Tommy Koh, former ambassador-at-large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), announced his retirement earlier in August, bringing an end to 55 years of service.

He was also conferred the Minister for Foreign Affairs Lifetime Distinguished Service Award by Foreign Minister Dr Vivian Balakrishnan on Aug. 7.

Throughout his life, said Koh, he was never interested in pursuing wealth. Instead, he wanted to pursue justice.

"I wanted to use the law to defend the poor against the rich, and the weak against the strong," the 88-year-old said in a video posted on the MFA's Instagram page on Sep. 1.

Young ambassador to the United Nations

At the age of 30, Koh was appointed Singapore's permanent representative to the United Nations.

He recalled hesitating when then-Foreign Minister S Rajaratnam first asked him to take on the role, as he felt he was not qualified for it.

"I was too young... No experience," he said, but there was no one else to take on the position.

According to him, most of the ambassadors at the UN were much older and more senior than him.

In that sense, he considered himself to be "very lucky", as it meant that he was able to learn from senior diplomats who took him under their wing, and helped him understand the workings of international diplomacy.

Spent a decade on the Law of the Sea

Beyond his role at the UN, Koh also served as Singapore’s ambassador to Canada and Mexico.

He was also Singapore’s contact person with China and led the Singapore delegation to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Being a country close to the sea, said Koh, Singapore was a "transshipment point" and a hub for navigation and trade.

"The sea is very important to us, and the old laws governing the seas were breaking down," he recalled.

As such, when the UN decided to convene a conference to negotiate a new international law governing the seas, Koh told the Singapore government that the country had to participate to protect its interests as a trading nation, shipping nation and port state.

He eventually spent 10 years working on UNCLOS.

Life was harder for his wife

Behind Koh's long diplomatic career was his wife, Poh Siew Aing, who he said had to make a "dramatic" transition.

Koh described his wife as a pessimist who would often warn him that things could go wrong.

"I’m always telling her, don’t worry, everything will be okay," he said.

"Most of the time I’m right," he added with a quip.

For his wife, the journey was far more challenging, he said.

Poh went from being a medical student who had never travelled abroad to becoming the wife of a UN ambassador.

"I was happy in the UN, but for her, she had to look after the two children," Koh said.

She also had to learn how to cook and host guests, as she had to take care of the diplomats and VIPs visiting New York.

"Life was harder for her than for me", he said. "The transition was too dramatic for her."

But despite the challenges, Poh stood firmly by her husband throughout his diplomatic career.

Lessons from his parents

Koh also reflected on the influence of his parents, whom he described as very different people.

His mother was Shanghainese while his father was Hokkien.

His father was a businessman and a "frustrated linguist", while his mother had been an actress and dancer when she was young.

Koh said he learnt different lessons from each of them.

"From my mother, I would say I learned to love the arts. From my father, I learned something else, which is courage."

That courage, he said, included having the conviction to stand up to bullies and defend Singapore even when the odds were against it.

"From very young, I sort of championed the underdog, wanted everyone to be able to lead a life of dignity."

Koh also joked that he was never particularly interested in making money for himself — a trait his mother did not appreciate.

Singapore's success is "nothing short of a miracle"

Looking back at Singapore’s development, Koh described the country’s success over the past 61 years as "nothing short of a miracle".

He said he was proud of the racial and religious harmony Singapore has achieved.

"I'm particularly proud of the harmony between people of different races and religions," he said.

He pointed to the fact that Singapore’s President and Chief Justice are both from minority communities as an example of the country’s progress.

Koh also said Singapore had done well in educating its young people and preparing them for a rapidly changing world.

With developments in digital technology, robotics, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology, he urged young Singaporeans not to be afraid of change.

"We are well-positioned to do well in the new world," he affirmed. "I'm confident that we will continue to thrive and prosper."

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A 26-year-old Singapore distance runner has been charged with stealing a pair of running shoes and a set of training cones from a Decathlon outlet.

According to charge sheets seen by Mothership, Ko Wen Qiang, Keane, allegedly stole a pair of KD900X running shoes worth S$139.90 in July 2025 from a Decathlon outlet in Kallang.

He also allegedly stole a set of training cones worth S$25 in September 2025 from the same outlet.

According to CNA, Ko was charged on Jul. 1.

He had a further mention hearing on Sep. 4 and will return to court on Oct. 2.

