We're giving five sets of exclusive movie premiums for Ice Age 3, courtesy of Fox Pictures.
Each set consists of a magnetic photo frame, a jigsaw puzzle, a giant pencil, a watch, a notebook and a movie poster.
To win a set, call Infoline at 1900-9140801 and answer this simple question:
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What animal does Queen Latifah play in Ice Age 3?
1. Woolly mammoth
2. Tiger
3. Panda
The contest closes on Sunday at midnight. Each call costs 20 cents.
We're giving away 10 pairs of in-season passes to watch Duplicity, courtesy of UIP.
To win a set of passes for two to go, call Infoline at 1900-9140801 and answer this simple question:
Which of these movies did Julia Roberts NOT starin?
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1. Pretty Woman
2. Star Wars
3. Mona Lisa Smile
The contest closes on Sunday at midnight. Each call costs 20centsCAN'T wait to see who'll win the grand prize of The New Paper Auction - the Derbi motorbike?
Come for our grand finale at Suntec Galleria Foyer on 11 Jul to find out who gets to ride off with the motorbike.
The New Paper's Hed Chef Hedy Khoo will give away the prize.
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But this isn't just a prize presentation.
For those who still have The New Paper Dollars (TNP$), this carnival will be your chance to bid for prizes like a Nautica watch, or a dinner date with Radio 91.3 hosts Rod Monteiro and Andre Hoeden.
Bid for these prizes on the spot with TNP$.
And if being regaled by the Radio 91.3 morning crew isn't enough, there's a whole slew of energetic performances lined up.
For one, fire-magician Danny Koh's act will leave you gasping. Besides swallowing fire, he also spins fire-wheels to rock music.
Stunts
He will also thrill you with stunts like threading razor blades through his teeth.
'People tell me that they can't find such action-packed fire tricks anywhere else in Asia,' said Mr Koh, 28, who performs at BluJazz and GoingOm cafes.
Also, prepare to be stunned by yo-yo tricksters Spinworkx. Their frenetic routines will convince you that yo-yoing counts as an extreme sport.
Want more acrobatics? The Braddell Heights Legacy All-Stars cheerleading team will be cartwheeling, flipping and tumbling across the foyer.
But stunts aside, what's a good party without dancing? Ngee Ann Polytechnic's dancers will have you bopping to their samba beat.
And don't forget that you have onlytill the end of this week to bid for the Derbi Terra Adventure 125 motorbike and accessories, worth more than $16,000 in all. To bid, simply cut out and collect TNP$, which appear on the front page every day.
SMS your bid to 79777 in this format: TNPE1Bid AmountFull NameNRIC
The highest bid wins. But you must back up your bids with actual TNP$.
IT WAS bad enough for this father to find out that his 14-year-old girl had been having sex regularly.
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| TNP, ST FILE PICTURES |
But things got worse.
Even after making a police report and repeatedly warning his daughter's boyfriend, the sexual trysts continued right under his nose.
It all started when the father, David, found out that his daughter had sex with a 17-year-old polytechnic student last November.
The young couple have been together for over a year.
He hit the roof when he found out about it in January.
To protect the identity of the daughter, we are not giving the real names of those involved.
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When David, who is in his 40s, first wanted to report the boyfriend to the police, he decided against it to give the boy one more chance.
In the eyes of the law, girls aged between 12 and 14 are considered victims of statutory rape. Cases involving girls below the age of 12 are investigated as rape.
The boy could have been jailed up to 10 years or fined if he had been convicted.
There have been several such cases in the last few months. (See report on facing page.)
David said that he immediately called the couple for a talk when he found out about their trysts.
He said: 'I sat both of them down and told the boy that my daughter is still young and can't make decisions (about sexual relationships).
'I also told him that he's still studying, has no job and can't take care of my daughter. I said I will give him a second chance by not going to the police.'
Jealousy
David said that the boy apologised and promised not to see his daughter anymore. David even informed the boy's parents and told them to control their son.
He said that he would never have found out their secret if not for the jealousy of her boyfriend.
The boyfriend had called David this January and warned him that his daughter was also seeing someone else and that 'they could be doing it'.
David got worried and told him that he'll be sending his daughter for a medical checkup.
He said: 'I also warned him that if I did that, I might also be able to find out if my daughter had sex with him. That was when he confessed and said that he had sex with my daughter last November.'
After that warning, David sent his daughter (now in Secondary 3) to school every day, while his wife took time off daily from work to fetch her home in the afternoon.
David said he tried talking to his daughter but she was non-communicative and didn't want to talk about her relationship with the boyfriend.
Their precautions came to naught.
Their daughter continued to keep in contact with her boyfriend secretly, and even skipped lessons to meet him.
David found out that she had sex again with the boyfriend in January after reading an SMS on her handphone that she had sent to the boyfriend.
Her message said that she was guilty about having sex again and wondered if she could be pregnant. Furious, David made a police report against the boy that month.
He said: 'We're under tremendous stress having to make a living and to guard her. We are very concerned that our daughter might end up pregnant or even get Aids.'
Then something else happened. In February this year, his daughter jumped down from the second floor of their condo and fractured both her arms.
