While on a day tour to Xizhou Old Town in Yunnan, China, with her husband and four friends, a 73-year-old Singapore woman came across a street stall purportedly selling traditional medicinal herbs.

Although the 73-year-old only wanted some, the seller allegedly pressured her into paying for almost S$2,000 worth of the herb by telling her that they had already ground the herb into powder and refused to let her back out of the transaction.

When she returned with police to look for the sellers, they were nowhere to be found.

Hired cheap car charter service for day tour

According to Shin Min Daily News, the 73-year-old woman, surnamed Lee (transliteration), had travelled to Yunnan, China, on Aug. 30 this year for a 26-day holiday.

On the fifth day of the trip, Lee and her party, which included her husband and four friends, wanted to visit an attraction named Xizhou Old Town.

While they were looking for a transportation service to take them there, a woman appeared and offered them her husband's car charter service.

The woman offered a considerably low price, and the party agreed to their services after some negotiation.

TCM vendor at lunch spot

At a lunch spot, Lee passed by a stall selling traditional Chinese medicine while on the way to the washroom.

"I wasn't planning on buying any traditional medicinal products at the time. However, a lavishly dressed mother-daughter duo suddenly appeared," Lee recounted to Shin Min.

"They claimed that they had been coughing year-round, but got better after consuming 'Zangbei powder'. They repeatedly listed the powder's medicinal properties," Lee continued.

After haggling with the seller, the mother-daughter duo managed to reduce the price from 12 yuan per gram to eight.

Pressured

Suddenly, the pair pointed at Lee and said one bag per person, Shin Min reported.

The seller proceeded to weigh a bag of the powder and asked Lee for payment of about 10,000 yuan (around S$1,900).

Lee hurriedly told the seller she did not need so much of the herb, but the seller did not let her back out of the transaction, arguing that the herb had already been ground into powder.

The 73-year-old told Shin Min that she also confused the exchange rate, thought she would be paying around S$200, and went ahead with the payment.

She only realised she paid almost S$2,000 for the herb after returning to the car and speaking to her husband.

Her bank records showed that she paid S$1,901.45.

Sellers nowhere to be found

When she returned to Yunnan's Dali City on Sep. 14, she then proceeded to make a police report the next day.

She later returned to the lunch spot with local police in a bid to find the sellers, but they were nowhere to be found.

Lee reminded travellers to be vigilant and avoid purchasing from street vendors, Shin Min wrote.

The 73-year-old has also made a police report upon her return to Singapore.

She said she did not dare to consume the herbs and will be sending the powder to the Singapore Food Agency for testing.

The co-owners of a fashion company were found dead at their house.

On Oct. 2, Bryan Walker, 61, and his wife, Michelle Min, 63, were found by the police in their home in Berkeley.

Walker was the CEO of a fashion company, according to his LinkedIn.

Paul Min, Michelle’s younger brother, told the New York Post that the couple had agreed Walker could play around with some of their extensive wealth.

He claimed Walker had secretly mortgaged multiple properties under the couple’s name, and allegedly gambled on risky options and leveraged positions.

By the time things had settled in September, Paul believed Walker had lost “well over $100 million”.

Paul claimed this led him into a spiral.

“He curled up into a ball, cried like a baby for weeks, and was completely useless.” Paul said, as reported by New York Post.

Michelle continued to care for Walker.

According to the LA Times, citing Paul, while Walker was inconsolable about the change in finances, Michelle did not seem "too demoralised". Paul said his sister had expressed a desire to leave the area and live more simply for years.

Walker continued to deteriorate, and his family planned to have him institutionalised.

The incident occurred on the day he was scheduled to be sent to the institution.

At about 10:50am that day, Berkeley police were called to the scene after shots were heard.

The police found the couple and performed life-saving measures, but both were then pronounced dead.

In surveillance video reviewed by CBS News, the first gunshot can be heard at around 10:43am, with a man’s crying and screaming following. A second gunshot is heard some time later, before it went quiet.

