com/library/post/smrt-suicide.html

[reflection]

Singaporean man was chopped up into 11 pieces and stuffed inside a fridge in Malaysia.

Full story: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=...nation/18461547

SMRT suicide.

Watch the video: http://lucretius.vox.com/library/post/smrt-suicide.html

The SMRT suicide looks real.....but I am trying to figure out where does this sucider come from...the video doesnt show him jumping down...

It looks as though he is already hiding below and waiting for his doomsday

[Asura]

I think he did, I did a slow-mo to the movie, he/she appears under the platform... My god, and all the people run away....SINGAPOREANS...

But than, nothing can be done to save him/her anyway...

[Massagee]

It looks as though he is already hiding below and waiting for his doomsday

It sure seems that way. Question is, assuming he was hiding under the platform, why didn't any MRT staffs/passengers see him jumping down to hide?

How many Jack Neo movies must I watch to wash that gruesome scene away from my head?

[Asura]

he may have hid there for sometime when its not peak hour. I wonder which case was this also...

Watch simpson movie enough, forget Jack Neo

I laugh that day i the cinema, until 6 to 7 people away from me can hear

[erection day]

News in brief of interest to us:

1. Police has cancelled a licence for a public forum on gay issues that features a foreign participant. The forum titled Sexual Orientation in International Law: The Case of Asia, was to take place on 7 Aug at Mohammed Sultan Road. Sporean Au Wui Pang had applied for the license. Police said the event is 'contrary to public interest'. In its statement, it said: 'Our laws are an expression and reflection of the value of our society: the discourse over a domestic issue such as the laws that govern homosexuality in Spore must be reserved for Sporean.'

2. HIV testiing may be offered to those being admitted to hospital in future. Health Minister Khaw said that the ministry is seriously considering it as an extension of the screening scheme that pregnant women now undergo. He added that while compulsory HIV testing would be good in safeguarding public health, there may be objections and the best way now is to have an opt-out system.' The New Paper

[Guest Guest]

No Mahjong. Dont Play Play

'A study by doctors in Hong Kong has concluded that epilepsy can be induced by the Chinese tile game of mahjong.

The findings, published in the Hong Kong Medical Journal, were based on 23 cases of people who had suffered mahjong-induced seizures.

The report's four authors, from Hong Kong's Queen Mary Hospital, said the best prevention - and cure - was to avoid playing mahjong.

The study led the doctors to define mahjong epilepsy as a unique syndrome.

Epileptic seizures can be provoked by a wide variety of triggers, but one cause increasingly evident to researchers is the playing - or even watching - of mahjong.

This Chinese tile game, played by four people round a table, can involve gambling and quickly becomes compulsive.

Demanding

The game, which is intensely social and sometimes played in crowded mahjong parlours, involves the rapid movement of tiles in marathon sessions.

The doctors conclude that the syndrome affects far more men than women; that their average age is 54; and that it can hit sufferers anywhere between one to 11 hours into a mahjong game.

They say the attacks were not just caused by sleep deprivation or gambling stress.

Mahjong is cognitively demanding, drawing on memory, fast calculations, concentration, reasoning and sequencing.

The distinctive design of mahjong tiles, and the sound of the tiles crashing onto the table, may contribute to the syndrome.

The propensity of Chinese people to play mahjong also deserves further study, the doctors say.

What is certain though, is that the only sure way to avoid mahjong epilepsy, is to avoid mahjong, which for many people is easier said than done. ' BBC

[erection day]

Light news to start the day-

Hellow Kitty Thai Cop

'Thai police officers who break rules will be forced to wear hot pink armbands featuring "Hello Kitty," the Japanese icon of cute, as a mark of shame, a senior officer said Monday.

Hello Kitty is not something "macho police officers want covering their biceps," a Thai police chief says.

Police officers caught littering, parking in a prohibited area, or arriving late -- among other misdemeanors -- will be forced to stay in the division office and wear the armband all day, said Police Col. Pongpat Chayaphan. The officers won't wear the armband in public.

The striking armband features Hello Kitty sitting atop two hearts.

