Better luck next time. our dearest brother did not get the position and he has to try it, starting everything from the beginning.

it is of course, not easy in this tough time but he must not give up, keep on trying and trying. there is no other way.

With finger crossed, hope for the best for our dearest brother to get the job he had been waiting for this year.

All the best wishes.

Indeed, it must be a very long winter this year, especially when he was retrenched. We are in the same shoes many years ago and learned our lessons well, never take things for granted.

There are things best left unsaid, better to leave them alone.

 José Mourinho refused to be drawn into discussions about whether Harry Kane and Son Heung-min form the best duo he has managed as Tottenham prepared for their match against Crystal Palace on Sunday. Instead, Mourinho affirmed his two most prolific attacking players were “world class”.

“I don’t like to compare players, and some weeks ago I saw in some special media like I had chosen my all-time team,” Mourinho said. “It’s completely fake because it’s something I always refuse to do. Never.

I owe so much to my players that I would never say: ‘This is my favourite keeper, this is my favourite centre-back, this is my favourite striker.’ Never. I never do that. I don’t compare players. I’m just grateful to players that gave everything for me. Sonny and Kane, without comparing them with other players, they are, I repeat, world-class players. World-class players. I’m not telling anything different than that.”

Kane has eight league goals and 12 assists and he has engineered eight of Son’s 10 goals. The quality of their performances and synergy on the pitch have helped to drive Tottenham to the top of the league, culminating in Mourinho being announced on Friday as manager of the month for November. It is the fourth time he has achieved the distinction.

Although Mourinho is notorious for often speaking about his achievements and titles in singular form, he notably chose to recognise his squad when asked to comment on his latest distinction. It was a reflection of the strong collective culture he has succeeded in fostering at Tottenham, which he is understandably focused on maintaining.

“It is not about me, it is about the team and if it was about me it would have to be the coaching staff of the month because without the other guys it would not be possible. This kind of thing I never feel it as an individual award, I always feel that it belongs to the team and the results we did. If we don’t have three victories and one draw at Stamford Bridge in November, for sure we wouldn’t have any chance to win it. It is about the team.”

I forgive my employer

 She was an Indonesian domestic helper who earned S$600 (£345) a month working for an extremely wealthy Singaporean family.

He was her employer, a titan of Singapore's business establishment and the chairman of some of the country's biggest companies.

One day, his family accused her of stealing from them. They reported her to the police - triggering what would become a high-profile court case that would grip the country with its accusations of pilfered luxury handbags, a DVD player, and even claims of cross-dressing.

Earlier this month, Parti Liyani was finally acquitted.

"I'm so glad I'm finally free," she told reporters through an interpreter. "I've been fighting for four years."

But her case has prompted questions about inequality and access to justice in Singapore, with many asking how she could have been found guilty in the first place.

Ms Parti first began working in Mr Liew Mun Leong's home in 2007, where several family members including his son Karl lived.

In March 2016, Mr Karl Liew and his family moved out of the home and lived elsewhere.

Court documents that detail the sequence of events say that Ms Parti was asked to clean his new house and office on "multiple occasions" - which breaks local labour regulations, and which she had previously complained about.

A few months later, the Liew family told Ms Parti she was fired, on the suspicion that she was stealing from them.

But when Mr Karl Liew told Parti that her employment was terminated, she reportedly told him: "I know why. You are angry because I refused to clean up your toilet."

She was given two hours to pack her belongings into several boxes which the family would ship to Indonesia. She flew back home on the same day.

While packing, she threatened to complain to the Singapore authorities about being asked to clean Mr Karl Liew's house.

The Liew family decided to check the boxes after Ms Parti's departure, and claimed they found items inside that belonged to them. Mr Liew Mun Leong and his son filed a police report on 30 October.

Ms Parti said had no idea about this - until five weeks later when she flew to Singapore to seek new employment, and was arrested upon arrival.

Unable to work as she was the subject of criminal proceedings, she stayed in a migrant workers' shelter and relied on them for financial assistance as the case dragged on.

Ms Parti was accused of stealing various items from the Liews including 115 pieces of clothing, luxury handbags, a DVD player and a Gerald Genta watch.

