A national serviceman was on 6 May 2004 jailed for six months for having sex with a 11-year-old girl in 2002. Chan Chaing Hee, 19, met the girl in September 2002. The girl, now in secondary one, is believed to be the youngest involved in such a case here. She became pregnant and was admitted to a hospital where the foetus was aborted in May 2003. (Straits Times 8 May 2004) (3)

The four polytechnics' survey of their graduates from the 2003 cohort found that 68 per cent of those surveyed secured jobs within three months after graduation, a dip from 2002's 71 per cent. 21 per cent of the 6,000 graduates polled said they took on part-time jobs. (Straits Times 26 Feb 2004) H1)

The Institute of technical Education's (ITE) yearly survey found that 85 per cent of its 9,000 graduates in 2003 found jobs within three months of graduating or completing national service, up from 82 per cent for the class of 2002. They started at S$45 a month more on average than the class of 2002. (Straits Times 26 Feb 2004) (H1) 

The Ministry of Education (MOE) made it clear yesterday that it backed Kent Ridge Sec School's principal's decision to report to the police when the school found out some students had been viewing porn VCDs. However, MOE said the school should have "handled the situation better". The principal, Miss Chamb Cherk Ing made a police report on 9 Feb 2004. (Straits Times 18 Feb 2004) (H6)

A Sec 2 schoolboy was caught with a porn VCD in class on 6 Feb 2004. Subsequently, 17 schoolboys were detained in school for questioning. The school has made a police report. (Straits Times 1 Feb 2004) (H8)

A teenager was jailed for four months and fined S$20,000 for having sex with a 15-year-old girl, a secondary 3 student. Chua Kok Tiong, 17, of Geylang Serai Vocational Training Centre, had been sentenced by the Juvenile Court and placed on probation for a similar offence with another girl. (Straits Times 21 Sep 2003 19)

A survey based on face-to-face interviews with 510 young Singaporeans aged 15 and above found nine in 10 of those aged 15 to 19 were confident about the road ahead for Singapore. The figure was eight in 10 for those in their 20s. The survey was conducted in July 2003 by Singapore Press Holdings' marketing, planning and development department. (Straits Times 8 Aug 2003 4)

  A young serial robber had his jail term increased from 9½ years to 14 years on appeal. Secondary school dropout Jerrick CHEN Weixiong, 17, will also receive 24 strokes of the cane. CHEN had chalked up 45 offences in just a few months. He went around with accomplices robbing school children of their mobile phones and bashing them up if they did not give them up easily. (Straits Times 2 Apr 2003)(H2)

  Results of a survey of 5,853 students, aged 13 to 17, from nine schools polled by the Northeast Community Development Council (CDC) and Fei Yue Counselling Centre, showed that five out of every 100 secondary school students said they had been "forced" to have sex. 259 students said someone had tried to get them to have sex in the past 12 months, and 83 gave in. (Straits Times 27 Mar 2003)(H9)

  A computer programmer was jailed for three years and nine months after he pleaded guilty on Tuesday to three charges of having sex with a minor. Rickson Chua Chin Gee met the 15-year-old girl through an Internet chatroom sometime in April 2002. (Straits Times 20 Mar 2003) (H4)

  Last year, 167 parents filed beyond parental control complaints - a 44 per cent increase on the previous year - and the problem coincides with rising juvenile crime. Statistics released by the police last week show that the number of youngsters 15 years old and under arrested in 2002 shot up by 55 per cent, compared to 2001. In 2002, 45 youngsters were sent to institutions, such as the Toa Payoh Girls' Home and the Singapore Boys' Home. (Straits Times Monday 24 Feb 2003)(1)

  A youth-oriented L2 "concept floor" will open in March 2003 inside the Cathay Cineleisure retail and entertainment complex. The upgraded second-level retail floor will have 25 shop-units carved out of 15,000 sq ft of space vacated by former tenants, which included Chinois Chinois Bar and Viva Music Hub. L2's space is bigger than that of Parco Bugis Junction's Edge (10,000 sq ft) but smaller than the spaces of The Heeren's Annex (20,000 sq ft) and Far East Plaza's Level One (45,000 sq ft). The complex's two-storey mock gorilla has been removed to accommodate L2's gold and blue logo. (Straits Times Wednesday 5 Feb 2003)(A14)

