Graduates in an AI world must be problem solvers, not armchair thinkers (14 April 2026)
"Imagine being just 18 years old and outperforming experienced professionals in problem solving, not just in terms of superiority of solutioning, but in the speed of ideation and prototyping as well.
This is exactly what is happening with the astronomical rise of artificial intelligence.
In the last year, a group of first-year students at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) have been working on real-world projects for industry partners, completing them in days and weeks, instead of months or even years. This is a sharp contrast to the projects that their seniors undertake with their final-year or capstone projects, which typically take between three and six months to complete.
The difference? The former is focused on fast prototyping and leverages AI heavily in their solutioning.
What is significant is that this group of superstar problem solvers will no longer represent the exception, but the norm going forward.
The Goal: To Build ‘Trilinguals’
Indeed, with the incredible advances in AI technology, many questions have been raised - including the continued relevance of higher learning. If a machine is infinitely smarter than us, why do we need to invest time, effort and money in a university education?
With the rapid development of AI and agentic AI that acts independently, a university education may well become a useless commodity, sooner rather than later. After all, AI will likely be able to do everything a university graduate can do - better and faster.
But this is based on the expectation that university education won't change, that it remains rooted in the past, teaching undergraduates everything they need to know in the subjects they study with absolute disregard for the multitude of changes around us. It assumes that students need to be taught everything from the basics to their specialisations in order to become “experts” over their entire adult life.
I am convinced that we have reached a critical inflexion point in the history of learning. Educators like me cannot afford to turn a blind eye to the rapid technological developments around us and continue teaching the way we have been used to for the last few hundred years.
The time has come for us to pivot away from academic mastery and focus instead on skills mastery. Learning must no longer be about how much one can memorise - it must be about how one uses the information available to solve problems with real-world value as an end goal."
1 in 5 S’pore workers overqualified for their jobs, but most are there by choice: Studies (14 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Nearly one in five workers in Singapore is overqualified for their jobs, but most of them opted for such roles willingly, according to a new study by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
The study, released on April 14, found that 19.4 per cent of resident workers held qualifications higher than what their jobs required in 2025 – up from 16.3 per cent in 2015.
Of these overqualified workers, about nine in 10 – or 17.7 per cent of the resident workforce – made that choice voluntarily, driven by preferences for better work-life balance, more flexible hours, personal interests or better remuneration in sales-related roles.
Only a small group – 1.7 per cent of the resident workforce – wanted a better-matched job but could not find one. This figure has remained stable at below 3 per cent for the past decade, according to the MOM study, which draws on labour force survey data and international benchmarking.
Another study by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities at the Singapore University of Technology and Design painted a similar picture.
In their survey with 1,100 residents in October 2025, 22.5 per cent of respondents said they are overqualified for their jobs.
Most of them – 85.5 per cent – were underemployed by choice, and they tended to have young or elderly dependants.
Overqualification is generally more common in high-income economies, where a larger share of the workforce is tertiary educated.
In Singapore, 64 per cent of resident workers had tertiary education in 2025, well above the average of 41.2 per cent across high-income countries.
Despite this, the Republic’s overqualification rate of 19.4 per cent remains lower than the high-income countries’ average of 21.6 per cent."
‘The most important client I could ever have’: Why this law grad now defends S’pore through military intelligence (15 April 2026)
"Law school leaves no assumption unchallenged. Students learn to interrogate every assumption, dissect evidence and anticipate counterarguments. No case can stand until it has been built on solid ground and stress-tested against opposing views.
Military Expert 4 (ME4) Dexter Chow forged that habit of mind while studying law at Singapore Management University (SMU). Today, the client he serves is not a single individual or entity.
“The work that we do goes a long way in protecting Singapore,” he says. “It is the most important client I could ever have.”
The 28-year-old is a senior military intelligence expert at the Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS), the fourth branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), specialising in developing a deep analytical acumen and understanding of Singapore’s regional security environment.
“As a lawyer, you have to build your case, making assessments based on evidence and clear lines of logic,” says ME4 Chow. As an intelligence officer, the work follows the same logic, he adds.
ME4 Chow and his team pore over information from multiple sources, oftentimes contradictory, to form a clearer picture and flag concerns early.
He says: “The bulk of our work involves understanding the information that we receive, making sense of it, and presenting our assessments to key decision makers as concisely as we can.”
Tengah school construction expected to negatively impact biodiversity (15 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – The creation of a new campus for international school United World College of South-east Asia (UWCSEA) in Tengah is expected to negatively impact biodiversity, disturbing the habitat of a critically endangered songbird and the globally endangered long-tailed macaque.
This was disclosed on the school’s website on April 9 in an environmental impact assessment, which also uncovered a species of grass on the site previously thought to be nationally extinct.
With site preparation works slated to begin in August, the 211-page report outlined the ecological consequences of the new campus and proposed measures to reduce impact to acceptable levels.
This marks the fifth environmental study released online for works in the Tengah forest, which is progressively cleared for Singapore’s first “forest town”.
The development will take up 9.48ha of land – the size of roughly 13 football fields – consisting primarily of young forest, scrubland, and various water bodies, according to the report prepared by engineering consultant Aurecon.
In a statement on its website, UWCSEA said the study began in September 2024 and concluded in February to ensure that the full cycle of all species was observed.
A total of 137 animal species were recorded during field surveys, of which six were deemed significant for conservation. This included the straw-headed bulbul – a songbird on the brink of global extinction due to poaching and habitat loss – as well as the harlequin butterfly that is critically endangered here."
Caning, suspension among standard disciplinary measures in all schools by 2027 to combat bullying: MOE (15 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE - By 2027, all schools in Singapore must implement standardised disciplinary measures in managing student misconduct, including bullying.
This includes up to three days of detention or suspension – or both – for students who commit serious offences for the first time, along with having their conduct grade adjusted. First-time offenders - boys in upper primary levels and above - could also get one stroke of the cane, and up to three for subsequent offenders.
Punishments vary between serious and very serious offences, with bullying cases assessed based on factors such as impact, intent and recalcitrance.
Serious offences include bullying, cheating, gambling, vaping, and other offences that are a breach of law, while very serious offences include arson, drug abuse, fighting, vaping (with etomidate), and other illegal or criminal offences which result in grievous hurt.
While schools now have some leeway to decide how incidents are handled and can adapt from guidelines by the Ministry of Education (MOE), this new mandate aims to ensure consistency across schools, said Education Minister Desmond Lee on April 15.
He announced the move as part of nine recommendations to address bullying and hurtful behaviour, following his ministry’s year-long review on bullying to strengthen school processes and support educators, among other areas.
MOE’s approach to handling bullying cases has come under scrutiny in recent years, following several bullying incidents which surfaced on social media. In one case, three Primary 3 pupils sent death threats to a classmate’s mother; all three were suspended, and one was caned."
Schools to get funding for more manpower to tackle bullying (15 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE - Schools here will get additional resources to more holistically tackle bullying while managing teacher workload, said the Ministry of Education (MOE) on April 15.
This includes funding so that schools can hire additional manpower – such as youth workers, pastoral care officers and parent liaison officers – to support school staff in student management, as well as tech tools to improve case management processes and facilitate timely communication.
Educators themselves will get additional training in areas such as investigative skills, conflict resolution and parent engagement, added MOE.
Supporting educators and deepening school capacity was one of four key areas that the ministry looked into in 2025 when it initiated a comprehensive review into bullying.
Previously, bullying cases were usually handled internally by school staff such as form teachers, counsellors and teachers in the student management or discipline committees.
The other areas that MOE’s review looked into were enhancing values education, strengthening school culture and processes, and improving schools’ partnerships with parents.
The issue of bullying sparked national conversations in 2025 after several bullying incidents surfaced online, including one case where three Primary 3 pupils sent death threats to a classmate’s mother. The three pupils were suspended, and one of them was caned.
Parents and members of the public have called for more transparency in the way schools handle bullying, including the disciplinary actions taken.
MOE said that following the review – which engaged more than 2,000 educators, parents, students and professionals – it developed nine recommendations to strengthen existing efforts to address bullying in schools, which will be progressively implemented from 2026."
Do the National School Games need a refresh? (15 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – High jumper Kampton Kam remembers his first foray into athletics in Primary 3 when he competed at the National School Games (NSG), which he calls a “good stepping stone” to his journey as a national athlete and one that ignited his love for sport.
For many Team Singapore athletes, representing their school at the NSG was a rite of passage and an event that they looked forward to every year.
“It gave me an avenue to compete,” said Kam, who won a silver at the 2025 SEA Games and holds the national record of 2.25m.
“It also opens up opportunities, because if you are in upper primary and are able to perform, then it is an outlet for DSA (direct school admission) into secondary school.
“Transitioning from primary to secondary to junior college, the NSG gave me a lot of reasons to stay and instilled discipline in me, to compete at the biggest meet of the school year.
“That’s also a selection point for making the national youth team as well, so it was a super good experience and it’s great to see a lot of kids participating in this.”
Boasting a history of over six decades, the NSG have served the local and school community well, but with newer sports gaining in popularity among young Singaporeans, the question is whether a refresh is needed to stay relevant?"
Man, 70, handed jail sentence over child sex offences; Police report made in 2021 (15 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE - A 70-year-old man will have to spend time behind bars over obscene acts he performed on a child, and for offences related to sexually explicit images and videos of children.
Tang Seok Chye was on April 15 handed a six years and 10 months’ jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to one count each of performing an obscene act on a child, being in possession of child abuse material, and producing such content.
Four other charges were considered during his sentencing.
His bail was set at $25,000, and he is expected to begin serving his sentence on April 29."
Not just a granny’s craft: Why teens are getting hooked on crocheting (16 April 2026)
"Ms Soo Qian Rong recently crocheted dolls of rabbit figure Miffy as farewell gifts for her colleagues after her first part-time job.
The 18-year-old, who is currently waiting to enter university, loves customising and creating cute plushies as gifts. She had picked up the craft two years ago after being drawn by the cosy and whimsical aesthetic of crochet videos, and watched YouTube videos to learn how to do it herself.
Crochet is a type of needlecraft where a hook is used to loop and connect yarn to create things like clothes and plushies. It used to be deemed the craft of grannies and older folk before seemingly enjoying a revival among young people today.
While Ms Soo picked up the hobby recently, some others her age had an earlier start.
Ms Angela Liu Yik, 19, who is waiting to enter university, has been crocheting for seven to eight years – from the time she was in Secondary 1.
She was inspired to crochet during the Covid-19 pandemic, and learnt the craft from YouTube tutorials for the student-initiated learning segment during Home-Based Learning days.
“Part of the enjoyment of crochet is mindfully following a pattern, and I find that quite therapeutic,” she said."
Single-sex schools in Singapore: Are they becoming a thing of the past? (16 April 2026)
"Over the last couple of years, several of Singapore’s well-known boys’ schools have opened their doors to girls.
The latest to join the list is Montfort Junior School. In March, it was announced that the primary school will become co-educational, or co-ed, from 2028, while Montfort Secondary School will follow suit by 2034 or earlier.
As such announcements often do, it got people talking – about heritage, cultural identity and what may be lost when single-sex schools go co-ed.
In this episode, I speak with a former deputy principal at Raffles Girls’ School, an academic from the National Institute of Education, and a mother of three boys who sits on two school boards and an alumni board."
American microbiologist wins Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize for work to measure risk of drinking water (16 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE - A microbiologist who transformed the science of measuring risk posed by harmful microbes in water is the recipient of the 2026 Lee Kuan Yew Water Prize.
American scientist Joan Bray Rose, 72, was named the winner on April 16, as a key pioneer of an approach that safeguards the quality of water reuse systems like NEWater, and shaped water management here and beyond.
Her accolade, which honours outstanding contributions to solving global water challenges, was announced by national water agency PUB’s chief executive Ong Tze-Ch’in at a press conference.
“By enabling the mathematical quantification of infection risks, Professor Rose has provided the world a global approach for defining, managing and regulating water safety,” Mr Ong told the media.
“Her work ensures communities worldwide have access to safe drinking water and water for reuse.”
Higher fuel prices: MOE asks schools to consider bus fare hike requests for external activities (16 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – The Ministry of Education (MOE) has informed schools to “reasonably consider” requests from private bus operators to increase fares paid by schools for external activities such as field trips and competitions, in view of higher fuel costs.
This is to ensure that school operations and the students’ learning experiences will not be adversely affected, the ministry told The Straits Times late on April 15.
