Three international students were found to be evading taxes on cigarettes by smuggling them in stuffed toys. In a Facebook post on Wednesday (Oct 30), Singapore Customs said that a two-day operation from Oct 22 to 23 uncovered seven parcels with cigarettes concealed in plush toys declared as «decorations». Officers had cracked down on the unique smuggling tactic following a referral from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority. A 21-year-old Chinese national was arrested at Tao Ching Road with 70 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes in four parcels, said Singapore Customs. He had allegedly received the parcels on behalf of a friend overseas, who instructed him to deliver them or arrange for them to be collected by buyers in Singapore. The man was charged in the State Courts on Oct 25. Two Chinese nationals, aged 22 and 28, were also issued composition sums of $3,000 and $2,500 for importing the other three parcels, the government agency said, adding that all three men are student-pass holders.

Although Deepavali is a festival traditionally celebrated by Indians, it's also a busy time for 71-year-old Chen Xixiang (transliteration), who is also Hindu.  Chen, who converted to Hinduism some 55 years ago, told Lianhe Zaobao she was influenced by her husband, who would follow his colleagues to a Hindu temple.  He became a medium at the temple and participated in several of their religious festivals.  The Chens also started a home altar and opened their doors to fellow believers who wanted to worship there.  «Later on, as the kampungs were gradually demolished, we brought the religious statues to [our] HDB flats.  »Our flats weren't located on a floor with a lift, so us believers had to carry the statues individually up the stairs, including the 100-year-old Kali statue, so that we could continue our worship. This way, other believers could also come to our home," said Chen.  Chen's three daughters and 25-year-old granddaughter, He Jiahui, also converted to Hinduism. 

Rumoured changes at Raffles Institution (RI) have sparked a student revolt, with a petition now circulating online calling for principal Aaron Loh's immediate dismissal. The alleged changes, reportedly leaked from internal meetings, span curriculum adjustments, CCA restructuring, policy shifts and even facility modifications. A major point of contention is the rumoured CCA overhaul, including the removal of Judo and other CCAs, and the conversion of some Merit CCAs (like Chess and Math Club) to Core CCAs. This restructuring has sparked debate, with some arguing it improves resource allocation and broadens participation, while others worry about losing specialised activities and impact on students' CCA records and Leap applications. Further anxiety stems from potential curriculum cuts, including Philosophy, Research Education (RE), and Raffles Academy, which some fear will limit academic opportunities and hinder intellectual growth.

SINGAPORE - A Singaporean who lost his mental capacity after a road traffic accident in Malaysia six years ago was awarded $4.75 million by the High Court in June. This might be the highest sum awarded so far by a court here to a Singaporean victim of an accident in Malaysia, said lawyer Raj Singh Shergill, who represented the victim, Mr Lim Chun Yong. Mr Lim was 38 years old at the time of the accident. Since then, he has required full-time care. More importantly, said Mr Shergill, who was recently rated one of Singapore's top lawyers in an annual survey of the best law firms, the case affirms that victims can pursue legal action in Singapore, rather than in Malaysia, if the circumstances and conditions warrant it. «Where the pretrial and future losses are primarily incurred in Singapore, the courts will assess personal injury claims based on the merits of the case, regardless of location,» he added. For Mr Shergill, success has come from championing the cause of the layperson against bigger entities in personal injury claims ranging from traffic accidents to medical negligence.

Did you catch Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's first National Day Rally (NDR) this year? A «major reset» of several policies is underway to help Singaporeans of all ages realise their ambitions and achieve their goals, whether that means owning your first home or enabling younger Singaporeans to come into their full potential through diverse pathways. AsiaOne surveyed 1,175 respondents and conducted street interviews with Singaporeans from all walks of life to share their honest thoughts on the policies and how they might befit their personal aspirations and life stages. Here's what they shared. Housing and recreation Respondents were excited about the changes to Build-To-Order (BTO) flats, which will see shorter waiting times of around three years or less, down from the current timeline estimates of about four years. Come mid-2025, singles above 35 who wish to live near their parents will get priority for the BTO exercise - a scheme that is currently only extended to married children.

A woman feared for her life after her ex-boyfriend allegedly threatened her for breaking up with him. The incident occurred on Tuesday (October 29) in a beauty salon at People's Park Complex, reported Shin Min Daily News. The woman, a beautician who has been working in Singapore for six months, told Shin Min that she met her boyfriend when she first arrived here. While the two got along initially, the man started to exhibit controlling behaviour which prompted her to break up with him. He then started calling and texting to harass her, she told the Chinese evening daily. «I told him to stop bothering me, but he threatened revenge and even said he would come to the store with a knife to find me and kill me,» the woman said, adding that he later deleted the message. She also shared with Shin Min the other messages sent by the man, where he was threatening to show up at her workplace. Security guard called police A 57-year-old security guard surnamed Hu told Shin Min that his friend, an employee at the salon, approached him for help on Tuesday.

