High-rise littering incidents have been back in the spotlight after recent incidents at a HDB estate in Choa Chu Kang, and now in MacPherson. In a Facebook post on Sunday (Nov 30), Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC member of parliament Tin Peiling shared about a recent incident involving a beer bottle thrown from height at a new BTO estate in MacPherson. Based on the photographs shown in Tin's post, the BTO estate is MacPherson Blossom which was completed in 2024. Calling the incident «abhorrent» and «unacceptable», Tin revealed that there is a childcare centre in the area. «Most recently, a beer bottle was thrown from a high floor, causing glass pieces to be shattered everywhere. This is dangerous and could cause very serious injuries. »Worse, there is a childcare centre nearby. Such callous and antisocial behaviour is abhorrent and unacceptable!", Tin said. A police report has been made and the relevant agencies such as the National Environment Agency (NEA) have been alerted. 

This article is part of a package produced by a group of final-year undergraduates from Nanyang Technological University's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, for the programme Going Overseas For Advanced Reporting, or Gofar. They reported from a town called Mae Sot at the Myanmar-Thailand border in July and August 2025. There, they met migrants and refugees displaced by six decades of civil war in Myanmar and are rebuilding their lives in Thailand.MAE SOT, Thailand - During one of her earlier forays into global healthcare, Singaporean emergency medical doctor Tiah Ling found herself in a small district hospital in Ghana, face to face with a patient whose blood level had dropped to 4 grams per decilitre - far below the normal levels of 11 to 14 gdL.An urgent blood transfusion was needed, but the resource-strapped hospital had no blood bank. The patient had no money to pay for blood transfusions from family members or donors.With no other choice, Dr Tiah turned to oral iron supplements - a far cry from what was required.

Two Singaporean men were among 108 people recently deported from Malaysia upon completion of their detention. In a Facebook post on Monday (Dec 1), the Immigration Department of Malaysia (JIM) in Johor said 108 people of various nationalities were deported from the Pekan Nanas Immigration Detention Centre to their countries of origin in the fourth week of November. «Among those deported are 52 Bangladeshis, 25 Indonesians, 11 Thais, nine Vietnamese, nine Pakistanis, and two Singaporeans,» JIM said. According to the department, the detention centre regularly carries out deportation to ensure there is no backlog of detainees who have completed their sentences and are still staying in the country. On Nov 18, two Singaporeans who were arrested for overstaying were also deported from Malaysia to Singapore. In response to AsiaOne's queries, Singapore's Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) confirmed that the two Singaporeans were deported from Malaysia to Singapore. 

The governing council of the Council of Estate Agencies (CEA) and the Centre for Liveable Cities' (CLC) board will get new leaders in the new year.This was announced by the Ministry of National Development (MND) and CEA in a joint statement on Monday (Dec 1). Justice Vincent Hoong, who is currently a High Court judge and Presiding Judge of the State Courts, will replace current deputy president Cheng Hsing Yao on Jan 1, after his judiciary appointments end on Dec 31. Cheng, who is also the group chief executive officer of GuocoLand Limited, will be appointed as chairman of the CLC's board, also on Jan 1.Established in 2010 as a statutory board under MND, CEA was created following the passing of the Estate Agents Act, to regulate and develop the real estate agency industry.The CLC's role is to position Singapore as a hub for urban solutions through advisory, capability development, research and knowledge platforms such as the World Cities Summit.

In the first ten months of 2025, 23,742 travellers were caught at Singapore's air, land and sea checkpoints for failing to declare dutiable and taxable goods. The total composition sum imposed in lieu of prosecution amounted to $7,114,850, said Singapore Customs on Monday (Dec 1). In one case on Oct 17, a female traveller from Bangkok was directed for further checks after attempting to exit the arrival hall at Changi Airport via the Green Channel, which is for those without anything to declare. The checks found undeclared new luxury items, including a bag, a wallet and three pieces of jewellery. She was fined the maximum composition sum of $5,000. A total of 142 culprits have been issued the maximum penalty of $5,000 for making incorrect or incomplete declarations to Singapore Customs this year, compared with 46 such offenders in 2024 and 51 in 2023. 

