A 3.3-magnitude earthquake was recorded in the waters off Batu Pahat, Johor, in the early hours of Jun.21, the Malaysian Meteorological Department reported.

The earthquake occurred at 1:17 am, about 20km southwest of Batu Pahat.

It was centred at coordinates 1.7°N and 102.7°E, at a depth of 10km.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department said tremors may be felt in parts of Batu Pahat and that it is continuing to monitor the situation.

The department also encouraged residents who felt the tremors to submit their observations here.

No reports of injuries or damage have been announced.

This is the fifth earthquake recorded in the Batu Pahat district.

The previous quake occurred on Mar. 14 in the waters off Batu Pahat and measured 3.2 magnitude, New Straits Times reported.

Three specialist doctors have failed in their High Court challenge against a ruling by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS), regarding how they paid themselves very low salaries in order to avoid income tax.

All three doctors — Adrian Tan, Caroline Khi, and Jocelyn Wong — were colleagues at KK Women's and Children's Hospital, as obstetricians and gynaecologists, before they entered private practice.

Low monthly salaries

According to The Straits Times, the three doctors entered private practice in 2004, setting up a clinic called ACJ Women's Clinic (ACJW).

Each of them held a third of the company's shares and the position of director. They also signed off on an employment contract which paid them a monthly salary of S$5,000, excluding annual bonuses.

Prior to entering private practice, Tan, the most senior of the three doctors, had drawn a monthly salary of S$45,600 — over nine times the amount.

Set up their own companies

As the business grew, the three of them set up their own medical companies.

In April 2005, Tan and his wife set up AT OG Services as co-directors and equal shareholders.

Then in May 2007, Khi set up CKYM Holdings as its sole director and shareholder, while Wong established JW Medical Holdings, also as its sole director and shareholder.

In May 2014, they reorganised their practice and set up separate surgical companies where each of them was the sole director and shareholder.

Tan set up ACJ Tan Surgery, Khi set up CKHI Surgery, and Wong established Joy Wong Surgery.

All three companies would send invoices to patients and receive fees for inpatient services while their initial company, ACJW, would invoice patients and receive fees for outpatient services.

Each doctor also signed a contract for a monthly salary of S$6,000 for their own surgical companies, excluding annual bonuses.

Tax rebates, dividends

In establishing their own companies, they were allowed to obtain tax rebates under the Start-Up Exemption and Partial Tax Exemption schemes.

Furthermore, despite their comparatively modest monthly salaries, they paid themselves very high dividends, which are exempted from tax, and gave themselves interest-free loans.

For the years of assessment from 2013 to 2018, Tan was found to have been paid dividends of S$5.14 million from one firm, and S$2.35 million from another.

He was also found to have obtained S$830,000 in loans from one firm, and up to S$2.1 million from another.

In 2016, the three doctors struck off the three firms they had established in 2005 and May 2007.

However, IRAS objected to one of the firms being struck off and started tax audits soon afterwards.

It concluded that the tax advantages could have been one of the reasons for establishing the medical and surgical companies.

What did IRAS do?

Following the audit, IRAS decided to revise the assessment for the years of assessment from 2013 to 2018.

In October 2019, the agency issued additional and amended income tax assessments, in which the income from the doctors' businesses was taxed under their individual names instead.

Then in December 2019, IRAS raised additional assessments for year of assessment 2015, to claw back the tax benefits that had been gained from breaking up the business into multiple companies.

The doctors first sought a review of IRAS' decision by the Income Tax Board of Review. They turned to the High Court after they were unsuccessful.

But on Jun. 18, their bid was dismissed by the High Court.

Doctors 'running afoul' of tax authorities: Judge

Tan was the only one of the three doctors to give evidence before the court.

In his written judgement, Justice Alex Wong noted that their challenge was “the latest of several cases where medical professionals have run afoul of the tax authorities in how they have conducted the business of their medical practices”.

The judge noted that while Tan's evidence of being new to private practice "partially" explained his modest salary, it did not explain why his salary stayed at that level as the practice grew in profits, or why the profits were extracted as dividends and loans.

He added:

"In the absence of a reasonable explanation from Dr Tan, the payment of substantial tax-exempt dividends and shareholder loans points to the avoidance or reduction of tax as one of the main purposes for the arrangement."

