The People's Power Party (PPP) has withdrawn from its four-party alliance, People's Alliance for Reform (PAR), which includes the Peoples Voice (PV), Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Reform Party (RP).  Secretary-general Goh Meng Seng announced this in a Facebook post on Saturday (Feb 22) and said that the decision was due to the parties' «irreconcilable strategic differences» for the 2025 General Elections (GE).  «We have reached a consensus that it would be a better option for PPP to withdraw from PAR,» he said.  «This is to ensure that PAR could continue to function as an effective political force in the upcoming GE without unnecessary disruptions that might arise from our fundamental strategic differences.» 

SINGAPORE — The four Ong children, aged three, five, eight and 10, do not go for tuition, travel or shop for clothes or toys — hand-me-downs from neighbours serve them just fine. They share bedrooms and have their meals in their five-room flat. Weekends are spent at the parks, having picnics and playing Frisbee. This simple lifestyle makes the family's single income go a longer way. The father of the four children, James Ong, 42, had heard from older relatives and friends that they wished they had spent more time with their families. And so, while others in their 30s chased their careers, he made the decision to put his family first and support them with his paid work as a self-employed life coach. His wife, 41-year-old Quek See Leng, who had been engaged in youth work before she had her eight-year-old, said people spend a lot of time and energy making sure they have enough to meet the high costs of living here. «In time to come, we realise that actually we are serving money. We've always felt that money must serve us. We cannot serve money. So we must first know what we really want.»

SINGAPORE - When Jeremy Cheong, 41, attended his secondary school reunion party in 2024, he said his former classmates looked their age - with wrinkles on their faces and frown lines between their eyebrows. Standing among them, the administrative executive looked like a young man in his 20s. He could even have easily passed off as one of their sons. «Nobody really explained to me that because my cortisol production had stopped, I had to be on steroids for life. The good thing is that I won't age. It actually took me 10 years to realise it,» Cheong told The Straits Times. Cheong looks forever young due to a rare condition called panhypopituitarism. The condition is caused by the reduced production of hormones in the pituitary gland, a pea-size organ that sits behind the bridge of the nose at the base of the brain. «The gland controls many of our hormonal functions, like our thyroid gland, the maturation of our sexual organs in both gender, production of growth hormones, the regulation of human output from our body,» said Dr Mok Shao Feng, a senior consultant in the Division of Endocrinology at the National University Hospital. 

A video of a lorry with its windscreen punctured by a pipe has shocked some netizens. The 25-second clip shared by TikTok user Zulkifil Nordin on Friday (Feb 21) shows one end of the pipe resting on the road, with the other end appearing to have pierced through the lorry's windscreen. The affected lorry was transporting a bundle of pipes on its rear deck. The driver did not appear to be in the cabin at the time of filming. According to the video, the accident occurred at the junction of Yishun Avenue 8 and Avenue 9. https://www.tiktok.com/@zulkifli.nordin0/video/7473693211186253063 Zulkifil said in response to comments under his post that no one was hurt. AsiaOne understands the police were not alerted to the accident. The clip has garnered over 170,000 views at the time of writing and has also been reposted to other social media platforms. Netizens surmised that the lorry driver might have braked suddenly, causing the transported pipe to slide towards the road and hit the vehicle's windscreen. Others expressed their shock at the dangerous situation and wondered if the driver is safe.

After being caught with prohibited weapons in his baggage, an Australian man verbally abused Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers. El Sayed Aladdin's passport was then impounded by the police, but the man attempted to flee Singapore using another person's passport. On Friday (Feb 21), the 28-year-old Australian was sentenced to eight months and two weeks' jail, and a fine of $6,500 in default of 20 days' imprisonment. ICA and the police said in a joint news release that Aladdin was stopped by ICA officers for baggage checks at Changi Airport on Dec 14, 2024, and found to be carrying several prohibited items including knuckle dusters and flick knives. When told that the matter would be referred to the police for further investigation, the man made derogatory and insulting remarks against the ICA officers.

Tiong Bahru Market will be closed for a period of three months, from April 14 to July 13, to undergo renovations. A post made by Tiong Bahru Hot Plate Western Stall on the Facebook group Hawkers United - Dabao 2020 showed a notice dated Jan 17 posted at the market and hawker centre by the National Environment Agency (NEA). It informed that the NEA had hired a contractor to carry out «Repairs and Redecoration works» at Tiong Bahru Market, including re-painting as well as replacing of tables, stools, floor and wall tiles, and anti-skid waterproof materials at the carpark deck. The horticulture at the courtyard will also be enhanced. Hawkers were also asked to remove unwanted articles, turn off their utilities supply and shroud their stalls in protective covering before locking up on April 13, after which no entry is permitted into the work area.