Unlike regular school bus services, which parents pay for, ad hoc trips for competitions, learning journeys and other external school activities are funded directly by schools. The costs for these trips are typically locked in by contracts, which operators can now seek to revise.
To help bus operators with higher fuel prices for regular school services, MOE had earlier announced temporary funding amounting to 13 per cent of fare revenue from April to June. This does not extend to ad hoc trips."
New anti-bullying measures in schools a good start, but parents say they must go beyond ‘quick fixes’ (16 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – For Mrs Sher-li Torrey, the news that every school in Singapore will follow standardised disciplinary measures in cases of bullying brought a sense of cautious relief.
The 49-year-old mother and founder of the career portal Mums@Work, whose daughter has faced bullying in the past, believes a national baseline is a step towards fairness.
“Bullying can be very subjective, and in some ways, having a clearer definition of what constitutes bullying and the respective punishments respectively would ensure that, as a starting point, at least parents and educators are on the same page.”
Mrs Torrey is among the parents who welcome the clearer standards set by the Ministry of Education (MOE), following new anti-bullying measures announced on April 15.
They say some steps – including a new online reporting channel and more resources for schools – address longstanding concerns about transparency and whether teachers are adequately supported to handle the complexities of bullying.
The nine recommendations, which will be gradually implemented from 2026, were born from a year-long review involving 2,000 parents, educators and other stakeholders.
These include standardised disciplinary measures across all schools, including caning and suspension, more timely and consistent updates from schools to parents, a new online reporting channel and more funding for schools that need support in managing bullying cases.
But some parents have questions about how promptly schools will provide updates and whether victims who report cases will remain safe. They also hope for equal attention given to restorative work, with counselling and reflection as a priority for all affected parties."
Breaking the cycle of school bullying with kindness sounds simple – but is easier said than done (17 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – There’s a saying, kill them with kindness, a line often traced to Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The Shrew.
The expression has, over time, shed its theatrical origins to mean something more straightforward – meeting hostility with generosity or disarming negativity with excessive kindness.
It came to mind as the authorities announced on April 15 a set of new anti-bullying measures and, more broadly, renewed efforts to shape the moral development of children, as well as the values and character they carry with them as they grow.
The message sent is clear: Schools – and the wider public – are to take bullying more seriously and respond with firmer resolve. Such offences will be handled the same way as other forms of serious misconduct such as truancy and vaping.
Suspension, detention and even caning are among the disciplinary actions that school bullies could face, as part of a broader push for more consistent enforcement across school grounds.
There is also a clearer expectation that schools act promptly and communicate with parents, rather than leaving them in the dark.
Yet it is also hard not to think about the texture of school life itself – the millions of micro-interactions that unfold each day, most beyond the view of any adult. Many are fleeting, mundane, happening both online and off. The majority of these encounters will not reach the stage of needing formal disciplinary action.
But within these interactions lie the potential for both harm and care. Surveys suggest bullying is not uncommon, even if official figures capture only the more serious, reported cases.
Among the recommendations from the Ministry of Education’s year-long review of bullying and hurtful behaviour was a call to “deepen a culture of kindness and respect in all schools”. It is, perhaps, the most intangible of the proposals – harder to define, let alone execute.
But it may also be the most crucial."
Two teenagers arrested for allegedly stealing motorcycle in Kallang (17 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Two teenagers were arrested on April 16 for allegedly stealing a motorcycle in Kallang.
The police said in a statement on April 17 that they received a report at 7.30am on April 15 that the motorcycle, which was parked in the vicinity of McNair Road in Kallang, was allegedly stolen.
Through ground inquiries and images from CCTV and police cameras, officers from the Central Police Division identified the two male teenagers, aged 16 and 17, and arrested them the next day.
Preliminary investigations revealed that they were able to start the parked motorcycle as the transponder had been left inside a storage compartment of the motorcycle, the police said.
The motorcycle has since been recovered.
The two teenagers are expected to be charged on April 18 with theft of motor vehicle with common intention.
If found guilty, they could face a fine and up to seven years behind bars."
‘Pimple popping’ toy with syringe could pose serious risks to kids: S’pore consumer safety watchdog (17 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – A popular “pimple popping” toy sold here that comes with a syringe could pose serious safety risks, warned Singapore’s consumer safety watchdog.
In an alert on April 7, the Consumer Product Safety Office (CPSO) advised parents against buying these squishy toys for their children and to keep them out of reach.
The CPSO said it has seen social media videos demonstrating the use of such toys, with sharp needles and syringes.
Marketed as a stress-relieving product, the toy lets the user inject air into it to create a blister-like bulge on the surface that can be squeezed or popped.
It is also known as “acne squeeze toy”, “bubble squeezing toy”, “inflatable squishy toy”, “pinch toy” and other similar variations.
“The sharp needle can puncture the skin and is not sterile, posing serious risks of injury and infection to a child who may not understand how to safely handle sharp syringes,” said the CPSO, which comes under the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore.
If air bubbles were to enter the bloodstream through an injection, this could result in stroke, heart attack, respiratory failure or death.
Those who already own such toys should throw the sharp needle away safely by placing it in a hard, puncture-resistant container with a secure lid. The product should also be disposed of as general waste."
SUTD students and alumni to receive $35 million boost for start-up creation (17 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE - Students and alumni from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) will get a $35 million boost to support innovation and venture creation.
This investment funds an initiative called Design·AI Innovation and Venture Exploration (DIVE), which includes financial grants, global internships, a mentorship network and a residential college for first-year students.
Launched on April 17 at the SUTD campus in Upper Changi, DIVE’s aim is to shift the university’s model from a traditionally academic focus to one on innovation, where students can freely explore creativity.
Speaking at the launch, SUTD president Phoon Kok Kwang said this move comes amid changing global demands in the age of artificial intelligence.
Knowledge alone is no longer enough, he said. “The real shift is towards skills and creation – how we use knowledge to solve real problems, how we work with AI to prototype, test and refine ideas quickly, and how we create novel value in the real world.”
This initiative is optional, unlike the academic curriculum, said Professor Phoon, and students will still be trained in all required fundamentals in their chosen discipline.
“But they will now be encouraged to take on an even more hands-on approach by working with AI in an industry-mentored environment,” he added."
Nanyang JC student suspended, police report lodged after alleged case of sexual misconduct (17 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE - A Nanyang Junior College (NYJC) student has been suspended from school and a police report has been lodged, following an alleged case of sexual misconduct.
Online news platform Mothership on April 17 reported that it had received a video showing two students confronting a male student, who had allegedly attempted to film girls in a girls’ toilet in the school.
The confrontation is believed to have taken place in a girls’ toilet on campus, according to Mothership.
It is not known when the alleged incident took place.
In a media statement, NYJC principal Pang Choon How confirmed that the school was aware of the incident and had lodged a police report.
“We take a serious view on sexual misconduct and have taken disciplinary actions against the student involved,” he said in the statement.
“The student has been suspended from school and will have his conduct grade adversely impacted.”
Mr Pang added that the school’s counsellor has spoken to the student about his actions, and that he will be referred for further professional support.
“We are also working closely with his parents on this incident,” Mr Pang said."
1 student taken to hospital after fire in NTU laboratory (17 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – A postgraduate student was conscious when taken to the hospital following a fire in a research laboratory in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) on April 17.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the fire at 21 Nanyang Link on April 17 at 1.50pm.
The Straits Times’ checks indicate that the address is that of NTU’s School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
SCDF added that the fire involved contents in a fume hood in a laboratory on the fourth floor of the premises.
The fire was put out by NTU’s staff members with a fire extinguisher before SCDF’s officers arrived.
One person was taken to Singapore General Hospital.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, said SCDF."
NTU students launches campaign to raise acceptance of assistance dogs (18 April 2026)
"Before Mr Thomas Nathan Chan visits a new place, he makes the effort to find a contact number and call the place a few days ahead to tell them that he has a guide dog. If the staff express discomfort and there are alternatives to the place he plans to visit, he goes to one of those alternatives.
“(Awareness) is improving but I won’t push the boundaries,” said the visually impaired 47-year-old IT executive and bowling para-athlete. “Some of them are just not comfortable.”
Since he was paired with his labrador-golden retriever cross Eve in June 2022, she has been helping him navigate Singapore – while he has been navigating sticky situations. These include rejections from establishments which do not know that guide dogs are legally allowed in public places, or people who are unsure of how to appropriately interact with his guide dog and him.
To boost awareness of the purpose and rules surrounding assistance dogs such as guide dogs for the blind, four students from Nanyang Technological University’s Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information started a publicity campaign that ran from the end of 2025 to March 2026.
Unlike pet dogs, assistance dogs are trained to support people with disabilities.
The campaign, in the form of offline posters at public areas such as MRT stations and hawker centres, as well as online social media posts and videos on Instagram and TikTok, was their final-year project for their communication studies degree.
Mr Chan, who met the NTU team four times in the course of their project, also allowed the students to feature Eve in their publicity materials and videos, where she took on the persona of the campaign canine ambassador under the name Bark.
The online videos show the rigour that goes into training a certified guide dog, while the posters educate the public on proper etiquette, such as not to pet or distract guide dogs.
The NTU students – Ms Jaymee Tan Yi Xin, Ms Ruth Loo Hui En, Ms Tan Tze Wei, all aged 23, and Ms Jin Qiuhui, 25 – who call their team The Pawfessionals, met Mr Chan through the charity Guide Dogs Singapore (GDS), which they had approached for their research on the topic."
Lifelong learning: Back to school with dad or mum in Singapore (18 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Some families in Singapore are flipping the script when it comes to school.
Instead of ferrying the grandchildren to school, seniors are taking online lessons with their adult offspring. Late-career professionals and their recent-graduate kids are equally hungry to rise in the ranks with higher qualifications.
These midlifers are having none of that crisis cliche: They are helping themselves to their second – or fourth – diploma, thank you.
Inter-generational learning has become part of the lifelong learning boom in recent years.
Local universities and polytechnics are reporting a spike in the number of older learners in recent years, attesting to the changing face of higher education.
At Nanyang Technological University (NTU), enrolment for learners aged 40 and above increased between 20 and 30 per cent, year on year, for its non-degree Continuing Education and Training programmes. NTU’s postgraduate programmes saw a 10 per cent rise in this age group over the past two academic years.
The number of older learners at National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) has also spiked.
Between 2021 and 2025, enrolment for those in their 40s and older grew by about 28 per cent across SUSS’ undergraduate and postgraduate programmes. At NUS, this group of learners in its lifelong learning programmes numbered more than 8,000 in 2024, doubling from around 4,000 in 2017."
Lifelong learning: Father and son give up weekends to do AI diploma together (18 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Mr Tay Tse Wan, 60, has completed his fourth diploma, while his son, Mr Tay Quan Kai, 23, is onto his second.
In May, they will graduate from their specialist diploma course in artificial intelligence solutions development, which they took together at Temasek Polytechnic. For much of the past year, father and son sat side by side at their laptops at home twice a week for their online lessons, often giving up their weekends to do schoolwork.
It was the older Mr Tay’s idea to ask Quan Kai, a national serviceman and the younger of his two sons, to take the part-time AI course with him.
Mr Tay, a regional sales manager, says: “You hear a lot about AI. If you don’t know how to use AI, you’re not up to date. To boost my confidence, I got Quan Kai to come with me as I had stopped studying for so long and I had no coding knowledge.”
The last examination he took was in 2019, at the age of 54. It was his third O-level English examination, after his Chinese-medium education in secondary school at Chung Cheng High School (Branch) decades ago. He failed that 2019 test, though he had achieved his best result 30 years ago with a borderline pass.
He got Bs and Cs for his tests and projects for his recent AI course, which the Government’s SkillsFuture scheme funded. It was “a good result” for someone with “zero knowledge” of coding, he reckons.
Early lifelong learner
Mr Tay, who holds multiple diplomas and degrees, was a lifelong learner long before the term gained currency.
After NS following his first diploma in electronics at Singapore Polytechnic, he dived into continuous learning. The youngest of four sons, he had seen how his tradesman father and housewife mother scrimped and saved.
He says: “My father had to work very hard to meet the needs of the family, especially our studies. He did not complete his primary school education. This was common in the 1950s and earlier.
“Therefore, I told myself that I needed to work hard, especially when I started my first job as a technician in computer repairs. I realised that it was insufficient just to have a poly diploma.