A firearm was located at the scene.

The Oakland Police Department is investigating the incident.

The father of the 16-year-old girl found dead in her school in Yong Peng, Johor, on Oct. 3 said he hopes justice will be served for his daughter.

Mohd Khairool Faisal Khyar, 42, spoke to Malaysian media after her burial at the Kampung Arshad Muslim Cemetery on Oct. 4, Malay Mail reported.

The teenager was laid to rest following a post-mortem at a hospital.

More than 100 people, including family, friends, teachers, and members of the public gathered at the cemetery to pay their respects, according to Bernama.

"We are grateful to everyone who came and we hope justice can be served for my late daughter," Khairool said.

Allegedly murdered

Irene Sofiya Mohd Khairool Faisal was found covered in blood in the school hall before she was pronounced dead at the scene.

She had several injuries on her head and body.

Irene had extra classes that Saturday, Oct. 3.

Her 66-year-old grandmother, along with Irene's aunt, began searching for her around 5:30pm when two of Irene's schoolmates went to her house asking about her whereabouts.

The friends had noticed that Irene's motorcycle was still parked at the school, but she was nowhere to be found, sparking concern, The Star reported.

One of the friends first discovered Irene in the school hall.

"I heard her friend scream for me to hurry over because there was so much blood," the grandmother said.

She recalled that her granddaughter was critically injured and bleeding heavily. She responded weakly when her grandmother called her name.

"She looked at my face one last time before her body went limp and she stopped moving."

The police arrested three boys, who are Irene's classmates, that same day, and are investigating the case for murder.

One of them will be remanded for six days until Oct. 9 to assist in the investigation.

Looked cheerful and happy

The last time Khairool saw his daughter, whom he called Fiya, was about two weeks before the incident.

He had noticed no changes in her behaviour.

"In fact, Fiya looked cheerful and was happy to be studying," he said, as quoted by Malay Mail.

He learnt about her death from his eldest sister, at about 6pm on Oct. 3.

He rushed from Bangi, Selangor, where he was working, to their village in Johor to find out what happened.

At the burial, he also urged the public not to speculate about the incident.

No CCTV at the scene

Malaysia's education minister, Fadhlina Sidek, said there were no CCTV cameras where the incident happened.

"The school has CCTV, but it was not installed at the scene of the crime," she told reporters at Parliament on Oct. 5, as quoted by The Star.

She added that the education ministry will take immediate action to improve this.

The security company engaged by the school could also lose its contract if patrol records show it failed in its duties that day, she added.

The Johor Education and Information Committee chairman Muhammad Naqib Md Ghazali also pledged that the Johor state government, the police, and the education ministry will work together to strengthen security measures at schools.

He highlighted installing CCTV cameras as an "initial step" to monitor the situation if a tragedy occurs, The New Straits Times reported.

"Schools should be safe places, and everyone has a responsibility to look at this matter comprehensively instead of pointing fingers at one another," he said.

Additionally, the Johor Education Department will reach out to Irene's family, teachers, and friends to provide psychological support.

According to Naqib, some of them have been traumatised by the incident.

The district education office and school principal have met affected teachers and students for counselling sessions, he said.

A 34-year-old realtor in Irvine, California was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Intelligence (FBI) after being suspected of spying for China.

Her mission was allegedly to surveil Taiwanese president Lai Ching Te's son, who resides in the U.S.

CBS News reported that Zhang Wanying, who also went by "Heather", was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Oct. 4 as she tried to board a flight to Shanghai.

According to the FBI, Zhang and another accomplice travelled to Seattle in September 2025 to surveil and take pictures of the home of Lai's son, Lai Ting Yu.

U.S. federal attorney Bill Essayli said in a tweet that Zhang is due to appear in federal court in Los Angeles on Oct. 5.

He described her as an "unregistered agent of the People's Republic of China".

We just arrested a Chinese foreign agent at LAX attempting to depart for China.

