Two elderly victims lost $1 million and $4.9 million respectively in December 2024, after they were deceived by scammers posing as overseas law enforcement officers. In both cases, the victims received unsolicited phone calls from fraudsters posing as officials from a company such as Singtel and Starhub, said the police in a statement on Wednesday (Jan 22). The scammer told the victims that their mobile number had been used for criminal activities overseas, and transferred the call to another scammer purporting to be from overseas law enforcement agencies.  Both victims were instructed to withdraw money from their bank accounts and hand it over to an unknown person, likely a cash mule, for «safe keeping».  When the victim was unable to withdraw the money, another person would be sent down to meet the victim to assist them.   In one of the cases, the scammer sent the victim a fake police identification card through a WhatsApp disappearing message function and even delivered fake documentation to the victim's home to reinforce the deceit, said the police. 

SINGAPORE — The teenager involved in a motorcycle chase that led to the death of a Land Transport Authority (LTA) officer in 2024 was sentenced to seven months' jail for the offence. Now 19 years old, the teen was also disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for five years after his release. The sentence was part of the total penalty he received for numerous offences. Deputy Principal District Judge Kessler Soh said that given the teen's numerous and serious offences, probation — which would usually apply to youth offenders — was not appropriate in this case. The youth, who is in remand and joined court proceedings via video-link, remained silent as his sentence was read. He admitted to six charges on Jan 10, including riding a motorcycle in a dangerous manner and drug consumption. Seven other charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing. Based on all his charges, he was sentenced to a total of one year and 15 months' imprisonment, along with six strokes of the cane.

An Indonesian man who allegedly tried to deposit a counterfeit $10,000 note into his bank account has been charged in court on Thursday (Jan 23). 36-year-old Chandra Ahmadyani is accused of using the fake banknote at the DBS South Bridge branch in Hong Lim Complex at about noon on Dec 23, 2024, reported The Straits Times. The police said in a statement on Wednesday that Chandra had presented the banknote to a counter staff, who was suspicious of its authenticity and alerted the manager. The man was subsequently arrested by the police and the counterfeit note was seized for investigations. The charge sheet stated that Chandra had reason to believe the note was fake, according to ST. In court, Chandra reportedly stated his intention to plead guilty to the charge of using a counterfeit banknote. If convicted, he may face a jail term of up to 20 years, and a fine. The police said in their statement that it takes a serious view of any person found criminally involved in counterfeit currency.

SINGAPORE — A 42-year-old man who lived apart from his wife went on trial in the High Court on Jan 21 for allegedly raping her at the place where he lived. Prosecutors said that after forcing the woman to spend the night with him, the man took her back to her place. After his arrest, the man admitted to the sexual acts but claimed that they were consensual. The prosecution said she did not consent to have sex with the man because she was put in «fear of injury» at the time. The sexual acts took place after the man had physically assaulted the woman and threatened to hurt her with a metal rod, said prosecutors. The case is believed to be the first marital rape trial after immunity for husbands was repealed with effect from Jan 1, 2020. A gag order prohibits the publication of any details leading to identification of both the woman and the man, as well as the location where the incident took place. Both of them are foreigners who work in Singapore. The woman lived in a flat provided for by her employer, while the man lived elsewhere.

At least 198 reports have been made by victims who have fallen prey to tech support scams since the start of 2024, with a total loss amounting to at least $17.5 million. The police and Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) said in a joint statement on Tuesday (Jan 21) that victims of such scams typically receive pop-up alerts informing them that their computer had been compromised, with a phone number to call for technical support.  Phone numbers provided by the scammers often start with the «+65» prefix or the number 6, which give victims the impression that they are calling a legitimate helpdesk for technical support.  Scammers would proceed to impersonate support personnel from reputable software providers such as Microsoft or Apple. They would then instruct victims to download remote access applications before requesting them to log into their bank accounts.  Once logged in, scammers would be able to transfer the victim's money out to other bank accounts, said the police and CSA. In some cases, scammers would ask victims to approve the bank transaction with their digital token when bank authentication is required. 

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has convened the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC), the Elections Department (ELD) announced on Wednesday (Jan 22). The committee has been directed to review current electoral division boundaries and recommend the number and boundaries of Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and Single Member Constituencies (SMCs) for the upcoming elections. This review will consider population shifts and housing developments in current electoral divisions, which have impacted the number of electors in certain areas. The EBRC has also been directed to seek to keep the average size of GRCs, the proportion of MPs elected from SMCs, and the average ratio of electors to elected MPs, all at about the same as that in the last General Election. The EBRC is now in the midst of its deliberations and will make its recommendations to PM Wong when it has completed its review. Revision of Registers of Electors The ELD also announced on Wednesday that PM Wong has directed the Registration Officer to revise the Registers of Electors before April 1 so that they are up to date.

Unhappiness and frustrations about the government - even if they are without «logic and rationality» - is a reality everywhere, not just in Singapore, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Tuesday (Jan 21). Speaking at a dialogue session at the University Cultural Centre in NUS, he added that the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) will try to find solutions to Singaporeans' concerns - even if there are «no easy answers». «We explain to you what the situation is to the best of our abilities, and then we find ways to move forward as a country,» said PM Wong to the nearly 900 students across various education institutions. He was responding to a question from a student participant on who had asked: «Do you agree with criticisms of PAP?»  Wong addressed a wide range of topics at the dialogue, including the affordability of public housing, cryptocurrency, and same-sex marriage. Moderated by NUS' vice-provost of student life Leong Ching, the session took a light-hearted tone when another student probed the prime minister about some of the criticisms he had heard about the ruling PAP government.

