SINGAPORE: A man who molested his girlfriend’s nine-year-old daughter while his girlfriend was in the toilet was sentenced on Thursday (Jun 18) to 20 months’ jail and three strokes of the cane.

All parties involved cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the identity of the victim, who is now 10.

The 35-year-old man pleaded guilty to one charge of using criminal force to outrage the girl’s modesty.

The court heard that the man started dating the 33-year-old woman in 2013 and the couple began living together – with the woman’s daughter as well – in July 2018.

The man grew close to the victim, fetching her from school daily, playing with her and buying her gifts that her mother would not.

On Apr 5 last year, the couple and the girl went out to buy an electric bicycle and returned home at 9.30pm.

The girl removed her pants and placed them at the washing machine, before resting on a bed while her mother and the accused did household chores, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Chong Yong.

The man finished his chores at about 10pm and sat down next to the girl, who was lying on the bed.

He felt sexually aroused seeing her, and molested her three times. The girl sat up in shock, and the man molested her again. She told him to stop, but her pleas went unheeded, the court heard.

The man lay on the bed and exposed himself, grabbing the girl’s hand. The girl told him that she did not want to touch him, but he continued pulling her hand towards his genitals.

At this point, the girl’s mother came out from the toilet and saw her boyfriend and daughter. Shocked, she shouted at him and asked him what he was trying to do. The man immediately let go of the girl’s hand and pretended that nothing had happened.

He told his girlfriend that he had not done anything, but she saw that her daughter looked “lost and confused”, and immediately took her out of the house and to the void deck.

Although the girl was scared and hesitated to tell her mother what happened, she eventually recounted the incident after her mother comforted her.

The girl said that this was the first time the man had touched her in such a manner.

Her mother sent the girl to sleep at a neighbour’s house that night, as she wanted to keep her away from her boyfriend. Later that night, the accused asked where the victim was, but the victim’s mother did not tell him, as she feared for her daughter’s safety.

The next day, the woman lodged a police report saying that her daughter had been molested by her boyfriend.

For using criminal force to outrage the modesty of a minor, the man could have been jailed for up to five years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these punishments.

SINGAPORE: An 80-year-old Singaporean woman, who is a family member of a previously confirmed COVID-19 patient, was among four new cases in the community reported on Tuesday (Jun 2), the Ministry of Health (MOH) said.

The elderly woman had already been placed on quarantine earlier, and experienced onset of symptoms on May 17.

The remaining three community cases are work pass or work permit holders.

One of them – a 33-year-old male Indian national – had been picked up as a result of the ministry’s proactive screening of migrant workers working in essential services. He was reported as being asymptomatic.

Another is a contact of a previously confirmed case and had already been placed on quarantine earlier.

MOH said that epidemiological investigations are ongoing for the remaining case.

The ministry reported a total of 544 new COVID-19 cases as of noon on Tuesday, bringing the nation’s total to 35,836.

99 per cent of the new cases are linked to known clusters, while the rest are pending contact tracing, said MOH.

From dawn to dusk, Singapore as it exits its COVID-19 circuit breaker: In pictures

THREE NEW CLUSTERS

The ministry added that in the past week, it uncovered links for six previously unlinked cases.

Three new clusters have been found at the migrant worker dormitories at 6 Tuas View Square, 65 & 67 Tuas View Walk 2 and 18 Woodlands Industrial Park E1.

A total of 709 more patients have been discharged from hospitals or community isolation facilities, bringing the total number of recovered cases to 23,175.

There are currently 331 cases still in hospital, most of whom are stable or improving, MOH said. Six patients are in critical condition in the intensive care unit.

There are 12,306 patients who have mild symptoms or are clinically well but are still testing positive for COVID-19. They are currently isolated and cared for at community care facilities.

The COVID-19 death toll in Singapore stands at 24.

READ: Transition to a ‘new normal’ after circuit breaker: How will measures be lifted beyond Phase 1?

READ: Singapore’s circuit breaker and beyond – Timeline of the COVID-19 reality

REOPENING PHASE 1

Full hairdressing services, motor vehicle servicing, aircon servicing, printing, basic pet services and school bookshops have also been allowed to resume as part of Phase 1 of reopening after the circuit breaker.

