SINGAPORE – A 33-year-old woman was found dead on Thursday night at Cove station along the Punggol East LRT loop. Transport operator SBS Transit announced on Twitter at 10.32pm on Thursday that both the Punggol East and West LRT loops were down. This was due to an incident at Cove station, which is the first station in the Punggol East LRT loop. In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call for assistance at about 10pm. The woman was found motionless on the LRT track near the station’s platform and was pronounced dead at the scene. Based on preliminary investigations, the police said they do not suspect foul play. Investigations are ongoing.

Stay in the know with a recap of our top stories today. 1. Man posts photo accusing couple of feeding macaques in reservoir, gets chided by netizens Facebook user Nicholas Ho probably thought he was doing a good deed by calling out a couple for feeding macaques at Upper Seletar Reservoir Park, and leaving a mess while doing so. He posted on Complaint Singapore Facebook page on March 21 about the incident... » READ MORE 2. Coke healthier than Milo? Woman surprised after Nutri-Grade assigns Milo D grade while Coca-Cola gets B

Anyone who takes the train regularly would know the journey can sometimes be bustling with noise from every corner. But even amid all that ruckus, how much is too much? For this elderly man, being too loud was apparently enough to get him escorted out of the train by SMRT staff. In a video uploaded onto Instagram by Sgfollowsalls on Thursday (March 23), two SMRT staff can be seen trying to explain to the elderly man that he had to exit the train station that was heading towards Changi Airport as he was too loud. «Uncle, I cannot let you stay inside because you are very loud,» said one of the men in a calm but stern tone. «You need to leave, uncle.» It was also apparent that the elderly man was trying to communicate with the SMRT staff, but due to a language barrier, the staff couldn't comprehend what the elderly man was saying.   Apart from explaining to the SMRT staff, the elderly man is seen taking out his identification card illustrating that he is not fully comprehending why the SMRT staff approached him. 

AsiaOne has launched EarthOne, a new section dedicated to environmental issues — because we love the planet and we believe science. Find articles like this there. SINGAPORE — People in Singapore consume the most bottled water and spend the most on it per capita, far more than any other country, a recent report has found. Published on March 16, a report by think-tank United Nations University's Institute for Water, Environment and Health analysed the global market for bottled water and traced the impact of the industry on the UN's sustainable development goals.

SINGAPORE — Four people were taken to hospital on Tuesday (March 21) night after an accident involving a car and two motorcycles along the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) towards Woodlands. Dashcam footage of the incident shared online shows a motorcycle cutting abruptly from the first to the third lane before the Woodlands Avenue 3 exit. It collides with a second motorcycle on the third lane, causing it to fall and skid along the road in a flurry of sparks. As the motorcyclist and his female pillion rider tumble for a few metres, their motorcycle spins into a roadside barrier. Meanwhile, the impact causes the first motorcyclist to veer into a red car on his right, sending him and his female pillion rider to the ground. Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the police said on Wednesday that they were alerted to the incident at about 10.40pm. A male motorcyclist and his female pillion rider, both aged 32, and a 27-year-old male motorcyclist and his 25-year-old female pillion rider were taken conscious to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital by the Singapore Civil Defence Force.

While he was at East Coast Park, a man noticed a parked car with one of its windows rolled down. To help alert the driver, this man enlisted the help of some buskers who were in the area.  A video of the moment was captured and uploaded onto Instagram by Singapore Incidents on Wednesday (March 22). 

He was once an intern at Facebook. Today, Singaporean Chew Shou Zi is the chief executive of popular social media app TikTok. On Thursday, Mr Chew, 40, will testify before the United States’ House Energy and Commerce Committee. He is set to face tough scrutiny over TikTok’s data practices and alleged links with the Chinese authorities. The US lawmakers are assessing whether TikTok is a national security threat. Here is what we know about Mr Chew. Where did he study? Born and bred in Singapore, Mr Chew is fluent in English and Mandarin. His father reportedly worked in construction and his mother in bookkeeping. Mr Chew was a Hwa Chong alumnus, and was also an officer in the Singapore Armed Forces during his national service (NS). After completing NS, he attended University College London and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He stayed on in London to work as a banker for the Goldman Sachs Group.

We may not rank highly when it comes to male genitals, but Singapore is officially the happiest country in Asia. That is according to the latest World Happiness Report released by the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Solutions Network on Monday (March 20). March 20 is the International Day of Happiness, a day designated by the UN that's marking its 10th anniversary in 2023. In a league table of 137 countries, Singapore is ranked 25th in the world – up two places from last year.  Sitting pretty as the happiest country in Asia, we are followed closely by Taiwan at number 27. Other Asian countries ranked include Japan (47), Malaysia (55), Thailand (60), China, (64), Vietnam (65), the Philippines (76), Indonesia (84) and India (126).

