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Kpod vapes, zombie kids: Why it's time to raise the alarm
Kpod vapes, zombie kids: Why it's time to raise the alarm

Yahoo

time17-07-2025

  • Health
  • Yahoo

Kpod vapes, zombie kids: Why it's time to raise the alarm

Kpods, a street term for drug-laced e-vaporisers, has been much-talked about this week, with The Straits Times launching an anti-vape campaign on July 13. Recently, videos of vape users taken by the public have been surfacing online – in particular, of younger people – turning into 'zombies' and behaving erratically after using etomidate-laced vapes. Etomidate is an anaesthetic used in hospitals during medical procedures, and is classified as a poison under the Poisons Act, which strictly restricts its use to licensed medical professionals. Some parents have shared their stories about how their children have tried self-harm or attempted suicide while being high. Through reports, commentaries and first-person accounts, ST, along with parents, readers and health professionals, have sounded the alarm on the dangerous nature of Kpods. In this episode of The Usual Place Podcast, I chat with my colleague and seasoned crime reporter Zaihan Mohamed Yusof; Yio Chu Kang SMC MP Yip Hon Weng, who has raised multiple Parliamentary Questions on vaping over the past few years; and Narasimman Tivasiha Mani, the executive director of youth mental health charity Impart, who has encountered teens using Kpods. We will discuss the access to Kpods, what attracts young people to use them, and how Singapore can step up enforcement and awareness. Tune in at 12pm SGT/HKT to watch the livestream and take part in the discussion on our revamped YouTube channel. Follow The Usual Place Podcast live at noon every Thursday and get notified for new episode drops: Channel: Apple Podcasts: Spotify: YouTube: Source: The Straits Times © SPH Media Limited. Permission required for reproduction Discover how to enjoy other premium articles here

Young people in Singapore carrying weapons as 'fashion accessory': Counsellor
Young people in Singapore carrying weapons as 'fashion accessory': Counsellor

