Three people died after a supply boat sank off Pasir Panjang Terminal at about 9:30am on Jun. 12, 2026, after colliding with a landing craft.

According to a Jun. 12 Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) media release, the MPA, Police Coast Guard (PCG), and SCDF Marine Division immediately activated their crafts to the incident site and commenced search and rescue operations.

The release stated that the landing craft is stable with no reported injury to the crew on board.

3 bodies recovered

It added that PCG has recovered three bodies from the waters, believed to be deceased crew members of the sunken supply boat.

Search and rescue operations, including diving operations, are ongoing to determine if there are other crew members from the supply boat missing.

Noting that port operations have not been affected, the release added that navigational broadcasts have been issued advising vessels to keep clear of the incident area.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing.

After hurting her ankle at work, a security officer was offered a work injury compensation worth more than six months of her salary, but chose to reject it and sue her employer for negligence instead.

She ended up losing the suit as she was unable to prove that her employer breached its duty of care, according to a judgment dated May 25.

The District Judge Evans Ng called her case "wholly meritless".

In a separate judgment dated Jun. 9, he ordered the woman to pay a total of about S$11,577 in legal costs to her employer.

The accident

The injury happened on Aug. 4, 2021, when Nirmala Thangavellu was deployed by her employer, Acestes, to a condo in Sengkang.

Stationed at an entrance of the condo, she encountered a delivery rider who refused to stop and provide his particulars to her, she testified in an affidavit.

She claimed that while trying to "chase" the rider, she lost her footing on the uneven ground and injured her right ankle.

CCTV footage showed that Nirmala fell, but after appearing to walk smoothly. No deliveryman was seen in the video, which was played several times at the trial.

Nirmala's lawyers argued that the video shown at court was cut too short, and the preceding portion of the CCTV footage would have shown the delivery rider's actions.

The work injury claim

A claim was made under the Work Injury Compensation Act (WICA), and it was assessed by the Commissioner for Labour at a sum that was more than six months' salary for her at the time.

But Nirmala submitted a notice of objection, and seemed to have withdrawn her claim later, according to the May 25 judgement.

More than a year later, she engaged lawyers to file a suit against Acestes for negligence.

The reason given for the objection was that the "settlement under WICA is insufficient".

Lacking support for her allegations

Ng pointed out in the judgment that Nirmala was the only witness for her case.

He said her evidence of any negligence was limited to saying that "proper safeguards and support were not put in place to prevent such accidents", without giving specifics on what could be implemented and whether they were feasible or reasonable.

Nirmala's lawyers also did not attempt to prove that her employer breached its duty of care, Ng added.

Their closing submissions did not make such an allegation, but argued that Nirmala's employer "owed her a duty of care", and that she was "entitled to full compensation for the losses suffered".

Unable to find any material supporting the negligence allegation, Ng dismissed the case.

Costs

Acestes' lawyers sought, among other things, S$20,000 or S$25,000 in party-and-party costs, according to the Jun. 9 judgement.

Nirmala's lawyers, however, proposed during the cost negotiations that Nirmala should not have to bear costs because she is not well-off financially.

Ng asserted that this was "rarely a sufficient reason for departing from the general rule".

He also questioned this claim about her financial state, highlighting that she has been able to pay her own disbursements for court fees, which were around S$1,400, and can afford to engage four senior lawyers from two different firms.

Ng gave a 25 per cent discount on the minimum for pre-trial work costs in negligence cases, as suggested by the State Courts, lowering it from S$9,000 to S$6,750.

Adding that on top of S$2,500 for trial work, S$1,000 for post-trial work, and S$1,327.70 as disbursement to Acestes, the total fees Nirmala was instructed to pay were S$11,577.70.

Singaporean actor Christopher Lee, 54, will star in Crooks, Singapore's first AI-hybrid drama, which has begun production, according to The Straits Times (ST).

The nine-episode series uses AI-assisted technology in post-production to build environments that cannot be constructed physically. This includes background creation, virtual set design, relighting, and spatial expansion.

According to Zaobao, the production leaned more heavily on AI after some investors pulled out, leading to a reduction of 40 per cent in funding.

