An 85-year-old retired civil servant who was hit by a reversing van in Serangoon Garden on Thursday (8 December), died the next day on Friday, according to The Straits Times.

The elderly man had alighted from bus 317 along Berwick Drive, and he was on his way home at the time of the accident.

He was looking out for traffic while crossing the road when he got hit by a van that was reversing.

The elderly man suffered injuries on the left side of his body, and he was subsequently conveyed to the hospital conscious.

He succumbed to his injuries the next day and died at Tan Tock Seng Hospital on 9 December.

The Singapore Police Force said that they were alerted to the accident on Thursday at about 5pm and that the 25-year-old driver of the van is currently assisting them with investigations.

The deceased’s daughter, Ms Lim, spoke to The Straits Times and said that her family is very shocked and that her mother is very distraught, adding that her parents had been married for 59 years.

Lim added that her mother feels that she cannot move on until she finds the truth, and they hope that those who saw what happened can step forward and tell the police what happened.

Singapore Customs arrests three men and seizes more than 600 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes

Singapore Customs arrested three men, comprising one Malaysian, one Singapore Permanent Resident and one Singaporean, and seized 618 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes during an operation conducted on 7 December 2022.

Case information

During the operation conducted in the vicinity of Sungei Kadut Drive, Singapore Customs officers observed a man transferring slabs in black wrappings from a Malaysia-registered truck to a Singapore-registered van parked alongside the road. Officers moved in and arrested the man, as well as another man who had jumped off
from the truck’s cargo compartment. Another man, who was allegedly the driver of the truck, was subsequently arrested at Woodlands Checkpoint on 8 December 2022. A total of 434 cartons and 184 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes were uncovered in a modified compartment in the floorboard of the truck and the van respectively.

The duty-unpaid cigarettes and the two vehicles were seized. The total duty and Goods and Services tax (GST) evaded amounted to about $52,770 and $4,200 respectively. Investigations are ongoing.

Buying, selling, conveying, delivering, storing, keeping, possessing or dealing with duty-unpaid goods are serious offences under the Customs Act and the GST Act. Offenders can be fined up to 40 times the amount of duty and GST evaded and/or jailed for up to six years. Vehicles used in the commission of such offences are liable to be forfeited.

Members of public with information on smuggling activities or evasion of duty or GST can call the Singapore Customs hotline on 1800-2330000 or email [email protected] to report these illegal activities.

Singapore Customs
9 December 2022

The parents of a 14-month-old child who is suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), have started a fundraiser on Ray of Hope to crowdfund treatment for their sick baby, according to MustShareNews.

The treatment costs about SGD$3 million, and they have raised about S$148,609 so far.

Here is what they said on Ray of Hope

We suspected something was seriously wrong when our little angel Shamel showed signs of floppiness and low muscle tone. Although he was fully alert and happy, he was missing his motor milestones. Even at 1, when his peers started to walk, Shamel could not sit independently, crawl, stand or bear weight on his legs. He began to fall quickly and flop forward without control, even when seated — shortly after, he lost the ability to kick. 

As first-time parents, we could not understand why Shamel seemed hungry yet rejected his food. We now know that he has difficulties swallowing, and eating is hard for him. During this time, we also saw an apparent reduction in his food intake, progressively making him thinner and weaker. Then, on 15 November 2022, our hearts broke. After several tests, our 14-month-old baby was diagnosed with type 2 Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA).

SMA is a rare neuromuscular condition that causes muscles to become weak and damages the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. It leads to progressive muscular weakness and affects the ability to independently sit, crawl, stand, walk, swallow and even breathe. Shamel is currently in a position where he can only sit with support, and that too, not for long minutes. It is very hard for us as parents to see him struggle to move around and exhaust himself from trying to take a toy. Every child should be able to play. Without medication, further deterioration and eventual death of his motor neurones will lead him to total immobility and weakness. 

Despite this debilitating news, we hope that Shamel can live a life as normal as possible and run, walk and play with other kids. Shamel’s hope lies in Zolgensma, a one-time gene therapy acting on the gene by replacing the function of the missing or non-working Survival Motor Neurone (SMN1) gene. Shamel needs to receive Zolgensma before he turns 2. 

