Chinese film "Dear You", which landed in Singapore's cinemas on Jun. 18, will see eight additional local screenings in its original Teochew dialect.

It will be screened from Jun. 25 to Jun. 29 at GVmax, Golden Village VivoCity, said the cinema operator.

A spokesperson from Clover Films, the movie's Singapore distributor, cited "overwhelming audience response" for the decision.

It also thanked the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) for allowing the additional Teochew screenings.

Ticket sales will commence from 3pm on Jun. 22 via all Golden Village box office counters and online sales channels.

Overwhelming demand

Previously, Golden Village and Clover Films announced on Facebook that there would be limited screenings of the film in the original Teochew version at VivoCity from Jun. 18 to 21.

4,800 Teochew-version tickets were released on Jun. 16, and reportedly sold out within two hours, according to The Straits Times.

While mainly filmed in the Teochew dialect, the film is dubbed in Mandarin for its general release in Singapore.

IMDA explained that full-dialect films can be screened at festivals or niche events, to provide access to those who wish to view the film in its original language.

"This continues to support the bilingual policy which aims to promote Mandarin as the main language amongst Chinese Singaporeans," IMDA told Mothership.

Films that feature dialect content are allowed only on a case-by-case basis, ST reported.

Dialect heritage

The move to dub local screenings of the film has since sparked conversation online about Singapore's dialect heritage.

In a Facebook post, Workers' Party's Hougang MP Dennis Tan called for the preservation of the nation's dialect heritage, citing dialects like Teochew and Hokkien as the language of communication among many of his residents at Hougang.

"I have come to believe that our dialect group heritage is as much a part of our Singaporean Chinese cultural heritage as any of the customs we more readily celebrate."

Meanwhile, PAP's Bishan-Toa Payoh MP Cai Yinzhou wrote in a Facebook post that in the light of many residents' disappointment about the dubbing choice, he had filed parliamentary questions to the Ministry of Digital Development and Information to clarify the decision.

"I ask this as language carries culture. Dialects and language nuances are part of how stories are told and remembered," he said.

The film

The movie, which features primarily Teochew dialogue, is director Lan Hong Chun's third such feature film.

It follows the story of Xiaowei, who travels to Thailand to find his "billionaire grandfather," who has been out of contact due to debt problems.

Lan and his team interviewed more than 120 seniors in the Chaoshan region who migrated to Southeast Asia to ensure the movie was historically accurate, ST reported.

As of Jun. 17, it has grossed 1.6 billion yuan (S$303.5 million) in China despite its modest budget of 14 million yuan (S$2.66 million) and largely unknown cast.

Two men, aged 32 and 40, have been arrested for the theft of a diamond valued at more than S$235,000.

Replaced the real diamond with a fake one at the jewellery store

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) said they received a call from a jewellery store along Kreta Ayer Road at 3:40pm on Jun. 19.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the two men had shown interest in purchasing the diamond. While they were examining the diamond, they replaced it with a fake one.

The pair subsequently left the shop without making any purchases, which aroused the suspicion of the shop assistant.

Upon conducting a check, he discovered that the genuine diamond had been replaced with a fake.

Through follow-up investigations, ground enquiries, and with the aid of images from CCTV and police cameras, officers from the Central Police Division and Police Operations Command Centre established the identities of the two men.

Both of them were arrested at Changi Airport Terminal 3 within three hours of the report.

The stolen diamond was recovered and seized as a case exhibit.

The two men are scheduled to be charged on Jun. 20 with theft in dwelling with common intention under Section 380 read with Section 34 of the Penal Code 1871.

If convicted, they face an imprisonment term of up to seven years and a fine.

A 48-year-old Singaporean woman who had debts exceeding S$220,000 was sentenced to one week's jail after she secretly withdrew her insurance policy and cashed out before filing for bankruptcy.

Shin Min Daily News reported that Ang Ai Peng then spent the money on her personal expenses.

She only had about S$7 in her bank account by the time she officially declared bankruptcy and had not repaid any of her creditors at the time.

Charges, lawsuit

Charge sheets seen by Mothership stated that Ang faced three charges of violating the Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act.

She pleaded guilty to one charge, with the other two taken into consideration during sentencing.

Prior to this, three creditors had previously filed lawsuits against Ang, Shin Min reported.

It added that the State Courts ruled on Jun. 23, 2020, that Ang was to repay a total debt of almost S$226,000, plus interest at an annual rate of 5.33 per cent, as well as court costs of S$1,800.