This would be the catalyst in turning the production into an AI-hybrid.

ST reported that actors first perform on live-action sets, where their expressions, timing, and emotional intent are captured before AI workflows are applied.

Inspired by a real story

Crooks is inspired by the life of Benny Se Teo, a Singaporean ex-convict who founded restaurant Eighteen Chefs in 2007 to give troubled youths and ex-offenders a second chance at reintegration into society.

Lee plays Ah Cheng, a former convict who takes over a struggling restaurant and attempts to piece his life back together through cooking.

According to ST, Lee said of the movie:

"Crooks is a story about second chances, but also about how difficult it is to accept one when you do not feel you deserve it."

Lee told Zaobao that while he is not averse to working with AI, he has set clear boundaries on what he would not do. This includes not letting AI use his likeness to act for him, stating that actors must have their own ideas and interpretations of the scene.

"AI cannot replace the tremble in an actor's voice"

The series is produced by local filmmaker Boi Kwong, founder of Singapore-based film production company B-01 Films.

He said in a statement, reported by ST:

"AI cannot replace the tremble in an actor's voice, the silence between two people, or the truth of a performance. What it can do is give Singapore film-makers more room to build the world around those moments."

He added:

"The technology is there to support the story, not to take over it. It allows us to imagine with greater scale while keeping the emotion close."

According to ST, the production is also reskilling more than 50 crew members across production, technical, and editing roles to work in AI-enabled environments.

A 20-year-old male Chinese national was fined S$4,000 after he sexually assaulted a female schoolmate at an international school in Singapore, while pretending to be late for class.

Both individuals did not know each other.

The accused pleaded guilty to one count of outrage of modesty, Shin Min Daily News reported.

A gag order was imposed to protect the victim.

“Accidental”

On Oct. 6, 2025, at about 8:34am, the victim was on the first floor of the school building and was about to take the stairs to the second floor.

The 20-year-old, who was behind the victim, stared at her back and apparently felt an impulse to touch her.

He then pulled down his backpack on his shoulder and clutched it tightly in his hand, pretending to be late for class.

He then briskly walked past the victim and reached out his right hand, touching the victim’s buttocks.

The victim, who was wearing shorts, felt the accused fingers touch her.

She then confronted him on the spot.

The accused immediately pointed to his school bag and claimed it was an “accidental” touch.

The victim did not accept his explanation and lodged a police report on the same day at about 1:28pm, alleging that the accused sexually harassed her.

Investigation

Using surveillance footage from the school, police found evidence of the offence.

The accused was arrested on Feb. 5, 2026.

His lawyers stated that the accused has been expelled from the international school as a result of the incident.

They cited that the time and effort he had invested in studying locally were rendered “meaningless”.

He pleaded leniency, and his lawyers urged the judge to impose a fine not exceeding S$3,000.

The prosecution argued that the accused's actions did not meet the threshold for imprisonment and explained that he did not touch the victim’s private parts and there was no direct skin contact.

The had prosecution urged the judge to sentence the accused to a S$5,000 fine.

A 35-year-old Singaporean woman was sentenced to five weeks' jail on Jun. 12, 2026, after she falsely accused her ex-boyfriend of rape, despite having consensual sex with him.

CNA reported that Liau Wan Ting had pleaded guilty to one count of providing false information to a public servant for making a false rape allegation against her ex-boyfriend in a police report.

Liau was concerned that her ex-boyfriend would not take responsibility if she became pregnant.

This was after she used a birth control patch that had expired.

Her ex-boyfriend, whose identity is protected by a gag order, cannot be named, and court documents seen by Mothership did not state his age.

Remained friends

Liau, who was doing food delivery at the time, had met the victim through TikTok in 2024, and they began a romantic relationship in August 2024.

Though they ended the relationship in October 2025, they continued to be friends and had sexual relations.

At about 1am on Jan. 7, 2026, Liau asked the victim to pick her up, after which they went to the victim's residence and had consensual sex.

Concept of consent

After breakfast, they parted ways and that evening, Liau called her sister-in-law, asking if sex with someone not considered her partner could be considered as rape.

Her sister-in-law explained to her about consent and court documents stated that Liau falsely told her sister-in-law that she had been raped by the victim.