  A man who used an Internet chatroom to find young girls to rape was yesterday sentenced to 23 years' jail and the maximum 24 strokes of the cane. Raymond POK, 26, posed as a teenager and lured three girls, two aged 14, and one aged 13, into his trap. (Straits Times Wednesday 5 Feb 2003) (4)

  Two youths, who were earlier acquitted by the High Court of setting fire to two wet markets in Ang Mo Kio, were convicted of arson yesterday by the Court of Appeal. HUANG Rong Tai, 21, who is mildly retarded, was jailed for 10 years. His friend, who turns 17 next month and will be sentenced later, cannot be named as he was 13 years old when the first market was set on fire on 8 Feb 2000. (Straits Times 21 Jan 2003)(H3)

  A 15-year-old schoolboy who raped his cousin, 6, at her home while her mother was watching television in another room is now in remand and will appear before the Juvenile Court again on 25 Feb 2003. (Straits Times 21 Jan 2003)(H3) 

  A teenager was found dead in a flat in Tampines on the morning of Wednesday 15 Jan 2003. Miss TENG Shu Yan, 17, a waitress, may have died after drinking alcohol spiked with Ecstasy, her father told Chinese- language reporters. Three friends, who were with Miss TENG in the flat, were arrested for drug consumption. (Straits Times 17 Jan 2003)(H6)

  Prime Minister GOH Chok Tong yesterday turned history teacher to express his concern about the morale of young Singaporeans. He said that the Al-Qaeda attacks in the United States and plans for Singapore, the Bali bomb blasts, the economic slowdown and 4.8 per cent unemployment, were "a rude awakening for younger Singaporeans". "They grew up assuming that the stability and growth of the 1980s and early 1990s were the natural order of things. Therefore, when faced with the current adversity, some of them lose heart easily, believing Singapore's situation has never been worse". PM GOH said, "We have acquired the strength and skills to ride out the worst storms... We are not sitting idly by. We are remaking ourselves, to keep ahead of changes in our external environment." (Straits Times 28 Nov 2002) (1)

  A 14-year-old boy was knocked down by a taxi on Tuesday in Jurong. CHEN Wei Liang, who celebrated his birthday the previous day, is in critical condition with brain injuries, said a spokesman for National University Hospital (NUH) where he is in intensive care. (Straits Times 21 Nov 2002) (H4)

  Between January 2001 and 13 Oct this year, 1,341 persons aged 16 and below were reported missing. All but 14 have now returned home. In 1999, 610 youngsters were reported missing. In 2000, there were 582. Most of them were between 13 and 16 years old and six out of 10 were girls. (Straits Times 8 Nov 2002) (H9) 

  Teenage girls outnumber boys in the use of ketamine, a synthetic drug. The Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) arrested 15 girls aged 15 - 19 in 2001, compared to 13 boys in that age group. At least three young ketamine users have committed suicide this year. In statistics released by the CNB yesterday, the number of first-time ketamine abusers arrested in the first half of this year was 52 per cent higher than the same period last year. The number held for Ecstasy dipped by 6 per cent. The number of people arrested for abusing methamphetamine in the first half of this year has tripled, compared to the same period last year. The number jumped from 83 to 255. (Straits Times 6 Nov 2002) (3)

  A serial molester who preyed on teenage girls in Bishan lifts was yesterday jailed for six years. He will also be given 12 strokes of the cane.  GOH Kim Meng, 27, a senior air force technician, molested five girls, between 13 and 16 years old, over a period of three months in the area where he lives. (Straits Times 25 Oct 2002) (H4)

  Two 16-year-old students of Gan Eng Seng school were charged yesterday with setting fire to school property. LEE Kok Leong and TAN Peng Lai are accused of using a lighter to burn newspapers and a computer mouse, with the intention of damaging three classroom desks on which the mouse was placed. Police are currently investigating their cases. (Straits Times 25 Oct 2002) (H4)