Pre-schools and early intervention centres reopened for children in Kindergarten 1 and 2 , with children in nursery level, infant care and playgroup to follow next week.

Some places of worship were also allowed to resume services such as marriage solemnisations and funerals, subject to a cap of 10 attendees.

READ: In-person Muslim marriage solemnisations with up to 10 people allowed from Jun 2

READ: Catholic churches will not reopen for private worship on Jun 2

Private worship at mosques will also be allowed in limited prayer spaces, which can accommodate up to five individuals, or up to five households with a maximum of five individuals per household.

Households may now visit parents or grandparents, subject to a limit of two people and one visit per day. Parents may also drop off children for childcare, subject to the same limit.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

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There are roughly 70,000 flats that are halfway through their lease and will face lease expiry in the next 50 years. Before you buy one of them, we’d like to remind you – as if you didn’t already know – that buying a home is a major life decision and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Consider everything before you pull the trigger.

It is becoming easier for Singaporeans to buy old flats, and they are tempting. Thanks to the new CPF rules, you can now use the money in your CPF Ordinary Account (CPF OA) to buy a flat even if there’s just 20 years on the lease (so long as the lease will last until the youngest buyer is 95 years old). That doesn’t just impact the immediate affordability; it means there will still be some value in your 40-plus year old flat, should you try to resell it later.

READ: Should you buy a BTO or resale HDB flat? What to consider if you’re a first-timer

Of course, old flats are also more tempting, location-wise. New flats tend to be in less mature districts, and some of them (looking at you, Tengah) are so underdeveloped, National Geographic might pay you to look for lost tribes in the area.

An old flat, on the other hand, has more amenities nearby. That could mean living next to a legendary eatery, or minutes from bus stations, MRT stations, Sheng Siong, etc.

But there are some serious considerations that should be addressed, such these.

1. Your flat won’t be as much help to your retirement fund.

We’re long past the days when people would pay crazy prices for resale flats. Also, you can mostly forget about Cash Over Valuation (COV) these days. Sure, it still happens and there are occasional million-dollar flats; but for the most part, this is what resale flat prices are up to these days:

Just to be more specific, here’s what it looks like for flats completed in 1979 or earlier:

Even if you can resell a flat that was 40-plus years old when you bought it, you shouldn’t expect it to help your retirement fund much. Singaporeans are just much more aware – and sensitive – about lease decay today. And unless you own a very rare type of flat – like a maisonette, or a unit with 1970’s kitchen decor that doesn’t make you vomit – you might see a capital loss.

So if you’re buying an old flat, don’t think of it as a future retirement fund. Look for alternative assets to fulfill that purpose. And treat the flat as a pure overhead – it’s a roof over your head and nothing more.

2. You can’t count on SERS and VERS.

Only around 5 per cent of estates will qualify for the Selective Enbloc Redevelopment Scheme (SERS). We wouldn’t count on it, unless your flat is in a particularly visible and iconic location.

If your flat is the sort that appears on postcards and is visible from major roads, that’s a location that might be SERS-worthy. But if the flat is just tucked away in a quiet corner (ie. the vast majority of them), then you probably won’t be a getting a new flat with a 99-year top-up.

As for the Voluntary Early Redevelopment Scheme (VERS), it hasn’t happened yet; but we know the payouts won’t be as generous as SERS. If it’s pegged to market value, that could mean returns are barely enough to buy another, smaller flat. And by the time you return the CPF money used, the payout might be enough for maybe one char siew bao, if you agree to share.

It also takes an 80 per cent consensus for VERS to happen. That’s hard enough to get in a condo, let alone in a property with as many owners as an HDB flat.

3. Those amenities may not last as long as your flat.

If you’re going to risk buying an old flat for the amenities, make sure those amenities really matter. Having an MRT station or good school nearby counts; having a famous kolo mee stall nearby doesn’t.

