The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has announced a new housing model for the British capital inspired by Singapore's.

Under the "Singapore style" initiative, City Hall, headquarters of the Greater London Authority (GLA), became a direct partner in developing new homes for the first time, BBC reported.

The model is "inspired by the way new homes are built in Singapore, where the state plays a central role in housing delivery", according to a press release from the London government.

Learning from Singapore

Khan was in town to attend the 2026 World Cities Summit from Jun. 14 to 16, where London was officially conferred the 2026 Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Laureate.

During his visit, he took a tour of SkyResidence @ Dawson, as captured in a Facebook video.

"What can London learn from Singapore when it comes to building genuinely affordable homes?" Khan asked in the opening of the video.

He highlighted the sense of community he saw, the local residents he spoke to, and the proximity of playgrounds and general practitioner (GP) clinics to the estates.

They reminded him of his council estate in South London, he said.

"I've been incredibly impressed by the role the state has in housing development," he said about Singapore, as quoted by BBC.

"The number of homes that are built here on an annual basis by the government getting involved in development. I think we can learn in London."

A more active role

Khan believes that more active involvement from London's City Hall will help unlock stalled developments and boost the supply of affordable housing.

The GLA will invest £100 million (S$172 million) to support plans for building 7,000 new homes in east London.

About 30 per cent of these homes will be "genuinely affordable", Khan added.

This active approach marks a new era for housebuilding in London that takes inspiration from "Singapore’s world-class housing model", the caption reads.

Caution

However, some experts have cautioned that Singapore's success is built on conditions that do not exist in London, according to BBC.

A property economist cited by BBC said that Singapore can effectively control and manage the housing market because of its consistency of governance and policy, and because the government owns around 90 per cent of the land.

Sadiq acknowledged the differences between the two cities.

He argued that the initiative meant for London to take inspiration from Singapore rather than attempting to replicate its model entirely.

"What we've done is we've learnt from the best and tweaked it to give it a London twist," he said.

Two Malaysian soldiers were killed in an explosion during a grenade-throwing exercise in Gurun, Malaysia.

The incident occurred on Jun. 16 at about 10:57am at a firing range in Hobart Camp during a combat enhancement training exercise, New Straits Times and Free Malaysia Today reported.

Corporal Norazmi Abu Bakar, 40, of the 6th Battalion Royal Malay Regiment and Private Siti Khadijah Sungip, 24, of the 1st Squadron Royal Engineers Regiment, died on their way to a local hospital.

Their bodies were sent to another hospital for a post-mortem.

Local police also confirmed the incident, saying they were alerted at about 12:30pm.

Grenade-throwing suspended

According to New Straits Times, the Malaysia army has suspended all grenade-throwing training with immediate effect following the incident.

The suspension was apparently necessary to investigate what happened.

Full assistance is also being provided to the victims’ families, including any compensation they are entitled to.

Sultan extends condolences

In a Facebook post, Sultan Ibrahim, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Malaysian Armed Forces, extended his condolences to the deceased.

“Al-Fatihah for the two personnel who were killed in this tragedy. May they be placed among the faithful and martyrs,” he said.

He added that he has ordered the Malaysian Armed Forces to identify the cause of the incident.

The Housing and Development Board (HDB) launched 6,952 flats for sale on Jun. 17 under the June 2026 Build-To-Order (BTO) exercise.

They make up seven BTO projects in Ang Mo Kio, Bishan, Bukit Merah, Sembawang, and Woodlands, HDB said in a press release.

The Bishan project is the first of two planned in Lakeview, marking the first time new public housing is introduced in the Upper Thomson area.

A total of 1,221 units will be on offer.

Among all the flats launched, 2,300 are two-room flexi flats.

This is to meet the housing needs of single first-time buyers and seniors, HDB explained.

Waiting times

HDB advised buyers who wish to move into their homes sooner to consider the 2,035 Shorter Waiting Time (SWT) flats at the Sembawang Portico and Sembawang Brook estates.

They have wait times of less than three years.

