Commonly considered an eyesore by members of the public, the infamous rock pigeons have constantly made headlines for their loud chattering and nesting on HDB blocks. Residents have also complained about the stinky and unsightly droppings, which can pose health and hygiene concerns. To rein in the population of this invasive species, various government agencies including the National Parks Board (NParks), the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) are rolling out a six-months-long pilot action plan to address this issue from June. The agencies, in a joint press briefing today, said they will work with the Ang Mo Kio Town Council, Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council and Tanjong Pagar Town Council where the estates have been identified as pigeon hotspots. The plan? To actively manage the pigeon population in these areas through the reduction of food source and to control the numbers there. 

How much would you pay for extra chilli sauce?  A vegetarian stall at the food court in People's Park Complex has recently gotten some heat for charging diners $2 for an extra spoonful of chilli sauce.  The stall, which sells Thunder Tea Rice and other vegetarian dishes, offers diners the option to add extra ingredients such as vegetables, wantons and braised tofu, which are priced from $1 to $3.50.  While the prices of the other ingredients are considered acceptable, some diners took issue with the charge for the extra chilli sauce.  Despite the negative reactions from some, stall owner Cai Youzhao maintained that the charge is not a money-making tactic.  The 37-year-old told Shin Min Daily News that he usually gives customers the chilli for free, and only charges them if they return for a third helping.  «We just don't want customers to take [the chilli] and waste it. Previously a customer insisted that we should provide as much chilli as they want, and it's their choice whether they eat it or not.»  However, Cai said that there are customers who genuinely enjoy his chilli and have no issue paying extra for it. 

Next-door neighbours on the 10th storey of Block 218 Tampines Street 24 unhappy over items placed in the common corridor used potted plants to get back at each other. But the person who was apparently most inconvenienced was a third neighbour, who is a personal mobility device (PMD) user. The man told Shin Min Daily News: «I tried to communicate with Angela but she accused me of being heartless.» He claimed that Angela, who is said to have moved into her corner unit less than a year ago, had arranged her potted plants up to the space in front of his door. Angela has been in dispute with her immediate neighbours, the Yangs. She told Stomp that the neighbours had placed their footwear and potted plants in the space right outside her door, which runs along the wall to their unit. «This is my passageway but the plants and shoes belong to them. I have already complained to the Town Council,» she said. Tampines TC on April 28 issued a secular informing the residents that the clutter should be removed from the corridor by May 2 and reminded them about the need to keep at least 1.2m of the corridor width clutter-free.

SINGAPORE — Every Singaporean household can now claim $300 in Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers for their daily expenses. They will be split equally for spending at participating hawkers and heartland merchants, and supermarkets. The last tranche of CDC vouchers worth $500 was launched by then-Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Jan 3, 2024. It provided households with $200 more help than the previous tranche in 2023. The $500 given out in January 2024, together with the $300 in June, means that each Singaporean household will get a total of $800 in 2024. This is the first time two tranches of CDC vouchers have been given out in the same calendar year. Wong, who is also Finance Minister, announced at Budget 2024 in February that Singaporeans will get a mix of cash, vouchers and rebates under a $1.9 billion boost to the Assurance Package to help with cost-of-living concerns and an uncertain economic outlook. Among the enhancements were an additional $600 in CDC vouchers — the first $300 to be disbursed end June in 2024, and the remaining $300 will be disbursed in January 2025.

With fewer residents and a dip in the number of visitors to the island over the years, Ng Ngak Heng's business has taken a hit. Last year, the 74-year-old, who owns Yak Hong provision shop in Pulau Ubin, chalked up a loss of $6,000. But throwing in the towel has never crossed her mind.  The shop is located just a stone's throw away from the jetty.  Ng told Shin Min Daily News that she moved to the island in 1975 after marrying her husband Law Kuing Liak. He inherited the provision shop from his father, who started it in the 1920s. «The shop now has a history of almost 100 years,» said Ng, adding that it is open all year round, from 7am to 7.30pm.  In an interview with CNA in 2022, she shared that Yak Hong used to supply Pulau Ubin residents with basic necessities and feed for their farm animals.  However, the demand for such goods has plunged with the dwindling number of residents. From the 1950s to 1970s, about 2,000 people lived on the island. Only about 30 remain today, reported CNA. Even Ng's two sons live and work on the mainland, and visit her over the weekends and during Chinese New Year. 