Students usually don't have much money to call their own and most depend on their parents for pocket money.  So, one can imagine how alarmed some students were when a middle-aged man tried to get them to pay for his food.  And not forgetting the element of stranger danger too.  One of these students told Instagram page Sgfollowsall that the incident happened at Junction 8's McDonald's outlet. This was shared in a post on Wednesday (March 22).  The student, who was with a friend, said they were trying to buy ice cream when the man allegedly approached them and asked for help to order his food.  «I thought he meant that he didn't know how to press the items on the kiosk, so my friend helped him,» explained the student. But they were wrong.  After keying in his order, which was an upsized meal that cost between $7 to $9, the man asked them to help pay for it.  «After hearing that, I knew something was wrong! I told the man 'No, I no money,' but this man insisted,» the student recounted.  After being rejected, the stranger left them alone. 

It's frustrating enough not to be able to find a parking lot.  Imagine how this one driver felt when he did find one, only to realise that it had been 'choped'.   The irked driver uploaded his dash cam footage to TikTok with the username Joepele3 on Wednesday (March 22), tagging the location as Sixth Avenue.  «Using body to chope parking,» he wrote.  In the video, he tries to reverse into a parking lot at the side of the road where a man dressed in a red polo T-shirt is standing, casually sipping a beverage. https://www.tiktok.com/@joepele3/video/7212821055310695681 He did not budge even as the driver was reversing the vehicle into him.  When the driver tries to tell him to move out of the way, the man casually responds: «I'm chope-ing the lot for my friend, he's right there,» while gesturing toward a silver car behind him.  In utter disbelief, Joepele3 can be heard muttering in the video: «Are you serious? My goodness!»  He then gets back into the car and drives off, in search of another lot. 

Imagine looking forward to the weekend for some rest after a long work week, only to be kept up late because of the ruckus your neighbours are making.  That's what one woman, who goes by the name Jade, has to experience almost every weekend.  The 44-year-old told AsiaOne that her neighbours — who live above a wellness centre at Race Course Road — would often come home late at night on the weekends.  These occupants would then gather at the back alley, which faces Jade's HDB flat, and make plenty of noise from 11pm to 3am.  They would usually be in groups of four to eight and seemingly drunk.  The noise got especially bad this year, and it was so «horrible» that Jade and her family would leave their beds in the wee hours of the morning just to monitor the disturbance from their windows.  «My family and the residents have been suffering [since] this batch of people shifted in,» shared Jade.  In hopes of reducing the noise, Jade and her family said they try to close all their windows. But it hasn't been very effective.  «It is not helping since our flat is facing the back alley directly,» she explained. 

A shop owner in Yishun who rented out living spaces above his shophouse has been warned by the Housing Board (HDB) and made to take down the flat listings.  The man, who owns a shophouse at Block 731 Yishun Street 32, converted the upper floor of his shop into four “studio units” for rent, and listed the units on property websites PropertyGuru and 99.co.  It was found, however, that he had not sought approval from HDB.  The listings have since been taken down from the sites.  The unit is split into four bedrooms, which includes a fully-furnished double room with a connecting bathroom, a double room with a connecting bathroom and kitchen, and two single rooms with a shared bathroom.  According to Shin Min Daily News, the monthly rent for each room was listed as $2,900, $2,600, $2,400, and $2,100 respectively – which meant that the shop owner could have made up to $10,000 a month if all rooms were occupied. 

Q: What is the legacy that Schooling has left in Singapore? David Lim: There is no doubt that he is one-of-a-kind. It’s going to take a long time before an athlete from Singapore is going to win the gold medal at the Olympics and he did it in a sport where it is participated by 160 or 170 countries, instead of some obscure sport. So I tip my hat to him, he did very well and we are all so proud of him. Tao Li: I think he has achieved something that we as swimmers only dream of – to win an Olympic gold medal. Q: David, you were in national service (NS) before – how tough is it to still train? Did you feel that your levels dropped? Lim: Back then, we were given time off to come out and train full time. And we did that diligently, honestly. You just produce the goods and nobody questions you. But right now, from what I read, getting time off to train is tough (for Schooling) and I can imagine that it is going to be doubly or triply hard for a full-time athlete to get back to the levels that they want to.

