Sunday, December 12, 2010
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Jail for sex with teen hooker
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Singapore/Story/STIStory_314629.html
By Elena Chong COURT CORRESPONDENT
A RENOVATION contractor was sentenced to 12 months' jail on Monday for paying $100 to an underaged prostitute for sex.
Tan Chye Hin, 55, pleaded guilty to getting the services of the 16-year-old China prostitute in a Geylang hotel on Aug 4.
The father of three is appealing against the sentence. His $12,000 bail was upped by another $6,000.
Last month, the pimp who abetted him in the offence, Wang Minjiang, 36, was similarly jailed 12 months by the High Court after the prosecution appealed against his original fine of $8,000.
Both Wang and his nephew, Wang Youyi, 31, had been fined for offences under the Women's Charter.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Karen Ang Aiping had sought at least 12 months' jail for Tan.
It was clear, she said, that the primary reason for introducing new laws in the Penal Code was to afford protection to a group of minors aged below 18 from sexual exploitation.
The Senior Minister of State (Home Affairs) Ho Peng Kee said in Parliament it was necessary for Singapore to close ranks with other countries around the world to prevent sexual exploitation of minors.
The DPP said earlier that the Wangs gave food and lodging to the the victim, now 17, and another 19-year-old China girl, who came to Singapore to work as prostitutes.
They took the two girls to a Geylang coffeeshop to wait for customers to approach them.
At times, the Wangs would help the girls in negotiating the charges for sex. Customers were charged $80 to $100 for each booking.
The two men tried to boost their business by telling people that the younger victim was only 17 years old.
On Aug 4, Minjiang received a call from Tan who said he wanted to have sex with the younger girl.
Tan came and took the victim to a nearby hotel where he paid $100 to her for sex. He could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.
Third man also guilty
The third man involved in the commercial sex case for paying an underage prostitute for her services also pleaded guilty on Monday.
Rodney Sim Hang Nge, 61, an accountant, admitted to paying the 16-year-old girl, a Chinese national, $100 for sex at a hotel in Joo Chiat Road on Aug 3, and at another hotel two days later.
Last month Wang Minjiang, 36, became the first person to be jailed for 12 months for abetting Tan Chye Hin, 55, in commercial sex involving the same girl on Aug 4.
The High Court set aside his $8,000 fine and replaced it with a jail sentence, stating that 'a more rigorous sentence might be needed to discourage international prostitution involving persons the law regards as young and vulnerable''.
Tan, who pleaded guilty earlier in the same court and was sentenced to 12 months by District Judge Jeffrey Sim, is appealing against the sentence.
In Sim's case, Deputy Public Prosecutor Karen Ang Aiping said that the father of two was having coffee at a coffeeshop in Lorong 14 Geylang on the evening of Aug 3 when he saw the victim with Wang sitting at a table.
He smiled at the girl, who later signalled him over to her table.
When he asked how much she was charging for sex, Wang quoted $100.
Sim tried to bargain it down to $80 but was told by Wang that the girl had just arrived and was 'different'' from the other girls.
He agreed to pay her $100 for her services and drove her to the hotel in Joo Chiat where they had sex.
Two days later he contacted Wang and arranged to have sex again with the victim.
After sex, he bought her a pre-paid phone card and some fruit at her request. He also paid her $30.
His lawyer, Mr Shashi Nathan, will present a mitigation plea on his behalf on Jan 7.
By Elena Chong COURT CORRESPONDENT
A RENOVATION contractor was sentenced to 12 months' jail on Monday for paying $100 to an underaged prostitute for sex.
Tan Chye Hin, 55, pleaded guilty to getting the services of the 16-year-old China prostitute in a Geylang hotel on Aug 4.
The father of three is appealing against the sentence. His $12,000 bail was upped by another $6,000.
Last month, the pimp who abetted him in the offence, Wang Minjiang, 36, was similarly jailed 12 months by the High Court after the prosecution appealed against his original fine of $8,000.
Both Wang and his nephew, Wang Youyi, 31, had been fined for offences under the Women's Charter.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Karen Ang Aiping had sought at least 12 months' jail for Tan.
It was clear, she said, that the primary reason for introducing new laws in the Penal Code was to afford protection to a group of minors aged below 18 from sexual exploitation.
The Senior Minister of State (Home Affairs) Ho Peng Kee said in Parliament it was necessary for Singapore to close ranks with other countries around the world to prevent sexual exploitation of minors.
The DPP said earlier that the Wangs gave food and lodging to the the victim, now 17, and another 19-year-old China girl, who came to Singapore to work as prostitutes.
They took the two girls to a Geylang coffeeshop to wait for customers to approach them.
At times, the Wangs would help the girls in negotiating the charges for sex. Customers were charged $80 to $100 for each booking.
The two men tried to boost their business by telling people that the younger victim was only 17 years old.
On Aug 4, Minjiang received a call from Tan who said he wanted to have sex with the younger girl.
Tan came and took the victim to a nearby hotel where he paid $100 to her for sex. He could have been jailed for up to seven years and fined.
