True Fitness and True Yoga are undergoing liquidation and are set to cease operations.

Closure notice

A Reddit thread showed a notice on one of their outlets stating that this was effective as of Sep. 10.

The notice read:

"Dear valued members, we write to inform you that True Fitness Pte. Ltd and True Yoga Pte Ltd have been placed under provisional liquidation effective Sep. 10, 2026.

"In view of the provisional liquidation, all clubs have ceased operations with immediate effect."

One Reddit user who had a membership valid until April 2027 had supposedly just visited an outlet and claimed it was "business as usual" and there were even "some new staff recently".

Another Reddit thread also noted that the Novena branch was closed as well.

As of Sep. 11, Google Maps states that it is "temporarily closed".

Employees informed of closure

According to a screenshot by a Mothership reader, staff were informed on the night of Sep. 10 regarding the liquidation.

Provisional liquidators are expected to explain the next steps to them during a meeting today.

Members affected

Among the members affected was a Mothership reader who has been a member for over 20 years. She received a notification regarding the liquidation on her app on the night of Sep. 10.

She has over S$1,000 in a two-year package with the gym, where she originally pre-paid over S$2,000 and has since used half of it.

Reasons for liquidation

According to their Hong Kong-based parent company, Kontafarma China Holdings, it was "extremely difficult" to continue "amid the fiercely challenging market" in Singapore.

It added that this was due to factors resulting in obstacles to attract customers, high operating costs and stringent cashflow.

They also cited an increasing popularity of boutique gyms, as well as more condominiums and residential developments providing gyms for their residents or guests.

This reportedly reduced the need for an external gym membership.

The document also noted that online training, mobile applications, video platforms and virtual coaching allow consumers to exercise at home or outdoors, resulting in competition with digital alternatives.

Liabilities

According to CNA, Kontafarma China Holdings, said in a Sep. 10 bourse listing that the directors of True Fitness and True Yoga had resolved that the businesses could no longer operate due to their liabilities.

Despite bringing in significant revenue, it added that the True Singapore Group recorded substantial losses and net liabilities surpassing S$64 million, The Straits Times reported.

Extraordinary general meetings will be held on Oct. 7 to propose a voluntary winding-up, followed by meetings with creditors, CNA reported.

The True Singapore Group operates 10 fitness and yoga outlets in Singapore under three brands: True Fitness, TFX and Yoga Edition.

A Penang-born woman in Australia reportedly passed away after being assaulted by her partner.

Tan Kah Ming, 28, was found unresponsive in a residence in Perth on Aug. 26, reported 7News.

She was taken to the hospital but later passed away.

Local police believe her partner, 38-year-old Younis Qambari, caused “extensive injuries which resulted in her death” during an assault in the days before she was found.

Qambari has been charged with murder.

GoFundMe for family

Tan's sister, Tan Kah Hooi, is now looking after her three young children, aged seven, five and three.

According to 7News, the sister is "distraught" and trying to come to terms with the tragedy.

A GoFundMe has been set up to support the sister as she cares for the kids.

According to the GoFundMe, the late Tan was a "caring, hardworking, and valued member of [the] community who touched many lives through her kindness, dedication, and warmth".

The funds will help cover essential living expenses, childcare, education, and daily necessities, providing financial stability during this uncertain time.

A total of AUD$74,716 (S$69,030) out of the AUD$100,000 (S$90,733) target has been raised to date.

A CEO sued his ex-girlfriend for the money he lavished on her while they were a couple.

Chander Agarwal, the CEO and managing director of a logistics company, sued his ex, Felicia Lee.

He claimed Lee owed him S$468,090, which he said he had spent on her as loans he expected her to repay. 

The money covered a wide range of items, including first-class plane tickets, feng shui services, and a Stanford-NUS management course.

The Straits Times (ST) reported that on Sep. 9, the judge dismissed Agarwal's claim, ruling that they were gifts that he willingly gave her.

Agarwal has been ordered to pay Lee's legal costs.

Who are they?

