XH Delicious Seafood in Chinatown will permanently close on Nov. 25, 2026.

The closure comes just seven months after it started operating at Chinatown Coffee Shop at Temple Street on Apr. 20.

The zi char stall will relocate its operations to Ipoh, Malaysia.

In a Facebook post on Nov. 5, the chef Devid Retanasamy, 43, said the move is an “important turning point”.

Experience

According to the post, Retanasamy worked in Singapore for about 24 years, from 2002 to 2026.

“Throughout these years, he has gained valuable experience, faced many challenges, learned countless lessons, and grown both personally and professionally,” the post’s caption read.

The chef “feels that he has gained the experience and knowledge needed” and intends to return to his hometown in Ipoh to start his own business.

Family

The move was also partly attributed to Retanasamy “always” prioritising his career and responsibilities.

“In his pursuit of success and a better future, he gradually realised that he had missed out on many precious moments with his family,” the post said.

“At this stage of his life, he wishes to slow down a little, spend more quality time with his loved ones, and cherish the moments that truly matter,” it added.

The business expressed its gratitude towards the support shown.

“Although we are saying goodbye to Singapore, this is not the end of our journey. It is simply the beginning of a new chapter in Ipoh,” the caption read.

Losses

According to The Straits Times, the business has lost more than S$10,000 since it opened.

Its daily takings of S$500 reportedly fell below the S$800 amount needed to cover operating costs.

Retanasamy also said he faced unsuccessful business partnerships and disagreements with various employers previously.

In February 2026, the Mandarin-speaking chef became the culinary director of Xiao Hei Tze Char, a franchise which adopted his nickname, ST reported.

The name "Xiao Hei" is a reference to his dark complexion, according to ST, and he treats it as a term of endearment.

The franchise opened its first outlet in Hougang in February and the second outlet in Bedok in March.

Retanasamy left in early April due to disagreements with management over his responsibilities and how much he earned.

He said he had to cook, recruit, find suppliers, plan menus and make sauces for all the outlets.

He joined the Temple Street operation after that stint.

Leave

While he is tempted to stay in Singapore, the chef has already decided to leave to be with his wife and three children aged 10, 13, and 17.

He reportedly estimated that he will need about RM20,000 (S$6,259) to set up his new business in Ipoh and intends to begin operations with just two employees.

Retansamy is also apparently prepared to sell his jewellery, which he estimates is worth RM70,000 (S$21,906) to RM80,000 (S$25,036), to finance his new business.

He will need to service his mortgage for this Ipoh shophouse and home in Johor Bahru, ST reported.

His new stall will be located at No. 16A, Jalan Lapangan Suria Medam, Lapangan Suria, 31350 Ipoh, Perak.

The midterms are yesterday’s news; it's now time to make like an American and speculate wildly over who is running for U.S. president in 2028.

But why, as Singaporeans, do we care?

Fair question. Short answer: look at your electricity bill.

About 95 per cent of Singapore’s power comes from imported natural gas. When the U.S. went to war with Iran in February and the Strait of Hormuz was choked off, Asian LNG prices roughly tripled. By July, households here were paying the highest electricity tariff in Singapore’s history, after a 17 per cent jump in a single quarter.

Bills have eased since, but SP Group has warned they could climb again if the Middle East flares up.

In other words, who sits in the Oval Office in 2029 is, quite literally, a line item on your utilities bill.

Any other reasons? Just for fun, I guess. (Also, almost none of the nicknames are really in use. Except the Viceroy one)

The Democrats:

The Democrats have just completed a generational win against the Republican Party in the 2026 midterm elections, even though they are only marginally more popular as a party.

The Democrats will also have to contend with their greatest enemy: other factions of the Democratic Party.

The Democrats have already begun what could be a bitter fight between progressives and establishment figures over who the Speaker of the House and Senate Majority Leader should be.

And these will by no means be the only names in contention, especially with every Democrat and their mother having such a strong showing in 2026.

So there is a great opportunity to be seized in 2028, but the party will still have to choose carefully.

