Latest news with #CalvinSamuel
Independent Singapore
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Independent Singapore
In a private ceremony, Jaclyn Victor weds her long-time partner, Calvin T. Samuel
MALAYSIA: Jaclyn Victor, the Malaysian Idol winner, recently experienced a happy moment. Besides releasing some new music, she recently tied the knot with her long-time boyfriend, Calvin T. Samuel, as reported by Hype . At first, the singer kept her partner's identity under wraps. However, she did admit that her children had started to accept him as part of the family, even at the beginning of their relationship. Photo: Instagram/Jaclyn Victor Apparently, only close friends and family knew about the wedding as Victor has never publicly disclosed any information about the ceremony or even her engagement. Anyway, the happy event was shared by her friends, and here is what happened: Victor tied the knot with Calvin T. Samuel this past weekend. He's a director and executive coach at Wadadli Ltd. and a lecturer. Celebrity guest list The intimate ceremony, held at a secret location, was attended by friends and family. The celebrity guest list included Shila Amzah, Marsha Milan, Atilia Haron, Salamiah Hassan, Ning Baizura, Anuar Zain, and Ziana Zain. Many of Jaclyn's friends captured special moments from the ceremony, like when she walked down the aisle and she and Calvin exchanged their promises and said 'I do.' Of course, no wedding is complete without pictures, and all the celebrity guests made sure to grab some photos with the happy couple. Touching messages Some of them left touching messages, wishing the newlyweds a lasting marriage. 'From Malaysian Idol days to this radiant bride, I stand with pride and joy by your side. To @calvintsamuel, please take good care of my sis — we all love her dearly 🙏🏼,' wrote Shila Amzah. 'What a glorious day! Our beautiful goddess @jaclyn_victor has found her king, Calvin @calvintsamuel. May God bless you both and grant you a great adventure ahead. May you always love each other and be each other's strength and pillar for life,' wrote Ning Baizura, congratulating her dear friends. Fans congratulated Jaclyn and her husband on their nuptials in heartfelt replies to the posts. 'Asia's Divette' Jaclyn Victor (born on Dec 4, 1978) is a highly accomplished Malaysian singer, actress, and businesswoman. She rose to fame by winning the first season of Malaysian Idol in 2004. She is known for her powerful vocals and has been dubbed 'Asia's Divette.' She is considered a legend in Malaysia. Victor was previously married to Shawn Rivera, an American singer. They got married on Jul 19, 2014, but divorced in January 2020 after five years . They have two children : a son named Jonah Joshiah Rivera and a daughter named Molly Marguerite Rivera .
Malay Mail
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Malay Mail
Shila Amzah, Vince Chong celebrate Jaclyn Victor's new marriage
KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Malaysian Idol winner Jaclyn Victor married Calvin T. Samuel in a private ceremony over the weekend. Fellow singer Shila Amzah shared the joyful news on Instagram, posting several photos from the wedding. In her Instagram caption, Shila expressed her happiness for Jaclyn's 'beautiful new chapter' and wished the couple love and laughter in their journey together. Akademi Fantasia's first ever winner, Vince Chong, also posted photos from the event, describing it as a 'beautiful night of celebrating the union of two beautiful souls'. In his Instagram profile, Samuel lists himself as a certified professional coach and Methodist minister who served in towns across Essex, England. This marks Jaclyn Victor's second marriage following her 2020 divorce from American singer Shawn Rivera, with whom she shares two children.
