In an ongoing fight against scams, the government has implemented various safeguards to protect and educate potential victims. The latest safeguard? An enhanced ScamShield app which is now equipped with a new «Check for Scams» function. What this means is that the app will be using artificial intelligence to identify and alert users about potential scam threats across platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, SMS, phone calls and other channels.  The app's enhancement comes at a time when scams are quickly evolving, signalling a need to step up measures, said Minister of State (MOS) for the Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development Sun Xueling at a multi-agency briefing on the government's anti-scam efforts on Tuesday (Aug 20). «As scammers evolve their tactics, we have to update our responses. The enhanced ScamShield app has been designed to stay ahead of these threats, providing Singaporeans with a better way to safeguard themselves against scams,» said Sun, who is also the Chairperson of the Inter-Ministry Committee on Scams.

While his domestic helper was taking a shower, a 38-year-old man secretly filmed her with his phone through the window. When his wife confronted him, the man claimed innocence and even called the police. He was sentenced to three months and two weeks' jail on Tuesday (Aug 20) after pleading guilty to one count of voyeurism, reported Shin Min Daily News. The man cannot be named to protect the victim's identity. According to the Chinese evening daily, the accused and the victim were the only ones at home during the incident, which occurred at about 1.15pm on March 19. The 25-year-old maid was showering in the bathroom when she spotted the phone at louvred window in the mirror reflection. She immediately squatted down, and resumed showering only after the device was gone. Not knowing what to do, the victim called her sister, who urged her to tell the man's wife about the incident. The man's wife returned home at about 4pm but the victim did not dare to tell her as the accused was present. Later that night, she worked up the courage to inform the man's wife.

University student Phoebe Wee has come to terms with the inevitability of death through volunteering at Assisi Hospice over the past four years. The 20-year-old has seen a fair share of deaths — many of the patients at the hospice's day care centre have a prognosis of one year or less.  «It really never gets easier,» Wee said in an interview with AsiaOne. «It still hits me hard when I hear that a patient has left.» Among those patients was Patrick Perera, who died in July 2023. Wee remembered him as a «cheerful guy» who charmed everyone in the hospice with his singing. The hospice volunteer also bonded with his wife Manelle, 83, through their mutual love of handicraft. «Both of them were in the hospice together,» Wee said about the couple who were married for over 50 years. «You could see the love and respect they had for each other. It was a joy to be around them.» As his health declined, Wee visited him several times in the hospital, and also checked in on his wife regularly to «make sure she was okay». «I think it meant a lot to her,» said the volunteer.

A man who rented a car for two days was allegedly hit with a $3,000 bill by a vehicle rental company, which claimed that he breached the contract by speeding.  The 23-year-old, who wishes to be only known as J, detailed his experience with a car rental company which he had found on Carousell to Facebook group Complaint Singapore on Aug 18. The driver wrote that the company in question is located around the Ang Mo Kio area and registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra). J added that the contract which he signed had «amateurish language» and was «highly likely» to not be legally enforceable. Speaking to AsiaOne, J said that he had rented a Volkswagen Scirocco from the company for $199 for two days. Only car listed for rent A check on the company's Carousell profile, which was created about five months ago, showed that it was the only car listed for rent. The company also has a five-star rating and multiple positive reviews from previous customers. J claimed that the business owner had demanded additional payment when he went to check the car towards the end of the rental period.

With the seventh month festivities currently in full swing, it's not uncommon to see brightly-lit and heavily-decorated trucks on the road.  Adorned with LED lights and decorations inspired by temples, these mobile floats, known as hua che ('flower vehicle' in Chinese), are actually commonly hired by temples and getai organisers for special events.  Although there are only a handful of companies who have hua che for rent these days, Ong Eng Hwee, owner of Qingde Hua Che, has claimed to be the pioneer of these brightly-lit trucks.  His company owns two hua che, both of which have LED lights installed by his 21-year-old son, Zijun.  «Previously the norm was to decorate the truck and use it for a special event, and then everything would be taken down, it was quite laborious,» explained the 57-year-old in Mandarin.  His company also provides lion dance and ku tong ('crying child in Chinese') services for funerals. 

