SINGAPORE - Growing teens have voracious appetites, but Teo Zi Yee, 17, and David Lucas Soo, 13, feel starved constantly and cannot be left unattended with food. They have Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) - a rare neurodevelopmental and genetic condition where the «switch» in the brain that signals fullness never gets flipped on. PWS occurs when part of the genetic material inherited from the father is missing or does not function. The inability to feel full, causing uncontrollable hunger and overeating, is a hallmark of the syndrome. Eating often and in large portions leads to quick weight gain, and that leads to morbid obesity, said Associate Professor Angeline Lai, a senior consultant with the Genetics Service at KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH). Complications associated with morbid obesity include obstructive sleep apnoea, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol. «The severity of obesity depends partly on how strictly their food intake is controlled. Often, parents have to lock the kitchen or the pantry cupboard to prevent their children with PWS from excessive eating,» Prof Lai said.

A fire that broke out at a HDB flat in Punggol resulted in one individual sent to the hospital while 60 residents were evacuated, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) stated in a Facebook post on Sunday (Jan 26). The fire occurred around 5am this morning at Block 224A, Sumang Lane, and firefighters from Punggol, Sengkang and Tampines Fire Station responded to the incident.  Prior to SCDF's arrival, four persons had already evacuated from the unit. «Upon arrival, black smoke was emitting from a unit on the seventh floor,» the SCDF said. «The fire, which involved a bedroom, was extinguished with a water jet.» As a precautionary measure, about 60 residents in neighbouring units were evacuated by police and SCDF personnel. One individual, however, was assessed by a paramedic for smoke inhalation and was sent to Singapore General Hospital. «Preliminary findings indicate that the fire was likely caused by an electrical origin in the bedroom,» according to the SCDF

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has revoked the licence of a clinic in Bishan from Jan 24 for failing to control its medication prescriptions to patients on numerous occasions. The clinic, located at 512 Bishan Street 12, will not be able to provide its service at its premises, respond to house calls or conduct teleconsultation services, the ministry said in a statement on Jan 25. According to MOH, Prudence Family Clinic was found to have violated the conditions of its licence under the Healthcare Services Act 2020 (HCSA). The breaches were in relation to the prescription and supply of codeine cough preparations, benzodiazepines and other hypnotics. These included the clinic's failure to ensure that doctors avoid prescribing two or more benzodiazepines and other hypnotics to their patient at the same time. They also failed to ensure their doctors referred patients to specialists for further treatment after they had been prescribed benzodiazepines and other hypnotics beyond the eight-week cumulative period.

SINGAPORE — Stay alert if you are walking your dogs near Block 262 Serangoon Central, as the rat burrows in the area have been treated with rodenticides. Facebook group Dogs Singapore user Matthew Koh, in a post, urged those walking their dogs to watch out for these burrows instead of staring at their phones. His post is accompanied by a photo of a treated rat burrow, with white powder sprinkled around its entrance. It is marked with a sign bearing the logo and address of pest control company AZantz Services. The sign indicates that the burrow was treated on Jan 23, and that wax bait and powder had been used. Another Dogs Singapore Facebook user, Wei Jie, also urged dog owners to be careful after he spotted at least two treated burrows. «My dog nearly sniffed it and I had to quickly pull her away, very worrying.» Other users of the group shared their concerns about the small warning sign possibly being washed or blown away, saying that such treatments may also pose a danger to birds, cats and children.

SINGAPORE - When asset manager Look Ru Shin noticed her daughter, then aged 10, glued to her phone, something felt off. “She was trying to hide it,” Madam Look, 46, recalled. A closer look revealed that her daughter, Claire, had received inappropriate messages from a stranger on Minecraft. “I immediately deleted her account and the app,” she said. The incident heightened Madam Look’s concerns about harms online that she had seen, such as toxic trends, warped beauty standards and sexualised content, and their detrimental impact on children. Many parents stand with her in wishing to see more handholding when it comes to online usage for children, but are torn on what the most effective measures should be. Regulators globally are at a crossroads with online platforms and harmful content that plagues social media, games and other apps. Many nations, including Britain, European countries, Indonesia and Singapore are mulling over age restrictions – with some even considering outright bans on social media for teenagers.

The authorities recently uncovered an e-vaporiser distribution network in a joint operation, seizing over 8,700 e-vaporisers and related components. Kpods — vape juice mixed with the anaesthetic agent etomidate — were among the illegal substances discovered during the raid. The operation involving the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), police and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) was carried out over two days, the authorities said in a press release on Friday (Jan 24).  On Jan 6, ICA officers arrested a 28-year-old Singaporean man at Woodlands Checkpoint after finding over 5,500 e-vaporiser components concealed in his car.  The case was subsequently handed over to the HSA, whose investigations revealed that the man was delivering the e-vaporiser components to an industrial unit at Kaki Bukit Road. HSA raided the industrial unit on Jan 7 and seized an additional 3,200 e-vaporisers and components, including Kpods. The illicit substances were reportedly meant for sale via Telegram, a messaging platform.

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. 

A Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) fire engine and a police van were involved in two separate traffic accidents at Sungei Kadut and Marsiling respectively on Thursday (Jan 23). The first accident along Sungei Kadut Street 1, which occurred at about 1.45pm, involved the fire engine, a lorry and a prime mover, said the police in response to AsiaOne's queries. Four male SCDF officers aged between 21 and 28 were taken to hospital. SCDF said that the vehicle carrying a four-person crew was returning to Sungei Kadut fire post after attending to a fire incident in the area, which turned out to be a false alarm. The accident left an SCDF officer, who was seated in the front cabin of the fire engine, trapped. The officer was later freed using hydraulic rescue equipment. This officer and another officer were taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital. The two other SCDF officers were conveyed to Woodlands Health Campus.

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.