  Former national bowler Jansen CHAN Wah Hin, 47, yesterday pleaded guilty to molesting a 13-year-old girl from a secondary school team he was coaching. CHAN had held the girl's hips and slipped his hands under her bowling skirts while she was in his shop at Cathay Bowl in SAFRA clubhouse in Yishun on 16 Jul 2002. (Straits Times 22 Oct 2002) (H4)

  Last year, there were 13,140 abortions to 41,775 births in Singapore, of which nearly 60 per cent were done on married women. Clinics which carry out abortions - which were made legal in 1970 when the Stop At Two policy was in force - have to make sure that pregnant women watch an abortion video. Last year, the birth rate fell to a historic low of 1.42 babies per woman. (Straits Times 22 Oct 2002) (3)

Govt accepts recommendations for changes to Junior College curriculum

  An 18-year-old youth was yesterday sentenced to two months jail for having sex with an underaged girl. Muhammad Irwan Shah Chik Hassan had sex with the 13-year-old girl, his girlfriend, in February 2002 at his house. The girl had an abortion in July. (Straits Times 17 Oct 2002) (H4)

  Full-time NSman YEO Boon Shiong, 23, who is married, was sentenced to six years and nine months in jail after he pleaded guilty to two charges - of committing statutory rape and hurting a public servant. YEO had sex with a 13-year-old girl he had met on a telephone chatline in July 2002. The girl, who was afraid she might become pregnant, made a police report the next day to say she had been raped. (Straits Times 15 Oct 2002) (H5)

  Findings culled from interviews with 1,481 Singaporeans from January to June 2001 show that the proportion of single women who thought marrying was better than staying single dropped from 80 per cent for those in their 20s to 48 per cent for those in their 30s. And, while 88 per cent of 20-something single women felt married couples should have children, only half of the 30-somethings thought so. In contrast, young men in their 20s get more interested in marriage and having children as they became older. The survey was commissioned by the Ministry of Community Development and Sports (MCDS). (Straits Times 27 Sep 2002) (H1)

  Blood-group information will no longer appear on new identity cards from the end of this month. The change will affect all Singaporeans aged 15 or 30 on or after Sept 30 who are required to register for an identity card, new Permanent Residents (PR) and citizens, and those who have damaged or lost their ICs. (Straits Times 25 Sep 2002) (H8)

  A man who started molesting his 9-year-old step-daughter on the day his son was born was yesterday sentenced to 24-years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane. The 43-year-old mover was found guilty after a three-day trial on three charges of aggravated rape. The victim, who turned 13 this week, was abused for the first time on Aug 22, 1999, four months after the man became her step-father. (Straits Times 25 Sep 2002) (H3)

  Tattoo shops here are registered like beauty centres, but are not regulated by health authorities. There are also no age restrictions, unlike in some countries where the minimum age to have a tattoo done ranges from 16 to 21. The Health Ministry here steps in only if it receives a complaint. There are about 30 tattoo shops here. (Straits Times 23 Sep 2002) (H7)

  A 13-year-old boy who had part of his hand chopped off underwent an operation last night to have it reattached. Police said part of his left hand, with four fingers and part of his palm, was found lying on the ground at the void deck of Blk 655 in Woodlands Ring Road. Witnesses said they had seen six boys running in different directions from the block. No weapons were found at the scene and the police are investigating. (Straits Times 20 Sep 2002) (6)

  Chief Justice YONG Pung How yesterday dismissed a 35-year-old woman's appeal against a 36-year jail term meted out by the High Court for helping her married lover, PEH Thiam Hui, rape her daughter, 9, over a period of five years. The girl, now 14, did not tell anyone until last October when her mother started divorce proceedings and sought custody of her three children. (Straits Times 10 Sep 2002) (H4)

