The Singapore Customs seized more than 1,500 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes that were hidden inside six air conditioning units on 8 December.
A 39-year-old man was arrested in the operation that took place near Gambas Crescent, Sembawang.
Singapore Customs posted an update about the operation on their Facebook:
“[More than 1,500 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes seized, man arrested in operation]
On 8 Dec 2021, Singapore Customs arrested a 39-year-old male Chinese national and seized more than 1,500 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes concealed in six air-conditioning units and a Singapore-registered truck in an operation conducted in the vicinity of Gambas Crescent.
The total duty and Goods and Services tax (GST) evaded amounted to about $129,280 and $10,370 respectively.
Mohd Shariffudin bin A Hamid, 70-years-old, pleaded guilty to 2 counts of voluntarily causing hurt to a vulnerable person and was sentenced to 4 weeks imprisonment on 15 December.
He had wanted to use the toilet before prayers but someone else was occupying the toilet, he then got upset and opened the toilet door and hit the wheelchair-bound victim on the back of the neck and shouted at the victim.
What happened?
Shariffudin was a resident at Thye Hua Kwan Nursing Home in Hougang since 2019 and on 29 December 2020, the 82-year-old victim was inside the toilet washing his face and brushing his teeth at about 1.50 pm when Shariffudin shouted at him.
The staff of the home was then alerted by the commotion and came to the toilet area to stop Shariffudin from being aggressive.
Shariffudint hen opened the toilet door to scold the victim and hit him before the staff held him back and restrained him.
Separate incident
In another separate incident 6 days prior, Shariffudin had scolded a 79-year-old male resident who suffered from dementia and slapped him twice in the face.
The victim suffered bruises around the left eye and redness.
The victim was conveyed to Sengkang General Hospital before being transferred to Changi General Hospital for further review and was hospitalized for 2 days.
The two offenses were caught on CCTV
Third incident
While he was under investigation for the two prior incidents, Shariffudin attacked a healthcare assistant by slapping his left cheek.
He had asked the assistant to turn off the corridor lights but was told that they couldn’t do so, leading to an argument before Shariffudin challenged him to a fight and slapping him.
Multi-Ministry Taskforce (MTF) co-chair Ong Ye Kung said in a press conference on 14 December that a new policy would be announced either by the end of this year or early next year.
The new policy determines the expiry of a person’s “fully vaccinated” status – persons will be required to get a booster shot for their status to be extended after expiration.
The current policy for “fully vaccinated” statuses is under review and that at present, a person’s fully vaccinated status expires after 365 days + 14 days after the second dose.
Booster shots
Ong said that the Covid-19 primary vaccination needs to be treated as a three-dose regime, with the public health policy needing to be geared towards that.
Two doses of the vaccine is 90% effectiuve against the Omicron variant one month after the second dose, with the effectiveness dropping to 50% after 4 months.
It then dropped to 35% after more than 4 months.
He said that the “erosion of protection is quite fast” but it was encouraging that the effectiveness of the vaccine against the Omicron variant increased 2 weeks after a booster.
A video emerged online showing a scammer video calling a prospective victim.
The scammer said that he was calling from the “Singapore CID department from the police force”, to which the guy then said “okay?”
The scammer then said that he “got a complaint from your bank my dear because your *unintelligible* card has been declined, because you never update your IC in the bank sir”.
The guy then asked “which bank? I got 4 banks”.
The scammer then asked him for his NRIC once again, to which the guy said “sure, let me just grab my wallet”.
The scammer then introduced himself as “John Michael”.
The guy then told him “okay John Michael, here is my IC” before he whipped out his middle finger and showed it to the scammer.
A netizen, Alfian (@fyxxn on Instagram), shared on Instagram how he chanced upon an elderly disabled man who was mute and in a wheelchair all alone.
He then asked the old man if he needed any assistance but then he realized that the elderly man was mute and unable to speak.
He also noticed that the old man’s leg was swollen, and he appeared to be diabetic.
Alfian tried to figure out what the elderly man wanted and finally figured out that he wanted to buy some bread and someone to push him home.
After helping the old man to buy some bread that he wanted, Alfian then pushed the old man back to his block and he felt his heart sink as he imagined the pain in the old man’s legs.
Sent the elderly man home
They reached the old man’s home and he realised that the old man lived alone, with his house in a mess.
Alfian then spent some time with the old man, who wrote down some clues for him to figure out what he wanted.
He managed to get some questions correct, which made the old man happy and smile.
The old man then asked Alfian to teach him how to send a message if he needs help, to which he duly complied and told him that he would visit him when he’s free.
Before Alfian left, the old man then gave him a whole lot of bread to thank him as he fought back tears.
The old man then hugged and bid him goodbye.
Surprised old man the next day
The very next day, Alfian returned to visit the old man and bought some chicken porridge for him, and the old man was very happy to see him again.
The old man then shared that he used to live with 3 foreign workers for about 3 years, but they then got married and returned home.
The old man expressed his desire to find them so that he could give them some money for their newborn children as well as to thank them for taking care of him and building up his home.
After the workers left, no one came to visit him and he was left all alone.
He has 3 siblings, but none of them came to visit him except for Hari Raya every year.
Editor’s note: The people who have the least end up giving the most. Thoughts and prayers to the elderly man, and well done Alfian! The world needs more kindhearted and compassionate people.
Singaporean activist Gilbert Goh, 60-years-old, is due to be charged in court today (15 December) for carrying out a public assembly without a permit as well as refusing to sign a police statement.
He had allegedly staged a protest on 1 May near the ICA building by holding a sign that says: “Please ban all flights from India we are not racist! Just being cautious”.
He then posted a photo of the act onto Facebook.
Goh also allegedly refused to sign a statement that he gave to the police when he was being investigated for the incident.
He was then given a stern warning on Tuesday for refusing to do so and also for non-compliance of the conditions for organizers of assemblies.
God then shared on his Facebook page the charges that he is facing and said that he will “go to jail in defiance”, as he appealed to Singaporeans to “unite together for a better society”.
A 38-year-old Singaporean man is being accused of molesting 13 boys over a period of 3 years, from 2015 to 2018.
He was charged with 25 counts of molestations, 3 counts of offences under the Children and Young Persons Act and one count of harassment.
The crimes allegedly took place in places that included a chalet and a school in central Singapore, and the victims were aged between 13 to 15-years-old.
The identities and details about the man, the alleged victims and the school cannot be disclosed due to a gag order protecting the alleged victims’ identities.
The man had alleged target each boy up to 4 times and his crime spree alleged began late 2015 when he allegedly molested a 13-year-old boy at a chalet.
He then allegedly committed the same act on the same victim once more in school the next year, and is being accused getting the boy to kiss him on two occasions in school from 2016 to 2017.
The alleged victim was about 14 to 15-years-old at the time.
The man also allegedly targeted 11 other victims, including touching their private parts and hugging them, as well as harassing a 14-year-old boy between March and December 2017.
His case has been adjourned to 11 January next year and he is currently out on a bail of $20,000.