Third man also guilty
The third man involved in the commercial sex case for paying an underage prostitute for her services also pleaded guilty on Monday.
Rodney Sim Hang Nge, 61, an accountant, admitted to paying the 16-year-old girl, a Chinese national, $100 for sex at a hotel in Joo Chiat Road on Aug 3, and at another hotel two days later.
Last month Wang Minjiang, 36, became the first person to be jailed for 12 months for abetting Tan Chye Hin, 55, in commercial sex involving the same girl on Aug 4.
The High Court set aside his $8,000 fine and replaced it with a jail sentence, stating that 'a more rigorous sentence might be needed to discourage international prostitution involving persons the law regards as young and vulnerable''.
Tan, who pleaded guilty earlier in the same court and was sentenced to 12 months by District Judge Jeffrey Sim, is appealing against the sentence.
In Sim's case, Deputy Public Prosecutor Karen Ang Aiping said that the father of two was having coffee at a coffeeshop in Lorong 14 Geylang on the evening of Aug 3 when he saw the victim with Wang sitting at a table.
He smiled at the girl, who later signalled him over to her table.
When he asked how much she was charging for sex, Wang quoted $100.
Sim tried to bargain it down to $80 but was told by Wang that the girl had just arrived and was 'different'' from the other girls.
He agreed to pay her $100 for her services and drove her to the hotel in Joo Chiat where they had sex.
Two days later he contacted Wang and arranged to have sex again with the victim.
After sex, he bought her a pre-paid phone card and some fruit at her request. He also paid her $30.
His lawyer, Mr Shashi Nathan, will present a mitigation plea on his behalf on Jan 7.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Gene Therapy Shows Promise for Blocking HIV, Controlling AIDS
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-16/gene-therapy-shows-promise-for-blocking-hiv-controlling-aids-study-says.html
June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Two cutting-edge medical technologies, stem cell transplantation and gene therapy, were combined in an attack on the AIDS virus that may lead to new strategies for treating people infected with HIV.
Researchers at the City of Hope, a nonprofit research institute near Los Angeles, extracted stem cells from the blood of four people with AIDS-related lymphoma, a blood cancer, and modified some of them to carry anti-HIV genes. The altered cells were returned to the patients’ blood without harming them and remained there for two years, a sign that if given in greater number, they might be able to suppress the AIDS virus.
The results may help researchers hunting for ways to cure HIV patients or block the AIDS virus without putting people on toxic medicine for the rest of their lives. Potent antiviral drugs suppress the virus and allow those infected to live near- normal lives. Yet the medicines are unaffordable to millions in poor countries and cause side effects that may shorten the lives of people who use them.
“One of the problems with antiviral therapy is that it has almost led to the perception that HIV is cured and that’s not true,” said David Schaffer, a professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley, who co-directs the school’s stem cell center. “If you could develop a therapy to make HIV-proof blood cells, then you could create a true cure for HIV. This is a very promising clinical trial that takes us in that direction.”
Schaffer, who was not involved in the research, wrote a commentary accompanying the study. Both were published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Current Treatments
More than 34 million people worldwide are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and about 2 million lost their lives to AIDS in 2008, according to the World Health Organization, based in Geneva. Efforts to develop vaccines to prevent high- risk people from becoming infected have so far failed, leaving the drug cocktails made by companies led by Gilead Sciences Inc., based in Foster City, California, and London-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc as the method of treating people with HIV.
The City of Hope research builds on an experiment reported last year by a German doctor, Gero Hutter, in the only known case of an AIDS patient being cured. The patient, who had AIDS and leukemia, was given a stem-cell transplant from a donor whose rare gene variant caused his immune cells to lack a receptor called CCR5. Without this receptor, HIV can’t infect immune cells.
New Blood
Hutter’s patient had his blood-forming stem cells wiped out and replaced by those of the donor. The transplant rebuilt his blood system and cured his leukemia. His immune cells also became resistant to HIV, allowing him to stop the antiviral drugs he’d been taking for 10 years.
Three years after the transplant, the patient still has no detectable HIV, Hutter said in a June 5 interview.
The City of Hope researchers extracted patients’ blood- forming stem cells, genetically modified some of them and infused them back into the patients after first wiping out their bone marrow and blood system.
The modified cells were altered using a harmless virus to carry three different gene sequences into them. This triple- therapy approach was modeled on drug cocktails that attack HIV in multiple ways to overcome drug resistance, study leader John Rossi said in a June 14 telephone interview.
One of the molecules cuts the CCR5 sequence in an effort to bar the door to a cell and keep HIV from entering, the second squires away a protein that the virus uses to replicate and the third knocks out a key piece of genetic machinery that HIV needs to maintain itself, Rossi said.
Multiple Attacks
“The idea is to hit multiple sites of the virus with different types of gene therapy so resistance to one doesn’t make it resist others,” Rossi said. “The three work better than any two together.”
The transplant procedure is risky and was only attempted on HIV patients who needed it to treat their cancer. All four patients remain free of their lymphoma about two years after the treatment, Rossi said.
