Li Nanxing once racked up S$2m in debt, thought of suicide
Posted: 08 March 2010 1226 hrs
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Li Nanxing
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SINGAPORE: Veteran Singapore actor Li Nanxing revealed that he once indulged in gambling, drinking and even had suicidal thoughts when he could not pay off his mountain of debts, said media reports.
Li told his story to a large crowd on Sunday night at an event at the church Lighthouse Evangelism where many showed up after hearing that he would be speaking.
The television actor reportedly said that he racked up almost S$2 million in debt after making a bad investment decision.
He explained that while he was quite popular the first nine years of his career, his career came to a virtual halt after he said he “was fine with it” when he went on stage to receive an award for his role in the 1997 drama “Rising Expectations”.
Li did not manage to get many roles after that incident and decided to try his hand in business, so he took out S$900,000, his entire savings from nearly a decade of acting, and opened a members-only club with his friends.
“I was the largest shareholder at the time! When I finally got a chance to shoot a drama in China, I ‘pre-signed’ a number of cheques and left my business partners in charge of the venture,” said the 45-year-old.
“The six months I was in China, I only communicated with my business partner over the phone. I only found out later that the general manager was dishonest. Besides losing my S$900,000 investment, I still owed suppliers and developers S$500,000. That S$900,000 was everything I had from nearly a decade of work.”
Things started getting from bad to worse for the then-penniless Li. He lost his driving license for drink driving, owed S$45,000 in taxes and even had to borrow S$30,000 from loansharks to avoid losing his house after defaulting on loan repayments in 2002.
Li added that at one point, he even had to scrounge for loose change to buy food. He only had something good when his pay cheque finally came in at month’s end.
Facing such enormous pressure, Li turned to gambling, drinking and smoking almost three packets of cigarettes a day to numb himself. However, this only served to land him deeper in debt and made him think of taking his own life.
“I did not have any friends, I could not sleep… I thought of suicide, to end it all with my death,” said Li who went on to describe those years as the “darkest days of [his] life”.
Li said it is only after he chanced upon religion that he was miraculously “saved”.
His business partner wanted to settle their differences out of court and offered Li S$210,000 while his creditors stopped going after him and instead went after his other two business partners. He also signed with a new management company and managed to get a number of jobs overseas.
All this allowed him to clear all his debt within a year.
“After that, I no longer gambled, drank or smoked. I sleep peacefully every night and have a better temperament. I am a changed man,” said Li.
- CNA/ha
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Besides Wendy Chong and Foyce Le Xuan, there are now reports of at least nine other women who were involved with Jack Neo at some point in time. According to sources in the entertainment industry, there was even a popular singer and a hotel staff among them, and their age ranges from 20 to 40. Here are the list of women according to Shin Min Daily News. Woman #1: Wendy Chong, 22, model
She exposed their two-year affair and Jack Neo has admitted to this relationship. His wife has also admitted to knowing about their affair. Woman #2: Foyce Le Xuan, 25, artiste
She has been invited by Jack to meet him at a hotel, only to reject him. She also received mushy text messages from him, but chose to terminate her contract with J Team to avoid any contact with him.
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MOH mulling grants for S’porean medical students studying overseas
By Imelda Saad, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 09 March 2010 1621 hrs
SINGAPORE: Public hospitals are studying the idea of offering pre-employment grants to Singaporean medical students studying overseas, to help them with their cost, in return for a bond to serve after they graduate.
Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan revealed this in Parliament as he laid out his ministry’s priorities for the year.
19-year-old Singaporean, Evetor Sim, recently graduated from an international school in China. In September, she will head to the University of Manchester to study medicine. Her parents are forking out some $300,000 in tuition fees.
A grant, she said, will help ease the financial burden, but the concern is the bond that may be tied to this grant.
She said: “I would definitely take into serious consideration the grant because doing a medical degree overseas is very expensive and the living expenses also are very expensive. I think the only thing that holds me back from signing on for this scheme is the inflexibility of having to return back after your studies and having to serve your bond with the government hospitals.”
