On Sep. 10, True Fitness and True Yoga announced that all outlets would cease operations with immediate effect, citing an inability to continue operating due to debt.

The closure left both employees and customers in a lurch.

Some customers told Shin Min Daily News that they spent about S$10,000 on a "Lifetime Founder VIP" membership which had S$107 annual fees.

The membership, which could also be used at overseas branches, allowed them to enjoy a private lounge and personal locker.

One customer spent over S$21,000

Chen (transliteration) told Shin Min that he purchased the "Lifetime Founder VIP" membership for himself and his two daughters in 2014, spending a total of about S$21,000.

He pointed out that even such VIP membership holders still had to pay an annual fee of S$107.

The membership allowed them to access even overseas outlets in Thailand and Taiwan.

He said that the Suntec City branch previously had a private lounge with massage chairs and coffee machines for VIP members to enjoy.

Another customer, Lin (transliteration) 44, told Shin Min that she joined the fitness centre in 2017 and spent about S$10,000 for the lifetime VIP membership in 2020.

She was apparently told that it was their last year issuing the lifetime VIP memberships.

According to Shin Min, neither of the two expected their "lifetime" cards to become useless with the closure of the gym.

Affected customers set up group chat

Affected customers subsequently formed a contact group to help each other, reported Shin Min.

One customer, Yang (transliteration), 39, had previously signed a three-year membership package with her husband, which was originally scheduled to expire in November this year.

She then purchased another three-year package, which included a three-month membership, for a total payment of over S$2,600.

The new package was supposed to take effect in January next year.

She said she went to the outlet at Millenia Walk for a class on Sep. 10.

There were about 20 people in the class at the time, and she did not notice anything unusual until Sep. 12 when she learned that the fitness centre had entered liquidation proceedings.

She then searched online for other affected members and created a WhatsApp group with them, which currently has about eight members.

They hope to add more members to help each other.

Herman Sing, a 48-year-old Singaporean logistics director, underwent surgery to donate 67 per cent of his liver to an anonymous patient in 2023.

Three years on, the father of four looks energetic and cheerful, with little outward sign of the major operation he went through, which also saw his gallbladder removed, all to save a stranger he had never met, according to Shin Min Daily News.

Took up volunteering since he was 25

Sing has been volunteering since he was 25, including regularly serving with charities such as Food Bank Singapore, and donating blood plasma and platelets more than 100 times to date.

He had also signed up early with the bone marrow donor registry, indicating his willingness to help save a life if needed.

He once left his job to care for his father, who was suffering from cancer, an experience that gave him a deep appreciation for how fragile and unpredictable life can be.

After his father died, Sing decided to become a living liver donor, donating part of his liver to a patient in need in 2023.

Complications before surgery

The night before his surgery, doctors discovered that Sing's cystic duct was irregularly shaped, raising the surgical risk and prompting him to reconsider going through with it.

Sing said that when he and his wife heard the news, they thought about how the patient and their family might have waited a long time for a suitable liver donor, and were hoping for a new lease of life after the surgery.

"We couldn't bear to let their hopes be dashed. If we withdrew from the donation, all of the patient's expectations would come to nothing, and they might not get another chance with a stranger donor," he told the Chinese news outlet.

Holding on to the belief in doing good without expecting anything in return, the couple decided to proceed, and Sing successfully donated his liver.

His wife described her husband as "someone who is quite extraordinary", in a feature by Straits Times.

No major after-effects

Looking back at his decision three years on, Sing said he has not experienced any major after-effects and does not need long-term medication, though he tires more easily than before and has to be more mindful of his diet.

Despite this, he said he has no regrets, and instead wants to help as many people as he can within his means.

Sing continues to make time to volunteer, even while raising four children aged eight to 20 and working as an Asia-Pacific logistics director, a role that keeps him on call almost around the clock.

Sing's actions have also influenced those around him. Beyond getting his own family involved in volunteer work, a friend was inspired by him to donate part of his liver to a stranger as well, which Sing said moved him deeply.

"I'm glad I could inspire others to help one more family. Not everyone is suited for organ donation, but I hope to raise awareness about it, so that society can better understand and accept it," he said.

Started his own volunteer group

Sing has not slowed down since his donation, instead taking on more volunteer and community work.

