A former Kinderland pre-school teacher who was filmed manhandling several children at a Woodlands pre-school was convicted in court on Thursday (March 13). Singaporean Lin Min, 35, has been sentenced to 17 months' and two weeks jail, after previously pleading guilty to three charges of ill-treating a child. Three other charges were taken into consideration for sentencing. The case had made the news in August 2023 after clips of Lin forcefully feeding children liquids went viral online. One video also showed her striking a child's bottom with a book. The Mandarin teacher was subsequently fired and barred by the Early Childhood Development Agency from working in the pre-school sector.

When an explosion occurred at an HDB flat, teachers at a My First Skool branch in the same block quickly acted to ensure the children's safety, even carrying some kids away from that block, said a parent of one of the kids.  Hafizah Ali, 35, whose two-year-old son is in that pre-school, told AsiaOne that she received a call from his teacher at about 1.25pm on Wednesday (March 12) to inform her about a fire in the same block. The children had been evacuated to a Residents' Corner in the next building, and Hafizah's son was crying, the teacher said. «I hurried over and saw about five fire engines, ambulances and [a] police car already there,» said the home-based business owner.  Although her son had stopped crying by the time she reached him, he burst into tears once again upon seeing her, said Hafizah. «He hasn't started talking so I may not know exactly how he felt, but as his mom I know [when] he needs comfort,» she explained.

SINGAPORE — When Inspector Muhammad Rasidi Suriade of the Police Coast Guard (PCG) got a call on Feb 28 about a Singapore-registered chemical tanker being boarded illegally by unknown suspects, he rushed to the scene. He and his colleagues were on a PCG boat patrolling Singapore waters just five minutes away. The PCG boarded the tanker after it entered Singapore territorial waters. Insp Rasidi and five officers boarded the vessel at around 8.20am and saw a crew member lying on the ship's main deck, bleeding from his right eye. Seeing that his injuries were serious, Insp Rasidi told two of his officers to stay with the injured man, while the remaining four officers turned their attention to finding the suspects. Insp Rasidi was recounting the «unauthorised boarding» incident that happened in the Singapore Strait, outside Singapore territorial waters. The 29-year-old injured Indian national is in a stable condition and has been discharged from hospital.

Stay in the know with a recap of our top stories today. 1. GE2025: 5 hot wards to watch The electoral boundaries of Singapore have been redrawn — which means election season is almost here. New faces from various political parties have been spotted on the ground over the past few months, with some opposition parties laying early claims on certain constituencies... » READ MORE 2. CDL saga: Kwek Leng Beng ends lawsuit, all parties to remain in roles

SINGAPORE — Four Dutch crew members on a Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima, which hit another vessel at Pasir Panjang Terminal in June 2024, have admitted to failing to discharge their duties properly. The incident caused serious damage to a bunker vessel — the Singapore-flagged Marine Honour — and led to the worst oil spill in Singapore in 10 years. On March 12, Richard Ouwehand, 49, Martin Hans Sinke, 48, Eric Peijpers, 56, and Merijn Heidema, 26, pleaded guilty to one charge each under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995 for their role in the oil spill. The oil spill spread to the coastlines of East Coast Park, Labrador Nature Reserve and Sentosa, the Southern Islands and even to the Johor coastline in Kota Tinggi. Deputy Public Prosecutor Regina Lim told the court on March 12 that clean-up operations took more than two months, and that the full extent of the oil spill's impact on the coastal and marine environment is still being assessed. Marine Honour is still undergoing repairs for the damage, and the cost of repairs is estimated to exceed $6.6 million, the prosecutor added.

A 62-year-old bus driver died after he was involved in an accident with a lorry on Wednesday (March 12). The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to the accident at 11.15am near the junction of Eu Tong Sen Street and Outram Road. SCDF told AsiaOne two people were taken to Singapore General Hospital. The police said the the bus driver was unconscious when taken to the hospital, where he later died. A 47-year-old passenger was taken conscious to the hospital. In a video posted online, a white bus is seen mounted on a kerb with a fallen tree lying in its path.  Police investigations are ongoing.