Wanying Zhang, aka “Heather,” 34, of Irvine, was arrested today by @FBILosAngeles on a federal complaint charging her with acting as an unregistered agent of the People’s Republic of China.

According to the affidavit, Zhang traveled to Seattle in 2025 and, at the direction of PRC officials, surveilled a close relative of a Taiwanese government official, sending photos, videos, and license plate information to those officials.

She coordinated the trip with an associate and used tradecraft to avoid detection. She never notified the Attorney General she was acting for a foreign government, a federal offense.

She will appear in federal court in Los Angeles tomorrow for her initial appearance. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

— F.A. United States Attorney Bill Essayli (@USAttyEssayli) October 4, 2026

Spy

According to the New York Post, Zhang began corresponding with a Chinese government officials from September 2022, texting about topics such as investments and children.

In March 2025, she told the official that she planned to travel to Beijing and that they should meet up.

The FBI's counterintelligence squad claimed that Zhang was later introduced to another Chinese official in June 2025 by a classmate from her alma mater, the University of International Relations in Beijing, reported CBS News.

Zhang allegedly then booked a room in Changsha on a trip later that month, where she met with the same official, now her handler, and was assigned her mission.

She later then allegedly said, "I can handle this thing," according to the FBI's complaint filed to the federal court.

Zhang and another man subsequently flew to Seattle on Sep. 1 2025, rented a car and drove to Lai Ting Yu's home.

A neighbour's security camera captured Zhang and her accomplice allegedly filming him and his family as they returned home that evening.

She then allegedly texted her handler, "Saw him. Young male. It's that young one," and "I am videorecording."

She also sent them two licence plate numbers.

These messages, sent on WeChat, were obtained by the FBI via Zhang's iCloud account.

Cross-strait leverage

The FBI claimed in their report that the location and pictures of Lai Ting Yu would provide leverage to China in the event of any conflict between Taiwan and China.

Lai Ting Yu, who is in his 30s, completed his tertiary education and doctorate in the U.S., and now works for the electronics firm Philips.

He has a son with his Taiwanese wife, Hsiao Chen.

This incident comes as part a series of Chinese espionage cases in California, reported the New York Post.

In May 2026, a Californian mayor, Eileen Wang, pleaded to guilty to being a Chinese spy and disseminating propaganda.

In August 2026, a U.S. representative for California, Eric Swalwell, admitted to having relations with a Chinese spy known as Christine Fang, who targeted politicians in California.

It’s hard to imagine Singapore’s landscape today without Kopi.

From its distinct sweet taste, to its many variations of C, Gao, Kosong, to the iconic way it is prepared by being poured and filtered multiple times through a cloth sock filter, this is a drink that is now a timeless part of our landscape.

For many of us, it has become our go-to perk-me-up drink in the morning. Plus, who can forget how this drink has even become part of a byword for having a chat: “la kopi”.

And yet, as ubiquitous as the drink is now in Singapore, it’s worth noting that once upon a time, Singaporeans were not kopi guzzlers, nor was the drink itself a part of our landscape.

Kopi began as a foreign European import

In fact, Kopi is very much a foreign import given that neither the Chinese, Malays or Indians have a tradition of coffee consumption, according to Culturepaedia.

Most of the elements that we now take for granted in kopi such as sugar, condensed milk and even filtering the coffee through a cloth bag actually have European origins, with the sock filter technique referenced in European records as far back as the 18th century.

In addition, tea was the dominant drink with both the Chinese and Indians during the colonial period, who were traditionally accustomed to tea grown in their native regions.

In comparison, coffee consumption in Southeast Asia was fuelled largely by the Dutch colonisation of Indonesia, which resulted in the establishment of vast coffee estates.

By the 1880s, Java alone accounted for 82 per cent of all coffee leaving the Dutch East Indies and approximately 18 per cent of world exports.

Within Singapore, much of our coffee supply at that time was likely sourced from these plantations and entered Singapore via British trading houses, which also supplied sugar and condensed milk from the United Kingdom.

