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Vogue Singapore
2 days ago
- Health
- Vogue Singapore
Should you be using a shower head filter?
In the big, wide world of wellness, even the most innocuous of objects may prove to be hazardous to your health. In recent times, it seems even water is not spared from scrutiny—with health buffs speaking up on the negative effects it imparts on an individual's skin and hair. The solution, it seems, arises in the form of a shower head filter. Imagine a built-in sieve designed to reduce the presence and amount of irritating substances, where it is able to weed out nasties in the vein of lead and microplastics. The question, however, remains: is there any accuracy to this accusation? Funnily enough, the short answer is yes. 'Water does contain disinfectants such as chlorine and chloramine,' elaborates Dr Evelyn Tay, founder and consultant dermatologist at Lumine Dermatology and Laser Clinic. However, that's not to say it's detrimental to your overall wellbeing. 'While chlorine is a potential skin irritant, the role of chlorine on the skin, for example, in atopic eczema is unknown. Studies have not shown an inconsistent association between exposure to chlorine from swimming in childhood with the incidence of atopic eczema. In fact, the effects of chlorine on skin barrier dysfunction is less profound than the hardness of water.' What does hard water actually mean? 'Minerals such as calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate are found in our water. It also determines the hardness of the water,' states Dr Tay. 'This is often determined by the geography of where the water is obtained from. Removing calcium and magnesium carbonate from water has been shown to reduce the deposition of irritative substances such as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) that is left on the skin post shower,' she goes on to add. 'In general, hard water is more alkaline. A higher pH on the skin is associated with an increase in breakdown of natural lipids in the skin, which play an important role in supporting skin barrier function. Hard water has also been shown to thin and weaken the hair shaft, as compared to deionized water. So, does a shower head filter help with this situation? Not according to Dr Tay. 'A shower head filter mainly removes minerals such as chlorine from water. You see, chlorine is often added to water as part of the disinfection process in water plants. However, a shower head filter does not change the hardness of water; a factor which is accounted for by the concentration of calcium and magnesium in water.' Are there any ways to go about reducing the hardness of water, then? There are water softener systems and devices out there that do the trick. Homeware brand, 3M, for instance, touts a version which claims to produce brighter clothing, cleaner dishes, as well as less detergent consumption. 'Removing hard minerals like calcium and magnesium will, essentially, better improve the pH of water and reduce irritation risk from shower materials such as SLS,' Dr Tay further explains. 'It may also improve the hair quality in those who have brittle and dry hair.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nécessaire (@necessaire) Does this mean that there are no proven benefits for using a shower head filter? Not exactly. While a shower head filter won't do as much in improving the complexions of individuals with normal skin types, Dr Tay is quick to point out that it is still beneficial for those with more dry, sensitive skin, particularly if they experience flare-ups after swimming. 'Incorporating a shower head filter into your regime does reduce chlorine concentration in bathing water, and it is proven that chlorine can potentially irritate the skin of those who have atopic dermatitis,' she says. 'It also has a potential drying effect by affecting the ability of the stratum corneum—that is, the outer layer of the skin—to retain water.'
Borneo Post
5 days ago
- General
- Borneo Post
KK antique shop houses rare 18th-century gong
The gong believed to be over 100 years old.-Bernama photo KOTA KINABALU (July 19): Tucked away in a narrow lane amid the bustle of Kota Kinabalu, a small, unassuming shop houses a silent relic from a bygone era, a gong believed to be over 100 years old, possibly predating World War II. The writer had the opportunity to meet Stella Tay and Sue Chong Hartley, close friends in their 50s who co-own the antique store, where they explained that the gong stands out for its distinctive design, unlike the more common versions seen today. According to Tay, the remarkable piece of history originally belonged to her mother's close friend and had been passed down through generations before the owner decided to part with it. It is now available for sale at RM35,000 to collectors interested in preserving such a piece. 