A search and rescue operation is currently underway in the Eastern Anchorage of the Singapore Straits (off Tanah Merah) after a tugboat, OSHIO, reportedly sunk at about 2.15pm on Sept 4. The Maritime and Port Authority (MPA) is coordinating the operation with the Police Coast Guard (PCG) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).  According to shiptracking platform Vessel Finder, the OSHIO's position was last tracked in the Eastern Anchorage (off Tanah Merah). It reportedly sunk at 2.15pm on Sept 4. INFOGRAPHIC: Vessel Finder According to a media statement by the MPA, two crew were reportedly onboard the tugboat at the time of the incident.  A 39-year-old crew member who was earlier rescued by PCG was taken to the hospital, where he subsequently died.  The nationality of both crew members are not known. The gender of the missing crew was not revealed. 

SINGAPORE — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet with Singapore counterpart Lawrence Wong during a two-day visit to the city-state starting on Wednesday (Sept 4), Singapore's government said. Modi will also meet Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and former Prime Ministers Lee Hsien Loong and Goh Chok Tong during the trip, his fifth to Singapore and first since 2018. He will also participate in a business roundtable with local business leaders and meet semiconductor players. Modi will be accompanied by Indian government officials including the Foreign Minister and National Security Advisor.

One of the most significant impacts of Pope Francis' visit to Singapore is expected to be spiritual, along with his message of inter-religious harmony.  The 87-year-old pontiff's upcoming visit from Sept 11 to 13 has also led to a surge in demand for related souvenirs.  Pope Francis is the first head of the Catholic Church, since the late Pope John Paul II, to visit Singapore in 38 years.  From spiritual items like rosary beads to trendy «I Love Papa Francesco» T-shirts and bucket hats, souvenirs are flying off the shelves at the Catholic Centre on Waterloo Street. There were dozens of customers streaming in and out the pop-up store on the second floor when AsiaOne visited on Wednesday (Sept 4) afternoon. Souvenir hunters can also get their fix at a store in La Salle House and through an online shop. The Catholic Foundation, which manages the official souvenirs to commemorate the papal visit, said they are «heartened and encouraged» by the turnout at their pop-up stores since July.

The death of eight-month-old Trevor Neo Yu Hin came as a shock to his family members, who were planning to celebrate his first birthday in December.  Trevor's parents were charged in court on Tuesday (Sept 3) over his death at a Hougang flat last Sunday. The baby's great-uncle, who only wanted to be known by his surname, Neo, told 8world that Trevor's parents moved in with him when he was about a month old.  They lived together with Neo's two brothers.  «Both of them have jobs. My nephew used to work as a food deliveryman, but I don't know what he's doing now because he changes job frequently.  »They rarely speak to us and only talk to us about the baby's feeding times,« said Neo.  Trevor's parents subsequently hired a nanny to take care of him from Monday to Friday. They would bring the boy to the nanny's place and pick him up at 7pm.  »After they picked him up in the evening, my siblings and I would take care of him till his bedtime at around 9pm, and we'd carry him into his parents' room."  During the weekends, Trevor's maternal grandparents and Neo's family would take turns caring for him. 

A shark was spotted at Sentosa's Palawan Beach in a video uploaded to the Sgfollowsall Instagram account on Wednesday (Sep 4). In the video which has since garnered over 6,300 likes, a blacktip reef shark can be seen swimming in clear, shallow water along the coastline of Palawan Beach. The incident took place on Sept 1.  As the shark approaches, children can be heard screaming as someone warns them not to «throw water» at the animal. An object can then be seen thrown at the shark, causing a splash and dissuading the shark's advance. The shark then changes directions before swimming away as the video ends. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C_deeBRP4X7/ An eyewitness named Andy said that there was a «much smaller» shark that was seen prior to this 1.5m shark, Stomp reported. «We were curious and surprised, but we ignored it because it was small,» he told Stomp. «Then in the next moment, came this 1.5m blacktip reef shark.» He said that multiple beachgoers in the sea began «screaming and shouting», and the lifeguard immediately flew a red flag to indicate that swimming was no longer allowed.

