Seven drivers were caught and had their vehicles impounded in Singapore during recent enforcement operations against illegal cross-border ride-hailing services.

In a Facebook post on Jun. 22, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said it continues to act on regular tip-offs from the National Private Hire Vehicles Association and National Taxi Association to support continued enforcement efforts.

Since July 2025, LTA has checked over 5,000 vehicles as part of ongoing efforts to safeguard commuter safety and the livelihoods of licensed drivers.

Drivers caught providing illegal ride-hailing services are liable to fines up to S$3,000, six months’ jail, or both, with possible vehicle forfeiture.

LTA also reminded members of the public to book licensed cross-border ride-hailing services via Grab or have a Singapore-registered cross-border taxi pick them up anywhere in Singapore, for drop-off anywhere in Johor Bahru, Iskandar Puteri, Forest City, Kulai and Senai.

According to a study commissioned by the Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc), workplace culture is the main reason lawyers leave a firm, while poor mental health is what ultimately pushes them out of the legal profession altogether.

The study, titled the Legal Profession Sustainability Study, was released on Jun. 23, and was conducted by research firm Anthro Insights on behalf of LawSoc.

It drew on responses from 855 practising and former lawyers over four years, along with 31 in-depth interviews with members of the legal community, including former judges and senior practitioners.

The study was commissioned following a warning from late former LawSoc president Adrian Tan in 2022, who said young lawyers were facing a "perfect storm" as record numbers left the profession while fewer entered it.

Poor culture wears down mental health

The study found that nearly 36 per cent of respondents experienced anxiety at moderate or severe levels, while close to 20 per cent reported symptoms consistent with moderately severe and severe depression.

It found that poor workplace culture erodes lawyers' mental health over time, to the point where leaving the profession altogether can start to feel like the only viable option.

Conversely, the study suggested that improving workplace culture could ease the pressures pushing lawyers out of individual firms, while protecting their mental health.

It also identified multiple, interlocking factors driving attrition: court timelines that set deadlines, client expectations that drive intensity, billing models that shape boundaries, senior practitioners who set workplace norms, and law schools that shape new lawyers' expectations of the profession.

It outlines five strategic recommendations, stating that there is no one-size-fits-all solution and that the right approach depends on a firm's specific issues.

It recommended that firms first prioritise making workplaces psychologically safe and address harmful supervisory behaviour, before strengthening firm-level support systems and pursuing broader profession-wide reforms in parallel.

Speaking at the Mass Call Ceremony back in April 2026, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said a third of lawyers may quit within three years, citing heavy workloads and poor workplace culture.

Responding to a parliamentary question on May 6 regarding this issue, Minister for Law Edwin Tong said attrition rates have remained stable over the past 10 years, and that lawyers leave the profession for a range of reasons.

He added that LawSoc has introduced mentorship and other support schemes to connect young lawyers with experienced mentors, supporting career development, mental well-being, and professional growth.

Legal talent in Singapore is a "precious asset": MinLaw

In a statement on Jun. 23, the Ministry of Law (MinLaw) stated that the study's findings have to be taken seriously and considered carefully.

It described Singapore's legal talent as a "precious asset" that requires an open conversation about sustaining the balance between industry growth and individual lawyers' well-being.

"Our legal talent in Singapore is a precious asset. It is therefore important that we have an open and honest conversation about how we can sustain the balance between industry and individual professional growth, alongside the well-being and long-term sustainability of being engaged in legal practice."

Joint committee to be established

A Judiciary–Law Society Joint Working Committee will be formed to address feedback that falls within the courts' purview, a Judiciary spokesperson said in a statement on Tuesday.

The committee will be co-led by Judiciary chief executive Juthika Ramanathan and Supreme Court registrar Jill Tan, alongside LawSoc representatives including Lok Vi Ming SC and Young Lawyers Committee co-chairs Darryl Chew and Charmaine Yap, among others.

It will focus on two areas:

First, it will examine feedback on court-imposed pressures and courtroom conduct to better understand current practice conditions, including the experiences of junior lawyers and those with caregiving responsibilities.

Second, it will use these findings to co-develop initiatives that support practitioner well-being while maintaining the effective administration of justice.

The committee will also review whether existing feedback channels between the Bench and the Bar are functioning as intended and sufficiently well-known among practitioners.

It will also consider how these channels can be strengthened.

Separately, the Singapore Judicial College will review and strengthen its curriculum in response to the study's findings, with particular attention to courtroom communication and case management.

