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Bali-inspired Orchard Road cafe closes down after 15 years

Anna Maria Romero
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Bali-inspired Orchard Road cafe closes down after 15 years

Singapore—Baliba Pub and Cafe announced on Facebook on Wednesday (Apr 28) that it has closed down for good.

The Balinese-inspired club, which touted that it had “the longest Happy Hours and Lowest Prices in Orchard Road”, was around for a decade and a half.

Team Baliba announced its closure “with the heaviest heart”.

Baliba, which is under Strumm’s Holdings, thanked patrons for their “love and support for the past 15 years” and said that “we will carry this love into building our new concepts”.

While the Baliba team did not reveal the reason for its closure, it’s possible that it was affected, like many other establishments in the food and beverage industry, by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In March last year, Baliba announced it would shut its doors for more than a month, albeit temporarily, “in view of the current Covid-19 situation and the government regulations of safe distancing…to ensure the health and safety of our guests and staff”.

At that time, other Strumm’s establishments — The Drunken Poet, Meats n Malts, and Torii Izakaya — remained open and included delivery and takeaway options.

But Meats n Malts closed down by June 1 last year.

The Facebook page for Torii Izakaya also says it has permanently closed.

However, The Drunken Poet is still standing, and “we look forward to seeing you there soon,” wrote Strumm’s.

It also announced another of its F&B establishments will be reopening soon, Ipanema World Music Bar.

Baliba will surely be missed among those who frequented Singapore’s nightlife.

As it said in its Facebook page, “We consider ourselves as the best pub in Singapore. We provide value entertainment with live bands, electrifying dancers, pool table, sports on large TV screens, game machine & delicious bar snacks. Come by for a great time. This is Baliba!”

Grateful patrons thanked Baliba for their “wonderful memories” at the cafe.

/TISG

Read also: K F Seetoh: 5,400 available F&B jobs are of no real help to hawkers

K F Seetoh: 5,400 available F&B jobs are of no real help to hawkers

Top Hollywood talent agency to represent ‘pop music superstar’ JJ Lin

Anna Maria Romero
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0
Top Hollywood talent agency to represent ‘pop music superstar’ JJ Lin

Singapore—The future is looking good for Singaporean singer JJ Lin.

The Hollywood Reporter in an “exclusive” report says the “Chinese Pop Music Superstar JJ Lin” has signed with United Talent Agency (UTA), one of the biggest in Hollywood.

The 40-year-old Lin, based in Taiwan, released his first English album just a few days ago.

He will be represented by UTA in the US and Europe.

UTA announced that it signed Lin with an Instagram post on Wednesday (Apr 28), noting that his music has reached more than 121 billion streams all over the globe via online platforms, and that he has also received nearly 400 music awards all over Asia.

IG screengrab UTA

“His debut album, Music Voyager, won him the award for ‘Best New Artist’ at the Golden Melody Awards.

“He has completed four world tours and more than 130 shows, with 66 shows from his recent Sanctuary World Tour selling out within 10 minutes of release,” UTA’s post read.

The post also mentioned the international artists the superstar has collaborated with, including Hans Zimmer, Jason Mraz, Ayumi Hamasaki, Steve Aoki and Jackson Wang.

On his English album, Like You Do, Lin sings a ballad with UK singer Anne-Marie called “Bedroom.” Take a listen here.

The Hollywood Reporter in its report on Apr 27 said Lin has been named one of Forbes Asia’s 100 Digital Stars and appeared as a guest on The Voice in China.

He is also active in gaming, having launched the professional esports team Team Still Moving under Gunfire (Team SMG) in Southeast Asia and China.

The singer also posted about his new representation, writing  “Happy to be part of the UTA family! @unitedtalent” on Instagram.

Born on March 27 1981, Wayne Lim Junjie, better known by his stage name JJ Lin, is a Singaporean singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Lin launched his musical career in 2003. He has received three Golden Melody Awards, including one for Best New Artist and two for Best Mandarin Male Singer.

The singer was born into an ethnic Kim-mûi Hokkien family (Minnan ethnicity) in Singapore and studied at Jing Shan Primary School, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Saint Andrew’s Junior College before completing his national service. His family consists of his brother, father and mother who have a background in Chinese classical music. They have influenced his  music. His brother was also a major influence in his career choice.

