Civil servants in Singapore will receive a mid-year Annual Variable Component (AVC) of 0.45 months, the government announced on Jun. 23, following close consultation with public sector unions.

Junior grade officers will also receive an additional one-time payment on top of the AVC.

Civil servants in grades equivalent to MX13(I) and MX14 will receive S$250, while those in grades equivalent to MX15 and MX16, as well as those under the Operations Support Scheme (OSS), will receive S$400.

Why 0.45 months?

The Public Service Division said the mid-year payment takes into account Singapore's economic performance in the first quarter of 2026, while noting that downside risks to Singapore's economic outlook remain significant, citing the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict.

Singapore's GDP growth forecast for 2026 remains at 2 per cent to 4 per cent, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry.

On the labour market front, the Ministry of Manpower's advance estimates also showed the labour market held up in the first quarter of 2026, though hiring has slowed compared to the final quarter of 2025.

What happens at year-end?

The government and public sector unions said they will jointly monitor economic developments for the rest of the year and calibrate year-end AVC payments accordingly, taking into consideration the National Wages Council guidelines, which will be released later in the year.

A 43-year-old Singaporean man was convicted for littering for the 13th time.

Tang Bo Xiang has been convicted since 2000.

He was fined S$2,500 and ordered to perform 12 hours of corrective work on May 15, 2026.

This was part of the National Environment Agency (NEA) enforcement efforts and stakeholder partnerships to uphold public cleanliness and hygiene, the agency said on Jun. 23.

3,000 fines

From January to March 2026, NEA issued about 3,000 fines for ground littering offences islandwide.

NEA also conducted 66 enforcement blitzes at cleanliness hotspots identified through localised litter counts, public feedback, and sustained ground observations.

At these hotspots, visible patrols, standees, surveillance cameras, and ground engagements were carried out and deployed to deter littering.

A total of 150 Corrective Work Orders (CWOs) were also issued in the first quarter of 2026.

Offenders will be required to perform corrective work at these hotspots.

Any individual who litters is liable to a fine of up to S$2,000 for a first conviction, S$4,000 for a second conviction, and S$10,000 for the third and subsequent convictions.

A corrective work order requiring offenders to clean public areas for up to 12 hours may be imposed.

Decline in rat burrows

NEA's two-monthly surveillance cycle recorded a decrease in the average number of rat burrows per cycle from about 4,900 in 2025 to about 2,900 in early 2026, based on the January-February and March-April cycles.

The majority of burrows were detected in public housing estates, followed by grass verges along roadsides and in industrial estates.

NEA and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) also conducted about 260 joint enforcement actions against premises owners for rat-related lapses from January to March 2026.

About 150 were for poor refuse management.

Partnerships and ground efforts

Areas with high trade activity and poor refuse management were targeted under the Cleaner Neighbourhood initiative.

At Chai Chee Avenue/Road, refuse management lapses fell by more than half from 23 in November 2025 to 10 at the end of February 2026.

This was done through engagements with trade premises on proper refuse management, close collaboration with town councils to reduce visible waste, and the deployment of surveillance cameras.

Similar progress was also observed during the same period at Serangoon Avenue 2 and 3, where refuse management lapses dropped 52 per cent.

Advisories were issued to trade premises to install additional bins and remove bulky items stored outside their shops, which can serve as potential harbourage for rats.

These efforts have led to 12 enforcement actions taken, including two enforcement actions under the Control of Vectors and Pesticides Act 1998 issued to a premises owner, amounting to a S$6,000 fine.

Good rat management practices by premises owners were also observed.

AMK Hub has reportedly not experienced sustained rat activity since the end of 2023, which was attributed to deliberate focus on prevention, early detection, and quick response, rather than relying solely on reactive pest control.

This includes training staff to spot early signs of rat activity, isolating F&B units to limit rat movement, and having clear protocols in place for fast containment.

The approach was tested.

When a rat was brought in with raw materials, it was detected promptly and trapped shortly, with no further activity observed.

These measures adhered to NEA's rat management guidelines, emphasising prevention and the use of technology alongside conventional control methods.

Premises managers and owners who fail to practise proper refuse management or create conditions favourable to the harbouring or propagating of rats may face a fine of up to S$20,000, a jail term of up to three years, or both, for first-time offenders.

For a first offence under the Environmental Public Health (Public Cleansing) Regulations, premises owners can be fined up to S$1,000.

