The police arrested a 17-year-old male teenager on Friday (Dec 19) for his suspected involvement in a case of armed robbery.In a news release on the same day, the police said the alleged crime took place at about 10.35pm on Thursday, along Jurong West Street 93.«Preliminary investigations revealed that the teenager had allegedly swung a karambit towards the victim and demanded for him to hand over his mobile phone and gold ring,» the police said. A karambit knife has a short curved blade with a finger grip.He was identified through follow-up investigations and with the aid of police cameras. A mobile phone, gold ring, and a karambit were also recovered and seized as case exhibits.The teenager will be charged in court on Saturday.The offence of armed robbery with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt carries a jail term of up to 20 years and at least 12 strokes of the cane.«The police will not tolerate such brazen acts of crime and will spare no effort to apprehend such offenders and deal with them in accordance with the law,» the police added.[[nid:724509]]

Maintaining peace and upholding the ceasefire in Gaza, while working towards the next phase of reconstruction is crucial, said Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong at a fundraising event supporting relief efforts for affected civilians on Saturday (Dec 20).Speaking to the media at the Armenian Church during Humanity Matters’ (HM) relief event, Gan said that relief work and fundraising efforts for conflict-stricken civilians in Gaza remain vital.He noted that in previous years, many Singaporeans from different races and religions have come together with local charities to find ways to help people in Gaza.«Singapore government is doing its part by contributing $1 million as seed money to support the fundraising efforts of the Singapore Red Cross as well as other charitable organisations,» said Gan. 

A Singaporean was arrested for his alleged involvement in a Cambodian scam syndicate on Dec 11.The police on Thursday (Dec 18) confirmed to Bloomberg News that Nigel Tang Wan Bao Nabil, 32, was taken into custody. The publication added that Tang is currently out on bail.Tang is one of three Singaporeans sanctioned by the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control in October 2025 in relation to Chinese-born Cambodian national Chen Zhi, an alleged crime kingpin who is the founder and chairman of Prince Holding Group.Tang was the captain of Chen's superyacht Nonni II. According to Bloomberg, he is also director and head of operations at Warpcapital Yacht Management, a Singapore-registered company, and operations head at Capital Zone Warehousing, which is accused of being Chen-controlled Singapore company running a tax-exempt warehouse for imported alcohol and tobacco.Chen, 38, has been indicted by US authorities of running a 'pig-butchering scam' online with compounds of trafficked workers. He has been accused of defrauding victims from the US and abroad, and laundering illicit sums in the billions.

It's not often that you see bigwigs mingling with the masses.But Sheng Siong CEO Lim Hock Chee seems different.The 64-year-old was spotted handing out red packets during the opening of a new outlet at Leisure Park Kallang.According to a video shared on Instagram by Sgmustwatchla on Friday (Dec 19), Lim was distributing 100 hong baos to a large crowd.[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/DSb5BbiEX8r/[/embed]Some netizens were impressed, calling him the «best boss», while others wondered if there was real money in the packet — and if so, how much?A few hoped he'd do the same again at Blk 503 Jurong West Avenue 1, where a new Sheng Siong supermarket is set to open.Meanwhile, Sheng Siong is running a 15-day promotional period at Leisure Park Kallang until Jan 2, 2026 with deals on grocery and household items.Shoppers who meet minimum spending requirements on a single receipt can also redeem select freebies.[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/DSbiqP7FWBI/[/embed]drimac@asiaone.com

SINGAPORE - The Most Valuable Party (MVP) is Singapore's newest political party, having received approval from the authorities eight months after its application was filed.This brings the total number of registered political parties here to 21.A notice published in the Government Gazette on the evening of Dec 18 said the party was registered under the Registry of Societies on that same day.The party was founded by restaurant owner Chia Yun Kai, 32, who joined the political fray earlier in 2025 in the lead-up to the May general election.Mr Chia told The Straits Times that he had sent in the application in April. Although the party's official status took some time to materialise, he said he welcomed the move, which would give his party legitimacy.«The intention all along was to create something official... and now that things are, we welcome more people to join us.»Mr Chia had made public his intentions to contest East Coast GRC with his own party in the 2025 General Election, but wound up contesting Pasir Ris-Changi GRC under the Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA) banner.

