SINGAPORE — A man was upset that his former girlfriend had moved on from their relationship in which he abused her, ambushed the 20-year-old woman at her home, and raped her in her bedroom. Throughout the assault, he blamed her for his actions, prosecutors told the High Court on Jan 20. As he repeatedly slapped her, he asked: «Why do you have to make me do this?» Just before he sexually violated her, he told her that this was what she «asked for». After the assault, which he said was «for her own good», he suggested that they should get back together. The clean-cut 26-year-old man was sentenced to 10 years and six weeks in jail, and nine strokes of the cane. He cannot be named under a gag order to protect the victim's identity. He had pleaded guilty to a charge of rape, a charge of voluntarily causing hurt and a charge of mischief for cutting his electronic ankle tag while he was on bail. Two other charges, for sexual offences against the victim, were taken into consideration during sentencing.

SINGAPORE – The Workers’ Party (WP) election committee has engaged commercial parties to help in candidate screening and personality review, in preparation for the general election in 2025. The party’s secretary-general Pritam Singh, who is Leader of the Opposition, said this in what he described as an “election speech” delivered at the WP annual members’ forum on Jan 11. The transcript of the speech was shared on WP’s Facebook page on Jan 17. But such screening measures are not fool-proof, and cannot guarantee that all previous infractions of an individual will come to light, he said. “It is important that I set this expectation. But the party will do our best,” Mr Singh added. He did not reveal the party’s slate of candidates, but said the WP has been looking carefully at possible candidates. He also said they will be a mix of individuals who have walked the ground extensively, as well as new members. As with previous elections, the WP will carefully consider candidates and the configuration of the team, if a GRC is being contested, Mr Singh added.

Two coffee shops, located in Kaki Bukit and Sembawang, have faced suspensions on the same day for offences relating to the cleanliness and maintenance of toilet and sanitary fittings. Fu Chan Food Paradise and Asian Cuisine, the Food Shop, were both served a one-day suspension on Friday (Jan 17), stated the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) in two separate notices released the same day. The former is located at 505 Canberra Link, while the latter is situated at 18 Kaki Bukit Road 3. In the notice for Fu Chan Food Paradise, SFA stated that it had accumulated 12 demerit points within a 12-month period for three offences of failing «to keep toilet clean and in good repair». The coffee shop's licensee was also fined a total of $1,500 for these offences. Similarly, the licensee of Asian Cuisine was fined $1,100 for three offences of failing to «keep toilet clean and in good repair», as well as two offences for failing to «maintain sanitary fittings, etc, in good working condition and repair».

Around two weeks before Christmas, Jurong resident Lim Chwee Guan noticed a strange smell wafting along the corridor of his 18th floor Housing Board unit. After three days, the 78-year-old retiree alerted the police when he suspected something tragic had happened. A number of residents who live in Block 338B Kang Ching Road, near Lakeside MRT, are senior citizens. His fears came true on Dec 15, 2024, when police discovered the decomposing bodies of an elderly couple who lived on the 18th floor. They had died of natural causes. While there have been reports of seniors dying alone in their flat, trauma cleaner Rahman Razali, of DDQ Services, said the Kang Ching Road incident was unusual. His company is one of three firms in Singapore that are engaged by town councils to clean up a flat after such cases. Said Mr Rahman: “My company attends between two and three cases every week involving seniors dying alone at home. “But it is very rare to hear of two people dying together like this. I have only encountered one or two such cases after 10 years in this line of work.”

«Looking to let go of a lunch banquet at Caroline Mansion (at The St Regis Singapore) on March 1, 2025, Saturday. $10,000 will be absorbed on my end. Only for serious couples, thank you,» reads the pitch on one post. Another promises cheaper table rates and a slew of perks from The Westin Singapore. These posts, on discounted wedding packages at hotels here, have transformed online platforms like the Singapore Brides forum into a bustling marketplace for couples trying to offload their banquet bookings. They include packages that come significantly discounted — one such post offered a 20 per cent discount on a $44,200 banquet for 250 people at The Westin Singapore's Grand Ballroom. Those who sell their packages told The Straits Times that they were driven to do so after wedding plans went awry and they found themselves facing cancellation fees that could sometimes amount to tens of thousands of dollars. However, lawyers said these fees, which can kick in the moment a banquet agreement is signed, could be deemed unreasonable and unenforceable under Singapore law.

