Commuters who tap in at the six stations between Punggol Coast and Kovan as well as those along the Sengkang-Punggol LRT (SPLRT) during morning off-peak timings will enjoy free rides come Dec 27.This was announced by Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow on Saturday (Oct 18), on the sidelines of the official opening of Punggol Coast Bus Interchange.Those who wish to enjoy the free rides will have to tap in at the abovementioned stations before 7.30am or between 9am and 9.45am on weekdays, excluding public holidays, said Siow.According to a statement by the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on the same day, no registration is required to enjoy the free rides, but the same fare card or payment mode must be used for entry and exit.Guest of honour for the opening ceremony and Punggol GRC MP, Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong told the media that he had received feedback from residents about the crowd on the the North-East Line (NEL), as the northeast region becomes more densely populated.He then suggested bringing back the free off-peak morning rides.

Twenty one people were injured in a lorry collision on Wednesday night (Oct 15) and one driver was arrested for dangerous driving causing grievous hurt.The police said in a statement on Friday evening (Oct 17) that the 24-year-old driver was ferrying nine passengers when he allegedly ran a red light at the traffic junction of Choa Chu Kang Way by Sungei Kadut Avenue and Sungei Kadut Loop.The lorry collided with another lorry, which had 11 passengers, as the latter vehicle was proceeding through the junction on a green light.Apart from the driver who ran the red light, the remaining 21 people from both vehicles were taken to hospitals.The injuries they sustained include fractures, lacerations and bodily pains.

Twelve persons aged between 25 and 35 have been arrested for their suspected involvement in the possession and distribution of e-vaporisers on Oct 16. The 12 were arrested at a carpark in the vicinity of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 5 when they were allegedly gathering and distributing the e-vaporisers.“They are believed to be part of an e-vaporiser syndicate that orchestrated the importation and distribution of e-vaporisers from Malaysia into Singapore, and has been supplying to residents,” the police said in a joint statement with the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) on Saturday (Oct 18).Following the arrests, raids were conducted at Upper Jurong Road, Canberra Drive and Jalan Sendudok, which included two storage locations allegedly used by the syndicate.Police said they coordinated with HSA to seize more than 64,000 e-vaporisers and its related components during the raids. The seized vapes have an estimated street value of $560,000.Eight cars, electronic devices such as mobile phones and SIM cards, and cash amounting to more than $16,000 were also seized during the operation. 

A happy holiday in Singapore took a sour turn when this tourist's $3,000 was allegedly stolen by a hotel housekeeper.A Taiwanese tourist, known as Yang, said his cash was taken by a housekeeper at Village Hotel Sentosa on Friday (Oct 17).In his post on Threads, Yang said he checked into the hotel on Thursday evening (Oct 16) and went to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Singapore.Before leaving, Yang said he placed around $3,000 worth of cash in a plastic bag from Marina Bay Sands. He then left the bag on a white counter in his hotel room.According to Yang's post, the plastic bag with cash was stolen on Friday.«When this happened, I felt so helpless,» Yang wrote in Chinese. «The hotel manager said he really trusts his staff and there was no way such an incident would happen.»Rummaged through hotel's garbageYang said he rummaged through the hotel's garbage collection to no avail until the police arrived.After searching the housekeeper and her storage locker, the police found the same Marina Bay Sands plastic bag Yang used for his money, he wrote.

The 23-year-old on duty full-time police national serviceman (NSF), who was found with a gunshot wound to his neck, is now in «a stable condition», the police said in response to AsiaOne's query on Friday (Oct 17).He was found by his teammates in a toilet at 328 Pasir Panjang Road, which is listed online as a Shell petrol kiosk, at about 9pm on Wednesday (Oct 15).The officer was subsequently taken conscious to hospital. His service revolver and remaining ammunition were accounted for and seized at the scene. Following preliminary investigations, police said then that they believe the gunshot wound was self-inflicted.In 2021, a full-time police NSF was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head in a toilet at the Special Operations Command. The 21-year-old's death was later ruled a suicide. [[nid:724003]]editor@asiaone.com

An 18-year-old male was charged on Friday (Oct 17) for allegedly trafficking e-vaporiser pods suspected to contain etomidate, a potent sedative-hypnotic drug.In a statement released on Friday, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said that on Oct 16, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority officers detected suspected etomidate-laced e-vaporiser pods in a vehicle belonging to the alleged offender, Kwek Rui An Rayern.Authorities seized two e-vaporisers and 127 suspected etomidate pods from the vehicle, while another five pods were later recovered from his residence in Bedok.The seized items are currently undergoing laboratory testing for etomidate and investigations by HSA are ongoing.According to HSA, the case has been adjourned to Oct 24. 

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong will visit Argentina and the United Kingdom from Oct 20 to 28.The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement on Friday (Oct 17) that SM Lee will visit Buenos Aires from Oct 20 to 24, followed by London from Oct 25 to 28.In Buenos Aires, SM Lee will meet with senior Argentinian political figures, key congressional personalities and prominent businessmen. He will also attend a meeting of the JP Morgan International Council, which he has been a member of since March 2025.The council is an advisory group of global leaders from business, government and public service that convenes annually to discuss economic, political, and geopolitical issues.SM Lee will meet with senior British political figures and business leaders from the technology and corporate sectors in London. He will also speak at the Royal Institute of International Affairs' Chatham House on shifting geopolitical and economic trends in an era of heightened uncertainty. 