Unlike most students who anxiously waited to collect their A-level results on Feb 21, Ida (not her name) had motivations beyond just applying for higher education. She hoped to inspire her two children, whom she sees only occasionally, to work hard and not give up on their dreams. Ida, who went to prison in 2015, is serving a 25-year sentence for drug trafficking. “I want (my children) to know that even though I’m coming to 40 years old, and I have white hair, education is important, and I haven’t stopped studying,” the 38-year-old said in an interview with The Straits Times. “If I can do it, then they can do it too.” Ida, who has a 13-year-old daughter and a nine-year-old son, was one of 13 students who took the A-level exams in Prison School in 2024. Each year, more than 300 inmates further their education in the Prison School, which is located inside Institution Tanah Merah 1 (formerly known as Tanah Merah Prison). It runs academic classes of various levels, including General Education (GE) courses, Normal Academic (NA), Ordinary (O) and Advanced (A) Levels.

Last year, Singapore saw spikes in the number of fatal traffic accidents due to speeding as well as the number of speeding violations. Speeding-related fatal accidents rose by 43.8 per cent, from 32 cases in 2023 to 46 cases in 2024, said the traffic police in their annual Road Traffic Situation report on Friday (Feb 21). There was a 64.8 per cent jump in the number of speeding violations in 2024 as compared to 2023. The police noted 191,931 such cases last year, up from the 116,440 cases in the year before. Additionally, the proportion of fatal accidents occurring due to speeding was 33.1 per cent in 2024, a notable increase from 24.4 per cent in 2023, said the traffic police.

SINGAPORE — Four more individuals have been charged with having a role in the alleged sexual assault of a two-year-old girl in 2023. On Feb 21, three women and one man were charged after investigations revealed their alleged involvement in covering up another man's sexual assault on the child. The women, aged 48, 61 and 65, and the man, 58, cannot be named due to a court-imposed gag order to protect the identity of the pre-schooler. They were each given one charge of intentionally omitting information on the alleged sexual assault. The 48-year-old woman and 58-year-old man each face another charge of the obstruction of justice as they allegedly reformatted the pre-school's closed circuit television system on Nov 26, 2023, which contained a clip of the alleged offence. The two of them were also given a third charge of obstruction of justice between Nov 16, 2023, and Nov 17, 2023, after the woman deleted a video clip of the alleged sexual assault in her WhatsApp chat with the male co-accused who was in Vietnam at the time.

Have you been passed over for a job role after being told you were too old for it? Or denied a promotion because you were planning to start a family? Read on to learn more about stronger protections for jobseekers and employees against workplace discrimination, and how this will promote fair and harmonious workplaces that benefit both employers and employees. To strengthen protections against workplace discrimination, while preserving our fair and harmonious workplace norms, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is introducing the Workplace Fairness Legislation (WFL) to complement the current Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices (TGFEP). Singapore's approach to Workplace Fairness Legislation to prioritise workplace harmony The legislation is particularly timely given Singapore's ageing population and tight labour market. Prohibiting discrimination based on age supports the employment of senior workers. Similarly, protections for caregivers and women aim to boost workforce participation and provide opportunities for career progression.

Hawkers must personally operate their stalls to prevent subletting, said the National Environment Agency (NEA) on Thursday (Feb 20). «Subletting would drive up rental prices and food prices to the detriment of Singaporeans,» they added. The agency was responding to AsiaOne's queries after a hawker's complaint went viral on social media this week. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Noorman Mubarak said that he was forced to make his heavily pregnant wife stand in their nasi lemak stall at Yishun Park Hawker Centre, after they received a warning for violating NEA's tenancy agreement.  Noting that it is «rightly so» that hawkers must personally manage the stall, he took issue with NEA saying that «personally means physically being in the stall». According to Noorman, he and his wife have been managing the original Nasi Lemak Ayam Taliwang stall since 2017.  After personally manning the stall for up to 18 hours daily for years, the couple now let their staff run the stall while they handle administrative work and other matters.

Spanish prosecutors are pursuing a murder charge against Mitchell Ong, who is suspected of killing a Singaporean woman in Spain. The body of 39-year-old Audrey Fang, who had been reported missing, was found with 30 stab wounds in a town 150km away from her hotel on April 10, 2024. Ong, who is also Singaporean, was arrested on April 16. Appearing in Spanish court on Thursday (Feb 20), prosecutors and lawyers asked for Ong to be charged with murder, reported local publication La Verdad. But the defence called for the case to be dismissed and asked for new proceedings, including an independent assessment of Ong's phone and a formal statement from the accused, who has remained silent after his arrest. The lawyer representing Fang's family maintained that the facts constitute a crime of murder, which Ong allegedly committed «in a treacherous and cruel manner», reported La Verdad.