“The only path I knew then was to gain as many certificates as possible. As I carried on with my part-time studies as a young man, I realised it was not the certificates that mattered. It was the knowledge I gained that I could apply to my work.”
Lifelong learning: Back to school with mum after daughter takes over a pre-school (18 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – When Ms Poh Ying Xia, 38, learnt that her son’s pre-school was shutting down in 2022, she decided to buy it to keep it open, together with another school parent.
It led to an overhaul of her life. The marketing agency boss is now taking a diploma course in early childhood education with her mother, whom Ms Poh has dragged out of retirement.
Ms Poh’s seven-year-old son, Hsu Rui Hao, has autism. His sensory challenges meant that he had frequent meltdowns in his early years, triggered by everyday sounds like the hum of the washing machine.
At the first childcare centre he attended when he was two, he cried daily. It was a “nightmare”, his mother recalls, from the moment she put his uniform on him, through his car ride to school. He once continued weeping for 40 minutes after drop-off.
When she switched Rui Hao to Sunny Bunny Montessori childcare in the Upper Thomson area in August 2022 at age three, his tears dried up. He seemed more at ease there.
Just two months later in October, the then-owner announced plans to close down, leaving some parents with children there seeking alternatives.
Ms Poh readily agreed to fellow parent and finance director Ang Hui Ling’s suggestion to buy the childcare centre together.
“I didn’t know it was unusual. I just wanted my son to continue in a school he liked. There was such a big contrast compared with his first pre-school,” she says.
It was her first business venture. “I was coming from the perspective that I would just provide the funds and the school would run on its own.”
Lifelong learning: 2 electrical workers, 2 diplomas and a family vision (18 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Mr Venkatasamy Balamurugan, 54, and his 24-year-old son, Mr Balamurugan Alagarsamy, are taking their second diploma together in a bid to advance in their shared field of electrical work.
Since October 2024, father and son have been attending night classes at Singapore Polytechnic three times a week. Their part-time diploma course in power engineering ends in 2027, after which they both plan to take professional assessments to advance as a Licensed Electrical Worker (LEW).
In Singapore, LEWs, estimated to number around 3,700, are authorised to carry out, supervise or certify electrical work.
They both earned their first diploma in electrical and electronic engineering – decades apart from each other – in India’s Tamil Nadu state, where they used to live. Mr Alagarsamy, a technical officer at SMRT who works in power maintenance, is a Singapore citizen, while his parents are permanent residents here.
Mr Balamurugan is an electrical supervisor at Sengkang General Hospital while his wife, aged 40, works as a cashier at a convenience store. Their younger son, 22, is reading computer science at a university in India.
Education is a “life priority” in their family, says Mr Balamurugan. “I like to study and I need more knowledge,” he adds.
Before he embarked on this diploma, he completed a part-time, two-year Nitec course in electrical engineering at the Institute of Technical Education. He already has the LEW Grade 7 qualification and has his sights on the LEW Grade 8 qualification after graduating from Singapore Polytechnic.
His son is also studiously planning for his future.
Mr Alagarsamy, who is not married and followed in his father’s footsteps in their shared occupation, says: “I want to grow my career.”
After finishing this diploma, he hopes to do an electrical and electronic engineering degree at the Singapore Institute of Technology.
“To sustain yourself in this field, you have to study a lot. If I get an eight-to-five job, with no shift work and a bigger salary, I may feel there is no need to study further,” he says."
Can Singapore have a dedicated writers’ room to peek into the lives of literary legends? (18 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Midway up 14 flights of stairs to an independent bookstore in Hong Kong – the unreliable lift at the vertical arts enclave in Foo Tak Building had broken down again – I happened upon The Xi Xi Space, a cramped unit on the seventh floor dedicated to a writer I’ve encountered only through a few poems but knew little about.
Born in Shanghai before moving to Hong Kong at age 12, the late giant of Sinophone letters was influential in the Chinese-speaking world – her 1983 novel A Woman Like Me inspired the late Singaporean writer Yeng Pway Ngon’s 1987 novel A Man Like Me. In their best works, they captured their respective cities in flux.
The exhibition - only the second since the space opened in late 2025 - revealed the world behind Xi Xi's most famous novel My City, with original clippings of the novel's 1975 serialised publication in the Hong Kong Daily Express on display.
At a time when a distinct Hong kong identity was coalescing under British rule, Xi Xi captured the city's rhythms through a child-like bildungsroman with an appetite for Cantonese wordplay and references.
The exhibition offered multiple entry points - translations, manuscripts with a flurry of blackouts, illustrations inspired by the book and a reconstruction of Xi Xi's living space. What caught my eye was a work-in-progress translation by Jennifer Feeley retitling the novel as I City, which reflects an inextricable bond between self and city.
After my visit, I purchased one of Xi Xi's books. I do not know if i would have picked up the book from a bookstore had I seen it, but there was something catchy about the scent of the writer through her paraphernalia that moved me to read her.
It was the same feeling I had when I visited an exhibition on modernist literature at the National Museum of Taiwan Literature in Tainan and when I followed the footsteps of famed writer Eileen Chang in Shanghai.
Alas, I thought, there are few spaces one can visit in Singapore to catch a whiff of the island's best writers. What comes close might be the fragrance of the Edwin Thumboo Collection shelves at the National Library Building, a generous view into the reading life of Singapore's unofficial poet laureate that I relished as a young reader interested in building a writing life.
The rest, I reckon, are locked in closed stacks for researchers or collecting dust in writers' homes - worse, thrown away.
There has yet to be a dedicated space in Singapore for the literary arts where Singaporeans can learn more about the making of literary worlds beyond the published books."
Young people will need to navigate trade-offs in climate action: Shanmugam (18 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Young people have a big role to play in climate action, which will involve managing trade-offs like the loss of jobs in Singapore’s petrochemical sector, said Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam on April 18.
He outlined three areas where they can contribute to climate action, with one being the Government’s Climate Youth Development Programme (CYDP), where youth leaders examine the policy considerations of climate action here.
Singapore is a big contributor to planet-warming emissions on a per-capita basis because it has one of the world’s largest refinery centres, said Mr Shanmugam, who is also Minister for Home Affairs.
However, reducing the country’s emissions may make no difference to the world, as these facilities could move to a neighbouring island, he said at Climate Change Conversations 2026 organised by the Rotary Club of Marina City.
Mr Shanmugam, who chairs the ministerial committee coordinating Singapore’s response to disruptions arising from the Middle East conflict, noted that a number of countries around Asia have stopped exporting refined products amid the global energy crisis, even as Singapore continues to do so.
Citing Singapore and Australia’s commitment to keep refined petroleum products flowing between the two countries, Mr Shanmugam said that crude oil remains important.
“So when you want to do something, you just don’t look at the superficial actions. You look at ‘Does it make the world a better place? What are the trade-offs?’” he said, adding that the world could be worse off without Singapore’s refineries, which have high standards and affect Singapore’s energy security.
Young people can also contribute to climate action by joining the Climate Youth Community – a network that CYDP leaders join after completing the programme – and pursuing jobs that help build a climate-resilient Singapore, said Mr Shanmugam.
Singapore will need scientists to advance climate modelling and heat mitigation, urban planners who integrate resilience into the built environment, and entrepreneurs who build sustainable technologies, he added.
“Sustainability is more than a lifestyle choice,” he said. “It is a good career pathway. The green economy will become a core part of economic development in all sensible countries.”
Mr Shanmugam was addressing students and club members at the event held at Tzu Chi Humanistic Youth Centre in Yishun."
AI tool helps paralysed patients communicate through blinks and focus; hospital to trial device (19 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE - Patients with severe movement and speech impairment will soon be able to communicate more quickly with their caregivers through the use of an artificial intelligence neural-detection device created by a local start-up.
Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) is set to trial the neural unit which allows patients who have trouble speaking, writing, typing, pointing or maintaining eye contact to communicate through blinking and focusing their thoughts.
The device is a type of brain-computer interface, which is typically used by patients who want to communicate but cannot speak clearly or use their hands to write or type.
Eye blinks and brainwaves are detected by electrodes placed behind patients’ ears and above one eye. This input is then used to navigate and select options from a menu of tasks the patients would like to do independently, or request assistance from caregivers.
Tasks on the webpage can be personalised to include actions like asking for food, watching television or turning on the lights. It can also connect to external apps such as YouTube and WhatsApp – letting users watch videos and send simple pre-written messages.
Developed by local start-up Neural Drive, which was co-founded by two graduates and two current students from Singapore Polytechnic, the device aims to be an affordable alternative to communication tools that can cost up to $25,000 each, and fulfils the needs of patients with severe impairments.
The 18-month clinical trial starts in June and will involve some 30 TTSH patients, such as stroke survivors with speech and physical difficulties, individuals with motor neurone disease, and those with cerebral palsy.
“The goal was to create something that is portable and affordable, and feels as seamless as putting on a headset,” said 22-year-old co-founder Khambhati Mohammed Huzefa, who graduated with a diploma in computer engineering in 2023."
Guidelines for a successful family holiday (19 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – A month before our family holiday, we had sorted out the country, but not the detailed itinerary.
It was challenging because everyone had slightly different goals that managed to be both specific and vague.
One child's goals were to enjoy the scenery, explore history, buy sports shoes and try hot pot. Another child hoped to eat sour and spicy noodles, do plenty of shopping, see nature, take a lot of pictures and visit the Great Wall.
My husband's targets were to travel on a high-speed train, walk out every morning to look for local fare for breakfast, visit supermarkets and not be laughed at for his Mandarin.
Mine were for us to spend time together as a family, see historical Beijing, experience modern Beijing, try local food, catch any kind of spring blossoms, visit a local park and get out out of the city for a few days. Modest aims.
Given this tangle of goals, only some of which overlapped, it feels like a big win that we managed a satisfying 12-day goliday after all. Noodles, hot pot, local breakfasts, shopping shoes, history, nature, cherry blossoms, Great Wall, train, parks - all done.
Of new and occasionally unexpected experiences together, there were many - from a 2km walk uphill and downhill along a mountain ridge under the hot sun and a cloudless blue sky; to getting rained on and left chilled to the bone after a sudden drop in temperature on the Great Wall.
We discovered the deliciousness of Beijing meat skewers and learnt how to hail cabs with Didi, China's ride-hailing service.
I believe holidays can be stressful and they have the potential to turn bad fast.
Based on trial and error, my husband and I have guidelines when crafting a family trip. Every family will have its own unique set of circumstances to build on."
2 theatre shows to watch with kids: Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Scaredy Kat Presents (19 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Make family time all the more special with these ideas and activities.
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
Watching a story come to life on stage can be a powerful way to spark your children’s interest in books. To help them develop better reading fluency and deeper comprehension, consider taking them to see the Broadway production of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory when it runs at the Sands Theatre at Marina Bay Sands from May 19 to June 14.
Based on British author Roald Dahl’s 1964 children’s novel, this musical marks its first stop in South-east Asia. The production premiered in 2017 and ran for more than 300 performances.
The story follows young Charlie Bucket, whose life changes when he discovers a Golden Ticket inside a chocolate bar. This prize grants him entry into the reclusive Willy Wonka’s factory, where he and other lucky winners embark on a fantastical adventure that includes chocolate rivers and nut-sorting squirrels.
The production will feature special effects inspired by the magical concepts in Dahl’s story, along with nostalgic songs from the 1971 film adaptation – including Pure Imagination and The Candy Man – and original music compositions."
How to prepare for the direct school admission application (19 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – When Celyn Yap, 14, was applying for the direct school admission (DSA) exercise during her Primary 6 year, her parents engaged the services of a vocal coach and an interview trainer.
At that time, Celyn wanted to get into the choir at River Valley High School via the DSA. An enthusiastic alto, she was in the choir at Lakeside Primary School for three years.
“I've liked singing and music since I was young, and after I took choir as my CCA (co-curricular activity) in Primary 3, my interest in performance grew,” she says.
“I took the DSA route as I hoped to secure a spot in my preferred secondary school, in case my PSLE didn't go that well.”
The DSA exercise allows pupils to apply to a maximum of three schools based on an area of talent - which includes sports, visual or performing arts, or a specific academic area - before taking the Primary School Leaving Examination.
The DSA application period usually starts in early May and ends about a month later.
Different schools have different talent areas, criteria and selection processes. Shortlisted pupils have to attend interviews, auditions or trials conducted by the schools. Those who receive and accept offers from their chosen school must participate in this talent area during their time there.
