United States President Donald Trump will impose new tariffs ranging from 10 to 12.5 per cent on goods from 60 trading partners from Jul. 24.

Singapore is on the list of countries the U.S. Trade Representative alleged to have failed to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labour, according to a Jul. 23 memorandum.

Singapore will be hit with a 12.5 per cent rate, along with 37 other countries including China, Reuters reported.

Countries such as Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, the United Kingdom, and Mexico will get a lower 10 per cent.

They will take effect just as the current 150-day temporary 10 per cent tariffs expire at the start of Jul. 24, U.S. time.

Allegations previously rejected by MTI

The new tariffs are the result of investigations the U.S. Trade Representative launched in March 2026 into countries that allegedly do not properly enforce a forced labour import ban.

These countries include Singapore.

Previously on Jul. 6, Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry stated that "Singapore does not condone the use of forced labor in supply chains", and its import regulations are consistent with international rules and practices.

"There is no evidence of Singapore’s role in the supply chains of goods associated with forced labor exported to the U.S."

The allegations have also been rejected by other countries.

The foreign minister of Norway, also included in the list, said, "There is no basis for this tariff against Norway because we already have clear rules that are intended to prevent trade in goods produced using forced labor."

A corrective action

Announcing the new duties on Jul. 23, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said:

"The United States has had a forced labor import ban for nearly a century, and rigorously enforces it; it’s well past time for our trading partners to do the same.

Today’s action will begin to correct what is both a human rights abuse and distortive trade practice to improve the welfare of workers everywhere."

The tariffs will be imposed under Section 301 of the U.S. Trade Act of 1974, which governs trade enforcement of practices that burden or restrict American commerce, BBC reported.

This means they will be subject to less legal risk of being struck down by the Supreme Court, as Trump's previous sweeping tariffs were in February, according to Reuters.

The new duties account for 99.4 per cent of U.S. imports, but goods such as steel, aluminium, oil and gas, fertiliser, and certain food items will be exempted.

Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC has released its annual report for FY2025/26, posting a 3.4 per cent real rate of return and 5.6 per cent nominal return in USD terms over a 20-year period ending Mar. 31, 2026.

Anthropic, the U.S. company behind the Claude AI models, was featured as one of its key AI investments.

How GIC invests

GIC's portfolio is globally diversified across three broad asset groups: Equities (56 per cent), Fixed Income (22 per cent) and Real Assets (22 per cent) as at Mar. 31, 2026.

Geographically, the Americas account for the largest share at 53 per cent, followed by Asia Pacific at 22 per cent and Europe, Middle East and Africa at 19 per cent.

Beyond AI, GIC is also expanding significantly in hedge funds, planning to deploy US$30 billion (S$38.7 billion) over the next three years having already tripled its hedge fund investments over the past decade.

The fund is also investing in infrastructure, including utilities, transport and digital infrastructure, as well as venture capital focused on category-creating companies across the AI value chain.

GIC backed Anthropic three times in under a year

GIC has backed Anthropic three times in under a year. It first invested in Sep. 2025, then led a US$30 billion (S$38.7 billion) funding round in Feb. 2026, valuing Anthropic at US$380 billion (S$490.4 billion).

It then co-led a US$65 billion (S$83.9 billion) round in May 2026, valuing the company at US$965 billion (approx. S$1.2 trillion).

GIC did not disclose the size of its current stake.

Anthropic's run-rate revenue rose from around US$9 billion at the end of 2025 to roughly US$47 billion (S$60.7 billion) today, a more than fivefold increase in under a year.

GIC does not just invest in Anthropic. It also uses Claude, Anthropic's AI model, internally as part of its own enterprise AI platform, alongside GPT, making it simultaneously a backer and a user of the product it helped fund.

Why GIC is bullish on AI

GIC said in its report that its confidence in AI as a long-term investment has grown steadily since it first invested in the space in 2022.

The report stated:

"Since then, we have furthered our conviction in this space as AI has reached a point of real-world impact.

It is no longer a question of whether it can create economic value, but where and how fast.

Just two years ago, that was an open debate, but it no longer is."

GIC's Enterprise AI Survey, conducted in Q1 2026 across nearly 200 North American companies spanning technology, healthcare, financial services and consumer sectors, found that more than half of respondents ranked AI among their top three priorities, with one in five placing it as their single topmost priority.

