After working as an engineer in Singapore for about five months, a Myanmar woman was forced to head home after she was unable to afford surgery in Singapore following a traffic mishap.

She suffered fractures after a car ran over her right foot on Jul. 23 in Sembawang and had to pay S$40,000 in deposit alone for surgery.

Got into accident days after leaving her job

According to Shin Min Daily News, the woman, Myat, 35, had arrived in Singapore to work as an engineer five months ago.

However, she left the job on Jul. 20, three days before the accident.

On Jul. 23, Myat was walking near Block 508A in Wellington Circle when she saw a parked car on the road.

"I thought it wouldn't move, so I crossed the road. However, the car suddenly made a turn and ran over my right foot," Myat told Shin Min in an interview at Changi Airport on Jul. 25.

Her leg became stuck between the car's fender and tyre.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) was alerted to the accident at about 8pm, it said in response to Mothership's queries.

SCDF eventually freed her leg using hydraulic equipment.

She was later sent to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital for treatment.

S$40,000 deposit for surgery

Myat spent three days and two nights at the hospital, Shin Min wrote.

Her bill for the stay amounted to about S$3,000.

She was also told that she needed to undergo surgery, and would have to pay a S$40,000 deposit.

"I do not have the money, so I can't do the surgery", Myat said.

The 35-year-old was unemployed and did not have insurance.

Myat had been looking for a new job before she met with the accident.

Former employer helped with bills

Myat reached out to her former employer for help.

"He kindly lent me money to pay for the medical bills and bought me a plane ticket back to Myanmar," the 35-year-old said.

She said she would return the borrowed sum as soon as she receives compensation.

However, at the time she spoke to Shin Min on Jul. 25, the driver had not yet contacted her.

Will be out of work for some time

Myat was discharged from the hospital on Jul. 25 afternoon, and caught a 9pm flight home.

She was accompanied by several friends at the airport and was seen with a cast on her right leg and abrasions on her left arm.

One of her friends told Shin Min that Myat came to Singapore to work and earn an income for her family back home.

She would have to undergo surgery back at home and would not be able to work for a while, the friend said.

A 39-year-old male car driver is assisting with investigations, the Singapore Police Force said in response to Mothership's queries.

Police investigations are ongoing.

A Malaysian woman who has worked as a street sweeper for over 12 years was moved to tears on her 50th birthday when her four daughters surprised her at work.

They each were dressed in their professional uniforms as a pilot, nurse, Singapore Airlines cabin crew member and teacher.

The heartwarming moment was captured in a video shared by The Chindian Diaries on Facebook, which has since gone viral.

M Kavitha works at SWM Environment, a waste management company in Seremban, Malaysia earning RM1,800 (S$568.76) a month. Despite her children's success, she continues to work by choice.

When asked why she still works in her 50s instead of letting her children take care of her, Kavitha said:

"It's not like that my dear, it's good to be independent. Each child has their own life. I'm just 50, there are people who still work in their 70s."

She added:"I'm doing this work with my full heart."

A month in the making

The surprise was organised by her daughter L Bharathi and her siblings over about a month, according to New Straits Times (NST).

The idea came from Bharathi's younger sister Santhia, 29, during a conversation among the siblings about what would make the most meaningful birthday gift for their mother.

Bharathi told NST: "We knew no material gift could ever repay Amma for everything she has sacrificed. We wanted to give her something that wasn't valuable because of its price, but because of the happiness it would bring her."

Bharathi also shared that their mother had once expressed a wish to see their youngest sibling surprise her at work in a pilot's uniform, a dream they were able to fulfil on her 50th birthday.

The biggest challenge, Bharathi said, was coordinating schedules as some siblings are based in Singapore and Langkawi, while also ensuring Kavitha remained unaware of the plan and was working as usual on the day.

"Her sacrifices inspired us"

Kavitha has spent more than 12 years working as a street sweeper alongside her husband, a painter, to give their children a better future.

The family has five children in total, her son works at the same company as Kavitha.

Bharathi told NST: "Since we were young, we watched Amma work under the scorching sun and in the rain without ever complaining. Her sacrifices inspired us to study hard, work hard and change our family's life."