'What makes this gong special is its design. It features three raised dragon heads that appear 3D (three-dimensional) on the surface. Most other gongs only have flat dragon images,' she said. Weighing nearly 10 kg, the gong is believed to have been crafted in the Borneo islands sometime between the 18th and 19th centuries. Tay added that the gong meets museum standards and has even attracted offers, but she hopes it will remain in Sabah before potentially being acquired by collectors from abroad. Tay said the gong's design, marked by strong Chinese cultural influences, particularly the dragon, a symbol of strength, honour, success, and prosperity, caught the attention of museum authorities. Measuring about 50 centimetres in diameter, the gong also features a crocodile motif along its edges. These design elements reflect the historical migration of Chinese communities to Sabah in the 19th century, when the British North Borneo Company actively encouraged the influx of Chinese labourers into tobacco and rubber plantations, as well as the logging, trade and mining sectors. This wave of migration eventually led to the establishment of Chinese settlements in urban centres such as Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu, Tawau and Kudat. Chong, meanwhile, noted that although little is known about the gong's exact manufacturing process, her research, particularly the writings of antique collector and dealer Michael Backman, suggests it may have been made using the lost wax method, a traditional metal casting technique. She explained that in this process, wax is first shaped into the desired form, then coated with a heat-resistant material. Once hardened, the wax is melted and drained, leaving a hollow mould that is then filled with molten metal to form the final piece. Tay, who co-founded the antique business with Chong in 2020 at an art space before relocating to their current premises in April, believes the relic is likely the only one of its kind in Sabah that is over 100 years old. 'Most dragon motifs are flat, but this one is raised. You can actually feel the dragon heads. It also comes with a rope or chain for hanging,' she said. In Sabah, the gong holds deep cultural significance and is strongly tied to traditional music among various ethnic communities, who view it as a symbol of unity, respect, and cultural identity. The Kadazandusun use it in ritual ceremonies and festive gatherings; the Murut feature the gong sembilan (nine gongs) in celebrations, animistic rites and for signalling; while the Bajau include it as part of their betitik performances, which blend multiple traditional instruments. Chong added that the gong in their possession was most likely used as a signalling tool, to summon people or convey important announcements, rather than for music. 'If it were part of a musical set, there would usually be more than one gong,' she explained. She noted that modern gongs come in various sizes and are typically played alongside other traditional instruments to create rhythmic, harmonious melodies. Reflecting on their journey, Tay and Chong said their decision to start the business five years ago was driven by a shared passion for collecting vintage items, a way to preserve the past for younger generations while rekindling childhood memories of their own. Tay said many young visitors to their shop, aptly named Old Soul Vintage, are often thrilled to discover the charm of these bygone treasures. The store also offers a range of vintage collectibles, including rotary telephones, typewriters, suitcases, cast-iron irons, novels, cassette tapes and film cameras. 'Most of them have never seen these antiques before. Our collection includes pieces sourced not only from Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia, but also from abroad,' she said. The shop donates a portion of its proceeds from sales to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).-Bernama
Barnama
5 days ago
- General
- Barnama
Kota Kinabalu Antique Shop Houses Rare 18th-century Borneo Gong With Dragon Motifs
A 3D Naga Gong over 100 years old found at the 'Old Soul Vintage' antique store KOTA KINABALU, July 19 (Bernama) -- Tucked away in a narrow lane amid the bustle of Kota Kinabalu, a small, unassuming shop houses a silent relic from a bygone era, a gong believed to be over 100 years old, possibly predating World War II. The writer had the opportunity to meet Stella Tay and Sue Chong Hartley, close friends in their 50s who co-own the antique store, where they explained that the gong stands out for its distinctive design, unlike the more common versions seen today. According to Tay, the remarkable piece of history originally belonged to her mother's close friend and had been passed down through generations before the owner decided to part with it. It is now available for sale at RM35,000 to collectors interested in preserving such a piece. 'What makes this gong special is its design. It features three raised dragon heads that appear 3D (three-dimensional) on the surface. Most other gongs only have flat dragon images,' she said. Weighing nearly 10 kg, the gong is believed to have been crafted in the Borneo islands sometime between the 18th and 19th centuries. Tay added that the gong meets museum standards and has even attracted offers, but she hopes it will remain in Sabah before potentially being acquired by collectors from abroad. Tay said the gong's design, marked by strong Chinese cultural influences, particularly the dragon, a symbol of strength, honour, success, and prosperity, caught the attention of museum authorities. Measuring about 50 centimetres in diameter, the gong also features a crocodile motif along its edges. These design elements reflect the historical migration of Chinese communities to Sabah in the 19th century, when the British North Borneo Company actively encouraged the influx of Chinese labourers into tobacco and rubber plantations, as well as the logging, trade and mining sectors. This wave of migration eventually led to the establishment of Chinese settlements in urban centres such as Sandakan, Kota Kinabalu, Tawau and Kudat.
