President of Singapore, Halimah Yacob, said in a Facebook post addressing those affected by the River Valley High School murder and urged them to seek help.

She said that she was deeply saddened to hear about the tragedy, and offered her deepest condolences to the victim’s family.

She added that it is hard to make sense of what happened and even harder to fathom the unimaginable trauma and grief experienced by the families, loved ones, friends, students and teachers affected.

She said that they are not alone, that it isn’t a sign of weakness to seek help.

Here is her post in full:

Images source: Halimah Yacob Facebook and Google Maps

Minister of Education, Chan Chun Sing said in a heartfelt post on Facebook to commemorate Racial Harmony Day, saying that several religious groups have come forward to pray for the well being of the students from River Valley High School.

He said:

“These heartfelt gestures of solidarity, transcending race and religion, have brought light in our nation’s hour of darkness. They embody the inherent understanding that before all else – we are fellow Singaporeans.”

He also added:

“The multi-racial Singaporean identity that we have today, did not naturally come to be. It is a hard-won state of being, borne from deliberate policies and tremendous efforts from our communities.”

Here is his post in full:

“Several religious groups have come forward to pray with the bereaved and for the well-being of our students, in the wake of the incident at River Valley High School. These heartfelt gestures of solidarity, transcending race and religion, has brought light in our nation’s hour of darkness. They embody the inherent understanding that before all else — we are fellow Singaporeans.

The multi-racial Singaporean identity that we have today, did not naturally come to be. It is a hard-won state of being, borne from deliberate policies and tremendous efforts from our communities. This shared identity is not about the cultures of minorities being subsumed by the culture of the majority. Neither is it about all of us giving up our own identities.

Instead it is about building a shared and forward-looking identity based on a common set of values, with the foundation steeped in our rich and diverse identities. And it is a legacy, that each and everyone of us must safeguard in our daily words and deeds, and through mutual respect and care for one another.

As we commemorate Racial Harmony Day today, let us remember that our country was founded on the belief of forging unity from diversity. Let us celebrate the richness of our multi-racial society, and how it has nurtured our sensibilities in getting along with people from different backgrounds, and more importantly, forging a higher common purpose.

Let us stay rooted to Singapore and our founding values of pledging ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion.#SGInHarmony“

Images source: Chan Chun Sing Facebook and Google Maps

As of 21 July 2021, 12 pm, we have preliminarily confirmed 179 new cases of locally transmitted COVID-19 infection, of which 130 are linked to the Jurong Fishery Port cluster and 8 belong to the KTV cluster.

Of the 179 cases today, 80 are linked to previous cases and have already been placed on quarantine. 69 are linked to previous cases and were detected through surveillance. 30 are currently unlinked.

Amongst the cases are 4 seniors above 70 years who are unvaccinated and are at risk of serious illness. In addition, there are 2 imported cases, who have already been placed on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) or isolated upon arrival in Singapore. Both developed the illness during SHN or isolation.

In total, there are 181 new cases of COVID-19 infection in Singapore today. We are still working through the details of the cases, and further updates will be shared via the MOH press release that will be issued tonight.

A 39-year-old man was arrested and charged after he fled his hotel room while under direction to return to Queensland.

The man arrived in WA on a flight from Brisbane at about 4.15 pm yesterday, Monday 19 July 2021. He had failed to complete a G2G pass prior to arrival so a manual G2G pass was completed on entry to WA.

The G2G application was refused as it did not satisfy any exemption categories under existing restrictions for Queensland and he was issued with a direction to leave WA within 48 hours.

The man was directed to temporarily quarantine overnight in a hotel and was conveyed to a Rivervale hotel where it is alleged about 12.45 am this morning (20 July), he climbed out a window of the fourth-floor room using a rope made of bedsheets and fled the area. Operation Tide Compliance and Assurance officers located the man at 8.55 am on Beaufort Street near Second Ave in Mt. Lawley and he was taken into custody.

The 39-year-old man from Queensland was charged under the provisions of the Emergency Management Act, with

• Failure to Comply with a Direction
• Providing false / misleading information man returned a negative test result for COVID-19.

He is due to appear before the Perth Magistrates Court later today – 20/7/21.

According to the Singapore Civil Defence Force, a fire occurred yesterday(July 20) at around 4.40 PM at 70 West Coast Ferry Road.

A berthed tugboat caught fire. Before SCDF arrived, eight people on the tugboat had escaped.

Smoke could be observed pouring from the vessel as SCDF arrived. SCDF firemen from Clementi Fire Station and West Coast Marine Fire Station boarded the tugboat wearing breathing equipment sets. The source of the fire was discovered in the engine room. A water jet was promptly put up to undertake firefighting operations, and it was important to keep in mind that too much water may impair the tugboat’s stability. The fire was put out in less than 20 minutes after SCDF arrived.

Eight people were taken to Singapore General Hospital by SCDF ambulances for smoke inhalation and burn injuries.

Image Source: SCDF

An online petition was started by a few Singaporeans calling for the cancellation of the National Day Parade this year.

Lawrence Wong said earlier that the NDP 2021 will carry on as planned, and that MINDEF is reviewing the safety practices for the event.

The petition was started by Abby See, who cited the surge in Covid-19 cases as the reason for the proposed cancellation.

She said:

“This is a petition for a cancellation of the Singapore National Day Parade (NDP) 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions.

With the rising cases of COVID-19, the continuation of this public event does not make any sense. This event is clearly non-essential during a pandemic. 

Event performers/marchers do not adhere to social distancing even when fully vaccinated.

“Social gatherings should be a maximum of 5 people.” – Government. Even if NDP is not considered a “social gathering” it is still a mass-scale gathering. There are thousands in this event. Audiences too should not even be there, vaccinated or not.

“Stay at home.” – Government. So why the need for NDP? 

This public event contradicts everything the government has told their people to practice.

Cancel Singapore National Day Parade (NDP) 2021, or it MAY become the next big cluster.”

Recap

Images source: singaporeglobalnetwork.gov.sg and YK Chia Facebook

According to a court hearing, a man was fined SGD$18,000 after his employees provide sexual massage service at his unlicensed massage establishment.

81-year-old Too Seng San operated a Traditional Chinese Medicine shop known as Tai Kang Yang TCM Therapy at Block 201, Hougang Street 21. He was caught last year in April 2020 for operating an unlicensed massage parlour and his employees have been providing sexual services.

The owner Too had 4 female staff from China that are between the ages of 32 and 42.

During Circuit Breaker last year, 32-year-old Samuel Cheow Jie Min entered the establishment through the back door seeking a “massage”. He was attended by a 34 PRC staff who lead him to the shower and later he was offered an SGD$100 deal where he could have a “happy ending”.

Cheow agreed to the SGD$100 service and went to a private room with the masseuse.

A woman who witnesses men going in and out through the back door called the police claiming that she had called the Police several times saying that the shop was operating despite the circuit breaker.

This was not the first time Too was caught for providing special massage, he was previously convicted for a similar offence in July 2019.