Said David: 'We had locked the main door to prevent her from leaving the house but we didn't know she'd jump out of her bedroom window.
'And even with her fractured arms, she still managed to go to her boyfriend's place.'
The daughter spent two weeks in hospital for her fractured arms and also received psychological help.
The boy, however, was let off with a police warning in March.
Helpless
But even after that police warning, the couple continued to have sex, which infuriated David even more.
He found out from his daughter's blog that the couple had sex again in May this year.
He said: 'I had already warned the guy and reported him to the police. He was let off with a warning but now, he's still having sex with my daughter.
'As a parent, I am really helpless. What can I do? I can't imprison my daughter.'
He said that while his daughter has shown signs of improvement and even wrote an apology letter to her mother, it is still too early to conclude that the problem is over.
David said that he has since made another police report in May. The police said that investigations are ongoing and it's inappropriate to comment at this time.
Former deputy public prosecutor Tan Hee Joek said that generally, the factors that could've been considered on whether to charge the accused would be the age of the accused and the relationship between the accused and the victim.
Mr Tan, now in private practice at Tan See Swan & Co, explained: 'The age of the accused is very important. It would tell you roughly if the victim was taken advantage of by someone older who preys on younger girls.
'But if both of them are teenagers and they do have a close boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, then that would be taken into consideration.'
In such cases, it's not unusual that the accused is let off with a stern warning first, he said.
Said Mr Tan: 'If it happens again, then the authorities might take more serious action against the offender. You can't keep on giving warnings. For the first time, the accused may claim that he didn't know it's serious.
'But after being warned, he can't rely on that as mitigation, especially when he has ignored the warning blatantly.'AN UNKEMPT Audrey Quek?
Not very likely.
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But it seems the ex-beauty queen was once a tomboy and did taekwondo.
It's hard to believe, because these days the 34-year-old image consultant insists on putting on lipstick even for a trip to her local convenience store.
Said Audrey, Miss Singapore World 1999 and a former finalist of The New Paper New Face: 'There's a standard that a lady should follow.
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| NOW & THEN: Audrey with her book and clothing line (above) and as a New Paper New Face finalist in 1997. -- |
'I feel naked if I go out without wearing lipstick and setting my hair. My colours must be coordinated. My clothes must be pressed - even T-shirts and shorts. Creases are my pet peeve.'
Her daily hour-long routine includes using heated rollers to curl her hair.
She feels that Singaporeans are still clueless about dressing appropriately.
That is why Audrey, who helms her eponymous image consultancy firm, has consolidated her tips in her debut book, ABC To Your Dream Job.
She said: 'Having conducted workshops in tertiary institutions, I noticed that many students didn't adhere to the schools' dress codes - no flip flops, hot shorts, mini skirts and spaghetti tops.
'A lot of corporate ladies are also unaware of appropriate office attire.'
A guide for jobseekers, her book includes pre-interview preparation and communication etiquette.
Preparing for interview
She said: 'Most books of similar content on the market focus on resume writing. They don't cover topics like pre-interview rehearsals and the need for an interview suit.
'One has to dress to look the part. At interviews and business functions, it's about a person's poise and how people project themselves professionally.'
ABC To Your Dream Job costs $21.40 and will be available at Popular bookstores from 6 Jul.
To illustrate the importance of 'dressing to look the part', Audrey has also launched her clothing line, Audrey Quek Executive Label.
She has been wearing her own designs for the last four years because clothes in Singapore are 'conventional and the colours aren't vibrant enough'.
She said: 'A lot of corporate clients have been asking me to sell my designs.
'Japan and the Philippines have expressed interest in selling my clothes in their countries.'
Blouses start from $59 and suits are between $188 and $388. There is only one piece per size and clothes can be customised according to body types, she said.
Audrey will also add at least 24 new designs every two months and no pattern is repeated.
But it was not so long ago when she was a tomboy who always wore shorts and had short hair.
She quit ballet to take up taekwondo because the former was too feminine.
Audrey received a junior black belt - the highest rank for those under 15 years of age - in taekwondo when she was in Primary 5.
She was also a competitive swimmer with the Chinese Swimming Club until she was 16 years old.
After removing her braces and ditching her spectacles for contact lenses at 16, she realised that 'people started noticing me'. So she decided to put more effort into her looks.
She was also influenced by her mother who is from Hong Kong and taught her the importance of colour coordination.
She said with a chuckle: 'My two elder sisters and I never wore flip-flops. This is the reason why I don't wear flats now. My heels must be at least 1 inch. I even wore 2.5-inch heels when I was pregnant.'
Audrey is married to events organiser Daniel Lee and their daughter, Denise, is 2 years old.
Her 'ugly duckling' days were history after she took part in the The New Paper New Face contest in 1997.
She said: 'Since then, I've become conscious about how I should look and dress for different occasions.'
She was also Miss World Fuqing in 2000 and Most Beautiful Mum in 2007.
It seems being well-groomed runs in the family. Little Denise is already following in her mother's footsteps.
Audrey said: 'At home, she's always in dresses. When she sees me brushing my hair, she does the same.'
For updates of The New Paper New Face 2009 contest, visit www.tnppostwoman.com/newface09