After he was released from prison for cheating, a Singaporean man was still on a remission order when he flew to Cambodia and helped an organised criminal group cheat others in Singapore.

For about a month from October 2024, Muhammad Firdaus Bin Abdul Rahman, now 37, impersonated government officials in scam calls to people in Singapore.

Then, after he returned to Singapore, he took another job from someone still linked to the group, helping to collect a total of S$656,788 in cash from scam victims in April and May 2025.

On Jun. 22, he was convicted of being a member of an organised criminal group, and assisting someone in gaining benefits from criminal conduct, both breaching the conditions of his remission order.

Accepting a scam job

Prior to this offence, Firdaus was sentenced in November 2022 to two years and seven months in prison for cheating, according to court documents.

After his release, he was placed on a remission order from Sep. 24, 2024, to Aug. 3, 2025.

Sometime before October 2024, when Firdaus was no longer subjected to electronic monitoring, he learnt about a scam job in Cambodia.

A friend of his, identified as Jackson Lim Soon Lai, reached out with the job offer, telling Firdaus that the basic pay was S$1,000 on top of a 3 per cent commission.

Firdaus accepted the job knowing that Lim was in the business of engaging in illegal activity, the court documents Mothership saw stated.

Impersonating government officials

After flying to Cambodia on Oct. 3, 2024, Firdaus worked in an office heavily guarded with about 15 guards and some guard dogs, located near one of the country's borders.

The office had about 60 people carrying out various kinds of scams, Firdaus said later.

The women engaged in internet love scams, while he and another man impersonated government officials.

They were instructed to make calls to Singapore phone numbers and claim that they were from the Singapore Cyber Emergency Response Team (SingCERT), a government-run organisation that responds to cybersecurity incidents.

Firdaus was to call about cybersecurity-related issues, and if the receiver believed him, he would transfer the call to another line for a colleague to talk to them.

If the syndicate manages to successfully scam the receiver into transferring money to them, and if Firdaus was the one who made the initial call, he would get a cut of the money.

After making such scam calls for about a month, Firdaus was hospitalised, with his medical fees paid for by the scam syndicate.

After he was discharged, he flew back to Singapore alone.

Collecting money and information

Back in Singapore, Firdaus continued to assist Lim with tasks knowing that they were linked to scams.

As requested by Lim, he would send information about the Singapore police and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), ranging from pictures to information about their activity publicly available on the internet.

Around Apr. 19, 2025, Lim asked him for help to collect packages of money and hand them off to a stranger, promising payment for his assistance.

Knowing that the money were benefits from criminal conduct, Firdaus took the job, and collected about S$656,788 from 14 different victims of government official impersonation scams.

The places he went to collect the money included residential flats, shopping malls, and a playground.

He was paid at least S$1,000 for this job.

Without providing details on how he was caught, court documents stated that Firdaus was arrested on May 5, 2025, and has been in remand since.

Sentencing

The prosecutor sought a prison sentence from five years and seven months, to six years and three months, with an enhancement of up to about eight months for the breaching of his remission order.

Including the assistance he provided after returning to Singapore, Firdaus' involvement with criminal group went on for seven months, only stopping due to his arrest by the police, the prosecutor pointed out.

In court, Firdaus' lawyer called for a shorter sentence, The Straits Times reported.

Firdaus had a heart-related health issue, and was in a coma for three days while he was in remand, the lawyer said.

He will be sentenced in August.

A five-year-old boy in Hong Kong died after his 38-year-old mother physically abused and starved him to death in September 2022.

At the time of his death, he was a mere 9.7kg, which is half the normal weight for his age, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

The mother, only identified as “LST” at the High Court, pleaded guilty on Jun. 22 to one count each of manslaughter and child cruelty.

129 injuries

The judge described the case as “extremely serious”, adding that the level of abuse involved was “at the top end” of the scale for such a crime.

An autopsy report showed the boy had starved to death and had also suffered 129 injuries to different parts of his body, SCMP reported.

The mother also had an elder daughter and a younger son, with all three children sent to a care centre at some point in their lives, as she was deemed unable to care for them.

The boy, who was born in April 2017, had reportedly been in foster care under the Social Welfare Department’s supervision since he was two months old.

He is said to have suffered from symptoms of substance withdrawal as a newborn, likely as a result of being exposed to narcotics during pregnancy.

The judge ordered the prosecution to look into why he eventually returned to his mother’s care sometime between 2020 and 2021.