SINGAPORE – Suspecting that one of her four children, aged eight to 11, stole her money, a woman made them look for the cash as she splashed hot water on them. On June 24, the single mother, 33, who cannot be named due to a gag order to protect her children’s identities, pleaded guilty to one charge of ill-treating a child under her care. Her offences were committed when her three daughters were aged eight, 10 and 11, and her son was nine. Deputy Public Prosecutor Tin Shu Min said that on July 2, 2022, the woman woke her children up to shower and get them ready for madrasah, or Islamic religious school. She told her eldest daughter to take $20 from her wallet to buy bread for breakfast. When the girl said there was only $5 in the wallet, instead of $60 the woman thought she had, she suspected that one of the children may have taken it. The woman told the children to look for the money as she watched and threatened to splash hot water on them if they failed to find it.

While trying to avoid a police roadblock, the driver of a rental car lost control of the vehicle and mounted the kerb onto the pavement and grass verge. He and another man then got out of the car and ran off. Another passenger, a woman, also attempted to flee, but was stopped by passers-by. The drama was captured in pictures posted to Facebook group SG Road Vigilante on Monday (June 24), which show the vehicle from carsharing platform BlueSG on the grass verge along Boon Keng Road. It does not look visibly damaged. According to the post, the incident happened at about 4.30am on Monday. Three people exited the car afterwards. Two men, one of whom was the driver, ran off and left behind a female passenger, who was restrained by passers-by. The woman remained seated on the ground until she was handed over to the police. The two men were later nabbed and taken back to the scene for questioning about 1.5 hours later, according to the post.

Since an oil spill incident on the southern coast of Singapore halted all sea activities, water sports operator Ninja Kayaker and Foilers has had to postpone three classes.  It hasn't received any new bookings either «because people know they can't use the [water],» founder Clarence Chua told AsiaOne, adding that «those who have already booked may also seek a refund». He charges $700 for each class, which accomodates five to six people. But while the cleanup operation is progressing well, Chua may have to stick it out a little bit longer. That's because the next phase of the cleanup will take around another three months, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu said in a joint press conference on Monday (June 24) with the Transport and National Development ministries. The oil spill occurred at Pasir Panjang Terminal on June 14 due to a collision between a dredging boat and a bunker vessel, which saw 400 tonnes of fuel pour into the sea. This affected shorelines around Singapore such as Sentosa, Labrador Nature Reserve, the Southern Islands and East Coast Park, among other areas, The Straits Times reported.

At its peak, Marsiling Mall Hawker Centre was home to 18 stalls selling sugarcane juice. Today, only seven are still in business. The rest have shuttered due to the rising costs faced by the hawkers over the past few years, Chua Lay Sing, chairman of Woodlands Town Centre Merchants' Association, told Shin Min Daily News on Friday (June 21). In recent years, both hawkers and diners have had to pay more for sugarcane drinks. According to a CNA report published in 2018, the price hike could be attributed to a shortage of the sugarcane plant then, which caused supply disruptions to hawkers and suppliers. The Covid-19 pandemic did not help matters, as foreigners working at farms in Malaysia packed up and returned to their home countries, reported Shin Min. Planting eventually resumed when pandemic measures were gradually lifted, but the long growing period meant that sugarcane was still in short supply then, said one supplier. «At that time, the price for a box of sugarcane rose to about $37 or $38. Now, with inflation and the GST increase, it is difficult for the price to revert to what it was in the past.»

SINGAPORE – Location surcharge hikes introduced on a temporary basis in 2022 for taxi rides starting from Changi Airport, as well as attractions at Mandai Wildlife Reserve, will be made permanent from July 1. This means passengers taking a taxi from Changi Airport, Changi Airport Freight Centre, Airport Police Station and the Airport Logistics Park of Singapore will continue to pay an additional $8 between 5pm and 11.59pm or an additional $6 during other times. For taxi rides starting from the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, River Wonders and Bird Paradise, passengers will still pay a surcharge if they are picked up between 1pm and 11.59pm, but the cost has been increased to $5. Currently, passengers pay a $3 surcharge for pick-up at the Mandai Wildlife Reserve attractions during those hours. The permanent fare hikes were announced on June 24 on Facebook by Singapore’s largest taxi operator, ComfortDelGro, and taxi firm Strides Premier. The other two taxi operators, Trans-Cab and Prime, announced the changes in notices published in the Business Times on June 24.

