A teenage boy, 15, on trial for the murder of a 16-year-old girl at his school in Malaysia has expressed remorse in court, after the High Court ruled there was a prima facie case against him.

He was 14 when he allegedly committed the murder.

The High Court made the ruling, according to China Press, moving the case into the defence stage.

The six-day prosecution stage of the trial began on Aug. 3 and concluded on Aug. 11.

Testified standing beside the dock

The boy's lawyer, Kitson Foong, said that because his client is a minor, he did not sit in the dock, but stood beside it and gave his testimony unsworn.

According to Malaysia media, the lawyer said: "He also said he was sorry for what happened and for the consequences, including the death. After that, we went straight into the opening statement."

The boy is set to testify.

He was deemed fit to stand trial following a three-month psychiatric assessment.

Defence to argue mental state

The defence will also call on a doctor at a psychiatric hospital in Perak, as well as a forensic psychiatry consultant, to support a defence for insanity.

The magistrate's court had earlier referred the boy to the psychiatric hospital, the defence lawyer said.

He added that the doctor had submitted a written report, which the court has accepted as evidence, and that the proceedings focused on explaining its contents and the psychiatric concepts involved.

The murder charge carries the death penalty, or jail of not less than 30 years and not more than 40 years, and 12 strokes of the rotan upon conviction.

However, the death sentence cannot be imposed on an individual who was a child at the time of the offence, New Straits Times reported.

Background

A 14-year-old male student allegedly stabbed and killed a 16-year-old female schoolmate, Yap Shing Xuen, in a secondary school toilet in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, on Oct. 14, 2025.

The suspect, who faced a murder charge, was later ruled fit to stand trial following psychiatric evaluations and pleaded not guilty in February 2026.

The government is looking to retain more greenery at Gillman Barracks and Sunset Way (Maju Forest) sites following further public feedback and consultation with nature groups, Minister of State for National Development Alvin Tan told the media on Aug. 14.

Adjustments to be made to the current plans for both sites

He explained that at Gillman Barracks, the current plan will set aside green spaces that's equivalent to 40 per cent of the site. These include native-dominated secondary forests, the entire forest stream and ecological connections to other nature sites.

As for Maju Forest, the current plan is to retain 35 per cent of the forested areas, including important features like the native-dominated secondary forest, a natural freshwater stream and the former Jurong Railway Line.

"But the current plan was never final," Tan said before sharing about the feedback the ministry received thus far.

For both sites, nature groups have emphasised the importance of maintaining a wide central green corridor, as it will allow a more contiguous vegetated area for animals to forage, Tan said.

"The residents and the general public too have asked us to retain more green," he added.

He committed that the government will take these suggestions into consideration as they make adjustments to the current plans.

"We will work out exactly how much more [greenery], but we will have to accept that this means we can build fewer homes on both sites for fellow Singaporeans."

He assured that the government welcomes and has still been receiving feedback, and aims to finalise the plan over the following month or so.

Suggestions from the Nature Society's president

Speaking to media at the same doorstop, President of the Nature Society Singapore Leong Kwok Peng said that his personal preference was to not touch Maju Forest.

If there's a need to develop, Leong urged the ministry to "do a bit more in terms of planning" to ensure sufficient vegetated connectivity and not split the forest into "two separate entities".

"With a bigger forest, then you have a more substantial habitat, " Leong added.

The Nature Society has provided their feedback through closed-door meetings, including a one-on-one meeting with MND.

Leong suggested that a possible balance to the land allocation can be two-thirds of forested area and one-third of developed area.

Background

Since the Housing and Development Board (HDB) announced housing plans at Gillman Barracks and Maju Forest on Jul. 10, debate has grown over whether the projects would come at the expense of natural spaces and wildlife habitats.

Previously on Aug. 6, Tan said in Parliament that the government will proceed with the redevelopment of the two sites, but detailed plans have not been finalised.

Several Members of Parliament have also spoken up on this issue.

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A 14-year-old boy in Singapore, who committed sexual offences against five underage girls over three years, pleaded guilty to 13 charges involving sexual assault of a minor, drugs, theft, and underage driving.

