The code of conduct for pet groomers has been revised and a new code has been created for dog trainers in Singapore.

Launched on Oct. 3 by the Animal & Veterinary Service (AVS) of NParks, the updated code includes a slew of new minimum standards and best practices.

These include ensuring "constant physical supervision" of tethered animals for pet groomers, a move that comes after several high-profile cases involving unattended pets in recent years.

AVS added that licencing and accreditation of pet groomers is a "separate consideration" that bears further consultation with stakeholders.

Other minimum standards

The revised code for pet groomers follows a stakeholder survey and two focus group discussions in March and April this year.

There was a "broad consensus" on the need to strengthen industry standards, AVS said in its statement.

Meanwhile, in the revised code for dog trainers, aversive strategies — which include the use of shock and prong collars — are discouraged.

Instead, the "Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive" (LIMA) approach is recommended, promoting the use of evidence-based training methods and positive reinforcement, AVS said.

New requirements were also set for the transportation and boarding of dogs.

You can read the full revised code here.

Review of code of animal welfare for pet owners

While a code of conduct is not enforceable in itself, it sets out minimum standards and best practices that should be adhered to by members of the pet industry.

Failure to meet the minimum standards may be used as evidence to support prosecution for offences under the Animal and Birds Act.

In addition, AVS will soon commence a review of the code of animal welfare for pet owners as well.

Over the coming year, it will engage pet owners, veterinarians, animal groups, and the wider community through public consultations to refine proposed revisions.

The revisions will target areas such as accountability of pet owners, diet and nutrition, housing and environment, and more.

In early September 2026, Singaporean actress and influencer Chen Yixin revealed that she moved to Paris, France.

In a recent YouTube video posted on Sep. 27, the 26-year-old shared that she moved to Paris to further her studies.

Although Chen didn't say which school she's attending due to "safety precautions", she did say that she is on a scholarship pursuing fashion and creative direction.

Chen also talked about her living situation, sharing that she's currently living in a 32 sqm apartment.

The monthly rent? S$2,300 euros (S$3,312).

Getting the apartment wasn't very smooth sailing, though.

She said that during the apartment inspection, the apartment's state of hygiene was "really, really bad".

She mentioned finding bugs, stains on the beds and hair everywhere, even in the coffee machine.

However, Chen felt grateful to have met many nice people, including the apartment inspector and her landlord, whom she said was apologetic about the situation.

"She (the landlord) immediately called her housekeeper to come down and just clean the entire place thoroughly again and she also got a pest control professional to check out on all the cushions and beds."

Chen also said bed bugs are common in Paris, but fortunately, there was no trace of them in her apartment.

She acknowledged that her rent is on the higher side and admitted she cannot afford it every month for the next two years.

She said: "I've been able to save quite an amount of money just to tide me through the first couple of months. But guys, don't worry, I also cannot afford this at all. In fact, I'm actually very stressed out because I don't know how to move forward with this situation."

Nonetheless, she clarified that she moved to Paris entirely on her own savings and at her own expense, and hoped that her sharing would help others set expectations on what it's like to move abroad.

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A young blogger from China who had detailed her fight with cancer passed away on Sep. 28.

According to Chinese media, Xu Ziting was known for her optimism even in the face of fighting stomach cancer.

She also encouraged fellow patients, while detailing her own fight.

In one of her videos, she also detailed how she felt her unhealthy lifestyle prior to her diagnosis had affected her.

She said that her unhealthy lifestyle consisted of frequently eating takeout and staying up late.

Her diet was also not ideal, as she rarely drank water.

Instead, Xu said she consumed coffee, milk tea and other sugary drinks five times a day.

She was also not a fan of fruits and vegetables, favouring oily and spicy food instead.

Xu said she believed that lifestyle choice caused irreversible damage to her digestive health.

While she was quick to clarify that she was not implying a causal relation between her lifestyle habits and her stomach cancer, she said these unhealthy habits would have an impact on health nonetheless, advising netizens to take care of themselves.