Jon “Newbama” Ossoff, Senator from Georgia

Ossoff is a picture-perfect politician, articulate, and has positioned himself just a shade to the left of centre.

Already touted as the “new Barack Obama” in some circles, he is young, dynamic, and projects hope and change without scaring business leaders.

Highly popular, he won re-election by about 18 percentage points, so comprehensively that he was amongst the first senatorial results to be called after polls closed.

As of Nov. 6, he is the frontrunner on gambling sites like Kalshi to be the victor in 2028, and his ability to appeal across a spectrum of voters, Democrat, Republican, and independent, will be a cornerstone of any bid.

Ossoff has pledged to serve his full six-year term as Senator. But you know which young, telegenic senator said the same, then changed his mind?

Barack Obama.

Alexandria “The Progressive” Ocasio-Cortez, Congresswoman for New York

A mentee of progressive titan Bernie Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez burst onto the stage in 2018, the other time Donald Trump lost the House in a midterm, ousting a Democratic grandee along the way.

Ocasio-Cortez has been labeled a polarising figure, but she pioneered the policy positions that were at the heart of 2026's Democratic wave.

She is also pragmatic about her role as a progressive Latina woman possibly harming her overall chances in 2028.

When asked if she might run, the alternative option appears to be a Senate run for Chuck Schumer's seat (whether he wants to leave it or not), she said that her ambition is not bounded by a position, and that "her ambition is to change the country".

Her real aim, perhaps, is to "make presidents", rather than merely be one.

Gavin “Guv’nor” Newsom, Governor of California

Newsom is wrapping up a relatively successful two-term governorship of California, and paired with his previous role as mayor of San Francisco, he has something that Ossoff and AOC don’t: executive experience.

Newsom has spent his time building a resume of addressing nuts-and-bolts issues, like healthcare, climate issues, and housing; and has built a record that voters can judge him by, for good or for ill.

He’s on this list because California is an anchor state in Democratic presidential calculations, but also because of the prominence he gained trolling Trump via social media, aping Trump’s bombastic style, and leading the party's retaliation to Republican gerrymandering.

But two years is a long time to build momentum and what political operatives call “name recognition.”

Bonus fighter: JB "The progressive billionaire" Pritzker

Newsom is more recognisable, but there is a better fit for the "experienced governor": Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, the progressive billionaire.

Pritzker is heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, and is an odd fit amongst progressives, but his record of pragmatic fiscal policy and liberal social policy puts him in the same position as Ossoff, able to appeal to both wings of his party.

He also has the support of Illinois, which backed him by over 20 percentage points for his third term, and he’s spent a significant amount of time and money during the midterms travelling to back other Democrats.

The Republicans

The body of the Republican Congressional Majority is barely cold, and already the Republicans are casting about for something to blame for the losses.

The party of the president almost always loses seats during midterms, but the scale and nature of the loss is staggering.

In the same way that California is the foundation of any Democratic presidential victory, so Texas is for Republicans.

Prominent Fox News co-host Jesse Watters said what many political observers feel to be true: if the Republican Party cannot win back Texas, the party will “never sniff the White House ever again.”

JD “The Vice” Vance

JD Vance is heir apparent to the Trump Trump.

In modern times, sitting vice presidents who seek their party’s presidential nomination almost always win it: think Richard Nixon in 1960, Hubert Humphrey in 1968, George H.W. Bush in 1988 and Al Gore in 2000.

Prior to election day, Vance was leading prediction markets like Kalshi’s to win in 2028, no doubt due to a belief that Trump’s 2024 victory had irrevocably changed the U.S.’s electoral map.

After Nov. 3, that no longer looks like a good bet, with the recrimination over the massive scale of losses starting almost right away, with Vance himself blaming his boss’s war for the losses.

But for Vance to bask in the warm glow of Trump’s success, he must also face the heat when things begin to melt down.

Marco “The Viceroy” Rubio

In 2013, Hillary Clinton stepped down after a relatively successful stint as Secretary of State just after national election, to eventually start a second attempt to win the presidency.

