After dinner with friends in Little India on a Sunday evening, migrant worker Venkatesan was walking to the bus stop along Clive Street when he had an overwhelming urge to use the toilet.  With no public toilet in sight and apprehensive about using the washroom at a nearby restaurant, he resorted to urinating in a drain along a dark alley.  His experience is not an uncommon one. According to many, the lack of toilet facilities in Little India is a major problem, especially during weekends and festivals. The area gets notably crowded on Sunday, when migrant workers have their day off and shoppers descend on Mustafa Centre in Syed Alwi Road. Crowds tend to gather as well at the open spaces in Tekka Lane and Lembu Road. Yousuf Rajid, a resident in Buffalo Road, expressed in Tamil a sentiment shared by many: «One side of the carpark at Tekka Centre has become like a public toilet. I can't walk that way ever; the smell of urine is unbearable.»  The same problem, according to other residents, also persists at residential estates in Klang Lane and Rowell Road.

Weddings are often hectic events, but a good set of bridesmaids and groomsmen can go a long way to lessen the load on a couple. However, one woman took to the AskSingapore subreddit recently to share the «terrible experience» she had at her first experience as a bridesmaid, which had her wondering if local weddings were becoming too transactional. In her Reddit post from Nov 26, she recounted that the bridesmaids arrived between 5 to 6 am at the bride's house to play the «gatecrashing» games and then returned prior to the dinner ceremony to help put up the displays, do guest registrations and collect red packets from them. However, she listed three «worst» parts of her experience: «1. The groom gave the gate crash red packets for show, and the couple took back all red packets after the morning session.  »2. We had to pay for the bridesmaid dresses ourselves. «3. ⁠We only got a total of $100 in red packets from them, which was not enough to cover dresses, transport.»

An online debate has erupted over a Grab driver and a prospective passenger, with users arguing over who was in the right. A screenshot of their conversation, captioned as highlighting the «rude driver» with a «bad attitude», circulated on Facebook before being deleted on Nov 28. The screenshot showed the passenger requesting a ride for two people, one in a wheelchair, for a fare of just $5.70. The driver retorted, «$5.70 ask Grab CEO to take you.» Many netizens sided with the driver, pointing out the passenger had booked a JustGrab service, which simply assigns the nearest available vehicle. For wheelchair assistance, Grab offers GrabAssist, a service staffed by drivers trained by the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC). Responding to Mothership's queries, a Grab spokesperson apologised for the incident and confirmed the driver received a warning, citing it as a first offence. Grab also advised riders to book the appropriate service for their needs and reminded both drivers and passengers to treat each other respectfully.

SINGAPORE — When told by a «police officer» that she might be implicated in money laundering, a woman feared she would be dragged into the $3 billion case. Wanting to be known only as Grace, the retiree, 67, said that even though she was never involved in crime, she thought about Singapore's biggest money laundering case that saw 10 foreigners jailed and deported. Threatened with legal action, she agreed to help in «investigations» and transferred a total of $1.19 million to people claiming to be a bank officer, police investigator and public prosecutors. And even after she talked to real police officers, she said she still does not want to know how much she has lost. Grace spoke to the media on Nov 28. Before the interview, organised by the police, reporters were briefed by officers that she did not know the full amount, and did not want to know. Grace told reporters she had no intention of telling her husband or family members. She said: «Even when I was giving my statement to the police, I said I don't want to know how much I've lost. Even until today, I didn't really look into it.»

SINGAPORE — Over the past 12 years, Kim Vivian has completed at least 50 marathon courses. But instead of running, the Australian travels these routes on his bicycle. The 60-year-old is not your typical marathon runner; he is a course measurer who clocks many hours and kilometres, determining the length and course of various races around the world. A month before the Nov 29-Dec 1 Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM), the Perth native was in the Republic, working the course in the sweltering heat. Explaining the significance of his role, Vivian said: «All the events that I measure, all the courses, then get registered on an international database. »Then anybody can use my events to then qualify for (events like) the Boston or New York Marathon, which have got qualifying times, because they are recognised international quality events." This complex process begins with Vivian using Google Maps to measure the route, before he gets to work on the actual courses in the respective countries. One of the first things Vivan does in Singapore is setting up a calibration course, which is typically 300 metres long.

