5 S’pore News That You Should Know About That Were Reported Yesterday (30 August 2019)

Let’s face it: in this social media world, exciting and viral news like a cat feeding a baby beer would often appear in your Facebook news feed, while important news like the GDP growth of Singapore this year wouldn’t get the same reach.

It’s understandable since social media platforms would prioritise engaging and viral contents to keep users in their platform.

In order to ensure that you’d still know about important news instead just social news, below are the top five Singapore news that was reported yesterday which you should know, simplified for you in a bite-sized format:

Pilot Trial Across Five Southern Islands With Super-Wifi

Nature is great. You relax, destress and spend the day winding down. The bad thing about nature? You might not be able to get great connectivity.

For these five southern islands:

• Kias Island
• St John’s Island
• Pulau Seringat
• Pulau Hantu Besar
• Kusu Island

This might be a thing of the past.

The government is testing utilising TV White Space, also known as Super Wifi, on these islands to boost internet connectivity.

So government officials who had to go to these islands to inspect daily can send drones over and inspect remotely.

And for us mortals who only want to chill and relax? You’ll get better internet connectivity when you’re there.

If this pilot is successful, that is.

Read here to find out more.

Longer Wait For Trains During Off-Peak Hours

If you haven’t downloaded an app that tells you when the train is arriving at the station, it might be a good idea to do that now.

Because during peak hours, you’ll only have to wait 3 minutes for the next train to come along.

But during off-peak hours? It could take between 10 to 14 minutes, maybe.

Transport Minister Khaw Boon Wan told rail operators to try and reduce the frequency between trains during off-peak hours because demand isn’t uniform.

This, he said, will help reduce wear and tear and improve cost efficiency of the system.

Read more about it here.

Crime Rate Up By 7% In S’pore

Singapore is a safe country. But like what our friendly neighbourhood men in blue likes to say: low crime doesn’t mean no crime.

The number of reported crimes in Singapore increased by 7% for the first half of this year.

And this increase is largely credited to a rise in scam cases.

Out of which, e-commerce scams, loan scams, credit-for-sex scams and Internet love scams make up about 80% of the top 10 scam types in the first half of 2019.

There is also an increase in Outrage of Modesty (OM) cases.

While there are now lesser (about 9.8% lesser) OM cases on the public transport system, OM cases at bus interchanges and LRT/MRT stations increased by 26.7%.

OM cases at shopping malls have increased drastically as well at 31.4%.

So make sure you’re vigilant when you go out, eh? Because like our friendly ostrich always says

You can read more about it here.

SPF Setting Up Anti-Scam Centre

Singapore is a pretty safe country, except when it comes to scams.

From time to time, you’ll hear scams pop up, with the latest being the Singtel technician scam.

The total amount of money scammed in 2018 was S$158 million. While it has decreased from the previous year of S$1.7 million, the number of cases reported had increased by 20.6%.

Which is why the SPF is setting up an anti-scam centre.

The centre aims to minimise losses suffered by the victims and disrupt scam activities.

Bank accounts can now be frozen within a few days, compared to the two weeks required previously. This has helped the SPF recover 35% or about $850,000 of the 2.4 million lost.

But even so, here’s a rule of the thumb: If it’s too good to be true…it usually is.

You can read more about it here.

Australian Man Arrested For Allegedly Throwing Killer Bottle In Killer Litter Case

About a week ago, news of a 73-year-old delivery driver’s death due to killer litter gripped Singaporeans.

Here is a summary of what happened:

• The family was having a housewarming party in the Spottswoode 18 condominium on 18 August 2019.
• Mr Nasiari Sunee, a 73-year-old delivery driver sat down on the condominium BBQ pit area to eat with his wife and relatives.
• A loud thud is heard all of a sudden.
• Mr Nasiari Sunee lay bleeding on the ground, while his wife got bruises on her shoulder
• An Italian Wine bottle was seen on the table
• Mr Nasiari died in the hospital after his heart stopped 4 times

Residents were skeptical that the police will be able to find the person responsible as beer bottles were encouraged to be left beside rubbish chutes by homeowners.

So anyone could’ve taken the bottle from there and threw it.

After conducting ground enquiries, the police has arrested an Australian male suspect and he will be charged soon.

You can read more here.

Do come back tomorrow to the Goody Feed app so you’ll always stay informed!