About 14,000 private and public homes are planned for new estates in Sembawang and Woodlands, National Development Minister Desmond Lee announced on Tuesday (Oct 21). The first two Build-To-Order (BTO) housing projects will be launched next year, he added. Speaking at the yearly HDB Awards ceremony on Tuesday, Lee said that the government will «help Singaporeans fulfil their home ownership aspirations» by maintaining a stable supply of homes to meet «broad-based demand». About 10,000 new homes will be built in Sembawang North, a 53-hectare site within Sembawang town, according to HDB in a press release. At least 80 per cent, or 8,000, will be set aside for public housing. Future residents of Sembawang North can look forward to connectivity initiatives such as the Community Wharves Link - a network of pedestrian connections which will link public housing estates. New recreational, community and commercial facilities - including a neighbourhood centre with retail and dining options - will also be built in the area.

The church bells will ring for two familiar faces in Singapore come 2025.  Workers' Party (WP) chair Sylvia Lim and former national striker Quah Kim Song will tie the knot in January.  Lim, a Catholic, told CNA that the ceremony «will take place in (a) church, in the presence of family members».  In an interview with AsiaOne, Quah, also a Catholic, shared that their marriage will be solemnised at the St Mary of the Angels in Bukit Batok. Lim was a member and cantor in that church's choir, according to the Catholic News in 2014. «We have been together for 12 years.  »It has been blissful, blessed and wonderful, (so) we decided to tie the knot and journey together all the way", said Quah.  The couple reportedly met at a WP variety show in January 2013. Since then, Quah, 72, has often been featured in Lim's Instagram posts.  Quah is a widower, and Lim has never been married.

The authorities have disabled access to 10 inauthentic websites set up by foreign actors. These websites could be used to mount hostile information campaigns (HICs) against Singapore, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in a joint statement on Tuesday (Oct 22).  The Broadcasting Act allows the authorities to issue directions to take action against content that does not comply with regulations.  Investigations revealed that these inauthentic websites were designed to look like genuine Singapore websites through their domain names and incorporating familiar local features and visuals.  Two of the banned websites utilised domain names similar to popular local websites, such as www.zaobaodaily.com, a name similar to local Chinese news outlet Lianhe Zaobao. 

The Singapore government has said that British media outlet The Guardian's proposition that Lee Hsien Yang and his family are victims of baseless and unfounded persecution is itself «without basis».  In a Facebook post on Tuesday (Oct 22), Lee revealed that he sought asylum in the (UK) in 2022 and is now a political refugee.  «The Singapore government's attacks against me are in the public record. They prosecuted my son, brought disciplinary proceedings against my wife, and launched a bogus police investigation that has dragged on for years,» he wrote. «On the basis of these facts, the UK has determined that I face a well-founded risk of persecution, and cannot safely return to Singapore.» He then added that he sought asylum protection as a last resort. «I remain a Singapore citizen and hope that some day it will become safe to return home,» he said.

A woman was filling in a Malaysia Digital Arrival Card for her maid when she was apparently led to a fake link and that took her to a site asking for her credit card details. She lost more than $123 to the scam. Yang, a 52-year-old retiree, told Shin Min Daily News that she had gone to Malaysia with her maid at about 4pm on Oct 18. She was told that her maid needed to complete the Malaysian Digital Arrival Card in advance. «I used the maid's phone to find the website and clicked on the first link after searching. After filling in the information, I saw that I was also asked to fill in my credit card information.» Yang then used her own mobile phone to search for the website. «I went to the same website and saw that I was still asked to fill in my credit card details, which I thought was a security measure, so I filled it in.» She then received a text message from the bank within 10 minutes saying that US$94 (S$123) had been charged to her card. Yang immediately called the bank hotline and was told that the bank could not stop the transfer because she had filled in the information herself.

The October HDB Build-to-Order (BTO) sales exercise has seen a notable increase in demand for two-room flexi flats from first-time single applicants, with up to 20 applicants per unit in some estates. In the recent exercise, eligible first-time singles can now apply for new two-room Flexi flats across projects in all locations under the Housing Board's new classification framework, which deems projects as Standard, Plus or Prime based on factors like proximity to the city centre and transport connectivity, said the Housing Development Board (HDB) in a Facebook post on Monday (Oct 21). In previous exercises, they were limited to applying for projects in non-mature estates. This change led to a pent-up demand for two-room Flexi flats from first-time singles, resulting in an overall surge in BTO applications during this exercise, said HDB. It added that there were nearly 28,200 applications across all flat types received as of 5pm on Monday, with 20 per cent of them being from first-timer single applicants.