Was the car park full and the driver didn't want to wait for an available lot? Or was the driver in such a rush that he could not wait? Whatever the reason was, the driver was desperate enough to park his petrol-powered car in an electric vehicle (EV) charging lot. And to make it appear that the car was being juiced up, the driver placed the charger gun in the boot. A photo of the blue Mercedes-Benz GL 250 SUV parked in the charging lot at the car park of Funan mall was posted on Facebook group SG Road Vigilante on Sunday (June 23). According to car sales platform Sgcarmart, cars in the GL 250 series run on petrol. Many netizens were appalled at the driver's behaviour, calling him cheap and inconsiderate. One comment read: «Innovative cheapskate. Well, he should be prepared to pay the cost when caught.» «Selfish driver. Already there are not enough charging stations, and he still wants to do things like that,» a netizen wrote. Another wrote: «Some people can really be so low class and still drive this type of car. Disgrace.»

Dreams of a new home have apparently turned into a living nightmare for a group of residents of Punggol Point Cove, as they grapple with a litany of defects in their recently-completed BTO flats. From uneven walls and hollow structures to water ponding and missing belongings, the homeowners told TNP they were caught in a frustrating battle with shoddy workmanship and unresponsive authorities. One resident, who wanted to be known as Iman,  said his flat had defects. «My unit has uneven and hollow walls,» he told TNP on June 20. The 34-year-old administrator received keys to his five-room flat in March. Iman checked in with Building Services Centre (BSC) and was apparently told that the walls are hollow because «youngsters nowadays like to hack the wall». He lamented that his flat had holes, the windows bore dents and scratches, and his master bathroom sustained water ponding. Another resident, who had picked the full range of optional components, shared in the neighbourhood Telegram group that he discovered the cement screed beneath his chosen vinyl flooring was poorly done.

Picture this: a man exits a toilet stall, adjusts his hair in the mirror and struts out, completely bypassing the sinks. This isn't a scene from a horror movie - it's the grim reality of handwashing habits among Singaporean men, or the lack thereof. Recent observations by TNP at 10 different shopping malls across the island, involving a total of 85 men, revealed a disturbing truth about men's hygiene habits. Almost one in five men were observed exiting the toilets without so much as a drop of water touching their hands. More than half opted for a quick rinse, as if a splash of H2O can magically eradicate whatever bacteria they encountered during their time on the porcelain throne. A mere 23.5 per cent of men washed their hands with soap. TABLE: The New Paper The worst offenders were spotted at Sun Plaza, Junction 8 and AMK Hub - not a single man went for a proper soap-lathering session.

At a time when most people would still be in bed, ITE student Chong Zu Heng was up and about at Bayshore MRT station at 4.50am - just so he could catch the first train. But it was not just any first train. It was the first day of passenger service for Stage 4 of the Thomson-East Coast Line (TEL). Chong, 20, a train enthusiast, told media at the station: «I wanted to be the first one to ride on the train on this new line before other passengers.» He had taken a private-hire car from his home in Tiong Bahru to the station and waited for more than an hour before the train service started at 6.16am. He was going to visit several new stations on the line including Siglap, Marine Parade and Tanjong Rhu.

SINGAPORE - Given the aggressive cancer tumour located at her brain stem, little E should have died within weeks of her birth. Instead, the girl, who is now two years old, is not just alive but also well and behaving like any other toddler her age. Doctors at the National University Hospital (NUH) say she is truly a miracle baby. While her parents do not want her to be identified, E may well be the only child in the world to survive an aggressive congenital cancer in her brain stem. At the very least, she is the first such documented case, said Dr Vincent Nga, who heads neurosurgery at NUH. It is extremely rare for an infant to be born with a tumour in that highly critical part of the brain which controls all the body's major functions, such as the ability to move and even to breathe. The odds are one in 100 million. Her mother's pregnancy was normal, as was her birth in January 2022. But shortly after E was born, doctors knew she had a problem. She had difficulty swallowing on day one. Then the right side of her face drooped within days of her birth, as though she had suffered a stroke.