For committing theft in dwelling, Ko could face a jail term of up to seven years and a fine.

Represented Singapore

According to Singapore Athletics’ Facebook page, Ko represented Singapore at the 2023 World Athletics Road Running Championships in the men’s half marathon, finishing in about an hour and 21 minutes.

He came in second at the 2024 Standard Chartered half marathon national championships.

According to The Straits Times in January, Ko said he had been based in Slovenia since late October 2025 while working remotely as a business developer for companies in Singapore and Slovenia.

Ko had reportedly joined a training camp in the Slovenian city of Celje from May to July 2025 in a bid to qualify for the marathon at the 2025 SEA Games.

According to Ko’s Instagram profile, which was taken down on Sep. 4, he was also an ambassador for a shoe brand.

A total of four people from the construction sector were arrested by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) for suspected employment-related offences during a Sep. 2 enforcement operation.

According to a Sep. 4 MOM press release, they include two company directors and two company staff.

Suspected offences

MOM is investigating them for suspected offences under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA), such as false declarations and collection of employment-related kickbacks.

The directors are suspected of making fraudulent Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions to locals not under their employment (phantom workers), to inflate their companies' foreign worker quotas.

They then allegedly brought in migrant workers through the inflated foreign worker quotas.

Another 21 people suspected of involvement in such illegal "phantom worker" arrangements are currently assisting in the investigation, the release noted.

MOM said it will continue to take action against companies suspected of inflating their foreign worker quotas through such illegal practices.

Penalties

The release stated that under the EFMA, making false declarations in work pass applications carries a fine of up to S$20,000, up to two years' jail, or both.

MOM will bar entities or individuals convicted of such offences from employing foreign workers.

Those who collude with companies by providing their particulars for fraudulent CPF contributions to inflate foreign worker quotas may also be prosecuted for abetment of false declaration.

This carries a fine of up to S$20,000, up to two years' jail, or both.

The collection of employment-related kickbacks is an offence punishable with a fine of up to S$30,000, up to two years' jail, or both.

Reminder

According to the release, MOM would like to remind members of the public not to accept CPF contributions from businesses they are not working for.

This is because they may be guilty of aiding in false declaration offences by errant employers.

Members of the public who are aware of such activities, or who know of persons or employers who may have contravened the EFMA, may report them to MOM online.

A fire broke out at a grass field near the junction of Bukit Panjang Ring Road and Fajar Road on Sep. 3, sending smoke billowing into the air.

In response to Mothership's queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the fire at about 4:30pm that day.

The SCDF extinguished it using a water jet, and there were no reported injuries.

The open field spanned about 30 by 20 metres.

A video of the aftermath was posted on the Complaint Singapore Facebook group, showing both SCDF and police personnel at the scene.

Next to the smoke appears to be a burning cage commonly used to burn joss ceremonial offerings safely during the Hungry Ghost Festival, which runs from Aug. 13 to Sep. 10.

According to The Straits Times, burnt joss paper was found inside the cage, still glowing with embers.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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A man in Taiwan who won a civil lawsuit against his wife for having an affair was jailed for the way he gathered the evidence.

He had used a robot vacuum cleaner to record his wife with her affair partner, reported South China Morning Post (SCMP).

While he was awarded NT$500,000 (S$19,991) for the violation of his marital rights, he was convicted and jailed for unlawfully recording private images.

Wife's affair

Local media reported that the couple got married in 2021 and lived with the man's parents, only visiting their holiday home during holidays, reported SCMP.

In September 2023, the man became suspicious when he discovered a used toothbrush at the holiday home.

He reviewed surveillance footage from a parking garage and recognised a man who had previously driven his wife home.

Three months later, the man saw a live feed from the home’s robot vacuum cleaner via its mobile application, capturing his wife in an intimate encounter with another man.

He began recording the footage to gather evidence for a legal claim.

The footage included scenes of the wife embracing the other man, as well as being unclothed around the house as he lay on the sofa.

Won civil suit, but jailed

The husband eventually used the footage as evidence to sue his wife and her lover for infringing on his marital rights.

The court found his wife's relationship with the other man "surpassed the limits of ordinary friendship" and ordered the pair to compensate the man a sum of NT$500,000 (S$19,991).

However, the wife counter-sued on the count of recording private footage without her consent.

