Whistle-blowing Singapore hero, Yang Jie Xiang (image via Lianhe Wanbao)

Yang Jie Xiang who goes by the online moniker, Shane M or redfanatic, is a 23-year-old intern turned hero in Singapore who saved his co-worker from an abusive supervisor.

He secretly recorded a video of his fellow intern being hit and scolded by their then boss, Alan Lee Yew Nam from Encore Services (please boycott and terminate your contract with this company if you are using their software), following which he viraled the video online, seeking help and advice for the victim.

Say NO to Abusive Alan and his company!

Here is the full story posted online by Yang: 

Hi all, I had just started an internship and noticed my supervisor constantly bullying my co-worker in the workplace. The abuse were often physical. I managed capture some video of him hitting my co-worker. The victim is shy and doesn’t want t do anything about it. There doesn’t anyone in the workplace that will do anything about this.

I confronted my supervisor about it, but i felt his explanation was insincere.

I need some advice. What should I do about this?

The supervisor was also constantly yelling at my coworker for small things.

The hitting and yelling stopped when I confronted him but this kind of behavior has most likely been going on even before I joined, and will again continue after I leave.

When I confronted him, he brought me to a meeting room and his “explanation” he told me a lot of BS like “do not judge a book by its cover, there is a story behind it”. He said that my colleague apparently has an inferiority complex and apparently my supervisor is trying to “nurture” him to get over it. I felt this was stupid, as how can you nurture someone by hitting them?

The abuse seemed to get worse over time during my first 3 days, on the 3rd day I quickly decided to start recording with my phone when the supervisor started to yell again at my coworker.

I plan to report this to HR on Monday, and maybe write to MOM.

However my coworker is very timid and seems like the kind of guy that will not stand up for himself.

Abusive Alan has since been chided by the deputy secretary-general of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and nominated Member of Parliament, Heng Chee How. Heng urged the police and the Ministry of Manpower to investigate the case thoroughly, help the victim seek recourse, and press for deterrent action against the culprit.

In a statement on Wednesday, MOM said it is investigating the victim’s employment terms, as well as possible infringements of the Employment Act.

Yang has since been lauded by the public as a hero for stepping forward to expose the abuse.

Singapore is a selfish society where even Singa the Lion, our national mascot for courtesy and kindness can be selfish enough to quit his job when things are not going his way.

We tend to mind our own business and prefer not to rock the boat if our own lives are not affected. I believe most Singaporeans would not have done anything if we were in Yang’s shoes. The victim did not seem to mind being abused. Why fight for someone who is a willing enabler?

Bear in mind that Yang himself was on internship at Abusive Alan’s company. By secretly recording a video in the office, he may have breached his employment contract, risk getting fired from Encore Services and thus failing his internship.

Despite this, Yang did what he deem was the right thing.

Well done. We need more civil-minded youths like Yang Jie Xiang to shape a better Singapore.

I noticed the winners were mostly younger celebrities. No surprises here as their fan bases are likely younger as well and are the ones who are the most active on the internet. This is the future. Stars and celebrities will be created over the internet and social media, more so than any other media.

The first ever Social Star Awards was held tonight in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands. The live Social Star Awards were the pinnacle to 24 hours of virtual awards where stars from all over the world were recognized for their popularity in the world of social media. You can watch the full show here on youtube if you missed the live broadcast:

I just attended the awards show which was broadcasted live on YouTube across the globe. The show featured dynamic and unique set pieces and collaborations from some of the world’s top celebrities and internet sensations. You can watch the full show here if you have missed the live broadcast:

I am not much of a stars chaser, but I got to admit, the fans’ ardent support for their favourite stars was infectious on site. I happened to sit beside a super high- charged female fan who kept screaming and taking sneaky shots with a hidden DSLR camera whenever her favourite stars pop out (Ryan Higga and Carly Rae Jepsen). As she bounce up and down in her chair, I can feel mine vibrate too.

The night began with a bang as the Red Carpet was filled with the biggest YouTube stars of the past 12 months – Hikakin, Harlem Shake, Tummy Talk, Marquese Scott , Ryan Higga, Wrecking Crew, PewDiePie and some of the world’s most famous stars including Aerosmith, PSY, Jermaine Jackson, George Takei, Carly Rae Jepsen and CeeLo Green.

Psy on the red carpet (image via Starcount)

The awards kicked off with a solid opening performance from rock legends Aerosmith who are set to wow Singapore this weekend with their first ever concert here.