To get more people involved in volunteering, he started his own volunteer group, which has since recruited more than 100 members.

He believes there is never a "best time" to do good, since life is unpredictable, and that one person's efforts are limited, so it is better to mobilise others to help as well.

"If I do three hours of volunteer work alone, I only have one pair of hands. But if I get 20 people to help, in the same three hours, that's 20 more pairs of hands," he said.

His children, inspired by their father, are also doing charity work, with his daughter even donating blood despite her fear of needles.

An Austrian woman, 40, died on Jun. 26 after her husband allegedly injured and sexually abused her while she was believed to be intoxicated.

The 50-year-old man was arrested on Jul. 2 and later remanded in custody, according to Austria's newspaper Der Standard.

Local prosecutors reportedly told CNN that another man also confessed to sexually abusing the woman, including on the night that she died.

They are also investigating whether other men may have been involved in the sexual abuse, potentially in exchange for payment, they said.

Found injured at home

The woman was found in her home with severe bleeding wounds, reported Der Standard.

Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene, and an autopsy was ordered due to the nature of her injuries.

Prosecutors told CNN that the husband initially said her death had been part of an “accident” during sex.

Austrian news outlet Krone reported that the man allegedly boasted that he had charged 500 Euros for strangers to have sex with his wife.

The man is being investigated for abuse of a defenceless or impaired person resulting in death.

The case has been likened to that of Gisèle Pelicot, who was drugged and raped by her husband, along with other men, while she was unconscious.

Prosecutors, however, said reports of a wider "rape network" cannot yet be confirmed, but remain under investigation.

When his chef failed to turn up for work on Aug. 27, coffee shop stall owner Tony (transliteration) went to his home to look for him.

There, Tony found several bags that the stall used to store money, reported Shin Min Daily News.

The chef, surnamed Chen (transliteration), eventually admitted to stealing about S$4,300 in stall revenue.

Stole from stall

Tony, who owns three stores, went looking for Chen after the latter failed to appear at work at his Kim Keat Avenue outlet.

When Chen answered the door, Tony noticed several bags the stall used to store money on the table.

Chen eventually confessed to taking the stall's money.

He had allegedly used a stolen key to enter the stall and later deleted the CCTV footage, Shin Min reported.

He apparently knelt before Tony when he was caught, crying and promising to write a letter of repentance.

Although angry, Tony decided to give himself time to think and left.

Fled

The next day, a female employee received a message from Chen saying he had fled and that everyone should stop looking for him.

Tony made a police report at about 4pm.

Police confirmed receiving the report and said investigations are ongoing.

Tony said Chen had worked for him for 10 years and earned about S$4,400 a month, including room and board.

He had also lent Chen S$40,000 to buy a house, helped him settle more than S$10,000 in loan shark debts, and recently given him salary and bonus advances totalling S$70,000.

Previous thefts

Tony said this was not the first time Chen had stolen from him.

In 2019, Chen was caught stealing S$260, while in June this year, he allegedly stole another S$3,600.

On both occasions, Chen wrote letters of repentance and was forgiven because of his good work attitude.

Tony said he trusted Chen completely after years of working together and ignored others' advice to be more vigilant.

Tony said he had also been travelling overseas and had not collected the stall's revenue since mid-August.

He added that Chen had borrowed money from several licensed lenders, who are now contacting him over the debts.

Tony believes Chen may have fled to Vietnam, where he has a girlfriend and a one-year-old child, as Chen had travelled there several times over the past year.

Former TVB actress Margaret Chung was reportedly taken to the intensive care unit (ICU) at the Chinese University Hospital, according to reports on Sep. 11.

The 49-year-old later issued a statement on Instagram thanking fans and well-wishers for their concern, without disclosing details of her condition.

Spotted friends of Chung outside ICU of hospital

News broke on Friday that the former actress was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Chinese University Hospital due to a sudden medical emergency, which raised questions about her condition, reported Lianhe Zaobao.

Online media outlet Hong Kong 01 received a tip from a reader who claimed to have spotted Toby Leung, Chung Lai-kei's close friend, with several friends outside the intensive care unit of the Chinese University Hospital.

The media then called Chung Lai-kei's mobile phone, which was answered by her husband, Nardone Ruggero, who told reporters that she was "okay".