However, at this point, coffee was still largely limited to colonial homes and European ships, prepared mainly by cooks and stewards from the Hainanese community due to the limited job options available for them.

The catalyst for Kopi’s evolution was scarcity

In perhaps a strange twist of irony, the catalyst for Kopi as a drink for the working class in Singapore was the collapse in production of coffee plantations in the Dutch East Indies.

A coffee-leaf rust epidemic struck the plantations across Java, which grew arabica beans, from 1880 to 1883, at the height of coffee production.

This resulted in the Dutch East Indies’ share of global production dropping to just two per cent by 1917, never to recover.

In response, the Dutch shifted to planting robusta beans, which is more resilient agriculturally, has higher yields, and is cheaper to grow.

Robusta beans also can contain up to twice the amount of caffeine found in arabica beans.

The tradeoff? The higher caffeine level means that robusta is far more bitter and lacks the complex flavours of arabica beans.

This made drinking robusta coffee black and without sugar highly unpleasant for many people.

Even so, the low cost and availability of the drink meant that it soon became the default choice for the working class in Singapore.

It was the Hainanese who cemented the drink as a part of our cuisine

The Hainanese were central agents in localising British coffee-drinking customs for everyday folk.

It was within the kitchens of Europeans where they learned the art of what would become the foundations of making kopi – filtering coffee through muslin or cloth bags and serving it black, or sometimes with fresh milk and sugar.

And in response to the rise of robusta beans, Hainanese coffee roasters began frying such beans with margarine and sugar to give them a caramelised tinge, adding salt midway through the frying, followed by even more sugar to round out the bitterness and create the deep taste profile of Kopi that has become so well-known.

Another important element to counter the bitterness of robusta beans included the use of condensed milk.

During the colonial period, fresh milk was an expensive premium commodity due to its perishable nature.

It was also frequently mixed with water or other milks to stretch milk supply, which raised public health concerns.

This therefore meant that fresh milk was mostly for Europeans. In contrast, condensed milk was safer and about 50 per cent cheaper, which meant it became one of the primary dairy options for locals.

The use of the cloth sock filter also remained, even as Europe shifted to metal and paper filters, due to the high cost of using metal and paper filters in Southeast Asia.

All of these techniques would be carried over in the post-World War 2 period when the Hainanese began opening their own coffee shops, or kopitiams, once the British began withdrawing from Singapore, complete with the iconic kaya and butter toast and soft-boiled eggs that we have all come to know and love.

So the next time you drink a cup of Kopi, you are in a way, drinking something that has come to symbolise the trajectory of Singapore’s development with its many twists and turns.

This branded article by Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre made the author crave for Kopi C Gao even though he prefers tea.

The driver who caused a chain collision in Tampines on Apr. 24, 2024, which killed two people, was sentenced to 12 years and nine months' jail and disqualified from driving for life.

Muhammad Syafie Bin Ismail, 45, appeared in court on Oct. 5, 2026, for sentencing following his conviction.

He kept his head low and did not react as the sentence was read out.

Principal District Judge Toh Han Li said Syafie's conduct resulted in the loss of two innocent lives, with eight others suffering hurt and injuries.

His conduct also affected the families of the victims, including the mother of the 17-year-old student who died, who is now suffering from major depressive disorder. 

He also caused considerable damage to private and public property, Toh noted.

Syafie will begin serving his sentence today, Oct. 5.

The Deputy Public Prosecutor had sought a jail term of 12 years and nine months to 13-and-a-half years during a previous hearing on Sep. 7, 2026.

Meanwhile, the defence had sought a jail sentence of between seven-and-a-half years and eight years.

Both the prosecution and defence called for a lifetime driving ban for Syafie.

What happened

Syafie pleaded guilty on Aug. 6 to three charges for dangerous driving causing death, causing grievous hurt and causing hurt.

Other charges were also considered during sentencing.

He had run a red light while speeding, which resulted in the deaths of two people.

