SINGAPORE – A worker died after falling at an MRT construction site for the Jurong Region Line on Nov 13.The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said the 46-year-old construction supervisor had fallen from a height of about 9m while descending scaffolding at the site near Block 202 Pandan Gardens, near Jurong East, at around 5.30pm.He was taken to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.A stop-work order has been issued for the worksite, said LTA.It added that a safety timeout has been called for at-height work activities across LTA projects to review compliance with safety procedures.The worker was employed by Leze Construction, a subsidiary of a sub-contractor of main contractor Daewoo-Yongnam Joint Venture, said LTA, which is the project developer.“We are deeply saddened by this incident, and extend our deepest condolences to the family of the deceased worker. We are working with the contractors to provide them with support and assistance,” said LTA.

SINGAPORE - Where the marks on Rumi from Netflix's animated film K-pop Demon Hunters are purple, those on nine-year-old Phoebe Hu's arms and body are light brown.As a result, she is often bullied in school, with her schoolmates telling her she will turn dark-skinned soon.Often called «cafe au lait» spots by doctors, the flat, light-to-dark brown birthmarks that resemble «coffee with milk» on Phoebe's skin are the underlying signs of a genetic condition known as neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1).NF1 causes changes in skin pigment, including flat, light-brown spots and freckles on the armpits and groin. It also causes the growth of benign, slow-growing tumours that develop on or under the skin from nerve cells. These tumours, called NF tumours, can appear as soft lumps throughout the body.Phoebe's condition was discovered when she began having pain behind her right ear around March 2023, her mother Pearlyn Goh, 42, said.She was brought to KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), and an MRI scan, three doctors and a genetic test later, Phoebe was diagnosed with NF1.

SINGAPORE - Malaysian news portal MalaysiaNow has been ordered to carry correction notices over false statements in a Nov 9 article concerning the treatment of Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, a drug courier who was executed on Oct 8.The Pofma Office, which administers the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act, was instructed by Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs Edwin Tong to issue the correction direction to MalaysiaNow under Singapore’s fake news law, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Nov 15.Under the order, MalaysiaNow will be required to carry correction notices alongside the article on its website, Facebook, X and LinkedIn posts.MHA’s Nov 15 statement identified five broad falsehoods in the MalaysiaNow article.The first false statement was that Pannir’s execution was carried out without regard for the rule of law, said MHA, noting that all prisoners awaiting capital punishment are afforded due legal process.

A 23-year-old man will be charged for his alleged involvement in the murder of a 68-year-old man, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) shared in a news release on Friday (Nov 14).This follows the alleged slashing of the victim at 5000C Marine Parade Road, the address of Laguna Park condominium, the previous afternoon.The 68-year-old man was taken in an unconscious state to Changi General hospital, where he subsequently died.The 23-year-old man was initially arrested at scene for causing grievous bodily harm by dangerous weapons, and had two penknives seized. Preliminary investigations revealed that he purportedly had a dispute with the victim.The accused will be charged on Nov 15 with murder under Section 302(1) of the Penal Code 1871, which carries the death penalty.'Something was wrong'Speaking to Stomp, a family living on the 10th floor of the condominium said that they had heard muffled shouting which carried on for about a minute.

SINGAPORE - A 37-year-old Malaysian man suspected of being involved in government official impersonation scams is expected to be charged on Nov 15.He is likely to be charged with the offence of abetment by conspiracy to assist another to retain benefits from criminal conduct.The police, in a statement on Nov 14, said there has been a trend of Malaysian nationals travelling to Singapore to assist scam syndicates in collecting cash, gold and valuables from scam victims.The police said they received a report of a government official impersonation scam in which a scammer was impersonating a staff member from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Sept 28.The victim was told by someone claiming to be a government agency officer that the funds in her bank account were misused and that her bank account was involved in money laundering.She was later contacted by different individuals who claimed to be from the MAS.She was instructed to surrender her money and valuables for the purpose of investigations.