A man assaulted his 74-year-old mother twice and threatened his older brother, 45, with a knife after he became angry that his family had not consulted him about renovations at their home in Bukit Panjang.

Chen Chen Xi (transliteration from Mandarin), a 41-year-old permanent resident, was sentenced to four months and two weeks in jail. He was slapped with four charges including intentional assault, criminal intimidation and possession of weapons.

He pleaded guilty to two of the charges with the remaining two taken into consideration, Shin Min reported.

Hit his mother on the head, told his brother he would kill him

According to court documents, the incident happened in May 2026.

The defendant had been living with his mother and brother in the vicinity of Bangkit Road.

On May 24, Chen complained to his mother, who was washing cups in the kitchen, that he was unhappy the family had not discussed the renovation of their home with him.

When his brother returned home at 4pm, he informed Chen that the contractor and interior designer would be coming the next day.

According to Shin Min, Chen then asked his brother why the family was renovating and questioned the decision.

He brought up past grievances, including accusations that his brother had humiliated him and called him fat.

Chen also vented his frustration at his mother, eventually losing control of his emotions. At this point, he shoved her in the chest, and hit her on the left arm as well as the left side of her head.

When Chen's brother went to the kitchen upon hearing that their mother was being beaten, Chen grabbed a knife, pointed it at his brother and said, "Don't come in! If you do, I'll kill you and jump down afterwards! And before jumping down, I also won't let her (their mother) go! I'll kill her too!"

His brother was eventually able to persuade him to calm down and Chen returned the knife to the rack.

Assaulted his mother again the next day

However, on May 25, at 1:30pm, he lost his temper with his mother again over the renovation, and ended up punching her three times on the side of the head, once on her left thigh and stomped on her feet.

Shin Min reported that he was arrested at 9:15pm following a police report.

According to a psychiatric report, Chen suffered from schizophrenia at the time of the crime and that his condition was related to his offence.

His medical condition was taken into account when the judge was deciding his sentence.

The ongoing court trial for Abby Choi saw prosecutors trying to establish intent in the gruesome murder of the Hong Kong socialite.

According to CNN, the lead prosecutor, Charlotte Draycott, said the three people on trial, Choi's ex-husband, Alex Kwong, his father, Kwong Kau, and brother, Anthony Kwong, had bought items like a meat mincer and an electric saw days before the murder.

They have all pleaded not guilty to murder.

Hong Kong media noted that the brother and father looked notably thinner during the trial than in their photos before it.

Footage of the two brothers at a Starbucks before the murder, with Anthony making a "series of gestures" was also brought up by the prosecutor, who suggested this may have been about the attack.

The prosecutor said Choi's murder took place in a car that Alex borrowed.

According to the series of events she put forth, Anthony picked Choi up in the car. Alex got on the vehicle at another location.

The prosecutor said Anthony struck Choi repeatedly in the head inside the car, with a hammer that he bought.

According to the prosecutor, the vehicle was driven to a house in a rural part of Hong Kong; the house was allegedly rented by Kwong Kau.

Later that day, a neighbour heard the sound of an electric saw being used.

That was why the prosecutor claimed it was a "cogitated plan" as each person "played their part", CNN reported Draycott saying.

The timing of the murder was also raised by prosecutors. According to HK01, Choi was on the phone with her mother-in-law while she was in the car.

They were talking about clothes she had bought recently. The last voice message was sent at 2.44am. This is around the time the prosecutors believe Choi was attacked.

The trial is expected to last about eight weeks according to CNN.

First day

The first day of trial saw the prosecutors characterising the murder as the result of a financial dispute.

They argued that Choi's former father-in-law enlisted his two sons, including her ex-husband, to help him kill her after he became "extremely resentful and angry" over her insistence on selling a HK$72 million (S$11.7 million) flat where he had been living, The South China Morning Post reported.

Days after Choi was reported missing in February 2023, the police found some body parts believed to be hers in the refrigerator of a house that her ex-husband's family was renting.

