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Quite a sad tale of Nigel! https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/animalia/wp/2018/02/02/nigel-the-worlds-loneliest-bird-dies-next-to-the-concrete-decoy-he-loved/?utm_term=.fc93c6ac5a48 Nigel, a handsome gannet bird who lived on a desolate island off the coast of New Zealand, died suddenly this week. Wherever his soul has landed, the singles scene surely cannot be worse. The bird was lured to Mana Island five years ago by wildlife officials who, in hopes of establishing a gannet colony there, had placed concrete gannet decoys on cliffsides and broadcast the sound of the species’ calls. Nigel accepted the invitation, arriving in 2013 as the island’s first gannet in 40 years. But none of his brethren joined him. In the absence of a living love interest, Nigel became enamored with one of the 80 faux birds. He built her — it? — a nest. He groomed her “chilly, concrete feathers . . . year after year after year,” the Guardian reported. He died next to her in that unrequited love nest, the vibrant orange-yellow plumage of his head contrasting, as ever, with the weathered, lemony paint of hers. “Whether or not he was lonely, he certainly never got anything back, and that must have been [a] very strange experience,” conservation ranger Chris Bell, who also lives on the island, told the paper. “I think we all have a lot of empathy for him, because he had this fairly hopeless situation.” As he persisted in this futile courtship, Nigel accrued something of a fan base. Mana is a scientific reserve that, like other New Zealand islands, has been the focus of replanting and rodent eradication efforts. Friends of Mana Island, one of the groups that has planted trees and shrubs, said on Facebook that Nigel “won the hearts” of members and volunteers who “spent many hours over the years maintaining the concrete colony.” A photo of Nigel’s favorite spot on Mana Island, taken a few days after his death. The birds pictured are concrete gannet decoys. (New Zealand Department of Conservation) Another gannet spent some time on Mana last year. Unfortunately, it was a he, dubbed Norman. Perhaps the saddest twist to this tale is that three other gannets settled on Mana last month, after conservation officials tweaked the sound system used to attract them, according to the New Zealand website Stuff. This raised the possibility of breeding. But Nigel paid them no attention. “This just feels like the wrong ending to the story,” Bell told Stuff. “He died right at the beginning of something great.” But Nigel — whose nickname was “no mates” — will forever be remembered as the pioneer of the colony and credited with signaling to the new trio that Mana was suitable habitat, Bell said. A volunteer paints a gannet decoy on Mana , a small island off the southwest coast of New Zealand’s north island. (New Zealand Department of Conservation) On Thursday, Friends of Mana Island posted an original poem dedicated to the lonely castaway: To Nigel You stayed awhile on Mana Island, Attracted by your concrete mates You built a nest, you did your best But only Norman dropped on by. We weeded, we painted, we sprayed guano around. We hoped you’d find the real thing. Three newbies arrived, a Christmas surprise, But suddenly you are gone. RIP ‘no mates’ Nigel

Do you believe that most Animals have a very special sensibilities to feel an eminent danger before it struck. It happen few days ago when a Killer Whale killed its trainer in USA after been together with the trainer for so many years. Was telling my wf that it either an earthquake or volcano erupting soon in US. True enough an earthquake struck not in US but in Chile. Some ppl would claimed that it was coincidenced but I am convince that animals have a special sense of danger that we human do not have. Example is the Sichuan earthquake. The pandas were restless and animals were found leaving the forested area before the quake struck. If we are more observant enough, we can also sense it with our closest animal, Dog. It happen to me as our family dog which was very active suddenly turns quite for 2 days, refusing to eat and only hide under the sofa. On the second day, received a call from hospital that my father was in DIL and thereafter, passed away. The dog kept vigil beside the coffin throughout the wake. Every since that incident, I am more aware of unusual animal behaviour........

anyone heard of this? (apologies to those who can't read chinese) machiam like the HK gangster movies this Charles Heung really the HK triad boss?? [shocked] he acted as the bodyguard in the God of Gambler movies... quite cool leh