RNZ News
04-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Navy helicopter upgrade needed after Seasprites 'worked to the bone'
Defence Minister Judith Collins with members of the New Zealand Defence Force at Sunday's announcement. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel The government's $2 billion spend on new naval helicopters is being welcomed by experts, but the opposition says other problems need just as much focus. Defence Minister Judith Collins's pre-Budget announcement on Sunday revealed replacement of the Navy's Seasprite helicopters would be the first major expense from the $12 billion capability plan unveiled last month. She also revealed a $957m spend from the Budget - separate from the capability plan - on Defence Force activities, personnel and property. "As a maritime nation we are prioritising naval capability. The new helicopters will be able to go further and carry larger loads, including weapons, personnel and equipment - all of which is critical for Defence to protect New Zealand and New Zealanders," Collins said. Labour leader Chris Hipkins said it was a sensible approach, but similar levels of spending were needed in other areas like health, education and housing. "I think the replacement of the Seasprite helicopters is necessary. We do rely on them for things like disaster recovery, for the provision of humanitarian aid, and I think ultimately it's good to see the government investing in them," he said. "Replacement of the Seasprites is well and truly justified, but the government's clearly prioritising defence spending while offering austerity in areas like health, education and housing. I think New Zealanders need to see a similar level of commitment to investment in those areas. "This is a government that scaled back hospital redevelopments, it scaled back school rebuilds, and has almost completely stopped building new state houses. Those are vital investments in New Zealand's future as well." He said he was not in a position to judge the price-tag, but military procurement was different from the commercial sensitivity in the private sector in that prices were "fairly standard", so it was good to see the government being transparent about costs. The Green Party's Defence spokesperson Teanau Tuiono called the military focus of the government's spending into question. "Preparing for war is not how we build peace," he said, "We've been told by Nicola Willis that this upcoming budget is going to be an austerity budget, there's nothing in the bank do a lolly scramble - well someone's got all the lollies and it appears to be Judith Collins and David Seymour," he said. Willis - the Finance Minister - last week revealed the 22 May Budget's operating allowance would be about $1.1 billion smaller than previously expected, but said it was not an austerity approach. Tuiono called for a stronger focus on Pacific diplomacy and climate change mitigation, rather than spending up large on military hardware. "Is that what the Pacific is asking us? That's a question I would have: have Pacific leaders told us they actually want us to get helicopters? What you often hear from them is that they want support around climate change. "More can be done to support the Pacific and the focus needs to be on that relationship, and we've got to look at it in the context of the US up-sticks and leaving. "That takes a lot of dialogue. It takes diplomacy. I don't think it means arming up." University of Otago professor of international relations Robert Patman said New Zealand did need to do more on climate change, but disagreed that investing in defence was a preparation for war. "In a world in which there is conflict, unfortunately, perception of weakness can make you a target and it's no secret that we've only been spending about 1 percent of GDP on defense for about two or three decades," he said. "I think if you want an independent foreign policy you do need to have the capability to not only defend yourself but also to contribute to multilateral security operations. Most problems in the world today - particularly in the world of security, but also climate change and also economic problems - they don't respect borders. "This defense announcement we've had doesn't signal a willingness to act unilaterally or even be part of some alignment of a great power. It signals, I think, a pragmatic recognition that since we basically rely on the multilateral system and we believe in the rules based order ... we do have to have the capability to contribute with others, to deal with problems that threaten that order." He said the spending announcement was not only encouraging because it gave certainty over the helicopters' replacement, it was also signalling that the government was "very mindful that we're a maritime nation, and our maritime estate, so to speak - that exclusive economic zone around New Zealand - needs to be monitored". "It's a form of insurance. You hope you don't have to use it, but... it's nice to have it in place, just in case something untoward or unexpected develops, and I think this is quite sensible policy making." Victoria University's Centre for Strategic Studies director David Capie said the defence force had been under-invested in for decades, and in recent years had been unable to perform some of the tasks expected of it. The helicopters were also essential, he said, for the Navy to be able to do what it needed to do - and the replacement of them was something that had been planned during the previous government's term. "You need helicopters that can actually extend the effectiveness of our frigates and other vessels ... they're also likely to be bigger than the ones that the Navy currently operates, and so they'll also be capable to fulfil a number of other other roles, like search and rescue and humanitarian assistance and response." He said the Seasprites had been "worked to the bone". "We had eight helicopters, we've cut that back to five essentially to cannibalise the ones that we have, to keep them in the air ... it's another classic case of New Zealand is really running assets into the ground, it becomes more and more expensive to keep them operating, and so there are some things that just suddenly become urgent and really need to be addressed. "So $2 billion is a lot, but this you also need to think that this is an investment over many decades of a future capability and it's part of an insurance policy that's vital for our nation's security." At the announcement, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said the focus was on ensuring NZDF had the personnel in place and bringing new assets into the system, and signalled defence could be a priority for