He was also absent from nursery for more than two-thirds of school time during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years.

Confined to room

The boy’s sister, who was eight years old at the time of his death, told police that their mother did not allow him to get off his bed and struck him if he did so.

He was forced to eat and urinate in his room, and was only allowed to leave the room a few times a week.

The mother did not allow him to attend classes remotely as well, as she did not want others to see him.

Death

On Sep. 3, 2022, the mother reportedly called her friend and claimed to have beaten the boy to death.

Local media HK01 reported that the mother also called the police at about 1am, and police officers found her standing precariously on the ledge of her apartment.

She was rescued through a window, and officers found the boy unconscious with bruises on his face and his eyes and mouth slightly open.

Investigations later revealed that the mother had already found the boy dead during the afternoon of the day before.

She reportedly said she had woken up from a nap to discover his “stone cold” body by her side.

She admitted to the police that she had noticed he was malnourished, but did not take it too seriously.

She also said she would hit his palm and buttocks with a cane or a clothes hanger when he was disobedient.

Weighed only 9.7kg

Court records showed that while the boy had weighed 14.6kg in early 2020, he was only 9.7kg at the time of his death, SCMP reported.

The cause of death was later confirmed to be “severe protein-energy malnutrition”.

The mother will return to court for sentencing on Jul. 24.

A 34-year-old man, who went missing for two days, was found in a weak state in a public toilet in Melaka, Malaysia, after reportedly conducting a livestream on paranormal activities.

He was found at a public toilet near Skytrex Adventure Melaka on Jun. 21 at about 3:03pm, Bernama and Guang Ming Daily reported.

Livestream

According to local police, the man had been carrying out a TikTok livestream centred on paranormal activities.

The man was apparently conducting the livestream at the Ayer Keroh Country Club Resort area at about 8:30pm on Jun. 19 when it was abruptly cut off at about 9pm.

The man's friend, who viewed the livestream, reportedly grew worried about his safety and went to the area to search for him.

His friend also attempted to contact the man by phone and WhatsApp but received no response.

His friend did not manage to find him.

He eventually filed a missing person’s report at 3:29am on Jun. 21.

Search

With assistance from the local fire and rescue department, the police conducted a search operation.

The man was eventually discovered by a member of the public.

He was found apparently in a weakened and exhausted state.

He received initial medical attention on site before being conveyed to the hospital for further treatment.

A 70-year-old woman, who had lived in a cluttered three-room flat in Bedok for years, was in for a surprise when volunteers helping to clear her home found thousands of dollars in coins and several gold chains buried amid the clutter.

The woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, has been living in the flat with her younger sister for more than a decade.

According to Chinese-language daily Shin Min Daily News, the pair had depended on each other after their parents died, but the home gradually became filled with clutter following their mother's death more than 10 years ago.

Plastic bags containing electrical appliances, cardboard boxes, clothes and other items piled up over time, eventually leaving only a narrow path through the flat.

"Even our bedroom was packed with bags, both on the inside and outside, making it difficult to enter," the woman said, adding that the sisters had even lost track of what was inside some of the bags.

Cleanup efforts

On Jun. 6, volunteers from AMKSS Social Move, a ground-up community initiative founded by Michael Sim, alongside a group of Ang Mo Kio Secondary School alumni, stepped in to help, Shin Min reported.

The group, comprising between 20 and 30 volunteers, and more than 10 others from the town council, spent about eight hours sorting through and clearing out the flat, going through the bags and sorting out items that could be discarded.

It was during this process that volunteers found a stash of coins, believed to weigh upwards of 10kg in total, along with gold chains that had belonged to the woman's late mother.

"If it weren't for this big clean-up, I would never have known that these items existed," the woman said. "It was a pleasant surprise, and I am very grateful to Sim and the team for their help."

"I've been living in such an environment for years"

According to Shin Min, the woman said her younger sister, who suffers from depression and poor health, had increasingly hoarded items in recent years.

She said the room sometimes smelled of urine and that there were bedbugs in the house.

"I've asked her to clean it, but she won't listen. I've been living in such an environment for years, and I feel very helpless," she said.

The woman further added that she had resorted to sleeping in the toilet for several months to avoid being bitten by bedbugs.

Sim said the clean-up was prompted after the younger sister was hospitalised earlier this month.

A hospital social worker who learned of the sisters' living conditions then contacted his group for help.

"The situation at their home was very serious, and I was worried about potential safety hazards, so I made arrangements immediately," he said.