Such flats are also available at the Kebun Baru Ridge project in Ang Mo Kio, with a wait time of three years and one month.

Project types

There are a mix of Standard, Plus, and Prime projects among the seven newly launched projects.

The Plus and Prime flats have a 10-year minimum occupation period (MOP).

If the owners sell their flat after the MOP, they will be required to pay HDB a subsidy recovery.

The subsidy recovery rates are 8 per cent for Kebun Baru Ridge and Kebun Baru Breeze, 10 per cent for Lakeview Cascadia, and 14 per cent for Berlayar Rise.

Ang Mo Kio

The two new projects in Ang Mo Kio are Kebun Baru Ridge and Kebun Baru Breeze.

Both are Plus projects with two-room flexi, three-room, and four-room flats on offer.

Excluding grants, a two-room flexi flat starts from S$191,000, while a three-room flat starts from S$380,000, and a four-room flat from S$543,000 in these projects.

Bishan

In Upper Thomson, the new Lakeview Cascadia estate is a Prime project with two-room flexi and four-room flats.

Excluding grants, the flat types start from S$216,000 and S$534,000 respectively.

Bukit Merah

Also a Prime project, Berlayar Rise in Bukit Merah will consist of two-room flexi, three-room, and four-room flats.

Excluding grants, a two-room flexi flat here starts from S$247,000, while a three-room flat starts from S$435,000, and a four-room flat from S$592,000.

Sembawang

Sembawang Portico and Sembawang Brook are both Standard projects, and their flat types range from two-room flexi to 3Gen.

Excluding grants, a two-room flexi flat starts from S$139,000, while a three-room flat starts from S$250,000, a four-room flat from S$302,000, a five-room flat from S$420,000, and a 3Gen from S$468,000.

Woodlands

Another Standard project, Woodlands Acres also has a wide range of flat types available.

Excluding grants, a two-room flexi flat starts from S$137,000, while a three-room flat starts from S$260,000, a four-room flat from S$353,000, a five-room flat from S$472,000.

More support for families

From this June 2026 exercise, HDB will increase the Third Child Priority Scheme (TCPS) allocation quota from up to 5 per cent, to up to 10 per cent.

The scheme aims to provide greater support to families with three or more children.

Those who wish to apply can check their eligibility here.

Applications

Flat applications can be made online via the HDB Flat Portal any time from Jun. 17 to Jun. 24.

HDB will shortlist applicants using a computer ballot, not on a first-come, first-served basis.

More information on the application and all the flats on offer can be found here.

Next BTO exercise

The next BTO sales exercise will be in October 2026, with about 7,960 flats planned in Bedok, Geylang, Sembawang, Tengah, Toa Payoh, and Yishun.

Community Care Apartment (CCAs) will also be offered in Toa Payoh.

HDB encourages those who wish to participate in the October exercise to apply for an HDB Flat Eligibility (HFE) letter early and submit all required documents by Sep. 15.

HDB added that they will continue to monitor the housing demand closely, and are prepared to offer more than 55,000 flats from 2025 to 2027, if necessary.

A male youth cycling across the road in Sengkang, when he did not have the right of way, was seen getting hit by a car.

The incident was caught on the dashcam of a vehicle travelling along Punggol Road in the direction of Hougang on Jun. 15 at around 11:50pm.

Boy said he was okay but was bleeding

A video of the incident submitted by a Mothership reader showed that the traffic lights had turned green in favour of vehicles travelling along Punggol Road.

As the vehicles started moving off after the lights turned green, a cyclist could be seen riding along the pedestrian crossing as vehicles approached him.

One car slowed down, while the other did not.

The cyclist then got hit.

He landed on the grass patch post-collision and his bicycle appeared to have been flung to the lane closer to the road divider.

He was seen getting up almost immediately.

Apologised to car driver

According to the driver whose dashcam captured the scene, the cyclist was heard apologising profusely to the driver and apparently also admitted it was his mistake.

The eyewitness said the car driver scolded the cyclist and then drove off.

However, the car's licence plate apparently fell off onto the road following the collision.