Asked for space to focus on her health and family

In the statement, Chung expressed gratitude for the "tremendous concern, kindness and well wishes" she had received during what she called "this arduous period" of her life.

She said her focus was currently on her health and spending time with her family, and asked the media and public to respect her and her family's privacy while they navigated the situation together.

"I understand that, as a public figure, there will naturally be interest and concern regarding my condition," she wrote, adding that she was "sincerely grateful" for the concern but asked for space to focus on her health and family for now.

Recent photos of ex-actress drew speculation

Chung's health had earlier drawn online speculation following a birthday gathering for her close friend Janet Chow, where she was pictured with several former TVB co-stars, informally dubbed the "Seven Fairies", including Charmaine Sheh, Mandy Wong, Sherming Yiu, and Annie Man.

Photos from the event showed Chung noticeably thinner than before, wearing a denim jacket and black cap, with a stiffer expression than her usual smile, which drew questions online.

Sheh had previously addressed the speculation, explaining that Chung had been down with a bad flu on the day of the gathering and was feeling unwell and tired, which was why she appeared stiff on camera, and that there was no cause for concern.

Top image via Janet Chow/Instagram, Margaret Chung/Instagram

Angered that his wife wouldn't give him money to buy lottery tickets, a 71-year-old man in Singapore flew into a rage and attacked his 74-year-old wife.

The man faced three charges, including voluntarily causing hurt and assault, reported Shin Min Daily News.

He pleaded guilty to one of them, with the rest taken into consideration for sentencing.

He was ultimately sentenced to 12 weeks in jail.

A gag order has been placed on both their identities to protect the wife's identity.

Beat her often

The couple had been married for about 50 years and had two children and five grandchildren, Shin Min reported.

The man reportedly began abusing his wife as early as 2020, and would beat her whenever he was angry.

According to Shin Min, this happened about once every two or three months.

The wife was afraid that the abuse would become worse if she reported it to the police, so she chose to remain silent.

The incident

The man had asked his wife for cash to buy lottery tickets at home on Jul. 12, 2025, at around 9pm.

His wife refused as she did not have enough cash on hand.

Upon hearing this, the man reportedly flew into a rage and slapped his wife twice on the left cheek, and then punched her twice on the left side of the head.

He then picked up a fork and threatened to blind his wife.

Despite his wife trying to raise her left hand to protect her face, the man reportedly bit her left arm and hit her head with a thermos.

She fled to the kitchen, but he pursued her, hitting her forehead with a plastic stool.

The attack only ended when the victim called her son for help.

Went to hospital

Two days later, the victim told her daughter-in-law, a senior nurse, that she had bruising and swelling around her left eyelid and asked how she could reduce the swelling.

After learning that her father-in-law had been abusing her mother-in-law, the daughter-in-law first took the victim to the hospital for medical treatment.

She subsequently reported the matter to the police, Shin Min reported.

The victim was diagnosed with facial and scalp contusions, bruising on her left arm, and a fractured nasal bone.

A woman from Beijing, China, has been reunited with her family after being missing for 26 years.

Encountered by chance in rural village

Sun Meihua, known online as "Sister Meihua", was brought back to Beijing by her brother on Sep. 8, after DNA testing confirmed she was his sister, according to Oriental Daily and Dimsum Daily.

Sun was reportedly encountered by chance in a rural Shandong village in April this year by a blogger known as "Chuxin", who noticed she was alone, spoke in a confused manner, and appeared to need help.

Sun reportedly told Chuxin she was not from Shandong and had long hoped to find her family and reunite with them.

Over the May Day holiday, Chuxin posted a video about Sun on Xiaohongshu appealing for help from netizens to trace her family.

DNA testing confirmed she was the missing woman

Despite her confused speech, those who saw Chuxin's video noticed that Sun could remember her father's name, other relatives, and several Beijing locations.

Volunteers subsequently helped arrange a blood test for Sun to assist in tracing her relatives. This eventually led to a match with her brother, who lives in Beijing. The sibling relationship was confirmed through DNA testing, according to the reports.

Father passed away without finding her

Several Chinese articles about Sun's case, which have allegedly been taken down, reported that she was born in Beijing in 1968, and was believed to have received higher education and come from a relatively well-off family, Oriental Daily reported.

