Blog Posts by Alyssa Chua

Certificate of entitlement (COE) prices rose across the board in the bidding exercise on Wednesday from the previous round two weeks ago.

The premium for cars 1600cc and below closed at $68,656, a sharp increase of $9,235 from $59,421 in the previous bidding on 4 July.

Cars above 1600cc registered the second highest increase in premiums of this exercise to $90,501, a difference of $8,212 from the previous $82,289.

The COE price for commercial vehicles rose slightly to $55,805 from the previous premium of $55,556.

In the open category, the COE price rose $5,701 to $92,700 as compared to $86,999 previously.

The COE price for motorcycles also went up to $1,859 from $1,760 previously.

The COE price for the over 1600cc category last breached the S$90k mark in early May, hitting a record high of S$92,050.

The open category's previous highest COE price was in April, when it reached S$92,010.

Three dog lovers have come together to form a non-profit organization (NPO) called “Exclusively Mongrels Limited”, hoping to educate Singaporeans on the plight of stray mongrels, or cross breeds, in Singapore.

The three founders -- Kevin Neo, a 36-year-old programme director in loyalty marketing, 42-year-old Jason Ong, owner of Torte Café, and 50-year old Sharon Oh, a homemaker – were stirred into action after mounting incidents of stray dog attacks. The organisation also recognised the growing need to reduce the stray dog population in Singapore through the means of sterilisation.

Just last week, a 22-year-old woman was attacked by a group of strays at the newly-opened tourist attraction, Gardens by the Bay.

In a separate event in December last year, a 20-year-old female jogger and a 35-year-old male jogger were attacked by a pack of nine stray dogs on separate days at a new park in Punggol Waterway Park.

The founders’ immediate plan as a legal entity is to approach factory owners of

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urged new Singaporeans to make a bigger effort to integrate themselves into Singapore society.
 
Speaking to about 200 new citizens at a citizenship ceremony at the Teck Ghee Community Centre in Ang Mo Kio on Saturday, PM Lee expressed hope that new citizens will “make friends with Singaporeans – with (their) children’s schoolmates, and pick up Singaporean customs, lifestyles, norms and social rules.”
 
Recognising the increasing tension between local Singaporeans and new citizens, he emphasised that the practices new citizens were used to “may not be considered socially acceptable in Singapore”, reported local media.
 
He said that Singaporeans too have to play their part as well and make the effort to help new citizens integrate in order to build a cohesive society together, reported the Straits Times.
 
PM Lee encouraged new citizens to take initiative and involve themselves in community events and activities. Volunteering in schools, welfare organizations or

A 38-year-old Criminal Investigations Department (CID) officer was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head at the Police Cantonment Complex Wednesday morning, according to various media reports.

Police reportedly said they received a call at 4:41am from the family of Leong Shee Chun asking for assistance, saying that the inspector, who was off duty at the time, was emotionally distressed.

The officer was found at around 5am in his office, with a gunshot wound to his head and his personal-issued service revolver by his side, Channel NewsAsia quoted the police as saying in a statement.

Leong was pronounced dead by paramedics at 5:20am.

He joined the Singapore Police Force in 1991 and was an investigation officer with the CID for the past 14 years.

Investigations by the police of the unnatural death are still undergoing, and no foul play is suspected, according to the media reports.

Most of the recent Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums closed higher in the bidding exercise on Wednesday as compared to two weeks ago.

COE prices for cars 1600cc and below closed at $59,421, up slightly from $59,004 of the previous bidding exercise in June.

However, the premiums for cars above 1600cc registered a $3,111 drop from $85,400 to $82,289.

The premiums for commercial vehicles ended at $55,556, up by $1,054 from the previous premium of $54,502.

In the open category, COE prices rose to $86,999 as compared to $84,389 previously.

The COE price for motorcycles went up to $1,760 from S$1,712 previously.