Rubio looks set to echo this; he too lost a primary to his eventual boss in his first attempt, was also previously in the Senate, and he’s probably going to end up testifying in the Senate for a quagmire in the MENA region.

As an executor of the president’s will, Rubio is ultimately judged less for achievements, but on his ability to carry out his job without major issues, something that he has managed to do despite the turbulent nature of Trump’s foreign policy.

The nickname refers to him being mockingly called the “Viceroy of Venezuela," as Rubio was effectively put in charge of the new Venezuelan government’s compliance with U.S. demands after its former president Nicolas Maduro was seized in January 2026.

But there are probably worse things to be associated with than the more successful of Trump’s two major overseas adventures, especially when it's the only one going to plan.

Chris “Never Trumper” Christie

The case for Chris Christie isn’t really his two-term governorship of New Jersey; others, such as Florida’s Ron DeSantis, can claim the same.

Rather, it’s that Christie became a strident opponent of Trump from within the Republican Party, breaking with him after Trump falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen.

Christie has said he is considering a third run at the presidency, and he offers something neither Vance nor Rubio can: a clean break from the Trump era. Since the midterms, he has gone further, declaring that “the Trump era is over”.

As it becomes clear that Trumpism is not the winning formula many Republicans hoped it would be, a door is opening for Trump’s critics to steer the party back towards what they consider traditional Republican values: smaller government and fiscal responsibility.

The catch: he didn’t win a single state in either of his last two runs.

The Outsiders

Donald Trump's main appeal was that he would be a consummate outsider to an electorate craving the end of business as usual.

That energy is still there to be claimed, and there is a chance that a serious contender from outside the two party structure might emerge, as Trump himself did.

Tucker “The Show” Carlson

Carlson is a prominent, perhaps the most prominent, conservative commentator, and he has broken publicly with Trump over the Iran war, going as far as calling for the president’s removal.

If he does, he has some of the benefits of Christie, and possibly some of the same motivations.

If Trump is the father of the MAGA movement, Carlson might be its godfather.

He is accused of spending much of his recent career cultivating and growing the conspiratorial, right wing, and at times racist elements of the movement.

Should he run, he has a unique platform to do it from: a huge social media following, plus years as the host of a primetime show on Fox News.

The catch? He says he won’t. Carlson has laughed off the idea of a presidential bid, though he has teased starting a third party, which is arguably the more outsider move anyway.

A driver was seen allegedly attempting to escape from the police at a junction in Little India and ran a red light.

However, the car was hit by an oncoming vehicle and overturned.

Video of incident

A video of the incident, shared by TikTok user @fa1_exe in the early hours of Nov. 7, showed the scene as it unfolded.

The car that overturned was a brown SUV.

It was seen going past the traffic junction near Farrer Park MRT station.

Police sirens could be heard as the vehicle apparently beat the red light.

A white car approached from the left and crashed into the back of the SUV.

The brown vehicle flipped and came to a stop along the road divider.

The police caught up to the car, and exited their patrol vehicles to approach the SUV on foot.

Wanted

In a Nov. 7 press release, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said they arrested the 33-year-old driver.

He was believed to have been responsible for a case of assault the previous day.

On Nov. 6, at 8:35pm, the police were alerted that a 33-year-old man had assaulted another man with a sharp object, causing him to sustain injuries.

The victim had to be sent to the hospital, while the offender fled in his vehicle.

A few hours later, at 12:05am on Nov. 7, patrolling officers along Tessensohn Road spotted the vehicle and signalled it to stop.

However, the driver sped off, and subsequently collided with another car and overturned at the junction of Race Course Road and Birch Road.

He was arrested and sent to Changi General Hospital.

The other car driver, 36, and his two female passengers, aged 26 and 42, were conveyed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, according to the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) in response to Mothership's queries.

The man will be charged in court on Nov. 7 with the offence of voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous means and failure to provide specimen of breath.

He will also be investigated for dangerous driving causing hurt.