She was reportedly fluent in English and trained in ballet and ballroom dance in her youth. She disappeared suddenly in 2000, at around 32 years old, and her family searched for her for years without success, according to the deleted reports.

Sun's father died without finding her, but had reportedly urged her brother before his death to keep searching for his sister.

Call for investigations into how she went missing

According to the deleted reports, Sun was later found to be living in a county in Shandong province, with a man around 20 years her senior.

Some locals claimed that Sun had lived in difficult conditions over the years.

Photos of Sun from her youth have since circulated online, and many reportedly expressed shock at how different she looked, questioning what she might have gone through during her missing years.

It should be noted that these details about her life in Shandong, including claims about her living conditions have not been officially verified, and stem from now-deleted articles and netizen accounts.

The case has led to calls for a full investigation into how Sun originally went missing, and whether she had been trafficked.

Related articles and trending search terms on platforms including Weibo, Sina, and NetEase, some carrying headlines describing Sun's case as a trafficking case, have since been scrubbed or blocked, and related videos are no longer accessible, according to Dimsum Daily.

As of now, no official statement has been issued on the case.

Top image via Taiwan SETNEWS Live Channel/YouTube

A 24-year-old Chinese mukbang influencer has died following cardiac arrest reportedly linked to low potassium levels.

Ganfan Yingying, whose real name was Chen Ziyi, reportedly died on Aug. 17.

According to Global Times, Chen's parents announced the news on Sep. 4.

Chen, who had more than 1 million followers, had last posted on Aug. 14, telling viewers that overeating had caused her potassium levels to drop and landed her in the hospital.

Low potassium levels

According to Chen, her blood potassium level had fallen as low as 2.3 due to her mukbang activities as well as her long-term habit of inducing vomiting, Global Times reported.

She reminded viewers that although earning money is important, prioritising one’s health should always come first.

This was not the first time she had been hospitalised for the same reason.

Chen reportedly said that doing livestream sales while eating can be physically demanding, noting that she once had to eat 60 to 70 preserved eggs.

She said mukbangers often face pressure to eat more to boost sales, even when their health cannot withstand the strain.

Inducing vomiting and using laxatives

Chai Qichen, a doctor from the Department of General Practice at Zhejiang Hospital, told the Global Times that binge eating itself does not directly cause severe potassium loss.

Rather, the main risks involve inducing vomiting and using laxatives.

Some mukbangers eat large amounts on camera, then vomit or take laxatives off camera to maintain their figures.

Because gastric and intestinal fluids contain much higher potassium levels than blood, repeated vomiting or diarrhoea can cause significant potassium loss and progressively lower blood potassium levels, Chai said.

Singaporean actress Chen Xiuhuan narrowly avoided signing up for a new personal training package with True Fitness, just days before the gym chain's sudden closure.

True Fitness and True Yoga announced on Sep. 10 that all outlets would cease operations "with immediate effect", citing an inability to continue operating due to debt.

Booked a class the day before

Chen took to Instagram on Sep. 11 to share her reaction to the closure.

She said she had booked a workout session the day before, only to open the True Fitness app the next morning to find that all outlets had ceased operations.

Chen, who has been a member since 2017, said she used to work out at the gym almost three times a week. She described the workouts, classes, familiar faces and trainers as having become "such a regular part of my life".

Calling the sudden end "honestly heartbreaking", Chen wrote that she was left wondering "where do I go from here" after years of having a regular workout routine there.

"I know I’ll eventually find somewhere else… but right now, I’m just sad and disappointed," she wrote on her Instagram post.

Nearly signed up for a new PT package

Speaking to Zaobao, Chen revealed she had just completed a set of 24 personal training (PT) sessions, which require additional payment on top of membership fees.

She said she had been planning to renew her PT package, but held off as her daughter had returned from overseas and she spent two weeks with her instead. As a result, she had not yet paid for a new package when the closure was announced.

Chen also shared that she joined True Fitness in 2017 as a lifetime member.

According to a Straits Times report, two individuals who bought lifetime packages in the 2010s paid around S$8,000 to S$9,000. There's also a S$100 annual fee to maintain the membership.

On the prospect of a refund, Chen said that even if the company goes through liquidation, remaining assets are usually prioritised for staff salaries and debt repayment first, with member refunds typically last in line. She said getting any money back seemed "practically impossible".