"I am sharing this information in case the boy’s family is trying to identify the driver involved in the accident," the eyewitness said.

The eyewitness added, "After the driver left, I noticed a few minutes later that the boy had blood on his face, neck, and legs. I got out of my car and checked on him, asking if he was alright. He told me that he was okay. I then gave him some tissues to help clean the blood from his face and legs."

The eyewitness also said the boy, who appeared to be about 17, kept saying he was okay, as he could have been afraid he was liable for the damages to the car.

He then picked up his damaged bicycle and walked off, the eyewitness recounted.

A Malaysian woman had to place one of her children in the orphanage due to her financial situation.

According to Sinchew, the woman, Kong, has been married twice, has three children, and is currently going through divorce procedures.

The child, Pei, had been taken care of by Kong's sister due to her financial difficulties.

However, the sister was eventually unable to care for him either.

According to Sinchew, Kong also made the difficult decision to go to Singapore to take up a job.

Kong said she hopes Pei grows up healthy and well.

Pei also handed his mother a cup of water before parting ways.

Kong cried as he left, urging him to study hard and be good.

The orphanage, Jaz Home, said they had already made plans for Pei's schooling, saying that they couldn't change his past, but would ensure a brighter future for him.

The home also posted an update on the child playing basketball and having fun.

Two Malaysian men were presented with the SaferSG Public Spiritedness Award by the Police Coast Guard (PCG) on Jun. 16, after their timely tip-off led to the recovery of a stolen Singapore-registered pleasure craft.

According to the Singapore Police Force (SPF) news release, the vessel was found drifting in Malaysian Territorial Waters (MTW).

Suspicious sighting

On Jun. 2, Muhammad Azrie Bin Manab, a Malaysian fisherman, noticed a Singapore-registered pleasure craft berthed at a mooring buoy in MTW.

As it was unusual for a Singapore-registered vessel to be at the location, Azrie grew suspicious.

He then sent a photograph he took of the craft to his cousin, Khairil Faizal Bin Othman, to verify his doubts.

Acting on his cousin's lead, Khairil approached a PCG patrol boat later that day to alert the officers of the sighting.

This crucial information helped PCG locate and recover the missing craft, which was reported stolen earlier that day.

In collaboration with the Royal Malaysia Police's Marine Police Force, PCG secured the craft and returned it to its rightful owner.

Police investigations into the theft are currently ongoing.

Commander of the PCG and Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Ang Eng Seng expressed his appreciation to the award recipients.

"This case is an exemplary example showcasing the success of cross-jurisdiction partnership between Singapore and Malaysia."

Singapore's overall recycling rate rose slightly to 52 per cent in 2025, up from 50 per cent in 2024, according to the National Environment Agency's (NEA) waste and recycling statistics for 2025.

Each person generated 0.83kg of domestic waste per day in 2025, a 21 per cent reduction from the 1.06kg recorded in 2015, and a slight improvement from 0.85kg in 2024.

More households recycling

The domestic recycling rate remained at 11 per cent for the second consecutive year.

Domestic waste refers to waste from households, shophouses, petrol stations, hawker centres, educational institutions and places of worship.

The non-domestic recycling rate fared better, rising slightly from 65 per cent to 67 per cent.

NEA's 2025 survey also found that the 78 per cent of households, up from 72 per cent in 2023.

Awareness of what can be recycled, such as certain common household items, has also grown.

For example, 92 per cent of respondents know that a rinsed shampoo or detergent bottle can be recycled, compared to 89 per cent in 2023.

Rising freight costs

On the other hand, recycling rates for key waste streams like paper/cardboard and plastics declined slightly, with NEA attributing this to rising freight costs and volatile global commodity prices.

Since most of Singapore's recyclables are exported overseas for processing, the viability of these exports remains susceptible to external market conditions.

Singapore's food waste recycling rate also remained stable at 18 per cent.

What's being done

NEA said it will focus recycling efforts on food, paper/cardboard, and plastics, which make up the largest share of waste that is still not recycled.