additional new spending. "If we have more money, if our economy is doing better, of course we'll tip more money into it as we go," he said. "It comes from a place of us as a new government saying 'look, we cannot have economic prosperity without defence and security. We're living in an Indo-Pacific region that is more geostrategically contested and competitive. We see rising tensions through the world but also through our region. "It's really important you don't just spout off with your values and your words, you've actually got to follow it up with some actions and some commitment." A spokesperson for Judith Collins said all figures for the helicopter spending - and all other estimates from the Defence Capability Plan - would be subject to finalised business cases. Exactly which model of helicopter would be chosen would also depend on the business case, but the $2b minimum set aside for them in the Budget would cover the cost of the helicopters themselves, as well as their operating costs for the first four years. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
28-04-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Fire and Emergency urgently restarting work on plan to replace big-ladder trucks
Firefighters at the scene of a recycling plant fire last week. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel Fire and Emergency began moving to urgently restart a group working on a strategy for replacing its big-ladder trucks, just before one broke down in Auckland last week, stranding firefighters above scorching flames. The agency told RNZ on Monday it is investing as much as it can afford in new trucks, as well as developing a "fleet asset management plan", and that safety is its top priority. But that management plan, like the truck strategy about what to buy when, and where to put it, is years overdue. The union has questioned how long the management plan will take, while blaming Thursday's truck breakdown at the Glenfield factory fire - like other earlier breakdowns - in part on lack of a strategy to upgrade the whole fire truck fleet. The pair of firefighters stuck in a ladder basket of the truck had to issue a 'mayday' call to get another truck to help them escape. Five years ago, an inquiry into the Auckland Convention Centre fire told FENZ it did not have enough big-ladder trucks - so-called aerials - and a national strategy for them was "overdue". FENZ then took three years, until 2023, to come up with a draft. It took another year, until last November, to review the draft. A few weeks ago it told the union, "The aerial appliance strategy has not yet been finalised or approved." Also it said, "The aerial strategy working group has been requested to be reconvened with urgency by acting DCE SD (deputy chief executive service delivery) Operations, Ken Cooper to finalise and present this work back to the organisation for approval." On Monday afternoon this week, FENZ told RNZ, "We have a draft aerial strategy which is being refined to ensure that it is appropriately future looking, affordable and achievable." As for the new fleet asset management plan, the work on this comes a year after FENZ said it was assessing its fleet for gaps exposed by Cyclone Gabrielle. Months prior to that, RNZ had reported on the agency's years of struggle to keep its fleet up to scratch . At the Glenfield fire on Thursday, "everything that could go wrong did go wrong", said the Professional Firefighters' Union (NZPFU). The Green Party claimed vital maintenance was being deferred. FENZ responded, "The state of some of our fleet is in part a legacy of deferred maintenance and purchasing of new vehicles by our predecessor organisations." Its predecessor, the Fire Service, was disestablished in 2017, but had bought some smaller fire engines that have since exhibited a lot of problems. Both the union and Greens called on Monday for the government to intervene . RNZ on Monday asked Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden if she would. Instead, she reissued a statement made on Sunday: "I know the recent fire on Auckland's North Shore will have shocked the local community and I thank all the FENZ personnel who fought to bring the fire under control. "FENZ has an active investigation open on their operations that evening and I will not be commenting further at this stage. I will expect to see the results of their investigation," van Velden said. Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden. Photo: RNZ / Reece Baker Since the fatal Loafers Lodge fire in May 2023, the agency set out to buy five new big-ladder trucks; it had already bought over a hundred smaller ones prior to that, in its fleet of over a thousand vehicles. It did this without having first done the aerial strategy the 2020 inquiry recommended, an exercise that might seek to account for population growth and type, building types and the optimum spread of professional and volunteer firefighting resources. It might, for instance, consider how the likes of rapidly growing central Otago relies on a 17m-ladder-truck coming from Invercargill or a 32m-ladder one from Dunedin, and whether to reconfigure which area has how much of what, to address this. The five big trucks might be ready for service later this year - four 17m trucks and a 32m one, for Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Dunedin and Christchurch - to replace old trucks rather than expand the fleet. "We are confident [these] will be fully compatible with the final aerial strategy," deputy chief executive of organisational strategy and capability development, Sarah Sinclair, said in a statement on Monday. The organisation's fleet replacement programme envisages renewing some of its small and rural trucks - such as utes - before replacing crucial mid-size pumping trucks (called Type 4s, versus Type 5 and 6 big-ladder trucks). At the fatal Loafers Lodge fire in Wellington two years ago, the sole big-ladder truck available saved people off the roof. A second was sitting broken down - as was fairly routine - at Newtown fire station. The Newtown truck looks set to be replaced by one of the five new ones. Firetrucks attend the fatal Loafers Lodge fire in Wellington in 2023. Photo: RNZ / Denise Garland However, the failed Glenfield one looks like it will go back into service following a FENZ investigation into what went wrong last week, as a ladder-truck at Parnell station is even older. "We are investing as much as we can in new trucks with the funding we have available to us," Sinclair told RNZ. "We maintain our existing fleet proactively and reactively, to optimise its performance - safety is our highest priority." Previously FENZ has said ladder-trucks were not often used to evacuate people, though at Loafers the ladder was vital. Also, they are crucial for multi-storey fire fighting. Since the 2020 convention centre inquiry, several other big ladder-trucks have also failed several times in the main centres. The agency in its 10-year plan in 2020 said, "We are committed to being strategy-led." It has strategies for digital, Māori, research and evaluation strategy as well as a 'Future Strategy Connection Map', but no strategy for big fire trucks. Its 10-year plan said, "We will introduce new appliances as needed ... [and] replace fleet to ensure it remains reliable, safe and operational-ready." It envisaged the big trucks being replaced by mid-2024, and smaller workhorse trucks by mid-2029. A later report pushed the big-truck replacement back to 2023-27. The government knocked back some of the funding rise FENZ sought last year. Most of its $700m or so funding comes from levies on insurance premiums . Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
22-04-2025
- Climate
- RNZ News
Auckland residents question council preparedness for local flooding
Traffic queued as cars drive through the remaining floodwater on St Lukes Road on Saturday morning. Photo: RNZ / Calvin Samuel Some Auckland residents living in the flood-prone suburb of Wesley are frustrated at the lack of warning from authorities about the Easter Friday storm. Auckland Council and MetService have been under fire for failing to issue weather alerts and warnings before the Friday night storm that saw streets and garages flooded, power outages and two people trapped in cars by floodwaters. Auckland Emergency Management (AEM) confirmed central suburbs like Mount Roskill and Sandringham recorded more than 100mm of rain during the thunderstorms. MetService issued a yellow thunderstorm watch alert just after midnight on Saturday, as heavy rain flooded parts of the city, and AEM issued its first notice to Aucklanders about the storm at 12.42am. Lesieli Aholelei-Yitiri - whose family home next to Oakley Creek had to be refloored, after damage from the 2023 Auckland Anniversary floods - said her backyard was flooded again. Central Auckland suburbs were hit by flash-flooding during the weekend storms Photo: Supplied / Emmanuel Jose She said they needed to move their cars to higher ground, after the waters rose to shin-deep levels in their backyard after 2am. Aholelei-Yitiri said she was frustrated at the lack of advance warnings. "Because there were no weather warnings, there's nothing really... we've got no communication," she said. "It's frustrating, because we didn't want to go through this [again]." After seeing the impact of the 2023 storms, Aholelei-Yitiri said she felt responsible to warn her neighbours. "Got my husband to go next door, just to check on the neighbours there, because they're new to the neighbourhood and they don't know what happened here two to three years ago. "My husband went over and knocked on the door, and they were dead asleep... they didn't know anything about what was happening." Aholelei-Yitiri's family of 10, put sandbags around their house as a precaution against further storms, after receiving AEM's first emergency phone alerts on Saturday. She said she felt the Oakley Creek area had been poorly maintained. "It's overgrown, it's not looked after. We're paying our rates, our taxes and stuff, and what are we getting out of it?" She said council's upgrades to Oakley Creek, before the Auckland Anniversary floods, didn't seem to reduce the risks of flooding. Wesley resident Michelle Finau, whose home was also badly damaged in the Anniversary floods, said Friday's storm kept her family awake until 3am. "Our whole house was awake, just because of how we were affected in the past with the floods," she said. "We couldn't go to sleep, because we were afraid it might be a repeat, so we didn't go to sleep until the rain fully calmed down." Finau's family had to stay in cabins for about six months after the 2023 storms and repairs to their house took more than eight months. She was disappointed that authorities were slow to respond to Friday's storm, despite past lessons. "Because of what happened in the past, with the the floods in 2023, we would think that they would have had a quick response, but then what happened on Friday - there was no warnings." A community group - Acts of Roskill Kindness Trust - that had supported 20-30 families affected by the weekend storm, was aware of blocked culverts in the Oakley Creek area, both private and public. Coordinator Richard Barton said there were thousands of culverts around the city and, while Auckland Council had cameras monitoring the key chokepoints, it was hard to monitor everywhere at once. He said Wesley was home to many renters and some residents had been hit several times by floods. "Some of those people are still rebuilding or still having homes rebuilt, after the anniversary weekend floods, and the same places tend to flood each time." Auckland Council Healthy Waters manager Leigh Steckler said Oakley Creek catchment had a long history of flooding and a restoration project completed in 2019 involved measures to reduce flood risk, including replacing the concrete channel with naturalised stream, planting native vegetation to enhance its flood performance. Steckler said the improvements were part of a longer-term programme to improve the area's flood resilience. A further area in the catchment - between Winstone Rd and May Rd - was identified as a potential site, under the council's Making Space for Water programme, but options weren't designed or costed yet. Steckler said networks like Oakley Creek relied on ongoing maintenance and the council had dedicated funding for the upkeep of the stream. "Auckland Council has a maintenance contractor that ensures there are no blockages in the stream on a monthly basis, The creek was last inspected in the week prior to Easter, which found it was clear." Meanwhile, AEM general manager Adam Maggs said weather warnings and watches were issued by MetService, and its role was to share that information. "We are not weather forecasters and rely on the subject matter expertise of appointed agencies - MetService for weather - to guide us and provide the right advice for Aucklanders," he said. "Thunderstorms are notoriously difficult to forecast. No amount of analysis of rain radars and satellite imagery will predict where the most rain will fall, how it will impact that area and exactly when to expect it." Maggs said an emergency management alert was not sent on Friday evening, because the advice it received did not meet the threshold for it. 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