A 17-year-old student, who was being driven to school by her father, and a 57-year-old woman, who was in the back of a van, died.

Syafie's car overtook and sideswiped a car driven by another man, who had earlier overtaken him in Bedok.

Syafie had accelerated to 122 km/h.

He swerved in and out of lanes along Bedok Reservoir Road and narrowly missed a motorcyclist.

He then accelerated to the cross junction of Bedok Reservoir Road, Tampines Avenue 1 and Tampines Avenue 4 at a speed of 129 km/h to 134 km/h.

The light had been red for at least 26 seconds.

Vehicles were travelling across the road in both directions.

Syafie hit three vehicles, which in turn hit a van and a school bus.

Three victims were grievously injured, with some requiring multiple surgeries.

Another five victims, including two 11-year-old children, were injured and hospitalised.

Syafie has a record of a careless driving violation in April 2022, among other traffic violations.

A total of 91 deregistered vehicles were impounded in Singapore in September 2026.

This was after the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Singapore Police Force (SPF) conducted a joint enforcement blitz islandwide to clamp down on the keeping and use of deregistered vehicles, an Oct. 5 statement said.

Last registered owner will be investigated

The authorities said LTA will investigate the last registered owner when vehicles are found to be misused.

Owners should ensure that they obtain the relevant disposal documents for submission to LTA when vehicles are handed over to dealers for export, the statement said.

The onus is on owners to ensure all necessary administrative processes are completed when deregistering a vehicle, the authorities said.

The statement added: "For example, where a vehicle is being traded in, the transfer of ownership should be completed before the vehicle is deregistered."

Owners are also reminded that they should ensure that the buyer confirms the transfer transaction on LTA’s OneMotoring website.

Vehicle owners are reminded to fulfil their responsibilities when deregistering their vehicles and to ensure that the vehicles are properly disposed of in accordance with LTA’s requirements, the authorities said.

Members of the public may also report any suspected keeping or use of deregistered vehicles via OneMotoring or the OneService App.

More measures to be introduced

Parliament will introduce additional measures to enforce timely and proper disposal of deregistered vehicles.

The first reading of the bill in parliament occurred on Sep. 8, 2026.

The additional measures include shortening the grace period for owners of deregistered vehicles to fulfil disposal requirements, ensuring offenders who fail to fulfil their respective disposal requirements remain liable for prosecution, and criminalising the sale and supply of deregistered vehicles.

Penalties

The use of deregistered vehicles poses a serious road safety risk as they are neither roadworthy nor have valid insurance, and are used without valid COE or road tax, the authorities said.

The maximum penalties for keeping or using unregistered or deregistered vehicles was raised in February 2026.

First-time offenders will be fined up to S$20,000 and/or jailed for up to two years, with penalties doubled for repeat offenders.

Former Wah!Banana actor Lev Panfilov, who was acquitted of rape and sexual assault after five years of legal battles, said he feels "indifferent" towards his accuser.

In a one-hour and 49-minute video interview with YouTuber Max Chernov, Panfilov shared how the Tinder date unfolded and eventually turned into an accusation that changed his life as he was jailed in Singapore.

When asked about his current thoughts on the woman who accused him, the 30-year-old said he is past having feelings of "hatred or resentment".

Though he felt those emotions while in prison, Panfilov shared that he is now more relieved and has started having feelings of "Christian compassion".

How it unfolded

Panfilov also shared the full story of how he first met the woman after matching with her on Tinder in January 2021.

According to him, the woman first suggested meeting, and he agreed after deciding on a day.

During the date, their nature was "flirtatious", and when the topic shifted to where they were going next, her behaviour showed "an understanding" of why they were going to his place.

At his house, which he rented with two other roommates, the pair watched YouTube videos, and the woman commented on how "funny" he was, Panfilov said.

Things then culminated in consensual sex, after which he booked a taxi for the woman, he said.

He later messaged her to check if she was home, and she said yes.

While their conversations ended on good terms, Panfilov said he did not reply to her text the next day as he no longer "[felt] like talking to her".

