The 22-year-old man accused of murdering a 25-year-old man during a brawl on Sep. 22 along Verdun Road was brought back to the crime scene on Sep. 27.

Three others who were involved were also brought back.

Muhammad Sajid Saleem, 22, is charged with the murder of Dhinessh Vasie and faces the death penalty if found guilty.

The three others were charged with rioting with a deadly weapon while being members of an unlawful assembly.

The three men are Pradave Shashi Kumar, 20, Satish Jason Prabahas, 23, and Kirrthik Roshan Prem Ananth, 22.

Murder suspect revisits crime scene

The man charged with murder, Sajid, was the first to arrive, escorted by officers at 11:43am.

A Tamil interpreter was also present.

Sajid, who was wearing a red polo t-shirt with wrist and feet restraints, was made to go through the alleyway near Verdun Road where the brawl happened.

The route was cordoned off with police tape.

He was then brought outside the eating house where he was seen nodding in response to officers’ questions.

Officers then led him to another shorter alleyway beside the eating house before he was escorted back.

Second suspect

The second suspect arrived at 12:49pm.

Wearing a white polo shirt, he was also in wrist and feet restraints.

He was seen gesturing as the officers asked him questions while leading him to the alleyway.

An evidence marker was placed as he answered officers' questions.

He was escorted back by officers at 1:19pm.

Third suspect

The third man involved in the incident arrived at around 1:30pm.

The bespectacled man was wearing a white polo tee and was also brought along the same route as the earlier two.

He was seen gesturing and pointing as officers asked questions.

He finished his turn at 1:55pm.

Fourth suspect

The last suspect arrived at the scene at around 2:07pm.

The man, who had calf tattoos, was also in a white polo tee with wrist and feet restraints.

He was also brought along the same route and was seen answering officers' questions.

He left the scene at around 2:34pm.

Others involved in brawl

Other than the four men, two women have also been charged in relation to the brawl.

The two women are Nur Diyana Harun Al Rasheed, 24, and Kasthuri Kallidas Marimuthu, 24.

It was revealed during a court hearing earlier this week that the group had caused hurt to Dhinessh, and two others — Naviinjaay C. Nathan and K. Vicknesh.

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Top photo by Chanseng/Mothership

32 individuals were arrested for their suspected involvement in illegal employment after an island-wide enforcement operation.

Officers from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) conducted the operation at 27 locations on Sep. 23.

Among those arrested is a 33-year-old male suspected to be the mastermind of a syndicate that operated 28 shell public entertainment outlets.

These shell outlets had allegedly hired work permit holders as performing artistes when the companies were non-operational.

16 men and 15 women were also arrested for their alleged involvement in making false declarations in work pass applications when the companies did not require their employment.

Investigations against all arrested individuals are ongoing.

Work Permit scheme will be reviewed

In light of a "growing trend of abuse", MOM said it will be reviewing the Work Permit (Performing Artiste) scheme.

The scheme is intended for licensed public entertainment outlets to hire performing artistes on a short-term basis.

MOM also reminded the public that under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (EFMA), all employers and work pass applicants must make accurate, complete and truthful declarations to the Controller of Work Passes.

"Employers can only hire foreign employees with valid work passes," said MOM.

Foreigners who undertake employment without a valid work pass may be liable to a fine of up to S$20,000, imprisonment for up to two years, or both.

Those convicted may be barred from working in Singapore.

Individuals convicted of making false declarations in work pass applications may be liable to a fine not exceeding S$20,000, imprisonment for up to two years, or to both.

Errant employers will also have their work pass privileges suspended, and the work pass applicant may also be prosecuted and barred from working in Singapore.

MOM said members of the public who are aware of illegal employment activities, or who know of persons or employers who may have contravened the EFMA, should report the matter to MOM at 6438 5122 or mom_fmmd@mom.gov.sg, and added that information provided will be kept strictly confidential.

Top image via Ministry of Manpower.

An AirAsia flight from Guangzhou, China to Johor Bahru, Malaysia turned back less than an hour after takeoff on Sep. 26.

A passenger on flight AK1395 said oxygen masks were deployed in the cabin and he could smell something burning.

Passenger recounts smelling smoke and feeling pain in his ears

Daniel Phoon shared on Facebook that he and his colleagues had been returning to Johor Bahru after finishing their work abroad.

Less than an hour into the flight, which took off at 3:14am, Phoon was just about to fall asleep when the oxygen masks were deployed.