It took about five visits to the flat, including for pest control, before the home was cleaned up to its current state.

Sim added that further repairs are still needed, such as repainting the walls and replacing doors and cabinets, with volunteers having covered about S$2,000 in costs out of pocket so far.

In a Facebook post, AMKSS Social Move said the clean-up, which was supported by East Coast Town Council, the Housing and Development Board (HDB), as well as the New Environment Action Team (NEAT), had transformed the woman's home into "a safer, cleaner and more comfortable living environment".

A woman from Jiangsu, China, is seeking a refund after her boyfriend spent CN¥94,500 (S$18,064) on a Louis Vuitton ostrich skin bag at a Hangzhou boutique, only for her to discover what she believes was an uneven colour on the bag.

According to HK01, she later suspected the bag was not brand new at all, but a display piece that had been passed around LV stores in different cities, handled and tried on by numerous customers before she bought it.

HK01 reported that the couple were on holiday in Hangzhou on Jun. 8 when they walked into an LV store.

How the sale unfolded

The woman, surnamed Zhang, told Zhejiang satellite TV programme 1818 Golden Eye that a sales associate zeroed in on her and trailed her around the store the moment she walked in.

According to HK01, when Zhang showed interest in handbags, the associate pushed a particular ostrich skin bag, telling her it was the latest style and that there were only two in the entire country.

Zhang said she had just bought a bag two months earlier in Chengdu and didn't really need another one, but the associate kept pressing: "Who doesn't want beautiful things?"

Zhang recalled:

"Once the sales associate heard my boyfriend was going to pay, she immediately found three male staff to surround us. My boyfriend is soft-spoken... He felt that money could solve the problem and didn't want to drag things out. Plus, he wanted to give me a birthday present, so he just paid."

It was only after the purchase that Zhang learnt that staff had engraved her boyfriend's initials onto the dust bag label. The store cited this engraving as the reason they could not process a refund, per HK01.

Colour inconsistency discovered back at the hotel

Back at the hotel, Zhang was filming a video to share with friends when she noticed an area on the side of the bag where the colour appeared noticeably uneven compared to the rest.

She immediately photographed it and messaged the store that evening. Staff initially said the bag could be exchanged, explaining the variation was the natural texture of ostrich skin and not a defect.

Another bag of the same style was brought in from another store as a replacement.

However, Zhang no longer wanted an exchange. According to HK01, she had searched for the bag on social media platform Xiaohongshu and discovered posts from as far back as December last year showing the same bag appearing at LV counters across different cities, with various customers photographed trying it on.

She said:

"It's clearly a display item that many people have touched and tried. I spent nearly CN¥100,000 (S$19,000) because I wanted a brand new, one-of-a-kind bag, not a display item."

Zhang said the store had failed to properly inform her of the bag's status and may have misled her as a consumer.

When Zhang returned to the store, the duty manager said they had no authority to answer questions and asked for written queries to be passed to the relevant department. Zhang went in to negotiate again but left without a resolution.

Her position:

"I just want a refund. I don't want to exchange for something of equal value, and I don't want to continue spending in your store."

According to HK01, the store's final offer was for Zhang to exchange the bag for another LV product of equal or greater value than CN¥94,500 (S$18,064).

LV has not publicly responded to media queries. The bag has since been sent to LV's company for assessment to determine whether the colour variation constitutes a defect.

A Singaporean man living in Punggol was surprised to find his upstairs neighbours knocking on his door to hand him a S$10 FairPrice voucher as an apology for renovation noise on Jun. 13.

In a Facebook post, Patrick Sato Lee said: "The new neighbours upstairs dropped off a voucher to say sorry for all the noise they made during their renovations."

Lee, who is in his 50s, thanked his neighbours "for the voucher and for being so considerate about the renovation noise".

In response to queries from Mothership, Lee said, "I'm surprised at their kind gesture, paiseh to let them stand outside and talk lah."

Apologised for renovation noise

The note, which was written on an envelope, said: "Sorry for the noise caused during our reno. Here is a voucher for you."

"Thank you for your understanding, and see you around!"

The note was signed by "Sean and Kelly".

According to Lee, his smart doorbell alerted him to the couple, whom he invited in.

"Young lovely couple getting married soon. The renovation noise only for a few days, thereafter it was ok."

Netizens commented on Lee's post, praising the couple for their considerate nature, saying that such neighbours were hard to come by.

