In a hit-and-run accident along the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) on Monday morning (May 20), a motorcyclist is believed to have jumped out of his bike to avoid a car. He ended up slamming against the side of a passing bus, shattering a window with the impact, reported Shin Min Daily News.  He was later taken to the hospital conscious. The car, which fled the scene, allegedly caused a five-vehicle accident, which took place along the BKE towards Woodlands, near the Turf Cub Avenue exit. Facebook user Farizatul Firdaus posted videos and photos of the accident. One video shows a motorcyclist, with his helmet on, lying next to the bus.

SINGAPORE — About 50 family members accompanied the hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of Captain Kenneth Tay Xue Qin as it left his wake at Telok Blangah for his cremation on May 20. The solemn tune of Mariah Carey's Hero was played as the hearse headed for Kong Meng San Phor Kark See Monastery at Bright Hill, where CPT Tay's ceremonial funeral was held. On May 16, CPT Tay was serving as a marine rota commander at the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) West Coast Marine Fire Station when he lost consciousness while fighting a blaze on board China-flagged tanker Sheng Hang Hua 6. After his body arrived at Bright Hill at 9.15am, his casket was lifted by eight officers from the SCDF's Marine Division, the 1st SCDF Division, and course mates from CPT Tay's 17th Rota Commander Course.

SINGAPORE — Heavy traffic is expected at the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints from May 21 to June 23, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) in a statement on May 20. This covers the lead-up to and during the Vesak Day public holiday on May 22, and the June school holidays. ICA said travellers should expect delays due to stepped-up security measures at the checkpoints, caused by the heightened threat situation. It has advised travellers to factor in additional time for immigration clearance. The Ministry of Home Affairs said on May 18 that it has stepped up security measures at the checkpoints, following an attack on a police station in Ulu Tiram town, in Johor, on May 17. These measures include increased patrols and enhanced checks on travellers, it said. A check of the Beat The Jam app on May 19 at about 11pm showed that travellers crossing the Causeway could expect to take between three and four hours to enter Singapore, while those using the Second Link in Tuas may take 1½ to 2½ hours.

SINGAPORE — A director-general at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) who gave false information to a public servant over the use of diplomatic bags was sentenced to a week in jail on May 20. In April, Gilbert Oh Hin Kwan, 45, admitted that he had lied to Ong Eng Chuan, then MFA deputy secretary (management), on Jan 19, 2023. Oh's two cheating charges linked to the use of the diplomatic bag service were considered during sentencing. A diplomatic bag is used for sending official correspondence and items to and from the ministry and its overseas offices, such as embassies or consulates. It is sealed and protected by diplomatic immunity and cannot be opened, searched or seized by Customs officials. In her judgment, District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz said: «The serious potential consequences to the integrity of the public service and the MFA domestically — in so far as its internal investigative process was undermined — and internationally, justify a custodial sentence as a starting point.»

A woman failed to look both ways before crossing a busy road with a child, endangering their lives and angering netizens. Dashcam camera footage from the incident, which supposedly took place on Friday (May 17) morning, was posted to Facebook Group SG Road Vigilante the next day. The 22-second video shows a woman and a school uniform-clad child, presumably hers, crossing a congested two-lane road in Taman Jurong without the former checking for incoming traffic. The car recording the footage has its view of the pair blocked by a lorry on left lane, causing the driver to jam the brakes only when they become visible at the last second. This startles the woman, who gives the driver of the recording car a long stare after she and the child rush to stand on the road divider. 'Still can stare at the car' Some netizens were angered by the woman's «careless» behaviour and questioned how she could endanger her own child. One Facebook user commented: «What kind of parent is this?» Another comment read: «[She was] putting her child on the side of danger. If the car couldn't stop in time, the child would get hit first.»

