As Singapore navigates a more complex and contested world, its public service can do better to create a shared understanding, said Coordinating Minister for Public Services Chan Chun Sing.

Chan said this can be done by by convening different stakeholders, listening genuinely to understand different interests, and articulating trade-offs honestly.

This includes "finding new ways to shift from doing things for our people to doing things with our people", he said.

Chan was speaking on Sep. 18 at the Annual Public Service Leadership Ceremony at Marina Bay Sands, held to recognise the dedication, resilience, and leadership of public service officers.

Navigating more complex, contested world

Though Singapore has built strong institutions and a resilient economy, it remains a small, resource-constrained nation-state "deeply exposed to forces beyond its control", Chan said.

Chan added that competition is no longer confined to the military or diplomatic domains, but has spilled over into trade, technology and supply chains.

"For small states like Singapore, the room to manoeuvre will become tighter and we will face pressure to take sides," he said.

Chan pointed out that local challenges are also becoming more complex, such as the need for workforce transformation to navigate disruption by artificial intelligence (AI), while also leveraging the opportunities AI presents.

As such, he called on the public service, especially its leaders, to become entrepreneurs in three ways.

Entrepreneurs of strategic space

Firstly, the public service must become entrepreneurs of strategic space.

"We must continue to chart our own course," said Chan, adding that this involves a keen understanding of the world and Singapore's partners, and also requires forging new bilateral and multilateral partnerships.

In terms of the economic sector, he noted that Singapore has continually refreshed its network of Free Trade Agreements to keep pace with a changing global economy.

Chan also highlighted the importance of deepening external and international exposure across the public service, and encouraged officers to stay alert to overseas happenings, and pursue overseas opportunities such as through the civil service exchange programmes.

He pointed out that navigating a messier geopolitical landscape is also "an opportunity for us to create new possibilities and build new partnerships with like-minded partners".

For example, Singapore has upgraded its bilateral relationships with Australia and New Zealand to Comprehensive Strategic Partnerships, and also recently signed the world's first legally binding Supply Chain Resilience Pact with New Zealand.

By taking over the ASEAN chairmanship in 2027, Singapore will be able to bring partners together, strengthen ASEAN's relevance, and shape practical cooperation on regional issues.

Entrepreneurs of governance excellence

Secondly, Chan called on the public service to become entrepreneurs of governance excellence, to "create distinctive value for ourselves and others".

"We will not be a partner of choice simply because we say so. Others will only work with us if we continue to bring value to the relationship, and we are able to expand our portfolio of new capabilities and bring distinctive value to the table."

He pointed out that Singapore should address its national challenges in ways that develop solutions and capabilities that others find valuable.

This would encourage other countries and companies to work and learn with Singapore.

Chan gave the country's semiconductor ecosystem as an example, where Singapore has deliberately built capabilities across the semiconductor value chain.

"Today, we account for one in ten chips and one-fifth of global semiconductor equipment produced annually," he said, noting that the country has transformed into a key node in the global supply chain.

Singapore has also created new approaches to governance that benefits citizens, which other governments can learn from — for example, ServiceSG consolidates nearly 600 services from over 25 agencies through an integrated operating model.

"But the point is not a single successful initiative," Chan added.

"The point is whether we continually challenge ourselves to experiment, innovate, and reimagine what's possible."

"When we do this well, good governance is not just good public administration. It becomes a form of strategic relevance," he said.

Entrepreneurs of collective action

In that regard, Chan highlighted the importance of becoming entrepreneurs of collective action.

This means "finding new ways to shift from doing things for our people, to doing things with our people".

This means building common ground and painting a shared picture of success.

"Bringing people together seems straightforward, but to ensure that everyone walks out of the room with the same shared understanding of the bigger picture is a different challenge."

He explained that this will "require us to convene different stakeholders, listen genuinely to their different interests, and articulate trade-offs honestly to create a shared understanding".

Chan acknowledged that individuals had their preferred outcomes and strongly held personal convictions in the recent debates on Maju Forest and Gillman Barracks.

However, there is a need to "align on the bigger picture, the trade-offs and the range of considerations", which he listed as housing needs, land use, energy, transport, and even sewage planning.