Aerosmith blew the roof of the theatre with blistering performances of their most iconic hits such as Crying and Don’t Want to Miss a Thing before performing an unforgettable rendition of the bands all time classic, Walk This Way with beat boxer Hikakin one of the most high profile and talented social media stars of 2013.

Steven Tyler still has it after so many years. His stage presence and antics were fantastic, rousing the crowd to a roaring start.

The show is hosted by Jessica Alba and Jeremy Piven. The awards were mostly given out onscreen, intercut with random funny videos taken off the internet. It was an interesting format to watch and strangely, pretty entertaining. The audience are encouraged to tweet, instagram, facebook or social share in whatever ways we can on the awards.

Show hosts, Jeremy Piven and Jessica Alba (image via Starcount)

One of the show highlight includes the very first Harlem Shake to be performed and broadcast LIVE on YouTube featuring the four original Harlem Shakers themselves.

Wrecking Crew perhaps gave one of the most unforgettable performances of the night. The illuminated body poppers who have amassed millions of YouTube views of their blistering dance routines, brought a brand new sequence to the Social Star Awards which left the audience (including me) awe-stricken and will no doubt be another viral sensation in days to come.

There were also stunning solo performances from Carly Rae Jepsen, Sky Blu, Eric Benet, Blush and PSY who closed the show with a sensational performance of the song and dance that propelled him to internet infamy, Gangnam Style.

Big winners on the night included Ellen DeGeneres who won for most popular TV Show, Selena Gomez for most popular actress, FC Barcelona for most popular sports team, Cristiano Ronaldo for most popular Sportstar and the Brit Boy Band who have taken the world by storm, One Direction for most popular music group in addition to the most popular UK musician, most popular in the UK and most popular in West Europe awards given out via social media prior to the live awards show.

 For the full list of winners, visit the official Starcount website. 

About the Social Star Awards:

The Social Star Awards are based on data from Starcount which uniquely aggregates and charts social media’s most popular stars and celebrities through the measurement of 1.7 billion people’s social media activity across the 11 biggest social media networks in the world.

Starcount uniquely ranks and charts fans based on their individual social behavior by awarding points for every tweet, share, view and comment about the individual stars they love. 

About Starcount: 

Starcount is the definitive global popularity leaderboard, ranking the world’s top celebrities and stars based on their popularity and fan engagement, to produce the ultimate social media chart. It shows the social media ranking of stars across thousands of countries and categories.

Starcount uniquely aggregates and charts popularity and engagement of 1.7bn people’s social media activity across the 11 biggest social media networks in the world every day. These networks are: Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, Sina, Tencent, Youku, Renren, Mixi, Orkut&Vkontakte.

This post is on their Urband range of eyewear and is part 2 in my Eyewear with Nanyang Optical blog series:

Urband is a global and cosmopolitan brand fused with innovative and technological breakthroughs. No kidding, it has collected a slew of international design awards since its launch:

• 2009 President’s Design Award Singapore 2009
• 2009 Red Dot Design Award 2009 [Red Dot Design, Germany]
• 2009 iF Material Award 2009 Gold [iF International Forum Design, Germany]
• 2009 Nominated for the German Design Award 2010 [Designpreis Deutschland]
• 2006 iF Material Award 2006 [iF International Forum Design, Germany

What is so special about the design?

Urband frames are constructed without soldering, screws or hinges. The conventional frame uses screws at the temple hinges to attach the temples to the frame front. Urband is a new invention utilizing an S-clip to attach the temples to the frame front.

Assorted eyewear from Urband

Here’s my full titanium Urband frame with with lenses from Crizal by Essilor (read here to find out more about the benefits of Crizal lenses over other brands):

My Urband frame

Edgy modern oriental motif

Close-up of the S-clip

Full side view

I have been wearing them for over a month now. The frame is very light weight and the design is strong, formal, but with a touch of style.

The frames are not exactly cheap, but you pay for quality. Considering most of us who wear spectacles don them all the time except when we are sleeping, it is worth investing in something that shares such an intimate bond us daily.

If you are interested to find out more about the Urband brand, visit their official website for details. Urband eyewear is available at all Nanyang Optical stores. 

I have been wearing spectacles since I was seven, a good 26 years now. I tried contact lenses for a while, but I never really got used to them. Moreover, I have a large, round face which I like to downplay by accessorizing with eyewear.

My first contact with Nanyang Optical was through Get Singapore, a non-profit organisation set up to collectively market some quality Singapore brands under a major “Singapore brand” umbrella.