For over two hours, the only thing this driver might have smelled was probably the petrol fumes from the other vehicles waiting in line.  Driver Aaron Ng, who was stuck in heavy traffic heading back to Singapore from Johor Bahru (JB) last Sunday (May 19), shared on Facebook that his queue was taking longer than «165 minutes». «Haven't even smelled JB customs after two hours,» he commented on a Facebook post about the congestion. Motorists who were entering Singapore from JB over the weekend had to wait close to three hours following a step-up in security measures at Singapore's two land checkpoints, 8world reported on Sunday (May 19). This is due to last Friday's attack at a police station on the outskirts of JB that led to two officers being killed and another injured. The lone attacker was later shot dead at the scene. In a Facebook post last Saturday night, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) alerted travellers to the enhanced security measures.

SINGAPORE – About 25,000 students graduated from polytechnics in 2024, from full-time and part-time diploma courses. Of these, 600 graduates were above the age of 40, said the Ministry of Education (MOE). The number of graduates in this age group has remained consistent over the past few years, MOE added.  The ministry said it hopes to see “greater training participation among those aged 40 and above”, following the newly announced SkillsFuture Level-Up Programme, which includes mid-career Singaporeans receiving a SkillsFuture credit top-up of $4,000 from May.

SINGAPORE - A 78-year-old driver had to be extricated by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) from his car after it flipped on its side in Toa Payoh on May 19. Responding to queries from The Straits Times, the police said they were alerted at about 1.10pm to the accident involving a car that was believed to have skidded in Lorong 1 Toa Payoh. Photographs and footage taken by ST of the aftermath show that the car broke its bumper and a roadside barrier, scattering soil and debris in its wake. SCDF said the man was found trapped in the driver’s seat, and had to be extricated using hydraulic rescue equipment. He was conscious when taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. At least seven SCDF personnel, two SCDF vehicles, one ambulance and three police vehicles were deployed to the scene. No other injuries were reported. Police investigations are ongoing.

Despite knowing that it is illegal to throw litter out of high-rise HDB flats, some individuals continue to do so, often without regard for the consequences. Recently, a homeowner at Block 4 Lorong Lew Lian was caught in the act of high-rise littering, according to the National Environment Agency (NEA) in a statement on Saturday (May 18). In a Facebook post published the same day, NEA said it began its investigations after receiving reports of such issues at the block. Within a week, NEA captured a resident throwing rice out of their window, and promptly served a notice to the flat owner.   NEA wrote in the post: «Littering from residential flats is a serious offence as it poses a danger to the public, dirties the environment and threatens our public hygiene.»  According to the NEA, it had investigated around 29,000 instances of feedback involving high-rise littering per year from 2021 to 2023. Over the same period, the agency also deployed an average of 2,500 cameras annually, and conducted about 1,100 enforcement actions against people caught committing high-rise littering.

They are the bane of many homeowners in Singapore. One Bedok resident thought he found a way to alleviate the problem but was frustrated. Tired of flyers littered outside his flat, Stomp contributor Jacob did something about it. «I've created this letter box specifically for all flyers, notices and adverts that distributors should kindly deposit into,» said the Stomp contributor. «At first, they still slotted the flyer into my metal gate. I thought maybe they are Chinese-educated? So I created another bi-lingual notice.» But to avail. The Stomp contributor shared a photos of a flyer still slotted in his gate and another on the floor. «It is an irresponsible act as they leave the owner to clear their rubbish when the paper fly all over the place and litter the doorway,» lamented the Stomp contributor. «Please advise what I can do to stop this. Who is going to sweep?» He said he had contacted the people whose names and numbers are on the flyers. «I've called up some housing agents three times. They apologised and said they would inform the relevant distributors,» the resident told Stomp.