"Simple warnings no longer work. This new twist is expected to make them feel guilt and shame and prevent them from repeating the offense, no matter how minor," said Pongpat, acting chief of the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok.

"(Hello) Kitty is a cute icon for young girls. It's not something macho police officers want covering their biceps," Pongpat said.

He said police caught breaking the law will be subject the same fines and penalties as any other members of the public.

"We want to make sure that we do not condone small offenses," Pongpat said, adding that the CSD believed that getting tough on petty misdemeanors would lead to fewer cases of more serious offenses including abuse of power and mistreatment of the public by police officers.' CNN

[erection day]

No Gay Picnic

We gays still have a long way to go judging by the latest news article in The Striats Times-

'The National Parks Board has told gay intererst group- People Like Us - that it cannot hold a picnic and a 5km run at The Botanic Gardens. The picnic was scheduled for tomorrow, and the run, on Sat. NParks said it did not want the gardens "to be used as a venue for interest groups to politicise their cause". Organisers have called off the picnic, at which people were to wear pink.' ST

[DragonRider]

I am in Phnom Penh now and I read in Monday's issue of The Cambodian Daily an article they published on the gay scene in Singapore (originally published in the International Herald Tribune). Our news is getting far and wide indeed.

By the way, the gay scene here is pretty much tame and "hidden" although there are about two openly gay bars. No gay saunas or discos. Just gay-friendly places, as advertised.

Some Cambodian men have looks that make one go weak in the knees.

[erection day]

Hi DragonRider, do explore the gay scene in Cambodia and write about your experience leh. Always curious about Vietnam, Laos, and all these 'foreign' places. So any input will be appreciated.

[tourmaline]

I am in Phnom Penh now and I read in Monday's issue of The Cambodian Daily an article they published on the gay scene in Singapore (originally published in the International Herald Tribune). Our news is getting far and wide indeed.

By the way, the gay scene here is pretty much tame and "hidden" although there are about two openly gay bars. No gay saunas or discos. Just gay-friendly places, as advertised.

Some Cambodian men have looks that make one go weak in the knees.

sure is interesting to read how others look at our "gay" scene; but am more curious wat Cambodian looks can make our Dragon weak!

[erection day]

$4m to be spent on Aids education

The Health Promotion Board has upped its budget for Aids education this year to $4m- more than triple the $1.3m budget of 2005. The spending was increased after the Ministry of Health corrected a mistake in HPB's 2005 report on 255 new Aids/HIV patients. The number was revised to 317 last year. With the new figure, the budget grew. Aids education will be targeted at teens , workers, and men who have sex with men and illegal prostitutes.' TNP

[erection day]

Light news for the weekend. Have a laugh at this article from Associated Press

'Hungry visitors to next summer's Beijing Olympics won't have to choose between "steamed crap" and "virgin chicken" if Chinese authorities succeed in ridding restaurant menus of mangled English translations.

The Beijing Tourism Bureau has released a list with 2,753 proposed names for dishes and drinks, designed to replace bizarre and sometimes ridiculous translations on menus, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

Foreigners are often stumped by dish names such as "virgin chicken" (a young chicken dish) or "burnt lion's head" (Chinese-style pork meatballs). Other garbled names include "The temple explodes the chicken cube" (kung pao chicken) or "steamed crap" (steamed carp).

"These translations either scare or embarrass foreign customers and may cause misunderstanding on China's diet habits," Xinhua said.

It's the latest effort by Beijing Olympics organizers to clean up the city and ensure that the best image is presented to the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected next summer.

Etiquette campaigns are afoot to stamp out bad manners such as jumping ahead in line, spitting, littering and reckless driving. The revised menu names are part of an effort to ban unintelligible English, known as "Chinglish," that abounds on signs everywhere.

A team set up by the Beijing Municipal Foreign Affairs Office and Beijing Tourism Bureau has been working on the menu names for more than a year, Xinhua said. Translators developed names for dishes based on one of four categories: ingredients, cooking method, taste, or the name of a person or place.