The moment she turned around

During the surprise, an interviewer was asking Kavitha questions about her work and family. When asked what her children were doing, she answered without knowing they were standing behind her.

She said:

"All my kids are in good positions. My first child is a nurse, the second one is a stewardess at Singapore Airlines. The third one is a government high school teacher, fourth one is a boy working with me, and my last daughter, she is a pilot."

When asked what she would do if her children were there with her right now, she replied: "They're working right now, why would they be here."

The interviewer then told her to turn around. She found her four daughters waiting behind her in their uniforms and was immediately overcome with emotion, embracing each of them.

"One of the most precious memories of my life"

Kavitha told NST that the surprise made every hardship feel worthwhile.

She said: "I'm grateful because all the hard work and sacrifices I made raising my children felt worthwhile that day. It is one of the most precious memories of my life."

A deaf e-hailing driver in Malaysia recently filed a civil suit against the country's police and government over the alleged mishandling of his police report about an assault.

According to the driver, Ong Ing Keong, a security escort punched him in the face without warning while he was picking up passengers at the St Regis Hotel in Kuala Lumpur on May 28, 2024, The New Straits Times reported.

After he made a police report about the incident, police officers pressured him to withdraw the report and delete the video footage of what happened, Ong claimed.

The assault

Ong alleged that at St Regis Hotel that day, several people ordered him to move his car while his passengers were getting on

Then, as he was about to drive off, a security escort dressed in plain clothes allegedly reached in through the open driver's window and punched him in the face.

The assault reportedly resulted in facial pain, soft tissue injuries, and bruising beneath his upper lip.

The incident was captured on video from Ong's dashboard camera.

The police report

The 48-year-old driver lodged a police report later that same day at Travers police station, before seeking treatment at a hospital, Free Malaysia Today reported.

When he went back to the station afterwards, officers allegedly took his phone and told him it would only be returned if he withdrew his police report and deleted the video from his dashboard camera.

Ong said that without his phone, he was left without his primary means of communication for several hours.

He was also not provided a sign language interpreter or translation assistance despite his disability, he added.

Allegedly asked to settle

A police officer at the station allegedly pressured him to settle the matter regarding the assault by accepting RM800 (S$253) in compensation.

Ong said he initially agreed out of fear that his phone would be permanently seized, but told the police the next day that he wished to proceed with the investigation.

The security escort involved ultimately pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to Ong.

On Nov. 4, 2024, he was fined RM1,000 (S$316) or 20 days in jail in default.

Suing police and government

On Jul. 10, 2026, Ong filed the civil suit at the Malaysia High Court against the security escort, the police officer who allegedly pressured him, the Kuala Lumpur police chief, the inspector-general of police, and the government.

He alleged that the police officer committed misfeasance in public office by allegedly attempting to coerce him into withdrawing his police report.

He is also suing the senior police officers and the government based on vicarious liability for the conduct of the officers who handled his case, according to Free Malaysia Today.

Ong also accused the police of breaching their statutory duties by not providing communication assistance to a deaf complainant and not properly investigating the reported offence.

His case will be heard at the High Court on Aug. 12.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) announced on Jul. 27 that it will be increasing the rate of appreciation of the Singapore dollar very slightly as inflation is forecast to step up in July and remain elevated into early next year.

This is the second consecutive quarter in which the central bank has tightened Singapore's monetary policy.

The first took place after the macroeconomic review in April 2026.

MAS said that the extent of July's increase in the rate of appreciation will be smaller than that of April's.

Sustained inflationary pressure

In its Jul. 27 monetary policy statement, MAS noted that the core inflation rate came in at 1.5 per cent year-on-year in Q2 2026, up from 1.2 per cent in January-February prior to the outbreak of the Middle East conflict.

It now expects core inflation rates to step up in July and remain elevated into early next year.

It has maintained its core inflation and Consumer Price Index-All Items (CPI-All Items) inflation projection at an average of 1.5 to 2.5 per cent for 2026 as a whole.

The projection was raised previously following April's macroeconomic review, up from one to two per cent.