Police later found her head in pots filled with soup and minced meat.

They have all pleaded not guilty to murder.

A 24-year-old man sexually assaulted and filmed his female friend while she was drunk and asleep on his bed.

According to Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min), the man pleaded guilty on Oct. 1.

The judge ordered that the media not disclose any information that could reveal the victim's identity.

Shin Min reported that the victim was a longtime friend of the man, and she would visit his home to play video games and drink alcohol.

On Dec. 12 2025, the two were drinking and playing video games till the early hours of the next morning.

She then fell asleep on the bed.

The offender then assaulted her, at which point she was unaware and did not consent to the act.

When she awoke, she found her clothes pulled back and the man's hand on her breast.

He was also holding his phone and attempting to film the act.

Jailed

The man was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment and one stroke of the cane.

According to Shin Min, the man's mother burst into tears upon hearing the news.

After the judge allowed the man to meet with his parents for 10 minutes, his mother further broke down and fell to her knees.

Their conversation was silent, and neither the man nor his parents said anything while his father cried.

Before leaving, his father gave the man a thumbs-up to say goodbye, and he nodded in response.

A man was nearly hit by a van at Sengkang in the wee hours of Sep. 30.

In a video uploaded to Facebook group SGRV, a man was seen waiting to cross at the junction between Compassvale Street and Punggol Road.

The video was sourced from dashcam footage by a car stopping at the red light.

When the right-turn arrows turned green, vehicles started to make turns onto Compassvale Street.

As one van turned, however, it barrelled right into the path of the man on the pavement.

The man was able to move out of the way in time, and the van crashed into the traffic light pole.

This caused the traffic lights to fall off the pole and the van's left bumper to break off.

After the crash, the driver slowly reversed, dragging what remained of the broken bumper dangling off the van on the road.

The van then simply drove off.

Netizens speculated in the comments that the driver may have been intoxicated.

One commenter said that it was fortunate that the pedestrian was aware of his surroundings and not using his phone.

Under Singapore's traffic laws, the driver had a duty to stop his vehicle and assess the damage done to property and other persons.

More than 391kg of cannabis was detected in an inbound container at Pasir Panjang Scanning Station on Sep. 24, 2026.

According to an Oct. 2 joint statement by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) and Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), preliminary investigations found that the drugs were transiting through Singapore and bound for another country.

How it was detected

Based on targeting efforts by the ICA, the container was identified and referred for enhanced checks.

During the checks, ICA’s Image Analysts detected anomalies in the scanned images of the container.

Upon physical inspection, ICA officers found suspected cannabis blocks concealed within boxes containing gloves.

CNB officers were immediately alerted and conducted further checks on the container.

They uncovered a total of 1,290 blocks of cannabis, weighing about 391kg in total.

Investigations are ongoing, the authorities said.

May face the death penalty

Under Section 7 of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1973, those who import into or export from Singapore more than 500g of cannabis may face the mandatory death penalty.

The joint statement added that ICA works closely with CNB to prevent attempts to smuggle drugs across our borders.

"ICA will also continue to leverage technology and data analytics to strengthen Singapore’s border security, prevent the smuggling of drugs and contraband and prevent undesirable persons from entering Singapore."

The Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link service between Singapore and Johor Bahru (JB), Malaysia, will delay its opening for passenger service till the end of February 2027.

According to a statement by the RTS Operations (RTSO), the operator of the cross-border rail service, this is due to the "expected duration of works and the estimated duration required for safety certification from a third party and approval by both grantors."

"Our goal is to provide a safe and reliable service on the RTS link."

Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Malaysia's Ministry of Transport published a separate joint media statement which said that the revised timeline is "subject to RTSO obtaining independent safety certification for the RTS Link and securing final regulatory approvals".

The RTS Link service was originally slated to start at the end of 2026.

The delay announcement comes nearly a month after LTA published photos of the completed Woodlands North Station on its Facebook page.