New Paper

time25-06-2025

  • New Paper

Young people in Singapore carrying weapons as 'fashion accessory': Counsellor

Young people may be carrying weapons in public as a "fashion accessory", and brandishing them during heated arguments, a counsellor who works with at-risk youth flagged. Mr Narasimman Tivasiha Mani, co-founder of the charity Impart, said he has seen an increasing number of young people carrying weapons as accessories in the last 10 years. "Some of these weapons look quite nice, so (young people) buy them and carry them around to show off," he said. Mr Narasimman, who said some of the weapons can be found on sale on platforms like Carousell, Telegram and Facebook, added that they would be used when these young people get into confrontations with others. His comments come in the wake of a spate of incidents over the last year that saw young people linked to violent crimes. In March, a 16-year-old was convicted of rioting with a deadly weapon after he brandished a flick knife at another teen during a group attack, which involved five others aged 13 to 17. The teen, who has yet to be sentenced, had asked the victim if he wanted to "try the knife". In September 2024, a 22-year-old man was charged with murder after a brawl in Kitchener Road. Three other men and two women were charged with rioting with a deadly weapon over the same incident. In June 2024, a 19-year-old was charged with voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon. He had allegedly slashed a 20-year-old man with a chopper during a fight in Sembawang. Mr Amalraj Thevar Manivannan, 27, is a friend of Mr Dhinessh Vasie, who died in the Kitchener Road brawl. "He was so young and there was so much ahead for him," said Mr Amalraj of the 25-year-old victim. A father of a three-month-old girl, Mr Amalraj said he is concerned that young people may be carrying weapons in public. "My worry is when my daughter starts going to school. Will there be enough advocacy against violence and use of such weapons, or will things be worse?" he said. Official figures from 2019 to 2023 show that the number of offenders aged 10 to below 21 involved in offences under the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act had climbed from 92 to 133. Offences under the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act involved mainly youth who were seen with offensive weapons such as knives. The Straits Times checked and found weapons like karambit knives sold on online platforms like Carousell and Shopee, many with intricate designs and videos demonstrating how they could be used. The karambit knife is a scheduled weapon. Possession of a scheduled weapon - which includes flick knives, gravity knives and knuckle dusters - without lawful authority can result in a jail term of up to five years, with a minimum of six strokes of the cane for a first conviction. Mr Narasimman said the use of weapons in the gaming world can play a part in influencing a young person to carry a weapon in real life. "It becomes a thing for them to have a weapon, because in the game, a weapon increases the chance of them winning the fight. It conditions them to think that violence is an option," he added. MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC Darryl David had raised the issue in Parliament in September 2024 after a spate of rioting cases involving young people aged below 21 and deadly weapons. Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said in a written reply that there was an average of 10 cases of rioting with deadly weapons every year between 2019 and 2023. Slightly more than half involved offenders below 21 years of age. Speaking with ST, Mr David said young people may be influenced by violent content they are watching on social media. "When they have all this unfiltered content coming through without proper guidance, it could lead to acts of violence in real life. "(The acts of violence) might also be due to the lack of adequate social and familial structures, and inability to manage anger, frustration and unhappiness," he said. Mr Narasimman said young people lack emotional regulation because their brains are not fully developed. "Their executive functioning skills (at that age) might be poor, so they tend to act based on their emotions. Impulsivity is a huge trait among young people who use weapons. "They don't know what to do when they feel threatened, and their need to fight back is strong, so they resort to using weapons," he said, adding that childhood trauma and negative influences from friends might also contribute to their violent tendencies. Mr David said educators and counsellors can help young people navigate the plethora of information available to them. "As an educator, I believe that we've never had a generation exposed to so much information, with so little maturity. "It's a very dangerous combination," said Mr David, who was formerly deputy director of Temasek Polytechnic's School of Design. He said more can be done to show young people that there are other avenues to share their fears and anxieties. "With youth, we need to help them learn how to deal with fear and anxiety, and prevent these emotions from manifesting in acts of violence. We can teach them to manage their feelings, and find healthy channels for release," he said. When counselling at-risk youth, Mr Narasimman focuses on understanding their backgrounds and teaching them how to regulate their emotions. These include equipping them with coping skills such as breathing exercises or clenching their fists to help them calm down in moments of anger. As incidents of violence most commonly involve males, part of Mr Narasimman's work involves reshaping these young people's narratives of what it means to be a man. He added: "Many of them have been told not to cry, because boys must be harder and stronger. "But when these youth are not in touch with their emotions, they bottle it up, and it may eventually burst."

Young people in Singapore carrying weapons as ‘fashion accessory': Counsellor
Young people in Singapore carrying weapons as ‘fashion accessory': Counsellor