The boy, now 18, originally faced a total of 37 charges, Shin Min Daily News reported.

He entered his guilty plea on Aug. 11.

The remaining charges will be taken into consideration during sentencing.

There is a gag order placed on the identities of the victims, as well as the boy, as he was under the age of 18 at the time of the offences.

Five victims

According to Shin Min, the boy committed offences against five underage girls over the course of three years.

One of them reportedly even moved in to live with him while he was out on bail for another case.

In the first case, the boy reportedly took advantage of the 14-year-old victim's intoxicated state at a party held in his house, took her into a sauna, and sexually assaulted her.

The second victim, 13, met the boy, then 15, through an online game, and they started a relationship in August 2023.

They reportedly had sexual relations three times.

In March 2024, the boy met the third victim, 15, through a friend and had sexual relations with her in her room a week later.

In the fourth case, the then 16-year-old boy verbally assaulted the victim for three days in July 2024, Shin Min reported.

He was later arrested on Jul. 8, 2024, and the police found 79 pornographic videos and 30 obscene photos on his mobile phone.

He was released on bail the following day.

The boy met the fifth victim, 14, in December 2024 while out on bail and began dating her in March 2025

During this period, he reportedly filmed videos of their sexual encounters secretly.

Blackmailed victim

The boy was charged in court in April 2025, with bail conditions including wearing an electronic monitoring device and a curfew.

During this time, the fifth victim moved into his home and lived with him.

The two broke up in November 2025, and he later threatened to distribute intimate videos of her to get her to pay back money.

He was arrested again on Dec. 29, 2025, and police found four more pornographic videos on his computer.

The judge ordered the prosecution to submit a reformative training report, and the case was adjourned to Sep. 1 for sentencing.

A 20-year-old Singaporean man was convicted of extorting a 22-year-old man by threatening to report him to the police for seeking sexual intercourse with a minor.

Koh Anthony Jae Duran pleaded guilty to one count of extortion and another count of cheating on Aug. 6.

He had pretended to be the minor.

Revalation

In court documents seen by Mothership, in October 2025, Koh was chatting with a female friend, identified as Ryane.

He learned that a 22-year-old man was flirting with her via Instagram.

Due to the man's incessant messaging, Koh and the female friend decided to do more.

They found out that the man was 21 years old at the time and that he had lied to Ryane that he was 17 years old, and that he had a supposed history of dating girls younger than him.

Catfish

Intending to ridicule the man, the pair devised a plan to "catfish" him.

They drew inspiration from Instagram reels they had watched.

Koh would pose as a 14-year-old girl who wanted to date and have sex with older men, while Ryane would pose as a matchmaker who would introduce the fake child to the man through an Instagram group chat.

The man and the fake minor would then engage in flirtatious exchanges.

The fake minor and the man then agreed to meet at Stevens MRT station on the evening of Oct. 21, 2025, for a dinner date, and for the prospect of having sex thereafter.

Koh and Ryane initially intended to use this opportunity to expose the man's true identity and to ridicule him as a “paedophile” who targets younger girls.

However, Ryane was unaware that Koh intended to use this as an opportunity to extort the man.

Koh also used ChatGPT to find out about precedents of others extorting paedophiles for their wrongdoings.

Extortion

On Oct. 21, at about 9:50pm, Koh recognised the man's face from photos on Instagram and approached him.

Koh posed as the “girl’s brother” and threatened the man to take a condom out of his backpack.

Koh knew the man had a condom as he previously sent the minor a message saying he would bring one along for sex.

Koh recorded the incident and took a picture of his identity card.

He then threatened the man, saying that if he did not comply, he would notify MRT station staff and alert the police.

Both men then moved to a location in the vicinity of the Toa Payoh area by bus to continue talking.

They agreed to move to that location as the man wanted to settle their dispute somewhere more private, as Koh was being very aggressive and attracting the attention of passers-by.

Koh chose that location as it was near Toa Payoh Neighbourhood Police Centre.

Throughout their interactions, Koh threatened to take the man to the police.

The man, fearing damage to his reputation, broke down in tears and pleaded for mercy.

