Adults in Singapore are consuming more sodium and calories.

This is due to them eating out more often, according to findings from the National Population Health Survey by the Ministry of Health (MOH), and the National Nutrition Survey by the Health Promotion Board (HPB).

The findings were announced on Oct. 3 by Health Minister Ong Ye Kung at the National Heart Week and World Heart Day event at Heartbeat@Bedok.

The health survey, conducted from August 2024 to July 2025, sought the responses of residents aged 18 to 74.

The nutrition survey, conducted from June to December 2025, polled residents aged 18 to 69.

Sodium consumption up

The nutrition survey found that 95 per cent of the Singapore residents surveyed have exceeded the daily recommended sodium intake limit.

It was 88 per cent in 2019.

The average daily sodium intake rose from 3,480mg in 2019 to 4,000mg in 2025.

4,000mg is double the daily recommended sodium limit.

Salt and sauces added during cooking are key sources of the increase.

The daily recommended sodium intake limit of 2,000mg is equivalent to one teaspoon of salt.

Ong said excessive sodium raises blood pressure and increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Mandatory Nutri-Grade labelling measures and advertising prohibitions will be extended to items such as salt, sauces, seasonings, instant noodles, and cooking oils, he added.

These products are the main contributors of sodium and saturated fat.

The labelling measures were initially scheduled to be introduced by mid-2027, but has been delayed to 2028.

This is to provide more time for businesses to reformulate their products, Ong said.

The median sodium content of some popular dishes served while eating out has gone up by about 10 per cent from 2023, it was discovered.

Intake of calories also up

The mean calorie intake has also risen.

It increased from 2,360kcal in 2019 to 2,460kcal in 2025.

Taking in 100 calories more than what the body needs daily could lead to around 5kg of weight gain a year, said Ong.

Weight gain increases the risk of obesity and heart disease, he noted.

The survey found that 57 per cent of the country’s population exceeded their daily recommended calorie intake after factoring in the energy needed for physical activity.

Eating out also up

According to the survey, seven in 10 reported eating out at least once a day.

This is up from six in 10 in 2019.

The frequency rose from eight times a week in 2019 to nine times a week in 2025.

Those who ate out two or more times a day consumed more calories, saturated fat, and sodium compared to those who ate out six times a week or less.

Sugar intake dropped

On the bright side, the National Nutrition Survey found that the daily total sugar intake had fallen from 60g in 2018 to 48g in 2025.

This is a drop of about 2.5 teaspoons of sugar daily, Ong noted.

"Our taste buds are changing, which is good," he said.

The percentage of respondents whose sugar consumption was within the daily recommended sugar limit went up from 61 per cent in 2019 to 79 per cent in 2025.

The daily recommended sugar limit is equivalent to about 50g, or 10 teaspoons, of sugar.

It should be no more than 10 per cent of total daily energy intake.

Ong attributed the change to people consuming less sugar from sugar-sweetened drinks.

This is due to consumers making a conscious shift towards lower-sugar options and industry reformulation.

Calories from commonly consumed dishes going up

HPB analysed 182 commonly consumed dishes and found their calorie and sodium content rose between 2023 and 2025/2026.

A serving of chicken rice, for example, saw its calories go up from 557 to 646.

Calories for nasi biryani rose even more from a higher base of 970 to 1,310.

Char kway teow saw its calories rise from 748 to 989.

More getting sufficient total physical activity

On a positive note, a greater proportion of residents are getting sufficient total physical activity.

The figure rose from 84.7 per cent in 2024 to 87.3 per cent in 2025.

But the survey also revealed that only 37.6 per cent did sufficient muscle-strengthening activities.

This proportion has stayed stable since 2020.

Participation in health screening for chronic diseases and cancers has also increased.

Four main tenants at Punggol East Container Park and neighbouring Tebing Lane will be offered a lease extension of up to one year, until the end of 2027.

Their current tenancies were due to expire on Dec. 31, 2026, with the site slated for residential redevelopment.

Development timelines adjusted

In an Oct. 3 Facebook post, Punggol GRC MP Yeo Wan Ling said she had met the relevant agencies to discuss businesses’ concerns about their expiring tenancies.

Following a review and adjustments to development timelines, the agencies were able to offer the extension to the four main tenants.

Yeo did not name the leaseholders.

The extension remains subject to tenancy and regulatory requirements.

It will give businesses more time to plan their transition and discuss arrangements with their subtenants.

Relocation plans

City Sprouts, the master tenant of Punggol East Container Park, previously said it received an official notice in May 2026 to vacate the site and complete reinstatement works within the stipulated timeline.