Seventy-four persons were arrested for suspected drug offenders during a five-day island-wide anti-drug operation from Oct 13 to 17.Areas such as Ang Mo Kio, Balestier, Clementi, Punggol, Woodlands and Yishun were covered during the operation, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said on Friday (Oct 17).A total of about 2.5kg of cannabis, 158g of ketamine, 76g of heroin, 73g of ‘Ice’, 12g of ‘Ecstasy’, 40 Erimin-5 tablets and numerous vape related products including 42 e-vaporiser pods believed to contain etomidate were seized.The drugs seized are estimated to be worth more than $68,000, said CNB, adding that the heroin, ‘Ice’ and cannabis seized could potentially feed the addiction of 436 abusers for a week.Over 2.3kg of cannabis seized at YishunOn Oct 13, CNB officers arrested a 36-year-old Singaporean in Yishun for suspected drug trafficking offences.He was travelling along along Yishun Avenue 1 when he was arrested, and a search of his motorcycle yielded about 2.3kg of cannabis, 156g of ketamine, 11g of ‘Ice’, 11g of ‘Ecstasy’, 40 Erimin-5 tablets, and drug paraphernalia. 

A cat was found dead at a stairwell in Ayer Rajah on Tuesday (Oct 14), with its body allegedly severed in half.Speaking to AsiaOne on Friday (Oct 17), a witness, who wished to be known only as Bob, said he was leaving office in the JTC Launchpad building at 81 Ayer Rajah Crescent at around 12pm when he spotted the carcass. «I was heading out for lunch and took the stairwell from the third floor down when I noticed an unfamiliar object. As I got closer, I realised it was a severed top half of a cat,» said the 36-year-old engineer. «There wasn't any blood and it looked like a cleanly sliced carcass. It was quite shocking and scary.» Bob added that he called the police, and officers arrived about 20 minutes later.He noted that the particular stairwell he accessed was less frequented, as it was located at the far end of the building and typically used only by his office and neighbouring units.«On most days, I would use the stairwell during lunch hours as it is easier to exit. But since that incident, I don't use that stairwell anymore,» said Bob.

The fiery orange glow seen in Singapore sky on Wednesday (Oct 15) was due to an unplanned shutdown by a chemical plant across the border, the National Environment Agency (NEA) has said.In a Facebook post on Friday (Oct 17), the agency said that the power outage at one of Lotte Chemical Titan’s chemical plants in Pasir Gudang near Johor Bahru, led the company to activate recovery work.Known as flaring, this common safety measure in petrochemical plants removes excess gas which then releases harmless water and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.In a separate statement, Lotte Chemical Titan said that the power outage began at 4.13pm. Recovery work began at 6pm and was completed at about 9.30pm.Taking to the CloudSpotting and SkySpotting Facebook group on Oct 15, a Yishun resident said that she was startled by the bright flaming sky in front of her door.Netizens also shared photos of where they could see the glow from their window — from Marina Bay Sands to up on a plane.While the flares are harmless from afar, several residents were concerned about pollution.

It is «not for foreign entities or individuals to tell Singaporeans how to vote», said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Thursday (Oct 17), in response to a statement by Malaysian political party Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS).“Least of all along racial and religious lines. That is divisive and acceptable,” said MHA. “It may be how politics and political parties are organised in other countries, but it is not in multi-racial, multi-religious Singapore.”In a statement shared on social media on Wednesday, PAS said that it “firmly rejects” to be cast as a “convenient boogeyman” to advance domestic political agendas in Singapore.It was responding to Coordinating Minister and Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam’s ministerial statement in parliament on the politicisation of race and religion.In his speech on Oct 14, Shanmugam said several members from PAS had urged Singaporeans on social media to vote along racial and religious lines at the General Election.

Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers foiled an attempt to smuggle more than 8,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes into Singapore via Tuas Checkpoint on Sept 27. In a Facebook post on Thursday (Oct 16), ICA said that anomalies were detected in the vehicle’s scanned images and directed it for additional checks. Aided by ICA’s Integrated Targeting Centre, officers found more than 8,000 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed within the consignment declared as clothes hangars and car rims. A 38-year-old male Malaysian driver was detained and the case referred to the Singapore Customs for further investigation. Buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, possessing or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are considered serious offences under the Customs Act and the Goods and Services Tax Act. If found guilty, offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty evaded and/or jailed for up to six years.

In the six weeks since changes to anti-vaping laws saw stiffer penalties for vaping kicked in, 1,339 persons were caught for related offences, said the Ministry of Health and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) on Thursday (Oct 16). Of the 1,339, 102 were in possession of e-vaporisers laced with etomidate, also known as Kpods. «Among them, 67 have been placed on rehabilitation programmes at Institute of Mental Health, Health Promotion Board and social service agencies,» said the authorities, adding that two offenders have failed to attend their first rehabilitation appointments.«HSA is investigating and will prosecute individuals for their e-vaporiser or etomidate-related offences should they fail to attend their rehabilitation appointments,» they said.1,968 cases of vaping-related activities reported to HSAOver the six-week period, HSA said it received 1,968 reports of vaping-related activities through its online reporting form and hotlines.

A 56-year-old woman died after an incident at Jewel Changi Airport on Thursday (Oct 16) afternoon.She is believed to have fallen from a height.In response to AsiaOne's queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that they received a call for assistance at about 1.55pm from 78 Airport Boulevard.The woman was subsequently taken to Changi General Hospital.The police said that the woman was unconscious when she was taken to the hospital where she subsequently died.Investigations are ongoing. 'We are deeply saddened'In a TikTok uploaded by sgseewhatsee, a woman can be seen administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to a person lying on the ground of Jewel.A few people dressed in black, likely staff members from the mall, are also seen barricading the area.In response to queries from AsiaOne, Lee Ching Wern, chief executive officer of Jewel Changi Airport Development, said that Jewel is working closely with the authorities to provide their full support for investigations.