SINGAPORE – More than 2,000 people in Singapore made appointments to get the influenza vaccine on Feb 4, one day after the shock announcement on Feb 3 of Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu’s death, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said. In comparison, about 3,000 appointments were made online via the Health Appointment System throughout January. Hsu, best known for her role in the iconic drama series Meteor Garden, died on Feb 2 at the age of 48 after succumbing to influenza-related pneumonia while travelling in Japan with her family. Despite the surge in appointments, MOH assured the public that Singapore has sufficient stock of the influenza vaccine. It added that arrangements are in place for public healthcare institutions and general practitioners (GPs) to procure additional supplies if demand increases. News of Hsu’s death also sparked a surge in demand for flu shots in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Taiwan had to purchase an additional 100,000 doses of the vaccine, as its publicly funded doses were expected to run out within a week, news outlet Focus Taiwan reported on Feb 6.

Billionaire hotelier Ong Beng Seng has been diagnosed with cancer. The 79-year-old has been undergoing chemotherapy for multiple myeloma, which is a type of blood cancer characterised by abnormal expansion of cancerous plasma cells in the bone marrow, according to CNA. At Ong's pre-trial conference on Friday (Feb 7), his lawyers said they will «review [their] position», reported The Business Times. His bail was extended and the conference has been adjourned to Feb 28.

A male pedestrian was taken to hospital following a hit-and-run involving a personal mobility device (PMD) on Thursday (Feb 6). The accident took place along Yishun Ring Road towards Yishun Avenue 9 around 11.45pm, the police said in response to queries from AsiaOne. The 33-year-old man was conveyed conscious to Khoo Tech Puat Hospital, the Singapore Civil Defence Force told AsiaOne. A video of the incident uploaded to Facebook group SG Road Vigilante, shows a man lying face down on the road, with a PMD in close proximity. Another person can be seen going up to the man before turning back towards the PMD instead. He trips and falls over the PMD, before getting back on his feet and wheeling the device to the side of the road. As he clears debris on the road, another man wearing a motorcycle helmet is seen walking towards the man lying on the road. An SCDF ambulance and uniformed personnel are also spotted at the scene. Police investigations are ongoing.

«Everybody has a dream - to pursue our dreams, we must win,» said Keith Yeo, one of the many Toto Hong Bao Draw hopefuls this year. Yeo, 46, was queuing outside Tong Aik Huat, a popular Singapore Pools retailer in Hougang, when interviewed by AsiaOne on Friday (Feb 7) morning. Back in 2024, one of the winning tickets was sold at that outlet, marking the fifth time that the outlet has produced a winning Group 1 ticket that year. The large jackpot pool of $12 million attracted a crowd in Hougang, where the queue at Tong Aik Huat easily exceeded over a hundred people and stretched well into the HDB car park behind the outlet. Yeo said that he tries his luck every year - this year, he's pooled together $500 with his friends in hopes of striking it big to fulfill his dreams.

Former transport minister S Iswaran has been placed on home detention as of Friday (Feb 7). Iswaran will serve the remaining eight months of his one-year sentence at home, under specific conditions. These include curfew monitoring using an electronic monitoring tag, being gainfully occupied either in work, study or training, and reporting to the Singapore Prison Service (SPS) for counselling. «He has been assessed suitable for emplacement on the scheme, as he is of low risk of re-offending, did not commit any institutional offence in prison, and has strong family support,» a SPS spokesperson said in response to AsiaOne's queries. Under the Prisons Act, inmates who display good conduct in prison are eligible for remission after serving either two-thirds or 14 days of their sentence, whichever ends later. A prisoner is also eligible to be released on the home detention scheme for a period not exceeding 12 months if they are serving a sentence of four weeks or more and have served at least 14 days of their sentence.

SINGAPORE — Raymond Ng Kai Hoe, who is the husband of anti-vaccine group Healing the Divide founder Iris Koh, was on Feb 7 handed 12 cheating charges involving nearly $61,000. In 2019 and 2020, he allegedly committed multiple counts of cheating linked to a company called Vendshare that dealt with vending machines. There were 12 alleged victims and around $60,800 was involved. The amounts ranged between $1,000 and $13,900 per person. Between Aug 25 and Dec 25, 2019, Ng, 51, who is a former director at the firm, allegedly cheated a man by duping him into believing the payments made to Vendshare were for the co-ownership of coffee vending machines. According to court documents, Ng purportedly dishonestly induced him to make payments totalling $2,500 to Vendshare. Ng also allegedly cheated 11 other people by using a similar method. One of the men, who was purportedly duped between November 2019 and June 2020, was allegedly cheated of the largest amount — $13,900. On Feb 7, the court heard that Ng is not pleading guilty, and his case will be mentioned again on March 7.

SINGAPORE – About 23 tonnes of diesel oil leaked from the Police Coast Guard Brani Regional Base in southern Singapore into surrounding waters on Feb 5. In a joint statement, the Singapore Police Force, Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and National Environment Agency said on Feb 6 that the oil leak was discovered at 11.40am on Feb 5 and “isolated” at about 3.40pm the same day. They said that about 23 tonnes of oil had leaked from a damaged shore fuel hose used to refuel patrol craft at Selat Sengkir. This is at least the fifth incident involving oil spilling into Singapore’s waters since June 2024. The authorities said “there were no oil slicks observed”, but added that an oily sheen could be seen in some areas. Members of the public told The Straits Times they saw patches of oil in the waters off the resort island of Sentosa. Mr Sirius Ng, an outrigger paddler with the Singapore Paddle Club, told ST that he saw patches of oil off the entire south-western coast of Sentosa, from Tanjong Rimau to Tanjong Beach, on Feb 6 from around 6.45am to 8am.

