Air India crash: A struggle to cope for those living in the neighbourhood
So did Mr Shravan Chunilal Rana, a third-year medical student at the college, who had just begun eating his lunch of dal, chapatis and curd. The chatter of young students enjoying their lunch break echoed in the large dining hall, as did the clatter of steel utensils being gathered and cleaned .
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Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
‘I thought it was an April Fool's joke': Teen addicted to Kpods on news that friend died
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Joe said that at one point, he was using one drug-laced vape every day, spending nearly $1,000 a month on his habit. SINGAPORE – His first taste of a drug-laced e-vaporiser was when he was 15, after a friend introduced him to it at a party in October 2024. They became close friends over the course of a year. 'He asked me to try this thing and I thought it was just a normal vape. But after he used it, he started acting very sluggish, like a zombie,' said Joe (not his real name). The e-vaporiser was laced with etomidate, a potent anaesthetic agent typically used in clinical practice. In Singapore, it has become known as the main ingredient in Kpods – vape juice laced with synthetic drugs and pharmaceutical products. 'I inhaled the first puff very deeply and felt very dizzy. My body also started to feel very light,' Joe recalled. He said he was not hooked immediately but later depended on the device to get over a failed romance in December 2024. At one point, he was using one drug-laced vape every day, spending nearly $1,000 a month on his habit. He tapped money he received during Chinese New Year and on his birthday. Joe, who was accompanied by his parents during the interview with The Straits Times, said: 'I remembered what it felt like when I used it at my friend's house the first time. 'It made me forget. It helped me to cope with certain things and I thought it would help me ease my stress.' Soon, the pair of friends – who once played video games and went swimming together – began meeting just to use Kpods. Joe knew that the pods were laced with etomidate. He said he had watched some videos on social media app TikTok that explained what the anaesthetic compound is. He once had a bad fall while under the effects of the Kpod and realised only hours later that he was bleeding from his arms and legs. Joe added that many of his friends were also using Kpods, which can cost up to $60 for a cartridge. More on this topic HSA looking to get anti-vape cyber surveillance tool with AI capabilities That changed in April , when his close friend died after falling off a ledge at his Housing Board block, Joe said. 'My friend was depressed when he was introduced to Kpods. He started to abuse it too. 'His mother told me that one night, he went to the lift lobby near the eighth floor and sat on the ledge,' said Joe, adding that his friend's mother said her son had been using Kpods at the time. Joe's friend was only 14. 'I thought it was an April Fool's joke until I saw his obituary. After I attended his wake, I couldn't get the image of his body out of my head. I had to use Kpods to cope with his death,' he said. Joe's father said he accompanied him to the wake in April. When he saw Joe breaking down upon seeing his friend's body, he used the opportunity to speak to his son. 'He said he did not stop his friend from using Kpods because he thought he should not point out his good friend's mistakes. It ended in a tragedy,' said Joe's father. But Joe could not stop. A few weeks after the funeral, the teenager experienced constant tremors and numbness, and coughed up blood. He locked himself in his room and continued to puff on the laced device. He finally made the decision to stop relying on Kpods when his friend's mother reached out to him. 'We were very close. I was almost like her second son. She told me then she knew I was also using Kpods, and asked me to stop.' Not alert Joe's father said he suspected his son was addicted to Kpods when his grades and attendance started to slip. 'He would be sleepy during the day and stay up late at night in his room. My wife noticed how he was no longer alert. 'We were confused by his inability to focus,' said Joe's father. The parents sought professional help after many conversations with Joe. 'We tried to approach him with calm and patience but it was not always easy. At home, we started supervising him more closely,' said the father. In the end, Joe managed to keep his word to his friend's mother, and quit vaping in April. 'At that time, my world was dependent on Kpods. I would be very restless without it in my system and become very agitated. 'But the time I could have used to study or better myself, I used it on Kpods. It's like I just threw that part of my life away.'
Straits Times
11 hours ago
- Straits Times
NTU upholds zero grade for student penalised for academic misconduct; panel found 14 false citations or data
Find out what's new on ST website and app. The essay was part of a course on health, disease outbreaks and politics at NTU's School of Social Sciences. SINGAPORE - Nanyang Technological University (NTU) has upheld the zero mark given to a student penalised earlier for academic misconduct, following an appeal made by the student. In a statement on July 18, the university said the panel, which reviewed the student's appeal, found 14 instances of false citations or data in her essay, noting that these were not mere 'typos' or typographical errors. One example was the citing of non-existent sources. 'The panel stipulated that citing non-existent sources is a serious form of academic misconduct as the accurate citation of sources is the foundation of academic research and writing,' NTU said. 'Citing non-existent sources constitutes a serious form of academic misconduct.' The university added that such errors are commonly associated with factual inaccuracies generated by generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) tools. The assignment in question was part of a course on health, disease outbreaks and politics at NTU's School of Social Sciences. Three students enrolled in the module had earlier in Apri l received a zero grade for the same essay after their submissions were flagged for containing non-existent academic references and statistics, or broken web links. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Critical infrastructure in S'pore under attack by cyber espionage group: Shanmugam Singapore Who is UNC3886, the group that attacked S'pore's critical information infrastructure? Singapore HSA looking to get anti-vape cyber surveillance tool with AI capabilities Singapore Alleged Kpod peddler filmed trying to flee raid in Bishan charged with 6 offences Singapore 30% of aviation jobs could be redesigned due to AI, automation; $200m fund to support workers: CAAS Singapore Former NUH male nurse faces charges after he allegedly molested man at hospital Singapore Character counts as much as grades, Desmond Lee tells students The case has drawn attention to the growing use of AI in education, and sparked discussion about its impact on academic integrity and critical thinking. It came to light after a Reddit post by one of the students on June 19 went viral. In the post, she claimed she was accused of using AI in a final essay for a module because she had made errors in her citations and used a reference organiser. NTU had earlier confirmed that the use of Gen AI tools had been explicitly prohibited by the course instructor throughout the semester, with students warned that any AI-generated content would result in a zero grade. The assignment was worth 45 per cent of the final grade. The student whose appeal case was heard by the panel had said earlier that she had used only a reference organiser and had submitted updated citations to rectify her earlier mistakes. On the panel's decision to keep the zero mark, she told The Straits Times when contacted on July 18 that while she does not agree fully with its reasoning and conclusion, she was ready to move on. 'I respect NTU's decision and treat it as a case of bad luck on my end,' she said. Meanwhile, a request for an appeal by the second student, who was also penalised, was earlier rejected. The third student did not submit an appeal. All cases of academic misconduct are documented in the internal records of the students, NTU said on July 18. 'The outcome of the appeal panel is final,' said NTU. 'We urge everyone to respect the integrity of the appeals process and refrain from making personal attacks against any individual involved.' 'The university is committed to safeguarding the well-being of the university's faculty, staff and students.'