The Star

time23-06-2025

  • The Star

Young people in Singapore carrying weapons as ‘fashion accessory': Counsellor

SINGAPORE: Young people may be carrying weapons in public as a 'fashion accessory', and brandishing them during heated arguments, a counsellor who works with at-risk youth flagged. Narasimman Tivasiha Mani, co-founder of the charity Impart, said he has seen an increasing number of young people carrying weapons as accessories in the last 10 years. 'Some of these weapons look quite nice, so (young people) buy them and carry them around to show off,' he said. Narasimman, who said some of the weapons can be found on sale on platforms like Carousell, Telegram and Facebook, added that they would be used when these young people get into confrontations with others. His comments come in the wake of a spate of incidents over the last year that saw young people linked to violent crimes. In March, a 16-year-old was convicted of rioting with a deadly weapon after he brandished a flick knife at another teen during a group attack, which involved five others aged 13 to 17. The teen, who has yet to be sentenced, had asked the victim if he wanted to 'try the knife'. In September 2024, a 22-year-old man was charged with murder after a brawl in Kitchener Road. Three other men and two women were charged with rioting with a deadly weapon over the same incident. In June 2024, a 19-year-old was charged with voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon. He had allegedly slashed a 20-year-old man with a chopper during a fight in Sembawang. Amalraj Thevar Manivannan, 27, is a friend of Dhinessh Vasie, who died in the Kitchener Road brawl. 'He was so young and there was so much ahead for him,' said Amalraj of the 25-year-old victim. A father of a three-month-old girl, Amalraj said he is concerned that young people may be carrying weapons in public. 'My worry is when my daughter starts going to school. Will there be enough advocacy against violence and use of such weapons, or will things be worse?' he said. Official figures from 2019 to 2023 show that the number of offenders aged 10 to below 21 involved in offences under the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act had climbed from 92 to 133. Offences under the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act involved mainly youth who were seen with offensive weapons such as knives. The Straits Times checked and found weapons like karambit knives sold on online platforms like Carousell and Shopee, many with intricate designs and videos demonstrating how they could be used. The karambit knife is a scheduled weapon. Possession of a scheduled weapon – which includes flick knives, gravity knives and knuckle dusters – without lawful authority can result in a jail term of up to five years, with a minimum of six strokes of the cane for a first conviction. Narasimman said the use of weapons in the gaming world can play a part in influencing a young person to carry a weapon in real life. 'It becomes a thing for them to have a weapon, because in the game, a weapon increases the chance of them winning the fight. It conditions them to think that violence is an option,' he added. MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC Darryl David had raised the issue in Parliament in September 2024 after a spate of rioting cases involving young people aged below 21 and deadly weapons. Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said in a written reply that there was an average of 10 cases of rioting with deadly weapons every year between 2019 and 2023. Slightly more than half involved offenders below 21 years of age. Speaking with ST, David said young people may be influenced by violent content they are watching on social media. 'When they have all this unfiltered content coming through without proper guidance, it could lead to acts of violence in real life. '(The acts of violence) might also be due to the lack of adequate social and familial structures, and inability to manage anger, frustration and unhappiness,' he said. Narasimman said young people lack emotional regulation because their brains are not fully developed. 'Their executive functioning skills (at that age) might be poor, so they tend to act based on their emotions. Impulsivity is a huge trait among young people who use weapons. 'They don't know what to do when they feel threatened, and their need to fight back is strong, so they resort to using weapons,' he said, adding that childhood trauma and negative influences from friends might also contribute to their violent tendencies. David said educators and counsellors can help young people navigate the plethora of information available to them. 'As an educator, I believe that we've never had a generation exposed to so much information, with so little maturity. 'It's a very dangerous combination,' said David, who was formerly deputy director of Temasek Polytechnic's School of Design. He said more can be done to show young people that there are other avenues to share their fears and anxieties. 'With youth, we need to help them learn how to deal with fear and anxiety, and prevent these emotions from manifesting in acts of violence. We can teach them to manage their feelings, and find healthy channels for release,' he said. When counselling at-risk youth, Narasimman focuses on understanding their backgrounds and teaching them how to regulate their emotions. These include equipping them with coping skills such as breathing exercises or clenching their fists to help them calm down in moments of anger. As incidents of violence most commonly involve males, part of Narasimman's work involves reshaping these young people's narratives of what it means to be a man. He added: 'Many of them have been told not to cry, because boys must be harder and stronger. 'But when these youth are not in touch with their emotions, they bottle it up, and it may eventually burst.' - The Straits Times/ANN

Young people in Singapore carrying weapons as 'fashion accessory': Counsellor, Singapore News
Young people in Singapore carrying weapons as 'fashion accessory': Counsellor, Singapore News

AsiaOne

time23-06-2025

  • AsiaOne

Young people in Singapore carrying weapons as 'fashion accessory': Counsellor, Singapore News