For example, a dish with mushrooms and ducks' feet will be listed as simply "Mushroom-Duck's Foot." Others proposed names include "Fish Filets in Hot Chili Oil" and "Crispy Chicken."

The tourism bureau is soliciting public opinion on the translations. Once a final decision is made on the list of names, they will be used in restaurants across China, Xinhua said. '

[Guest Guest]

Human Interest Story

'She loves children and her lifelong dream is to be a wife and a mother, but the raspy voice and masculine frame betray the fact that Leona Lo was born a man.

Unlike many other transsexuals in Asia who prefer to live privately because of the social stigma of sex change, the British-educated, Singaporean transsexual woman has chosen to live a normal life, but in public. Smart, confident and articulate, the communications specialist who heads her own public relations company has embarked on a mission to help turn around the "culture of shame" surrounding transsexuals in Singapore and the region.

"Somewhere out there, not just in Singapore but throughout Asia, there are lots of young people who are suffering the way I suffered years ago," Leona, 32, tells AFP in an interview. In her former life as a man, she was called Leonard.

These days, she draws on her experiences of gender identity crisis, rejection and discrimination to challenge social mores on behalf of the so-called silent community. "It's this entire culture of shame that gets under your skin. It's not something that you can isolate and demolish because it is so much a part of our culture," she says.

While a few transsexuals are gaining prominence in Asia -- notably China's Jin Xing -- most continue to live in silence.In May, a 32-year-old South Korean transsexual entertainer, whose sex alteration led the country to change its family registry laws, married her rapper boyfriend.

Parinya "Nong Toom" Charoenphol's rags-to-riches story was made into a movie, "Beautiful Boxer." Former Chinese People's Liberation Army colonel and now woman Jin Xing is a prize-winning dancer and choreographer.

Slim and taller than the average local woman, Leona packs charm and gets animated when talking about children. But her lipsticked mouth creases into a pensive smile when she says: "I can't bear children. I have to be on hormones for life and I have this body structure of a guy."

The hormone treatment has "feminised" the former man. While traces of masculinity are evident, Leona says she has already come to terms with being a woman -- although a transsexual one. "I can't deny that biologically I'm different," says Leona, wearing a blue dress, the muscles on her shoulders and arms clearly visible.

Discrimination is the biggest challenge faced by transsexuals, she says, recalling repeated rejection by prospective employers in Singapore despite her academic credentials.

"Singapore may be a cosmopolitan city, but many things are still swept under the carpet," Leona says.

No reliable figures on the number of transsexual men and women in Singapore, or the region, are available, mainly because those who feel they have been born in the wrong body prefer to endure their situation in silence rather than embarrass their families, Leona says.

"It's because a lot of transsexual women face discrimination at work and experience failure of relationships that a lot end up in suicide, depression. They end up on the streets as prostitutes," she says.

This is why she has taken time away from her thriving public relations consultancy promoting beauty products to wage her campaign.

After much persuasion, one local university allowed her to speak to an audience of students but she is finding it hard to pry open a window to share her thoughts in the corporate world.

On September 14 she is to launch her autobiography, "From Leonard to Leona -- A Singapore Transsexual's Journey to Womanhood."

From Singapore, Leona plans to travel across Asia to bring her message for greater tolerance of gender diversity.

Medical experts on gender believe transsexualism is a medical condition, and that transsexuals are different from transvestites and homosexuals.

In contrast, transvestites are always males and do not dislike their genitalia although they may derive sexual arousal through dressing as women, Goh said.

For transsexuals, dressing as a man or a woman for one year before a sex change operation is part of the transition process and is not related to any sexual pleasure, the experts say. The surgery is "the finishing touch," Goh wrote.

Leona says the association of transsexuals with prostitution in Singapore harks back to the 1960s when there was a flourishing culture of drag queens, including some transsexuals, on Singapore's Bugis Street.

As Singapore transformed rapidly into a modern Asian business centre, the government cracked down on Bugis Street. Transsexuals were lumped together with homosexuals, transvestites and prostitutes.

It was in this environment that the young Leonard -- Leona's original identity -- grew up.

As early as age 10, Leonard had already started developing feelings for boys.