It has secured a new space at Pasir Ris Park, where its Punggol community farmers can relocate.

They can also move to its other community greenhouses across Singapore.

The enterprise also offered the main operator of the eateries the option of taking up stalls at its other locations in the east.

Businesses must still make alternative arrangements

Yeo told Lianhe Zaobao that the extension is intended to give affected businesses more time to make alternative arrangements.

Tenants must decide whether to accept the offer, meet regulatory requirements and coordinate with their subtenants and the authorities.

The Singapore Land Authority, JTC Corporation, National Parks Board (NParks) and Housing and Development Board (HDB) will continue helping businesses explore alternative premises, including available locations in Punggol.

Yeo said she hoped the additional time would help businesses prepare for the transition while allowing the community to continue enjoying the spaces.

What do you do if your wife leaves you and your 6-year-old son, forcing you to become a single father at the age of 27?

For single father Raymond Wong, it was a shock but also an inevitable outcome.

“I saw this coming when my son was around four to five years old. She didn’t bother. She would go out often and come back late at night, while I was busy working.”

His wife’s hands-off approach was a source of countless arguments between the couple, who eventually split, with Wong getting sole custody of his son, Rayden.

But it was just the first of a trifecta of misfortune.

Within the same period, both his mother and brother suffered strokes. While his mother recovered, his brother was not so lucky—after spending two months in the intensive care unit, he passed away.

“I told myself that I had to do it for my son.”

“Wah so many things happened that year. It was quite stressful,” Wong, who is now 32, recalled.

“Back then, I felt it was very unfair,” said Wong, who has been working as an AETOS auxiliary police officer (APO) for 11 years.

“But I had no choice, I couldn’t force my ex-wife to stay on. I had to keep a positive mindset. I told myself that I had to do it for my son.”

It helped that he had supportive superiors at work who empathised with him and advised him to take it on the chin.

Wang recalled his Officer Commanding (OC) Gary and Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Wee Poh encouraging him to “stay strong, keep going and not give up, especially when things were difficult”.

He said:

“Their support reminded me that difficult periods are temporary and that I should continue doing my best for my family. Sometimes, it was not even about giving advice, just having someone willing to listen and support me meant a lot.”

Threw himself into work

Faced with supporting his young son as well as his aged parents, Wong depended a lot on social support from the government and did not spend unnecessarily on himself.

“I started to quit smoking, drinking, eating out, buying things for myself, unnecessary shopping and personal wants,” he explained.

“For me, my son and my parents came first. There were times when I would rather go without something I wanted if it meant having enough for their needs. It was not always easy, but I felt that providing for my family was more important than having the things I wanted.”

He took on as much overtime as possible, determined to maximise his earnings and build greater financial stability for his family.

On the few rest days he had, he made time for what mattered most, bringing Rayden and his parents out for a jalan-jalan and a meal together.

The time with family was especially precious given the demands of his job. As an APO responsible for safeguarding key installations in Singapore, Wong knows that the work comes with significant responsibility.

For Wong, much of the satisfaction comes from working with a team of like-minded colleagues, as well as the camaraderie they share.

Lucky in love

And that was Wong’s life for the past 11 years.

Balancing work with the responsibilities of being a single father has not always been easy, but Wong prefers to focus on the support he has received along the way.

He speaks warmly of his son, Rayden, who has grown up understanding the demands of his father’s work, and of his parents, who have been an important source of support throughout the years.

AETOS also eventually became significant to him in another, more personal way too, as it was where he found love again

Over long hours spent deployed with his fellow APO Fahzirah, the two bonded over their love for hiking and watching movies.

In 2024, the two became an item.

Not only did Fahzirah not mind that Wong came with a young son, she actually hit it off with the boy, connecting over arcade games and food.

From the care and love that she showers on Rayden, the respectful way she communicates with Wong’s parents, to her willingness to drop everything to help someone—these qualities convinced him that she was his other half.

In early 2026, Wong and Fahzirah tied the knot.

It’s a beautiful milestone in Wong’s journey as a single father, one that coincides with his progression at work.

From his earliest deployments as an APO working with inmates, Wong has undergone several promotions, becoming a team leader and today, taking on more responsibilities.

Again, he shied away from tooting his own horn, but spoke warmly of how his supervisors saw his potential and encouraged him to pick up courses that developed his management skills.

They also gave him valuable career advice that allowed him to grow as a leader, and become more confident in handling people, operations, and difficult situations.

