SINGAPORE: A 12-year-old student was taken to the hospital on Tuesday (Apr 16) after a car hit her at a pedestrian crossing outside Bukit View Secondary School.

The police were alerted to the accident involving a car and a pedestrian along Bukit Batok Street 21 towards Bukit Batok Central at about 7.05am on Tuesday, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said in response to CNA's queries.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) also told CNA it was alerted to a traffic accident along the same street at about 7.10am.

The girl was taken conscious to the National University Hospital.

She has since been discharged from hospital, said Bukit View Secondary School's principal Jaswant Singh on Tuesday afternoon.

"We are in touch with the student and her family to provide the necessary support," he added.

A 50-year-old male car driver is assisting with police investigations, the police said, adding that investigations are ongoing.

In a video uploaded by Facebook page SG Road Vigilante, the girl is seen running across the pedestrian crossing as a traffic warden waves for vehicles to stop.

A white Honda Vezel did not stop and hit the girl. In the footage, the girl is seen flying forward due to the impact.

SINGAPORE — Pritam Singh, the Leader of the Opposition and head of the Workers' Party (WP), was charged on Tuesday (19 March) with two offences over allegedly lying to a parliamentary committee. This development comes two years after the police initiated investigations into his conduct during proceedings before the Committee of Privileges.

According to The Straits Times, the charges stem from Singh's testimony before the committee, which was convened in November 2021 to address a controversy involving Raeesah Khan, a former MP from his party. That committee had recommended Raeesah be fined $35,000 for lying to Parliament and abusing her parliamentary privilege.

SINGAPORE: In a crackdown on litterbugs, Singapore may publicise images of offenders in community spaces so members of the public can help identify them.

Identified offenders will be dealt with under the law, including being fined or charged in court, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said.

"Care will be exercised" in cases committed by young children, the elderly or vulnerable groups, the agency added.

SINGAPORE: From Mar 1, it will no longer be mandatory for people to wear masks in some healthcare settings that are considered lower-risk, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Thursday (Feb 29) as it adjusts Singapore's COVID-19 response protocols, including vaccine recommendations.

“Mask-wearing will no longer be compulsory for patients, visitors and staff in outpatient settings, including polyclinics, general practitioner clinics, specialist outpatient clinics, dialysis centres, Traditional Chinese Medicine clinics and dental clinics,” said MOH.

“However, mask-wearing is still strongly encouraged for medically vulnerable persons, seniors and persons with acute respiratory infection (ARI) in these settings.”

Mask-wearing will also be required for higher-risk healthcare settings, such as inpatient wards, emergency departments and residential care facilities.

The government does not condone any exploitative employment contracts, said the Manpower Minister.

SINGAPORE: Guidelines on the use of a job stipulation that restricts an employee from working for a competitor are being finalised and are expected to be made known in the second half of 2024, the Manpower Minister Tan See Leng announced on Tuesday (Feb 6).

Also known as restraint of trade clauses, the non-compete rule has caused unease recently with high-profile examples from two big-name tech firms.

Former Lazada employees who spoke to CNA after the retrenchment exercise in early January questioned their 12-month non-compete clause that covered an extensive list of tech, retail and logistics companies.

Last week, the courts dismissed Shopee's requests for injunctions against a former employee who resigned and moved to ByteDance. When he first joined Shopee, he had signed a Restrictive Covenants Agreement with a non-solicitation and non-competition clause, as well as an Employee Confidentiality Agreement.

“We understand that overly restrictive restraint of trade clauses can disadvantage retrenched employees and create difficulties in finding employment,” said Dr Tan, responding to several parliamentary questions about Lazada’s recent retrenchment exercise

SINGAPORE — You might want to think twice about that swim the next time you're at one of these two Singapore beaches. The National Environment Agency (NEA) has advised the public against carrying out primary contact water activities in the waters of Pasir Ris Beach and Sembawang Park Beach due to elevated bacteria levels.

Primary contact water activities include swimming, wakeboarding, windsurfing and water immersion training, where a person’s whole body or face and trunk are frequently immersed, making it likely for some water to be swallowed, the NEA said. Meanwhile, other non-primary contact water activities like sailing, kayaking and canoeing can continue.

In a media release on Monday (5 February), the agency said that both beaches saw a grading drop from "good” to “fair” from its annual beach grading exercise. The "fair" grading is due to an increase in Enterococcus (EC) bacteria levels, which increases the risk of gastrointestinal infection when beach water is ingested, the NEA said.

EC is a bacteria commonly found in the gastrointestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals like humans, the NEA said. Increased EC levels in recreational water increases the risk of gastrointestinal illnesses in swimmers.

Signages advising the public against swimming will be put up along both beaches, and will be in place until further notice., the NEA added.

SINGAPORE: Two top universities in Singapore are paying the price of success as foreign tourists flock to see their campuses, causing disruptions to students. One of them, Nanyang Technological University (NTU), has just imposed a fee to manage the influx of curious sightseers.

Why not just fence it? It’s universities after all, not tourist places. Put guards at the gates to control entry.