/TISG

Read also: JJ Lin releases first English album

JJ Lin releases first English album

 

 

Actress Cheon Jeong Ha dies at the age of 52

Lydia Koh
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0
Actress Cheon Jeong Ha dies at the age of 52

Seoul — South Korean actress Cheon Jeong Ha has died at the age of 52 (in Korean reckoning).

On April 28, her family revealed, “She was found dead in her home the previous day. She had been suffering from low blood pressure. The cause of death is thought to be cardiac arrest due to low blood pressure and congestive heart failure.”

As of now, there is no additional information about Cheon Jeong Ha’s death, according to Soompi.

Cheon had been acting since the 1990s, appearing in theatrical works, films, and dramas. She played supporting roles in many dramas such as  Phoenix, Flower of Evil, Forest of Secrets, More Than Friends, and Beyond Evil. In Mouse, she had been playing the mother of Na Chi Guk (Lee Seo Joon), who is Jung Ba Reum’s (Lee Seung Gi‘s) high school classmate and a prison guard.

Cheon appeared in two Mouse episode as Chi Kook’s mother, who falls into a coma after being targeted by a serial killer. She last appeared in the mid-season finale for Mouse, which is currently on a brief hiatus.

Cheon Jeong Ha died of cardiac arrest due to low blood pressure and congestive heart failure. Picture: YouTube

Born on July 22, 1969, Cheon started acting in 1990 after graduating from Hongik University with a degree in History Education, as reported by Sports Keeda. She appeared on stage in several plays, including Youth Yechan, Rat, Japan, Gray, Wolf Grows Eyeballs First, and Happy Young Day.

She moved to the small screen in 2006 through the drama Coma, in which she played the supporting role of Hye Young’s (Bae So Yeon) mother. Naver reported that colleagues, including Oh Min Jeong, expressed their condolences over Ha’s passing.

Cheon Jeong Ha’s mortuary was set up at a funeral home at Seoul National University Hospital. The funeral will be held on April 30 at 7 am (Korea Standard Time). The burial site will be in Ilsan./TISG

Authorities unable to arrest culprit behind theft of late Goo Hara’s safe

Lydia Koh
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0
Authorities unable to arrest culprit behind theft of late Goo Hara’s safe

Seoul — Who stole the safe of the late singer Goo Hara will remain a mystery. The police investigation into the case has been closed.

Seoul Gangnam Police Station revealed on April 28 that they had decided to tentatively close the case because there were not enough leads to solve it.

In January 2020, the late singer’s safe was stolen from her house. The authorities began investigating the theft in March last year after Goo Hara’s brother Goo Ho In filed a report, according to Soompi.

In October 2020, the theft was announced to the public after Goo Ho In and Dispatch released CCTV footage of an unidentified culprit climbing into Goo Hara’s home to steal the safe.

Goo Ho In and Goo Hara’s acquaintance “K” suspected that the culprit was someone who knew the late singer personally because the burglar tried to enter the old password to the house.

Nevertheless, the authorities were unable to identify any suspects and investigations were closed on December 17 last year.

Goo Hara committed suicide last year. Picture: Instagram

A police source stated, “We carried out investigations from various angles, taking statements from related individuals, examining the scene, checking CCTV footage, and more, but we could not identify a suspect and filed the case away as unresolved.”

Regarding the CCTV footage, the police commented, “We could not identify the culprit solely based on the footage submitted by the victim’s side. Because we received the report two months after the theft took place, the data in the surrounding CCTV cameras had already been deleted.”

As for the possibility of a reinvestigation, the source responded, “It is only possible if there is additional evidence. There has not been any useful evidence so far.”

The South Korean celebrity Goo Hara was a member of popular K-pop girl group Kara. The 28-year-old was found dead at her home on November 24 last year./TISG

Tan Tock Seng Hospital nurse who was vaccinated tests positive for Covid-19 along with doctor and 3 patients

Obbana Rajah
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0
Tan Tock Seng Hospital nurse who was vaccinated tests positive for Covid-19 along with doctor and 3 patients

Singapore — A nurse at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) was one of the three new confirmed and verified cases of locally transmitted Covid-19 infection in the community, the Ministry of Health reported on Wednesday (Apr 28).

The 46-year-old Philippines national had her first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on Jan 26 and the second dose on Feb 18.