"They always reminded me to look at the bigger picture, take ownership of my responsibilities and continue developing myself. One thing that has stayed with me is the importance of not just completing a task, but understanding why we are doing it and how our decisions can affect the team and the operations."

Wong has also become more confident at home.

“I’ve accomplished many things that I didn’t know I could do—get a house of my own, own a motorcycle, feed my family, raise my son and get him into a good school.

“Looking back, I think I’m actually quite proud of myself.”

Interested in exploring a career at AETOS? Find out more here.

*Quotes were edited for clarity.

Thanks to this sponsored article by AETOS Holdings, this writer had a chance to be inspired by Raymond’s story.

The family of 16-year-old Yap Shing Xuen, who was stabbed to death in a school in Selangor, Malaysia, has filed a civil lawsuit in the Kuala Lumpur High Court against government agencies, the male student involved, and his parents.

The mother, Wong Lee Ping, posted on Facebook on Oct. 4, explaining that they are filing the lawsuit not for vengeance, but to seek truth and accountability through legal proceedings.

This comes after the boy accused of stabbing Yap to death was acquitted after being found to be of unsound mind at the time of the incident.

The family said in a media statement that they hope to push for the relevant parties to value campus safety and student mental health issues:

"I will not get my daughter back. She is gone. However, considering all the facts that have emerged since her death, particularly from the criminal trial, I strongly believe that her killing could have been prevented had the relevant parties taken the appropriate steps."

Civil suit

Wong named several parties as defendants in the civil suit.

She said the family believes government agencies failed to take preventive measures on mental health issues in schools before matters escalated.

"The government has introduced many laudable policies and made statements on how mental health issues among students in schools should be addressed. However, policies and statements, without proper implementation, mean nothing," she wrote.

Parents of boy and boy also sued

The family is also suing the boy involved, as well as his parents.

Wong noted that the warning signs were "clearly there" and parents have a responsibility to take due care to ensure that their children do not harm others.

Saying that her daughter was "brutally and senselessly killed", Wong said there should be a full trial so that all stated issues can be properly heard and examined by the court.

Accountability

Wong added that she had sent her daughter to school on Oct. 14, 2025, expecting her to return home as usual.

“On that day, I lost a daughter, and my eldest daughter lost her sister,” she said.

She said the family wanted the relevant parties to be held accountable, adding that no mother or sibling should have to go through what her family experienced.

The mother also called for more concrete action to address mental health issues affecting children, saying that “grand statements and plans are insufficient”.

“We cannot wait until more lives are lost before proper action is taken,” she said.

Singapore government workers will not be paired with colleagues from the same agency when they sign up for the new dating pilot, FirstDate, by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech).

The pilot is open to unmarried public officers aged 21 to 35, GovTech told The Straits Times on Oct. 1.

GovTech had sought public feedback on the Singpass-verified proposed dating service in April 2026.

At the time, it was aimed at singles aged 35 and below.

The agency said it expected those aged 21 to 35 to be more likely to be actively dating and interested in trying the service.

A defined age range would also help the team test it with a more focused group.

Sign-ups close on Oct. 5

GovTech emailed public officers about the initiative on Sep. 29.

Registration closes on Oct. 5, with matching to begin afterwards.

FirstDate emerged from GovTech’s annual hackathon and was not commissioned by another government agency, GovTech told ST.

The agency has yet to decide whether the service will launch or expand beyond the pilot.

One match at a time

The Singpass-verified service pairs participants using questionnaire responses and the Gale-Shapley Stable Marriage algorithm, giving users one match at a time.

GovTech said the team wanted to test whether fewer matches, based on shared values and preferences, would encourage users to give each introduction more consideration.

The algorithm is also used by the Aphrodite Project, a matching initiative started by National University of Singapore (NUS) undergraduates in 2019.

Some questions felt restrictive

A 30-year-old teacher who signed up told ST that the questionnaire helped give a sense of a potential match.

However, he found the dealbreaker options — religion, smoking and dietary preferences — too limited.

He was open to dating someone of another religion, for instance, but did not want to convert.

He also hoped the service would include people outside the public service.

Compatibility still depends on meeting

Psychology experts told ST that matching could facilitate introductions, but could not guarantee chemistry.

Speaking to ST, Singapore Management University (SMU) Assistant Professor Kenneth Tan said offering one match at a time could reduce choice overload, while Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) Associate Professor Jean Liu noted that many aspects of compatibility only emerge when people meet.

Both stressed that users should be assured their data would not be shared with employers or other parties.

FirstDate’s website states that only an assigned match can view a user’s profile, and contact details are shared with mutual consent.