Remember that even the oldest amenities can go the way of Chin Mee Chin Confectionery.  In fact, we’d suggest that for any property – especially in older areas, which are typically targeted for redevelopment – you check the URA Master Plan.

Sometimes, even that doesn’t help. In Tiong Bahru, for instance, the area suffered death by cappuccino. Gentrification replaced older amenities with upscale hipster amenities, which many of the older residents can’t afford or have no interest in. Are you okay to replace your kolo mee with pumpkin-spiced avocado whatever? Because that might happen.

The older the area, the more likely it is that sweeping changes are due; if not organically, than through deliberate redevelopment. Factor in that risk, when buying such an old flat.

4. HIP or no HIP, maintenance is likely to be an issue.

Our prior article addressed misconceptions about HIP. This isn’t a magic wand that HDB will point at your flat, and instantly erase month-old stains in the flooring, or correct sagging toilet doors. HIP handles the essentials; everything else comes down to renovation and maintenance out of your own pocket.

That means you’re likely to spend much more on renovations, compared to a brand new BTO flat. And age causes issues that have elusive solutions – the wafting scent of ageing pipes in the toilet; the unusually low water pressure from a tap because of a leak; the odd stains that keep appearing no matter how many times you patch them up, etc. Be prepared to spend more as your flat breaks down like an alcoholic’s liver.

5. You’d better have a plan in case you live too long.

Based on all the insurance ads and CPF planning messages, we surmise that Singaporeans now have a lifespan than would shock a vampire. We do, after all, have the longest life expectancy in the world (yes, even longer than Japan. All that kolo mee must be good for the heart).

Now, pause to think: What if your 40-plus year-old flat turns out to have a shorter lifespan than you? It’s not as if you’re in a good position to sell it and move, in the twilight of your life. And should you outlive your flat at the age of, say, 80-something, it might be difficult to find the funds for a new home at that point.

So before you buy that old flat, make sure it will last until the end of your life, or that you have a plan for if it doesn’t. And remember, moving to Thailand tends to sound a lot less appealing once you’re past 75.

This story first appeared in 99.co .

SINGAPORE: Three new COVID-19 patients were reported in Singapore on Thursday (Feb 27), the Ministry of Health (MOH) in a daily update, including a 12-year-old Singaporean student from Raffles Institution.

This brings the total number of cases in the country to 96.

MOH also said that four more patients – Cases 18, 72, 78 and 80 – were discharged on Thursday. They include a Chinese woman from Wuhan, the final imported case to recover from the infection, as well as a National University Hospital (NUH) employee.

In all, 66 cases have fully recovered from the infection.

Thirty COVID-19 patients remain in hospital, with eight in critical condition.

NEW CASES

Cases 94 and 95 are both Singapore citizens with no travel history to China or South Korea’s Daegu and Cheongdo.

Case 94, a 64-year-old woman, developed symptoms on the morning on Feb 11.

She sought treatment at a general practitioner’s clinic on Feb 17, Feb 20 and again on Feb 24, when she was referred to Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and immediately isolated.

She was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Wednesday.

The woman lives in the Jalan Jurong Kechil area.

Case 95 is a 44-year-old Singaporean man who is linked to Case 93 , a 38-year-old Singaporean man currently isolated at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

He was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Thursday morning is currently warded at the National Centre for Infectious Diseases. He has no recent travel history to China, Daegu and Cheongdo.

Case 96 is a 12-year-old Singaporean student at Raffles Institution who is a family member of Case 94.

He became unwell on Feb 21 and was confirmed to have COVID-19 infection on Feb 27. He is currently warded in an isolation room at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

The Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Thursday that the Year 1 student at Raffles Institution has not been in school since Feb 21.

He had attended a language class on Feb 20 at the MOE Language Centre in Bishan.

Raffles Institution and the language centre will s uspend classes on Friday for thorough cleaning and disinfecting , said MOE. Classes will resume on Monday.

Additionally, co-curricular activities (CCAs) for Year 1 to Year 6 in Raffles Institution will be suspended for two weeks.

Students, teachers and staff who had recent contact with the boy at both Raffles Institution and the MOE Language Centre (Bishan) will be issued 14-day Leave of Absence, said MOE.