Locally-trained doctors, who receive subsidies in the medical school, are already bonded to work at public hospitals for up to five years after graduation.
NUS medical students are bonded for five years. Duke-NUS Graduate medical students who are Singaporeans are bonded for four years, while PRs and international students are bonded five years.
The Singapore Medical Association says bringing in locals trained overseas will plug the gap to meet demand for doctors in the years ahead.
Dr Chong Yeh Woei, president of Singapore Medical Association, said: “I think with the shortage of doctors, the most important thing is we can bring in foreign doctors but I believe our local patients would still want locally-trained doctors or local doctors to treat them. I think this is because of the cultural context and the languages that we speak.”
The proposal to get more local doctors is part of the government’s plan for healthcare as Singaporeans grow older and live longer.
There will be greater emphasis on geriatric as well as mental health, with S$120 million set aside to strengthen specialist training over the next five years.
Another S$57 million will go into enhancing follow-up care for mental health patients.
Mr Khaw said: “Our follow-up care is getting better but we know there are still gaps. MPs’ comments earlier confirm this. I am therefore adding a further $57m for mental health initiatives, on top of the $123m already committed. This is a significant $180m commitment to enhancing our mental health programme.
“Part of the new budget will be used to increase psychiatric nursing manpower. Another will go towards setting up a long term monitoring and risk assessment system. It will help identify and provide support for patients who default follow-up appointments for treatment, thereby reducing the number who relapse because they do not take their medication.”
Responding to concerns that the increase in foreign worker levies will hit nursing homes, Mr Khaw said his ministry will raise the subsidies for such homes by about 7 percent to help them cope with the higher cost of operations.
Other healthcare initiatives include plans for three new nursing homes and rebuilding three old ones in larger facilities in better locations within HDB towns.
The minister described the restructuring of the healthcare system in Singapore as a quiet revolution. He said if done well, results will show in 10 years. The key is to avoid unnecessary hospitalisation, have better integration between hospitals and community partners as well as help patients achieve successful aging at home.
- CNA/ir
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 Lianhe Wanbao on Monday identified the latest woman as 25-year-old Foyce Le Xuan (above), who alleged in an interview with the Chinese evening daily that Neo had sexually harassed her when she was a member of the Liang Jia Ban (Neo’s Family Group). — PHOTO: NP
HE WOOED her with the promise of grooming her into ‘Fann Wong No. 2’, and even booked a hotel room so they could get to know each other better. This claim was made by a second woman who has decided to speak out on Singaporean filmmaker Jack Neo, just days after a 22-year-old freelance model Wendy Chong broke the news of her two-year fling with the Cultural Medallion recipient. Lianhe Wanbao on Monday identified the latest woman as 25-year-old Foyce Le Xuan, who alleged in an interview with the Chinese evening daily that Neo had sexually harassed her when she was a member of the Liang Jia Ban (Neo’s Family Group). Ms Le, described by the Chinese daily as ‘sexy and beautiful’ and drew comparisons with Hong Kong pop star Coco Lee, was a member of Liang Jia Ban for a year from 2004. In the interview with Wanbao, she claimed that Neo wooed her aggresively after she joined his entertainment group. Once, he allegedly told her that he had made a reservation at a hotel and was waiting for her so that they could spend ‘quiet and private’ time together to ‘get to know each other better’. She did not show up. She also said that when she first started out at Liang Jia Ban, Neo offered to send her home as she lived in Tampines, which was near his Pasir Ris home. But these rides turned out to be more than innocent, she claimed. Shortly after, she alleged that Neo tried to hit on her. She said once in his car, Neo grabbed her hand and said, ‘I want to groom you into ‘Fann Wong No. 2’. I will direct a film and make you the lead actress.’ ‘At that time, I was only 20, just a small girl… I didn’t dare to speak out… When he held my hand tight, I didn’t even dare to resist,’ she told Wanbao. On her decision to go public with the affair, Ms Le said: ‘After reading the reports on Wendy Chong in Wanbao, I was reminded of a very unpleasant period in my life. Jack Neo’s wooing methods are the same. He asks for your number, sends you an SMS, and says all sorts of sweet things to his ‘prey’. She added that she ‘admired Wendy Chong for standing out to reveal the truth’. This, she hoped, would prevent similar incidents from happening. Read also:
