A 23-year-old woman in Malaysia, who aced her pre-university examination, has died after a battle with leukaemia.

According to a tribute posted by the University of Malaya's Faculty of Languages and Linguistics, Cindy Wong Xin Yee passed away peacefully at 3:11am on Jul. 18.

Final stage of studies

Wong had scored a perfect 4.00 cumulative grade point average (CGPA) in her Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) examination, according to Shin Min Daily News.

She was studying in the Japanese Department at the University of Malaya and was in the final stage of her studies, the faulty said in their post.

With only her industrial training remaining, Wong had endured frequent hospital stays and recently underwent a bone marrow transplant, while remaining deeply committed to her education.

"She consistently attended online classes and completed her assignments whenever she could. Her strength and dedication deeply inspired her lecturers and classmates," the school said.

The faculty and the university are providing financial aid to Wong's family, the faculty added.

Wanted to be Japanese translator

According to Shin Min, Wong loved Japanese anime and had set her sights on becoming a Japanese translator.

After achieving excellent results, she gained admission to the Japanese Department at the University of Malaya and had hoped to pursue further studies in Japan.

However, in mid-2023, she collapsed due to severe abdominal pain.

After undergoing a thorough examination at the hospital, she was diagnosed with late-stage leukemia in October of the same year.

A fire broke out on the second floor of an eatery in Bukit Timah.

The incident occurred at Al Hazima Restaurant located at 4 Cheong Chin Nam Road on Jul. 21 at about 12:10am, 8world reported.

Videos of the incident showed emergency responders, including police officers and firefighters, present at the scene.

Employees from Al Hazima were also seen interacting with emergency responders.

Fire extinguisher

A 48-year-old diner at a nearby dim sum restaurant told 8world that he was having supper with his friends when the fire broke out.

Two employees from the Indian Muslim eatery ran over to the dim sum restaurant and asked its staff for a fire extinguisher.

The dim sum restaurant staff reportedly replied that they had two.

However, they apparently could not be used.

The employees from Al-Hazima then purportedly hurried back, and a staff member from the dim sum restaurant later brought a fire extinguisher over.

When the diner and his friends left the dim sum restaurant at about 12:15am, they apparently witnessed black smoke emanating from the roof of Al-Hazima.

He claimed that there were still more than 10 people dining inside the restaurant, and they seemed unaffected by the incident.

Electrical origin

In response to queries from Mothership, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said they were alerted to the fire at about 12:12am on the day of the incident.

The fire involved a storeroom on the second floor of a two-storey shophouse unit.

The fire was subsequently extinguished with a water jet.

About 20 persons evacuated from the affected unit before SCDF’s arrival.

There were no reported injuries.

Preliminary findings indicate that the fire likely started from an electrical origin in the store.

Al-Hazima Restaurant

In a Facebook post, Al-Hazima confirmed the incident and said that “relevant authorities were contacted immediately”.

The eatery ensured “that every customer, staff member, and member of the public was evacuated safely”.

The caption added: “To everyone who was dining with us today, thank you for your calmness, cooperation, patience, and trust in our team during the evacuation. Your support made it possible for everyone to leave the premises safely, and we are truly grateful.”

The eatery said it “will provide further updates when appropriate”.

St. Joseph's Institution International (SJII) has denied the allegations of negligence in the claim that the late Jenna Chan's family filed against the school.

An earlier report stated that her family filed a negligence claim in the General Division of the High Court of Singapore against SJII on Jul. 20, 2026.

The family is suing the school for alleged negligence over Jenna's death after she died during a 2024 snorkelling trip while on an overseas expedition to the Maldives.

She was 15 at the time and would have turned 17 yesterday (Jul. 20).

Denies allegations, remains open to meeting

Speaking to Mothership, SJII's chief executive officer Michael Johnston confirmed that Jenna's parents had filed the claim against the school in the Singapore High Court.

"The school denies the allegations stated in the claim, which have misattributed fault to the school. As such, the school has retained legal counsel to defend the claim," he said.

The school said it has previously conveyed its position to Jenna's parents, including that it does not agree that there are valid claims against the school and that the accident was allegedly caused by the boat captain's act of putting the vessel into reverse after Jenna had entered the water.

