19 years ago, Ram Das Brabakaran, 46, was working at a bank’s corporate office when he decided to take a leap of faith.

Today, as Chief of Changi Airport Group’s (CAG) Airport Emergency Service (AES), he oversees about 550 officers whose primary job is to respond to incidents and emergencies across Changi Airport, Seletar Airport and Singapore’s military airbases.

It is a far cry from when he first signed up with AES in 2007.

At that point, he had zero experience in aviation and emergency services and little knowledge of the job for which he was signing up.

Starting from zero

“I was always interested in aviation [and] fascinated by Changi Airport,” Ram said, adding that he had applied for jobs in the aviation industry when he was younger.

“I really didn’t know much about the job that I was applying for in AES. It was a bit of a ‘let’s try my luck and see’.”

Starting from zero was no easy feat.

To prepare for his entry into AES, Ram was put through five months of “extremely tough” training at the Singapore Aviation Academy.

Incident management, command and control, aircraft rescue and firefighting techniques and a duty officer course were some of the things Ram faced.

AES officers are trained very differently because they operate in a highly specialised aviation environment.

They are trained to respond to aircraft fires, aviation fuel related emergencies and passenger rescues under strict international aviation safety standards.

This specialised training prepares them to act within minutes, manage complex aviation hazards, and help stabilise the situation so that the safety of passengers is maximised and airport operations can be safely restored as quickly as possible.

Ram also sat through a gruelling written test, a demanding practical assessment of his command and control abilities and a rigorous interview.

“It was a very, very long process,” he said.

At the end of it all, he became a duty officer overseeing a team of 20 staff who were responsible for addressing aerodrome emergencies.

Such emergencies can involve aircraft crashes, sea rescue, ground fires, hazardous goods incidents, security threats and public health emergencies.

Ram progressed to become an Operations Commander, where he oversaw an “even larger team” and had to make executive command decisions whenever an incident happened during his shift.

High-pressure situations

AES officers are no strangers to high-pressure situations — in fact, they need to work well in them.

The ability to analyse a situation and formulate a response quickly is important as well, the Chief said, calling it the appreciation of the situation.

“While we have a lot of standard operating procedures in place, when something happens on the ground, our guys need to respond quickly… and make sure that the outcome is what we desire,” Ram described.

“No two incidents are the same,” he added, especially if the emergencies concern aircraft.

Tellingly, when I asked Ram about the most memorable incidents he has encountered in his career, he cited three very different incidents.

One of these was the very first incident he ever encountered as an Operations Commander – a gas leak in one of the Changi Airport terminals during his shift.

“This was during the evening peak period. So, I had to make the call because of safety to shut down our food and beverage operations in the terminal,” Ram recalled.

The incident was a reminder that his decision “had some consequences”.

The second was a fire in an air-handling unit in Terminal 2.

The spreading of smoke from that air-handling unit resulted in a terminal-wide evacuation as a precaution, a first for Changi Airport.

During this incident, Ram also had to personally address large groups of passengers who had questions about the status of their baggage and connecting flights, among other issues.

“To go through the situation, not just to handle the fire and smoke, but also to manage passengers, that experience was something that would always stay with me. And I learned quite a lot from that incident as well.”

The third incident occurred when a plane was evacuating passengers onto the runway because smoke was reported on board.

For Ram, his immediate concern was ensuring that the AES rescue vehicles were responding quickly and safely to the aircraft in distress, while looking out for passengers running away from the aircraft on the runway.

Fortunately, “we were very quickly able to manage the incident well and get everyone to safety,” he said.

Policy for its people

Today, Ram’s focus is on leading and developing policy to ensure AES continually operates at a high level of readiness.

This includes overseeing regular, airport-wide aircraft emergency exercises to ensure that everyone — from ground handlers to personnel providing medical support — can respond swiftly and are familiar with their roles.

AES has also evolved to help its people ensure passengers’ peace of mind through the adoption of technology.

“For example, we harness technology by using drone capabilities,” Ram explained, adding, “If I have a night operation, I can use drones to light up the incident scene which might otherwise be very dark.”

AES is also exploring other robotics applications, such as using robots to transport casualties.

On top of these, Ram regularly visits the officers stationed at Changi and Seletar airports and the military airbases that CAG’s AES serve, something he looks forward to doing.

AES cannot do without its people, and so Ram sees it as a priority for him to engage them and ensure that they are ready to perform when needed.

“My job is to go there, meet them, engage in conversations and see how I can [help] them do their jobs better.”

Beyond the uniform

Outside work, Ram is an avid football fan, a doting husband to his wife of 19 years and father to a daughter, 16 and a son, 13.

