Archive for January 6th, 2010
The results of the 2009 GCE O-Level Examinations will be released on Monday, January 11.
School candidates may collect their results from their schools at 2pm that day. Private candidates will be informed of their results by post.
They may also access their results through the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board website at www.seab.gov.sg from 2pm on Monday.
Students can apply to enrol in junior colleges, the Millennia Institute, polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education via the Joint Admissions Exercise, using their GCE O-Level results.
Students who wish to apply only to polytechnics could also apply via the Joint-Polytechnic Special Admissions Exercise.
The posting results of the Joint Admission Exercise are tentatively scheduled for release on January 27.
Taiwanese singer Elva Hsiao stands to inherit part of her late mother Ye Shou Lin’s S$44 million estate.
Hsiao’s mother, Ye Shou Lin, passed away on New Year’s Day after a long fight with cervical cancer, just a day after Hsiao’s debut solo concert at the Taipei Arena. She was 53.
Ye started a semi-conductor firm in 2001 and was rumored to own assets worth more than a billion Taiwan dollars (S$44 million). With Ye’s passing, her multi-million dollar estate will be shared between Hsiao and her younger brother.
Ye had reportedly transferred 500,000 shares in the semi-conductor company to Hsiao in October 2009, making her a director of the firm. Ye also purchased a 8.5 million Taiwan dollar (S$4.25 million) luxury home for Hsiao, meant as part of her future dowry, that same month.
Ye’s family members have decided to give her a Buddhist funeral before cremating her body.
“I believe she left peacefully,” Hsiao said through her agent. “It was her big dream to see me perform at the Taipei Arena and now I have done it.”
When her mother died, Hsiao, 30, did not weep but kowtowed 108 times to show her gratitude to Ye for single-handedly bringing her up. Her parents separated over 20 years ago.
Hsiao’s father, Hsiao Yao, a cancer survivor, was not informed about the funeral arrangements but still turned up at the funeral hall.
Elva Hsiao was originally scheduled to make an appearance at the Harbin Ice Festival in China on January 5 and finish shooting a music video for her latest album in Shanghai before January 10, but might have to put these plans on hold for her mother’s funeral.
Casey Johnson, the hard-living, 30-year-old heiress to the Johnson and Johnson company empire, has been found dead in Los Angeles, a family spokesman said on Tuesday.
“The Johnson family is mourning its tragic loss and asks for privacy during this very difficult time,” the spokesman, Jesse Derris, told AFP.
Johnson, whose drinking binges and rows with her lesbian lovers made her a regular in the tabloid pages, was found dead on Monday, TMZ and other celebrity news sites said. No cause of death has been declared.
TMZ quoted a law enforcement source saying that she may have been dead for several days before her body was discovered.
Johnson was part of the family behind the huge Johnson and Johnson hygiene products and pharmaceutical business. Her father, Woody Johnson, owns the New York Jets football team and had just been celebrating progression on Sunday into the NFL playoffs tournament.
Derris said Casey Johnson’s body would be “flown back east to her final resting place. There will be a private funeral service later this week for the immediate family”.
Johnson reportedly had a troubled relationship with her father and suffered from diabetes. Her love life frequently involved public disputes with girlfriends, including Courtenay Semel, daughter of former Yahoo! CEO Terry Semel, according to the New York Post.
Her most recent relationship was with fellow TV reality show star Tila Tequila. The Post reported that Tequila sent a tweet reading: “Everyone please pray 4 my Wifey Casey Johnson. She has passed away.”
The family called for donations in her memory to the Casey Johnson Memorial at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.
“Casey struggled throughout her life fighting this disease, and she would want to see all of us continue that fight on her behalf,” Derris said on behalf of the family.
Science-fiction blockbuster “Avatar” was named among the nominees for the Producers Guild of America Awards’ top honour Tuesday, regarded as a key indicator of likely Oscars contenders.
James Cameron’s groundbreaking 3-D spectacular, which has become the fourth highest grossing film in history since it’s release last month, was among 10 films nominated for the January 24 awards show.
The PGA awards “Producer of the Year” honor is regarded as a gauge of which films may ultimately challenge for the coveted best picture prize at the Oscars, which are held on March 7 this year.
Last year’s PGA award winner, “Slumdog Millionaire,” eventually went on to win the Oscars’ coveted best picture award, as did the 2008 victor “No Country for Old Men.”
Joining “Avatar” on the nominees list this year were the producers of Iraq War drama “The Hurt Locker,” as well as the producers of science-fiction hits “District 9″ and “Star Trek.”
Other nominees included British drama “An Education,” Disney-Pixar’s animated hit “Up” and Jason Reitman’s recession-era dramedy “Up In the Air,” starring George Clooney.
The field was completed by Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds,” Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus” and “Precious.”