SINGAPORE – Heavy rains resulted in a flash flood in Bukit Timah Road on the afternoon of Nov 16, amid a downpour in several parts of Singapore. National water agency PUB said in a Facebook post that the flash flood was caused by high water levels in the adjacent drains and Bukit Timah Canal. It said: “PUB deployed our Quick Response Team to direct traffic away from floodwaters. The flash flood subsided at 3.30pm.” It added that there are ongoing works to widen and deepen a 900m stretch of Bukit Timah Canal - from Rifle Range Road to Jalan Kampong Chantek - as a long-term measure to enhance flood protection in the area. The works are expected to be completed by 2026. PUB earlier issued flash flood warnings for 10 places, urging people to avoid these areas amid heavy downpour. It added that heavy rain was expected over northern, western and central areas of Singapore from 2.50pm to 3.50pm. The list of places at risk of flash floods were:

Free public transport rides for a year? Don't be taken for a ride, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said. In a Facebook post on Friday (Nov 15), LTA warned members of the public about a phishing scam that has recently come to their attention. The scams on social media involve the sale of $9 ez-link cards that come with a year's worth of public transport rides, as well as a fake giveaway that asks people to fill in a questionnaire to claim a free ez-link card. «When users click on the ad links, they are directed to phishing websites that request bank details and OTPs (one-time passwords),» said LTA. «All promotions for ez-link cards are conducted only on SimplyGo's website and the social media pages of SimplyGo and ez-link. SimplyGo has not offered any deals on the sale of ez-link cards with free rides.»

A driver has been called out for reckless driving along the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE) on Thursday (Nov 14) morning. Dashcam footage uploaded to the SG Road Vigilante (SGRV) Facebook page showed a Toyota Aqua weaving in and out of traffic in the KPE tunnel. The driver, travelling in the leftmost lane, can be seen cutting across two lanes to get to the rightmost lane. The Toyota then drove from the rightmost lane to the leftmost lane, continuing this zigzagging pattern till it was out of the dashcam's frame. This behaviour left other drivers on edge, as they were forced to slow down in an effort to avoid a collision. After viewing the video, some netizens joked that the driver was auditioning for a race, noting that at least he had his signals on before switching lanes. Others, however, criticised his reckless behaviour and urged for the authorities to look into the incident.

LIMA - Prime Minister Lawrence Wong met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Nov 15 in Lima, Peru. The 20-minute meeting, which took place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit, is the first between both leaders since PM Wong assumed his role in May 2024. Addressing Mr Xi at the start of their meeting, PM Wong said: «I'm very happy to have the chance to meet you for the first time.» PM Wong said the relationship between both countries is in excellent shape, especially after bilateral ties were formally upgraded in April 2023. Singapore and China now have what is termed an «all-round high-quality future-oriented partnership». «Since then, our relations have continued to have very positive momentum,» he added. On the economic front, China is Singapore's largest trading partner and Singapore is China's largest foreign direct investor, PM Wong noted. Both countries also have high-level exchanges, such as the Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation (JCBC) meeting.

SINGAPORE - A Singapore government officer posted to Britain was counselled and warned after he left his children alone at home while they were asleep to pick up his spouse at night. In response to queries from ST, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was aware of an incident regarding alleged child neglect by a public officer attached to the Singapore High Commission in London. This was included in the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office's annual report to the British Parliament on offences committed by people with diplomatic immunity. During the incident in September 2023, one child woke up and left the locked house to look for the man and his spouse. The child was found a short distance from home, triggering the involvement of local police. MFA did not say how old the child was. Local authorities «closed the incident with no follow-ups required», said the ministry. «The officer had co-operated fully in the investigation and diplomatic immunity was not invoked at any point,» it added. The officer has since ended his posting in London as scheduled.