This was in spite of Liau being aware of the difference between consensual sex and rape.

Her sister-in-law then advised her to lodge a police report and Liau did so at about 6:48pm.

Maintained lie, admitted later

Liau continued to maintain her lie about being raped to an investigating officer and to a duty officer from the Singapore Police Force's Serious Sexual Crimes Branch.

She was then escorted to a medical examination at the One-Stop Abuse Forensic Examination (OneSAFE) centre within the Police Cantonment Complex.

Court documents stated that this allows victims of sexual crime to undergo forensic medical examination without being taken to the hospital and to be interviewed at a single, private location, reducing the likelihood of encountering other people.

At about 11:37pm on Jan. 7, 2026, after a police officer started recording her statement, Liau admitted that she had lied about being raped.

She also stated that the sexual intercourse had been consensual.

In addition, Liau explained that she had lied because her birth control patch had expired on Jan. 6, 2026, and she was concerned that the victim would not take responsibility if she became pregnant.

Though she maintained her lie out of fear that she would be jailed, she recanted her false allegation as she did not want her ex-boyfriend to be arrested or jailed.

Victim investigated

However, court documents stated that police officers had already started investigating the victim at that time.

In the wee hours of Jan. 8, 2026, he was traced and taken to the Police Cantonment Complex.

He also had a blood sample taken and said during a video-recorded interview from 3:46am to 4:29am that sex with Liau had been consensual.

At about 1:26am on the same day, a forensic medical examination was conducted by the doctor at the OneSAFE centre, with a nurse present, where Liau told the doctor that her sexual intercourse with the victim was consensual and there was no assault.

A further statement was recorded from Liau at 1:41am on the same day to confirm her position that she had consented to having sexual intercourse with the victim.

Reasons for jail

The deputy public prosecutor, in citing deterrence as the primary sentencing consideration, sought a three-week jail sentence for Liau.

She said this was because "the false information caused an innocent person to be subjected to investigations and led to a significant wastage of public resources, which would not have occurred otherwise".

Court documents stated that 13 officers, one doctor and one nurse had been activated for investigations.

It added that the victim had to undergo the "disconcerting experience of having to give his statement and go through various procedures in the wee hours of the morning".

Noting that Liau had provided false information to three officers, the prosecutor said: "False allegations of rape are particularly egregious as they not only waste public resources and cause distress to innocent persons but also do a grave disservice to genuine victims of sexual assault, whose accounts may consequently be met with unwarranted scepticism."

She added: "The sentencing of such cases must sound a clarion call of general deterrence even as it considers the need for individual retribution."

Sentencing, penalties

Shin Min Daily News reported that when the victim attended the court hearing, he was asked if he would be seeking compensation from Liau.

To that, the victim said he would not be doing so.

He added that he did not resent Liau, and just hoped the matter could be settled as soon as possible.

Shin Min reported that the judge said in sentencing that making false allegations of rape against innocent persons was no small matter.

The judge added that since such claims may be difficult to verify, it often depends on the testimony of both parties.

Even if the claim was eventually proven to be false, the reputation of the accused could already have been irreparably damaged, the judge said.

For providing false information to a public servant, an offender can be jailed up to two years, or fined, or both.

A 54-year-old Japanese truck driver pleaded guilty to negligent driving resulting in death after causing a multi-vehicle collision that killed six people in total.

She was distracted by her smartphone when the incident took place in Mie, Japan.

The deceased included a family of five, as well as a man driving from Saitama.

The driver, Mitsuyo Mizutani, from Hiroshima, admitted to the charge on Jun. 10, NHK World and CBC reported.

Collision

The incident occurred on Mar. 20 at about 2:20am in a tunnel on the Shin-Meishin Expressway, near the exit of the Nonobori Tunnel on the southbound side, Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

Mizutani rear-ended a vehicle that was in traffic behind a line of other vehicles, due to a road work.

The passenger car that was hit by her truck, as well as another passenger vehicle involved in the collision, were crushed between the truck and a large trailer.

This caused vehicles to catch fire.

She told investigators that she “was not driving that fast” but “was not watching the road carefully”.

She also told police she was looking at her smartphone.