Former vendors and team members from popular Singapore art and thrift market Mercury Festival have come forward with allegations of misconduct by the event organisers.

Among the claims were allegations of AI use, underpaid staff, unfair firing of staff members, and targeting smaller events to poach customers and vendors.

In response to Mothership's queries, the directors of Mercury Festival denied the allegations.

They added that they have apologised for "misunderstandings" with other events.

"Exposing Mercury Fest"

The first of the allegations was posted online by a TikTok account, @exposing.mercuryfest, on Jun. 13.

The person claimed to be an anonymous former vendor at the event.

They alleged that the festival organisers had done the following:

• Underpaid and overworked staff
• Mass-fired staff members for "stating their concerns"
• Engaged in a spat with another local event, Konbini
• Used AI for their publicity efforts

Speaking to Mothership, the ex-vendor said that she had participated in the festival since its very first event.

But during the most recent event, she began to hear rumours that some staff from the organising team had been fired.

From there, "things started to snowball", she said.

Allegations of underpaid staff

The ex-vendor alleged that staff members get a base pay of S$400 per event.

Mercury Festival is held twice a year, which means each payout translates to six months of work.

Mothership reached out to some ex-staff members, including those who were allegedly mass-fired, for clarity.

Speaking as a group, they said that they are not affiliated with the @exposing.mercuryfest TikTok account, and "do not wish to take [the event] down", but rather to clear their names.

They confirmed that they received a base pay of S$400 per six months' work.

Task-based commissions would raise this pay to S$500 to S$1,000, and select staff were also entitled to a free booth at Mercury Festival.

The Business Times reported that 3 core members split their S$20,000 earnings, after costs, between themselves.

Mercury Festival has since clarified that they gave staff members a “small honorarium based on an agreed-upon arrangement”.

They added that team members are able to work remotely and on their own time.

Spat with Konbini

Mothership also reached out to Konbini, one of the smaller events which the Mercury Fest organisers had allegedly targeted.

A spokesperson from the event confirmed that during last year's edition of the event, on Jun. 14, 2025, staff from Mercury Festival held "promotional activities" on Konbini premises, without permission.

They allegedly approached vendors asking why they had not joined Mercury Festival instead, causing them to feel "pressured", the spokesperson said.

One staff member also allegedly shouted, "See you at Mercury!" to visitors.

In a public statement posted on Jun. 19, the Mercury Festival directors, Kelly and Germaine, said that they had "personally reached out to organisers of other events" to apologise for any misunderstandings.

"For every event we attend as patrons, we go with the sole intent of shopping and supporting the community," the organisers said.

Alleged AI use

The directors also addressed the allegations of the mass firing of team members, and of AI use.

"We strictly do not use any AI in our marketing. All of our posters and graphics are drawn by hand via Procreate and Canva," they said.

In an apparent reference to the alleged firing, they added that past team members had used AI to generate captions, but that they had been told to stop.

"Unfortunately [the instructions] were ignored, and these team members had been let go from the team," Kelly and Germaine said.

Speaking to Mothership, the ex-staff declined to provide details on their firing, apart from acknowledging that it was "abrupt".

But they denied that it was due to their AI use.

One former team member, A, who'd worked on captions for the event publicity, said that the screenshot provided in the Mercury Festival statement had been "cropped and taken completely out of context".

"What happened was, it was my first time writing captions and I didn't know how to, so I asked, 'how do I write a caption?'

Then they told me 'just use ChatGPT'."

But when A did so, Kelly responded to "make it look less AI" — hence the exchange in the screenshot.

Another team member, C, said that the directors had never told them to stop using AI, but rather encouraged it.

"Using ChatGPT was the way all of us were taught. In fact, we even made use of one of the directors' ChatGPT Premium accounts," C said.

The ex-staff added that the Mercury Fest organisers had repeatedly used AI in their publicity efforts, including to model some of their merch designs.

A 45-year-old early intervention teacher at a kindergarten was sentenced to 18 months’ jail after using a pen to repeatedly jab a six-year-old boy with special needs.

She pleaded guilty to one charge under the Children and Young Persons Act and was sentenced on Jun. 22, Lianhe Zaobao reported.

A gag order was imposed to protect the victim’s identity.

Special needs

The accused was an early intervention teacher at a kindergarten with about 10 years’ experience in early childhood education.

The boy, who was diagnosed with autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and delayed language development, was a student in the kindergarten's early intervention programme designed for children with special needs.

The accused was the boy’s form teacher.

Pen

On Nov. 16, 2022, at about 3pm, the boy walked towards a table with stationery on it.

