The United States' Department of State has sworn in Dr Anjani Sinha as the US ambassador to Singapore.In a Facebook post on Thursday (Oct 23), the US embassy in Singapore said Dr Sinha will formally assume his duties soon.«Ambassador Sinha looks forward to coming to Singapore soon to present his credentials and formally assume his duties,» said the embassy. According to diplomatic protocol, all foreign ambassadors and high commissioners will present their credentials to the President before assuming their duties in Singapore. Who is Anjani Sinha? The India-born Sinha, who has practised in New York and Florida, is believed to be close to the Trump family. He was named by Trump as his pick via a Truth Social post on March 11.

The hardest part of being prime minister is having to manage people, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong in an interview with The Financial Times (FT) on Tuesday (Oct 21).In a 27-minute-long interview, PM Wong fielded questions from FT's editor Roula Khalaf about the changing world order and Singapore's economy, in addition to the biggest challenge he has faced since stepping into the leadership role as prime minister in 2024.While he began his response by stating that «there are many hard things», PM Wong singled out people management and the process of party renewal as the hardest.«I would say the hardest has been really in managing people,» he said, adding that it turned out to be much harder than he expected prior to assuming the position.In particular, he spoke about Singapore's General Election which took place earlier this year in May.As leader of the People's Action Party (PAP), he faced the difficult task of strategising and planning for the party's renewal.He said: «One of the keys to the PAP's success has been a full focus on renewing our team every election. And this is not easy to do at all.»

Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli has apologised over the handling of the fatal abuse of four-year-old Megan Khung.“I would like to say that we are sorry for the outcome and acknowledge that more could have been done when we handled the case,” he said to media on Thursday (Oct 23).“Megan’s death saddens me — and saddens us all. Nothing can bring her back. Not this review. Not our grief. Not our regret,” he added.An independent review panel has identified instances of a “lack of clear understanding and communication” among the authorities involved in the events leading up to Megan’s death, after she endured a year of abuse by her mother, Foo Li Peng, 29, and her then-boyfriend, Wong Shi Xiang, 38.@asiaone

A playground in Punggol was left in disarray following the Deepavali long weekend, with litter scattered across the area — much to the dismay of residents.In a Reddit post uploaded on Monday (Oct 20), a resident in the area shared a photo showing the aftermath of the celebrations.«This morning, there was an unbelievable amount of litter left all around this beautiful park in Punggol,» the resident wrote.«The crowd was here since 7pm, and I could hear celebrations all the way until midnight.»The playground is reportedly located next to Block 270, Punggol Field.When reporters from Shin Min Daily News visited the site on Tuesday (Oct 21), large amounts of coloured paper, plastic bags and litter were found scattered around. There also appeared to be burn marks on the ground, with discarded sparklers left on the grass.

A police officer saved a choking baby with his quick responses while responding to a case of domestic dispute.The incident occurred on Sept 19, when Sergeant (Sgt) Muhammad Ammar Bin Abdul Razak was dispatched to a domestic dispute case at Tampines Street 33 during his night shift.Sgt Ammar and his partner were expecting what seemed like a straightforward case — a man reported that his domestic helper was having a dispute with his wife at home. Before reaching the incident site, the duo was already discussing ways to resolve the conflict, according to Police Life, an online magazine of the Singapore Police Force.During the mediation, the wife involved noticed that her baby was unresponsive and choking. She then ran to Sgt Ammar, shouting that her baby is choking. «He was trying to cry but he couldn't, and his cheeks were turning purple,» said Sgt Ammar, who immediately sprung to action and called the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

The police are investigating a case involving a moving car with two children riding on its rear along Dairy Farm Walk. In a video posted to the Facebook group SG Road Vigilante on Monday (Oct 20), a yellow Porsche Cayman is seen travelling along the road with two young boys holding onto the vehicle's spoiler while seated atop its rear. Two women can also be seen standing nearby watching the children. In a separate TikTok post — which has since been deleted — the same boys appear to be sitting on the vehicle's rear without any safety restraints as the sports car drives off.According to the TikTok post, the video is believed to have been uploaded by Prem Roy Motoring, a car brokerage firm. The clip also showed a man wishing viewers a happy Deepavali.Responding to queries from AsiaOne, the police confirmed that a report has been lodged and that investigations are ongoing.

