A 21-year-old Singaporean woman who was allegedly caught in Batam with about 40 etomidate vape cartridges hidden in her underwear has told police they were for her own use.

Police say they are still investigating where the drugs came from, and whether she has links to an international drug network.

Out of their packaging

Barelang police narcotics chief Arsyad Riyandi said the woman claimed she had brought the drugs to consume herself while in Batam, according to New Straits Times (NST).

Tribun Batam reported that she told police she had intended to use them to have fun on the island.

However, Arsyad noted that the cartridges had already been opened and were no longer in their original packaging.

He said: "Despite her claim, we are still investigating the origin of the drugs and the possibility of her links to an international drug network."

He added that foreigners caught with drugs in Indonesia face the same law as Indonesians.

Off the last ferry

The woman arrived at Harbour Bay International Ferry Terminal on the last ferry from Singapore on Sep. 3.

Customs officers were screening arriving passengers when they noticed her walking unusually, said Lucky Tamo, head of enforcement and investigation at Batam Customs.

According to NST, he said: "During a more detailed inspection, we found an item concealed in her crotch."

At a press conference on Sep. 17, he said the inspection scanner had picked up items she was not supposed to be carrying, per Tribun Batam.

According to reports, the cartridges were tested and found to contain etomidate.

Customs then handed her over to the Barelang police.

A 49-year-old man in Singapore reportedly lost about S$80,000 after befriending a “Singaporean woman” on Facebook and was convinced to invest in an “online store”.

The pair apparently communicated for about three years, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Befriend

Li (transliterated), an engineer who is single, reportedly befriended a female user named “Yuting” on Facebook.

Yuting claimed she was a Singaporean living overseas.

She also reportedly claimed that she owned a property in Sentosa Cove.

The pair moved from chatting on Facebook Messenger to WhatsApp and communicated “on and off” for about three years.

“During that time, we would exchange greetings and look out for each other every month,” Li said.

Chat

According to Li, not long after he and Yuting started chatting, she asked if he was interested in investing together by opening an “online store” to sell goods.

He could apparently earn a 15 per cent commission.

"She said it was a drop-shipping job. I would act as a middleman, placing orders with a 'supplier' on behalf of the 'customer,' and I needed to pay for the goods in advance. After the transaction was completed, I could get the payment back and earn the commission," Li said.

Li claimed that over the three years he spent communicating with her, she purportedly urged him to invest more than once.

He was apparently initially doubtful, as he had asked for video calls and in-person meetings, but she rejected him each time.

Photos

In June 2026, Yuting reportedly brought up investing and claimed she would return to Singapore.

“I asked her to send me photos to prove she was a real person, and she really did send them, so I believed her," Li said.

Yuting apparently sent several photos of a woman, including one of her sitting in a hotel bed in pyjamas and another of her in a white dress holding a wine glass.

Invest

After much persuasion, Li purportedly opened an account in May 2026 and invested about S$80,000 within a month.

He claimed he initially placed orders as instructed and earned commissions, but kept them in the account instead of withdrawing them.

As the orders grew larger and the payments even reached tens of thousands of dollars, he put in all his savings until he could no longer afford to "take orders".

"By mid-June, I could not complete an order of nearly S$40,000, and the system showed my account had been blocked, telling me to transfer money in immediately to 'unlock' it," Li said.

To get the money back into his account, he purportedly transferred money again and completed the order.

When he later tried to withdraw the money, he was reportedly told that the specified time had passed, his "credit limit" did not meet the requirement, and he needed to top up again before he could withdraw.

Li alleged that Yuting wanted him to top up 50,000 USDT (S$63,780.51) to restore the “credit limit”.

USDT, also known as Tether, is a digital token.

It is a stablecoin designed to maintain a stable value equal to US$1.

If not, the money in the account could apparently not be withdrawn.

“Only then did I feel something was wrong and suspect I had been scammed," Li said.

Don't dare to make friends online

Li added that he has not recovered any money and no longer dares to make friends online.

"All this was hard-earned savings. I hope Yuting will see this and return my money,” Li said.

He also shared his experience publicly to remind people to stay vigilant.

Exposed

Once her ruse was found out, Yuting reportedly told Li to “do whatever you need to do” and to lodge a police report.

She then blocked him.

Li also claimed he could still log into the “online store” account in June 2026.

However, the website was no longer valid.

“Lawyer” he sought help from also scammed him

At that point, Li felt that his money was gone.