One man found a place to live with the help of social workers after living on the streets for a period of time. But four years on, Hong Fu (transliteration) is still facing woes with his housing situation. Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, the 68-year-old said that his flatmate owes him more than $3,000 after refusing to abide by the rules of their housing arrangement. Hong, who lives in a rental unit on Indus Road, told the Chinese evening daily that he was previously homeless while toiling as a handyman to make ends meet. During the pandemic, Hong applied for a rental unit under the Joint Singles Scheme Operator-Run Pilot (JSS-OR). Under this scheme, singles can apply for a rental flat without having to find a co-tenant as they will be paired up with other applicants who are strangers. Hong, who contractually became the main tenant, said he was later assigned a flatmate surnamed Wu. The man said this means that he would pay the rent of $123 to HDB every month, with Wu reimbursing $61.50 to him.

Several residents living in the new Built-to-Order estate in Tengah have complained about issues with their home, including water leaking from the centralised cooling system (CCS), Shin Min Daily News reported on Friday (May 17).  One of them, a 47-year-old kindergarten teacher surnamed Chen, said that she received the keys to her flat on Tengah Garden Avenue last September. They had opted for the CCS, which was installed by manufacturer Daikin, and moved into their flat after renovations were completed before Chinese New Year this year. «A week later, we found that the ceiling on the door frame closest to the living room began to drip,» she said. «The air conditioner in another room was also dripping. We immediately reported the issue to Daikin.» Chen said that workers came to their flat in March to repair the faulty CCS, but added that the issue continued to persist. The excessive water also caused the paint to bulge — or blister — from the wall, she said.

The Republic of Singapore Air Force's (RSAF) F-16 crash at Tengah Air Base on May 8 was due to an aircraft component malfunction, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) stated in a press release on Saturday (May 18). American aerospace and defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin (LM) and the RSAF had conducted investigations following the crash of the F-16 last Wednesday and determined the cause of the accident to be the simultaneous malfunction of pitch rate gyroscopes. «The flight data recorder recovered from the crashed F-16 showed that its pitch rate gyroscopes gave erroneous inputs to the flight control computer,» the statement read. «This led to the pilot being unable to control the plane at take-off.» According to the release, all F-16 fighter jets are fitted with four such gyroscopes. The simultaneous failure of gyroscopes is «very rare», so LM has no stipulated maintenance for the component. Mindef also stated that this is the first such simultaneous malfunction of the pitch rate gyroscopes for the RSAF's entire F-16 fleet over the course of their 35 years of operation.

A routine walk with her dog took a terrifying turn when a woman saw monkeys making a beeline for her and her pet. Speaking to AsiaOne, the 30-year-old social media content moderator, who wished to be known as Rohini, said she was taking her dog on their usual walk along Yishun Ring Road around noon on (Wednesday) May 15. She then spotted a pair of monkeys on the opposite side trying to cross the road. Finding their behaviour endearing, she momentarily stopped to take a quick video of them from a distance before continuing on. However, Rohini forgot to stop recording and unintentionally captured the moment the monkeys began running across the road towards her and her dog. In the video, which was later posted to TikTok, one of the monkeys is seen running up to Rohini and her dog while she screams in fear and starts running.

SINGAPORE – Singapore is seeing a new Covid-19 wave, with rising cases of infection in the last two weeks, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Saturday (May 18). “We are at the beginning part of the wave where it is steadily rising,” said Mr Ong. “So I would say the wave should peak in the next two to four weeks, which means between mid to end of June.” He urged those who are at greatest risk of severe disease, including individuals aged 60 years and above, medically vulnerable individuals and residents of aged care facilities, to receive an additional dose of the Covid-19 vaccine if they have not done so in the last 12 months. The Ministry of Health (MOH) said the estimated number of Covid-19 cases in the week of May 5 to 11 rose to 25,900 cases, compared with 13,700 cases in the previous week. The average daily Covid-19 hospitalisations rose to about 250 from 181 the week before. The average daily intensive care unit (ICU) cases remained low at three cases, compared with two cases in the previous week.