If found guilty of voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous means, he could be imprisoned for up to seven years, fined, or caned, or receive a combination of the three.

For failure to provide specimen of breath could result in a jail term of up to six months, and a fine of not less than S$1,000 and not more than S$5,000.

The police said they have zero tolerance for "brazen acts of violence" and stressed that they will not hesitate to act against those who disregard the law.

They also reminded motorists to comply with lawful instructions from the police and to abide by traffic laws.

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) has asked Grab to pause some of its autonomous vehicle (AV) testing after one such AV nearly hit a schoolgirl at a traffic crossing in Punggol.

Responding to Mothership's queries on Nov. 6, LTA said that it was aware of the incident and is investigating.

After reviewing the data, LTA confirmed that the vehicle had detected two pedestrians and was tracking their movements.

When the traffic light turned green, the vehicle began to make a left turn.

The pedestrians were initially stationary, but when the child started to cross the road, the vehicle braked and veered to the right, said LTA.

It also added that the safety operator on board the vehicle then took control of the AV and manually braked and steered it away from the pedestrian.

LTA has directed Grab to pause testing at such junctions until investigations have concluded, and said it would review whether the response to such scenarios should be tweaked.

The incident

A video of the near-miss, posted by the Facebook page SG Road Vigilante on Nov. 5, was widely shared online.

The autonomous shuttle could be seen making a discretionary left turn during a green light at a junction, when a schoolgirl began crossing the road.

The pedestrian light was green, but was blinking.

Seeing the vehicle approaching her, the girl stopped in her tracks, and the AV briefly braked before it continued driving on.

Some commenters blamed the girl for moving so suddenly and not looking out for incoming traffic, while others thought that the vehicle's reaction was too slow.

The AV is part of an autonomous shuttle service trial that started in Punggol on Apr. 1 2026.

Grab operates two routes, while ComfortDelGro operates one.

In response to queries from Mothership, a Grab spokesperson said: "Safety is our top priority. We are aware of this incident and are closely reviewing it together with the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and our partner WeRide."

A family-run Teochew meat puff stall is ending its pasar malam operations after 40 years.

Teochew Meat Puff Pte Ltd announced on Facebook that it is running its last stint as a pasar malam stall at the open field opposite Fernvale Primary School in Sengkang, which is operating from Oct. 30 to Nov. 14.

The post added that the owners will be "retiring".

The stall is open daily from 12pm to 9:30pm, including Sundays.

According to Shin Min Daily News, the family decided to stop operating due to rising costs and getting on with age.

Founder approaching 90, still helps at stall

The family business is run by founder He Ying, his wife and their son.

Speaking to Shin Min, the 59-year-old son, He Qiangde, said the family had been considering closing the stall for the past one to two years.

Despite approaching 90, the founder still helps prepare and cook the fritters at the stall, Shin Min reported.

"My parents are getting old, and my father is almost 90," He told Shin Min, adding that he wanted them to rest after four decades of running the business.

Sales have fallen by over 50 per cent

Rising ingredient costs and rental expenses also contributed to the family's decision.

He told Shin Min that daily rental expenses could reach several hundred dollars, while the business sometimes only manages to break even.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the stall was still profitable.

However, He said sales have since fallen by more than 50 per cent.

He also attributed the decline to the increasing number of pasar malam events across Singapore, which made it harder for individual stalls to stand out.

He also observed that crowds at the pasar malam typically begin thinning out at around 8pm.

Final pasar malam until Nov. 14

In its Facebook announcement, the business encouraged customers who had yet to try its meat puffs to visit before its final pasar malam run ends.

The business also thanked customers for their support throughout its 40 years of operations.

He told Shin Min that the family was reluctant to end its long-running stall operations, but remained grateful to customers who have supported them over the decades.

Recently, you might have come across some alarming headlines like this and this about governments urging their citizens to stockpile food.

It's uncanny and unsettling, and if it is making you anxious, you're not the only one.

Rife speculation has prompted governments to assure their citizens.