The number of gene-modified cells returned to the patients in the study was too small to cure or even improve their HIV infections, Rossi said. The next step is to replace a much larger portion of a patient’s stem cells with gene-modified cells and see if they can substantially reduce their HIV level.
Rossi and his colleagues also are exploring ways to alter the transplant procedure to make it less toxic. That may allow the procedure to be used on HIV patients who don’t have cancer.
The research was funded in part by Benitec Ltd., a Melbourne, Australia-based biotechnology company that developed one of the gene therapy treatments used in the trial.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Waters in San Francisco at rwaters5@bloomberg.net.
June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Two cutting-edge medical technologies, stem cell transplantation and gene therapy, were combined in an attack on the AIDS virus that may lead to new strategies for treating people infected with HIV.
Researchers at the City of Hope, a nonprofit research institute near Los Angeles, extracted stem cells from the blood of four people with AIDS-related lymphoma, a blood cancer, and modified some of them to carry anti-HIV genes. The altered cells were returned to the patients’ blood without harming them and remained there for two years, a sign that if given in greater number, they might be able to suppress the AIDS virus.
The results may help researchers hunting for ways to cure HIV patients or block the AIDS virus without putting people on toxic medicine for the rest of their lives. Potent antiviral drugs suppress the virus and allow those infected to live near- normal lives. Yet the medicines are unaffordable to millions in poor countries and cause side effects that may shorten the lives of people who use them.
“One of the problems with antiviral therapy is that it has almost led to the perception that HIV is cured and that’s not true,” said David Schaffer, a professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Berkeley, who co-directs the school’s stem cell center. “If you could develop a therapy to make HIV-proof blood cells, then you could create a true cure for HIV. This is a very promising clinical trial that takes us in that direction.”
Schaffer, who was not involved in the research, wrote a commentary accompanying the study. Both were published today in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
Current Treatments
More than 34 million people worldwide are infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and about 2 million lost their lives to AIDS in 2008, according to the World Health Organization, based in Geneva. Efforts to develop vaccines to prevent high- risk people from becoming infected have so far failed, leaving the drug cocktails made by companies led by Gilead Sciences Inc., based in Foster City, California, and London-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc as the method of treating people with HIV.
The City of Hope research builds on an experiment reported last year by a German doctor, Gero Hutter, in the only known case of an AIDS patient being cured. The patient, who had AIDS and leukemia, was given a stem-cell transplant from a donor whose rare gene variant caused his immune cells to lack a receptor called CCR5. Without this receptor, HIV can’t infect immune cells.
New Blood
Hutter’s patient had his blood-forming stem cells wiped out and replaced by those of the donor. The transplant rebuilt his blood system and cured his leukemia. His immune cells also became resistant to HIV, allowing him to stop the antiviral drugs he’d been taking for 10 years.
Three years after the transplant, the patient still has no detectable HIV, Hutter said in a June 5 interview.
The City of Hope researchers extracted patients’ blood- forming stem cells, genetically modified some of them and infused them back into the patients after first wiping out their bone marrow and blood system.
The modified cells were altered using a harmless virus to carry three different gene sequences into them. This triple- therapy approach was modeled on drug cocktails that attack HIV in multiple ways to overcome drug resistance, study leader John Rossi said in a June 14 telephone interview.
One of the molecules cuts the CCR5 sequence in an effort to bar the door to a cell and keep HIV from entering, the second squires away a protein that the virus uses to replicate and the third knocks out a key piece of genetic machinery that HIV needs to maintain itself, Rossi said.
Multiple Attacks
“The idea is to hit multiple sites of the virus with different types of gene therapy so resistance to one doesn’t make it resist others,” Rossi said. “The three work better than any two together.”
The transplant procedure is risky and was only attempted on HIV patients who needed it to treat their cancer. All four patients remain free of their lymphoma about two years after the treatment, Rossi said.
The number of gene-modified cells returned to the patients in the study was too small to cure or even improve their HIV infections, Rossi said. The next step is to replace a much larger portion of a patient’s stem cells with gene-modified cells and see if they can substantially reduce their HIV level.
Rossi and his colleagues also are exploring ways to alter the transplant procedure to make it less toxic. That may allow the procedure to be used on HIV patients who don’t have cancer.
The research was funded in part by Benitec Ltd., a Melbourne, Australia-based biotechnology company that developed one of the gene therapy treatments used in the trial.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rob Waters in San Francisco at rwaters5@bloomberg.net.
A breast massage to remove toxins
http://www.divaasia.com/article/10057
Can wearing a bra cause you to get cancer?
A 1995 study conducted on 4,700 women suggested that wearing tight bras for a longer period of time can increase your risk of breast cancer.
This is because the breasts have arteries, veins and lymphatic vessels which carry blood and waste matter. Any constriction on the lymphatic system which is passive (meaning it does not have an internal pressure to pump fluids around it), can close the tiny lymphatic vessels down, inhibiting lymph flow and lead to fluid accumulation.