I lost my virginity to NUS law prof: Darinne Ko Yahoo! Newsroom A young lawyer testifying against her former law professor in a sex-for-grades case said in court Thursday that she lost her virginity to him. Darinne Ko Wen Hui, 23, said that on 24 July 2010, when she was a student at National University of Singapore (NUS), she and associate law professor Tey Tsun Hang, 41, had sex for the first time. She had met him when he had been her teacher for a module and they had gotten to know each other when she helped him do research for a book he was writing. She was doing her internship and was no longer his student at the time their sexual relationship started, the court heard. "Whilst we were kissing one thing led to another and we slept together on his couch. It was my first time and it was over pretty quickly," she said. "On the same day, when I got home, I found blood on my underwear which I informed him about. I received a reply about one hour later saying 'I'm sorry'. I did not reply to that SMS, nor did I ask what he was sorry about," she said. Tey, a former district judge, was charged in court last year for having corruptly obtained sexual gratification from Ko on two occasions in July 2010,when she had been a student at NUS, as inducement for showing favour in assessing her academic performance. In the other charges, Tey allegedly obtained from Ko from May to July that same year a Mont Blanc pen worth S$740, two tailor-made shirts valued at S$236.20, an iPod Touch worth S$160 and payment of a bill amounting to S$1,278.60. There are a total of six charges in all. Tey is married and has one daughter. Class Ko, a former Raffles Girls' School and Raffles Institution (then Raffles Junior College) student, came to know Tey in January 2010 when she became his student in his Equity and Trusts class. In April 2010, she assisted him in carrying out research for his book on the same subject. Thanking her for compiling the research for his book, he took her out for their first lunch together. Ko said they seemed to have a "connection" during lunch and thereafter communicated via chat. When Ko's academic results were to be released, Tey revealed her results to her beforehand, and also disclosed her class ranking of 17th place. He then took her out on another lunch. They talked electronically when not face-to-face and conversation topics became more personal, moving from law to his personal encounters in his career. Eventually, they would meet two to three times a week for lunch and every Saturday at the office, where they would listen to music. For weekday lunch he would pick her up at the office she was working at as an intern then. "I liked him. I liked spending time with him. When I was not with him, I wanted to be," Ko said. When Tey lost a pen, she bought him the $740-dollar Montblanc pen. In June 2010, her boyfriend found out about her relationship with Tey when he logged onto her email account and saw their online conversations. She considered cutting contact with Tey on the request of her boyfriend but decided not to because she really missed the law professor. She then bought Tey a tailored shirt and an iPod Touch on which she loaded many songs. "More than anything, I told him I wanted it to remind him of me when I left (for an exchange program at Duke University in August 2010)," she said. After her first sexual encounter with Tey, she slept with him a second time on 28 July 2010. Asked why, she said it was because she loved him and believed they were in love. I lost my virginity to Tey

how to safeguard yourself from buying a flooded car? saw a SJR-plate camry being towed away, there're grass marks covering the entire bumper, shows how deep the water had been.

ST Forum Jun 21, 2011 Pregnant woman's tale of neglect AFTER settling our bill at the NYDC outlet in Tampines, I was leaving the restaurant with my husband around 7pm last Saturday when the two of us slipped and fell over the step at the entrance. There was a male waiter who was standing at the counter facing the entrance when the incident happened. On seeing us fall, he just stood there and offered no assistance - not even a word of concern even though the two of us were in pain. It is a critical situation when a pregnant woman falls as there are two lives involved. Yet the restaurant staff behaved like nothing had happened. With some assistance - none though from the staff - I was rushed to the nearest clinic and referred to KK Women's and Children's Hospital where I was immediately put under observation as the doctors were very worried about my condition and the baby's well-being. I was also given a few days of medical leave. I am appalled by the restaurant staff's attitude in such a situation. Pok Hui Kiang (Madam)

Poor innocent woman. Did everything under the law-see MP & report police, even incurring own expense of installing CCTV but still kena harrassed...What more can she do? http://www.straitstimes.com/STForum/Story/...ory_625645.html Innocent loan-shark victim's 3-year tale of endless woes I AM an unfortunate owner who bought a three-room flat from a loan-shark borrower three years ago. I have been harassed by loan sharks until today because the previous owner had not changed his address on his identity card. I have lodged several police reports but the only assurance the police offered me was that they would increase the patrols around my block. Desperate, I sought the assistance of my MP, Associate Professor Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, last November. He promised to raise the matter with the police, but the only additional response I received from the police, apart from the previous assurance of increased patrols, was a question: Would I be installing a closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera? Meanwhile, the loan sharks did not let up and visited my flat regularly. Last week alone, I lodged three police reports, the most serious of which was about my family and I being locked in with a bicycle lock, and our front door splashed with red and black paint. The police had to be called to release the lock. Subsequently, an investigating officer was assigned to the case, but the only response I received from him was the same: The police would increase their patrols. The next day, a loan shark called and threatened to burn my flat if I did not track down the previous owner. He also threatened to harm my daughter and my maid, claiming that he had their photographs. I reported this also to the investigating officer and after receiving the same reply, I asked him to facilitate the installation of a CCTV camera at my lift landing. He told me to check with the Bedok North police centre and when I did, I was told to obtain approvals from the Housing Board and the town council. Only then would the CCTV camera be installed, at my own cost. The reason I am writing in is that I have done all that I could but question whether the police have done likewise. I have faithfully lodged reports with the police, and installed a CCTV camera, but I have not seen a more visible police presence. I am not updated by the police and all that the police have done effectively is to record my statements. I am baffled and frustrated. On the one hand, a serial loan-shark borrower could escape harassment by the simple act of not changing his address; and a loan shark could obtain all my personal details. On the other, the police have apparently been unable to track down the previous owner, let alone the loan shark. Eng Lay Qing (Ms)

