Daily roundup: Kite string rips through clothes and bag strap, nearly strangles motorcyclist on KL highway — and other top stories today, World News
1. Kite string rips through clothes and bag strap, nearly strangles motorcyclist on KL highway
The Singapore Police Force's Airport Police Division (APD) and Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) have been piloting a new police patrol robot named Gibson since early July.
This indoor robot, which was built to enhance police presence and improve officers' mobility, can also be used as a means of transport... » READ MORE
2. MOM probes alleged fake injury claim by Sumo Salad employee amid police probe into owner's death
The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said on Monday (July 21) that it was looking into a fraudulent work injury claim made against EatGreen, the operator of eatery Sumo Salad... » READ MORE
3. Chinese actor Zhang Yiyang revealed to have been executed for murder of 16-year-old girlfriend
Chinese actor Zhang Yiyang was recently revealed to have been executed by a firing squad in December last year for killing his 16-year-old girlfriend... » READ MORE
4. Long John Silver's slowly shifts to 24/7 operations, here are 4 outlets now open round the clock
Often feel peckish in the middle of the night? Long John Silver's has got your back.
In a Facebook post on Saturday (July 19), the fast food chain shared that they have progressively been shifting to 24-hour operations since March... » READ MORE
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Singapore Law Watch
37 minutes ago
- Singapore Law Watch
Fine for company director who played role in collecting $112k in kickbacks from migrant workers
Fine for company director who played role in collecting $112k in kickbacks from migrant workers Source: Straits Times Article Date: 25 Jul 2025 Author: Samuel Devaraj A company director has been fined after he admitted to playing a role in collecting $112,400 in kickbacks from migrant workers as a condition for renewing their work passes in December 2020. A company director has been fined after he admitted to playing a role in collecting $112,400 in kickbacks from migrant workers as a condition for renewing their work passes in December 2020. On July 24, Loo Kim Huat was fined $90,000 and also ordered to pay a penalty of $42,000, after he pleaded guilty to six charges under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act. Another 12 similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing. According to a press release from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), Loo, 68, was the director and group head of conservancy at WIS Holdings, which manages Weishen Industrial Services, a company providing estate cleaning and maintenance services for town councils. He had conspired with four others in the collection of kickbacks from 18 employees of Weishen as a condition for renewing their work passes. The illicit payments ranged from $900 to $7,000 for each worker. His four co-conspirators were Lim Choong Seng, a former site manager at Weishen; conservancy workers Kabir Mohammad Humayun and Robel; and Kamaruzzaman, an employment agent based in Bangladesh. According to court documents, the 18 foreign employees were primarily conservancy workers deployed to perform estate cleaning and maintenance services for town councils. The scheme which had been ongoing for four to five years before December 2020 originated from Kamaruzzaman, who was responsible for bringing in Bangladeshi nationals to work in Singapore at Weishen. Kamaruzzaman instructed Lim, Kabir, Robel and Kamaruzzaman's relatives in Singapore to collect the employment kickbacks from foreign employees whose work permits were applied for under Weishen. After the employment kickback monies were collected by Kabir and Robel, they would be handed to Lim, and then to Loo. Loo, who was Lim's direct superior, would pay Lim $300 for every kickback collected from each foreign employee. Loo and Lim would decide which foreign workers' work passes to renew, providing positive feedback to Weishen's human resources department for only the foreign employees who had paid the kickbacks. After receiving information on possible contravention of the laws under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, MOM employment inspectors carried out investigations into Weishen on Dec 8, 2020. MOM said Lim was convicted in August 2024 and fined $84,000 while Kabir's case is still pending before the court. According to court documents, Robel remains at large. An MOM prosecutor told the court on July 24 that Kamaruzzaman, who operated from Bangladesh, remained outside of Singapore's jurisdiction the last time the ministry checked. Loo has paid a total of $83,050 as restitution to the affected migrant workers. Nine of the workers have returned home; the other nine are working in Singapore, with three employed at Weishen, MOM said. Those who are found to have collected kickbacks can be jailed for up to two years, fined up to $30,000, or both. Migrant workers who suspect that they are being asked to give kickbacks can seek help by calling MOM at 6438-5122, or the Migrant Workers' Centre at 6536-2692. MOM said members of the public who are aware of suspicious employment activities, or know of people or employers who contravene the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, should report the matter to the ministry on its website. All information will be kept strictly confidential, it said. An anonymous complaint led to 24 weeks' jail for a former operations manager of a conservancy company, who oversaw estate cleaners in Nee Soon East and Pasir Ris-Punggol. Derrick Ho had collected $396,440 from 57 Bangladeshi workers from 2014 to 2020 for the renewal of their work permits, in one of the largest cases of kickbacks that MOM has investigated to date. He was sentenced in November 2024. Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction. Print
Straits Times
5 hours ago
- Straits Times
Thousands of men shared non-consensual intimate photos on Telegram: Chinese media