The body of a woman was discovered at the foot of an HDB block in Hougang.The 23-year-old is believed to have fallen from a height.A photo of the incident posted to a Facebook group for domestic helpers on Friday (Nov 14) showed the woman lying motionless on a patch of grass in front of the block with two police officers crouching down.The post claimed that the deceased was a domestic helper from Myanmar.Another picture posted by the same Facebook user showed a blue tent cordoned off with police tape at the foot of the block.Responding to AsiaOne's queries, the police stated that they were alerted to the incident at Block 649 Hougang Avenue 8 on Thursday, at about 11.30am.She was pronounced dead at the scene by a paramedic from the Singapore Civil Defence Force, said the policeBased on preliminary investigations, no foul play is suspected.Police investigations are ongoing.

A passenger said she was left shaken after a Tada driver got agitated during their ride and accused her of leading him in the wrong direction.«Do you want me to endanger your life?» the man is heard saying in a video uploaded to TikTok by user @lydearlyy on Thursday (Nov 13), who called the incident her «worst experience» with a private-hire driver.The passenger, who goes by Lydia, claimed in the video that the driver wanted to take a shortcut to her destination — a condominium which she did not name.Although she replied that she was unaware of any shortcuts, the driver purportedly wanted to drive through a carpark. Lydia said she told him that the carpark leads to a landed enclave, but he still continued to drive.When they reached a dead end and recircled back to exit the carpark, his GPS apparently rerouted. He purportedly drove her to another dead end and ultimately stopped in front of one of the homes in the enclave.

A 39-year-old woman was sentenced to 19 weeks' jail on Wednesday (Nov 12) after being arrested for vice activities.Du Chaomei (transliteration) was arrested in five separate raids across three locations and granted bail four times before being sentenced. She faced a total of seven charges under the Women's Charter and the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.Du pleaded guilty to three of the charges on Nov 12, with the remaining charges taken into consideration during sentencing.According to Shin Min Daily News, Du, a Chinese national, worked as a receptionist for a prostitution ring, handling payments, taking orders, and directing customers.Charge sheets revealed that Du was first charged on July 4, 2024, at about 1.10 pm at 251A Geylang Road, where she had used a remote communication service with a Singapore link to organise sexual services for payment. 

A man said he was fined $300 after leaving his extinguished cigarette butt on top of a rubbish bin on Tuesday (Nov 11). According to Stomp, Sathais, a 30-year-old ad-hoc security officer, claimed that the incident took place along Stirling Road in Queenstown.He recounted the incident in a TikTok video uploaded the same day and captioned: «Woah seriously (I didn't know) like this also can get fine. Can my life get anymore hard?»In the 73-second video, he claimed he was smoking on his way to the MRT station after work and had stopped to extinguish his cigarette, leaving the butt on top of a rubbish bin. He said he was then stopped by a man, who identified himself as a National Environment Agency (NEA) officer, who informed him that he should have disposed of the cigarette butt in the rubbish bin instead. The officer then asked for his ID and issued him a fine amounting to $300 as it was his first offence. 

A 69-year-old man was found dead in the waters near Esplanade on Thursday (Nov 13) morning .Responding to queries from AsiaOne, the police confirmed that a call for assistance was made where a body of a man was found floating in the waters along Queen Elizabeth Walk at about 9am. The body was subsequently retrieved from the waters and was pronounced dead at the scene by a Singapore Civil Defence Force paramedic.Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect foul play. Queen Elizabeth Walk is a promenade located at the Esplanade Park.Police investigations are ongoing.[[nid:724201]]xingying.koh@asiaone.com

A male youth, dressed in what appears to be a Catholic Junior College (CJC) uniform, was allegedly slapped and forced to kneel on the ground along a HDB corridor.A 38-second video of the incident was shared on Thursday (Nov 13) by SGFollowsAll on Telegram, and shows a boy with a bloodied face and hands being berated by the person holding the camera.The video appears to be taken at night, with the victim being forced onto the ground. With his arms folded against his chest, the victim is repeatedly slapped by someone off-camera who can be heard saying «angkat paiseh», meaning to apologise.The victim is heard pleading with the person off-camera while apologising for allegedly riding his bicycle.The camera zooms in on the boy's face towards the end of the video, before he is forced to say «amitofo», a Buddhist chant.Investigation yielded no further information: CJCIn response to AsiaOne's queries, a spokesperson from CJC said that the school was alerted to the video in June this year.

