A 25-year-old man in Singapore was sentenced to 13 years and four months’ jail and eight strokes of the cane for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl with intellectual disabilities.

Muhammad Syafiq faced 12 charges, including sexual assault of a minor and charges under the Children and Young Persons Act.

He pleaded guilty to four charges and was sentenced on Aug. 3, Shin Min Daily News reported.

The remaining charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

TikTok

At the time of the offence, Syafiq was working as a warehouse packer.

Between November and December 2024, Syafiq got to know the victim via TikTok.

In her profile, she mentioned she was studying at a special education school.

Syafiq was aware of her intellectual disability.

On Jan. 3, 2025, he persuaded the victim to meet him after repeatedly asking her to do so.

That was the second day of the school term.

At that time, the victim was practising travelling to and from school on her own.

Meet

Syafiq arranged to meet the victim at Bedok North MRT station.

He then brought her to a staircase of a block located along Bedok Reservoir Road.

As Syafiq was reportedly familiar with the area, he chose a location that did not have surveillance cameras.

After confirming that no one was around, he proceeded to molest the victim and digitally penetrate her.

The victim repeatedly resisted Syafiq’s actions due to severe pain, but he did not stop.

She eventually gave up struggling.

After the sexual assault, Syafiq then requested money from the victim.

He snatched her wallet from her hand and took out a S$10 note.

Syafiq then left the premises.

When the victim returned home, her father questioned her.

He then found out that she had been sexually assaulted.

Her school also learned of the incident and lodged a police report on Jan. 25, 2025.

Separately, during a missing person investigation in January 2025, the police discovered that a 15-year-old girl had engaged in sexual activities with Syafiq on three separate occasions when she ran away from home.

Offences

The prosecution sought 13-and-a-half years to 16-and-a-half years’ jail and eight strokes of the cane for Syafiq.

They stated that he had committed similar offences, such as sexual assault of a minor and molestation.

Syafiq was previously sentenced to 12 months of reformative training in 2021.

According to assessment reports, the victim was worried Syafiq would go to her school to find her.

She needed her grandfather to pick her up from school after classes.

The victim would occasionally have flashbacks of the incident and feared that the same thing might happen again.

She also did not dare to make male friends.

Syafiq was reportedly diagnosed with paedophilia and was assessed to have a high likelihood of reoffending.

His lawyers sought 12 years' jail and eight strokes of the cane.

They reportedly said he acknowledged his offences and pleaded guilty early.

They also argued that his guilty plea spared the two victims the trauma of testifying in court.

A 22-year-old Malaysian man was arrested for attempting to smuggle drugs, including about 8.6kg of cannabis and 1.6kg of "Ice", in a Malaysia-registered car arriving at Woodlands Checkpoint.

On the morning of Aug. 1, 2026, Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers directed the car for enhanced checks.

A box, uncovered in the car boot, contained two blocks of substances believed to hold controlled drugs.

Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers were immediately alerted to the detection and conducted further checks on the man and the car, the ICA statement read.

More controlled drugs were found in the car boot.

The drugs, with an estimated worth of more than S$361,000, were seized.

It could potentially feed the addiction of about 2,132 abusers for a week.

CNB investigations into the case are ongoing.

Those who import into or export from Singapore more than 250g of methamphetamine, or more than 500g of cannabis may face the death penalty.

The High Court has declared businessman Raymond Ng a vexatious litigant, and imposed a general civil restraint order on his wife Iris Koh, founder of anti-vaccine group Healing the Divide.

The couple was on trial as the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) had sought to have both of them declared vexatious litigants.

The AGC argued that they have treated litigation as an "income source" through "various lawfare tactics", according to the court judgement released on Aug. 4.

A vexatious litigant is someone who has habitually and persistently taken legal action against others without reasonable ground, typically with the intention of annoying or embarrassing the other party.

The vexatious litigant order granted against Ng prevents him from instituting any civil court proceedings without permission of the High Court.

Also, any proceedings that he has already commenced cannot continue without the High Court's permission.

As for Koh, the general civil restraint order imposed on her stops her from initiating new proceedings without the court's permission.

The order is limited to two years, but this period may be extended by the court.