Moderate to heavy thundery showers are expected over parts of Singapore in the afternoon on most days in the first fortnight of December, due to the onset of the northeast monsoon, the Meteorological Service Singapore said on Monday (Dec 1).The showers may also extend into the evenings on some days.The total rain forecast is expected to be near average over most parts of the island — with daily maximum temperatures between 24 deg C and 33 deg C on most days, reaching around 34 deg C on a few days.The second half of November also saw mostly thundery showers.Temperatures were warmer, typical of the inter-monsoon conditions, with a high of 35.2 deg C recorded at Paya Lebar on Nov 29.On Nov 17, regional convergence of winds brought heavy thundery showers over many parts of Singapore in the afternoon, with a total rainfall of 70.4mm — the highest rainfall recorded for the second half of November — at Clementi. [[nid:725461]]editor@asiaone.com 

SINGAPORE — With climate change expected to cause more erratic rainfall patterns, Singapore's approach to dealing with flash floods has been expanded, said national water agency PUB chief executive Ong Tze-Ch'in.The Government will continue to invest in drainage infrastructure, but on top of that, PUB recognises the need to build up societal resilience against flash flooding, he added.«We have come to the realisation that we cannot possibly prevent every flooding event,» said Ong, 50, in an interview with The Straits Times on Nov 28, as the country enters the rainy north-east monsoon season — the wettest period of the year.According to Singapore's third national climate change study, the growing amount of planet-warming gases in the atmosphere is expected to bring heavier, more intense and frequent storms.In January, monsoon surges — weather events that happen during the wet phase of the north-east monsoon — dumped large amounts of rain over the country in a short period of time.

While returning from a friend's wedding in Johor Bahru, a Singaporean couple was stopped by Malaysian immigration officers at the checkpoint for a car inspection. Not knowing that their handbag, which contained documents, bank cards and $4,700 in cash had fallen out of the vehicle during the check, the couple continued their midnight drive home, reported The Star. Interior designer Tan Zheng Guang explained that he and his wife were worn out from the journey and only realised the bag was missing upon reaching home. The 36-year-old thought the item might have been left behind at the hotel in which they stayed from Nov 3 to 5, but it was not the case. Tan immediately cancelled his bank cards but held back from lodging a report «as I had a feeling that someone would find my bag», he told the Malaysian news outlet. Sure enough, he later received a call from the Singapore Consulate-General in JB, informing him that Malaysian immigration officers had found his bag. «Initially, I thought it was a scam call until the person sent me a picture of my identity card,» he recalled. 

Motorists who make payment for their composition fines for traffic offences within 14 days of receiving the notice of offence will get a discount of $30 from Jan 1, the Singapore Police Force said on Monday (Dec 1).In a statement on Dec 1 (Monday), the police said that significant resources have been used to deal with a «high and increasing volume» of composition fines and appeals. According to the police's statistics, the Traffic Police (TP) issued an average of about 6,000 notice of traffic offence to motorists and processed more than 1,000 appeals per month in 2024.«The vast majority of the appeals were rejected as TP only accedes to appeals in exceptional circumstances, such as if there was a medical emergency, and with supporting documentary proof,» the police said.The introduction of an early payment scheme (EPS) is intended to encourage motorists to pay their composition fines promptly and reduce meritless appeals, thereby saving TP significant resources and allowing these resources to be reallocated to more critical areas such as enforcement.

After a weekend of familiarisation for both passengers and service staff, the situation on the ground continued to be smooth on Monday (Dec 1) morning — the third day of the East-West Line (EWL) shutdown — and the first day of the work week.The service adjustments — from Nov 29 to Dec 8 — are to facilitate works to connect the existing EWL to the new East Coast Integrated Depot (ECID). This follows a similar stoppage of services between Tanah Merah and Tampines from Dec 7 to 9 in 2024. AsiaOne was on the ground at Bedok MRT station, as well as the shuttle bus stop outside Bedok station, from 6.30am on Dec 1 morning.

