Videos
Deborah Jeanne Wong
TV reporter, travel writer and photographer
Singapore
TV reporter at Channel NewsAsia. Previously at AsiaOne, SPH, SAFRA Radio, Asian Geographic and Cosmone. Email for more enquiries: [email protected]
Singapore
TV reporter at Channel NewsAsia. Previously at AsiaOne, SPH, SAFRA Radio, Asian Geographic and Cosmone. Email for more enquiries: [email protected]
Videos
Two new international schools that cater to families on a tighter budget have opened for enrolment, in response to growing demand from increasingly cost-conscious expatriates.
The experience of two Singaporean trekkers who went missing on Monday (Feb 5) while on a trek in Johor Baru's Gunung Pulai forest reserve has brought into focus the risks involved in such adventurous activities. Channel NewsAsia spoke to two other experienced hikers, who imparted some survival tips.
Some students are finding career opportunity in places others shy away from, such as funeral homes and the wet market.
SINGAPORE: Her voice was unwavering and confident, but the dim orange glow of the street lamps did nothing to mask the nervous twitch of her fingers. "To be called a devil, and for no reason..." she trailed off, suddenly unable to find the right words to express an enduring hurt.
There are currently close to 500 Allied Educators with roles in learning and behavioural support. The Education Ministry says this figure is set to rise as more special educational needs (SEN) students join mainstream schools.
Community Features
SINGAPORE: Growing up, Ryan Tan never thought he amounted to much. He flunked almost every test paper in primary school and used to lash out at classmates in frustration. "I thought I was just not good at passing and that made me very angry.
SINGAPORE: It is midnight, but the Jurong Fishery Port is just coming to life. Fishermen haul their day's catch from the port, while sweaty workers lug crates of Chinese pomfrets, red snappers and mussels across the sodden floor. Mr Chee Jone Lum, decked out in a pair of rubber boots and blue polo tee, is right in the thick of it.
SINGAPORE - Forest fires in Indonesia have raged for close to two months now and the economic costs are staggering to the archipelago.
In a cruel twist of fate, two brothers who were former officers from the forces and fitness enthusiasts, were diagnosed with Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, a rare neurological condition that affects their mobility. AsiaOne speaks to the pair to find out about their struggles, love for fitness, and staying tough despite all odds.
Paradise lost.Those two words resonated in every photo of devastation that flooded media reports after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck Nepal.We watched videos of heritage towers collapsing on hundreds of people while shanty houses crumbled like dominoes.Yet within a week, the Nepalis were digging through the rubble, finding and burying their dead, uncovering foundations to rebuild their homes.
SINGAPORE - He has slept in squalid refugee tents, been struck by a rock in a riot and tried to smuggle himself into a detention centre.One thing's for sure though, if undergraduate Arif Nurhakim could choose to do it all over again, he would."I look out for stories when I travel.
News
SINGAPORE: Two new international schools that cater to families on a tighter budget have opened for enrolment, in response to growing demand from increasingly cost-conscious expatriates. Launched by the EtonHouse International Education Group, Middleton International School (MIS) will begin classes at its second campus in Tampines in May.
SINGAPORE: Nyana Priya is effectively bilingual and is studying to become a Tamil language pre-school teacher. But the 24-year-old wasn't always so confident in her use of Mother Tongue. Her own pre-school did not offer Tamil classes due to a lack of teachers - which meant Ms Priya had to choose between Mandarin and Malay for her second language.
SINGAPORE: These days, starting a business while still in school is not such an unattainable goal. Most tertiary institutes in Singapore have their own Innovation and Enterprise Offices (IEOs) to support students who want to get started early. These IEOs provide training and immersion programmes such as hackathons to foster entrepreneurial intent.
SINGAPORE - Permanent residency (PR) in Singapore can be rescinded at any time should persons holding the status be found a security threat or have criminal records. The case of former tour guide Yang Yin, who was found guilty of misappropriating $1.1 million from a Singaporean widow, has thrust the strict guidelines of PR eligibility into the limelight.
SINGAPORE - Five years after SMRT Bishan Depot was broken into and vandalised, footage of the crime has surfaced on Facebook. The vandals who broke into SMRT's Bishan Depot in 2011 have been identified as two graffiti artists from America, Jim Harper and Danielle Bremner, who go by the monikers Utah and Ether respectively.
SINGAPORE - As much as travelling is about leaving worldly worries behind, it helps to know a thing or two about the politics of the region you're visiting.Take for example Brexit.
SINGAPORE - Fort Canning has been listed as one of 165 global meeting spots in 43 countries for an "international meet-up" day organised by a controversial American pick-up artist and pro-rape advocate.The organiser of this Saturday's (Feb 6) event, American Daryush Valizadeh, is also known as Roosh V, and is behind a blog called Return Of Kings (ROK) which claims to be for "heterosexual, masculine men" who believe that "men should be masculine and women should be feminine".Valizadeh himself...
SINGAPORE - Cracked and slanted walls, burst water pipes and front gates that are unable to properly shut.These are some of the issues that residents at a stretch of terrace houses in Duchess Road in Bukit Timah have had to live with for the last five years.And for the most part, their repeated attempts at seeking redress have still left them in limbo.
A web special bringing to you a live blog, all the election news, an interactive electoral map, and a daily GE Digest.
