Some nine in ten parents polled by the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) in its inaugural Preschool Experience Survey have indicated their satisfaction with preschool safety standards and education quality.The findings of the survey, commissioned in November 2025 and involving nearly 1,800 parents, were shared at the Start Small Dream Big Walkathon on Saturday (May 9) .Organised by educational consultancy Preschool Market and supported by ECDA, the event brought together about 5,000 preschoolers, their families and early childhood educators to foster greater awareness of values-in-action and community involvement in children's development. In a news release the same day, ECDA said its survey was conducted to understand parents' experiences and satisfaction across key aspects of their children's preschool journey.This includes: quality of education, safety of the preschool environment, and confidence in the professionalism and expertise of early childhood educators.

Singapore's broad priorities when it assumes chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 2027 will reflect continuity from previous years' chairmanship, even if the specific measures and focus will differ, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Saturday (May 9).He was speaking to the media as he wrapped up a three-day visit to Cebu, Philippines to attend the 48th Asean Summit.Asked about Singapore's priorities as incoming Asean chair next year, PM Wong said these are still being worked out, but the key issues and focus will revolve around similar themes.He listed strengthening Asean's collective resilience, advancing the 11-member bloc's integration efforts, and advancing its community building agenda as Singapore's possible broad priorities.But PM Wong also pointed out these broad priorities — which were also reflected in previous years' chairmanship — are a continuity, adding that the specific measures and focus, which are being worked on, will differ from chair to chair.

A 23-year-old male motorcyclist was taken to hospital on Thursday (May 7) night after the motorcycle he was riding was involved in an accident with a car in Jurong.The accident happened at about 9.55pm at the junction of Jurong East Avenue 1 and Jurong Canal Drive.  Map showing where the accident involving a motorcycle and car took place on Thursday (May 7) night. GRAPHIC: Google Maps Photos of the accident shared on a motoring chat group show the badly damaged motorcycle lying on its side. Debris, including parts of the motorcycle's bodywork, are seen strewn across the junction.A white Mazda saloon car, with its front bumper partially dislodged, was stopped in the middle of the junction. 

The recent cyberattack on global learning management platform Canvas has not compromised any sensitive information from students at the National University of Singapore (NUS).In a statement addressing the matter, a spokesperson for the university told AsiaOne on Saturday (May 9) that it is aware of the data breach.NUS was among multiple educational institutions affected by the cyberattack on May 7, which blocked access to the platform. Access was restored on May 8. Cyberextortion group ShinyHunters claimed to be behind the incident.Other local universities in the list of affected institutions include the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and the Singapore Institute of Management.Assuring that data protection and security are its priority, the NUS spokesperson said the university is in touch with US-based company Instructure, which owns Canvas, to assess the impact. 

Four wet markets in Housing and Development Board (HDB) heartlands — at Fajar Shopping Centre, Yew Tee Square, Bukit Batok West Shopping Centre, and Woodlands North Plaza — will undergo upgrading works when their respective 30-year leases end between now and end-2027, said Senior Minister of State for National Development Sun Xueling.Sun, who is also Senior Minister of State for Transport, made the announcement in a Facebook post on Saturday (May 9), after she visited the newly upgraded wet market at Serangoon Central Village a day earlier.The wet market was returned to HDB in 2024 after its lease expired. It later underwent upgrading works and now has a new layout with more stalls.«The stallholders I spoke to welcomed the bright, airy layout. Residents had also shared with me that they found the rejuvenated market to be a more pleasant experience for them. They were also glad to have more food options than before with a new eating house,» Sun wrote.

A woman who lost an eight-year-long battle with cancer shared her final words through a posthumous post on LinkedIn.Assistant human resources manager Grace Seah died aged 41 on Thursday (May 7) and her last letter to her loved ones went up the next day.«Thank you for your friendship, love, and kindness — I feel incredibly blessed to have had you in my life,» she wrote.Seah also invited those who saw her post to her wake, which was held from Friday to Saturday.«I hope it becomes a time of reconnection, with more flowing conversations than tears — and a reminder to live fully in the present,» she said.«I believe death ends life, not love or relationships. When you miss me, just think of me — the silly things I said or did, the moments we shared.»Thank you for loving me, and for grieving me," she added.Seah assured those who were unable to come that it was alright for them not to attend.