Although the man contended that his actions were “legally justified”, he was found by the court to have unlawfully recorded private images.

They found that marital obligations do not supersede an individual’s right to privacy, SCMP reported.

The man was ultimately sentenced to five months in prison and fined NT$150,000 (S$6003) for unlawfully recording private images.

Running an airline is never an easy business as it is heavily regulated and not purely market-driven, chairman of Temasek Trust Ho Ching wrote on social media on Sep. 2.

She took to her Facebook account to comment on Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Air India ties in the wake of reports that Air India registered a record loss of more than US$2 billion (S$2.5 billion), which weighed down on SIA's profits.

Singapore's national carrier posted nearly S$1 billion in losses less than two years after it acquired a 25.1 per cent stake in Air India.

Temasek, the majority shareholder of SIA, has in turn stated on Aug. 29 its support for the long-term strategy of Singapore's national carrier, particularly where its Air India investment is concerned.

Airlines, like banks, need to compete with foreign entities

Ho, weighing in on the matter, wrote that businesses must be able to compete without expecting government intervention to give it a boost.

She gave the example of how Singapore banks must compete domestically and overseas, sometimes even at the encouragement of the Singapore government opening up the playing field to foreign entities and inadvertently exposing local businesses to market forces.

She added:

But unlike most other national airlines, SIA is clear minded and clear headed.

There are no handouts from Singov - and SIA must established its own position and strengths to weather the challenges of the airline industry.

No free lunch

This is in stark contrast to other governments that would "put obstacles in the path of foreign airlines while protecting its own, sometimes with endless subsidies", Ho also wrote.

The Singapore government's approach to SIA would then appear counterintuitive, but it is to promote competitiveness.

She acknowledged that the government has sometimes even “gone out of its way” to encourage foreign airlines to establish hubs in Singapore.

Singapore, she noted, is one of the few countries where the national carrier does not account for 70 to 80 per cent of the domestic market.

She wrote that local airlines, like banks, must "constantly innovate and offer better products and services" to maintain or grow their market share in Singapore.

It must do so in the face of the competition offered by international operators.

"No free lunch," she concluded.

Privatise or nationalise Air India?

In her post, Ho also outlined Air India's history and its origins as Tata Air Services in 1932, saying it had established itself as a "premium service airline" long before SIA came into existence.

Her recounting of Air India's history provided a casual observation of the India government's intervention in its aviation industry and its own commercial airline business, as it vacillated between privatising and nationalising the carrier.

This was to highlight how far SIA has come to catch up and surpass Air India over the years by competing globally on its merits as a commercial entity.

Air India subsequently held SIA up as the standard to meet, Ho noted.

Becoming Air India

Air India lost its focus when too many stakeholders tried to navigate its path.

Tracing its roots, Ho noted Tata Air had transitioned into Air India and became a public limited company in 1948, and the India government subsequently became a majority stakeholder in the airline, which occurred in 1953, "to give it more financial heft to develop its international network".

Air India was eventually forced to merge with other India-registered airlines due to the country's laws at the time.

Ho said "constant disagreements" between then-chairman JRD Tata, an Indian industrialist and aviation pioneer, and his government shareholders soon led to his departure as chairman of his "beloved" Air India.

"And Air India service standards and financial stability went downhill since," she wrote.

Teacher emulating student

Attempts by JRD's successor, Ratan Tata, to recover the airline to its former glory failed, Ho noted.

There was a tinge of irony in this.

She explained that when SIA had split from Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (previously known as Malaya-Singapore Airlines), Air India was the "gold standard" that it would try to emulate and surpass.

Ratan, who was "eager and ambitious" for the Tata group to recover Air India, most wanted SIA as his partner, she said, describing SIA as "the student who had turned in an excellent set of results and surpassed its former role model".

Using another airline as a benchmark is not unheard of.

Many airlines "in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and China would later try to emulate and surpass SIA during their formative or reform years", Ho observed.

Questions raised

Questions have been raised about the purpose and the viability of SIA’s continued investment in Air India, notably by Workers Party Member of Parliament (MP) Kenneth Tiong, who wrote a social media post on the subject on Aug. 26.

In it, he said that he would be asking a question in parliament on the subject, and that he would oppose any use of Temasek’s funds to “prop up” Air India, and that if SIA wanted to continue with Air India, it should do so “on its own two feet”.

