Woman spends 902 days in the toilet

A woman who refused to leave her toilet for two-and-a-half years has spoken about why she refused to leave.

Mee Yan Leong sat down on the bowl in her bathroom on March 25, 2009. The 58-year-old woman claimed that she ‘felt a force holding her down’ and said she did not understand why she felt compelled to stay in the tiled bathroom.

She also told hospital staff she was scared of leaving the loo in case neighbours sprayed water at her or threw stones.

During her stay in the bathroom Leong lived on porridge, bread and biscuits prepared by her husband. Leong only leavs her seat 18 times to shower, after almost 1000 days her husband finally gave in, calling up the emergency services before she was forcibly removed from the bathroom.

They had to come into my flat, hold her down, then wrap her in a towel before using a wheelchair to take her to the hospital," said Kian.

Mee Yan Leong is now receiving treatment in a nearby mental institute.

Singaporean man bringing his family for a holiday to space

Oh my god! Our neighbor, a Singaporean, is freaking rich that he decides to have a holiday in space! I wonder who this wealthy man is. Go read about it below:

A Singaporean businessman, his wife and two children have paid US$1 million to become the first Asian family to fly together on space-tourism airline Virgin Galactic, the company announced Monday.

“I had lunch yesterday with a guy who got in touch with us in Singapore, and over lunch he signed his contract for not just a seat, but for a whole flight,” Virgin Galactic Commercial Director Stephen Attenborough said.

Speaking at an international media and marketing conference in Singapore, Attenborough said the customer handed over a check for US$1 million and asked to remain anonymous because “apparently he hasn't told his wife yet.”

“So he is going to become, or he and his family will become, the first family from Asia to become astronauts together,” Attenborough said.

The U.S.-based firm, part of British tycoon Richard Branson's Virgin conglomerate, has sold bookings since 2005 at US$200,000 per seat even though it has not yet set a firm timetable for space flights to be launched from New Mexico.

Branson announced in late 2004 that the firm would launch the world's first space tourism flights in two to three years but after delays, the target has now been moved to 2013.

Attenborough told AFP in an interview that the Singaporean businessman chartered one exclusive flight for his family on the six-seat aircraft SpaceShipTwo.

The SpaceshipTwo, with two pilots, is designed to be launched by a transport plane called White KnightTwo and will be guided by a rocket motor before gliding back to Earth.

“They should be flying in the first year of commercial operations. They'll be within the first thousand human beings to have ever gone to space, or they should be,” Attenborough said.

He said nine out of nearly 500 tickets sold worldwide had been bought by customers in Singapore, which has one of Asia's highest concentrations of millionaires.

Families from other countries such as Canada, the United States and Britain have also bought tickets, Attenborough said.

“About 35 to 40 percent are from the United States, 15 percent from the UK... I think there are 46 countries now represented in total and for many of those countries, the people will be the first astronaut for that country,” he said.

Customers from the Asia-Pacific region now account for “approximately 15 percent” of ticket sales despite a ban on Virgin Galactic selling seats in China, the region's biggest economy.

“The space vehicle is US technology and they fall under a set of regulations in the United States which means that there are some countries where at the moment we're not permitted to sell tickets,” he explained.

“I think Asia is a huge opportunity for us, absolutely. Just the interest we've had from Singapore, which is a fairly small part of Asia, I've been extremely impressed,” he said.

“We have seen an increasing amount of interest from this part of the world and hopefully that will translate into lots of future astronauts.”

In anticipation of burgeoning future demand for space tourism, Attenborough said Virgin Galactic had already ordered more spacecraft.

Attenborough said the company expected to take three years to recoup its investments, which he estimated at US$300 million to US$400 million, with one flight a week when commercial operations begin.

If everything goes smoothly, “we would hope to be flying people to space by 2013,” he said.

If one day I can afford to send myself to space for a holiday, will I be granted the title of "Datuk" just like our Malaysian angkasawan?

Insensitive London Weight Management ad slammed for degrading women

Viewers are in an outcry over London Weight Management's new television commercial, which appears to portray weight loss as the solution to all of a woman's problems.

The commercial begins with a scene of a woman standing at a balcony of a high-rise building looking down, with a baby in a pram nearby.