Straits Times
19 hours ago
- Straits Times
In rural Canadian town, new risk of measles deepens vaccine tensions
Find out what's new on ST website and app. AYLMER, Ontario - In the Canadian town of Aylmer, where Mennonites in traditional dress walk down the main street alongside secular locals, bitter divisions over vaccine scepticism that arose during Covid-19 have intensified with the re-emergence of measles. Mennonites are members of a Protestant sect, originating from the 16th century reformation. Anabaptists and Mennonite are a group believing in adult baptism, as opposed to infant baptism. Canada, which officially eradicated measles in 1998, has registered over 3,500 cases in 2025 and the United States is confronting its worst measles epidemic in 30 years, with the UN warning of the global risk as misinformation and lack of funding impact vaccination rates. Different communities in Canada have been hit, but experts link the brunt of the outbreak to anti-vaccine Anabaptist groups in the provinces of Ontario and Alberta. Growing up in Aylmer, a bucolic town surrounded by farmland in south-western Ontario, Mr Brett Hueston said he didn't give much thought to the differing world views among the town's religious and secular residents. That changed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. World Trump diagnosed with vein condition causing leg swelling: White House World Trump was diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency. What is it? Singapore 5 foreigners charged over scheme to deliberately get arrested in S'pore to sell sex drugs here Asia Appointment of Malaysia's new chief justice eases controversy over vacant top judge seats for now Singapore Driverless bus in Sentosa gets green light to run without safety officer in first for S'pore Singapore SPCA appoints Walter Leong as new executive director World US strikes destroyed only one of three Iranian nuclear sites, says new report Business Granddaughter of late Indonesian tycoon pays $25 million for Singapore bungalow 'I grew up, perhaps naively, thinking that we were all sort of on the same page as a community,' said Mr Hueston, 40, whose family publishes the 145-year-old local paper, the Aylmer Express. ' Covid-19 really exploited whatever differences there were,' he told AFP. Aylmer was a pandemic flashpoint. The town has 13 churches, a substantial number given its roughly 8,000 population. A major congregation – the Aylmer Church of God that sits on an expansive, well-manicured grounds – enthusiastically defied some lockdown restrictions. The church's pastor, Henry Hildebrandt, tried to challenge the rules in the supreme court, before agreeing in 2022 to pay a C $65,000 ( S$60,750 ) fine for gathering people to worship. Mr Hildebrandt said he admitted 'to one count of obeying God rather than man,' asserting that he had knowingly broken the law. Mr Hueston said 'when measles came up, I thought, I know where this is going.' 'Everybody thinks... Mennonites are (all) anti-vaxers. It certainly isn't the case, but there's certainly a conservative part of this end of the county that is strongly anti-vaxer, and I don't quite understand it,' he told AFP. Difficult to watch Dr Michelle Barton heads the infectious diseases division at the Children's Hospital at the London Health Sciences Center, south-western Ontario's main referral hospital. She's seen some of the most serious pediatric measles cases in 2025 and told AFP observing the recurrence of a once eradicated virus has been 'difficult to watch.' She noted that not every case can be tied to unvaccinated Mennonites. Infections have also occurred among new immigrants from the developing world who, for various reasons, did not keep up with immunisations after settling in Canada, including due to an acute family doctor shortage. Dr Barton said it was long clear 'pockets of unvaccinated people' made the region vulnerable to measles. She recounted a range of attitudes towards vaccines among Mennonite families. Some mothers, when confronted with how sick their children had become, voiced openness to vaccinating their other children, only to back away, fearing consequences from their husband or pastor, Dr Barton told AFP. 'They don't want to go against the grain of their culture, and they don't want to go against the (church) elders,' she said. She also voiced sympathy for a Mennonite community that faced 'resentment' from some healthcare workers, who at times displayed frustration over having to respond to an entirely preventable outbreak. Dr Barton said she hoped the relationships forged between medical staff and vaccine- sceptical families could improve acceptance, and she encouraged public health officials to persist in trying to bring church leaders on board. Wall of lies For Dr Alon Vaisman, an infectious diseases doctor at Ontario's University Health Network, officials must keep trying, regardless of opposition. 'From a public health perspective we ought not to accept anything to be insurmountable when it comes to vaccine campaigns.' Child vaccination rates remain below where they need to be, making another viral outbreak, including measles, possible, Dr Vaisman said. 'There really needs to be more of an effort,' he told AFP, conceding the difficulty of finding a successful path forward. 'You're fighting against the wall of disinformation and lies,' he said. AFP