Koh then extorted S$20,000 as hush money from the man, proposing that it would be paid through instalments over five years at S$300 per month.

The man agreed out of fear and paid Koh S$100.

No further payments were made.

Mother

On the morning of Oct. 22, 2025, Koh was checking his WhatsApp chats when he realised the man had blocked him.

Koh was concerned the man would not pay the instalments.

He decided to extort the man’s parents, whom he perceived to have more money to pay.

To locate them, he used the photos he took of the man's identification card and found his parents at their registered residential address.

At about 8:22pm, the man's mother was at home and attended to Koh, who rang the doorbell.

Koh introduced himself as the “girl’s brother”.

He claimed that his father was angry and was ready to beat up the woman's son unless she paid S$20,000 to him.

Koh also showed the woman the video he took showing her son taking out the condom from his backpack.

He then told the man's mother she had two options to prevent further escalation.

Koh could either report the incident of the man targeting a 14-year-old girl for sex to the police or she could pay, on her son's behalf, the S$300 per month for five years as punishment.

The second option amounted to a total sum of S$18,000, and a lump sum of S$2,000, which was demanded by December 2025.

The victim's mother told Koh that she would go with the second option and passed her mobile phone number to him.

She mentioned that she would work towards paying the S$2,000 that Koh’s father demanded as she did not have the means to pay him any money at the time of the offence.

When the victim returned home later that night, his parents questioned him and he confirmed what he did.

However, they came to the conclusion that Koh was a scammer and went to the police on Oct. 23.

Guilty

Upon reflection, Koh apparently felt guilty.

On Oct. 24, 2025, he then returned the S$100 received from the victim to his mother and sent a text of apology to her.

Unbeknownst to Koh, the victim had already lodged a police report.

On Oct. 25, 2025, 6am, Koh was arrested.

He was charged on Oct. 27, 2025.

Cooperated

The prosecution urged the court to call for a reformative training suitability report.

According to Shin Min Daily News, Koh’s lawyers reportedly said he did not evade responsibility for his actions and had fully cooperated with investigations and pleaded guilty early.

His lawyers also noted that Koh is currently a student at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) and has the support of his family.

They emphasised that even before police intervention, Koh voluntarily apologised to the victim and refunded the money, demonstrating remorse.

His lawyers urged the judge to impose a light sentence for Koh.

Koh pleaded for leniency.

The case was adjourned to Aug. 13 for a mention.

He will be sentenced on Sep. 23.

Xinmin Secondary School was evacuated on the morning of Aug. 13 after a suspected bomb threat, prompting police to conduct a search of the campus.

Normal lessons have since resumed following investigations.

All students and staff evacuated

The school, which is located in Hougang, reportedly informed parents and guardians that it activated its emergency evacuation procedures at 8:28am following the alert.

It added that all students and staff were safely evacuated and accounted for.

After police completed a thorough search of the premises and found no suspicious items, students returned to their classrooms and lessons resumed as scheduled.

Note in a classroom

Lianhe Zaobao reported that the incident stemmed from a note discovered in a classroom claiming that there was a bomb.

Several students told Zaobao that they were instructed to evacuate to the school field without initially knowing the reason.

They later learned that a teacher had found the note in a Secondary 3 classroom, prompting the school to activate its emergency response.

A school staff member said students and teachers remained at the field while awaiting further instructions, with the school providing drinks during the evacuation.

No one was allowed to re-enter the school buildings while police conducted their checks.

Those who needed to use the restroom were directed to Xinmin Primary School next door through a gate beside the field, the staff member added.

He also said police officers spoke to several students during the evacuation.

He added that he initially thought it was a routine emergency drill, but later realised the gravity of the situation after noticing six police vehicles on campus.

"I heard that the police also searched the third floor, and the police cars left about half an hour later," the staff member was quoted as saying.

Investigations ongoing

In response to Mothership's queries, the police said they were alerted to a potential bomb threat incident at Xinmin Secondary School at around 8:20am on Aug. 13.

Both the police and school personnel conducted a thorough check at the premises and no suspicious item was found.