He sought legal assistance online and found a “lawyer” to recover the lost money.

However, Li was apparently scammed again and lost about S$10,000.

"I entered my personal details online, and a man named Christian contacted me. He claimed to be a lawyer who could help me get my money back. He even sent me a transfer record, asserting that he had moved the 60,000 USDT (S$76,537) from my account to my cryptocurrency wallet, but stated that I needed to pay a fee before I could withdraw the funds," Li said.

Li reportedly followed the instructions and transferred 7,153 USDT (S$9,124) to “Christian”.

"Christian" subsequently cut off all contact.

According to Shin Min, the police have confirmed the incident.

Investigations are ongoing.

A 53-year-old man was arrested for his suspected involvement in a case of housebreaking and theft.

On Sep. 19, at about 1:40pm, the police were alerted to a case of alleged housebreaking and theft at a shop along East Coast Road.

Cash amounting to about S$100 was reportedly stolen.

The man was identified and arrested within four hours of a police report through follow-up investigations and with the aid of images from police cameras and surveillance footage.

The man was slated to be charged on Sep. 21 with housebreaking and theft.

The offence carries a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.

The police advised members of the public to secure all doors, roller shutters, windows and other openings with good quality grilles and closed-shackle padlocks when leaving premises unattended.

Large sums of cash and valuables should not be kept on the premises.

The police also advised members of the public to install a burglar alarm, motion-sensor lights, and surveillance cameras to cover access points to your premises, and to test them periodically to ensure they are in good working condition.

From Sep. 23, it will be an offence to make a nuisance and behave disruptively on public buses and at bus interchanges and terminals.

Such behaviour includes placing one’s feet on bus seats, or playing audio at loud volume, littering, eating, or drinking onboard buses, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in a Sep. 21 news release.

Those caught committing these offences may be fined up to S$500.

The penalty can go up to S$5,000 for more serious offences such as causing obstruction or danger to fellow commuters within bus interchanges and terminals, or the soiling of any part of a public bus, bus interchange, or terminal.

Positive commuter conduct

It was first announced that the government would introduce penalties against disruptive behaviour on public transport when the Transport Sector (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2025 was passed in Parliament in October 2025.

The new rules fall under the new Bus Services Industry (Control of Conduct and Activities – Public Bus) Regulations 2026 and Bus Services Industry (Control of Conduct and Activities – Bus Interchange) Regulations 2026.

The aim of these new regulations is to encourage positive commuter conduct on public buses and at bus interchanges and terminals.

They align with existing regulations that prohibit disruptive behaviour within the MRT network.

They will "foster a safer, more considerate, and pleasant public transport environment for all", LTA said in their news release.

Enforcement

In managing disruptive behaviour on buses, the priority is to minimise inconvenience to other commuters while ensuring that the bus service does not get disrupted, LTA explained.

Staff from the four public bus operators, such as ticket inspectors and bus interchange staff, may issue Administrative Notifications of Offences (Administrative NOO) to people they believe are committing an offence.

LTA will follow up with investigations afterwards.

Bus captains will not have the authority to issue an Administrative NOO, so that it will not affect their main duty of safely operating the bus.

But they can advise passengers to stop making a nuisance or behaving disruptively, under the Conditions of Carriage.

They can also request passengers who fail to comply to alight from the bus.

If a passenger still refuses to cooperate, bus captains can request help from the Bus Operations Control Centre or the police if necessary.

LTA and the public bus operators will continue to exercise discretion and fairness in managing inconsiderate commuters, LTA said.

This is especially for cases involving commuters with physical or mental health conditions

A man, 57, was apprehended after he jumped off 12 floors from a Ang Mo Kio block of flats on Sep. 20.

In response to Mothership's queries, the police said they received a call for assistance at Block 645 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 6 at 3:30pm.

Upon the police's arrival, the man was spotted sitting on the ledge of a residential unit.

The police assessed that the man might pose a danger to himself, and officers from the Crisis Negotiation Unit and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) were activated and responded to the incident.

Safety life air parks deployed below block

The SCDF said they received a call for assistance at 3:40pm.

They said that upon their arrival, they saw the man sitting on the corridor parapet on the 12th floor.

SCDF said they deployed two safety life air packs below the block.

In a video by @izwardarni21 on TikTok, the man could be seen with his legs dangling off the parapet.

The surrounding area was cordoned off.

Officers could be seen setting up netting on the roof, while others set up safety life air packs on the ground floor.