Prosecutors told a court on Thursday (March 13) that a case in which Singapore-based firms have been accused of fraudulently supplying US servers to Malaysia involves transactions worth US$390 million (S$519 million). Three men have been charged with committing fraud against Dell and Super Micro by falsely representing where the servers would end up. Local media have linked the case to the possible transfer of Nvidia's artificial intelligence chips to Chinese AI firm DeepSeek. The US is investigating if DeepSeek, whose AI model's performance rocked the tech world in January, has been using banned US chips. Authorities have said the servers may have contained Nvidia chips but did not say whether the chips were the high-end semiconductors that are subject to US export controls. Asked about the potential link to DeepSeek, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam said last week that he did not want to speculate. The three suspects are Singaporeans Aaron Woon, 41, and Alan Wei, 49, and Chinese national Li Ming, 51.

Repairs are ongoing at a Yew Tee HDB block after floor tiles popped out at the lift landing area on March 11. In a minute-long video posted on TikTok by user yunzhonh.qu, cracked tiles were seen strewn over the area at Block 691A Choa Chu Kang Crescent. Some tiles could also be seen popping high into the air. As at 12pm on Thursday (March 13), the video has garnered 524,000 views. In response to the incident, MP for Marsiling-Yew Tee GRC Alex Yam said in a Facebook post that town council workers have removed the popped tiles and repairs will take two weeks to complete.  He added that popping tiles occur with changing temperatures or age. 

The electoral boundaries of Singapore have been redrawn — which means election season is almost here. New faces from various political parties have been spotted on the ground over the past few months, with some opposition parties laying early claims on certain constituencies. As recommended by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC), there will be 10 five-member GRCs and eight four-member GRCs, as well as 15 SMCs in the 2025 General Election (GE). Particularly fierce contests are predicted to take place in some electoral divisions; here are five notable ones to keep an eye on. Aljunied GRC The first ever GRC to be won by an opposition party, Aljunied has been held by the Workers' Party (WP) since GE2011. In GE2020, the WP team of Pritam Singh, Sylvia Lim, Faisal Manap, Gerald Giam and Leon Perera claimed Aljunied GRC with 85,603 votes (59.93 per cent).

You may be familiar with the history of how Singapore grew from a fishing village to the metropolitan city that it is today. With such a huge transformation, it is important to reflect on how we got here and what our next steps are. To guide Singapore in charting its next lap of growth, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) has unveiled the Singapore Economy 2030 vision. The strategic blueprint centres on four key pillars to propel Singapore's growth trajectory: Trade, Enterprise, Manufacturing, and Services. Here are the important takeaways from the Singapore Economy 2030 vision: Trade 2030 By 2030, Singapore aims to boost its export value to at least S$1 trillion and its international commodity trade flows to US$2 trillion (SGD$2.7 trillion). To achieve these goals, the Trade 2030 strategy focuses on anchoring new flows and growing trading volumes, deepening companies' efforts in key areas such as sustainability, and enhancing trade relationships with global economies.

SINGAPORE - Billionaire tycoon Kwek Leng Beng will drop the lawsuit he had filed against his son Sherman Kwek and other directors of City Developments Limited (CDL), in the latest turn of a high-profile family rift that set tongues wagging for more than two weeks. The executive chairman of CDL said on March 12 that he has decided to drop the lawsuit he had filed in February to stop his son and majority directors of CDL from implementing a number of board resolutions.  The lawsuit was also filed to restrain two newly appointed independent directors from exercising their powers. “I will continue in my role as executive chairman, and Sherman Kwek will continue as group chief executive officer,” he said. All the current directors, including the two new independent directors – Ms Jennifer Duong Young and Ms Wong Su-Yen – will remain on the CDL board, he added. The older Kwek said all CDL board members have agreed to put aside their differences for the greater good of CDL and its stakeholders.