The long queues are back again, for durians that is. To kick off the annual season for the king of fruits, one durian stallholder held a promotion in Bishan on Thursday (June 20), offering premium Mao Shan Wang or Musang King varieties for as low as $8 per kilogram. Within an hour, around 200kg of the fruit was snapped up, Shin Min Daily News reported on Friday (June 21). The durian season usually occurs between June and September, where the fruit is abundant and prices are lower. This is also typically the time when sellers would be hawking the fruit at incredible prices in a bid to attract customers. Among them this year is durian stall Wangshengli95, located at Block 513 Bishan Street 13. It held a promotion that started on Wednesday, offering its B-grade and A-grade Mao Shan Wang varietals at $8 and $12 per kilogram respectively. According to a Straits Times report in May, the best grade of Malaysia's Musang King was sold for RM20 ($5.72) to RM30 per kilogram in 2023. This was lower than the previous high of RM50 to RM70 per kilogram.

With less than a month left to go on their lease, a group of tenants would likely have to bear the cost of damages after the flat they were renting went up in flames. The fire broke out at Block 121 Paya Lebar Way on Thursday (June 20) at around 8.55pm. When reporters from Shin Min Daily News went to the third-floor unit on Friday, a man was seen coming out of the flat with a suitcase. The tenant, surnamed Lin, said he had rented the unit with five other people. All of them, including Lin, were not home at the time of the fire. Lin, 33, said he had just knocked off from work when he was informed about the fire by a flatmate. «When I reached home, the fire was already put out and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) personnel were investigating the incident. I was told that computer wiring could have ignited, causing the fire,» said Lin, adding that the living room bore the main brunt of the blaze, resulting in blackened walls.

SINGAPORE — Measures to deal with device usage in Singapore will be released in the coming months, as electronic devices and social media become a big part of people's lives, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung and Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli said in separate Facebook posts on June 21. They highlighted the need for more decisive and effective measures to shape habits of device usage, especially for the young, with research showing negative effects and links to worsening mental health. «We can make our advice clearer and more definitive; we need to deliver them consistently across all healthcare settings, with more reminders; we need to put them into practice in pre-schools; and we need to find ways to encourage their adoption at home,» said the ministers. «We will finalise and announce these initiatives in the coming few months.» Their comments come after United States surgeon-general Vivek Murthy recently called for a warning label on social media platforms for young users, arguing that social media is associated with mental health harms for adolescents.

A man found himself stuck in a drain while upside-down after an accident in Eunos, according to a post on SG Road Vigilante on Friday (June 21). In photographs uploaded with the post, the 37-year-old can be seen with his head at the bottom of the uncovered drain, while his legs and lower body protrude from it. His hands are pressed against the sides of the drain and his helmet is also seen to his left. The Facebook post also claimed that the man had driven an illegally modified power-assisted bicycle (PAB).  Some netizens felt that this could have been a «painful lesson learned» for the rider if he had modified his PAB. «That's the price for illegal modifications,» a user said. «Speedy recovery. Painful lesson learned.» One also commented: «While modifying the PAB is not the right thing to do, we still don't wish that such things happen to anyone. Hope he has no permanent injury and has a speedy recovery.» Similarly, many netizens sympathised with the rider, worrying for his safety. «Ouch, even looking at that hurts,» one user said.

Were his hands itchy? Did he have a bad day? An incident at Tanjong Pagar Plaza’s carpark yesterday (June 21) has left netizens confused. In an anonymous post submitted to Facebook page SG Road Vigilante, the user shared dashcam footage of a man leaving his rubbish behind on the former's car. In the video, a bespectacled man in a green shirt places his drinks on the hood of the car and the video cuts to him leaving one of the cup lids on the windscreen before driving off. Claiming that the man was a Strides taxi driver, the user said that the man also hung an empty cup on the door handle. The reason for him doing so? None, the user claimed. Netizens started debating in the comments, wondering why the man did such a thing. «What’s wrong with this guy?» remarked one netizen. «What's the point of doing this? I'm confused. Or were his hands itchy?» questioned another. Another joked: «Maybe you parked at his favourite parking lot.» One netizen even went so far as to call the man «unsociable and uncivilised».

