Individuals who use NRIC numbers as password should change it, says Josephine Teo; How Singapore police tackle in-flight theft concerns: Singapore live news

Three men were detained under the Internal Security Act in November 2024, said the Internal Security Department (ISD) on Thursday (Jan 9).

All three were separately self-radicalised online and had made preparations to carry out armed violence abroad. “While their cases are not related, their radicalisation was either triggered or accelerated by the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict,” said ISD.

According to Muhammad Indra Aqmal bin Effendy, 21, and Nurisham bin Yusoff, 44, planned to fight for Hamas and its military wing in Gaza.

Mohamad Latiff bin Rahim, 41, planned to fight alongside Iran's military and Iran-backed militant groups in the Middle East against Israel. He was also willing to carry out attacks against Singapore, though he had no specific plans to do so.

All three men had also familiarised themselves with weapons, with one visiting a shooting range in Bangkok.

Anyone who knows or suspects that a person has been radicalised can contact ISD at 1800-2626-473.

To find out more about the three men's radicalisation, and what they have done, read here.

Chinese actor Wang Xing, who went missing after travelling to Thailand, was found near the border of Myanmar in an area where scam networks operate.

He was a victim of human trafficking, said Thai police on Wednesday (8 Jan).

Wang told the police that he was lured by a promise of a job casting by a major Thai entertainment company. Instead, he was taken to Myanmar and police believe he made to work as part of a call scam operation targeting Chinese people.

Senior Inspector General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot said Wang's chat logs confirmed his story.

Wang also revealed that there were about 50 other Chinese people in the same location as him, and they all had their heads shaved. He said he was too scared to resist or try to escape.

For more on Wang Xing's ordeal, read here.

Singapore passed a landmark bill on Wednesday (9 Jan) to protect workers against discrimination.

The law covers discrimination based on age, nationality, race and gender, among other characteristics. However, 15 Members of Parliament (MPs) spoke on various issues, including the exclusion of gender and sexual orientation.

PAP's Louis Ng (Nee Soon MP), NMP Usha Chandradas, and He Ting Ru from Workers' Party (Sengkang MP) are those who asked about the protection of LGBTQ+ workers against discrimination.

While Minister for Manpower Tan See Leng said workplace discrimination against LGBT members will not be tolerated, he said the government needs to "build up our expertise and experience in managing such issues under the law".

For more on Singapore's Workplace Fairness Bill, read here.

Singapore is once again the world's most powerful passport.

In a quarterly ranking of the world's most powerful passports, the city-state reclaimed its top spot. The passport allows holders to enjoy visa-free access to 195 out of 227 destinations worldwide, according to the Henley Passport Index.

Japan, one of the world's favourite tourist destinations, comes in second with 193 destinations. It regained visa-free access to China for the first time since the COVID-19 lockdowns.

For more details on the rest of the passport ranking, along with the climbers and fallers, read here.

The Los Angeles wildfires rage on, consuming more than 27,000 acres in Southern California.

With five dead, countless hurt, and more than 1,000 structures ruined, the Palisades Fire is now the most destructive in the history of Los Angeles.

It started on Tuesday (7 Jan) and were fuelled by powerful Santa Ana winds.

The worst impacted areas are the neighbourhoods of Altadena and Sylmar, as well as the Pacific Palisades.

The blazes have displaced more than 150,000 residents, and destroyed homes across the LA area, including those owned by several celebrities. Some of the celebrities affected are Adam Brody and Leighton Meester, Anna Faris, Miles Teller, Eugene Levy, Anthony Hopkins, Paris Hilton, and Billy Crystal.

For more key updates on the LA wildfires, read here.

A 12-year-old boy allegedly attacked his classmate with a bottle.

The police told The Straits Times (ST) that they were called to the school in Woodlands at about 2pm on 7 Jan. The alleged perpetrator is assisting police with investigations.

The victim is a 12-year-old boy. He was assessed by the Singapore Civil Defence Force for injuries.

Both students are from Admiralty Secondary School. The school said the victim suffered a cut on his head. They called an ambulance to take the student to the hospital.