SINGAPORE - Concrete pieces from the roof of a Marine Parade Housing Board flat fell off and damaged a car’s windscreen on May 15, prompting the estate’s town council to bring forward its inspection of the building facade for residents’ safety. In response to The Straits Times’ query, the Marine Parade Town Council said on Friday (May 17) that they were alerted to the incident at Block 47 Marine Crescent at about 7.25am on May 15. Staff were deployed to assess the area immediately, the town council said, adding that no one was injured. But the rear windscreen of a car parked near the block was damaged “due to the spalling concrete”, said the town council. “We have since reached out to the owner of the vehicle to provide further assistance,” it added. The town council said the affected area has been cleaned up and cordoned off, and it has arranged for the repairs of the external facade. The last inspection on the building facade was done about five years ago, the town council said, adding that such inspections are held once every seven years.

An altercation between a cyclist and a car driver, captured on video, has divided netizens. Dashcam camera footage from the incident, which apparently took place on Friday (May 17) morning, was posted to Facebook group SG Road Vigilante on the same afternoon with the caption «Altercation between a cyclist and a driver this Friday morning». In the footage, a cyclist riding his bicycle and a black BMW are seen turning the corner onto East Coast Service Road on the left and right lanes respectively. The BMW suddenly speeds up and switches to the left lane, cutting the cyclist off. This prompts the cyclist to speed up until he is beside the car's window and he is seen gesturing wildly, seemingly upset by the driver's actions.

SINGAPORE - The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) regular officer who died in the line of duty was a nursing graduate who wanted to help others, and eventually found his calling as a firefighter. Friends and relatives of Captain Kenneth Tay Xue Qin spoke highly of him as they paid their respects to him on Friday (May 17), the first day of his wake in Telok Blangah. The 30-year-old rota commander, an only child, died on May 16 after fighting a fire on board a marine vessel anchored at Raffles Reserved Anchorage in the south-west of Singapore. Rota commanders lead a team of front-line officers to respond to fire, rescue and hazardous material incidents. SCDF said CPT Tay had aced many proficiency and certification tests that firefighting officers are required to take. His friends told The Straits Times on May 17 that he studied nursing at the National University of Singapore (NUS), and will be remembered as a kind-hearted man bent on helping others.

SINGAPORE — Former political detainee Teo Soh Lung's claims that the Government's drug laws and policies are ineffective are regrettable, and Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam stands by what he said in Parliament, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA). MHA, in a statement on May 17, said Teo, a former lawyer and politician, also appears to imply that in some unspecified way, it was wrong of Shanmugam to make a ministerial statement in Parliament because it confers parliamentary immunity. Shanmugam, it added, now waives parliamentary immunity for everything said in the ministerial statement. «If Teo or anyone else feels that the statement's contents are actionable — they can take action,» it said. On May 8, Shanmugam touched on Singapore's drug control policies in a wide-ranging speech in Parliament. He reiterated the reasons for the strict stand against drugs, and the reasons for the policies. He also mapped out plans to tackle drug threats both new and old, especially among the young.

SINGAPORE — A private-hire driver took advantage of a drunk passenger after she fell asleep in his car by pulling her skirt up and recording images of her body, which he then sent to his friends. Mohammad Noorandy Wahid then raped the 31-year-old woman at a deserted spot, and bragged to one of the friends he was «lucky» she had been unconscious. On May 17, the 39-year-old, who is married, was sentenced to 11 years' jail and nine strokes of the cane after he pleaded guilty to one charge of rape and one charge of distributing voyeuristic images. The offences were committed in the early hours of Feb 27, 2020. Another seven charges were taken into consideration during sentencing. At the time, Noorandy was a delivery driver who rented a Mercedes-Benz S300L to work as private-hire driver with ride-hailing company Ryde at night. Deputy Public Prosecutor Tan Pei Wei told the High Court that Noorandy occasionally drove the woman and her friends from club to club. He became acquainted with her in December 2019 after he approached her and her friends who were waiting outside a club for a taxi.