The cost of Zolgensma is USD 2.125 million/SGD 3 million (depending on the current exchange rate). We know this is a big ask and achieving the target will be an ardent task. But as his parents, we must try everything we can. Therefore, we are humbly turning towards the generous community for help securing the treatment for our baby Shamel. It will take more than a village to help Shamel, and no donation is too small. Nevertheless, there is hope for Shamel, and we thank you in advance for your generosity. 

We are most grateful to Ray of Hope for extending their help. As a crowdfunding charity, they will handle all the payments directly to the hospital, so you can be sure that the funds are going directly to Shamel’s treatment. In addition, Ray of Hope does not take a cut from the donations, and 100% of your donations will go to Shamel’s treatment. 

Please share this campaign with as many friends as possible. Should you know of any community, organisation or sponsor willing to support us, please do not hesitate to email us at [email protected]. Follow us on Instagram (@hope_for_shamel) and on Facebook ‘Hope for Shamel’, for updates on Shamel’s progress and his journey with SMA. 

May God bless you abundantly and we cannot thank you enough for your help and support.

Yours, 

Shamel, Achintha and Dula

Former Singapore primary school teacher Loh Wei Qi was sentenced to 2 weeks imprisonment on 9 December for possessing more than 7,000 obscene videos, including 113 which involved children, according to Channel News Asia.

He has since resigned from his position as a primary school teacher.

Loh started consuming adult materials in 2011 or 2012 while he was still working as a primary school teacher.

Loh chanced upon a comment on the social networking site Tumblr in 2016, promising those who downloaded the messaging app Kik, that they would share explicit content with them.

Loh registered a Kik account and added the user, where he received multiple files in exchange.

It was reported that Loh didn’t deliberately look for explicit material involving children, but he did receive and send those materials.

He continued his actions until December 2018 when his Kik account got suspended, and he then deleted the app but kept the downloaded content on his personal devices.

The Singapore Police Force then received a tip-off in April 2019 from Interpol that an IP address based in Singapore had been linked to the transmission of child-related explicit content.

The police then raided Loh’s residence in Tampines where they seized his electronic and storage devices, where they discovered 7786 obscene files, of which about 13 included explicit materials involving children.

Loh also reportedly only resigned from his post as a teacher 2 years after the police tip-off about his crimes.

The court was made aware of the fact that Loh had remained in his post as a teacher throughout the duration of his offences and he had also admitted to a psychiatrist in 2017 that he had been watching explicit videos involving teenage girls in 2018.

Following the emergence of a Grabfood customer who accused a Grab deliverywoman of being racist towards him, Grab has since responded to the incident.

In a screenshot of a comment, Grab said “Hi there, we are genuinely sorry for the experience. We have responded to your DM and will communicate with you there”.

The netizen who posted the original post on Facebook, Amritpal Singh, then replied while tagging Wake Up Singapore in the comments.

He said: “Grab contacted me and apologised. They offered to send me cupcakes again. I refused the cupcakes or any refund.”

He added: “I just want her (the delivery woman) to learn that such a thing is not how a service is delivered. Especially using a racial slur. And an apology from her.”

He also said “If I do not get an apology from her or any updates from Grab, a police report will be made. I am resorting to this here because Grab helpline not chatting with them online helped me as they say they can’t help with this issue.”

Recap

𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝟵𝟭 𝗛𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱

On 8 December 2022 at about 11.10am, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to a fire at 91 Henderson Road. The fire involved contents of a two-room unit on the 4th floor and was extinguished by SCDF using two water jets.

Preliminary investigation indicates that the fire was likely to be of an electrical origin from the bedroom.

We strongly urge the public to keep their homes safe from electrical fires with the following fire safety advisories:

a) Never overload electrical outlets with electrical appliances;

b) Always switch off appliances when they are not in use;

c) Check the condition of wires regularly. Frayed wires or cracked cords should be replaced or repaired immediately;

d) Do not run wires under carpets or mats and keep wires away from hot surfaces;

e) Use appliances and electrical plugs bearing the SAFETY Mark. There are 33 categories of household electrical, electronic and gas appliances and accessories that are tested to specified safety standards and affixed with the SAFETY Mark before they can be sold in Singapore. You can find out more about this at http://www.consumerproductsafety.gov.sg

More information on fire safety is available from pages 24 to 43 of the Civil Defence Emergency Handbook and public education materials on our website at www.scdf.gov.sg