SINGAPORE - Young people may be carrying weapons in public as a 'fashion accessory', and brandishing them during heated arguments, a counsellor who works with at-risk youth flagged. Mr Narasimman Tivasiha Mani, co-founder of the charity Impart, said he has seen an increasing number of young people carrying weapons as accessories in the last 10 years. 'Some of these weapons look quite nice, so (young people) buy them and carry them around to show off,' he said. Mr Narasimman, who said some of the weapons can be found on sale on platforms like Carousell, Telegram and Facebook, added that they would be used when these young people get into confrontations with others. His comments come in the wake of a spate of incidents over the last year that saw young people linked to violent crimes. In March, a 16-year-old was convicted of rioting with a deadly weapon after he brandished a flick knife at another teen during a group attack, which involved five others aged 13 to 17. The teen, who has yet to be sentenced, had asked the victim if he wanted to 'try the knife'. In September 2024, a 22-year-old man was charged with murder after a brawl in Kitchener Road. Three other men and two women were charged with rioting with a deadly weapon over the same incident. In June 2024, a 19-year-old was charged with voluntarily causing hurt with a dangerous weapon. He had allegedly slashed a 20-year-old man with a chopper during a fight in Sembawang. Mr Amalraj Thevar Manivannan, 27, is a friend of Mr Dhinessh Vasie, who died in the Kitchener Road brawl. 'He was so young and there was so much ahead for him,' said Mr Amalraj of the 25-year-old victim. A father of a three-month-old girl, Mr Amalraj said he is concerned that young people may be carrying weapons in public. 'My worry is when my daughter starts going to school. Will there be enough advocacy against violence and use of such weapons, or will things be worse?' he said. Official figures from 2019 to 2023 show that the number of offenders aged 10 to below 21 involved in offences under the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act had climbed from 92 to 133. Offences under the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act involved mainly youth who were seen with offensive weapons such as knives. The Straits Times checked and found weapons like karambit knives sold on online platforms like Carousell and Shopee, many with intricate designs and videos demonstrating how they could be used. The karambit knife is a scheduled weapon. Possession of a scheduled weapon – which includes flick knives, gravity knives and knuckle dusters – without lawful authority can result in a jail term of up to five years, with a minimum of six strokes of the cane for a first conviction. Mr Narasimman said the use of weapons in the gaming world can play a part in influencing a young person to carry a weapon in real life. 'It becomes a thing for them to have a weapon, because in the game, a weapon increases the chance of them winning the fight. It conditions them to think that violence is an option,' he added. MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC Darryl David had raised the issue in Parliament in September 2024 after a spate of rioting cases involving young people aged below 21 and deadly weapons. Minister for Home Affairs K. Shanmugam said in a written reply that there was an average of 10 cases of rioting with deadly weapons every year between 2019 and 2023. Slightly more than half involved offenders below 21 years of age. Speaking with ST, Mr David said young people may be influenced by violent content they are watching on social media. 'When they have all this unfiltered content coming through without proper guidance, it could lead to acts of violence in real life. '(The acts of violence) might also be due to the lack of adequate social and familial structures, and inability to manage anger, frustration and unhappiness,' he said. Mr Narasimman said young people lack emotional regulation because their brains are not fully developed. 'Their executive functioning skills (at that age) might be poor, so they tend to act based on their emotions. Impulsivity is a huge trait among young people who use weapons. 'They don't know what to do when they feel threatened, and their need to fight back is strong, so they resort to using weapons,' he said, adding that childhood trauma and negative influences from friends might also contribute to their violent tendencies. Mr David said educators and counsellors can help young people navigate the plethora of information available to them. 'As an educator, I believe that we've never had a generation exposed to so much information, with so little maturity. 'It's a very dangerous combination,' said Mr David, who was formerly deputy director of Temasek Polytechnic's School of Design. He said more can be done to show young people that there are other avenues to share their fears and anxieties. 'With youth, we need to help them learn how to deal with fear and anxiety, and prevent these emotions from manifesting in acts of violence. We can teach them to manage their feelings, and find healthy channels for release,' he said. When counselling at-risk youth, Mr Narasimman focuses on understanding their backgrounds and teaching them how to regulate their emotions. These include equipping them with coping skills such as breathing exercises or clenching their fists to help them calm down in moments of anger. As incidents of violence most commonly involve males, part of Mr Narasimman's work involves reshaping these young people's narratives of what it means to be a man. He added: 'Many of them have been told not to cry, because boys must be harder and stronger. 'But when these youth are not in touch with their emotions, they bottle it up, and it may eventually burst.' This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

Impart Security Raises $12M Series A for Production-Trusted AI Security Platform
Impart Security Raises $12M Series A for Production-Trusted AI Security Platform