Some parents see DSA as another way for their child to get into a preferred secondary school, apart from entry through Achievement Level (AL) scores at PSLE.
Channelling Nervous Energy
Some students take preparatory courses, which can cost upwards of $300, to train for their DSA application.
Celyn's voice coach, Ms Narelle Ong at Narelle Ong Vocal Studio, taught her better voice control and more accurate pitching in one such workshop in July 2024. She helped Celyn in choosing a song in Tagalog, uncommon in Singapore, for her DSA audition, which showcased the girl's lower register.
Celyn's interview coach helped her to organise and refine her ideas over two seconds. Preparing for the anticipated question of why she wanted to apply to River Valley High School, for instance, her first instinct was to reply that it was just a 10-minute bus ride from her home.
Her coach, Ms Grace Tan of Learning Journey Education Centre, advised her to research the school more. Celyn eventually talked at greater length during her DSA interview about how she hoped to contribute to the school's choir.
Ms Tan also advised Celyn to pay more attention to her body language. The adolescent stopped pushing her hair back behind the ear. instead, she channelled the energy from the nervous tic into expressive hand gestures to amplify her speech.
Today, Celyn is enjoying her choir CCA and thriving as a Year 2 student in the integrated programme at River Valley High School.
Taking part in DSA training workshops helped her mentally prepare for the exercise. “My communication skills and confidence also improved,” she says."
From exam stress to caregiving burnout: How S’pore’s national mindline 1771 service offers 24-hour mental health support (20 April 2026)
"One teenager called himself a “walking curse”. An online screening tool suggested he might have depression, yet he kept the result to himself, afraid that telling his parents would only burden them.
Another, a young child, said she felt “sad and left out” when her parents, deep in conversation, did not notice her trying to speak to them.
These are among the worries that young people bring to the counsellors on the other end of the line at national mindline 1771, Singapore’s 24-hour national mental health helpline and textline service.
“Individuals who are feeling vulnerable often struggle to express what they are feeling,” says Calvin Lin (pen name), one of national mindline 1771’s full-time counsellors. “We ask open questions to help them articulate their thoughts and understand their emotions more clearly.”
During these conversations, which typically last 20 to 30 minutes, counsellors focus on providing a calm, non-judgmental space for help-seekers to speak openly.
They may also address mental health queries, share coping strategies, encourage help-seekers to break problems down into smaller, more manageable steps, or connect them to appropriate services or resources in the community.
For those seeking mental health support, national mindline 1771 serves as a crucial first stop, especially if they prefer speaking to a counsellor over the phone or through messaging.
Launched in June 2025 by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and operated by trained counsellors from the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), it provides a safe space where individuals can talk about their mental health and emotional challenges – without having to reveal identification details such as their name or age if they do not wish to."
Babies born to mums in their 40s on the rise amid Singapore’s fertility decline (20 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – At a time when fewer Singaporean women are having children, more of those in their 40s are bucking the trend.
In 2025, 9.6 babies were born per 1,000 women aged between 40 and 44, up from 8.9 babies in 2015 and 6.2 babies in 2005.
The increase in the age-specific fertility rate (ASFR) for women in this age group is also seen in those aged between 45 and 49 – 0.5 babies were born per 1,000 women in this age group in 2025, up from 0.4 babies in 2015 and 0.2 babies in 2005.
ASFR refers to the number of babies born to women in a specific age group per 1,000 women in that group.
In sharp contrast, the ASFR has been falling for younger women.
For those aged between 25 and 29, 38.3 babies were born per 1,000 women in 2025, down from 68.7 babies in 2015 and 80.7 babies in 2005.
For those aged between 30 and 34, 70 babies were born per 1,000 women in 2025, down from 98.5 in 2015 and 89.2 in 2005.
The data for 2025, which was released in late February, is preliminary, said a Department of Statistics spokesperson."
After 14 years, 8 IVF cycles and 5 miscarriages, S’porean gives birth to twins at 41 (20 April 2026)
"Singapore - After about 14 years of trying for a child, with seven cycles of in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), five miscarriages and a battle with breast cancer, Ms Josephine Foong was down to two last frozen embryos and one final IVF attempt.
If this did not work, she and her husband would give up trying to be parents.
But in March, Ms Foong finally became a mother at the age of 41 – she and her husband, IT manager Winston Yip, welcomed their twin daughters Annette and Anya.
“It was a joy to see them finally,” said Ms Foong.
Unlike some women who became mothers in their 40s, the administrative executive started trying for a child shortly after marriage – she was 25, and Mr Yip, 26.
“I wasn’t dying to have a child, but I saw how my husband loved kids and how he enjoyed being with children. So, I wanted to do something so he could experience fatherhood,” said Ms Foong, adding that she realised how much she herself wanted to be a mother as the years went by.
More babies have been born to women in their 40s in recent years. In 2025, 9.6 babies were born per 1,000 women aged between 40 and 44, up from 8.9 babies in 2015 and 6.2 babies in 2005.
This is according to preliminary age-specific fertility rates for 2025 released by the Department of Statistics in late February."
Science Talk: Fatherhood and leadership – two sides of the same coin (20 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Singapore has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world. Much discussion has focused on the cost of housing, childcare and education. These are real concerns. But there is another question we rarely ask directly.
The question is: What kind of life do young men imagine when they think about fatherhood?
Many seem to see it less as an identity and more as a burden or trade-off. As careers dominate early adulthood, parenting can appear overwhelming, uncertain and risky. Increasingly, many young adults hesitate to have children and instead choose pets as companions.
Yet, fatherhood is not merely a personal choice about family size. It also reflects how society understands the role of men in the family and in the raising of the next generation. If Singapore wants to support families and encourage parenthood, it must also help men understand what being a father means. Fatherhood is not simply a responsibility; it is a form of leadership.
Mental health research helps us understand why this matters. Mental health is often misunderstood as the absence of illness. In reality, it is something much broader. It includes emotional regulation, purpose, resilience and the ability to function well in relationships.
Human well-being is deeply relational. Neuroscience and developmental psychology show that our brains are shaped through ongoing interaction with others. Research has found that during communication, individuals’ brain activity shows synchronisation, reflecting shared attention and engagement. In this sense, families function as emotional ecosystems. Within that system, fathers play a more important role than we sometimes acknowledge.
Studies across cultures show that paternal warmth and engagement are associated with better cognitive development, stronger language skills and lower rates of behavioural problems in children. Adolescents with secure paternal relationships demonstrate better emotional regulation and greater resilience. Children benefit not simply from the presence of a father, but from the emotional environment he helps create at home. This is where the idea of leadership becomes relevant."
Primary schools experiment with AI under ‘guard rails’; parents cautious about open-source models (20 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE - In her Primary 5 and 6 classes, an English language teacher, 45, has been using artificial intelligence over the past three years to help her pupils write better compositions.
Called SchoolAI, the AI-powered educational platform is able to guide her pupils, prompting them with questions to think creatively as they dig deeper into character dilemmas and plot twists, before they put pen to paper.
Singapore teachers like her have been experimenting with different AI teaching assistants or other tools to help in learning, amid growing attention on the role of AI in education.
In primary schools, however, this has been met with some uncertainty as parents of younger children remain cautious about the potential effects of introducing these tools too early.
Education Minister Desmond Lee had said earlier in 2026 that AI will be gradually introduced from Primary 4.
This is done under close supervision and “low exposure”, with priority given to learning the fundamentals, he said at the ST Education Forum on April 1.
Shortly after, Ms Liew Wei Li, director-general of education at the Ministry of Education (MOE), addressed parental concerns in a LinkedIn post, assuring them that guard rails are in place.
Schools use specially selected AI tools with specific features for learning tasks and only with teacher supervision for this age group on the Singapore Student Learning Space (SLS), she said. SLS is an online learning portal by MOE for use in schools."
As AI becomes increasingly pervasive, she said it is better that schools teach pupils to use AI well “rather than leave it to chance and the open internet”.
Ms Liew added that pupils learn how AI works and how to use it responsibly, along with why the process of learning, which includes struggling and persevering, is important."
‘I didn’t know what injuries she sustained’: Mum whose daughter, 5, was run over by van in 2023 (20 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Rena (not her real name) was about to cook dinner when her helper called to say her five-year-old daughter had been run over by a van.
The accident happened in 2023, when Serene (not her real name) and the helper were on their way home from ballet class one evening.
The girl was pinned under the vehicle and suffered several injuries, including a severe fracture to her left leg. The helper suffered scrapes and was taken to hospital by Rena’s husband.
Statistics show that the number of people injured on Singapore’s roads increased from 9,342 in 2024 to 9,955 in 2025.
Traffic deaths hit a 10-year high in 2025, with 149 killed, compared with 141 in 2016. There were 142 deaths in 2024.
Given the dire situation on the roads, The Straits Times will be running a series of stories in the coming months to call on all road users to be more careful."
Singapore to set up $60m marine research centre to steer conservation and policy (20 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Marine science research that informs policy decisions will get a boost with a new $60 million programme at the research centre of excellence to be established by the National Parks Board (NParks) and the National University of Singapore (NUS).
Scientists from local institutions told The Straits Times in April that the centre will enable a coordinated, science-based approach to manage Singapore’s marine and coastal resources amid escalating environmental pressures from development, climate change and biodiversity loss.
Singapore’s sea level is projected to rise by up to 1.15m by 2100, prompting efforts to shore up coastal defences through land reclamation and other means.
The research centre, announced during the 2026 Budget debate, will be hosted by NUS. More details will be released later in 2026.
NParks’ National Biodiversity Centre group director Karenne Tun said the centre will bring together universities, industry players, government agencies and policy institutions.
Dr Tun, a coral reef biologist, said: “It will provide a unified strategic vision across key stakeholders, including existing marine science research institutes, to drive marine science research.
“This includes encouraging the formation of cross-functional and multidisciplinary teams that leverage the strengths of different institutions.”
Taking guidance from a 2024 report on Singapore’s marine science and oceanography research landscape, the centre intends to develop a comprehensive understanding of biodiversity to inform conservation, management and policy, added Dr Tun."
Can’t fix school bullying if society continues sending mixed messages (20 April 2026)
"Schools are among the first public institutions where young people learn how to live with differences, negotiate status, and handle conflict under shared rules. They are places where children absorb cues about what is acceptable, what strength justifies, and whether those who stand out can expect dignity or derision. They shape social norms around power, fairness and accountability.
That is what makes the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) new anti-bullying framework so important. All schools in Singapore must henceforth implement a standardised set of disciplinary measures in managing student misconduct, reducing room for inconsistent responses.
Many will see the new framework as a matter of simply enforcing school discipline. But it is more fundamentally about drawing a line and sending the signal that no member of society should be allowed to exercise coercive power over another and that a clear and consistent response must be exercised when that line is crossed.
Tackling Ambiguity
That line has not always been clear, as evidenced by a persistent spate of bullying. Schools recorded an average of three bullying cases per 1,000 primary school pupils and eight per 1,000 secondary school students each year from 2021 to 2025, according to MOE data. OECD's PISA 2022 figures showed that 15 per cent of girls and 26 per cent of boys in Singapore reported being victims of bullying acts at least a few times a month.
This is why every time a high-profile bullying case surfaces, a familiar cycle follows: public outrage, calls for tougher punishment, and renewed anxiety over whether schools are doing enough.
The moral panic over bullying over the past year speaks to something deeper: Our approach to bullying reflects the societal norms we want to cultivate through our institutions.
When schools tolerate repeated humiliation or intimidation, students may come to see dominance as normal and vulnerability as fair game. But when institutions respond clearly and fairly, students see the opposite: that status or strength is not a licence to harm others, and that power must be constrained by norms and rules.
The problem has never been about whether schools care sufficiently about bullying to do something. It is painfully obvious that most educators do. The real issue has been that much depended on interpretation - on where a teacher draws a line between a quarrel and bullying and how seriously each case is treated."
Man admits to abusing baby nephew by dropping him onto mattress, pushing head under water (20 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Fuelled by his “visceral hatred” for his wife’s younger brother, a man took his anger out on the latter’s baby by committing several acts of abuse over the course of three months.
He also recorded the egregious acts with his phone, and transferred the videos to his tablet. He would watch the videos whenever he was reminded of his grudge and felt angry towards his brother-in-law.