But he was forced to remain silent because of a dearth of information about transsexualism and for fear his traditional Chinese family would be scandalised.

"I did not think I was gay. I just felt that I was a woman trapped in a man's body," says Leona, who has a younger sister.

At age 15, Leonard discovered a book about transsexualism, which sowed the seeds of his eventual decision to undergo a sex-change operation in 1997.

"I discovered that book in the library and I said 'Oh my God! There are actually people like me!'" she reminisces.

"That changed my life and I discovered that I could go for the sex change operation."

As an able-bodied man, Leonard entered Singapore's compulsory two-year military service at around 19.

Pressures of being forced to be "macho" during the training led to a nervous breakdown and drove him to attempt suicide by drug overdose, she says.

After military service, Leonard in 1996 went to study in Britain, where a more tolerant university environment allowed him to cross-dress for a year as part of his preparation for sex-change surgery.

In 1997, Leonard flew with his tuition money from Britain to Bangkok, where he walked into a clinic for the life-altering operation.

"I was afraid. I could go in and I could die. But I knew at that point that I was going to change my life forever," she recalls.

"I had carried that burden within me for so long and I couldn't live anymore without doing it."

Leona endured a lot of pain during the procedure, which took 14 days, but the feeling of having a new identity was "wonderful, euphoric!"

She warns other transsexuals who might be considering sex change surgery that getting a new identity "is not a magic wand" and they will have to live under a culture of shame and discrimination. Family support is crucial. Her mother was the first person she told after the operation, and her father had already learned to accept her for who she is.

"By that time, they had already decided that they would rather have me as a woman than lose me as a child," she says.

What is her dream now?

"To be a wife and a mother," she says. "I look forward to a fulfilling relationship with a loving man, getting married and adopting three children.

"I've also reached a critical juncture where I'm more self-assured and finally able to lay to rest the painful aspects of my past and move confidently as a woman."

[erection day]

News of interest in Today

'IN A sign that authorities are prepared to work with civil society groups to tackle the HIV problem, a once-banned gay pop duo has been given the green light to take part in a concert here next month.

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And the HIV Outreach, Prevention and Empowerment (Hope) Concert will have as its guest of honour, Dr Balaji Sadasivan, Senior Minister of State (Foreign Affairs and Information, Communications and the Arts).

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The gay duo, Jason and deMarco, had a planned performance here cancelled two years ago after the Media Development Authority (MDA) rejected an application by the organiser, Safehaven, a gay-affirmative Christian support group, for an Arts and Entertainment Licence.

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The MDA had then cited "alternative lifestyles are against the public interest" as its ground for rejection.

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Explaining its change of heart, the MDA said that the organisers had assured the authority that the aim of the Dec 13 concert is Aids education and HIV prevention.

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"The organiser for this concert has rated the performance R18 and has given the assurance to MDA that the concert is targeted at the high-risk group," said Ms Amy Tsang, MDA's Deputy Director (Arts & Licensing) of the Media Content Division in an email reply to Today.

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Dr Balaji's scheduled attendance at the concert is not surprising since he had earlier touched on the need for the authorities and non-governmental organisations to work together in tackling the spread of HIV.

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Out of the 357 new HIV cases reported in Singapore last year, 26 per cent were contracted through homosexual sex.

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In an interview with this newspaper in August, Dr Balaji noted that in the Australian state of New South Wales, the number of HIV cases reported each year had, on the whole, been dropping over the past decade.

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Dr Balaji had earlier went on a study trip to Sydney, accompanied by Ministry of Health (MOH) officials and representatives from Action for Aids (AFA), gay web site Fridae.com and Oogachaga, a local gay and lesbian affirmative counselling agency.

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Referring to the Sydney trip, Mr Paul Toh, AFA's Director for fund-raising and programmes, said yesterday: " I guess the Government has learnt from other developed Western countries how they can cope in terms of managing the epidemics within the alternative lifestyle community."

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Mr Toh said while everyone has a role to play in addressing the HIV problem, the Government "bears more weight" because it has the "political will to move things at a faster pace".