  Anglo-Chinese School principal NG Eng Chin, 43, has been reinstated to his post by the school's board of governors. The board had unanimously cleared him of all allegations of improper behaviour while counselling a teenage boy last year. The boy's mother had alleged he had molested the boy during late-night counselling sessions held at various places, including the beach. The Education Ministry has accepted the inquiry panel's conclusion and its recommendation that Mr NG be reinstated. Straits Times 3 Sep 2002) (3)

  Singapore's war on smoking enters a new phase as two proposals are being put before Parliament to ban the sale here of packs of cigarettes containing less than 20 cigarettes. Health authorities are especially concerned that the number of female smokers between the ages of 18 and 24 has gone up from 6 per cent in 1998 to 8 per cent in 2001, even though the national smoking rate dipped to 14 per cent last year from 18 per cent a decade ago. (Straits Times 3 Sep 2002) (1)

  Five boys, aged between 11 and 14, have been arrested after washing powder was dumped into the water tank on the rooftop of Block 124 Paya Lebar Way on Monday afternoon. Following complaints by residents, a plumber dispatched by the town council found two 1 kg packets of washing powder, both half-emptied, near the two water tanks on the rooftop. Town council staff then flushed out the down-feed pipes so that residents could get clean water from the second tank. (Straits Times 28 Aug 2002) (H8)

  A 57-year-old man who pleaded guilty to two charges of raping his daughter who was 15 at the time of the first offence was yesterday jailed for 12 years. The unemployed man was spared the cane because he is more than 50 years old. (Straits Times 24 Aug 2002) (H2)

  A young couple, believed to have been lovers, were found dead at the foot of Block 262D  Compassvale Drive in Sengkang yesterday morning. The bodies of a 23-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were found lying face down next to each other. They are believed to have fallen from either the 14th or 15th storey of the block. (Straits Times 21 Aug 2002) (H3)

  Hongkong Heavenly King Leon LAI's first webchat on the Straits Times Interactive (STI) yesterday attracted 927 fans who grilled the singer-actor on his love of coffee, his five cats and four dogs, and his career plans. Last September, Hongkong actress Maggie CHEUNG's STI online chat attracted about 900 fans. (Straits Times 20 Aug 2002) (4)

  Researchers at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) economics department calculated the social cost of smoking in 1997 at between S$673 million and S$839 million in a study which took into account the lost working hours due to smoking-related illnesses and deaths, as well as the higher medical bills chalked up by smokers. Cigarette taxes brought in S$389 million that year - less than half the 'cost' that the cigarettes incurred on the economy. Men, who make up the majority of smokers here, accounted for 90 per cent of the cost of smoking. About 11 per cent of teenagers from secondary 1 through to secondary 4 light up at least once a month, according to a survey done in 2000. (Straits Times 19 Aug 2002) (3) 

  A youth dubbed the Terror of Yishun in 1999 was yesterday sent to jail for 18 years and ordered to be caned 12 years for preying on three girls, aged nine and 10, and forcing two of them to perform oral sex on him between Oct 2001 and Jan 15, 2002. Siddharth Mujumdar, 19, was under police supervision after his release from the Reformative Training Centre when he committed the offences. (Straits Times 3 Aug 2002) (4)

  A 15-year-old schoolgirl was killed when she was run over by SBS Transit bus service No. 2 at Changi Village bus terminal on 13 Jul 2002. Marion JANG Li Ping, a secondary three student at CHIJ Katong Convent, was hit as she was crossing the entrance to the terminal with her boyfriend. He, who is in his 20s, was also knocked down but was unhurt. (Straits Times 15 Jul 2002) (H4)

  A rapist who used the Internet chatrooms to find his two victims was yesterday jailed for 27 years and ordered to be given 24 strokes of the cane. TAN Khay Cheong, 34, of Jurong West Street 42, was married with two children when he molested, raped and sodomised a 13-year-old schoolgirl by pretending to be three different people in May 2000. He also tricked his second victim, a 22-year-old Malaysian, into believing he could get her a job and tied her up and raped her in a Geylang hotel in December 2001. (Straits Times 6 Jul 2002) (6)