SINGAPORE - The National Parks Board (NParks) is monitoring an incident involving several crocodiles that escaped from a farm in Batam on Jan 13. Their escape is believed to have resulted from downpours over three days, which caused parts of the fence around a breeding pond to collapse, according to reports by Indonesia media. Bulan island, where the farm is located, is roughly 30km from recreational offshore island Sentosa. NParks’ group director of wildlife management How Choon Beng told The Straits Times on Jan 18 that members of the public should report any encounters with crocodiles to the statutory board. It is unclear how many crocodiles broke free, but at least 23 have been caught so far, according to CNN Indonesia, which identified the reptiles as saltwater crocodiles. Mr Kannan Raja, president of the Herpetological Society of Singapore, which studies reptiles and amphibians, said saltwater crocodiles swim out to sea to find food and as part of their natural movement patterns. But while they could reach Singapore from Batam, “it doesn’t mean they will”, he said.

Redeeming the Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers disbursed on Jan 3? Be careful of of the link you click on because it could come from a scammer.  In an advisory on Friday (Jan 17), the police said there is a resurgence of phishing websites involving the impersonation of the RedeemSG website. With the latest disbursement of CDC vouchers, several members of the public have reported receiving messages with fake website links, phishing for their personal details.  The police said that those claiming their vouchers will only receive an SMS with the unique link from gov.sg right after they have successfully claimed their vouchers at go.gov.sg/cdcv.  When claiming their digital CDC vouchers, members of the public will only be asked to log in via Singpass for authentication.

With the Lunar New Year just around the corner, some may choose to do their festive shopping in neighbouring countries.  But before you lug back those boxes of bak kwa from Malaysia to Singapore, take note — the new rules have yet to kick in. On Jan 8, Parliament passed the Food Safety and Security Bill, which provides more flexibility for food brought into Singapore for private consumption.  Singaporeans will be allowed to bring in a total of 15kg of various categories of food from overseas, up from the current limit of 5kg of meat and seafood. However, some people thought that the new rules was already in place and had tried to bring in bak kwa from Malaysia.  They were then ordered to discard the items when crossing the border.

SINGAPORE — A man who lured around 50 women and teenage girls for photo shoots after promising to pay them went on to record intimate videos of the victims. Some of the videos, which included those showing sexual acts, were taken without the victims' consent. Min Thein Kyaw, who was working for a software firm at the time of the offences and was not a professional photographer, committed them from 2011 to 2020. The victims were then between 15 and 25 years old. Separately, he also sent sexual text messages to a 12-year-old girl despite knowing that she was a primary school pupil at the time. On Jan 17, the 46-year-old Singaporean, who is a married man, was sentenced to four years, three months and 14 weeks' jail. Min, who pleaded guilty to 19 charges for offences that include insulting a woman's modesty and making obscene films, was also ordered to receive two strokes of the cane. Fifty-six other charges were considered during his sentencing. Deputy Public Prosecutor Melissa Heng told the court that Min began photographing female models in either 2009 or 2010.

A 42-year-old woman was taken to hospital after suffering burns while attempting to extinguish a kitchen fire on Tuesday (Jan 14) night.   The woman surnamed Li, told Shin Min Daily News she was preparing to fry snacks for Chinese New Year in her home at Block 229A, Sumang Lane.  However, the oil caught fire when she turned up the heat on the gas stove.  In a moment of panic, the mother of three tried to put out the fire by adding water to the flames, which caused the fire to intensify.  «I was very worried about my children and husband, so I went to wake them up and told them to run away. »I stayed in the kitchen to try and put out the fire, but it got bigger. I ended up getting burned,« said Li, who works in customer service.  »This is not the first time I've made this snack. I just turned on the gas to heat up the oil, but I didn't expect it to burst into flames.«  Li ended up suffering burns to her right hand and cheek, which had to be bandaged.  She added that it was heart-breaking to see her home of two years burn down. »But thankfully, everyone is okay," Li said. 