She also pointed to the impact on gym staff who had suddenly lost their jobs, including some who had come from overseas to work in Singapore and had already started families here.

Chen noted that outlets that are about to close usually see a drop in business beforehand, but said the outlets she frequented were always crowded with full classes, which added to her shock at the closure.

When Vanessia Woo told her youngest child, Olivia, that she had stage three breast cancer, Olivia did not react much.

She was only five then, and maybe did not understand the severity of her mother's illness.

But it was also somewhat of a role reversal for mother and daughter.

Olivia was just five weeks old when Vanessia and her husband learnt their tiny baby had leukaemia.

A brave front

They had brought her to a hospital for a fever, Vanessia remembers. Just to get it checked out.

But two blood tests later, the doctors confirmed that about 90 per cent of the cells in her bone marrow were leukaemia cells.

"That broke us," Vanessia said. "We didn't know how to react."

She tried to be strong for her child. For the first few months of her life in 2018, Olivia underwent various tests, surgeries, and chemotherapy.

To check whether she was responding well to treatment, doctors had to do a lumbar puncture every few weeks. This involved inserting a very long needle into her lower back to draw samples of fluid surrounding her spinal cord.

As Olivia was so young at the time, the procedure had to be done without any anaesthetic.

It was "crazy" for Vanessia to imagine the pain her baby must have felt.

"Every single time that I had to send her for the test, I put up a brave front when I bring her into the room," the mother, now 48, said.

"And the minute I stepped out, I broke down, every single time."

Photos she shared of Olivia in hospital show her face bloated as a result of the treatment. She also developed a cyst on her bottom that required surgery to remove.

The sister's offer

There wasn't much Vanessia could do about the procedures, but she was determined to give her little girl as much care as she could.

Every day for six months, she would keep Olivia company in the isolation ward. During this time, she would breastfeed her despite the stress affecting her milk flow.

Vanessia did not carry the weight of caregiving alone.

Her husband, who she described as her biggest source of support at the time, was right next to her in the hospital with Olivia through the first 10 weeks or so, under paternity leave.

Her brother would also take over watching Olivia in the hospital when Vanessia needed a break.

The support she perhaps least expected came from her eldest child Kate.

At a young 10 years old, Kate was willing and eager to give her bone marrow to save her younger sister once the family found out that she was a perfect match for a stem cell transplant.

When Vanessia sat Kate down to explain the situation and that Olivia might need her bone marrow, Kate told her it was no problem.

"I'll do anything for Olivia," she said. "I'm not afraid of the pain."

Fortunately, the doctors said that the stem cells Kate had stored with Cordlife when she was born were sufficient to not require Kate's bone marrow for the procedure.

It was a great relief to Vanessia and her husband, who were deeply moved by Kate's gesture.

The stem cell transplant was a success, and Olivia was discharged from the hospital when she was eight months old.

Double diagnoses

Given that her cancer treatment happened all before she turned one, it's no surprise that Olivia, now eight, does not remember the experience. All she knows of it came from the stories her parents told her later.

Vanessia counts this as a blessing.

The rest of the family, however, remember it all too well, making it harder for Vanessia to tell them about her own diagnosis five years later in 2023.

When she learnt she had breast cancer, the first thing that came to her mind was, "What's going to happen to my children?"

"I wasn't even afraid for myself... I was just afraid that I won't be there for [my children]."

The double cancer diagnoses in the family hit her two older children hard.

Not only were they worried for their mother, they also missed spending time with her.

Her son Travis kept falling ill himself during those months when Olivia had leukaemia. Not yet three at the time, he was sad he was barely seeing his parents.

Vanessia did not want that to happen again.

Even as she felt tired from chemotherapy, she made sure to be present for her children.

"Sometimes I don't even want to get out of bed. I can't even calm down," she said. "But I know that they'll be worried...if they don't see me, so I have to still get up and come downstairs and have a meal with them, or chat with them."

After that, she would hide away in her bedroom. Her room became a safe haven for her, where she allowed only her husband to see her vulnerable side during this time.

Hiding the effects of the treatment was the toughest part, but as she did when Olivia was sick, Vanessia wanted to be strong for her family.

From caregiver to patient

But no one can be strong all the time.

Pivoting from caregiver to someone needing care, it took Vanessia some time to start leaning on others.