  SingTel Mobile is expected to offer subscribers a specified number of free multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages each month when MMS is introduced in a few months. But once they had used up the quota, subscribers would have to pay. Currently, the daily SMS traffic in Singapore is about 15 million messages. (Straits Times 24 Jun 2002) (6)

  Three students yesterday received the first soccer scholarships offered by North East Community Development Council and Sengkang Marine Football Club. They are Tommy TAN, 16, from Daima Secondary School, Peter OH, 18, from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), and Muhamad Haikal, 11, from Rivervale Primary School. The scholarship is worth S$6,000 in cash and will be used to pay for school books, fees, meals and transport. (Straits Times 20 Jun 2002) (H4)

  An unemployed man was yesterday sentenced to 2½ years' jail for instigating an 18-year-old polytechnic student to steal from her parents, and for receiving stolen goods. TAY Wee Kiat, 24, had served nine months behind bars three years ago for outraging a woman's modesty. The girl, TEO Chu Ling, plunged from her family's ninth-storey HDB flat in Ang Mo Kio on Dec 11 last year after TAY dumped her. (Straits Times 20 Jun 2002) (5)

  A JC student died in his sleep on Monday. NG Shao Hao, 18, had celebrated his 18th birthday last Wednesday. Shao Hao's father said he had no known medical problems. The police has classified the case as unnatural death. (Straits Times 12 Jun 2002)

  A man who forced his 13-year-old daughter to masturbate him and succumb to him sexually at knifepoint will be sentenced on June 24. The man, who cannot be named because it would reveal his daughter's identity, molested the girl, now 14, seven times in their Sengkang flat during the first three months of this year while his wife was working on the night shift. (Straits Times 4 Jun 2002) (3)

  Singapore Youth Tobacco Survey 2000, the first survey of 13,111 Secondary 1 to 4 students to find out the prevalence of underage smoking, has found that one in four still managed to sneak a puff at least once. Of those who took a puff, 11.1 per cent are considered smokers as they lit up at least once in the past month before the survey. This includes 2.4 per cent who smoke daily. More girls are picking up smoking: 13.4 per cent are boys and 8.8 per cent are girls. The survey also found that smokers are more likely to belong to families with at least one parent or elder sibling who smokes, or have close friends who smoke. The main reasons given for smoking are: curiosity or for fun, to follow the example of friends, or to relax and relieve stress. (Straits Times 2 Jun 200) (19)

  The growing popularity of club drugs among youths is a worrying problem that must not be left unchecked, said Chief Justice YONG Pung How last month when he upheld an 18-month jail term for Johnson Cheng Siah, 28, who was caught taking ketamine at a club. Ketamine offences have risen by 24 per cent and the number of people caught possessing or trafficking the drug increased to 207 in 2001 from 167 in 2000. More than 70 per cent of those arrested were new abusers. More than half, or 55 per cent, were younger than 25. And more than a third were aged between 20 and 24. (Straits Times 31 May 2002) (H3)

  Almost 1,700 teenage girls here had abortions last year, said Mr CHAN Soo Sen, Minister of State (Prime Minister's Office and MCDS), on Tuesday. He told about 400 youth workers that they, parents, and teachers here will be guiding teens on making informed choices about sex. (Straits Times 30 May 2002) (H4)

  From July, members of the Social Development Unit's (SDU) Choice Match dating service will be able to surf a special website for their perfect partner and meet them for a S$10 fee. The new website, LoveByte.org.sg, will have brief details of men and women on the market for a spouse. There is no limit to how many people they can choose, but the other party must consent before they meet. In the last 10 years, the SDU's dating service has notched up 117 weddings. (Straits Times 28 May 2002) (H4)

  Paris: French scientists at the National Institute for Health and Medical Research in Paris say they have found the first biological evidence to suggest that smoking can make one stupid and forgetful. The harmful nicotine contained in cigarettes, they found, destroys brain cells and impedes the production of new ones. The authors say their findings counter headline-making studies of the 1990s that suggested smoking could boost cognitive performance. (Straits Times 15 May 20020 (H12)