Lee was formerly a flight attendant, and subsequently worked as an insurance agent and medical sales officer, according to court documents seen by Mothership.

Agarwal and Lee met on a flight in 2019. He added her on Facebook afterwards.

The pair began to meet up, at which point he had already gave her "lavish gifts".

In September 2022, they began their romantic relationship. It lasted up till December 2023, when he broke up with her for suspected infidelity.

He then began legal action towards Lee in March 2024.

What'd he pay for?

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Lee allegedly requested several interest-free loans from Agarwal over the course of the relationship.

These included the following:

• About S$206,000 in credit card charges
• Approximately S$50,000 and S$64,500 for First Class plane tickets to the U.S. and shopping expenses
• S$17,000 for a feng shui master's services
• S$30,000 for a Stanford-NUS programme in international management
• S$50,000 to Lee's former employer, after she quit her job as an insurance agent without hitting the target
• S$15,000 for Lee's fashion business

Judgement

The judge concluded that the evidence shows that Agarwal had intended the disputed sums as gifts to Lee.

The judge said:

"It is incredible that for a relationship that lasted for more than a year with so many WhatsApp messages exchanged between them, the Claimant could not point to any written evidence to support his case. It is also inherently incredible that the Defendant, with her relatively modest salary, would repeatedly borrow such significant sums to spend on luxury items. In light of the foregoing, I find that the Disputed Sums were given to the Defendant as gifts."

The judge then listed examples where Agarwal had given or offered the gifts to Lee.

In May 2021, Agarwal said, "Soon soon can fly. I have a first class/suite ticket booked for you already wherever you want to go when it opens. If not take the private jet then." This was in response to Lee telling him that it had been years since she last took a plane.

In August 2022, when Lee asked how she could repay him for the amount he spent, he said: "No need. I am not a moneylender".

Despite this, he also gave other reasons why some of the expenses should be treated as loans.

For instance, he claimed that the money given for feng shui services had to be a loan as he was Indian and did not believe in feng shui.

When he gave her money to take the Stanford-NUS management course, he supposedly told her that he was giving her a "grant", and that in India the word "grant" means a loan.

The judge dismissed these contentions.

When cross-examined, Agarwal said the gifts became loans when they entered into a relationship: "Only till the fact that when we started dating is when everything became a loan, everything was transactional. Before that, it wasn’t."

He also claimed that once she accepted his offers, the money spent would become loans.

The judge dubbed this "counterintuitive".

The "contract"

The only piece of documentary evidence that Agarwal could produce to support his claim was a handwritten agreement that read:

"To whomsoever it concerns.

I, felicia lee, taking deposit from Chander Agarwal every month 10-25k sgd belongs to Chander (sic) as he is saving for a rainy day.

I will not take it for my use and give it to him whenever he needs it."

Both individuals' signatures followed.

Agarwal claimed that "deposit" in this case meant a loan, while Lee denied ever "having signed or even seen" the agreement.

The judge dismissed the significance of this note, saying that its contents were "plainly contradicted by the facts" that Lee did spend the money for her own use.

He also noted that the defendant had produced another subsequent note, signed again by both parties, that stated that Agarwal would "never attempt to ask Felicia Lee to return back her car or any items given to her out of my own goodwill".

The alleged cheating

Agarwal further accused Lee of misrepresenting their relationship to him, claiming that though he was under the impression that they were in "a genuine and exclusive romantic relationship".

This, according to Agarwal, "induced him into giving [her] the [money]".

However, he claimed that Lee had relations with other men and was unfaithful.

The judge ruled that the nature of the relationship had no bearing on the distinction whether Agarwal had given the money as a gift or as a loan.

He stated that if Agarwal "thought they were in a relationship, whether they were exclusive or not, such that he intended to give the Defendant moneys as gifts, then those moneys were gifts."

It was further noted that Agarwal himself had sexual relations with two other women during the relationship.

The judge concluded, "The evidence before me clearly show that the Claimant, smitten by the Defendant, had showered her with expensive gifts during their relationship."