According to Dr Kelvin Chua, medical director of Dr Kelvin Chua, the most effective form of breast massage, is the one which aids in draining and removing toxin.
The therapist pays special attention to the direction of the lymphatic drainage system, while the pressure and strokes are also very important as it must be applied with the right pressure in order to drain the toxins without stimulating the nipple that may then cause ductal production/secretion.
Dr Chua will first personally assess the condition of the breasts, before the therapy is administered by a female therapist. They are trained in delivering strokes based on Dr Vodder’s MLD massage to ensure that toxins are properly drained via the lymphatics.
A cream for lubrication is also used to enhance the flow and experience of the massage. Beginning with a general upper chest massage stroke to relieve tension, certain accupoints are then pressed and massaged to further relieve the tension of the pectoral muscles.
Next, the massage is generally done in an anti-clockwise motion to promote maximum lymphatic drainage. The strokes are done in a circular anti-clockwise motion, starting from the base of the breast.
An hour long session costs S$68 at the SkinLab Medical Spa, Wheelock Place.
by Cynthia Loh
Can wearing a bra cause you to get cancer?
A 1995 study conducted on 4,700 women suggested that wearing tight bras for a longer period of time can increase your risk of breast cancer.
This is because the breasts have arteries, veins and lymphatic vessels which carry blood and waste matter. Any constriction on the lymphatic system which is passive (meaning it does not have an internal pressure to pump fluids around it), can close the tiny lymphatic vessels down, inhibiting lymph flow and lead to fluid accumulation.
According to Dr Kelvin Chua, medical director of Dr Kelvin Chua, the most effective form of breast massage, is the one which aids in draining and removing toxin.
The therapist pays special attention to the direction of the lymphatic drainage system, while the pressure and strokes are also very important as it must be applied with the right pressure in order to drain the toxins without stimulating the nipple that may then cause ductal production/secretion.
Dr Chua will first personally assess the condition of the breasts, before the therapy is administered by a female therapist. They are trained in delivering strokes based on Dr Vodder’s MLD massage to ensure that toxins are properly drained via the lymphatics.
A cream for lubrication is also used to enhance the flow and experience of the massage. Beginning with a general upper chest massage stroke to relieve tension, certain accupoints are then pressed and massaged to further relieve the tension of the pectoral muscles.
Next, the massage is generally done in an anti-clockwise motion to promote maximum lymphatic drainage. The strokes are done in a circular anti-clockwise motion, starting from the base of the breast.
An hour long session costs S$68 at the SkinLab Medical Spa, Wheelock Place.
by Cynthia Loh
Porn in your mobile phone? It's an offence
http://thecourtroom.stomp.com.sg/stomp/courtroom/case_of_the_day/450936/porn_in_your_mobile_phone_its_an_offence.html
09 Sep 2010
SOURCE: The New Paper
Having obscene DVDs in your possession is an offence – people know that.
But what about having an obscene film in your mobile phone, laptop or iPad even? Answer: It is still an offence.
The court was told that Tan Hiap Hua, 49, had been taken to the lock-up at the Police Cantonment complex on Feb 10 this year as he was under investigation for other offences.
Police officer Wong Pang Wai was interviewing him then and took his mobile phone from him.
On checking Tan’s mobile phone, the officer found 38 obscene video clips on the phone and seized it.
The video clips were transferred to a CD-ROM and sent to the Board of Film Censors for analysis. The board later confirmed that the films were obscene.
Tan admitted to possessing the obscene films and acknowledged that he knew it was an offence.
In his mitigation, his lawyer, Mr Tan Hsuan Boon, said that Tan had downloaded the 38 obscene films from the Internet onto his mobile phone for his private viewing.
Tanwas sentenced to three months’ jail.
Primary concern – public
In sentencing, district judge Liew Thiam Leng said that the primary concern in sentencing for such cases was the protection of the public.
The type of sentence will depend on the circumstances, the quality, quantity and the nature of the films and whether there is any element of commercial gain.
Said the judge: “A non-custodial sentence is reserved for isolated offences where the number of films are small (usually less than 20), and it is for personal use, where there is no commercial element and the accused has pleaded guiltyand is a first offender.”
Tan was found with 38 such clips, which the court noted was a large number. And it was also unusual to store so many on a mobile phone for private viewing.
The court also noted that Tan had a long list of antecedents which included possession of obscene films, theft, cheating, housebreaking as well as a series of traffic offences.
Added the judge: “It is clear that the accused is still committing offences despite having gone through corrective training for five years.
“The court took into consideration that the accused had a total of 38 obscene films in his possession, as well as his previous antecedents.”
For possession of obscene films under the Film Act, Tan could have been fined upto $500 for each film and jailed six months.
Tanis appealing against his jail sentence.
09 Sep 2010
SOURCE: The New Paper
Having obscene DVDs in your possession is an offence – people know that.
But what about having an obscene film in your mobile phone, laptop or iPad even? Answer: It is still an offence.
The court was told that Tan Hiap Hua, 49, had been taken to the lock-up at the Police Cantonment complex on Feb 10 this year as he was under investigation for other offences.