17 people were taken to hospital following a chain collision on the BKE towards Woodlands Checkpoint on Friday (Nov 29) morning. A clip posted to Facebook page Both Checkpoint on Friday shows several stationary vehicles including a Malaysia factory bus, several cars and lorries, on the third and fourth lanes. Another minute-long video shows the shattered front windscreen of the blue factory bus. Debris such as a licence plate are scattered across the expressway. The windscreen of a sliver lorry is similarly damaged, with the vehicle's front and rear ends dented and goods spilling out of the lorry. The video then pans to show a white Singapore-registered car on the left-most lane, with its right side and rear end crumpled from the collision. A person is seen in the driver's seat.

The government will give a one-off property tax rebate of up to 20 per cent for owner-occupied residential properties in 2025, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS) on Friday (Nov 29). Owners of HDB flats will receive a 20 per cent rebate, while owners of private residential properties will get a 15 per cent rebate capped at $1,000.  In addition to the rebate, the Annual Value (AV) bands of owner-occupied properties will be raised come Jan 1, 2025 — a move announced during Budget 2024.  The AV is the estimated rent a property can fetch in a year if rented out, and is also used to calculate property tax. Owner-occupied properties have lower tax rates.  The lowest AV band threshold will be raised from $8,000 to $12,000, while the highest threshold will see an increase from over $100,000 to over $140,000. Corresponding adjustments will be made to bands in between. With these measures, all owner-occupied HDB flats and 90 per cent of owner-occupied private residential properties will pay less property tax in 2025. 

SINGAPORE — The prosecution described the case as a «deeply troubling and reprehensible act of exploitation». On Oct 10, 2023, an elderly man approached a woman who has Down syndrome and molested her after offering the victim $2 to lure her away from the public eye. Deputy Public Prosecutor Adelle Tai said that the 24-year-old woman was an «acutely vulnerable» victim who has an IQ of 40. According to the Institute of Mental Health website, an IQ of 70 or below is indicative of intellectual disability. On Nov 28, District Judge John Ng said that the case involved a «vulnerable person who preyed on a vulnerable victim» and sentenced wheelchair user Omar Aziz, 70, to 18 months' jail. He had earlier pleaded guilty to a molestation charge. Details about the victim and where she lived at the time of the offence cannot be disclosed due to a gag order to protect her identity. The DPP said that the woman was walking to an MRT station in the northern part of Singapore at around 4pm when Omar, who was then on a personal mobility device, approached her. He offered the victim $2 and asked her to follow him to a secluded corner.

An elderly resident in Yishun has been ordered to clear the multitude of items he had placed in the common areas of his block, following a complaint over public safety. The man, surnamed Yang, lined the common corridor on the ground floor of a block at Yishun Street 81 with potted plants, boxes and water bottles. According to Shin Min Daily News, there were over 100 potted plants as well as boxes and pails placed around the block.  Yang, 73, told the Chinese evening daily that all the items belong to him, and his neighbours have no objections about the placement of his belongings.  He lives on a higher floor in the same block.  The resident said that he took care to adhere to the fire safety guidelines, which requires a 1.2m-wide escape passage along the common corridor.  The boxes at the back of the block are used to collect rainwater to water his plants, he explained. To prevent mosquitoes from laying their eggs in the water, he covers the pails and rears fish in those that are uncovered.  Regarding his plants, Yang said he's been growing java apples for the past four years. 