Altogether the items were said to be worth S$34,000.

During the trial, she argued that these alleged stolen items were either her belongings, discarded objects that she found, or things that she had not packed into the boxes themselves.

In 2019, a district judge found her guilty and sentenced her to two years and two months' jail. Ms Parti decided to appeal against the ruling. The case dragged on further until earlier this month when Singapore's High Court finally acquitted her.

Justice Chan Seng Onn concluded the family had an "improper motive" in filing charges against her, but also flagged up several issues with how the police, the prosecutors and even the district judge had handled the case.

He said there was reason to believe the Liew family had filed their police report against her to stop her from lodging a complaint about being illegally sent to clean Mr Karl Liew's house.

The judge noted that many items that were allegedly stolen by Ms Parti were in fact already damaged - such as the watch which had a missing button-knob, and two iPhones that were not working - and said it was "unusual" to steal items that were mostly broken.

In one instance, Ms Parti was accused of stealing a DVD player, which she said had been thrown away by the family because it did not work.

Prosecutors later admitted they knew the machine could not play DVDs, but did not disclose this during the trial when it was produced as evidence and shown to have worked in another way. This earned criticism from Justice Chan that they used a "sleight-of-hand technique… [that] was particularly prejudicial to the accused".

In addition, Justice Chan also questioned the credibility of Mr Karl Liew as a witness.

The younger Mr Liew accused Ms Parti of stealing a pink knife which he allegedly bought in the UK and brought back to Singapore in 2002. But he later admitted the knife had a modern design that could not have been produced in Britain before 2002.

He also claimed that various items of clothing, including women's clothes, found in Ms Parti's possession were actually his - but later could not remember if he owned some of them. When asked during the trial why he owned women's clothing, he said he liked to cross-dress - a claim that Justice Chan found "highly unbelievable".

Justice Chan also questioned the actions taken by police - who did not visit or view the scene of the offences until about five weeks after the initial police report was made.

The police also failed to offer her an interpreter who spoke Indonesian, and instead offered one who spoke Malay, a different language which Ms Parti was not used to speaking.

"It was very worrying conduct by the police in the way they handled the investigations," Eugene Tan, Professor of Law at Singapore Management University told BBC News.

"The district judge appeared to have prejudged the case and failed to pick out where the police and prosecutors fell short."

The case has touched a nerve in Singapore where much of the outrage has centred on Mr Liew and his family.

Many have perceived the case as an example of the rich and elite bullying the poor and powerless, and living by their own set of rules.

Although justice ultimately prevailed, among some Singaporeans it has rattled a long-held belief in the fairness and impartiality of the system.

"There hasn't been a case like this in recent memory," said Prof Tan.

"The apparent systemic failures in this case have caused a public disquiet. The question that went through many people's minds were: What if I was in her shoes? Will it be fairly investigated… and judged impartially?

That the Liews were able to have the police and the lower court fall for the false allegations have raised legitimate questions about whether the checks and balances were adequate."

Following the public outcry, Mr Liew Mun Leong announced he was retiring from his position as chairman of several prestigious companies.

In a statement, he said he "respected" the decision of the High Court and had faith in Singapore's legal system. But he also defended his decision to make a police report, saying: "I genuinely believed that if there were suspicions of wrongdoing, it is our civic duty to report the matter to the police".

Mr Karl Liew has remained silent and has not released any statement on the matter.

The case has triggered a review of police and prosecutorial processes. Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam admitted "something has gone wrong in the chain of events".

What the government does next will be watched very closely. If it fails to address Singaporeans' demands for "greater accountability and systemic fairness", this may lead to "a gnawing perception that the elite puts its interests above that of society's," wrote Singapore commentator Donald Low in a recent essay.

"The heart of the debate [is] whether elitism has seeped into the system and exposed a decay in our moral system," former journalist PN Balji said in a separate commentary.

"If this is not addressed to satisfaction, then the work of the helper, lawyer, activists and judge will be wasted."

The case has also highlighted the issue of migrant workers' access to justice.