He added: "The school also informed Jenna’s parents that it did not agree with any suggestion that the school was withholding information from them and that while the school had taken steps to obtain information from the Maldivian authorities who were investigating the incident, the school did not receive any such information."

SJII has reportedly reached out to Jenna's parents on numerous occasions and remains open to meeting with them when they are ready.

"Deeply mindful of immense loss"

Johnston said that as a school, SJII has continued to offer the family their "unwavering support" and hold them in their thoughts and prayers every day.

"We are deeply mindful of their immense loss and strive to be respectful and sensitive in every way possible," Johnston said.

"The loss of Jenna was a tragedy, and our hearts remain with her family. As a school, we continue to offer them our unwavering support and hold them in our thoughts and prayers every day."

He noted that as the matter is now before the Singapore Courts, the school will refrain from commenting further on the matter publicly at this juncture.

Related story

A petition calling for Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to reject the resignation of Muhammad Faishal Ibrahim, former Acting Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs and Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs, has appeared online.

The petition, titled "Urge the Prime Minister of Singapore to reject Assoc Prof Faishal Ibrahim's resignation", has accumulated 390 signatures within a day after Faishal resigned from public office.

He relinquished his roles as a Member of Parliament (MP) for Marine Parade-Braddell Heights GRC, and People's Action Party member, as a result of resigning from political office.

Resignation

In his Jul. 20 resignation letter to PM Wong, Faishal said his decision followed a situation involving his conduct with a female member of the public.

He also said there was no physical relationship between them and that he had not intended for their interactions to develop into one.

Petition

The petition called on disallowing Faishal's resignation so that he can continue serving the people of Singapore.

“His work matters because Singapore needs experienced, steady public leaders who understand the realities people face and can keep serving without disruption,” the petition read.

The petition starter also argued that Faishal was a capable leader whose departure would result in the loss of the relationships and ongoing work that Singapore residents rely on.

The goal is 10,000 signatures.

It does not appear that those who log in and sign the petition need to verify that they are from Singapore.

Support after resignation

After Faishal resigned, former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Calvin Cheng defended the former MP in a Jul. 20 Facebook post, saying the public can decide on how to deal with Faishal's admission.

Cheng wrote:

“A good man should not have his whole career and life destroyed for something like this. How should this be handled?

Let him apologise and be transparent.

Then for his Muslim affairs position, let the community leaders decide.

For his MP position, carve his ward out as an SMC. Call a by-election. Let the people decide.

We don’t live in 17th century Puritan England. The people will understand.”

Faishal's work has also been lauded following his resignation.

Zaqy Mohamad, who is appointed Acting Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs, said in a Jul. 20 Facebook post that he has "great respect" for Faishal as a colleague.

Zaqy added that he had seen firsthand Faishal's dedication to the development of the Muslim community.

Former local actor Edmund Chen, who was previously sentenced to five days' jail for careless driving, had his jail term reduced to one day on Jul. 20, after a partially successful appeal.

According to a report by The Straits Times, Chen began his jail term immediately, and was released from prison at around 9pm later that night.

Chen, who is named in court documents as Tan Kai Yuan, was also disqualified from driving for five years.

He had injured a motorcyclist in March 2025 after colliding with the two-wheeler while changing lanes on the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE).

Released from prison at 9:40pm

Chen was released from Changi Prison Complex at about 9:40pm on Jul. 20, ST reported.

Speaking to the media after his release, Chen said in Mandarin: “I regret what I did, and fortunately the motorcyclist is recovering."

He added: "This experience has taught me that traffic safety cannot be taken lightly. I would like to tell other road users to be careful on the roads, because a single choice not only affects you, but also others."

He then thanked the media before leaving with his son, Chen Xi.

He is married to veteran actress Xiang Yun, and the couple also have a daughter, Chen Yixin.

His case

The court previously heard that Chen was driving along the leftmost lane of the four-lane AYE towards Central Expressway (CTE) in the afternoon of Mar. 4, 2025.

The first and second lanes led to the CTE, while the third and fourth lanes led to Keppel Road.

