FRIDAY, 6 AUGUST2,2019 news Baseless claims stir up racial tensions: Teo Minister says S’pore must fight hate speech, extremist ideology and foreign interference CARA WONG lence against the Myanmar govern- ment. Thoughtless remarks and careless “Events like these do not mean New homeowners will be provided with a free recycling bin. words that go viral instantaneously that we should close our borders, PHOTO: NATIONAL ENVIRONMENT AGENCY/FACEBOOK can easily undo racial harmony and but we need to be vigilant to who is disrupt the multicultural society in allowed to stay here. Our hospital- Singapore, said Second Minister ity should not be exploited to the 18,000 HDB households to for Home Affairs Josephine Teo yes- detriment of our people,” she said. terday . Ms Teo told the gathering as 2019 get free Ikea recycling bins Highlighting a recent incident Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine marked Singapore’s Bicentennial, where the police were falsely Teo. TNP FILE PHOTO the team behind the event pon- alleged to have targeted Malays dur- dered and consulted people over Some 18,000 residents in new Housing Board (HDB) ing their enforcement checks at Ms Teo was speaking to a group important questions such as what precincts will receive vouchers this month to redeem MRT stations, Ms Teo said such of Home Team officers and volun- Singaporeans believe defined them free recycling bins at Ikea. baseless allegations stir up racial teers gathered for the annual Home as a people. This initiative, jointly organised by the National tensions and damage people’s confi- Team National Day Observance “No two persons had exactly the Environment Agency (NEA) and Ikea Singapore, is an dence in the Home Team. Ceremony. same views but there were common effort to inspire more households to recycle. “We must redouble our efforts “We will update the Mainte- traits identified,” she said. The bins are designed to be durable, washable, func- against hate speech and attempts to nance of Religious Harmony Act, to These included Singapore’s open- tional, and come in neutral colours. break our social cohesion,” said Ms strengthen our levers against ele- ness to people, trade and invest- They are made from 60 per cent recycled plastic, Teo. These remarks were made by ments that may harm our religious ment, multiculturalism which and come with a prominent blue label that offers recy- Ms Teo amid an ongoing contro- harmony,” said Ms Teo. undergirds the national identity, cling tips. versy over a rap video, widely criti- The minister, in her remarks, and the belief that self-determina- It advises households to ensure that recyclables are cised as racist, by YouTube enter- also outlined two other security tion has bound Singaporeans to be free from food and liquids, and to rinse bottles and con- tainer Preeti Nair and her brother challenges for Singapore – extrem- masters of their own fate. tainers before recycling them. Subhas Nair. ist ideology and foreign interfer- “These traits continue to be The bins retail at $9.90 at Ikea, but be provided free They made the video in response ence. important for our survival and suc- to those who have received their vouchers in the mail. to a “brownface” advertisement to There were also the security risks cess, but they also point to the chal- Eligible residents in Built-to-Order flats in new promote e-payment website associated with Singapore’s open lenges we face,” said Ms Teo. HDB precincts such as MacPherson, Bidadari, Sem- epaysg.com which featured Media- borders, said Ms Teo, citing the inci- bawang and Sengkang, will get their voucher by mail. corp actor and DJ Dennis Chew por- dent last month where Myanmar [email protected] They can be redeemed at Ikea outlets in Tampines and traying characters such as a woman nationals were deported after they Alexandra Road. in a tudung and a man with visibly were found to have organised and FOR MORE, READ Households can empty the bins in the main recycling darker skin. gathered support for armed vio- THE STRAITS TIMES bins and chutes at their blocks. The initiative is the result of household recycling sur- veys conducted last year by the Ministry of the Environ- ment and Water Resources (MEWR) and NEA, which Times Centrepoint fifth bookstore to close since April found convenience indicated as an important enabling factor for recycling. Respondents also revealed that the most common ERLINA CALUBAYAN reason for not recycling was that they had too few items to recycle. Times Centrepoint bookstore will NEA chief executive Tan Meng Dui said: “We are close on Sept 23 – the fifth book- happy to work with Ikea Singapore to encourage house- store to close since April. holds to make recycling a daily household routine.” A spokesman for Times Book- He added that the in-home recycling bin makes recy- stores told The New Paper that the cling