On Oct. 29, Thailand's National Security Council denied reports that it had issued an advisory to citizens about stockpiling in response to the conflict in the Middle East. Similarly, Malaysia's deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said, emphatically, that the country is "not in a state of emergency" and has enough food to tide the country though six months.

Is something major about to happen? Do we, here in Singapore, need to start stocking up as well? Are we experiencing the end times?

Before you head to the nearest Sheng Siong to start bulk-buying toilet paper, here's what's going on.

Citizens urged to stockpile—but for different reasons

Yes, citizens in a few places have been urged to stockpile food, but for completely different reasons and contexts.

The UK government launched the Be Ready campaign on Oct. 22, encouraging its citizens to have three days' worth of supplies in the event of severe weather or cyberattack.

"Are you emergency ready?" the campaign website asks.

"Being ready for 3 days helps you manage while support reaches those in need," it reads.

Speaking on the campaign, UK prime minister Andy Burnham, who apparently has stockpiles of beans, soup and Twiglets, said the move was aimed at preparing people at a time where "unexpected events seem to be becoming more and more common".

Less than a week later, officials in Normandy put out a post on social media advising residents to prepare their 72-hour emergency kits early.

Don't wait for the emergency, prepare now!" the post read on Facebook.

Officials in Normandy did not provide a reason for this notice but it came amid a period of social unrest that resulted in violent clashes and infrastructural disruptions.

Across the world, the head of Japan's newly launched National Disaster Management Agency also urged citizens on Nov. 2 to stock up on water and food supplies enough to last three days to a week.

Framed as an "emergency request", the chief, Goshi Hosono, said the country should prepare for large-scale disasters, including a potential megaquake in the Nankai Trough off the Pacific coast. 

Aside from storing food, the agency also asked people to take measures such as securing their furniture to walls and familiarising themselves with the locations of evacuation shelters.

These have also prompted authorities in other jurisdictions, such as Canada and Mexico, to reiterate their own preparedness advisories.

Not new

Taken together, these advisories might give the impression that governments around the world are suddenly scrambling to respond to an imminent threat.

However, the truth is emergency planning has been intensified for years now in response to a world that that increasingly prone to conflict, extreme natural disasters, infrastructural sabotage and more.

When the European Union launched its Preparedness Union Strategy in March 2025, its Commissioner for Preparedness, Crisis Management and Equality, Hadja Lahbib, called for a more proactive and integrated response to the "fast, complex, and interconnected" threats that Europe faces today.

Nordic countries have also been priming their citizens since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, bracing them for a whole host of calamities from terrorism to the collapse of the Internet.

No single threat

Richard Clarke, a former White House counter-terrorism adviser, told CNN in an interview that there is "no specific threat" spurring the recent global push for citizens to maintain an inventory of essential supplies.

Clarke acknowledged that being prepared is "smart" and "prudent" given the possibility of threats like natural disasters and war.

In particular, Clarke pointed out the "fragile" nature of supply systems due to their dependence on the internet. These are vulnerable to attacks, more so at a time when artificial intelligence can greatly boost a rogue hacker's ability to break into and shut down networks.

The recent supermarket cyber attacks in Europe illustrate this.

In the past month, supermarkets across Europe have repeatedly been targeted by cyber attacks, with hackers remotely raising freezer temperatures and causing food to go bad.

Blood banks in France were also targeted in November. While these attacks were unsuccessful, they posed a risk to the 19,000 hospitals in France that depend on the blood products from these blood banks.

What about Singapore?

Singapore hasn't made similar announcements although the government has longstanding preparedness advisories for emergencies.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) recommends putting together a Ready Bag containing essentials like an N95 mask and first aid kit, which should be brought along when one needs to evacuate the house.

Food stockpiling is managed by the state, which maintains reserves of essential food items like rice, canned vegetables, and frozen proteins. These reserves are meant to act as a buffer while food supply is being restored during a widespread disruption.

Singaporeans are encouraged not to hoard food and instead exercise flexibility in switching to alternative brands or substitute foods when a specific item is unavailable.