She had merely gone to the club to support her friend who was deejaying that night.  Unfortunately, she ended up with a bloodied face after getting attacked by another club goer.  Speaking to AsiaOne about the harrowing incident, the woman, who only wanted to be known as R, said it was at about 5.30am on Tuesday (March 21) morning when the attack happened.  The 24-year-old said that a «hostile man» approached her and her friends while they were outside Club Space Singapore, located along Claymore Drive. Recalling what her attacker looked like, R told AsiaOne that he was a bespectacled man about 168cm to 170cm tall. Her friend had tried to calmly ask him what he was angry about, but the latter «suddenly snapped» and allegedly slapped her friend in the face.  «[He then] ran over and punched me multiple times in the face,» she said, adding that the man fled after the attack.  To make things worse, R claimed that the staff members from the club ganged up on her and even «berated [her] unjustly» for the incident. 

Proposing to the love of your life is a momentous occasion and understandably, one will do anything in their power to make sure it goes smoothly.  And if that involves asking a stranger for some advice, why not?  That's what David Loh did right before his proposal to his girlfriend, Esther Chua.  In a TikTok video on Tuesday (March 21) the young man shared how he had approached a Grab driver for some life tips while en route to pick Chua up for the proposal on March 9.  «Uncle, I'm going to propose tonight. Do you have any advice?» Loh asked in a mix of Chinese and English.  Upon first reaction, the elderly Grab driver looked stunned and even went: «Huh?» But after digesting Loh's question, he went from being a driver to a makeshift therapist and began dropping some nuggets of wisdom.  In fact, he had so much to say that Loh likened the conversation to a class at school and jokingly categorised the driver's tips into «lessons» and «semesters».  «Uncle can't stop now,» captioned Loh amusedly. 

Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NCMP) Leong Mun Wai agreed in Parliament on Wednesday (March 22) that the names of the six former Keppel executives should not be released.  Leong had posed a question to Minister for Law and Home Affairs K. Shanmugam in Parliament on Monday (March 20) about why the names of Lee Hsien Yang and his wife, Lee Suet Fern, were disclosed during the judiciary probe over their potential offences of giving false evidence in judicial proceedings.  In a Facebook post that very night, Leong alleged that Shanmugam's mention of the Parti Liyani case in his answer was an attempt to «muddy the waters», and urged members of the public to «focus on the difference between the Lee Hsien Yang and the Keppel Offshore & Marine cases». 

SINGAPORE – Terror groups exist everywhere and Singapore is on their radar, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on Wednesday. That is why Singapore must be able to deal with a range of terror threats and know how to respond to them, he said. The consequences can be quite disastrous if the country does not know how to react and that can fracture society, he added. PM Lee was speaking on Jurong Island following Exercise Northstar XI, a national-level exercise to test the readiness of agencies in the event of major crises. Wednesday’s event involved more than 300 personnel from various organisations, including the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), the Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). It is the 11th edition of Exercise Northstar, which was introduced in 1997. Several Cabinet ministers also observed the three-hour exercise, including Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam, Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen, Senior Minister Teo Chee Hean and Minister for Communications and Information Josephine Teo. PM Lee said Singapore takes terrorism and terrorist threats very seriously.

Upset that he had missed the bus earlier, this man decided to take things in his own hands. In a Facebook video shared by Beh Chia Lor on March 18, it showed the commuter standing in the middle of the bus bay. While bus service 197 was pulling to a stop, the man began walking back to the curb - causing the vehicle to brake several times. The bus driver also honked at him several times, according to the post.  The bus eventually stopped more than a metre from the curb. "Saw this yesterday 17 Mar 2023 at 2.20pm at Clementi AYE bus stop. Guy was too busy on his phone didn't realize bus had...

AsiaOne has launched EarthOne, a new section dedicated to environmental issues — because we love the planet and we believe science. Find articles like this there. SINGAPORE – From April 2025, bottled and canned drinks will cost 10 cents more, but shoppers will get the deposit back once they return the empty cans and plastic bottles for recycling.

SINGAPORE - A woman was charged with being a public nuisance after she allegedly shouted and cried near a funeral, and on another occasion tried to hug patrons and staff at a food court. Goh Mei Chi, 46, faces two charges of being a public nuisance, and one charge each of drunkenness in public and committing a rash act causing hurt. She is alleged to have been drunk in a coffee shop at Pioneer Mall at about 10.30pm on May 9, 2022, causing annoyance to patrons by throwing and breaking plates. Less than three weeks later, on May 28, she was in a foodcourt at Gek Poh Shopping Centre at around 9.45pm when she allegedly caused annoyance by talking loudly and trying to hug the patrons and staff. On Aug 24, 2022, she was at the void deck of a block in Boon Lay Drive at around 11.35pm when she allegedly caused annoyance to funeral attendees by shouting and crying near the proceedings. She was charged in January with these offences.