The judge's decision on Ng

The High Court judge Hoo Sheau Peng said it appears that Ng had brought several legal proceedings for collateral purposes, rather than to address any genuine grievances.

For example, in a defamation claim against National University of Singapore (NUS) over a professor's article in 2025, Ng said that his loss lies in not receiving a settlement sum.

He also stood to gain from publicising the artificial intelligence (AI) platform he founded, GetEven.AI, for legal proceedings, as he would charge people S$1,000 to use it to "sue those who hurt them".

Furthermore, he would seek donations from the public to cover litigation costs, and ran a "sponsorship scheme" on TikTok where people could "sponsor" his lawsuit and "get returns".

Hoo believes Ng also likely "had the intention to annoy his opposing parties".

When claiming defamation against NUS, he "blind-copied various non-parties" to his emails to NUS, including the Ministry of Law, Ministry of Health, the AGC, and journalists “from major press outlets [which were] too many to list”.

Based on her assessment of his legal actions, Hoo found that "these proceedings are his preferred response to conflict even if they were not justified".

The judge's decision on Koh

Koh apparently urged that the case of imposing a vexatious litigant order must be assessed against her individually and not against her and her husband collectively.

The judge ultimately found that, similar to Ng, some of the legal proceedings Koh initiated had the intention of annoying or embarrassing the opposing parties.

For example, when the couple applied for judicial review against the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) in 2024, Koh posted a video on her TikTok account with a public call-to-action.

"I want to invite everyone to support us in our legal lawsuits against HSA and to end this ‘ownself check ownself’ for good. ... Be sure to help us to share, comment and viral this content," she said in the video, as quoted in the judgement.

However, Hoo said it is not entirely clear at this juncture whether the legal action Koh had brought was vexatious or without any reasonable ground, as a pattern of such conduct cannot be established.

Thus, there was insufficient evidence to declare Koh a vexatious litigant.

A general civil restraint order would be appropriate to "counter such a scattergun approach to litigation" that Koh has taken, Hoo argued.

Concluding her decisions on the couple, Hoo said that the two orders "will not only serve to prevent an abuse of court processes, but will also be in the interests of opposing parties".

She clarified that the orders do not preclude Ng and Koh from seeking legal action under their legitimate rights and for genuine grievances — "they must simply seek the court’s permission before doing so".

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A 60-year-old Singaporean man was fined S$5,000 after shattering the glass of a public bus’ front door while chasing after the vehicle.

Li Dehua pleaded guilty to one charge of mischief and was sentenced on Aug. 3.

He also faced another charge of public nuisance, which was taken into consideration during sentencing.

Service 183

In court documents seen by Mothership, on Sep. 1, 2025, at about 7:15am, bus service 183 stopped at a bus stop along its route located on Toh Guan Road in Jurong East.

As the bus was moving off from the bus stop, Li raised his hand and crossed the road from the opposite side in front of the bus.

The bus driver braked to allow him to walk past.

Li was carrying a white cloth bag containing a metal spoon and his lunch box at the time of the offence.

When he reached the bus stop, Li raised his hand in front of the bus door, signalling the bus driver to stop.

However, the bus driver did not stop and slowly drove away from the bus stop.

Li then became upset and chased after the vehicle.

He shouted "Oi" and proceeded to swing the bag onto the glass door of the bus, causing it to shatter into pieces.

At the time of the offence, the bus driver was seated in close proximity to the door.

Photos in the court document showed it was raining at the time.

Attempt

At about 7:26am, the police received a report of the incident from a complainant who identified himself as “Mr Daniel” from the Tower Transit control room.

Li then attempted to board another bus.

However, Li was stopped.

“If I lose my job, you will also lose your job,” Li told the bus driver while waiting for police officers to arrive.

Li then left the premises before police officers arrived.

Aftermath

The bus with the shattered door was unable to provide service to passengers, and they had to disembark to find other means of transport to continue their intended journey.

The damages to the bus amounted to S$2,138.33.

While the bus driver did not sustain any visible injuries, he was conveyed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital due to high blood pressure.

Li was arrested on Oct. 30, 2025, and was released on bail.

On Nov. 25, 2025, Li had made full restitution to Tower Transit for the damages.