As for inculcating a culture of preparedness, Singapore's answer to that is Total Defence. Introduced in 1984 as the country's "national defence concept" as a safeguard against military threats, Total Defence has evolved to cover non-conventional threats such as pandemic and disinformation warfare.

It isn't an abstract concept; preparing a Ready Bag and being flexible about options during a food shortage are practical examples of Psychological Defence.

TL;DR: Don't worry

So, is a major emergency on the horizon? Not really.

However, the prospect of it has increased not just in possibility, but complexity; it pays to be alert—not just to our immediate surroundings, but also to happenings in the world.

In some countries, the threat of war is more apparent. In others, natural disasters are a constant worry. As technology gets more sophisticated, cyber attacks pose a danger to most advanced societies reliant on digital infrastructure.

Facing all these, it would seem apt for governments to take a prudent approach to increase awareness and resilience among its citizenry, even though the threat is not imminent.

If you decide to start preparing for an emergency now, there is no need to rush or panic. It is just good practice.

A 27-year-old Singaporean man, Lam Yong Yan, has been arrested for allegedly being involved in government official impersonation scams targeting victims in Singapore.

The arrest was made by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) after he was deported from Vietnam.

Suspected to be part of Cambodia-based scam group

Lam is believed to be a member of an organised criminal group based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

The syndicate is believed to be linked to at least 528 reported scam cases, involving total losses amounting to about S$53 million, SPF said.

They operated from a scam compound that was disrupted during a joint operation by the SPF and the Cambodian National Police on Sep. 9, 2025.

Lam was detained by the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) of Vietnam for immigration offences on Nov. 19, 2025.

He was among the 36 suspects wanted by the SPF for being part of an organised criminal group.

Lam was deported to Singapore on Nov. 6 after MPS Vietnam completed their investigations.

SPF arrested Lam upon his arrival.

He will be charged in court on Nov. 7, 2026 with facilitating the commission of a serious offence, in furtherance of the illegal purpose of a locally linked organised criminal group.

The offence carries a jail term of up to five years, a fine of up to S$100,000, or both.

Julius Lim, director of CID, expressed his appreciation to MPS Vietnam.

"Those who prey on victims in Singapore should know that crossing borders does not put them beyond the reach of the law. The SPF will work with our international partners to hold them accountable, however far they go,” Lim said.

List of 36 wanted suspects

Malaysian transport minister Anthony Loke has told Malaysian media that he will keep to his word and quit as soon as former Prime Minister Najib Razak steps foot at home to begin his house arrest.

This comes after news that the RM50 million (S$15.6 million) fine, part of the conditional pardon granted to Najib, has been paid.

According to Oriental Daily, Loke told reporters on Friday (Nov. 6): "The moment Datuk Seri Najib sets foot in his home, that's when I will resign. If it's tonight, I will resign tonight. If it's tomorrow, I will resign tomorrow."

At 5:25pm, China Press reported that Najib was undergoing a dental examination at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur.

Loke's protest

Loke had tendered his resignation in protest of the conditional pardon granted to Najib on Sep. 18 by Malaysian King Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar.

The conditional pardon allows Najib to serve out the remainder of his jail term under house arrest after paying a RM50 million (S$15.6 million) fine.

Najib was jailed for corruption and money laundering relating to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.

His jail term ends on Aug. 23, 2028.

According to the South China Morning Post, Loke said that he, along with the DAP and "many others", could not abide by the decision of the conditional pardon.

Loke then tendered his resignation with Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who asked him to continue with his duties for the time being.

This prompted mockery from Najib, who commented in a Sep. 28 Facebook post: "Apparently, the principle has now shifted to conditional resignation."

On Friday, Najib's party, United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), said that they had raised enough funds and paid off the RM50 million (S$15.6 million) fine.

The party previously sought donations for the "Najib Razak Solidarity Fund".

A 68-year-old woman in Hong Kong has been sentenced to 20 days' jail for slapping a five-year-old girl after the child and her grandson argued over a basketball at a mall play area.