He quickly woke his colleagues up so they could put on their masks.

Phoon described the flight attendant's voice as sounding "unstable" when she was making an in-flight announcement.

He also recounted feeling pain in his ears due to air pressure, as well as seeing smoke on the plane.

"I also smelled something burning," he said.

Phoon said passengers were not informed of what exactly happened perhaps to avoid causing panic.

"Thanks to the captain, we safely returned to Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport," Phoon continued, adding that he was waiting for more information on their return flight to Malaysia and hoped everything would go smoothly.

Flightradar24 data showed the plane touched down in China after 5am.

Sin Chew Daily reported that another flight to Senai International Airport was arranged for the passengers, which departed at 6:20pm that day.

Mothership has reached out to AirAsia for comments.

Top image via Daniel Phoon/Facebook

An 89-year-old man driving in Malaysia accidentally crashed his car into a roadside eatery.

A video uploaded on Facebook by a passerby showed his Perodua Myvi stalled right where the food was displayed, with customers skirting around it to order their food.

Instead of getting enraged, the store's owner offered the elderly driver a free meal to calm his frazzled nerves.

Drive-through

According to Sin Chew Daily, the incident happened at around 11:20am on Sep. 26, at Pinji Centre Point Restaurant in Ipoh.

The elderly man was driving with his wife in the car.

He was trying to park when his foot apparently missed the brake and made contact with the accelerator instead.

This caused his car to lurch forth, crashing into a nearby motorbike and driving into the store.

The car's bonnet hit a counter displaying food.

Part of its back bumper also fell off.

With only minor damages to his vehicle, the motorcyclist was able to ride away.

Even though there were no casualties, the elderly couple appeared shaken.

Comfort food

In an effort to calm the couple's nerves, the store owner offered them a meal.

When the couple wanted to pay before taking their leave, the owner insisted that it was on the house.

He even helped them drive their car out of the eatery.

China Press reported that police later arrived at the scene to investigate.

They left after ensuring that the situation was under control.

Top images via Liu Jianying and Chan Wing-kei/Sin Chew Daily

A husband-and-wife pair, Raymond Ng Kai Hoe and Iris Koh, have been ordered to pay S$12,000 in costs to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) after they failed in their bid to secure judicial review against the authority.

The Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) told Mothership on Sep. 27 that the court granted HSA's bid for the case to be struck out entirely after it found that the couple's application was an abuse of process.

Filed application

The duo had filed an application for judicial review to get a mandatory order for HSA to investigate and prosecute entities using celebrities to advertise vaccination, the statement said.

Judicial review is a process where the High Court exercises its supervisory function over a public body.

The hearing took place on Sep. 19, with AGC acting on behalf of HSA.

AGC filed an application to have the case struck out on the basis that HSA had already investigated the matter, the AGC said.

The couple was seeking "an academic or hypothetical interpretation of the law which was an abuse of the court's process", AGC added,

The judge ruled that the judicial review application "disclosed no reasonable cause of action", and was an abuse of process.

The judge also decided that it was in the interests of justice to strike out the application, AGC said.

The S$12,000 in costs payable to HSA is for striking out the application, as well as two other applications the couple had brought.

Asked for donations

Koh, 48, asked for support to pay the S$12,000 costs.

"Despite this setback, we've learned a great deal from this experience about the complexities of pursuing a judicial review," she wrote, adding:

"This knowledge will be invaluable as we consider future actions to uphold public rights."

She also wrote that she learnt that the bar for striking out is high, but the bar for a judicial review is "even higher".

The process will "help us prepare for the next JR", she added.

Koh and her husband have mounted several cases against people or entities, for reasons like alleged defamation or breach of contract.

Koh currently faces a litany of other charges and is due back in court in October.

Top photo via Raymond Ng on Facebook

An 18-year-old male motorcyclist died in a hit-and-run accident at Loyang on Sep. 27 morning.

Police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) confirmed with Mothership that they were alerted to the accident at around 9:20am.

Police said it was a hit-and-run accident involving a motorcycle and an unknown vehicle along Loyang Avenue towards Tampines Avenue 7.

The aftermath

A photo of the aftermath of the incident was shared to the "SGRoad Blocks/Traffic News" Telegram group.

It showed a motorcycle lying on its side on the left lane of the road, some distance in front of a blue tent.

Police personnel were at the scene.

The motorcycle bore a P-plate used by motorists still on probation.

One user wrote that following the accident, vehicles were prevented from using the left lane, which caused a jam from the Sree Ramar Temple at Changi Village towards Loyang.