A Singaporean woman suspected that her part-time cleaner, whom she hired from home cleaning service Helpling, was stealing her money.

To catch her in the act, the woman set up a trap involving a CCTV and marked S$50 notes.

She eventually caught the cleaner red-handed.

The accused pleaded guilty to one count of theft on Jun. 15 and was sentenced to two weeks in jail.

Incident

30-year-old Nant Aye Thandar Soe, a Myanmar national, had been working part-time at the woman's house at Bedok South Avenue 3 since September 2025, according to Shin Min Daily News.

She was contracted under Helpling, a service which assigns part-time cleaners to customers' homes.

Nant Aye Thandar Soe reportedly cleaned the home every Thursday and was allowed to enter every room in the house.

Trap

On May 27, the woman discovered that some cash was missing from her bag and suspected that Nant Aye Thandar Soe had taken it. 

The next day, on May 28, she installed a CCTV camera in her home and copied down the serial numbers of 20 S$50 bills.

She then placed the cash into her wallet in her bag, and left the bag in the corner of a room.

Theft

When Nant Aye Thandar Soe arrived at the house at about 6:30pm for her shift, she noticed the bag was open and took the wallet from it.

She then pocketed three of the S$50 bills before continuing with her tasks.

At about 8pm, the woman checked her bag and noticed the missing bills.

She questioned Nant Aye Thandar Soe, who admitted to her actions by revealing four S$50 bills from her pocket.

Three were stolen from the woman, while the fourth belonged to her.

The woman then called the police.

Sentencing

In court, Nant Aye Thandar Soe pleaded guilty to her crimes via video link, but asked for a lighter sentence so as to return home sooner.

On account of her clean prior criminal record, she was handed two weeks in jail.

However, she was terminated and permanently banned from Helpling, a spokesperson at the platform said.

According to Shin Min, the spokesperson added that all service providers undergo rigorous background checks and pre-job training before being allowed to join the platform.

Helpling places great importance on user safety and privacy and is currently looking to strengthen review measures, the company said.

The woman told Shin Min that she was disappointed by Helpling's handling of the situation and would no longer use its services.

At 70, Poon Sum Hay is one of the last traditional sachima makers in Singapore.

He makes the snack by hand each day despite being born without fingers on his left hand, enduring an eight-hour process that begins at about 6am.

Sachima is an old-school snack made of strands of fried batter bound together with sugar syrup.

In 2024, Poon, the second-generation owner of Chinatown Complex's Pan Ji Cooked Food, discovered he had colon cancer.

He was forced to shut his stall to undergo treatment.

Labour of love

But after a six-month-long recovery, he returned to the stall in August 2025 to resume his craft.

This year marks over 50 years of running the stall, according to Shin Min Daily News.

After first learning to make sachima at the age of 12, Poon inherited the stall from his father.

Despite a birth defect that left him without fingers on his left hand, he continued making fresh sachima the traditional way.

Making sachima is a laborious process that involves kneading and flattening dough before deep-frying it.

"You can't take any shortcuts, otherwise the result will be completely different," he told Shin Min.

Cancer diagnosis

In December 2024, Poon was diagnosed with colon cancer during a hospital check-up for abnormal bowel movements.

He underwent surgery to remove a portion of his large intestine and was hospitalised for eight days.

Upon recovery, he commenced 16 rounds of chemotherapy.

The physical and mental exhaustion Poon faced during this period forced him to stop working to recuperate.

He soon grew bored and missed his craft, however, and returned to serving his regular customers just six months later in August 2025.

Disappearing craft

Despite his earlier illness, Poon starts work from as early as 6am.

There is no real skill in making the snack, he told Shin Min.

"It's all about how much effort the person puts in. If the learner lacks passion and sincerity, the result won't taste good."

Poon has his fair share of regular customers who have continued supporting him despite an increase in the prices of his snacks.

He is also unconcerned about the lack of a successor, the childless man told Shin Min.

"If there is a successor, there is. If there isn't, there isn't."

Poon is currently supported by his girlfriend of 10 years, who helps out at the stall on a regular basis.

"We're getting older, we help each other out; it's also a way to keep each other company," she said.

She also spoke proudly of her partner's achievements, saying that some customers fly in from Ipoh and Hong Kong to buy his sachima.

"He is a very down-to-earth person," she added.

A video posted by a Malaysian traffic policeman has gone viral after he showed an elderly man pushing his motorbike along the road in the scorching heat.

