A Qantas flight between Italy and Australia got cancelled after passengers reportedly got bitten by bedbugs on the aircraft's earlier journey.

Passengers aboard the QF5 flight, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, from Perth to Rome on Oct. 9 were given antihistamines to treat the bites.

However, the medication reportedly ran out, according to Sydney Morning Herald.

The return flight from Rome to Perth on Oct. 10 was cancelled.

The aircraft was then sent for deep cleaning.

Affected passengers were provided with accommodation and rebooked on flights over the next 48 hours from their initial departure.

“We sincerely apologise to customers for the cancellation of Saturday’s Rome to Perth service, which allowed our engineers and maintenance teams to carry out a deep clean of the aircraft after an issue was identified on a small number of economy seats,” said a Qantas spokesperson.

Planes regularly cleaned: Qantas

Qantas added that their planes are regularly cleaned to a high standard, and are disinfected every 50 days as a precaution.

A deep clean of a plane to get rid of bed bugs requires fumigation.

This puts the plane out of service.

Perth to Rome popular

The Perth to Rome route is popular among passengers who are willing to pay extra for a non-stop flight between Australia and Italy.

Qantas has extended this service until Oct. 23, adding 40 extra services in that time.

Bed bugs on plane not uncommon

Bed bugs are small and not believed to transmit diseases to humans, but those allergic to their bites will experience swelling, welts and itchiness.

Their bites are known to be painless and cause welts that fade to a red spot.

Bed bugs on airplanes are uncommon, but not unheard of.

They were found on a British Airways flight from Vancouver to London in 2017, and again in 2024 on a Turkish Airways Flight from Johannesburg to Istanbul.

From Oct. 12 to 16, 17 students from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), polytechnics, and universities will be in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, China, as part of Mendaki's overseas learning journey.

This marks Mendaki's inaugural overseas learning journey, sparked by growing demand in emerging industries like artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and digital technologies.

The learning journey aims to expose students to sectors that may shape future jobs and careers.

According to Mendaki, the programme includes company visits to Huawei and GAC Aion, as well as dialogue sessions to help students better understand these industries.

Mendaki's press release mentioned: "Through meaningful exposure to global developments and industry practices, participants will be better equipped to navigate future challenges and opportunities."

Learning to be ahead of the curve

Speaking to Mothership, Mendaki CEO Feroz Akber explained that China was chosen as the first country for this learning journey programme due to its technological and AI developments.

"It was important that we understood where things were moving, especially in the development of AI, with big companies in China still leading a lot of AI developments in the world," he said.

Feroz, who also joined the students on this trip, said that he hopes students can understand what it means to be ahead of the curve and learn how to communicate with people they've never worked with before.

"If they can do and take away these, I'm quite confident that they would have the confidence and ability to actually be even better than the better version of who they are."

Feroz said in a previous interview with Berita Mediacorp that another overseas learning journey to Jakarta, Indonesia is in the works, slated to take place at the end of the year.

A 38-year-old worker has died following a tree-felling accident at a private residential property in Katong on Oct. 13.

The police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed with Mothership that they were alerted to a work-related incident at Cranborne Road at around 2:35pm that day.

In response to Mothership's queries, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) said that the man was in the midst of tree-felling works when the tree toppled at its base, causing him to fall together with the tree.

He was conveyed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where he subsequently succumbed to his injuries.

Based on preliminary investigations, the police do not suspect any foul play.

Investigations are ongoing.

Company instructed to cease activities

An MOM spokesperson said they are investigating the incident.

According to MOM, the man is employed by Soh & Tan Enterprises.

The company has been instructed to cease all tree-felling activities involving tree climbing, pending investigations.

MOM added: "As a general safety measure, employers should ensure that a suitable assessment of the tree and work methods is conducted before tree-felling works commence, and that the work is carried out by trained workers in accordance with established safe work procedures."

A 25-year-old South Korean running influencer and university student passed away after she collapsed just 500m from the half marathon finish line of the 2026 Seoul Race.

500m from finish

The 2026 Seoul Race took place on Oct. 11.

According to Chosun Daily and Chosun Biz, the influencer, Yu Ji-won, was competing in the half marathon format.

A half marathon is about 21.1km long.

She collapsed just 500m shy of the finishing line near the 20.6km mark at around 8:49am.

She received medical attention on-site before being conveyed to the hospital.

However, she eventually passed away.

In a statement, the race's organising committee offered their condolences to Yu's family.

They also said they will look into the incident.

Runner was student at prestigious university

Yu, born in 2001, was a student at the prestigious Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Seoul Economic Daily reported.