Enterprises are already reaping savings from AI adoption across finance, customer service, customer onboarding and non-software research and development, the GIC report said.

How GIC picks AI winners

Rather than seeking broad exposure to AI, GIC said it invests granularly using two frameworks.

The first maps where to look across the AI value chain, split into three categories: Enablers, which build foundational infrastructure such as computing hardware and energy systems; Monetisers, which develop AI-powered products and services; and Adopters, which integrate AI into existing operations to improve processes and unlock growth.

The second framework defines what to look for in each company, what GIC calls the three Ms:

1. Moat, or structural advantages such as proprietary data and governance.
2. Management, meaning leaders who turn AI into real business outcomes and reskill their workforce.
3. Momentum, the self-reinforcing cycle where early wins generate better data and better AI performance.

GIC's other AI bets

Beyond Anthropic, GIC highlighted four other AI investments in its report.

Databricks, a data and AI platform used by over 20,000 organisations globally, which GIC has backed across multiple funding rounds. Its revenue run-rate stands at US$5.4 billion (S$S$6.97 billion), growing over 65 per cent year-on-year.

Ramp, a financial operations platform that uses AI to automate corporate expense management, which GIC has backed eight times. Its latest funding round valued the company at US$44 billion (S$56.8 billion), and over two-thirds of its code is now written by its own internal AI tool.

athenahealth, a cloud-based healthcare software provider that GIC co-invested in alongside Hellman & Friedman and Bain Capital in 2022. Its AI medical coding has helped some medical practices recover 30 per cent more revenue on initially denied insurance claims.

Eli Lilly, the world's largest pharmaceutical company by market value, which has its own NVIDIA supercomputer called LillyPod and works with AI-native companies including Isomorphic Labs.

AI and sustainability: a double-edged force

GIC also flagged AI's growing impact on the sustainability landscape, describing it as both a challenge and an opportunity for investors.

The International Energy Agency estimates that global electricity consumption by data centres will more than double by 2030, accounting for roughly 10 per cent of the expected increase in global power demand.

This surge is driving investment in nuclear power, renewables and natural gas to diversify energy supply.

At the same time, GIC noted that AI is emerging as a catalyst for sustainability innovation, enabling more efficient energy management, predictive maintenance for renewable assets, optimisation of grid operations, and breakthroughs in materials science, carbon capture technologies and climate modelling that could lower the cost and complexity of decarbonisation.

It sees opportunities in businesses that strengthen energy resilience, including regulated electric networks and utilities, grid efficiency solutions, and power equipment businesses with strong pricing power.

The fund also noted that expanding renewable capacity remains the quickest way to add electricity supply, while modernising power grids is essential to integrate low-carbon sources and maintain reliability.

Risks GIC is watching

GIC acknowledged it is cautious about near-term risks in the AI space, including stretched valuations, over-regulation, business model uncertainty as the industry figures out where to deploy the most advanced models, and bottlenecks to growth such as power, compute and memory constraints.

The report noted that hyperscaler capital expenditure is now approaching 2 per cent of United States GDP, and that while efficiency gains from better chip design are helping, AI infrastructure's supply chain and power constraints will persist.

GIC CEO Lim Chow Kiat said in a statement:

"We will continue to focus on active investing which requires the judgement to allocate capital well and with granularity, the discipline to stay diversified, and the agility to act when good opportunities arise.

By combining these strengths with our long-term horizon, we are confident that we can keep delivering good real returns for Singapore over the years ahead."

A Thai woman was seen pretending to only speak English after she was confronted for apparently colliding with a motorcycle.

The incident occurred on a road in Mae Hong Son, Thailand, The Thaiger reported.

In a Facebook post by local police on Jul. 17, the motorcyclist parked his motorcycle in front of the woman’s vehicle to prevent her from driving away.

The caption on the video read: “Woman flees after hitting another car!! Pretends to speak English.”

Confronted in Thai

The woman was seen sitting in her car as the motorcyclist confronted her.

The motorcyclist said in Thai: “Hey, you crashed into me. No apologies and drove this far. What happened to Thai people?”

She then repeatedly said, “What?”

The motorcyclist then claimed that his vehicle was scratched and his body was bruised as a result of the collision.

The woman proceeded to speak unintelligibly, as though she was speaking English.