The 32-year-old man, who cannot be named due to a court-imposed gag order, pleaded guilty to eight counts of ill-treatment of a child on April 20.
Court documents stated that the man and his wife resided in a five-room flat with the baby’s grandmother at the time of the offences."
Man who sexually assaulted daughter gets 12 years’ jail (20 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – One afternoon, a man tried to rape his daughter in his bedroom while other family members were watching TV in the living room.
The girl, who was then between six and nine years old, told her grandmother about the assault at the time.
But the crime was reported to the police at least six years later, after the girl disclosed the abuse to a teacher and counsellor at her school.
On April 20, the man, who is now 57 years old, was sentenced to 12 years’ jail after he pleaded guilty in the High Court to a charge of sexual assault by penetration.
Two other charges – one of attempted rape and one of procuring the commission of indecent acts by a child – were taken into consideration during sentencing.
The offences took place between 2015 and 2018.
At the time, the man lived in a flat with his wife, his mother, his mother-in-law, his elder son and the victim."
SST students to track satellites, explore space with new on-campus observatory and radio station (20 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Students and alumni from the School of Science and Technology (SST) can now conduct space observations and track satellites from their own campus.
The school’s Space Technology Centre, which officially opened on April 20, has a 17-inch PlaneWave telescope and a Takahashi refractor in its new observatory. These instruments are used for solar, planetary and deep-sky observations, and let students explore the cosmos, including the Moon’s craters and the rings of Saturn.
The new telescope is much larger than standard handheld binoculars, which SST students use now. It has high resolution and magnification, and can gather more light because of its massive aperture.
In the Bell Radio Room, students can track satellites and communicate with other radio users around the world. It functions as an amateur radio station and is equipped with transceivers for students to send out their own messages and listen to signals coming from space.
SST is now one of only two secondary schools in Singapore to house an observatory – the other being NUS High School of Math and Science – and the only one with a dedicated amateur radio station.
Senior Minister of State for Education David Neo, who officially opened the centre, said it connects classroom knowledge with real-world application, and will nurture talent to strengthen Singapore’s position as an innovation and research hub.
Space has become an accessible frontier for nations and businesses with the rapid development of space technologies and decreased launch costs, Mr Neo said.
“Singapore is well placed to take advantage of the global momentum due to investments over the years...and our strong STEM foundations,” he added, using the acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics."
More durable dental implants, cheaper fuel cells with launch of industry research lab at NTU (20 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Patients getting dental implants here could soon enjoy shorter recovery times and a reduced risk of infections thanks to advanced coatings being developed here.
These carbon-based nanocomposite coatings – referring to a mixture of different materials with dimensions in the range of nanometres, a thousand times smaller than a human hair – will make implants more durable and improve tissue integration.
The coating bonds strongly to the titanium surface of implants, strengthening them, and also allows for the inclusion of materials such as phosphate and magnesium, which promote healing.
This is part of a partnership between Nanyang Technological University (NTU), nanotechnology firm Nanofilm Technologies International (NTI) and the National Dental Centre Singapore (NDCS).
The novel technology has antimicrobial properties, which reduce the risk of losing dental implants due to infection, said Clinical Associate Professor Goh Bee Tin, NDCS chief executive officer.
This could reduce the need to replace implants, thus resulting in cost savings for patients, Prof Goh said.
While more studies are needed, the technology could be more widely available within the next five years, she added.
The agreement was signed in conjunction with the official opening of the $66 million NTI-NTU Corporate Laboratory held on April 20.
The three-storey, 1,800 sq m lab is sited in NTU and equipped with NTI Nanofilm’s industrial-scale coating systems. It brings together more than 60 researchers and PhD candidates working to validate and scale nanotechnology solutions for real-world industry use.
NTI Nanofilm is a Singapore-based global nanotechnology solutions company founded in 1999."
New NUS building offers on-campus accommodation to overseas visitors (21 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Academic visitors to the National University of Singapore can get accommodation on campus from April 22, as the university unveils a new purpose-built facility.
The Ridge is located a stone’s throw away from the computing and business faculties, and is adjacent to the NUSS Kent Ridge Guild House. The eight-storey building has 185 guest rooms, a meeting room and open communal spaces meant for academic and professional interactions.
Overseas academic visitors, research collaborators, industry partners, executive programme participants and conference delegates affiliated with the university can stay at the facility for up to a month.
Rooms in the building cannot be booked by the public or tourists.
The Ridge allows overseas guests to remain close to faculties, research centres and event venues, whereas previously visitors from abroad had to find their own accommodation outside campus.
The number of overseas visitors to the NUS following the Covid-19 pandemic has grown, said NUS university campus infrastructure vice-president Koh Yan Leng.
Each year, NUS hosts 8,000 to 10,000 overseas visitors, comprising visiting academics, research collaborators and conference participants.
University campus infrastructure (campus life) senior director Richard Ong said The Ridge will meet the institution’s ever-present need to provide accommodation choices to overseas visitors.
“Aside from being on campus so it’s convenient (and) well connected, it gives us the unique opportunity to let them immerse in the campus environment and be part of the community,” he added."
S’pore-led studies make breakthroughs in treating cancers in women (21 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – Two recent studies led by Singapore researchers have uncovered new treatments for certain cancers affecting women, such as clear cell ovarian cancer and triple negative breast cancer.
One study found that combining two drugs – pembrolizumab and lenvatinib – showed promise in treating patients with recurrent clear cell endometrial and ovarian cancers resistant to standard treatments.
The Lara trial, as the study was called, was spearheaded by the Asia-Pacific Gynecologic Oncology Trials Group – a collaborative research network founded by Associate Professor David Tan, a senior consultant at the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore’s (NCIS) haematology-oncology department.
Many patients with clear cell cancers of the ovary and endometrium respond poorly to standard chemotherapy.
These cancers have been difficult to treat, partly because of the tumours’ unusual cell features, abnormal blood vessel growth and a tumour environment – referring to the cancer cells surrounding a tumour – which allow them to evade the immune system.
Such clear cell cancers disproportionately affect Asian populations, making up almost 30 per cent of ovarian cancers in Japan, compared with about 12 per cent in Western countries.
The reasons for this are unclear, said Prof Tan, who is also principal investigator at the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore.
One possibility, he said, is the cancer’s link to endometriosis – where uterine tissue grows outside the uterus – which is more prevalent in Asian women.
Lenvatinib blocks signals that support tumour growth, while making the tumour environment more accessible to immune cells.
Pembrolizumab then boosts the body’s immune response to recognise and attack cancer cells.
While this combination is already approved here for use in patients with recurrent clear cell endometrial cancer, it has not been cleared for use on patients with clear cell ovarian cancers.
Clear cell ovarian cancers make up 30 per cent of all new ovarian cancer cases here."
Teen to be charged for money laundering activities involving losses of at least $9,700 (21 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE – A 15-year-old Malaysian teen is expected to be charged in court on April 22 on suspicion of money laundering offences involving at least $9,700 in losses.
The teenage boy was arrested on April 21 after the police earlier received two reports of scams involving permanent residency applications here, they said in a statement late on the same day.
In both cases, the victims allegedly handed over $7,500 and $2,200, respectively, to an unknown person after being told by scammers to do so.
The victims realised they were scammed only after checking with the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority on the status of their applications.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the teen was tasked by unknown persons to collect and hand over the cash from the victims. He is also believed to be involved in other similar cases.
He is expected to be charged with assisting another to retain benefits from criminal conduct, which carries a maximum jail term of 10 years, a fine not exceeding $500,000, or both.
From Dec 30, 2025, scammers, and members or recruiters of scam syndicates, will face six to 24 strokes of the cane. The enhanced punishment, which comes after the Criminal Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill was passed in Parliament on Nov 4, is part of efforts to crack down on scams here.
Those who help scammers launder scam proceeds may face up to 12 strokes of the cane. This includes certain money laundering offences, Singpass offences and certain SIM card offences, the police said.
Also, those involved in mule-related offences – whether they are under investigation and assessed to be at risk, or have been warned, issued with composition sums, prosecuted or convicted – may face restrictions on banking services and mobile line subscriptions to prevent further scam cases."
How this English teacher went from noob to AI champ (3 November 2025)
"Mr Ghazali bin Abdul Wahab was afraid his students would be left behind if he didn’t up his tech game. How did the Lead Teacher at Canberra Secondary School springboard to the front of the class in the latest tools, and how has it changed the way he teaches?
Mr Ghazali bin Abdul Wahab stands before a room of teachers, demonstrating AI tools with emissarial zeal.
The Lead Teacher of English Language and Literature at Canberra Secondary School deploys AI to customise his lessons, mark papers and – most importantly to him – to keep students excited and engaged.
It’s quite a transformation for the educator of over 25 years who, just a few years ago, was struggling with basic digital tools during the shift to online learning.
“Suddenly, we were thrust into online learning,” he recounts of the Covid-19 lockdown period in 2020.
“I watched my colleagues who were tech-savvy adapt quickly while I struggled.”
If AI is as useful and powerful as it sounds, how helpful and relevant will teachers be in time to come? Schoolbag puts this and other tough questions to Mr Ghazali, who takes them on gamely – with no help from his AI friends."
This JC subject opens doors to the world stage (6 November 2025)
"Curious about what students learn in China Studies in English? Two students and an alumnus talk about their love for the subject and how a deeper understanding of China spills over to their appreciation of the Humanities and beyond.
For students at selected junior colleges in Singapore, the subject China Studies in English (CSE) offers a unique gateway to explore one of the world’s most influential countries whilst developing critical thinking skills that extend beyond the classroom.
“The idea of learning about another country appealed to me,” explains JC2 student Acacia Tan Hui Wen from Anglo-Chinese Junior College (ACJC), on why she picked CSE as one of her A-Level subjects.
Her initial curiosity has blossomed into deeper contemplation about global issues. She draws “similarities between social issues faced in China and Singapore, but how they’re tackled in different ways”; to support their ageing population, for example, China tends to focus on financial assistance while Singapore emphasises community-building, she says.
“CSE also reminded me of Social Studies in secondary school because both subjects involve critical thinking skills and comparison of different perspectives. It’s interesting to see the parallels between those two subjects.”
Cuts across various disciplines
In general, students of CSE find that the subject offers more than they expected. The curriculum is multi-disciplinary. Students explore a range of issues from economic policies and political stability, to social changes and foreign policy. Students could analyse China’s Belt and Road Initiative from multiple lenses by examining its economic and geopolitical implications.
Nicholas Wan, a JC2 student from Yishun Innova Junior College, is also drawn to how the subject makes connections across the humanities and social sciences. “It has allowed me to explore and get a taste of university subjects that interest me, such as History, Political Science, Sociology, Public Policy and Global Affairs,” he explains.
“Given that China wields significant global influence, understanding its political structure, economic development, societal construct and international relations gives me a strategic advantage in comprehending China,” he says. “CSE has allowed me to understand better how China has risen on the global stage, in areas such as climate change. It also helps me connect the dots between China’s growing economic influence and US’ responses, and how these manifest in economic competition.”
What a change in my child! Families share how working closely with teachers made a difference (7 November 2025)
"Children develop best when parents and teachers work together to have consistent strategies at home and in school. As these three families show, better partnerships between home and their children’s special education schools can help them to speak, eat, or simply feel braver in the world.
They gained independence at home and in public
At APSN Katong School, which serves students with mild intellectual disability or ASD with intellectual impairment, 12-year-old twin brothers Sim Kai Hang and Sim Kai Xiang, who have autism, have each found their own path to independence.
For Kai Hang (pictured above), a fear of public toilets restricted his daily activities and routines. Due to this, the family’s activities and routines were also affected. His teacher, Ms Sindhu Bramya D/O Kumar, worked with his mother to uncover the root of the fear, discovering that he disliked the sound of hand dryers. Together, they designed a reward system: each attempt to use a public toilet earned him stars, which could be exchanged for balloons.
This proved to be the right motivator for Kai Hang. Ms Sindhu adapted the reward chart for home use, while also providing visual communication cards.
What began as simple gestures evolved into verbal requests. Kai Hang now confidently asks, “I want to go to the toilet, please.” This breakthrough in communication has transformed not only his independence but also his family’s daily life. With his mother no longer worrying about communication challenges, the family can now venture out to shopping centres and public spaces. They can enjoy activities they previously avoided, creating new opportunities for family bonding through shared experiences and community participation.
