What was meant to be a lively event was marred by overcrowding and long queues at art and thrift market Mercury Festival over the weekend, with a would-be attendee describing it as a «war zone» after overcrowding forced organisers to suspend entry at multiple junctures. The woman — TikTok user @zilliediaries — posted on that platform on Saturday (June 6) showing a swarm of people populating the fourth floor hallway of Suntec City, with the caption: «It's literally a war zone to Mercury Fest...»She shared that she was ultimately unable to get in, claiming there were 8,000 people in line and that queue numbers had been stopped. Disappointed by the «wasted trip», she added: «It's like the whole Singapore is here.»Another TikTok video by user @twopratakosong that same day show a large crowd gathered near the entrance, seemingly waiting to be granted entry, at around 1.43pm. One netizen commented that they joined the queue at 3.30pm and only managed to enter after almost a five-hour wait at 8pm, shortly before the event ended at 8.30pm.

A Singaporean man went on an unusual cross-island journey after his AirPods Pro case went missing, tracking its live location from Jurong to Toa Payoh in a bid to recover it.In a TikTok video posted on Sunday (June 7), Ethan, 22, recounted how he lost the case on June 5, either at Beauty World or at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.He had bought it «only a month earlier using money from my National Service allowance».Speaking to AsiaOne, he said he was shocked to find out that it was first located at Jurong Point. After finding out that a replacement would cost $139, he decided to try recovering it instead.Tracking it across the islandEthan, who lives in Serangoon, began tracking its movements through the Find My app on June 6.Using its location history, he noticed it had travelled from Jurong Point towards Toa Payoh. 

While walking home from grocery shopping along Upper Thomson Road in July 2014, Lim Giok was hit by a lorry at a traffic junction.Lim, who was 66 then, suffered a brain injury and had to undergo four operations in the subsequent months.Complications caused her to lose control of the right side of her body, like a stroke patient.Despite making a full physical recovery, she still suffers from memory loss and cognitive impairment.Traffic deaths hit a 10-year high in 2025, with 149 killed, compared with 141 in 2016. There were 142 deaths in 2024. The number of injured people also increased, from 9,342 in 2024 to 9,955 in 2025.Given the dire situation on the roads, The Straits Times has been running a series of stories to call on all road users to be more careful.In 2025, there were 247 traffic accidents involving elderly pedestrians, up from 203 in 2024. The 27 elderly pedestrian deaths in 2025 were among 36 pedestrian deaths in total for the year.Lim’s relative, who wanted to be known as Koh, said his family was devastated by the accident.

Some 2,000 season parking holders of commercial vehicles are set to pay less for their monthly season parking fees at Housing and Development Board (HDB) and Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) car parks.In a Facebook post on Monday (June 8), National Development Minister Chee Hong Tat announced that the two agencies will reduce their season parking charges for commercial vehicles with unladen weight of 1,801kg to 2,000kg from August 1.Vehicles with an unladen weight of between 1,801kg and 2,000kg include vans and light goods vehicles.Owners of such vehicles currently pay a monthly rate of $185 for season parking at HDB car parks, while URA charges between $120 to $160.

A 32-year-old man who crashed his car in Yishun has been charged in court on Monday (June 8) with multiple traffic offences, including allegedly driving under the influence of methamphetamine, also known as Ice.According to court documents, Sivakandesh had already been disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 48 months, from July 23, 2024, to July 22, 2026.The documents also stated that he failed to maintain proper control of his vehicle, resulting in multiple collisions involving two concrete bollards, a parked car and an HDB rubbish chute. Police arriving at the scene on June 6.PHOTO: AsiaOne/Shafiq Apandi On June 6, police said they were alerted to a call for assistance at Block 150 Yishun Street 11 at about 6pm.

A van was reduced to its charred shell after it caught fire along the Seletar Expressway on Sunday (June 7) afternoon.The incident happened at about 2.45pm along the SLE towards the Bukit Timah Expressway, before the Upper Thomson Road exit. Map showing where the incident happened on June 7. GRAPHIC: Google Maps, Social media Videos posted on social media show a Toyota HiAce van stopped at the chevron marking of the expressway.Flames are seen engulfing the entire van, including the driver's cabin and cargo area.A second van is seen stopped along the road shoulder, with two men standing nearby, looking towards the direction of the burning van.In reply to AsiaOne's queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force said firefighters extinguished the balze with two hose reels, adding that no injuries were reported.