Intending to continue onto the CTE, Chen failed to position his car in time and instead tried to go into the second lane by braking abruptly and attempting to crossing the chevron markings in between.

Among other things, he allowed a car to pass him in the third lane before filtering sharply across the third lane.

In doing so, he collided with a motorcycle that was overtaking his car, causing grievous hurt to the rider.

Chen stopped immediately after the collision and rendered assistance.

The victim was subsequently sent to the hospital, where he underwent surgery and was found to have sustained multiple right-hand wrist fractures.

He was given 99 days of hospitalisation leave, but did not suffer any permanent disability.

District judge may have overstated number of relevant harm and culpability factors

It was previously reported that Justice Hri Kumar Nair had found that the five-day jail term was manifestly excessive.

He said the district judge may have overstated the number of relevant harm and culpability factors, while giving insufficient weight to mitigating factors.

He also noted that Chen had done all he reasonably could do after the collision by stopping promptly, assisting the victim and cooperating with the authorities.

Chen had previously pleaded guilty in court on Jan. 29 to one count of driving without reasonable consideration for other road users, resulting in an accident.

At the time, the prosecution had asked for a fine of between S$3,000 and S$5,000.

During the hearing on Jul. 20, Chen's new lawyer argued that the custodial threshold had not been crossed and sought the maximum fine of S$5,000 instead.

Dashcam footage of the incident was played in court, and Chen's lawyer noted that his client had turned his indicator lights on, and that the motorcycle had been temporarily obscured by a passing car as the road curved.

He also argued that the footage showed Chen had crossed the chevron markings only after the collision, challenging one of the district judge's sentencing considerations.

The defence further submitted that the victim's injuries were at the less severe end of the spectrum as they were confined to the wrist and the surgery was done under local anaesthesia.

Counsel said the maximum fine and five-year driving ban would be sufficient punishment, adding that Chen had been deeply traumatised by the incident and was unlikely to drive again.

The prosecution, on the other hand, said the case lay on the borderline between a high fine and a short custodial sentence.

It argued that while the district judge had imposed a sentence at the higher end of the range, there was no error warranting appellate intervention.

The prosecution also said the dashcam footage had shown Chen persisting with the manoeuvre despite being warned by the horns of two passing cars.

This demonstrated an intention to flout traffic rules, they said.

Related stories

A 26-year-old Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) captain was charged in court on Jul. 15 for the possession of sexually explicit child abuse materials and obscene films.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, the captain, Dylan Yoon Ker Tern, had at least eight sexually explicit child abuse materials and 20 obscene films.

He is accused of committing the offences in a Geylang East flat on Aug. 21, 2025.

The court documents did not disclose if the sexually explicit child abuse materials were pictures or videos.

In response to Mothership's queries, the Ministry of Defence's spokesperson said that it is aware of Yoon's charges in the State Courts and that he has been suspended from all duties.

"The SAF holds its service personnel to high standards of discipline and integrity. Service personnel found to have committed offences will be dealt with in accordance with the law," its spokesperson said.

They added, "As court proceedings are ongoing, Mindef/SAF is unable to comment further on the case at this juncture."

Yoon's case will be heard again in court on Aug. 12, according to information on the Singapore Courts website.

Yoon could face up to five years' jail and a fine or caning for being in possession of sexually explicit child abuse materials.

For possessing obscene films, he can face up to six months' jail, up to S$20,000 fine, or both.

A man died after neighbours apparently fought at Block 55 Lengkok Bahru on Jul. 20.

The police told Mothership that they were alerted to the incident in Redhill at about 4:45pm on Monday.

Police found a 59-year-old man lying motionless at the 16th floor lift lobby.

The man died after he was taken to the hospital.

Another 59-year-old man was arrested at the scene.

Preliminary investigations revealed both men knew each other.

Lianhe Zaobao reported that the man who died was apparently stabbed in the abdomen.

The victim had allegedly retrieved a stick from his home and his neighbour apparently got hold of a knife before the fight, it was reported.

Photos from the scene showed hand print blood stains on the corridor wall.

A town council cleaner was subsequently seen cleaning up the bloodstains.

Both the perpetrator and victim lived about four to five units away from each other.