Not buying her antics, the motorcyclist responded: “Don’t pretend to be a foreigner. Your face and body look very Thai.”

The woman asked in response: “Speak English?”

Throughout the exchange, the woman exited her vehicle and continued to deflect his accusations, while speaking in an unintelligible manner.

The motorcyclist said at one point: “Don’t pretend to be stupid. You crashed into me.”

Near the end of the video, the re-entered her vehicle and said, “I’m sorry.”

She then continued to speak unintelligibly.

It was unclear how the incident was resolved.

A luxury sports car was seen engulfed in flames on the East Coast Parkway (ECP) expressway on the evening of Jul. 23.

As seen in a video submitted to Mothership and in a photo circulated online, a green Lamborghini Gallardo was on fire and the flames were being put out by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF).

The back of the vehicle, where the engine is situated, appeared charred.

In response to Mothership's queries, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to a fire along ECP towards Changi, before the Still Road South exit at about 5:20pm on Thursday.

The fire, which involved the engine compartment of a car, was extinguished by SCDF using a water jet.

There were no reported injuries.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The issue of energy resilience for Asean is not new, said Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan, but the war in the Middle East has elevated its sense of urgency and importance.

While "no one is seriously arguing against it" at this stage, the current challenge is one of execution.

Potential energy capacity

Vivian was in Manila, the Philippines, from Jul. 20 to Jul. 24 to attend the 59th Asean Foreign Ministers' Meeting (AMM) and other related meetings.

Addressing the media in a wrap-up interview on Jul. 23, he responded to a question from Mothership about the importance of renewable energy in Asean, given the flare-up of the conflict in the Middle East.

Vivian pointed out that Asean does not have a say in the resolution of the conflict in the Middle East. "We really cannot even say when and how a resolution will come about," he said,

He added: "But the larger point is this: if you actually do a catalogue of Asean's potential energy capacity, not just in fossil fuels, oil and gas, which Asean does have," it has great potential in renewable energy.

While Asean does have access to geothermal, solar and wind as sources of energy, they require investment as well as capital and technology in order to bring it to fruition.

Vivian pointed out that achieving this will create a situation where Asean is not only more energy resilient, but also more dependent on renewable energy, and "therefore also doing our part for a lower carbon future".

Challenge is execution

Noting that "the opportunity, the need for it has always been there", he said "what recent events have done is to raise the sense of urgency, and we are trying to do that".

He added that projects like the Asean power grid goes beyond just the laying of cables.

It goes beyond the arguments about fees, technical aspects of the equipment needed, "to actually create a sense that look, we are all better off if we can engage in collective investments, in raising our capacity, it makes us more resilient".

Pointing out that "the challenge is execution", Vivian said "it makes us more competitive, and it better prepares us for the future".

Preserving Asean's neutrality and centrality

Vivian also spoke about preserving Asean's neutrality and centrality as Singapore navigates relationships with countries such as the U.S. and China.

Addressing the issue of "the U.S. and China contestation", Vivian said, "To their credit, both of them are trying to approach this in a careful, deliberate, and constructive way."

He added: "In particular, I would say I'm glad that at least at this point in time, neither of them are forcing us to choose sides, they know Asean's priorities, which is still to develop our economies, to integrate and gain access to the latest technologies, and that we are still interested in free trade, in giving more opportunities to our people."

Vivian said this is a time to work together, and for the middle powers and Asean to affirm international law, cooperation and not to resort to "unilateral or coercive measures."

Robust, candid discussions

Vivian shared that he had "good robust, candid discussions" in his meetings, and "both dealing with immediate problems and looking forward to the future".

He said issues discussed included the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the recent escalation, including acts on Saudi tankers in the Red Sea that highlight the fragility of global supply chains.

This has impact on Asean in terms of energy, fertiliser, and food.

To that, he highlighted the impact on international law, "in particular the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the right transit passage through straits used for international navigation".

He said: "I'm glad to report that amongst all the speeches made by a very wide range of foreign ministers, everyone doubled down on the need to comply with international law to maintain the primacy of armed cloths and freedom of navigation and overflight."

Vivian also said the issues discussed touched on whether countries other than the superpowers could get access to technologies of the future.

59th Asean Foreign Ministers' Meeting

According to a Jul. 20 press statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), the AMM was to reaffirm the Ministers' commitment to Asean unity and Centrality, as well as discuss ways to advance Asean integration and community-building initiatives under the Philippines' Chairmanship theme of "Navigating Our Future, Together".