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Jointly organised by AFA and Safehaven, the HOPE Concert aims to raise awareness on HIV and Aids in the gay community, said Mr Alphonsus Lee, the chairman of Safehaven.

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The concert will be held at the Kreta Ayer People's Theatre, which can house a 1,100-strong audience. The one-night only performance will also involve local artists such as Chua Enlai as MC, Hossan Leong and Selena Tan.

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Concert tickets are available only through AFA and restricted channels, such as nightclubs, saunas and gay website Fridae.com.

.

"We are very conscious of the mainstream view of such a concert and we would like to be respectful of their views ... So, we are willing to restrict ourselves," said Mr Lee.

.

Although this is a "once-off event the official nod for the HOPE concert is "good news" since it will help increase local Aids and HIV awareness, said Mr Bryan Choong of Oogachaga. Alicia Wong'- Today

[erection day]

What a laugh! The annual list to look out for. The worst dressed women of the year.

'Mr. Blackwell, the mysterious figure who emerges once a year to unleash a torrent of doggerel against Hollywood starlets, defies explanation. He has been constructing horrible rhymes since 1960, and the lists have eclipsed everything else the one-time journalist and fashion designer has accomplished. Without further comment, here is the tortured prose that is his 48th annual worst-dressed women list.

10.) Alison Arngrim: "Little Nellie of the prairie, looks like a 1940's fashion editor for the Farmers Almanac."

9.) Lindsay Lohan: "Lindsay the fashion frenzy strikes again! Lohan takes fashion to a new low."

8.) Jessica Simpson: "Forget the Cowboys. In prom queen screams, can it get any worse? She's a global fashion curse!"

7.) Avril Lavigne: "Gothic make-up courtesy the mad spatula-Fashions provided by.. The house of Dracula!"

6.) Eva Green: "Stuck in neon nightmares not fit for the sane. Fashion this loud could give Bond a migraine! A profusion of confusion from toes to nose!"

5.) Kelly Clarkson: "Her heavenly voice soars above the rest... but those belly-baring bombs are hellish at best! She may be the queen of 'Pro-Active' - but that wardrobe looks downright radioactive!"

4.) Fergie: "Another style-free 'Fergie' in fashion's hall of shame? Yes, when it comes to couture chaos, guess it's all in a name!"

3.) Mary Kate Olsen: "YIKES! In layers of cut-rate kitsch, Mary Kate's look is hard to explain... she resembles a tattered toothpick-trapped in a hurricane!"

2.) Amy Winehouse: "Exploding beehives above...tacky polka-dots below... she's part 50's car-hop horror."

1.) Victoria Beckham: "Forget the fashion spice - wearing a skirt would suffice! In one skinny-mini monstrosity after another, pouty posh can really wreck-em."

-National Post

[erection day]

'HOT on the heels of San Francisco and London, Copenhagen is to host a masturbate-a-thon in May which organisers hope will help break lingering taboos about self-love.

Pia Struck Madsen, a sexologist in the Danish capital, said her goal was to see men and women from all backgrounds join an event that promised "pleasure, relaxation and sexual self-discovery".

"Masturbation is positive, safe and an erotic alternative," she said ahead of the event on May 31, to take place at a yet to be decided venue with separate rooms for men, women and those who don't mind mingling.

The original masturbate-a-thon took place in San Francisco in 1998, with participants raising money for good causes.

Now an annual event, it was followed by a similar event in London in July 2006.' - The Australian

[erection day]

Interesting news.

'Thailand's military will stop branding transsexual conscripts as mentally disturbed, and will list them in a new "third category" as neither male nor female, a senior officer said Wednesday.

Thai men are required to report for the draft once they turn 21. Under the current system, transsexuals are rejected as suffering from "a mental disorder".

Gay rights groups complained that the label penalises transsexuals for the rest of their lives, because men are required to prove if they have completed their national service when they apply for jobs or bank loans.

When transsexuals submit their military rejection forms declaring they have a mental disorder, they are automatically disqualified from many jobs and mortgages.