Ms Parti was able to stay in Singapore and fight her case due to the support of the non-governmental organisation Home, and lawyer Anil Balchandani, who acted pro bono but estimated his legal fees would have otherwise come up to S$150,000.

Singapore does provide legal resources to migrant workers, but as they are usually their families' sole breadwinners, many of those who face legal action often decide not to fight their case, as they do not have the luxury of going for months if not years without income, according to Home.

"Parti was represented steadfastly by her lawyer who… fought doggedly against the might of the state. The legal resource asymmetry was just so stark," said Prof Tan.

"It was a David versus Goliath battle - with the Davids emerging triumphant."

As for Ms Parti, she has said that she will now be returning home.

"Now that my problems are gone, I want to return to Indonesia," she said in media interviews.

"I forgive my employer. I just wish to tell them not to do the same thing to other workers."

 

a million-pound bet

 

Someone in the UK just put down a million-pound bet on Joe Biden

Someone has positioned a £1 million, or $1.29 million, bet on Biden to be the subsequent president on the Betfair Exchange, the world’s largest on-line betting trade, the place gamblers discover different gamblers who match their wagers.

The identification of the bettor, who positioned the wager on October 29, will not be recognized. They would win a £540,000 ($696,170) revenue on high of getting the unique £1 million wager returned.

The £1 million wager is tied for the third-largest bet in Betfair’s historical past, behind £1.1 million bet on tennis participant Rafael Nadal in the 2010 French Open, and barely greater than £1 million bet on Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his 2017 match towards Conor McGregor.

The bet could possibly be a good omen for Biden: The 10 largest bets in Betfair’s historical past prior to now, all on sporting occasions, have been winners.

the long wait

 

it had been a long wait and it is worth waiting.

and time had passed quickly; it was 6 months already.

and the timely could not be better and glad that the wait is finally over.

much appreciation to our dearest mother indeed.

Betray

 It is just life, after all and we have nothing more to say nowadays. And we have to accept the fact that it had come to past. There is no point denying and we will shred no more tears.

Enough is enough.

Migrant workers were on MOM's radar since January - Josephine Teo: she was right

Foreign workers have been in the authorities’ sight early on in the COVID-19 outbreak in Singapore at the start of the year, said Manpower Minister Josephine Teo on Monday (4 May).

Delivering a ministerial statement in Parliament, she explained how the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) helped to prevent imported cases by limiting the return of work pass holders and monitoring returnees’ compliance with Leaves of Absence and Stay-Home Notices, among other things.

“Throughout this period, migrant workers were also on our radar,” said Teo.

“The day after the first confirmed case in Singapore (in January), MOM reached out to dormitory operators to be more vigilant and to step up hygiene. In fact, one of the earliest media conferences that Minister Lawrence Wong and I held was at the Tuas View Dormitory, after we inspected their quarantine facilities (in early February),” she said.

pre-June 1's: Up to 40 per cent fall in taxi and private hire driver earnings

With some passengers shunning taxis and ride hailing services amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, taxi driver Harry Ng said his daily income has fallen some 20 per cent. 

“It’s not as bad as how it was during Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome). But it is my main worry today... I feel that it is very quiet now and there are very few passengers around,” said the ComfortDelGro driver who has been plying the roads for the past 25 years.

Taxi and private hire car drivers like Mr Ng are reporting a fall in takings of 30 per cent, said Mr Ang Hin Kee, executive adviser to the National Taxi Association (NTA) and the National Private Hire Vehicles Association on Monday (Feb 10). 

In fact, there is a sense that drivers fear losing their livelihoods more than the virus itself, said NTA’s president Raymond Ong when asked by the media on what they were more anxious about.
He estimated that the fall in demand was also between 20 and 40 per cent.

post-June 1: life will not be the same

do not go together: alone

It was a boisterous and lively Chinese New Year dinner that dragged on for five hours, with guests shuttling between tables to chit-chat and pose for wefies with one another, recalls case 130 of a celebration he and his wife attended at Safra Jurong on Feb 15.

"The atmosphere was upbeat and people were happy," the 66-year-old, who would give his name only as Mr Tan, tells The Sunday Times.