UPDATE ON CASES 92 AND 93

MOH provided an update on Cases 92 and 93 on Thursday. The 47 year-old Singaporean man, who has no recent travel history to China, Daegu and Cheongdo, lives at Serangoon Avenue 3.

He reported onset of symptoms on Feb 17 and sought treatment at a general practitioner’s clinic on Feb 21 and 24.

He went to Sengkang General Hospital (SKGH) on Feb 24 and was immediately isolated.

Test results confirmed COVID-19 infection on the morning of Feb 26.

MOH said Case 93, a 38-year-old Singaporean man, also has no recent travel history to China, Daegu and Cheongdo.

The man, who lives at Bukit Batok Street 31, reported onset of symptoms on Feb 17 and  sought treatment at a general practitioner’s clinic the next day and on Feb 23.

He went to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH) on Feb 25 and was immediately isolated.

Test results confirmed COVID-19 infection the next morning.

Explore our interactive: All the COVID-19 cases in Singapore and the clusters and links between them

PATIENTS DISCHARGED

Among those discharged include Case 18, a 31-year-old woman who arrived in Singapore from Wuhan on Jan 22. She tested positive for the infection on Feb 1.

She had travelled to Singapore with Case 12, a 37-year-old woman from Wuhan who was confirmed on Jan 29 and discharged on Feb 12.

Case 18 is the last of Singapore’s 22 imported cases to recover from the infection.

Case 72 is a 40-year-old male Chinese work pass holder who is a family member of Case 79, a 35-year-old Malaysian work pass holder as well as a non-medical contact of Case 59, an anaesthesiologist. The anaesthesiologist was discharged on Wednesday.

The remaining two patients who were discharged on Thursday – Cases 78 and 80 – are linked to the cluster at the Grace Assembly of God church.

Case 78 is a 57-year-old Singaporean woman who lives in the Dairy Farm area.

She works in an administrative function at a Voluntary Welfare Organisation (VWO) community hospital, and had not interacted with patients since she started feeling ill on Feb 9.

She was diagnosed with COVID-19 on Feb 17.

Case 80 is a 38-year-old Singaporean woman who works at NUH in an administrative function.

The woman, who lives at Fernvale Link, had not interacted with patients since onset of symptoms on Feb 4.

She is linked to Case 66 – a 28-year-old Singaporean man who works at Grace Assembly of God church.

As of noon on Feb 27, MOH has identified 2,887 close contacts who have been quarantined. Of these, 245 are currently quarantined, and 2,642 have completed their quarantine.

READ: Commentary: Three scenarios if the COVID-19 outbreak gets worse

Singapore has implemented various measures, which include border restrictions, contact tracing and quarantine policies, to contain the spread of the coronavirus since the first case was detected in late January.

The health ministry on Wednesday said two Chinese nationals will be charged for giving false information and obstructing the conduct of contact tracing by the authorities.

On the same day, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said that a man who breached a Stay-Home Notice had lost his permanent residency and will be barred from re-entering Singapore.

READ: Japanese woman confirmed as COVID-19 case for 2nd time, weeks after initial recovery

COVID-19, which emerged in China late last year, has killed more than 2,700 people and infected at least 80,000, mainly in mainland China.

The virus has since spread across the world, with a rising number of cases reported in more than 30 countries and territories.

In Asia, South Korea remains the most-affected country after China, with the outbreak traced to a religious sect in the southern city of Daegu.

Iran and Italy have also seen a fast-rising number of confirmed cases, while Brazil confirmed Latin America’s first infection on Wednesday.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of novel coronavirus and its developments

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Researchers have identified a group of ancient bald cypress trees which are over 2,000 years old in the forested wetlands of North Carolina’s Black River.

Staggeringly, the scientists found that one of the trees was 2,624 years old. This makes the bald cypress the oldest-known tree in the eastern portion of North America, as well as the longest-living known wetland tree species on Earth, according to a study published in the journal Environmental Research Communications .

