Singapore Local News, 2012-10-19

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GST cheat gets 6 weeks' jail & S$300,000 penalty A wholesale trader has been sentenced to six weeks' jail and ordered to pay a penalty of about S$300,000 for cheating the taxman in Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds. Seow Ming Liang, 30, is the first to be charged with giving........     Waterbay executive condominium at Punggol sees strong demand Waterbay, the latest executive condominium project at Punggol has seen strong demand from eligible home buyers when bookings opened today. Its developer Qingjian Realty said over 200 units out of a total of 383 units were snapped........ Queues spotted at Samsung Galaxy Note II launch A scene more commonly observed at rival Apple, long queues were reported at the three telcos ahead of the 6pm collection time for Samsung's Galaxy Note II LTE smartphone.Pre-orders for the large screen 'phablet' had started from Oct 13........ Sex-for-grades case: NUS prof applies to have questions heard in court The National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor linked to a sex-for-grades scandal has applied to the Court of Appeal to have his questions on disclosure of documents heard in the High Court. This comes after Justice........ Cleaning companies need accreditation for Govt contracts Cleaning companies that want to land contracts with the Government will have to show that they are committed to paying their workers more, under the labour movement's progressive wage model. The wage model, which gives 'wage points'........ 3,500 ILTC staff to get government-funded pay rise The Government will help to fund salary increments of 10 to 24 per cent for more than 3,500 administrative, ancillary and support care staff in the Intermediate and Long Term Care sector (ILTC). This will apply to staff in Voluntary........ Motion to block export of RWS dolphins to Singapore filed A Motion for Reconsideration has been filed in the Philippines to block the export of 25 wild-caught dolphins by Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) to Singapore today, according to the Animal Concerns Research & Education Society (ACRES)......

One priority will be to boost role of youths Getting more youths to contribute to the community and society will be one of the priorities for the new Ministry of Community, Culture and Youth, said its Acting Minister-designate Lawrence Wong yesterday. The new ministry will........     S'pore invited to contribute to regional literature scene Singapore has been invited to contribute actively to the regional literature scene by drawing on its strong heritage in Malay literature and Malay language education structure...... Waterbay executive condominium sees strong demand Waterbay, the latest executive condominium project at Punggol has seen strong demand from eligible home buyers when bookings opened October 19...... Sex-for-grades case: NUS prof applies to have questions heard in court The National University of Singapore (NUS) law professor linked to a sex-for-grades scandal has applied to the Court of Appeal to have his questions on disclosure of documents heard in the High Court...... Application process for annual Haj pilgrimage to be reviewed Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Yaacob Ibrahim says the application process for the Haj pilgrimage needs to be reviewed...... Woman charged with snatch theft from elderly women A 43-year-old woman was charged Friday with stealing from elderly women, aged between 77 and 90 years old in Ang Mo Kio...... MPA conducts oil spill response exercise Singapore's Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) tested its ability to response to major oil spills at sea, with a multi-agency exercise code-named "JOSE 2012"...... Cleaning companies need accreditation for govt contracts Cleaning companies which want to land contracts with the government will have to show that they are committed to paying their workers more, under the labour movement's progressive wage model...... Police bust unlicensed massage parlours in Little India Twenty-one foreign women were arrested by police in an operation against unlicensed massage parlours...... Operating hours of bus, train services on Hari Raya Haji eve extended SBS Transit will extend the operating hours of its bus and train services on the eve of Hari Raya Haji on October 25...... FairPrice campaign raises rice for 7,000 needy families Supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice raised about half a million bowls of rice for needy families through walking activities...... New WDA programmes for marine & offshore industry Two programmes have been launched to raise productivity and groom leaders in the marine and offshore industry over the next two years...... GST cheat gets 6 weeks' jail & S$300,000 penalty A wholesale trader has been sentenced to six weeks' jail and ordered to pay a penalty of about S$300,000 for cheating the taxman in Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds...... ACRES to appeal against dolphins being sent to RWS Animal rights groups in Singapore and the Philippines have appealed to the Philippine court to prevent 25 dolphins from being exported to Singapore's Marine Life Park...... 3,500 ILTC staff to get government-funded pay rise More than 3,500 healthcare support staff from the Intermediate and Long Term Care sector (ILTC) are getting a pay hike of between 10 and 24 per cent...... More private education institutions meet standards More private education institutions (PEIs) in Singapore have met baseline standards set out by the Council for Private Education (CPE), a statutory board which regulates the private education industry...... PM Lee visits Singapore's water facilities in Linggiu Reservoir Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong visited Singapore's key water facilities in Johor's Linggiu Reservoir on Thursday......