The dinner would later be identified as a coronavirus cluster, and was once the nation's largest one with 47 cases linked to it.

Never did the Tans - seated at table 28 - expect it to turn into a nightmare that saw them struggling to survive in the intensive care unit (ICU) and having multiple therapy sessions to relearn how to walk and talk.

But the couple count themselves lucky, as someone at the same function also contracted the coronavirus but never recovered. The 70-year-old man - case 128 - tested positive for the virus on March 6 and died of complications on April 14.

The Tans, who work as food handlers, tested positive for Covid-19 three weeks after the party.

Within days, their lungs became severely inflamed, they were gasping for air and on the verge of dying.

For 31 days, Mr Tan fought for his life in the ICU at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH). He was in hospital for a total of 49 days.

His 68-year-old wife, who is case 129, was at the same hospital for 40 days - 15 in the ICU.

Strangely, no one else in their circle of friends that night was infected, Mr Tan says in Mandarin.

"We were just unlucky. We didn't know there were people who were sick at the dinner."

Being members of that group, the couple decided to attend the event organised by Ms Liang at Safra Jurong's Joy Garden restaurant, despite being aware of the coronavirus situation.

By then, Singapore had over 70 Covid-19 cases, and had raised its Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (Dorscon) level to orange - the second-highest alert level - for more than a week.

Some 200 guests had to undergo temperature checks before attending the dinner, which featured song-and-dance performances and a traditional lohei tossing. There were an estimated 30 tables.

"We didn't know everyone seated at our table that night," says Mr Tan, adding that he did not notice anyone who was particularly sick.

At their table of 10, the Tans believe they were the only ones who caught the virus. But Mr Tan points out: "We didn't mingle with friends much and didn't move from table to table... but some people did come over to take photos.

The couple do not know the 70-year-old man who died, but Mr Tan says the episode has prompted them to think twice before committing to future social gatherings.

Mr Tan was the first to report the onset of symptoms.

It started innocuously enough with a cold on Feb 24. He visited a general practitioner on the same day. On Feb 29 and March 1, he visited the same doctor again after his symptoms did not let up.

Over the next few days, he felt lethargic and did not eat or drink much. His bones and back ached, and he spent most of his time in bed.

"The smell of food made me nauseous," he recollects.

On March 4, a relative took him to the emergency department at NTFGH, where he was admitted.

"When I got there, the staff told me that they would safekeep my bag, wallet and cellphone for me," says Mr Tan, who was drifting in and out of consciousness and could not recall what happened after that.

That evening, a doctor phoned Mrs Tan after suspecting that her husband had the coronavirus and told her to come by for a swab test.

Mrs Tan was later advised to admit herself into the hospital, and she immediately packed her cellphone, charger and a water bottle before an ambulance arrived to pick her up. "I had only one set of clothes - the set I was wearing. It happened quite suddenly," says Mrs Tan, who had earlier gone out to dye her hair and visit the market.

On March 6, both their test results for the virus returned positive.

Mr Tan, who had a fever, was sent to the ICU on March 5 - not long after arriving at the emergency department of NTFGH.

His wife, who was initially asymptomatic, started running a fever two days into admission. She was later transferred to the ICU on March 14, after her condition deteriorated with worsening breathlessness.

Both were in a bad shape when they arrived at the ICU, said members of the critical care team. What they had was acute respiratory distress syndrome, a severe lung condition and a common cause of death in seriously ill Covid-19 cases.

The Tans had entered with alarmingly low oxygen levels in their blood, says Dr Damian Bruce-Hickman, a resident physician at NTFGH.

When they were transferred to the ICU, breathing tubes connected to ventilators were needed to pump enough oxygen into their fragile lungs.

For the next few days, both remained unconscious.

Doctors and nurses, in their cumbersome personal protective equipment, also had to flip the patients face down - in a fairly common intervention known as proning - to boost their oxygen levels.

Dr Bruce-Hickman says: "The second you need extra procedures to protect the lungs, you automatically have quite a high chance of mortality."

When they woke up, the Tans appeared confused and disorientated. At times, they were agitated and did not know where they were.