SINGAPORE — An elderly man without a valid driving licence drove his girlfriend’s car without her permission and crashed the vehicle after stepping on the wrong pedal.On Oct 22, Loh Chun Meng, 82, was sentenced to two weeks’ jail, fined $2,000 and banned from driving for two years.He pleaded guilty to three charges — driving without a valid licence, driving without insurance and driving without due care and attention.A fourth charge for taking away a vehicle without the owner’s consent was taken into consideration for sentencing.Court documents stated that Loh’s driving licence had expired on Nov 3, 1995.In October 2023, he stayed at his girlfriend’s home in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3 and woke up the next day feeling pain in his knees.While the 57-year-old woman was still asleep, he took her car keys to drive to a clinic in Towner Road to get an injection for his knee pain.After getting his injection, Loh drove to Block 151 Bishan Street 11 to buy breakfast.At the open-air carpark near the block, he stepped on the accelerator instead of the brake pedal.

Singapore's stockpiling of food has broadened to include frozen chicken and other types of food — to ensure that there's a variety to meet Singapore's need during emergencies.But more stockpiling is not the ultimate solution as there are costs involved. «There is a balance between cost elements (Government, taxpayers and businesses), because the more you stockpile, the more holding costs you incur,» said Senior Minister of State for Sustainability and the Environment Zaqy Mohamad.He was speaking to the media during a visit to a 13,500 sq m stockpile warehouse operated by supply chain and logistics firm YCH Group on Wednesday (Oct 22).The facility, kept as cold as minus 23 deg C, ranks among the largest automated storage and retrieval system facility in Asia.Today, Singapore imports more than 90 per cent of its food from countries like Brazil, China, Malaysia and Poland. 

Almost three quarters of Singaporeans are likely to find online harms more severe if they target vulnerable victims or have a considerable impact on them, according to a multi-phase online safety study conducted by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS).The study, titled «Online Harms in Singapore, from Evidence to Action», was conducted between June 2024 and May 2025.Funded by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, it comprised focus group discussions, in-depth interviews, as well as a survey of 600 Singapore citizens and permanent residents, conducted after the focus group discussions and in-depth interviews.The demographic of survey respondents generally reflected the age and gender distribution of Singapore's resident population in 2024.This study was released shortly after the Online Safety (Relief and Accountability) Bill (OSRA) was tabled in Parliament on Oct 15.[[nid:723988]]In the focus group discussions, respondents from all demographics consistently ranked child sexual exploitation, violent content, terrorism, and vice-related content the most severe online harms.

A man has been charged for allegedly trafficking e-vaporiser pods containing etomidate.The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) charged 31-year-old Chua Beng Kai Jeremy in court on Wednesday (Oct 22), it said in a news release.On Tuesday (Oct 21), officers from the Singapore Police Force responded to a call for assistance and discovered the accused's car stationary and facing against the flow of traffic along Punggol Central.He appeared dazed when approached.Upon inspecting the vehicle, officers found e-vaporisers and alerted HSA. Officers from HSA subsequently seized two e-vaporisers and 30 e-vaporiser pods from the vehicle, said the authority.Laboratory testing confirmed that the seized pods contained etomidate.Investigations are ongoing and the case has been adjourned to Nov 19.Importers, sellers and distributors of etomidate e-vaporisers now face stiffer penalties, including three to 20 years' imprisonment and five to 15 strokes of the cane for importers.Sellers and distributors face two to 10 years' imprisonment and two to five strokes of the cane.

Applications for the October Build-To-Order (BTO) sales exercise have exceeded three times the number of flats launched, said Minister for National Development Chee Hong Tat.In a Facebook post, he said that a total of 31,095 applications were received as at Wednesday (Oct 22) 5pm.The exercise — in which 9,144 Standard, Plus and Prime flats were launched across 10 projects — will close at 11.59pm today.Despite being oversubscribed, the minister assured that many first-time applicants have a good chance of securing a flat.«For first-timer families, majority of the three-room and larger flat types, have application rates of two and below,» he wrote.«Overall, the median application rates for first-timer families in the BTO exercises have come down this year (ranging from 1.1 to 1.7), compared to 2024 (ranging from 1.6 to 2.6).»

SINGAPORE — While he was taking a lift at Marina Bay Sands (MBS) with his wife and friends, a man glanced at another woman's buttocks and molested her as he exited.Chinese national Hu Guisheng, 39, was jailed for six days after pleading guilty to one charge for outrage of modesty on Oct 22.He was on a social visit pass to Singapore and was staying at MBS with his wife and friends.The incident happened in the early hours of March 8 after they had drinks at club Ce La Vi on the 57th floor.They left the club at about 1.34am and waited for the lift. The victim, who cannot be identified as there is a gag order on her identity, was also waiting for the lift.CCTV footage of the incident played in court showed Hu holding his wife's hand as they entered the lift.When the lift reached level one, the victim held the door open for the others to exit before her.Hu waited for everyone to step out of the lift before he moved forward to stand next to the victim. Then he took a quick glance at her buttocks and molested her as he exited.