A week later, the police contacted him after a report was lodged by the woman against him for rape and sexual assault.

State's responsibility

Giving his assessment of the woman, Panfilov said: “She is a poor person intellectually and perhaps emotionally.”

“What she did was, of course, wrong. But ultimately, it should be the state’s responsibility to protect men in general,” he said, referring to other men who may be wrongfully accused in similar cases.

Panfilov emphasised that the state should be responsible for protecting those who are wrongfully accused in any cases.

He said the woman was defended “extremely well” by the state, while he was “maligned” by both the state and the media.

He also said the gag order protected the woman but not him, despite the fact that he had not been convicted at the time.

Public opinion changed

While public opinion on him was negative when he was first charged, he noted that it has since changed following his acquittal.

Some commented that his life is "ruined" by the false accusation, but Panfilov disagreed.

"It's not ruined," he laughed.

"Just a little bit shaken by the severity of the circumstances," he elaborated, saying his faith in society was restored and he has also become more of a positive person.

He added that the biggest lesson he learned from the experience was never to give up.

The Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link service between Singapore and Johor Bahru (JB), Malaysia, will open for passenger service two months after its original estimated date of commencement.

This has pushed plans for an end-2026 start to February 2027.

This is despite all system tests and trial runs estimated to be completed by Dec. 31, 2026.

But this further two-month wait is perhaps not much in the grand scheme of things.

One last hurdle

After taking over 16 years to come to fruition, the 4km project now faces a last hurdle — the safety certification from an independent safety assessor.

RTS Operations (RTSO), a company formed through a joint venture between Malaysia and Singapore, needs to do so before proceeding, according to a joint statement by Singapore's Land Transport Authority (LTA) and Malaysia's Ministry of Transport (MOT).

In a Facebook post on Oct. 3, Minister for Transport and Second Minister for Finance, Jeffrey Siow, said the authorities are aiming to start services before Hari Raya in 2027: "The plan was for safety certification and licensing to have been completed before the end of this year, but it was not to be."

"On our part, my colleagues at LTA have worked hard to make sure our station is ready for the start of cross-border train services," he added.

RTSO & its grantors both stressed safety

There were two press releases for the delay announcement, both assuring the public that safety was of utmost concern.

The first was from RTSO, of which Malaysian public transport firm Prasarana holds a 52 per cent share, and Singapore rail operator SMRT has the remaining 48 per cent stake.

The company was appointed to operate and sustain the RTS Link for 30 years.

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

The second was a joint release from the RTSO’s grantors, LTA and Malaysia's MOT, the authorities that grant RTSO the right to operate.

According to the joint release, the grantors' responsibility includes reviewing certifications and ensuring testing and commissioning activities are satisfactory to "facilitate the smooth and safe delivery of the project".

The authorities also maintained that infrastructure works were substantially complete and on track for passenger service, with the caveat of the RTSO obtaining independent safety certifications for the RTS link.

Years of development

Besides the convenience, reduced Causeway congestion, and economic benefits the RTS Link brings, public anticipation also stems from the project's drawn-out timeline.

Woodlands Checkpoint is one of the world's busiest land border crossings, with over 300,000 people travelling across it daily.

Key RTS developments were regularly announced at the annual Singapore-Malaysia leaders' retreats, with both countries' leaders using the platform to release updates in 2010, 2015, and 2016.

According to CNA, Singapore and Malaysia embarked on the RTS journey with plans being committed to and discussed since the May 2010 leaders' retreat.

The 2013 LTA master plan was drafted with the intention of integrating the Thomson Line, now the Thomson-East Coast Line, with the RTS Link.

The plan also noted that a joint engineering study's first phase was finished.

In 2015, at the retreat, then-prime minister Lee Hsien Loong declared that Woodlands North would be the Singapore side RTS Link terminus.

Malaysia announced its Johor Bahru Bukit Chagar terminus at the next year's retreat.