The accused grabbed a pen from the table and rushed towards the boy.

She then repeatedly jabbed his head with the pen.

The boy attempted to dodge her attacks and knelt on one knee.

He then fell backwards with his legs kicking.

The accused did not stop and continued to jab the boy repeatedly.

She only stopped after the boy started rubbing his head many times.

She then left him on the floor mat and went away.

Cover up

The accused attempted to cover up the incident.

On the day of the incident, she sent photos of the boy’s injuries to a group chat that included his parents.

She falsely claimed that the boy injured himself with a toy.

The accused also called the boy’s mother and repeated the same account.

However, the boy’s mother did not believe the accused’s claims and requested the kindergarten’s principal to investigate the incident.

The accused's actions were discovered after the classroom’s surveillance footage was reviewed.

The principal informed the boy’s mother, and a police report was lodged on the following day, on Nov. 17, 2022.

The accused was also dismissed from the kindergarten on the same day.

Injuries

The boy was taken to the hospital for an examination.

He suffered two abrasions on his scalp and another abrasion on his left brow ridge.

He was given nine days of medical leave.

Duties

The prosecution argued that the accused’s role as an early intervention teacher and the boy’s form teacher meant she had a duty to care for him.

However, she attacked the boy unprovoked and tried to cover up her actions.

The boy not only suffered head injuries, but also frequently cried for no reason after the incident, and his sleep and appetite were affected.

The prosecution further argued that the accused repeatedly delayed court proceedings and did not plead guilty at the earliest possible time.

The prosecution urged the judge to sentence her to 23 to 27 months’ imprisonment.

The accused's lawyer argued that the accused was a first-time offender with no prior complaints, citing her good track record before the incident.

A lighter sentence was sought, citing the accused's emotionally distressed state at the time of the incident as her father was ill.

A man molested and harassed a flight attendant on board a Singapore Airlines flight, including cornering her alone in the galley of the plane.

Akash Tiwari, pleaded guilty to one count each of molestation and harassment, and was sentenced to six months’ jail on Jun. 22.

The 35-year-old Indian national was also ordered to pay compensation of S$1,270.95.

Rowdy group of friends

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Akash was a passenger on the Singapore Airlines flight from Bangkok, Thailand, to Singapore with four friends on Feb. 9.

The group had been observed to be "rowdy and talking loudly", frantically waving and laughing whenever female crew walked past their aisle, the prosecutor said.

Before the flight took off from Bangkok, the victim approached Akash and his group to confirm their meals.

Akash then stretched out his arm to brush against the victim’s left upper thigh while she was speaking to his friend.

This shocked the victim, but Akash and his friends started laughing, the prosecutor said.

The victim told the chief flight stewardess on the flight, who assigned the victim to serve meals in an aisle away from Akash.

Molested victim

After meals were served, the victim was on tray collection duty and pushing the meal cart towards the front of the aircraft.

She was on the side of Akash’s aisle, pushing the meal cart forward with her back facing him.

He then suddenly leaned out of his aisle and swerved his body towards the victim, nudging his left elbow onto the victim’s buttock area.

The shocked victim told Akash not to touch her, but instead of apologising, he smirked.

The victim was even more distressed and repeated to him not to touch her, the prosecutor said.

Akash’s friend, one Jay Shankar, burst out laughing and told the victim he would like to have a beer and watch the “show”.

The victim and the chief flight stewardess later confronted Akash, but he remained unapologetic and insisted he did not do anything wrong.

Cornered her alone

At around that time, the captain announced that the plane was preparing for landing and the victim left for the galley.

Meanwhile, the chief flight stewardess went to see her supervisor and the flight captain to report the molest.

To the victim’s alarm, Akash followed her into the galley, where there was no one else and stood extremely close to her.

The victim was distressed and told him to stay away from her, but Akash persisted, moving even closer and cornering her.

She shouted at him to stay away and to stop following her, but he continued to do so, despite her repeatedly telling him to stay away.

Passengers in the aisle saw what happened, the prosecutor said.

Akash only went away after the victim went to the chief stewardess for help.

By this time, she was in tears and visibly frightened as both her hands were shaking.

The flight captain reported the matter to SIN Hub, an aviation and logistics hub at Changi Airport.

Akash was arrested after the plane landed in Singapore.

A Singaporean man who was arrested at a supermarket for molestation later exposed himself to a female officer at the police station.

