Latest news with #Long
AsiaOne
16 hours ago
- AsiaOne
2 men taken to court over arranging bail for accused thief, who later absconded, Singapore News
Two men were charged in court on Tuesday (July 22) for helping to post bail for a suspected member of a housebreaking syndicate who stole over $570,000 worth of jewellery from a home on Windsor Park Road in June 2024. Chinese national Long Zhihua, 39, was granted bail on April 1, 2025, but failed to present himself for pre-trial conferences on April 25 and May 23. The police said that Long's bailer, 41-year-old Singaporean Wilson Ang, did not know the accused and had acted as his bailor for money. Ang also allegedly entered into an illegal agreement with a third party to indemnify himself against any losses if Long failed to adhere to bail conditions. He is also accused of providing false information in a police report after Long absconded, claiming he had maintained regular contact with the Chinese national before losing contact with him. [[nid:719044]] Wai Kei Fung, a 25-year-old Malaysian, was also taken to court alongside Ang on Tuesday. The police said Wai had driven to the prison and fetched Long to a hotel after he was released on bail on April 1. The room which Long stayed was allegedly paid by Wai. The younger man had also couriered Ang the $30,000 bail quantum in cash and agreed to indemnify him against any losses in his role as Long's bailor, reported CNA. A warrant of arrest has been issued against Long and the police are working with foreign law enforcement counterparts to trace his whereabouts. In court on Tuesday, Ang and Wai were each charged with obstructing the course of justice. Ang was also charged with entering into an agreement to indemnify against any liability, and Wai with abetting the entering into of an agreement to indemnify against any liability. The Singaporean was handed a third charge of providing false information with intent to cause a public servant to use his lawful power to another person. Ang was offered $15,000 bail, according to the Straits Times, which reported that no bail was offered to Wai, who the prosecution said is a foreigner and a high flight risk. [[nid:697687]]
Straits Times
20 hours ago
- Straits Times
2 charged over alleged involvement in posting of bail for man who subsequently absconded
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Long Zhihua, a 39-year-old Chinese national, was a member of a housebreaking syndicate and is facing charges of housebreaking and possession of stolen property. SINGAPORE – Two men were charged in court on July 22 over their alleged involvement in the posting of bail for a man involved in a housebreaking case who subsequently absconded. The fugitive is named in court documents as Long Zhihua, a 39-year-old Chinese national, who was a member of a housebreaking syndicate and is facing charges of housebreaking and possession of stolen property. Long was arrested after he allegedly broke into a Windsor Park Road house on June 21, 2024, and made off with more than $570,000 worth of jewellery together with an accomplice. On July 22, Wilson Ang, 41, and Wai Kei Fung, 25, were handed one obstruction of justice charge each, and one each related to entering into an agreement to indemnify against any liability, which is an offence under the Criminal Procedure Code. Ang, a Singaporean, was also handed a further charge over providing false information to a public servant. In a press release, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said that on April 1, Ang had allegedly posed as a bailor for a 39-year-old man who is named in court documents as Long Zhihua. Ang allegedly did so for money and did not know Long. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore S'poreans aged 21 to 59 can claim $600 SG60 vouchers from July 22 Singapore LTA seeks tailored solutions to improve Bukit Panjang LRT's maintenance inspections Opinion Singapore's vaping crisis lays bare the drug addiction nightmare for parents Multimedia 'It's very sad': She comforts loved ones turned away by inmates Opinion Sumiko at 61: 7 facts about facial skin ageing, and skincare ingredients that actually work World Trump 'caught off guard' by Israel's strikes in Syria Singapore Ports and planes: The 2 Singapore firms helping to keep the world moving He is said to have entered into an illegal agreement with a third party to indemnify himself against any losses if Long failed to comply with his bail conditions. Wai, a Malaysian, purportedly abetted this agreement by couriering the bail in cash to Ang to facilitate the posting of bail. Ang allegedly acted as a surety to a bail bond for Long to the sum of $30,000, leading to Long's release from remand in prison. After bail was posted, Wai allegedly drove to the prison, picked Long up and took him to a hotel. Wai purportedly paid for a room at the hotel to house Long. Subsequently, Ang allegedly lodged a police report falsely claiming he had maintained regular contact with Long before eventually losing contact with him, in an attempt to deny involvement in the matter. Long then absconded while on bail and failed to attend a court hearing for charges in relation to his case. The State Courts has issued a warrant of arrest against him, said the police, adding that it is working with foreign law enforcement counterparts to trace his whereabouts. On July 22, Ang and Wai, who were in remand, attended the hearing in court via video-link. A police prosecutor submitted for no bail for Wai, saying that he had facilitated Long to jump bail and because he is a foreigner with high flight risk. Ang was offered bail of $15,000. Their cases were adjourned to Aug 18 for the completion of investigations. If convicted of obstructing the course of justice, an offender can be jailed for up to seven years, fined or both. Those found guilty of entering into an agreement to indemnify against any liability, can be jailed for up to three years, fined or both. The offence of providing false information with intent to cause a public servant to omit any action if the true state of facts were known by him, carries a maximum punishment of two years' jail, a fine, or both. SPF said it take a serious view of acts that interfere with the administration of justice, and that offenders will be dealt with in accordance with the law.