They added that investigations into a case of communicating false information of a harmful thing under Section 268A of the Penal Code 1871 are ongoing.

The offence carries a penalty of up to seven years' imprisonment, a fine of up to S$50,000, or both.

The police said they take all security threats seriously and will not hesitate to act against those who intentionally communicate false bomb threats.

School cooperating with investigations

Speaking to Zaobao, Xinmin Secondary School principal Tan Soon Hui said the school immediately notified the police after receiving the suspected bomb threat on Thursday morning.

He said all students and teachers were evacuated to a designated assembly point and remained safe throughout the incident.

After police officers and school staff completed a search of the campus and found no suspicious items, the school arranged for students and teachers to return to class and continue lessons.

Tan added that the school is cooperating with the police in their investigations.

He said the safety and well-being of students and staff remain the school's top priority, and that it will continue to ensure appropriate measures are in place to respond to emergencies.

A 34-year-old man will be charged in court on Aug. 14 for allegedly molesting a 12-year-old girl and his 17-year-old stepdaughter separately on the same day.

The incidents happened on Aug. 12, the police said in a news release.

At about 8:55am that morning, the man allegedly offered to send the 12-year-old victim to school.

He then brought her to a staircase in the vicinity of Sembawang Crescent and molested her, according to the report the police received.

Later at about 12:50pm, he allegedly touched his 17-year-old stepdaughter at her residence in the vicinity of Yishun Street 22.

The police identified the man using images from police cameras, and arrested him that same day.

He will face two charges for outrage of modesty.

One involves the outrage of modesty of a person below 14 years of age, for which he may be jailed up to five years, fined, caned, or any combination of such punishments.

The other charge involves aggravated outrage of modesty against a victim in a close relationship, for which he may be jailed between two and 10 years, and caned.

There may also be enhanced punishment if he is convicted of the second charge, as the offence was allegedly committed against a victim in a close relationship.

Local actor Tay Ping Hui's mother died of pancreatic cancer on Aug. 4 at the age of 84, according to Lianhe Zaobao.

Challenging few months

Thanking the many people who noticed his absence online and showed him "much concern", Tay wrote a tribute to his mother in an Aug. 13 Instagram post.

He had been "unable to bring [himself] to post anything remotely happy" as it had been "challenging physically, mentally and emotionally over the past few months".

A year ago, Tay's mother had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Tumor grew, cancer spread

"We managed to reduce the tumor a little through radiation and chemo and she did get better for a while," the post read.

However, Tay said things got worse about two months ago with the tumor growing again and the cancer spreading to his mother's liver.

He said: "We took turns accompanying her in the hospital room to make sure that there was always someone familiar beside her because of her dementia."

"It was a very painful and heartbreaking journey," he added.

"Mom fought hard with everything she had, but left us slightly more than a week ago."

Love

Calling his mother a person who loved life, Tay said that if he could sum up her life, he would choose the word "love".

"Because mom loved to cook, she loved to eat, she loved to chat, she loved mahjong, she loved her grandchildren, she loved her children, she loved my father, but most of all, she loved life," Tay said.

"And I can say without any doubt, that we loved her as much."

He added that he misses her calling him "ah boy" and he will miss her until they finally meet again.

"Life without you will never be the same," he said.

"Mummy, wait for me," he wrote in Chinese.

"Farewell my dearest mummy. I love you."

The police are appealing for information on the whereabouts of 14-year-old Sarah Fitriyana Binte Abdullah.

She was last seen wearing a purple top and light blue shorts, in the vicinity of 23 Serangoon Central on Jul. 24 at around 1:25pm, which is the address of Nex shopping mall.

Anyone with information is requested to call the police hotline at 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness.

All information will be kept strictly confidential.

A 70-year-old British retiree who was invited to his neighbour's house for a meal molested his 54-year-old female neighbour.

He reportedly did so after a few drinks and even sent harassing text messages afterwards, Shin Min Daily News reported.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of insulting a woman's modesty and was sentenced to three weeks in jail and a fine of S$1,000 on Aug. 12.

The victim and the man lived in an apartment building in the Marina Bay area.

