A then-16-year-old boy who molested a 15-year-old girl inside a lift back in June 2020, had an argument with his father 4 months after the incident and threatened him with 3 knives, according to The Straits Times.

He also punched his father in the face, resulting in a laceration on the victim’s cheek.

The youth, now 19 years old, pleaded guilty on 27 December to one count of criminal intimidation and one count of assault.

The accused has already been convicted for his earlier molestation case.

The parties cannot be named because of the Children and Young Persons Act – he had committed the offences when he was under 18.

Attacked father

The boy was at their flat at Choa Chu Kang with his father on 15 October, and they had an argument over the former wanting to turn on the aircon in his room.

The father had switched off the electrical mains to the aircon unit while the aircon was still on in the boy’s room at the time.

The boy was exercising inside his room at the time and he then went into his father’s bedroom to switch the electrical mains back on without his permission.

The father then said that the electrical bills were high and told the boy that the aircon shouldn’t be switched back on, and he then switched the mains back off.

The two then got into an argument and the boy then went to the kitchen and took 3 knives into his father’s bedroom, threatening him.

His siblings then stepped in to break things up and he then threw the knives of the floor, but he then charged towards his father and punched him in the face as he was still not happy.

A fight then broke out and the boy’s sister then called the police.

The father then sought treatment at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where he was given 6 days of medical leave.

The boy will be sentenced on 28 February next year after the court called for a suitability report to assess the boy’s suitability for probation.

A 31-year-old Singaporean man was killed after being struck by a machine at a worksite and pinned down yesterday morning (27 December).

The machine toppled while being moved by a forklift and hit him.

The fatal accident took place at a worksite at 601 Rifle Range Road, near Upper Peirce Reservoir which is being occupied by ST Engineering Advanced Material Engineering.

The deceased was a worker of RCM Resources, and he was conveyed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital unconscious, before succumbing to his injuries and being pronounced dead.

He is the 45th workplace fatality this year so far.

MOM said that it is crucial that forks be inserted below a load when using forklifts, and to make sure the load is stable before raising it for transfers so as to prevent any accidental toppling of the load.

The 45 workplace fatalities this year have already exceeded last year’s 37 deaths and is the highest since 2016, when 66 deaths were recorded.

Facebook user Wak Yan shared how he and his wife lost their savings to a scammer on Carousell, losing their money meant for his daughter with special needs.

Here is what he said

AWARENESS POST

HUMBLE HUSTLE EPIC FAIL

… to what appeared to us as Carousell Pay Protection

Being parents of 5 kids (with one special needs daughter, Husna), my wife Purpley Qim and I are frugal… thus, we are avid CarouSell users.

(… to get good deals on pre-loved items and to liquidate some cash. Yeah.. you get my drift~)

So wifey decided to sell an unused money box for $15. (Cheap² lelong²!!)

After posting it in the morning, she got a message from keen buyer (justniezam) at 6.19pm. So, as usual, she engaged in the conversation in hopes to close the deal ASAP.

(… well it’s just $15.. why waste time right?)

Everything seemed normal.. AND THEN….

user justniezam asked:

“I WANT TO ARRANGE CAROUSELL PROTECTION, IF YOU DON’T MIND, I’LL PAY FIRST!”

Wifey was like, Carousell Pay Protection? That’s new. Our payment terms were usually PayNow or Cash on Delivery. But Carousell Pay Protection? For a $15 item? Wow! This person is a very cautious buyer. Perhaps he was conned before. Kesian…

(… yes, wifey is a pure-hearted angel. Always husnuzhon. Love you, Wifey.)

Well, you know, our experiences with past buyers & sellers had been really good and hassle-free. We have been dealing with honest and reasonable people. Super easy to deal with kind. Everyone was very “sikit-lebih-kurang” (“very reasonable” in Malay). We were complacent this time. We assumed that it’ll all be the same…

… and then it happened…

Justniezam told wifey that he already made payment and in order for her to receive the money, all she has to do is to click on the email link. She gave him my email address so she texted me asking to check if I received it.

(… I was driving with the kiddos at that time ).

When I reached home, wifey told me what happened and so I checked my email. And yes, the email was indeed in my junk mail.

And I, this one big goondoo… DIDN’T VALIDATE AND VERIFY THE EMAIL!!!

