100 people evacuated after Buangkok condo fire; Singapore traffic to Johor ‘back to normal’: Singapore live news
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The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) sprang into action on Sunday night (6 October) to put out a fire which broke out in a fourth floor unit at Park Green condo in Rivervale Link. There were no reported injuries but the SCDF says around 100 people were evacuated due to the fire. More on the story below.
No VEP? No problem. The negativity surrounding the much-talked about Vehicle Entry Permit rollout appears to be over as traffic levels heading to Johor have returned to normal. This was according to Malaysia’s Transport Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook who has been hard at work reassuring us that the current stage of the VEP implementation was more about reminding drivers to install the RFID tag and not about fining those who had not yet completed the process.
Over 2,000 Build-to-Order (BTO) flats with waiting times of less than three years will be launched in the upcoming October 2024 sales exercise. This will include a project in Bukit Batok which will be completed within two years. HDB says this is ‘one of the shortest wait time projects’ they have ever launched. More details in the story.
“Now, there is greater awareness of the importance of mental health and well-being. People are more willing to seek support and there are also more avenues for them to do so,” said PM Wong.
IMH had published the first portion of findings from the National Youth Mental Health Study (NYMHS) which stated about 1 in 3 young people (30.6%) aged between 15 and 35 years in Singapore reported experiencing severe or extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and/or stress.
The study involved face-to-face interviews with 2,600 young people between October 2022 and June 2023.
According to Tan, the name of the film draws inspiration from a lesbian bar in Singapore of the same name which was popular throughout the 1990s.
“I first learned of ‘Crocodile Rock’ over a dinner party from an older lesbian friend who regaled me with tales of an entire community of women who lived their fullest and most colourful selves and identities through this bar,” Tan said.
“It hit me soon after that had I not attended this dinner party, I would not even have known of this important landmark in Singaporean queer history, and I am only one generation away,” she said.
Tan is best known for her feature film 'Pop Aye' which won a number of awards including the Special Jury Prize for Screenwriting at the Sundance Film Festival. It was also picked to represent Singapore at the 2018 Oscars in the best foreign-language film category.
‘Crocodile Rock’ will be produced by Singapore-based Momo Film Co as well as Kirsten Tan’s US-based 10 Minutes Later Films.
The 62-year-old had pleaded guilty to one charge of obstruction of justice and four charges under Section 165 of the Penal Code, including obtaining valuable items from billionaire Ong Beng Seng.
In a statement on Facebook, he cited his family’s wellbeing and the emotional toll of a long trial as one of his reasons not to appeal.
“I accept that as a Minister what I did was wrong under section 165. I accept full responsibility for my actions and apologise unreservedly to all Singaporeans,” he said.
Iswaran added: “With this decision, I hope that we can put the pain and anguish behind us, move forward and rebuild our lives together.”
The Housing and Development Board (HDB) made the announcement on Sunday (6 October) and revealed these flats with Shorter Waiting Times (SWT) will be offered for three projects across Bukit Batok and Sengkang.
In Sengkang, the Fernvale Sails project will have a wait time of two years and three months while the Fernvale Oasis BTO has a wait time of two years and nine months.
However, flats in West BrickVille @ Bukit Batok will be completed within two years which is ‘one of the shortest wait time projects’ ever launched, according to HDB.
“With a more stable BTO market where application rates and waiting times have both come down over the past two years, we are now able to offer nearly 3,000 SWT flats in 2024,” said HDB’s chief executive officer Tan Meng Du in a statement.
HDB has launched 2,876 units with SWT in 2024.
Almost 70% of the SWT flats in the October sales exercise are 4-room and 5-room flats.
Over 180 years of horse racing comes to an end in Singapore
For some, the news may not have even registered as noteworthy but for others it marks an end of an era in Singapore’s rich history in horse racing.
“Singapore was a world leader in horse racing” and the track was one of the best, Tim Fitzsimmons, head trainer and director of Fitzsimmons Racing, was quoted as saying in a report by Bloomberg.
Singapore has 182 years of history in the sport but its popularity has been declining rapidly. Race day spectator averages of 11,000 in 2010 dropped to about 6,000 in 2019 and have been dipping further post-COVID.
Around 10,000 punters turned up for the Grand Singapore Gold Cup – the final race day – at the Singapore Turf Club before the land is returned to the government to be rebuilt into new public and private homes.