A 66-year-old man has been arrested for the alleged murder of a 67-year-old woman. In a press release, the police said they had received a call for assistance at a residential unit along Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 at about 1.25am on Friday (Nov 29). Officers found the woman lying motionless inside the flat, and she was pronounced dead at scene. The man was subsequently arrested at the unit. Preliminary investigations revealed that both parties are known to each other, the police added. The man will be charged with murder in court on Saturday. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty. Police investigations are ongoing. A resident of the block told Lianhe Zaobao that they had heard sounds of a quarrel on Thursday evening. Shortly after the commotion died down, many police officers visited the unit. lim.kewei@asiaone.com

Some patrons of a coffee shop in Yishun got upset over an employee dusting the ceiling while they were eating. A man surnamed Zhu told Shin Min Daily News that he was dining last Saturday (Nov 23) at the coffee shop at Block 504 Yishun Street 51 when he noticed an employee sweeping the ceiling with a broom. «I was about to start eating my noodles when they began cleaning,» said the 61-year-old taxi driver  «I felt it was unhygienic and went to alert the coffee shop's manager. They only cordoned off the area and continued to clean the ceiling.» As he was eating, however, dust particles began to fall from the ceiling. Zhu said he approached the coffee shop's manager once more, but his concerns were dismissed. He subsequently reported the incident to the authorities. Speaking with Shin Min, the coffee shop's manager surnamed Wu said that the ceiling is cleaned once a month and the area is usually cordoned off with tape. «Since there aren't many patrons in the afternoon, cleaning works are carried out,» Wu, said.

From Jan 1, 2025, manufacturers and suppliers dealing with industrial machinery as well as combustible dust will have to comply with enhanced workplace safety and health (WSH) measures, said the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Friday (Nov 29). This follows recommendations put forward by the inquiry committee probing the Tuas explosion which killed three workers and injured seven others in February 2021. According to the committee's findings, the unsafe use of a mixer machine had caused it to explode, igniting the combustible potato starch powder used in the workshop and leading to subsequent flash fires. To prevent similar incidents, the Multi-Agency Workplace Safety and Health Taskforce (MAST) will introduce enhanced control measures to ensure the safe use of combustible dust — materials which can disperse in the air and ignite when in contact with a heat source. Manufacturers and suppliers must label associated hazards on packages or containers of combustible dust and communicate to workers on safe use.

SINGAPORE — A man was sentenced to 21 weeks' jail on Nov 28 after he forged Grab receipts on more than 460 occasions and work-related timesheets in eight instances, to dupe his then employer into disbursing more than $24,000 to him. Muhammad Fariz Shaik Sha Marican, 33, also made false medical certificates and an electronic letter purportedly from the Singapore Armed Forces, causing the Ministry of Health (MOH), where he worked as a temporary staff member, to excuse him from reporting for work. On Nov 12, he pleaded guilty to two forgery charges, and two other similar charges were considered during sentencing. Recruitment firm Persolkelly (PSK), which worked with MOH to provide employees, had hired Fariz, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Kelly Ng in earlier proceedings.  In November 2021, PSK deployed him to work at MOH to support its Covid-19 operations. The ministry later checked Fariz's annual leave balance in April 2023, as it wanted to convert him to a staff member.

SINGAPORE — Veronica Shim Wai Han, a former Singapore Airlines flight stewardess-turned-private banker of almost 20 years' standing, broke down in court on Thursday (Nov 28) as she testified that at least two investors in businessman Ng Yu Zhi's $1.5 billion nickel trading scam «had died directly or indirectly because of pressure from this case». Prosecutors alleged that Ng's Ponzi scheme, which promised attractive profits from nickel trading was «pure fiction» that duped 947 investors of almost $1.5 billion, of which more than $481 million was channelled to Ng's personal bank accounts and used to finance his lavish lifestyle. The first prosecution witness to take the stand, Shim, the former chief executive of fund manager Envysion Wealth Management (EWM), and her company are named as victims in two cheating charges against Ng, the alleged mastermind of the scam.