things more convenient than disposing them as closure is “part of Times Book- garbage. stores’ ongoing renewal of store “The recycling bin also brings the ‘recycling right’ locations from time to time”. message into the homes of these residents.” But shoppers can continue to – CHERYL TEH shop at the Times bookstores at Paragon and Plaza Singapura. It is also business as usual at all other Times bookstores located at Jelita, Marina Square, Tampines 1 Times Centrepoint is having a moving out sale till Sept 23. TNP PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG and Waterway Point, as well as online at GoGuru.com.sg. perplexed by bookstores’ dwin- worm and I go to bookstores when- This closure comes after Japa- dling numbers. ever I can.I’m afraid that by the nese chain Books Kinokuniya shut- She said: “I enjoy reading and I time a decade passes, all that will be tered its Liang Court outlet on April read any type of book. Where are all left are used bookstores and noth- 21, and local chain Popular closed the bookworms going to get their ing else.” its Thomson Plaza outlet on June 23 books if bookstores near them Times Centrepoint is having a after 31 years there. close?” moving out sale with 50 per cent dis- Malaysian chain MPH closed its Miss Grace Lee, 19, who runs a count for members and 30 per cent Raffles City outlet on Sunday, and book review blog, is upset to see the discount for non-members until will be closing its second and last bookstores go as well. Sept 23. outlet at Parkway Parade on Sept 1. The Singapore Polytechnic stu- Primary Six pupil Stefanie Loh is dent said: “Personally, I am a book- [email protected] MONDAY, AUGUST5,2019 13 lifestyle Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street debut in November at the Sands Theatre. star Lea Salonga says the musical never seems to age To Salonga, playing the diffi- cult-to-love Mrs Lovett feels like Christmas and a dream come true. She fell in love with the story when she watched Tim ‘Darker part Burton’s 2007 film version star- ring Johnny Depp as Todd and Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs Lovett. of humanity OLD ENOUGH However, she did not jump on the opportunity to play the char- acter despite discussions with SRT over the years. is interesting’ Salonga, who has a 13-year- old daughter, said: “It’s one of those musicals where I felt I ERLINA CALUBAYAN pore in June, Salonga, 48, told needed to get old enough and The New Paper: “In news from live life enough in order to play Forty years after the musical the US, we constantly see injus- that role with authenticity, thriller first opened on Broad- tices, like people being accused truth and honesty. way, Sweeney Todd: The of crimes they didn’t commit, “Now it seems to be the right Demon Barber Of Fleet Street and police brutality. point in my life to do this particu- remains endlessly timely, “The musical never seems to lar show. I needed the experi- according to Filipino actress- age because people tend to ence of living – as a parent, wife, singer Lea Salonga. empathise with others who get friend and somebody who The Tony Award winner will squashed and silenced by those works in theatre – and experi- star in the latest iteration – pre- in power who can move around ence heartbreak, death and hard- sented by the Singapore Reper- the world with impunity. ship, even through the eyes of tory Theatre (SRT) – as the “Even though there are so people that you love. One can- comedic Mrs Lovett, the accom- many themes that initially seem not be sheltered and play Sond- plice of the titular serial killer off-putting, it’s not seeing heim effectively.” who makes and sells meat pies blood or the killing that gets audi- made from Todd’s victims. ences. [email protected] First staged in 1979, the Victo- “It’s how dark certain peo- rian-era musical tells the story ple’s desires can be. It’s the of how Todd returns to London darker part of humanity which is FYI years after being banished by a interesting – the rest is just spec- WHAT Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber corrupt judge who has raped his tacle.” Of Fleet Street wife, and goes on a vengeful With music and lyrics by WHERE Sands Theatre, Marina Bay Sands killing spree. Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Lea Salonga at Monday’s media briefing where she announced the official Singapore WHEN Nov 28 to Dec 8, various times At a press conference in Singa- Todd will make its Singapore Premiere of Sweeney Todd. PHOTO: SINGAPORE REPERTORY THEATRE TICKETS From $55 via www.srt.com.sg Act Blur Edwin Yeo apologised after writ- But was it really your fault? ing an article for the Singapore You were probably only follow- Kindness Movement that said ing Mediacorp’s orders, right? “casual racism” was “okay”, I mean, did James Lye ever say Sorry time for Dennis Chew? among other things.