SINGAPORE – Parents and teachers of Pei Hwa Presbyterian primary school in Toh Yi have been told to be alert to a bespectacled man in his 30s who has been spotted chatting with children to get their telephone numbers. A group of residents in the same estate, who call themselves the Toh Yi Residents’ Network, had also alerted residents in July 2024 after the man allegedly followed a young girl and her helper to their Housing Board block in the estate. Mr Derrick Tan, who chairs the network, told residents in an advisory that the same man had on separate occasions asked “a group of boys to buy things for him and tried to invite them to his place”. Several residents received the information via a Telegram chat group, said Mr Jeff Escanuela, who has lived in the Toh Yi area since 2007. Mr Escanuela, a 24-year-old university student, said: “I shared the link to the Telegram chat with my family members as I have a younger sister in secondary school. I just wanted her to be careful.”

SINGAPORE - A 36-year-old man was arrested for drink driving after the car he was in collided with an SBS Transit bus in Clementi on Nov 13. Photos from Lianhe Zaobao of the accident show a red car with a damaged hood behind a bus with a bumper that fell on the road. In response to queries from The Straits Times, the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the accident along Commonwealth Avenue West at 12.20am. SCDF assessed the man for minor injuries but he declined to be taken to the hospital. SBS Transit spokesperson Grace Wu said the bus captain was unhurt. Police investigations are ongoing. Figures released by the Traffic Police in August showed that drink-driving accidents have risen to 96 in the first half of 2024, from 88 in the same period in 2023, but drink-driving arrests dropped from 853 in the first half of 2023 to 812 in the first six months of 2024. Separately, SMRT said it will be disciplining a bus captain after a video posted by SG Road Vigilante on Facebook on Nov 9 shows one of its buses appearing to beat a red light.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force's (SCDF) marine division will be able to better monitor and coordinate emergency responses in Singapore's waters when its new headquarters on Pulau Brani is completed in March 2026.  At the heart of the new four-storey building, spanning a floor area of 6,120 square metres, is an Integrated Command Centre (ICC), the SCDF said in a media factsheet on Friday (Nov 15). The ICC will allow the SCDF to conduct real-time collaboration with various maritime stakeholders, including the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the Singapore Police Coast Guard, and other government agencies such as the Republic of Singapore Navy.   This will help them better deal with major maritime incidents such as rescues, fires and oil spills. The SCDF is also trialling the Marine Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) which is capable of marine firefighting. This will allow the SCDF to optimise deployment of resources and reduce operational risks faced by firefighters at sea.

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has advised consumers to avoid buying or consuming seven drink products containing medicinal substances that are not allowed in food. The products are Berryshine Pure Enzyme Fiber with Prebiotics as well as six flavours of Bum Energy Drinks — Blue Snow Cone, Champion Mentality, Peach Mango, Cherry Frost, Citrus Burst and Orange Sunrise, the agency said in a statement on Thursday (Nov 14).  Sold on various local e-commerce platforms, the Berryshine drink is marketed as a fibre enzyme drink which claims to support digestion and aid weight loss. It contains sennosides, a substance typically used to treat constipation. Common side effects of sennosides include abdominal pain, spasms, diarrhoea and low potassium levels that can lead to muscle weakness. SFA added that the Berryshine drink originates from Malaysia but is wrongly labelled as a product of Singapore. The Bum Energy Drinks, from the US, are pre-workout supplements that claim to enhance mental clarity. These energy drinks were found to contain citicoline, a substance used in treatments for stroke patients.

From January to October this year, 13,099 travellers were caught across Singapore's air, land and sea checkpoints for evading Goods and Services Tax (GST) payments. A total of $3,471,043 in fines was collected, with 46 offenders handed the maximum penalty of $5,000 for making incorrect or incomplete declarations of dutiable and taxable goods to customs. The Singapore Customs said in a press release on Friday (Nov 15) that common violations involve goods across the categories of commercial goods, apparel and accessories, health and food products and cigarettes and alcohol. One of the offenders was a woman returning from a business trip in London who had failed to declare branded goods and toys brought back as gifts. During a bag inspection, customs officers found various bags and accessories from luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Prada, YSL, Dior and Balenciaga, as well as Pop Mart toys including the popular Labubu figurine in her possession.

