Nail Palace, a Singapore nail salon chain, was issued a court order to stop deceiving its customers, according to The Straits Times.

Their employees had been operating a ploy at two of their outlets, misleading customers into buying fungal treatment packages by telling them that they have fungus in their toenails.

Nail Palace will now need to declare that they have engaged in unfair practices for the next two years whenever they treat a customer.

The salon chain was also ordered to publish the same declaration in various newspapers as full-page notices.

The Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) also sought restraining orders against the two outlets at Bukit Panjang Plaza and East Point Mall, according to Straits Times.

District Judge Elaine Lim also proclaimed that the two outlets had engaged in unfair practices by misleading a customer into paying thousands of dollars for the aforementioned fungal treatment package.

Customers told they had “fungus” in their toenails

The customer was told in December 2019 that she had fungus in her toenails and the staff added that her “infection” would spread to her husband, before offering her a 15-session package.

The customer was also misled into paying for other products, being told to take several lipsticks and lip balm after being told they were “free”, but she later found out that she was charged $678 for them.

The total amount of money that the customer paid for the packages and the items amounted to $11,401.92.

Another customer was cheated by the Nail Palace outlet at Bukit Panjang Plaza, where she was told that she had fungus on her big toe.

She was told that her other toenails would be infected if she doesn’t get the treatment package, and the outlet then offered her a 12-session package for $3,000.

The customer later went to see a doctor, who told her that her toenails didn’t contain fungus, and the customer then sought a refund for the sessions (of the package) that she didn’t use at the Small Claims Tribunal.

A recruitment agency in Singapore, MCI Group of Companies, responded to allegations by online netizens that their job listing is a scam, in a statement on Facebook.

MCI’s statement

MCI has received multiple queries from members of the public and other news/media agencies regarding the Facebook post made by Shin Min Daily News on August 16, 2022 as attached.

(Link: https://www.facebook.com/357787027613216/posts/pfbid02crFNgppLZjFHKwnrQnbC27WzeY9ihPE2vtmuiVHZCacz9hQNH3Nq9qemQd7GLYx2l/?d=n)

We understand that there have been recent news coverages on human trafficking scams in which job applicants were offered high wages for various positions overseas through social media job postings, only to have their passports seized by human trafficking ring operators upon their arrival.

However, we do not know why Shin Min Daily News has used MCI’s authentic job posting without any context or consent in this Facebook post. We have reached out to Shin Min Daily News for more information.

In the meantime, MCI would like to make the following clarifications:

1. MCI Career Services is a recruitment agency headquartered in Singapore. Our services include local and foreign recruitment, and also provides other HR-related solutions for our clients. Due to the nature of our business, we organize recruitment drives overseas frequently to bring in the right talents for our clients.

2. The photo attached in the post by Shin Min Daily News is an authentic job advertisement made by MCI. This is a paid job advertisement published on The China Press Berhad, a Malaysian Newspaper for the purpose of our overseas recruitment drive in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, that will be held this coming Friday, on 19 August 2022. We have made arrangements for interested job applicants to attend a walk-in interview at the exhibition hall in Holiday Inn Hotel, Emerald Level 10, Johor Bahru.

3. In regards to the job position advertised, the working location is at Changi Airport, however we would like to clarify that our client (who shall not be named) is not Changi Airport Group. For more clarifications on the job position in particular, please reach out to Vinni, the recruitment consultant in charge, at [email protected] or +65 8891 6760.

We hope that these clarifications will resolve any other misunderstandings the public might have regarding this Facebook post made by Shin Min Daily News.

For other general enquiries, please reach out to [email protected].

A Malayan (M) colugo was found struggling on the floor at a bus interchange. We suspect she might have hitched a ride on a bus to the interchange as there were no forested areas nearby!

Fortunately, she was unharmed! However, she had very blunt nails, aftermath of all the struggling on the floor. Our veterinary team had to sharpen her nails to allow her to properly climb trees again.

Malayan colugos are shy, nocturnal (NIGHT) creatures who are strictly arboreal (spend their time in the treetops of tropical rainforests). They are also known as Sunda ‘flying’ lemurs due to their ability to glide.

What is a colugo?

They look like squirrels but they have wings that allow them to glide from tree to tree and it’s active only at night.

Charity Event:

The ACRES 24-hour wildlife rescue hotline receives an monthly average of 1,800 calls and an average of 400 animals are rescued monthly. We would be elated for you to join us at our charity gala dinner, Saturday, 8 October, 6pm onwards at One Farrer Hotel to celebrate our 21st birthday!

Get your tickets today!:

bit.ly/ACRESGALA2022

$198 per seat

$1,888 per table

Saturday, 8 Oct 2022, 6.00pm onwards

One Farrer Hotel, Grand Ballroom

Host: Actor & Model Paul Foster

100% proceeds will be directed to our animal protection programmes.

50-year-old Mustapah Abdullah, was found guilty of making underaged boys perform an obscene act on him at a playground slide.

He had claimed trial to his charges and represented himself and was found guilty on 3 charges. The identities of the victims, aged 16 to 17 at the time, cannot be revealed due to a gag order.

The victims lived in the same neighbourhood as Mustapah and they got to know each other in 2017, and they were also aware of his past involvement with gangs.

The victims started avoiding him in 2018 after a rumour spread that he made one of their friends (identified as W2 in court documents) perform an explicit act on him.

W2 was allegedly assaulted by W2 twice in 2018 when he was 16 years old.

Mustapah also allegedly assaulted another victim (identified as W1 in court documents), on 5 occasions in 2017 when the boy was only 15.

Mustapa was angry with the rumour and arranged a meeting with the teenage boys on 17 October 2018 at night, in their neighbourhood.

He then attacked the victims, pulling, slapping and attempting to scratch one of the victim’s eye out, before kicking another victim on his back.

Mustapah then made each victim meet him alone at a playground slide one by one, where he then asked each of them to perform an explicit act on him at the top of the slide, to which they complied.

He is set to return to court in September for his sentencing.

A traveller who was heading into Singapore was stopped by ICA officers after he was found with 58grams of vegetative substance.

The items were suspected to be cannabis and various drug paraphernalia was found.

Here is what ICA said:

On 8 August, officers from Woodlands Checkpoint foiled an attempt to smuggle suspected controlled drugs into Singapore during a joint operation with Home Team Agencies.

ICA officers detected about 58g of greenish vegetative substances suspected to be cannabis inside a traveller’s backpack, along with various drug paraphernalia.

The case was referred to CNB Drug Free SG for further investigation.

As guardians of our borders, ICA will continue to stay vigilant and thwart smuggling attempts through Singapore’s borders.

Potential Penalties:

 Under Section 5 of the Misuse of Drugs Act, it is an offence for a person, on his or her own behalf, or on behalf of any other person, whether or not that other person is in Singapore, to traffic in a controlled drug, offer to traffic in a controlled drug; or to do or offer to do any act preparatory to or for the purpose of trafficking in a controlled drug. If a person is found guilty of trafficking more than 15g of pure heroin (diamorphine), 250g of methamphetamine or 500g of cannabis, he or she may face the mandatory death penalty.

Image Source: CNB