A nine-year-old girl in Singapore shaved her head for Hair for Hope to support children battling cancer.

In a video posted by Hair for Hope on Jul. 5, Faith said she wanted to help children with cancer because they "suffer a lot" and hoped to make them happy again.

She added that she was not afraid to return to school bald because she wanted to tell her classmates about Hair for Hope.

Inspired after seeing a poster

Faith told Lianhe Zaobao that she decided to sign up after spotting a Hair for Hope poster at the void deck of an HDB block.

Although she does not have friends or relatives with cancer, she said she had seen children her age undergoing treatment, losing their hair to chemotherapy and missing school.

She also worried they might be teased because of their appearance, prompting her to show her support by shaving her own head.

Her mother, Cai Tingting (transliteration), initially thought it might be a passing whim.

However, Faith remained resolute each time she was asked if she was sure, including on the day of the event when the hairdresser confirmed her decision.

Warm welcome at school

Faith shaved her head just before school reopened after the June holidays.

She admitted feeling nervous about how her teachers and classmates would react, but said everyone was supportive.

When classmates asked about it, she explained that she had shaved her head to support children with cancer.

The school later highlighted her act of kindness during a weekly assembly, and Faith said she has since become known as "the girl with the shaved head".

She added that she would be willing to shave her head again in future.

Organised by the Children's Cancer Foundation, Hair for Hope is Singapore's only head-shaving campaign dedicated to raising awareness and funds for childhood cancer.

This year's campaign runs from Mar. 4 to Aug. 16.

A fire broke out late in the evening of Jul. 31 at Block 309 Clementi Avenue 4, resulting in one fatality and at least two injured firefighters.

Eighth floor unit on fire

The SCDF said in a social media post that they were alerted to the fire at around 11:10pm.

Emergency services arrived to find that the living room of an eight-floor unit was on fire.

Firefighters conducted forcible entry to access the unit and discovered that the fire involved items in the living room; they extinguished the blaze using a single water jet.

Resident and two firefighters taken to hospital

While the firefighters were conducting their operation, a person was found unconscious in the kitchen.

That person was brought out of the unit and conveyed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

About 40 residents from the affected block were evacuated by the SCDF and the police as a precaution.

Additionally, two firefighters were taken to Singapore General Hospital after sustaining burn injuries while fighting the fire.

As of Aug. 1, one of those firefighters had been discharged from the hospital and was resting at home.

MP for the area Sim Ann also posted on social media, showing that she and her team had arrived at the site and met with those affected by the fire.

Her post confirmed that the resident had passed away after being taken to hospital, and that her team were looking for the deceased's next of kin as they had been believed to be living alone.

She reported that most of the residents who had been temporarily evacuated were able to return to their homes by 1:30 am on Aug. 1, and that, as far as was known, no other resident had been injured.

Limited damage to other units and common area

A subsequent post by Sim said that volunteers and town council representatives had met with those affected in order to assess how to help residents whose homes and personal property may have sustained damage.

She said that, despite the intensity of the fire, it appeared overall damage to other units and common areas was limited, and that most of the households spoken to would be able to remain at home after some cleanup.

Neighbours were able to share some information about the deceased resident's next of kin, with Sim adding that she hopes to get in contact wtih them.

During both posts, Sim expressed gratitude to the SPF and the SCDF, including the two firefighters taken to hospital, wishing them a swift recovery.

An SBS Transit bus captain has been commended for helping an elderly woman on a Personal Mobility Aid (PMA) after it became stuck on the pavement’s edge.

In a Jul. 30 Facebook post, SBS Transit said bus captain Omri Bin Mohd Yusof was driving Service 153 along Jalan Toa Payoh on a rainy night when he spotted the woman in need and pulled over to help.

Photos of the incident were first shared on the Facebook page buses[IN]gapore! on Jul. 8.

According to the post, the encounter took place on Jul. 8 around 8:15pm.

Helped stranded PMA user

The woman's PMA had become stranded a few metres from a bus stop after its side wheels slipped off the kerb, leaving it tilted and unable to move, SBS Transit said in its post.

Another woman had already stopped to help but was unable to lift the PMA on her own because of its weight, the bus operator said.

Omri got off the bus despite the rain and, realising more help was needed, asked a passenger to assist.

Together, the three of them lifted the PMA back onto the pavement within minutes.

After ensuring the woman was safe, Omri resumed his route, SBS Transit said.