Singapore has to become better in defending itself against artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled threats, while becoming experts at using the technology for its own purposes, said Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam on Saturday (May 9).Speaking to the media after a community event in Yishun, Shanmugam, who is also Minister for Home Affairs, set out Singapore's approach to securing itself against AI-enabled threats following recent developments on frontier AI models.This comes as financial institutions across the globe scramble to assess cybersecurity risks brought about by Anthropic's frontier AI model Mythos.Anthropic earlier this month debuted Mythos, its most advanced AI model to date and designed for defensive cybersecurity tasks.But concerns intensified after Anthropic said a preview of Mythos uncovered «thousands» of major vulnerabilities across every major operating system and web browser, raising fears about the resilience of traditional software security. 

Following a three-week long islandwide enforcement operation which ended on Friday (May 8), the police have arrested seven people and are investigating 65 others for their alleged involvement in registering SIM cards for illicit purposes.The police said in a news release on Saturday that the operation, which began on April 20, involved officers from its Anti-Scam Command and its seven land divisions.The operation targeted errant subscribers who registered postpaid SIM cards that were subsequently linked to criminal activities. A total of five men and two women, aged between 18 and 35, were arrested for their suspected involvement in providing registered postpaid SIM cards for monetary gains.Another 62 men and three women, aged between 16 and 56, are also being investigated, said the police.Preliminary investigations revealed that these errant subscribers were offered cash rewards of between $10 and $20 per registered SIM card.These subscribers were purportedly instructed to register and buy SIM cards in bulk from different retailers, and handed over between 30 and 64 registered SIM cards to be the syndicate's courier.

A four-night Disney Adventure voyage scheduled to set sail from Singapore on Thursday (May 7) was cancelled a day later because of «mechanical issues».Passengers on board the cruise took to social media to share the disappointing news on Friday afternoon.According to posts made on a Reddit community centred around the Disney Cruise Line, the vessel had purportedly suffered an engine issue and was being repaired.«After embarking the cruise yesterday, we were informed by the captain that the cruise is having some technical issues and engineers are working and that we will set sail soon,» one Redditor wrote on Friday.«Today at approximately 2pm Singapore time, the captain announced that they are cancelling the adventure... It's really disappointing especially if vacationing with kids.»The vessel remained docked overnight at its homeport, the Marina Bay Cruise Centre, reported Lianhe Zaobao.A passenger from Hong Kong, surnamed Huang, told the Chinese publication she had flown in specially for the cruise.She said facilities were open, except for the Disney merchandise shops. 

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) can do more with countries like its Plus Three partners — China, Japan and Korea — and Australia and New Zealand to enhance the 11-member bloc's resilience, said Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Friday (May 8).«The conflict has shown that Asean does not exist in isolation. So even as we think strengthen our intra-Asean trade, supply chain, and integration, we have to think creatively about how we can work with external partners to enhance our resilience,» PM Wong said at the retreat session of the 48th Asean Summit being held in Cebu, Philippines.Beyond the Plus Three partners, which Asean member states have close links with, he suggested that the bloc can do more with countries like Australia and New Zealand. He noted that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had visited a number of Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia and Singapore.

A brawl in the Boat Quay area has resulted in the arrest of two men.The suspects, aged 25 and 31, had allegedly fought with another man at about 3.20am on May 3, the police said in a statement on Friday (May 8).A video of the scuffle uploaded online shows a large group of people gathering on a road, with several people lunging at each other.Two people are seen throwing punches at one another.The police said the two men had left the scene after the altercation. A police report over the fight was lodged at about 2pm that same day.They were subsequently identified by officers and arrested on May 7 and 8.They will be charged in court for affray on May 9. If found guilty, they could be jailed for up to one year, fined up to $5,000, or both.«The police have zero tolerance towards acts of violence with blatant disregard of the law,» the statement said, adding that offenders will be dealt with sternly.[[nid:735186]]lim.kewei@asiaone.com