SINGAPORE - Japanese retail chain Don Don Donki has pulled helium canisters marketed as voice-changers off its shelves here amid a safety review, said Singapore's consumer watchdog on Dec 19.In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCS) said the chain has voluntarily stopped selling the product and is reviewing its compliance with applicable safety standards.The canisters, which were on sale for $19.90 each, were advertised as being able to make users' voices more high-pitched when inhaled.Each canister contains an 11.6-litre gas mixture, most of which is helium.Photos of the product show that it is recommended for use only by consumers above 16 years old. There are also labels warning that rapid inhalation of the gas could result in serious injury, asphyxiation or death.CCS said that to date, its Consumer Product Safety Office (CPSO) has not received any reports of people feeling unwell after inhaling gas from the canisters.However, if products are found not to have met applicable safety standards, the CPSO can direct suppliers to stop selling them, the watchdog said.

Her line manager excluded her from team lunches, planned birthday celebrations for everyone on the team except her, and even bought snacks from Bangkok for everyone but her.These are the claims being made by a medical social worker, as her TikTok post about alleged workplace bullying went viral, with many commenters offering support and advice.User steaks.andbones shared her experiences in a Dec 15 TikTok post titled «bullying by isolation in a healthcare setting». In the caption, she said that these incidents occurred after she sharedthat she did not feel supported by her supervisor.She alleged that the team lead, following a trip to Bangkok, bought snacks for everyone on the team except her. In another instance, the supervisor personally called other colleagues out for lunch, excluding the TikToker even though she was seated at her desk at the time.

The police are investigating an incident near Tampines MRT Station after a man was found injured at around 5.55pm on Friday (Dec 19). In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police said they received several calls for assistance in the vicinity of Tampines MRT Station. «Upon police's arrival, officers found an injured man and attended to his injuries together with Singapore Civil Defence Force paramedics,» added the police. The man was later conveyed conscious to hospital. Although it is currently not known what caused the man's injuries, The Straits Times reported an eyewitness as saying that the injured man had blood stains on the side of his body. According to the eyewitness, the injured man left a trail of blood as he walked from the MRT station towards a traffic light near Tampines Mall. Other eyewitnesses from U-Taste eatery told the national broadsheet that there was an argument in the tentage area opposite the establishment — located at Block 513, Tampines Central 1. They believe the man's injuries were caused by knife wounds. Police investigations are ongoing.

The police are investigating an incident near Tampines MRT after a man was found injured at around 5.55pm on Friday (Dec 19). In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police said they received several calls for assistance in the vicinity of Tampines MRT station. «Upon police's arrival, officers found an injured man and attended to his injuries together with Singapore Civil Defence Force paramedics,» added the police. The man was later conveyed conscious to hospital. Although it is currently not known what caused the man's injuries, The Straits Times reported an eyewitness as saying that the injured man had blood stains on the side of his body. According to the eyewitness, the injured man left a trail of blood as he walked from the MRT station towards a traffic light near Tampines Mall. Other eyewitnesses from U-Taste eatery told the national broadsheet that there was an argument in the tentage area opposite the establishment — located at Block 513, Tampines Central 1. They believe the man's injuries were caused by knife wounds. Police investigations are ongoing.

A Tower Transit bus captain who was seen on dashcam footage stopping his bus amid moving traffic to flash his middle fingers at another motorist has been suspended from duties. The incident occurred along Anson Road at about 5.11pm on Dec 9. In a video posted by Stomp on Facebook, the bus captain of service 106 was seen stopping his vehicle while the traffic lights were green and holding up both middle fingers as a car drove by. The car driver, identified as Stomper K, was heard swearing in the video. Stomp reported the male driver as saying that the incident happened as he was trying to switch to the leftmost lane, to form up to turn into Gopeng Street. The driver, presumably avoiding the bus lane which was in operation based on the timestamp in the video, had stopped briefly across two lanes as there were two other cars ahead of him. A bus is then seen moving past the man's car, before stopping just before the intersection. At this moment, the traffic light was showing green. The bus captain was then seen carrying out the said deed. 

A Singapore influencer is being investigated by the authorities after being accused of dog abuse. Eunice Ng, who goes by the name Mermaid Girl online, had allegedly posted a video to her Telegram account depicting the abuse. The clip shows a small, white dog cowering while a woman who is off camera berates it for drinking peach tea. She can he heard saying: «You're nothing more than a rat, okay?» The woman then hits the dog thrice with audible impact as it recoils. While the original video can no longer be accessed, it has been reposted to TikTok and Reddit, garnering significant uproar. Multiple netizens stated that the dog looked «unhealthy» and «malnourished», while others expressed anger for how it was being treated. Others on TikTok also tagged the authorities to alert them of the case. Responding to media queries, group director of enforcement and investigation at National Parks Board (NParks) Jessica Kwok said they are aware of allegations that a content creator had mistreated a dog.

