What began as an overseas call which she would normally ignore turned into a elaborate and manipulative scam — one that cost her $250,000, nearly wiping out her life savings. Speaking to the media at Police Cantonment Complex on Aug 18, the woman, who wished to be known only as Tan, recounted how a scammer impersonating an Air China officer first reached out to her in April this year. «I am usually cautious about calls from China. Most of the scam calls come from there,» said the mother of one, who is in her 40s. «But this one didn't ask for money upfront. They were just verifying my identity at first.»Tan, a Singaporean, shared that the caller claimed there were irregularities involving flight cancellations and insurance claims under her name.When she denied any involvement, the caller suggested that her identity might have been stolen and advised her to file a report with the Chinese police.

Scam victims in Singapore lost less money in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period last year, with the number of cases declining for the first time since 2021.Releasing the mid-year scam and cybercrime statistics on Saturday (Aug 30), the police said the total amount that victims were cheated off in 2025 — $456.4 million — dropped by 12.6 per cent from $522.4 million in 2024.The overall number of scam cases also fell, from 26,563 to 19,665 in the same period. While the dip in cases and money lost from scammers had buckled an upward trend observed over the past four years, the police said that the scam situation “remains of concern”.

SINGAPORE — The National Basketball League (NBL) Division 1 final will be postponed from Aug 30 to Sept 7, after defending champions Adroit had earlier fielded suspended players who are under investigation for allegedly fixing league games.In a statement on Aug 29, the Basketball Association of Singapore (BAS) said that the club “included players who are currently under suspension” in their NBL semi-final win (67 to 52) over Siglap on Aug 27. In the other semi-final at the Singapore Basketball Centre, Eng Tat Hornets edged out SG Basketball 79 to 73.

The police are seeking the public's help to locate 11-year-old Muhammad Hairil Muhammad Effendi, who has been reported missing.In a news release issued on Friday (Aug 29), the Singapore Police Force said the boy was last seen in the vicinity of Block 29 Marine Crescent at around 11.05am on that day.Hairil, who has special needs and is mostly non-verbal, is said to have left home barefoot and shirtless, wearing only a pair of grey shorts, according to a post by the Reunite Missing Children Facebook page. His parents discovered he was missing around 11am on that day, with a neighbour's CCTV camera recording him leaving their Marine Terrace flat.

Coastal barriers, raised structures and tidal gates are among the recommended measures to protect the Greater Southern Waterfront (GSW) and Changi from the threat of rising sea levels, Singapore's National Water Agency PUB announced on Saturday (Aug 30).The proposals are part of PUB's first site-specific coastal protection study for the City-East Coast, which also covers the upcoming Long Island project.The Long Island project, announced in 2023, is an integrated solution that will protect the entire East Coast area. Together with GSW and Changi, the measures will form a continuous line of defence against coastal flooding.Said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong at the inaugural Coastal Protection Exhibition on Aug 30 (Saturday) at VivoCity. «Coastal protection requires long term and careful planning. And trade offs are inevitable. There are still coastlines with unique characteristics that we will proceed with site specific studies progressively.»We will explore solutions that will have to balance across diverse priorities, while maintaining and providing the flexibility to adjust subsequently."

The Public Service Division on Friday (Aug 29) announced one new permanent secretary appointment and re-designation that will take effect from Oct 1, 2025.Tan Chye Hee, 52, will be appointed Permanent Secretary (Home Affairs Development) at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and concurrently Permanent Secretary (Information and Development) at the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) form Oct 1. He takes over the portfolios from Aubeck Kam, 54, and Chng Kai Fong, 46, respectively. Tan has been director of the Internal Security Department at MHA since 2020.He was formerly Deputy Commissioner of Police for Investigations and Intelligence at the Singapore Police Force (SPF) from 2015 to 2020, and previously held various appointments in the Ministry of Trade and Industry, MHA and SPF. 

SINGAPORE — Loh Kean Yew missed a golden opportunity to earn his second Badminton World Federation World Championships medal as he lost 22-20, 21-18 to unheralded Canadian Victor Lai in the men's singles quarter-finals on Friday (Aug 29).World No. 50 Lai, who was 100th at the start of the year before he became the Pan Am champion in April, is assured of at least a bronze. He was the only unseeded player left in the draw.World No. 9 Loh was the hot favourite even though the Singaporean was making a comeback after a bacterial infection that left him bedridden for weeks and kept him out of international competition in July.But following slow starts in his earlier victories over 233rd-ranked Mauritian Julien Paul, Finland's world No. 53 Kalle Koljonen and Japan's world No. 8 Kodai Naraoka, he was once again off-colour, committing numerous unforced errors to allow his opponent to score a mighty upset.Lai, 20, took the first two points after his more illustrious opponent smashed into the net before he played a sharp angled shot to signal his intent.

A Vietnamese-American man was sentenced to a jail term of 19 months and fined $239,065 after he was convicted of three counts of money laundering on Thursday (Aug 28).In news release, the police said that Nguyen Duy Khiem, a 61-year-old dual citizenship holder, was involved in a US$8.3 million (S$10.6 million) money laundering case.Between 2018 and 2019, he entered into arrangements with various overseas call centres that were promoting fake investments to potential investors.He worked with those centres to receive fraudulent proceeds from investors and transferred them to overseas bank accounts, said the police.Khiem set up various companies in Singapore and used their corporate bank accounts for these fraudulent activities.In 2019, he arranged for two Vietnamese women, Hoang Dinh Phuong Thao and Hoang Thi Thuy Hang, to incorporate two companies, Kaloca Asia and Wellington York Partners, respectively in Singapore. Khiem also arranged for the two women to set up bank accounts for Kaloca and Wellington in Singapore.

