Volunteers will be identifying, contacting, and befriending seniors in Singapore who appear isolated or in need of social support under a new one-year initiative by the People’s Action Party Seniors Group (PAPSG).

The initiative will start with nine branches chaired by PAPSG members and will operate in areas, such as Bedok, Kaki Bukit, and Toa Payoh Central for a start.

This new initiative was unveiled as the group's biggest concern is social isolation given that Singapore's population is ageing, PAPSG chairman Tan See Leng said on Oct. 4 at an event at Furama Riverfront to mark the International Day of Older Persons.

The pilot will build on Meet-the-People Sessions and existing house visits to identify seniors the.

PAPSG was formed in 2013.

Singapore a super-aged society

According to data released on Sep. 25, Singapore is a super-aged society.

Some 21.4 per cent of its citizen population was aged 65 and older as at June 2026.

Tan, who is also Minister for Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry), told some 300 party volunteers, MPs and branch chairs: "Now, one of our biggest worries today is some seniors are slipping through the cracks and living in total isolation."

One way the initiative could help is by connecting seniors to resources, such as nearby Active Ageing Centres or social services.

These seniors could be the first to seek volunteers for help for a range of matters, such as financial, employment or healthcare assistance, and they will be engaged in conversations to find out if they are socially isolated or have other needs.

PAPSG also launched a customisable resource template with national helplines, Meet-the-People Session details, and nearby community services information.

Branches can tweak the information for their constituencies, and customise them on printed sheets, fridge magnets, or in soft copy.

Dialogue with community led to initiative

The befriending initiative came about following several rounds of feedback.

PAPSG had organised four community conversations and a dialogue session between February and August 2026, which identified as one of their priorities the strengthening of support for older adults living alone.

The other areas of concern were making care more affordable and accessible, as well as expanding opportunities for seniors in employment, entrepreneurship, and lifelong learning.

An OnlyFans model from Cebu in The Philippines has raised enough money to buy land and build a learning centre in her home province, with plans to open a larger school in the future.

The creator, known as Maeurn Smiles, used the money she earned from her online work to buy a parcel of land in Naga, Cebu for 1.75 million pesos (S$35,750) in 2024.

According to Daily Tribune Business, a Philippines media outlet, she at first intended to donate the land to the government so they could build the school.

However, she changed her mind when she learned she would not be able to name the school after her late father.

Instead, Maeurn decided to oversee the construction herself to properly pay tribute to her father.

While the main school building has not yet been constructed, a smaller learning centre opened in 2025, offering local children lessons in science, cooking and other activities.

The main school will be able to serve around 300 children once built.

Speaking to American media outlet TMZ in August 2026, Maeurn said she always had an interest in teaching since she was young, but her family did not have the money to send her to college.

Instead, she worked as an English-language teacher for Chinese students before starting her OnlyFans page, where she earned enough money to fulfil her dream.

A 35-year-old teacher was sentenced to nine years in jail on Oct. 5 for performing several sexual acts on her then-15-year-old female student.

This took place in locations such as the school staff toilet, karaoke room and a public bus.

She pleaded guilty to one charge of sexual penetration of a minor and two charges of sexually exploiting a young person under the age of 16.

Another five charges of sexually exploiting a young person, one charge of sexual grooming and another for sexual communication with a minor were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Both teacher and student cannot be named due to a gag order to protect the identity of the victim.

The prosecution said the accused had been the victim's source of support and advice as she struggled with a difficult home situation, according to court documents seen by Mothership.

"The relationship and the acts that occurred within it was exploitative by virtue of the accused's position in the victim's school and the influence that she had as a 'safe adult' in the victim's life," the prosecutor said.

Family problems

The victim was a Secondary 3 female student, and the woman began teaching her in 2023.

The victim has a history of family problems and struggled with various mental health conditions.

Child Protection Services (CPS) had intervened in her family situation sometime before the offences due to concerns of her parents' use of harsh physical punishment on her.

Her teachers at the time of the offences, including the accused, were aware of her difficulties at home, prosecutors said.

Situationship

In April 2023, the student approached the teacher to seek support and advice on family matters.

The victim texted the accused frequently to tell the latter about her day and to share more about her struggles.

From Oct. 13 to Nov. 21, 2023, the pair started what the victim described as a "situationship" and engaged in a series of sexual encounters.

The first encounter happened in a karaoke room on Oct. 13, 2023.

They eventually both agreed to stop.

But on Oct. 16, the teacher took the student to a female staff toilet after her exam and committed another sexual act.

This continued at other locations such as the upper deck of a double-decker bus and in a private room for movies.

Student reported her

The teacher and student eventually fell out.

On Jan. 16, 2024, the student informed her Child Protection Services-appointed safety adult that she had been sexually assaulted on three occasions.

The school's vice principal later took the student to lodge a police report the next day.

The victim subsequently suffered from adjustment disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

According to an Institute of Mental Health report on Jan. 22, 2025, the victim had then described breaking down in school sometimes as the environment reminded her of the events that happened.

Following the offences, she also suffered from insomnia, had suicidal thoughts, nightmares, flashbacks and recurring thoughts about the offences.

Her academic performance eventually deteriorated.

Lapse in judgment

The defence reportedly said that the teacher was remorseful, pointing to her cooperation with investigations and her guilty plea, according to CNA.

"Her actions were due to a lapse in judgment. This is a scar that will remain with her for the rest of her life," defence lawyer Kalaithasan Karuppaya of Regent Law LLC said.

She has since sought professional help from a psychiatrist. Her husband also gave a testimonial about her as a wife and mother to a four-year-old.

The judge reportedly said that the woman had made "serious errors of judgement" and that her actions crossed professional boundaries.

While he acknowledged the harm caused to the victim, he added that he hoped the woman could apply her "redeeming qualities" for the benefit of her family and the wider community.

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.