Because of their weak lungs, it took several phases to slowly reduce the amount of oxygen support and doses of sedative drugs they were on.

Mr Tan ended up with a tracheostomy - an incision made in the windpipe to help him breathe - on March 19.

"I thought I would die," he admits. "I couldn't talk due to the tracheostomy. I wasn't allowed to drink and was fed through a tube."

For days, he hallucinated and saw images that looked like viruses on the ceiling of his room. "I felt like I was in a dream," he adds.

All he could recall then were brief and hazy encounters of nurses asking him how he was feeling.

For the next few days, both remained unconscious.

Doctors and nurses, in their cumbersome personal protective equipment, also had to flip the patients face down - in a fairly common intervention known as proning - to boost their oxygen levels.

Dr Bruce-Hickman says: "The second you need extra procedures to protect the lungs, you automatically have quite a high chance of mortality."

When they woke up, the Tans appeared confused and disorientated. At times, they were agitated and did not know where they were.

Because of their weak lungs, it took several phases to slowly reduce the amount of oxygen support and doses of sedative drugs they were on.

Mr Tan ended up with a tracheostomy - an incision made in the windpipe to help him breathe - on March 19.

"I thought I would die," he admits. "I couldn't talk due to the tracheostomy. I wasn't allowed to drink and was fed through a tube."

For days, he hallucinated and saw images that looked like viruses on the ceiling of his room. "I felt like I was in a dream," he adds.

All he could recall then were brief and hazy encounters of nurses asking him how he was feeling.

100 days of Covid-19 in Singapore | Covid-19 vs Sars: Lessons learnt | T...

On April 3, an assistant manager at the Lido branch of McDonald's saw a doctor for a sore throat and fever. She was given five days' medical leave.

At the end of her medical leave on April 8, the 44-year-old mother of a teenage boy went back to the doctor.

This time, she was sent to Seng-kang General Hospital for a Covid-19 swab test.

It was positive.

Over the next nine days, six other employees of the fast-food chain, who had worked across nine outlets, were diagnosed with the coronavirus.

Over at the Ministry of Health, doctors and officials watched with increasing concern.

Steps had already been taken by McDonald's to contain this cluster, but did they go far enough?

The company had told all employees from the affected outlets to isolate themselves for 14 days. These restaurants were also closed and underwent deep cleaning.

On April 18, McDonald's stopped takeaways - Singapore had already banned dining-in - and switched to delivery and drive-through service only.

But the ministry - by then battling huge numbers of foreign workers who got infected at worksites and living quarters - felt more had to be done.

A decision was made: From 11am the following day - April 19 - all 135 McDonald's outlets would close down till May 4.

The decision wasn't taken lightly.

The chain employs more than 10,000 people and serves more than six million hungry customers every month.

But, as McDonald's noted on its website: "These are unprecedented times for all of us. With the safety of all our customers and employees as the top priority, we will do all we can to help Singapore flatten the curve."

The company promised to pay salaries to its employees while operations were suspended.

Prof Tan, who was director of medical services during Sars, says the most important takeaway from that period was experience.

Berkshire sells entire stakes in U.S. airlines - Buffett

Berkshire Hathaway Inc  has sold its entire stakes in the four largest U.S. airlines, Chairman Warren Buffett said Saturday at the company's annual meeting.

The conglomerate held sizeable positions in the airlines, including an 11% stake in Delta Air Lines , 10% of American Airlines Co , around 10% of Southwest Airlines Co  and 9% of United Airlines  at the end of 2019, according to its annual report and company filings.

The conglomerate was one of the largest individual holders in the four airlines.

"We made that decision in terms of the airline business. We took money out of the business basically even at a substantial loss," Buffett said. "We will not fund a company that -- where we think that it is going to chew up money in the future."

Buffett said Berkshire had invested around $7 billion (£5.60 billion) or $8 billion amassing stakes in the four airlines including American Airlines Group Inc.

"We did not take out anything like $7 or $8 billion and that was my mistake," Buffett said at the company's annual meeting which was livestreamed. "I am the one who made the decision."