Nanyang Optical at Bishan Junction 8

Nanyang Optical is more than just a spectacle store chain, they have invested much money and effort in R&D on eyewear designs and have launched a number of their own eyewear brands over the years.

Inside the store

Nanyang Optical is also the first eco-friendly eyewear chain in Singapore, launching eco-friendly eyewear made of recycled materials and implementing a full circle recycling system.

I buy about two new frames each year, so I can safely claim to have bought at least 52 frames over the years. The issue I have with spectacle designs are that they are mostly boring and uninspiring.

Two decades have passed and yet frame designs generally stayed the same – boring. Large plastic frames were the in thing a few years ago, followed by round tortoise-shell designs with gold trimming currently. These were the same stuff that were in many years ago. It is just a revisit of yesteryears’ designs. Uninspiring.

This is why I am pleasantly surprised by the good work a home-grown company, Nanyang Optical has done for eyewear, setting it sights to capture the world market with snazzier and unique designs.

Glossi is one of the eyewear brands under Nanyang Optical. I will blog about another two of their brands, Urband and Eyelet in subsequent posts for my Eyewear with Nanyang Optical series.

Glossi emphasizes on vibrant and bright colours:

Assorted colour frames by Glossi

The eyewear is made of a strong, flexible translucent plastic polymer that is glossy (mirror effect), light weight, durable and comfortable to wear. The two temples are joined to the top bar, and a frame front of a different color is joined to the top bar by nylon string stitching. The two-color combination creates a third visual dimension to the whole glossi eyewear with a unique see-through overlapping color effect at the top bar.

The frames are immediately recongisable because of these unique design features:

What I like about Glossi is that the frame looks simple and elegant from far, but upon a closer look, you discover the playful and fun part of it with the glossy effect at different angles. It is small design detailing like this that gets me excited.

I also like the functionality in the use of nylon string stitching for the joints. No more unsightly screws that tend to get loose or rusty over time. The thin nylon string allows for a slimmer overall design, without protrusion at the joints. Practical, yet aesthetically satisfying.

Here’s my pair of red Glossi spectacles which I got earlier this year, with lenses from Crizal by Essilor (read here to find out more about the benefits of Crizal lenses over other brands):

My new Glossi frame in Ironman colours

Glossy frame that gives a different colour from different angles

Nylon stitching at the joints

Slim and elegant

I have been wearing them for over a month now and loving them more because of the chic design, slim build and weightlessness.

If you are interested to find out more about the Glossi brand, visit their official facebook page or website for details. Glossi eyewear is available at all Nanyang Optical stores.

2. The general public who are not City Harvest church members seem to mind more as to whether there was any alleged misuse of church funds. They do not believe in the Crossover Project and no, they did not and will not donate to City Harvest Church.

3. Crossover Project or not, Sun Ho‘s music career is a money sucking black-hole. Following court revelations during the trail, Ho is said to have lost more than $14 million in one album release.  

4. Kong Hee stands by his wife. Dude, seriously? 

5. Serina Wee is really hot: 

Serina Wee from City Harvest Church

This year, Abrams released another Star Trek film – Star Trek Into Darkness, featuring the two same lead actors, Chris Pine as James T. Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock. The two of them were really good in the first film and shared many tense screen moments. Expect more such moments in this sequel, pitting Kirk’s abrasive, emotion-driven nature against Spock’s rigid, emotionless state.

A new addition to the cast from the first film is British actor, Benedict Cumberbatch, as Khan, the arch nemesis of the Star Trek crew.

Rachel and I watched the preview together last week, thanks to the folks from United International Pictures. 

Both of us are big fans of the British TV series, Sherlock, which stars Cumberbatch as an ultra intelligent, eccentric detective in modern time London. In fact, he was the main draw for us.

Cumberbatch has limited screen time, but he has a really strong screen presence. Even though his character is decked in as simple black body suit, he look menacingly handsome as a super villain with his cold hard stare and towering posturing. This is one bad guy that many cinema-goers will find hard to hate!

Abrams did not disappoint either. The sci-fi genre just flows so naturally under his direction.  He managed to make all the sci-fi mumbo jumbo on time travel, alternate reality and other such topics simple and easy to digest for the regular cinema audience.

Rachel did not watch the first Abrams’ Star Trek film, nor a single episode of the TV series. She knows nothing about Star Trek, but enjoyed this latest film all the same.

Star Trek Into the Darkness is now showing in Singapore cinemas. Go catch it! Rachel and I are looking forward to the sequel to see more of Khan’s face-off with the Star Trek crew – provided the same talents are casted in the next film of course. All of them were great in the first two films.

