Singapore's former chief planner Dr Liu Thai Ker died on Sunday (Jan 18) morning at the age of 87. AsiaOne understands that Dr Liu was hospitalised following a fall about a week ago. He passed away peacefully at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, surrounded by family members.Dr Liu was widely known as the architect of modern Singapore. He was involved in the planning for 20 out of the 24 Housing and Development Board (HDB) towns during his time as the agency's chief architect and later chief executive officer from 1969 to 1989.He later became the Urban Redevelopment Authority's chief executive officer and chief planner from 1989 to 1992.In an interview with AsiaOne in 2024, Dr Liu shared his belief that the purpose of urban planning is for people and the land.Dr Liu explained: «People to create the environment that is liveable for them, and also to create the environment that gives people a sense of belonging and community.»When asked about what makes a good planner, Dr Liu said that a planner's job is to understand the fundamental, unchanging needs of human beings.

To fund her gambling addiction, a domestic helper in Singapore allegedly stole $86,000 from her employer within a period of eight months and pawned seven pieces of gold jewellery worth $20,368.She was sentenced to 20 months' jail for her crimes, after being charged with one count of criminal breach of trust and one count of theft, Shin Min Daily News reported on Saturday (Jan 17).According to Shin Min, the court heard that in May 2024, the 42-year-old defendant, a Myanmar national, was entrusted with an ATM card and pin number by her 75-year-old employer.The helper was told that she could use the ATM card to withdraw $2,000 every month for groceries and basic needs. She would also help to withdraw funds whenever the employer wanted to travel to Johor Bahru.Later that year, the employer allowed her an advance of $10,000 on her salary. She was earning around $700 to $800 a month at the time, Shin Min reported.However, between December 2024 and July 2025, the defendant illicitly withdrew $2,000 on 43 occasions, amounting to $86,000 in total.

The traffic police have started to crack down on the owners of lorries which did not install speed limiters by the statutory Jan 1 deadline.The enforcement operation, conducted from Jan 16 to 17, targeted the owners of non-compliant lorries that failed to meet the deadline, despite multiple reminders from the authorities.141 of these 2,434 lorries, registered before Jan 1, 2018, and with a maximum laden weight (MLW) between 5,001kg and 12,000kg, had not installed speed limiters.A speed limiter is designed to limit the maximum speed that a vehicle can travel. 

During a road test in Punggol on Saturday (Jan 17), an autonomous vehicle operated by ComfortDelGro (CDG) collided with a road divider. The incident happened at around 3.10pm, CDG told AsiaOne.One of its autonomous vehicles had been undergoing routine mapping and familiarisation around Edgedale Plains when it detected a small object on the road and responded accordingly.While the safety operator on board had taken over the steering of the vehicle manually, the vehicle collided with the road divider.There were no passengers on board, and no one was hurt.«Our vehicles will take a safety timeout while we review the matter as part of our standard protocols and in coordination with the relevant authorities,» CDG said. 

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) on Saturday (Jan 17) ordered the recall of two additional infant formula products over the presence of cereulide toxin.Cereulide is a toxin produced by some strains of the Bacillus cereus bacterium, which can cause symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhoea.The affected products are from Nestle and Dumex.Both the SFA and Communicable Diseases Agency (SFA) said in a joint statement that the detection follows stepped up surveillance and testing of infant formula products after the SFA's direction to stop the sale of five batches of Nestle's infant formula and follow-on formula on Jan 8. «SFA has detected cereulide toxin in two additional formula products. These products may have used the same raw ingredient supplied by the same source used in the earlier batches of implicated infant formula products,» the agencies said.

A Singaporean man was jailed for 13 weeks' and two days for driving drunk without a licence and crashing into a lorry at a carpark.He initially placed the blame on his wife, lying to the police that she was at the wheel while he was in the back seat.According to a report by Shin Min Daily News, 40-year-old Ang Kok Cheng Don pleaded guilty to four charges on Friday (Jan 16).He was also fined $8,000 and banned for six years from holding a driver's licence.Lied to police, blamed wifeThe court heard that Ang had been driving his father's car and had bumped into a lorry and scratched it at around 9.10pm on May 3, 2022, at the carpark in Block 122 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3.When the police arrived on the scene, he lied that his wife was the one driving and that he was in the back seat during the incident.Since she was frightened and a novice driver, he claimed that they had exchanged seats before he got out of the car to talk to the lorry driver.Ang's wife also repeated the lie and told the police that she had gone home after switching seats and had only returned after her husband called her.

A 17-year-old driver of a Mercedes-Benz A45 led police on a car chase from Paya Lebar to Marine Parade, ultimately ending in a foot pursuit near Still Road South on Friday (Jan 16) night.At around 10.50pm, officers were patrolling along Paya Lebar Road when they signalled for a car to stop for a routine check, the police said in response to queries from AsiaOne.The driver refused to comply and sped off, leading to a chase through Paya Lebar.

Five men and one woman, aged between 32 and 55, were arrested on Thursday (Jan 15) for their alleged involvement in conducting unlawful remote gambling operations.The six were arrested during simultaneous raids at multiple locations islandwide, including Boon Lay Avenue, Tengah Drive, Pandan Gardens, Bukit Batok West Avenue 8, Jurong West Street 91 and Jurong West Street 93, the police said on Saturday (Jan 17).More than $70,000 in cash and electronic devices such as computers, mobile phones, and gambling paraphernalia were seized by officers from the Criminal Investigation Department, Police Intelligence Department and Special Operations Command.Preliminary investigations indicate that the six persons were involved in illegal horse betting and lottery betting activities, and are being investigated for offences under the Gambling Control Act.