SINGAPORE — More companies are set to freeze wages over the next year as business confidence weakens because of ongoing economic uncertainties, a Singapore Business Federation (SBF) survey released on Aug 28 (Thursday) found.Business satisfaction with the current state of the economy has slipped to 33 per cent, from 35 per cent the previous year; more companies are now expecting conditions to worsen rather than improve over the next 12 months.This growing pessimism is translating into more cautious wage policies. The share of businesses planning to freeze wages has risen to 41 per cent, from 35 per cent; those intending to bump up salaries has fallen to 59 per cent, from 64 per cent in 2024's survey.The wage freeze trend is being driven primarily by smaller companies, with 43 per cent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) planning to hold wages steady, against just 28 per cent of large companies.Just over half of companies increased wages in the past year and plan to continue doing so over the next 12 months, with banking and insurance companies alongside manufacturers leading the way in salary hikes.

Fire safety upgrades are a necessary requirement as part of the lease extension for Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre (PPWC) and Jurong Fishery Port (JFP) to 2040, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said on Friday (Aug 29).PPWC's lease expires in 2026. It is Singapore's largest wholesale centre for fruits, vegetables and dried goods.The lease for JFP, Singapore's only fishery port, expires in 2030.The SFA has worked alongside other agencies to extend these leases to 2040 as part of a continued effort to achieve a resilient food chain for Singapore.But to proceed with the extension, they must rectify all fire-safety non compliances by the end of 2026.The Authority said that approximately 200 shops in the centre must undertake fire safety compliance works, including installing in-unit sprinkler systems.«These rectifications are critical to ensure the safety of tenants, workers and the public visiting PPWC,» SFA said, adding that it has worked closely with tenants and the Singapore Civil Defence Force on fire safety.

Injuries and deaths from traffic accidents in Singapore grew in the first half of 2025, increasing by 4.3 per cent from the same period in 2024.In its mid-year report on the traffic situation in Singapore, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said on Friday (Aug 29) that there were 4,860 hurt and 79 killed on the roads from January to June this year.In comparison, there were 4,665 injuries and 72 deaths from January to June last year. «[The] increase in the number of road traffic accidents and casualties in the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024 — continuing the upward trend observed over the past three years,» said SPF.More accidents involving elderly pedestriansContributing to the hike is a rise in the number of accidents involving elderly pedestrians aged 65 and above, as well as motorcyclists and pillion riders, according to police statistics. The first half of this year saw an increase in the number of pedestrian-related accidents involving seniors, climbing to 116 from 98 in the same period last year.

SINGAPORE — A repeat drug abuser landed herself in deeper trouble in 2022 when she offered police officers a bribe of $1,000 in exchange for permission to smoke one more cigarette, after she already had a few.On Aug 28, Radika Rajavarma, 42, was sentenced to five years, eight months and four weeks' jail.She had pleaded guilty to multiple offences including drug consumption and offering a bribe.The Singaporean must also spend another 256 days behind bars after she breached a remission order.Court documents stated that Radika, who had been in and out of jail since 2018 for drug abuse, was last convicted of methamphetamine consumption in 2020. She was sentenced to three-and-a-half years' jail before she was released in June 2022.She was then placed on a remission order, during which she was supposed to keep herself out of trouble from June 18, 2022, to Sept 24, 2023.Radika was also placed on a drug supervision programme which was supposed to last for five years from June 18, 2022 to June 17, 2027.

The anti-vaping measures in Singapore may result in more tourism for Batam, according to Batam Tourism Agency head Ardiwinata, The Jakarta Post reported on Wednesday (Aug 27).Batam, an hour's journey from Singapore by ferry, could be an «alternative» for vape users, he pointed out.«If there are strict regulations from the Singaporean government, the public will have alternatives to enjoy them, with Batam being one of those alternatives,» he said.«As long as it does not violate our regulations, they can choose Batam.»Comparing the situation to the closure of several public golf courses here, Ardiwinata pointed out that Batam has since become a popular destination for golfers from Singapore.Sports such as badminton, pickleball and basketball have also seen similar trends, said Indonesian publication Teras Batam. Some of these courts have been reportedly flooded by Singaporeans.Between January and June this year, 738,186 foreign tourists entered Batam, according to data from the Riau Islands Central Statistics Agency, South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday.

A motorcyclist was spotted convulsing on the ground after a crash along the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) on Thursday (Aug 28).A video posted on the same day by the Singapore Road Accidents.com Facebook page captured the aftermath of the accident.In the video, the motorcyclist is being tended to by two men, presumably from the car involved in the incident.There appears to be blood splattered on the road around the motorcyclist, who is seen convulsing while two other men assist to lift the motorcycle away from the motorcyclist. In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police said that they were alerted to an accident involving a car and a motorcycle along the AYE towards the Marina Coastal Expressway at 1.10pm on Aug 28.The 28-year-old male motorcyclist involved was taken conscious to the hospital, they added. The Singapore Civil Defence Force told AsiaOne that the motorcyclist was taken to National University Hospital.Police investigations are ongoing.[[nid:721818]]dana.leong@asiaone.com