A standout feature of the hotel are the four large planted terraces cut into the building's rectangular form. Designed by Singapore-based Woha Architects, the aim was to incorporate the country’s four environments – forest, beach, garden and cloud – into a stunning skyscraper which feels intimate as you experience it.
The Pan Pacific Orchard opened its doors in June 2023 and was described by CTBUH as a ‘hotel in nature’ that demonstrated a ‘groundbreaking approach to high-density urbanism.’
CTBUH is a non-profit organisation founded in the US and is recognised as the authority on skyscrapers globally.
Marcus Chhan
Singapore traffic to Johor ‘back to normal’ after initial VEP dip
The VEP – needed for foreign-registered vehicles entering Malaysia – came into effect on 1 October and was met with frustration by drivers who had faced multiple challenges trying to complete the registration and installation process in time.
“Yes, there were some reductions on October 1 and 2. However, after I went down and gave my assurance on October 3, there was no more reduction,” he said.
The VEP is being implemented in phases and the Malaysian government has assured there will only be reminders – and not fines – issued during this current stage.
“For now, there will be no fines, only reminders for them to install their VEP as soon as possible,” Loke said.
No specific timeline has been given on when the VEP requirements will be fully implemented.
Under the rules, drivers of non-Malaysia-registered vehicles who do not have a VEP can be denied entry into the country or fined up to RM2,000 ($614).
Marcus Chhan
100 people evacuated from Buangkok condo after fire
It was far from a quiet Sunday night for residents of a Buangkok condominium unit as 100 people were forced to evacuate their homes due to a fire.
At about 8.35pm on 6 October, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) responded to the fire at a fourth floor unit at Park Green condo in Rivervale Link.
There were no reported injuries and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Firefighters who were at the scene revealed the fire involved the living room and kitchen area of the unit.
“The fire was extinguished by firefighters with two water jets. There was no one inside the unit at the time of the incident,” said SCDF in a statement.
“About 100 persons had evacuated from the neighbouring units,” added SCDF.
Investigators in Wisconsin used genetic genealogy to solve a 50-year-old cold case this week, charging an 84-year-old Minnesota man with murdering a woman who was found dead in 1974, authorities said.
A near-fatal incident occurred on Interstate 81 near Whitney Point, New York on October 28 after a truck violently smashed into a van parked on the side of the road in a work zone, narrowly missing a highway worker. Terrifying dashcam footage released on November 7 captured the reckless crash that saw the lucky man survive by a matter of inches.
Residents in a small South Carolina town are finding themselves in the middle of a real-life game of Jumanji after 43 monkeys escaped Wednesday from a research facility.
Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees flocked to rivers and bodies of water across India to pray to the sun god as part of the Chhath festival this week. In Noida, on the outskirts of the capital New Delhi, families gathered at the Yamuna river, which is covered with white toxic foam as a result of pollutants discharged from nearby industries. The Yamuna is considered one of India’s most sacred rivers, and Hindu devotees have continued to use it despite warnings about the toxic foam.
Two days after violence in Amsterdam following a match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Ajax, residents and Jewish citizens voiced shock at the events which the mayor said had "deeply damaged" the city.One shopper in the market, 61-year-old Edit Tuboly, also voiced shock at the violence.
A seaman who fell off a cargo ship survived almost 20 hours at sea before being rescued off Australia’s southeastern coast on Friday, according to emergency services.
The king of the Netherlands has said “we failed” the Jewish community as the country did “during World War Two” after Israeli football fans were ambushed, kicked and beaten on the streets of Amsterdam.
The water was already knee-high on the ground floor of the hotel where Aitana Puchal had taken refuge when she received a text alert from the regional government of Valencia at 8 pm on Oct. 29 warning people to shelter in place from severe flash floods. "We could have done with (the warning) about six hours earlier," said the 23-year-old, who had fled with other local residents and guests to the first floor of the hotel near the town of Paiporta. Carlos Martinez, another Paiporta resident, told local television the flood alert came when he was stranded in a tree "seeing bodies floating past."
A 13-year-old boy was arrested Thursday after police said he entered a secure area of an Kenosha, Wisconsin, elementary school carrying a suspicious backpack and duffle bag.
NEW YORK — Jailed hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs renewed his efforts Friday to be released from Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center, proposing new conditions including $50 million bond, round-the-clock home detention with security monitoring and strict limits on who he can contact outside his legal team. The bond agreement would be co-signed by Combs’ family members, including his ...