Just in March this year, local magician Jeremy Pei shared on Instagram the good news of taking his baby girl Joy home with his wife Celia Lee. Nobody imagined that Pei himself would be hospitalised a few months later and lose his battle against his brain tumour. The 39-year-old died on Aug 18, leaving behind Lee, baby Joy and her six-year-old brother Jac. Lee, 40, told Shin Min Daily News that her husband optimistic, strong-willed and brave, fighting to his last breath. «He also thought he could survive this time,» she shared. «When he was hospitalised in June, the doctor said it was terminal. His health deteriorated. Over time, he could no longer speak or take care of himself, and was reliant on a feeding tube. He could move his fingers only slightly to show some response.» Pei and his friends had gone to Indonesia in May to referee a magic competition. His friends noticed that his speech and movements were not coordinated, and immediately took him to the hospital upon their return to Singapore. The popular magician had cheated death twice.

Amir Hamza, a Bangladeshi preacher who is known for his «extremist and segregationist» views, is being investigated by the authorities for giving a sermon to a group of migrant workers in a Tuas dormitory on August 9 without obtaining the necessary approval. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a press release on Wednesday (Aug 21) that they are also probing the organiser and other persons involved in the event, which was held at Lantana Lodge along Tech Park Crescent.  «Amir Hamza's sermon propagated extremist and segregationist teachings that were dangerous, and detrimental to Singapore's communal harmony,» the ministry added. It wasn't indicated how many workers had attended Hamza's sermon. MHA said Hamza, who is reportedly in his 30s, had attracted security attention in Bangladesh for his alleged extremist teachings and terrorist links. He was reportedly an influential figure in pro-Al-Qaeda terrorism organisation Ansar al-Islam (AAI), and was arrested by Bangladeshi authorities in 2021 for terrorism-related activities and inciting militancy.

Balancing academics and sports hasn't been easy for Team Singapore fencer Juliet Heng, who is enrolled in the Business Studies course at the Ngee Ann Polytechnic via a through-train programme with the Singapore Sports School.  The 19-year-old even took a gap year in 2023 for a break - but things will certainly look up if she gets awarded the new spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship, an initiative announced by the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Edwin Tong today (Aug 21). To support high-performing athletes and para-athletes, several initiatives including the undergraduate scholarship and monthly CPF top-ups will be introduced, said Minister Tong. He was speaking at a post-National Day Rally engagement session for over 300 people at the Singapore Sports Hub. From Sept 1, all athletes pursuing their undergraduate studies or commencing higher education next year can apply for the spexEducation Undergraduate Scholarship, one that will cover expenses such as tuition fees and course materials. 

When contacted by a job recruiter via Telegram, a woman thought that she had found herself a quick and easy way to earn some extra cash. However, she had fallen for a fake job scam and unwittingly roped her friends into it as well. Speaking to AsiaOne, the 21-year-old student, who wished to be known as Lee, said that she was approached by a recruiter via Telegram for a marketing job in May which involved posting housing units for sale on various social media on behalf of a real estate company. Thinking it was a good opportunity, she said yes and even got a few friends to join her. A few days after being accepted, Lee and her friends were told to open a new bank account for the company to transfer «marketing funds» to, which would be used to promote their listings on social media. Then, they were asked to give their usernames and passwords to the recruiter. «[Once we gave them the information,] they changed the e-mail, phone number and password of the account. So we basically had no access to it,» said Lee.