Jumped off ledge

At about 6.20pm, the man jumped off the ledge and landed on the life pack, police said.

The police said the man was apprehended under the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) Act 2008.

The SCDF conveyed the man to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital in a conscious state.

Helplines

If you or someone you know are in mental distress, here are some hotlines you can call to seek help, advice, or just a listening ear:

• National mindline.sg Hotline: 1771 (24 hours)
• National mindline.sg WhatsApp: 66691771 (24 hours)
• SOS 24-hour Hotline: 1-767
• Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019
• Centre for Domestic Employees: 1800 225 5233 (24 hours)
• Foreign Domestic Worker Association for Social Support and Training: 1800 339 4357 (24 hours)
• HOME (migrant worker): +65 6341 5535 (WhatsApp / Viber / SMS)
• HOME (domestic worker): +65 9787 3122 (WhatsApp / SMS / Call)
• SHECARES@SCWO: Call: 8001 01 4616 | WhatsApp: 8985 5528 (For targets of online harms)
• National Anti-Violence and Sexual Harassment Helpline (NAVH): 1800-777-0000

A South Korean man secretly recorded his ex-girlfriend while they engaged in nude video calls, only to later be discovered by his new girlfriend.

According to Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min), the 44-year-old man was sentenced to three months in jail after pleading guilty to one of three charges. These included filming a person without consent and violating the Films Act.

In order to protect the victim, the judge ordered that information that could reveal her identity not be published.

What happened?

The victim, a 45-year-old Korean woman, met the man on Tinder and started dating him in 2022.

When they were in different countries, they would maintain their relationship through video calls.

According to Shin Min, the two engaged in nude video calls, with the victim repeatedly expressing that she did not want to be recorded and requesting to confirm that he was not doing so.

In response, he told her that he did not know how to record his screen.

However, from February to October 2023, the man secretly recorded 17 nude videos of the victim, ranging from 7 to 55 minutes.

He saved them on a hard drive in his Singapore residence for his own sexual gratification.

The two broke up in January 2024, after which he started dating again.

Discovery

His new girlfriend, 37, was cleaning his house on Jan. 6, 2024, when she discovered the hard drive in his room.

The next day, she confronted the man and demanded that he delete all the videos.

Afraid that the hard drive could be used as evidence against him, the man destroyed it.

On May 15, 2024, his girlfriend wrote a comment on his social media page exposing his deeds.

Subsequently, his ex-girlfriend called him after finding out about the matter to tell him that she could not sleep, saying that he had ruined her life and that she had suicidal thoughts.

He responded that all her accusations towards him were "absurd and laughable".

He informed her that he had already destroyed the evidence and that he would never admit to recording her in secret.

However, he did not know that his then-girlfriend had already made copies of the videos and turned them over to the police.

Fearing for her reputation and her job, the ex-girlfriend also made a police report.

Sentenced

According to Shin Min, the defendant's lawyer asked for leniency, saying that the man had committed the acts out of a desire to maintain an emotional connection with his ex-girlfriend.

They further said that he had already compensated her.

His medical team also submitted a report stating that he was suffering from adjustment disorder after the case, an excessive emotional response to stress.

However, the prosecution countered that the report was raised two years after the event, and that the defendant had little evidence to support his claims.

They noted that the man had knowingly and repeatedly committed the crime after hearing his ex-girlfriend's objections, exploiting the trust placed in him.

As such, they asked for three and a half months' imprisonment.

Two men, aged 27 and 33, were arrested in Singapore for possessing and gaining access to child abuse material.

This comes after police in Italy arrested 17 people as part of investigations into an Italy-based international network that distributed child sexual abuse material.

Singapore

In response to Mothership's queries, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said that it received information from Italian authorities about an operation targeting a Telegram group sharing child abuse material.

Following up on the information received, the SPF arrested the two men for the offence of possessing or gaining access to child abuse material.

The men’s nationalities or whether they knew each other were not disclosed.

Investigations are ongoing.

Under Section 377BK of the Penal Code 1871, any person who has in possession, or has gained access to child abuse material, and knows or has reason to believe that the material is child abuse material, shall be liable to a jail term of up to five years and a fine or caning.

Organisation

In a press release on Sep. 17, the Italian police said the law enforcement operation, codenamed “Fly Trap”, led to the arrest of 17 individuals.

They allegedly belonged to a criminal organisation specialising in the possession, dissemination, and trade of large quantities of child pornography.