Caning for scams and scams-related offences — which were among amendments to the law passed on Nov 30 — will come into effect on Dec 30. During the introduction of the amendments in October, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said judicial caning serves the function of deterrence and proportionate punishment. «Fighting scams continues to be a top national priority. The number of scam cases and scam losses remain concerning. MHA will introduce caning for scams and scams-related offences for stronger deterrence,» said the ministry then. In just the first half of 2025, $456.4 million was lost to scammers. 

A 59-year-old man thought he could game the system by engaging a service providing «insider information» on 4D winning numbers. But he ended up losing more than $2,000 and even had his photo altered by the scammer and posted online as evidence of the service's credibility. Victim Zhu Jinzong (transliteration) told Shin Min Daily News that he contacted the trickster after chancing upon his Facebook post in end-November. The person claimed they knew someone working at the Tote Board, who could obtain the 4D numbers for the top three prizes. «I told him my finances were tight. He readily said he could help me pay [the insider fee] first, and I just needed to pay a membership fee of $328,» said the private-hire driver. After Zhu transferred the sum, they continued chatting. On Dec 6, the man was given the «winning number» of 4877 for the first prize in that day's 4D draw. Based on the information, he placed a bet of $100 and also complied with instructions to send a selfie of himself holding the betting slip. 

More than 2,700 people have been caught and fined for e-vaporiser related offences since enhanced penalties took effect on Sept 1. From Sept 1 to Nov 30, the authorities caught and fined a total of 2,710 culprits — 2,453 of whom were penalised for general vape offences while the remaining 257 were found with vapes containing etomidate, also known as Kpods. Of the 257 Kpod offenders, 162 have been placed on rehabilitation programmes at the Institute of Mental Health and Social Service Agencies, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) in a joint statement on Friday (Dec 19). Meanwhile, a further six culprits are foreigners who have been repatriated or are pending repatriation, 18 culprits are in jail for crimes unrelated to vapes, and one culprit has been issued with a conditional warning. Investigations are ongoing into the remaining 70 Kpod suspects.

Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh and national broadcaster Mediacorp were given warnings for the offence of contempt of court on Friday (Dec 19) over Singh's comments during an interview aired on CNA series The Assembly. The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) said in a statement that it decided to issue the warnings after considering all the circumstances of the case, including the apologies made by Singh and Mediacorp on Dec 13.During the interview which was broadcast on Nov 5, Singh, who is also secretary-general of the Workers' Party, was asked about the court case relating to former MP Raeesah Khan. He said then that «the court of public opinion can be a bigger court than any court in the world». Singh had been found guilty in February of two counts of lying under oath to a parliamentary committee and was awaiting an appeal against conviction when the interview was filmed in July. 

Stiffer penalties for speeding will take effect from Jan 1, 2026, as drivers face higher demerit points and fines under measures announced by the authorities.The move comes amid a rising number of speeding violations in the first half of 2025. Ministry of Home Affairs in its media release on Friday (Dec 19) said that there were 120,000 speeding violations during the said period - an increase of about 45 per cent compared to the same period in 2024.«Motorists who speed will get slapped with more demerit points and higher composition sums,» said MHA.Previously, speeding violations reached a 10-year-high of around 201,400 in the whole of 2024, a 72.9 per cent increase from 2023. After the revised demerit points and compositions come into effect on Jan 1, the demerit points awarded for speeding offences will start from two points - up from four, while the composition fine will start from $250 - up from $200.

A Singaporean motorist driving in heavy rain allegedly lost control of his car and veered into a row of terrace houses in Johor Bahru.The incident occurred in the Taman Century neighbourhood close to the popular KSL City Mall on the morning of Nov 24, confirmed JB South district police chief Raub Selamat on Thursday (Dec 18).He said in a statement that the Audi skidded into four homes along Jalan Harimau after the 32-year-old driver lost control of the vehicle while navigating the wet weather conditions.The front gate, wall and awnings of the houses were damaged in the accident.Photos uploaded by Facebook page SGRV Front Man on Wednesday show the overturned white Audi through a gaping hole in a wall.Other pictures show the wrecked car on the road, before being towed away.One of the affected homeowners told Shin Min Daily News on Dec 18 she had heard a 'thunderclap' at the time of the crash. When she got up to check, she found that part of her awning had broken off.