The policeman, who goes by the handle of @chefheroadnan, said that although many cars and motorcycles passed by, no one had stopped to help the old man.

The scene moved him to the point of tears, he said.

Malaysian media Sinchew Daily reported that the incident took place in Kota Bahru.

Elderly man reminded him of his father

In his caption for the video, he wrote:

"When you see your father struggling to push his broken-down motorcycle on the road with so many vehicles passing by, but no one is willing to pay attention or lend a hand, how would you feel as a child?"

In the reel, Adnan and his colleagues were seen pulling up behind the old man, who was pushing his motorbike along the road shoulder.

He said he then went up to the old man to ask what had happened, but the man could not see or hear very well.

Subsequently, Adnan checked the motorcycle's oil level, and tried helping the man to restart his motorcycle.

He was eventually successful.

Adnan then ended the reel with a call to viewers to do good.

"As traffic police officers on the front lines, we will do our best to provide the best assistance to road users regardless of the problems or difficulties they face on the road."

@chefheroadnan Bayangkan yg tolak motor ini ayah kita,apa perasaan kita sebagai seorang anak bila melihat ayah sedang menolak motor tnpa ada siapa pun yg peduli walaupun bnyk jer moto kete lalu🥹💔Kami sebagai barisan hadapan Trafik apapun masalah pengguna-pengguna jalan raya insyallah pasti akan kami bantu sebaik mungkin🥹🤲🏻 #BersamaJsptKotaBharu #polisdanmasyarakatberpisahtiada ♬ AYAH AKU RINDU - Tri Suaka

National shuttler Yeo Jia Min, 27, has married her longtime boyfriend, former national swimmer Pang Sheng Jun, 33.

According to Yeo's and Pang's social media, the couple held a church ceremony at Living Hope Methodist Church in Tampines on Jun. 20.

Local celebrities and athletes were seen in attendance, including singer-songwriter Benjamin Kheng and national swimmer Quah Zheng Wen, both who appeared to serve as Pang's groomsmen.

Yes 933 DJ Hazelle Teo, who was recently married to local musician James Wong, also attended the wedding.

Couple of nearly six years

Pang and Yeo got engaged in late 2025.

In an Instagram post on Dec. 30, Yeo shared photos of her engagement ring.

"Yes to you. Yes to forever," she wrote.

The pair would have been a couple for six years in September, according to Pang's anniversary post on Instagram on Sep. 5, 2025.

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Pang Sheng Jun 冯盛均 (@pangshengjun)

A 12-year-old boy from Guangxi, China, claimed he was an adult who suffered from dwarfism after he was caught stealing his neighbour's car and driving it along a highway for more than six hours.

According to mainland Chinese media, the incident happened at Gaotian toll station, along China's G65 Baotou-Maoming Expressway, on Jun. 15.

The boy, surnamed Luo, was caught at a toll station when he did not have enough money to pay the toll.

This aroused the suspicion of the tollbooth collector, who noticed his youthful appearance and called the police.

Investigation eventually confirmed that he was a minor who had been driving without a licence.

Continued lying when questioned by the police

While being questioned by the police, the boy claimed he was 22 years old but suffered from dwarfism.

He also lied that the car belonged to his aunt, and that he had only intended to drive to his grandmother's place.

However, upon contacting the boy's father and the vehicle's owner, they learnt that the car belonged to the boy's neighbour.

The owner had only realised that his car had been stolen upon being contacted by the police.

Learnt to drive with friends

The boy's father said he did not know that his son could drive, given that the family did not have a car.

When questioned further by the police, Luo eventually admitted that he had learnt how to drive secretly with some friends.

Early that morning, he stole his neighbour's car keys and drove off, eventually entering the expressway at about 4:45am.

As he is a minor under the age of 14, he was given a stern warning by the police and his parents were ordered to discipline him.

A Malaysian lorry driver has won praise after he used his vehicle to stop a bus that had seemingly lost control on an expressway.

After his actions saved passengers on the bus, there were widespread calls for his recognition.

But he declined to be called a hero, stating that he simply "did what [he] had to do".

Incident

The incident is believed to have occurred on Jun. 16 along the southbound stretch of Malaysia's North-South Expressway.

Dash camera footage circulating online showed the bus travelling at high speed down the rightmost lane, narrowly missing other cars in its path.