Others said that the couple's actions were a class act.

E-commerce platform Lazada has laid off about 5 per cent of its workforce across Southeast Asia, following a review of certain roles across its regional markets.

The move was announced on Jun. 23, according to The Business Times (BT).

Unrelated to AI initiatives: BT

While Lazada did not specify which roles were affected, it stated that the review took into account business needs, role requirements and organisational efficiency.

BT reported that the layoffs are not linked to any artificial intelligence-related initiatives.

According to The Straits Times, affected employees were informed on Jun. 23, with the company's human resources team reaching out to them directly.

Lazada told BT that affected employees would be supported in accordance with requirements applicable in each market.

In Singapore, the company said it is working with the Food, Drinks and Allied Workers Union (FDAWU) to manage the process responsibly and ensure affected employees receive the necessary support.

In other markets, it is engaging the relevant government entities and agencies.

Previous layoff in 2024

This is not the first time Lazada has carried out job cuts.

In January 2024, the company laid off an undisclosed number of employees in its Singapore office without first consulting the FDAWU, under which it is unionised.

The union had voiced disappointment over the lack of consultation, and the issue was subsequently raised with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

Following the union's intervention, Lazada agreed to enhanced retrenchment benefits for the affected staff.

It also set up a dedicated training fund, allowing FDAWU to provide employment and employability support to affected members in collaboration with NTUC's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i).

Lazada was founded in 2012 and became a subsidiary of Chinese tech giant Alibaba Group Holding in 2016.

The company operates in six core Southeast Asian markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

After being denied a free bible at Singapore Life Church, a man felt wronged and assaulted five congregants on his way out of the church.

CNA reported that Wee Soon Ming, a 33-year-old Malaysian and Singapore permanent resident (PR), slapped two of the victims hard enough to cause injuries.

Both these victims were women, and there was no prior dispute or confrontation between them and Wee, according to the state prosecuting officer.

He had assaulted them out of anger, as he was not permitted to take a bible, the officer said, adding that there is no evidence that his actions were religiously motivated.

Wee pleaded guilty to two charges of voluntarily causing hurt to the two victims, while another four charges involving the other victims were taken into consideration.

On Jun. 22, he was sentenced to five weeks in prison, with effect from May 3, the day of the incident when he was arrested.

Previously allowed to take Bibles

According to court documents, Wee had previously visited Singapore Life Church occasionally, usually on weekdays.

He took free Bibles from the church several times.

Once, the church pastor stopped him from taking many bibles but allowed him to take one or two, and Wee complied.

On the morning of May 3, he went to the church wanting a free bible, but was not permitted one, and felt aggrieved as a result.

The first victim

The court documents went into detail about two of the five assaults.

The first involved two women Wee was unacquainted with – a 65-year-old Indonesian and her daughter-in-law.

They had just entered the foyer of the church to attend the service when Wee was walking out hastily.

As he passed them, he suddenly slapped the older woman hard on her face with his hand, then slapped the daughter-in-law on the left side of her head.

Then, he went out the main entrance.

The older woman bled from her nose due to the assault and was later brought by paramedics to a hospital's emergency department to be treated for head trauma.

The medical examination at the hospital found that she had bruises and swelling around her eye and on her cheek, tenderness around her right cheekbone and nasal bridge, and a chipped tooth.

She was discharged in a stable condition that same day with seven days of hospitalisation leave. She did not wish to seek compensation for her medical treatment, according to court documents.

The second victim

After the first assault, as he left the main entrance, Wee came across a 55-year-old woman entering the church, and slapped her too.

He abruptly used his hand to slap the back of the woman's head and right shoulder, then fled the scene.

The victim suffered soreness at the back of her head, but when she saw a doctor the next day, she was informed that there was no cause for concern. She also did not wish to seek compensation from Wee.

Among other victims that day was a 25-year-old man, whom Wee forcefully pushed on his chest, such that he hit against a metal gate.

Psychiatric evaluation

Wee was arrested after a member of the public called the police about him attacking and injuring a woman at the church.

The police arrested him at his residence that afternoon after establishing his identity.

He was later remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for a forensic psychiatric evaluation, and was assessed to have a mild intellectual disability at and around the time of the offence.

However, the state prosecuting officer asserted that there was no contributory link between his mild intellectual disability and his offending.

He was aware of the legal and moral wrongfulness of his actions, and he was not of unsound mind at the time, the officer said.