Electricity and gas inflation will pick up due to higher energy prices, while food and retail and other goods inflation should increase alongside the passthrough of imported costs, MAS explained.

In the quarters ahead, Singapore's imported costs are likely to rise as higher fuel and electronic input costs will lift prices for items such as construction materials, capital equipment and food commodities.

Adverse weather conditions arising from El Niño in Singapore's import sources are also expected to lower agricultural output and drive up food prices.

However, MAS said that inflation should "ease more discernibly" in the second half of 2027 as global energy prices gradually moderate.

Global economy remained resilient

In terms of growth, global economic activity has been more resilient than anticipated, MAS observed.

This in part reflects the retreat in global prices of crude oil, natural gas and related chemical components from their peaks in April.

Alternative oil and gas supplies and utilisation of existing stockpiles have tempered supply disruptions, MAS noted.

At the same time, AI-related investments have remained robust, underpinning strong production and trade of IT-related goods and services in regional economies.

MAS also expects growth in Singapore's major trading partners to continue apace in the near term, with firm investment spending on technology sustaining activity in the global electronics supply chain.

Energy costs are still elevated compared to a year ago, and will contribute further to inflationary pressures worldwide.

Weaker real incomes could crimp final consumer demand in some economies, MAS noted.

S'pore's growth buoyed by AI spend

On the home front, Singapore's economy has also been stronger than expected, with the impact of the Middle East conflict discernible but contained.

Advance estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry placed Singapore's economic growth in Q2 2026 at 5.7 per cent year-on-year.

The disruption to oil-related sectors was more than offset by robust growth in the technology-related segments.

MAS expects the Singapore economy to continue to grow at a firm pace in the second half of the year as global AI-related investments continue to drive activity in Singapore's technology-related sector.

According to MAS, the recently imposed 12.5 per cent tariff by the U.S. on Singapore's exports would raise the effective tariff rate marginally.

However, the impact would be cushioned by export diversification and the boom in tariff-exempt electronics exports.

Altogether, Singapore's positive output gap is now forecast to widen slightly in 2026, reflecting the above-trend growth in the first half of the year, as well as the expectation that overall GDP will be sustained at high levels in the near term.

The output gap is the difference between an economy's GDP and its estimated potential GDP.

A positive output gap represents higher-than-expected economic activity and may be a precursor to rising costs and possibly rising inflation.

Tightening

Given these forecast conditions, the latest tightening of monetary policy builds on April's policy move to cap inflationary pressures, the central bank said.

Despite stronger-than-expected growth, the macroeconomic outlook continues to be uncertain, with MAS noting that inflation could pick up more strongly than anticipated if energy prices spike.

On the flip side, if there is an unexpected pullback in AI-related investments or tightening of financial conditions, inflation could weaken and GDP growth could be affected.

"MAS is well-positioned to respond effectively to any risk to medium-term price stability and will continue to closely monitor economic developments," the central bank said.

The Singapore Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, is appealing for the family and friends of a 44-year-old Singaporean man to come forward.

Its Jul. 24 Facebook post stated that Li Yong Zhe / Lee Yong Kwang Gavin, who was born on Oct. 27, 1982, passed away in Batam on Jul. 15, 2026.

Members of the public who know him, or have any information about him, may contact the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs at +65 6379 8800 or the Singapore Consulate-General in Batam at +62 811 7049 084.

44-year-old media personality and television host Pornsak Prajakwit will be returning to school to pursue his Master’s degree at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

“I’m going back to school again. Recently, I’ve been accepted into NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine to pursue my Master’s in Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine,” he announced in an Instagram video on Jul. 25.

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by PORNSAK ดร. พรศักดิ์ (@pornsakp)

According to 8world, Pornsak will officially begin his Master's programme on Aug. 3.

The part-time programme is expected to take around two years to complete.

Pornsak holds a business degree from the Singapore Management University and is also a licensed Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner.

He told 8world that he decided to return to school part-time to deepen his medical knowledge and better support his clinical practice, as he has been receiving more in-depth questions from his patients.

