A 70-year-old woman, who had lived in a cluttered three-room flat in Bedok for years, was in for a surprise when volunteers helping to clear her home found thousands of dollars in coins and several gold chains buried amid the clutter.

The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, has been living in the flat with her younger sister for more than a decade.

According to Chinese-language daily Shin Min Daily News, the pair had depended on each other after their parents died, but the home gradually became filled with clutter following their mother's death more than 10 years ago.

Plastic bags containing electrical appliances, cardboard boxes, clothes and other items piled up over time, eventually leaving only a narrow path through the flat.

"Even our bedroom was packed with bags, both on the inside and outside, making it difficult to enter," the woman said, adding that the sisters had even lost track of what was inside some of the bags.

Cleanup efforts

On Jun. 6, volunteers from AMKSS Social Move, a ground-up community initiative founded by Michael Sim, alongside a group of Ang Mo Kio Secondary School alumni, stepped in to help, Shin Min reported.

The group, comprising between 20 and 30 volunteers, and more than 10 others from the town council, spent about eight hours sorting through and clearing out the flat, going through the bags and sorting out items that could be discarded.

It was during this process that volunteers found a stash of coins, believed to weigh upwards of 10kg in total, along with gold chains that had belonged to the woman's late mother.

"If it weren't for this big clean-up, I would never have known that these items existed," the woman said. "It was a pleasant surprise, and I am very grateful to Sim and the team for their help."

"I've been living in such an environment for years"

According to Shin Min, the woman said her younger sister, who suffers from depression and poor health, had increasingly hoarded items in recent years.

She said the room sometimes smelled of urine and that there were bedbugs in the house.

"I've asked her to clean it, but she won't listen. I've been living in such an environment for years, and I feel very helpless," she said.

The woman further added that she had resorted to sleeping in the toilet for several months to avoid being bitten by bedbugs.

Sim said the clean-up was prompted after the younger sister was hospitalised earlier this month.

A hospital social worker who learned of the sisters' living conditions then contacted his group for help.

"The situation at their home was very serious, and I was worried about potential safety hazards, so I made arrangements immediately," he said.

It took about five visits to the flat, including for pest control, before the home was cleaned up to its current state.

Sim added that further repairs are still needed, such as repainting the walls and replacing doors and cabinets, with volunteers having covered about S$2,000 in costs out of pocket so far.

In a Facebook post, AMKSS Social Move said the clean-up, which was supported by East Coast Town Council, the Housing and Development Board (HDB), as well as the New Environment Action Team (NEAT), had transformed the woman's home into "a safer, cleaner and more comfortable living environment".

A woman from Jiangsu, China, is seeking a refund after her boyfriend spent CN¥94,500 (S$18,064) on a Louis Vuitton ostrich skin bag at a Hangzhou boutique, only for her to discover what she believes was an uneven colour on the bag.

According to HK01, she later suspected the bag was not brand new at all, but a display piece that had been passed around LV stores in different cities, handled and tried on by numerous customers before she bought it.

HK01 reported that the couple were on holiday in Hangzhou on Jun. 8 when they walked into an LV store.

How the sale unfolded

The woman, surnamed Zhang, told Zhejiang satellite TV programme 1818 Golden Eye that a sales associate zeroed in on her and trailed her around the store the moment she walked in.

According to HK01, when Zhang showed interest in handbags, the associate pushed a particular ostrich skin bag, telling her it was the latest style and that there were only two in the entire country.

Zhang said she had just bought a bag two months earlier in Chengdu and didn't really need another one, but the associate kept pressing: "Who doesn't want beautiful things?"

Zhang recalled:

"Once the sales associate heard my boyfriend was going to pay, she immediately found three male staff to surround us. My boyfriend is soft-spoken... He felt that money could solve the problem and didn't want to drag things out. Plus, he wanted to give me a birthday present, so he just paid."

It was only after the purchase that Zhang learnt that staff had engraved her boyfriend's initials onto the dust bag label. The store cited this engraving as the reason they could not process a refund, per HK01.

Colour inconsistency discovered back at the hotel

Back at the hotel, Zhang was filming a video to share with friends when she noticed an area on the side of the bag where the colour appeared noticeably uneven compared to the rest.

She immediately photographed it and messaged the store that evening. Staff initially said the bag could be exchanged, explaining the variation was the natural texture of ostrich skin and not a defect.

Another bag of the same style was brought in from another store as a replacement.