A gag order was imposed to protect the identity of the victim.

Neighbours

On Jun. 21, 2025, the victim reportedly invited a group of relatives and friends, including the man and his wife, to her home for dinner and to watch a fireworks display.

The party lasted until the early hours of the next day, during which the man consumed at least three glasses of wine, a bottle of beer, and a glass of Aperol liqueur and became intoxicated.

At approximately 2am, the man approached the victim in the living room and gestured for her to come closer with his right index finger.

The victim, thinking he had something to say, moved closer, Shin Min reported.

The man then put his right arm around the victim's neck, pulled her towards him, and pinched her through her shorts with his left hand.

He also reportedly said to her: "I like you, can I have you?"

The victim, startled, immediately pushed him away.

The man and his wife left the victim's home after she told them to leave.

Harassing texts

However, the man reportedly did not stop after returning home.

Between 2:53am and 3:24am, he continued to send multiple messages to the victim via WhatsApp, including asking if he could "pinch her buttocks" in the future.

The victim explicitly refused and told him to go to sleep.

The man replied that he wished she had said "yes" earlier and also called her "sexy."

The victim reported the incident to the police on Jul. 8, 2025.

The man was arrested on Jul. 28 and charged in court the following day.

He was granted bail of S$10,000, but remained in custody as no one paid the bail.

To keep up his gambling addiction, a Singaporean man, 29, siphoned nearly S$1.9 million in total from five people, including about S$1.65 million from his adoptive father.

He also forged a police report he purportedly made to prevent his father from lodging a real one.

Then, he fled to Taiwan when he found out the police was investigating the withdrawals he made from his father's Central Provident Fund (CPF) account.

Tay Yi Cong, now 29, pleaded guilty to seven charges related to cheating and theft.

Another 28 charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

On Aug. 13, he was sentenced to a total of seven years in jail, backdated to Jun. 17, 2024, when he was remanded for these offences.

His gambling habit

Tay, a student from the National University of Singapore (NUS), was a regular officer and senior medic in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) at the time of the offences in 2023 and 2024, according to court documents.

He developed a gambling addiction playing baccarat at casinos in Singapore, and online gambling and underground casinos in Taiwan when he was there for SAF duties between 2021 and 2023.

By December 2023, he had incurred about S$60,000 worth of debt to multiple banks, without the means to repay those debts. Nonetheless, he wanted to continue gambling.

He continued going to the Marina Bay Sands Casino to gamble despite being banned from the venue from Jan. 30, 2024, for stealing someone's S$11,900 Rolex watch there.

Deceiving a fellow regular

While posted in Taiwan, he grew close to the 29-year-old SAF regular he bunked with, to the extent that the man entrusted Tay with the PIN number for his phone.

One night when the friend was sleeping, Tay unlocked his phone and signed up for a Standard Chartered bank account under the friend's name. He was able to log into the friend's Singpass account by guessing his six-digit passcode.

Then, he used this new account to apply for a S$25,000 loan, and for the loan to be delivered to his own DBS bank account.

Tay used this money to finance his personal expenditures and to gamble at the Marina Bay Sands Casino after he returned to Singapore.

He then spent his winnings on luxury goods from Loewe, Balenciaga, and Burberry.

Deceiving his brother

In January 2024, Tay used his younger brother's DBS iBanking app on his phone to transfer S$25,000 to his father's bank account, and then to his own DBS account, without either person's knowledge.

He did not make any restitution to his brother.

Deceiving his father

After Tay returned to Singapore from Taiwan in January 2024, he applied for bank loans and credit cards using his 62-year-old adoptive father's particulars.

His father's phone did not require a password to unlock, and neither was his Singpass account secured by any password.

Tay was thus able to apply for bank loans and/or credit cards under his father's name from five banks.

He would either transfer the sums from the loan accounts to his DBS account, or apply for the loan to be sent directly to his DBS account.

As for the credit cards, he would use them to pay for his own expenses.

Similar to before, he gambled away S$42,900 he got from a loan account, and used any winnings he gained to purchase luxury goods.

Through such loans, he cheated several banks of S$380,558, and left his father saddled with the burden of repaying the sum.