Business Wire

time05-06-2025

  • Business
  • Business Wire

Impart Security Raises $12M Series A for Production-Trusted AI Security Platform

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Impart Security today announced the general availability of the industry's first Application Detection and Response Engineering Platform, which security teams trust to build autonomous workflows for production environments. The launch comes alongside a $12 million Series A funding round led by Madrona Ventures, with participation from CRV and 8-Bit Capital. As a result of the financing, Madrona Managing Director Karan Mehandru has joined the board. Impart's breakthrough platform already protects major enterprises, including a major financial services firm and a global entertainment conglomerate, by defending against threats in real-time without requiring human oversight, achieving what security experts called impossible until now. "This isn't just about better security tools—we're fundamentally changing how enterprises engineer application protection," said Jonathan DiVincenzo, CEO of Impart Security. "When AI can be trusted to manage production changes without oversight, it transforms from an assistant into an autonomous operator. That's the difference between traditional approaches to application security and genuine business transformation." The Fundamental Problem – Enterprise security teams have long been trapped in an impossible tradeoff: allowing attacks through or risking production outages. Traditional security solutions force teams to choose between robust protection and system stability, leading most organizations to operate with minimal security settings rather than risk disrupting critical business operations. This defensive posture leaves applications vulnerable to the very threats security teams are tasked to prevent. The Breakthrough: Programmable WASM Rules – While fully autonomous application security has been promised for years, trust and safety concerns have prevented real-world deployment. Impart's platform leverages WebAssembly isolation technology to create secure sandbox environments where security teams, assisted by AI agents, can design, develop, and test security rules against live traffic patterns without risk of lateral movement or production impact. Not only does WASM provide secure isolation, but it's also highly performant with ahead-of-time compilation and portable across platforms. This foundational innovation unlocks unparalleled safety and agility in Impart's platform, allowing security teams to rapidly iterate and deploy security controls in production environments with unprecedented speed and confidence. Early results demonstrate the impact: Impart's AI has successfully deployed over 2,400 security rules across customer environments, reducing average deployment time from 18 days to 45 minutes while maintaining 99.97% uptime—better than most human-managed security systems. "We've evaluated every AI native security platform on the market, but they all had the same fatal flaw: they still required human review for production changes," said Chris Castaldo, CISO at Crossbeam. "Impart is the first platform our team trusts to make autonomous production changes. In three months, it's caught dozens of attack patterns our previous tools missed entirely while never causing a single service disruption." Autonomous Security Engineering at Scale – Impart's platform deploys a growing number of specialized AI agents that function as a coordinated team of application security engineers, including: Traffic Inspector – Continuously inspects traffic flows to identify behavioral patterns and baselines Detection Engineer – Spots anomalies and potential threats as they emerge in real-time Security Architect – Develops and tests security rules within isolated sandbox environments Rule Engineer – Adapts defenses based on new attack vectors and threat intelligence The technology recently proved its value during a sophisticated application attack targeting multiple Impart customers simultaneously. While traditional security teams would have required days to analyze the attack pattern and deploy a virtual patch, Impart's AI identified the threat signature, generated custom detection rules, and deployed protection across all affected environments within minutes of the initial attack. Investor Validation After Rigorous Technical Diligence – "We evaluated dozens of AI security companies, but Impart was the only one that stood out because of its breadth, depth, and usability," said Karan Mehandru, Managing Director at Madrona. "Every enterprise we speak with desperately wants to leverage the incredible benefits of AI and unlock innovation, yet none of that is possible without a comprehensive security platform that is proactive, fully autonomous, AI-native, and ultimately removes the burden from security teams who are drowning in point tools. The feedback we received from multiple CISOs we spoke with was unambiguous and overwhelmingly positive about Impart's differentiation as a product and their leadership team, led by Jonathan DiVincenzo. It is clear to us that Impart has solved the last mile problem that had previously limited AI from being truly transformative in enterprise and from deploying applications into production." Industry Transformation Ahead – The Series A funding will accelerate Impart's expansion into three key enterprise segments: financial services, healthcare, and infrastructure providers—industries where security speed directly impacts business operations. The company is also launching partnerships with major cloud platforms and channel partners to integrate autonomous security capabilities directly into enterprise deployment pipelines. "We're thrilled to partner with Karan and the team at Madrona," said DiVincenzo. "As we enter our next phase of growth, Karan's go-to-market expertise will be invaluable as we expand our sales and marketing efforts while continuing to strengthen the platform that has resonated so strongly with the market." About Impart Security Impart Security delivers the world's first AI security platform trusted to operate autonomously in production environments. Using code based rules and an integrated security IDE, Impart provides adaptive, intelligent protection for APIs and web applications without human oversight or operational burden. Founded by security veterans from major technology companies, Impart is backed by Madrona and serves Fortune 500 enterprises across financial services, healthcare, and cloud infrastructure. Learn more at

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