Delays

Bilateral agreements for the RTS Link were signed in January 2018, with both countries reaffirming their commitment to an end-2024 target for passenger service.

However, plans were disrupted after Malaysia's Pakatan Harapan (PH) alliance won the Malaysia general election on May 9, 2018.

This historic move ended the Barisan Nasional (BN) reign, which at the time was one of the world's longest ruling coalitions, according to Reuters.

BN and its predecessor, the Alliance Party, had ruled Malaysia since the Federation of Malaya's freedom from British rule in 1957.

At the time, the PH was pushing for a spending curb.

The coalition was alarmed by national debt and said it wanted to review the cost of building the RTS link, reported Malay Mail.

According to New Straits Times, Malaysia's debt stood at RM1.09 trillion (around S$363.3 billion at the time) at the end of 2018, and there were also concerns over debt and liabilities from the fallout of the 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) scandal.

A year later in 2019, Singapore's former Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan said the RTS Link had missed milestones and was "behind schedule".

CNA reported that the project was suspended from April 2019 to July 2020.

After resuming, the targeted start date was pushed to the end of 2026.

Moving forward

The project was relatively smooth from 2021 to 2025, with construction milestones met.

In June 2025, the trains were unveiled to much fanfare.

Chinese company CRRC Zhuzhou built the trains, with the German conglomerate Siemens supplying signalling and platform screen doors.

By 2026, final preparations were in place, and the first RTS train arrived at Woodlands North in February.

Legislation was passed in May to allow for the co-location of both countries’ CIQ facilities at each station.

Scheduled departure

Now affected by the delay, the RTSO is expected to complete its final system tests and trial runs by Dec. 31, 2026, instead of starting by the originally planned date.

When up and running, the RTS Link's first and last trains would depart from both termini at 6am and 12am daily.

The shortest wait between trains will be 3.6 minutes, and the journey will take around five minutes.

Around 10,000 people will be ferried in each direction for each hour the train operates, reported The Straits Times.

A civil suit against a 39-year-old woman by a late businessman's daughter for taking more than S$1.7 million from him has been dismissed after a High Court judge found that the monies were gifted voluntarily.

Chew Yam Song Peter, who ran the seafood wholesale business Evergreen Seafood, passed away in September 2024 at the age of 73.

His daughter, Chew Boon Fong Angela, who is the executor of his estate, later sued the woman, Sun Beibei, for breach of fiduciary duty and sought to recover S$1,711,000.

According to court transcripts seen by Mothership, Justice Philip Jeyaretnam accepted the defence's argument that the man had wanted to provide for Sun following the deterioration of his cancer.

He noted that Sun came to be the man's primary caregiver as she had been in a romantic relationship with him for a considerable length of time, a fact the defence said was an "open secret" and known by his family.

The point of contestation in the case was S$1.625 million given in the form of signed cheques and a cashier's order, as well as S$86,000 in cash withdrawals made using his bank cards at the elder Chew's instructions.

While the plaintiff side has argued that there was little or no independent corroboration of Sun's testimony of such instructions, the judge noted that six other witnesses had corroborated Sun's case.

Sun was ultimately awarded S$182,500 in legal costs plus nine per cent GST after the case against her was dismissed.

She was also given disbursements agreed at S$10,931.91.

Background

Chew was diagnosed with stage-four colon cancer in December 2022 and was later told he had less than six months to live after the cancer spread to his pancreas and lungs.

Chew's daughter alleged that while Chew was seriously ill between June and September 2024, Sun withdrew and transferred more than S$1.7 million from his bank accounts without his authorisation.

The family argued that Chew was too weak to have made the withdrawals himself and pointed to a will in which he left his savings to his wife and daughter.

The family also alleged that Sun deleted her text message history with Chew after his funeral and admitted to making the withdrawals but did not clearly explain where the money went.

The plaintiff, Chew Boon Fong, Angela, was represented by lawyer Nicholas Narayanan at the closing submissions on Sep. 30.