The victim allegedly would get drunk and used the corridor as a toilet, and was told by residents not to do so, a neighbour claimed.

The Straits Times reported that a resident said a knife was thrown from the 16th floor and it landed in front of a coffee shop.

The neighbours involved allegedly had a long-standing feud, another resident said.

They would apparently argue in the mornings from 7:30am.

A Singapore content creator, Kasey Avarielle Low, 28, recently shared her experience confronting a man at a HDB void deck.

He was allegedly taking photos of her butt while she was playing pickleball with friends, she said.

Her video has since racked up more than 500,000 views on Instagram.

Speaking to Mothership, Low said she decided to confront the man because she did not want to "leave it to chance" and let him get away with it.

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Kasey Avarielle Low (@kaseyavariellelow)

Noticed man taking photos

Low said she was playing pickleball with her friends at a public court in the Northeast area on Jul. 18, something she does every week.

Halfway through their game, one of her friends noticed a man "hiding" in a corner and seemingly taking photos of her.

The friend alerted her husband, and the pair observed the man holding his phone vertically and leaning to one side, as though he was zooming in.

A male friend approached the man to ask if he had been filming, but he denied it.

Although they were not completely certain the man had been taking photos, Low said she did not want to leave it to chance and decided to confront him herself.

"If I confronted and was wrong I would sincerely apologise, but if I wasn’t wrong, some random creep will get away with it again," she said.

Low said this was not the first time she had experienced such an incident, but that she had been too stunned to speak up on previous occasions.

This time, however, she said it was an easy decision to confront the man and clarify the situation calmly.

Found photos in 'recently deleted' gallery

In her video, Low approached the man and asked to see his photo gallery.

He readily showed her the gallery, which did not contain any photos of her. However, Low also asked to check the "recently deleted" folder.

There, she said she found three rows of "zoomed-in" photos of her bottoms.

As the man "buffered for excuses", Low deleted all the photos herself.

Continued to lie

According to Low, the man continued making excuses even after she confronted him.

He claimed the angle made it appear otherwise and said he had only been trying to take photos of the game.

Low rejected his explanation, pointing out that the images were focused on her.

"He just kept giving excuses and changing his statement, from saying he didn’t take any photos to saying it’s accidental, it’s not on purpose, to saying he only wanted to take the game bc it’s interesting.

"But I’ve seen the photos and it’s very clearly zoomed in," Low told Mothership.

The man only left after Low's boyfriend, whom she described as muscular and tattooed, walked over and asked him to leave.

Why she's speaking up

In the caption of her video, Low wrote:

"Past me would’ve not posted this or just kept quiet, but I know there’ll be other girls that’ll be afraid/ don’t want to cause trouble and just keep quiet and let it go because I used to be like that."

She told Mothership that she hopes to encourage other girls to speak up, while acknowledging how difficult it can be to do so in such situations.

"It’s never your fault. It’s not how you dress, how you act, if the perpetrator wants to do this kind of act, they’d do it anyway," she said.

Since posting the video, Low said she has received an influx of comments accusing her of overreacting and claiming she had "asked for it" because of what she was wearing.

She said she had been wearing running shorts.

Low emphasised that regardless of what someone is wearing, such behaviour is never acceptable.

She has personally been harassed even while in long pants and long sleeved-shirts, she said.

"It’s never about what you wear. But if you don’t speak up, don’t shout out, this will always keep happening, to you and to the other girls around you," she said.

"They only do it bc they think we’re easy/ not scary/ won’t speak up. The only person who is at a disadvantage is you if you don’t learn to stand up for yourself.

If you’re scared, at least tell your friend/ your boyfriend/ your family, so they can help you. Don’t suffer alone."

Did not make police report

Low shared that she did not make a police report as she deleted the evidence and was not sure if the report would still go through.

But she added that she regrets not having done so.

"Honestly I was wrong, even if it took three to four hours to file a report and even if he just got a warning, it would’ve probably been best so he wouldn’t attempt this with anyone else," she said.

Voyeurism in Singapore

According to the Singapore Police Force (SPF), voyeurism is the act of observing or filming another person who is engaged in a private act without his or her permission.

