The Police have arrested a 29-year-old woman for her suspected involvement in a series of cheating cases reported island-wide.

On 25 January 2023, the Police received a report from a victim who had purportedly been cheated by an online seller who had advertised the sale of frames on Instagram. After receiving a sum of about $129 via money transfer, the woman did not fulfil the delivery of the frames and became uncontactable.

Through follow-up investigations, officers from Woodlands Police Division established the identity of the woman and arrested her on 28 February 2023. The woman is believed to be involved in at least 11 other similar cases of cheating of at least $2000.

The women will be charged in court on 3 March 2023 with cheating under Section 420 of the Penal Code 1871. The offence carries an imprisonment term of up to 10 years and a fine.

The Police would like to advise members of the public to take the following precautions when engaging online services:

1. If the price is too good to be true, it probably is. Only engage service providers from reputable sources.
   
2. Whenever possible, avoid making advance payments or direct bank transfers to the service providers.
   
3. Scammers may entice buyers to make deposits before the services are provided, and they may also use a local bank account or provide a copy of a NRIC/driver’s licence to make you believe that they are genuine sellers. Do not fall for it!

For more information on scams, members of the public can visit www.scamalert.sg or call the Anti-Scam Hotline at 1800-722-6688. Anyone with information related to such scams may call the Police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/iwitness.

My brother has always been a bit of a cheapskate, but I never thought he would go so far as to refuse to pay me my salary when his shop closed down recently.

Use our ties as brothers to try and not pay me

He said that because we are brothers, he didn’t have to pay me. I was furious, as I had worked for him for almost a year and had put in a lot of hard work.

When I heard my brother’s outrageous claim, I immediately confronted him about it. I told him that, as a family member, it was his responsibility to pay me for my work. I reminded him that, as an employer, he was legally obligated to pay his employees. He had no right to withhold my salary just because we are brothers.

My brother tried to explain his position to me. He said that he had invested a lot of money in the shop and that, with the shop’s closure, he had lost a lot of money.

He said that he was unable to pay me my salary because he needed the money to cover his losses. I argued that he had made a commitment to me and that he should honor it.

I was hurt that he had tried to deny me my wages, even though I had worked hard for him. I had expected more from him as a brother. I thought he would have trusted me and recognized my hard work, rather than trying to take advantage of me.

I was also disappointed that he put his own financial interests ahead of his commitment to me. I understand that he was trying to minimize his losses, but I don’t think he should have done it at my expense.

It’s been a few months since the shop closed down, and I’m still trying to come to terms with what happened. It has changed my relationship with my brother and made me more wary of trusting him.

I’m thinking that if he can do this to his own family, I wonder what he will do to his business partners.

My best friend has been struggling financially for the past few years. His business ventures have all failed, leaving him with very little money.

Despite this, he still wants to have a lavish wedding, because his ego is more important than the reality of his financial situation.

Always thinks that he needs to show people he is doing well

I’m not sure why it’s so important to him. He’s already in a committed relationship, and they both love each other very much.

But it’s almost like he feels like he has something to prove. He wants to show the world that he’s still successful, even though his business ventures have failed.

I’ve tried to talk him out of it, but he refuses to listen. He says that he’s going to make it work, no matter what it takes.

He’s already started to make plans for the wedding, and he’s not even thinking about how he’s going to pay for it.

The worse is that his to be wife does not know of his situation as he is always cooking up excuses to explain why his business has failed and still acts like he has a lot of money in front of her.

Worry for him that this will all be exposed in future which will affect his relationship

I’m worried that he’s going to end up in debt, because he’s not taking the time to think about the financial implications of what he’s doing. He’s too busy focusing on the details of the wedding, and he’s not considering the long-term consequences.

I’ve offered to help him out financially, but he’s too proud to accept it. He feels like he needs to prove himself, and he’s not willing to let anyone else do it for him.

I understand why he feels this way, but I’m also concerned about his future. If he can’t manage his finances properly now, how is he going to be able to do it when he’s married?

His wife is going to have to carry the financial burden, and it’s not fair to her.

I’m scared that his ego is going to be the downfall of his relationship. He’s not considering the effects of his actions, and he’s not taking the time to think about the future.

He’s too focused on the present, and he’s not taking into account how his decisions will affect him and his family in the long run.

I’m trying to be supportive, but it’s hard to watch him make decisions that could potentially ruin his future. I just hope that he comes to his senses soon, and realizes that his ego is not more important than the reality of his financial situation.

I want him to be happy, but I also want him to be smart and take care of his finances.

There’s this colleague of mine who is like my office bff that I’ll confide in about everything work-related. One of the things I told her about is this guy from another department who has been trying to chase me.

I’m quite positive he is into me because he will always drop by my desk to chat with me and would go out of his way to help me for things that are not even part of his job scope.

Don’t like to pangsai where I eat so I made him give up

He is a nice guy but I’m not for office romance and I don’t feel anything special for him so I’ve been trying very hard to drop hints to him to give up.

I don’t know if it is because my hints aren’t obvious enough or he knows but refuses to acknowledge them, but he is very persistent and doesnt seem like he’ll stop.

Naturally I told my office bff about him and she offered me a lot of comfort and solid advice on what to do.

My bff told me that actually he is her boyfriend

Recently she confessed to me that the guy is her boyfriend and they have been actually dating for more than a year. I was damn shocked when she told me this and I felt so embarrassed about telling her all the details that must have been so awkward for her to hear.