Meanwhile, his twin Kai Xiang thrived in movement and hands-on tasks. His teacher, Mr Alex Teo Poh Seng, tapped into his love for cooking to strengthen both motor and cognitive skills.
“When working on counting and motor skills, we use meal preparation activities that he enjoys,” he explains. To ensure consistency at home, Mr Teo recorded short demonstration videos and suggested simple recipes that Ms Lin Chau Yin, the twins’ mother, could try with her sons.
Cooking soon became a family routine. Kai Xiang took pride in measuring ingredients, stirring pots, and proudly presenting their home-cooked meals. Each session boosted his confidence and sparked conversations. “I want to make pancakes! Or fry eggs or noodles,” he often said, eager for the time he could prepare a meal with his mum.
For Ms Lin, these moments were more than practice – they were signs of her son growing in both skill and voice."
Spaces of Support - Mental Wellness (10 November 2025)
"A cute crochet monster in the school field. A colourful mailbox in the canteen. Fun comic strips in classrooms. And even exciting arcade games in designated hangout spaces.
These are just some of the unexpected touchpoints in our schools that cocoon our students and help support their well-being at different levels.
Come along on this interactive journey to discover all of them, as well as the teachers and peer supporters who are helping to uplift everyone’s spirits."
A student-led idea that got Singapore talking at the Istana (13 November 2025)
"An original card game designed by Nan Hua High School students gets generations talking, proving that heritage isn’t just something to preserve, but something to live and share.
By Sabrina Lee
More than 70 Nan Hua High School students introduced “Heritage Hearts”, a deck of conversation cards, to an estimated 30,000 visitors at the Istana Open House – a one-day event celebrating Singapore’s 60th birthday.
The cards were designed by the students to encourage visitors to swop stories of food, family and kampong life. Each card featured illustrations of local food, kampong scenes, or familiar landmarks, paired with questions like “What was your favourite childhood game?” or “What family recipe reminds you of home?”
The idea began with ten Secondary 1 and 3 student leaders who had noticed that many peers felt shy approaching strangers during Values in Action (VIA) activities. “We wanted a simple activity to break the ice,” explained Lorraine Fong, Secondary 3, one of the project leaders.
The students secured seed funding from Young ChangeMakers (YCM), a programme that supports youth in applying grands from the government for passion projects, and the National Heritage Board (NHB).
After submitting their applications online, shortlisted teams pitch their ideas to NHB’s evaluation panel at an “Open Mic” session as part of the grant application process. Nan Hua High School became the youngest team ever shortlisted, and one of the panel members – a representative from the Prime Minister’s Office – was so impressed that he invited the students to showcase their project at the Istana Open House event."
What to consider when advising youths on choosing their university course (17 November 2025)
"A junior college teacher offers ideas that worked for her, with insights gleaned from her conversations with students as an Education and Career Guidance (ECG) coordinator.
By He Jia Wen
Having taught in a junior college (JC) for 16 years and spending half that time as the Education and Career Guidance (ECG) coordinator, I have had countless conversations with graduating students on higher education and career options.
What struck me about such talks were the anxiety and stress that students faced having to make a choice on their next steps. Many of them believed the endpoint of JC is to figure out the one right path for their future, and that the decision they make now will affect them for the rest of their lives.
And often, inspirational maxims fuel the distress. Find your passion. Do what you love, and you do not have a work a single day in your life. But what if the student did not have a singular passion, or their interests did not precisely map to a course or career?
In these cases, how can they decide where to go or what to do? Here are three ideas I find to be helpful for parents and teachers to keep in mind when speaking to young people who are at the higher-ed crossroads:
1. Look in first, then look out
Most students I spoke with try to determine their path by collecting information. They think about their parents’ expectations, talk to their friends, take personality tests, read a flood of information ranging from official websites to informal forums. And the more they analyse, the more they feel paralysed. Psychologist Barry Schwartz called this the paradox of choice – while having some choice is good, having too many options tends to make choosing one more difficult and leads to less satisfaction with the final decision.
In a situation of info-overload, the maxim “know thyself” is useful. Before considering what’s out there, students can start by first “looking in”. A lot happens in the short two years at JC that can shed light on their preferences. What subjects interest them or put them off? Do they do well in large lecture settings or in small groups? Is learning easier when watching videos or discussing ideas? What is it about their CCA that they enjoy? What type of CCA work excites them or drains their energy?
When students embark on a self-searching conversation, I try to serve as a mirror to them. This means reflecting back some observations you made about them – it could be about their strengths, their interests, what they tend to spend time on, what they find meaningful. This helps them see themselves, and what is suitable (or not) for them, more clearly. With this knowledge, they will be able to consider their options with a sharper lens."
Am I prepping my preschooler … or over-prepping? (19 November 2025)
"Wondering if you’re doing just fine or too much when getting your little one ready for Primary 1? Our social media series titled Pace, Not Pressure answers the queries on parents’ minds when easing their child’s transition to primary school.
1. Numeracy
Must my child know addition and multiplication before Primary 1? Do they need to recite numbers at least up to 100?"
A community that enables growth and builds confidence (26 November 2025)
"It takes a village to raise a child. But to raise one who is confident, independent, kind, helpful, and more, you’ll need a whole community of supportive parents, teachers, and school staff, as these North Spring Primary School graduates prove.
Schoolbag checks in with three North Spring Primary School graduates and ask them what they’re looking forward to as they receive their PSLE results, and what are their best memories of primary school.
For Charvi Raghu, becoming a prefect helped her grow exponentially
“I was timid and shy in Primary 1, but I gained a lot of confidence after becoming a prefect in Primary 2. I’ve even had the chance to organise events, such as a mini Purple Parade in school,” says Charvi.
Mr Raghu Ram, Charvi’s father, agrees. “We saw the transformation in Charvi after she took on the responsibility of a prefect.” He remembers distinctly a time when Charvi was in P5, when her teacher told him that she was very helpful to one of her classmates who fell down in school. “I hope that she will continue to be kind and helpful in future.”
“With the support of the teachers, Charvi has really grown in confidence,” says Mdm Aghila Raghu. “She started speaking up and has also learnt to be more responsible. But for Charvi’s mother, the most memorable part of her daughter’s primary school days will be the day they performed on stage together, when she received the long-service award as part of the parent support group.
Charvi says her best memory of primary school is the school camp she attended when she was in Primary 4. “I will always remember how the entire cohort gathered around the campfire and danced and played games,” she says.
As Charvi moves on to the next stage of her education journey, she thinks that her biggest challenge in secondary school will probably be making new friends. “But I think the presentations and public speaking I’ve had to do as a prefect will come in handy.”
Primary 1, here we come! (8 December 2025)
"Schoolbag crashes the K2 Celebrates event at MOE Kindergarten @ First Toa Payoh, where these four K2 children are excited about their school years ahead. Here’s why they and their parents say they’ll be doing just fine at Primary 1.
By Gerbelle Eng
Looking at six-year-old Henry Ling hosting confidently on stage, his proud mother recalls how he was once too shy to come to school.
“He cried for three months,” says Ms Jenniffey Ling. “Now he’s the first to go and make friends!”
She was among the many parents attending year-end festivities in October at MOE Kindergarten @ First Toa Payoh (MK@First Toa Payoh). The event titled K2 Celebrates marks an important milestone for MK’s K2 children, showcasing what they’ve learnt in their two kindy years.
At MK@First Toa Payoh, the celebrations featured multilingual performances on Singapore’s history and culture that commemorate our nation’s 60th year of independence this year.
Children plan the programme, even the dance steps
“We encourage the children to plan and design what they want to do,” shares Ms Nurul’Ain Farhanah Abdul Halim, one of the MK teachers involved with the day’s events. “They recalled what they had learnt about our country and planned the stage performances together – even designing their own dance steps for the songs.”
By taking ownership of their performance, children develop confidence, creativity, and independence, she adds. Quieter children learn to express themselves, collaborate with their peers, and present in front of an audience – these will be important skills they’ll carry into Primary 1."
Does your preschooler really need to write and spell words perfectly to get ready for Primary 1? (8 December 2025)
"Handwriting drills and spelling tests seem like reasonable assignments to set your preschoolers to prepare for Primary 1. But do they do more harm than good? We ask an early childhood expert to break it down.
By Eveline Gan
When Ms Marie Angelie noticed that her student, a little boy fascinated with dinosaurs, had spelled T-rex (short for Tyrannosaurus rex) as “T-rks”, she did not see a spelling mistake. What she saw instead, was a budding writer taking his first brave steps towards mastering language.
Recalling the preschooler’s beaming face after proudly labelling his drawing of the apex predator, Ms Marie, a lead lecturer at the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC), says, “He spelled it as ‘t-rks’ because that was how the word sounded to him. I didn’t correct his spelling immediately but celebrated his effort for labelling his dinosaur drawing.”
Later, she read a story about dinosaurs to the class, and the boy discovered the conventional spelling. “His growth came not from drill and practice, but from genuine interest and a safe space to experiment with spelling and writing,” Ms Marie elaborates.
The myth of writing and spelling perfectly in preschool
A common concern of parents of preschoolers is whether their child’s spelling and penmanship skills are “good enough” for Primary 1. However, Ms Marie stresses that imperfections in writing and spelling are not only normal in young children, but they are also a key part of literacy development.
“One major misconception is that preschool children must master correct spelling and have perfectly neat handwriting that follow the lines printed on worksheets. Many parents equate these with Primary 1 readiness, so this often leads to children copying letters repeatedly, which destroys their love for writing,” Ms Marie explains.
Being overly zealous in correcting mistakes can also backfire, when it demotivates the child or fuels anxiety. “I’ve seen children who freeze every time they attempt writing or spelling words because they are told repeatedly that they are wrong. Over time, they lose their motivation and interest,” she adds.
At a preschool where she previously worked, Ms Marie observed a troubling trend where some children often reported feeling unwell or arrived late on Fridays – the day when spelling tests were held, requested by parents. “The stress they felt over the tests did more harm than good to their learning.”
Been there, scrolled that! This mum battled her teen’s device use and found what really works (19 December 2025)
"When Mrs Drishti Bhatia started getting worried about her daughter’s increasing screen time, she knew that confiscating her phone wasn’t the answer. Here’s how the AI Associate Trainer helped her teen build healthier digital habits while maintaining trust and connection.
By Eveline Gan
It started innocently enough, a simple way to make her 13-year-old daughter’s long commutes to and from school more bearable. Mrs Drishti Bhatia had relented and allowed her daughter Kaavya to listen to YouTube Music and watch pre-downloaded Netflix videos on her mobile phone.
Soon, Mrs Bhatia recalls how her daughter would sometimes continue watching videos even after reaching home, choosing screen time over her outdoor time or homework. “Over time, I became concerned about her screen use,” she says.
As an AI Associate Trainer who teaches AI fundamentals to students, she understands how digital platforms are designed to hook users. That’s why she grew increasingly uneasy. Even so, the tech-savvy mother knew that protecting her daughter wasn’t about banning devices.
“I don’t believe in confiscating her phone,” says Mrs Bhatia, an associate Trainer at AI Learning Lab. “For teenagers, the phone is a very important communication tool with family and friends – especially with all the major changes in Secondary 1. Taking away her device would cut her off from that social support.”
Instead, she found five ways that worked for her family and helped her teen learn to manage her own screen habits.
Tip #1: Set limits, but keep them realistic
To help her teen curb her increasing screen use, Mrs Bhatia took a balanced, collaborative approach. First, she started by setting a daily screen time limit of one and a half hours for her teen – the duration of her commute.
“I explained that I had no problem with her using her phone for entertainment, but to keep it to her travel time. That worked well, and after I noticed she was managing okay, I removed the restrictions,” Mrs Bhatia says.
Screen time limits can be set through parental control features on most mobile devices. These features also typically allow parents to approve additional screen time if say, their child needs extra time for schoolwork."
When you’re in secondary school, it’s very important that you... (19 December 2025)
"We asked three N-level graduates from Yio Chu Kang Secondary School to complete the sentence, and here’s what they said.
“Set your purpose and priorities, focus on what’s important to you, and ignore what other people think.”
Siti Syahana Elysha didn’t get into the secondary school she wanted to go to, but instead of moping, she set her mind on doing better. In Secondary 3, when choosing her subject combination, her friends advised her to drop Nutrition and Food Science because she didn’t do great in the subject. “But I like baking and cooking and decided to persevere. I managed to bump up my grades by a lot and did all my assignments on time,” she says.