The criminal organisation apparently operated on Telegram.

Investigations revealed that a private online community, structured and governed by strict rules, comprised over 1,000 participants.

Access was gained via a dedicated link designed to recruit users, and continued membership required either the payment of small sums in cryptocurrency, which were labelled as "donations", or the sharing of new child pornography material.

Following information from the United States’ Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigation focused on the private Telegram group known as "New Saga".

Preliminary investigations and the analysis of cryptocurrency financial transactions enabled investigators to identify a 24-year-old resident of Campania, Naples, Italy, as one of the alleged network's administrators.

This paved the way for an undercover operation in which officers gained the trust of the organisation's leadership and eventually secured "co-administrator" credentials for various channels.

The channels were frequently reopened under different names after shutdowns to ensure anonymity and operational continuity.

Administrators also allegedly provided technical support to members on how to conceal files and evade law enforcement detection.

During the undercover operations alone, police secured over 282 gigabytes of illicit content, including more than 22,000 videos and 34,000 images.

This led to the execution of six pre-trial detention orders against alleged leaders and prominent participants in the regions of Naples, Barletta, Verona, Messina, and Genoa in Italy, as well as in Switzerland.

The investigation also found 996 accounts linked to 98 foreign countries.

Arrestati 17 appartenenti a organizzazione criminale per detenzione e divulgazione di grossi quantitativi di materiale pedopornografico. L’indagine condotta dai poliziotti del Centro nazionale per contrasto pedopornografia online della Postale #17settembrehttps://t.co/uRlGmDiCQL pic.twitter.com/efztsB5MT2

— Polizia di Stato (@poliziadistato) September 17, 2026

Singapore’s labour market continued to expand in the second quarter of 2026 as economic growth improved.

Total employment increased by 11,400, marking the 19th consecutive quarter of growth.

This is an increase from 9,400 in the first quarter of 2026, and 10,400 in the second quarter of 2025, according to the second quarter labour market report by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Sep. 21, 2026.

However, the resident employment growth of 2,200 in the second quarter of 2026 was a slowdown from the previous quarter, which saw 5,400 jobs added.

Resident employment grew mainly in domestic-oriented sectors.

This included transportation and storage, public administration and education and health and social services, as well as outward-oriented sectors, such as professional services, financial services and information and communications.

Non-resident employment growth was driven by work permit holders in construction and manufacturing, with 9,200 jobs added.

Unemployment rates remained relatively low

Unemployment rates, meanwhile, have remained relatively low as of June 2026.

It was at 1.9 per cent overall, 2.9 per cent for residents and and 3 per cent for citizens.

However, resident long-term unemployment rates increased to 1 per cent in June 2026, up from 0.9 per cent in March 2026.

In the Singapore context, long-term unemployment refers to persons aged 15 years or older who have been unemployed for 25 weeks or more.

More retrenchments

The second quarter of 2026 also saw a rise in retrenchment rates.

It now sits at 4,620, or 2 retrenched per 1,000 employees, up from 3,830, or 1.6 retrenched per 1,000 employees.

The rise in retrenchment was driven by business reorganisations and restructuring in outward-oriented sectors like manufacturing, information and communications, and financial services, said MOM.

Retrenched workers also took longer to find new jobs.

The proportion of retrenched residents who found employment again within six months fell to 54.9 per cent in the second quarter, down from 60.7 per cent in the first quarter.

On the other hand, those who re-entered employment within 12 months increased slightly, from 69.4 per cent to 69.8 per cent.

More vacancies than unemployed persons

Singapore's labour market remains relatively tight, said MOM.

Job vacancies dipped from 73,300 in March 2026 to 68,600 in June 2026, owing to a fall in PMET vacancies in financial services and information and communications.

Entry-level PMET vacancies have remained largely stable, accounting for 45.3 per cent of all job vacancies.

PMET refers to professionals, managers, executives and technicians, a collective term to describe Singapore's skilled workers.

However, there were still more job vacancies than unemployed persons.

There were 1.48 vacancies per unemployed person in Q2.

MOM said the July 2026 business expectations point towards a positive but cautious labour market outlook.

About 48.7 per cent of firms intended to hire in the next three months in July, an increase from 43.9 per cent in June.

But the proportion of firms intending to raise wages dipped slightly from 29.3 per cent in June to 27.9 per cent in July.

Both hiring and wage expectations remained below their February 2026 levels.