In conclusion, Chan noted that one must be clear-eyed about what the public service can do.

"We do not need to possess every answer or capability ourselves," he said.

"We need to know what we must be good at and have a responsibility to decide, what others are better placed to do, and how to bring citizens, communities, businesses and Government towards a common outcome.

"And this is what I mean by being entrepreneurs of collective action."

A man is in critical condition after he was injured in a muay thai charity match in support of breast cancer.

The man, a muay thai student, was participating in the Sep. 12 match when he reportedly suffered an injury.

He was conveyed to hospital and has spent several days in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in critical condition.

Raise funds for breast cancer

A statement by the Singapore Muaythai Association (SMA) on Sep. 17 confirmed that an incident had occurred during the Amateur Muaythai Championship (AMC) 13 - Fight for Hope tournament.

The tournament was held to raise funds in support of the Breast Cancer Foundation in its work to promote early detection, provide support, and raise awareness of breast cancer.

Conveyed to hospital, review ongoing

In its statement, SMA said that after the incident, medical assistance was rendered by the on-site team, and the individual was conveyed to hospital.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force told Mothership that they received a call for assistance at 7:05pm on Sep. 12 and conveyed one person to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

SMA added that it has commenced a formal review of the incident and is working to establish the circumstances around it.

They did not provide details as to the nature of the injury or how it happened.

In response to Mothership's queries, the Singapore Police Force confirmed that they are looking into the matter.

Tributes

According to social media posts, the victim was a muay thai student who was representing Singapore muay thai gym, Inspire Fitness Asia.

In response to Mothership's queries, Inspire Fitness Asia declined to comment on the incident and requested privacy.

"He was so much more than a student to us. He was our brother, our family, and someone we loved deeply," a spokesperson said.

In response to Mothership's queries, Sport Singapore and The Kallang Group said they are aware of the incident.

"We are working closely with the Singapore Muaythai Association and relevant parties to support its review of the incident," a spokesperson said.

Mothership has reached out to SMA for more information.

On Sep. 17, En En was found lifeless by his feeder in the neighbourhood of Beo Crescent, where he had lived for eight years.

The community cat was described as a "handsome, quiet, gentle and affectionate" boy who had never harmed anyone.

Tortured in the past

The case was made public by one Charlotte Chang, who alerted the members of the Sayang Our Community Cats Facebook group.

In her post, Chang alleged that En En's demise was due to murder, as his body was discovered with his eyes open and blood oozing from the mouth.

Furthermore, Chang claimed, the same person who murdered the cat had previously strangled the feline and broken his legs.

En En's case is apparently also part of a wider pattern of cat deaths in the area: "This is NOT THE FIRST CASE in this area! Many cats have been killed here in the past! This is a pattern of cruelty!"

According to Chang, someone had previously filed a complaint to the authorities about cat feeding taking place at level 10 of the block En En was found.

However, Chang said this was untrue, as the feeders only feed the cats at the ground floor, pointing out that the cats know where to wait.

She added:

"We know who has been complaining! If you cannot tolerate a cat fight sound and you don’t like cats, then YOU should move out from HDB to buy a landed property or an isolated island to stay! HDB has all kinds of noise — humans fighting, baby crying, not only cats! You are just a COWARD who bullies voiceless and defenceless animals."

Witnesses, evidence needed

Chang is looking for witnesses, especially those who live around Block 42 in Beo Crescent.

Anyone who has seen the perpetrator hurting En En or any other cat is encouraged to come forward, and any form of evidence, including photos and videos from CCTVs and dashcams, will help in the pursuit of justice.

Chang also said that a police report has been made.

She added: "REST IN PEACE, our sweet En En. We are so sorry you had to suffer like this. You were so loved. We will fight for justice for you and for all the cats killed before you!"

A total of 27 teenagers, aged between 12 and 19, were stopped for checks in Bukit Panjang on Sep. 9, 2026, following public feedback that teenage cyclists were causing nuisance in the area at night.

Of those checked, 13 are being investigated for various offences.

A statement by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) on Sep. 18 said that police and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) officers conducted a joint enforcement operation against errant teenage cyclists in the vicinity of 17 Petir Road that night.