He then quoted the English playwright William Congreve: "'Heav’n has no rage, like love to hatred turn’d, Nor Hell a fury, like a woman scorn’d'... This case shows that such emotion is not the sole province of one gender.”

Annoyed by how close reporters were gathering around her as she was escorted out of court, the female Chinese national accused of kidnapping a 72-year-old Singaporean in Malaysia scolded them, asking, "What are you photographing? Haven't seen a pretty woman before?"

The 24-year-old female, named Guan Si Qi (transliteration), is one of four individuals accused of kidnapping a 72-year-old Singaporean man from Penang International Airport in July.

All the accused are Chinese nationals, and they have pleaded not guilty in court on Sep. 10.

According to Sin Chew Daily, the four hung their heads low or covered their faces with clothing upon seeing reporters outside of court.

Guan did the same, but at one point lashed out at reporters with her comment.

She continued avoiding the gaze of the cameras afterwards.

All four were denied bail.

Background

The four accused allegedly worked together to abduct and wrongfully confine 72-year-old Singaporean Quek Aik Teng from Penang International Airport on Jul. 26.

Quek was travelling on his own at the time.

On Aug. 4, his family in Singapore received information indicating that Quek may have been abducted.

They reportedly received audio and video messages showing Quek blindfolded, handcuffed, and repeatedly beaten.

A S$1 million ransom had been demanded in exchange for his release.

They alerted the police.

Through coordination between the Singapore and Malaysian police, he was rescued on Aug. 7 in Kedah, Malaysia.

Malaysian police raided a Kedah residence as part of the rescue, during which an exchange of gunfire resulted in the deaths of two suspects.

Both were foreign nationals.

Six suspects were detained after the raid, but two are now at large.

Following preliminary investigations, the Malaysian police said the suspects allegedly used social media and online platforms to get to know potential victims.

They would then invite the victims to meet in person under various pretexts, including going on holiday, employment opportunities or socialising.

Ng Lye Poh, the mother of Sheng Siong founders, passed away at the age of 91 on Sep. 5.

Relatives, friends and business partners paid their respect at her wake at Woodlands Memorial.

Some of them arrived from overseas.

Streams of funeral wreath were also sent to the venue over the past few days.

Speaking to Mothership, Sheng Siong CEO Lim Hock Chee, 64, shared more about his mum and her influence on him and his brothers.

Hardworking and thrifty

Lim said that when they were farmers, both of his parents were very hardworking and thrifty.

These core values were passed down to their offspring.

Lim was also deeply grateful for his mum's help taking care of his children while he was busy expanding his business with his brothers.

He said his mother did not hold grudges and let go of things easily.

If she argued with his father, she would be fine with him by the next day.

After she was rescued from the kidnap, it was like nothing happened and she headed to the market the next day.

"Her personality was just like that," Lim said.

On filial piety

When his father passed on, he asked himself if he is a filial son, Lim shared with Mothership.

He also admitted that he has not spent enough time with his parents, if spending time with parents is what being filial entails.

Through reading books and reflecting, he said he has distilled what it is to be filial: Don't make your parents worry, don't bring shame to them, and do your parents proud, if you can.

The expansion of Sheng Siong supermarket chain baffled Lim brothers' mother, but it definitely made her proud.

Lim recalled with a smile: "She would always tell people, 'I don't know how they do it. In the past, I used to earn a bit from rearing pigs, but now their annual earnings are in the millions'."

Lim also shared that he and his brothers have decided to donate the bereavement money to a few charity organisations.

Malaysian football legend Abdah Alif, 72, married a 20-year-old woman, reported Harian Metro.

Pictures widely circulated on social media showed the former national player in traditional Malay wedding garb with his visibly younger wife.

Abdah's brother, Yunus, also a former national player and coach, said he got married on Aug. 27 in Terengganu.

He said that both families approved of the marriage.

"Thank God they just got married on August 27. Both families agreed so there were no problems. We pray that they both will be happy," he told Harian Metro.

Yunus also told The New Straits Times that his brother might not be answering his phone as he was currently on his honeymoon.