SINGAPORE - Vaccinations against mpox clade I will be given to healthcare workers who are at highest risk of exposure to mpox as well as to close contacts of confirmed cases, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Sept 4. This is to ensure that the people who need it most will be given the protection, he said at a press conference held at the ministry. Immediate contact tracing will be carried out for close contacts of confirmed clade I cases and they will be quarantined for 21 days, the incubation period observed in Africa. JYNNEOS, the live, non-replicating vaccine, has been used in Singapore for protection against mpox and smallpox, and will be offered for free to the two groups of people. Singapore’s current supply of JYNNEOS is sufficient based on this vaccination strategy and the Ministry of Health will continue to monitor the situation adjust its strategy as the mpox situation and vaccine supplies evolve globally, the minister said. Mr Ong said: “Mpox is a troublesome virus which we can manage.” Recognising that every virus has different characteristics, he added: “Never fall into the trap of fighting the last war.”

Some brave Woodlands residents sprang into action to subdue a raging fire while waiting for help to arrive, earning praise from netizens. In a video posted to TikTok by user Amritpal Singh on Monday (Sept 2), flames and smoke can be seen engulfing an area which was cordoned off by barricades. A few men, seemingly residents, were seen trying to put out the fire with a hose.  «The superheroes who helped contain the fire before SCDF (Singapore Civil Defence Force) arrived, kudos,» read the video caption. https://www.tiktok.com/@amritpalsingh7/video/7409667264489868562 Speaking to AsiaOne, Singh said that the incident happened last Sunday (Sept 1) at around 4.20pm along Woodlands Street 81, in front of Block 870. «Three to four members of the public assisted with fire extinguishers initially, with about 10 extinguishers used,» the 32-year-old cabin crew recounted. «Two of them took out pipes and started spraying water to contain the fire. About 10 to 15 minutes later, the SCDF arrived and took over.»

A kitchen fire in a fourth-floor Sembawang HDB flat on Sept 3 led to the evacuation of 50 residents by the police as a precaution. In a Facebook post, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that it responded to the fire at Block 469 Admiralty Drive at about 2.35pm.  Firefighters from Yishun Fire Station and Woodlands Fire Station put out the fire, which was confined to the kitchen area, with a water jet.  The fire, which was confined to the kitchen area, was extinguished with a water jet. PHOTO: Facebook/Singapore Civil Defence Force The fire also left heat and smoke damages at the living room of the affected unit.  During the firefighting operations, one person was found in one of the bedrooms. The rescued person was assessed for smoke inhalation and later taken to the Singapore General Hospital. The cause of the fire is under investigation. 

«Misleading claims».  This was the Land Transport Authority's (LTA) response to The Workers' Party's (WP) Facebook post on Sept 1 (Sunday) claiming that they had earlier proposed the recently announced waiver of Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) administrative charge in Parliament back in 2017.  On August 30, the authorities announced that starting October 1, motorists who fail to pay ERP charges will have the administrative charge waived if they settle their missed fees within a five-day grace period. In its Sunday post, the WP noted that Faisal Manap, MP for Aljunied GRC, had filed a parliamentary question to then-Minister for Transport Khaw Boon Wan in 2017 about allowing motorists to pay for failed ERP deductions electronically within a reasonable period without incurring the administrative fee, or pay a less punitive fee. Khaw's written reply then explained that motorists who make good their failed ERP deductions are required to pay an administrative fee to cover the costs of processing the ERP violation, notification and payment.