Investigations revealed that several of the teenage cyclists had also made nuisance calls to the police emergency line and used abusive words against police officers who responded to these calls.

The offences fall under the Protection from Harassment Act 2014, the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act 1906, the Gambling Control Act 2022, the Tobacco and Vaporisers Control Act 1993, and the Active Mobility Act 2017.

Offences

LTA officers seized seven non-compliant bicycles and engaged the teenagers to raise awareness of cycling rules and guidelines.

The various offences committed and enforcement actions taken were also provided.

One male, aged 13, was arrested for committing public nuisance and is under investigation for making abusive communication towards a public servant.

Two males, aged 13 and 14, are under investigation for communicating false message and riding a bicycle without a working handbrake on a public path.

One male, aged 12, is under investigation for communicating false message.

One male, aged 18, is under investigation for gambling with unlicensed gambling service provider or at unlawful gambling place.

One female and two males, aged between 16 and 19, were caught for possession of vaporiser. Investigations are ongoing.

Five males, aged between 14 and 19, are under investigations for riding a bicycle without a working handbrake on a public path.

Statement

The authorities said they take a serious view of any conduct that compromises public safety and order, including the making of nuisance calls to the police and the use of abusive words towards public servants in the course of their duties.

Members of the public are reminded that making nuisance calls to the police emergency line wastes resources and may affect the police’s response to genuine emergencies.

The police also said they will not hesitate to take firm action against those who make nuisance calls to the police or direct abusive words or behaviour towards public servants.

The mother of the 16-year-old Malaysian girl who was stabbed to death in her school is calling for an appeal against the attacker's acquittal.

This comes after the Malaysian High Court ruled on Sep. 14 that the 15-year-old boy, then 14, was of unsound mind during the stabbing, according to local media.

The boy allegedly stabbed the victim, Yap Shing Xuen, over 200 times in their school toilet on Oct. 14, 2025.

He was acquitted on the grounds of insanity and ordered to be detained and treated at Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta in Perak.

Mother calls for appeal

Yap's mother, known by her Facebook handle Aaple Wong, has called on netizens to appeal against the acquittal.

On Sep. 15, she reposted a Facebook post that rallied Malaysians to sign a petition directed at the Attorney-General's Office.

"We respect the law, but we are more concerned about the bottom line of school safety, and we cannot accept the huge injustice that the victim's family has to endure!" the post read.

"One person's cries are useless. We want to bring our voices to the office of the Attorney-General in Putrajaya."

"We don’t ask for sympathy. We ask for justice," Wong wrote in her repost.

As of Sep. 18, the petition has garnered over 47,000 signatures and has been shared over 60,000 times.

Wong also posted later that day, saying that while calling for an "appeal" is easy, her family has come to realise how helpless they are in the situation.

"We are neither judges nor prosecutors. We are simply a family who has lost our daughter," she said.

She also asked for others with more legal knowledge to provide her family with the proper assistance and guidance to push for a review of the case.

Hours later, Wong thanked those who had signed the petition, saying that "every action is meaningful".

She also directed a message at her late daughter:

"Shing Xuen, Mum has not forgotten you. I will never forget you.

Mum will continue to stand by your side, to keep fighting for you."

Singapore has closed its gender gap by 76.4 per cent, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2026.

That puts the country at 31st in the world, up by 16 spots from 2025.

The Global Gender Gap Index measures progress towards gender parity across four areas: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

Published on Sep. 16, the report includes 145 world economies in this 20th edition.

The top five countries in the ranking are, in descending order, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Namibia, and the United Kingdom.

They were all scored to have closed more than 84 per cent of their gender gap, with Iceland at 93 per cent.

Singapore has the second-highest parity score in Asia, after the Philippines at 20th place with 78 per cent of its gender gap closed.

Other Asian countries include Thailand at the 55th spot, China at 96th, South Korea at 101st, Malaysia at 104th, Indonesia at 106th, and Japan at 117th.

Economic participation and opportunity

In terms of the four different domains, Singapore ranked fourth for economic participation and opportunity, 45th for educational attainment, 63rd for health and survival, and 65th for political empowerment.

Under economic participation and opportunity, the indicator for which Singapore scored the highest is the share of women among professional and technical workers. It has attained 97 per cent gender parity here.

