A family of four spent more than $11,000 for a Europe tour. Ms Wu, a 55 year old housewife, her husband, two children and four others participated in a 13 day European tour group.

The trip was planned from August last year and it was considered an annual family trip. Before their departure, the pandemic has been already widely spread in the European region. The family were hesitant and wondered if they should continue their trip, but the travel agency assured them there they have not received any information on a travel ban and the trip can continue as planned.

They departed to Germany on March 12 and they did some local shopping for 2 hours. The next day, they were supposed to travel to Czech Republic but the travel agent informed everyone that the country would most likely close its borders due to the covid pandemic. They were left with no other option but to return to Singapore.

Ms Wu stated that they paid more than $2800 per person for the tour and the total cost for the whole family was more than $11,000. Who knew the trip would be cancelled after travelling all the way there.

The family tried to submit a travel insurance claim to their insurance company but they were informed that the World Health Organization has updated their travel advisory to European countries before they traveled to Europe. Therefore denying their claims for compensation. The travel agency denied any wrongdoing.

Till today, the family is currently waiting for the travel agency to resume business so that they can get a partial refund on their travel expenses.

President Halimah has given her in-principle support for Singapore to draw on its reserves for 4th covid support package.

More information will be available tomorrow when DPM Heng Swee Keat delivers his statement in parliament.

Called the Fortitude Budget, jobs will be a key part of the support package, said Mr Heng on Monday (May 25), adding that there also will be more support for social sector agencies.

This will be considered the fourth Budget within two months, and the second time past reserves are tapped for the Government’s COVID-19 response.

Even as Singapore prepares to ease some restrictions in phases after the end of the “circuit breaker” period, Mdm Halimah warned against complacency.

“The war against COVID-19 is far from over. As we prepare to transit in phases after the circuit breaker, we must not let our guard down. Many of the good practices like good personal hygiene must remain our way of life,” she said.

“The fight against COVID-19 will be a long-drawn one. But I believe with tenacity and the support for one another, we can emerge stronger in this new world.”

Singapore Airlines is currently looking into an incident where a pilot who flew into Bangladesh airspace was unable to provide a clearance number when requested by air traffic controllers.

SQ326 was flying from Singapore to Frankfurt when it went into Bangladesh airspace at 3:15pm. The flight was routed via airspace under control of Dhaka Air Traffic Control (ATC) to avoid Cyclone Amphan, which has killed at least 84 people in India and Bangladesh.

An Air Defence Cleareance (ADC) number is issued by Bangladesh for each flight, added SIA, but the pilot did not have this number to hand.

“Although SIA has overflight permission from the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, an additional Air Defence Clearance number is also issued by Bangladesh for each flight,” SIA said in its response on Monday.

“When Dhaka ATC requested for confirmation of the ADC number, the pilot did not have it immediately available as it had not been retrieved through the flight planning process before the flight departed Singapore.”

“SIA will, however, proactively launch an investigation into this oversight and tighten its procedures to ensure that there is no repetition,” said the airline.

According to the media release by the Ministry of Health, 344 New COVID-19 Cases were reported as of 25 May 2020 12 pm.

The vast majority of whom are Work Permit holders residing in foreign worker dormitories.

4 cases are Singaporeans/ Permanent Residents. The lower number of cases today is partly due to fewer tests being conducted.

The details of the cases and further updates will be shared via the MOH press release that will be issued tonight

Many of us might not have noticed it, but during the circuit breaker, Town Council cleaners are still working hard to maintain the cleanliness of our estate.

According to a story shared by Sayang Sembawang FB page, One of the cleaners from the Town Council was spotted sitting under a tree. When being asked what he is doing, he explained that he was taking a 5 minutes break after long hours of work under the sun.

According to a resident, the man has been hardworking and detailed while on the job. It is very rare to see him taking breaks in between his work.

Written in the FB Post:

“At first glance, we may think that this conservancy worker is not doing his job. But let us not be too quick to judge. This heartwarming story is told by one of our residents during this circuit breaker period.

The cleaner is said to have been working for long hours under the hot sun, and it was finally time for him to take a break for a quick 5 mins. He took a break under the tree, which was how the resident managed to capture a photo of him. The resident has also observed that he was always hard at work and has been meticulous in cleaning every corner of the common area. The resident’s mother, who has only recently moved over to the resident’s home, also recognises him and is full of praise for his hard work.

We are thankful for our front-liners during this period, especially our Town Council who have been keeping our estates clean for our residents 🙂 so a simple ‘hi’ and ‘thank you’ would go a long way for them!”

These people are truly the unsung hero of Singapore, they are the one who ensures our environment is clean every day. Thank you to their effort, we are able to live in such safe environment. They deserve our salute for all of us and a big thank you for what they have done for us.

An 85 year old elderly man who stayed in a small one-bedroom rental flat insisted on leaving his house and tried escaping the house on various occasions even after numerous warnings. But the main reason of him doing so was to escape his bug infested house.

He has been troubled with bed bugs for many years so he tried his best to stay out of the house for as long as possible. But with the circuit break measure in place, he still continued to slip out of his house in the afternoon even though he was discouraged by volunteers. They even informed him on the $300 fine. He replied “If I really get fined, let me go to jail”.

In another instance, another elderly man complained that his hair and nails were too long, and that there was nobody to assist him in doing the trimming. He even stated that he had insufficient mask to wear and his main door of his house was also faulty and it could not be locked.

Some residents even mentioned that two old people died at home during the circuit breaker measures and nobody was aware of the issue. The bodies were only found when the corpses started to decompose and the bodies were found as authorities was alerted of the stench.

These cases reflects on the many problems faced by poor elderly people who are living alone. They still can’t accept this current norm where people have to stay at home at all times. Due to this issue, the elderly live in anxiety day after day.