The South China Morning Post reported that Leung Lai-ha pleaded guilty on Nov. 5 to assaulting the girl and admitted that she hit her on impulse.

Physical altercation

Three adults were involved in the physical altercation on Aug. 26, according to SCMP.

They were Leung, her daughter Ng Ka-wun, 34, and the girl's 34-year-old mother, Xu Yang.

According to SCMP, the fight escalated after Leung knocked the girl down.

Mall

An earlier report mentioned that the incident occurred in the atrium of APM shopping mall, located in Hong Kong's Kwun Tong district.

Footage of the slap, circulating online, showed Leung shoving the girl, then slapping her across the face, causing her to fall on the ground.

However, following investigations, the police believed that Leung may have been hit first by the girl's mother.

What happened?

The day of the incident, APM mall had a sports-themed playground at its atrium.

Leung and Ng brought the boy to play there.

Xu had separately brought her five-year-old daughter, The Standard reported.

The dispute began when the two children argued over a basketball installation.

After Leung shoved and slapped the girl, the girl's mother confronted both Leung and Ng, and further scuffling ensued.

A man who intervened at one point went towards Leung and yelled in Cantonese, "Did you just hit a child? I saw you."

Ng also confronted Xu while holding an umbrella and told her, "You cannot leave."

According to The Standard, there is another video that shows Xu allegedly slapping Leung across the face during a heated exchange before Leung slapped the girl.

Charged

This saw all three adults being jointly charged with a count of fighting in a public place before acting principal magistrate Li Chi-ho at Kwun Tong Court, where they admitted to the facts regarding their offence.

Leung, who faced an additional count of common assault, had hit the girl to "teach her a lesson", she told the police.

She added: "The girl was bullying my grandson, so I pushed her and slapped her to teach her a lesson."

SCMP reported that Ng and Xu each claimed the other had started the fight and told police they were acting in self-defence.

Ng was suspended by her employer, insurance provider AIA, following the dispute.

In a statement on Aug. 27, an AIA spokesperson said the company held its advisers to strict standards of professional conduct and did not condone any form of violence.

Medical examination, sentencing

According to the medical examination, the girl reportedly had a swollen cheek, while her mother and Ng also had minor facial injuries. Leung had minor scratches on her arm.

Li said in sentencing that Leung should not have taken her anger out on the girl and gave her a jail sentence and a HK$2,000 (S$326) fine, SCMP reported.

Ng and Xu were each bound over to keep the peace for a year. If either reoffends within that period, she will forfeit HK$1,000 (S$163).

The Court of Appeal has published the full reasons for acquitting former Wah!Banana actor Lev Panfilov of his charges of raping and sexually assaulting a woman he met on Tinder.

The 30-year-old Russian national was previously sentenced to 11 years and six months in jail, as well as 12 strokes of the cane on May 19, 2025.

The trial judge had previously convicted Panfilov after finding the woman an "unusually convincing" witness and Panfilov not a "credible witness".

In "he said, she said" cases, an "unusually convincing" standard sets the threshold for a complainant's testimony to be preferred over an accused's evidence.

Panfilov later appealed and was acquitted of all charges on Sep. 2.

According to the written grounds published on Nov. 5, the court, comprising Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, Justice Ang Cheng Hock and Justice Sushil Nair, ruled that the judge had erred in finding the woman's evidence "unusually convincing".

The written reasons also noted that the defence did not find any internal consistencies with the complainant's testimony, so there was no reason to overturn the judge's finding that the testimony was internally consistent.

However:

"Having reviewed the evidence, the Court was of the view that a number of external inconsistencies arose in the course of the complainant’s testimony.

These inconsistencies, when viewed in isolation, might not have stood in the way of the complainant’s testimony meeting the “unusually convincing” standard.

However, when taken collectively, they gave rise to a reasonable doubt in the Prosecution’s case.

In addition, a consideration of the physical evidence relating to this case, against the findings reached by the learned Judge in coming to the conclusions he did, raised a number of unresolved questions."