According to the NUS website, the NUS' Master of Science in Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine programme is a postgraduate programme that can be completed either full-time in one year or part-time over two years.

Despite returning to school, Pornsak said he will continue juggling his studies with work.

"I can choose to take classes on Thursday and Friday mornings, which allows me to balance practising medicine, livestreaming and studies," he told 8world.

A woman has denied involvement with former Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim after allegations surfaced that she was the woman behind his recent resignation.

In an Instagram post on Jul. 27, Rasidah Caudal included a screenshot of what appeared to be a Telegram message claiming that she was "the one who caused MP Faishal to resign".

"She is married to a French man," the message also claimed.

This same image was posted on TikTok on Jul. 26, gaining over 81,000 views and close to 2,400 shares as of the time of writing.

Caudal superimposed the text, "untrue allegation", over this screenshot, and said in the caption that she has been "wrongfully accused as the woman in the Prof Faishal case".

"I would like to take the occasion to categorically reject these accusations."

Willing to take legal action

Caudal is a certified senior piloxing and pilates trainer whose classes are held at various community centres, as listed on the onePA website.

She clarified in her post that her "only contact with" Faishal was during her two fitness events at Kampung Ubi Community Centre (CC), which were organised by the Kembangan CC Women’s Executive Committee (WEC).

These two events, she told Mothership, took place on Mar. 29 and Jul. 12.

She clarified that she has not had any "personal meeting[s]" with Faishal.

Caudal also told Mothership that she "just want[s] to clear [her] name".

"I feel sad that I have been wrongly accused when I did nothing."

She added that she first found out about the rumours from her students, who told her they had seen pictures of her circulating on WhatsApp and TikTok.

Caudal has also received messages on Facebook and Instagram.

"I was shocked and thought it will die off as it’s so unbelievable but it went viral. I am really sad about this as it’s bad for my reputation," she said.

"I ask those posting and commenting on these false accusations to please refrain from doing so, as well as provide tangible proof to their claims of my supposed links to Prof Faishal," she wrote in her post.

She also warned that she "will not hesitate to take legal action against anyone spreading these false rumours".

Apart from herself, Caudal also urged the public not to seek to cause damage to the actual woman involved.

"These accusations are, seemingly, a search for solutions to a scandal without answers. I understand the sentiment.

However, I beg you to refrain causing damage to a woman and her family because you have not been able to obtain such answers. I do not know them either.

Resorting to playground chatter and false accusations, which mind you have real-life consequences on people’s lives, contrary to what social media may make you believe, is extremely low."

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Rasidah Caudal (@rasidah.piloxing)

Background

Faishal, who was also Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs, and Member of Parliament for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, announced his resignation from his political offices on Jul. 20.

It happened after the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) received an email from a female member of the public concerning her interactions with Faishal.

Both Faishal and the woman made allegations of harassment against each other, but it was assessed that no criminal offence had been committed by either party.

However, Faishal accepted that his conduct fell short of the standards expected of an MP and Political Office Holder, leading to his resignation.

In a letter of resignation to PM Wong, the 58-year-old said there was "no physical relationship" between him and the woman, and he had not intended for the interactions to develop into one.

“There was a lapse of judgment on my part in the way I handled the interactions and in failing to establish clearer boundaries at an earlier stage,” he wrote.

Related stories

It would be comical if it weren’t so alarming.

A video, published on Jul. 21, shows a motorboat with several members of China’s Coast Guard (CCG) seemingly approaching the BRP Sierra Madre.

The CCG boat was then intercepted by two inflated rubber motor boats, manned by members of the Philippine Navy (PN).

This meeting got heated, and the two sides came to blows, with CCG and PCG personnel hitting each other with oars and other weapons.

Boating incident

Both China and the Philippines had different interpretations of what had occurred.

ABC reports that the CCG accused the Philippines of deliberately distorting facts by making false accusations.

China Coast Guard claims

The CCG claimed that the vessel was on a routine patrol and that the Filipino rubber boats had approached rapidly, encircled them, and rammed them in a dangerous manner.

It also accused the Philippine military personnel of having initiated the physical attacks by striking CCG personnel with oars, long sticks, and other tools.