According to her Instagram bio, she was pursuing a master's, researching artificial intelligence semiconductors.

Her bachelor's degree was from Ewha Womans University.

Chosun Daily described Yu as an amateur runner recognised for winning the 10km Masters women's division of the 2026 Gunsan Saemangeum Marathon this April.

Based on her Instagram posts, Yu had also ran the full marathon at this year's Seoul Marathon in March.

Following her passing, condolences have been left by followers on Yu's latest Instagram post.

Korean celebrities have also joined the chorus of condolences.

A 15-year-old girl in Guatemala reportedly regained consciousness after spending around eight hours in a coffin during her wake, after her family believed she had died.

The incident happened on Oct. 10 in the town of Sacapulas, Guatemala, Sin Chew Daily reported, citing Revista Gente.

Complained of severe chest pain

The girl, identified as Yuleidy, reportedly became unwell in the early hours of the morning after experiencing severe chest pain.

Her father drove her to the hospital to seek medical attention, but while they were on the way, he checked on her and apparently found that she longer had a pulse and had stopped breathing.

Believing that she had died, he brought her home instead of taking her to hospital for an examination.

Her family then began preparing for her funeral and placed her in a coffin.

Movement from coffin

During the wake, relatives reportedly noticed movement coming from the coffin.

When they went closer, they found that Yuleidy was moving.

Her father quickly lifted her out of the coffin.

She had reportedly been lying inside for around eight hours.

As Yuleidy was not medically examined, her condition during that period remains unclear.

Does not remember what happened

Yuleidy later said the last thing she remembered before losing consciousness was experiencing severe chest pain.

After regaining consciousness, she only learnt what had happened from her family.

She also thanked her parents and those who had cared for her, Sin Chew reported.

Guatemala newspaper Prensa Libre noted that the girl was never medically declared dead. Local authorities are now investigating how events unfolded.

The incident has since made international headlines.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) aims for at least 70 per cent of pre-approved digital solutions to be AI-enabled within two years.

As of Oct. 13, 55 per cent of the pre-approved solutions on IMDA’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) Go Digital platform are AI-enabled, exceeding an earlier target of 50 per cent.

SME adoption of these AI-enabled solutions increased by close to 20 per cent year-on-year from 2025 to 2026.

Speaking at SMEs Go Digital Day 2026 on Oct. 13, Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said increasing adoption was encouraging, but was not the end goal.

“What matters is whether SMEs can put AI to good use,” Teo said.

She said the aim was for SMEs to use AI to serve more customers, innovate faster, enter new markets and compete with larger companies.

More than 100 AI tools curated for SMEs

Teo acknowledged that the growing number of AI tools could make it difficult for SMEs to determine which ones were suitable for their businesses.

IMDA has curated more than 100 global AI tools on its SMEs Go Digital platform across business functions including customer relationship management and marketing automation, content creation, workplace collaboration, finance and operations.

Examples include Canva, DeepSeek, Lovable and Notion.

Teo said the list was intended to help SMEs “cut through a crowded AI marketplace”, and would be continually refreshed as new tools became proven and available.

A new Pre-approved Solutions Package Builder will also allow SMEs to customise solution packages, add-ons and training support according to their operational needs.

Up to 10,000 SMEs to get free access to Space

IMDA also announced new industry partnerships aimed at addressing different barriers SMEs may face when adopting AI.

Under the Stack-EZ AI Data Enablement Programme, up to 10,000 SMEs will receive six months of complimentary access to Space, an AI-powered document management solution that automatically classifies and organises business documents such as contracts, invoices and receipts.

The platform is intended to help SMEs organise unstructured information and build a stronger data foundation to make better use of AI tools.

Each participating SME can have up to five users, with 200GB of cloud storage for an estimated 20,000 documents.

In the coming months, Space will also include the capability to extract and structure information from documents for use in areas such as accounting, customer relationship management and procurement.

Teo said the programme was intended to address a common problem among SMEs, where useful business information may be scattered across different systems and shared drives.

She added that access to technology alone was not enough, as SMEs also needed the skills and confidence to use AI effectively.

“Our aim is not simply to give SMEs access to AI, but to build their capabilities to use it effectively over time.”

1,000 SMEs to get help deploying agentic AI

IMDA is also partnering Salesforce on the Slack AI Launchpad Programme.

Up to 1,000 SMEs will receive a complimentary 60-day Slack Business+ trial and attend two workshops aimed at helping them identify suitable AI use cases and build at least one AI-enabled workflow for their business.