Abdah has generally kept a low profile after his playing days.

He was a midfielder who played for Terengganu and Pahang in the Malaysia Cup in the 1970s-80s.

More crucially, he was seen as a pillar of the golden era of Malaysian football, being part of the squad that qualified for the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

He did not ultimately play in the Olympics, as Malaysia boycotted the event in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan.

Four Chinese nationals pleaded not guilty and claimed trial after they were charged with kidnapping a 72-year-old Singaporean man in Penang, Malaysia, in July 2026.

The accused — three men and one woman — were charged at a court in Penang on Sep. 10, The Star reported.

If convicted of kidnapping, they may face between 30 and 40 years in prison, and may be caned.

The kidnapping

According to a charge sheet cited by The Star, the four allegedly worked together to abduct and wrongfully confine 72-year-old Singaporean Quek Aik Teng at the Penang International Airport on Jul. 26.

Through coordination between the Singapore and Malaysian police, the man was rescued on Aug. 7 in Kedah, Malaysia.

The Singapore police previously shared some details about the kidnapping and rescue.

The man had travelled on his own to Malaysia on Jul. 26.

On Aug. 4, his family in Singapore received information indicating that he may have been kidnapped in Malaysia and that a ransom had been demanded for his release.

They reportedly received audio and video messages showing him blindfolded, handcuffed, and repeatedly beaten.

The kidnappers also allegedly demanded a ransom of S$1 million from the man's family.

They alerted the police after being concerned for his safety.

On Aug. 7, Malaysian police raided a residence in Kedah, and there was an exchange of gunfire that resulted in the deaths of two suspects.

Both of them were also foreign nationals, The Star reported.

Six other suspects were detained after the operation, but two of them are now at large, according to Free Malaysia Today.

Following preliminary investigations, the Malaysian police said the suspects allegedly used social media and online platforms to get to know potential victims.

They would then invite the victims to meet in person under various pretexts, including going on holiday, employment opportunities or socialising.

Bail denied

The lawyer representing three of the accused said that his clients were willing to surrender their passports, report periodically to a local police station, and abide by any conditions imposed by the court.

He thus asked the court to grant them bail.

The fourth suspect's lawyer similarly sought bail, arguing that his client had fully cooperated with police during detention and had a distant relative living in Malaysia who could act as a surety.

The prosecutor called for the court not to grant bail, highlighting the gravity of the offence.

He also said the suspects' passports were still undergoing verification with Malaysia's immigration department.

The judge ultimately dismissed all bail applications, and set the further mention of the case for Oct. 15.

Minister for Defence and Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing wrapped up the debate on political salaries. In his speech, he laid out how he viewed this debate, and addressed what he said were misperceptions about the numbers.

S$1.8 million is not what every minister gets

Echoing his colleagues Mariam Jaafar and Yeo Wan Ling, Chan said the new MR4 benchmark is a reference point, not an entitlement.

A minister currently on S$1.1 million will receive no more than about S$1.2 million after the one-off adjustment in October, which is capped at 9 per cent and differentiated by individual circumstances including performance and when the person's salary was last adjusted.

That works out to an average of 0.6 per cent a year over the past 15 years.

There is no intention to move all ministers to S$1.8 million in the near term. Most MR4 ministers are expected to be at S$1.35 million by the end of the term.

Only about two-thirds is guaranteed

Chan said the figures being discussed are not guaranteed sums, with about 65 per cent of the annual salary fixed and 35 per cent variable.

A minister at the S$1.2 million benchmark would get about S$780,000 fixed, and up to S$420,000 in bonus depending on individual and national performance. In weaker years, that bonus could be zero.

He said: "That variability is by design. It is what makes the framework accountable and not misleading."

From next year, the targets for all three socio-economic indicators on jobs and incomes will be tightened.

Chan said back-testing showed that applying them over the past decade would have produced a national bonus about one month lower each year on average.

What it costs

Assuming the maximum 9 per cent adjustment, spending on political office holder salaries is expected to stay below 0.05 per cent of government expenditure and below 0.01 per cent of GDP.