IOL News
20 hours ago
- Business
- IOL News
How a Chinese fintech founder learned to build for Kenya's reality, not its potential
Nairobi, Kenya. Long's Africa story began rather fortuitously, says the author. Image: Tedd_ M on Unsplash "Three weeks in Beijing and Shanghai," I tell April Long before the mics come on for our podcast chat. "When?" she asks. "2011," I reply. "Oh," she laughs, "different country." No kidding. I wasn't a car person then, and I'm still not now, but I couldn't help but be floored by Xiaomi's recently unveiled YU7 SUV. Long gets it, though. She's spent 12 years watching East Africa transform, but her journey from a 'no-name Chinese town' (her words, not mine) to co-founding an Africa-focused fintech called Pyxis tells quite a story about transformation. Listening to her share gave me a fresh appreciation for what it must be like building in Africa while Chinese, and what locals might tend to overlook in our own backyard. Presidents and pictures Long's Africa story began rather fortuitously. She was 23, fresh from a master's in Guangzhou - the pulsing Chinese tech hub of 19 million people, nearly three million more than Zimbabwe's population. An International Student Exchange Center (ISEC) exchange program plonked her in Tanzania for what was supposed to be a brief stint. Two weeks in, she's somehow playing tour guide for President Xi Jinping's state visit, her face sneaking into a corner of a photo seen by millions back home. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ "Zero chance that happens in China," she tells me, and her parents' utter shock was probably audible from Dar es Salaam. In Guangzhou, she was nobody special. In Tanzania, she was receiving presidents. But Long says she stayed because at 20, reading Eric Simanis's 2012 Harvard Business Review article "Reality Check at the Bottom of the Pyramid" during a previous Taiwan student exchange, she'd decided she wanted to "make money and make a difference." Most people say that. Long actually meant it enough to turn down some prestigious appointments at Ogilvy China, twice (albeit gigs with relatively uninspiring remuneration attached). Humbling times Fast forward to 2021. Long, now married to a Singaporean named George Chan and fully rooted in Kenya, co-founds Pyxis with him (with her at the helm). Named after a southern constellation visible from Nairobi but faint from Beijing, the company aimed to tackle the $286 billion Africa-China trade gap. How apropos. Their first move? A platform for Nairobi SMEs to pay Chinese factories in yuan. "I made an MVP in two, three months and thought it was going to be a game-changer," she recalls ruefully. It flopped spectacularly. They found no demand for the product despite Long spending six months embedding herself in Nairobi's wholesale markets - Gikomba, Luthuli, River Road - chasing interest that never materialised. The onboarding friction was too high, ticket sizes too small. "My cost didn't justify my LTV [customer lifetime value] at all." But after struggling to raise money to burn through the problem as was the fashion at the time, she pivoted. Hard. Following the money She reckons the market taught her something uncomfortable: "We sometimes want to build the future…but we forget we are in the present tense." When she went to wholesale markets, traders would shout, "China, China, what are you selling?" The demand wasn't for payment rails but for access to suppliers. So she tried e-commerce, even partnering with Alibaba for dropshipping. Another lesson: small-volume imports doubled or tripled costs. She realised it came down to economies of scale. As she puts it: "90% of African trade is still happening in a more traditional way." The reality stung. SMEs weren't ready for her vision of social commerce. Infrastructure, consumer habits, and economics didn't align with her Silicon Valley-inspired dreams. So Pyxis shifted to serve Chinese bulk traders shipping containers to African distributors, handling currency exchange and settlement. Long admits being unhelpfully stubborn. "I was like, no, we have to work with SMEs." Because, of course, 'impact'. But the numbers didn't lie: 10% of her time on bulk traders sustained her team, while 90% on SMEs drained cash. Mirror reflections Long's story reflects our tech scene's growing pains. We do love our fintech fairy tales. Unicorns, million-dollar raises, Silicon Valley playbooks transplanted to Lagos, Nairobi or wherever. But Long's experience cuts deeper. She flipped from chasing an aspirational middle class to grappling