SINGAPORE — A man cheated seven people of more than $154,000 in total by different methods, including convincing at least two to take part in an «investment scheme» that did not exist. Tee Wei Jie, 32, who was working as a personal assistant at a Paterson Hill condominium at the time of the offences, also misappropriated another $9,200 from one of his victims. On Thursday (Nov 14), he was sentenced to 22 months' jail after he pleaded guilty to five counts of cheating involving more than $140,000. They involved five victims. Three charges involving the remaining amount were considered during sentencing.

SINGAPORE - A Facebook page claiming to be that of Plaza Singapura has been flagged after it gained traction online by promoting the sale of Labubu figurines at a discount. Shoppers were urged to click on a link to buy “The Monsters Fall In Wild Series” – a limited edition plush toy by Pop Mart – at a discount. The scam page, which showed a photo of a crowd outside a toy store, claimed that customers queued for up to six hours at the Pop Mart store in Plaza Singapura on Nov 11 to purchase the dolls. But the photo does not appear to have been taken in Singapore. The page also said that due to “unexpectedly high demand”, not all those who queued were able to buy the dolls, and provided a link for customers to purchase them at $89 each. Priced at $109.90 on the official Pop Mart website, the doll is currently sold out online and at Pop Mart stores in Singapore, with resellers charging up to $200 for each doll. The character went viral globally when South Korean girl band Blackpink’s Lisa first posted photos of herself with Labubu in April.

SINGAPORE — The level of trust Singapore consumers have in general insurers and their intermediaries like brokers and advisers slipped in 2024, compared with the previous year, a study has found. The 2024 insurance trust indicator study, commissioned by the local insurance sector to help improve confidence and practices, found that consumers' trust in general insurers dipped to 73 from a score of 75 in 2023. Consumers' trust in general insurance intermediaries fell further — to 62 points in 2024 from 68 a year earlier. However, consumers' trust in life insurers edged up to 70 points in 2024 from 68 in 2023.

Four lucky punters walked away with over $3.2 million each after the latest Toto draw on Thursday (Nov 14) night. After three consecutive draws with no Group 1 winners chosen, the prize money snowballed to a grand total just over $13 million. The winning numbers for Thursday's draw were 12, 16, 29, 36, 39 and 40, with the additional number 37. The Group 2 prize of around $1.5 million was split among 13 winners who each won $114,990. 'Huat' betting outlets According to the Singapore Pools, three of the winning tickets were purchased from popular outlets known for being particularly lucky. One of the tickets was sold at the famous Tong Aik Huat outlet located at Block 685 Hougang Street 61. This is the fifth time that the outlet has produced a winning Group 1 ticket this year. Last month, a Group 1 winner who bought his ticket at the same outlet won $6.6 million. 

On Aug 29, as the nation still basked in the glow of its 59th birthday, the Singapore flag entered outer space. The flag was proudly carried by entrepreneur Nicolina Elrick, who has been calling Singapore home since 1995. «Singapore is an amazing country and I'm so proud to be here,» the permanent resident told TNP. «Everyone assumes I'm a tourist all the time, but this is my home.» Elrick, who is in her 50s, was born in Scotland. She hopes to become a Singapore citizen one day. In her drive to become the first person to take the Singapore flag to space, she overlooked the chance to achieve the same feat for her birth country. «When I was interviewed at the launchpad, someone said, 'Wow, you must be so excited. The first Scottish woman ever to go to space,'» recounted Elrick. «I was like, 'Really? I am? Oh my goodness, I had no idea.»