TikTok

The prosecution said that while Mituzani was driving, she was talking hands-free on her phone with a colleague.

She then began watching a cooking video on TikTok.

Mituzani looked away from the road for approximately 13 seconds as she attempted to take a screenshot of the video before slamming into the line of cars in the tunnel.

Relatives of the victims, who attended the hearing, also issued statements.

They were reportedly angry as the victims “bore absolutely no responsibility” for the accident and lost their lives due to Mituzani’s driving.

On Aug. 15, One Punggol Hawker Centre will be managed by Hawkermania, replacing operator Timbre+ Hawkers.

The appointment was announced on National Environment Agency's (NEA) social media.

Timbre+ Hawkers is ending its tenure on Aug 14, a year short of its three-year contract.

They previously requested an early termination of the lease, citing operational challenges for the company.

Tenure

NEA launched a new tender for the One Punggol Hawker Centre in Jan. 2026 and announced in a statement that Timbre+ Hawkers would not be taking part.

Hawkermania secured a management contract of up to nine years with the second-lowest bid of S$3.64 million, according to data from the government procurement portal GeBIZ seen by 8world.

In comparison, the highest bid during the tender process came from Canopy Hawkers at S$5,594,400.

Hawkermania is a subsidiary of Kimly Group, which is one of Singapore's largest traditional coffee shop operators, according to its 2025 annual report.

Looking forward

Stallholders are hoping the incoming management will boost the hawker centre's visibility.

Since the nearby Punggol Coast Hawker Centre opened its doors on July 25, 2025, several vendors at One Punggol noticed a drop in foot traffic, with business falling by nearly 30 per cent, 8world reported.

To draw residents back, stallholders suggested introducing more community events and surrounding amenities, such as convenience stores or supermarkets.

Meanwhile, residents interviewed by 8world remarked that though the hawker centre was spacious with good food quality, having a wider variety of food with wallet-friendly offerings would be key to drawing larger crowds.

One Punggol

One Punggol Hawker Centre first opened on Oct 31, 2022, and has more than 30 hawkers, according to information on its website.

Outgoing operator Timbre+ Hawkers initially bagged a two-year contract to run the space starting September 2022. It subsequently secured a second deal in August 2024 to manage the centre for three years until August 2027, before making its decision to exit early.

A 30-year-old woman was reportedly shocked when she noticed a woman filming in the pool area at a Guillemard Road spa.

The incident occurred on Jun. 3 at about 10pm at G.Spa, a 24-hour spa centre near Geylang, Shin Min Daily News reported.

Filming

The woman, Hu (transliterated), said she had gone to the spa with the intention of hanging out there overnight.

While soaking in the hot spring pool, Hu noticed a woman using her phone to film the pool area.

The woman was apparently wearing clothes and did not appear to be a customer who wanted to use the pool.

According to Hu, there were apparently three customers in the pool area at the time, and they were only wearing the disposable paper underwear provided by the centre.

Hu said the flimsy nature of the apparel meant they could have accidentally exposed themselves.

Marketing

When Hu approached the woman out of privacy concerns, she initially denied filming the users.

She then reportedly changed her account, saying that the photos did not capture Hu and she would delete them.

As Hu still felt uneasy, she reported the situation to the on-site manager.

The manager explained that the woman who was filming was apparently marketing personnel invited to carry out promotional work.

The manager also assured her that the photos and videos did not include Hu and were deleted.

Feeling unsure about the deletion of the photos and videos, Hu lodged a police report.

Spa’s response

In response to Shin Min Daily News' queries. G.Spa said it was aware of the incident.

Upon receiving the feedback, the spa centre conducted an investigation.

A spokesperson said the company occasionally collaborates with content creators and social media partners for marketing purposes.

Participants in filming activities need to comply with the venue's privacy regulations and filming restrictions, which include not filming other customers without consent and following staff instructions.

Signs reminding all visitors and customers that photography and videography are prohibited in designated areas are also apparently posted in the spa centre.

The spokesperson also confirmed that the police later arrived at the scene to investigate the incident.

The centre fully cooperated with the police investigations and provided the required assistance.