Tiger Airways check-in area at Changi Airport T2

What is tigerPLUS?

It is an add-on premium service which allow Tiger Airways customers to enjoy greater convenience and comfort with the privileges of a dedicated check-in counter, access to a luxurious premium passenger lounge and priority boarding service (BoardMeFirst) – all at a very reasonable price of S$48.

For baby under the age of two years old like Asher, he gets tigerPLUS privileges for FREE because both Rachel and I were on tigerPLUS (as long as one accompanying adult has tigerPLUS, the baby under two gets it too). Great isn’t it? This is why Rachel and I find it worthwhile to bring Asher traveling before he reaches two years old.

Dedicated Check-in:

With tigerPLUS, you need not wait in line to check-in your luggage. The queue for budget flights can be very long. This came in really useful if you are traveling with an impatient baby like we were:

There was a long queue when we arrived

It’s okay – there’s a special queue for tigerPLUS!

It felt really great to be able to skip the queue and check-in first with tigerPLUS

tigerPlus passengers are assigned lounge passes and have travel documents endorsed at the dedicated tigerPLUS check-in counter at Row 11, Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2. This service operates from 0400 hrs to 2359hrs (GMT+8) daily.

Checking in was a breeze for my family.

SATS Premier Lounge:

SATS Premier Lounge

The SATS Premier Lounge is located in the transit area of Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2. Directional signs in the transit area will lead you to the lounge at Level 3, #036-114.

Tiger Airways is the first low cost carrier to access privileges to SATS’ Premier Lounge. Customers who wish to have that additional touch of exclusivity and comfort can simply relax at the lounge and enjoy the soothing ambience as well as the amenities available there.

The lounge boasts a good view of the runway, a buffet selection of food and refreshments, private rest booths with massage chairs, shower facilities, cable TV and a wide selection of international magazines and newspapers for your reading pleasure:

Computer terminal with internet acess

Newspapers rack

Magazine rack

As we need not have to queue to check-in, we had some time to spare for a leisurely breakfast at the lounge before our morning flight:

Seated area

Well stocked F&B area

Asher exploring the lounge with mummy

Enjoying a leisurely breakfast at the lounge

Note that the lounge access is for passengers departing from Singapore only. Passengers may access the lounge for up to 4 hours prior to flight departure time.

Priority Boarding (boardmefirst™)

You get to board first when the plane is ready.

After a speedy check-in and a leisurely breakfast, we were ready for our flight to Taiwan

Next time if you are flying by Tiger Airway and would like extra ease and comfort when checking in and while waiting for your departure flight, do considering taking up tigerPLUS.

Terms & Conditions:

• tigerPLUS is a non-transferable and non-refundable service, and is available only for flights departing from Singapore.
• If you have purchased tigerPLUS and there are changes to your flight itinerary, your tigerPLUS will automatically be transferred to your new itinerary.
• All tigerPLUS privileges will be accorded free of charge to passengers below the age of 2, if accompanied by an adult tigerPLUS passenger.
• tigerPLUS can be purchased at the service desk at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2, or  tigerairways.com

ABOUT TIGER AIRWAYS

Tiger Airways is one of Asia’s leading low cost carriers. The Company flew 99.99% of scheduled flights in 2012, and also took second spot in the Top 10 Airlines by Passenger Carriage Award, behind Singapore Airlines, in the 2012 Changi Airline Awards. It was also named the Top Airline by Growth in Passenger Carriage (Singapore) in the same year.

Established in September 2004, the Airline has steadily grown its fleet to 30 A320 aircraft with an average age of under three years. It has another two A319s and six A320s operated by associate airlines Mandala in Indonesia, and SEAir in the Philippines. Operating from Singapore and Australia, Tiger Airways’ network extends to over 30 destinations across 13 countries in the Asia Pacific region.

Tiger Airways is committed to offering customers great value fares and friendly service while maintaining the highest standards of safety, security and reliability. For more information, please visit www.tigerairways.com.

Nomination was open from 12 May and the voting phase just started. Is your secondary school among those nominated?

When I visited the voting page, Catholic High School has the HIGHEST number of likes now, leading far ahead of the rest:

Seriously?

Catholic High?

Skimpy green shorts and white top with shiny buttons?

Singaporeans, what are you thinking when you voted for Catholic High School as the secondary school with the coolest school uniform?