This insistence on pursuing what she likes has made Siti a more independent learner and left her with zero regrets. Working towards her goal, she even managed to teach her family how to eat more healthily."
This is what happens when heart work is weaved into everything you learn in school (19 December 2025)
"From building “smart” walking aids for seniors to creating games to ease their younger peers into school, students at Park View Primary School are discovering that true success comes from using their strengths to uplift others.
By Eveline Gan
After countless tweaks and adjustments, Primary 5 student Mikhail Zheng Xi and his teammates finally heard what they had been hoping for. A sharp beep let out by the sensor on their walking stick prototype, about three meters away from a table. Around the classroom, cheers erupted.
For the Park View Primary School (PVPS) students, what began as a semester-long Applied Learning Programme (ALP), “One Love, Many Lives”, had become a lesson in empathy, teamwork and perseverance.
Their initial task, as part of their ALP, was simple: identify a real-world problem and create a tech-based solution. Then, a chat with an elderly cleaner in school had sparked their motivation to develop a solution to make life easier for seniors.
“We found out that some elderly people are visually impaired, and require a walking stick to move around. The uncle we spoke to also said it was sometimes difficult for him to move around, especially when going up the stairs,” Mikhail recalled. “That’s when my group got the idea to build a sensor stick that could help detect and alert the user of obstacles.”
Over several weeks, the students worked tirelessly to refine their Microbit sensor stick for its intended use. When their prototype finally worked, Mikhail said they felt really proud. “It was nice to see someone benefit from what we made. It helped us understand the struggles that elderly people go through.”
Fun everyday activities that can build stronger Maths skills than worksheets (30 December 2025)
"Sitting your child down to do Maths worksheets and recite the times table is one way to teach numeracy, but Ms Samantha See, an early childhood expert from the National Institute of Early Childhood Development, says there are other methods that promote better mastery of Maths concepts.
By Eveline Gan
In the race to give our children a head start in Primary 1 Maths, it is all too tempting to reach for worksheets, make them recite repetitively the multiplication tables, and practise counting way beyond 10. But what if the key to building a solid foundation in numeracy can be found in everyday routines and conversations, in the kitchen and even when doing laundry?
Ms Samantha See Xueyi, a lecturer specialising in early numeracy at the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC), says overpreparing kids by making them do worksheets and memorise multiplication table is not early numeracy. “What we should be doing is to help them develop a deeper understanding of the concepts and skills in a developmentally appropriate manner,” she clarifies.
What are pre-number concepts
Recognising relationships through matching, sorting, comparing, ordering and patterning, as well as understanding basic shapes and spatial concepts, are known as pre-number concepts. These help children build the foundational logical thinking to support more complex mathematical thinking in Primary school, explains Ms See.
For example, a child learns to match two coloured objects. Then, they use their understanding of matching to pair a numeral card to a corresponding quantity of items when they are developmentally ready.
Subsequently, they will go beyond these pre-number concepts as preschool teachers introduce number relationships, exploring ideas like “more than” or “fewer than”when comparing quantities.
“There is also an important concept – part-whole relationships – which helps children see the relationship between the whole and its parts. For example, understanding that 10 can be represented as eight and two helps prepare children for future addition and subtraction sums,” explains Ms See. “Many people don’t realise that the ability to make 10 very quickly mentally helps later on when they work with bigger numbers.”
Looking back: Past issues of Contact magazine (31 December 2025)
"Looking for insightful stories about teachers and their experiences? While “Contact: The Teachers’ Digest” is no longer being published, you can still explore a rich collection of articles in its archived editions here, which highlight the voices and journeys of educators."
The first day of primary school: What parents hope for most (13 January 2026)
"The first day of Primary One isn’t just about lessons and routines. For many parents, it’s about trust, reassurance, and the small moments that matter.
By Sabrina Lee
The first day of Primary One is a milestone that brings excitement, nerves, and hope for what lies ahead. At Sembawang Primary School, we spoke to three parents about what went through their mind, seeing their children enter a new environment. We also asked a teacher how the school staff help students settle in and reassures parents on the first day.
Mum celebrates small steps to independence
“As Vihaan starts Primary One, my hope is for him to learn to adapt, enjoy learning, and grow in confidence as he finds his way.
Today really brought those hopes to life. I stood next to him during recess as he carefully put his plate away after eating. It was a small thing, but it meant a lot to me. I could see that he was nervous and unsure, so I told him it was okay and gave him a bit of encouragement. Watching him find the courage to do it on his own was both comforting and emotional.
What’s been reassuring, from the school briefings and today’s experience, is seeing the school’s focus on students’ well-being and character, alongside learning. The nurturing environment, clear support, and attention to social and emotional growth give me confidence that Vihaan will be well supported as he settles in, becomes more independent, and finds his footing at this important stage of his life.”
Leading with heart: How three principals shape lives with care and clarity (14 January 2026)
"Good leadership keeps the heart of our schools beating strongly every day. Three principals — Mr Michael de Silva, Mr Kevin Pang and Mdm Goh Meei Yunn — share how they draw the best from various leadership approaches to create sustainable excellence in schools.
Innovation that comes through trust and collaboration
Among educators, it is common lingo to say that teaching and running schools take a lot of hard work AND heart work.
Everything that happens to their students – from grazed knees and friendship hurts, to academic strides, family relationships, and triumphs big and small – are all in a day’s work for principals and their staff. This can also make schools more complex to lead than the average organisation.
In his nearly 40 years of service at the Ministry of Education, Mr Michael de Silva had taken on various leadership positions at HQ and schools, the latest being Principal of Yishun Innova Junior College before his retirement last year.
School principals are appointed through discerning selection and advancement processes, and well-trained and mentored for the task, he says. Added to that is how well the teaching fraternity looks after its own.
“It is simply practical,” he says. “If we want good outcomes for students, the people doing the work – our teachers – need to be supported, respected, and well.”
As care and trust is established, innovation and collaboration come more easily.
“I try to bring out the best in my staff by creating sustainable systems, structures, and a culture that allow them to do their best work.” When forming teams, for example, he creates what he calls “collaborative leadership” where educators support one another’s growth while serving students more effectively."
7 leadership tips from the Principal’s Office: On forging culture (14 January 2026)
"School culture acts like an invisible force that brings teachers and students together, and shapes good values and habits. Schoolbag speaks to Mr Kevin Pang, who takes over as Principal of Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) this year, on how he forges a strong culture – starting with how it’s defined.
How does one build a culture where people feel they truly belong? How does one lead culture change without losing trust? How do we turn shared values from wall posters into daily practice? These are enduring questions for both new and seasoned leaders.
Mr Kevin Pang successfully guided Yuhua Secondary School through its post-merger transition towards a renewed culture and identity. He has also led across a wide spectrum of school settings, from junior college, to special needs institution, and now ACS (Independent), a specialised independent school with a long and storied heritage.
He offers strategies to forge a stronger culture that resonates.
1. Define culture as lived experience, not stated aspiration.
“To me, school culture is the daily lived expression of what we believe, value, and practise together,” says Mr Pang. “It is reflected not just in policies but in the ‘soft culture’ of everyday interactions between students, staff and stakeholders — how decisions are made, how we treat one another, and most tellingly, how we respond to difficulties.”
At Yuhua Secondary, the mission “Care, Connect, Contribute” shaped decisions large and small – from looking after every student and staff’s well-being (caring), why Town Halls with students and dialogues sessions with staff mattered (connecting), to making courageous actions to transform school programmes and infrastructure (contributing).
When the culture is strong, he says, “people sense alignment, belonging and meaning — they know why what we do matters and how they can contribute to it”.
Leaders need to translate aspirations and purpose into lived practices. Vision and mission statements must come alive and be lived out as identity.
“Each school should have something proud and distinctive that defines itself,” says Mr Pang. That identity becomes the invisible force that guides behaviour even when no one is watching."
7 leadership tips from the Principals’ Office: On navigating change (14 January 2026)
"With change as a constant, the steady hand of leadership keeps schools running and students learning every day. Schoolbag asks Mdm Goh Meei Yunn, a seasoned principal who takes over the reins of School of the Arts (SOTA) this year, how she steers staff, students and parents through various education phases and tough situations too.
How do we lead when the ground beneath us is shifting? How do we stay true to our values while adapting to new realities? How do we guide our team through change when we’re still grappling with it myself?
These are some questions that leaders grapple with especially in an era where unpredictability is promised and social media is there to amplify every misstep.
Mdm Goh Meei Yunn has navigated schools through different phases of Singapore’s education landscape for the past 25 years.
Before SOTA, she assumed leadership appointments including Principalship at two primary schools and stints at the MOE Schools Division’s former Educational Leadership Development Centre. Mdm Goh, who has a degree in Music, started her career as a teacher in the Music Elective Programme at Dunman High School.
She shares some practical strategies from her experience that’s useful for navigating change in any group or organisation.
1. Work on the personal impact before leading others through change
When dealing with change, Mdm Goh typically doesn’t start with strategy or policy. She starts with herself.
When Singapore’s education system was evolving in the 2000s towards more holistic education and a reduced emphasis on grades, she felt unsettled.
“I grew up in the older system,” she explains. “So as a beginning teacher in the 1980s and 90s, I prided myself on improving on my students’ academic performance every year. But as our education philosophy shifted away from celebrating straight As, I was caught between two worlds.”
Then a young parent of two, it was doubly hard for Mdm Goh to imbibe the shift in approach to teaching and learning – she could understand why parents would continue to prioritise good grades or preferred schools for their children, as that was the benchmark they were brought up on; “I believe all parents of my generation went through that,” she says.
After working on her inner conflicts, she found it easier to lead empathetic conversations with her colleagues and students’ parents facing similar struggles. As a parent herself, she found it easier to connect with other parents, as she was able to articulate their inner parenting insecurities."
7 leadership tips from the Principal’s Office: On people management (14 January 2026)
"Strong leadership can bring out the best in us – what more in schools where our students are being nurtured and cared for every day? Schoolbag speaks to Mr Michael de Silva, a veteran educator who led schools and shaped leaders across nearly four decades. He talks about how to build sustainable teams, navigate complexity, and keep care and performance working hand in hand.
How do I manage a diverse team of colleagues? How can I get consensus rather than compliance? What makes teams and performance sustainable? These are questions even experienced leaders revisit from time to time.
People management is about developing individuals into their best selves at work or in school — something Mr Michael de Silva practised with commitment and distinction across almost four decades as an educator and leader.
Beyond his roles at MOE HQ as a cluster superintendent and head of the Educational Leadership Development Centre, he served as Principal of Innova Junior College from 2013 until its merger with Yishun Junior College. He then helmed the newly formed Yishun Innova Junior College from 2019 until his retirement last year.
“In schools, many of us spend more time with our colleagues than with our own families. Because so much of our lives is lived in the workplace, people management isn’t a separate leadership function — it is the work. As we teach and support students, we also grow as individuals, and we grow the people around us.”
Drawing on decades of leadership while delivering measurable outcomes for students, he offers field-tested practices that strengthen teams in schools and workplaces alike.
1. Care is the work
On balancing leading with care and with efficiency, Mr de Silva makes a simple assertion: the two are not separate. “They are actually the same work,” he says. If we want good outcomes for students, the people doing the work — our teachers — must be supported, respected, and well. This is not a soft idea. It is simply practical.
“Even if someone takes a very instrumental view and sees teachers as a means to an end, the conclusion is the same: if you rely on a tool to get good results, you make sure that tool is in good condition and sharpened. People are obviously not tools, but the principle still applies.” When teachers feel valued and supported, they do better work. Care is not a distraction from performance; it is what makes performance sustainable.
Leading with heart begins with acknowledging what is already felt. At the start of a new term, he might tell his staff that he, too, wished the holidays were longer — “you know what’s in their hearts, because that’s in your heart too,” he explains. Such small acts of honesty build connection, trust, and emotional safety.
Care does not mean lowering expectations. “In practice, I try to understand the real pressures teachers face and give support or clarity where needed, while still holding clear expectations and timelines.”
Pro-tech-ting kids in the age of AI (16 January 2026)
"Artificial intelligence is taking the world by storm, and parents must start thinking about what it means to raise children in an era of humanlike chatbots and capable image generators. A parent working in tech shares her take on this.
By Rafidah A Razak
AI. LLMs. These acronyms are so commonplace one would have to be living under a rock to not know what they stand for: artificial intelligence and Large Language Models. They are also touted to be technologies we need to learn and use to thrive in future. So, it would make sense for parents to expose their kids to these tech tools as soon as possible, right?