Lieutenant General Somkiat Suthivai-yakij, head of the defence ministry's Reserve Command Department, said the military would immediately stop using the "mental disorder" label. The military is trying to find a new word for a "third category" that is neither male nor female, that would not discriminate against transsexuals, he said.

Until the army decides on the new category, transsexual conscripts will be turned away with a form saying they have an illness that cannot be cured within 30 days.

"It's a temporary measure to deal with the problem as the defence and interior ministries work on a permanent solution," Gen Somkiat told AFP.

To qualify for the third category, transsexuals will have to report for the draft for three years in a row to prove they are really trying to live as women, he added.

The annual draft takes place in April, and transsexuals make up less than one percent of the conscripts each year, Gen Somkiat said. '— AFP BANGKOK —

[Guest read this]

'Eighteen-year-old ladyboy Elle has always dreamed of having a sex-change operation, which, he believes, would be the most precious present he could give himself as it will make him a true female, both physically and mentally.

Standing 170 centimetres tall and weighing 48 kilogrammes, many times Elle has been encouraged to enter beauty pageants. Some of his friends even recommended he get himself castrated, something which has become a fad among young transvestites in Thailand.

They told him the operation costs only 5,000 baht and would make his skin more radiant.

But Elle is scared of having it done after seeing a video clip and reading information about castration, which is heavily advertised on the internet.

Elle said he would rather not think about castration or sex-change operations until getting his bachelor's degree.

Elle might be making the right decision as the Medical Council of Thailand has just issued a warning against castration, saying that such surgery is unethical and could damage hormone growth and physical development.

The warning came after Natee Teerarojjanapongs, the leader of the Gay Political Group of Thailand, called on the council to take action against clinics performing castrations on young ladyboys.

Castration is the removal or destruction of one or both testicles. It is considered a step towards a sex-change. However, it is also a standard treatment for several varieties of cancer.

Mr Natee said he received many complaints from the parents of ladyboys who were keen to have their testes removed, possibly due to the influence of widespread advertisements on the internet which claimed it was inexpensive and the result was similar to a sex-change operation.

''It's a totally wrong perception that castration will make boys more feminine or soften their skin. In fact, it will lead to damage of bone mass and muscle,'' he said. ''From my experience, these youngsters should wait until they are mature enough to thoroughly consider the pros and cons of such an operation before deciding to do it.''

A 50-year-old representative of a homosexual group also asked the Medical Council to explain to the public the impact of castration on growth hormones and physical development. He hopes minors would give up the idea of having the operation until they are mature enough.

Amnat Kusalanant, the council's secretary-general, said a team of inspectors have already investigated clinics suspected of performing castrations.

Any doctor performing the surgery on boys aged <Banned Words> without parental consent could have their medical certificates temporarily revoked. The owners of clinics performing the operation could also face a one-year jail term and a maximum fine of 20,000 baht.

However, the council might not be able to take legal action against doctors or clinics castrating transvestites aged over 18 who have the consent of their parents.' Bangkok Post

[Zackling]

James Bond new characetr will become BISEXUAL !! It's on world news today in our local Straits Times

[Guest read again]

Aiyo, read properly lah. lol. It's one of yesterday's April Fool's joke. Would be good if Craig swings both ways. He's so man!!!

[erection day]

I wonder what Oralb has to say about this?

'What's in the name? A toothpaste sold at a hypermarket here, has raised a few eyebrows as well as having drawn laughter as its brand name was considered to be rather suggestive by some people.

The brand? 'Oral-Me'.

The product is a toothpaste manufactured by a Kulim, Kedah, based company.

Melissa Leong, 28, from Sabah, felt the brand name carried sexual connotation.

"Manufacturers should think twice when naming their products," she said.

Kuala Lumpur based advertising executive Martin Voon asked if the manufacturer understood the phrase while coining the brand name.

"I'm shocked. Such words are normally found on a spoof,” he said.

Kieran Sharkey, an English teacher in a college, said the name does not carry a positive connotation and could be misconstrued.

"With the amount of information available to the younger generation, I feel they can interpret it wrongly. Manufacturers should be careful otherwise they will be made fun of," he laughed.

The company could not be reached for comment.' The New Straits Times