Participating SMEs will also have access to a dedicated Slack community and support from Salesforce during the trial period.

Teo said agentic AI could take on routine tasks, support decision-making and help businesses work more efficiently, particularly SMEs facing manpower and time constraints.

A third partnership with Beyondsoft will give up to 1,000 SMEs access to a catalogue of AI solutions that have already been adopted in China.

The Tech Bridge Programme will initially focus on retail, wholesale and food and beverage businesses, with tools covering areas such as sales management, customer engagement, store operations and market intelligence.

AI adoption among SMEs rose to 23.4 per cent

AI adoption among SMEs rose from 14.5 per cent in 2024 to 23.4 per cent in 2025, according to IMDA’s Singapore Digital Economy Report.

Among enterprises that have adopted AI, 87.6 per cent cited productivity and process improvement as key benefits, while 44 per cent reported cost reductions and resource optimisation.

IMDA said SMEs are moving beyond experimenting with AI and embedding it more deeply into their operations.

Short forms and acronyms without context irk me.

Wdym u js cmi longer? (Yes, I am aware this article will use a lot of acronyms. Sorry, senator, I’m Singaporean)

It turns out I wasn’t the only one, and this aspect of Singlish came as a culture shock to Noelle Chong, the 20-year-old Malaysian Nanyang Technological University (NTU) accountancy student I met at the inaugural Crossing Cultures, Creating Community Symposium organised by the National Youth Council (NYC) on Sep. 12, 2026.

The event brought together local and international youths for social mixers, cultural activities, and discussions about issues on integration in Singapore.

The final-year undergraduate who spoke with a measured, polite cadence told me that during a leadership camp, her teammates were having “a really heated debate about certain initiatives” like co-curricular activities (CCAs).

“I couldn't understand anything because there were acronyms I didn't understand, and I had to ask them to explain to me over and over again.”

Common barriers stalling interactions

It turns out there were other Singaporeans and international youths who felt the same way.

An online poll held during the panel dialogue with Minister of State for the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Transport, Baey Yam Keng, content creator Nancy Eva and Vice Dean of Singapore University of Social Sciences, Lim Yiru, illustrated this fact.

Youth were asked what might make them hesitant to get to know someone from a different nationality.

The top response, with 45 co-signs, was “language or communication style felt like a barrier”.

I spoke to a current student from the National University of Singapore (NUS), Fan Yixiang, 20, whose family hails from Shanghai.

He said his biggest culture shock happened during the daily conversations he had with his classmates, “Sometimes they use English and sometimes they use Mandarin, or sometimes they use it interchangeably”.

While he said he eventually got used to code-switching, it made me wonder how international students navigated Singapore’s linguistically diverse environment.

Being part of the conversation

However, communication can also be the key to bridging people when both parties are willing to openly ask, explain and make the first move.

Chong said one of her most memorable conversations related to integration came from her lack of knowledge of Singaporean acronyms.

During a discussion about Singapore's education system and co-curricular activities at the 2026 National Youth Council Leaders Course (NYCLC), Chong was the only international student in her group.

The NYCLC is an annual three-day course that unites student leaders from Institutes of Higher Learning to embark on programmes including Outdoor Adventure Education and service journeys to build friendships and discuss leadership and governance.

Fellow attendees blended multiple languages, acronyms, short forms and references to local initiatives into their speech.

This communication style was familiar to them but not to her, making it a bewildering experience.

Rather than pretending she understood, Chong kept asking what the terms meant, and her group took the time to explain them.

They also turned the conversation around, asking her how similar issues were handled in Malaysia.

That exchange turned the experience from one where she was simply trying to catch up to one where she could contribute her own perspective, enriching the team’s discussions.

Chong said: “We are not that different. So I might be Malaysian, you might be Singaporean, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot be in the same circles.”

Don’t let uncertainty stop you from reaching out

Singaporean Harishpal Singh, a 34-year-old Senior Business Analyst at Crédit Agricole CIB, has seen the other side of the equation.

As head of the Young Sikh Association (Singapore), Harishpal regularly organises events that bring together youths from different backgrounds.

His own experience with integration began years earlier, when an international exchange student at university seemed to be struggling to find his footing in Singapore.

Singaporeans can sometimes be “reserved”, Harishpal said, and may hesitate to approach people from different countries because they feel they have not had enough exposure to other cultures.

“When I observe my time growing up as a Singaporean, sometimes there might be that inferiority complex kind of situation where we feel that it's hard for us to reach out to our international counterparts or youths.”