SINGAPORE — A 75-year-old married woman was sentenced to five weeks' jail on Oct 22 after she opened a bank account on behalf of her «online boyfriend» whom she had met on WhatsApp. Kang Pue Hua then received nearly $260,000 in her account from suspicious sources. Separately, she also lied to the police that she had lost her automated teller machine (ATM) card linked to another account. In reality, she had handed it to her «boyfriend», known as «John Lee Marina», whose actual identity remains unknown. Public defender Vadi P.V.S.S. had earlier asked the court to either call for a report to assess Kang's suitability for probation or sentence her to not more than two weeks' jail. He told Deputy Principal District Judge Ong Chin Rhu that Kang had also been scammed of $20,000. Vadi added that Kang's husband was suffering from multiple health issues and «John» had promised to help her and her spouse. However, on Oct 22, Judge Ong said that probation was not appropriate in this case and that deterrence is the key sentencing consideration for Kang's offences.

Two lucky punters walked away with over $6.6 million each in the latest Toto draw that took place on Monday (Oct 21) night. No Group 1 winners were chosen for three consecutive draws prior to Monday, causing the grand prize to snowball to a whopping $13,214,250. The last time a Group 1 prize snowballed to over $10 million was earlier this year in May when a sole winner took home a total of $13.12 million. The winning numbers for Monday's draw were 4, 13, 19, 44, 46, and 49, with 31 as the additional number.

A customer service officer from SBS Transit was surprised to find a brown envelope containing some $10k wedged between the seats of an MRT train at Harbourfront MRT station on Monday (Oct 21).  Soh Sin Chye, 44, had discovered the envelope while on patrol, and he promptly contacted the Operations Control Centre. He was then instructed to hand over the envelope to the station staff for safekeeping, said SBS Transit in a Facebook post on Monday.  The envelope also contained a passport and an ID card. «I was initially surprised by the amount of money, but my first thought was that it needed to be returned safely— it must have been incredibly important to the owner,» said Soh.

SINGAPORE – Scams and other criminal activity on Telegram are extremely concerning, with scammers adding unsuspecting victims to chat groups to cheat them. Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said this on Oct 21 at the Global Anti-Scam Summit Asia 2024 at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre. She said scammers have pivoted to online platforms, with Telegram emerging as a platform of concern. “Specifically, we have observed that scammers are creating and adding unsuspecting victims into channels and chat groups on Telegram, and deceiving them into parting with their monies,” she added. In the first half of 2024, the number of scam cases reported on Telegram spiked by 137 per cent, compared with the same period in 2023. Common scam types perpetrated on Telegram include investment scams and job scams. Ms Sun added that criminal activities on Telegram are not limited to scams.

Former Workers' Party (WP) member Yudhishthra Nathan admitted in court on Monday (Oct 21) that he had disregarded clear instructions not to discuss evidence that he was supposed to provide to the Committee of Privileges (COP). Nathan was cross-examined by Pritam Singh's lawyer, Andre Jumabhoy, on the sixth day of the WP chief's ongoing trial. During his cross-examination, Jumabhoy asked the ex-WP cadre if he remembered speaking to fellow member Loh Pei Ying about which text messages to redact when providing evidence to the Committee of Privileges regarding former Sengkang MP Raeesah Khan's conduct in Parliament. Nathan said he and Loh spoke about the overall redaction process, adding that he had told her that he believed private views expressed to Khan after Oct 4, 2021 were «immaterial». The defence lawyer then asked Nathan if he was aware Loh had been told not to discuss her evidence with anybody, and whether Nathan had also been explicitly warned not to do so. «And you leave Parliament, and you do exactly that?» he asked, to which Nathan answered: «Yes.»

SINGAPORE - A 50-year-old man was arrested in connection with the death of another man, aged 41, who was found unconscious at the void deck of a housing block in Clementi on Oct 21. The 41-year-old man was taken to hospital, where he died, said police. The men knew each other, according to preliminary police investigations. Police had received a call for assistance at 5pm in Clementi Avenue 4. The 50-year-old suspect was detained at the scene and arrested in relation to the case, they added. MP for Holland-Bukit Timah GRC Sim Ann was seen comforting a tearful elderly man and woman at the scene. The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it received a call for assistance at Block 311B Clementi Avenue 4 around 5pm and took one person to Ng Teng Fong Hospital. Another person was assessed for minor injuries by an SCDF paramedic but declined to be taken to hospital, it added. More to follow.