I think by “coolest”, omy.sg did not mean the skimpiest and the breeziest…

Anyway, voting is still ongoing and there is still time for you to help determine the eventual winning secondary school. Visit the official Campus Like website to cast your vote now.

Malaysians went to the polls on Sunday (May 5) to elect their government.

The ruling National Front coalition (or BN for Barisan Nasional) was returned to power, winning 133 of the 222 in parliamentary seats. The opposition won 89 seats, up from 82. Defeated opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim accused the ruling coalition of widespread fraud.

Najib celebrating his win (picture via omy.sg/ my paper)

Quite frankly, I have not been following the election closely. But through the past weeks of campaigning to the actual voting day and result announcement, I have been getting regular updates via Facebook and Twitter from many of my patriotic Malaysian friends.

Social media brought the news of the Malaysian election to me. I did not search for it or read about it because I flipped open a newspaper or visited an online news Web site.

Think about it: For big breaking news these days, was social media your first information source?

Granted, the shared articles on Facebook or Twitter probably originated from news content sites. But it is still significant to reckon your social circle of friends might determine what news and information you consume — and not the traditional media ombudsmen.

For news publishers, if readers are increasingly getting their news from social networks, is our brand deep enough to still occupy mind-share? Are our readers sharing and tweeting our news content to their friends? This is something to think about for the future of the newspaper business.

Back to the Malaysia election. There were many learning points for me on social media. Here are five key highlights:

• Video content viral well and very quickly. These might be even more effective in reaching out to a wired populace than TV appearances, given that online videos can be shared and re-shared repeatedly and across geography.

  An example is Bukit Bintang BN candidate Frankie Gan, who launched a series of self-starred music videos, hoping to impress voters with his karaoke talent. The video drew mixed responses, but mostly negative.

  As a foreigner, I was tickled enough by his video to re-share it on Facebook, even though I do not know where Bukit Bintang is or who Gan is competing against. He lost the election, by the way.

• Parodies come fast and furious. Many parody videos, images, and stories on “magic blackout” surfaced online within 24 hours of the results announcement. Opposition supporters have alleged that BN-tilted ballot boxes had magically appeared at several polling stations after experiencing blackouts.
• Online show of solidarity can be impressive and impactful. In protest of alleged election fraud by the ruling coalition, many of my Malaysian friends changed their Facebook profile pictures and header images into black boxes. As a foreigner, it is hard for me to not take notice when so many of my Facebook fans transformed into black boxes!
• Protest to reach the world and world leaders can be done online with minimal disturbance to the public, but can be just as effective in getting the message across.

  Many Malaysians took to commenting on the Facebook walls of other government leaders like U.S. President Barack Obama and my own prime minister, Lee Hsien Loong, to highlight their concerns on election frauds. The leaders might not reply to the comment, but others will still read, especially if the comments come in hundreds and thousands.

• Politics can be divisive on social media, but cohesive at the same time. I see Malaysian friends from both ends, each posting and re-posting content that is in favour of the party he or she supports. This is divisive.

  At the same time, genuine debates sometime surface in the comments. This is cohesive.

  Two friends might not share the same political view or support the same party, but at least there is a platform for them to hash out their differences in a civilised manner. They need not agree with each other at the end of the debate, but at least they have a better understanding of the point of view from the other side.

People everywhere

More fans…

And even more fans!

Near the stage area

Producer Neal Moritz

Gina Carano getting interviewed

Luke Evans greeting fans

Enthusiastic fans

Michelle and Luke on stage

Waiting for one more star to arrive

Look at the amount of people and press

The crowd going crazy as Vin Diesel walks in

Greeting fans as he walks in

Hello Manila!

Vin Diesel engaging with the cheering crowd

The pose looks menacing, but Vin was actually saying something friendly in tagalog

Big man

Four of the stars seated

The full cast present autographed on this car to be auctioned for charity

The atmosphere here is crazy! I have never attended a movie gala with so many people! Filipinos really love movie stars!

Spotted on the red carpet were lead actor Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Luke Evans and Gina Carano. Producer, Neal Moritz was present too.

All of them commented that this is one of most enthusiastic and biggest crowd they have seen for any Fast and Furious movie gala, with only a previous one in Rio de Janeiro coming close.

Click here to see all my event photos on my Facebook Page. 

Fast & Furious 6 will be showing in cinemas in Singapore from 23 May 2013 (next Thurs). Go catch it! I enjoyed the media preview.

I will be sitting through an interview with the cast and producer during noon. Let me know if you have any pressing questions to ask any of them and I will try to see if I can slip it in.