Straits Times
16-07-2025
- Straits Times
Beyond Expeditions criticised for planning and safety lapses during Madagascar trip
Some participants have left online reviews of a charity expedition to Madagascar in June organised by local travel agency Beyond Expeditions, citing poor planning and safety lapses. SINGAPORE – Local travel agency Beyond Expeditions has drawn negative reviews for its handling of an 11-day charity expedition in Madagascar, with some participants criticising the 'safety gaps' and 'limited communication' online. The trip to the island nation off the south-eastern coast of Africa took place from Jun 2 to 12. It involved 15 Singapore participants and was led by both Beyond Expedition founders, Mr Scott Tay and Ms Kavita Kaur, as well as personal trainer Mr Nicholas Leong, who has worked with the company as an expedition leader on various occasions since 2017. Each participant paid $6,990 for the tour, which included accommodation, meals, ground transport, local guides and national park fees, and excluded airfare. Since returning from the trip, some participants who felt like their safety had been compromised have voiced their dissatisfaction. On Jun 24, Ms Cheryl Tay, 38, owner of a sports marketing agency, posted a one-star review of the trip on Beyond Expeditions' Google Maps profile relating what she calls 'safety gaps during treks, and limited communication or clarity around what to expect'. For example, she says pre-trip briefing materials, such as a set of slides and an expedition handbook seen by The Straits Times, did not inform the group of any caving activities. 'We were all just shuffling into the cave and came to a sudden stop because a fellow participant realised the dangers of the cave. That got us stuck and for around 10 minutes, the rest of us were waiting to move with no idea what was going on,' says Ms Tay. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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Ms Cheryl Tay (pictured), owner of a sports marketing agency and one of the participants, says the group was not informed of caving activities prior to the trip. PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHERYL TAY Another participant, local comedian Mr Jaikishan, 32, says Mr Tay surveyed the cave after some in the group voiced their concerns about unsafe obstacles. The activity was eventually canned. Mr Jaikishan says: 'I'm not an avid expeditioner or hiker and went into the cave even though I was quite afraid. To only hear from our overall expedition leader that the caves had certain risks after we all had entered and exited was not reassuring. It felt like the whole situation could have been avoided and a lot of communication was lacking.' One participant who says he is trained in land navigation, wilderness survival skills and basic first aid from his extensive experience in the outdoors told ST he was among the first in the group to enter the cave. Due to the nature of his job, he declined to reveal any identifying information. He says: 'We were not told that it was going to be so claustrophobic and so technical to navigate. After just a short while in the cave, I noticed people were already panicking and struggling. 'Among the most dangerous possibilities was that someone could've got seriously injured in the cave and because of how narrow it was, getting medical attention would have been an issue. Also, entering environments like these requires considerable mental preparation beforehand. If anyone had a nervous breakdown, it would have been hard to help them recover in that space,' he adds. In another instance, Ms Tay says while participants were informed that there would be 'at least three river crossings' via pre-trip briefing slides, the extent and duration of these river crossings were not well communicated. She says the group completed around 10 river crossings over four days, and that they did not expect one of the crossings to take around four hours. Ms Tay adds that she and other participants sustained blisters and cuts on their feet from prolonged water exposure in 'improper footwear' as they were instructed to change into sandals prior to the crossings. Ms Tay (pictured) says the cave passages were cramped and narrow. After some in the group voiced their concerns about unsafe obstacles, the activity was eventually canned. PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHERYL TAY More on this topic Singaporean man injured in Hungary cave rescued in 2 hours More on this topic Injured Italian caver rescued, again, after four days underground Mr Jaikishan was brought on the trip by the organisers as an ambassador and the cost of his trip was fully sponsored, including airfare. As an ambassador, he led several marketing initiatives such as arranging slots on local radio stations 98.7FM and Kiss92, where he, Mr Tay and Ms Kaur spoke about the trek's mission to raise funds for a Madagascan charity working with underprivileged children. Ms Tay received around a 20 per cent discount off the tour price for providing 'pre-trip marketing services', and paid for her own airfare which cost around $2,400. 'We were charged a premium for this trip so I think it is reasonable for us to have expected basic risk management and communication. Instead, it felt like we were relying excessively on the local operators who mostly were unable to speak English,' says Ms Tay, who is also a content creator with around 81,800 followers on Instagram. At least two other participants left one-star reviews on the company's Google profile in early July, citing 'poor decision making', 'a lack of route planning' and dismissiveness from organisers when they gave feedback. Since posting a reel about her experience on Instagram on Jul 7, Ms Tay says she has received accounts from more than 40 individuals regarding negative experiences with Beyond Expeditions. Her three-minute video has garnered over 241,000 views . However, not all participants had brickbats for the company, which has 51 five-star reviews out of the 74 on its Google profile, as at Jul 16. One such review from a participant on the Madagascar tour applauds the expedition leaders and a local guide named Lanto for 'being great leaders during the journey and showing immense patience towards all the queries posted by the team'. Yoga teacher Lim Li Shan, 32, who has been on five expeditions with Beyond Expeditions since 2017 – four to Mongolia and one to Ladakh, a region in northern India – also spoke out positively about her experiences. While her trips were neither charity expeditions like the Madagascar trek nor as physically taxing, she says Mr Tay – who was present on three of her trips as a 'tour leader and coordinator' – had sufficiently communicated what to expect and adequately planned the itineraries with safety in mind. 