The scene zooms in to show her pained expression, accompanied by Chinese subtitles that translate to: "Women, what do they live for?"

The next scene is of the woman being violently scolded by her boss and served a letter of termination for having a 'poor image.'

"You know that image is very important to our work! In this current state you are in, you are not fit to work here!" the boss shouts at her.

She later weighs herself in the bathroom, with the weighing scale needle hitting 70kg. Frustrated, she throws an object at the mirror and cracks it. In another scene, she is shown struggling to put on a dress and later on unsuccessfully zipping up a pair of pants.

She is depicted being harshly treated by her husband. She later faints while shopping and upon consultation with a doctor, is told she is too fat. The doctor explains to her that obesity leads to a host of health problems and is advised to consider the impact this has on her family.

She finally decides to go to London Weight Management and loses 20kg.

The commercial closes with scenes of her happy in a sexy dress. She is shown laughing and in the loving arms of her husband.

The accompanying voice over says in Mandarin: "Women, what do they live for?"

Which is followed by: "For those you love, and those who love you."

Viewers have taken to blogs and online forums such as Stomp to voice their displeasure, with some labelling it as 'myopic,' 'derogatory' and 'sexist.'

Deputy Editor of The Online Citizen Kristen Han wrote in a blog post titled "There are worse things to be than fat" that while marketing and advertising campaigns exploit the public's obsession with physical appearances, the television commercial "has taken it way too far."

TV host Anita Kapoor blogged that the ad portrays "women as pathetic, unworthy individuals. Losers on every level if they are overweight; winners at every level if they are slim."

A check revealed that the online video, which was first uploaded to YouTube, has since been removed.

The ad comes at an especially inopportune moment, drawing unfavourable comparisons with the recent suicide of Ms Tan Sze Sze - who killed herself along with her 3-year-old son after suffering a broken marriage and a stressful custody battle.

Some say that the ad trivialises post partum depression and suicide.

London Weight Management has defended itself by saying the ad is based on a true story, and that they are not discriminating or 'nauseating' obese women in doing so.

The company has also stressed that they "have not breached any regulation in accordance to the local regulation."

The Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore has not yet taken action to suspend the advertisement, but said they are looking into the matter.

It has been reported that the authorities would be writing to London Weight Management to highlight some of the concerns aired.

I would like to urge consumers to boycott slimming companies that disrespects women. Companies should at least show some respect to women by not degrading them. Instead they should highlight that weight management is good for health and leads a healthy lifestyle rather than potraying that fat women are being rejected by society.

Since the video has been taken down from Youtube, you can watch the video here while it is still available.

News source: Asiaone.com

Singaporean man exposed himself in front of mistress' home

The man had gone to confront his supposed girlfriend at her three-storey house in Bukit Timah.

The man looked injured as he limped when he walked. His left arm was bandaged and injuries were seen on his limbs, back and neck, according to Singapore's Chinese newspapers.

He was heard claiming that he has an affair with the woman, and went on to loudly declare details of their sex life. He also declared that the affair was a result of her husband's impotence.

The woman, married and in her 30s, was seen standing behind a metal gate and asking the man to drop the matter. The agitated man ignored her pleas and shouted for her husband to come out of the house and face him. But the woman's husband did not appear throughout the confrontation.

The extremely agitated man continued shouting, "Who did this? Only you and I know about it, so why was I beaten up?" At one point, he even sat down before the front gate and started wailing and crying.

His ruckus attracted the attention of many neighbours in the vicinity and went on for more than an hour until about 9pm.

When confronting the woman, he even pulled up his shirt and pulled down his pants, supposedly to show her his injuries. He could be seen wearing adult diapers due to his injuries.

He then went further and dropped his diapers as well, eliciting screams from the woman's children. A neighbour saw the act and said the man's private parts looked blistered, swollen and blackish. The man's private parts were supposedly scalded by acid.

When approached by reporters, the woman declined to elaborate on the matter and denies being in a relationship with the man.

According to the Chinese press, neighbours say that the man is a familiar sight as he comes to the house about twice a week and is known to the woman's children.

The man eventually left only after the police arrived.


News source: asiaone.com