Jack Neo will tell all
Tried to break up 30 times
We had sex in car
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Some people think that football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it%u2019s much more serious than that.[1] War, like football- two games that are commonly known yet rarely understood. Two games, too often reduced to playing rather than winning, scoring goals rather than attaining them. Precisely because football is so well-established and the game %u201Ccommonly understood%u201D, it is crucially relevant in understanding small wars (a match between professionals and amateurs). Because it is a truism that a team professional in scoring goals is likely to win the match, it is easily forgotten why goals lead to victory in the first place. Breaking with an accustomed image, I will explore the strategy of breaking the rules to create a game, in which the score (dead bodies and torched earth) is no longer central to victory and defeat and to show why big nations tend to lose small wars[2]. A weak team might not win through the number of goals but, nonetheless, it might win. [3]/[4]
Der Ball ist rund und das Spiel dauert 90 Minuten[5] [6]The game commonly known as football is defined through a set of rules and regulations. In accepting those rules, a team accepts to play solely within the confines of a 68�105m flat-surfaced pitch, which must not be left by a player throughout the official playing time.[7]Players of both teams have to be recognizable by their jerseys which have to be worn at all times[8]. Furthermore, the size and weight of the ball as well as the equipment carried by each player (i.e. shin pads, shoes, stockings) is exactly defined.[9]Both teams have to defend an equally sized, stationary goal and a goal may only be scored using neither hands nor arms. Most importantly, it is equally understood, that victory solely depends on the relative number of goals scored after 90 minutes.[10] With reference to a gross imbalance in military and economic capacities as central feature of small wars, a hypothetical match between the team of FC Barcelona (the world%u2019s 2nd largest club) and the %u201CSaints%u201D University club shall be imagined. Each team may decide whether to observe the official rules or to deliberately breach them. Assuming both teams playing rule-abidingly, the professional team of Bar�a is very likely to score more goals within 90 minutes due to their superior fitness, technique and tactics.[11] Since by accepting the rules both equally accept the terms of victory, Bar�a would win. In the same way as the Saints would stand without a chance in a game on equal terms, so did insurgents challenging a vastly superior nation in open battle often pay a tremendous price. Due to superior firepower, discipline and tactics, 50.000 Sudanese soldiers were defeated in the battle of Omdurman (1898) in an open clash of forces by a combined British-Egyptian colonial force of 24.000, leaving more than 23.000 Sudanese either dead or wounded. Joint British and Egyptian casualties numbered 482.[12] More than half a decade later, North Vietnamese troops were met by a similar fate in attempting to gain control over South Vietnam in an open battle. The in 1968 initiated Tet Offensive turned into a military disaster due to their exposure to American air strikes who could bring their technological superiority to full bearing. [13]/[14] A completely different image emerges, if the Saints decide not to play football, but to willingly disregard the FIFA rules. Extending the playing field to the terraces and fans. Hiding or destroying the official ball while suddenly producing an alternative ball from among the fans at the far end of the field to score a goal by surprise. Using shoulder pads to tackle Bar�a players while not wearing jerseys and hence blending in with the audience to avoid penalties and retribution. Recruiting fresh players from among the audience while happily entering even the tenth additional time irrespective of the score. Even though this game could hardly be called a football match, Bar�a would not be able to win, because the Saints wouldn%u2019t accept a score-based defeat. Similarly, Bar�a wouldn%u2019t be defeated either, because the Saints rather than scoring goals, focus on not falling behind. Since