  A 16-year-old boy involved in a hammer attack on a 15-year-old student and his four friends at a bus stop in MacPherson was given 30 months' jail and six strokes of the cane yesterday. Winston LEE Wei Zheng, then a Secondary 3 student at MacPherson Secondary School, admitted he had been rioting with 15 others at the bus stop in front of a hawker centre in Circuit Road on Dec 15 last year. 12 others in the group have already been dealt with. (Straits Times 10 May 2002) (H7)

  A 35-year-old woman will be tried in the High Court for her role in allowing her live-in boyfriend to rape her daughter over a four-year period, from the time the girl was ten years old. This is believed to be the first case of its kind here. Her 48-year-old boyfriend, a housing agent, allegedly raped the girl between September 1996 and October 2000 at her flat in Tampines. The girl is now 15 years old. (Straits Times 24 Apr 2002) (3)

  The Advisory Committee on Chinese Programmes (Access), in its annual report released yesterday, recommended that broadcasters develop sex-education shows and more programmes for teens. It felt that the standard of free-to-air television programming had dipped, despite increased competition. It also found both Channel U and Channel 8 guilty of sensationalism at times, to boost ratings. (Straits Times 20 Apr 2002) (H4)

  At least ten schools here have bought smoke-detection machines called smokerlysers to smoke out students who smoke in school. The S$2,000 device detects the presence of poisonous carbon monoxide - a by-product of cigarette smoke - in the lungs. According to the Health Sciences Authority's (HSA) Tobacco Regulation Unit, more than 5,200 underage teens have been caught smoking since 1999. The Health Promotion Board said most of those who start in their teens are boys. (Straits Times 20 Apr 2002) (3)

  Five of the assailants who hunted down and assaulted a teenager in broad daylight in the MacPherson Estate last December pleaded guilty in court yesterday to rioting. Student Steven ANG Kun Yee, 16, national serviceman Simon LEE, 19, TAN Teck Chye, 16, now unemployed, coffeeshop assistant WU Jin Chang, 17, and hawker assistant TAN Guan Da, 18, will be sentenced on Monday. Ten others in the group, all between 14 and 15, have already been sentenced. Some are in the boys' home while the others have been put on probation for 24 to 34 months. (Straits Times 18 Apr 2002) (H2)

  Of the 1,380 mobile-phone users who responded to a Straits Times poll, about 95 per cent said it was fairer to make callers pay for mobile phone charges than to share the cost with the recipients. Only about 70 people wanted to keep the current system, where mobile-phone users pay for both incoming and outgoing calls. Singapore's mobile ownership rate - one of the highest in the region - now stands at 72.7 per cent, or about 3 million users. Of the four operators here, StarHub Mobile and Virgin Mobile want a change, while SingTel and M1 want to keep the current system. The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is now evaluating feedback and will make a decision later this year on whether there will be a change to the existing system. (Straits Times 10 Apr 2002) (7)

  According to the latest police statistics, there were 91 cases of molest in January. In December the figure was 81, and in November, it was 79. Of the 91 victims in January, nearly a third were below 16. Last year, the Ministry of Community Development and Sports investigated 195 cases of alleged child abuse. Of the 72 cases where there was evidence of abuse, nearly a quarter, or 17 cases, were for sexual abuse. KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH) last year received 130 alleged sexual-abuse cases of children, aged 16 and below. Four out of five victims were females. And of the 36 cases which came through the children's emergency, more than half were aged six and below. In most cases, the abuse was allegedly committed by fathers and people known to the victims, such as childcare teachers, family friends or boyfriends of mothers. (Straits Times 7 Apr 2002) (24) 

  A committee set up to review upper secondary and junior college education will not overhaul the education system. "We don't want to shake the basic premises which are sound," said Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Senior Minister of State (Education and Trade and Industry) and the committee's chairman. The committee will look at whether bright students can take their A-level exams without clearing the O-level hurdle, and whether private schools should be set up. It will also examine whether new state-funded independent schools should be set up for students with special talents. The committee is now inviting feedback from all parents who can forward their views to the Education Ministry via e-mail at www1.moe.edu.sg/jcreview/ or through snail mail. (Straits Times 7 Apr 2002) (1) 