Commending the trio, SBS Transit added: "Sometimes, it's the simplest acts of kindness that leave the deepest impact. To Omri and the two other people who stepped forward to help, your compassion reminds us that the journey is always better when we look out for one another."

Adidas will be taking over as the Singapore national football team's kit sponsor from Aug. 1, in what the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) describes as a “landmark multi-year partnership.”

The German sportswear company is taking over from Nike, which has sponsored Singapore’s kits since 2008.

Red and blue

On Aug. 1, Adidas and FAS unveiled the new home and away jerseys for both outfield players and goalkeepers, in an agreement that covers the mens, womens, and youth football teams.

The national team’s home kit retains its traditional all-red colourway, with Adidas’ iconic three stripes in white across the shoulders and white and blue bands around the edge of the shirt’s sleeve and collar.

The shirt’s fabric has a pattern reminiscent of waves woven into it, which Adidas says is “the waves that run through the heart of Singapore: calm on the surface, but underneath, a relentless, unstoppable current.”

The away kit is Coventry blue, a callback to the celebrated 1977 kit, and the footballers that wore it.

National team captain Hariss Harun said that putting on the national team jersey should “always feel special”, something he said Adidas understood the importance of.

Kit debut and fan engagement

The kit debuts in the Aug. 7 ASEAN Championship game against Indonesia at Jalan Besar Stadium and will be available for purchase from Aug. 2.

The jersey will retail at S$99 while the on-field authentic jersey will be S$169.

Adidas is also holding an event at its brand centre on Orchard Road, along with several Singaporean football legends.

Adidas and the FAS hope that the new partnership will introduce new ways for Singaporeans to connect with the national team, and are exploring "elevated fan activations, stadium experiences, exclusive content, and other community engagement initiatives".

FAS president Forrest Li said that the association was “grateful to have Adidas join us as a long-term partner of Singapore football”, and that he hoped the partnership inspired more “organisations and Singaporeans to step forward and join us in our journey to bring the pride and joy back to the sport we love.”

Future fan engagement plans will be announced in the coming months.

A 21-year-old man was arrested for allegedly brandishing a 40cm knife during a dispute along Selegie Road.

The Singapore Police Force said it was alerted to the incident at about 4:48am on Jul. 27, after receiving a report of a dispute involving a man holding a "rod-like object".

Preliminary investigations found that the man had concealed a 40cm knife behind his shirt before confronting three others.

During the dispute, he allegedly drew the knife and brandished it at them before leaving the scene.

There were no injuries reported.

The man was later arrested after police established his identity through extensive ground enquiries and with the aid of police cameras.

The knife, which he had disposed of, was subsequently recovered along Middle Road.

To be charged in court

The man was set to be charged in court on Aug. 1, 2026, with carrying offensive weapons in public places under Section 6 of the Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act 1958, according to SPF's media release.

The offence carries a jail term of up to three years and a minimum of six strokes of the cane.

The police said they take a serious view of such brazen acts, which pose a danger to public safety and the well-being of the public.

"The Police will not hesitate to take firm action against those who blatantly disregard the law."

A Singaporean man who was reported missing in Vietnam by his family has been arrested for his alleged role in an etomidate-laced vape syndicate.

30-year-old Oh Jiang Fong is accused of supplying the etomidate-laced e-liquid to the syndicate, reported the Voice of Vietnam.

According to VnExpress, Vietnamese police arrested 65 people on Jul. 31, including 10 foreigners believed to have played key roles in the operation.

This included four Singaporeans, four Malaysians and two Taiwanese nationals.

Police identified 30-year-old Malaysian Hoo Jia How and 30-year-old Singaporean Melvin Tan Junjie as the alleged ringleaders.

House raided

Vietnamese law enforcement said they uncovered the network in early July before raiding a house, where they seized 1,331 e-cigarette cartridges and 140ml of etomidate-laced e-liquid.

Based on the suspects' statements, Tan and Hoo allegedly collected the e-liquid from Oh, brought it to their rented house on Cong Quynh Street and filled the vape pods themselves before selling them to Vietnamese and foreign customers.

Some buyers allegedly resold the products, while others used them personally.

Previously reported missing

Photos released by Vietnamese police showed Oh handcuffed alongside the other suspects.

His family and friends had made online appeals on Jul. 23 after he went missing during a trip to Vietnam.