no team would accept defeat after 90 minutes, the game carries on until one team leaves the field. Defeated and in exile, Napoleon Bonaparte famously referred to his efforts to control a popular insurgency (referred to as small war or %u201Cguerrilla%u201D by the Spaniards) as %u201Cthe fatal knot%u201D that ultimately caused his downfall. Indeed, in his efforts to control the Iberian Peninsula and fighting an enemy that did not confront him in open combat, but in small mobile forces attacking his army%u2019s rear, its supply and communication lines, more troops were lost than in his attempt to conquer Russia[15]/ [16] Impassable for his cavalry and artillery, the guerrillas operated from- and retreated into the mountainous, northern regions of Nacarre, hiding, being sheltered and supplied by the local population.[17]/[18] Even though Napoleon commanded the superior forces and controlled the major cities, he continuously failed to destroy the insurgents who avoided direct confrontations and so the war dragged on to bind and destroy men and material.[19] Facing a weak team that does not honor the rules, frustrated Bar�a might decide not to leave but to escalate the number of world-class players or even to hire boxers to physically attack everybody deemed to be supporting or playing for the Saints (without jerseys the difference might be hard to tell). However, Bar�a would face increasingly high wages and an escalating level of brutality in a game that would hardly resemble football anymore. Fans and news networks all around the globe would decry the barbarism of the game and even worse, the extra goals scored by Barca could still fall short of the critical number for the students to admit defeat. Bar�a%u2019s violent behaviour against fans and players might encourage more and more students to join in the team, to help hiding the ball, or just to cheer the players. %u201C%u2026Bomb everything that moves%u201D[20]. These were the orders given to Ethiopian pilots in their war to prevent Eritrean independence(1961-91). The indiscriminate targeting of civilians with Napalm, cluster bombs and chemical weapons constituted the Ethiopian reaction towards an conventionally inferior enemy employing small-scale hit-and-run operations while avoiding direct confrontations. [21]/[22] Similar techniques were used respectively by US-forces and the insurgent Viet Cong in Vietnam[23]. Operation %u201CRolling Thunder%u201D, a campaign designed to coerce North Vietnam into peace negotiations, saw unprecedented amounts of bombs, Phosphor, Napalm and Agent Orange claiming approximately 52.000 civilian lives[24]/[25]. 10 years earlier, the same strategy was attempted by General McArthur who ordered to %u201C%u2026destroy every installation, factories, cities and villages%u201D [26] in Korea leaving 18 out of 22 cities in ruin[27]/[28]. In both cases, it did not compel the enemy to capitulate and increased rather than decreased local support for the insurgents.[29] In addition, the United States faced more than just rising economic costs: Fans in the stadium and worldwide expect to see a %u201Cfair game%u201D in which their team wins in accordance to the rules. After Thierry Henry used his hand to assist in scoring the game-winning goal against Ireland, he as a player and his team faced massive international as well as domestic criticism. [30] Former World Cup winner Lizarazu stated that %u201E..we are going to the World Cup, but %u2026 with our heads bowed%u201C[31]. A big team%u2019s image is of central importance to its continued success, because their main revenue and thus their continued existence is generated through advertisement, TV rights and fans paying for tickets.[32] Furthermore, a successful team like Barcelona has a stake in the widespread acceptance of the rules, because they protect their players from injury and guarantee that their overwhelming skill bears victory. Thus, disobeying the rules might help to win a halftime, yet it comes at great economical and political costs. In the case of Vietnam, Operation %u201ERolling Thunder%u201C sparked a spiral of escalating violence on the ground and increasing international isolation. Throughout the Vietnam war, the successive US-administrations were confronted with ever increasing domestic and international protests with hundreds and thousands of people protesting in and outside the United States. Led to believe in a quick victory and a just cause, the American electorate was shocked by the number of dead soldiers and the destruction caused by the ongoing fight, even when battles (such as the Tet Offensive) were won militarily.