SINGAPORE - For Ms Kuan (not her real name) and her husband, making day trips across the border to indulge in good food and pampering treatments is a cherished ritual. When travelling as a couple, they would simply hop on the Causeway Link bus, which takes them from the Queen Street Bus Terminal to Malaysia’s Causeway checkpoint in Johor Bahru for less than $5 each. But when they want their 10-month-old baby to join in the fun, they need to explore other transport options. For a recent four-day vacation to Johor, Ms Kuan turned to a cross-border chauffeured service that she found online. She booked a seven-seater Toyota Innova as she needed more space for her family of three, her father-in-law, three pieces of luggage, a baby stroller and a car seat, which she requested at the point of booking. On the day of their trip, a Malaysian driver showed up punctually to whisk them from their home in the east of Singapore to various attractions in the Johor coastal town of Desaru, before dropping them off at a hotel in Johor Bahru in the evening.

Looking for a quick swim, a man visited the ActiveSG swimming pool at Kallang Basin last Saturday (Aug 31) evening.  To his dismay, he found that three-quarters of the pool was taken up by a water polo team for their training.  «About 30 members of the public were forced to squeeze into the remaining quarter of the pool,» the man, surnamed Tan, told 8world. «Everyone was very uncomfortable, we had to keep giving way to one another, it was very awkward situation.»  The 62-year-old, who lives in Hougang, added that the temporary closures of the public pools at Toa Payoh, Ang Mo Kio, Queenstown and Hougang have contributed to the growing crowds at the pools at Kallang Basin, Kallang-Paya Lebar and Serangoon.  The four pools were closed for redevelopment and are expected to be re-opened in between 2025 and 2030.  The situation is made worse when certain parts of the pool are reserved for training sessions for the water sports teams. Tan also reportedly encountered a similar situation on Aug 8 at Serangoon Swimming Complex, where three lanes of the pool were reserved for training. 

SINGAPORE - Annoyed with his older brother’s behaviour at home, a man used a homemade flamethrower to lure the older man out before slashing him with a chopper. In the midst of the scuffle, Daniel Fock Ming Chai cut his 32-year-old brother on the right hand, chest and right leg. The brother was left with multiple lacerations, as well as cuts to his forearm tendon and nerves in his right thumb and fingers, which will likely leave permanent numbness. On Sept 3, Fock pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon. Two charges of mischief by fire will be taken into consideration for the 27-year-old’s sentence. Deputy Public Prosecutor Colin Ng told the court that the pair had a strained relationship growing up. After their parents’ divorce in 2000, Fock lived with his mother in a rental apartment while his brother lived with their father in a flat. DPP Ng said Fock’s mother moved out of the rental property some time in March 2023 to live in her shop. He did not elaborate on where the shop was.

All beaches at Sentosa have been reopened for swimming and sea activities, just in time for the school holidays. This includes the Tanjong beach, which was the most affected of the three beaches on that island, said the Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) in a media statement on Tuesday (Sept 3). «The reopening has been carried out in accordance with the relevant national guidelines to ensure that water quality at Tanjong Beach has returned to normal and stable levels through regular monitoring,» SDC stated. They also expressed «heartfelt gratitude» to workers, volunteers, island businesses and partner agencies that have assisted with cleanup and restoration of the beaches. «Sentosa is excited to welcome all visitors back to the island's three beaches, including Tanjong Beach, for swimming and water activities,» the SDC said. Sentosa was among multiple coastlines in Singapore that were affected following the oil spill on June 14.

SINGAPORE — In the newly opened Bidadari Park — once a cemetery, now a green refuge for people and migratory birds — lies a scenic lake that can also protect the Bidadari estate from flash floods. Alkaff Lake is the centrepiece of the roughly 13ha verdant park which is nestled in the middle of the new Bidadari estate. While it brings back memories of the Alkaff Lake Gardens of the 1930s which lasted till the 1960s, the new lake has another, more practical function: to hold storm water to prevent floods in the densely built Bidadari estate during heavy rains.  The first-of-its-kind lake, engineered by national water agency PUB, serves as a natural and biodiversity-friendly retention pond to manage the growing threat of flash floods amid climate change. And Bidadari Park — inspired by Winnie-the-Pooh's Hundred Acre Wood — has different features at every corner, from marshlands to thick groves and rolling hills.