Video published by the CCG seemingly showed the PN boats approach them while they were at a stop, but that the CCG boat was in the vicinity of the Filipino outpost on the BRP Sierra Madre.

It showed CCG personnel using a loudspeaker to warn the approaching rubber boat in Mandarin, and the two boats coming together and PN personnel pointing using an oar, while one CCG member appeared to brandish what appeared to be a baton.

The CCG said that its actions were in "accordance with laws and regulations" and included verbal warnings, collision-avoiding manoeuvres, and proportional countermeasures to control the situation on the spot while "exercising maximum rationality and restraint."

Philippine Navy's reply

The Filipino military defended their actions, saying that the Philippine Navy personnel had acted with professionalism and in accordance with their rules of engagement.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) said that the deployment of two rubber boats was a measured, non-confrontational effort to direct the CCG vessel away, and that their personnel had not initiated any confrontation.

However, they claimed that the incident escalated after the CCG had ignored repeated instructions to leave and struck a Filipino sailor with a wooden baton.

After this, Filipino troops exercised restraint and defended themselves within established rules, they said.

They also said that the CCG boat had been circling the area around the BRP Sierra Madre, in what the CCG said was a routine patrol, which the AFP said they had no right to patrol.

Video released by the AFP showed the previously mentioned incident from the other perspective. While the PCG member had a raised oar, he did not appear to attack CCG staff, and was swatted at by a CCG member with a baton.

Previous incidents

This most recent incident took place around the Second Thomas Shoal, known as the Ayungin Shoal to the Philippines and Ren Ai Jiao to China.

To strengthen its claim to the shoal, the Philippines ran a vessel, the BRP Sierra Madre, aground on the shoal's reef in 1999, and the vessel has been manned by a contingent of AFP personnel ever since.

The AFP statement referenced a 2024 incident where the CCG, along with People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) vessels, had confronted an inflatable boat in an incident that saw a Filipino soldier lose a thumb in the confrontation.

In the video of that incident, a member of the CCG could be seen brandishing an axe.

In that year's edition of the Shangri-La Dialogue, hosted in Singapore, Philippines' President Marcos Jr responded to a question about increasing tensions and aggressive acts taking place in the area.

He said that any incident that ended up killing a Filipino serviceman or citizen, if it was by a "wilful act", that would be "I think, very, very close" to what the Philippines considered an "act of war".

In such a case, the Philippines would respond appropriately, and he believed the Philippines's treaty partners would hold the same standard.

However, Marcos Jr expressed his thanks that a fatal incident had not yet occurred.

Confrontations between the Philippines and China in the South China Sea also escalated to violence in 2025.

In an incident that took place in a different part of the South China Sea, the Scarborough Shoal, a Philippines Coast Guard (PCG) vessel appeared to be pursued by a CCG vessel and a PLAN vessel.

A video taken from the PCG vessel showed the two Chinese vessels shooting water cannons towards the PCG vessel, as well as weaving behind it.

But what appeared to be a miscalculation on the part of the Chinese vessels resulted in the PLAN vessel seemingly chopping the CCG vessel in two.

Competing claims

Both China and the Philippines claim the shoal, with the shoal falling within the 200 Nautical mile exclusive economic zone mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

China's claim on the shoal is, on the other hand, a result of its nine-dash-line claim to large parts of the South China Sea, and the shoal is about 600 nautical miles away from China's coastline.

Both the Philippines and China have signed and ratified UNCLOS, but have very different interpretations of how it applies to their claims.

In 2016, the Philippines tried to take China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which China said had no jurisdiction and refused to take part in the proceedings.

The court ruled in the Philippines' favour, but China has refused to accept the ruling, repeatedly saying that the ruling is “null and void”, and that the Philippines is under the influence of “certain external powers.”

The South China Sea isn't the only area where tensions over territory have taken place.

In 2020, videos of Chinese and Indian troops fighting with fists and sticks in the Galwan Valley in India's Ladakh region went viral, which left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead.