A doctor and three patients in the general ward — Ward 9D — where she worked were also found Covid-positive in preliminary tests.

The hospital locked down the ward and tested all the patients and staff there after the nurse was found Covid-positive.

She developed a cough, sore throat and body ache on April 27. Her test result came back positive for Covid-19 infection on the same day.

MOH said her serology test result is pending.

In a Facebook post, the hospital said, “Close staff contacts have been swabbed and are being placed on leave of absence pending further investigations. We have taken immediate measures to lock down the affected ward and are swabbing and isolating all patients there. Visitors will not be allowed to the ward till further notice”.

“As a further precaution, we are tightening our ward visiting policy till further notice allowing only 2 pre-registered visitors throughout a patient’s stay. We will monitor the situation and review our policy accordingly. We will also be swabbing all staff in the main hospital’s ward block”, the hospital added.

The MOH added that “the COVID-19 vaccine is effective in preventing symptomatic disease for the vast majority of those vaccinated, but it is possible for vaccinated individuals to get infected”. /TISG

Oprah reveals about love, traumatic childhood struggles in What happened to you?

Hindustan Times
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Oprah reveals about love, traumatic childhood struggles in What happened to you?

India — In an effort to help people hold more empathy for themselves and others, Oprah Winfrey worked with neuroscientist Dr Bruce Perry to come up with a book ‘What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience and Healing’ while we learn to shift from asking “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” Spilling the beans on her traumatic childhood and making peace with her past, Oprah and the renowned brain and trauma expert co-authored the book that offers much-needed insight on complex PTSD, trauma bonds and intense stress.

Taking to her social media handle recently, Oprah shared a monochromic childhood pictures and revealed some childhood struggles. “What happened to you? It’s one of the most important questions we can ask someone, especially when they’re going through something,” she expressed in the caption.

Oprah added, “Most of the struggles I endured as a child resulted in trauma that would define many relationships, interactions, and decisions in my life. It took decades of work, conversations, and healing to break those cycles and make peace with my past. That’s why I co-authored a book titled #WhatHappenedToYou with Dr. Bruce Perry, to help us heal and shift from asking “What’s wrong with you?” to “What happened to you?” (sic)”.

The media mogul described loneliness as one of the “most pervasive feeling” of her childhood and revealed how she was born, nine months after a singular encounter between her mother and father who “were together only once, underneath an old oak tree.” Brought up by her grandmother in the first six years of her life, Oprah recalls being shuttled between her mother who had moved to Milwaukee and her father in Nashville after her grandmother died.

“There was no time for nurturing. My mother felt distant, cold to the needs of this little girl,” Oprah recounts in the book since her mother worked as a maid for fifty dollars a week to take care of the three young children. Oprah adds in the book, “All of the energy went to keeping her head above water, surviving. I always felt like a burden, an “extra mouth to feed.” I rarely remember feeling loved, which impacted my ability to experience love as an adult.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Oprah (@oprah)

In a social media post earlier, Oprah had shared about penning the book because, “Most of us have experienced various levels of trauma that have informed how we operate and interact in the world.” A moving, helpful and informative, the book is basically a healing guide about trauma therapy.

TikToker uses her passion for cooking to become a viral sensation

Obbana Rajah
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0
TikToker uses her passion for cooking to become a viral sensation

Singapore — Engel Koh is not just any other person on TikTok, creating content. Don’t be fooled by her day job as the managing director of an events company. Ms Koh has amassed more than 26 million views on TikTok pursuing her passion – cooking.

Her love for cooking was rekindled during the Covid-19 circuit breaker when, she said, she finally found time to cook at home every day. She explained that she would film her creations as she was making them, and post the videos on TikTok after cooking.

Much to her surprise, she garnered more than six million views in just two months. Now, in less than a year on TikTok, she has had racked up more than 26 million views.

Always the entrepreneur, she has gone from one business to another, but they were completely unrelated to cooking. She started as a beauty consultant before opening her own hair and beauty salon. Four years later, she decided to start an events company.

Making videos of cup noodles with fried rice, and sweet and savoury puffs made from frozen pratas, Ms Koh says that her creativity stems from her love of food.

Though she films at home, her recording set-up is quite elaborate. Not only does she have various lights and phone stands to film the cooking process, Ms Koh also has many different backgrounds to showcase the foods she makes.