Oil spill containment efforts are progressing well, said T&T Salvage Asia, a maritime group involved in the cleanup operation on Friday, June 21. The oil spill incident took place on the southern coast of Singapore on June 14. «As of now, I personally think that we are - if not already - close to reaching the balance point where we can actually say we have control over the containment,» Captain Anuj Sahai, managing director of T&T Salvage Asia, shared in an interview with the media while out at sea near Siloso Beach. His company is in charge of the stretch between Labrador Park and Sentosa Cove, and islands like St John's Island. He said that his team is still trying to prevent the oil from reaching other beaches.  «It will take a while, I think it's premature at this point to give a number or a date [on a complete cleanup], but the way we've gone about doing it as a team together has been very efficient,» he added. This comes after an oil spill occurred at Pasir Panjang Terminal on June 14 due to an allision between a dredging boat and a bunker vessel, which saw 400 tonnes of fuel pour into the sea.

SINGAPORE — A 27-year-old Singaporean man has been charged with murder in Perth after he was accused of intentionally hitting a cyclist with his car, dragging the victim under the vehicle for over 30m. Ng Jing Kai is said to have approached the 48-year-old cyclist over a property dispute around 1.45pm on May 24 while driving a grey Kia Carnival car in Carlisle, a suburb in Perth. In a suspected act of vigilantism, Ng then hit the cyclist with his car, «causing him to be dragged by the vehicle for a short distance, sustaining critical injuries», the Western Australia Police Force (WAPF) told The Straits Times on June 21. The cyclist was taken to Royal Perth Hospital, where he died, the WAPF added. Ng was questioned by the police and charged with one count of murder on May 24. At a press conference the next day, Detective Inspector David Gorton from the WAPF's major crime division told Australian media that the police are probing a possible property dispute between the parties. He said: «We are looking into what we believe was an incident the previous day. We believe that might have involved a personal property item.»

Bus operator Billion Stars Express has apologised to the two Australian passengers who said they were stranded at Woodlands Checkpoint after the coach bus departed without them on June 6. In a TikTok video posted that day, passenger Brenda Tee said she and her boyfriend had taken the overnight express bus from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore. Tee claimed that they had taken «no more than 15 minutes» to clear immigration at Woodlands Checkpoint. But when they reached the pick-up point, the bus had already left. And when she called Billion Stars Express, the customer service personnel allegedly told her: «You took too long, my bus driver cannot wait.» In a Facebook post last Friday (June 14), Billion Stars Express said in a statement that they «sincerely apologise for the inconvenience and poor experience» caused to the two tourists.

SINGAPORE — The police are looking for a man who fled the scene after crashing his car into a lamp post in Yishun on the evening of June 20, leaving behind his female passenger. The passenger, a 32-year-old woman, was arrested for suspected consumption and possession of controlled drugs, possession of drug apparatus and consorting with persons carrying offensive weapons, the police said in a statement on June 21. The police said they had received a call for assistance at Block 746 Yishun Street 72 at about 8.15pm on June 20. When officers reached the scene, a car sped off and subsequently skidded along Yishun Street 71, the police said. The driver abandoned the vehicle after it crashed, and fled on foot while the passenger was detained by officers. The police said they later found an assortment of weapons, as well as substances believed to be controlled drugs and drug paraphernalia, in the car. According to Chinese-language newspaper Shin Min Daily News, the weapons seized by the police included a 75cm-long samurai sword, a dagger and a machete.

A crappy new trend? Two separate incidents of commuters finding poop on public transport started circulating online on June 19. A video of one incident was shared by SGFollowsAll follower who wrote: «Today, I boarded bus 87 from CDC (ComfortDelGro Driving Centre) Ubi and someone took a s*** in the back of the bus.» The video shows someone walking to the rear of the bus to see some brown substance on the floor in the corner under the rear seat. One Instagram user commented: «I really hope that is fudge.» Two photos of the other incident on the MRT train was posted on Reddit with the caption: «Spotted in the first cabin on the brown line. Probably the reason why the brown line is, well, brown.» The brown line refers to the Thomson-East Coast Line. One Redditor commented: «The smell must have been intense.» Defecating in public is an offence under the Environmental Public Health Act and offenders are liable to a maximum fine of $1,000 for the first conviction.