The police have arrested a 21-year-old woman and a 25-year-old man for their alleged involvement in the death of their eight-month-old son.  In a statement to the media on Sept 3, the police said that they were alerted to a case of death at KK Women's and Children's Hospital at about 12.40am on Sept 2 (Monday). Both were later arrested in relation to the case.  They will be charged in court on Sept 3 for causing and allowing the death of a child below 14 years of age in the same household.  If convicted, the man and woman could be jailed for up to 20 years. They could also be liable to a fine or caning.  Police investigations are ongoing.  ALSO READ: Couple dismiss maid after CCTV footage shows her aggressively rocking baby

A car advertisement by local car dealership JDM Automobile Carros Centre is sparking debate after being flagged for its use of blackface and racially-charged humour. The video, which was posted on Facebook, featured a Chinese man with a painted blackface promoting the features of a Toyota Noah Hybrid to an off-screen female customer. When the «customer» asked for his name, the salesman offered a long string of syllables. He then employed exaggerated gestures and broken English in pitching the car's features. Various images and clips of African people were also frequently edited onto the video, often accompanied with a laugh track. The salesman’s face was frequently digitally altered in a mocking manner. The video ended with the salesman showing his name and number on screen, prompting viewers to call him for inquiry.

A man was assaulted and narrowly avoided losing $32,000 during a face-to-face money exchange transaction. The victim, who recounted the brazen attack in an Instagram video, was left with a swollen face by three men outside Hougang Green Shopping Mall on August 29. «I managed to get away and went home, he said. »But luckily they did not chase me afterwards.« The man, who wanted to buy United States dollars and invest in cryptocurrency, had arranged the transaction with the alleged seller via the messaging platform Telegram. They agreed to do a face-to-face cash transaction at the mall. »My instinct was telling me that it's a robbery, but I still decided to go with it,« he said. »I just wanted to take the risk for profit." After withdrawing $32,000 from a nearby ATM machine, the man first met the seller at a multi-storey car park near Hougang Green Shopping Mall. But he insisted on conducting the transaction at the initial agreed-upon location, after becoming concerned about his safety. The man recounted being confronted by two other men outside the mall, who then punched him in the face.

SINGAPORE – Those who modify their vehicles to look like taxis could face jail time if they are caught. Offenders may be jailed for up to three months, fined up to $5,000, or both on the first offence, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in response to queries about photos on social media that surfaced in August of a modified car resembling a red Hong Kong taxi. The car, a boxy red Toyota Corolla 1.3 manufactured in 1982, is a similar model to the original Hong Kong taxi. The vehicle owner has since removed the taxi signs from the car after he was issued a warning, the authority said. On the evening of Aug 14, Mr Jack Yong, 29, the car owner, discovered an LTA enforcement notice tucked under his car’s windscreen wiper.

SINGAPORE - Five thrilling days of competition ended with another brave performance and a silver lining for Singaporean boccia player Jeralyn Tan. Despite a dramatic 5-4 defeat by Frenchwoman Aurelia Aubert in the women’s individual BC1 final on Sept 2, Jeralyn Tan still managed to claim a historic Paralympic silver for Singapore. In doing so, the 35-year-old debutante became only the Republic’s fourth Paralympic medallist after swimmers Yip Pin Xiu and Theresa Goh, and equestrienne Laurentia Tan. Yip won two golds at these Games, taking her tally to seven, while Laurentia will compete from Sept 3. Jeralyn’s silver from Paris will see her collect $300,000 as part of the Singapore National Paralympic Council’s Athletes Achievement Awards scheme. In 2022, the cash incentive for a Paralympic silver medal was raised from $200,000 to $300,000 for the Paris Games. Boccia means “to bowl” in Italian. The aim of the game, played by wheelchair-using athletes with motor-skill impairment, is to bowl balls as close as possible to a white target ball known as the jack.