However, Zhang no longer wanted an exchange. According to HK01, she had searched for the bag on social media platform Xiaohongshu and discovered posts from as far back as December last year showing the same bag appearing at LV counters across different cities, with various customers photographed trying it on.

She said:

"It's clearly a display item that many people have touched and tried. I spent nearly CN¥100,000 (S$19,000) because I wanted a brand new, one-of-a-kind bag, not a display item."

Zhang said the store had failed to properly inform her of the bag's status and may have misled her as a consumer.

When Zhang returned to the store, the duty manager said they had no authority to answer questions and asked for written queries to be passed to the relevant department. Zhang went in to negotiate again but left without a resolution.

Her position:

"I just want a refund. I don't want to exchange for something of equal value, and I don't want to continue spending in your store."

According to HK01, the store's final offer was for Zhang to exchange the bag for another LV product of equal or greater value than CN¥94,500 (S$18,064).

LV has not publicly responded to media queries. The bag has since been sent to LV's company for assessment to determine whether the colour variation constitutes a defect.

A Singaporean man living in Punggol was surprised to find his upstairs neighbours knocking on his door to hand him a S$10 FairPrice voucher as an apology for renovation noise on Jun. 13.

In a Facebook post, Patrick Sato Lee said: "The new neighbours upstairs dropped off a voucher to say sorry for all the noise they made during their renovations."

Lee, who is in his 50s, thanked his neighbours "for the voucher and for being so considerate about the renovation noise".

In response to queries from Mothership, Lee said, "I'm surprised at their kind gesture, paiseh to let them stand outside and talk lah."

Apologised for renovation noise

The note, which was written on an envelope, said: "Sorry for the noise caused during our reno. Here is a voucher for you."

"Thank you for your understanding, and see you around!"

The note was signed by "Sean and Kelly".

According to Lee, his smart doorbell alerted him to the couple, whom he invited in.

"Young lovely couple getting married soon. The renovation noise only for a few days, thereafter it was ok."

Netizens commented on Lee's post, praising the couple for their considerate nature, saying that such neighbours were hard to come by.

Others said that the couple's actions were a class act.

E-commerce platform Lazada has laid off about 5 per cent of its workforce across Southeast Asia, following a review of certain roles across its regional markets.

The move was announced on Jun. 23, according to The Business Times (BT).

Unrelated to AI initiatives: BT

While Lazada did not specify which roles were affected, it stated that the review took into account business needs, role requirements and organisational efficiency.

BT reported that the layoffs are not linked to any artificial intelligence-related initiatives.

According to The Straits Times, affected employees were informed on Jun. 23, with the company's human resources team reaching out to them directly.

Lazada told BT that affected employees would be supported in accordance with requirements applicable in each market.

In Singapore, the company said it is working with the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) to manage the process responsibly and ensure affected employees receive the necessary support.

In other markets, it is engaging the relevant government entities and agencies.

Previous layoff in 2024

This is not the first time Lazada has carried out job cuts.

In January 2024, the company laid off an undisclosed number of employees in its Singapore office without first consulting the FDAWU, under which it is unionised.

The union had voiced disappointment over the lack of consultation, and the issue was subsequently raised with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

Following the union's intervention, Lazada agreed to enhanced retrenchment benefits for the affected staff.

It also set up a dedicated training fund, allowing FDAWU to provide employment and employability support to affected members in collaboration with NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i).

Lazada was founded in 2012 and became a subsidiary of Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group Holding in 2016.

The company operates in six core Southeast Asian markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

After being denied a free bible at Singapore Life Church, a man felt wronged and assaulted five congregants on his way out of the church.

CNA reported that Wee Soon Ming, a 33-year-old Malaysian and Singapore permanent resident (PR), slapped two of the victims hard enough to cause injuries.

Both these victims were women, and there was no prior dispute or confrontation between them and Wee, according to the state prosecuting officer.

He had assaulted them out of anger, as he was not permitted to take a bible, the officer said, adding that there is no evidence that his actions were religiously motivated.

Wee pleaded guilty to two charges of voluntarily causing hurt to the two victims, while another four charges involving the other victims were taken into consideration.

On Jun. 22, he was sentenced to five weeks in prison, with effect from May 3, the day of the incident when he was arrested.

Previously allowed to take Bibles

According to court documents, Wee had previously visited Singapore Life Church occasionally, usually on weekdays.

He took free Bibles from the church several times.

Once, the church pastor stopped him from taking many bibles but allowed him to take one or two, and Wee complied.

On the morning of May 3, he went to the church wanting a free bible, but was not permitted one, and felt aggrieved as a result.

