The police intend to designate two rally sites for each Group Representation Constituency (GRC) and one for each Single Member Constituency (SMC) in the upcoming General Election (GE), Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xueling said in Parliament on Tuesday (Feb 18). One rally site will also be designated for lunchtime rallies, Sun also said. She was responding to a question posed by Opposition Leader Pritam Singh, who asked how many physical rally sites will be available for the upcoming GE. In his question, Singh also asked how soon the list of sites will be available and whether the Elections Department (ELD) can release the list of physical rally sites when the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) submits its report to Parliament. In her reply, Sun said that the list of rally sites will be made available at the end of nomination proceedings on Nomination Day.  «This is consistent with the approach taken for the Parliamentary General Elections with physical rallies held in 2011 and 2015,» she added. No physical rallies were allowed in GE2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic.

For the first time, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) will be hiring foreigners as paramedics and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) to attend to 995 calls. This will help bolster the SCDF's 24-hour Emergency Medical Services (EMS), which currently has 95 operational ambulances, with plans to expand its fleet to meet the rising demand due to Singapore's ageing population. Hiring foreigners will also address the shortage of local manpower that SCDF is facing when it comes to paramedics and EMTs. An EMS crew usually consists of one paramedic and two EMTs. On Tuesday (Feb 18), Minister of State for Home Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim announced that the SCDF plans to begin hiring foreigners, mainly from Asean countries, in March. Speaking during an appreciation event for SCDF responders, partner and volunteers, he said that the SCDF EMS strives to reach a patient as soon as possible, aiming to respond to 80 per cent of all emergency medical calls within 11 minutes.

SINGAPORE — From Feb 19, companies will have to keep their private-hire cars (PHCs) meant for ride-hailing services for three years before the cars can be converted out of the scheme or transferred to individuals. In a statement on Feb 19, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said the move is meant to stabilise the supply of vehicles used to provide ride-hailing services. The agency said the imposition of the three-year lock-in period will ensure that companies which acquire such vehicles will predominantly lease them to drivers providing ride-hailing services. It will also prevent businesses from converting the cars out of the chauffeured private-hire car scheme prematurely, affecting the supply of such cars providing point-to-point transport services on the market. Before this, there were no restrictions on such conversions. Taxis, in contrast, cannot be sold as or converted into private cars.

Budget 2025 is one for all Singaporeans, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in Parliament on Tuesday (Feb 18). In his first Budget speech as head of government, PM Wong started off by saying that Singapore's economy grew by 4.4 per cent and the median income of workers rose by 3.4 per cent above inflation. A «good momentum» aside, he added that it comes amid «greater global certainty». «But we can look ahead with a degree of confidence. Singapore today is far stronger than we were 60 years ago,» said PM Wong. «This Budget builds on previous Budgets, not only to address today's challenges, but to plan ahead and secure Singapore's future.» Here are some of the key announcements from Budget 2025. Easing Singaporeans' cost of living concerns  Singaporeans will get a mix of vouchers, rebates and credits to help them cope with the rising cost of living. In his Budget speech in Parliament on Tuesday (Feb 18), Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong acknowledged that Singaporeans have had to «tighten their belts» amid the «new price realities» despite inflation expecting to ease further this year.

Singaporeans can look forward to up to $800 in vouchers in celebration of the nation's 60th birthday. During his Budget 2025 speech on Tuesday (Feb 18), Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Lawrence Wong announced the SG60 package which aims to «recognise the contributions of all Singaporeans» and share the benefits of the nation's progress. All Singaporeans aged 21 and above will receive SG60 vouchers across the month of July as part of the package. Those aged 21 to 59 will receive $600 in vouchers while those 60 and older will get $800. Like the CDC vouchers, half of these SG60 vouchers will be set aside for use at supermarkets and the other half for heartland merchants. These vouchers will be valid for use at all businesses that accept CDC vouchers and will be valid until December 2026. Singaporeans will also be entitled to a personal income tax rebate of 60 per cent for the year of assessment 2025, said PM Wong. The rebate will be capped at $200 to mostly benefit the middle-income workers, he added.

«Having children isn't just about bringing them into the world; it's a lifelong responsibility, or at least until they reach adulthood,» said Desiree Leung, a mother of three. For the 30-year-old Leung, that responsibility is also a strain on her financial resources - a constant concern for her despite having a husband who's also in the workforce. «We don't believe that we should cut back on spending what we should for the kids. We believe in increasing our earnings… that's why we can push ourselves to earn what we need to provide the family,» she said. However, her eldest child's Child Development Account (CDA) is depleting, so she hopes the government can provide additional bonuses - not just for her eldest, but also for her other children. Thankfully, some of her worries were allayed on Tuesday - Leung's family and many others in Singapore will be given $500 worth of Child LifeSG Credits as a one-off provision for each of their Singaporean children up to 12 years old, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced during Budget 2025 on Tuesday (Feb 18).