When businessman Atul Sethi landed at Changi Airport after his flight from New York on Thursday (May 16), the Indian national was pleasantly surprised that it took him less than a minute to clear immigration.  All thanks to the new Automated Border Control System (ABCS), which was launched at Changi Airport in early May.  Under the new system, all incoming travellers, regardless of nationality, can now use automated clearance lanes, where they insert their passports into a machine for scanning and undergo a biometric scan.  Previously, the lanes could only be used by Singapore residents and passport holders from 60 jurisdictions. Sethi, 46, who arrived at Terminal 3 and was laying over in Singapore, told reporters: «It is delightful, coming to Singapore and using the new facilities. After staying in the US immigration line for an hour, it was a pleasure to [clear immigration so quickly here].» The ABCS, which has been progressively installed, will replace the current automated lanes and manual counters.  The new lanes are expected to reduce immigration clearance time at the passenger halls by about 40 per cent. 

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has found foster parents for the 15-year-old girl who lived in a wet market stall for 11 months. The girl, who relieved herself in pails in the Circuit Road Market and Food Centre stall her father rented, will be discharged from hospital and be put in foster care by the end of May. An MSF spokesman told The Straits Times on May 17 that any contact between the girl and her father while she is in foster care will be closely supervised. Her father, 63, is assisting with investigations into ill-treatment of a child or young person by neglect under the Children and Young Persons Act. Those convicted can be jailed for up to eight years, fined up to $8,000, or both. The MSF spokesman said the child's safety and stability are the ministry's main considerations when matching any child with suitable foster parents. Said MSF: "In this case, the foster parents must be able to manage a child with developmental needs.

Giving way to emergency vehicles on the road is common courtesy, but one driver's rather unconventional means of doing so divided netizens. Dashcam camera footage from the incident, which took place at around 5.30pm on Wednesday (May 15), was posted to Facebook Group Complaint Singapore in the same evening with the caption «Is this how you give way to emergency vehicles?». The footage shows a white BMW coming to a stop on the rightmost lane of the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) as an ambulance approaches from behind.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer who died after fighting a fire on board a marine vessel in the southwest had a stellar track record, according to a second press statement released by the SCDF on Thursday (May 16) night. The firefighter, identified as Captain Kenneth Tay Xue Qin, was from the West Coast Marine Fire Station, which was alerted to the fire in the early hours of Thursday. The 30-year-old, a Rota Commander, was found lying at the bottom of a staircase on the vessel and pronounced dead at the hospital. Tay joined the SCDF as a regular officer and started 28 weeks of training in the Rota Commander Course in December 2017. During the course, Tay achieved outstanding results, acing his Individual Physical Proficiency Test and Breathing Apparatus Proficiency Test.  After completing the course eight months later, he was posted to Changi Fire Station as a Rota Commander, where he stayed until November 2020.

A Singaporean man was arrested in the Philippines on May 9 after he was found possessing a tampered passport. Mohamed Faisal Ahmad Kamal, 45, was nabbed at the Clark International Airport, north of the Philippine capital Manila, the Bureau of Immigration said in a statement it released on May 15. «Ahmad Kamal was found to have detached pages in his passport in an attempt to hide previous travels to the Philippines,» the bureau said. It added that he had also been on its watch list, as he was reported to have escorted a Filipino woman out of the Philippines on April 28 to work in Singapore The Daily Tribune newspaper said the woman was believed to have been recruited to work illegally as an «entertainer» in Singapore. The Singaporean was arrested on the same day as a Chinese national flying to China through the main airport in Manila. Xue Gang, 33, was nabbed as he was about to board a flight to Guangzhou. The immigration bureau said he «was found to be on the (bureau's) derogatory list of foreigners who are wanted for involvement in cyber-fraud activities».

