The police are appealing for information on the whereabouts of Teo Mai Lan, 15.In a news release on Monday (Sept 29), they said she was last seen on Sept 29 at around 3.20pm in the vicinity of 1 Aljunied Walk.According to checks done by AsiaOne, the location is the registered address of Nexus International School. Anyone with information is urged to contact the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness. All information will be kept strictly confidential, said the police. [[nid:722427]]editor@asiaone.com 

The Ministry of Health (MOH) submitted its intention on Monday (Sept 29) to suspend operations of cord blood banking services at Cordlife for a year.Cordlife has 14 days to submit its written representations to the ministry.MOH said that a follow up audit on Cordlife conducted in July had found significant lapses in the collection and processing of new cord blood units (CBU).Cord blood is the blood remaining in the umbilical cord and placenta after childbirth and contains blood stem cells, which have been successfully used in stem cell transplants to treat blood cancers, immune and genetic diseases.The suspension will require Cordlife to focus on properly maintaining the safety and quality of its existing CBUs. It will be disallowed from banking new CBUs.This intended action by MOH comes a year after the cord blood banking facility partially resumed operations in September 2024.It was revealed in November 2023 that seven of Cordlife's 22 storage tanks had been exposed to suboptimal temperatures, damaging around 2,200 CBUs in one affected Tank A.

A heated brawl erupted between two motorists heading to Johor Bahru on Sunday (Sept 28) afternoon after one accused the other of cutting the queue.A video shared by Facebook Group I Love JB showed the two men punching and kicking each other against a Causeway Link bus near the Bungunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine complex.Another man is seen trying to break up the fight. It is unclear how the conflict between the pair was resolved.The video has since garnered over 90 comments, 470 reactions and 175,000 views. Several netizens criticised the pair for allowing their frustrations over the heavy traffic on the Causeway to get the better of them.“You end up in the police station if you win, the hospital if you lose,” said a Facebook user named Wallace.

Three teenagers aged between 14 and 15 were arrested for their suspected involvement in a case of loanshark harassment by fire.In a statement on Monday (Sept 29), the police said they were alerted to an incident at a Housing Board flat along Boon Lay Drive on Sept 24 at around 3.05pm.The main door and gate of the unit had been set on fire, while a wall at the staircase landing near the unit was also scribbled with loanshark-related graffiti.With the aid of police camera images, officers from the Jurong Police Division and Criminal Investigation established the identities of the teenagers and arrested them within six hours.A mobile phone, black marker, black hoodie and a pair of sunglasses were seized as case exhibits, the police said.«Investigations against the three teenagers are ongoing,» they added.For first-time offenders, a loanshark harassment offence carries a fine of between $5,000 and $50,000, up to five years’ jail and up to six strokes of the cane.«The police have zero tolerance for loanshark harassment activities,» the statement said. 

Singapore's total population has risen to 6.11 million — with a 0.7 per cent increase in its number of citizens — up 1.2 per cent from last year.The figures were published on Monday (Sep 29) in the annual Population in Brief report by the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) of the Prime Minister's Office and its partner agencies.Of the 6.11 million, there are 4.20 million residents — comprising citizens as well as permanent residents (PRs) — and 1.91 million non-residents, which include the foreign workforce, migrant domestic workers, dependants and international students.The citizen population rose from 3.64 million to 3.66 million, while the PR population remained stable at 540,000, said the report.While citizen births in 2024 saw a 1.2 per cent increase from 2023, the average number of births per year in the last five years (30,400) was lower than in the preceding five years (32,900).In addition to citizen births in Singapore, there are also children born overseas to at least one Singaporean parent. 1,409 children born overseas to at least one Singaporean parent were granted citizenship by descent in 2024.

Permanent residents (PRs), who are overseas without a valid re-entry permit (REP), will no longer automatically lose their PR status from Dec 1. Instead, they will be given six months — or 180 days —  to apply for a new REP, during which they will still be allowed to return and remain in Singapore, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)  in a news release on Monday (Sept 29). «We encourage PRs to obtain a new REP or to renew their expiring in a timely manner before travelling out of Singapore, to minimise the risk of losing their PR status,» the ministry said.Currently, all PRs here who go overseas need to have a valid REP, which allows them to re-enter Singapore.Under the existing laws, a PR who is overseas with an expired REP would automatically lose his PR status, and has only a one-month grace period to apply for reinstatement.MHA said that it has been exercising flexibility by allowing some PRs who miss their deadline to have their PR status reinstated if they have «legitimate reasons», such as if they were hospitalised overseas.

SINGAPORE — The day he died, Goh Yong Le was taken out of class and questioned by two teachers in the conference room about taking a classmate's belongings the previous week.He cried three times that day. Shortly after the school day ended, he took his life. He was 11.In 2024, the year Yong Le died, there were 314 suicide deaths, a provisional number that will be updated in 2026.Still, for the sixth consecutive year, suicide remained the leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 29 in Singapore, a persistent and tragic trend.The day it happenedIn a recent interview, Yong Le's father, who requested anonymity to safeguard the privacy of his family, said his son sobbed when he was asked to find the missing item, which he had apparently hidden in the school's garden.He and his teachers could not locate it, and it is unclear whether Yong Le had actually taken the item.He was subsequently asked to write a statement about what he had done, and his school bag was searched. He became upset and cried again.He then returned to class to complete a practice paper before attending another class.