In her second year of studies at Republic Polytechnic, biotechnology student Joanne Chew decided to apply for a scholarship with the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) to pursue her passion for food biotechnology. The then 18-year-old took on an internship stint with the agency as part of the application process and was eventually awarded its Singapore Sustainability Scholarship (Diploma). Aside from gaining financial support, the Class of 2024 graduate also landed herself a full-time job — recipients of this scholarship have to fulfil a two-year bond period. In 2024, fewer fresh polytechnic graduates found full-time employment as compared to previous years, according to a joint survey conducted by the five local polytechnics which was released this January. Of the 7,614 fresh polytechnic graduates who responded to the survey, about half were in the labour force as of Oct 1, 2024, six months after graduation. 49.2 per cent of these fresh graduates in the labour force had secured full-time permanent employment, a dip from the 55.5 per cent in 2023 and 56.1 per cent in 2022.

[UPDATE Feb 21, 10.35am] The National Environment Agency (NEA) and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) will investigate a fire which broke out at a recycling and waste management company in Kranji on Feb 19. In response to AsiaOne's queries, NEA said that this is the fourth fire incident at the facility located at 11 Kranji Crescent. The first incident occurred in March 2018, and the subsequent incidents in June 2023 and March 2024. «Whether or not action will be taken will depend on the outcome of the investigation,» said the agency. NEA said it had worked with the Ministry of Manpower and SCDF in 2022 and published an advisory on safe management of waste materials. It will work with the relevant agencies to update the guidelines if there are new findings from this incident. «NEA will also engage the operators of recycling facilities to further reinforce the message of fire safety and best practices to minimise fire risks,» it added. [UPDATED 7.35pm]

SINGAPORE - A skimpily dressed woman performed a sex act at a Housing Board void deck in Boon Lay, in response to a challenge from viewers of her TikTok live streaming. Her husband sat beside her and acted as a lookout to ensure no one would interrupt. On Feb 20, Adrian Ching Kah Siang, 36, and his Vietnamese wife Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan, 31, were each jailed for three weeks. Lan admitted to one charge of doing an obscene act. Ching, a Singaporean, admitted to abetting the act. One similar charge each was taken into consideration for their sentencing. District Judge Jasvender Kaur said that Lan’s act was highly offensive, and she was satisfied that the threshold for jail was crossed. Those who commit any obscene act in a public place can be jailed for up to three months, fined, or both. Ching asked for a gag order to be imposed on the couple’s identities so as to not cause further emotional damage to his mother. “It also protects my wife’s dignity,” he said. The judge said no.

The goodies that Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced in his Budget speech on Tuesday (Feb 18) had new homeowner Astrid Yan feeling like it is Chinese New Year again. «I was like, 'wow, I guess that's an additional ang pow to be collected across the year,» she said about the $600 and $800 in SG60 and Community Development Council (CDC) vouchers respectively. PM Wong, who is also finance minister, said the Budget is one for the future and that «no will be left behind». It is jam-packed with announcements from schemes to help lower-wage workers to encouraging Singaporeans to have three or more children. Yan is one of the Singaporeans AsiaOne interviewed to share their thoughts on Budget 2025. . 'A gift and blessing' Yan is moving into a new Build-To-Order (BTO) flat in Kallang in May - the same month that the first $500 in CDC Voucher will be disbursed. The 30-year-old in the sales industry also said that the SG60 voucher «is a great thing for all Singaporeans».

Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) secretary-general Chee Soon Juan plans to contest for the Bukit Batok Single Member Constituency (SMC) again in the upcoming general election and will be holding fundraising dinners at his restaurant, Orange & Teal, until Feb 26. Dr Chee, who had previously contested in Bukit Batok SMC, lost to PAP MP Murali Pillai during the 2020 general elections. The former had garnered 45.2 per cent of votes, while Pillai received 54.8 per cent. In a video posted to Facebook on Wednesday (Feb 19), Dr Chee criticised Singapore's existing approach to education and immigration while laying out SDP's alternative policies. Suggestions such as scrapping the Primary School Leaving Examination and reducing class sizes to 20 students per teacher were brought up during the over eight-minute clip. «There is no new, bold thinking to tackle the problems that our society faces,» said Dr Chee. «The PAP will not reform itself. Singaporeans will have to step in to get the job done. And there is no more crucial, more urgent time than this coming election.»

SINGAPORE — By making amendments on Microsoft Excel files used for payrolls, a woman working at a fintech company committed cheating linked to more than $5.7 million, mostly relating to cryptocurrency. On Feb 20, Ho Kai Xin, 32, was sentenced to nine years and 11 months' jail after she pleaded guilty to five cheating charges, eight counts of dealing with the benefits of criminal conduct, and one count of giving false information to a public servant. Thirty other charges were considered during her sentencing. In January, the Singaporean was given six weeks' jail for contempt of court after spending the ill-gotten funds despite being ordered not to do so. Ho will start serving her longer sentence after completing her earlier one. The prosecution said she had used her ill-gotten gains to live a lavish lifestyle, including placing a down payment of nearly $750,000 for a penthouse in Gilstead Road near Dunearn Road worth more than $3.7 million. She also bought sunglasses, bags, shoes, shirts and rings from luxury brand Louis Vuitton, each costing thousands of dollars, Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin told the court.