A 38-year-old woman and a 41-year-old man were arrested for suspected drugs activities during a raid last Friday (Aug 30). The raid took place at a residential unit in the vicinity of Bedok North Avenue 4, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said in a media statement on Sept 2.  A total of about 2.8kg of heroin, 385g of ‘Ice’, 51g of ‘Ecstasy’, 24g of cannabis, 9g of ketamine and 13 Emirin-5 tablets were seized.  The drugs, valued at an estimated $343,000, can feed the addiction of about 1,550 drug abusers for a week.  If found guilty of trafficking more than 15g of diamorphine or ‘pure heroin’, the pair may face the mandatory death penalty. Drug situation in Singapore According to the 2023 drug situation report released in March 2024, methamphetamine, heroin, and cannabis were the three most commonly abused drugs, with 94 per cent of those arrested abusing at least one of these three drugs. CNB reportedly seized some $15.37 million worth of drugs in 2023, a slight drop from the $16.66 million in 2022.  

SINGAPORE — A 15-year-old secondary school student was taken to hospital after two schoolmates, who accused her of sharing a video of their friend vaping in a school toilet, allegedly assaulted her.  The incident took place after the students were dismissed early from school on Aug 29, the eve of Teachers' Day. The student told The Straits Times that as she was walking home with a friend after leaving school at around 10.40am that day, they were stopped by a fellow student who asked them to go to a nearby void deck, where they found a group of their schoolmates waiting for them. She said they demanded to see her mobile phone, and when she refused to hand it over, they seized it. About 10 people from the group then dragged the student and her friend to a multi-storey carpark, where she was slapped multiple times by one female schoolmate after refusing to unlock her phone. The teenager said her friend left the carpark after being told by the group to leave. 

It's common for parents to get frustrated when teaching or tutoring their child, but one woman has drawn flak from netizens for vulgarly reprimanding a girl in a public space. Taking to TikTok on Saturday (Aug 31), a parent who only wanted to be known as Mrs Lu shared a two-minute-long clip of a mother telling off her daughter while teaching her math, deeming it «mental and verbal abuse». The 44-year-old tertiary lecturer told AsiaOne the incident occurred at a rest area in Buangkok Community Club on Friday evening. In the video, the woman can be heard telling the child: «You better use your brain. If your brain never wake up, you better tell me... I help your brain to wake up (sic).» When the girl later appears to answer a question wrongly, the woman, who was initially calm at the beginning, becomes agitated. «I'm going to tell the whole world you're very f****** stupid,» she says, to which the child supposedly replies «okay». «I'm angry now... You want to piss me off right?» the woman continues. «You tired not my f****** problem okay. I don't give a damn (sic).»

A man took to social media to highlight an «unfair» charge of over $6,000 by a car rental company after he got into an accident, claiming that the brakes of the rental car were faulty. In a post made on Facebook group Singapore Road Vigilante on Saturday (Aug 31), user Aaron Goh recounted his experience with car-sharing platform GetGo. He said he had rented a Honda from the platform on Aug 22 and went to collect it from a car park for what he «assumed would be a smooth drive», he wrote. GetGo told AsiaOne that the incident took place at a car park in Ang Mo Kio.  As he began to drive the car out of the parking lot however, Goh noticed something was «terribly wrong». The man claimed that the car's brakes were not functioning as the vehicle continued to move forward despite him stepping on the brakes. In an attempt to regain control of the car, Goh said that he applied the handbrake and shifted it into park mode. However, the car did not stop and collided with a vehicle parked opposite it.