Police officer Wong Pang Wai was interviewing him then and took his mobile phone from him.
On checking Tan’s mobile phone, the officer found 38 obscene video clips on the phone and seized it.
The video clips were transferred to a CD-ROM and sent to the Board of Film Censors for analysis. The board later confirmed that the films were obscene.
Tan admitted to possessing the obscene films and acknowledged that he knew it was an offence.
In his mitigation, his lawyer, Mr Tan Hsuan Boon, said that Tan had downloaded the 38 obscene films from the Internet onto his mobile phone for his private viewing.
Tanwas sentenced to three months’ jail.
Primary concern – public
In sentencing, district judge Liew Thiam Leng said that the primary concern in sentencing for such cases was the protection of the public.
The type of sentence will depend on the circumstances, the quality, quantity and the nature of the films and whether there is any element of commercial gain.
Said the judge: “A non-custodial sentence is reserved for isolated offences where the number of films are small (usually less than 20), and it is for personal use, where there is no commercial element and the accused has pleaded guiltyand is a first offender.”
Tan was found with 38 such clips, which the court noted was a large number. And it was also unusual to store so many on a mobile phone for private viewing.
The court also noted that Tan had a long list of antecedents which included possession of obscene films, theft, cheating, housebreaking as well as a series of traffic offences.
Added the judge: “It is clear that the accused is still committing offences despite having gone through corrective training for five years.
“The court took into consideration that the accused had a total of 38 obscene films in his possession, as well as his previous antecedents.”
For possession of obscene films under the Film Act, Tan could have been fined upto $500 for each film and jailed six months.
Tanis appealing against his jail sentence.
9,000 free condom vending machines set up in Shanghai
Hong Kong Herald
Saturday 4th September, 2010
(IANS)
Shanghai residents, including students and migrant workers, will now be provided free condoms through more than 9,000 vending machines to be set up across this business capital of China.
Condom vending machines will be put up in dormitory buildings, restrooms and laundries 'where students can help themselves', officials from the city's family planning service said, according to Shanghai Daily.
Local residents can get free condoms at over 9,000 sites across the city, including residential buildings, officials said.
Tang Wenjuan, an official with the Shanghai Health Bureau, said they decided to offer free condoms to meet students' needs and promote safe sex.
Tang, however, said: 'The condoms bought from vending machines (outside the campus) are of a better quality than the free ones, and students can choose themselves.'
Over the past 10 years, the city administration had put up around 3,000 vending machines in the streets to sell condoms at 1 yuan (15 cents) each. But now, many of the machines are broken and covered with rust, and not many people use them, he said.
The administration has also set up over 3,600 condom outlets in areas having high concentration of migrant workers for distributing free contraceptives.
Condoms and other contraceptives were previously given free only to local people holding a permanent residency permit. Migrant workers had to purchase them either at stores or from condom vending machines installed in the city's streets, China Daily reported Saturday.
Over the past two years, officials have tried to make them more available in areas having migrant communities - like construction sites and railway stations - in an effort to combat HIV/AIDS, said an official at a condom distribution centre, which also dispenses contraceptive pills.
'As a result of the campaign, the number of free contraceptives used by migrant workers has surpassed that of locals,' the official said.
Migrant workers were, however, unsure about the campaign.
Zhu Aiqin, 27, from Anhui province, who works at a local restaurant, said she would not use free condoms, since she could not be sure of their quality, while Xing Dongwei, a 23-year-old security guard, said he would rather purchase them from stores for convenience and to protect his privacy.
Saturday 4th September, 2010
(IANS)
Shanghai residents, including students and migrant workers, will now be provided free condoms through more than 9,000 vending machines to be set up across this business capital of China.
Condom vending machines will be put up in dormitory buildings, restrooms and laundries 'where students can help themselves', officials from the city's family planning service said, according to Shanghai Daily.
Local residents can get free condoms at over 9,000 sites across the city, including residential buildings, officials said.
Tang Wenjuan, an official with the Shanghai Health Bureau, said they decided to offer free condoms to meet students' needs and promote safe sex.
Tang, however, said: 'The condoms bought from vending machines (outside the campus) are of a better quality than the free ones, and students can choose themselves.'
Over the past 10 years, the city administration had put up around 3,000 vending machines in the streets to sell condoms at 1 yuan (15 cents) each. But now, many of the machines are broken and covered with rust, and not many people use them, he said.
The administration has also set up over 3,600 condom outlets in areas having high concentration of migrant workers for distributing free contraceptives.
Condoms and other contraceptives were previously given free only to local people holding a permanent residency permit. Migrant workers had to purchase them either at stores or from condom vending machines installed in the city's streets, China Daily reported Saturday.
Over the past two years, officials have tried to make them more available in areas having migrant communities - like construction sites and railway stations - in an effort to combat HIV/AIDS, said an official at a condom distribution centre, which also dispenses contraceptive pills.
'As a result of the campaign, the number of free contraceptives used by migrant workers has surpassed that of locals,' the official said.