SINGAPORE — Singapore's longest serving central banker, Ravi Menon, will head a new non-profit to drive fintech innovation and growth globally, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said on Wednesday (Oct 30). Menon, who led the central bank for 12 years until 2023 and is a strong proponent of financial technology, will chair the Global Finance and Technology Network, the MAS said. He sees the non-profit — with around 40 staff currently — as a way to drive innovation for the common good «to create economic value, to expand economic opportunities for people, to create more resilient and robust financial systems», Menon said. A key role of the network will be advisory services provided to governments and organisations, building on Singapore's reputation as a financial hub. The network could help governments adapt their fintech needs to local conditions and connect governments and regulators to multilateral agencies such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme and partners in the private sector, he said.

Some 1.2 million National Servicemen will receive $200 in LifeSG credits in November.  The credits, which will be disbursed by Nov 30, aim to recognise the contributions of past and present NSmen to Singapore's defence and security, said the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Home Affairs in a joint statement on Wednesday (Oct 30).  This move was first announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in this year's Budget. Eligible NSmen, including those enlisting by Dec 31, will receive the credits via the LifeSG app.  Once the credits have been disbursed, an SMS will be sent from gov.sg to the serviceman's registered mobile number. A notification letter will also be sent to their registered address.  NSFs who enlisted after Sept 15 will receive their credits in December.  The credits are valid for one year from the date of disbursement. 

SINGAPORE — Property tycoon Ong Beng Seng has been granted permission to leave Singapore amid ongoing court proceedings which saw him handed two charges earlier in the month. The 78-year-old, who appeared in the State Courts with his lawyer, Aaron Lee from Allen and Gledhill, just before noon on Oct 30, has to provide additional bail of $800,000 for a trip to London, Boston, Gibraltar and Spain for work and medical treatment. Ong, who will leave Singapore on Oct 31, must return by Nov 9 and surrender his passport within 24 hours. During his trip, he must also remain contactable by the investigation officer, and he is also not allowed to travel with his bailor. Ong was already on an $800,000 bail following his appearance in court on Oct 4 over a criminal investigation that involved former transport minister S.Iswaran. The billionaire was charged with one count of abetment under Section 165, which makes it an offence for a public servant to accept anything of value from any person with whom he is involved in an official capacity without payment or with inadequate payment.

Unable to handle the constant smell of cigarette smoke wafting into her unit, a resident in Bukit Panjang resorted to filing a court order against her neighbour. The 56-year-old woman surnamed Zhong, who lives on the ninth floor of Block 241 Bukit Panjang Ring Road, complained of her downstairs neighbour's incessant smoking habits in an interview with Shin Min Daily News. She said cigarette smoke would drift into her unit from 8pm to 2am daily, and was worried about the detriment to her health from constantly inhaling second-hand smoke.  In 2021, Zhong even recorded her neighbour's «smoking schedule», which amounted to over 150 times in the span of two weeks.

KUALA LUMPUR — Singapore motorists can soon collect the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) to enter Malaysia from two new locations in Johor state, including popular shopping destination Paradigm Mall Johor Bahru, while two existing permit centres in Larkin and Taman Daya are set to close. A spokesman for TCSens, the private vendor appointed by Malaysia's Road Transport Department (JPJ) to handle VEP matters, said one of the two new permit centres will open on Oct 30 at Paradigm Mall in Skudai town, about 15 minutes away from the Causeway checkpoint in Johor Bahru. The second VEP centre will be at a mall in the Iskandar Puteri area, near the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link that connects Tuas in Singapore to south-west Johor, but details have yet to be finalised, he said. Meanwhile, the two permit centres at JPJ Academy in Larkin and JPJ in Taman Daya will cease VEP operations on Oct 30, JPJ said in a statement on Oct 29. The TCSens spokesman said the VEP Collection Centre at Paradigm Mall will be located on the seventh floor of the mall's carpark and will operate until Jan 31, 2025.

SINGAPORE - A true leader who was colossal in defence and a gentleman off the pitch are among the vivid descriptions of former Singapore footballer Rahmat Mawar, who died on Tuesday (Oct 29) at the age of 81. Rahmat's family said that he had been suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which causes restricted airflow and breathing problems. He died just after 12.30am at Woodlands Health Campus, leaving behind three daughters and 11 grandchildren. Rahmat - whose name on his identity card reads Rahmat Mohawar - was a national footballer in the 1960s and 70s and the uncompromising centre back wrote his name into local football history when he became the first man to lift a trophy at the old National Stadium in June 1973. In what was the first football match to be held at the stadium, Rahmat captained the Singapore Malays, who boasted the likes of Dollah Kassim, Mohamed Noh and Arshad Khamis, to a 4-1 win over Kelantan Malays before lifting the Sultan's Gold Cup in front of a 32,000 crowd.