Former Olympic swimmer Mark Chay will take the helm at the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) as their new secretary-general come April 1. Chay's new appointment was announced on Tuesday (Feb 18) in a press release from the SNOC.  Chay will be taking over the post from veteran administrator Chris Chan, who will be retiring after 23 years.  At the same time, Chay will be stepping down from his current role as SNOC vice-president. The 43-year-old former national athlete has represented Singapore on the global stage at the Olympic, Asian, Southeast Asian, and Commonwealth Games. Aside from bringing firsthand experience as an athlete, he has also demonstrated strong leadership in sports governance as president of Singapore Aquatics, the press release stated. Chay, who'd previously served as a Nominated Member of Parliament, was also a coach for seven-time Paralympic gold medallist, Yip Pin Xiu, from 2019 to 2022. The SNOC had engaged a consultancy firm to look for suitable candidates before deciding on Chay, reported The Straits Times.

[UPDATE 3.40pm] Workers' Party chief Pritam Singh has been handed a fine of $7,000 for each charge, after he was found guilty of two charges lying to a parliamentary committee. Principal District Judge Luke Tan imposed the maximum fine, saying: «The court must send a message on the importance of giving truthful information when under oath and this can be done by imposing the maximum fine especially in a case such as this.»  After the sentencing, a media statement posted on Singh's Facebook page said that his lawyers will be appealing his conviction and sentence. «I have instructed my legal team to file a notice of appeal and to look into the written judgment in closer detail,» the WP chief said.

SINGAPORE — Lawyer Lim Tean was sentenced to six weeks' jail and a fine of $1,000 on Feb 17 after attending court hearings on behalf of his clients on 32 occasions without a practising certificate between April 1 and June 9, 2021. Before handing down the sentence, Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun said Lim has not shown any remorse and had practised as an unauthorised person during that time. The judge also said that a deterrent sentence was «desirable» to discourage others from committing similar offences. In July 2024, the 60-year-old opposition politician was convicted of three charges under the Legal Profession Act after a trial. In earlier proceedings, Judge Ong said that it was not disputed that Lim was issued a practising certificate dated June 10, 2021, which came into force that day. With this conviction, the founder of the Peoples Voice party still has pending charges for offences that include criminal breach of trust. These charges will be dealt with at a later date.

Workers' Party (WP) chief and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh has confirmed that he intends to contest in the upcoming General Election. This is consistent with advice he has received that he will not be disqualified from being a member of parliament, Singh said while speaking to media outside the State Courts after his sentencing. On Monday (Feb 17), the WP chief was handed a fine of $7,000 per charge after he was found guilty of two charges of lying to a parliamentary committee. Principal District Judge Luke Tan imposed the maximum fine, saying: «The court must send a message on the importance of giving truthful information when under oath and this can be done by imposing the maximum fine, especially in a case such as this.» 

[UPDATE 12.20pm] Workers' Party chief Pritam Singh has been found guilty of lying to the Committee of Privileges (COP) over former WP MP Raeesah Khan's lie in Parliament. He has been convicted of two charges of falsely testifying during the COP hearings in December 2021. Arguing for the maximum fine of $7,000 on each charge for Singh, the prosecution pointed out that he is the Leader of the Opposition, the Workers' Party's secretary-general as well as a lawyer. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Wong Woon Kwong said that Singh lied to the COP to «protect his own political capital by throwing Khan and his own political cadres under the bus». Singh doubled down on his lie in court and showed no remorse, DCP Wong added. The prosecution also said that Singh's actions did not warrant a jail term as no «appreciable harm» was caused. On the other hand, Singh's lawyer Jumabhoy argued against the maximum fine, saying that each charge deserves no more than a fine of $4,000.

Workers' Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh arrived at the State Courts at about 9.08am on Monday (Feb 17) to await the verdict of his trial on allegedly lying to a parliamentary committee. The 48-year-old, who was wearing WP blue, was accompanied by his legal team including defence lawyers Andre Jumabhoy and Aristotle Eng. He appeared to be in high spirits, and smiled at the media as he walked towards the court. When one reporter remarked that he looked like he was in high spirits, Singh said: «You think so?» Pritam Singh was accompanied by his legal team including defence lawyers Andre Jumabhoy and Aristotle Eng. PHOTO: AsiaOne/Dennis Palit Some members of the public had turned up earlier in the morning, one just before 6am, to queue for tickets to enter the courtroom. Only 43 tickets will be issued. Bank admin staff Darren Tan told AsiaOne he collected his tickets at 8.15am.

