With about 50 massage parlours condensed into two storeys at People's Park Complex, would-be customers are spoilt for choice. But this has irked some mall-goers, one of whom complained to Shin Min Daily News about the staff touting for business outside their stores. «Within a distance of less than 50m, I was solicited five times,» said the shopper. A Shin Min reporter who visited the building walked past the parlours while waving his hand in rejection, but some staff still approached with price lists and tried to sell their services. «The price is the same no matter which one you go to!» shouted one. According to the Chinese evening daily, a 30-minute foot massage costs an average of $15 across the parlours. One massage parlour staff, surnamed Guo, said the competition does not affect business much. «Each store does its own thing. When there are crowds, it's good for everyone and I won't say it's a cut-throat competition,» he explained. The owner of a watch shop located on the second floor of the complex told Shin Min the large majority of massage parlours had sprung up after the Covid-19 pandemic.

A woman who was caught illegally driving in the bus lane along the Causeway attempted to bribe a Singapore auxiliary police officer with RM50 (S$15) and $50. Wang Xiping, 42, was sentenced to three weeks' jail after pleading guilty to one count of violating Section 6(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act on Friday (Nov 15), reported Lianhe Zaobao. According to the charge sheet, Wang frequently drives to Johor Bahru (JB). On July 17, she was driving to Malaysia to show a friend around JB and collect her medical report. The woman and her friend cleared Singapore immigration at about 10.50am that day. A few minutes later, an auxiliary officer spotted Wang's car in the dedicated bus and lorry lane and stopped them. The cop told Wang she was not allowed to drive in the dedicated lane and instructed her to U-turn to Woodlands Checkpoint to re-enter Malaysia. Wang then offered the officer RM50 to let her continue driving. The latter refused and requested her to present her passport.

A man has been taking his dog to a playground at Block 38 Upper Boon Keng Road despite the discomfort it causes other residents. Stomp contributor ST said she has seen the man grooming his husky at the playground on multiple occasions. To make matters worse, the dog would bark and scare children at the playground, she added. The Stomp contributor shared photos and a video of the man brushing his dog, which was on a leash, at around 7pm on Nov 12. She said: «This uncle brought his dog to the playground, tied it to the playground and started to groom it. He was combing the dog and placing the hair on the ground and stairs. »The dog was scaring the kids as it was barking and trying to chase them. I asked the uncle to go somewhere else but he ignored me." https://www.instagram.com/p/DCY9vl6hzw_/ ST, who has a four-year-old-daughter, said it's not the first time she has tried speaking to the man.

LIMA — Singapore has offered to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit in 2030, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Nov 16. This is one way that the Republic will contribute to ensuring more inclusive growth, against a backdrop of increasing geopolitical rivalry and weakening support for free trade, said PM Wong. «We find Apec to be a very valuable platform, and we will do our part to support Apec in different ways, including the hosting of Apec summits,» he told reporters at the close of this year’s summit in Lima, Peru. Singapore is a part of the 21-member Apec, which includes major world powers such as the US, China and Russia and whose economies make up close to half of global trade. The last time it hosted an Apec summit was in 2009. PM Wong noted that across the board, there is concern at this year’s summit that support for globalisation and free trade is weakening around the world.

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.