SINGAPORE — Disbarred lawyer M. Ravi has been ordered to return $120,000 which was paid to his former law firm by a group of clients who had engaged him to act for them. The firm, K. K. Cheng Law, had handed over the money to Ravi after the clients paid the sum. After Ravi was ordered to stop practising for failing to take his prescribed psychiatric medication, the clients successfully sued the firm for a refund. In turn, the firm filed a civil action against Ravi for the return of the sum it had transferred to him. In a judgement published on Aug 21, District Judge Chiah Kok Khun said Ravi should return the sum to the firm. Judge Chiah found that an e-mail sent by Ravi to the firm, in which he said he will take responsibility and will indemnify the firm, constituted an indemnity he had given to the firm against the clients' claims. The judge rejected Ravi's contention that his bipolar disorder had affected his mental capacity when he wrote the e-mail. Aside from the indemnity, the judge found that Ravi must make restitution because he had been unjustly enriched at the expense of the firm.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's National Day Rally 2024 speech introduced the Kallang Alive Masterplan, a transformative plan to strengthen Singapore's sports culture and high-performance outcomes. This initiative is more than just about upgrading facilities; at its heart, it is a bold and progressive effort to broaden society's common understanding of talent, giving more recognition to talents outside the conventional definitions of academic success. Singapore has long boasted a robust academic system that has delivered consistent success. However, if we want to cultivate talent beyond the conventional yardsticks of academic achievement, we must embrace a multiplicity of developmental pathways.

Getai goers in Yishun were pleasantly surprised when Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim appeared on stage at a show on Monday night (Aug 19).  The four-and-a-half-hour long show, which started at 6pm, was held at the open space at Block 724 Yishun Street 71 and saw over 300 attendees, reported Shin Min Daily News.  Assoc Prof Faishal, who is also an MP in Nee Soon GRC, entered the venue at about 7.40pm, and was greeted with a resounding applause from the audience members.  Accompanied by the organisers of the getai show, Assoc Prof Faishal made his rounds around the different tables, and was egged on to sing a song.  With the encouragement of that night's host Lee Pei Fen, Assoc Prof Faishal stepped onto the stage and greeted the audience in Mandarin, wishing them good health and prosperity. 

SINGAPORE — She was a researcher at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) when she got to know a man who was pursuing his PhD there. Han Xiaobing, 34, developed feelings for the 29-year-old man but he rejected her advances. On Oct 25, 2023, he obtained a protection order against the Chinese national, prohibiting her from acts including communicating with him and entering places he frequented. Despite this, Han sent him a total of 116 e-mails until December that year and even went to his workplace. She was fined $8,000 after she pleaded guilty to two harassment charges on Aug 21. Details about the man were redacted from court documents. Han will have to spend eight weeks behind bars if she fails to fork out the amount. She was not represented by a lawyer, and told the court that she is now jobless. In February 2021, the man decided to block all electronic communications with Han after he grew uncomfortable with her long messages in which she expressed her feelings for him.

Two migrant workers are earning admiration online for their selfless act of braving the rain to help keep others dry. On Tuesday (Aug 20), a woman surnamed Goh took to the Complaint Singapore Facebook group to share about the heartwarming incident she witnessed at Choa Chu Kang Bus Interchange. «These two construction workers [were] standing at both ends of an unsheltered walkway, holding a few umbrellas to lend to passers-by when it's raining heavily,» she said. Speaking to 8World, Goh said that she was at the bus interchange to pick up her daughter, who did not bring her umbrella. While waiting to cross the road, she saw a passer-by giving her umbrella to a migrant worker. The same migrant worker then handed the umbrella to a student who was caught in the rain. After the latter safely crossed the unsheltered walkway, he gave the umbrella back to the second worker. Goh soon realised that the two migrant workers were holding several umbrellas and would lend them to passers-by who needed to cross the walkway. 

Joseph Tan and his wife had gone to Johor Bahru for a game of badminton at an event on Sunday (Aug 18), but sadly, he never made it back to Singapore. Tan reportedly died after suffering a heart attack following the game. He was 43. Tan was a grassroots leader in Singapore as well as an active volunteer in the community for many years, Shin Min Daily News reported on Tuesday. His wife, Cai Qinyi (transliteration), told Shin Min that Tan had gotten to know of the international organisation Toastmasters in 2022 and joined several groups across the globe so as to brush up his skills in public speaking. He had also recently joined the Johor Bahru toastmasters club as a member and was invited to join in their family day event on Sunday. «He was very excited and said he hadn't played badminton in a long time. We set off at 6am and played two games before he went to shower,» said Cai, 43.