A video of a woman seen cycling with a leashed dog running behind her on a busy road has sparked outrage from netizens. The footage of the Shiba Inu along Serangoon Road near Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital was posted in the Facebook group Shiba Inu Club Singapore on Wednesday (May 6).«It has come to our attention that one Shiba owner tie the poor Shiba and cycle along the busy road. If anyone happens to know this lady, please let us know,» captioned the post by Evan Lim.Lim told AsiaOne that the video was recorded at 6.18pm on the same day.He said that he was shocked and worried for the dog, which was forced to keep up with the cyclist's pace.«In the first place, the owner should not be doing this on a busy road. This is exposing the dog to unnecessary danger,» said Lim.«Why would a pet owner or any human expose their beloved pet or animal to this?»He and his friends reported the incident to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and the National Parks Board (NParks).In the comments section, netizens expressed anger over the dog owner's actions.

A Guillemard Road food stall holder was arrested for allegedly peddling duty-unpaid cigarettes from his shop following enforcement operations by Singapore Customs. In a Facebook post on Friday (May 8), Singapore Customs said it conducted two separate operations, at Circuit Road on April 23 and Guillemard Road on April 29, against peddlers of duty-unpaid cigarettes. A 62-year-old Singaporean man, a food stall owner, and his 48-year-old female accomplice were arrested during the Guillemard Road operation for allegedly peddling such cigarettes from his shop.During the Circuit Road operation, two Singaporean men aged 68 and 70 were arrested for allegedly peddling duty-unpaid cigarettes at a void deck. Over 97 cartons and 498 packets of duty-unpaid cigarettes, as well as $875 cash suspected to be proceeds from sales were seized.The total duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) evaded amounted to about $19,000. One man has been charged in the State Courts while the other three are under investigation. 

SINGAPORE — A young woman and a young man met in church, and they became acquainted with each other over their common interest in military-related items.That interest landed both of them in jail, after she bought a live round from him. The 5.56mm-calibre round is similar to those used by the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF).On May 8, the woman, Jermaine Lim, 23, was sentenced to four months' jail and fined $1,000 after pleading guilty to possessing a live round without a licence.Another charge for 3D-printing a gun was taken into consideration during her sentencing.The man, Javier Tan, also 23, was jailed for three months and fined $1,000 in January 2025 for abetting Lim.Lim was arrested in a drug raid in December 2024 when the police seized the live round and various 3D-printed items, including the gun.She told the police she had obtained the live round from Tan, which led to him also being arrested.The court heard that Tan had obtained the live round from a Republic Polytechnic schoolmate sometime in late 2021 or early 2022.

More than 20 people, including several residents and students, banded together to move a seven-storey-tall tree in Serangoon after it fell and blocked a pedestrian path and a road on Thursday (May 7). Hong (transliteration) told Shin Min Daily News that he witnessed the incident at Block 326 Serangoon Avenue 3 at around 5pm while on the way to pick his child up from school. Shu Pili (transliteration), a nearby resident, told the Chinese daily that the tree had been planted in front of the HDB flats more than 16 years ago. The 53-year-old building consultant was on his way home from work when he suddenly heard a loud crash. He then saw the fallen tree and rushed to help. Shu added that many nearby residents came to help, with some bringing saws to cut the trunk and make it easier to move, while others helped to direct traffic. He said that some students from Zhong Hua Secondary School, who were waiting at the bus stop after school, also joined in to help. The fallen tree was eventually moved, thanks to the Good Samaritans.  

A 30-year-old fishery worker died after being struck by lightning on Tuesday (May 5). In response to AsiaOne's queries, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said they received an alert regarding a workplace incident at around 4pm that day. The fishery worker was struck by lightning at a fish farm in the waters off Lim Chu Kang coast, said an MOM spokesperson, who added that the employer of the incident site is F20W.The police also said they were alerted to the incident at 691 Lim Chu Kang Road.The man was conveyed unconscious to Woodlands Hospital. Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect foul play. Both MOM and the police are investigating the incident, the authorities said. «As a general safety measure, workers should immediately seek shelter when alerted of any potential thundery shower. Workers should wait for at least 30 minutes after thunder is last heard before resuming outdoor activities,» said MOM.[[nid:735017]]dana.leong@asiaone.com