Midway through their journey to work, two passengers were horrified to spot several cockroaches roaming around the private-hire vehicle. Taking to TikTok on Wednesday (June 19), the passenger, who gave her name only as Tiffany, dubbed the 40-minute Gojek ride from Kembangan to Newton that morning as «nightmarish». The 26-year-old told AsiaOne that she and her boyfriend spotted at least six cockroaches in the car, three of which she filmed on video. The 18-second video she uploaded on social media starts with a clip of a roach crawling across the passenger-side door. Another clip shows a cockroach on the backseat of the car, and the camera pans to reveal another one slinking up the car window. One of the cockroaches moves across the backseat and the video zooms out to show both passengers balancing on the edge of their seats. «My boyfriend's butt was hovering [over the seat] and I was sitting on his knees at this point,» she wrote in the video, adding that he was «in distress». The video ends after showing a roach nestled in the crevices of the seat belt buckle.

When asked by a passenger to enter his condominium premises to pick him up, one private-hire vehicle (PHV) driver refused and stood her ground. Driver Wendy Chan posted screenshots showing her conversation with the passenger in question along with the caption: «Am I wrong to say that? Please ask Grab. Every drop of petrol counts.» One of the images posted by Chan on Facebook page Professional PHV Drivers Singapore showed the pickup location as a condominium at Sixth Avenue. However, the passenger whom Chan was to pick up requested that she come to a specific lobby inside the premises instead of meeting her at the main entrance. In response, Chan insisted that she will only pick him up near the guardhouse at the condominium's main entrance. She soon ended up cancelling the ride, citing «I don't want to complete this job» as her reason for doing so. Chan's post garnered many responses from netizens, with some calling her lazy and some others praising and defending her actions. One netizen wrote: «Lazy driver. [If you] don't want to do Grab, find a real job or [start a] business.»

SINGAPORE — Wanting to talk to women, a man hatched a plan to soil their clothes with a mixture of his urine and flour so that he could have an opportunity to break the ice between them and him. On June 20, Tan Jun Hao, a 31-year-old Malaysian, was fined $1,200 after he pleaded guilty to using criminal force on one of the women. He followed a 26-year-old woman as she was going up an escalator from Nicoll Highway MRT station at around 8.30pm on April 9. He then squirted the mixture, which he had earlier mixed in a small plastic bottle, on her dress as she was walking along a nearby overhead bridge. Instead of stopping to talk to the woman after that, he walked past her. She initially thought that the mixture was bird droppings due to its smell, and the stain grew bigger when she tried to wipe it off with tissue paper. Deputy Public Prosecutor Yap Jia Jun said: «The accused intended to squirt the mixture on the clothes of ladies, especially young ladies wearing dark-coloured bottoms, and then alert them that their clothes had been dirtied. »He wanted to create opportunities for him to talk to these ladies."

Corporate service providers, real estate, casinos as well as precious stones and metals are among the non-banking sectors that pose higher money laundering risks to Singapore, indicated the updated Money Laundering National Risk Assessment published on Thursday (Jun 20). The banking sector, which includes wealth management, was assessed to pose the highest money-laundering risk to the country. But some designated non-financial businesses and professions also pose high risks. Corporate service providers, for example, provide upstream services such as incorporation of companies and «are linked to the misuse of legal persons in some instances», said the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Finance and Monetary Authority of Singapore in a joint press release. Another higher-risk sector is licensed trust companies, which may deal with customers with risks of corruption or tax evasion. Such companies also deal with complex legal structures and handle high-value, cross-border transactions.

All the netizen and his girlfriend wanted to do was give up their seats to a mother and a child who appeared to be struggling to keep their balance in the LRT. As the couple got up, the man tapped the mother on her back from behind to alert her to the vacated seat.  However, a man who is believed to be the woman's husband, started scolding the netizen, repeatedly shouting at him: «No touching! No touching!» Redditor Alarmed_Letter3707 wrote in the forum that he was taken aback that his good intention was met with such hostility in the incident that took place at about 10.30pm on June 8. He also wrote that the woman's husband spewed racist remarks including «just because it's okay in your country to touch woman in public does not mean it's okay to do that here in Singapore».  The Redditor explained that he tried to defend himself by saying: «'I just tapped her back to offer my seat and I'm sorry for that.»  He added that he could not get over the incident and kept his eye closed as he stood in the LRT while the woman's husband continued to berate him.