The ancient group—consisting of perhaps 50 individuals—was discovered in 2017 by lead author of the study David Stahle from the University of Arkansas and his colleagues, who took 110 core samples measuring about 0.2 inches in diameter from various trees without harming them.

They then counted the annual growth rings to determine the age of the trees while also using radiocarbon dating on the innermost rings of the two oldest specimens for independent confirmation.

Stahle’s prior research in the area had already identified bald cypress trees ( Taxodium distichum ) which were up to 1,700 years old, but the new data, taken from trees which had not been studied before, suggests the species is longer-lived than previously thought.

“We were not surprised to find these old trees because there are hundreds of 1,000-year-old trees throughout the Black River swamp forest and the oldest trees look old, real old,” Stahle told Newsweek . “But we were gratified to finally prove the great age of bald cypress.”

“The area of old growth bald cypress was 10 times larger than I realized,” Stahle said in a statement. “We think there are older trees out there still.”

The trees form part of an intact ecosystem of wetlands that extend along most of the 65-mile length of the Black River, which the researchers call one of the “great natural areas of eastern North America.”

The river has been recognized as one of the cleanest and high quality waterways in North Carolina, and Stahle’s work has helped boost preservation efforts in the area. In fact, The Nature Conservancy—a private land conservation group which keeps its holdings open to the public—has purchased around 6,400 hectares of this river ecosystem.

However, the researchers say that thousands more hectares of high quality ancient forests remain unprotected.

“It is exceedingly unusual to see an old-growth stand of trees along the whole length of a river like this,” Stahle said. “Bald cypress are valuable for timber and they have been heavily logged. Way less than 1 percent of the original virgin bald cypress forests have survived.”

Aside from their impressive age, the trees can also help to reconstruct ancient climate conditions in the region. This is because their growth is affected in different ways by both dry and wet conditions, and this shows up in the core samples.

In fact, the researchers say that the tree samples have provided the longest exactly-dated climate proxy—a source of climate information taken from natural material which can be used to estimate past conditions—in eastern North America, showing evidence of drought and flooding during pre-colonial times.

“The old bald cypress trees at Black River record the history of growing season precipitation for the mid-Atlantic region extending back into prehistory over 2,000 years,” Stahle said. “The precipitation record in these trees is amazingly accurate and detailed.”

“It includes the droughts recorded with rain gauges during the 20th and 21st centuries, and the severe multi-year droughts of 1587-1589 associated with the disappearance of the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island and the drought of 1606-1612 concurrent with the hardships suffered during the early years of the Jamestown Colony, the first successful English settlement in the New World,” he said.

Katherine Skinner, executive director of The Nature Conservancy’s North Carolina chapter, said in a statement that Dr. Stahle’s original work on the Black River, which showed trees dating from Roman times, inspired her organization to begin conservation in the area more than two decades ago.

“This ancient forest gives us an idea of what much of North Carolina’s coastal plain looked like millennia ago,” she said. “It is a source of inspiration and an important ecosystem. Without Dr. Stahle, it would have gone unprotected and likely destroyed.”

Living trees over 2,000-years-old are extremely rare worldwide, the researchers say. To date, only eight species have been proven to live for more than this amount of time—six of which are found in the western United States, one in Chile and, now, the bald cypress trees in North Carolina.

The team say that the cypress tree which they determined to be 2,624 years old, is one of the oldest known continuously living trees on the planet. Only individual trees of Sierra juniper (2,675 years old), giant sequoia (3,266 years old), alerce (3,622 years old) and Great Basin bristlecone pine (5,066 years old) have been demonstrated to live longer.

Nevertheless, the bald cypress tree is the oldest-known wetland tree. In second place is the Montezuma bald cypress ( T. mucronatum ,) found in Mexico, which can live for up to 1,500 years.

The researchers hope that the latest findings will boost conservation efforts in the area, which could help to mitigate some of the threats that the ancient wetland forest is facing.

“To counter these threats, the discovery of the oldest known living trees in eastern North America, which are in fact some of the oldest living trees on Earth, provides powerful incentive for private, state, and federal conservation of this remarkable waterway,” the authors wrote in the study.

This article was updated to include additional comments from David Stahle.