However, it is 72nd globally in this indicator — the lowest rank among the five indicators of economic participation.

In the representation among legislators, senior officials, and managers, Singapore has achieved 65.7 per cent gender parity, ranking 48th globally.

As for perceived wage equality for similar work, Singapore got a parity score of 83.1 per cent, putting it at fourth in the world.

Educational attainment

The report evaluates a country's educational attainment in terms of primary education enrolment, secondary education enrolment, tertiary education enrolment, and adult literacy.

Singapore performed strongly in all four indicators, scoring 100 per cent for parity in literacy rate and tertiary education enrolment.

Enrolment in primary and secondary education are also close to equal, at 99.9 per cent and 99.2 per cent respectively.

Health and survival

Singapore's gender parity levels in health and survival are also high.

Its female-to-male sex ratio at birth stands at 94.3 per cent, very close to the parity benchmark of 94.4 per cent.

Its parity in healthy life expectancy has reached 103.6 per cent, against the benchmark of 106 per cent.

Political empowerment

Among the four areas, Singapore has the widest gender gap in political empowerment, with an overall score of 24.6 per cent.

Parity in parliamentary and ministerial representation is at 47.8 per cent and 15.4 per cent respectively.

Additionally, parity in years with a female head of state over the past 50 years is also at a low 13.6 per cent.

Global progress

A total of 143 economies were covered in both the 2025 and 2026 editions.

Among them, overall gender parity improved slightly from 68.8 per cent in 2025, to 69.2 per cent in 2026.

This progress was primarily due to gains in educational attainment, where parity went up by 1.6 percentage points, from 95.3 per cent to 96.9 per cent.

Looking at a larger picture, the Global Gender Gap Index score has increased by 5.2 percentage points over 20 years, from the first edition in 2006 to this latest one, across the 97 economies featured in all editions.

The 2026 edition achieved the highest score to date.

"If these economies were to continue to advance at this estimated rate of progress, global gender parity is estimated to be attained in 120 years," the report said.

Seven properties connected to the S$3 billion money-laundering case in Singapore failed to sell at an auction held on Sep. 17 after offers fell short of reserve prices.

In an auction, a reserve price is the lowest amount a seller will accept.

According to The Straits Times (ST), head of auction and sales at Knight Frank, Tan Tee Khoon, said the firm would await directions on next steps for the withdrawn properties, some of which had bids that missed the reserve prices.

Tan noted that the brokerage needed guidance from their appointer, accounting firm Deloitte Singapore, on continuing with options such as private treaty talks with bidders, or holding another round of auctions.

65 members of the public, including 30 registered bidders, showed up at Knight Frank’s Ocean Financial Centre office, with the auction starting around 2:40pm, reported CNA.

Brisk bidding ended with no sale

The opening prices for the properties were as follows:

• Four apartment units at Gramercy Park, located at Grange Road: S$3.8 million to S$7.6 million,
• Two apartment units at Sloane Residences, situated on Balmoral Road: S$3.65 million and S$3.68 million,
• One 3,498 sq ft Grade A office space at Suntec Tower One: S$11.5 million.

The six luxury apartments had private lifts, and one of the Gramercy Park four-bedder had a hefty marble feature wall.

The auction opened with a four-bedder on the 17th floor of Gramercy Park with a starting price of S$7.55 million or S$2,839 per sq foot (psf); a bid of S$4 million was the first counteroffer, reported ST.

After eliciting laughter, more bids followed.

ST reported that the highest of the nine bids was from a woman dressed in Chanel at S$6.7 million.

However, as the bid did not meet the reserve price, it was rejected.

According to CNA, another unit saw quite a fierce round of bidding, with around 10 bids.

However, none of the bids met the reserve price. CNA reported the auctioneer saying they would take it "offline" with the highest bidder.

Withdrawn with no bids

Two other Gramercy Park apartments, a four-bedder and a three-bedder, with opening prices of S$7.5 million and S$6.285 million respectively, were withdrawn with no bids, ST reported.

The Sloane Residences apartments were also withdrawn from the auction, while the Suntec office space had one bid at S$8 million.