A group of tourists from China have accused a bus driver from a local travel agency for leaving them stranded in Little India, following an argument over the purchase of souvenirs last Friday (Aug 16). A nearly two-minute-long video reposted to TikTok shows the tourists claiming that the tour bus driver had scolded them. It cuts to another clip showing their luggage being unloaded from the vehicle. The last clip shows them standing on a pavement along Race Course Road as a woman, presumably a tourist, makes a phone call to relay their situation to another person. The netizen who originally posted the now-deleted video had said there were over 20 people on that bus, reported Shin Min Daily News. According to her, the bus driver was selling souvenirs to passengers. However, he was dissatisfied with the low sales of the items and refused to let a tourist with high blood pressure board the bus to retrieve her medicine, scolding the group for not buying the items.

SINGAPORE – StarHub users in many areas across Singapore were unable to access their broadband and TV services for a few hours on the evening of Aug 20, with the issue being progressively resolved only after 9pm. In response to queries from The Straits Times, StarHub said the issue stemmed from problems with its domain name system (DNS) servers.  The DNS is like a phonebook that matches domain names, such as those in website URLs, to internet protocol addresses, which are strings of numbers that identify devices on the internet. “We apologise for the inconvenience caused by the disruption to broadband services experienced by some of our customers... This disruption may have caused slowness or interruptions to both broadband and TV services,” said a StarHub spokesperson. To restore full service, StarHub advised customers to reboot their routers. If internet services are restored but television services remain down, they should restart their set-top box or television box.

SINGAPORE — A driver who allegedly took photos and videos of an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer at Woodlands Checkpoint has been charged. Singaporean Wong Jeo Wah, 37, was charged on Aug 17 with one count of taking photos of a protected area without permission from the authorities, under the Infrastructure Protection Act. He may face an additional charge under the Protection from Harassment Act. No further details were given about the charge. Wong is said to have committed the offence on Aug 12 at about 12.30pm at a departure lane counter of Woodlands Checkpoint. A day later, photos and videos of the officer were uploaded to Facebook group Complaint Singapore. It is not stated in court documents if Wong had uploaded the content. The Facebook user had named the officer and the counter he was working at, and made negative comments about an exchange with the officer. ICA said in a Facebook post on Aug 15 that it was aware of the social media posts that alleged that the officer had been rude to the driver who was clearing immigration.

A Malaysian motorcyclist died after colliding with a road barrier while on his way back home from Singapore on Monday (Aug 19). 31-year-old Balakrishnan Marimutu was travelling along the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link, heading home to Gelang Patah in Johor at around 8.20am when the accident occurred, reported China Press. Iskandar Puteri police deputy director Mohammad Azlan said in a statement to media that Marimutu had lost control of his vehicle and skidded, causing his motorcycle to overturn. He then suffered severe head injuries and died on the spot, Oriental Daily reported. It was also reported that Marimutu was decapitated due to the accident, with images of his headless body circulating on social media. Photographs of his Singapore work permit and an expired security officer pass with his name have also been shared online. Marimutu was employed as a safety, life-saving and firefighting equipment supplier in Singapore, China Press reported.

In the latest round of property cooling measures, the government announced on Monday (Aug 19) night that the maximum loan that home buyers can take from the Housing and Development Board (HDB) will be lowered from the next day.  Speaking to reporters on Tuesday (Aug 20), National Development Minister Desmond Lee said that the move - which reduces the loan-to-value (LTV) limit from 80 per cent to 75 per cent - will encourage more prudent borrowing and dampen demand at the higher end of the HDB resale market. Lee said his ministry has observed that buyers who take loans at higher LTV ratios «disproportionately» buy larger flats and pay higher prices, which in turn contribute to the overall higher prices in the HDB resale market. The minister also noted that in the last one-and-a-half years, million-dollar flats make up only about two per cent of all transactions. «The problem is that this has caused Singaporeans to be concerned about the affordability of resale flats as a whole,» Lee said about this apparent «market psychology».