Up to 20,000 additional Certificate of Entitlements (COE) will be released across all vehicle categories progressively from February next year. In a media release on Tuesday (Oct 29), the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said that the move is possible after studying «evolving» travel patterns in recent years, along with their ability to manage congestion through ERP 2.0. Total vehicle mileage on the roads have decreased by around six per cent from 2019 to 2023, partly due to an increase in flexible work arrangements since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to LTA. LTA also observed that in the same period, the rail network has expanded by 18 per cent with the opening of the Thomson-East Coast Line stages one to four. «Concurrently, our ability to manage congestion is being enhanced through ERP 2.0, which uses the Global Navigation Satellite System technology,» said LTA.  The agency said that they'll be able to introduce new «virtual gantries», which allows for more flexible and responsive congestion management.

A 55-year man was found dead in his Ang Mo Kio flat last Sunday (Oct 27), two weeks after he was last seen by a neighbour in public. The private-hire driver lived alone in his fourth-floor unit at Block 101 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3, reported Shin Min Daily News. Neighbours living in the same flat told the Chinese evening daily that they noticed a foul stench permeating from the ground floor. Several police officers, who went to investigate, reportedly found the decomposing body of the resident inside his flat. One woman, who declined to be named, said that the man had been living alone for the past few years and had few friends or relatives visiting him. «He initially lived with his parents. But after his father died, his mother moved into his sister's home,» she said. Responding to AsiaOne's queries, the police confirmed that they had received a report on the unnatural death. The man was found lying motionless in his unit and later pronounced dead. Neighbour: He looked pale and weak The Ang Mo Kio resident last saw her deceased neighbour outside his flat two weeks ago.

Some customers of StarHub found themselves unable to access the internet on Tuesday (Oct 29) as their mobile network was disrupted. At 7.39am on Tuesday (Oct 29) morning, outage monitoring site Downdetector received 1,014 reports regarding StarHub, 80 per cent of which were related to mobile internet disruptions. The remaining reports were regarding mobile phone network and signal issues. On a different page on Downdetector by the name of StarHub Singapore, there were another 1,921 reports regarding an outage at 7.45am. Responding to AsiaOne's queries, a StarHub spokesperson said that the disruption occurred during a scheduled software upgrade early Tuesday morning. «Our teams responded quickly to resolve the issue, and full service has since been restored,» the spokesperson said, adding that all other StarHub services remained unaffected. «We appreciate our customers' patience and understanding and apologise for any inconvenience caused.»

A family of four owed their landlord $6,800 in rent and were given two days to pay the amount owed. But they packed up their belongings and moved out overnight. In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, the landlord, surnamed Li, had rented out his two-bedroom condominium unit in Yishun to the Singaporean family. A two-year lease was signed in December 2023, with a monthly rent of $4,300. The family was punctual with their payments for the first three months of the lease before they began to fall behind. According to Li, they would pay varying amounts each month, giving a range of excuses to his property agent. By Oct 19, the family owed Li a total of $6,800. Frustrated with the situation, the landlord instructed his property agent to give the family an ultimatum to pay the full sum by Oct 21 if they wanted to continue living in the unit. The tenants seemed amenable to the deadline and agreed to pay their debts. However, the family failed to make any payment when the deadline rolled over. They also moved out of the unit overnight. Li's property agent made a police report after failing to contact the family.

She is still shaken by the incident. A Joo Chiat resident was verbally abused by a van driver after she complained about his parking on Friday (Oct 25). Facebook user Aresha Krishnan said in a post that his van had parked too close to a part of her plant in a pot by the road. She contacted the company listed on the side of the vehicle and asked if the van could be moved. PHOTO: Facebook/Aresha Krishnan «The company was very understanding. They apologised and shared that they were a leasing company,» recounted the resident. «They also said that they would try to contact the hirer to move the vehicle. I had left it as that and went to put my kids to bed. »About 40 minutes later at 11pm, I heard a violent explosive bang on my front door which frightened everybody in the house.

SINGAPORE - An oil spill took place off Changi on Oct 28 during a bunkering operation between a Bahamas-flagged bulk carrier and a licensed bunker tanker. In a statement sent in the wee hours of Tuesday (Oct 29), the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said the incident reportedly occurred at 5.40pm and the bunkering operation ceased immediately. According to information found on the agency's website, bunkering is the process of supplying fuels to ships for their own use, and Singapore is one of the largest and most important bunkering ports in the world. MPA said its craft arrived at the scene of the incident at around 5.50pm and sprayed dispersants. Dispersants are chemicals that break up oil into smaller droplets, which can be mixed with water. There is no impact on navigational traffic, and relevant government agencies have been alerted to keep a lookout for oil sightings along local shores, said the agency. This is the third incident involving an oil leak or spill to take place in Singapore waters since June.