A day out at a popular waterfall in Selangor ended with a Singaporean woman being taken to hospital after she was injured in a fall on Saturday (June 6).The incident occurred at Kanching Waterfall in Rawang, where emergency responders were called in to assist the woman after she reportedly sustained injuries in the area.In a Facebook post, the Rawang Fire and Rescue Department said its Alpha Team «attended to a special services case involving a Singaporean citizen who fell in the Kanching Waterfall area, Rawang».Upon arriving at the scene, rescuers carried out an operation to safely bring the woman down from the area.Photos shared by the department show firefighters carrying a stretcher along forested trails as they evacuated the victim from the waterfall.The woman was subsequently handed over handed over to the Ministry of Health Malaysia for examination and further action. Authorities have not disclosed the extent of her injuries.The fire department said the operation was completed smoothly with the cooperation of all parties involved.

A 26-year-old man seen sitting precariously on the corridor ledge at a Housing and Development Board (HDB) block in Tampines on Sunday (June 7) morning was apprehended under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act after he was rescued.The incident happened at about 7.10am at Block 499C Tampines Avenue 9.A video posted on Sgfollowsall's Telegram channel shows the man sitting on a corridor ledge along the sixth floor of the said block, with his legs dangling off the ledge.At least one Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) fire engine, a rescue tender vehicle, and one light fire attack vehicle were at the scene. A safety life pack was also seen being deployed along the driveway below where the man was seated.Several police fast response cars were also seen at the driveway below the block.An eyewitness, who submitted the video to the channel, wrote in the captions that responding firefighters managed to calm the man down and were able to bring him back to safety. The eyewitness also noted that SCDF's Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) was deployed.

A man who was awarded 95 per cent of nearly $23 million in matrimonial assets in 2025 has filed an appeal against the High Court decision, according to written grounds issued recently.The husband had contended that most of the assets held in his name or jointly with his children from a previous marriage should be excluded from the pool of matrimonial assets.He argued that the assets had been acquired before the current marriage or bought with funds earned before it.However, this claim was rejected by Justice Pang Khang Chau, who included $22.4 million worth of the man’s assets in the matrimonial pool.These included a property in Stevens Close, another property in Tudor Close, and money in multiple bank accounts.The wife’s assets amounted to more than $503,000.The judge valued the matrimonial pool at $22.9 million and divided it in the ratio of 95:5 in the husband’s favour.This meant that his share was $21.8 million, while the wife’s was $1.1 million.To implement the division, the judge ordered the husband to transfer more than $624,000 to the wife.

Mountbatten MP Gho Sze Kee has weighed in on the controversy surrounding a pavement artist who was recently stopped by SMRT staff and reported to the police while creating sidewalk artwork near Mountbatten MRT station.In a Facebook post on Sunday (June 7), Gho said several people had reached out to her regarding the incident and the removal of the artwork.«I thought the right thing to do was for me to engage with LTA/SMRT and the police first to get the facts of the engagement before I talk about this,» she wrote.The incident gained attention after 24-year-old Marcus Pang shared on TikTok on June 5 that he was stopped while creating one of his pavement artworks using chalk and a power washer, as someone had complained about him spraying chemicals onto the grass. He later discovered that the pavement was subsequently whitewashed.Gho said she had seen Pang's works around for some time and personally thought they were «a nice touch to the neighbourhood».

As tickets sell out for the Singapore leg of K-pop boy band BTS' Arirang tour, scam losses involving the «sale» of tickets have reached at least $11,000, prompting the police to remind members of the public to remain vigilant.Sales for the four BTS concerts started in phases on Ticketmaster from June 3 to 5, selling out on June 5.Meanwhile, online travel platform Klook, which began sales of its ticket bundles on June 5, sold out on June 6, according to a Facebook post by the platform.Some 220,000 tickets have reportedly been sold for the four shows taking place on Dec 17, 19, 20 and 22 at National Stadium.Ticket scam losses of at least $11,000On June 2, the police issued an advisory, urging members of the public to be vigilant should they come across offers for the sale of concert tickets on messaging or social media platforms such as Telegram, Xiaohongshu, X, Carousell and Facebook.