ST asked Knight Frank’s director of auction and sales, Tricia Tan, if the opening prices were the reserve prices, and Tan declined to comment.

In September, a total of 26 properties will be put up for sale by different realtors as the first batch of more than 80 properties seized during investigations by the Commercial Affairs Department, ST stated.

All sale proceeds will be deposited into the Government's Consolidated Fund.

Other properties to be auctioned

On Sep. 23, auction houses Edmund Tie and Company (ETC) and Sotheby’s International Realty (List SIR) will also put 19 other properties on the block.

ETC's lot and its guide prices:

• Five apartment units at South Beach Residences, including a 42nd-floor penthouse: between S$4.45 million and S$25.3 million,
• Two apartment units at 8 Saint Thomas in River Valley: S$4.4 million and S$5.72 million,
• One Paterson Suites apartment unit in Orchard: S$5.18 million,
• One 8,800 sq ft factory space at Shun Li Industrial Park.

According to ST, SRI's lot comprises four luxury condo units at Wallich Residence and six at Martin Modern; their guide prices are between S$2.238 million and S$6.8 million.

ETC's auction will be held at its UIC Building office in Shenton Way, while SRI's will take place at its Great World office.

A 67-year-old Singaporean woman has died in a hospital in Taiwan while on holiday.

This occurred two days after she was hit and run over by a bus.

She was vacationing with her family.

Passing reported by Taiwan media

Taiwan media Focus Taiwan reported the latest development regarding the tragedy on Sep. 18.

A team at China Medical University Hospital tried its best to save the woman who was in intensive care, it was reported.

A written statement from the hospital said the woman died due to the severity of her injuries, Focus Taiwan reported.

The hospital statement also expressed its regret over her passing.

Taiwanese media LTN previously reported that the woman was in Taiwan with her family of nine, including her daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter.

What possibly happened

A bus making a right turn hit the woman while she was crossing a road in Taichung at about 11am on Sep. 16.

The bus knocked her down and ran her over.

She was trapped underneath the bus.

The woman suffered a hip fracture, fractures in her upper right arm and lower left leg, and went into cardiac arrest.

A lifting air bag was used to free her.

She was resuscitated and her heartbeat was restored initially.

Taiwanese media reported that the 45-year-old bus driver was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the incident.

The bus was apparently travelling at a relatively slow speed at the time, according to a witness.

The launch of autonomous ride-hailing service Waymo in Singapore by 2028 was announced on Sep. 18.

Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow said during the launch event that the robotaxis will be first deployed in the west of Singapore, starting with the Labrador and HarbourFront area.

In his speech, Siow also emphasised that Singapore will expand the deployment of autonomous vehicles (AV) with safety as a priority.

He also touched on the growing AV industry, saying new jobs will be created while drivers will be supported in finding new opportunities in the industry.

Waymo in Singapore

An independent subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, Waymo was the first company to launch a self-driving public robotaxi service in the U.S. in 2020.

The expansion to Singapore is in partnership with the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA), Waymo said in a press release.

Siow shared that talks with Waymo's Tekedra Mawakana, co-chief executive officer, on the partnership began in March this year.

Mawakana was also in Singapore for the launch announcement on Sep. 18.

Siow said that AVs would complement public transport, adding to the capacity of the country's taxi and private hire car fleet.

It could also fill some gaps, such as going to places where human drivers are not keen to go, and providing service after hours, when public transport is not operating, he said.

Expanding to West

Singaporeans first experienced AV rides when trials with fixed routes were first launched in Punggol in April 2026.

Siow said that with Waymo, their AVs will be deployed in the western part of Singapore, starting with the Labrador and Harbourfront area.

This will include new use cases such as travelling to work, weekend travel, and serving industrial areas which have fewer transport options, he added.

Within Punggol, Siow said they will start trialling point-to-point service within the whole estate, without the need for fixed routes.

This will be done progressively, by adding more pick-up and drop-off points, he said.

"Beyond Punggol, we plan to deploy autonomous vehicles in one to two more HDB towns that are further away from the city, which will benefit from more transport options, like Tampines North and Tengah," he added.

Currently, there are 16 passenger AVs that are all in Punggol, though current operators in the market are planning to expand their fleet.