with price-sensitive realities. That humility: admitting she misread demand, unlearning her assumptions, pivoting when data contradicted vision. To me, that's the real crux of the story. "It has been really, really hard for me the past two years," she admits. "Every day I have to remind myself of my mission to keep myself going." Her willingness to admit missteps, unlearn assumptions, and rebuild from scratch - perhaps more so in Africa than elsewhere - separates builders from dreamers. Nevertheless, Long hasn't ditched her vision. "I still believe SMEs will dominate," she says. "Pyxis will help make that happen." Playing by today's rules while eyeing tomorrow. Note to self Impact often starts exclusively before it scales. Awkward? Sure. I would know. At 630 000+ plays and counting after over a decade, The African Tech Roundup Podcast hosting my conversation with Long isn't mass media, but it's carved out something sustainable by leaning into specificity rather than chasing radio's democratised reach or the internet's alluring promise of hyperbolic audience scale. Long's pivot to bulk traders isn't sexy, but it's real revenue funding her SME dreams and creating room to establish whether there might be VC-backable venturing worth pursuing. The 12-person team she indicates spans China, Kenya, Australia and Singapore isn't the next unicorn, and she isn't claiming it will be. But her willingness to evolve, admit failure, and rebuild from first principles is admirable. For now, Long's relying on the bulk traders, the aggregators, the messy reality of how trade actually flows to deliver interim sustainability. But, make no mistake, her eyes are trained firmly on the horizon where SMEs drive the next wave. Andile Masuku is Co-founder and Executive Producer at African Tech Roundup. Connect and engage with Andile on X (@MasukuAndile) and via LinkedIn. Image: File. Andile Masuku is Co-founder and Executive Producer at African Tech Roundup. Connect and engage with Andile on X (@MasukuAndile) and via LinkedIn. ** The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of Independent Media or IOL BUSINESS REPORT
Korea Herald
a day ago
- Business
- Korea Herald
Hanoi's street food culture gains ground with Michelin nods
HANOI, Vietnam (Viet Nam News/ANN) -- Several Hanoi street-side eateries have earned recognition from Michelin, but the question remains: is this enough to elevate the city's vibrant street food scene? Hoan Kiem bun cha, pho take the spotlight From its very first year in Vietnam, the Michelin Guide was quick to take note of bun cha (rice vermicelli with grilled pork and fresh herbs), a humble yet iconic dish from Hanoi. In 2023, two bun cha spots made it into Michelin's recommended list: Bun cha Dac Kim on Hang Manh street and bun cha Huong Lien on Le Van Huu street. That same year, other sidewalk eateries such as Ba Xuan Steamed Rolled Pancakes on Hoe Nhai street, Cham Chicken pho (rice noodle) on Quan Thanh Street, and Tien pho on Nguyen Truong To street were also spotlighted. These dishes, particularly bun cha and pho, were further recognized in the "good food at reasonable prices" category. In subsequent years, the list has grown to include pho Khoi Hoi and Pho Lam, Cham Chicken Pho on Yen Ninh Street, and Chinh Thang Pho Cuon. Other humble dishes such as the eel vermicelli from Dong Thinh and Chan Cam eateries, or the nostalgic countryside-style perch soup from Hieu Luc on Hai Ba Trung street, have also made their way into the guide. A notable trend is that most Michelin-recognized street eateries are clustered in the Old Quarter in Hoan Kiem ward and adjacent areas. Yet despite global acclaim, no banh mi (Vietnamese baguette) vendor has been featured, an absence that food experts find surprising given its international reputation and even inclusion in the Oxford Dictionary as a Vietnamese-style sandwich. In 2024, banh mi was listed among the world's best sandwiches, yet it remains absent from Michelin's radar. A foundation for growth, but more is needed There are currently no official statistics on whether Michelin recognition has caused a significant surge in patronage at these eateries. However, from a culinary tourism standpoint, this attention presents an opportunity, especially if supported by a strategic plan. For instance, multiple bun cha restaurants gaining recognition could create a ripple effect, boosting the visibility of other outstanding bun cha establishments across the capital. One approach is to develop cultural projects that spotlight Hanoi's culinary richness. The