Even with the new benchmark fully implemented, Chan said spending would still be a smaller share of government expenditure and GDP than in 2011.

Why money shouldn't be the reason

On why someone might step forward, Chan said financial compensation cannot be the primary consideration.

Someone considering it must first weigh the public scrutiny, the loss of privacy, the uncertainty of being elected, public expectations and the possibility of failure.

But the most important factor, he said, is the burden of responsibility to "get it right" for Singaporeans.

He said:

"This is not a business venture; it is about the lives and livelihoods of Singaporeans. If a business fails, we can start a new one. But if Singapore fails, we are finished."

Chan said after all those concerns, issues of monetary pragmatism might come into play.

"Money should not be the primary consideration but even if it's one of the many practical considerations, we should still discuss this openly, honestly, and frankly, to ask ourselves not just how to get an individual to step forward, but how to build a system that maximises our chances of getting enough people of the right commitment and calibre to step forward."

Chan said the point is not simply finding enough people willing to take on the job, but having enough good people to choose from.

Singapore cannot build a strong team by hoping the people it needs can afford to step forward, he said, and narrowing the field before selection begins makes it harder for any government.

On measuring performance

Chan agreed that the difficulty of setting the right indicators, saying some things are qualitative rather than quantitative, some results take years rather than a single year to appear, and that the wrong KPI could drive the wrong behaviour.

He said:

"I've always learned since young that some important things in life cannot be measured, and we must be careful not to make important only what we can measure."

He added:

"The mark of success is not how well we do the firefighting. The mark of success, very often, more often than not, is how we have prevented the fire in the first place."

"The leadership Singapore needs tomorrow must be built today"

Chan closed by saying the debate was ultimately not about what MPs will get in allowances or what ministers will earn.

He said:

"It is about what Singapore can achieve and want to achieve. Whether our people have opportunities, whether our people can continue to look to the future with confidence, and whether the next generation will inherit a better Singapore so that we can continue to defy the odds of history for us to be a shining beacon in a turbulent world."

Posting on social media after the end of parliamentary debates on political salaries on Sep. 10, SM Lee said he is glad there was "substantial consensus" supporting the government’s move, on both sides of the House.

High quality civil service

By keeping civil service and political salaries realistic, they have been able to build a high quality civil service and assemble a strong and capable team of ministers to serve Singapore well, SM Lee said.

"If we allow these public sector salaries to fall out of line, the quality of the administration and political leadership will decline, slowly but inexorably," he added.

SM Lee also urged Singaporeans to continue supporting “realistic and practical policies” that will keep Singapore exceptional for many years to come."

SM Lee also reposted PM Lawrence Wong’s Facebook post, which thanked Members for the debate and their suggestions.

PM Wong also reiterated that the government does not believe in using higher pay as an incentive to attract people into politics. They are looking for those with a heart to serve.

Aspiring actor and content creator Kiki Darling has addressed his past sexual assault conviction after it was announced that he was dropped from Jack Neo's upcoming film, "Ah Boys to Firefighters".

The 26-year-old, whose real name is Hari Kishen Balakrishnan, was unveiled on Aug. 31 as one of the film's leading men.

On Sep. 9, it was revealed that Hari would no longer be part of the production after the production team became aware of his previous conviction.

Kiki Darling's statement

In a video posted on social media on Sep. 10, Hari acknowledged the offence and apologised to the victim and members of his online community for not having disclosed his past earlier.

He said he intended to continue taking responsibility for his past, and to remain accountable for his actions moving forward.

The full transcript of the video can be found here:

"Hey guys. It’s time for me to address what has been happening over the past few days, and I want this to come directly from me.

I promise to be transparent, and I promise to be clear, and I promise no more hiding.

My real name is Hari Kishen, and I'm 26 years old. Six years ago, I was involved in a sexual assault case. I was convicted and sentenced to six months of reformative training at RTC.

I want you guys to know that I take full responsibility, and the harm that I cause the victim, there's really nothing I can do to ever undo such pain.