Leniency

According to Shin Min Daily News, Li pleaded for leniency.

His lawyers noted that this was Li’s first criminal offence.

They said he needed to support his wife and two sons who are attending university.

They also said he confessed to his actions, cooperated with authorities during investigations, and made full restitution.

Private education institution PSB Academy is planning to launch three new campuses, subject to statutory approvals, around Singapore.

Located at Tai Seng Street and SingPost Centre and sporting a combined space of more than 220,000 square feet, the three new campuses will increase PSB Academy’s space by approximately 60 per cent.

Unlike a traditional private education institution that is limited to a single location, these new campuses will form a learning ecosystem network to complement PSB Academy’s existing campus at The Cathay, thereby reflecting a shift to learning environments that are focused on practical learning and driving industry growth.

The existing campus at The Cathay currently spans over 40,000 square feet across two levels.

Here’s what prospective students can expect from the new campuses.

Integrated STEAM Hub @ Tai Seng

The Integrated STEAM Hub will comprise two campuses: the Health and Life Sciences Campus at 29 Tai Seng Street, which will also act as PSB Academy’s new headquarters, and the Engineering, Technology and Communication Campus at 16 Tai Seng Street.

It will house advanced laboratories and industry-grade equipment, including a cyber range laboratory for cyber security simulation training, a nursing practicum laboratory and a dedicated space to test and fly drones.

Other facilities include laboratories for robotics, engineering, life and sports sciences.

The Health and Life Sciences Campus will span five levels, while the Engineering, Technology and Communication Campus will be spread across two levels.

The Integrated STEAM Hub will also house PSB Academy’s new School of Design and Communication, equipped with professional media production facilities and design tools where students can get hands-on practice to complement what they learn in class.

School of Business and Management

Meanwhile, SingPost Centre will house the School of Business and Management and School of Foundation Studies, spanning across three levels, and providing a dedicated environment for Business and Management students within the Paya Lebar commercial district.

Growing demand for STEAM courses

According to PSB Academy, the expansion to its campus comes amidst growing demand for the institution’s Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) disciplines, alongside its core Business and Management courses.

Enrolment in STEAM courses has grown by 20 per cent year-on-year over the past three years.

The expansion to a specialised network of campuses is therefore aimed at supporting the changing needs of students and employers, while preparing for future growth through increased campus space and greater capacity.

The Chief Executive Officer of PSB Academy, Derrick Chang, said:

“This marks an important milestone for PSB Academy as we continue to evolve to meet the

changing needs of our students.

In bringing together specialised campuses for different disciplines, we’re creating spaces where learning feels more relevant, more immersive and more connected to the careers our students are working towards.

At the same time, these campuses will allow us to work closely with our partners to keep our courses current and ensure our students are well prepared for what’s next.”

This sponsored article made the writer search up more about the courses offered at PSB Academy

According to Vietnamese media, a 25-year-old pregnant woman began experiencing abdominal pain on Aug. 3 before immediately heading to the hospital with her husband on a motorcycle.

She was reportedly in her 32nd week, or about eight months into her pregnancy, VnExpress reported.

In videos circulating online, the 25-year-old was seen getting off the motorcycle with her baby still visibly attached to the umbilical cord.

The video

In the video, the barefoot pregnant woman was carefully lifted off the motorcycle.

Fluids could be seen on the motorcycle seat, while the umbilical cord remained attached to the mother's body.

The medical team quickly attended to the mother and baby, warming the newborn and cutting the umbilical cord.

The mum and baby were then sent into the delivery room for further care.

The baby boy weighed about 2kg at birth, VnExpress reported.

Fortunately, both mum and baby are reportedly healthy.

An Australia aircraft engineer, who was dismissed after he caused a 17-minute flight delay to a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight, has failed to win back his job after bringing the matter to the regulators.

He was nevertheless granted AU$40,000 (S$36,000) in compensation.

The man, a resident of Brisbane, was an aircraft maintenance worker who had over 25 years of experience in the industry.

He had powered down the plane in a bid to resolve safety errors, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Following the incident, the Singapore carrier withdrew his maintenance authority permit, citing "mishandling incidents".

The incident

The man was an employee of Heston MRO, a company that provides maintenance services to various international airlines, including SIA.