recently launched sketchbook project "Flavors of the Old Quarter" highlights many highly rated bun cha spots, such as those tucked away in Hang Quat, Bat Su, Cua Dong, and Gia Ngu streets. Author Pham Tien Long notes that seasoned locals still frequent hidden gems in Dong Xuan market or on Luong Ngoc Quyen and Nguyen Du streets, where traditional bun cha que tre, grilled pork skewers on bamboo sticks, is served. Long also pointed to a small but thoughtful gesture at Michelin-recommended Dac Kim: "Western visitors often recommend the spot to friends because it's frequently mentioned in Hanoi travel and food guides. The restaurant is considerate enough to keep forks in the chopstick holders, anticipating guests who may not be used to chopsticks." This detail highlights an important point: if bun cha alone can spark Michelin interest, other Hanoi street foods also deserve curated recognition. At the same time, upgrading services, like offering utensils for international guests, goes a long way in enhancing the overall experience. According to Dr. Nguyen Thu Thuy from the Vietnam National University, to elevate Hanoi's street food, vendors must first ensure their offerings are distinctive, something that builds a unique brand identity. Food safety, friendly and enthusiastic service, and active digital communication are also essential. Engaging customers on social platforms can help turn them into ambassadors for the business. She added that street vendors should aim to serve both dine-in and takeaway customers. Embracing technology, such as food delivery apps, not only reduces staffing needs but also helps manage operations efficiently, offering visuals, prices, and ordering options to customers. Thuy noted that food tech service providers are now readily available, and integrating these solutions could significantly improve service quality.
USA Today
a day ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Eagles Super Bowl hero reveals secret pitch to land ex-teammate
Super Bowl champion Chris Long opens up about his private recruitment of an Eagles teammate. They weren't with the Philadelphia Eagles for a very long period, but they'll always be near and dear to the organization, media, and fan base. Just say the names out loud. Chris Long... LeGarrette Blount... Did you see how broad you were smiling? Some of you youngsters won't believe this, but there was once a time when the Birds hadn't won their first Super Bowl yet. If we're being honest, we wondered when it might ever come. That being said, having seen Philadelphia win twice on the big stage feels like a blessing of sorts, but we'll tell you this. As fun as the second one was, you'll never forget your first. Chris Long shares a fantastic story about his role in recruiting LeGarrette Blount With there being seemingly two million podcasts on the books and another 30,000 being birthed daily, we'd understand if you were fatigued and bored with some of the overkill. Exciting Mics has been decent, though. Eagles teammates Cooper DeJean and Reed Blankenship star, and they have had no issues booking some of their teammates for a conversation. Their most recent episode features Chris Long, one of the heroes from Philadelphia's Super Bowl 52 win. He and LeGarrette Blount were teammates on the New England Patriots roster one year prior. They won a Super Bowl together there, so when Long's contract expired and his one-and-done season in Foxborough was over, he landed in the City of Brotherly Love. When he decided to flex those recruiting chops, guess who he called? "I'll never forget calling L.G. Bro, it's awesome here. I've been talking to these people. I just signed. Like, you need to get down here..." We all know how that turned out. Aside from being ignored in a road game vs. the Kansas City Chiefs, Blount shone in his one-and-done affair with the Birds. No one will ever forget where they were when he rumbled to the end zone to score in Super Bowl LII or when he ran over Andrew Sendejo in the NFC Championship Game two weeks prior. Blount scored a rushing TD in every postseason game during Philadelphia's run to their first Super Bowl, and to think... It almost didn't happen. Long is more visible than Blount these days. This fan base still loves both. Both will forever be a part of Philly's first Super Bowl win. If you're looking for an opportunity to see what Long is up to these days, check out Green Light with Chris Long. Yes, it's another podcast. Don't tear your hair out, though. As is the case with Exciting Mics, Long is always worth a watch.