Since December 2025, Public Waste Collectors have been working with town councils and trade premises to set up dedicated paper/cardboard collection points, aimed at addressing issues like overflowing recycling bins and contamination of recyclables.

Food waste segregation requirements, currently mandatory for new large commercial and industrial buildings since March 2024, will be progressively extended to existing buildings from 2028, in tandem with the completion of the food waste treatment facility at Tuas Nexus.

The Beverage Container Return Scheme, which is currently in its transition period and will be fully operational from Oct. 1,  will further support clean stream collection of metal and plastic beverage containers for recycling.

NEA also said it will be reviewing the 2019 Zero Waste Masterplan to assess progress and refresh strategies to encourage the 3Rs, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, with the aim of extending the lifespan of Semakau Landfill.

A Malaysian woman passed away at 81, but left behind three adult sons with disabilities, two of whom are "certified under mental disability".

With their sole caretaker gone, government services now have to find long-term care solutions for them.

Malaysian MP Howard Lee recounted this tragedy in a Facebook post, and the complex web of welfare, medical help, and long-term care that authorities are still sifting through.

The brothers

The situation first came to the Welfare Department's attention when a member of the public informed them that the mother had been admitted to hospital.

Lee said when the mother, the sole caregiver for the three men, passed away on Jun. 12, they needed to come up with a solution for her three sons.

He said that they are unable to take care of themselves, "not even in the slightest way".

"Without their mother, it is unthinkable what would happen to them. Their living conditions since their mother’s hospitalisation have been absolutely untenable. This has been confirmed by several visits by our office, the Welfare Department, and officials from the Ministry of Health."

He said that among the three brothers, one has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, while another has an undisclosed psychiatric condition. The middle brother suffers from severe learning difficulties.

He noted that with the funeral arrangements having been taken care of, they now have to solve the more complex issue of their long-term care.

Limitations of the system

Lee said for the first time in his 14 years of public service, he has not been able to find a workable solution for "a whole family facing impending doom".

With their mother now gone, the three brothers have no distant relatives to care for them.

Although government-backed welfare care facilities can take responsibility for the brother with learning difficulties, they are legally unable to take the other two due to scope and capacity limitations.

For the brother with learning disabilities, Lee is confident that a private home with an available bed would be willing to accept him.

The other two brothers with more severe issues would need a facility to care for them, as they are less mobile and need psychiatric assessment and treatment.

With the help of the State Health Director and the Director of the hospital, Hospital Bahagia Ulu Kinta has agreed to take care of them.

But Lee lamented that this leads to a more complex problem.

"But do we separate the brothers? Do we have a choice?"

Lee said that besides this, then begs the issue of coverage beyond their current situations.

"What happens when a family falls between every available category of care?"

The bigger picture

Lee then pointed out the gap that existed within these welfare systems.

"If one ministry can care for one brother, and another system can assess the other two, who is responsible for the family as a whole? If hospital care is short-term, where do they go after assessment and stabilisation? If welfare homes cannot take mental disability cases, and psychiatric facilities cannot become long-term social care homes, where does a person go when he is too ill for welfare but too socially abandoned for discharge?"

He said that for persons with mental disabilities who require long-term care with no family support, there needs to be a "clear pathway" for financial coverage and inter-agency case management.

"What happens to people with mental disability when their ageing parents die? Must every such family wait until crisis, death, hospitalisation and desperation before the state can see them?"

Lee urged that all relevant agencies must address this blind spot.

"We need facilities that do not force human beings into artificial categories just because our laws and institutions were designed in separate rooms."

He ended his post with this question: "How many more families must fall before the system admits that the cracks are real?"

A 22-year-old woman was sentenced to 21 months' probation supervision after she previously handed her grandfather's driver's licence to her boyfriend, who reportedly impersonated the elderly man to rent a car eight times.

Shin Min Daily News reported that the couple had secretly taken photos of the elderly man's licence and used them to apply for an account to rent a car.

The woman, then 19, also lent the account to a friend's boyfriend who supposedly got involved in an accident.