The majority of voyeurism cases involve perpetrators taking upskirt photographs or videos, as well as “Peeping Tom” cases where perpetrators intentionally observe or record another person engaging in a private act without his or her consent.

According to Singapore Legal Advice, acts of voyeurism are criminalised under section 377BB of the Penal Code.

This includes recording an image of the victim’s private parts, namely genitals, breasts (where the victim is a female), or buttocks (whether exposed or covered) that would not usually be visible, without the victim’s consent and with the knowledge or belief that the victim does not consent to being recorded.

One example is taking upskirt pictures on the escalator.

A 72-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to 23 years' jail for sexually abusing his step-granddaughter on multiple occasions over five years since she was nine years old.

The man pleaded guilty to three charges of aggravated statutory rape and was sentenced on Jul. 20, CNA reported.

A total of 18 other charges were considered during sentencing.

The man was in his 60s when the offences were committed, while the victim was aged between nine and 13.

He cannot be identified due to a gag order to protect the victim.

The man cannot be caned as he is above 50.

Grandfather

The victim referred to the man as “grandfather”.

Between 2018 and July 2023, he sexually abused the victim in his car and at a flat on multiple occasions.

In 2018, the victim routinely visited the man once or twice a month.

He would get her to go with him to a mall and promise to buy whatever she liked.

He only treated her this way as he wanted to be with her alone for sexual acts.

The man did not do this to any of his other grandchildren.

He would drive the victim to a multi-storey car park and sexually abuse her.

The victim would be rewarded with art supplies or other items she liked after each occasion.

Sometimes when the girl tried to resist, the man would tell her he would buy her an item she chose if she complied.

The victim would then give in reluctantly, even though she was uncomfortable.

The man also requested that she kept their sexual encounters a secret.

Art project

In April 2024, the victim was working on an art project related to the theme of “struggle”.

She drew the back of a human body with hands wrapped around it for the project and the art teacher asked her about the story behind the work.

The girl revealed she was sexually abused by the man.

The teacher then alerted the victim’s mother, who then lodged a police report.

Totality principle

The prosecution sought 23 years’ jail for the man.

They did not request imprisonment instead of caning due to the “totality principle”, which requires the court to take a last look at all the facts to assess if a sentence is justified or too excessive for there to be a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.

The prosecution pointed out that the sexual acts escalated from molestation to rape, and he was emboldened after each occasion.

He had attempted to rape the victim when she was 11 to 12.

There was also evidence of premeditation, such as grooming the victim and getting her to be alone with him away from others.

Sometime between 2020 and 2021, the man even took her to his flat alone when other family members had gathered elsewhere for dinner.

The prosecution said the victim was traumatised and experienced frequent flashbacks.

A strain has developed between the victim’s immediate family and her extended family after the authorities were alerted.

Her extended family members, including her cousins, have ceased communications with her.

For each count of aggravated statutory rape, the man could have been liable to a jail term of between eight and 20 years.

A commuter's power bank caught fire and emitted smoke at Woodlands MRT station on the morning of Jul. 20, 2026.

According to a video seen by Mothership, a bag on the station floor near the platform screen doors was emitting smoke.

Commuters could be seen boarding the train and the train doors closed shortly after.

Power bank emitted smoke

Responding to Mothership's queries, SMRT Trains' president Lam Sheau Kai said a commuter was waiting for a train at Woodlands station on the Thomson-East Coast Line at about 9am on Jul. 20 when the power bank in her bag started emitting smoke.

"Another commuter on the platform alerted our station staff," he said.

A station staff responded to the fire quickly by extinguishing it.

The staff also assisted the affected commuter, who suffered minor blisters on her fingers. No other injuries were reported.

Safety precaution

"As a safety precaution, the station's exhaust ventilation system was activated to clear the smoke and maintain a safe environment for commuters," Lam said.

During the incident, trains bypassed Woodlands station for about 20 minutes while station staff managed the incident safely.

In addition, announcements were made in trains and at stations to keep commuters informed.

"We would like to remind commuters to use only power banks with built-in safety features. This helps reduce the risk of overheating and other battery-related incidents."