Following the incident, the company has further reviewed and strengthened relevant measures, including establishing clearer filming guidelines, implementing a more formal briefing process before filming, defining filming areas more clearly, and enhancing supervision arrangements to protect customer privacy.

The spokesperson added that filming in sensitive or designated areas now requires approval from management beforehand and on-site supervision by a company representative.

Shortly after booking a ride on Tada to pick him up at Ubi Crescent, the man was notified by the ride-hailing app that his driver had arrived.

But he could not find the assigned car.

When he texted the driver, asking which side of the pick-up point he was at, there was allegedly no reply.

About three minutes later, the driver's location on the app started moving further and further away, the passenger told Mothership.

He continued to wait, and soon the Tada app notified him that a waiting-time fee had been added to his ride because he had supposedly let the driver wait for him at the pick-up point.

This fee went up over time until it reached S$21 for a 29-minute wait, before the driver eventually cancelled the booking.

Waiting fee

The passenger, who is the content creator behind the account SGMustWatchLa, told Mothership that he was a regular Tada user, spending almost S$2,000 every month on its ride-hailing services to commute.

"Ride-hailing [is] more convenient and faster for me," he explained. "More private, too."

He booked this ride on Jun. 10 at around 4:40pm, for a fare of S$11.81.

The waiting fee would have been added on top of this fare, he said in an Instagram post about the incident afterwards.

In response to Mothership's queries, Tada said that no waiting fee was charged to the passenger.

This is because the trip did not proceed and was eventually cancelled, according to their investigations.

"Playing a waiting game"

Nonetheless, he expressed frustration in his post, saying that the driver had "almost cheated [him]...because of a Tada loophole".

"He started playing [a] waiting game with me," he wrote.

He believes the driver was just behind the building where the pick-up point was.

"I don't understand why he can't just make a turn and come over," the passenger told Mothership. "I specifically walked behind the building to find him too. But it was too late. He had already driven off."

According to screenshots from the app, when the driver had been waiting for 17 minutes, the passenger claimed the driver appeared to be in the Bedok area.

As the waiting time approached 29 minutes, the driver appeared to have moved farther away toward Tampines.

Trip cancelled

After the driver cancelled the booking, the passenger booked a Grab ride to his destination instead.

When asked whether he and the Tada driver had contacted each other after the incident, he told Mothership they had not, and that he did not know how to contact the driver.

Tada's response

The passenger said he has reported the incident to Tada.

According to a screenshot seen by Mothership, the company replied on Jun. 12 and apologised.

"We have reviewed the incident and will be addressing this matter directly with the driver, reminding them of the importance of providing a professional and pleasant experience for all riders," they wrote in the email.

They will continue to monitor the driver's account and take further action if necessary.

Following a review of the trip, Tada told Mothership that the incident appears to have "arisen from challenges during the pick-up process".

"As this was the driver's first such incident, we have issued a warning and reminded him of our service expectations," the company said.

They have also provided the passenger with a S$10 ride voucher.

The wife of Taiwanese actor Fu Zichun penned a heartbreaking tribute to her late husband on the eve of the seventh day since his passing.

Fu, 46, passed away on Jun. 7 from acute leukaemia, just days after returning from a holiday in Bali with his wife Corrinna.

He was hospitalised and died within 24 hours of admission, sending shockwaves through Taiwan's entertainment industry.

According to China Times, Corrinna posted a video on social media stitched together from photos of the couple's travels, accompanied by a message addressed to her late husband.

She recalled how the two had planned to travel the world together once he took a break from acting.

She added:

"How I wish all of this was just a dream, that when I wake up you'll still call me 'baby'."

"Don't go visiting others"

With the seventh day since his passing falling on Jun. 13, Corrinna addressed Fu directly in her post, urging him to come home.

She wrote:

"Tomorrow is your tou qi. Don't go visiting others, remember to come home and see your son and daughter."

The "son and daughter" she referred to are the couple's two poodles, Miru and Miku.

According to Zaobao, Corrinna works in the travel industry, specialising in customised tours centred on Buddhist art and religious pilgrimages.

The couple had explored Hong Kong, Okinawa, and Bali together, with Corrinna regularly sharing their travel videos on social media.

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