His family has always been his greatest motivator, even on his bad days.

“They always have [my] back. I always say, ‘My family can keep me going.’”

When asked how else the job has touched his life, Ram remarked that he now pays attention to all the safety messages shared during flights.

He also takes note of where his nearest safety exits are “in the event” he needs them.

Safeguarding passengers

Beyond looking back at his recent appointment as Chief AES, Ram is also focused on the days beyond.

The Chief said his goal is to continue building on the good work of his predecessors and steer AES to always be mission ready.

Part of this is to continue the culture of constantly seeking excellence and tapping on technology such that AES can overcome constraints, such as manpower challenges.

At that, Ram commented that AES officers are “our greatest assets”.

“I hope to be able to play my part in leading the team well, developing our officers to the best of their abilities, and growing their skillsets so they can perform their roles better. When we deliver our mission well, Changi (Airport) succeeds, and Singapore benefits.”

To his people, he says, “Keep the AES SPIRIT going - Safety, People-centric, Integrity, Resilience, Innovation and Teamwork. These are the core values that we want to see in all our AES officers… Most importantly, the sense of teamwork. We don’t fight our mission as individuals.”

Ram added that while his job may not be “glamorous” and has been perceived as being a “blue collar job”, it is his wish that more people will be aware about how “meaningful” it is.

“The purpose of my job is very clear. It’s about saving lives, about safeguarding our passengers. At AES, we have a very, very clear mission,” he said.

“We would warmly welcome more people to come join us.”

For Ram, his 19 years with AES thus far has been a “very purposeful, meaningful career” in a job that is dynamic and can differ greatly each day.

“And you get to do this at the best airport in the world,” the aviation enthusiast concluded.

The writer of this sponsored article now understands the specialised training airport emergency responders undergo.

A Malaysian girl who went missing in Johor Bahru, Malaysia, in 2019 has been found in Langkawi with a husband and a son.

The family reportedly tracked her down via MyKasih system, a Malaysian cashless food aid and education welfare initiative, Sinchew reported.

Missing for 7 years

The family had reportedly used the girl's national identity card (MyKad) number to check her MyKasih aid programme records.

The MyKasih aid programme taps into recipients' MyKad to credit financial aid directly.

As a result, the family discovered her card was used to shop at several stores in Langkawi.

Believing she was on the island, this helped to narrow the search area.

Langkawi deputy police chief Samsulmuddin Sulaiman confirmed that based on information provided by the public, police conducted an inspection at a residence at around 11pm on Jun. 1, The Star reported.

Officers found a 21-year-old woman living in the house with a child.

Further checks by the police confirmed that the woman was still listed as a missing person.

"The woman admitted she left her family home in Johor Bahru before settling in Langkawi. She also claimed to have married a foreigner but her husband was not at home during the inspection."

The woman's family has since been informed that she has been found safe.

According to Sinchew, in the seven years she was gone, the girl's father had passed away, and her mother's health had also deteriorated.

A 64-year-old Burmese Chinese man fatally attacked his 56-year-old wife with a knife and hammer in Zhongli District, Taoyuan, Taiwan, and turned himself in, revealed that he was was allegedly dissatisfied with her.

The incident occurred on the morning of Nov. 17, 2025, ETtoday reported.

The man, surnamed Li, faced charges of domestic violence homicide.

It was previously reported that he had killed his wife because he was in a bad mood after he woke up.

Investigations

Investigations revealed that Li and his wife, surnamed Luo, lived together.

Li’s health was apparently deteriorating, and he was a retiree.

He claimed that he had tried to confide in his wife about his troubles, but she did not take him seriously.

He was then reportedly dissatisfied and angry at her.

Homicide

On the morning of the incident, at about 5am, he purportedly took a hammer from a bedroom toolbox.

When the couple's daughter, who lived with them, left the house, Li decided to catch Luo off-guard in the living room.

He allegedly choked Luo with his hands until she lost consciousness and repeatedly struck the back of her head with a hammer at least three times.

The impact of the strikes reportedly caused skull fractures.

Li then took a kitchen knife and hacked Luo’s right neck and right cheek.

She died from traumatic head injuries.

Li then rode a bicycle to the Neili Police Station and apparently turned himself in.

Questioning

During questioning, the prosecution found that Li could be a flight risk and applied to the court for pretrial detention.

The court also found Li had relatives in Myanmar.

He reportedly admitted to travelling to Thailand multiple times each year for religious missionary work.

After holding his wedding in France, Mario Ho, son of the late Macau billionaire Stanley Ho, returned to Hong Kong to attend his eldest son, Ronaldo's, kindergarten graduation ceremony.