'I felt like the organisers fulfilled their basic responsibilities to the travel group. For example, they always made sure that I could chat with them through WhatsApp and would check in regularly with the local guides when we were abroad,' she told The Straits Times. The Straits Times reached out to the company for comment on July 11. In a July 16 post on Beyond Expeditions' Instagram account, the company acknowledged recent feedback from participants and announced new safety measures. These include enhanced pre-trip briefings, terrain guidance and direct participant feedback channels during expeditions. Beyond Expeditions started in 2017 and has organised over 1,000 tours specialising in remote destinations such as Mongolia and Central Asia. A 10-day trip to Kazakhstan, for instance, costs $7,990 a person and includes flights, meals, an English-speaking local guide and ground transport. The Madagascar trip, which has raised $12,285 of its $80,000 target for Madagascan non-profit Mamiratra ho an'ny Ankizy Association (Shine for the Children Association) so far, was part of the company's Beyond Limits expedition series, where participants raise funds to support a charitable organisation. The June trip is the ninth Beyond Limits expedition since the series began in 2017, with previous editions featuring treks in destinations like Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. More on this topic Off-grid getaway: Go camping, learn survival skills and sleep in a Mongolian yurt
Economic Times
15-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Rogue bots? AI firms must pay up
When Elon Musk's xAI was forced to apologise this week after its Grok chatbot spewed antisemitic content and white nationalist talking points, the response felt depressingly familiar: suspend the service, issue an apology and promise to do better. Rinse and isn't the first time we've seen this playbook. Microsoft's Tay chatbot disaster in 2016 followed a similar pattern. The fact that we're here again, nearly a decade later, suggests the AI industry has learnt remarkably little from its mistakes. But the world is no longer willing to accept 'sorry' as sufficient. This is because AI has become a force multiplier for content generation and dissemination, and the time-to-impact has shrunk. Thus, liability and punitive actions are being discussed. The Grok incident revealed a troubling aspect of how AI companies approach accountability. According to xAI, the problematic behaviour emerged after they tweaked their system to allow more 'politically incorrect' responses - a decision that seems reckless. When the inevitable happened, they blamed deprecated code that should have been removed. If you're building systems capable of reaching millions of users, shouldn't you know what code is running in production?The real problem isn't technical - it's philosophical. Too many AI companies treat bias and harmful content as unfortunate side effects to be addressed after deployment, rather than fundamental risks to be prevented beforehand. This reactive approach worked when the stakes were lower, but AI systems now operate at unprecedented scale and influence. When a chatbot generates hate speech, it's not embarrassing - it's dangerous, legitimising and amplifying extremist ideologies to vast legal landscape is shifting rapidly, and AI companies ignoring these changes do so at their peril. The EU's AI Act, which came into force in February, represents a shift from reactive regulation to proactive governance. Companies can no longer apologise their way out of AI failures - they must demonstrate they've implemented robust safeguards before AB 316, introduced last January, takes an even more direct approach by prohibiting the 'the AI did it' defence in civil cases. This legislation recognises what should be obvious: companies that develop and deploy AI systems bear responsibility for their outputs, regardless of whether those outputs were 'intended'.India's approach may prove more punitive than the EU's regulatory framework and more immediate than the US litigation-based system, focusing on swift enforcement of existing criminal laws rather than waiting for new AI-specific legislation. India doesn't yet have AI-specific legislation, but if Grok's antisemitic incident had occurred with Indian users, then steps like immediate blocking of the AI service, a criminal case against xAI under IPC 153A, and a demand for content removal from the X platform would have been Grok incident may mark a turning point. Regulators worldwide are demanding proactive measures rather than reactive damage control, and courts are increasingly willing to hold companies directly liable for their systems' shift is long overdue. AI systems aren't just software - they're powerful tools that shape public discourse, influence decision-making and can cause real-world harm. The companies that build these systems must be held to higher standards than traditional software developers, with corresponding legal and ethical question facing the AI industry isn't whether to embrace this new reality - it's whether to do so voluntarily or have it imposed by regulators and courts. Companies that continue to rely on the old playbook of post-incident apologies will find themselves increasingly isolated in a world demanding AI industry's true maturity will show not in flashy demos or sky-high valuations, but in its commitment to safety over speed, rigour over shortcuts, and real accountability over empty apologies. In this game, 'sorry' won't cut it - only responsibility writer is a commentator ondigital policy issues (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of Elevate your knowledge and leadership skills at a cost cheaper than your daily tea. Rumblings at the top of Ola Electric The hybrid vs. EV rivalry: Why Maruti and Mahindra pull in different directions. What's best? How Safexpress bootstrapped its way to build India's largest PTL Express business Zee promoters have a new challenge to navigate. And it's not about funding or Sebi probe. Newton vs. industry: Inside new norms that want your car to be more fuel-efficient Stock Radar: UltraTech Cements hit a fresh record high in July; what should investors do – book profits or buy the dip? F&O Radar | Deploy Bear Put Spread in Nifty to gain from index correction Weekly Top Picks: These stocks scored 10 on 10 on Stock Reports Plus