On Jun. 22, M.S. Chandru Suryakanth was sentenced to 12 weeks’ jail after pleading guilty to one count of sexual exposure and one charge of outrage of modesty, reported The Straits Times.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the incident occurred at about 11:44pm on Apr. 7, 2026, at a supermarket in Sembawang.

Molested woman

The victim had paid for her groceries and was walking down an aisle to exit the supermarket when Chandru was walking along the same aisle but in a different direction.

When the victim walked past Chandru, he used his left hand to swipe against the victim's thigh, resulting in skin-on-skin contact.

The victim turned around and shouted at Chandru, who quickly apologised before walking away from the victim.

Distressed by Chandru's conduct, the victim called her husband, who arrived at the supermarket shortly after and confronted Chandru.

The police arrived soon after and arrested him.

Pulled his pants down to his knees

After his arrest, Chandru was escorted to the Woodlands Police Divisional Headquarters.

As per the police's standard operating procedure, he underwent a body search by two police officers at about 2:04am.

According to court documents, one of the officers, a 24-year-old woman, asked Chandru to remove the white drawstring from his track pants.

Instead of complying, Chandru pulled his pants to his knees, exposing his genitals to the police officer.

Court documents said that Chandru intended for the female police officer to see his genitals, to cause her distress.

The other officer asked Chandru to pull his pants back up to his waist level, and he complied.

Sentencing

The deputy public prosecutor (DPP) sought a sentence of at least nine weeks' imprisonment to three months and three weeks for Chandru.

The DPP noted that both sentences were to run consecutively as they were distinct offences which concern different legally protected interests.

An offender can face up to a year of jail, a fine or both for exposing his or her genitals to another person without consent.

For outrage of modesty, an offender can face a maximum of three years' jail, a fine, caning or receive any combination of such punishments.

A 43-year-old married man in Singapore said he borrowed around S$60,000 from banks and licensed moneylenders over six months to give to and spend on a masseuse he had developed feelings for.

She then left the country and he has been unable to recover his money.

Deng, a logistics worker, told Shin Min Daily News that he first met the 44-year-old masseuse, surnamed Li, at a massage parlour in Toa Payoh on Dec. 27, 2025.

He said: "I visited her several times, and she would always take the initiative to chat with me, get to know my situation, and come to me for help when things happened. Gradually, we started calling each other brother and sister."

The two then entered into a relationship at the end of February 2026.

"Suffocating under the debt"

In March, Deng noticed Li seemed increasingly distressed.

According to Shin Min, when pressed, she revealed she was in financial trouble.

He said: "She had apparently borrowed a large sum of money from relatives and friends to renovate her new house in China, and was burdened with a huge debt that was suffocating her."

She allegedly told him creditors were showing up at her home and even chasing her mother for repayment.

Deng then decided to lend her money.

He claimed he first sent S$5,017 via a local remittance company to Li's mother.

Li then asked him to withdraw cash and transfer it directly into her account.

"She would then transfer money to her mother in front of me, so I didn't suspect anything," he said.

He transferred money to her over five to six transactions, totalling at least S$40,000.

He also spent around S$20,000 on her, including boosting her sales targets and buying her a new iPhone.

Deng said that since his wife managed his salary, he had little cash on hand and had to turn to banks and licensed moneylenders to fund the loans.

"In just half a year I owed about S$60,000 in debt," he told Shin Min.

Broke up, can't get the money back

The couple later fell out, and Deng asked for the money back.

He asked for just S$20,000 back at first, not wanting to pressure her too much.

"She initially agreed, but later went back on her word," he said.

When he went to find her at her workplace, the massage parlour was empty.

According to Deng, Li had previously worked at a massage parlour at Lorong 4 Toa Payoh, but after Shin Min reported on illicit services there and the police raided it, she allegedly relocated to Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4.

"Now she seems to have left and returned to her home country," he said.

A colleague of Li's confirmed to Shin Min that she had left Singapore and could no longer be contacted.

Deng said he shared his story as a warning to others.

"This time I really spent a lot of money to learn a lesson," he said.

Troubled marriage

According to Deng, he and his wife are estranged.

He said he is married legally by name, as he and his wife have not spoken for a long time and sleep in separate rooms under the same roof.

He grew closer to the masseuse as a result, he admitted.

Deng added that he even went to China with Li previously.

He was there to help her break off her relationship with her boyfriend, who apparently treated her harshly, and to meet her parents.

He said: "She also told me that this was the first time she had brought her boyfriend home to meet her parents."

Spent money on booking her services

Deng said he spent S$600 to book her massage services for five hours on the eve of Chinese New Year this year.