A Jul. 21 MFA press statement noted that Vivian had a wide-ranging discussion with his Asean counterparts on deepening regional integration, strengthening Asean's capacity to respond to developments in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence and supply chain resilience, as well as harnessing the potential of the digital and green economies.

A 37-year-old Malaysian man was sentenced to 11-and-a-half years’ jail and nine strokes of the cane for raping a 39-year-old Singaporean woman after they got drunk at a company dinner.

Beh Kien Tai pleaded guilty to one charge of rape and another charge of molestation on Jul. 23, CNA reported.

Two other charges were taken into consideration.

The victim’s identity, locations and the names of various parties involved, including the company, were not disclosed.

Company

In court documents seen by Mothership, Beh was an air-conditioning contractor at the time of the offence.

The victim was a project manager who knew Beh and an individual identified as “C1” in court documents.

C1 is the owner of an interior design company.

Beh was the interior design company’s subcontractor for air conditioners from around 2021, while the victim previously worked as a freelance sales associate for the company sometime around 2014 for about a year.

After the victim left the company, she continued to keep in contact with C1 as they were friends.

Dinner

On Jan. 13, 2023, C1 hosted a company dinner at the company’s office.

C1 invited the victim, some of her family members, and the company’s staff, subcontractors, and suppliers, including Beh, to the dinner.

The dinner commenced at about 7:15pm.

Guests consumed food, drinks and alcohol.

At about 8:41pm, the victim arrived at the company’s office and consumed a substantial amount of beer and wine.

As a result, she became intoxicated.

Beh also became intoxicated after consuming at least one glass of beer and four glasses of wine.

Intoxicated

On Jan. 14, 2023, at about 12:30am, C1 noticed that the victim was intoxicated and attended to her along with other female guests.

As she was unable to walk by herself, they helped the victim to the washroom and let her rest on a blanket and pillow located on the first storey of the office space.

At about 1:30am, the company dinner concluded, and guests made arrangements to leave.

Beh rejected a guest who offered to send him home and said he would rest for a while before driving home.

He then walked up to the loft located on the second storey of the office and rested on a bed.

At about 2am, C1, one of her staff members, the victim and Beh were the remaining people left at the office.

Before leaving the office, C1 switched on the air conditioner in the loft and closed the door between the loft and the company’s office space, where the victim slept.

She also messaged both Beh and the victim to inform each of them where their mobile phones were.

C1 and her staff member then left the office.

Rape

At about 3am, Beh walked down to the office space where the victim was sleeping on the floor.

He was aware that she was intoxicated.

Beh then stepped over her to access a washroom adjacent to the office space.

After using the washroom, Beh approached the victim and lay down with her on the floor.

At about 3:03am, he removed the victim's clothing, and he removed his own clothes.

Beh proceeded to rape and molest the victim.

Between 3:21am to 3:22am, Beh placed the victim’s pants back on.

At about 3:30am, Beh re-entered the office space, retrieved his pants and put it on before leaving the room.

He left the office at about 3:38am.

Text

At about 3:48am, 3:50am and 3:54am, the victim woke up and made multiple attempts to call from the office landline.

At about 5am, she sent a text to C1 saying that someone had “f*cked” her.

The victim left the office at about 6:08am.

At about 7am, C1 read the text message and retrieved surveillance footage from the office space.

After seeing what had taken place, she sent the victim screenshots of the footage.

The victim proceeded to lodge a police report.

On Jan. 15 at about 2:45am, Beh was subsequently arrested and remanded.

Vulnerable

The prosecution sought a sentence of 11 years and three months’ jail to 11 years and nine months’ jail, and nine strokes of the cane for Beh.

They argued that the victim was vulnerable and Beh exposed her to the risk of pregnancy and contracting sexually transmitted diseases.

The prosecution cited that the incident affected the victim emotionally and "practically”.

“In addition to feeling lost, confused and fearful after the event, the victim’s work (involving travel) was also impacted,” the prosecution said.

For committing rape, Beh could be jailed up to 20 years and fined or caned.

For molestation, he could be jailed up to three years, fined, caned, or given any combination of these punishments.

A neighbour of the man, who died in Lengkok Bahru following an alleged fatal dispute with a fellow resident, said she is willing to "adopt" the deceased's 20-year-old son, who has special needs.