A foreign influencer's stunt at Marina Bay Sands has gone viral after he claimed to have «sneaked» into the infinity pool, which is accessible only to in-house guests.Kaz Sawyer, who has 8.7 million followers on TikTok, is known for posting videos involving challenges and stunts such as welding two cars together, and sending a GoPro down a water hole.In the one-minute video, he is seen trying to access the rooftop garden by sneaking through the entrance, asking hotel guests for help and timing the comings and goings of staff members.All these attempts fail, but the 24-year-old American then claims to have made reservations at the rooftop bar after speaking with a receptionist who tells him it is the closest he can get to the pool. PHOTO: Screengrab/TikTok/Kaz Sawyer He is then seen climbing over a ledge purportedly located near a door that leads directly to the pool.

A man who filmed foreign workers resting at a void deck, questioning whether they were allowed to sleep there, has drawn flak online as netizens weighed in on how migrant workers are treated in Singapore.The clip, shared by singaporeinfluenceviral on TikTok, shows a void deck where at least three foreign workers are seen sitting or lying on mats on the floor.The man behind the camera approaches them and questions their actions, saying that they are «not allowed to smoke inside».«Who said you're allowed to sleep here?» he asks repeatedly. «Here is not your grandfather's place, okay. This is not nice, you know.»The workers, who are sitting cross-legged on the ground, remain silent as the man continues speaking. «You all are all no use,» the man adds before walking away.The caption reads: «Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council allowed contractor to sleep anyhow», questioning whether the foreign workers were homeless or had no proper place to rest.The New Paper has reached out to Bishan-Toa Payoh Town Council for comment.

For Muhammad Harith Firas, 15, seeing a close friend struggle with Kpod addiction was both frightening and eye-opening.The Secondary 3 student at Presbyterian High School told AsiaOne on Wednesday (Oct 22): «I know someone who actually vapes, and I've caught him on multiple occasions. Whenever he vapes, he doesn’t behave the same — he becomes very lethargic and gets angry easily.»Added Firas: «His grades were slipping and I get scared that he might actually hurt me whenever I try to stop him from vaping.»On Oct 22, the media were invited to Presbyterian High School to observe how anti-vaping lessons are conducted in schools across Singapore as part of ongoing efforts to educate students about the risks of vaping.Firas is among the secondary school students currently attending such lessons.

Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) has said that online accusations of wrongful treatment towards a patient were not made with full context of the situation.The hospital said in a Facebook post on Tuesday (Oct 21) that it takes the allegations of «insensitive and inappropriate» treatment made by the female patient seriously.Earlier in October, a Facebook user had made a series of Facebook posts claiming that hospital staff of a TTSH ward had forcibly restrained her and administered an «unknown» injection.The incident, she said, took place on Oct 10 where several nursing staff went into the ward, «ripped opened» her clothes and gave her an injection.She alleged that she was arrested and transferred to the Institute of Mental Health despite being «in a clear mind and stable». The patient claimed she was assessed to be of sound mind by doctors there and discharged.She also posted a copy of a police report that she made on Oct 18. In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police confirmed that a report was lodged.

Changi Airport posted 17.3 million passenger movements in the third quarter of 2025, an increase of 3.1 per cent compared to the previous corresponding period. Airport operator Changi Airport Group (CAG) reported on Wednesday (Oct 22) that aircraft movements, which includes take-offs and landings, totalled 91,600 — comparable to the same period in 2024. The operator indicated Australia, China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia as the airport's top five markets for the quarter. «China and Vietnam recorded the strongest growth, at 9.7 per cent and 11.3 per cent respectively. The top five city links for the quarter were Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok, Denpasar (Bali) and Shanghai, with the Singapore-Jakarta route posting double-digit growth,» added CAG. Meanwhile, despite global trade uncertainties, the operator reported a 3.7 per cent increase in airfreight throughput compared to the same period last year.The airfreight throughput for the third quarter stands at 531,000 tonnes. 

A total of 18 motorists aged between 23 and 48 will be charged for drink driving on Thursday (Oct 23).In a statement on Oct 22, the police said the 18 motorists were arrested between July and October 2025 after failing breathalyser tests. A 33-year-old man will also be given an additional charge over leaving his van in a manner that caused undue convenience to others.Police said the man was found to have left his van in a stationary position at Clive Street, obstructing other road users and potentially posing a danger to them.

A commuter's encounter with a ScamShield ad on the MRT has sparked online amusement after he was 'Rickrolled' by the campaign.«Your bill is overdue. Pay now to avoid disruption http://p4ybill.cc/27js,» said the advertisement spotted at HabourFront MRT station.The 16-second clip shows TikToker Derrick entering the link from the ad into his phone, before Rick Astley's 1987 hit Never Gonna Give You Up starts playing.