SINGAPORE – A teenager accused of licking a straw from a vending machine before putting it back has been allowed to leave Singapore for a school-related trip to the Philippines in May.On April 29, a district court approved Didier Gaspard Owen Maximilien’s application to leave the country to go to Manila for a “field experience”.The trip is a requirement for him to graduate, said defence lawyer Kanthan Raghavendra from Kalidass Law Corporation.The 18-year-old French national, who is a student at ESSEC Business School located at one-north, is expected to be away from May 2 to 25.Among his conditions, he has to remain contactable by the investigating officer (IO).Maximilien must also surrender his passport to the IO, or an officer acting under the latter’s direction, within 24 hours upon returning to Singapore.An additional bail of $5,000 has to be provided and a school representative has agreed to be his bailor.His case will be mentioned again in court on May 29.On April 24, Maximilien was charged with committing mischief and being a public nuisance.

A 21-year-old Malaysian woman will be charged in court on Thursday (April 30) over her alleged involvement in an investment scam.She is also the third Malaysian to be charged this week, and the 20th since March this year to be nabbed in Singapore for allegedly helping scam syndicates to collect cash and valuables. In a news release on Wednesday night, the police said they were alerted to the case on Tuesday when an alert security officer from Ang Mo Kio Hub, who was monitoring the closed circuit television (CCTV), noticed a man handing over a large sum of cash to a woman at the shopping mall.Officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division and the Anti-Scam Command who responded to the call interviewed the duo and established that the man was a victim of an investment scam, while the woman was believed to be a money mule and later arrested.Lure of more 'profits'Police said their preliminary investigations revealed that the victim was added to an «investment» group chat on WhatsApp in February this year. In the chat, there were purported investment opportunities and a web link to a trading platform.

A total of 232 commercial vehicles were checked during a three-day islandwide enforcement blitz by the Traffic Police (TP) from April 20 to 22, with 143 summonses issued. The offences included speeding, failing to wear a seatbelt and not keeping left, police said on Wednesday (April 29) night.TP officers also visited companies to carry out checks on the installation of speed limiters for commercial vehicles with maximum laden weight (MLW) exceeding 12,000kg.A speed limiter is designed to limit the maximum speed that a vehicle can travel. Heavy vehicles installed with speed limiters are required to prominently display a label on their windscreens.

A 21-year-old Malaysian woman will be charged in court on Thursday (April 30) over her alleged involvement in an investment scam.She is also the third Malaysian to be charged this week, and the 20th since March this year to be nabbed in Singapore for allegedly helping scam syndicates to collect cash and valuables. In a news release on Wednesday night, the police said they were alerted to the case on Tuesday when an alert security officer from Ang Mo Kio Hub, who was monitoring the closed circuit television (CCTV), noticed a man handing over a large sum of cash to a woman at the shopping mall.Officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division and the Anti-Scam Command who responded to the call interviewed the duo and established that the man was a victim of an investment scam, while the woman was believed to be a money mule and later arrested.Lure of more 'profits'Police said their preliminary investigations revealed that the victim was added to an «investment» group chat on WhatsApp in February this year. In the chat, there were purported investment opportunities and a web link to a trading platform.

A domestic helper has gone viral after posting TikTok videos with her employer, delighting netizens with their wholesome energy.A video posted on Saturday (April 25) by user @tinakhin14, identified as 30-year-old Tina Khin, shows her dancing with her employer, who is dressed in all black with a hoodie covering the employer's face. The post has garnered close to 78,000 views and over 2,400 likes. Tina's most viral video, posted on April 3, amassed 450,000 views. Her employer, who only wanted to be known as Loy, a 50-year-old business owner, told AsiaOne that Tina saw her friends doing TikTok videos and wanted to follow. «I told her that you can do TikTok and you can learn English faster by making English videos,» said Loy, adding that Tina was «very happy» by the sudden surge in popularity. «Sometimes she films herself and sometimes I film for her. My daughter also helps sometimes.» 'After work, you are no longer a helper'Tina started her TikTok account in January and her posts quickly went viral. Her account now has nearly 4,000 followers and over 226,000 likes

Four people were injured in a multi-vehicle collision along the Kranji Expressway (KJE) after a lorry collided with a private ambulance on Wednesday (April 29) morning. The victims were the ambulance driver and his three passengers — a nursing home patient and staff, as well as a medic — who were reportedly on the way to the hospital for a medical appointment.In response to AsiaOne's queries, the police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted at around 9.05am to the accident involving a lorry, a tipper truck, a van and a private ambulance along the KJE towards the PIE after Sungei Tengah.The 56-year-old ambulance driver told Shin Min Daily News that two vehicles first collided in front of him. Although he immediately slammed the brakes, he still hit the van in front of him while the lorry rear-ended the ambulance.

A 20-year-old Indonesian man will be charged in court on Thursday (April 30) for allegedly molesting a woman on board an aircraft. The police said in a news release on Wednesday that they were alerted to the incident, involving the man and a female passenger, at about 1.30pm on April 15.Based on preliminary investigations, the man is alleged to have inappropriately touched the passenger who was seated next to him. She left her seat and sought help from cabin crew, who then reported the matter to the captain. After the aircraft landed at Changi Airport, officers from the Airport Police Division conducted follow-up investigations and arrested the man.If found guilty of using criminal force with intent to outage the woman's modesty, the 20-year-old may be jailed for up to three years, fined, caned, or receive any combination of these punishments.The police reiterated that they take a firm stance against any sexual offenders who commit indecent acts that cause alarm, distress or harassment.