SINGAPORE - Officers from the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) saved a drug trafficking suspect from falling out of a flat on the ninth floor as the man attempted to escape arrest. The incident happened during one of two separate raids in which six Singaporeans, including a pregnant woman, were arrested, said the drug enforcement agency on Wednesday. Three men, aged between 23 and 30, as well as a 28-year-old woman, were arrested at a residential unit in Bedok North Road on Monday evening. The raid escalated into a “life and death situation” when one of the men climbed out of a bedroom window of the ninth-floor flat and lost his footing, CNB said. Multiple officers pulled the struggling suspect, 25, to safety, before he was arrested for drug trafficking. “A suspected drug offender had total disregard for his own safety and that of others while attempting to evade arrest,” said Superintendent William Tan, CNB’s senior assistant director of intelligence operations.

A tourist sought the thrill of freefalling but wound up in a hospital after the bungee cord attached to his feet snapped in mid-air. Mike, who is from Hong Kong, had leapt off a platform 10 storeys high - about 30 metres - before his cord broke, sending him plunging into a lake in popular Thai tourist destination Pattaya. He momentarily blacked out in the water, reported Hong Kong news outlet hk01, but regained consciousness and swam out of the lake with the help of the attraction’s staff members. The incident, which took place at the Changthai Thappraya Safari and Adventure Park, reportedly happened last month. Mike told hk01: “The pain was so intense that I felt dizzy. As my arms were stretched out, my armpit area was the worst hit.” A video of the incident shows Mike freefalling for about six seconds and approaching the surface of the lake when the bungee cord suddenly breaks off. He enters the water head-first from a height of about five metres with a big splash, to the horror of his friends who were watching and filming the jump.

Milo or Coca-Cola?  One is a regular breakfast staple for kids while the other has been consistently ranked as the top soft drink brand worldwide. At first glance, the former seems like a healthier option. So, you can imagine how TikTok user Almightyalecia felt upon discovering that a can of Coke from a vending machine under her HDB block is graded under Nutri-Grade B while Nestlé Milo original was graded D.  https://www.tiktok.com/@almightyalicia/video/7212866533591141639 In her TikTok post on March 21, Almightyalecia said: «I want to live in my delusion, please HPB (the Health Promotion Board) don't expose the truth because it hurts.» AsiaOne has reached out to Almightyalecia for comment.  Like Almightyalecia, many Singaporeans were equally surprised that Milo has been graded D under Nutri-Grade.

SINGAPORE - Local musician Subhas Nair admitted in court on Tuesday (March 21) he had posted messages which the prosecution described as inflammatory comments on race and religion. But he denied he had done so in an attempt to promote ill will between different racial and religious groups in Singapore. Among other things, a rap video featuring Nair was posted on YouTube on July 29, 2019, containing lyrics that allegedly attacked Chinese people in general. On the first day of his trial on Tuesday, Nair testified that the video was done in response to an advertisement which featured actor Dennis Chew playing multiple roles, including that of an Indian man and a Malay woman. The 31-year-old told District Judge Shaiffudin Saruwan he wanted his rap video to convey the message that the advertisement was blatantly racist. He added that the rap video was directed towards some Chinese people, who he said are racist. Stressing that not all Chinese are racist, Nair said he wanted to end instances of “brownface” in Singapore.

Despite Lucky Plaza's auspicious name, these people weren't so lucky after a fight broke out at the mall on Sunday evening (March 19).  In a video clip uploaded onto Singapore Incidents on Tuesday (March 21), several police officers were seen trying to keep the people involved apart.  Someone could be heard shouting «relax» and «stop» in the background.  A man in a light blue shirt and a woman in a white top could be seen tussling with each other throughout the 23-second clip.  In the background, a man in red shoved another man who subsequently fell. A police officer could be seen trying to break them apart. 

SINGAPORE - Singtel users have experienced a slowdown in network speeds when connecting to websites and servers in the United States after a few submarine cables got damaged in February. In response to queries, a Singtel spokesman on Tuesday said the cables were damaged in the course of fishing-related activities, and seabed movements caused by earthquakes. Cables had to be shut down for repairs and that, too, affected some of the cables, she added. The spokesman said: “Our engineers took swift action to implement mitigation measures such as re-routing traffic to other cable channels. Repair works are being carried out by our cable partners to restore normal levels of service and are close to completion.” She added that users could experience intermittent slower transmission when watching US-based content or connecting to certain gaming sites. On social media platform Twitter, several users reported experiencing lags when trying to play games.