“I have a lot of props, I have a lot of backdrops”, she says.

“I think more than 50 backdrops and, yes, even more than 100 kinds of props”, Ms Koh adds.

Not only does she film the cooking process; once she is done, she takes photos of the food from various angles and even films herself eating it.

Ms Koh says she has even been approached by sponsors or advertisers, who have asked her to feature their products in her videos.

She doesn’t just do this alone, her love for food often takes her to restaurants she likes, where she films the experience and cuisines to share with her followers on TikTok.

Ms Koh adds that she has aspirations to even start her own cooking show, teaching others.

Racist ‘Hwa Chong’ woman loses her job, YouTube channel taken down

Obbana Rajah
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0
Racist ‘Hwa Chong’ woman loses her job, YouTube channel taken down

Singapore — The YouTube channel of the woman who was filmed on the MRT asking other commuters what race they belonged to has been taken down for harassment. She also had her services terminated by the real estate company she was associated with.

Knight Frank Property Network Pte Ltd, which previously said it was investigating a woman claiming to be from Hwa Chong Junior College, posted an update on the matter on Facebook on Apr 27, saying that “an Associate” had been terminated from the company.

It said that the company has “zero tolerance for hate speech and racism that threatens the foundations on which Singapore is built,” and thanked those who submitted feedback on the matter.

The woman’s name was also removed from the Public Register of Estate Agents and Salespersons.

The 57-year-old woman uploaded a total of 29 videos since December 2016 in which she passed comments on strangers, who were usually Malay or Indian.

The channel, called “Beow Tan”, had videos all similarly titled: “Malay Man Attempted To Molest Chinese Woman”, “RACISM: INDIAN HARASSING CHINESE”, and “RACISM: Malay Harassing Chinese”.

In some of the videos, the woman could be seen filming others without their knowledge.

In some of the other videos, she directly confronted the strangers, asking them what race they belonged to or making remarks about her education. Comments on all the videos had been turned off.

Beow Tan’s YouTube channel has been terminated for violation of YouTube’s policies against harassment and cyberbullying.

The YouTube spokesperson said:
“We have strict policies that prohibit harassment on YouTube, including content that maliciously insults someone based on their race, gender expression, or sexual orientation. We quickly remove content that violates these policies when flagged.”  /TISG

Read related: Police investigating ‘Hwa Chong’ lady and her YouTube channel showing similar racist incidents

HDB resale prices to continue increasing for the fourth consecutive quarter since 2020: ERA Singapore Commentary

The Independent
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HDB resale prices to continue increasing for the fourth consecutive quarter since 2020: ERA Singapore Commentary

Singapore — The Housing and Development Board (HDB) released the public housing statistics for the first quarter of 2021 on Apr 23. Here is the ERA Research & Consultancy’s analysis and commentary:

The HDB resale market is heading towards bullish territory as prices rose for the fourth consecutive quarter since 2Q 2020. In 1Q 2021, HDB resale price index increased by 3% quarter-on-quarter (qoq) and 8.1% year-on-year (yoy), which was the highest annual growth rate since 1Q 2012 when resale prices increased by 9.6% yoy.

The expansion in HDB resale price index in 1Q 2021 was led by the growth in prices of HDB flats in mature estates. While the median transacted price of resale flats in mature estates grew 4.2% qoq to S$500,000, the median price of flats in non-mature estates only increased 2.3% qoq to S$450,000.

Among the different flat types, resale five-room HDB flats enjoyed the highest quarterly price growth in 1Q 2021. In the first quarter of this year, the median transacted price of five-room flats islandwide increased 4.2% qoq to S$545,000. As more people work from home more often due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some might want a more spacious living environment that could easily be converted into a workspace if needed. Hence, there was more demand for bigger resale flats.

HDB transaction volume

The Chinese New Year festival is a traditional lull period for real estate activities. As a result, real estate transaction volume tends to be lower in the first three months of the year. Last year, the HDB resale transaction volume decreased 7.0% qoq drop in 1Q 2020. However, in the first quarter this year, there were only 0.8% fewer applications for HDB resale flats registered compared to 4Q 2020. The smaller decline in HDB resale volume in the first quarter of 2021 illustrated the healthy demand for public flats.