Infrastructure works "remain on track"

The joint statement noted that infrastructure works in both Singapore and Malaysia are "substantially complete and remain on track to support passenger service upon the satisfactory completion of the remaining testing and commissioning activities".

The authorities noted that more time is needed for these activities before commencement, with the RTSO expecting to complete its final system tests and trial runs by Dec. 31, 2026.

"Subsequently, RTSO will need to obtain safety certification from an independent safety assessor."

Regulatory approvals to commence passenger operations can then be granted after "authorities from both countries have reviewed and satisfied themselves with the independent safety certification", said the joint statement.

"The grantors will continue to work with RTSO to facilitate the smooth and safe delivery of the project."

The joint statement added that authorities from both countries "note RTSO’s commitment to completing the remaining activities expeditiously and safely".

Previous developments

The first RTS train arrived at Woodlands North Station on Feb. 4, 2026, according to an LTA Facebook post.

In Apr. 2026, it was reported that rail works were on track despite the war in Iran.

On May 6, 2026, Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs, Edwin Tong, conducted the second reading of the Cross-Border Railways (Border Control Co-location) Bill, highlighting the key features, including he co-location of both countries’ customs, immigration and quarantine facilities, or CIQ facilities and cross-border incident management.

Sengkang-Punggol LRT services will fully resume on Oct. 4 2026.

According to a press release by the Land Transport Authority (LTA), full train services will resume on the Sengkang West Inner Loop two weeks ahead of schedule.

The loop, via SW1 Cheng Lim from Sengkang LRT station, was temporarily closed from Apr. 19 2026 for major upgrading works.

It was initially slated to reopen on Oct. 18 2026.

However, LTA said that the project team was able to expedite the upgrading works on the loop by optimising the sequence of works carried out.

Size of LRT dept to be tripled 

The works aimed to facilitate the tripling of the size of the Sengkang-Punggol LRT depot, in order to accommodate a larger fleet and meet growing ridership demand.

Significant modifications to the existing tracks were made, as well as the connection of new reception tracks from the expanded depot to the existing line.

New signalling systems and equipment were also installed.

LTA also stated that the depot expansion is on track for completion by 2027.

As the works on the Sengkang West Inner Loop come to a close, the weekday peak-period shuttle bus services (Sengkang West Shuttle Bus Service A and Service B) will also cease operations on Friday, Oct. 2 2026.

Enhanced LRT fleet and features

LTA also announced that they will procure eight additional third-generation two-car Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs).

This will bring the size of the Sengkang-Punggol LRT fleet to a total of 41 two-car LRVs by 2030 to meet growing travel demand.

This is in addition to the plan to introduce 25 new third-generation two-car LRVs that are slated to replace the existing first-generation fleet.

According to LTA, the third-generation LRVs will provide smoother and more comfortable rides, with ergonomic seating, brighter and energy-efficient LED lighting, clearer passenger information displays, more visible door-closing indicators and an improved air-conditioning system.

They also incorporate enhancements that support operations and maintenance, allowing greater ease of diagnostics, fault detection, and access to onboard equipment.

Inter-car doors also facilitate safer and quicker evacuations during emergencies.

Extension of free off-peak rides: SMS Sun

Speaking at a media doorstop at Sengkang LRT Depot, Senior Minister of State for Transport Sun Xueling shared that the off-peak rail travel programme had performed better than its original target and will extend by another year.

LTA had previously announced that rides on the North East Line and Sengkang-Punggol LRT taken before and after peak hours (before 7:30am, and between 9am and 9:45am) would be free, in order to moderate travel demand during the morning. 

The initial target was to move seven per cent of passengers to off-peak travel timings.

Sun announced that currently, 10 per cent of passengers have moved to off-peak travel, which she called "encouraging".

As such, LTA has made the decision to extend the free off-peak rail travel programme by another year, to encourage more commuters to make use of the free rides.

LTA says that this will achieve a 30 per cent increase in average capacity across Sengkang-Punggol LRT.