Twenty-eight HDB projects in towns such as Tampines, Bidadari and Punggol could get new rubbish chute hoppers to prevent residents from disposing of bulky items into the chutes.This comes after instances of chokes in the pneumatic waste conveyance system (PWCS), caused by the improper disposal of bulky items and renovation debris, were reported by The Straits Times in 2025.The Housing Board on April 27 called a tender for the supply and installation of full volume-controlled refuse chute hoppers – the doors to the rubbish chutes – which have a smaller opening and a mechanism at the back to prevent the disposal of large or long items into the refuse chutes.The chokes are often caused by indiscriminate dumping of items such as large cardboard boxes, curtain rods, mop handles, buckets and renovation debris.The new hoppers are set to be retrofitted in older Build-To-Order (BTO) developments that use the PWCS.Tender documents on government procurement portal GeBIZ stated that the hopper must be designed to accommodate bagged waste measuring at least 30cm in diameter, but no more than 80 per cent of the conveyance pipe’s diameter.

A motorcyclist died in hospital after an accident along Yishun Avenue 1 on Wednesday (June 3).In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police said they were alerted to an accident involving a motorcycle that was believed to have self-skidded along Yishun Avenue 1 towards Mandai Avenue at about 9.15am.The 36-year-old male motorcyclist was conveyed unconscious to the hospital, where he subsequently died.The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told AsiaOne it was alerted to the accident at about 9.20am and conveyed one person to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.A video circulating on TikTok showed a motorcycle lying on a bus lane near a bus stop.A man wearing a white shirt was seen performing chest compressions on the motorcyclist while several bystanders gathered around them.The video later showed an ambulance at the scene and emergency responders attending to the injured rider.

Travellers departing Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint can expect heavy traffic due to a tailback from Malaysia on Sunday (June 7).Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said in a Facebook post update at 12.48pm the congestion has led to longer waiting times for departing vehicles.«Delays are expected, and travellers are advised to check traffic conditions before embarking on their journey,» said the authority.ICA also encouraged travellers to follow its official Facebook page for the latest traffic updates.During the Labour Day long weekend from April 30 to May 3, more than 2 million travellers crossed both land checkpoints, with close to 580,000 on April 30 alone, according to ICA.They added car travellers experienced waiting times of up to three hours for immigration clearance due to traffic tailbacks from Malaysia during peak hours. [[nid:736410]]xingying.koh@asiaone.com

Two people died in a traffic accident along Second Link towards Malaysia on Friday (June 5) night.The couple was reportedly on a Singapore-registered motorcycle and had allegedly collided with a vehicle at around 8.30pm.A video posted that night in Facebook group JB-Singapore Both Checkpoint Sharing Site by user Zhang Xuanbin (transliteration) showed a motorcycle lying on its side on the road. Two victims can be seen a short distance away from the vehicle.A voice in the clip asked motorists to be careful, adding the victims were on the second lane of the road.In another Facebook video captured by a pillion rider who passed by the accident scene, heavy congestion can be seen along the highway.Authorities are also seen cordoning off two lanes on the left side of the highway, with the victims' face covered with cloths.The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority posted about the accident on social media around 9.35pm, advising travellers to expect delays.They later updated at 10.48pm that roads had been cleared and all lanes were back in operation.

An 86-year-old pedestrian was taken to hospital following a traffic accident involving a motorcycle at the junction of Upper Cross Street towards Eu Tong Sen Street on Friday (June 5).In response to AsiaOne's queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the accident at about 12pm and conveyed one person to Singapore General Hospital.Police said the accident involved an 86-year-old male pedestrian and a motorcycle. The former was conscious when taken to hospital.Photos shared on social media showed the motorcycle lying on its side after the accident. Members of the public were seen attending to the people involved while emergency responders made their way to the scene.A 21-year-old male motorcyclist is assisting with ongoing police investigations.[[nid:737520]]crystal.tan@asiaone.com