“Youths should just take the first step, approach them [international students]”, said Harishpal, noting that the perceived lack of worldly knowledge should not be a hindrance when reaching out to start a conversation.

Creating spaces to cross those circles

Chong noted that the symposium provided a space for youth to discuss integration openly and think about how they could get involved.

Her experience with NTU’s Association of Malaysian Chinese Independent School Alumni (AMCISA) had already shown her the value of having a community that felt familiar.

Surrounded by people who shared similar backgrounds and experiences, she felt a sense of belonging in Singapore.

But she also realised that it could be easy to stay within that comfort zone.

Through her Singaporean friends, she was introduced to perspectives and social circles outside her own, while she was able to bring them into her Malaysian circle as well.

To her, meaningful integration does not mean leaving behind where you come from. Instead, it means being willing to look beyond the people you already know, while bringing others into your own circle too.

Be the bridge

Communication may be a barrier, but it can also be the key.

NYC's pilot Integration Ambassador Programme (IAP) aims to bring together Singaporeans and Singapore-based foreigners to develop initiatives that foster integration.

For youths aged 18 to 35 who are passionate about bridging different cultures, the six-month programme offers an opportunity to move from simply talking about integration to thinking about what they can do to shape it.

The programme comprises a two-day induction programme at the end of October and a post-induction journey that runs till March 2027.

Participants will also have the opportunity to be invited for future local-foreigner integration events and platforms post-IAP, such as government and partner organisation programmes.

If you think you have what it takes to bridge cultures and wish to meet like-minded youth from all walks of life, join the IAP here.

This sponsored article by NYC made this writer reflect on how much we can learn by stepping outside our usual social circles.

A 66-year-old woman in Singapore had received at least 19 parking fines despite neither owning nor driving a car.

Her husband, surnamed Wang (transliteration), told Shin Min Daily News that his wife had been receiving parking fines from the Housing & Development Board (HDB) for illegal parking since September last year.

According to Shin Min, the fines accumulated to an amount of S$1,320.

Neither Wang, his wife nor their children own a car.

"Where did this mysterious car come from?" he asked.

More than 50 reminder notices

According to the parking fines received by the elderly couple, the vehicle involved bears the licence plate number "7965Y".

In the most recent case, the car was ticketed for a parking offence on Mar. 25, 2026.

Over the past year, the couple has accumulated more than 50 reminder notices, Wang told Shin Min.

Wang said the last time he drove a car was in 2024, but its licence plate number was "4155".

His wife, meanwhile, has never driven a car before.

Contacted authorities

The couple has contacted the police about the matter.

They also consulted the Land Transport Authority (LTA), which confirmed that the vehicle in question was not registered under Wang's wife's name.

The couple subsequently clarified to HDB that she was not the vehicle's owner.

An HDB employee reportedly told them that they did not need to pay attention to the letters if the car did not belong to his wife.

They also sought help from their MP at least three times.

Authorities responded to her

Wang said his wife has been having trouble sleeping because of the matter.

"We are just ordinary people. We haven't broken the law, and we don't have the money to pay the fine," he said.

His wife was even notified that she would have to appear in court on Nov. 2.

Mothership understands that relevant authorities informed her two weeks ago that she could disregard the fines and summons, and that she does not need to appear the court hearings.

As of Oct. 13, a quick check on HDB website shows that the vehicle bearing the licence plate number "7965Y" has no outstanding fines.

An employee of a local tuition centre was the target of an impersonation scam, with the scammers posing as her boss and asking her to transfer S$20,000 to an account purportedly for business expansion purposes.

The scammers supposedly archived the chat between the employee and her boss and blocked the boss' contact on the employee's WhatsApp account.

Their chat with the employee also allegedly managed to contain the authentic chat history between the the boss and the employee.

Given the veneer of authenticity, the employee lowered her guard at first, but saw through the ruse eventually.

Asked to help transfer money for business purposes

Speaking to Mothership, Sandra Lim, founder of tuition centre, The Nuggets Academy, shared that her employee was first approached on Wednesday (Oct. 7) afternoon.

It started with a text message from the fake "Sandra", Lim recounted.

"Sandra" had apparently told the employee that she needed her to help make a transfer for business purposes.

"Sandra" also explained to the employee that it wasn't convenient for her to make the transfer under her own name, hence she needed the employee's help.

"So she thought it was a favour, and she was like, 'Yeah, sure, just send me the money and I'll make the transfer for you'," Lim shared.

"Sandra" then asked for the employee's account number and name, which the employee provided, still thinking she was chatting with Lim.