Pleaded guilty

Following this, the case was brought to light when the car rental platform told her grandfather to pay for damages due to the accident.

Shin Min reported that the defendant faced four charges, which included providing false information, impersonation, fraud, and illegally obtaining personal information.

She pleaded guilty to two charges, with the other two to be taken into consideration during sentencing.

Took photos of licence

In September 2022, her boyfriend, who did not have a driver's licence, asked the woman if she knew how to register an account on a car rental platform.

She then pretended that she needed to see her 74-year-old grandfather's driver's licence, Shin Min reported, adding that her grandfather produced it out of trust.

The woman then handed the licence to her boyfriend, who reportedly took photos of both sides when the elderly man was not looking.

Boyfriend impersonated grandfather

She also used her grandfather's personal information to register an account on a car rental platform.

After linking her own phone number, email address and bank card to the account, the woman gave her username, password, and one-time verification code to her boyfriend, Shin Min reported.

In addition, she had him set up fingerprint login on his phone, allowing him to use the car directly without going through her.

Her boyfriend then reportedly impersonated her grandfather to rent a car eight times between Sep. 30, 2022, and Oct. 21, 2022, where one of the trips covered a distance of 168km.

Car accident, case exposed

In October 2022, the defendant also lent the account to a friend, which was used by that friend's boyfriend to rent a car seven times between Oct. 16, 2022, and Oct. 27, 2022.

He was also reportedly involved in a car accident during this period, Shin Min reported, adding that the account using the grandfather's licence was banned by the platform in November 2022.

The next year, in August 2023, the defendant's grandfather was informed via a letter sent from the car rental company that he had to pay about S$4,000 in damages for the accident.

Shin Min reported that since the elderly man was confused, the defendant's mother then contacted the platform and was shocked to find out that an account had been registered using her daughter's phone number and email address.

The defendant claimed, however, that she was unaware of this.

To that, her mother told her to make a police report, after which a police investigation that was launched brought her actions to light.

Lied

On Oct. 5, 2023, the defendant told the police that she suspected her boyfriend had used her Singpass and personal information to register an account, according to Shin Min.

This was in spite of her knowing that she had provided a false statement, Shin Min reported, adding that the woman also helped her grandfather make a report.

She only admitted to her crimes when the police launched an investigation and was arrested on Jun. 11, 2025.

Sentencing

This saw her being sentenced to 21 months of probation, during which she needs to remain indoors from 11pm to 6am each day.

She is also required to complete 90 hours of community service, Shin Min reported, adding that as her guarantor, her mother must ensure her good behaviour.

The defendant, who was accompanied by her mother in court, now has a two-year-old child, Shin Min reported, adding that she was said to be going through divorce proceedings.

Her lawyer said this was her first brush with the law, where she had acted immaturely under her boyfriend's encouragement.

Noting that she had cooperated with the police during her probation, the lawyer added that she was actively searching for a full-time job.

Shin Min reported that the judge said that he hoped the woman would take this as a lesson and reflect during her probation, as well as to set an example for her child, since she was now a mother.

A 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty to two charges of indecency and outrage of modesty after exposing himself in front of his 43-year-old mother and demanding that she perform sexual acts on him in Batu Pahat, Malaysia.

The incident happened in their home on Jun. 1 at about 5pm, New Straits Times (NST) and Free Malaysia Today reported.

Porn

The boy became sexually aroused after watching pornographic videos in his bedroom, reported NST.

He then approached his mother, who was taking a bath.

The boy knocked on the bathroom door and asked his mother to open it.

When the door was opened, his mother found the boy with his trousers removed and demanding that she perform a sexual act on him.

She then retreated to the bathroom and locked the door from inside.

His mother later lodged a police report.

Plea

The boy pleaded guilty after the charges were read in Mandarin.

The court adjourned the case to Aug. 19 for the presentation of a social report by the Social Welfare Department, the facts of the case and sentencing.

The boy was allowed RM1,500 (S$475) bail.

However, he failed to post bail and was remanded at the Muar Correctional Centre pending further proceedings.