Migrant workers were, however, unsure about the campaign.
Zhu Aiqin, 27, from Anhui province, who works at a local restaurant, said she would not use free condoms, since she could not be sure of their quality, while Xing Dongwei, a 23-year-old security guard, said he would rather purchase them from stores for convenience and to protect his privacy.
The 106-year-old virgin
http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/3124756/Isa-Blyth-is-the-106-year-old-virgin.html
SPRIGHTLY Isa Blyth will celebrate turning 106 today - and puts her amazing age down to being a VIRGIN.
Isa has never even been KISSED and thinks staying single has made her stay strong.
Last night her niece Sheena Campbell, 67, said: "I'm not sure if anyone ever tried it on - but they never got anywhere! She says she never felt the need for romance and never had time for a man.
"She did like the odd sherry though."
Isa, born in 1904, instead kept herself busy going to flower club and church, singing in the choir, and playing golf or gardening.
She's always lived in Edinburgh and worked for 35 years as a private secretary at whisky producer North British Distilleries in the city.
Sheena said: "She was wrapped up in her church and she loved her choir and flower club.
"And she had a high-powered job, which meant she was always busy.
"I think she was also a bit of a maiden lady as she was the first-born and acted as a head with her six brothers and sisters.
"She never had time to be sad. She's an amazing character. You wouldn't believe she was 106."
Isa will celebrate her birthday with a cake and champagne at the care home where she lives.
SPRIGHTLY Isa Blyth will celebrate turning 106 today - and puts her amazing age down to being a VIRGIN.
Isa has never even been KISSED and thinks staying single has made her stay strong.
Last night her niece Sheena Campbell, 67, said: "I'm not sure if anyone ever tried it on - but they never got anywhere! She says she never felt the need for romance and never had time for a man.
"She did like the odd sherry though."
Isa, born in 1904, instead kept herself busy going to flower club and church, singing in the choir, and playing golf or gardening.
She's always lived in Edinburgh and worked for 35 years as a private secretary at whisky producer North British Distilleries in the city.
Sheena said: "She was wrapped up in her church and she loved her choir and flower club.
"And she had a high-powered job, which meant she was always busy.
"I think she was also a bit of a maiden lady as she was the first-born and acted as a head with her six brothers and sisters.
"She never had time to be sad. She's an amazing character. You wouldn't believe she was 106."
Isa will celebrate her birthday with a cake and champagne at the care home where she lives.
8-kg breasts weighing down 16-year-old girl
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90782/7091554.html
Xiaowei, a 16-year-old girl, used to be a happy and vivacious junior school student. Unfortunately, everything has been changed since she got macromastia, a rare condition where both breast grow to an abnormally large size. She became sensitive and antisocial.
Xiaowei found something wrong with her breasts in July 2009. However, she kept it secret until September 2009 when her elder sister found that Xiaowei's breasts sagged to her bellybutton. The 8-kilogram breasts have made the thin girl exhausted.
The reports on this unfortunate girl covered by various media have caught Chinese society's attention. Hainan Women & Infants Hospital decided to give Xiaowei free treatment.
A surgery to reduce her breast size will be conducted on Aug. 4. If it is successful, Xiaowei will return to a normal life soon.
Hinews.cn contributes to this story.
Bananas could be key to stopping spread of Aids, say scientists
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1258144/Bananas-key-stopping-spread-Aids.html
Bananas may hold the key to powerful new treatments that protect against the Aids virus.
In laboratory tests, scientists found that a banana ingredient called BanLec was as potent as two existing anti-HIV drugs.
They believe cheap therapies based on BanLec have the potential to save millions of lives.
The ingredient is a lectin, a naturally occurring chemical in plants that fights infection.
Researchers in the U.S. found that the lectin found in bananas can inhibit HIV infection by blocking the virus's entry into the body. BanLec acts on the protein 'envelope' that encloses HIV's genetic material.
Lead author Michael Swanson, from the University of Michigan, said: 'The problem with some HIV drugs is that the virus can mutate and become resistant, but that's much harder to do in the presence of lectins.
'Lectins can bind to the sugars found on different spots of the HIV-1 envelope, and presumably it will take multiple mutations for the virus to get around them.'
The research is reported in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
BanLec was as effective in the laboratory as two anti-HIV drugs now in use, T-20 and maraviroc, the scientists found.
Mr Swanson is developing a process to alter BanLec and make it suitable for human patients.
The researchers believe it could be used alone or in conjunction with other anti-HIV drugs.
Even modest success could potentially save millions of lives around the world, they claim.
Currently new HIV infections are outstripping the rate at which new patients receive anti-HIV drugs by 2.5 to one, say the authors.
Professor David Marvovits, from the University of Michigan Medical School, said: 'HIV is still rampant in the US and the explosion in poorer countries continues to be a bad problem because of tremendous human suffering and the cost of treating it.'
Bananas may hold the key to powerful new treatments that protect against the Aids virus.
In laboratory tests, scientists found that a banana ingredient called BanLec was as potent as two existing anti-HIV drugs.