(… like how I usually do at work and I’ll never forgive myself for this grave mistake ).

I immediately clicked on the link.

A page appears. It says, something like, “to receive your payment, login to your bank account.” And so I clicked it without thinking.

(… it didn’t occur to me to screenshot that page so I can’t show you guys).

The usual login page of DBS iBanking appeared (so it seemed) and I just logged in.

Next thing, the loading page appears saying

“WAIT. WE ARE WAITING FOR AN ANSWER FROM THE BANK…”

I was like… it’s 7pm, and a Friday evening.. are bankers still working at this hour??

Azan Maghrib was kumandang-ing on our phones… So we didn’t think much of it, put our phones on the table and just went to take ablution and prepared ourselves for evening prayers.

(FYI, my wife was communicating with justniezam on CarouSell message on her phone and I’m on my phone trying to login to the bank.)

Next moment, a chat box appeared on my phone whilst the page was “loading”, it told me to change account.

Told Wifey so Wifey logged in to her account.

OTP page came out on my phone. Wifey said out the number and I punched in those six-digit numbers.

I got irritated with the “latency” and so I told my wife to just put the phone down and to just start praying.

After completing prayers and being spiritually charged, Wifey checked on the bank transaction immediately.

Then….

WIFEY’S FACE CHANGED.

I SENSED HEIGHTENED TENSION IN THE AIR.

My wife said to me in a shaky voice…

“Abanggg… kita dah tak ada duit!! DUIT HUSNA SEMUA HILANGGG!!!”

(Dear… we don’t have any more money! Husna’s savings are gone!!!)

I told my wife to immediately check the transaction.

There, we saw it. We swallowed the bitter reality. We saw the funds were remitted to a lady in Thai Baht currency.

Wifey called DBS bank immediately.

After long verifications and conversations and investigations…

.. the DBS officer finally said those words on loudspeaker:

“MA’AM, WE BELIEVE THAT WAS A SCAM.”

I stopped breathing momentarily and I felt like a huge slap on my face.

Wifey controlled her emotions, tears and voice and followed the instructions given by the DBS officer til the end.

Accounts are frozen.

She took down the officer’s email address.

Went back to Carousell message and called on the scammers bluff.

The final words were:

“What goes around, comes around.

Let God deal with you.”

Scammer’s final words:

“sps.”

Sps? Wth is sps?? At this point, we couldn’t care less what it meant.

And then the account got suspended.

Then a police report was lodged.

Fit-for-Gifting Notes for Lunar New Year Available from 5 January

Singapore, 27 December 2022… The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS) strongly encourage members of the public to use “Fitfor-Gifting” currency notes (Fit notes) or e-hong baos this coming Lunar New Year. These are more environmentally friendly options, as issuing new notes just to meet the demand for festive gifting generates unnecessary carbon emissions and wastes resources.

Fit notes are used currency notes that are generally clean and of suitable quality for recirculation, including for festive gifting. The condition of these notes has been verified by banknote processing machines and are similar in quality to notes from automated teller machines (ATMs).

The public demand for notes for festive gifting is typically in bundles of $2 or $10 denominations, which cannot be easily obtained in the desired quantities from ATMs. To bring greater convenience to the public, DBS, OCBC and UOB will offer online reservation for Fit Notes, in addition to new notes. DBS and UOB will also provide for the withdrawal of Fit notes i.e., $2 and $10 in larger quantities, as well as the $50 denomination, from selected pop-up and branch ATMs.

Customers of DBS, OCBC, UOB (except those aged 60 and above and persons with disabilities) that wish to exchange for either Fit or new notes at bank branches will need to pre-book through the respective bank’s online reservation system. This will minimise the likelihood of over-crowding at bank branches. New notes can also be withdrawn without any prior booking at pop-up ATMs offered by DBS and selected UOB ATMs. Customers of other banks may refer to their bank’s website for details on new and Fit notes exchange. Annex A
provides more information.

The dates for the pre-booking and exchange of Fit and new notes are as follows:

Apart from Fit notes, members of the public are also encouraged to use e-hong baos during this festive period. For the coming Lunar New Year, banks have enhanced their e-hongbao offerings, such as personalisation of e-hong baos. E-hong baos are a simple and speedy way to convey blessings to family and friends via electronic fund transfers.