Police investigations are ongoing

Police said an 18-year-old male motorcyclist was pronounced dead at scene by an SCDF paramedic.

Police investigations are ongoing.

Top image from SGRoad Blocks/Traffic News Telegram

Two men, aged 52 and 68, climbed out of the window of a 12th storey Jurong West flat to evade Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers who showed up at the unit.

One of the men climbed back in, while the other stood on the ledge for three hours during a stand-off before going back into the unit.

Safety air cushions deployed

The incident occurred at about 6:50am on Sep. 26 at Block 967B Jurong West Street 93, the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) told Mothership.

SCDF deployed two safety air cushions and rescuers from the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (DART) were on standby as a precautionary measure.

Lianhe Zaobao reported that the DART rescuers were prepared to deploy a safety net to carry out a rescue.

Man appeared to be smoking at one point

According to an eyewitness who spoke to Zaobao, the man on the ledge appeared to be in his 70s, and he was seen smoking at one point while standing on the ledge.

He was also seen gesticulating.

The area under the unit was cordoned off.

A crowd had gathered on the ground after some time, it was reported.

Police officers managed to gain entry into the unit at about 10:15am, the police told Mothership.

No injuries were reported.

Crisis Negotiation Unit officers on scene

SCDF told Mothership that they received a call for assistance at the block at 6:55am on Thursday.

The police said they received a call for assistance at the block at about the same time.

Upon arrival, a person was seen standing outside the window ledge of a kitchen in a 12th floor unit.

It was established that two men had locked themselves in a residential unit.

As it was assessed that the men might pose a danger to themselves, officers from the Special Operations Command and Crisis Negotiation Unit responded to the incident.

The two men were subsequently arrested for suspected drug-related offences, police said.

Investigations by CNB into the suspected drug-related offences are ongoing.

One person was conveyed to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.

Top photos via Lianhe Zaobao & Google Maps

The National University of Singapore (NUS) University Town food courts and bus shuttle services will be restricted.

Access will only be allowed for students, staff, and authorised persons from Sep. 30 to Oct. 7, with personnel deployed to enforce visitor control.

During the one-week period, UTown food court access will be restricted from 11am to 2pm, while internal shuttle bus access will be restricted from 8am to 2pm.

The Central Library will also be closed to visitors during this period.

In an internal email sent on Sep. 26 and seen by Mothership, the student union said it aims to deploy personnel at bus stops and UTown to enforce visitor control.

Only those with NUS-approved passes can board the Internal Shuttle Bus.

Tour groups and student guides will have to be registered.

"Golden Week" from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7

China's National Holiday, known as "Golden Week" is from Oct. 1 to Oct. 7.

Due to the week-long break, many Chinese tourists tend to take this opportunity to go on vacation.

NUS has been facing an influx of tourists on its campus.

The popularity of NUS among certain segments of overseas visitors has been attributed to its reputation as a world class university with state-of-the-art facilities and modern environment.

Students have voiced on Reddit their frustrations about the impact of campus tourism in NUS recently, with some observing that tourists apparently tried to board the buses even though there were signs pasted on the doors to deter them from doing so.

Others said they were more worried for their safety and security.

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Top image via Google Maps.

Johor’s Menteri Besar (chief minister) Onn Hafiz Ghazi has called on eligible voters in the Mahkota state assembly by-election to return to Johor from Singapore to vote this coming Saturday, Sep. 28.

The Johor state assembly seat of Mahkota became vacant after incumbent Sharifah Azizah Syed Zain passed away in August 2024.

By-election and coalition

The by-election has become highly symbolic and is perceived as a test of unity between the Malaysian government's two major components: Pakatan Harapan (PH), and Barisan Nasional (BN).

Johor’s state assembly is decisively controlled by BN, who hold 40 out of 56 seats, well over two-thirds of the assembly.

The aftermath of the December 2022 general election saw former rivals PH and BN come together at the federal level to form the current Unity government.

Electoral limbo

Free Malaysia Today (FMT) reported that campaigning in the area has begun to focus on the areas with significant numbers of Malaysian Chinese in the electorate.

FMT estimates that only eight of the 18 regions of the electoral districts favour the BN-backed candidate, with the remaining 10 being in limbo.

But a rift between a UMNO youth leader, part of BN, and a Democratic Action Party (DAP), part of PH, leader has led some Chinese voters in Mahkota to consider a boycott of the election.