They believe cheap therapies based on BanLec have the potential to save millions of lives.
The ingredient is a lectin, a naturally occurring chemical in plants that fights infection.
Researchers in the U.S. found that the lectin found in bananas can inhibit HIV infection by blocking the virus's entry into the body. BanLec acts on the protein 'envelope' that encloses HIV's genetic material.
Lead author Michael Swanson, from the University of Michigan, said: 'The problem with some HIV drugs is that the virus can mutate and become resistant, but that's much harder to do in the presence of lectins.
'Lectins can bind to the sugars found on different spots of the HIV-1 envelope, and presumably it will take multiple mutations for the virus to get around them.'
The research is reported in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
BanLec was as effective in the laboratory as two anti-HIV drugs now in use, T-20 and maraviroc, the scientists found.
Mr Swanson is developing a process to alter BanLec and make it suitable for human patients.
The researchers believe it could be used alone or in conjunction with other anti-HIV drugs.
Even modest success could potentially save millions of lives around the world, they claim.
Currently new HIV infections are outstripping the rate at which new patients receive anti-HIV drugs by 2.5 to one, say the authors.
Professor David Marvovits, from the University of Michigan Medical School, said: 'HIV is still rampant in the US and the explosion in poorer countries continues to be a bad problem because of tremendous human suffering and the cost of treating it.'
Woman in China stops cars and collects toll...in her bra
A woman was seen stopping vehicles and collecting a toll from the drivers on North Street in Xian City, China, wearing only her bra.
STOMPer aBraCadeBra, who came across the photos online, said:
"This woman, clad in a bra, stopped cars on North Street in Xian City and demanded toll from the drivers.
"The woman, who seemed to be between 30 and 40 years old, was seen with a towel over her head. Some drivers speculated it was because of the hot weather (45 degrees Celsius).
"The woman would read out the vehicle numbers, then knocking onto the side mirror of the cars and demanding they paid toll. She was also seen skilfully directing traffic.
"When one woman driver refused to pay the toll, she went on top of her car and stepped on her windscreen with her stilettoes, cracking the glass.
"After jumping down from the car, she also used her high heeled shoe to beat on the left-hand side of the Black Honda.
"The female driver was so terrified that she hid behind the driver's seat.
"Are their toll collectors there that vicious and scary? This is rather violent!
"I'm glad we only have to face the ERP here."
Singapore's 'Edison Chen' arrested
http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Crime/Story/A1Story20101026-244319.html
The man who uploaded video clips of his numerous sexual encounters has been arrested. He previously identified himself as "Gary Ng",
Police have confirmed the arrest of an unemployed 28-year-old Chinese man, but is currently out on bail and is due to be charged soon.
Police said women had come forward and made police reports, saying they had been cheated of money by this man. However, the cheating accusations are still not clear.
He had uploaded explicit home-made sex videos onto his blog and online forums. He allegedly posted videos of as many as 22 different women. These postings have since been removed.
According to Shin Min Wanbao, this man had uploaded 33 short clips. Each video was 10 to 30 seconds of his sexual encounters.
The videos were taken from various angles, including high angle shots and close-up shots. It is reported that the women in these videos were willing parties.
His exploits earned him the nickname, "Singapore's Edison Chen" with netizens - a reference to the Hong Kong actor whose sex pictures with various stars were stolen from his computer and widely circulated.
Some of the women linked to him include beer girls, friends' nieces, university students, trainee nurses and neighbours' daughters.
He also claimed to have sex with a mother and her daughter on two different occasions.
The man who uploaded video clips of his numerous sexual encounters has been arrested. He previously identified himself as "Gary Ng",
Police have confirmed the arrest of an unemployed 28-year-old Chinese man, but is currently out on bail and is due to be charged soon.
Police said women had come forward and made police reports, saying they had been cheated of money by this man. However, the cheating accusations are still not clear.
He had uploaded explicit home-made sex videos onto his blog and online forums. He allegedly posted videos of as many as 22 different women. These postings have since been removed.
According to Shin Min Wanbao, this man had uploaded 33 short clips. Each video was 10 to 30 seconds of his sexual encounters.
The videos were taken from various angles, including high angle shots and close-up shots. It is reported that the women in these videos were willing parties.
His exploits earned him the nickname, "Singapore's Edison Chen" with netizens - a reference to the Hong Kong actor whose sex pictures with various stars were stolen from his computer and widely circulated.
Some of the women linked to him include beer girls, friends' nieces, university students, trainee nurses and neighbours' daughters.
He also claimed to have sex with a mother and her daughter on two different occasions.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Swingers swap sex partners in prudish Singapore
Saturday, 25 November , 2006, 11:37
Singapore: Every two months, dozens of couples meet in a pub in Singapore, have drinks, mingle, and then decide whether they want to sleep with one another.
In Sydney or Seattle nobody would bat an eyelid, but the couples are part of a thriving underground swinging scene that is an anomaly for a country where oral sex is illegal and Playboy magazine is banned.