Singapore's Changi Airport has come full circle as passenger movements in 2024 returned to near pre-pandemic levels, Changi Airport Group (CAG) said in a press release on Wednesday (Jan 22). The airport handled 67.7 million passengers in 2024 - that's 99.1 per cent of the passenger movements recorded in 2019, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2024 figures represent a 14.8 per cent year-on-year increase. About 366,000 flights took off from or landed at Changi Airport in 2024, up 11.5 per cent compared to 2023.  Visitor arrivals to Singapore had previously dropped to 2.7 million in 2020 - the lowest in nearly four decades - due to unprecedented global travel restrictions and border closures during the Covid-19 pandemic, reported The Straits Times in 2021.  New routes Amid the 366,000 flights taking off or landing in Singapore last year, eight new passenger airlines - Aero Dili, AirAsia Cambodia, Air Canada, Air Japan, Loong Air, Peach Aviation, Tianjin Airlines and West Air - were added last year. 

SINGAPORE — While taking care of a one-year-old baby who was sick, a domestic helper forcefully pressed his abdomen, hit him in the face and punched him in the chest. She then applied sugar to the baby's bruises, and later lied to his parents that he was injured from a fall. The baby's father discovered the abuse after viewing closed-circuit television footage. Myanmar national Hsu Yee Mon, 29, was sentenced to a year's jail on Jan 21 after she pleaded guilty to one charge of ill-treating a child. Details about the child and the family's residence were redacted from court documents to protect the victim's identity. The court heard that the incident happened on July 1, 2024. Court documents did not state when Hsu Yee Mon started working for the family. The baby was feeling unwell that day, so his parents took only his siblings to a childcare centre, and left the baby in their helper's care before going to work. At about 6.30pm, the helper fed the infant dinner while he sat in a high chair in the living room. As she fed him, he began to cry.

A 52-year-old male motorcyclist and his 41-year-old female pillion rider were killed in an accident along the Bukit Timah Expressway (BKE) towards PIE on Tuesday (Jan 21) morning. In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police said they were alerted to the fatal road accident which involved a motorcycle and two lorries at about 5.35am. Both motorcyclist and pillion rider were pronounced dead at scene by a paramedic from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). SCDF told AsiaOne they were alerted to the accident at about 5.40am, and conveyed one person to Woodlands Health Campus. Another two persons were pronounced dead at scene. A video of the aftermath filmed by a fellow motorist and posted to Facebook showed the deceased lying on the road, at the right rear end of a white lorry. Other clips taken later in the morning show two lanes of the expressway cordoned off and two blue police tents erected at the accident site.

Within nine hours of receiving an assault report on Monday (Jan 20) morning, the police tracked down and arrested the two suspected perpetrators. The two men, aged 48 and 61, will be charged in court on Wednesday with voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons with common intention, said the police.  In a statement on Tuesday, the police said they received a call for assistance in the vicinity of Lorong 24 Geylang at about 7.35am on Monday. A 26-year-old man was injured and taken conscious to the hospital. Preliminary investigations revealed that the two older men purportedly got into a dispute with the younger victim and allegedly used a metal stick to attack him. The metal stick was found at the scene and subsequently seized as a case exhibit. Police officers established the identities of the two attackers, leading to their arrest within nine hours of the report. If found guilty, the men may face a jail term of up to seven years or be fined or caned.

SINGAPORE — Children younger than 18 months old should not be allowed screen use or be exposed to screens in the background. Background screen use refers to having the television or other devices turned on in the background even when a child is not watching them. These are part of stricter and clearer guidelines on screen use that the Health Ministry (MOH) has provided for children up to 12 years of age. Previous editions had discouraged the use of screens and recommended caregivers to reduce background screen exposure. The updated guidelines, launched on Jan 21, are part of a new national health strategy to encourage children and adolescents to adopt healthier lifestyles. This will focus on those up to 12 years of age, with plans to later extend it to older children. In a joint statement, MOH, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said that children in Singapore face health risks from inactive lifestyles with excessive screen time, poor nutrition, and inadequate sleep and physical activity.

SINGAPORE — From Tuesday (Jan 21), Instagram accounts belonging to users under 18 years old in Singapore will have more restrictive settings by default as the app faces growing pressure to protect children online. Instagram users suspected to be underage will be prompted to confirm their age by providing photo identification or submitting a video selfie. The move, part of a global clean-up of accounts belonging to users who have lied about their age, was first rolled out in the United States and Britain in late 2024 in response to global pressure to safeguard young users from addiction, cyberbullying and harmful content. Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in particular, has faced criticism as a wave of US state attorneys in 2023 accused Meta of hooking children on its apps without mitigating their risks. Instagram's Teen Account settings — such as being invisible to strangers and receiving messages only from people they follow — will kick in if users cannot prove their age. Videos of people fighting, promoting cosmetic procedures, violent movie scenes and other sensitive content will also be kept off the feeds of teen accounts.

A woman reported her parents' maid to the police after she caught the latter allegedly abusing and neglecting her elderly parents on CCTV.  Huang, 63, told Shin Min Daily News last Sunday (Jan 19) that she brought her 91-year-old father to the doctor to treat the pain in his swollen foot on Jan 4.  Her parents' maid from Myanmar, Kaya, reportedly said that the elderly man fell down the night before. Huang shared that Kaya was hired by her family last October to take care of their elderly parents. The elderly couple lives alone in a three-room flat at Henderson Crescent.  To find out how her father fell, Huang decided to check the CCTV footage in her parents' flat.  According to the footage from Jan 3, Huang's 90-year-old mother was siting in the living room with Kaya at about 3pm. When the elderly woman stood up, Kaya, 40, allegedly grabbed her by the neck and shook her before dragging her into the bedroom.  At 10.22pm on the same day, Huang's father fell down. Upon hearing the commotion, Kaya came out to check on him, but did not help him up.