To better reflect rail reliability and passenger experience, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be including three additional indicators in its monthly rail reliability reports. These include train service delivery, train punctuality and passenger impact of rail disruptions — and they are meant to give the public a more comprehensive representation of the MRT network's performance, said the authority on Friday (Nov 14).The agency released its monthly rail reliability report, which for the first time includes more detailed data on train trips and disruptions.Singapore's rail reliability is mainly tracked using the mean kilometres between failure (MKBF) metric, which counts the average distance a train travels before it meets a delay lasting over five minutes.Alongside this, the number of train delays that last over 30 minutes is also included in rail performance reports.Beginning Friday, the monthly report will see the addition of the three performance indexes, which the authority has been tracking as a regulatory standard, to complement the currently reported data by measuring other facets contributing to rail reliability.

A 67-year-old man was taken to the hospital after his motorcycle was struck by a lorry in Eunos on Wednesday (Nov 12).In a video posted to Facebook group SG Road Vigilante on Thursday (Nov 13), a motorcycle can be seen stopping at a junction.A lorry driving behind the motorcycle fails to brake in time, rear-ending the bike and sending it flying forward, knocking the motorcyclist off.In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police said they were alerted to an accident involving a motorcycle and a lorry along Eunos Link towards Hougang Avenue 3. The 35-year-old male lorry driver is assisting with investigations, added the police. Responding to AsiaOne's queries, SCDF said the 67-year-old male motorcyclist was taken conscious to Changi General Hospital.Police investigations are ongoing.[[nid:725190]]esther.lam@asiaone.com 

SINGAPORE — The «symbiotic relationship» between the PAP government and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) lets hard decisions be made by Singapore to overcome crises, sustain growth and protect livelihoods, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong on Nov 13.Speaking at the NTUC Ordinary Delegates' Conference, DPM Gan touched on the heightened relevance of the three-way partnership between the Government, labour movement and employers amid geopolitical, technological and demographic shifts.«(Tripartism) also gives businesses and investors confidence that Singapore remains a place where change can be managed responsibly, where policies are rational and predictable, and where workers and employers can both have a stake in our success.»DPM Gan was the guest of honour at the event, which was held at Downtown East. It marks the midterm of the current central committee, the labour movement's highest decision-making body.While much has changed in the world of work, he said, NTUC's mission to champion the interests, dignity and progress of every worker has remained.

SINGAPORE — Britain's Princess Anne met President Tharman Shanmugaratnam at the Istana on Nov 12 and discussed issues relating to sustainability, biodiversity, education and skills development during their meeting.They also reaffirmed the longstanding and multifaceted ties between Singapore and Britain, including strong people-to-people ties, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Nov 13.Princess Anne was in Singapore on a two-day trip from Nov 12 to 13, during which she also met Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.PM Wong and the Princess Royal, as she is also known, marked the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Singapore and UK, MFA said.They also reaffirmed Singapore and Britain's strong co-operation across different sectors and exchanged views on how greater collaboration can be achieved in emerging areas such as trade, artificial intelligence and cyber security.

A 35-year-old Malaysian man will be charged in court on Friday (Nov 14) over his alleged involvement in two separate cases of government official impersonation scam (GOIS). He is the third Malaysian to be charged this week for this scam variant involving the impersonation of government officials purportedly from the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).In a statement on Nov 13, the police said they received two separate reports on Nov 11 and 12 from two different victims.Modus operandi: Your account, identity is compromisedThe first victim was allegedly told over the phone by an unknown person, claiming to be from UnionPay, that an insurance policy she purchased was due to expire and she had to pay for it.When she denied doing so, the person suggested that her identity may have been misused and that he would file a case with the police. Shortly after, she received another call from a «government official» claiming to be from MinLaw and MAS.