The first victim

The court documents went into detail about two of the five assaults.

The first involved two women Wee was unacquainted with – a 65-year-old Indonesian and her daughter-in-law.

They had just entered the foyer of the church to attend the service when Wee was walking out hastily.

As he passed them, he suddenly slapped the older woman hard on her face with his hand, then slapped the daughter-in-law on the left side of her head.

Then, he went out the main entrance.

The older woman bled from her nose due to the assault and was later brought by paramedics to a hospital's emergency department to be treated for head trauma.

The medical examination at the hospital found that she had bruises and swelling around her eye and on her cheek, tenderness around her right cheekbone and nasal bridge, and a chipped tooth.

She was discharged in a stable condition that same day with seven days of hospitalisation leave. She did not wish to seek compensation for her medical treatment, according to court documents.

The second victim

After the first assault, as he left the main entrance, Wee came across a 55-year-old woman entering the church, and slapped her too.

He abruptly used his hand to slap the back of the woman's head and right shoulder, then fled the scene.

The victim suffered soreness at the back of her head, but when she saw a doctor the next day, she was informed that there was no cause for concern. She also did not wish to seek compensation from Wee.

Among other victims that day was a 25-year-old man, whom Wee forcefully pushed on his chest, such that he hit against a metal gate.

Psychiatric evaluation

Wee was arrested after a member of the public called the police about him attacking and injuring a woman at the church.

The police arrested him at his residence that afternoon after establishing his identity.

He was later remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for a forensic psychiatric evaluation, and was assessed to have a mild intellectual disability at and around the time of the offence.

However, the state prosecuting officer asserted that there was no contributory link between his mild intellectual disability and his offending.

He was aware of the legal and moral wrongfulness of his actions, and he was not of unsound mind at the time, the officer said.

A 75-year-old Chinese man has become the subject of wide attention after sharing his life raising his 6-year-old daughter while caring for his wife, who is recovering from a stroke. His simple answer to questions about his daughter's future was that he just wants to live long enough to see her through it, according to China Press.

Huang Weiping and his wife Tian Xinju, now 74, made headlines in 2019 when Tian gave birth to their daughter Tianci at the age of 67, becoming the oldest known woman in China to conceive naturally.

China Press reported that Tian had been given medication after a medical emergency and had unexpectedly regained her menstrual cycle after medication, leading to an unplanned pregnancy. The couple decided to keep it between themselves, not even telling their other children.

"We make our own decisions," Huang said.

A full life at 75

Nearly seven years on, the family has relocated from Shandong to Guangxi. Tianci is now six and a half and will start primary school in two months.

Tian suffered another hospitalisation in April this year, leaving Huang to manage the household, care for his wife around the clock, and look after Tianci on his own.

Despite his age, Huang remains physically healthy and sharp.

He had previously worked as a civil servant before retiring in 2000 and switching careers to become a lawyer. He continued practising law even after Tianci's birth.

With his wife hospitalised and his time stretched thin, he pivoted to livestreaming to earn an income.

HK01 reported that every night after putting Tianci to bed, he opens his laptop to write reports and tend to his work.

When the head of a law firm once jokingly asked if he was still working, Huang replied: "I'll do as much as I can."

"I'll just live a few more decades"

Rumours have circulated online that Huang's children from a previous relationship have cut ties with him over Tianci, and that she would become a burden to his other children. Huang brushed both aside.

He said:

"They make up stories based on their own imagination. I don't care, people talk, there's always something being said."

When asked who would look after Tianci when he grows older, Huang smiled and said: "Live a few more decades and it'll be fine."

He said he hopes Tianci will eventually be able to support herself.

Tianci occasionally comes home saying classmates have teased her about his age. His response is always the same: "I am your dad."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poor culture wears down mental health

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Joint committee to be established

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

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

It will focus on two areas:

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

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

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

It will also consider how these channels can be strengthened.

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

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

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

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

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

"Exposing Mercury Fest"

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

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

They alleged that the festival organisers had done the following:

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

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

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

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

Allegations of underpaid staff

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Spat with Konbini

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alleged AI use

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then they told me 'just use ChatGPT'."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Special needs

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

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

The accused was the boy’s form teacher.

Pen

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

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

She then repeatedly jabbed his head with the pen.

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

He then fell backwards with his legs kicking.

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

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

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

Cover up

The accused attempted to cover up the incident.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Injuries

The boy was taken to the hospital for an examination.

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

He was given nine days of medical leave.

Duties

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

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

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

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

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

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

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