The 31-year-old apparently turned up in a suit and tie, Sing Tao reported.

Graduation

Angela Leong, Stanley Ho’s fourth wife and mother of Ho, attended the event.

In photos of the event, Ho was seen posing with Leong and his two children in family portraits.

Ho also made a speech during the ceremony, sharing his experiences and showing photos of himself as a child attending the same school as his son.

Ho expressed gratitude to his alma mater for leaving his family with happy memories.

In attendance at the graduation ceremony were Hong Kong celebrities such as singer Leo Ku and actress Niki Chow, whose children were reportedly graduating the same year as Ronaldo.

Fees

Causeway Bay Victoria Kindergarten, Ronaldo’s school, is reportedly a prestigious institution in Hong Kong.

Annual tuition and miscellaneous expenses, including meals and other fees, amount to over HK$100,000 (S$16,471.70).

According to Zaobao, the estimated cost of attending kindergarten is at least HK$400,000 (S$65,886.80).

Former Singaporean actress Ivy Lee took to Instagram to share that one of her twin sons has completed the popular but gruelling Ironman race in Austria.

Her son Dash completed the triathlon, which consisted of a 3.8km swim, 180km of cycling, and a 42.2km marathon, in 13 hours 20 minutes 57 seconds.

Lee has twin sons, Nik and Dash.

In her post, Lee shared photos and videos of Dash swimming, cycling, running past the finish line.

She accompanied him throughout as a supporter.

Her Instagram caption read: "The Ironman that makes the Ironmum."

Two Singaporeans competed in this year's Ironman Kaernten-Klagenfurt and only Dash completed the race, according to the published Ironman results.

Background

In 2009, Lee left MediaCorp and moved to Hong Kong with her four children to be with her director husband, Raymond Choy, who worked in China.

In 2018, the family moved from Hong Kong to London, where the children studied.

In 2023, Lee's twin sons returned to Singapore to serve their mandatory national service.

Over 200 content creators from Singapore and Malaysia have come together to allege that a Singapore-based marketing platform has been delaying their payments.

The total outstanding amount between them is about RM543,000 (S$171,000), The Star reported.

This was shared at a press conference held with five of the victims in Kuala Lumpur on Jun. 16.

"[The victims] claim that despite completing the assignments given to them, the payments promised by the platform have not been received," the chief of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) Federal Territories Legal Bureau said at the conference.

Partipost builds a network of influencers to promote products for various brands through social media campaigns.

According to its website, they engage content creators from Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.

"They owe us for our services"

In April and May, Malaysia content creator Kezia Zhang made several posts on Threads about repeatedly seeking payment from Partipost.

According to a screenshot of her email thread, she was still requesting payment in February for a campaign she completed in 2024.

Then, despite allegedly not receiving payment yet, Partipost sent her an email inviting her to participate in another campaign.

Zhang later shared that she joined a chat group of other content creators who did work for Partipost, and learned that over 200 people had similarly been delayed payment.

According to her, the collective amount owed as of May 28 was more than RM400,000 (S$126,000).

As for Zhang herself, she claimed that by then she had yet to receive RM1,035 (S$325) that she withdrew from the app in February, and another RM710 (S$223) owed to her.

Constant delays

Singapore content creator Deborah Kwek Gilbert also spoke up with similar allegations on Instagram.

In May, she posted that Partipost has "refused to pay" her fully for work done in September 2025, and only started paying "bit by bit" after she chased and threatened to take legal action.

She claimed that the client had already paid Partipost, and believed the company might be "hoping to use new money to pay old backlog of debts".

She also said that the company kept pushing back the deadline for transferring her payment, and she has since "given up on being paid".

Gilbert told Marketing Interactive that she received half of the payment promised after threatening legal action, and another 20 per cent at the end of March.

Reported to the police

In Malaysia, several victims have reported to the Malaysian police about the purported non-payments, according to The Star.

Among them is Ng Yeen Theng, 31, who joined the platform in June 2025.

"I completed about 20 assignments with estimated earnings of RM10,074.08 (S$3,174)," she said. "However, all my withdrawal requests only showed a processed status, and I have yet to receive any payment to date."

Another content creator, 34-year-old Gg Unnie, had been using the platform since 2022.

She previously received payments on time, until they became delayed from the end of 2024.

Now, the sum the platform owes her has grown to RM19,000 (S$6,000).

No satisfactory response

The victims also alleged that they have repeatedly tried to contact the company's management through various means but have not received a satisfactory response.

Liang Zuyi (transliteration), who claimed she is owed RM11,000 (S$3,466), went to the Kuala Lumpur branch to demand an explanation, Shin Min Daily News reported.