This was after she vomited and had diarrhoea, and he wanted her to take the time instead to rest and recuperate.

He said: "It cost S$50 per hour, plus a tip of S$70 per hour."

"I later took her to a hotel, just so she could rest and not work so hard," he added.

A 36-year-old man was conveyed conscious to the hospital after his car overturned along Serangoon Central.

The incident, which involved three taxis and a car, occurred around midnight on Jun. 20 at the drop-off point outside the Nex shopping mall.

The accident, involving three taxis and a car, happened around midnight off the drop-off point outside Nex shopping mall.

According to photos circulating online, a white vehicle, a Citreon, could be seen resting on its roof.

Traffic police and an ambulance were also present at the scene.

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force said the male car driver was conveyed conscious to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

The man is assisting with ongoing police investigations.

Another person was also assessed to have minor injuries, but refused to be conveyed to the hospital.

A family was seen having a meal inside an IKEA showroom display on Jun. 21.

According to a Facebook post uploaded to the Complaint Singapore page, the photos were taken at around 11:20am at IKEA Tampines.

Facebook user, OrangeDragon3045, captioned the post saying: "Whole family eating at showflat. Yumyum, who cares if I disturb other shoppers?"

"I told the grandma this is not allowed in Singapore, she replied [he's] just a kid."

In response to queries from Mothership, an IKEA spokesperson said: "We encourage our customers to feel right at home in our IKEA room settings because they’re designed to inspire everyday life at home in Singapore."

However, IKEA noted that customers who wish to have a meal should do so at its restaurant facilities instead.

Hygiene and food safety considerations

In the pictures, an elderly woman and a child could be seen sitting on display chairs in the showroom.

An uncapped water bottle and an open styrofoam box containing food were placed on the table.

The child held cutlery and seemed to be digging into his meal.

The IKEA spokesperson said, "Eating in showroom settings comes with hygiene and food safety considerations and can interrupt the experience for other shoppers."

"To ensure a comfortable and enjoyable shopping experience for everyone, we invite hungry customers to enjoy their meals in our IKEA Swedish Restaurant, where plates, cutlery, and a more comfortable setting are ready for families of all sizes."

The IKEA spokesperson added: "Our co-workers are on hand to provide guidance and support to customers where needed."

Alan Greenspan, the U.S. Federal Reserve's former chairman, died aged 100 on Jun. 22, 2026.

He died from complications of Parkinson's Disease, according to BBC and NBC News.

He had earlier become a centenarian in March 2026.

Greenspan's wife, Andrea Mitchell, called her husband "a giant of a man" in a statement.

It added that he "helped shape the U.S. economy for decades under presidents of both parties, but was always honest in acknowledging his mistakes".

Safeguarding economy

As the chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987 to 2006, he had the responsibility of safeguarding the U.S. economy and "keeping the dollar sound" for almost two decades, BBC reported.

It is the U.S. central bank, created by the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 to establish a monetary system to respond effectively to stresses in the banking system, its website states.

His post was said to be the second most important after the presidency, according to BBC, adding that he oversaw the longest sustained period of U.S. economic growth in that generation.

Financial Times reported that according to the late John McCain, the former Republican senator from Arizona, Greenspan's role was so critical that if he died in office, he should be "propped up and kept in charge".

Previous roles

Prior to becoming chairman of the Federal Reserve, Greenspan worked as an economic consultant before becoming a board member of banking institution JP Morgan.

FT reported that after offering Richard Nixon economic advice and polling analysis during his presidential election campaign, Greenspan later became chairman of Gerald Ford's Council of Economic Advisers.

In the early 1980s, former U.S. president Ronald Reagan appointed Greenspan to chair a commission considering reforms to the public pensions system.

Reagan then promoted him to chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve in August 1987.

1987 stock market crash

Shortly after, Greenspan was faced with the October 1987 stock market crash.

According to BBC, though this saw more than 30 per cent wiped off share prices, his handling of the situation was described as "astute".

Noting that his facilitation of cheap credit helped keep banks afloat, BBC reported that Greenspan's approach was used whenever markets were in crisis.

Downturn in housing market

However, his policy of low interest rates was said to have fuelled a sharp rise in house prices and over-enthusiastic selling of mortgages by banks.

The New York Times reported that at one point, he was blamed by a group of critics for not heading off a housing bubble by pushing interest rates higher.

Despite that, Greenspan's contributions saw him receiving an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.

In 2005, former U.S. president George W. Bush handed him the highest civilian award in the U.S., the Presidential Medal of Freedom.