The woman told Shin Min Daily News that the father and son visited her home almost daily, and that the deceased often helped her with household chores in exchange for money to buy food.

She reportedly choked up and said she treated his son as her own and that she would be willing to "adopt" him.

Alleged murder

The 59-year-old man died after he was allegedly stabbed by his 59-year-old neighbour at Block 55 Lengkok Bahru on Jul. 20.

The pair were apparently involved in a long-standing feud.

The victim's son is believed to have witnessed the incident and has been left emotionally traumatised.

Speaking to Mothership at a remembrance gathering for the deceased on Jul. 22, Queenstown SMC Member of Parliament Eric Chua said he had spoken to the victim's son.

"He's obviously quite emotionally distraught," Chua said, adding that arrangements had been made to support him both financially and emotionally, including connecting him with counsellors.

"I think he can't bear to come back, so we have to make sure he's got some temporary arrangement with somebody whom his father knew," Chua added.

Neighbour willing to care for son

The neighbour, identified by Shin Min as Maria (transliteration), said the father and son were frequent visitors to her home.

As she has difficulty getting around and uses a wheelchair, the victim would often help her with simple chores in exchange for money.

Maria described the man as someone who frequently greeted and chatted with neighbours, saying many residents were deeply saddened by his death.

She said: "When I heard he had passed away, I was shocked. He was such a good person. Why did he suddenly leave us?"

When speaking about the victim's son, Maria became emotional, saying that the 20-year-old is believed to have mild autism.

He occasionally takes on odd jobs, and was usually inseparable from his father, she added.

She described him as a quiet and well-behaved young man.

Victim remembered as friendly man

Maria also said the victim was friendly and had spoken to her about disputes with neighbours before his death.

She described him as talkative and said that although he often drank alcohol, he rarely caused trouble.

He would rest alone downstairs even when he was drunk, she said.

Another neighbour, who had known the victim for more than two years, also told Shin Min that the victim had previously confided in her about frequent disputes with his neighbours.

"I even advised him to avoid the other party and stay out of trouble, but I never expected this would happen so soon after," she said.

A 20-year-old bridesmaid from central China suffered a spinal fracture after a wedding hazing, or hun nao in Chinese, went wrong.

According to the South China Morning Post, wedding rituals are still common in various parts of China.

It has reportedly been part of traditional Chinese wedding customs for thousands of years, having originally been intended to create a festive atmosphere and drive away evil spirits.

However, the rituals have come under criticism after some escalated into acts of violence and humiliation.

During the wedding hazing, one of the groomsmen pushed the bridesmaid, surnamed Zhang, onto a bed.

Several men then tossed Zhang into the air by holding the corners of the bedsheet.

She eventually fell to the floor after the men failed to catch her.

She was then hospitalised for 18 days.

About a year later, around August 2024, Zhang was assessed by a forensic judicial institution to have a serious level-nine disability.

The incident

On Oct. 4, 2023, Zhang was invited to be a bridesmaid at a wedding in Ruyang, Henan Province, reported Hong Kong-based news outlet HK01.

The wedding party occurred in the bridal chamber.

At the time, Zhang was hiding inside a closet for reasons that were not explained.

After the bride and groom left, one of the groomsmen apparently dragged her out of the closet and onto the bed.

According to Chinese media outlet gmw.cn, a group of people stuffed Zhang under the bed covers, grabbed the corners of the bedsheet, and began tossing her into the air.

After the second toss, they failed to catch Zhang, causing her to fall to the floor.

SCMP reported that there were about 10 people involved, all of whom were men, most of them groomsmen.

Zhang was hospitalised for 18 days after being diagnosed with a lumbar vertebral fracture.

About a year later, around August 2024, Zhang was assessed by a forensic judicial institution to have a serious level-nine disability.

It corresponds to a 20 per cent disability rate, a system of injury assessment used in China.

Court's decision

Zhang later sued the married couple and those involved in the prank.

She sought 270,000 yuan (S$51,506) in compensation from the parties involved.

The court later ruled that the married couple were responsible for Zhang's injuries, as they knew about the wedding hazing but did not stop it in time.

Wang Moubing, the groomsman who pulled Zhang out of the closet, was also found to be at fault.

The others involved could not prove that they had not taken part in the hazing and were apparently held jointly liable.