As these offences went undetected, Tay felt emboldened and decided to transfer money from his father's bank accounts to his own account over several occasions, to use for gambling.

He also plotted to withdraw money from his father's CPF account and transfer it to himself so that he could place bigger bets at casinos.

To pass the Singpass facial recognition to access his father's CPF account, Tay scanned his father's face using the camera on his iPad. His father did not check what the scan was for and simply did as his son told.

Tay increased the daily withdrawal limit of the father's CPF account, then transferred a total of S$533,800 to his own bank account over seven occasions from Jan. 30 to Mar. 6, 2024.

He spent this full sum at the Resorts World Sentosa Casino.

Combining the transfers from his father's bank accounts and CPF account, the total sum of money he siphoned was S$1,653,258.

He paid S$37,700 back by making six transfers from his own account to his father's between February and March 2024.

Impersonating bank staff

Sometime between late January and early February 2024, Tay's father noticed that the account balance in his POSB account was lower than what he recalled, and saw that some transfers were made to Tay's DBS account.

When the father called POSB about this, the staff told him the issue should be settled within his own family, then abruptly ended the call.

Tay knew about this call as his father put it on speaker.

Fearing his offences would be discovered, Tay called his father using another phone the next day, pretending to be a bank manager of DBS.

He told his father that his POSB Account had been frozen due to issues with the banking system.

The father thus decided to use his OCBC account for daily expenses instead, but realised then that its bank balance had plummeted.

Then, Tay similarly used another phone to call his father pretending to be an OCBC staff member, and told his father OCBC was experiencing a nationwide banking glitch and was investigating the matter.

Faking a police report

When the father told Tay about his bank account issues, Tay lied that he would make a police report for him, and forged a report using an online template.

After seeing a copy of the forged police report, the father decided not to lodge one himself.

Tay also bought his father a new phone as a birthday gift, then continued to use his father's old phone to transfer money to himself.

Finally, Tay's father discovered the withdrawals on his CPF account in March 2024, and submitted and inquiry.

A CPF customer service executive made a police report, prompting the police to call the father.

As the father again put the call on loudspeaker mode, Tay overheard the conversation and learnt that the police had begun their investigations.

He absconded the country on Mar. 13, 2024, by boarding a flight to Taiwan.

Further offences

While in Taiwan, he met up again with the SAF regular he had bunked with.

Using the friend's phone, Tay transferred S$11,875.50 from the friend's bank account and used it for his daily expenses in Taiwan.

His offences involving this friend amounted to total losses of S$36,875.50, S$6,000 of which was later waived by the bank.

Tay did not make any restitution to this friend.

Also in Taiwan, he met the last victim, another SAF regular who was on duty in Taiwan.

This man was unaware that Tay had absconded, and was close enough with Tay that he previously shared his personal passwords with him.

Using this friend's phone, Tay transferred money to himself and applied for loans under the friend's name.

The losses involving this friend added up to S$168,155, which he used for gambling and personal expenses, including when he travelled to the Philippines and South Korea.

He also did not make any restitution to this friend.

Arrest

While in South Korea, Tay was running out of money when he encountered an elderly shopkeeper who reminded him of his late grandmother.

He confessed his offences to the shopkeeper, who suggested that he turn himself in.

He decided to do so. He returned to Singapore in June 2024 and turned himself in to the authorities as he had nearly run out of money to sustain himself overseas.

Sentencing

The prosecution sought a total jail sentence of seven years to seven years and eight months.

They highlighted that his actions were an "egregious betrayal" of people close to him, and he "financially exploited the people who trusted him for his own gain".

Tay's father, in particular, is approaching the age of retirement, and "was drained of a significant amount of his hard-earned CPF savings" by Tay, they added.

Furthermore, they pointed out that although the intent behind Tay's offences was to obtain money for gambling, any winnings that he derived from gambling did not go towards repaying the loans he took using his friend's name.

Instead, he used the winnings to buy luxury items.

Considering the "astronomical losses" and the abuse of trust, "the impact of his offences will still be felt long after the conclusion of this case", the prosecution argued.