A 30-year-old man died after his car and a lorry got into an accident along the Central Expressway (CTE) towards the Seletar Expressway (SLE) in the early hours of Jul. 27, 2026.

The police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told Mothership that they were alerted at about 4:45am on Monday to the accident.

A SCDF paramedic pronounced a 30-year-old male car driver dead at the scene.

SCDF conveyed three other persons, including a 37-year-old male lorry driver, his 38-year-old male passenger, and a 24-year-old worker who was carrying out road works nearby, conscious to Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Photos

Posts on Facebook by SG Road Vigilante and Ellen Teo showed a black car had crashed.

The car is believed to be a BMW.

Other road users commented that up to four lanes were blocked or closed at one point.

Car badly damaged

The car seen in photos in the aftermath of the accident appeared badly damaged.

Debris was strewn across a few lanes of the road.

A 46-year-old man in Singapore is accusing an employee of a pet cremation company of dumping his deceased pet dog's body into the rubbish bin under a block of flats instead of cremating it properly.

The owner of the deceased dog said he personally saw the body in the bottom of the dumpster when he went to throw rubbish.

Pet cremation company

Shin Min Daily News reported that Liu Jianping (transliterated) and his wife had a female Dachshund named "Kimi" since 2010.

Kimi lived till 16 years old before it died on Jul. 19.

Given that the dog lived a long life, Liu was not overly sad, Shin Min reported, adding that he went online to find out how to dispose of Kimi's remains.

Liu said: "I found a company called 'Express Pet Cremation' that specialises in pet cremation. After cremation, they would scatter the ashes into the sea."

"One of their male employees came to my house early that morning to pick up the dog's body, put it in a bag, and left," Liu added.

He said the male employee gave him an invoice and asked him to transfer S$180.

The invoice stated that Kimi's body would be cremated in the Ubi area, Shin Min reported.

Found dog in rubbish bin

Liu then went to throw some items in the rubbish bin below his block shortly after.

"When I went downstairs, I saw the male employee waiting for a taxi," said Liu, adding that "he didn't have any bags in his hand".

Liu found it strange that this was the case.

When Liu was throwing the trash, he found a black garbage bag in the large green rubbish dumpster.

He instinctively wondered if it might be his dog, Shin Min reported.

According to Liu, the bag reportedly looked like it had been deliberately stuffed into the bottom of the rubbish dumpster.

"When I opened it, I was shocked to find Kimi, who had been with us for 16 years," he said, adding that his hands were shaking.

"When my wife saw it, she cried on the spot."

His mother also cried when she found out about the incident, he added.

Liu said he had intended to give his dog a proper send-off all along.

"We've all been very sad these past few days," he said.

"I keep thinking, if I hadn't happened to find it, would the body have just been left there?"

Reported case

Following this, Liu brought Kimi's body to a nearby police station and reported the incident.

When contacted by a Shin Min reporter, an individual from Express Pet Cremation reportedly said he would investigate the matter.

Afterwards, he allegedly stopped answering calls or replying to messages from Shin Min.

Mothership has reached out to Express Pet Cremation for more information.

Contacted another pet cremation company

Shin Min reported that Liu later contacted a different company to assist with his dog's cremation.

He spent another S$198.

He added that the second company was extremely responsible and sent him pictures before the cremation.

The company will also send him pictures next month when Kimi's ashes get scattered in the sea.

Liu told Shin Min that he contacted Express Pet Cremation and asked for a refund, but claimed to not have received any response to date.

Pets cannot be buried in a public area

According to the Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS), a pet can be buried in a person's private property or land, but not in a public area.

Under the Environmental Public Health (Public Cleansing) Regulations, the burial of animal carcasses is not permitted in public places.

In addition, the handling of a pet's body depends on its size.

According to the National Environment Agency (NEA) website, their waste-to-energy (WTE) plants are not designed for the cremation of large animal carcasses, such as dogs and cats.

Owners of large pets are to engage the services of commercial animal crematoriums.

Small pet carcasses, such as hamsters, fish or birds, can be disposed of by securely double-bagging them and placing them in a general waste bin.

Alternatively, owners of small pets may also consider engaging the services of commercial animal crematoriums.