Just a few days prior, on Sep. 14, Grab had announced that it will be expanding its AV fleet from 10 to 50 vehicles over the next six months and also broaden its AV service coverage beyond Punggol.

With Waymo also bringing vehicles into Singapore, Siow said Singapore's total fleet of AVs will increase to several hundred vehicles in the next two years.

Safety is the key priority

In expanding the AV deployment in Singapore, Siow said that the key priority is safety.

He noted that while Singapore’s roads are safer than many other cities, there is still one fatal road accident every three days.

"In theory, driverless vehicles should improve safety on our roads. After all, they do not drink-drive, they do not road rage, they do not speed," he said.

Data indicates AVs are "significantly safer" than human drivers, including in mixed environments, and the technology is still improving, Siow said.

"Nevertheless, we will still expand the deployment of autonomous vehicles carefully, only when we are confident that it is safe," he said.

New jobs

Siow noted that as the AV industry grows, new jobs will be created.

"We will need people to manage the vehicle fleets, operate vehicles remotely, maintain sophisticated systems, test new applications, analyse data, and ensure that the services run safely and reliably," he said.

Such jobs will be open to taxi and private hire car drivers, and operators have launched training programmes to help drivers who are interested in these roles, Siow said.

He announced that the government will subsidise up to 90 per cent of salaries during training.

Waymo will also be opening a local office in Singapore, giving rise to new jobs, he noted.

"Driverless technology sits at the intersection of some of the most important technologies of this decade: AI, robotics and the application of intelligence to the physical world," Siow said.

"I believe that Singapore will be one of the best places in the world to design and deploy such technologies."

The range of concerns about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) should not be ignored, said Acting Minister for Manpower and Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Jasmin Lau on Sep. 17.

Speaking at the launch of SG AI Xchange, a new forum for companies to swap notes on their AI adoption journeys, Lau devoted part of her opening address to the "groundswell of workers and younger students who are somewhat anti-AI".

The fourth group

"They fear how it will be taking away many of their jobs and aspirations," said Lau. "They also conflate what AI can do with the environmental damage that they are seeing around the world."

Rather than brush off these concerns, Lau said they're genuine and shouldn't be dismissed.

She explained that more needs to be done to keep Singapore society united, from employers and business leaders to workers and anxious students.

"Everybody has a different view of how AI should or should not be used. Everybody has a different view of how fast or slow the pace ought to be. I think in Singapore, we do realise that the world is changing, and we want to make sure that AI in Singapore is adopted widely enough to create real value for our companies and good jobs for our workers."

Quiet doesn't mean okay

Lau also reminded business leaders that a silent workforce isn't necessarily a content one.

"Don't take a quiet workforce for an agreeable workforce," she said.

"The fact that they are quiet and not pushing back yet doesn't always mean that they are happy with where things are going. They want to know what their business leaders are really thinking, whether you are already planning retrenchments and slowdown in hiring."

Her ask: more transparency, even when the news isn't good.

Employers should tell workers if automation plans are in the pipeline, along with what retraining might look like, she said, adding that communication and transparency keep workers and companies together.

What SG AI Xchange is meant to fix

In her speech, Lau credited GlobalFoundries as a "very strong supporter" of Singapore's Economic Strategy Review work.

The company shared about its experience in scaling AI in the manufacturing sector at the forum. This example was one of the benefits that SG AI Xchange brings to the table, said Lau.

"That is not a common culture because we tend to be quite shy about where we have not done well and reserved about sharing our secrets with each other," she said, adding that there's "a lot of value in naming what you were trying to solve, what proved difficult, what you had to change mid-course, and what you needed to do differently."

The bigger picture

Lau also gave a broader update on Singapore's AI push, adding that there are now close to 100 AI Centres of Excellence spanning sectors from finance to manufacturing.

Centres of Excellence are dedicated teams that focus on AI development and deployment to support business goals.

She also cited recent high-profile tech movements, including Google Cloud's new Singapore Engineering Centre, Anthropic's entry into the country, and Databricks' local AI skills efforts.

She also urged companies not to hold back on hiring young graduates over uncertainty about how AI might reshape jobs, urging employers to bring them onboard, give them training and exposure, and trust that roles will evolve alongside the technology.