Users can deactivate their accounts and request that their information be removed.

A man in Taiwan discovered that the boy he had raised as his son was not biologically his after relatives and friends commented that they did not look alike.

He subsequently took his former wife to court to challenge his legal status as the boy’s father, Taiwanese news outlet China Times reported.

Became suspicious after divorce

The man, who lives in Pingtung county in southern Taiwan, married his former wife on Nov. 11, 2015.

The boy was born during their marriage.

The couple divorced on Jul. 4, 2024, after nearly nine years of marriage.

Following the divorce, relatives and friends remarked that the boy did not resemble him, prompting him to question whether he was the child’s biological father.

DNA test ruled out paternity

The man eventually took the boy for a DNA paternity test at Kaohsiung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital.

The results ruled him out as the boy’s biological father, with their DNA reportedly failing to match at seven genetic markers.

He then filed a lawsuit with the Pingtung District Court to establish legally that the boy was not his child.

During the proceedings, his former wife did not dispute the DNA test results and acknowledged that the boy was not her ex-husband’s biological child.

However, she did not identify the biological father.

The court ruled in the man’s favour and ordered his ex-wife and the boy to bear the legal costs.

The world's richest man, and father of 14, Elon Musk, has split up with partner Shivon Zilis on short notice.

Zilis is a venture capitalist and mother to four of Musk's children, and in the wake of the break up has shared a text message between her and Musk.

From in love, to let go

Zilis posted on X, Musk's social media platform, saying it was "Hard to go from in love to let go in a week with no warning, but that's just how it is sometimes," along with a shrugging emoji.

She said that she felt happy that she got to show Musk "how it feels to be deeply understood, nurtured, and peacefully loved with stability and gentleness."

She referenced Musk's "tumultuous" early life, said he had an "often tortured soul", and fought hard for humanity.

Because of this, she wanted him to "Feel the deepest and most stable form of love this world can provide."

Zilis described Musk as living a "militant existence," and that "we were always his safe space."

Past history

People said that the Musk-Zilis romance had developed after Musk had acted as her sperm donor, with the four children being born between 2021 and 2025.

Zilis has worked with Musk, or at least his companies, since at least 2017.

She has also worked as adviser to Musk for SpaceX and brain technology firm Neuralink, according to the Washington Post.

Zilis said she loved Musk "more than life itself" and that he had taught her "100 lifetimes of knowledge."

Acknowledging that there was "a lot of loss", she celebrated the "four beautiful little loves of my life," referring to the four children she and Musk shared.

"I am so beyond grateful for our children and they make every single day the best day of my life."

Musk has yet to comment on the break up.

Shared screenshot

She also shared a snippet of the life they shared, in the form of a screenshot of a recent text message.

Notably Musk apologised for not realising he could have brought a significant other to the recent state dinner for China President Xi Jinping, just over a week ago on Sep. 24.

Saying that the previous dinner in Beijing had not allowed for it, Musk told Zilis he would have invited her if he had known.

In closing, she said she hoped Musk and her could continue to be "great friends and coparents."

"I'm hurting, but care deeply about E and will always be cheering for his happiness. God speed, Elon, the world is lucky to have you."

The end of October 2026 will also mark the end of a decades-old business for a 75-year-old married couple who will be closing their Pig Trotter Jelly and Shark Meat stall after running it for 45 years.

They will be operating the business until Oct. 31.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, the couple, Yu Zhongrong and Lin Cailuan (both transliterated), have done this for nearly 50 years.

45-year business

It was a family business, which Yu began helping out at, at the age of 10.

The stall previously moved locations in 1987, where Yu and Lin took over the business.

In 1998, they then moved to their current stall in Berseh Food Centre at #02-37, where they are still running the stall today.

Speaking to Zaobao, Lin said they cook the ingredients fresh each day, with a single serving of Teochew-style kueh chap costing S$4.

Any eggs and tofu not sold the same day are thrown away, she said, adding that they are never kept for the next day.

3am every day

It was not an easy few decades for the couple, Zaobao reported.

Work starts at 3am every day when they arrive at the stall to prepare ingredients and cook before opening the stall at 10am.

"It's very tiring," said Lin, noting that if they don't cook it long enough, the taste won't be right, and they wouldn't be able to sell it.

Their children have no intention of taking over the stall, having jobs of their own. The couple themselves do not want them to carry this on as well, pointing to how difficult the craft is.

Lin told Zaobao: "I've been doing this for 45 years... Now very few people make pig's feet jelly because it's too hard work, the cost is high, and you don't make much money.