TS's note: The title of this thread, for the sake of continuity, shall remain as The Wife of J, Part IV. This may not be too apt here, as it is mostly about J, and his view on the marriage. This was meant to be the final installment, but I have received (too) many PMs asking me variously about J, R, their marriage and their future. I may or may not write part V, depending on reader demands. Also for heaven's sake (this is for the forummer who posted me the question on the sex thingy), please do not ask me which positions they usually do it in. I'm close to J but NOT THAT CLOSE! J got married in 2005 to a girl whom he has met while on overseas travel. According to J, R was very different then. Tall, shapely and soft spoken, she was, according to him, the epitome of womanhood. She would defer to him for all decisions from minor things like where to dine, what clothes to wear, to the important things like their plans for the future. She would laugh with him and do everything with him without complaint. They dated for about 3-4 months before he popped the question. R said yes. I believe sincerely that J was, and still is, a man many girls would say yes to. Fair looking, well-spoken, and born into a wealthy family, J never had lack of female admirers himself. J is about 32 this year and the son of a food retail businessman, whose family resides in an opulent mansion somewhere in the central part of Singapore. According to J, R started to change gradually after marriage. From being submissive, she would, over a period of months, become more and more dominant and abusive toward J. She also started to pile on the pounds. It had occured to him that she suffered from some form of schizophrenia, but she would turn abusive whenever he suggested that she seek professional help. J's happiness, freedom and dreams started to be destroyed one by one. During the night we chatted, he admitted that he often looked back into the pre-marriage days and wondered what had come over his wife, the woman whom was once so demure and submissive toward him. Gone was that girl, and in her place lingered a vile presence that is beyond reason and comprehension. J told me that he broke down several times, and after a few encounters of violence with R, he wanted nothing to do with her or the marriage any longer. He told me that he was tempted several times to either pack his bags and run to the other end of the world, or to stab a fork into her throat while she slept. He had not done either, because he has not given up hope searching for and falling in love again the R that he had first come to know. He still believes to this day that R still has some good left in her, buried below the veneers of unpleasantness that overflows from her each and every day. It is for this perceived good that J still hangs on for. Divorce has likewise occured to J "almost on a daily basis" for the past 2 years or so. Yet the thoughts of divorce always warred with his wish of finding the old loving R, and so far love has prevailed. J has become numb to the antics, spite and abusive tendencies of R, and chooses to believe that his wife is very ill mentally. He has to date not succeeded in convincing her to get any medical help. J believes that love would see both of them through and one day, he would get a breakthrough. He had told me that he would give them both another 3 years to work things out, and "get the demon exorcised from their marriage". I told him to consider carefully. He or R might very well end up dead in three years time. J told me something then, an incident he experienced with R a few weeks prior to the night he seeked solace at my house. He had a very hard cry when he finished his story. After hearing about it, I came to realise that J's hopes were not based on pure wistful thinking or ungrounded imagination. If what he said were true, J has earned his right to hope that he would one day find his "original R". The incident with J recounted to me deserves to be put into a separate installment. Part V may or may not be posted, depending on how much you wish to know about it. I do not wish to bore you if this saga is becoming a little stale, you see.... Till then, constant reader, I remain your humble LK.

B was a 6 year old student some years ago. He was frequently bullied in school, because of his ability of speak properly. His parents never thought much about it. Teachers always thought B was a normal child, except that he was probably a slow learner. Friends of B always saw him as a normal kid. But, whenever B couldn

Hello all, The featured car is exactly one year old. The following problems have been reported by the owner: - rattling noise in the air con blower area which Borneo Motors still have no clue about its root cause - peeled-off leather upholstery on the door panel - loose fittings in certain panels in the interior of the car Besides these, a patch of rust was discovered in the inner door seam, just beneath the rubber weather guard recently. Naturally it is a very shocking discovery for the owner, since Toyota claims that its vehicles come with a 100% galvanised body and panels. This seems to contradict the claims by BM and its SEs that Thai assembled Toyotas are comparable to Japan assembled Toyotas in terms of quality.