Find out what's new on ST website and app. A woman had discovered that photos of her taken unknowingly had been shared in a Telegram forum with over 100,000 users, mostly Chinese men. BEIJING - Thousands of men allegedly shared intimate photos and videos of their girlfriends without consent on the Telegram messaging app, Chinese media reported, sparking widespread outcry against secret filming and calls to better protect women. Pornography in China is illegal, and conservative social attitudes towards women remain the norm, often reinforced by state media and popular culture. It comes after a Chinese university expelled a female student in July for 'damaging national dignity' over videos posted by a Ukrainian e-sports player on Telegram suggesting they had been intimate. The Chinese state-owned Southern Daily reported this week a woman had discovered that photos of her taken unknowingly had been shared in a Telegram forum with over 100,000 users, mostly Chinese men. Members of the forum also shared photos of their girlfriends, ex-girlfriends and wives, according to a commentary in the Guangming Daily, an outlet backed by China's ruling communist party. Revelations of the group have sparked widespread outcry online. 'We are not...'content' that can be randomly uploaded, viewed and fantasised about,' read one comment on Instagram-like Red Note. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Singapore S'pore could have nuclear energy 'within a few years', if it decides on it: UN nuclear watchdog chief Asia Live: Thailand-Cambodia border clashes continue for second day Life 'Do you kill children?': Even before independence, S'pore has always loved its over-the-top campaigns Singapore Lung damage, poor brain development, addiction: What vaping does to the body Singapore Fine for couple whose catering companies owed $432,000 in salaries to 103 employees Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly 'We can no longer remain silent. Because next could be me, or it could be you.' A related hashtag has been viewed more than 230 million times on social media platform Weibo since July 24. The largest group, called 'Mask Park', has since been taken down, but smaller spinoffs remain active, according to women contacted by Southern Daily. Telegram encrypts its users' messages and is banned in China, but it is accessible using a virtual private network. AFP has contacted Telegram for comment. 'Nightmares for life' The incident has drawn comparisons to a case in South Korea dubbed 'Nth Room', in which a man blackmailed dozens of women into taking sexually explicit videos and sold them on Telegram. Chinese women have taken to social media to detail their own experiences being filmed and photographed by men in public. 'What criminals consider 'regular' for them may be nightmares that countless women can't escape for the rest of their lives,' one woman said, sharing an encounter on Douyin. Chinese police have cracked down on illegal filming, arresting hundreds of people in 2022 over clandestine surveillance activities. But women's rights are sensitive territory in China – over the last decade, authorities have suppressed almost every form of independent feminist activism. #MeToo activist Sophia Huang Xueqin was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of 'inciting subversion of state power' after she became a symbol of the country's stalled feminist movement. Chinese authorities have yet to publicly announce any action against the Telegram group. But the Guangming Daily commentary urged 'accountability' for the organisers of the Telegram group, and empathy for the people filmed. Improving law enforcement would 'enhance the overall sense of security, free women from the fear of being spied on and make privacy boundaries a truly untouchable red line', it said. AFP
Straits Times
9 hours ago
- Straits Times
Day of prayers for victims after Bangladesh jet crash
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Muslims offer a special prayer at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka on July 25. DHAKA - Special prayers were held across Bangladesh on July 25, as the death toll from a fighter jet crash into a school building in Dhaka rose to 32. Most of the dead were children – the youngest aged nine – after the Chinese-made F-7 BJI aircraft slammed into the Milestone School and College on July 21 following a mechanical failure. The authorities earlier said 31 people were killed and 170 injured in the deadliest aviation disaster in the country in decades. The latest to succumb to her injuries was 10-year-old Tasnim Afroz Ayman, hospital coordinator Sarkar Farhana Kabir told AFP. 'She was undergoing treatment in the High Dependency Unit with 45 per cent burns,' she said. Ayman's uncle, Mr Saiful Islam, said she remained calm and composed despite undergoing excruciating pain during her final hours. 'Even last night, she consoled her mother. But God had other plans,' Mr Saiful told AFP. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore SMRT to pay lower fine of $2.4m for EWL disruption; must invest at least $600k to boost reliability Singapore MRT service changes needed to modify 3 East-West Line stations on Changi Airport stretch: LTA Asia Live: Thailand-Cambodia border clashes continue for second day Singapore Vapes: The silent killer hiding in the pocket Singapore Vape disposal bins at 23 CCs for users to surrender e-vaporisers without facing penalties Singapore Fine for couple whose catering companies owed $432,000 in salaries to 103 employees Singapore Tipsy Collective sues former directors, HR head; alleges $14m lost from misconduct, poor decisions Singapore Kopi, care and conversation: How this 20-year-old helps improve the well-being of the elderly As of July 25, 51 others were receiving treatment in various city hospitals. Following a government directive, all mosques across the country held special prayers during the July 25 congregation. Mr Ashraful Islam, who came to pray at a mosque close to the school, lost both his children – Tahia Ashraf Nazia, 13, and Arian Ashraf Nafi, 9. 'I have nothing left,' Mr Ashraful told reporters. Nazia kept asking about her younger brother Nafi until her last breath, he added. Her final request was for an ice cream, said her aunt Naznin Akhter. 'I'm burning inside. Give me some ice cream... and don't let go of my hand,' were her last words, she told a local TV channel. India and Singapore have sent doctors specialising in burn care to assist their Bangladesh colleagues. A military investigation has been opened to determine the cause of the accident. AFP