However, Lim said the employee had wondered at this point why she still needed to provide her bank details if the company's human resources department would have the information.

Pressure tactics

After receiving the employee's bank account details, "Sandra" sent the employee a screenshot of the transfer, claiming that S$20,000 had successfully been transferred to her account.

"Sandra" then requested the employee transfer the money to a MariBank account.

However, the employee told "Sandra" that the S$20,000 was not received.

According to screenshots shared with Mothership, "Sandra" started coming up with reasons to explain this, such as there being a delay due to a bank system upgrade.

"Sandra" then asked the employee how much she could transfer from her bank in the interim, to which the employee replied that she only remits money in ringgit, not Singapore dollars.

"Sandra" then asked how much she could transfer in ringgit.

The employee said she could transfer RM63,800, or about S$20,000.

"So the scammer was saying things like, 'Oh, but I need the transfer to be done urgently. Can you please do it now'," Lim said.

At one point, the fake "Sandra" asked the employee if she could borrow from her friends to transfer S$10,000 or S$5,000 for the time being.

It was at this point that the employee started becoming uncomfortable.

Chat history, blocked contact

According to Lim, the employee had not become suspicious as the chat with "Sandra" included their authentic chat history.

"Obviously, she wouldn't think it was someone else. It was our legit chat, right?" Lim remarked.

The employee then spoke to a friend, who pointed out that something was amiss.

"Her friend was like, 'Hey, how come your boss will ask you for money?'" Lim shared.

The employee then opened up the WhatsApp profile information of the person she was speaking to and discovered that the phone number had a country code of +91.

According to Lim, the employee investigated further and found that the chat between the two of them had been archived on her WhatsApp.

The employee also discovered that the contact of the real Lim had been blocked.

How

Till today, Lim said neither of them could figure out how the scammer managed to replicate the chat history or archive their chat remotely.

They have reported the scammer's number.

However, they've stopped short of making a police report since no money was lost.

Instead, Lim decided to share about the incident on social media to alert others about the scam.

Apart from serving as a cautionary tale, Lim is also hoping to tap on the wisdom of the online crowd to see if anyone could shed some light on how the scammer could have seemingly accessed either her or her employee's WhatsApp account.

This was the first time she's encountered a scam like that, she said.

Lim clarified that neither her nor the employee had recently changed their phone numbers.

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Sandra Lim | Founder of The Nuggets Academy (@sandralim.sg)

More authentication layers activated to secure accounts

When asked if she has put in place additional safeguards to prevent a recurrence, Lim said that she's joked with her staff about using a "special password".

"Every time I start a conversation with her, I will say that secret word," Lim said of the idea.

On a serious note, Lim said they have changed their passwords and activated more authentication layers to secure their WhatsApp accounts

A freehold bungalow that used to be the home of the late Singapore property tycoon Chng Gim Huat has been put up for sale by public tender, with a guiding price of S$83 million.

Located at 8 Lornie Road, the property spans 51,700 sq ft, which means that the price is S$1,605 per sq ft.

According to EdgeProp, the house was previously put on the market in May 2025 by private treaty for a price of S$82 million, but it was later withdrawn unsold.

The site also has potential for redevelopment.

Marketing agent Knight Frank Singapore said in a statement that buyers can convert the space to build six detached houses or 16 semi-detached houses, subject to the relevant authorities' approvals.

The guide price of S$1,605 per sq ft offers "an attractive entry point" for buyers with a long-term investment horizon, said Knight Frank's senior manager of capital markets Dayna Ang.

The tender will close at 3pm on Nov. 12.

About Chng

Chng, who passed away in August 2024 at 90, was the founder of Chng Gim Huat (CGH) Group, a property development and investment firm.

According to Zaobao, he first got into the construction industry in the 1960s, working on HDB projects in Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio.

In the 1980s, he ventured into property development.

CGH Group was behind several major industrial property projects, including the Paya Ubi Industrial Estate, the Orchid Hotel in Tanjong Pagar, and the CGH Building at Killiney Road.

His family, which is now selling the 8 Lornie Road property, recently closed a deal for the Orchid Hotel for about S$273 million in June.

About the house

Today, the house has two storeys and seven bedrooms, The Business Times reported.

Built in 1937, it was reportedly bought by Chng in the 1970s, according to EdgeProp.

Chng lived here with his wife and seven children. As the family grew over time, they also extended parts of the house.

In the 1990s, they added two bedrooms to the second floor, and an office suite for CGH Group on the ground floor.

They also maintained a large garden behind the house with various fruits, including durian, mango, avocado, longan, pomelo, and starfruit.