Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight SQ246 from Brisbane to Singapore was diverted to Perth on Tuesday morning (July 8) after the aircraft reportedly experienced a technical issue.The aircraft, an Airbus A350-900, departed Brisbane on Monday night (July 7) and was scheduled to land at Changi Airport at 5.45am on Tuesday morning. AsiaOne reviewed SQ246's flight profile on flight tracking website Flightradar24. The aircraft cruised normally at 38,000 ft after taking off. About three hours and 50 minutes into the flight, the plane began to descend and levelled off at 25,000ft as it passed north of the Great Sandy Desert in Western Australia. About 20 minutes later, the plane turned south towards Perth. It descended further to 20,000 ft and eventually landed safely at Perth at 4.58am (4.58am, Singapore time). 

Singapore's public service must continue to innovate in the face of rising public expectations and global competition, said Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing on Tuesday (July 8).Giving a speech at the opening of the Public Service Festival in One Punggol, Chan, who is also Minister for Defence, said that the public service has contributed much to Singapore's survival and success over the past 60 years  — citing National Service and the Central Provident Fund as «key examples of our pioneering spirit».He added that while Singapore is also ranked highly in many global indices comparing quality of life and government services, other countries are catching up or have «overtaken us in certain areas».Chan gave an example of how Estonia has become the first county fully digitise its government services, and China is serving over a billion citizens with artificial intelligence-powered services.

More Singaporeans will be able to participate in this year's National Day celebrations as they continue island-wide in the heartlands on Aug 10, following the annual parade on Aug 9. The NDP 2025 Heartland Celebrations will happen simultaneously at five community sites and are expected to draw some 170,000 residents, said members from the NDP 2025 Executive Committee (Exco) and People's Association (PA) at a media event on Tuesday (July 8).The five sites will be in Punggol (next to One Punggol), Bishan (beside Junction 8), Yishun (next to FutsalArena), Geylang Serai (beside Wisma Geylang Serai) and Bukit Gombak (ActiveSG Stadium).Organised as a joint collaboration involving grassroots organisations and partners like SportSG, the celebrations will feature district-specific themes, fireworks, and drone shows, including crowd favourites like the mobile column and the Fighter Island Flypast.

The parents of a 19-year-old police trainee from the Home Team Academy who died last month have thanked the passers-by who came to their son's aid.Mohammad Irfan Nur Iman Bin Azhar died in a road traffic accident along Tanah Merah Coast Road towards Xilin Avenue on June 22.On July 6, Irfan's mother, Iman Syuhadah, posted on Facebook saying that she hopes to identify and thank the good Samaritans.Iman also stated that these passers-by may have performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Irfan before emergency services arrived, but couldn't save him. She said those who were involved in Irfan's resuscitation can reach out to her privately via the numbers that she had provided on her post.Iman «would like to personally thank you for your courage, kindness, and effort».Authorities' responsesResponding to AsiaOne's queries, the Singapore Police Force and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that they were alerted to a road traffic accident involving a motorcycle on June 22 at about 5.45am.

The incident involving a Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) tank from the National Day Parade (NDP) mobile column which bumped into a traffic light was caused by an isolated faulty component based on preliminary investigations.At a media event on Tuesday (July 8), Colonel (COL) David Kwek, co-chairman of the NDP 2025 Heartland Celebrations Committee, said the faulty component «led to the loss of steering and braking power». «The safety and well-being of the public and our crews are of paramount importance,» said COL Kwek, who added that «more detailed reviews» are still ongoing.He said the Leopard 2SG Main Battle Tank (L2SG) will resume its participation in the NDP mobile column and the Heartlands Celebration only «after all the necessary safety checks and clearances are completed».During the NDP National Education show on July 5, an L2SG was captured bumping into a traffic light while making a right turn outside Parliament House and the Supreme Court.

An auxiliary police officer who was tasked to issue weapons at the airport playfully threw a bullet in the air, loaded it into a revolver and accidentally discharged a round into a countertop.Fortunately, one of his colleagues, who was standing in front of him, was not injured.On July 7, Muhammad Mukhlis Kamis, 39, pleaded guilty to committing a rash act endangering personal safety and was sentenced to two months’ jail.Mukhlis was employed as an auxiliary police officer with Sats Security Services and held the rank of sergeant at the subsidiary of the cargo handler.He was deployed as an armourer for five years before the incident in November 2023.On the morning of Nov 22 that year, Mukhlis was at the Sats Auxiliary Police Armoury at the Singapore Air Freight Terminal Core C Building when another officer, Corporal Zulkarnaen Ramli, went to the armoury to withdraw his equipment and firearms.Cpl Zulkarnaen was supposed to be issued with one Taurus revolver, 10 rounds of 0.38mm ammunition, one extendable baton and one handcuff.However, Mukhlis issued nine rounds of 0.38mm ammunition instead of 10.