Commentaries
AsiaOne | Deborah Wong | Wednesday, Dec 30, 2015 SINGAPORE - Would a rose by any other name still smell as sweet? Not if you live in the sunny island of Singapore, no. Just last week a woman snagged $1,000 for renaming Compass Point "1 Sengkang Mall" - sparking off instant ridicule online for its apparent lack of creativity.
A photo of a diver swimming next to a Great White Shark has circulated around the Internet for a couple of years, with the caption: "This is the most dangerous animal in the world. It is responsible for millions of deaths every year. By its side, a great white shark swims peacefully."
Business
SINGAPORE - The word on everybody's lips these days seem to be BTO, short for build-to-order flat. It's so popular that the phrase most commonly used in marriage proposals has evolved from "Want to buy a HDB with me?" to "Shall we apply for BTO?".
SINGAPORE - As the demographic of social media users vary across regions, so do their consumer behaviour. Yet one thing is for sure. With the digital world surging into its prime, businesses and marketers must understand that all eyes are on the cyber arena, to stay competitive in this rat race.
SINGAPORE - He calls himself a permanent part-timer.That is because Mr Alvin Lee has dabbled in odd jobs since the 1970s even though he has already built up a successful corporate training business.And at 58, he shows no signs of slowing down.The founder of Castles Can Fly feels no need for the extra income now that his business is well-established, but he still finds it rewarding to milk the value out of each short-term stint.
Lured by the prospect of being their own boss, more young Singaporeans are venturing off the beaten path to set up their own companies. If that isn't unconventional enough, some have even taken the plunge to enter niche markets. Since 2014 was the year of cafes and blogshops, 2015 looks set to be the year start-ups venture into niche markets.
Lured by the prospect of being their own boss, more young Singaporeans are venturing off the beaten path to set up their own companies. If that isn't unconventional enough, some have even taken the plunge to enter niche markets. Since 2014 was the year of cafes and blogshops, 2015 looks set to be the year start-ups venture into niche markets.
Lured by the prospect of being their own boss, more young Singaporeans are venturing off the beaten path to set up their own companies. If that isn't unconventional enough, some have even taken the plunge to enter niche markets. Since 2014 was the year of cafes and blogshops, 2015 looks set to be the year start-ups venture into niche markets.
Career expectations often don't pan out as ideally as employees hope they would when they first join a firm. Recruitment agency, Kelly Services, revealed that firms have difficulty meeting the expectations of fresh candidates from the get go. The Kelly Global Workforce Index (KGWI) surveyed approximately 230,000 people across 31countries in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific regions.
SINGAPORE - Adulthood hails the onset of financial independence, which many in their 20s are nervous about. Rightly so, seeing that Singapore's financial literacy has dipped in recent years. Mastercard found that Singapore has fallen to sixth place for financial literacy, making it the largest decline out of 16 Asia Pacific markets.
SINGAPORE -The latest Salary Trends survey by ECA International shows an average of 4.5 per cent salary increment in 2015 for Singapore, making it the third lowest pay rise in the Asia Pacific region after Taiwan and Japan. The report covers findings from 340 multinational companies across 66 countries and regions.
Lifestyle
If you are a curious backpacker, a budget traveller or someone who simply has a lot of time at your disposal, crossing countries overland is a viable option to exploring the raw, unfiltered side of Southeast Asia. Best of all, it's a cheaper alternative to paying for a budget or a full flight air ticket.
Bored of your regular workout?Imagine doing complicated somersaults and flips or even dangling from suspension rings - not an impossibility at new acrobatics fitness facility, The Yard.Nestled right across Jurong Country Club, the spacious 20,000 sq ft fitness spot - about one-third the size of a football field, is located just a 10-minute walk from Jurong East Interchange.
SINGAPORE - Nothing stands still at the dead of night.Especially if you're braving the dark trails of Haw Par Villa minutes before midnight."If anything happens, keep the cameras rolling.
SINGAPORE - It was a cosy Christmas season for Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his wife Ho Ching, as they took time off managing state affairs for some down time in Seoul last December.Of course they never really went off-the-grid; peppering their social media accounts with snippets of their travel shots.
Touching down in Vietnam's Phu Quoc island brought a huge wave of dejavu.It was almost as if the short 40-minute flight from Ho Chi Minh City to this relatively unknown island had transported me back to many of my earlier jaunts to beach getaways such as Bintan, Krabi or even the Gili Islands.With newly-tarred roads, a four-year-old international airport and the skeletal scaffoldings of new hotels, the island looked set to be as promising as its regional counterparts.
Living in Singapore means having convenient access to world-class diving sites, as most of them are located in Southeast Asia.The Indonesian and Philippine archipelagos are a treasure trove of pristine waters, pelagics (large marine animals) and WWII shipwrecks. Some sites in Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines are famous for their abundant coral reefs.
SINGAPORE - There are nooks and crannies in Singapore brimming with stories of a forgotten past - a past that is slowly being revealed on Instagram feeds and blogs belonging to daredevil explorers.But much of this rich history remains buried beneath overgrown foliage, and stands invisible next to towering luxury condominiums built all across the island.Often, these derelict buildings offer more than a slice of nostalgia - left unguarded with empty hallways and boarded up windows, these haunts...