According to her, the finance manager repeatedly told her that the company had yet to receive the funds, and the payment would be transferred to her the following month.

On Jun. 8, Zhang updated that the Partipost headquarters in Singapore was empty.

On Instagram accounts that appear to be affiliated with Partipost, several users have commented on their posts demanding payment, with no reply from the company.

Mothership has reached out to Partipost for comment.

Actress and livestream host Joanne Peh spoke up about a disrespectful encounter with a Chinese merchant she was supposed to host a livestream sale for on Jun. 17.

The 43-year-old cancelled the livestream and took to TikTok live to speak up about the experience, saying:

"This is the one merchant that I think you are so full of yourself. If you think you can go ahead and stream all by yourself, then don't invite the creators."

Clips from her livestream were recorded and uploaded by another TikTok user, who also said they related to Peh as a former livestreamer.

Peh vented in her livestream, saying: "We don't expect you to come and pick us in a big S-Class, we don't expect you to give us a bouquet of flowers and have a whole entourage of people waiting for us at your front door. We don't demand this kind of thing. But just because we don't ask for it doesn't mean you don't even offer us a drink when we sit down."

Zero respect

Peh had posted a TikTok story announcing the cancellation of her livestream as there was "zero respect" from the merchant.

She also uploaded two more stories on Jun. 18, explaining that the decision wasn't made lightly.

She added:

"Because walking away from a stream means walking away from time, effort and income that many people had already invested in. I cancelled it because I witnessed interactions that I could not, in good conscience, support."

While she did not share the full details of the incident, she said she had learned of "experiences shared by account managers who had worked hard behind the scenes to support the growth of the business involved".

"Taken together, those experiences reinforced my belief that stepping away had been the right decision," she said.

Peh said no business succeeds alone and called for every creator and those working behind the scenes to be treated with respect.

"Success is built on people. That support should be met with gratitude. Not entitlement. Which is why respect should never be optional," she wrote.

Jonas Wu, son of television host Allan Wu, is currently serving National Service, and instead of just counting down to ORD, he and a fellow NSF have spent their little free time building an app for it.

Wu, who enlisted in January 2025, teamed up with his friend Ryan Jee to create ORD+, a homegrown app designed to help NSFs manage their fitness, finances and personal routines during service.

How it started

In a video by @safrasg, Jee said:

"It was a random night and I received a call from Jonas, 'Yo Ryan, we got to build an app. I have a crazy idea.'"

The two have been friends since their time at St Joseph's Institution International.

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by SAFRA Singapore (@safrasg)

What gap they were trying to fill

According to SAFRA's NSman Magazine, the idea grew out of a frustration both founders shared early in their service.

Jee told the magazine:

"During BMT, I realised that a lot of important information and practical knowledge is often learned only through trial and error, or passed down informally from seniors."

Wu added that he noticed that support was unevenly distributed among enlistees from different backgrounds.

"Fitness, finances and personal growth all existed in silos," he told the magazine.

"Some people were already equipped with systems and habits, while others struggled quietly."

The two envisioned ORD+ as a one-stop tool that any NSF could use.

Managing time

Neither Wu nor Jee had a coding background. Development work was squeezed into weekends and late nights after book-out, with Wu even taking additional JavaScript courses along the way.

"Some days it would take five to six hours just to get a single page right," Wu told SAFRA's NSman Magazine.

"Managing time with my family was tough," he added. "Spending hours in my room sometimes made my parents wonder what I was doing."

What the app does

ORD+ includes fitness tracking, a budgeting tool, journaling, SAF-related information and an ORD countdown feature. The countdown, which displays a dynamic progress circle, has become one of its most talked-about features.

In the @safrasg video, the app is built to address the confusion many NSFs feel when they first enlist, noting there was no single place to find the information they needed. ORD+ could ease the mental load of service life.

Support & what's next

According to SAFRA's NSman Magazine, plans for ORD+ include deeper personalisation, improved fitness and financial insights, and potential integration with platforms such as Apple Health.

The app is still in development and open to funding.

Singapore has been ranked the most competitive in the International Institute for Management Development (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook 2026.

According to its website, Singapore rose one spot to claim its ranking out of 70 economies.

Among them, Hong Kong rose one spot to second, and Switzerland dropped two spots to third place.

Top in business efficiency

Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said via a LinkedIn post that he was pleased Singapore had risen to the top position.

Noting that Singapore took the top spot in Business Efficiency, Gan said the country continued to perform well in a volatile global landscape.

He added that this included areas such as International Trade, Productivity and Efficiency, as well as Technological Infrastructure.