Narayanan argued that Sun's case ultimately rests on "a series of alleged oral instructions" said to have been given by Chew, with little or no independent corroboration.

Defence's closing submissions

Sun denied the allegations, maintaining that the money was voluntarily given to her by Chew so she would be financially secure after his death.

She also said Chew instructed her to fill in the cheques and, on one occasion, asked her to guide his hand as he signed one.

Two months after Chew's death, Sun used some of the money to purchase an apartment, which she has since rented out.

Sun was represented by Lim Kim Hong, Nadiah Li Feng Binte Mahmood and Maximilian Tay from law firm KIM & CO.

In her closing submissions, Lim argued that there was no evidence to show that Sun had "unduly influenced" the late Chew.

Pointing to testimonies from six other witnesses that demonstrated Chew's desire to provide financial security for Sun, Lim said that this is not a case that the defendant withdrew monies from Chew's account without his knowledge and concealed them.

"This is a woman; she's actually a very simple woman who lived with Peter Chew as his long-term romantic partner, who sacrificed 10 years of the prime of her life without any expectation of reward, in cash or in kind. She cared for him throughout the 10 years and also throughout his terminal illness until his passing," Lim said.

The elder Chew had feared that upon his death Sun would lose her job and would be terminated, and that fear materialised, Lim said.

The company Evergreen Seafood was left to the plaintiff, younger Chew, who terminated Sun from her role as director in the company following the elder Chew's death.

Lim further explained that the property Sun bought was not a "windfall" but rather a home that the elder Chew intended her to have.

She is now renting out the property to sustain herself, Lim said, adding that it is now "all that stands between her and financial ruin".

Narayanan responded to Lim's submission, saying Sun is not a "damsel in distress character" Lim sought to portray.

He pointed to various assets disclosed by Sun, including a property in China, several bank accounts, as well as cash in her hand.

To this, Lim said that Sun had about S$336,741 combined, excluding the property, which is now "all gone".

She had earlier explained that the balance monies that Chew had given Sun had gone into paying for legal costs.

Judgment

In his judgment, Jeyaretnam said the key issue was whether Chew had gifted Sun the money transferred by cheques and a cashier’s order, and withdrawn from ATMs on his alleged instructions.

He said that there is "no doubt" about Chew's mental capacity, noting that he made a will on Aug. 15, 2024 in which he gave his shares in his company, Evergreen Seafood, to his daughter, Angela Chew.

Jeyaretnam said Chew also confirmed his earlier gift of a residential property to his wife in the same will.

The judge also found no evidence that Sun exercised any undue influence over Chew.

"Mr Chew was not isolated from his family or friends. Even when physically frail, he appears to have remained emotionally resilient and self-willed," Jeyaretnam said.

He also accepted that evidence shows that Sun was a devoted caregiver who "shouldered the burden of caregiving, at times virtually single-handedly".

"These facts already provide a reason for why Mr Chew could reasonably have wanted to provide for her after his death," he said.

Sun's own evidence of what Chew said to her and his friends was corroborated by the testimony of six other witnesses, the judge added.

One witness surnamed Lew, a friend of Chew, testified that in or around June 2024, Chew told him that Sun was alone in Singapore and did not have a place to call her own.

Chew had expressed the fear that if her employment were terminated by Evergreen Seafood, she would no longer have any income and would not have anywhere to live, the judge noted.

Lew also testified in court that Chew had said he was thinking of buying a property in Singapore, as well as gifting Sun some monies to support her financially.

This was also corroborated by Yeo Inn Siang, the property agent who testified that Chew told her he would support the purchase of a property and that his budget was S$1.4 million.

She also testified that she told him any loan amount that Sun could obtain would be quite little, and also showed WhatsApp messages between her and Chew that were consistent with her evidence.

Jeyaretnam also noted that Chew made "separate and sufficient provision" for his wife and daughter.

"This also supports the reasonableness, and therefore the likelihood, that Mr Chew would make gifts to Ms Sun, given her care for him," he said.