A Lalamove driver accepted a job in the wee hours of the morning for “learning experience”. But he ended up with $200 in debt after borrowing the money to pay for a client’s order in advance — which turned out to be a scam. While the incident happened last March, the delivery rider told Stomp in an article on Sunday (Nov 30) that he wanted to bring it up now due to the recent prevalence of similar scams. He described his initial reluctance to accept the job at around 2am, which promised a $140 commission. “I’ve never done this kind before as the previous jobs I accepted were all paid online,” he reportedly said. “But on that fateful night, no such jobs were available. So I decided to take it up as a learning experience.’ “What’s more, it was on the Lalamove app. What could go wrong?” The client, who messaged him using an Indonesian number, first asked the delivery rider to buy $23.80 worth of food at an eatery in Bedok using his own money. He was then asked to buy drinks, potato chips and tissue paper packs amounting to $5.75 from a 7-Eleven outlet opposite the restaurant. 

 From January 2026, secondary school students will not be allowed to use smartphones and smartwatches outside of lesson time, such as during recess and co-curricular activities (CCAs), as part of tightened guidelines on screen use.Currently, they are limited in their use of these devices only during regular lesson time. The new tightened guidelines, which will also cover supplementary, enrichment and or remedial lessons, align with the restrictions put in place for primary school pupils since January 2025.The revised guidelines by the Ministry of Education (MOE) are part of a series of initiatives announced on Nov 30 to help children and their parents develop healthy digital habits.MOE said in a statement that students’ devices will have to be kept in designated storage areas such as lockers or in students’ school bags during school hours.Smartwatches fall under the guidelines as they enable communication through messaging and access to apps including social media, which can lead to distractions, passive screen use and reduced interaction with their peers, it added.

Since works began yesterday (Nov 29) to connect the East-West Line (EWL) to the new East Coast Integrated Depot (ECID), 880 staff from the Land Transport Authority (LTA), rail operator SMRT and contractors have been working round-the-clock The entire 4.8km-long work area - stretching from Bedok North Road in the vicinity of Bedok Stadium to Upper Changi Road near ITE College East - comprises 12 work locations.During the 10-day operation - till Dec 8 - workers will have to remove the existing track, including trackside components and equipment, before connecting the EWL to the new ECID. This is expected to take around five days to complete. Prior to the resumption of passenger service, tests will also have to be carried out to ensure safety.

A 73-year-old Malaysian woman was arrested on Nov 24 for her alleged involvement in at least three cases of government official impersonation scam (GOIS).She is the seventh Malaysian to be arrested this month for this scam variant involving the impersonation of government officials purportedly from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) or Ministry of Law.In a statement on Nov 30, the police said they received reports involving scammers posing as officials purportedly from MAS between Oct 8 and Nov 24.Modus operandi: Account, identity compromisedBased on the police's preliminary investigations, the woman had allegedly been facilitating the operations of a scam syndicate by collecting cash and gold bars from victims of the impersonation scams.Victims were either told that their bank accounts were linked to money laundering activities or that their personal information had been compromised.They were then told to meet with unknown individuals at various locations across Singapore to hand over cash and gold bars for purpose of investigation.

The Singapore Armed Forces' Basic Military Training Centre (BMTC) has said in a statement that recruits are not barred from patronising the McDonald's outlet at White Sands mall, contrary to alleged rumours circulating online.Pasir Ris is the shuttle pick-up point for all full-time national servicemen undergoing basic military training at Pulau Tekong, with White Sands being the closest shopping centre.In a clarification posted to Facebook on Saturday (Nov 29), it stated: «We wish to clarify that recruits are free to spend their personal time as they wish when they book-out, and they are expected to maintain good conduct at all times. There are no restrictions imposed by BMTC.»[embed]https://www.facebook.com/100064854484179/posts/1259091756262629/?mibextid=wwXIfr&rdid=rXapy2O1ZmwH4OE4#[/embed]Netizen alleged McDonald's 'ban' in video commentThe claim had reportedly arisen following a TikTok video posted on Nov 26 by entrepreneur and content creator Nison Chan.