  A man chatted with a polytechnic student on the Internet and later met her and persuaded her to apply for a mobile phone line in her name. He also demanded money from her and threatened to harm her and her family if she did not pay up. Yesterday, Kelvin SNG Beng Hwee, 21, was sentenced to six years' jail and nine strokes of the cane after pleading guilty to three extortion charges. (Straits Times 6 Apr 2002) (H3)

  A first-year undergraduate at the National University of Singapore (NUS) was given a stiff 15-month jail term and three strokes of the cane yesterday for molesting a 13-year-old girl. CHONG Weien, 21, a part-time drum coach at a secondary school, was alone with the girl when he made her masturbate him. Statistics produced in court showed that there were 62 teenage molest victims between November 2001 and January 2002. Molestations of under-16s formed 20 per cent, or 17 out of 79 cases, in November 2001. This went up to 31 per cent, or 28 out of 91 cases, in January 2002. (Straits Times 4 Apr 2002) (H2)

  A father who disciplined his 13-year-old son by caning him repeatedly was yesterday jailed for eight months. The 51-year-old cane operator admitted assaulting the child, causing injuries, in May 2000 when they were living in Clementi. Deputy Public Prosecutor Imran A. Hamid said that the injuries were in excess of the accused's parental prerogative to discipline his child. (Straits Times 4 Apr 2002) (H2)

  Wellington, New Zealand: The revelation that up to 25 young Asians a week are resorting to abortion, including the sheer number of repeat abortions, has alarmed the authorities. It has also prompted an advisory committee to warn Chinese parents not to send their children to New Zealand, according to a report in the Dominion newspaper. New Zealand has turned its 45,000 overseas students, mainly Asians, into a NZ$1 billion (S$830 million) a year business. About 15,000 of them came from China last year. (Straits Times 3 Apr 2002) (6)

  A 20-year-old Singapore Polytechnic student was burnt to death in a shiny red BMW she was driving after it crashed into a tree along Sungei Kadut Drive towards Kranji Way and burst into flames early yesterday morning. CHUA Xing Ling, a third-year diploma student of maritime transportation management, received the BMW 318 as a gift from her father after she got her driving licence less than a year ago, according to a neighbour. (Straits Times 3 Apr 2002) (5)

  Teen terror Jagdish Singh Dhillon, 19, who was sentenced to six months in jail last year for hurting his mother, forging her signature on cheques and more, was back in court yesterday to face nearly 40 charges, mainly of cheating. Yesterday, he was slapped with five years of corrective training and a 10-year ban on driving after he leaves jail. (Straits Times 29 Mar 2002) (H1)

  London: Corby in central England is gearing up to become the first in Britain to ban children under the age of 15 from the streets between 9am and 6am. The curfews are in response to the problem of young troublemakers and would give police the power to take children off the streets, The Guardian newspaper reported. (Straits Times 28 Mar 2002) (12) 

  No one is to blame for the death of Harry CHAU, 14, the Montfort Secondary School student who died while practising a bicycle stunt for an extreme sports competition last year. A coroner's court yesterday agreed with police findings that the organisers of the Asian Xtour Competition, broadcaster ESPN Star Sports, had a well-constructed course for the stunt and enough safety precautions in place. State coroner John NG described Harry's death as unfortunate. Satisfied that no criminal negligence led to the boy's death, he recorded a verdict of misadventure. (Straits Times 28 Mar 2002) (H7)

  There were 200 more cases of shoplifting last year, an 8-per-cent rise that brought the total to 2,600. Most of them took place in shopping centres and supermarkets. The number of young shoplifters dropped slightly from 1,147 in 2000 to 1,071 last year. (Straits Times 27 Mar 20020 (H8)