Long-term strategy

In its statement on Aug. 29, Temasek said it views SIA's business decision on Air India from a long-term perspective and is supportive of it.

"We recognise that the large-scale transformation of Air India involves complex, multi-year operational and integration challenges," joint head of portfolio development Juliet Teo wrote.

She added that efforts of this scale take time and are not expected to be linear, particularly in the aviation sector, where outcomes are shaped by industry developments.

A Chinese tourist in Singapore allegedly chased down a man who snatched her handbag at Circular Road.

According to Shin Min Daily News, the 38-year-old woman, surnamed Wan, had met the man earlier that evening after he approached her near People’s Park Complex and offered to help her exchange money and find new accommodations.

He was subsequently arrested.

Man offered to help her exchange money

The incident took place at around 9pm on Aug. 30 near Circular Road, Shin Min reported.

Wan told the Chinese-language newspaper that she had arrived in Singapore on Aug. 29 and was staying at Mercure ICON Singapore City Centre.

At around 6:30pm the following day, she was shopping near People's Park Complex when a middle-aged man approached her.

Wan said the man spoke fluent Mandarin and told her he was from Taiwan, which made her feel more comfortable speaking to him.

He also claimed to have lived in Singapore for some time.

Wan then told the man that she was looking for a bank to exchange money and that she was unhappy with her hotel.

He offered to help her with both.

Wan then returned to her hotel to collect her belongings before meeting him again at around 7:30pm.

The man subsequently brought her to what appeared to be a mobile phone shop, which he claimed belonged to a friend.

According to Wan, the shop offered an exchange rate of S$1 to 5.5 yuan, and she exchanged 44,000 yuan for S$8,000.

The man then told her that he would take her to Boat Quay before bringing her to the Marina Bay Sands hotel.

Wan said he told her the destinations were nearby, but they ended up walking for a long time.

She eventually suggested taking a ride there instead, but the man allegedly told her he knew a shortcut and that they would reach their destination within 10 minutes.

It was then that she began to suspect that something was amiss, Wan said.

Man allegedly snatched her handbag and ran

Wan told Shin Min the man had deliberately led her on a detour, and that she ended up walking for more than an hour and was exhausted.

When they reached Circular Road, Wan said she told the man she did not want to walk any further.

He then suggested that they go to a nearby bar, but she firmly refused.

Wan said the man realised she had become suspicious and suddenly snatched her Gucci handbag before running away.

She then gave chase while shouting for help.

According to Wan, the handbag was worth more than S$5,000 and contained S$8,000 in cash that she had exchanged earlier.

She added that she had bought the bag about three to four months ago.

The man allegedly ran into a back alley, with Wan chasing him for about two blocks.

A male passer-by later heard her cries for help and intervened, she said.

Another man who witnessed the incident also joined the chase and the two men eventually caught up with the suspect.

She said some members of the public helped to keep an eye on the man while others called the police.

In response to Mothership's queries, police said they received a call for assistance at 1 Circular Road at around 9:05pm that Sunday.

They subsequently arrested a 45-year-old man for theft.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Man allegedly claimed he was her friend

Wan told Shin Min that after the man was apprehended, he allegedly told police that he was her friend and that the handbag-snatching was merely a prank.

Wan pointed out how absurd that was considering how far she had chased him, and how exhausted she was.

Wan added that she had travelled overseas alone on previous occasions without encountering such incidents, and had therefore let her guard down this time round.

She added that she later contacted the witnesses who had helped her and invited them for a meal and coffee at a shopping mall near her hotel.

A food delivery rider from China went the extra mile to satisfy his customer's cravings when he travelled to Singapore to pick up a curry puff order from Hong Lim Curry Puff.

This took place at about 4:30pm on Aug. 31, at the fourth floor food court of PLQ Mall, Xiaohongshu user "Chloe番茄力" told Mothership.

Meituan rider

At the time, Chloe was dining at the food court with her mother and eight-month-old baby when they saw a delivery rider in a yellow uniform at the curry puff stall.

Seeing that the rider and a staff were interacting for quite some time, she thought they were experiencing a language barrier and wanted to offer help.

Upon taking a closer look, she noticed that the rider was wearing a uniform from Chinese technology company Meituan, which operates platform services including food delivery in mainland China.