According to the posts, he left Singapore on Jul. 16 and was due to return two days later.

A police officer had his jail sentence increased for his role in the fatal abuse of a Myanmar domestic helper following a dismissal of his appeal by a High Court judge.

Kelvin Chelvam, 47, was previously sentenced to 10 years’ jail after being convicted over the fatal abuse of Piang Ngaih Don by his then-wife Gaiyathiri Murugayan and mother-in-law.

The charges included one count each of voluntarily causing hurt, abetting Gaiyathiri to voluntarily cause grievous hurt, giving false information to a police officer handling the case and causing evidence to disappear.

Chelvam had appealed against his convictions for abetment and causing evidence to disappear, as well as his sentences for all charges except the one for giving false information, CNA reported.

The judge dismissed all his appeals and instead allowed the prosecution's cross-appeal to increase the sentence for the charge of voluntarily causing hurt.

Chelvam’s sentence was ultimately raised to 11 years and six months in jail.

Gaiyathiri and her mother, Prema S Naraynasamy, are currently serving 30 years and 17 years in jail respectively for their roles in the case.

Fatal abuse

According to CNA, Chelvam was Piang's registered employer while Gaiyathiri oversaw her day-to-day work and welfare.

He had also signed the employment contract, which required that the helper be given at least three adequate meals a day among other terms.

Between 2015 and 2016, Piang endured almost 10 months of physical abuse at the hands of the family.

The 24-year-old finally succumbed after an assault in July 2016, having been starved by Gaiyathiri.

She weighed just 24kg at the time of her death.

A CCTV system installed in the flat captured 35 days of the abuse Piang endured leading up to her death.

The footage showed that Chelvam was present on multiple occasions while she was abused.

He later tried to obstruct investigations by disconnecting the CCTV recorder and lying to the police about its whereabouts, CNA reported.

Defence

In his defence, Chelvam's lawyer argued that his client did not know Piang had been "starved to the point that her life was in danger", CNA reported.

He pointed to evidence from a doctor who examined Piang in January and May 2016, saying the doctor did not think she appeared noticeably thinner between those visits.

The prosecution countered that the critical period was the final weeks of Piang's life, between June and July 2016.

The same doctor had testified that she was "extremely emaciated" at the time of her death, with "limbs resembling skin wrapping around bone".

Under cross-examination, Chelvam admitted he had noticed Piang's drastic weight loss, according to CNA.

The prosecution argued that Chelvam ultimately bore responsibility for ensuring Piang's basic needs were met, but abdicated that responsibility by leaving her care entirely to his ex-wife.

It also submitted that, as a police officer, Chelvam knew causing evidence to disappear was an offence but chose to participate anyway.

In seeking a heavier sentence for the voluntarily causing hurt charge, the prosecution disagreed with the trial judge's finding that it was an isolated incident.

Knowing about the sustained abuse but still choosing to assault Piang made Chelvam the third abuser, the prosecutor argued.

The judge dismissed Chelvam's appeals and upheld his convictions, finding no basis to overturn the trial judge's decision or conclude that the sentence was "manifestly excessive".

Chelvam was ordered to begin serving his sentence on Aug. 7 after the court granted his request to defer it by a week so he could spend time with his daughter.

A 55-year-old man was arrested within three hours for breaking into a temple and stealing cash from donation boxes.

​Arrested within three hours

On Jul. 31, the police were alerted at 4:06 am to a case of housebreaking, where a temple along Bedok North Avenue 3 was broken into, and cash worth S$390 was stolen from donation boxes.

Law enforcement conducted follow-up investigations and were able to establish the man’s identity with the aid of CCTV and police cameras.

He was subsequently arrested within three hours of the report.

The police were able to recover cash amounting to S$290.

They also believe the man is linked to two other unreported cases of housebreaking and theft at the same temple, where S$1,965 in cash was stolen.

A press release from the police stated that he will be charged on Aug. 1 with the offence of housebreaking and theft under Section 458A of the Penal Code 1871.

If found guilty, he will face imprisonment of up to 10 years, as well as possible caning or a fine.

Police advice

The police advise members of the public to secure openings such as doors and windows with good quality grilles and closed-shackle padlocks when leaving a premises unattended.

They also advise refraining from keeping large sums of cash or other valuables within the premises, as well as installing burglar alarms and CCTVs to cover access points.