The exchange rate for Malaysian ringgit has dipped recently, but that hasn't stopped money changers in Singapore from raking it in. Over the weekend, the ringgit was trading at between RM3.28 and RM3.30 per Singapore dollar, reported Shin Min Daily News. Money changers at Chinatown and Raffles Place were selling ringgit at a rate of 3.29 to 3.295.  As of Monday (Sept 2), the exchange rate is RM3.31 to S$1. Huang Suzhen, a partner of Crante Money Changer at People's Park, told the Chinese daily that she did not notice a drop in business despite the stronger ringgit.  She attributed it to Malaysia's National Day (Aug 31) as well as the September school holidays.  «People will start exchanging money closer to the holiday period. I started stocking up on ringgit last Wednesday and Thursday, and I managed to sell 30 per cent more ringgit than usual,» she said. «I'm selling about RM30,000 to RM 40,000 every day.» 

Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) rates will go up by $1 at three expressway locations starting from Sept 9. The three locations are: - Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) after Jurong Town Hall Road towards the City (set of three gantries) - Marina Coastal Expressway (MCE) Eastbound before the exit to Central Boulevard and at the slip road from Marina Boulevard (set of two gantries) - Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) towards the East Coast Parkway (ECP) after Defu Flyover The increased rates will apply in the morning for the AYE and KPE, and the evening for the MCE. The revised rates are below:

All public housing projects delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic are expected to be completed by early 2025, said the Housing and Development Board (HDB) on Monday (Sept 2). So far, about 94 per cent - or 87 - of these Build-To-Order (BTO) projects have been completed from October 2020 to August 2024, added HDB. National Development Minister Desmond Lee pointed out how the pandemic severely disrupted HDB's building programme, and the construction delays have caused inconvenience to home buyers and disrupted many of their life plans. «Our HDB colleagues, consultants and contractors worked closely over the past few years to catch up on lost time to complete these delayed BTO projects. We are on track to deliver the remaining delayed projects within the coming six months,» he added.  «We thank flat buyers for their understanding and patience through this period.» HDB has completed around 10,500 flats across 15 BTO projects this year, including 14 which had been delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

SINGAPORE - There have been 2,102 Covid-19 deaths here since the start of the pandemic in 2020 to June 2024, the Ministry of Health (MOH) told The Straits Times – a figure that public health experts describe as low. While the experts say Singapore has done well in the fight against Covid-19, the pandemic nevertheless pushed up the age-standardised death rate – an indicator that allows for a fair comparison of mortality rates over time as it removes the effect of a rapidly ageing population. Singapore’s age-standardised death rate rose to a high of 5.9 per 1,000 resident population in 2022, up from 5.2 in 2020 and 5.6 in 2021. In 2023, it went back down to 5.6. The MOH gave ST data on Covid-19 deaths in response to questions on the sharp increases in the total number of deaths over the past few years. A total of 26,888 people died last year, just 0.01 per cent lower than the 26,891 deaths in 2022, based on the Report on Registration of Births and Deaths 2023 published by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority in July.

SINGAPORE – The tears flowed freely as Jeralyn Tan hugged her coach Yurnita Omar after securing a historic Paralympic boccia medal for Singapore at the South Paris Arena 1 on Sept 1. In contrast to the outpouring of emotions, the 35-year-old was a picture of composure and determination earlier as the world No. 2 displayed great strategy and accuracy to beat Japan’s sixth-ranked Hiromi Endo 5-1 in their women’s individual BC1 semi-final. With at least a silver assured, debutante Tan will play home favourite and world No. 16 Aurelie Aubert in the final at 4.30pm (Singapore time) on Sept 2. The 27-year-old had defeated Bermuda’s Yushae DeSilva-Andrade in a tiebreak after their semi-final ended 2-2. Endo later beat DeSilva-Andrade 7-0 to take the bronze. An elated Tan said: “I’m touched by the support. We are not many but I can feel the kampung spirit. I will put all my heart and soul to play the final. With support from my fellow Singaporeans, we will brave this together.”