Support for employers and workers

The labour market has remained resilient, said MOM, as there was continued employment growth and low unemployment.

However, conditions have become less favourable for some resident workers.

The ministry added that the government will continue supporting employers and workers by investing in workforce transformation and human capital development through its programmes, such as the Career Conversion Programme and Mid-Career Pathways Programme.

Fresh graduates can also rely on the GRaduate Industry Traineeships (GRIT) as an alternative entry point to the workforce.

The involuntarily unemployed can also receive temporary financial support of up to S$6,000 over six months while they undertake active job search under the SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme.

About a week after a 19-year-old worker in Japan died after falling from a 40 metre-tall transmission tower, his family said that he had left behind a suicide note.

The police of the local prefecture said that on Sep. 9, Kazuki Matsuoka had been on the tower to check for damage to cables following an early-morning lightning strike, Japan Today reported.

Three colleagues from his company, Shikoku Electric Power Transmission & Distribution Co, were also there with him.

Matsuoka was descending the tower when he fell.

He had been wearing safety equipment while working, but they were found detached from his body afterwards.

Alleged workplace bullying

The alleged suicide note was discovered among Matsuoka's belongings, and given to his family the day after the incident.

It was shared with local media on Sep. 15.

In the note, Matsuoka talked about experiencing verbal abuse and bullying by his co-workers.

One of them told him to "just die", he claimed.

During a work-related dinner, he was allegedly forced to eat something he was allergic to, which made his mouth itch.

He also apologised to his parents in the note, saying, "I'm really sorry that I let you down, that I died so early and that I was weak-hearted."

Investigation

His parents have called on the company to investigate what happened to their son and not "brush it under the rug".

Matsuoka had joined the company in April, and after a four-month training period, he was assigned to the field.

The branch of the company where he worked at said that executives had received a copy of the alleged suicide note from the family.

The company said it is "considering an investigation that includes an external probe by experts, and will respond sincerely".

A limited-edition Louis Vuitton x Yayoi Kusama bag sold for S$87,000 after 81 bids at the first auction of seized handbags and accessories from the S$3 billion money laundering case in Singapore.

The auction was held on the night of Sep. 20; the 30-minute competition for the piece was intense, with 42 last-minute bids, according to CNA.

All 337 lots were sold, with the total sale amount recorded as over S$1.1 million.

According to Lianhe Zaobao, if all the highest bidders complete payment, the total sale amount would be 54 per cent higher than the highest estimate.

Pumpkin bag

The yellow-and-black monogram leather pumpkin bag, made in collaboration with the Japanese artist who died at age 97 in August, exceeded auction house Hotlotz's initial estimate of S$12,000 to S$16,000.

According to a Christie's press release, the same pumpkin bag sold for US$151,200 (S$192,870) in September 2024.

This set a world auction record and made the pumpkin bag the most expensive Louis Vuitton handbag to sell at auction.

Chrome Hearts jewellery, Chanel bags

296 lots exceeded their highest estimates, 25 sold within their estimate range, and only three lots sold for less than their lowest estimate, reported Zaobao.

Items from Chrome Hearts were also hotly contested, with most lots scoring over 30 bids.

A Chrome Hearts diamond double cross pendant necklace sold for S$11,000 after 37 bids. The piece's estimate was between S$1,000 and S$1,500.

The majority of the lots were Chanel, with 219 pieces being auctioned.

A Chanel mini flap bag in light beige goatskin with rhinestone embellishments from 2020 was sold for S$15,000 after 28 bids despite an initial estimate of between S$4,000 and S$5,000.

These bids do not include Hotlotz's additional buyer's premium of 20 per cent, which includes Singapore's goods and services tax.

Auctions

The auction house operates online-only public auctions open to global buyers.

According to Hotlotz's website, if a bid is entered in the last five minutes before an auction lot closes, the bidding period extends another five minutes.

A previous luxury real estate auction linked to the same money-laundering network, where all properties were left unsold or withdrawn after failing to meet reserve prices.

Hotlotz will be holding another auction for 286 pieces of fine jewellery till Sep. 27.

According to CNA, the two Hotlotz auctions were estimated to earn between S$2.9 million and S$3.9 million in total.

From September 2026 to May 2027, 15 online auctions will be held for the seized items from the S$3 billion money laundering case.

The seized items were handed over to the accounting firm Deloitte for disposal by the police, with all sale proceeds deposited into the Government's consolidated fund.