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Bacteria, mould, mildew and bugs can populate in surprising places, especially if you don’t clean their hiding places frequently or thoroughly enough. Grime can also prevent your appliances from doing their job well – and, not to mention, potentially make you sick. Here’s how often you should be cleaning the stuff in your house, and how to do it effectively. 1. RICE COOKER: EVERY TIME YOU USE IT Make sure you wash the lid components – some hinge-topped models have a removable inner lid that can hide starch from the rice-cooking process. 2. CUTTING BOARD: EVERY TIME YOU USE IT Run plastic boards through the dishwasher to disinfect. If you don’t have a machine, scrub hard with soap under fast-flowing water. If you have a wooden board, spray your board with a 25 per cent vinegar-75 per cent water solution. For a more thorough cleaning, you can also make a thick paste of salt and water, rub it on the board, let it sit overnight, and scrape it off in the morning. … [Read more...] about 16 disgusting home items you’re probably not cleaning often enough

On Tuesday, the UK embassy released an article in Chinese on its official WeChat account attributed to Ambassador Caroline Wilson with the headline "Do foreign media hate China?". It said that some Chinese media were claiming that foreign media outlets' criticism of China proved their dislike of the country, mentioning China Daily as an example of the Chinese media calling its Western counterparts "China-haters". In fact while we are critical of the reporting of some Western media outlets on China because of the prejudice and lies that characterize their reporting on China, the China-haters we were referring to are those Western politicians whose dislike of China seems to know no bounds. They seem happy to make spiteful remarks that bear no relation to the truth simply in the hope of smearing China's image or causing trouble for it. What earned these "China-haters" that moniker is their own words and deeds. The reason why the reports of some Western media outlets are met with … [Read more...] about Press freedom is not leeway to lie

GRENOBLE, France: The identity of luxury goods firms is often anchored in the creativity and skill of the artisans behind the objects. A case in point is Hermes, where workers spend years learning to work with precious materials such as leather and silk. This approach allows such companies to distinguish themselves and compete in a marketplace flooded with goods that cost less but don’t have an identity strongly connected to craft, tradition and place. This approach isn’t the unique domain of just a few firms, of course – it can be extended to those that are currently less known and in more peripheral places. An eloquent example is the Vietnamese town of Van Phuc, in the Ha Dong district, which has specialised in silk weaving since the 13th century. Establishing a strong place identity – how meanings attached to a locality can affect locals’ sense of self – was essential for their craftsmen to stand out from the crowd. ANCIENT TRADITIONS, NEW COMPETITORS Located … [Read more...] about Commentary: Made in Van Phuc, these Vietnamese silk artisans are working against mass market consumerism

SINGAPORE: A man convicted of murdering his mistress and burning her body over three days was sentenced to life imprisonment on Monday (Aug 19), three years after strangling the 31-year-old woman in his car at Gardens by the Bay. Leslie Khoo Kwee Hock, 51, was spared the gallows and cannot be caned as he is over 50. This was the second case in Singapore's legal history where an offender was convicted of murder in the absence of a body. The first was the case of Sunny Ang, who killed his girlfriend in 1963 in a diving incident to collect on her insurance. He was hanged four years later. "While this honourable court has found the accused guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt, his absolute disposal of the body hampers the consideration of his appropriate sentence," said Deputy Attorney-General Hri Kumar Nair and Deputy Public Prosecutors Tan Wen Hsien, Sarah Shi and Stephanie Koh. The prosecution in their submissions said the court's decision was a binary one - either … [Read more...] about Gardens by the Bay murder: Man gets life imprisonment for killing mistress, burning her body

SINGAPORE: A man accused of murdering his mistress and burning her body over three days was found guilty on Thursday (Jul 18) after an 11-day trial that began in March this year. Leslie Khoo Kwee Hock, 51, was convicted in the High Court of strangling 31-year-old engineer Cui Yajie on Jul 12, 2016, in the front passenger seat of his car at Gardens by the Bay. The Chinese national had been on the verge of exposing his lies about his marriage and job and had been chasing him to return S$10,000 she had lent him for "investment" in gold. Khoo then burned the body in Lim Chu Kang over three days, returning to replenish the charcoal and kerosene. Judicial Commissioner Audrey Lim said the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and that the defence had failed to show provocation, sudden fight or abnormality of mind. She said Khoo "knew of what he was doing", and rejected his explanation that he had disposed of the body as he wanted to give the victim a proper … [Read more...] about Gardens by the Bay murder: Man found guilty of killing China mistress, burning her body