Singapore's Institute of Policy Studies and World Scientific will bring out a new book on Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong's 20 years as Prime Minister on Sep. 8.

The book — a collection of 23 essays by Singapore's leading thinkers and policy practitioners on finance, economics, diplomacy, social policy, politics and society — will assess the leadership and legacy of SM Lee's tenure.

Contributors to the book included Former Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Ravi Menon, Manu Baskaran, and Tan Kong Yam, who examined Singapore's financial and economic sectors during SM Lee's tenure.

Assessing SM Lee's diplomatic contributions are Tommy Koh, Chan Heng Chee, and Bilahari Kausikan, former ambassadors and prominent voices on Singapore's diplomacy.

Pauline Tay Straughan examines Singapore's social policy under SM Lee, while Carol Soon, Cherian George, Han Fook Kwang, and Eugene Tan assess his impact on the country's politics and society.

It is edited by senior IPS research fellow Gillian Koh, former Straits Times opinion editor Chua Mui Hong, and Terence Ho, executive director and associate professor at the Institute of Adult Learning, Singapore University of Social Sciences.

Not a tribute volume

Koh, the book's lead editor, emphasised in a press release that it was not a “tribute volume.”

Contributors were urged to weigh up which of SM Lee’s leadership choices worked, and which didn't.

About two years after he'd stepped down in favour of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Koh said that the essays were a “timely examination” of SM Lee's contributions.

"Living through an era, we are often unaware of just how much things have changed until we pause to take stock," said Chua.

The essays, she said, trace the arc of social, political, and economic policies that have reshaped Singapore and were a study of adaptive leadership and governance that a small city-state needs.

The book, entitled “Lee Hsien Loong and Singapore”, will be launched on Sep. 8 and is published by World Scientific. It will be available at major bookstores and at the following link.

A 59-year-old woman died four months after suffering a cardiac arrest while recovering from heart surgery.

The cardiac arrest had left her with brain damage.

Her daughter has alleged that the hospital's failure to provide continuous cardiac monitoring delayed the detection of the cardiac arrest.

The hospital has denied any medical negligence, saying an internal review and independent experts found that the care provided met established medical and ethical standards.

Heart attack and surgery

According to Shin Min Daily News, Mo Jinying (transliteration) was admitted to Woodlands Hospital on Feb. 12, 2026, after suffering a heart attack caused by blocked coronary arteries.

Following surgery, she was to be discharged on Feb. 24.

Her daughter, Chen Yingxian (transliteration), said Mo sent her a voice message on Feb. 23 saying she was having difficulty breathing.

Doctors reportedly attributed the symptoms to her blood sugar levels and postponed her discharge.

The following morning, the family was informed that Mo had suffered a cardiac arrest.

Mo reportedly sustained brain damage.

Family questions monitoring arrangements

Chen said the hospital's report stated that because Mo's condition had initially been stable, her vital signs were monitored every four hours.

As a result, the hospital could not determine the exact time of the cardiac arrest, estimating only that it had occurred within a 29-minute window.

The family questioned why Mo was not placed on continuous cardiac monitoring, arguing that her cardiac arrest could have been detected sooner.

Family refused to withdraw life support

Chen said the hospital later diagnosed her mother as brain dead and advised the family to withdraw life support.

However, the family requested further CT and MRI scans, which they said showed that Mo was not brain dead but had suffered damage to her thalamus from oxygen deprivation.

Despite the hospital's recommendation to remove life support, the family chose to continue treatment, saying Mo could open her eyes, blink, and make simple responses.

Mo was admitted to and discharged from the intensive care unit several times before dying on Jun. 29 from a bacterial lung infection.

Chen said the family believes the outcome could have been different had continuous cardiac monitoring been used from the outset.

Hospital says no medical negligence found

Woodlands Hospital told Shin Min that it was deeply saddened by Mo's death and had extended its condolences to her family.

It said it had maintained regular communication with the family throughout Mo's hospitalisation, including holding several meetings attended by senior doctors, nursing supervisors, and hospital management, and providing written responses to their questions.

The hospital said it conducted an internal review of the family's concerns and sought opinions from independent clinical experts.

Both the review and the independent experts concluded that the medical team's care complied with established medical standards and ethical principles, and that there was no medical negligence.

The experts also supported the clinical treatment and medical decisions made during Mo's hospitalisation.

The hospital added that it remains in contact with the family and has invited them to participate in mediation.