When a 48-year-old man suffered a stroke and lost his mental capacity, his former wife and elder sister fought to be appointed as his sole deputy.After a legal tussle lasting almost two years, the Family Court granted his sister’s application in June, noting that she had shown consistency in care and concern for him.In a judgment made available on Nov 14, District Judge Jason Gabriel Chiang explained his decision, against which the former wife had appealed.Court documents described the man as a Singaporean businessman involved in automobile care and works. He is now about 50 years old.His sister and only sibling is five years older than him; his former wife is a 42-year-old maths tutor.The couple, who divorced in 2018, have two sons aged 15 and 13. The woman had a third son with another man before the divorce was finalised.They had split as the man had alleged they had many disagreements and quarrels, and suggested that she had had an extramarital affair.Despite their separation, the two had a cordial relationship and frequently communicated regarding their sons.

At 17, Jemina (not her real name) packed her bags and left home.After her father died and her mother remarried, the house no longer felt safe to her. There was often no food at home for her after school or during holidays, and she would stay in her room.She moved into her junior college's hostel, but left a few months before her A-level exams because her lease ran out after she repeated one year. By then, her mother and stepfather had made it clear to her that they did not want her back home after some conflict, she told The Straits Times.Her nights were then spent in friends' homes or in public areas.The then teenager would carry her luggage with her during the day, spend time at playgrounds at night, or pull all-nighters at 24-hour fast-food chains.When she turned 20 and was accepted into a university, she moved into a student dormitory. But due to eyesight issues and mental health concerns, she decided to withdraw from school to focus on recovery.Jemina, who is now living with a family who opened their home to her, struggles to share her vulnerable past with anyone her age.

Repeated instances of high rise littering have been reported at a HDB estate in Chua Chu Kang and will not be tolerated, said Chua Chu Kang GRC MP Jeffrey Siow.Siow made a Facebook post on Friday (Nov 28) notifying residents of a recent incident at Blk 802A Keat Hong Close where glass and ceramic items were thrown downstairs.Photos of the incident site were also attached, showing areas of a void deck being cordoned off by safety tape.Notices were also posted in the lift lobby, including one from the National Environment Agency (NEA) that detailed the penalties perpetrators will face if convicted of high rise littering.Screenshots of recent incidents were also appended in the notice.«It is not the first time that it has happened,» said Siow, adding that the Singapore Police Force, NEA and the Chua Chu Kang Town Council have been looped in to take immediate action.Surveillance cameras to identify the perpetrator have already been deployed by the NEA, Siow said, appealing to residents with any information on the culprit to inform the authorities.

While train journeys are being disrupted by works on the East-West Line, commuters are heartened by the adequate signage and helpful staff providing assistance.Construction works on the East-West Line began on Saturday (Nov 29) morning, and will continue to Dec 8, as previously announced by SMRT. Stations between Bedok and Tampines, as well as between Tanah Merah and Expo stations will be affected by the construction.To help commuters during the service adjustment period, SMRT will be providing shuttle buses and operating shuttle trains between several MRT stations.Speaking to AsiaOne at Bedok MRT station on the first day of the train disruptions, a commuter Lim Han Siong said that there has been ample signages.

A Malaysian man was convicted of four charges including cheating for sex and extortion on Thursday (Nov 27).According to CNA, Rajwant Singh Gill Narajan Singh, 38, had lured women from Singapore to Malaysia pretending to be a white sugar daddy and had extorted one of his victims of more than US$140,970 (S$183,000).The prosecution sought for 13 years' jail and 15 strokes of the cane for the «horrific and perverse» acts committed by Singh.Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin said that, if the crimes had occurred in Singapore, he could have been charged with rape instead, and called Singh «effectively a serial rapist» who forced his victims to do acts that were «utterly debasing» and «disgusting».Singh was arrested in a joint covert operation by the Singapore Police Force and Royal Malaysian Police Force and charged in Singapore.The then-unemployed man, who lived with his wife and children, gave detailed confessions, claiming remorse and saying he needed the money for his family.However, in court, he was unrepresented and pleaded not guilty, saying he had engaged in the sexual acts but was not the «sugar daddy» in question.