Hume MRT station on the Downtown Line will be opening ahead of schedule, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) announced on Friday (Jan 24). The station, previously expected to open in the second quarter of 2025, will be opening its doors to passengers on Feb 28, 3pm instead. Hume station is situated along Upper Bukit Timah Road, between Hillview and Beauty World stations. «When opened, it will be more convenient for residents to travel to the city centre,» said transport minister Chee Hong Tat in a Facebook post on Friday. Previously, a trip from the area to Downtown station would take 45 minutes. But with the new Hume station, the same journey will only take around 30 minutes. «It will also be easier for commuters to visit attractions like the Former Ford Factory and the Rail Corridor,» Chee added.

The police arrested a boy on Tuesday (Jan 21) after he allegedly threatened his mother with a sharp object at the Geylang condominium unit they live in. An elderly man living in the area told the Straits Times that he noticed a commotion on the third floor of the Cosy Lodge condominium that night. He also saw the police taking away a «young boy» who appeared to be an upper primary school student. In response to AsiaOne's queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the incident at around 8.45pm at 29 Lorong 31 Geylang. SCDF sent rescuers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team to the scene and also deployed a safety life air pack as precautionary measures. Videos of the SCDF's rescue efforts were also uploaded to TikTok by a passer-by. 

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.