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Centre in Punggol North to expand kitchen space

The Early Years Centre in Punggol North is currently one of the few pre-schools run by PCF Sparkletots still using a food caterer for its meals, as it does not have sufficient kitchen space to feed 1,000 children at full capacity. But PCF chief executive Victor Bay said the centre will be building bigger kitchen […]

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Technology in nursing homes: E-tagging of seniors boosts safety but is it dignified?

Patients at some nursing homes here are being tagged and their movements tracked round the clock, in a controversial practice that has drawn mixed reactions. At least three nursing homes and a senior care centre in Singapore have been tracking the movement of seniors within their facilities by tagging them with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags, […]

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‘Rollercoaster of emotions’ for British couple stranded in Singapore with premature baby

The fragile newborn weighed just 870g – less than the weight of a regular milk carton – when he was born here to a holidaying British couple, some 15 weeks before the due date. Baby Lorcan had to be rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), where he was kept in an incubator with […]

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Dementia patients take to VR aids

Virtual reality (VR) devices seem the preserve of young, switched-on techies, but they are having a transformative effect on some elderly folk like Mr Ho Chee Kiong. When Mr Ho, who has dementia, first entered a senior daycare centre at Ayer Rajah a few months ago, he shunned the activities. Instead, he stood at the […]

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Docs fight to keep alive baby born with nearly no skin

SAN ANTONIO, Texas • It should have been one of the happiest moments of Ms Priscilla Maldonado’s life but, instead, the 25-year-old mother was terrified. It was New Year’s Day and she had just delivered her newborn son, Ja’bari. She said she heard her son’s soft cries – and then the hospital room fell silent. […]

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Singaporeans in Bay Area urged to consider opportunities back home

Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan have urged Singaporean professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area, which includes Silicon Valley, to keep in mind opportunities back home as the Republic develops and restructures its economy. Close to 300 Bay Area residents, almost all of them Singaporeans, gathered at a reception in […]

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Susan Lim granted voluntary erasure from UK register

A medical tribunal in London has agreed to allow the voluntary erasure from the UK Medical Register of prominent Singapore surgeon Susan Lim, who was suspended for three years from practising. This was after she was found guilty of overcharging the sister of the Queen of Brunei, who died of cancer in 2007. The bill […]

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Trump directs ire at ex-White House counsel

WASHINGTON • US President Donald Trump seethed on Friday over the special counsel’s damning portrayal of his protracted campaign to thwart the Russia investigation and directed much of his ire at former White House counsel Donald McGahn, whose ubiquity in the report’s footnotes laid bare his extensive cooperation in chronicling the president’s actions. Some of […]

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City streets to look brighter with 25,000 LED lamps

City streets are getting brighter. The first batch of 25,000 street lamps in central Singapore are being converted to light-emitting diode (LED) lighting at a cost of $76.3 million. These lights are up to 30 per cent brighter watt-for-watt than conventional street lamps. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Learn […]

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Lies and liars exposed but it’s not a crime to lie to the people

WASHINGTON • Addressing reporters from the White House lectern, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made a startling claim shortly after President Donald Trump fired then Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director James Comey two years ago. “I’ve heard from countless members of the FBI that are grateful and thankful for the President’s decision,” she said, […]

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How to boost family support? Share your views on Heybaby.sg

In a bid to encourage more people to have families, the Government wants Singaporeans to share their views on marriage and parenthood over the next few months. “We want you to tell us what’s been going on, what suggestions you have, so that we can work on things that make a difference to you,” said […]

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Book versions of Mueller’s report top Amazon bestseller list

WASHINGTON • Book versions of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report were occupying the top spots of Amazon’s US bestseller list yesterday, despite being available for free online. Publishers are hoping to cash in on the intense interest in Mr Mueller’s long-awaited report on Russian tampering in the 2016 presidential election and Mr Donald Trump’s campaign. […]

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NUS to relook disciplinary processes after student’s complaint

The National University of Singapore (NUS) said yesterday it will convene a committee to review its disciplinary and support frameworks, after a female undergraduate accused it of not doing enough to punish a fellow student who had filmed her showering. Ms Monica Baey, 23 and a third-year NUS communications and new media undergraduate, said the […]

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US couple get life in prison for horrific child abuse

RIVERSIDE (California) • A California couple who tortured 12 of their 13 children, starving and beating them, depriving them of sleep and sometimes shackling them to their beds with chains, were sentenced on Friday to 25 years to life in prison. Some of their children gave statements at the sentencing hearing in Riverside, California, saying […]

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Rock stars turn Jokowi’s final campaign rally into a free concert

Incumbent President Joko Widodo’s final campaign rally yesterday was not a plain vanilla event, it was “hijacked” by rock stars, a music conductor, comedians and others who turned it into a free concert. Yesterday was the last official day of campaigning for Wednesday’s presidential polls, in which Mr Joko, who is seeking re-election for a […]