Cashed out insurance policy

However, Ang had already processed her insurance policy, which she cashed out on May 26, 2020.

This allowed her to receive a check of around S$2,531, according to Shin Min.

Despite knowing she was heavily in debt, Ang cashed out money multiple times in June 2020 during the trial, Shin Min reported.

Instead of using the money to repay her debts, she used it for personal expenses.

Declared bankruptcy

Ang also failed to declare the insurance refund in the statement of assets when she filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 11, 2020.

Shin Min reported that she had not repaid any money by Sep. 10, 2020, when the court declared her bankrupt.

It added that by Oct. 12, 2020, she only had S$7 left in her bank account, and to date, has reportedly not made any repayment from the bankruptcy assets.

In pleading for leniency, Ang, who was walking with a limp, said her father had just passed away in January 2026, and only her mother was left at home, Shin Min reported.

A total of 76 people were arrested by the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) for suspected drug offences in an island-wide anti-drug operation from Jun. 15 to 19.

The youngest was a 15-year-old student, arrested for suspected drug abuse, CNB said in a press release.

Through the operation, CNB seized 97g of cannabis, 49g of "Ice", 7g of heroin, and a small amount of "Ecstasy", estimated to be worth more than S$7,000 combined.

The operation covered various areas around the country, including Chai Chee, Boon Lay, Bras Basah, Geylang, Orchard, Serangoon, Telok Blangah, and Woodlands.

Arrests

Some of the arrests were linked in follow-up investigations.

On Jun. 17, CNB officers raided a residential unit near Bedok North, resulting in the arrest of a 57-year-old Singaporean man for suspected drug-related offences.

Drug paraphernalia were also seized from the unit.

CNB conducted follow-up investigations that same day and arrested two more Singaporean men, aged 36 and 70, for suspected drug abuse.

A total of about 3g of "Ice" and a small amount of "Ecstasy" were seized from them.

Nightspot raids

Working together with the police and the Health Sciences Authority, the CNB led an enforcement operation at five nightlife establishments from Jun. 18 to 19.

The authorities checked close to 130 persons at these places, and did saliva tests on 61 of them on suspicion of drug consumption.

A 26-year-old female foreign national was arrested for suspected drug abuse.

CNB said investigations into the drug activities of all arrested suspects are ongoing.

A total of 22 people, aged between 21 and 53, were conveyed to the hospital after a traffic accident involving a mini-bus, a lorry, and a prime mover.

The incident occurred along Tuas South Avenue 3 towards Tuas South Boulevard on the morning of Jun. 18.

A TikTok showed multiple vehicles in the aftermath of a chain collision.

@samsamssld #trafficaccident #2026 ♬ sonido original - ♤MaxGame♤

The front bumper of a white mini-bus appeared damaged.

Its windows were shattered, and remnants of its windscreen ended up on the bed of a blue lorry.

The blue lorry collided with a white prime mover.

Emergency vehicles and personnel were present.

In response to Mothership’s queries, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said they were alerted to the incident at about 6:50am.

A total of 22 persons were conveyed conscious to the hospital.

Of the 22, 19 were from the lorry, and three were from the prime mover.

A 41-year-old male mini-bus driver is assisting with investigations.

Police investigations are ongoing.

A 23-year-old American exchange student turned to the dark web to get access to Telegram accounts of two girls he had befriended online.

Kevin Gao, also stalked one of them and a third girl, who were both 17 at the time.

He had gotten to know all three girls online, through Discord and Roblox.

Gao had hired Russian hackers to hack into Telegram accounts of the first two victims and tried to call his third victim at least 1,000 times.

He was eventually sentenced to 20 weeks in jail on Jun. 19, 2026.

Two girls stopped befriending him

Court documents seen by Mothership said that Gao first befriended the first two victims on Discord in 2020.

One of the girls started distancing herself from Gao in 2022, while the other remained his friend.

He met the latter on visits to Singapore several times between 2020 and 2024.

In August 2024, Gao arrived in Singapore to complete a university exchange programme with the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

In that month, the girl stopped responding to the accused as she did not want to be friends with him anymore.

He then decided to visit her residential area multiple times between Aug. 1 and Aug. 12 to confront her on why she had cut off contact with him.

According to CNA, her last message to him on Aug. 12, read: “Hello. We cannot be friends anymore. You have caused me a lot of mental distress over the years. Please move on with your life, do stop contacting me or my mom.”

The girl lodged a police report, and he was given a stern warning for unlawful stalking on Sep. 9, 2024.