When I could finally speak, I apologised to her for all the discomfort that I put her through and told her that her boyfriend isn’t a good guy so she should end things with him.

She told me that although he is very flirty, he is very good to her so she’ll stick with him until the day he initiates a break up.

And she even thanked me for making her bf very happy cos she can see how happy he is when he’s around me.

When she said that I sumpah I almost wanted to slap her. I’ve since left the company because I don’t wanna be around such crazy dynamics but on Facebook I can see that they’re still together.

My friend and I have been close since high school. We’ve been through thick and thin, but lately, I’ve noticed something off about him.

He has always been a bit immature, but it’s become worse in recent years. He’s 27 now, but his maturity level is still like a child.

Blames the whole world for his plight except himself

It’s clear that he’s been struggling, but he never takes any responsibility. He blames everyone but himself for his downfall. He’s always pointing fingers and making excuses, never willing to take ownership of his mistakes. It’s really starting to take a toll on our friendship.

I’ve tried to talk to him about it, but he never listens. No matter how much I try to get him to see that his behavior is causing problems, he refuses to listen.

He just keeps blaming others and making excuses. He’s even started to put the blame on me, which hurts.

It’s hard to watch my friend go through this, but I’m also starting to realize that there’s nothing I can do to help him. He’s not willing to accept that his behavior is causing problems and that he needs to take ownership of his mistakes.

I just hope that one day he’ll realize that he needs to take responsibility for his actions.

Unfortunately, it’s been a long road and things are only getting worse. He’s become increasingly isolated and withdrawn. He’s stopped going out with friends, and he’s stopped talking to me too. He’s in a really bad place and I’m not sure how much longer he can keep going like this.

Got into trouble with the law eventually

One day, after months of not hearing from him, I received a phone call from his mother. She told me that my friend had done something stupid and got into trouble with the law.

He was now left to face the consequences of his actions.

It was at that moment that I realized how much of an impact his immaturity had had on his life and his future. He had blamed everyone else for his problems and refused to take responsibility for his actions.

It was such a senseless tragedy and I wish that sitting inside will let him wake up to his senses.

Guys, I want to get your opinion. Who do you think should pay for the proposal ring and is there any rule to say how much should a proposal ring cost?

My boyfriend and I were calculating our wedding finances that day and when I was typing out the excel sheet, he casually told me how much the proposal ring cost.

Seems like he wants me to share the cost of the proposal ring

I thought he was trying to get a response from me so I said wow diamond rings are expensive nowadays and then my boyfriend said yeah glad you know and told me to put it inside the excel.

I was confused so I asked him what he meant and he told me to put inside the excel as our wedding expenses, which is to be split between us.

Tell him no need ring but he scared lose face if never buy me a ring

I got a bit irritated so I asked him isn’t the proposal ring paid for by the guy and he asked me why am I complaining when I’m the one wearing the ring. He also never say anything.

I was really triggered by his words cos I’m not a person who wears jewellery often so I told him before that I didn’t need a ring but he still got it because he said that a diamond ring represents undying love so cannot use other things to replace.

Also if he doesnt propose with a ring people will gossip.

It’s not that I’m upset about having to pay for the ring. I can totally afford it but I thought that the proposal ring is something that the guy buys for the girl as a gesture of his love.

Now it feels more like he is getting it cos he has to and doesn’t want to pay full price.

Here are what netizens think

• I got a real diamond ring but Opted to buy $180 worth of diamond ring that doesn’t tarnish . It looks almost the same. Anyways it will scratch and you will not want to take it off all the time si might aswell I keep the real one.
  
• Between a couple whether you are getting married or not, there is always compromise. There will always be someone paying for more or giving more. Having a wedding is not cheap too.
  
  And to the OP, normally conversations like yours would show that someone between the both of you is already feeling that they are already contributing more for the wedding and that there can be no more compromise.
  
  Please remember that nothing is cheap nowadays so one of you has to compromise and budget properly.
  
  There are those who decide that being practical is not by blowing a hole on a diamond ring that has no value at all and there are those who do not even have a wedding or even a wedding ring and just chose to sign the papers and spend the money elsewhere.
  
  So decide properly on the compromise, because if it doesn’t get agreed upon, your wedding could turn sour.
  
  Marriage is a lifetime commitment, best you remember that. Think, choose and decide properly.

I brought my gf for a buffet dinner at Carousel to celebrate our anniversary and I also ordered wine even though it costs a bomb cos I know she likes to drink.

This is the first time we eat atas buffet together and I wanted her to enjoy herself but after this time, I think I won’t waste my money anymore.

She only eat salad until she full

Like most Singaporeans, when I go buffet, the first station I whack is of course the sashimi. If got oysters, lobsters or crab lagi best. Of course must make sure we eat the expensive food then can get back our money’s worth ma.

As for my gf, I dunno who teach her one but she started with a salad. She took so much vegetables until she told me that she’s full after the salad. And then she barely ate anything else after that.

I thought she will whack the dessert bar like the other ladies but she only ate two slices of cake and that’s it.

I paid so much money and she only ate a salad? The money I spent can bring her to eat salad at least ten times leh!

Say I cheapo like many Singaporeans because I made her eat more

When I told her to eat more, she got angry and called me a cheapskate Singaporean. I swear I was so dulan I almost told her to leave.

I think she sensed that I was unhappy too so for the rest of the night we didn’t talk.

Supposed to be a happy night but in the end still fight so moral of the story is don’t bring your gf to eat buffet.

Go with your bros.