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Jokowi, Prabowo make final pitch before polls

It was a vintage performance by Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who, at his final campaign rally yesterday, showed why he has been dubbed the “people’s president” with polls showing he remains the favourite to win Wednesday’s national election. Mr Joko began his address to supporters packed into the Gelora Bung Karno stadium with a reminder […]

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Experts welcome laws to give faster relief to victims of falsehoods

Fake news has made some companies lose business, jeopardised relationships and even put some in harm’s way. These victims of falsehood could soon get faster relief, with the proposed expansion of the courts’ powers to order publishers, Internet platforms and third parties to rectify untruths by taking them down, issuing corrections or disabling access to […]

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IMF warns against trade wars as world economy slows

WASHINGTON • The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned policymakers that the global economy is not out of the woods yet, and that actions such as trade wars risk upsetting the apple cart. IMF first deputy managing director David Lipton said on Friday that the global financial institution sees a downside risk to economic growth […]

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Some scholars want academic protection reflected in fake news Bill

A group of academics has said it cannot accept the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) assurances that the proposed law against online falsehoods will not affect their work. The 83 academics from around the world, including Singaporeans based at home and overseas, made clear in a press release yesterday that they wanted the assurances to be […]

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Jewel Changi Airport will be a Singapore icon, says architect

Multi-award-winning architect Moshe Safdie says he expects Jewel Changi Airport to become a powerful icon for Singapore. Mr Safdie, 80, who also designed Marina Bay Sands, said he did not expect MBS to become a landmark symbol of Singapore, possibly exceeding the status of the Sydney Opera House. “I do predict now, though, that Jewel […]

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Business lost, safety threatened because of fake news

Ms May Liu’s halal-certified yong tau foo stall at Westgate mall was open for just six months when it was rocked by fake news alleging that it sold a pork dish. Someone had snapped a picture of her stall in a way that suggested it was advertising a pork belly dish, when, in fact, the […]

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Singapore not origin of meth seized in Australia

A shipment of 585kg of methylamphetamine, or Ice, which the Australian authorities found concealed in fridges, did not originate from Singapore. The Singapore Customs and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said in a joint statement that this is according to preliminary investigations into the March 30 bust by the Australian authorities. “(It) was passing through […]

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By-election in Rantau: Pakatan Harapan loses third straight fight at polls

Malaysia’s ruling Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance has suffered its third electoral loss this year, failing to win a by-election in the state of Negeri Sembilan yesterday. Barisan Nasional’s (BN) Mohamad Hasan, 62, the constituency’s assemblyman since 2004, retained the state seat of Rantau – which fell vacant after the Election Court nullified the result of […]

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IMF warns govts not to rock the boat in choppy economic waters

WASHINGTON • The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned governments not to rock the boat with trade wars and other disruptions at a time when the global economy is already sailing through choppy waters. “We see downside risk and that means one has to be very careful,” IMF first deputy managing director David Lipton told […]

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New Menteri Besar for Johor to be appointed today

JOHOR BARU • Johor ruler, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, has accepted the resignation of Datuk Osman Sapian as the state’s Menteri Besar (chief minister). A new Menteri Besar is expected to be appointed today, a working day in Johor, said State Secretary Azmi Rohani in a statement yesterday. It was learnt that Bukit Kepong assemblyman […]

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Japan rolls dice on Singapore-style IRs

The operators of Singapore’s two integrated resorts (IRs), which this month injected $9 billion in fresh investment, are also itching to place their bets on Japan in the race to enter the world’s largest untapped casino gambling market. Las Vegas Sands Corp and Genting Singapore, which run Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa respectively, […]

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$31m pink diamond bought with 1MDB funds, say police

PETALING JAYA • Malaysian police have pieced together the money trail behind the purchase of a pink diamond that allegedly used funds from scandal-plagued 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB). The federal police’s Anti-Money Laundering division chief, Senior Assistant Commissioner Khalil Azlan Chik, said police had obtained evidence that the pink diamond, worth US$23 million (S$31 million), […]

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Singaporeans in China enjoy a slice of home

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean, along with a number of other Singapore leaders, joined some 3,500 Singaporeans living, working and studying across China at Century Park in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai yesterday to enjoy a slice of home at Singapore Day. Participants were treated to Singapore fare such as carrot cake, Indian […]

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He beat her up on wedding night

Even on their wedding night, he had beaten her up. Unhappy that they could not get a hotel room at short notice as all were fully booked, David shoved Susie (not their real names) to the ground and trod all over her back. Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article. Learn […]

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Hidden women’s abodes: Singapore’s vegetarian nuns and aunts

It looks like a typical temple dedicated to Guanyin, but behind the altar of the goddess are living quarters for women. The Little India shophouse unit at 19 Cuff Road has been home to a low-profile group of “vegetarian aunts” and their adopted daughters since it was established in 1954 by a Hakka woman. Please […]