This is despite urgings by leaders from both UMNO and DAP to consider the spat a personal matter, not an inter-party conflict.

However, some voters that FMT spoke to said that they maintained a good opinion of the BN candidate Syed Hussein Syed Abdullah, and would turn out to vote for him.

The by-election is a straight fight between Syed Hussein and opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate Haizan Jaafar.

Fully manned customs counters

But BN leaders are understandably reluctant to take chances.

Johor’s chief minister, Onn Hafiz Ghazi, who is also BN’s election director for the by-election, has appealed directly to the Chinese community to vote.

On Sep. 25, he also posted a video on social media encouraging voters working in or residing in Singapore to return to Johor to vote.

@onnhafiz Buat semua pengundi DUN Mahkota yang bekerja dan merantau ke Singapura, saya menyeru dan merayu agar pulanglah ke DUN Mahkota pada 28 September ini, Sabtu ini untuk memenangkan calon Barisan Nasional, Saudara Syed Hussien, Calon No. 1 N.29 Mahkota. Dengan sokongan dan semangat solidariti daripada semua, saya pasti ia akan memberi mesej penting berkenaan kestabilan politik di Johor dalam membangunkan dan memajukan lagi negeri Johor dan DUN Mahkota yang kita semua cintai ini. Selamat pulang dan selamat mengundi buat semua! Ayuh kita suburkan sistem demokrasi negara dan pertahankan #MahkotaKita ! #UndilahBarisanNasional #BarisanNasional #BNJohor #MajuJohor #BangsaJohor #MahkotaKita ♬ original sound - Onn Hafiz

According to the Malay Mail, Onn Hafiz said he had contacted the Malaysian Immigration Department and ensured that all the immigration counters at both land crossings in Johor Bahru and the Second Link would be open, starting from Sep. 27 until Sep. 28.

This was to "further smoothen the return journey of voters", as it was important to help voters in the by-election to "fulfil their responsibilities".

He urged the thousands of voters working in Singapore to return to vote, saying that every vote was important to strengthen Malaysia's democratic system.

Such appeals for a return to vote have been made previously, such as in 2018, when Singaporeans avoided the Causeway, ostensibly to help Malaysians return home to vote.

SEZ who?

A commentary published by Fulcrum suggested that PAS victory in Mahkota might be troublesome for Onn Hafiz, as it might encourage a challenge to plans by both the state and federal government to implement a Special Economic Zone in Johor.

This SEZ would target Singapore and Singaporean companies as major partners in economic investments in the state.

Onn Hafiz has been vocal in promoting the opportunities afforded by a potential SEZ, even going so far as speaking at the National University of Singapore Society’s 70th-anniversary lecture.

There he touted measures that both the state and federal government would implement, as well as promising that interested businesses would have plenty of assistance in setting up the proposed SEC.

Showing appreciation

Onn Hafiz has been particularly vocal about easing the daily commute made by over 300,000 Johoreans who travel daily to Singapore for work.

He reminded them that his state government, with the assistance of the central government, has made many efforts to facilitate those commutes.

This included improving public transportation, increasing the number of open counters available, more immigration officers, as well as upgrading infrastructure and systems.

The Malay Mail quoted him calling on voters to return briefly to show “our solidarity for the efforts made all this while”.

Related story

Top image via @onnhafiz/Tiktok

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has ordered a recall of a locally manufactured brand of fish patties as they were found to contain an undeclared egg allergen.

SFA said in a Sep. 26 release that they detected egg in Fish Burger Ikan Sultan (650g) but this ingredient was not declared on the packaging label.

The product was manufactured in Singapore.

Recall of products ongoing

As egg is an allergen, SFA has directed the manufacturer, Tenderfresh Fried & BBQ Chicken Pte Ltd to recall the implicated products.

The recall is ongoing.

SFA noted that such allergens could result in allergic reactions in individuals who are sensitive to it.

Under Singapore’s food laws, food products with ingredients that are known to cause hypersensitivity must be declared on food packaging labels to protect consumers with food allergies.

All ingredients in prepacked food should also be specified on the product label.

Advice for consumers

SFA said that egg does not pose a food safety issue to consumers at large, except for those with egg intolerance or allergies.

Consumers who are intolerant of, or allergic to, egg who have purchased the affected products should not consume them.

Such consumers who have consumed the implicated product should seek medical advice if they have concerns about their health.

Consumers may also contact their point of purchase for enquiries.

Top image from SFA / Canva