There are more than 10 swingers clubs in Singapore, most of them private, some of them online. With more than 6,000 members, the web-based United SG Swingers is one of the biggest.
"There are a lot more people that are open to the idea. It's so widespread now," said a 42-year-old Singaporean company executive who only wanted to be identified as Jack.
"Swinging is all about sex. It's satisfying the urge to have casual sex and doing it with somebody you're comfortable with," said Jack, who has been swinging for 10 years.
For all their enthusiasm, few swingers tell family and friends about their lifestyle, although the practice is not illegal in Singapore.
"In Singapore, most people will perceive us as perverts," said a 39-year-old publisher who has been swinging for five years. "Look at our government policies, they say: 'Let's open up.' But our policies have always remained very conservative."
Wealthy Singapore, which has consistently ranked near the bottom in a global survey of sexually active nations, has been struggling to shake off its reputation for prudishness.
On Friday, it opened Sexpo 2006, the country's second sex exhibition, featuring an array of toys and seminars.
At United SG Swingers, people share erotic photographs, exchange personal ads and correspond about the next gathering. It is a close-knit community in which couples recommend good sex partners and criticise those who aren't.
A police spokesman confirmed that swinging is not illegal as long as it is done behind closed doors, is consensual and no money changes hands.
This year, the organisers of United SG Swingers started holding "on premise" parties, where couples can engage in group sex in houses and hotel rooms across Singapore. At these parties, the bedrooms have a strict clothes-off rule and the "hard swingers" can engage in partner swapping. The "soft swingers" are couples who stand around and watch, or have sex with their own partners in full view of others.
Couples who swing say that seeing their own partners in action keeps their passion burning.
"It's like looking at cake and wanting to eat it," said the main organiser of United SG Swingers, 37-year-old IT specialist Josh, as his 32-year-old wife nodded in agreement. But some swingers disapprove of these parties, saying they can degenerate into orgies. "You can't establish pure friendships when there's a large group," said Ishak.
"Genuine swingers would want to establish trust -- you can't trust a person just by meeting them one time and then think they can do it with your wife."
A 34-year-old Australian who attends swinging parties told Reuters that Singapore's scene is just evolving.
"It's very innocuous here, it's not like other countries," he said. "Compared to Australia and Europe, it's more discreet and less lively. Singaporeans are pretty reserved in a lot of ways."
Source: http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14337764
Singapore: Every two months, dozens of couples meet in a pub in Singapore, have drinks, mingle, and then decide whether they want to sleep with one another.
In Sydney or Seattle nobody would bat an eyelid, but the couples are part of a thriving underground swinging scene that is an anomaly for a country where oral sex is illegal and Playboy magazine is banned.
There are more than 10 swingers clubs in Singapore, most of them private, some of them online. With more than 6,000 members, the web-based United SG Swingers is one of the biggest.
"There are a lot more people that are open to the idea. It's so widespread now," said a 42-year-old Singaporean company executive who only wanted to be identified as Jack.
"Swinging is all about sex. It's satisfying the urge to have casual sex and doing it with somebody you're comfortable with," said Jack, who has been swinging for 10 years.
For all their enthusiasm, few swingers tell family and friends about their lifestyle, although the practice is not illegal in Singapore.
"In Singapore, most people will perceive us as perverts," said a 39-year-old publisher who has been swinging for five years. "Look at our government policies, they say: 'Let's open up.' But our policies have always remained very conservative."
Wealthy Singapore, which has consistently ranked near the bottom in a global survey of sexually active nations, has been struggling to shake off its reputation for prudishness.
On Friday, it opened Sexpo 2006, the country's second sex exhibition, featuring an array of toys and seminars.
At United SG Swingers, people share erotic photographs, exchange personal ads and correspond about the next gathering. It is a close-knit community in which couples recommend good sex partners and criticise those who aren't.
A police spokesman confirmed that swinging is not illegal as long as it is done behind closed doors, is consensual and no money changes hands.
This year, the organisers of United SG Swingers started holding "on premise" parties, where couples can engage in group sex in houses and hotel rooms across Singapore. At these parties, the bedrooms have a strict clothes-off rule and the "hard swingers" can engage in partner swapping. The "soft swingers" are couples who stand around and watch, or have sex with their own partners in full view of others.
Couples who swing say that seeing their own partners in action keeps their passion burning.
"It's like looking at cake and wanting to eat it," said the main organiser of United SG Swingers, 37-year-old IT specialist Josh, as his 32-year-old wife nodded in agreement. But some swingers disapprove of these parties, saying they can degenerate into orgies. "You can't establish pure friendships when there's a large group," said Ishak.
"Genuine swingers would want to establish trust -- you can't trust a person just by meeting them one time and then think they can do it with your wife."
A 34-year-old Australian who attends swinging parties told Reuters that Singapore's scene is just evolving.
"It's very innocuous here, it's not like other countries," he said. "Compared to Australia and Europe, it's more discreet and less lively. Singaporeans are pretty reserved in a lot of ways."
Source: http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14337764
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