In the case of the flight delay, he had seen multiple "fault diagnostic messages" pop up ahead of an SIA flight.

He thus decided to reboot the aircraft, the Herald reported.

His actions did end up clearing those faults, but led to a 17-minute delay in take-off.

SIA subsequently sent a notice to his employer withdrawing his permit, arguing that it was unnecessary to power down the plane for this particular fault.

The carrier alleged that the man had acted on "experience and instinct" instead of protocol, causing "customer dissatisfaction" through the delay.

The engineer defended his actions, saying it was "normal procedure" and helped to reduce the pilots' workload, prevent further delays, and make for a safer flight.

He likened it to resetting a phone to clear errors, according to the Herald.

Report rejected and revised

After the complaint, Heston launched an investigation into the incident.

Its initial report found that the man's actions were "standard practice" and did not violate procedures.

But SIA rejected Heston's report and argued that the investigation was "not an objective one".

Following this, the company conducted a review of the initial report, led by a newly hired head of quality and safety.

In the second report, Heston found that the man's actions had been a "reckless violation".

He was subsequently dismissed.

The man, who had been employed at the company for over two years by then, was purportedly not told about the revised findings before he was let go in December 2025.

Also worked for competitors

Australia's Fair Work Commission, the national workplace relations tribunal, held a hearing into the engineer's dismissal.

At the hearing, Heston's CEO Asta Zirlyte acknowledged that the company's commercial operations would be affected if it lost its work with SIA.

Still, she rejected the suggestion that the company revised the initial report to maintain its relationship with the airline, according to the Herald.

While he was employed at Heston, the man was involved in four investigations, but was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing each time without formal disciplinary action.

A major argument Heston brought up was that the man had been working casual shifts for Virgin Airlines, a competitor, without permission.

This, the company said, breached its rules and compliance requirements to monitor its staff fatigue levels.

The man claimed these shifts never clashed with his full-time job, and that he always took a break of at least 10 hours before and after each shift.

The commission's conclusion

At the end of the hearing, Australia's Fair Work commissioner said he did not find that Heston's decision to dismiss the engineer was because of pressure from SIA.

"However, the evidence is clear that Singapore Airlines was displeased with [the initial] report," he added.

"It was following communication of this to [Heston MRO] that the review of the report produced a different result... not supported by the evidence in this hearing."

Regarding the man's moonlighting, he said Heston could have considered taking disciplinary action, but the shifts with Virgin Airlines were not a valid reason for dismissal.

At the same time, he noted that it constituted a breach of contract, and had caused "damage to the level of trust and confidence in the [employment] relationship".

The commission thus did not order Heston to reinstate the man, but ordered it to pay him more than AU$40,000 (S$36,000) in compensation.

Heston was "deeply disappointed and surprised" by the decision, and said it intended to lodge an appeal, according to the Herald.

The firm added: "The aviation sector depends on rigorous standards to protect passengers, crew, employees, and the broader community."

Less than an hour after returning home from her night shift at the hospital, a nurse in Malaysia suddenly collapsed and passed away.

Vanessa Ewot, a 37-year-old mother of two, got home from Sarawak General Hospital at around 7:47am on Aug. 2.

Her husband Cyril told The Borneo Post he knew the time by checking the CCTV footage at home.

As she usually did each morning, Ewot greeted him with a hug and kiss, then went to check in on their two young children, aged eight and 13, in their bedrooms.

She had brought home some chicken wings to cook breakfast for the children. While she went into the kitchen, Cyril drifted back to sleep.

The next time he woke up, it was about 9:10am, and Ewot was lying on the floor.

A commotion

"At first I thought she was sleeping," an emotional Cyril told The Borneo Post. "I wanted to carry her, but when I touched her, her hands were cold and she looked bluish."

He yelled for his children, and the commotion drew the neighbours' attention. He shouted that his wife had fainted, and asked someone to call the ambulance.

While waiting for help to arrive, he performed CPR on Ewot, then rushed to the hospital with his children.

He believes that Ewot was preparing to cook when she suddenly collapsed.

"The chicken wings were still beside the stove," Cyril recalled. "The stove wasn’t switched on yet. It looked like she was about to start cooking."

