Singapore

Some stores have adjusted their prices to reflect the increase in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), which has increased by 1 percentage point to 8% starting Jan. 1. CNA went to numerous stores to compare prices on a random assortment of things before and after the GST increase went into effect. While other retailers raised their prices, no notices …

A woman posed as an attorney and conned her contacts into giving her over S$62,000 for “legal services” or employment at a reputable firm. Siti Suhailal Halil, 28, was given a two-year prison sentence on Friday (Jan 6). She pleaded guilty to three counts of cheating, with three further counts taken into account. The court heard that Siti cheated on …

China may be reopening, with its millions of would-be tourists and other global travelers freed of nearly all Covid-19 restrictions, but many of the countries that had been waiting desperately for the return of all those lovely tourist dollars are now keeping a wary foot behind the door, if not slamming it shut. China has announced that it would eliminate …

Food waste and food packaging occupy a sizable amount of landfill space worldwide. With technology that transforms food waste into takeaway boxes and other containers, AlterPacks is addressing both problems. Pre-seed funding of $1 million has been received for the Singapore-based firm, with Plug and Play APAC, Seed Capital, Earth Venture Capital, and angel investor Alice Foo all contributing. The …

A woman was aware for long time that the handle on the bathroom door in her home was broken, but she chose not to have it fixed. When she went to take a shower one day, the handle broke off, and as a result, she was unable to get out of the bathroom for four days. She lived alone in …

At least two banks in Singapore have announced modifications to credit card interest rates and surcharges. One of them is HSBC, which is increasing the annual percentage rate on outstanding credit card balances from 25.9% to 26.6%. Late payment costs – an extra flat fee charged to credit cardholders who fail to pay the minimum amount by the due date …

A Singaporean billionaire who made headlines in 2020 for attempting to purchase an English Premier League football team but who fled Singapore weeks later amid suspicions of accounting irregularities has been apprehended in China. Saturday marked the return to Singapore of Novena Global Healthcare Group (HGHG) director Nelson Loh Ne-Loon and a business employee. Loh and his 43-year-old colleague Wong …

Donald Pang, a camping aficionado, had intended to go camping in Johor this month with three friends, but postponed the trip due to Malaysia’s continuing monsoon season, which has caused devastating floods and landslides in several regions. The 59-year-old marketing professional told CNA on Wednesday, “If you’re on high ground, you might not be flooded, but you might have landslides.” …

The flu season has returned to Singapore, and physicians are reporting a 20 percent increase in instances of respiratory illness. During the winter season, health officials overseas have warned of a “tripledemic” including concurrent epidemics of COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus. Clinics have been scrambling to guarantee sufficient drug availability during this period, as a COVID-19 outbreak looms and …

A former chief financial officer of Agritrade International deceived 16 financial institutions around the world into providing her company with millions of dollars in trade financing, resulting in losses of US$469 million (S$631 million). The losses were incurred by the financial institutions, which included major banks in Japan, South Korea, India, and Taiwan, between January 2016 and November 2019. This …