Thinking that the diagnosis would make her mother sad, she tried to avoid telling her. Her mother, however, had a gut feeling something was wrong.

When Vanessia did break the news, her mother surprised her by saying calmly, "Okay, let's get through this. Let's get you treated."

Her father was no different. He assured her that with today's medical advancements, there was nothing to worry about, and she would get through it.

"That, to me, was the biggest comfort that I got," Vanessia said.

Unlike Olivia who fell sick as a child, she was an adult who could not rely on others to always be there to help her.

Yet this did not mean she had to do everything on her own — she needed to seek help from others.

This included asking her parents to move in to help take care of her children during her treatment, and calling up her friends to ask if they would drive her to chemotherapy sessions.

"Initially, it was a bit uncomfortable because I'm always the one giving the care," she said. "But after a while, I learnt to appreciate it, and learnt that asking for help... There's no shame in that."

Taking it in stride

Looking back at her journey through cancer, Vanessia believes she made many brave decisions.

Knowing that she would start losing her hair, she went ahead and shaved it all off before it even began, about two weeks into treatment.

"I think to me, seeing my long hair fall out is more painful than me trying to just remove it... so that I don't see the hair fall," she said.

Her mother, husband, and son were right beside her in the salon, each of them taking turns to shave her head.

"I felt very confident in being bald," she said. "I never try to hide it."

Her hair was not the only, nor the hardest, thing she had to remove.

Although her cancer had only spread to her left breast at the time, Vanessia decided to remove both her breasts as a preventive measure.

A double mastectomy would make the breast reconstruction procedure afterwards more painful, but she was determined to make sure she stayed healthy.

"Thinking back, if you ask me again, I think I'll still do it," she said. "It makes me proud of myself for being able to to make that decision and move on."

Now, about two years later, she spoke to us comfortably in her home, while enjoying an afternoon snack with Olivia and her mother.

Living her fullest life

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as Olivia shares her mother's strong will and positive attitude.

One of the chemotherapy drugs Olivia received caused an irreversible nerve damage, leaving her with a foot drop.

She has no control over her left ankle and cannot lift that foot. To help her walk more easily, she wears a brace known as an ankle-foot orthosis when she goes out.

It's a side effect she will have to live with, but it has not stopped her from doing things that other children can do — running, cycling, swimming.

In fact, we had moved our interview forward slightly so that Olivia could go to swimming class afterwards.

Sitting beside her mother as we chatted, Olivia was a bundle of energy.

She laughed and kicked her legs around as she talked about her plan to dance in the streets of South Korea on an upcoming trip arranged by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Looking fondly at her daughter, Vanessia said she is most proud of Olivia's can-do spirit.

"Never once was she affected by her physical appearance... She's always willing to try everything."

There would still be physiotherapy exercises Olivia did not want to do, but all it takes is a little explanation from her mother that they would help to strengthen her legs, and she would readily agree.

"She knows what needs to be done, and she will do it," Vanessia said.

The tough times will pass

On Aug. 29, both mother and daughter walked the runway together at Fashion for Cancer, an annual charity fashion show that raises funds for cancer research and patient support.

Featuring cancer patients and survivors as models, the initiative also hopes to bring hope and strength to others going through the journey.

But before that, back at home, Vanessia had to pause to think about what encouragement she would give to someone in her position.

"No words can describe what a parent has to go through when their child is sick," she said.

"I can't tell them to stay positive when things are looking bad... but what I can tell them that is that the tough times will pass.

You will see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just hang on... You'll get through it."

To others going through cancer, Olivia had simple words of comfort: "Don’t worry, you’ll be fine."

Almost the same thing she told her mother, with a pat on the back, when she was going through cancer.

Olivia may not remember her own experience, but Vanessia never lets her forget the special bond they have, as fighters, as survivors.

It's good to have loved ones you can rely on, the young girl added.

@mothershipsg The Tan family faced not 1, but 2 cancer diagnoses – mum and younger daughter – and a difficult choice: whether to use one child’s bone marrow to save another. Through it all, their unconditional love and unwavering support carried them through. Today, both mother and daughter are cancer survivors, proudly walking the runway together at the 2026 Fashion for Cancer event❤️ #mothershiporiginals ♬ original sound - Mothership