A subsidiary of X, the social media company that owns the platform formerly known as Twitter, has taken legal action in the Singapore courts against a US media monitoring website. The defendant, Media Matters for America, is being sued for defamation and malicious falsehood over an online article the group published in 2023, which stated that anti-Semitic content had been found on the platform alongside advertisements from major brands. The court action is brought by Singapore-registered company Twitter Asia Pacific (TAP), which is X's representative in the Asia-Pacific region. According to court documents obtained by The Straits Times, TAP is claiming damages of nearly US$13 million (S$17.4 million) in lost advertising revenue. This court action follows two other pending lawsuits, one filed in the US and the other in Ireland, that have been launched against Media Matters over the same article. X was established by billionaire Elon Musk in 2023 after his acquisition of Twitter in 2022. Media Matters is a liberal non-profit organisation founded in 2004 that seeks to correct conservative misinformation in the US media.

SINGAPORE – Some 29,000 flats built in 1997 or earlier have been chosen for the Housing Board’s Home Improvement Programme (HIP) and will get structural improvements and upgrades to bathrooms and entrances, among other things. Announcing the latest round of the programme on Feb 16, HDB said home owners of these flats will be able to opt for senior-friendly fittings such as grab bars and foldable shower seats. The 371 blocks chosen for upgrades are located in estates that include Choa Chu Kang, Pasir Ris, Tampines and Jurong West, and the Government has allocated more than $407 million for the works. The HIP was launched in 2007 to spruce up older housing estates. As at March 31, 2024, about $4 billion has been spent on the programme. Speaking during a Chinese New Year event on Feb 16 in Pioneer in Jurong West, Minister for National Development Desmond Lee said that, since the launch of the HIP, 494,000 flats, or nine in 10 eligible flats, have been selected for the programme, including the latest batch.  Of these, close to 381,000 flats have been upgraded, HDB said.

Following a public tip-off on Feb 3, enforcement officers apprehended a group of youths seen riding modified and non-compliant active mobility devices (AMDs) on the roads in Punggol. Four non-compliant devices were impounded in the ambush operations, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a Facebook post on Saturday (Feb 15). In 2024, LTA detected 132 cases of personal mobility devices (PMDs), such as electric scooters and hoverboards, being illegally used on the roads. The authority warned that first time-offenders could face fines up of to $2,000, a jail term of up to three months, or both. Their non-compliant devices will also be immediately impounded. «LTA will continue to take firm action against errant AMD (Active Mobility Devices) users who ride irresponsibly and endanger others.» Members of public are urged to report errant device users on the MyTransport.SG app.

Those caught for speeding offences can expect stiffer penalties come 2026, in the form of higher fines and demerit points. Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam indicated this in a speech during the inaugural Road Safety Day at Chong Pang on Saturday (Feb 15), where he noted there has been a «very significant increase» in the number of road accidents since 2020. In 2024, there were nearly 7,200 road accidents which claimed the lives of 142 people. «What that means is that every week, about two to three persons are dying from road accidents,» he said, adding that speeding is a major factor when it comes to the risk of accidents occurring. The minister also highlighted that there were 46 fatal speeding-related accidents in 2024 — up nearly 44 per cent from the previous year. The number of people caught for speeding violations was also at a 10-year high, at 192,000.

SINGAPORE – A district court is set to rule on Feb 17 whether Workers’ Party (WP) chief Pritam Singh lied to a parliamentary committee. Singh, who is Leader of the Opposition, is contesting two charges for allegedly lying to the Committee of Privileges (COP). The COP was convened in November 2021 to look into the lying controversy involving former WP MP Raeesah Khan. If found guilty, Singh faces for each charge a maximum fine of $7,000, a jail term of up to three years, or both. But with sentencing likely taking place at a later date should Singh be convicted, a question mark would remain over his political future. The Constitution states that a person could be disqualified as an MP if he is jailed for at least one year, or fined at least $10,000. It does not say if fines could be compounded.  The Attorney-General’s Chambers has indicated it would be seeking only a fine for both charges if he is convicted. Legal experts earlier told The Straits Times it is very unlikely that Singh would be disqualified and be barred from standing in the upcoming general election.