The court ordered the parties involved to pay Zhang a total of 230,000 yuan (S$43,872) in compensation.

The court ordered the married couple to bear around 40 per cent of the compensation, while Wang was ordered to bear around 22 per cent, according to SCMP.

The remaining liability was borne jointly by the others involved.

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong’s cabinet saw its second reshuffle since the 2025 General Election, with a pack of younger ministers moving up through the ranks and significant changes to the makeup of the (former) Ministry of Trade and Industry.

K Shanmugam was made senior minister, Jeffrey Siow and David Neo were promoted to full ministers, Jasmin Lau became acting minister, Sim Ann was made 2nd Minister for Home and Foreign Affairs - to name just the most prominent of the promotions.

It also sees the return of Ng Chee Meng, who had requested not to be included in the government last year to take care of Jalan Kayu.

This all happened against the backdrop of the resignation of Faishal Ibrahim just days earlier, which saw Zaqy Mohammad appointed acting minister for Muslim Affairs in his stead, and further back, the decision of Koh Poh Koon to step back from government.

The return of symbiosis

In the cold light of day, the logic of Ng Chee Meng’s return to cabinet is not surprising.

When he requested not to be included in PM Wong’s first post-GE cabinet, PM Wong was clear he expected a secretary-general of NTUC to be part of his cabinet.

For reference, the cabinet had been without an NTUC Sec-Gen for an unprecedented six years, with a labour chief being part of the cabinet's makeup since Lim Chee Onn in the 1980s.

Ng’s time away from the cabinet was as a result of a shock loss in Sengkang to the WP’s GRC team.

Ng returns to cabinet at a time of economic disquiet, if not outright difficulty.

The spectre of jobless economic growth hangs over the economy and especially the government, with Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong warning of the prospect of economic growth without corresponding growth in jobs during the Economic Strategy Review earlier this year.

As professor Eugene Tan from the Singapore Management University puts it:

“All eyes will now be on how the NTUC promotes and protects workers' interests at a time of technological upheaval and changing demographics. With Ng’s return to Cabinet, the symbiotic relationship between the PAP and NTUC is reaffirmed.”

If Ng needs opportunities to show the public the lessons he has learnt in “the wilderness”, and how he will apply them to protect Singaporean workers’ jobs, he will not be short of them in the upcoming years.

Standard bearer

The cabinet reshuffle highlights two aspects of Senior Minister K Shanmugam’s tenure in politics.

As someone who has been in cabinet longer than most of our readers have been alive, his wealth of experience continues to be an asset for Wong, as it was for Lee Hsien Loong before him.

But it was something that was taking place on the sidelines of the cabinet reshuffle that also caught the attention of Singaporeans.

Just before the news of the reshuffle broke, Shanmugam posted a lengthy and detailed post about Faishal Ibrahim and the incident that had resulted in his resignation as a minister and an MP.

The post was simultaneously warm, humane, but firm, and clear.

With one hand, it pushed back against the tide of negative speculation about the former minister, and with the other, stated clearly what the PAP’s standards were.

This sets out to do two things at once: protect a “humble and hardworking man”, while also remind people what the PAP’s standards are and was unequivocal about the party’s determination to stick to them.

It is this ability to handle many problems with the same motion, and his instinct to both protect, reassure, and maintain standards, and his position as metaphorical bearer of standards that will be relied upon by a cabinet that will grow younger as it regenerates under PM Wong.

Tan See Leng evolves again

Tan See Leng’s evolution was something that I noticed at last year’s budget and again at this year’s.

I was referring to something that he had said about nuclear energy, and kept looking under the MOM section of speeches, trying to figure out 1) why MOM was entangled with nuclear power and 2) why I couldn’t find anything.

Of course, MOM had nothing to do with nuclear energy generation; these were speeches given as Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science & Technology, part of MTI, leading one to wonder if there was a bit of feature creep going on in his portfolio.

With MTI now the Ministry of Energy, Trade, and Industry, and Tan becoming the Minister for Energy and Industry, with Gan handling the Trade portion, the circle of his portfolio has been squared.

It reflects the government moving quickly to recognise the looming energy crisis: not caused by the war in Iran, but by the tremendous hunger for electrical energy an AI-enabled future demands, explaining why the government’s focus on nuclear power far predates February 2026.