  In a recent survey of 5,666 mobile phone users in 14 countries across Asia, Europe and North America, it was found that Singapore led the world in SMS use, with 52 per cent of Singapore users using the short-message service (SMS) more than once a day. Korea came in second with 30 per cent and Australia was next with 29 per cent. The global average was 23 per cent. The survey was conducted by management consultancy A.T. Kearney and Cambridge University's Business School. (Straits Times 26 Mar 2002) (H5) 

  The number of youths aged seven to 19 who have been arrested has fallen from 3,446 in 1999 to 2,474 in 2001 and there has also been a steady decline in the number of arrests for violent crimes, said Prof. HO Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State (Law and Home Affairs) yesterday. (Straits Times 20 Mar 2002) (H2)

  More than three out of four young adults here have no immunity to dengue as they have never been exposed to the dengue virus, reports a new two-year study which checked 184 healthy undergraduates at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Last year, four people died of the disease here and there were 46 new cases a week on average. The weekly number peaked at 126 in July. (Straits Times 14 Mar 2002) (1)

  A 14-year-old boy who touched a woman on the breast and asked his friends to lie about it will have to spend two years at Gracehaven, a residential home for troubled young people. He was found guilty by the Juvenile Court on Jan 16. The boy molested the 35-year-old sales assistant in Chai Chee on May 17 last year. (Straits Times 7 Mar 2002) (H9)

  SingTel began tests last November on new text-to-voice SMS service in which a computer reads out an SMS message sent to a fixed-line phone number. The service is to be launched by mid-year. "When it is sent to a home, anyone can pick it up, so in order to get the message to the right person, we are exploring the possibility of passwords," said a SingTel spokesman. (Straits Times 4 Mar 2002) (3) 

  London: An anti-abortion group is taking legal action to stop the government from distributing the morning-after pill in pharmacies and schools. These pills are being given to teenagers without the knowledge of their parents to stop unwanted pregnancies. Britain has had more schoolgirls becoming pregnant than any other country in the European Union during the past four years. (Straits Times 14 Feb 2002) (8)

  The price of roses is expected to be lower this Valentine's Day compared to last year because lovebirds are smarting from the economic blow, florists said. Some florists, such as Prince, are offering walk-in customers 12 roses for S$15 to S$20. 7-Eleven is offering about 1,000 roses at 22 of its stores located downtown at S$6.50 each stalk, which comes wrapped with baby's breath. Last year's price was S$10. (Straits Times 11 Feb 2002)(H1)

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  London: Lord Chief Justice Woolf has told judges and magistrates to send mobile-phone thieves to prison for at least 18 months, even if they had no previous convictions. Theft of mobile phones is now Britain's most common crime, with children usually the victims. Last year, 575,000 mobile phones were stolen from youngsters aged between 11 and 15. Another 482,000 phones were taken from youths aged from 16 to 18. (Straits Times 31 Jan 2002) (6)

  Police interviewed a dozen students from Saint Joseph's Institution after the principal, Mr LUI Seng Cheong, reported them for betting on football games. It is believed that the boys, aged between 15 and 16, placed bets ranging from S$10 to S$50. The pool added up to hundreds of dollars. (Straits Times 25 Jan 2002) (H10)

  Two boys banging into each other during recess in Yishun Town Secondary School on Sept 28 last year resulted in a fight with one schoolboy being stabbed outside the school. WONG Han Wah, then 15, who learnt of the incident, followed one of the boys, Mohamed Sofian, to the void deck of Block 204 Yishun Street 21 where WONG's friend FOO Chee Meng, 25, stabbed Mohamed with a knife. FOO was given four years' jail and six strokes of the cane while WONG will be sentenced next month, pending probation and reformative training reports. (Straits Times 25 Jan 2002)(6) 

    A 14-year-old boy, accused of molesting a 35-year-old woman in Chai Chee at 3.45pm on May 17 last year, has been found guilty at the close of his molest trial yesterday. The teenager, a school dropout and an only child, had denied that he had done so and defended himself in the Juvenile Court, as his mother, a cleaner, could not afford a lawyer. His case will be heard again on Feb 19. (Straits Times 17 Jan 2002) (H6)