SINGAPORE - Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said it was “uncalled for” to suggest that the Government has withheld information in putting together the Covid-19 White Paper, as he rebutted the opposition’s call for the original report to be released. Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh had called on Monday (March 20) for the original after-action review (AAR) led by the former head of civil service, Mr Peter Ho, to be placed before the House. Mr Singh, the Workers’ Party chief, said the White Paper was a “secondary document” which had drawn its findings and conclusions from this AAR. He noted that while the White Paper acknowledged some shortcomings in the government response, Singaporeans did not know what had been excluded from the original reports. If there was sensitive information that affected national security, this could be redacted, said Mr Singh. Responding on Tuesday, Mr Wong, who is also Finance Minister, noted Mr Singh’s “qualified support” for the White Paper.

SINGAPORE - The advice against mask-wearing in the initial stages of the Covid-19 pandemic was based on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommendations at the time, and was not due to worries over any mask shortage for healthcare workers. Explaining this to Parliament on Tuesday, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said that at the time, there was no clear understanding of the coronavirus. Until mid-March 2020, WHO maintained there was “no evidence” that masks were useful in protecting those who were not sick. “We reviewed and changed our masking policy in April 2020 once the evidence on how the virus spreads became clearer,” said Mr Ong during the parliamentary debate on the White Paper on Singapore’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. The White Paper, released on March 8, reported that the Government’s decision to make mask-wearing mandatory in public for everyone, after having earlier advised against it for those who were well, was viewed as a policy U-turn. This “undoubtedly affected public trust and confidence in our handling of the crisis”.

SINGAPORE - Any substance that is abused for a high will be defined as a psychoactive substance under Singapore’s new drug laws. This, however, will exclude substances like alcohol, caffeine, tobacco, food additives and health products. Amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act and the Constitution passed in Parliament on Tuesday introduced a new legislative framework for psychoactive substances, by criminalising the trafficking, manufacture, import, export, possession and consumption of such substances. The amendments also increase the penalties for drug possession, introducing a tiered framework with the maximum jail sentence set at 30 years – three times the previous maximum of 10 years’ jail for possession of a controlled drug. In his speech introducing the amendments, Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim said Singapore must continue to review and refine its laws to keep pace with the evolving drug landscape and local trends. “Drugs cause great harm to individuals, families and the society,” he added.

Stay in the know with a recap of our top stories today. 1. Woman finds metal screw in daughter's Jollibee spaghetti, warns diners to 'check for spare parts' All she wanted was to enjoy a hearty serving of spaghetti with her daughter. Instead, she was greeted by a horrifying sight — a loose metal screw in her food.  Cherry Ching took to her Instagram stories to recount the incident when she purchased the offending dish from Jollibee's Lucky Plaza outlet last Wednesday (March 15)... » READ MORE

He had just wanted to take a break outside the massage parlour where he was working at.  But this wheelchair-bound employee surnamed Yang ended up getting injured after a stained-glass window dropped on his leg, reported Shin Min Daily News.  The 59-year-old masseuse had been sitting at the first-floor shop's corridor at Orchard Plaza and was using his phone at around 6pm on Sunday (March 19) when the item dropped from a store unit on the second floor.  «I was looking at my phone when I suddenly felt a strong gust of wind and it turned out that something had dropped,» he recounted.  The window is estimated to be about one metre long and due to the impact, it shattered upon hitting the ground and shards were scattered everywhere.  According to CCTV footage from the massage parlour, after the item dropped on the ground, the massage parlour owner rushed out of the store to investigate the sound. 

SINGAPORE — Serious MRT disruptions, each lasting over 30 minutes, more than doubled in 2022 from 2021 even as the frequency of total delays dipped. According to rail reliability statistics just released by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), the mean kilometres before failure — an engineering measure of reliability — rose from 1.994 million train-km in 2021 to 2.09 million train-km in 2022. That means there was one disruption of more than five minutes for every 2.09 million km clocked by Singapore's MRT trains during the year, making the system one of the more dependable in the world. The best-performing MRT line was the newish Downtown Line, operated by SBS Transit, while the worst-performing one was the North-South Line, operated by SMRT. But even the latter clocked more than 1.6 million train-km before a failure. The newest Thomson-East Coast Line operated by SMRT — which had suffered several delays since it opened three years ago — was not tallied.