"The preparation process for braised food is also very time-consuming and laborious. Just washing all the ingredients takes several hours."

They are however concerned for their regular customers, who might be disappointed by their closure.

Hong Kong actress Snowy Bai publicly confirmed that she is in a relationship with her 22-year-old foreign boyfriend in an October 2026 Instagram post that showed them visiting various places together.

Also known by her real name Bai Yunfeng, the 38-year-old former TVB personality said in the post that she is born in 1988 and he is born in 2004.

Relationship

Bai pointed out, however, that their 16-year age gap did not hinder their relationship.

"He's mature, and I'm childish," she wrote.

She also shared that her boyfriend lives in Europe while she lives in Asia, and though he speaks German and she speaks Mandarin, their English is improving,

Being in a cross-cultural relationship was tough, said Bai, adding that the couple had separated for a long time in between.

She noted that despite the challenges they faced, they shared similar interests.

Divorce

Prior to this relationship, she was previously married to Hong Kong architect Kelvin Kong, Dimsum Daily reported.

According to Sing Tao Headline, the five-year marriage eventually ended in divorce in 2021 due to factors such as Kong's family reportedly disapproving of her sharing "sexy photos" online.

Kong reportedly once wrote that sexiness is her favourite thing, and it was something inherent in her.

"Being yourself is the least shameful thing in the world."

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Former Wah!Banana actor Lev Panfilov has given his account of his time facing trial and imprisonment for charges of rape and sexual assault that were eventually overturned on appeal.

In a post on Instagram, Panfilov, 30, compared his life to movies, and how the genre of his life changed from “feel good” to thriller to courtroom drama.

Crediting his family for fighting for him from the outside, he said that he had not just learnt how to survive, but had learnt to live during his time in prison.

Conviction and acquital

In May 2025, Panfilov was convicted of raping, sexually assaulting, and molesting a woman in his flat in January 2021.

He was sentenced to 11 years and six months in jail, as well as 12 strokes of the cane.

At the time, he had already spent over a year in prison, after he had his bail revoked when he attempted to leave Singapore, in what he told CNA was a “foolish decision” to try to visit his terminally ill grandfather in Russia.

But on Sep. 2, Panfilov was cleared of all charges, after the Court of Appeal overturned the convictions, after a panel of three judges said they found inconsistencies in the alleged victim's testimony, giving rise to a reasonable doubt in the prosecution’s case.

Movies of different genres

Nearly a month later, on Oct. 2, Panfilov shared his thoughts on the ordeal.

Panfilov said that he had always loved movies, but that he had not anticipated that he would spend “five and a half years guessing what genre mine had become.”

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A post shared by Lev Panfilov (@levpanf)

He compared his life initially to a “feel-good movie”, and that at the age of 24, he was acting, fencing, and making comedy videos, with a scholarship to study acting in New York.

But then, he said that his life became a “thriller” in “the blink of an eye”, as he had been accused of something he said he did not do.

His future was put on hold, but he thought, wrongly as it would turn out, that “it would all be over soon.”

Panfilov spoke about his father, whom he last saw in 2017, who passed away from an aggressive brain tumour in Russia while Panfilov was under investigation.

Panfilov was unable to gain permission to visit him, having tried twice, and was ultimately only allowed to travel after his father had passed away.

He said that he had stood at his father’s grave, recalling the 2001 film A Knight’s Tale, where the main character was encouraged to flee after he was found to be illegally participating in a tournament.

But Will, the movie’s main character, refused, and Panfilov compared himself to that example, deciding that he would return to Singapore to face trial.

Trial and imprisonment

Panfilov said that the trial took 20 days, with three sets of lawyers, legal fees costing nearly S$500,000 and years of legal proceedings, resulting in 11 and a half years in prison.

He shared the grimness of his time in prison, with 23 hours a day spent in a seven-square-metre cell with only one hour a day in the yard and a straw mat to sleep on.

“For a long time”, he said “this became my world.”

He found solace in books, faith, in friends and family, even singing a cappella in his cell, and reciting comedy.

He also paid tribute to his mother, whom he said that while he “fought from the inside, she fought for me on the outside”

“I didn’t just learn to survive. I learned to live.”

Feel-good-movie

He also credited his lawyers and his partner, who had stood by him “through it all”, and that after five and a half years, his appeal was heard and his conviction was overturned.

Reflecting on his experience, he said that maybe his life was a “feel-good movie after all.”

Panfilov said he did not know what would come next, but that for the first time in a long time, “I get to choose.”