In addition, the HDB resale volume in 1Q 2021 was still 28.6% higher than the same period in 2020, which was before the Circuit Breaker last year. This shows that the HDB resale market has recovered from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

One factor driving the growth of HDB resale transaction volume was the expected delay in the construction of Build-to-Order (BTO) flats. With a longer waiting time for the new BTO flats, some homebuyers prefer to switch to the resale market instead.

HDB rental volume

The HDB rental market also seems to be recovering from the pandemic as rental volume jumped 26.0% from 8,472 leasing transactions in 4Q 2020 to 10,676 leasing transactions in 1Q 2021. The increase in leasing demand was partly contributed by some young families renting HDB flats while waiting for the completion of their new BTO flats, as well as more foreign talents and international students returning to Singapore.

Outlook

The number of HDB flats that reached the end of their five-year MOP and could be sold in the resale market started to increase sharply in 2019. In 2021 and 2022, an additional 26,000 flats and 35,300 flats would reach the end of their five-year MOP respectively. This is much higher than the annual average of 12,600 flats in the previous five years from 2014 to 2018. The rise in the number of newly eligible resale HDB flats would further increase the resale transaction volume.

Moreover, these flats are newer and could potentially fetch higher resale prices compared to nearby older flats, which could fuel additional upside pressure on HDB resale prices.

The expansionary effects of the influx of such younger flats on HDB resale prices and transaction volume will continue to be felt at least for the next two years, or until the HDB could effectively bring the completion schedule of BTO flats back on the normal track.

The continuing rise in HDB resale prices would beg the question of whether the government would introduce any cooling measures on the HDB resale market. Any cooling measures on the HDB resale market, such as the introduction of higher taxes, stamp duties and tighter loan restrictions will be highly unpopular with HDB flat owners. A large majority of HDB flat owners have invested their CPF funds and, hence, their retirement nest eggs in their HDB flats. Furthermore, the HDB flat is probably the single largest asset to many flat owners. Any government market intervention that would deflate the value of HDB flats would have an adverse effect on the retirement assets of a large number of ageing Singapore citizens.

Therefore, the most likely method that the government would use to cool the HDB resale market would be to increase the supply of BTO flats and to ensure these flats would be completed without undue delays.

While the HDB rental volume rebounded by 26% qoq in the last quarter, it is still 7.9% lower than the rental volume in 1Q 2020. With the vaccination programme on track to cover the adult population in Singapore by the third quarter this year, more foreigners would return to Singapore and the HDB rental market will be able to recover from the pandemic.

At 45, Korean heart-throb Won Bin still sizzles

Lydia Koh
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0
At 45, Korean heart-throb Won Bin still sizzles

Seoul — It has been a while since Korean actor Won Bin has been in the media or in any new project. Fans definitely missed the good-looking and talented star and the good news is that Won Bin still has the sex appeal. Male fashion brand OLZEN recently revealed a summer pictorial featuring the Korean heart-throb on April 28. Won Bin is spotted showing his pure and youthful looks on Jeju Island in the pictorial, as reported by Allkpop. 

After the pictorial was shown, photos of Won Bin began circulating the Internet. Netizens commented on his looks:

“Wow, he hasn’t aged at all” ”

“I can’t believe he shot this pictorial recently”

“I saw him on ‘The Man from Nowhere’ when I was in elementary school and now I graduated college lol”

“He looks like he is still in his early 30s”

“Okay, even taking the photoshop into account, his youthful visual is immaculate”

Won Bin turns 44 this November.

Born on November 10, 1977, Won Bin is a South Korean actor. He gained  popularity in 2000 after starring in the KBS television series Autumn in My Heart. One of the most selective actors in the Korean entertainment industry, he has starred in only five films to date: Guns & Talks, Taegukgi, My Brother, Mother and The Man from Nowhere. 

Won Bin looks amazing in this pictorial by Olzen. Picture: Instagram

Won Bin was born and raised in Jeongseon County in Gangwon Province, South Korea. He is the fifth and youngest child, with one brother and three sisters. His father was formerly employed in a mine and his mother worked on a farm; both of his parents are now retired. Like other children living in mountainous regions, Won Bin spent most of his time playing around with friends in the mountains and rivers, and later explained: “I came back home most nights at sunset with a black and dusty face.” /TISG

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