Rankings

The report stated that Singapore's top spot in business efficiency comes after it ranked second in 2024 and eighth in 2025.

Singapore placed third in economic performance after previously claiming the top spot in 2025.

In terms of government efficiency, it maintained its third place ranking from 2025.

It also rose one spot to place fifth in infrastructure.

Act decisively to bolster economy

Gan said that as a small and open economy, it is critical that Singapore continues to get its economic fundamentals right.

He added: "The government will act decisively to bolster our economy, support our businesses, and help our workers stay nimble and adaptable to respond to new challenges."

"We will also continue to partner our stakeholders to strengthen Singapore's economic resilience so that our economy remains strong and vibrant and creates even more opportunities for Singaporeans for many more years to come."

About the ranking

An earlier report stated that the ranking evaluates economies with various population sizes, as well as those with GDP "on both ends of the scale".

It also takes into account ongoing global issues that may pose challenges to each economy.

Having lost sexual interest in his wife following her pregnancy, a 40-year-old man pretended to be a female pimp online to solicit sex from women.

He would bait the unsuspecting victims with "fast cash" of up to S$5,000 and tell them that the "customer" demanded they blindfold themselves during sex.

In fact, he was the customer all along.

He would then disappear on the victims when they asked for payment after sex.

One of his victims was 15 years old at the time.

The man, Loh Guang Ze, 40, faces 10 charges of obtaining sexual activity by fraud, sexual penetration of a minor and voyeurism, among others.

He pleaded guilty to five of the charges, with the rest to be taken into consideration during sentencing, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Lost sexual interest in wife after watching her give birth

According to Shin Min, investigations revealed that the man lost sexual interest in his wife after watching her give birth.

In 2021, he went onto the classifieds website Locanto to solicit sexual services from women.

About 30 women got in touch with Loh.

Of these, nine fell victim.

Pretended to be female pimp to lure victims

Loh would pretend to be a female pimp by the name of "Sherry" and seek out women who wanted to make S$3,000 to S$5,000 in "fast cash" in exchange for their sexual services.

He would claim that he could attract a "sugar daddy" or arrange customers for the women.

He would also ask the women for photos.

If they appealed to him, he would take his ploy a step further.

According to Shin Min, Luo would also suggest to the victim that there was a customer interested in them.

He also emphasised that the customer requested the victim be blindfolded throughout the transaction.

He used the excuse that the blindfold was due to the customer's fetish and for privacy reasons.

In truth, he wanted to hide the fact that he was the customer and avoid being recognised by the victim.

Following the sexual act, Luo would ignore the victim's request for payment and even block them.

15-year-old victim

One of Loh's victims was a 15-year-old girl, whom he swindled on Aug. 4, 2021.

The teen came across an advertisement made by Loh and contacted "Sherry".

He lied to the 15-year-old that she would be paid S$5,000 so long as she provided sexual services three times while blindfolded and in her school uniform.

He promised to place the cash in a letterbox.

They proceeded with the arrangement, meeting up in a handicap toilet at Teck Whye Community Club.

Loh then arrived as the customer and had sex with the 15-year-old.

He also recorded the act on his phone, resulting in an 11-minute and 23-second video in which the girl's face and uniform were visible.

After the act, the 15-year-old asked "Sherry" when she would get paid, but was told that she had not completed the agreed-upon three services.

The teen said that the "customer" did not respect her wishes and cancelled the arrangement.

Promised victims they would get payment after the second time

Two of Loh's other victims, aged 19 and 22, were also filmed in secret.

They were also deceived into offering their sexual services a second time.

Loh had lied that they would receive their payment as long as they provided their sexual services again.

In a bid to receive their promised payments, the two victims agreed.

However, he cut them off afterwards.

Cheated victims of over S$18,000

Shin Min reported that in July 2023, the police received an anonymous report from a female, accusing Luo of receiving sexual services but refusing to pay after.

The police launched an investigation and apprehended Loh on Jul. 3, 2023.

The prosecution pointed out that Loh had deceived nine victims and cheated them of a promised amount of over S$18,000 for their sexual services.

They also noted that Loh intentionally chose locations that made it difficult to trace his identity.

Additionally, the prosecution said that Loh knew that one of his victims was underage, yet still went ahead to arrange for her sexual services.

He even made a video recording of her in secret, they pointed out.

The prosecution sought 68 to 75 months' imprisonment and three strokes of the cane.

Loh's lawyer said that Loh has admitted to wrongdoing and is willing to bear the consequences of his action.

Loh's case will be heard again in court on Jun. 30 for sentencing, according to Shin Min.