[33] Similar reactions could be observed after a German-US aerial attack on two fuel tankers in Afghanistan. The vehicles captured by the insurgent Taliban were destroyed by an air strike killing more than 100 insurgents and bystanders.[34] In its aftermath, German inspector general Schneiderhahn as well as German defense secretary Jung had to resign.[35] However, Barca is not doomed to be defeated. It could also decide to send its youth team to St.Andrews and thus greatly reducing its costs. Strictly obeying the rules and distributing food, drink and fan articles to the audience, the Saints would find it increasingly hard to muster the support crucial to sustain the additional playing time. Such an approach was successfully realized by US-forces during an uprising of the Hukbalahap movement on the Philippines (1946-54). Relying on small detachments of combined US and native forces, treating captives well and offering amnesty to enemy fighters while running schools and hospitals in local villages, the insurgents finally had to succumb due to the absence of popular support.[36] As exemplarily demonstrated, in choosing the right strategy a weak actor can avoid defeat in fighting a superpower. On the other hand, a strong nation trying to break this stalemate by resorting to barbarism finds itself confronted with unbearable political and economic costs. Thus, in understanding why big nations tend to lose small wars it is important to analyze how a stalemate translates into the insurgent%u2019s victory.[37] Barcelona and her supporters, being the outstanding favorite, will expect an easy victory and since it would come at no surprise, would gain little in money and prestige. What really matters for Barcelona is the Champions League. The Saints%u2019 players however, faced with their lifetime opportunity to play the famous FC Barcelona would be motivated to perform over their physical limits or even risk injury. It was even assumed, they would disregard the rules and so the game goes into overtime with a rising level of brutality. Both teams will find themselves confronted with ever rising monetary and physical costs. Since Barcelona, has less to gain and more loose, they might finally withdraw leaving the Saints to celebrate their victory. So, in breaking the rules and successfully avoiding defeat, the game is decided by the will to keep playing no matter what the costs. %u201EHow do you beat an enemy who is willing to fight helicopters with bows and arrows?%u201C[38] In an US attempt to stabilize Somalia, their opponents even used slingshots against Blackhawk helicopters, women and children as human shields and hence bore tremendous costs in human lives.[39] Between 1992 and 1994, US troops suffered 30 casualties, while killing an estimated 3000 in an intervention President Clinton termed %u201Ea vital humanitarian mission%u201C.[40]/[41] The difference to a mission %u201Edefending US core interests%u201C became clear after 18 US casualties in the streets of Mogadishu arguably caused the US retreat in 1994.[42] In the final analysis, the local militias were willing to suffer losses at a far greater rate without accepting them as decisive or appealing for peace.[43] Similarly, 20 years earlier, the North Vietnamese%u2019 vastly superior will to continue a war with horrendous casualties forced 500.000 US troops to leave the country[44]. Although undefeated in battle, 54.000 dead US-soldiers, $686 billion in total costs of war and the pictures of Napalm bombing raids on CNN seemed finally to stand in no proportion to a war not centrally threatening US-survival. In the height of the Cold War, there were greater battles looming elsewhere. On the other hand, the death of 5.1 million Vietnamese was not able to force the North into surrender.[45] In conclusion it was argued, that weak actors tend to win small wars when they are able to successfully avoid defeat. The strong nation%u2019s advantage in killing capacities may only lead to victory, when applied in open and decisive battles. However, as soon as the weak actor alters the terms of war and avoids direct confrontation while engaging in continuous and indecisive smale-scale attacks, the %u201Econtest of killing%u201C turns into a %u201Econtest of endurance%u201C. Both sides face ever rising costs as the war drags on so that ultimately the willingness to sustain them becomes decisive. However, since insurgents tend to fight for their very survival while the strong power%u2019s existence is not at stake, the strong may ultimately withdraw leaving the field to the weak. Although the weak does not win on the battlefield, nonetheless, he wins because goals are not everything that matter.
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