The Iran War, foreshadowed by the initial attacks in 2025, added an even more dangerous and immediate dimension to the crisis, but by no means initiated it.

This also has the benefit of allowing Gan to focus more narrowly on an increasingly complicated trade environment, with the tariff policy of United States President Donald Trump signalling the start of a period of disruption and reorganisation, both amongst the great and middle powers.

No easy days

This move then opens the door for what many consider the surprise, or highlight, of the reshuffle, promoting Jasmin Lau to Acting Minister for Manpower.

And make no mistake, there is rarely an “easy” time to take over a ministry, but this is a particularly difficult time, for largely the same reasons as were outlined above for NTUC and Ng Chee Meng.

Lau acknowledged as much in her appointment, listing the various difficulties that workers in Singapore are, and will have.

Lau’s promotion and Ng’s return are linked in that way: AI fuelled disruptions and challenging employment environments.

And while they probably didn’t intentionally get a seasoned labour hand to come in to supplement a fresh manpower minister, they have it.

Several of the experts that Mothership spoke to highlighted Lau’s promotion as a recognition of the abilities she had shown so far, with the Institute of Policy Studies’ Teo Kay Key noting that her promotion was a recognition of Lau’s abilities.

Evolution, not revolution

The reshuffle, as are most reshuffles, is an indication of evolution, not revolution.

Most of the changes can be said to have been telegraphed early; surprise is not really a virtue of governance, but not so much so that everything was predictable.

Eugene Tan noted that the pace of getting new generations of leaders was traditionally a long process, spanning “10 to 15 years”.

While that is true, it does feel that the pace, almost imperceptibly, picked up on Wednesday.

A 31-year-old woman was sentenced to six weeks’ jail after forwarding Community Development Council (CDC) voucher redemption links from two women’s mobile phones to her own and spending them, CNA reported.

She reportedly spent S$1,167 worth of CDC vouchers that belonged to the women.

Phang Koh Xing pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal breach of trust and another charge under the Computer Misuse Act for causing a computer to perform a function with the intent to commit theft on Jul. 22.

Two other similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Employee

In court documents seen by Mothership, Phang reportedly worked as a customer service consultant at Yun Nam Hair Care's outlet at Ang Mo Kio Hub at the time of the offences.

Her role was to assist customers in setting up payment methods on their mobile phones.

On Aug. 1, 2025, a 60-year-old woman visited the salon for a hair treatment.

She then passed her phone to Phang so that she could help her set up Shopee instalment payment while she decided on a treatment plan.

As she helped her set up the payment method, Phang accessed the woman’s text messages and found her CDC voucher redemption link.

She proceeded to forward the link to her own mobile phone.

Between Aug. 1 and 3, 2025, Phang accessed the redemption link and utilised the vouchers on nine occasions at supermarkets, a department store, a video game store, an optical shop and at food outlets.

Phang spent a total of S$575.

The woman subsequently discovered unauthorised usage of her CDC vouchers and lodged a police report on Aug. 4, 2025.

Phang has not made restitution to her.

Another victim

On Aug. 9, 2025, a 31-year-old woman visited the salon and handed her phone to Phang to help her set up payment via Atome.

Similarly, Phang accessed the woman’s text messages and forwarded the CDC voucher redemption link to her own mobile phone.

Between Aug. 9 and 11, 2025, Phang accessed the redemption link and utilised the vouchers on seven occasions at supermarkets, a department store, a salon and at Venus Beauty.

Phang spent a total of S$592.

The woman subsequently discovered unauthorised usage of her vouchers and lodged a police report on Sep. 2, 2025.

Phang was subsequently arrested on Dec. 15, 2025 and was released on police bail on the same day.

She reportedly made a voluntary restitution of S$200 to the victim.

Entrusted

The prosecution sought between six and eight weeks’ jail for Phang, and for full restitution, equivalent to the outstanding amounts after the voluntary restitution, to be made to the victims.

"The accused was specifically entrusted with customers’ phones to help them set up payment methods on their respective phones," the prosecution said, according to CNA.

They argued that Phang exploited the victims’ trust and “misused it for wrongful access to the victims’ CDC vouchers”.

For the charge under the Computer Misuse Act, Phang could have faced a jail term up to 10 years, a fine up to S$50,000, or both.

For criminal breach of trust, she could have faced a jail term up to seven years, a fine, or both.