SINGAPORE — It was a Monday evening in December four years ago when the Chia family was out for dinner at Ion Orchard. Nick Chia heard screaming from the mall's toilet that his three daughters and the helper were in and knew something was wrong. He did not imagine that his five-year-old daughter Kara would place her hand in the toilet's hand dryer, and have her finger mangled within seconds. The fan blades of the dryer, which was missing a vent cover, severed the girl's finger and shattered the bones. Kara Chia with her mother in Tokyo in December 2024. PHOTO: The Straits Times She lost more than half of her left index finger and was left with a stump after amputation. In November 2024, the family found some closure after their case was concluded in court. They received compensation of $170,000 in damages and $39,507 in legal costs from Ion Orchard and its insurers.

Flying from Melaka to Singapore usually takes less than an hour, but some travellers recently took over half a day to reach their destination. They were kept waiting at the Melaka International Airport for nine hours last Friday (Jan 10) before the flight was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. A passenger on the flight, Marcus Lim, documented his experience and shared it on Facebook on Jan 11. According to flight records, Scoot flight TR403 was scheduled to depart Melaka at 10.15pm on Jan 10. Lim, who arrived at the airport at around 7.30pm, noted that there was no sign of a plane at the gate by 9.45pm.

SINGAPORE — A second monsoon surge is expected to hit Singapore from Jan 17 (Friday) to Jan 19, after one battered the Republic with heavy downpours and floods just days earlier.  The Jan 10 to 13 surge saw flash floods, falling trees and temperatures plunging to 21.6 deg C in Newton. A flooded stretch of road in Mountbatten saw cars driving through ankle-deep water as pedestrians waded by.  The Straits Times spoke to experts to find out how motorists can navigate roads safely during flooding.  Q: Should you try and drive through a flash flood?  A: Experts advised motorists, both drivers and motorcyclists, to stay off the roads when there are flash floods due to safety reasons.

A woman travelling from Singapore to Bangkok, Thailand, was caught openly vaping in the plane cabin, despite e-cigarettes being illegal in both countries. The incident occurred on Jetstar flight 3K515 on Jan 10, according to TikTok account Exploring Singapore. Their video shows the woman, who is seated along the aisle, exhaling clouds of vapour. It then cuts to show an in-flight magazine, which features a section stating that smoking and vaping are prohibited. The last clip shows the woman walking back to her seat, presumably after talking to a cabin crew. «How did she get it (the vape) through customs?» read the video caption. The TikTok user wrote in a comment that they informed the cabin crew about the vaping. Responding to AsiaOne's queries, a Jetstar Asia spokesperson said the vape was confiscated by cabin crew, and the incident has been reported to local authorities. «Smoking, vaping, or the use of electronic cigarettes on any Jetstar aircraft is strictly prohibited,» said the spokesperson. «Safety is our top priority, and this type of behaviour will never be tolerated.»

An adorable wild boar piglet was recently spotted snuffling along a grass patch by the side of a footpath in Bukit Panjang. In a video on Tuesday (Jan 14), TikTok user Ahguaman shared his up-close encounter with the piglet. The clip starts with the camera panning from the TikTok user to the piglet, which scampers away. It cuts to several shorter clips of the animal nosing around the grass. https://www.tiktok.com/@ahguaman/video/7459746825042545938 No matter how cute a piglet may look, approaching them is dangerous as female adult boars are known to be very protective of their young and easily provoked, according to the National Parks Board (NParks). Sows and piglets typically travel in a group and may wander into parks and gardens in search of food, states an NParks advisory. If threatened, they may attack humans and cause injury. In the comment section, some TikTok users pointed out that the sow was likely nearby and could have attacked the man. «Wild boar mum is no joke. If you see a baby, please leave the area immediately,» cautioned one user.