A woman was sent flying after she was hit by a car on Wednesday (Nov 13) morning. The incident occurred at the junction of Orchard Road and Handy Road. In a video posted to the SG Kaypoh Facebook group, the woman is seen crossing the road while the traffic light was not in her favour.   She appears to be looking down at her phone. The driver involved in the accident did not notice her till it was too late and collided with her head-on. In the video, the woman is sent flying and lands several metres in front of the car upon impact. She manages to sit up after landing, and looks stunned from the impact.   The driver and his passenger also rush out of the vehicle to assist.  Speaking to AsiaOne, the Singapore Civil Defence Force said that the female pedestrian was conveyed conscious to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. When contacted, the police said they were alerted to an accident involving a taxi and a pedestrian at the junction of Orchard Road and Handy Road on Nov 13 at about 3.15am.

About 2.9 million Singaporeans aged 21 and above can look forward to receiving between $200 and $600 in cash this December. The payout comes under the Assurance Package (AP) scheme which aims to help alleviate cost of living pressures for Singaporean households and provide more support for lower- to middle-income families. To be eligible for this, adult Singaporeans must have an annual assessable income of not more than $100,000 and not own more than one property. Recipients will receive AP Cash every December from 2022 to 2026.  In a joint press release on Thursday (Nov 14), the finance, health and manpower ministries also announced measures to help offset healthcare costs as well as the upcoming increase to MediShield Life premiums. About 1.4 million Singaporeans born between 1974 and 2003 will receive a one-time MediSave top-up of $300 to $500 in December. Under the Majulah Package - MediSave Bonus, about 1.6 million Singaporeans born in 1973 or earlier will receive a one-time MediSave top-up of $1,250 or $2,000.

A property agent was shocked to discover a leased home in a filthy condition, left behind by tenants who moved out several months earlier, according to a TikTok video uploaded by user HomesWithHaziq on Saturday (Nov 9). «For my future landlords, beware,» Haziq wrote in the video description. Introducing the video, he also stated: «If you're planning to rent out your whole unit, watch this video first.» According to Haziq, the home had been tenanted out for less than two years to a group of foreigners who had little interaction with one another, keeping to their own rooms. The location of the property was not disclosed, but Haziq shared with AsiaOne that it is located in the west. Starting with the living room, things appear to be clean at first glance - if a little cluttered - but Haziq soon points out in the video visible spots of black dirt hidden behind the couch. «The condition of the house will speak for itself,» he added. The first toilet certainly proved his point - the toilet seat was yellowed, with the bottom of the bowl stained black.

SINGAPORE — A law was amended on Wednesday (Nov 13) to implement more government-paid parental leave and mandatory paternity leave, which had been announced earlier in August. Under the amendments to the Child Development Co-Savings Act, parents-to-be will get another 10 weeks of shared leave on top of their current leave entitlement, bringing the total amount of government-paid parental leave to 30 weeks by April 1, 2026. From April 1, 2025, eligible fathers of Singaporean children will also be entitled to four weeks of mandatory government-paid paternity leave.  The new shared parental leave scheme will be rolled out in two phases, starting with six weeks from April 1, 2025, and increasing to 10 weeks from April 1, 2026. This shared leave is to be taken within 12 months of the child's birth, and employees must inform employers at least four weeks before going on leave in a continuous block.

Parliament voted in favour of an amended version of a motion put forth by Progress Singapore Party (PSP) Non-Constituency MPs Leong Mun Wai and Hazel Poa on Wednesday (Nov 13) after a debate that lasted five-and-a-half hours. This motion called for the Government to «review its policies relating to hawkers and the management of hawker centres to provide better support for hawkers to sustain and grow Singapore hawker culture, so that Singaporeans can continue to enjoy good and affordable hawker food». During his speech, Leong highlighted that high operational costs, harsh working conditions, and the expectation to provide cheap food are pressing issues faced by hawkers here. The PSP secretary-general then proposed that social enterprise hawker centres be phased out as contracts expire, replacing them with centralised management under a new government agency called Hawker Singapore. This new agency would oversee the management of all hawker centres in Singapore and the promotion of hawker culture domestically and internationally, working together with other relevant agencies, he added.