Although the newly formed Sembawang West single-member constituency (SMC) has split from the Sembawang group representation constituency (GRC) for the upcoming general election, it «remains an integral part of the Sembawang family», said MP Ong Ye Kung. Ong, who is also Minister for Health, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (March 12) that the new ward's upgrading and development plans will continue to be part of the GRC's town development plan. «As an SMC, [Sembawang West] will be able to have more autonomy and flexibility to implement initiatives to address the specific needs of its residents,» he wrote. Ong also said that the change in electoral boundaries in the area was not surprising as more residents have moved into Sembawang GRC, and the population has expanded considerably over the past few years. «Increasing the number of MPs from five to six in the area will help to better serve the needs of our residents,» he said, adding that the key change for the constituency is that it will go from being a five-person GRC to a «five-person GRC plus an SMC».

Voting patterns in the new Punggol Group Representation Constituency (GRC) may change due to young residents, a political expert has said. On Tuesday, the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee announced changes to constituencies which will include five new GRCs such as Pasir Ris-Changi, Punggol, Jurong East-Bukit Batok, Marine Parade-Braddell Heights and West Coast-Jurong West.  The new SMCs include Bukit Gombak, Jalan Kayu, Jurong Central, Queenstown, Sembawang West and Tampines Changkat. Speaking to AsiaOne on Tuesday (March 11) on the key battleground constituencies for the upcoming General Election (GE), independent political observer Dr Felix Tan commented that the new Punggol GRC comprises «a lot of younger voters and newer estates» which may «shift voting patterns around». On the ground, younger Punggol residents are hopeful that this change would help their voices be better heard. «I thought that (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) was actually quite big, so maybe being just Punggol GRC might be a good thing,» 34-year-old Punggol resident Lim told AsiaOne. «Maybe our MPs may be a bit more focused on our GRC.»

HANOI — Singapore and Vietnam on Wednesday (March 12) have agreed to enhance co-operation in subsea cables, finance, and energy, marking an upgrade in their relations to Vietnam's highest level, during a visit by its Communist Party Chief To Lam to the city-state. Singapore is the third Southeast Asian nation, after Malaysia and Indonesia, with which Vietnam has established a «comprehensive strategic relationship». In a joint statement released following the upgrade, Lam and Singapore's Prime Minister Lawrence Wong witnessed the exchange of six agreements and discussed co-operation in undersea cable development, digital connectivity, and cross-border data flows. Southeast Asian countries, a major junction for cables connecting Asia to Europe, aim to expand their networks to meet the surging demand for AI services and data centres. Vietnam alone plans to launch 10 new submarine cables by 2030.

Although the newly formed Sembawang West single-member constituency (SMC) has split from the Sembawang group representation constituency (GRC) for the upcoming general election, it «remains an integral part of the Sembawang family», said MP Ong Ye Kung. Ong, who is also the Minister for Health said in a Facebook post on Wednesday (March 12) that the new ward's upgrading and development plans will continue to be part of the GRC's town development plan. «As an SMC, (Sembawang West) will be able to have more autonomy and flexibility to implement initiatives to address the specific needs of its residents,» he wrote. Ong also said that the change in electoral boundaries in the area was not surprising as more residents have moved into Sembawang GRC, and the population has expanded considerably over the past few years. «Increasing the number of MPs from five to six in the area will help to better serve the needs of our residents,» he said, adding that the key change for constituency is that it will go from being a five-person GRC to a «five-person GRC plus an SMC».

Following the latest report by the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC), several opposition parties, including the Workers' Party (WP) and the Progress Singapore Party (PSP), have come out to express concerns over some of the boundary changes.  In a statement after the report was released on Tuesday (March 11), the WP noted «significant changes» to areas where they have been «working consistently for the last few years». The party didn't name those areas.  The Committee's proposed changes include 18 Group Representation Constituencies (GRCs) and 15 single-member constituencies (SMCs), an increase from the current 17 GRCs and 14 SMCs. The proposed revisions were a result of «population shifts and housing developments», said EBRC.

SINGAPORE – A 58-year-old man was arrested after a younger man was found dead in a Housing Board flat in Boon Lay on March 11.  The 56-year-old man was found lying motionless in an 11th-floor unit at Block 187 Boon Lay Avenue, and was pronounced dead at the scene. The police said they received a call for assistance at about 11.35am. Preliminary investigations showed that both parties were known to each other. The Straits Times understands that the pair are brothers. The suspect was arrested at the scene. Police investigations are ongoing. When ST arrived at the scene at 5.25pm, several police officers were outside the unit, which had been cordoned off. A body was removed from the unit at 5.30pm.