Unable to focus at work after discovering that his girlfriend had cheated on him, a man decided to forge his grandfather's death certificate in order to take leave from his job. For his actions, Barath Gopal, 29, received a fine of $4,000 after pleading guilty on Wednesday (Feb 5) to one count of forgery under the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, local media outlets reported on Thursday. Gopal was working as a security financing operation analyst between November 2022 and December 2023, according to The Straits Times. Distraught after finding out about his girlfriend's infidelity in November 2023, he decided to take a break from work. However, instead of filing for leave using the four days of annual leave he had held at the time, Gopal lied to his supervisor. He claimed that his grandfather had died in his sleep and requested three days of compassionate leave — the maximum duration allowed under the company's policy. His leave request from Nov 8 to Nov 10, 2023, was granted.

Former president Halimah Yacob has denounced US President Donald Trump's recent comments regarding the Gaza Strip, stating that they were «truly horrifying». Trump, in a joint press conference with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held at the White House on Wednesday (Feb 5), had said that the US would «level» the Gaza Strip, «take over» and rebuild the territory. The recently inaugurated president also suggested relocating Palestinians residing in the area to neighbouring countries such as Egypt and Jordan.

Lion City Sailors winger Khairin Nadim has secured a move to Portuguese second-division side FC Vizela on a one-and-a-half-year deal.  The 20-year-old will feature primarily for Vizela's under-23 squad, while being closely monitored by the first-team coaches.  Khairin could make his debut on Feb 25 when Vizela's under-23s take on Benfica B.  «Playing in Europe has always been my goal, and I'm happy to be able to realise this dream,» Khairin said in a Sailors press release on Feb 5. «I'm not just representing the Sailors, but also Singapore as a young player here.» Khairin was once the youngest debutant in the Singapore Premier League (SPL), when he played for the Young Lions in 2020 at 15 years and 298 days. The record is now held by Nathan Mao, who debuted at 15 years and 5 days for the Sailors in 2023.  Khairin still holds the record as the second-youngest Singaporean to score in the SPL, netting against BG Tampines Rovers at 16 years and 194 days.

A 30-year-old Chinese national has been charged for stealing US$885 (S$1,197) of cash on a flight to Singapore. The police were alerted to the case of alleged theft onboard the flight at around 1.56pm on Tuesday (Feb 4). According to court documents, the theft had occurred between 8.40am and 1.48pm on Scoot flight TR813 en route from Jeju to Changi Airport. A passenger had seen the man touching her bag stored in the overhead compartment and confronted him, according to a police statement released on Wednesday. Upon checking the contents of her backpack, she discovered the sum of cash missing from a draw string pouch within the bag. Officers from the Airport Police Division subsequently conducted follow-up investigations once the flight landed at Changi Airport, the statement read. With the assistance of cabin crew aboard the flight, the missing stack of cash was discovered in another overhead compartment near where the man, identified as Zhang Youqi in court documents, was seated during the flight.

In Matthew Lim's WhatsApp group chat with his National Service buddies, football banter and workout routines are frequently brought up. But in the past year, their light-hearted conversations have taken a somber turn after two of the 30-year-old's friends were laid off. Lim, who has been in the tech industry for six years, is not feeling too confident about keeping his job either. He added that the recent news reports of mass layoffs in the once-booming tech sector, such as when consumer electronics giants Dyson and Samsung axed jobs last October, gave him the «chills.» «The price of a cup of kopi first went up by 20 cents, and now 50 cents,» he told AsiaOne on Monday (Feb 3). «I'm not even concerned about a pay raise, but more about whether I will still have a job at the end of the year.»

Two men have been arrested for allegedly assaulting a man with a brick in Geylang. The police were alerted to the incident which occurred at Lorong 21 Geylang on Tuesday (Feb 4) at 9am, according to a statement released on Wednesday. The two individuals, aged 21 and 22, had allegedly used a brick to attack a 43-year-old man. The victim was conveyed to Changi General Hospital after being found with multiple fractures on his face and abrasions on his body. Officers from the Bedok Police Division used images from CCTVs and police cameras to identify the suspects and arrested them within 11 hours of the report. The two men will be charged in court on Thursday with the offence of voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous means with common intention. If convicted, the suspects face jail terms of up to 15 years. They may also be caned and/or fined. «The police have zero tolerance for such brazen acts of violence and will not hesitate to take action against those who blatantly disregard the law,» said the police.

SINGAPORE - Nearly $7 billion will be spent on marriage and parenthood initiatives in financial year 2026, up from over $4 billion in 2020. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah cited this figure to show how much recent policy changes to the early childhood sector and to parental leave entitlements will add up to on an annual basis. Speaking in Parliament on Feb 5, Ms Indranee said Singaporean families continued to be a top national priority, even as family formation and fertility rates fall here and around the world due to changing social norms. She noted that the $7 billion figure is over and above government subsidies in other areas such as education and housing. “The decision to marry and have children is a deeply personal one, but we know from our surveys that the majority of Singaporeans aspire to get married and have children,” she said. “This is encouraging and gives hope for the future.” In the last five years, the Government has made a series of “major shifts and bold moves” to address people’s concerns in order to make Singapore as conducive to marriage and parenthood as possible, she said.