SINGAPORE — In what he described as the lowest point in his life, a cyber-security specialist stole a few thousand dollars from a savings account meant for his daughter so that he could keep gambling. The 35-year-old, who gave only his surname as Sow, peeped to find out his wife's password for the account under her name. «I stole the money to top up my betting account,» he said. He had lost at least $500,000 from football matches since getting addicted to illegal gambling sites in his teens and ended up owing both legal and illegal moneylenders. Still, the father of three young children continued. «I was betting every day — in the toilet, at work and on the bus or train.» A National Council on Problem Gambling survey of more than 3,000 Singapore residents aged 18 and older found that more people, like Sow, have gambled on illegal online sites. The percentage of those who said they have done so rose from 0.3 per cent in the 2020 survey to one per cent in the 2023 poll. But the probable pathological and problem gambling rate remained stable at around 1.1 per cent of those polled in the 2023 survey, which was released on Nov 28.

SINGAPORE – Five Cabinet ministers were among more than 100 recipients across 31 government agencies who have received e-mails demanding payment over doctored images since Nov 26. These images are supposedly screenshots from videos where victims’ faces are superimposed onto those of individuals in compromising situations. The e-mails all have the same contents and images, with the only difference being the face of the victim. In a statement on Nov 28, the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) said 12 male political office-holders were affected, in addition to public officers. The five Cabinet ministers are: Transport Minister Chee Hong Tat Culture, Community and Youth Minister Edwin Tong National Development Minister Desmond Lee Social and Family Development Minister Masagos Zulkifli Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Maliki Osman Also affected are senior ministers of state Janil Puthucheary, Tan Kiat How and Koh Poh Koon; ministers of state Alvin Tan and Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim; and senior parliamentary secretaries Baey Yam Keng and Eric Chua.

SINGAPORE — For more than 1.5 years, Eden Tan has had to reach for a pail each time it rains because water would start dripping from the ceiling of her Serangoon Housing Board flat. Shortly after Tan moved into the four-room flat on the top floor in 2022, she noticed that the ceiling would leak when it pours. Roof repair works by the town council have not fixed the issue, which has become worse amid the recent rainy weather. It has caused mould to grow inside one of the bedrooms, and parts of the plaster on the ceiling to crumble off. «I always have a pail in the affected room to catch the murky water, but it gets full in a few hours. This entire ordeal has been very distressing for my family and we are desperate for it to be fixed,» said the 36-year-old housewife. Tan, who lives in the flat with her husband, five-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter, is one of at least four households in the same block that have had to live with leaky ceilings. She told The Straits Times she is worried that the leaks could potentially be dangerous if water drips onto electronics at home.

When two Health Sciences Authority (HSA) officers showed up at one man's door and asked to enter his home for an inspection, he refused to let them in.  The man then posted a series of six videos of the encounter named «uninvited guests» on his TikTok account Rapperboya. His first video, which was posted on Nov 15 and garnered over 2.1 million views, shows two plainclothes HSA officers at his door showing their IDs and asking to search his home for e-cigarettes and vaporisers. However, the man insists he will not open the door unless he is shown a warrant. In a second video, two police officers are seen accompanying the HSA officers as they return to the man's home. After explaining the nature of their visit, which was shown in subsequent videos, the man agreed to co-operate with the investigation and let the officers into his flat. Before entering his home, one of the officers asked the man: «Would you like to declare any vapes?» To which he replied: «No.»

Some residents in Punggol were startled by the sight of bloodstains at the staircases and void deck on Tuesday (Nov 26) evening.  A fight allegedly broke out among a group of youths at Block 622B Punggol Central at about 8pm, reported Shin Min Daily News.  A resident surnamed Huang told 8world that he was waiting for the lift when he saw three men and one woman at the void deck.  One of the men was bleeding profusely from the neck, and his blood was dripping onto the floor.  «I got a little nervous because I didn't know what happened to him,» said Huang, who estimated the men to be in their 20s.  The resident saw the group walking towards the nearby coffee shop, but did not know where they were headed.  Huang said he's lived in Punggol for 14 years but has not seen anything like this happen before.  A resident, who only wanted to be known as Mrs Ye, told Shin Min that she spotted an ambulance and police cars parked below the block. Several police officers were also seen walking around the area, before cordoning off a sizable area of the void deck.