Mechanical push buttons at pedestrian crossings will soon be replaced by touchless sensors, making them a thing of the past. The Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced this on Sunday (Oct 20) through a Facebook reel showcasing the new technology. The new touchless buttons will be operated through the use of microwave sensors where pedestrians can simply wave their hands in front of the button to activate it.  The new touchless sensors will have a guide for the visually impaired, including braille text embedded on the exterior of the devices that say «Touch to activate».  Upon activation, the sensors will emit a sound to indicate that the system has registered a pedestrian’s intention to cross the road. There are reportedly about 11,500 push buttons at around 2,790 traffic junctions across Singapore.  Two years of testing LTA said it has been conducting trials for the touchless buttons since 2022 with touchless buttons installed at multiple pedestrian crossings, at Jalan Besar, Syed Alwi Road, and Bukit Batok Street 32.

While trying to bring her drunk friend home, a woman was allegedly punched by two male friends of the former. The assault left the woman — named only as S — bleeding from the mouth and caused three teeth to be loosened, according to a screengrab of an Instagram Story (IGS) on the incident circulating online. Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, S said she was invited to a female friend's birthday celebration at a club in Suntec City. When she arrived at the club in the early morning of Tuesday (Oct 15), a group of men were already present. «These few men are friends of my female friend. I've met them before and this is my second time seeing them,» she said. At about 3am, the woman's drunk friend asked her to send her home. Both women live in the same condominium. Just as they boarded a taxi, however, one of the men suddenly opened the vehicle's door and insisted on taking the intoxicated woman away. «I said don't worry, I will send her back safely and he suddenly said, 'do you believe I will take out my ring', which meant he wanted to hit me,» S told Shin Min.

Some 22 crew members were rescued from a burning tanker anchored off the East Johor Straits, within Singapore waters. The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said in a statement that they were alerted to the fire on board the Malta-flagged tanker Med Atlantic at 10.30am on Monday (Oct 21). The fire started in the engine room. Singapore Civil Defence Force marine firefighting and rescue vessels, and two tug boats were deployed on-scene to render assistance and ensure navigational safety. An MPA patrol craft, two police coast guard craft and two tugboats were also deployed to render assistance and ensure navigational safety, MPA added. According to a media statement by MPA, all 22 crew members have disembarked the vessel, and are reported to be safe with no injuries.

An estimated $10 million is up for grabs at today's Toto draw after the past three draws saw no winners. According to Singapore Pools' website, the prize money snowballed from $1.2 million on Oct 10, to $2.9 million on Oct 14 and $5.6 million on the last draw on Oct 17 with no winners for the Group 1 prize. The last time the prize money snowballed above $10 million was in May earlier this year, where a lucky winner took home over $13 million. At the most recent draw last Thursday (Oct 17), there were four winners who shared the Group 2 prize of $144,271. A Group 1 prize was last won during the Oct 7 draw, where the jackpot of $3 million was bagged by a sole winner. The draw will be held later tonight at 9.30pm.

A month after renting out her two-room Jalan Batu flat to a foreign student, a woman returned to find the unit in a mess, and new bunk beds and mattresses brought in. The 60-year-old landlord, surnamed Luo, told Shin Min Daily News that in February, a property agent had connected her with two students claiming to be from Sri Lanka and visiting Singapore for their internships. Luo, a cleaner, was informed there would be four people living in the Kallang flat. The tenants subsequently paid a month's rent and a month's deposit for a one-year tenancy contract. A maximum of four tenants are allowed to rent a two-room flat, according to HDB regulations. The landlord then gave the tenants the keys and left any follow-up matters to the agent as she was leaving for an overseas trip. When Luo returned to Singapore later, she noticed the tenant had not registered themselves with the authorities. During an impromptu visit to the unit about a month later, however, Luo was taken aback to see three new faces leaving the flat.