In response, the lorry positioned itself at the front of the bus to absorb the brunt of the impact, honking at other vehicles to warn them.

It was eventually able to bring itself and the bus to a halt.

According to Sinchew Daily, the bus had already collided with several vehicles on the road before the lorry intervened.

@mothershipsg The clip has since gone viral, with many online calling the unnamed driver a hero and urging for recognition. Authorities in Ipoh, Malaysia have yet to confirm details of the incident. #mothershipabroad ♬ original sound - Mothership

A hero

The lorry's driver was identified by Malaysian media as 40-year-old Wong Teck Ming.

The father-of-four said in an interview that he had acted out of instinct as he had no time to think or consider his own safety at the time.

Describing the incident, he added that he had used the safety barriers at the side of the road to reduce the bus' momentum, while stepping on his own brakes to bring the bus to a gradual stop.

"I'm not a hero, I just did what I had to do," he said, in response to the praise.

He added that the only thought on his mind was to get the situation under control, and protect the passengers and road users.

"Nothing about being a hero. I believe any driver would have done the same under the circumstances."

Three Malaysian nationals aged 22 to 24 were arrested and will be charged in court for their alleged involvement in scams.

According to a news release, the men had allegedly entered Singapore on the instructions of a scam syndicate in Malaysia.

They were told to help scam victims in Singapore.

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) said that all three men were arrested within six hours of their entry into Singapore.

69 bank cards were recovered, which were used to withdraw around S$200,000 from victims' accounts, said the police.

S$200,000 in scam losses

SPF said that they'd received information that one of the men, a 23-year-old, had entered Singapore on Jun. 18.

He was allegedly on an assignment by scam syndicates to collect cash and gold bars from victims in Singapore.

Two accomplices, aged 22 and 24, entered Singapore with him. Preliminary investigations revealed that the men had received instructions from a Malaysia-based scam syndicate to perform ATM withdrawals across Singapore.

All three were arrested by officers from the Anti-Scam Command and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) within six hours of arriving in Singapore.

To be charged in court

The suspects will be charged in court on Jun. 20.

The 23-year-old man will be charged for assisting others to retain criminal proceeds, which could result in up to 10 years' jail, a fine of up to S$500,000, or both.

His two accomplices will be charged for unauthorised access to computer material, an offence punishable by an imprisonment term of up to two years, a fine of up to S$5,000, or both.

"The police continue to observe an increasing trend of Malaysian nationals

travelling to Singapore to assist scam syndicates in collecting cash and valuables from scam victims, as well as making cash withdrawals from ATM machines using relinquished bank cards," SPF said in its news release.

Since Dec. 30, 2025, scammers and members or recruiters of scam syndicates face between six and 24 strokes of mandatory caning under Singapore's laws.

Scam mules who help scammers launder scam proceeds also face discretionary caning of up to 12 strokes.

HarbourFront Centre will cease operations on Jul. 27, the shopping mall announced in a Facebook post on Jun. 19.

The mall will be redeveloped into a 33-storey mixed-use building, with office and retail spaces and an elevated park.

Meanwhile, the Singapore Cruise Centre will be relocated to the new HarbourFront passenger terminal at 5 HarbourFront Avenue, with effect from Jul. 15, 2026.

Ferry services and routes unaffected

Earlier on Jun. 15, the Singapore Cruise Centre said in a statement that Batam Fast Ferry would be the first operator to begin operations at the new location on Jul. 7.

The remaining ferry operators — Horizon Fast Ferry, Majestic Fast Ferry, Sindo Ferry and Indo Falcon Shipping & Travel — as well as cruise operations, will follow from Jul. 15.

The Singapore Cruise Centre added that no changes will be made to ferry routes, destinations and scheduling as a result of the move.

HarbourFront Centre has been the location of Singapore Cruise Centre's international terminal since 1992.

33-storey building

HarbourFront Centre is expected to reopen in the first half of 2031, following redevelopment works.

It will become a 33-storey mixed-use development featuring office and retail spaces and an elevated park that stretches towards the waterfront.

The new 123,000 sqm, 33-storey "flagship commercial project" will complement the development of the "Greater Southern Waterfront", said Mapletree Investments last October.

The building will boast a verdant facade, with greenery stretching from the office tower down to a 13,000 sqm elevated park.