Inconsistencies

1. Screaming

The woman told a doctor on Jan. 18, 2021 that she had screamed during the alleged assault and stopped only because Panfilov forcefully prevented her from doing so.

In court, however, her testimony implied she had chosen not to scream, partly out of fear.

The court rejected the prosecution's description of this as a "minor inconsistency", saying the change suggested she "may have embellished the facts".

"When faced with two different possibilities, neither of which was more plausible than the other, it was only right for this court to resolve such a conflict in favour of the accused," it said.

2. Blood-stained underwear

The woman said she noticed blood on her underwear when she got home after the alleged incident, and testified that it was due to the alleged assault.

However, she retrieved the underwear from her laundry basket six days after the alleged incident to bring it to the police station to make a report, and agreed that she accumulated clothes for two to three weeks.

It was also undisputed that she had her period on Jan. 14, 2021, within the six days between the alleged incident on Jan. 12 and Jan. 18, 2021.

The court said this made it plausible that the basket contained clothes worn while she was menstruating, and there was no evidence the blood was not menstrual blood.

Moreover, Panfilov’s description of the underwear she wore that night also differed materially from the photograph of the blood-stained underwear in evidence.

"These inconsistencies and unresolved questions pertaining to the blood-stained underwear were material because they struck at the very heart of the prosecution’s case," the court said, noting that the underwear was the only physical evidence of the alleged sexual assault.

3. Memo

About four days after the alleged assault, the woman asked a doctor for a memo stating she had vaginal injuries and had been raped.

According to the doctor, the woman wanted to potentially approach Panfilov’s family with it and tell them what happened.

The court found it hard to accept that she could not recall asking for the memo, which was the very purpose of her visit.

The doctor also said that after the consultation, the woman asked to cancel the consultation record, which she omitted from her account.

These inconsistencies "lent some credence to the defence’s case that the complainant wanted to obtain a memo to confront Panfilov’s family and, when she failed to do so, wanted to erase evidence of the consultation from the clinic records," the court said.

4. Initial hesitance to make a police report

The court also found it "puzzling" that the woman initially hesitated to make a police report when she knew of the underwear, which she said was physical evidence of the alleged assault.

She later also testified that seeing the underwear had caused her to break down in tears after the alleged incident.

"It was therefore somewhat difficult to understand how the complainant could have completely forgotten about the existence of the very thing that had caused her to break down just barely three to four days later," the court said.

This therefore also cast doubt on whether it was the underwear she wore that night.

Other inconsistencies

The court said there was a gap in time during the alleged incident when Panfilov put on a condom, during which the woman did not perceive him doing anything to her.

This sat at odds with her account that she had tried to escape at least twice before being pushed onto the bed.

It was also questionable that Panfilov would go to the bathroom and struggle with the condom before resuming an attack, given her earlier attempts to leave

Objectively, the court said, the gap was "more consistent with the sexual encounter being consensual".

The court stressed that victims of sexual crimes cannot be "straitjacketed" in how they are expected to react.

However, this does not mean a complainant's post-incident conduct has no probative value, especially when it is inconsistent with other parts of her testimony.

The court also noted that the woman gave Panfilov her home address so he could book her a car, and replied to his message checking that she got home safely.

It said these were not explicable.

The court declined to place weight on a roughly 40-second CCTV clip of the woman walking out of the lift, saying it was not enough to help decide her credibility either way.

Judge had erred in finding the woman's evidence "unusually convincing"

The court said the unresolved inconsistencies gave reason to doubt her account that the encounter on Jan. 12, 2021 was non-consensual and violent.

"We did not think that the complainant met the threshold of being an "unusually convincing" witness and a reasonable doubt arose within the prosecution’s case," it said.

The court added that neither the woman's account nor Panfilov's could be said to be more believable than the other.

"In such a situation, the court could only be guided by the "cornerstone of our criminal jurisprudence" that, where the evidence may lead to two equally reasonable results, that suffices to establish reasonable doubt."