The school added that the victim is in "stable condition" and they're in touch with his parents and "monitoring the situation".

"We have counselled the student involved and will carry out the necessary disciplinary action. We note that a police report has been lodged on the incident and will assist the police with the investigation," they told ST.

The victim's uncle, Jeremy Goh, told ST that his nephew is a soft-spoken boy who has been bullied before, but not to this extent.

He said, "This incident has really shaken him, and he feels traumatised by it. He has also refused to have visitors from school as he feels that his safety was compromised to a severe extent."

According to Goh, the paramedics said his nephew likely had a concussion and that his blood pressure was high. The boy was also in pain and said he felt dizzy.

In a Facebook update on 8 Jan, Goh shared his nephew has been discharged but is on hospitalisation leave until 14 Jan.

There have been rising concerns over the issue of in-flight theft cases, but the Singapore police are warning potential thieves to not "take chances".

The Singapore Police Force (SPF) told CNA that between January 2023 and September 2024, there were four cases of persons charged with theft on board an aircraft – with one case occurring on a Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight.

Singapore has laws pertaining to tackling in-flight theft, under the Convention on Offences and Certain Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft.

However, National University of Singapore's law school professor Alan Tan told CNA that it was "never meant to deal with small-time criminals like thieves".

He said, "Its main purpose is to deal with perpetrators who jeopardise the safety of the aircraft or the good order and discipline on board."

Prof Tan also said that the laws would apply to Singapore-registered aircraft such as those operated by Singapore carriers SIA, Scoot, and Jetstar Asia.

For flights heading outside of Singapore, it depends on whether the receiving country is prepared to apprehend and prosecute the offender.

For foreign-registered aircrafts flying into Singapore, it depends on whether local authorities will apprehend and prosecute the offender for a crime that likely occurred outside Singapore airspace.

Under the Act, Singapore’s Public Prosecutor must consent to take up proceedings. But, Prof Tan pointed out that there is precedent as a credit card thief onboard AirAsia was charged.

The SPF told CNA the police will investigate where the facts and circumstances warrant one.

"The investigation generally includes receiving a report, conducting interviews and statement recording, gathering of evidence, and referring the case to the Attorney-General's Chambers for prosecutorial action."

Individuals who are using their National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) numbers as passwords should change it, said Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo said on Wednesday (8 Jan).

Similarly, private sector organisations that are using NRIC numbers as authentication factors or default passwords should stop this practice as soon as possible.

She also clarified that private sector organisations that collect partial NRIC numbers to identify people can continue to do so.

"The guidelines for the private sector have not yet changed and we will only consider how they should be updated after consulting the public," said Teo.

Teo shared all this during her speech in Parliament which addressed the NRIC unmasking incident in December 2024.

The saga came about after the public discovered that full NRIC numbers were obtainable on the Bizfile portal. Upon receiving a curriculum in July 2024 to "cease any planned use of masked NRIC numbers", Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) "proceeded on the misunderstanding that it should unmask NRIC numbers in the new Bizfile portal".

On 19 Dec 2024, the government apologised to the public for the error.

Teo apologised again on 8 Jan for causing "much anxiety" to the public and explained, "It was not our intention to make the full NRIC number widely disclosed, and we are not heading in that direction."

She stressed that NRIC numbers are personal data and can only be collected when there is a need to do so. Existing guidelines on the use of NRIC numbers and protection the data will not change.

But, there are some "incorrect uses" of the NRIC numbers now that the government plans to stop while the problem is "relatively contained", said Teo.

For individuals who have been using their NRIC numbers as a password, Teo urged them to change it immediately. This will better protect them against those who use NRIC numbers to get access to information or services.

Teo likened the NRIC number to an individual's name where even if it's not widely disclosed, it's not a secret.

"If someone we don't recognise calls out our names and starts to behave as though they know us well, we would be at least slightly suspicious," said the minister.

Teo added that if individuals stop using NRIC numbers as passwords and organisations stop using NRIC numbers as authenticators, it will go "a long way" in preventing harms from scams and identity theft.