SINGAPORE – An oil leak in the pre-dawn hours of Oct 20 from a Shell pipeline has affected waters off Singapore, said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA). The oil started leaking at around 5.30am from a land-based pipeline belonging to the British petrochemical company between Bukom Island and Bukom Kecil, the authority said in a statement the same day. MPA was alerted to the incident more than seven hours later at about 1pm. The leak was stopped at about 3pm, a Shell spokesperson said separately. Shell said the oil “spilt into a holding area but some overflowed” into the water channel between Bukom Island and Bukom Kecil, adding that it is still assessing the total volume spilt. There were no new oil sightings as at 6pm, MPA added.

A child in pyjamas was seen standing on the ledge outside a window of a third-storey unit in Canberra on Oct 20. In a video shared on Facebook by netizen Nela M Hock, the child appears to be no more than five years old.  As onlookers gathered at the grass patch on the ground floor, the child stood motionless on the ledge. According to the Facebook post, the onlookers went to the unit and knocked on the door but there was no reply. A few individuals in the video were seen holding a white sheet at the beneath where the child stood. A man was then seen exiting the window of another unit on the third storey and inched along the edge to approach the child. When the man picked the child up and moved towards his window to put the child to safety, a pair of arms appear to receive the child from inside the flat. Netizens commented that the flat should have window grilles and questioned where the child's parents were.

SINGAPORE - Two people were sent to hospital and 20 people were evacuated from Lucky Plaza on Oct 20 after a fire broke out in the Orchard Road building. In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the fire at about 9.45am. The evacuation of the 20 individuals took place before SCDF arrived at the scene. SCDF said the fire involved the contents of a charcoal stove in a unit on the sixth floor, adding that members of the public had extinguished the fire using buckets of water before its officers arrived. Two people were then taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. https://www.facebook.com/maybelle.moliyok/videos/1053021296147279/ The cause of the fire is under investigation.

It was a painful lesson for them. The married Singaporean couple who were fined a total of $849,000 for evading the goods and services tax (GST) have live-streamed their apology for the «mistake». Rayson Loo Sian Hao, 33, was fined $453,000 while his wife, Rochelle Wang Siew Ching, 34, was fined $396,000 on Oct 15. Each pleaded guilty to 11 charges of fraudulent evasion of GST amounting to $67,810. Another 13 charges of fraudulent evasion of GST amounting to about $24,105 and 25 charges of causing incorrect declarations to be made, by not including the freight charges amounting to about $4,172 in the import declarations, were taken into consideration during the sentencing. The couple run an online shop called Vanity Closet, which was set up as a retailer of fashion products and its main business involved conducting livestream sales of branded goods from overseas retail outlets through its Facebook page.

SINGAPORE - The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) is considering further action against academic Donald Low over his Facebook post on Oct 18, which it said was in contempt of court. In a statement on Oct 19, the AGC said Low has taken down his Facebook post at its request, and added that members of the public should refrain from prejudgment of issues that will be decided by the court while proceedings are ongoing. Such issues include whether a witness is credible or not, and whether the accused is guilty or not, it added. The AGC added that intentionally publishing public comments that prejudge issues, such as the credibility of witnesses, when court proceedings are ongoing would prejudice or interfere with the course of court proceedings - and this would amount to the offence of contempt of court. Low, a senior lecturer at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's Institute for Public Policy, had in his post on Oct 18 commented on evidence put before the State Courts in the ongoing trial of Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh.

SINGAPORE – The owner of a shophouse unit in East Coast Road intended to secretly build a mezzanine floor, but his scheme was foiled by the accidental discovery of a layout plan that showed the unauthorised level. The management corporation of the Frankel Estate development, which comprises four strata-titled units, had come across a “lighting plan” pasted on the wall of the unit on Feb 19, 2022 amid renovation. This plan – unlike the one submitted for renovation approval – showed a 676 sq ft mezzanine floor, comprising a living area, two bedrooms and a bathroom, which was connected to the base level by a staircase. When told to stop the works, homeowner Ng Jun Quan and his contractor initially denied that they were building a mezzanine floor. The works continued despite subsequent objections by the management corporation. Under the law, owners of strata-titled units have to obtain approval through a 90 per cent resolution passed at a general meeting before carrying out works that increase floor area.