A private-hire vehicle (PHV) driver claimed he earned more than $750 by driving for 24 straight hours, causing concern that he might have compromised his passengers' safety. Stomp contributor Jovis alerted Stomp to a Facebook post shared by the driver on May 12, which included a screenshot of his earnings. «Okay, this is the result of my 24-hour non-stop driving challenge,» said the driver. He had earned a total of $753.47. «Hmmm, I'm personally kind of disappointed with the result but nonetheless, I did my best.» After seeing the post, the Stomp contributor said: «Apparently, PHV drivers are doing well. In a single day, a driver could earn up to $700? »But more importantly, is it safe for passengers to be driven by someone who has been on the road driving non-stop for long hours? Such a selfish act that might lead to some sort of accident due to fatigue." In November 2023, a contest to see who earn the most in 24 hours resulted in a Gojek driver being on the road for 22 straight hours to earn $1,017. This drew flak from netizens who said it put drivers, passengers and other road users at risk.

SINGAPORE - Prime Minister Lawrence Wong hit the ground running a day after he was sworn in as Singapore’s fourth prime minister on May 15. In posts to his social media platforms on May 16, the first day in his new role, PM Wong said he held his first Cabinet meeting in the afternoon. “We have a full agenda ahead,” he said alongside a photo of the meeting with his ministers, in what looked to be a different and bigger room at the Istana than where past Cabinet meetings were usually held. “Look forward to working with all of you to take Singapore forward in our next phase.” Earlier in the day, he also spoke with foreign counterparts who had phoned him to congratulate him on his new role. PM Wong said he spoke with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and thanked them for their good wishes.

Born just seven years after Singapore gained independence, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong witnessed the country's rapid growth from third to first world. The 51-year-old was born in 1972, when Singapore «was a young nation» with «not much to our name». But that did not stop the pioneer generation, which included his parents, from «believing in new possibilities» and working hard to improve their lives, said PM Wong in a 11-minute video aired on CNA on Wednesday (May 15) — the same day he was sworn in as prime minister.  He recounted that his father came to Singapore from Malaysia as a young man looking for a job, while his mother completed her secondary school education and became a school teacher. From a student at Haig Boys' Primary School to being the fourth prime minister of Singapore, PM Wong described his journey as «a story of possibilities». «If you asked me 30 years ago, if I had envisaged all this, my answer would be no,» he said.

Most children would get their parents to choose a co-curricular activity (CCA) with them, and it was no different for Greendale Primary School student, Alicia Tan. Except her parents told her to pick Girls' Brigade, a CCA that she was not interested in. Although she had her reservations, an after-school excursion with them changed the 12 year-old's perception of the club. «We visited the old folks home and when I saw their happy faces, it made me happy,» she said. Sweet tokens of friendship Despite having zero background in baking or cooking, Tan and 120 young girls from Girls' Brigade Singapore (GBS) volunteered for the opportunity to bake cookies for a noble cause at this year's launch of the Friend in Deed project.

You might want to hold your cup tightly when you order a cold beverage from a coffee shop drinks stall. Drop or spill it and you might have to pay extra to get another cup. But is it fair for coffee shops to impose a charge for replacing spilled ice? A diner who feels it's not took to Facebook to share her encounter with a drinks stall employee at a coffee shop near Pioneer MRT station, which is an outlet of the Kimly chain. In a post on Facebook group Complaint Singapore on Tuesday (May 14), user Mandy Lim wrote that her friend had bought two canned drinks from the stall for $1.90 each. Lim's friend accidentally knocked over one of the cups filled with ice. This allegedly led to him being «viciously scolded» by an employee, who asked if he was aware of a sign which stated that there is a 50-cent charge to replace the ice. According to a photo posted by Lim, the handwritten sign in Chinese read: «If you spill the ice and want another cup of ice, we will charge you 50 cents.»

The swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, which was broadcast on Wednesday (May 15) evening, drew many eyeballs. But there was one person who quite nearly stole the limelight from the newly-minted PM. His wife, Loo Tze Lui. Shortly after the ceremony, social media exploded with comments on Loo's appearance at the event, with many praising her good looks and grace. «Respectfully, jaw is on the floor,» wrote one TikTok user, while others seemed enamoured by her star quality. «She looks like a Korean actress,» one commenter remarked. Several commenters also said that she looked like a «humble», «kind and compassionate» person. Some netizens were flummoxed however, that Loo had walked ahead of Wong as they entered the ceremonial grounds at the Istana.

A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officer has died after fighting a fire on board a marine vessel anchored in the southwest, according to a press release on Thursday (May 16). SCDF was alerted to the fire at 12.15am. Firefighters from West Coast Marine Fire Station boarded the vessel after noticing smoke billowing from the engine room. A Rota Commander, paired with another firefighter, attempted to put out the blaze inside the smoke-logged room. While the firefighter sprayed a water jet towards the source of the fire, the Rota Commander went around the room with a thermal imager to look for other hot spots in the area. A support team of firefighters then entered and found the Rota Commander lying at the bottom of the staircase, about 4m down from the engine room. The regular officer was conscious but appeared unwell, so he was immediately evacuated. He later lost consciousness and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was performed on him. He was later evacuated to Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal and conveyed to the National University Hospital.

Newly minted Prime Minister Lawrence Wong received a rousing welcome from residents in his constituency as he arrived in Yew Tee after his swearing-in ceremony.  A tent and a stage had been set up at the hardcourt next to Yew Tee MRT station with seats for residents and Wong's supporters to watch the inauguration earlier in the evening.  PM Wong arrived around 10.30pm to cheers and applause. As he made his way to the stage, he greeted and shook hands with the people. The 51-year-old has been an MP for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC since 2015 and oversees the Limbang ward. One Limbang resident, surnamed Tan, told AsiaOne he arrived there at 7.30pm to join in the festivities. By then, a sizeable crowd had gathered for the watch party and sing-along event. The retiree said he has met PM Wong on several occasions and described him as a friendly and affable person. «I'm very happy that he's our prime minister, I hope he can bring Singapore to greater heights,» he beamed. Ash Motosir, 60, who has been living in Limbang for 25 years, described PM Wong as very “down-to-earth”.

DPM Lawrence Wong has been sworn in as the fourth prime minister of Singapore on Wednesday (May 15) evening. This makes the first change of leadership in the Republic in 20 years. Wong took the oath of allegiance and oath of due execution from Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon at the Istana. At the swearing-in ceremony, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam said that Wong is taking over as Prime Minister in a «period of growing global fractiousness and big power contestation, and a weakening international order». «Wong and his team… are well-placed to secure our national interests amid these unpredictable geopolitical currents and to help advance Asean unity,» he said. He also highlighted how those who have worked alongside Wong, in government and in the community, would know that he brings «convictions, life experiences and skills». Recalling Wong's contributions in policymaking, the Labour Movement and as co-chair of the Covid-19 taskforce, Tharman also described Wong as being «calm and decisive» in the face of pressure.

In a speech during his swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday (May 15) evening, Singapore's fourth Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said that one of his key priorities is to identify younger Singaporeans in their 30s and 40s to serve. «Help me provide Singaporeans with the government they deserve,» he added. As the first prime minister to be born after 1965, the year of Singapore's independence, PM Wong acknowledged that his experiences would result in a different leadership approach compared to previous generations. «Almost all my colleagues in the 4G team were also born after 1965. My generation's story is the story of independent Singapore,» he said. He added that he and the 4G team understands the importance of good leadership, political stability and long-term planning as they are the beneficiaries of such policies. Citing the Covid-19 pandemic as «the crisis of our generation», PM Wong said that the way Singapore dealt with the crisis deepened the country's social capital, making Singaporeans «better and stronger». «Covid was a baptism of fire for me and my team,» he said.