A domestic helper died after falling from a HDB block in Toa Payoh on Thursday (Sept 25).She was reportedly cleaning the windows in that unit located at Block 9 Lorong 7 Toa Payoh at that time.The maid had arrived less than a week before the incident occurred, reported Shin Min Daily News.Rags and cleaning agents were reportedly found at the scene. Her employer, in an interview with Shin Min, suspected that the deceased had slipped and fallen while cleaning the windows.In a photo shared on Facebook, a woman can be seen lying at the foot of an HDB block, with police officers present at the scene.Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, a 75-year-old cleaner, who wished to be known only as Xiong, said that he was sweeping the floor when he heard a loud bang.He added that when he went to check, he found a woman lying on the ground and called out to her, but she did not respond.When Shin Min reporters arrived at the scene, a blue tent had been set up, with several police cars present.

77 persons have been arrested for suspected drugs-related offences following a five-day islandwide anti-drug operation from Sept 21 to 26. The operation covered areas such as Aljunied, Boon Keng and Selegie, said the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) in a statement on Monday (Sept 29).A total of about 351g of heron, 99g of 'Ice', 69g of cannabis, 10g of ketamine, one 'Ecstasy' tablet, one bottle of methadone, numerous vape-related products including 527 e-vaporiser pods believed to contain etomidate and cash amounting to $4,228.70 were seized. CNB said that the drugs seized are estimated to be worth more than $74,000, while the heroin, 'Ice' and cannabis seized can potentially feed the addiction of 235 abusers for a week.On Sept 21, a 60-year-old Singaporean man was arrested for suspected drug trafficking offences after about 106g of heroin and 26g of 'Ice' were recovered from a New Bridge Road residential unit he was in.

More homes are set to be built next to Pasir Ris MRT station, on the site of the former Pasir Ris Bus Interchange, while a new community hub for the town centre is in the works.Based on the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Draft Master Plan 2025, the homes will be built on a plot about 2.9ha in size – equivalent to the area of four football fields – that has been zoned for housing, with commercial use on the first storey.In addition, the Government is studying plans for a new neighbourhood in the town, to be located next to Sungei Loyang on a site that is currently largely vegetated.“An environmental study is under way to incorporate the area’s biodiversity into future development plans,” the URA said of the proposed neighbourhood at its draft master plan exhibition.The master plan, which is expected to come into force later in 2025, will guide Singapore’s development for the next 10 to 15 years. The exhibition runs until Nov 29 at The URA Centre.

SINGAPORE – Singapore was re-elected to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) council at its 42nd assembly session, held in Montreal, Canada, on Sept 27.It is one of 36 states sitting on the governing body of ICAO, a United Nations agency that oversees global aviation standards and practices.The Singapore delegation was led by Acting Minister for Transport and Senior Minister of State for Finance Jeffrey Siow.In a Facebook post on Sept 28, Mr Siow said that Singapore’s place on the council was secured with a “record number of votes”. It had garnered 176 of 184 votes, earning the largest number of votes among all elected states.“In a world where rules matter less and small countries find it harder to exert influence, we have to work harder with like-minded partners to secure our interests,” he said.Well-functioning international organisations like ICAO remain important platforms to build a world that Singapore can continue to do well and prosper in, he added.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be rolling out its autonomous shuttle service in Punggol next year, and it will be the first time that autonomous vehicles (AVs) will be deployed as fixed shuttle services in Singapore.But before these AVs can be put into service, what is being done to ensure that they are completely safe to operate on our roads, and will be able to co-exist peacefully with other road users here?To find out, the LTA invited AsiaOne to see how these AVs are being tested, as well as offer some insights as to what the testing parameters are for AVs and the standards they have to follow before being officially allowed on our roads.We also got to experience riding in one of the new autonomous shuttles that will be deployed in Punggol, to see what it is like being driven around in these driverless vehicles.

«Sorry you have to go.»Those were the parting words from SMRT train captain Mohd Zaidi Sulaiman, 52, when he spoke to AsiaOne and other media about the soon-to-be retired Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI C151) trains he had worked with for the past 31 years.The 66-strong fleet entered service on Nov 7, 1987, when the MRT system first began operations, plying the North-South and East-West MRT lines.The last KHI train concluded its final day of service on Sept 26, with all 66 of the first-generation trains phased out as of Sunday (Sept 28).They have been replaced by the new seventh-generation Alstom Movia R151 trains, several of which first began operating in June 2023, reported The Straits Times.In a Facebook post on Sunday, SMRT wrote: Today, we bid a fond farewell to the last of the Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) trains - Singapore's first-generation MRT fleet, which has faithfully served the nation since 1987.