We all know the durian variety Musang King, but have you heard of the green Beserah, Tupai King, or even 'Fei Ji Mao'? With the durian season in full swing, lesser-known varieties are popping up in stalls across Singapore — though their heftier price tags may make one's wallet much lighter. Some stalls in Geylang are selling Black Gold and Beserah durians, also known as D145, at $48 to $58 per kilogram, reported Shin Min Daily News. Over at Trengganu Street in Chinatown, one vendor has brought in Tupai King (squirrel king) durians, touting it as a special, rare variety grown on a «century-old tree», and selling it at $58 per kilogram. Durians grown on older trees are said to have a richer and more complex taste. However, the vendor provided a caveat — the taste of the pricy fruit may not be to everyone's liking. Most of the customers who purchased the Tupai King are tourists, he said. And at HengBros SG Durian located along Upper Cross Street, 'Fei Ji Mao' durians are going for $48 per kilogram.

This soup kitchen has found themselves in the soup - but not literally. Krsna's Free Meals, a soup kitchen in Little India, has asked volunteers to honour their commitments after multiple groups have cancelled on them without letting them know in advance, the kitchen revealed in a video uploaded to TikTok on Wednesday (June 19). According to their website, Krsna's Free Meals is a soup kitchen in Singapore run by volunteers, cooking up free breakfast and lunch daily for those in need. Highlighting a trend, the kitchen said in their video that there are many volunteers who sign up with them as a group, but then one of the group's member decides they can't attend. When that happens, the whole group then gets cold feet and bails on the voluntary work, leaving the kitchen at a loss for that day. «Nobody tells us,» the video continued to say. «We're at the kitchen in the morning expecting a whole crew, but nobody's there.» The kitchen added: «The problem is worse when friends sign up together. If one friend has to cancel, the whole group often doesn't come without telling us.»

SINGAPORE – A 22-year-old Malaysian diver died on June 18 after he got entangled with a boat propeller while cleaning a ship’s hull at an anchorage along Marina South Pier. The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it received a call for assistance at 31 Marina Coastal Drive at around 2.15pm on June 18. The diver was caught in one of the propellers of the supporting dive boat, said a Ministry of Manpower (MOM) spokesman in response to queries from The Straits Times. The man, who was employed by Dive-Marine Services, was taken to Singapore General Hospital where he died from his injuries, the spokesman added. MOM is investigating the incident and has instructed the company to stop all diving activities. The police said the diver was unconscious when taken to hospital and based on preliminary investigations, no foul play is suspected. In its statement, the ministry said established commercial diving procedures using surface-supplied diving equipment (SSDE), or commercial self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (CSCUBA), must be adhered to.

When a woman saw an advertisement claiming that she could earn money from renting out vending machines, she thought it was a good investment opportunity.  After paying more than $8,000, however, Wang Meiling (transliteration) realised it might be a sham.  The 52-year-old, who is self-employed, told Shin Min Daily News that she signed a contract with a company named CloudRetail on Dec 4 last year.  She was told that CloudRetail would help investors open a company in Hong Kong, and apply for a government grant to purchase three vending machines, which they could rent out and receive earnings.  CloudRetail also claimed that they had offices in Hong Kong, Australia, China and Malaysia, and worked with reputable brands such as Chow Tai Fook, Royce Chocolate, Samsung Pay and Giordano.  To start on her 'investment', Wang had to pay a sum of $11,000. «I made a $3,110 down payment, and paid the remaining amount in six installments of $1,315 each. I've made four payments so far,» she said.  When she enquired about the progress of her grant application in January, CloudRetail informed her that she had to wait. 

Buyers keen to move into their new flats early can consider those launched in the latest Built to Order (BTO) exercise. This is because about half of the 6,938 flats launched on Wednesday (June 19) will offer waiting times of less than four years, with 1,352 flats in Tampines and Woodlands expected to be ready in around three years. This is the second of the three BTO launches in 2024, with 19,600 new flats to be launched in total this year. The 791-unit Marsiling Peak I project in Woodlands, for example, has a wait of only two years and 11 months, a first amongst launches in 2024.  It comprises two-room flexi, three, four and five-room flats, and will be built along Admiralty Road and Marsiling Lane. The project has three blocks that range from 31 to 35 storeys and is near Woodlands Checkpoint, with Woodlands and Woodlands North MRT stations about 2km away. Prices start from $244k for Woodlands units Similarly, the 561 flats at Tampines GreenTopaz will offer buyers a shorter waiting time of 3 years and one month, said the HDB.