A pedestrian was taken to hospital after sustaining serious injuries in a car crash in Geylang on Monday (March 10). The accident took place along 340 Geylang Road towards Kallang Road.  According to Shin Min Daily News, the car crashed into the man, the impact throwing him about two metres away. The man was later seen lying on the ground, with his face covered in blood, Shin Min reported. He also suffered a wound on his thigh. A video of the incident posted on Facebook shows a white Mazda with a crushed bonnet. Paramedics can be seen attending to the injured pedestrian as a crowd gathered around the scene. The male driver, whose car mounted the curb before crashing into the victim, appears to be in a daze following the accident.  In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force said that they were alerted to the accident at about 10.10 am on Monday. A 48-year-old male driver and a 44-year-old male pedestrian were both conscious when conveyed to hospital. One was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and the other was taken to Raffles Hospital.

A Singaporean man was sentenced to 11 years in jail by a Hong Kong court on March 11 for separate charges of robbery and attempted robbery, local media reported. Leong How Seng, 75, pleaded guilty on March 10 to one count of robbery and one count of attempted robbery, according to Hong Kong daily Ming Pao.  On April 14, 2022, Leong entered China Construction Bank in Kowloon and passed a bank employee a note that said: «We have a gun, put the money into the bag quickly, if you don't co-operate, we will shoot.» Leong pointed the air gun at the employee and threatened to kill her when she tried to stall for time.  He fled the scene with around HK$14,000 (S$2,400) in cash, and was arrested at home on the same day. He later confessed to having spent some of the money, including HK$7,500 on rental.   According to Yahoo Hong Kong, Judge Douglas Yau Tak-hong said robbery and intimidation with a gun-like object warranted a sentence of at least 12 years. Leong also attempted another robbery on July 1, 2022, at a pharmacy in Mong Kok's Golden Plaza.

In a clear indication that a general election (GE) is imminent, the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC) has published its report on Singapore's electoral boundaries. In the report, which was released on Tuesday (March 11), some of the changes include the creation of one more GRC and an additional single-seat ward. There will be 10 five-member GRCs, one less than the 11 in 2020, while the number of four-member GRCs increased to eight from the six in 2020. There will be 15 single member constituencies (SMCs). There are currently 14 SMCs and 17 GRCs with four or five members each. The Government has accepted the recommendations of the Committee and will implement them at the next GE. This paves the way for the upcoming GE which must be held by November 2025. It will be the first under Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and his 4G leadership team.

Nine people suffered severe skin reactions and were hospitalised after consuming unregistered medicines touted to boost energy and improve alertness. In a statement on Monday (March 10), the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) urged the public not to obtain or consume products containing modafinil or armodafinil without medical supervision. The authority said that these nine cases, involving seven men and two women aged between 18 and 57 years old, occurred between February 2024 and February 2025. There were three similar cases in a prior warning issued in November 2023. They had reportedly obtained modafinil and armodafinil from street peddlers in Geylang or from their friends and consumed them as «supplements to boost energy and health». Blistering and severe peeling of the skin Six of the nine individuals developed Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS), a life-threatening skin condition characterised by blistering and severe peeling of the skin and mucous membranes, said HSA. A man in his 40s also suffered from severe oral ulcers that prevented him from eating and speaking for a few days.

SINGAPORE – Financial services firm Chocolate Finance on March 10 suspended instant withdrawals, citing high demand. It said on its mobile app that it was experiencing an unusually high volume of withdrawal requests, so users making requests during this period would have to wait between three and 10 days to get back their money. In a media statement released on March 10, Chocolate Finance said it wanted to “reassure our customers” that it “remains a strong and stable place for” their spare cash, and that customer funds are “always safe”. It said that the pause in instant withdrawals and its Chocolate card transaction service is “not a liquidity issue but a matter of managing our increased transaction volume”. The pausing of transactions on its card is also so that it could “implement measures to manage this volume and expedite the return to normal service”.