"I wondered when Meituan had expanded to Singapore," Chloe said.

Though she was breast-feeding her baby at the time, she immediately put the baby down and started recording the scene with her phone.

Plane ticket more expensive than food

Speaking to the rider, she learned that his customer was from China and had ordered six pieces of curry puffs in both curry potato and sardine flavours.

The rider also revealed that his plane ticket cost about 2,400 yuan (S$455) and the food he collected cost S$13.50, though he declined to share how much he would receive in tips.

A 25-year-old British national, Arudchelvan Karnan, was sentenced to jail on Sep. 2 after he caused a ruckus while drunk at Changi Airport Terminal 1.

Shouting loudly at boarding gate

Karnan was previously arrested on Jul. 20, 2026, after shouting loudly and causing a nuisance to other passengers while at a boarding gate for a Scoot flight bound for Kuala Lumpur.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, he became intoxicated after drinking an entire 700ml bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey earlier in the morning.

Scoot staff at the boarding gate were approached multiple times by separate individuals informing them of Karnan's behaviour.

When two staff approached him one after the other, Karnan hurled vulgarities at them.

He was subsequently barred from boarding the flight.

Escalation

Despite this, Karnan did not stop his behaviour and attempted to enter the aerobridge.

After all the passengers had passed the boarding counter, one staff member placed a connecting strip across two bollards at the counter and stood behind them to block his path.

However, Karnan ducked under the strip and pushed the staff away, causing her to fall.

As Karnan headed to the aerobridge, the staff member shouted at the nearby security guard for help, who pressed the anti-hijack button.

This caused the gate's anti-hijack door to close, preventing Karnan from boarding the plane.

The police arrived soon after. While being escorted away, Karnan launched an expletive-filled rant towards an officer:

"...Take me to England right now. I want England. Take me to England. F*ck Malaysia brother, f*ck Singapore brother. Take me to England right now. I want England. Give me England. Take me to England right now..."

One other passenger was trapped in the aerobridge after the anti-hijack door was closed, and in total, the flight was delayed by 53 minutes due to Karnan's actions.

A blood test revealed that Karnan had 62mg/100ml of ethanol in his body at the time.

The legal drink-driving limit in Singapore is 30mg/100ml.

Punishment

Karnan was subsequently brought to court on Aug. 12.

The deputy public prosecutor proposed a jail term of 10 to 12 weeks, raising that Karnan was voluntarily intoxicated and his actions presented a security risk, reported  The Straits Times.

Karnan was charged with one count each of harassment, public drunkenness and unlawfully entering a protected place.

He pleaded guilty to all charges.

He was sentenced to eight weeks’ jail and a fine of S$2,800.

Eight people have been arrested in Taiwan on suspicion of assaulting a 26-year-old man, who was then dumped in the bushes.

The case happened in Dalin Township, Chiayi County, and the man, Wang, survived after being taken to hospital, according to ETtoday.

What police say happened

Wang had gone to Chiayi in search of odd jobs.

Police say he had been borrowing money from various people and had run into financial trouble.

One of the people he had borrowed from was a 25-year-old man surnamed Lin. On top of that, he had asked Lin's girlfriend to sleep with him, which angered the pair.

The eight then allegedly held him at a rented property, where he was assaulted.

Police say they allegedly doused him in alcohol and set him on fire. They then heated a branding iron on a portable gas stove.

It was pressed into his abdomen and genitals over and over, leaving him with severe burns across his body.

They allegedly thought he had died from his injuries and proceeded to dump him in a bush.

However, the police were alerted and rushed him to the hospital.

8 arrested across 3 counties

The police task force spent several days tracking the suspects down.

Three of them were arrested on Aug. 27 in Dalin and Minxiong: a 25-year-old man, a 33-year-old woman, and a 32-year-old man.

Officers also seized items believed to have been used in the attack.

Two of them were arrested on Aug. 28 in Dalin, a 33-year-old and a 37-year-old man.

Two air rifles were also recovered.

The final three were arrested on Aug. 31: a 30-year-old woman, a 24-year-old man, and a 17-year-old boy.

4 held on suspicion of attempted murder

Four of them are suspected of unlawful detention, aggravated assault and attempted murder.

Prosecutors asked for them to be held without visitation, arguing they might flee.

The court agreed.

Investigations are ongoing.