When I was in RTC, they sent me for rehabilitation workshops and classes, and because of the nature of my case, they also sent me for counselling with a psychologist.

When I came out, I really knew that I needed to dedicate my life to move forward and to be a better person.

And through that, I decided to pursue education again.

I did my private O levels and I got into Republic Polytechnic (RP) to study culinary.

It was really through RP that I started getting all of the opportunities to work with lesser privileged communities and migrant worker communities that I realised my calling is really through volunteering.

I joined student council, I became the president, and I was also a youth advisory panellist for a government feedback unit.

I wanted to pay back somehow for everything that I've done, and it was through giving back to society.

Somewhere along the way, I started creating comedy content as Kiki Darling, and it was something that I never expected to become such a big part of my life.

It started with me doing, like just comedy and yapping, to recognising that I have built a community of people that supported me, loved me, and believed in me online and offline.

And I think this is where I need to acknowledge another mistake on my part.

It's that I've been open about my past to the people who have supported and guided me, because these were people who were giving me opportunities, and I felt like I deserved to tell them the truth.

While I had been open about my past to them, I did not extend this same opportunity and this openness to all of you, and I'm really, really, really sorry.

And I understand that after reading the news and after reading all the comments, some of you may change the way you guys see me.

Some of you are very sad, betrayed, and angry, and I totally understand that.

And I'm really, really sorry.

I wish I knew how to handle this better, and I wish it did not have to come to this point, but it did.

It was only after I applied for uni that I realised I had no access to my records anymore, and it was because of that that I felt I did not need to tell anybody anymore, and I did not realise that people would still connect me to the news articles about me.

As I became someone in the public eye, I realised that I needed to take more responsibility for my actions, be it past, present, or future, and I'm so sorry I didn't extend this to all of you, and I can just feel how terrible you guys must be feeling right now, and I'm really, really, really so sorry.

I just want you guys to know that from the past six years to now, I've really been on track to give back to community through various organisations, to pursue education to build myself, and I just wanted to show that I'm not the same person I was that time.

But I understand that this may still cause some hurt to some of you, and I totally understand that.

And I'm so sorry I did not give the people who supported me online the same choice.

Now that this is all out, I want you guys to know that I will need to move forward with my life, and I want to apologise firstly to the person I caused harm to with this case.

I want to apologise to all the people who believed in me and who felt betrayed because of this.

And I really want to apologise to all these people who have been giving me opportunities and who are also being attacked for this.

I'm not saying this because I'm trying to erase everything I did.

I just wanted to come clean and tell you guys the truth, and tell you guys that I really, really, really have been trying to build my life.

I'm so sorry it has come down to this.

I will now need to take the time to move forward with my life, to continue my school, to continue my work, and I think I will continue doing community work because it is really not something that I would take away from myself or from others.

I hope you guys can understand that this is part of my learning, and I really want to believe that I have changed.

I just want you guys to know that I'm really, really sorry, and I love you guys so much."

Convicted in 2021

In September 2021, Hari, then aged 20, pleaded guilty to committing sexual assault on a 23-year-old male friend after a night of drinking.

Hari had sexually assaulted the almost unconscious man for about 17 minutes in the bedroom of a friend's apartment.

He also took seven video clips of himself performing sex acts on the naked victim.

The clips were deleted, but police later recovered them during investigations.

"Very surprised to hear about it"

News of Hari's casting in "Ah Boys to Firefighters" prompted people in the know to raise concerns about his past criminal record.

A spokesperson from the production had told Mothership that they had verified the news on Sep. 8.

"We were very surprised to hear about it," the spokesperson said.

"None of the production crew was aware of his previous conviction as none of the cast members had declared that they had any prior convictions."

After discussions, Hari decided to resign from his role.

The spokesperson said the actor understood the "potential risks" to the production if he were to continue as one of the movie's main characters.

Work to recast the role and reshoots are currently underway, while edits will be made to remove Hari from the film.

Casting for future movie projects would go through more stringent processes, the spokesperson added.