'She looked completely normal'

According to Cyril, Ewot had stayed at home with her family all day on Aug. 1 to get enough rest before going to work at around 8pm that evening.

"She looked completely normal," he said.

She had also asked Cyril if they could go to church as a family at 11am after work the next day, saying that they had not been for some time.

Ewot reportedly had no history of health problems such as asthma, heart disease, or high blood pressure.

Cyril said he wants to know what happened, but he will have to wait two to three months for the post-mortem results.

Tributes

Many of Ewot's fellow nurses and friends attended her wake to pay their respects.

The story of her sudden death has also circulated on social media.

Public Health Malaysia and the Sarawak State Health Department posted separately on Facebook, offering their condolences to Ewot's family.

Commenters also offered condolences, while some speculated that Ewot might have experienced fatigue from work, and expressed concern for the welfare of doctors and nurses who work long shifts.

Thinking that cardboard shelters meant for cats placed at his block's void deck would draw birds and pests, a Singaporean retiree decided to set them on fire.

Koh Teng Boo, 68, pleaded guilty to one count of committing mischief by fire on Aug. 4.

He was sentenced to three months' jail.

Background

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Koh first noticed the cardboard structures put up at around the pavilion beside Block 261 and the void deck of Block 263 Bukit Batok East Avenue 4 on September 2025.

The houses were stocked with food and water by volunteers and were meant to provide food and shelter to stray cats.

However, Koh noticed that birds were drawn to the cat houses.

He claimed that the houses were also prone to attracting pests and provided feedback to his Member of Parliament.

Sometime in October 2025, Koh picked up three cat houses before throwing them into an incense burner bin and setting them on fire.

He claimed he had done so as nothing had been done about the issue despite his complaints.

Two days later, Koh noticed there were more cat houses set up around his block.

He raised the concerns again to his MP on Nov. 17, 2025, stressing that he did not have an issue with cats but was concerned about the hygiene of such a practice.

He also claimed that residents had been throwing litter into the cat houses.

Burnt houses after drinking

On Nov. 19, 2025 at about 1:28am, Koh was on his way home after drinking when he saw a cat house at the void deck of Block 263 Bukit Batok East Avenue 4.

He took out a lighter and set fire to it, then walked away and left the fire unattended.

It is not revealed how the fire was eventually put out.

On Nov. 20, 2025 at about 5:31am, Koh went to the pavilion beside Block 261 Bukit Batok East Avenue 4 with the intention of setting fire to more cat houses.

He was angered that nothing had been done about the issue despite his complaints.

Koh set fire to one cat house with a lighter, and again walked away, leaving the fire unattended.

A few minutes later, two passers-by spotted the fire and put it out.

An informant was later alerted to the burning of the cat houses and made a police report on Nov. 20.

Koh was identified using CCTV footage and arrested on the same day.

Court documents indicated Koh was aware that he was likely to cause damage to the flooring and wall in the immediate vicinity through his actions.

Lim Tean, a 61-year-old Singaporean lawyer and politician, failed to surrender to court to start his jail term on Aug. 3, 2026 and an arrest warrant has been issued.

Both Lim's lawyer and bailor could not reach Lim, it was reported.

In response to Mothership's queries, a Singapore Courts spokesperson provided a statement to chronicle the sequence of events leading to a warrant to arrest being issued.

• On Jul. 6, 2026, Lim's criminal motion was summarily dismissed, and he was directed to surrender on Jul. 20 at 12pm at the State Courts 4A to commence his sentence of imprisonment.
• On Jul. 17, the Court of Appeal approved the accused’s request for a deferment of sentence, and directed the accused to surrender on Aug. 3, at 12pm, at State Courts 4A to commence his sentence of imprisonment.
• The accused did not surrender at State Courts 4A on Aug. 3 at 12 pm.
• A warrant to arrest was subsequently issued on Aug. 3.
• A further mention was fixed on Aug. 17 at 3pm for post-warrant to arrest review and the surety to show cause why the bail sum should not be forfeited.
• The accused was represented by counsel at the State Courts at a case conference on Aug. 4 at 10am, as the accused faces other pending charges.
• The case conference was adjourned to Aug. 17 at 3pm for post-warrant to arrest review.