A Malaysian man has become the first money mule to be sentenced to caning since caning for scams and scam-related offences came into effect on Dec 30, 2025.On Wednesday (April 29), Yap Ching Gun, 23, was convicted of money laundering, having collected cash from an elderly victim of an investment scam in Singapore. He was sentenced to seven months' jail and one stroke of the cane.Yap had been recruited via Telegram by an unknown person to collect money from the victim, who had been duped into handing over the cash. The victim believed the funds would be deposited as investment capital in a fictitious investment brokerage firm named Maplerock.Yap collected at least JPY1,000,000 (S$8,198) from the victim and handed the money over to an unknown man.The police said in a news release after his sentencing that Yap's case marks the first instance of caning being imposed on a person convicted of money laundering under the amended Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act. 

SINGAPORE – For no apparent reason, an early intervention teacher at a childcare centre used a pen to repeatedly stab the head of a six-year-old special needs boy, causing him to sustain several wounds.The woman later lied to the victim’s parents and the centre’s principal that the boy was injured after using toys to hit himself.Upon the mother’s insistence, the principal reviewed CCTV footage, which revealed the offence.The 45-year-old offender, who had earlier pleaded guilty to ill-treating the child, was initially expected to be sentenced on Tuesday (April 28). She will now be sentenced on June 22.She cannot be named owing to a gag order to protect the victim’s identity, and is no longer working at the centre, which also cannot be identified.The child has autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and could speak only one word at a time when the incident occurred in 2022.Deputy Public Prosecutor Emily Koh said the woman had been an early childhood educator for about 10 years.She was the victim’s form teacher and was the only adult in the classroom at around 3pm on Nov 16, 2022.

SINGAPORE – Shoppers in Singapore may be paying the same - or more - for less when it comes to items such as instant coffee or tea, as well as cereal and juices, according to the Department of Statistics (Singstat).This is known as ‘shrinkflation’, or hidden price changes, which is a form of inflation that some economists call “stealth inflation”. It occurs when a product’s size or quantity is reduced but the price stays the same or increases, so consumers effectively pay more per unit.An analysis by Singstat on barcode data from major supermarkets found that overall, less than 5 per cent of items commonly purchased by resident households here experienced shrinkflation in January to December 2025.Among these, eight fast-moving consumer goods were most affected by shrinkflation, based on how often size reductions were observed across the supermarkets.The products are cereals, instant coffee or tea, shampoo, laundry detergent, fruit and vegetable juices, ice cream, milk powder and diapers, said Singstat, which released the findings in a newsletter on April 29.

There is «no basis» for criminal charges to be filed against SPH Media for the alleged overstating of circulation data, the police said on Wednesday (April 29) as it concluded investigations into the matter.In a statement, the police said SPH Media had lodged a report on the inconsistencies in circulation data reporting on June 21, 2023.Former and current employees and directors of the media company were probed for offences including, but not limited to, falsification of accounts and cheating.«The investigations showed that there was no basis for bringing any criminal charges,» the police said.«The police, in consultation with the Attorney-General's Chambers, will be taking no further action.»In 2023, it was reported that the circulation figures for some SPH Media publications had been overstated by about 85,000 to 95,000 daily average copies.

PayNow users will no longer be able to use nicknames in lieu of their actual names from June 6, as part of efforts to strengthen protection against impersonation scams, the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) announced on Wednesday (April 29).Following the change on June 6, the name of the retail payee displayed before a payment is made will no longer be a nickname chosen by the payee. Instead, only the name of the payee linked to the registered account will be displayed to the payer, but with selected letters shown to safeguard customer privacy. The association said in a media release that this approach balances between the use of real names as a safeguard against account impersonation, while being mindful of privacy considerations.«Previously, scammers could exploit the PayNow nickname feature by using the names of established entities or trusted individuals as their PayNow nicknames, enabling them to deceive victims into transferring money to fraudulent accounts,» ABS said.

Singapore's public transport network has been in the spotlight recently with politicians — both past and present — spotted on buses and trains.The latest to join this trend is former defence minister Ng Eng Hen, who uploaded photos of himself on Facebook on Tuesday (April 28), eating laksa after commuting via MRT to Maxwell Food Centre.Ng, who retired from politics in 2025, praised the MRT's «new long-range capability» that made it possible for him to reach and «can now target hawker food faraway».The 67-year-old was also photographed smiling proudly while flashing his PAssion Silver concession card at the camera.The card was launched in 2016 for seniors to enjoy concessionary fares on public transport, in addition to a suite of merchant benefits and privileges.

While they may consist of just two colours - black and white - these animals have been key in bringing vibrancy into the lives of residents in one HDB estate.Residents and netizens alike are gushing over the cute panda murals on the facades of some HDB blocks in Teck Whye, as seen in a post on Reddit by user Spoonfulofsoul last Saturday (April 25).The post, which has since garnered over 1,700 likes as of Wednesday (April 29) morning, introduced netizens to the HDB block design at Block 7 Teck Whye Lane.A photograph of the block in the post shows multiple depictions of the furry bear species along the block's facade, together with paw prints, clouds and star shapes.The cutesy design of the block drew much endearment from netizens, with many comparing this Teck Whye block to others in Singapore.Said one: «So jealous of people living in cute kawaii (cute in Japanese) HDB blocks, mine is an eyesore. Can't wait for the next repaint!»«Love the non-standard paintings on the older HDBs, compared to the uniform paint schemes on the newer estates nowadays,» another opined.