Telegram hacking

Angered by the end of their friendships, Gao sought out hacking services to access the Telegram accounts of both victims as he wanted to find out why they had cut him off.

He then chanced upon a Russian hacker who goes by the moniker “Wracker”, advertising his hacking services for US$1,500 in Bitcoin.

Gao asked for help gaining live access to the two girls’ Telegram accounts and was quoted a total fee of US$3,000.

He agreed to pay for the services and eventually managed to get a hold of one of the girl's accounts.

This was after she clicked on a link sent to her from a Telegram account named “Security”, which told her to follow the authentication process in the link to prevent “identity leaks”.

The other girl had also followed the steps but found it suspicious after receiving a pop-up message from the app informing her that an unknown device had been linked to her account.

She then used Telegram’s function to “terminate all other sessions” except for her mobile phone.

When Gao realised he could only access one of the girls' accounts, he negotiated with "Wracker" to get a full archive of the second girl’s chatlogs and media attachments for a discounted price of US$2,500 in Bitcoin.

Between Sep. 24, 2024 and Sep. 26, 2024, Gao gained access to the second girl’s Telegram account.

There, he read messages between the two girls and found that the first girl had forwarded their personal messages to the second girl and other mutual friends.

The angered Gao then asked "Wracker" to create a Telegram channel and upload the messages between the two girls there.

On Oct. 7, 2024, the first girl was sent a link to the public channel with a message warning that others would find the channel if they searched the second girl’s Telegram handle.

The second girl eventually made a police report.

The police conducted a surprise visit at Gao's residence on Oct. 10, 2024, and seized his mobile phone and two laptops.

He was arrested on Feb. 4, 2025 and was released on bail on Feb. 8.

Stalked a third girl

While on bail for the above offences, Gao stalked his third victim in July 2025.

She was also a mutual friend of the first girl and got to know Gao through Roblox in March 2021.

They remained friends from March 2021 to August 2024, when Gao came to Singapore for his university exchange programme, but had agreed not to share photographs of themselves for privacy reasons.

They had also not met each other in person before.

However, she had told him which polytechnic she studied at, and her PayPal address and email, as she had bought items from him in 2021.

He also found out her address after an online seller they had both purchased items from accidentally revealed this to him.

Between May 2025 and September 2025, Gao admitted that he physically stalked her on at least eight occasions.

On one occasion on Jul. 8, 2025,  8 July 2025, he followed her from Buona Vista MRT to a classroom in one of the blocks in school.

At this point, she suspected that Gao may be the person stalking her and confronted him via text.

Gao admitted that he had been stalking her as he wanted to see her, and asked for her forgiveness and sent her $100 via Paypal.

In response, the girl sent the money back to him and told him that she was “scared for her life”.

She then blocked him on the Telegram and Discord accounts they had previously used to contact each other.

Between Jul. 14, 2025, and Jul. 29, 2025, Gao called her 1074 times using 23 different phone numbers.

According to court documents, the victim felt anxious, distressed, fear, panic and emotional exhaustion as a result of the stalking.

She felt reluctant and uncomfortable going to school as she felt unsafe and was unable to pay attention in class.

On one occasion, she suffered a panic attack and multiple emotional breakdowns.

She also had to move to another place of residence and register a new phone number and email.

Major depressive disorder

The prosecutor sought seven to nine months’ jail for Gao, emphasising his “egregious and escalating” conduct, CNA reported.

Meanwhile, his lawyers asked for a two-month jail sentence, citing the Institute of Mental Health report that found Gao has major depressive disorder with anxious distress.

The IMH doctor found that his condition may have contributed to his crimes, his lawyer reportedly said, as his feelings of worthlessness and heightened anxiety significantly compromised his judgment and reasoning capacity, resulting in poor decision-making.

Gao had also engaged in self-harm, cutting himself with glass in August 2024 and attempting suicide while in remand in January 2025, the lawyer added.

The lawyer also noted that Gao was a young university student isolated in a foreign country, and that the age gap between him and his victims was "not that significant", calling for the judge to place more importance on rehabilitation than deterrence, CNA reported.

The prosecutor pointed out that the IMH report also notes that Gao was "not completely deprived of his ability to control his actions, and he could understand that his actions were wrong".

The judge ultimately agreed with the prosecution that Gao must still be "held responsible for the harm caused to the three young victims" and sentenced him to 20 weeks in jail.

A total of 16 McDonald’s outlets in Singapore will be screening the FIFA World Cup live.