One man recently experienced a new kind of «horror» at Universal Studios Singapore's Halloween Horror Nights on Thursday (Oct 17). The 21-year-old, who identified himself as Ian, shared his experience in a post to Instagram page SgFollowsAll.Backup, saying that he was punched after confronting a group of people who attempted to cut the queue for the Sweet Home horror house. While he was waiting in line with his friends, he noticed three women trying to cut the queue. After warning them not to do so, Ian and his friends received verbal threats. When an opening became available, the women managed to cut in line and move to the next row. Three men, who were in the same group as the women, also attempted to cut the queue. Noticing this, Ian said: «I told them [the three men] again not to cut queue and stood between the rope which they unhooked». This was when the trio started to attack him.

SINGAPORE — A man molested his mother-in-law multiple times in late 2023 after she moved into his house to help care for his newborn. The woman found out only after a month when she felt him sniffing her hair while she was sleeping. She was horrified to learn of his acts by checking CCTV footage in the house. On Oct 17, the 37-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the victim, was sentenced to 12 months' jail and two strokes of the cane. He pleaded guilty to one count of outrage of modesty, one count of voyeurism, and two counts of making a gesture to insult another person's modesty. Five other charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing. The court heard that the 51-year-old victim moved into the man's house in August 2023 to help her daughter and son-in-law care for their newborn. The victim stayed there for about four months. During this time, she slept in the living room. Deputy Public Prosecutor Claire Poh said: «The victim trusted the (man) as he was her son-in-law and (a) member of the same household.»

A primary school vice-principal has resigned after allegations of him having an extramarital affair with a student's parent surfaced online. Photos of the alleged affair first appeared on Thursday (Oct 17) in a Facebook post from a netizen claiming to be his wife. The post, which sparked a flurry of comments, has since been taken down. In response to media queries, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Education said that they are aware of the incident and are looking into the matter. The vice-principal in question has tendered his resignation and is currently on leave. The affected school will continue to closely monitor the teachers' and students' condition, and provide support when necessary. MOE added that the personal conduct of school leaders must be maintained at high standards to safeguard the integrity and reputation of public service. ALSO READ: Marital dispute between Singaporean man and South Korean wife plays out online aishahm@asiaone.com

SINGAPORE - While MediShield Life premiums will go up following a review of the scheme, most people will not feel the brunt of the increase due to support measures to cushion the blow, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung on Oct 18. “When premiums go up, we subsidise more, we top up MediSave more,” he said in an interview on The Big Show on SPH Radio station Kiss92. The Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Oct 15 that starting in April 2025, premiums for MediShield Life will go up. By March 2028, the premiums will increase by an average of 22 per cent.  This change is part of an expansion of the national insurance scheme, allowing people to claim more for hospital stays and providing coverage for additional outpatient treatments and selected new ground-breaking therapies. MOH said more than nine in 10 people here will receive help to more than offset the increases, with $4.1 billion going towards support measures.

The fifth day of Pritam Singh's trial unfolded in the State Courts on Friday (Oct 18), where the defence continued their cross-examination of Loh Pei Ying. Loh was secretarial assistant to former Workers' Party (WP) Member of Parliament Raeesah Khan. After pressing Loh on whether she had advised Khan to keep up with the lie the latter had told in Parliament, the trial took on a lighter tone. Bringing up a meeting on Nov 25, 2021, defence lawyer Andre Jumabhoy asked Loh if she had told the WP disciplinary panel that Khan was «naive and stupid». The phrase appeared in the notes taken during the meeting by WP chair Sylvia Lim. «I can't remember if I used those terms, but I definitely would have said naive,» Loh answered, adding it was possible she had said Khan was stupid. She also said she thought that Khan was «sometimes» self-centred. On Nov 30, 2021, five days after the meeting, the WP announced that Khan had resigned from the party.  Jumabhoy then asked Loh if she would describe Khan as «lao hong», while spelling the Hokkien term out in court.

The new Tuas Port will be the world’s largest fully automated port when it's fully completed in the 2040s, capable of handling 65 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually - almost double of what Singapore’s ports currently handle.  With this capacity, this new port will serve even more of the world’s largest container vessels, shipping alliances, and shipping lines.  Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said during the ground-breaking ceremony for the new PSA Supply Chain Hub (PSCH) on Friday (Oct 18) that with intensifying competition from other major ports, Singapore will have to sharpen its competitive edge to remain the preferred port of call.  The new $647.5 million supply chain hub at Tuas, equipped with advanced robotics and automation systems, is expected to be completed in 2027.