SINGAPORE — The Reform Party (RP) will withdraw from the People's Alliance for Reform (PAR), leaving the opposition group with two of its four founding members.The People's Power Party (PPP) did the same in February ahead of the general election on May 3, while the Peoples Voice (PV) and Democratic Progressive Party remain.RP secretary-general Kenneth Jeyaretnam announced his party's resignation, which takes effect at the end of July, in a post on the party’s Facebook page on Monday (July 7).«We thank Lim Tean for his leadership and wish him and the other remaining parties in PAR all the best in the future,» he said, referring to Mr Lim, secretary-general of PV and the PAR.Mr Jeyaretnam was the chairman of the alliance. 

SINGAPORE — Fewer couples tied the knot in 2024, with a more than 10 per cent drop from the record-high number of marriages registered in 2022.A total of 26,328 couples registered their marriages in 2024, down from 28,310 in 2023 and 29,389 in 2022, during a post-pandemic surge when Covid-19 rules were relaxed. The 2022 figure is the highest since data on marriages was first published in 1961.These latest numbers were released by the Ministry of Social and Family Development on July 7 in its Family Trends Report 2025. The 37-page report laid out statistics related to stages of family life like marriage, parenthood, early childhood and ageing.The number of civil marriages dropped across all age groups in 2024, but the decline was most significant among marriages involving brides and grooms aged 25 to 34.The number of civil marriages involving brides aged 25 to 29 fell by 988 in 2024, and by 506 for those aged 30 to 34.

They lead our country in Parliament — and now they're also leading our people into Malaysia on delicious durian tours.Multiple Members of Parliament (MP) have invited residents in their respective constituencies to durian trips in Malaysia amid the durian season, many of which have quickly sold out.Last Saturday (July 5), Jalan Kayu SMC MP Ng Chee Meng led residents on a Musang King durian tour to Johor Bahru.To participate, residents had to pay $110 per person before gathering at Fernvale community centre at 5.30am.They were then brought via bus to various shopping stops in Malaysia, including YoYo, Toppen and Aeon Mall.Among other highlights, the key event was likely the free-flow Musang King buffet. 

Foreign women have been seen asking passers-by for money in Chinatown, with elderly individuals apparently targeted.Termed «freeloader girl groups», Shin Min Daily News earlier reported a spike in such cases in Tampines since March, including reports from a member of the public who said he was approached five times by different women using the same tactic.According to a Facebook post shared last week, a man witnessed the women approaching an elderly man near Hong Lim Complex along South Bridge Road. When he tried to take a photo of them, the women quickly took the money and left.The post drew dozens of comments from netizens, with some claiming to have seen similar behaviour in other parts of Singapore.Several commenters said the individuals often left by MRT or bus after approaching their targets, and urged members of the public to call the police if they encountered such situations.Cai, 54, a stallholder near South Bridge Road, told Shin Min that similar incidents involving foreigners asking for money under various pretexts had occurred in the area years ago.«If they come back, it will make the atmosphere here worse,» he said.

Over 1.5 million eligible adult Singaporeans who are aged 21 and above will receive up to $850 in cash as part of the Goods and Services Tax Voucher (GSTV) scheme in August, said the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Monday (July 7).In addition to the cash payouts, around 690,000 eligible seniors will benefit from MediSave top-ups of up to $450. Those who are eligible will also receive $150 to $450, depending on their age and Annual Value (AV) of their home.These will be automatically credited to the eligible senior's CPF MediSave Accounts, with the amount determined by the recipient's age and AV of their home.The government will also raise the Assessable Income (AI) threshold for GSTV — Cash payouts from $34,000 to $39,000 as «the incomes of lower- and middle-income Singaporeans have improved», said MOF. The ministry added that this will «maintain the coverage of the scheme».Eligible Singaporeans can check their eligibility for the payouts on the govbenefits website by logging in with their Singpass.