These are the participating branches:

• Ang Mo Kio
• Ang Mo Kio 4
• Ang Mo Kio Park
• Bedok Reservoir
• Fajar
• Geylang East Central
• Hougang
• Jurong East 24
• Kallang
• Punggol Safra
• Sengkang Sports Complex
• SengKang Rivervale
• Serangoon Avenue 3
• Tampines Neighborhood 3
• Woodlands Mart
• Yishun Safra

In a Jun. 19 Instagram post, the fast-food chain stated that match screenings vary by location.

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by McDonald's Singapore (@mcdsg)

Patrons are advised to drop by their selected branch to check the match schedules.

Initially said matches won't be screened

This announcement comes two weeks after McDonald’s initially stated it would not be screening the World Cup at its restaurants.

Hoping to enjoy affordable durians, an elderly woman and her friend rushed down to Sheng Siong's outlet at Block 118 Aljunied Avenue 2 during the first day of the supermarket's durian festival promotion on Jun. 17.

The promotion offered durians at S$1 or S$2.

Together, they spent about S$30 on a total of 15 durians.

However, after opening up the durians at home, the woman discovered that the fruits had gone bad, observing them to be foul-smelling and watery.

Bought 15 durians for S$30

Speaking to Mothership, the woman, K, shared that she chanced upon the promotion while on Facebook.

She had bought durians from another of Sheng Siong's outlets in the past and said they were "mostly of edible quality".

On Jun. 17, she and her friend made a rush down to the Block 118 Aljunied Avenue 2 outlet on the first day of the durian promotion.

There, they managed to get their hands on about 15 durians for about S$30.

"Probably around 50 to 80 durians were put on sale at S$2," K recalled.

According to K, the promotion ended within five minutes that day.

It is stated on Sheng Siong's promotional poster that the sale would run at the Aljunied outlet from Jun. 17 to 21, from 5pm daily while stocks last.

'Cannot make it'

When K got home, she invited her neighbours over to enjoy the durians.

Unfortunately, when they cut them open, they smelt a foul odour.

The fruits were also "super watery" and appeared rotten, she said.

The same was observed for all the durians she had taken home with her.

K explained that they were not expecting the durians to be of superior quality.

However, she expressed her disappointment at the supermarket and described the state of the durians as "cannot make it".

"Like mashed durian puree with foul smell, which is not even edible at all."

She has reached out to Sheng Siong via email.

She also said she is unaware if other customers had similar experiences.

Will work with supplier to monitor quality: Sheng Siong

Responding to Mothership's queries, a Sheng Siong spokesperson said they have reached out to the customer to provide assistance.

"While we have not received similar feedback from other customers regarding the quality of the durians sold during our S$1 and S$2 durian promotion, we will continue to work closely with our supplier to monitor the quality of the durians," the spokesperson added.

A man in China's Zhejiang province spent about 200,000 yuan (around S$38,000) renovating and decorating his new house, only to discover that he had renovated his neighbour's house instead.

He only discovered the error before moving in, Sin Chew Daily reported.

By then, he had already spent over half a year decorating the house.

Wrong house number

According to ETtoday, the mix-up came about because during the handover of apartments, the developer had reportedly affixed the man's doorplate on his neighbour's door.

The doorplate of apartment 104, which belonged to the man, was fixed on the door of apartment 103, which belonged to his neighbour.

However, due to both units having similar layouts, the man supposedly did not carefully check the number, floor plan, and orientation when he took possession of it.

Assuming from the doorplate that the unit belonged to him, the man then selected building materials, supervised construction and completed renovation of the unit, which belonged to his neighbour.

Neighbour finds house renovated

The mistake was only brought to light over six months later when he was about to move in, according to m.163.com.

His neighbour, the rightful owner of apartment 103, had visited the unit as he was ready to inspect it, ETtoday reported.

Shocked to discover it had been renovated by someone else, both parties later realised the doorplates had been affixed to the wrong units.

Angered at the situation, the owner of apartment 104 demanded compensation, but the parties involved were unable to agree on the responsibility and amount of compensation.

All at fault except 103's owner: Judge

Following this, apartment 104's owner sued the developer, where he added the property management company as a co-defendant and apartment 103's owner as a third party.

To that, the judge ruled that the developer, who failed to verify the property information during handover, was to bear the initial responsibility.

In addition, the property management company was also found to be negligent for failing to discover abnormalities during the handover and subsequent inspections, according to ETtoday.

The judge noted, however, that the man was also partially responsible as he failed to fulfil his obligation as a buyer to verify the apartment's information when he took possession of it.

His neighbour, the owner of apartment 103, was found not to be at fault due to being unaware of the situation.

ETtoday reported that he had the right to restore the property to its original condition.

Compensation agreement

The court then invited a mediator and renovation company to conduct an assessment, which determined that a forced demolition would be wasteful.

This is because the renovation materials and workmanship were found to be of good quality and had increased the property's value.

According to ETtoday, the final settlement stated that the developer would compensate the man with a parking space and two years of property management fees would be waived by the property management company.

In addition, the owner of unit 103, who would retain the apartment's structural components, would pay 50,000 yuan (around S$7,600) as renovation compensation.

The owner of apartment 104 could remove his movable appliances and furniture and reclaim his unit.

CNA's Steven Chia, the host of "Talking Point", recently shared that his likeness had been used as part of a scam on Facebook by an alleged automated trading system.

The scam took the form of a fabricated CNA article stating that DBS CEO Tan Su Shan had stormed out of an interview with Chia.

It even showed the latter sustaining a bloody nose after the kerfuffle.

Chia took to social media to warn his followers of the scam, urging everyone to "check especially before you give money away".

DBS has also taken steps to report the content for removal.

Impersonation scams using AI-generated photos or videos are becoming increasingly sophisticated, the bank said, and urged members of the public to remain vigilant.

False scandal

"A fake story is then created with some drama and excitement (check out my bloody nose!) about how banks are 'robbing us'", Chia wrote.

Screenshots Chia shared showed that the scam first appears as a post by The Straits Times, with the rather clickbait headline of "Steven Chia revealed the truth, yesterday's statement shocked all of Singapore".

This was accompanied by an image of Tan supposedly hitting Chia in the face in a studio, with Chia covering his bloody nose.

However, those who click into the post will be directed to a fake CNA article instead, where Chia allegedly accuses local banks of "hiding money that allows ordinary people to become wealthy".

The article then includes a transcript of a fake episode of "Money Mind", which is described as "one of the most dramatic live broadcasts in history".

In it, the supposed Chia claims to use an AI-based automated trading system that "takes advantage of market fluctuations" and "eliminates human errors", and which purportedly allows users to earn S$6,000 a month.

The fake article then unexpectedly transitions into a first-person recount of how the alleged trading system works.

It even included fake testimonials of alleged successful users of the system.

This is, of course, all absolute nonsense, which Chia himself debunks in his post.

Inconsistencies

Chia noted in his post that "because it all looks so real, it can be hard to tell that it’s actually been fabricated".

However, he pointed out some incongruities, such as the glaring detail that an ST post leads users to a CNA article.

Chia also noted that he and Tan wear different clothes in the thumbnail versus within the article.

"And a less obvious sign…in some photos I’m wearing a watch. Here’s some trivia about me – I don’t wear a watch, I never have! Because I’m timeless…"

In response to Mothership's queries, CNA stated that it is aware of the fake article and has since had the article removed.

Chia consequently highlighted that "no one should ever tell you they have a guaranteed way to make money because there is no such thing!"

He added that his followers are free to drop him a message if they are unsure about any content he appears in.

In response to Mothership's queries, DBS shared that it is aware that earlier this week, scammers used AI to create a fake news story impersonating its CEO.

The bank took immediate steps to report the content for removal.

Impersonation scams, including those leveraging AI-generated images, videos and voices, are becoming increasingly sophisticated, DBS stated,

Scammers often exploit the likeness of public figures, organisations and trusted institutions to create a false sense of credibility, in hopes of deceiving victims into disclosing personal information or transferring money.

Remain vigilant, report suspicious content

DBS works closely with technology platforms and the authorities to report fraudulent content and disrupt scam activities as quickly as possible.

The bank urges members of the public to report any suspicious content impersonating DBS or our employees so that appropriate action can be taken promptly.

Members of the public should remain vigilant and be cautious of requests for personal or financial information, or investment opportunities, especially those received via social media, messaging platforms or unsolicited communications.

"If in doubt, do not act on the request. Instead, verify the information through official channels before taking any action," the bank states.

Scam advisories and educational content are regularly shared on DBS' website, social media channels and community workshops to raise awareness of emerging scam typologies and equip the public with practical ways to protect themselves.

The bank also works closely with the Singapore Police Force (SPF), the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA) to scale anti-scam public education efforts nationwide and build safer digital habits.

For the latest scam alerts and prevention tips, visit the DBS Scam Defence Hub.

Here's their Facebook post warning against such scams as well.