Ms T, who prefers to stay anonymous, begs to differ. The mum of two boys aged five and seven wants to teach them the art of slow living – a mindset that focuses on doing things mindfully and with intention. And it includes life without AI and generative AI (GenAI) in their early years.
As an AI consultant and UX (user experience) designer, Ms T’s day-to-day job is to recognise and keep up with worldwide technological developments, such as how China’s Cyberspace Administration has recently released regulations around the use of AI. These directives are intended to protect their children and elderly as the government has recognised how quickly human-like AI technologies are being integrated into society.
“AI and technology are going to be everywhere around them as they grow up. Learning how to use AI is so easy, because the outputs are just there for them to consume,” she says. The hard part, she reckons, will be teaching children how to be more human. How to think critically, be creative and authentic, and understand the invisible processes that underlie the fast outputs that we have come to expect from technology."
In pictures: First day of school moments (19 January 2026)
"Being back at school is giving fresh-start energy − new things to learn, new friends to meet, and moments that will shape the year ahead.
By Sabrina Lee
Every first day looks a little different − in MOE Kindergarten @ Sembawang, to Sembawang Primary, and in Bukit Batok Secondary. As a new school year begins, students step into new classrooms, make new friends, and experience many firsts, supported by their parents, teachers and school staff.
Why the teaching profession cannot be a revolving door (21 January 2026)
"Its strength lies in experienced teachers who bring maturity, insight and confidence built over years.
By Liew Wei Li
Mr Ahmad Arif Bin Ibrahim did Singapore proud recently, bagging a bronze medal together with his Duathlon Mixed Relay team at the 2025 SEA Games. Away from the track, he is also a maestro at Maha Bodhi School where he teaches Physical Education.
He masterfully engages students, and knows how to adapt lessons on the fly. These are not skills learnt overnight.
This raises an important question: Will he still be teaching in 2035?
The Ministry of Education (MOE) has said that it will actively hire more new educators from 2026 to strengthen our teaching workforce. But recruitment alone is not enough. Teaching must remain an attractive long-term career, and not a revolving door.
After over 20 years in education, I have witnessed teachers transform from “sages on stages” to something far more sophisticated. Experienced teachers are like concert maestros: instinctive, precise and deeply attuned to their students.
Why the experience matters
Take a disengaged student who shows little interest in the concepts taught.
An experienced teacher like Mr Arif knows how to draw him in with simple personalised applications of real-world learning, the psychological safety of established classroom routines, or interesting and appropriately challenging tasks to spark the joy of learning.
The same instinct shows up when a student is underperforming academically.
An expert educator like Mdm Usha d/o Krishnasamy, a 23-year veteran and Lead Teacher at North View Primary School will scan the class, assess their needs, and provide inclusive, yet differentiated instruction to her learners, including those with Special Educational Needs. She knows how to pitch appropriate challenges to them for confidence building, and give timely feedback so they can improve.
What students gain from experienced teachers is precious. Research tells us that they are more likely to attend school, engage constructively, and learn more."
Students on the teachers who shaped their secondary school journey (22 January 2026)
"Four Evergreen Secondary School students share the small moments – from words of encouragement to questions that made them think – that will stay with them long after they graduate.
By Sabrina Lee
“Mr Anan pointed out my strengths before I could see them myself.” – Garrett Lim
When Garrett was nominated to take on the role of Discipline Head of the prefectorial board in Secondary 3, it felt daunting. “I honestly didn’t think I had the guts for it,” he says.
But Mr Anan, who leads the Student Leadership Development Committee, reassured Garrett. Mr Anan pointed out moments he had observed from as early as Secondary 1, such as when Garrett stepped up to make announcements to classmates about proper attire or haircuts.
“To me, it was very basic actions., I didn’t even think of it as ‘leadership’ at that time,” Garrett says. But that conversation with Mr Anan helped Garrett reframe his thinking and boosted his confidence.
“Mr Anan is someone I feel comfortable turning to for guidance. He’s firm when needed, but always encouraging. He’ll tell me, ‘You’ve got this.’”
What performing arts CCAs really teach students (26 January 2026)
"How do performing arts develop resilience and transform students into confident performers who dream bigger? Schoolbag gets them to tell us.
By Sabrina Lee
Performing arts CCAs place students in situations that ask more of them: to listen closely, respond to feedback and keep going when practice gets demanding. For Ashley Tham and Graeden Dispo, dance and music became avenues to test themselves, steady their focus and discover what effort over time can achieve.
Ashley Tham learns to move with confidence
When Ashley steps onto the stage, her movements are steady and assured. That assurance did not come overnight – it was shaped through practice and a deep commitment to dance.
Ashley first joined Fusionz Dance at APSN Tanglin School in Secondary 1 to explore a CCA she already felt drawn to. She had begun dancing earlier, starting in Primary 2 at Chaoyang School. “Dance makes me feel happy and strong,” she shares. While she was comfortable being on stage, remembering choreography, staying in sync with others and staying attentive through long rehearsals were challenging at first. There were moments of fatigue, but she kept showing up.
What helped her persist was a supportive CCA environment. Her teachers focused on building up her self-confidence. “We checked in with Ashley regularly and set small, achievable goals,” says co-teacher-in-charge Ms Syafiqah Binte Mohamed Salleh. “Celebrating small wins helped her keep going.”
Rehearsals became a space where Ashley learnt to respond to feedback, adapt when routines were demanding, and stay committed even when progress felt slow. By participating in numerous in-school and public performances, she learnt to stay composed under pressure.
“Dance teaches students how to manage pressure and perform with clarity,” says Ashley’s dance instructor, Mr Mohammad Ridzwan Bin Rashid, known to students as Mr Ewan.
Those skills carried into her sporting pursuits as well. A competitive swimmer, Ashley recently represented Team Singapore at the 2025 Dubai Asian Youth Para Games, winning two silver and two bronze medals."
Discovering the joy of serving together (5 February 2026)
"These Parent Support Groups are inspiring parents and children to step out and lend a hand to those in need, proving that volunteering as a family doesn’t have to be complicated.
By Ai Lei
Parent Support Groups (PSGs) in schools are showing that giving back can be a family affair. Through school-led initiatives, both parents and children are involved in serving others – from distributing food to families in need to bringing help and joy to seniors. Find out how PSGs from these four schools provide opportunities for parents and children to bond through volunteering.
Punggol Green Primary School: Partnering parents to inculcate values
Punggol Green Primary School’s collaboration with Food from the Heartbegan as a Values-in-Action project led by its Primary 5 students. These students rallied their peers to contribute non-perishable food items for families in need. These food items were also displayed on shelves for beneficiaries to redeem at Food from the Heart’s Community Shop @ Punggol.
Now in its fifth year, the initiative has expanded, with participation from the school’s PSG. Parents saw the shared acts of service as a meaningful way to give back while strengthening bonds with their children. Together, they went door-to-door to distribute food packs to 50 households in Punggol and Hougang.
Ms Norhidayana Jabar, Lead Teacher/Malay Language, reflects, “This initiative shows how learning goes beyond the classroom, as students learn to be kind, caring and responsible members of the community.”
For the community, the effort provided not just essential groceries but also a sense of warmth and connection. In particular, a resident had shared how the food packs helped ease her family’s worries when they were going through a difficult month.
The students experienced the joy of service firsthand, with many taking the initiative to prepare personalized greetings to introduce themselves to the residents. Parents too were deeply moved. PSG chairperson Ms Claire Zhang shares, “The smiles you see from the residents and from your own children are truly priceless.” Creating these shared experiences allowed parents to actively participate in their child’s holistic development, reinforcing the values taught in school."
What students learn when they perform together (13 February 2026)
"From school rehearsals to public performances, students reflect on how performing arts CCAs teach them to pay attention to others and work together.
By Sabrina Lee
Across a guitar ensemble and an angklung group, four students share how performing arts CCAs shape the way they listen, adapt, and pull their own weight during performances.
Zi Ling and Maya learn it takes a team to carry a melody on the angklung
When St. Anthony’s Canossian Secondary School’s Angklung Ensemble plays, no one carries the melody alone.
“Everybody only controls one note,” says Secondary 4 student Hiew Zi Ling. “So, to play a song, we must listen to each other, watch the conductor, and shake our instruments at the right moment.”
As a student leader, Zi Ling looks out for juniors who are still adjusting. “Everyone has their own way of learning,” she says. “And I’ve learnt to be patient and to encourage them.”
For Zi Ling, the Angklung Ensemble stood out when she was in Secondary 1 because she and a close friend did not share classes and wanted to join a CCA that gave them time to bond. “I stumbled across an angklung performance during the Singapore Youth Festival,” she says. “The bamboo instrument looked so unique, and I found it fascinating how such a simple instrument could make such clear, resonant sounds.”
With little to no musical background, she thought the angklung would be easy to learn at first. “Playing the angklung in an ensemble means keeping time, working as a team, and paying close attention to everyone else’s cues,” she says."
Empowering everyone during Total Defence Day (13 February 2026)
"Through fun and educational activities, White Sands Primary School and Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School come together every year to let their students learn about how everyone has a role to play when it comes to Total Defence.
Learning how to perform CPR on a CPR dummy from a St. John Brigade cadet. Colouring scenes of playground interactions while National Police Cadet Corp cadets explain how Social Defence is built over time. Identifying signs and emergency numbers that will be useful during an emergency from a group of Girl Guides.
These are just some of the activities that White Sands Primary School (WSPS) students engaged in during their recess, facilitated by 51 students from uniformed groups from Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School (PRCSS). The initiative, which arose from a partnership between the two schools, is part of Total Defence Day commemoration.
“We were already partnering with WSPS in Values in Action, so it was a natural step to take when we were looking to extend our outreach and advocacy initiatives,” says Ms Candice Soh, Subject Head of Student Involvement and Agency at PRCSS. “It is a meaningful event that also empowers our students, as they impart their knowledge of Total Defence to younger students.”
Now in its fourth year, these Total Defence Day recess activities have become something that the WSPS students look forward to annually."
Where Play Sparks Growth - How MOE Kindergartens are developing our preschoolers (26 February 2026)
"School today is no longer just about worksheets and tests.
At MOE Kindergartens (MK), “purposeful play” is an important part of its curriculum. Sneak a peek into what this looks like in the different learning spaces at MK@Casuarina!"
Hot take: How these 3 parent influencers keep their kids off their devices (26 February 2026)
"Influencers are all about attracting eyeballs to their accounts. So we posed three parent influencers this tough question: How do you limit screen use for your own kids? They share what methods work for them and what don’t.
Fifteen hours. That’s Runner Kao’s daily screen time report. The social worker turned content creator admits that the number is staggering – it’s nearly all of his waking hours! But it’s hard to bring it down when his livelihood depends on it.
Parent influencers face a daunting task: Limit their kids’ screen time while building careers online. Mummy influencer Fizah Nizam often works on the go, with device stuck to her hand. When she tells her daughter to put her iPad down, she gets this reply: “You tell me, ‘don’t use the iPad’, but then why are you on the iPad?”
For influencer Tommy Wong, it’s also about reconciling his online career with values he wants to instil.
All three parents’ homes have become living labs for digital parenting, testing grounds for strategies every modern parent needs in the fight against extended screen times. The result? Hard-won wisdom from the front lines.
What failed: Don’t try this at home
1. Loose warnings and flexi boundaries
Like many well-meaning parents, Ms Fizah tried to set boundaries around screen use. But she was fuzzy about the number of hours she would allow, and she might also let devices babysit her kids when she was busy.
Tight deadlines characterise the content creator and film producer’s life. “I admit there were days when I was weak, and I’d tell the kids, ‘Sorry, I really need to get this done. Take the iPad,” says Ms Fizah.
She might throw in words of caution like “don’t play for too long”, which were ineffective. When she stepped in depended on her resolve for the day, which depended on her work schedule. Ms Fizah’s daughter, aged 10, would get “lost in her own world for hours” on the screen. And even when the device was switched off, Ms Fizah noticed her girl perpetually zoning out. “It was like she was floating in water. The after-effects linger.”
The wake-up call came – literally – from her daughter’s school. “I think Sahara has some issues with her eyesight,” the teacher said. After the school health screening a few weeks later, their fears were confirmed. “It shocked me. Her degree was really high!” Ms Fizah exclaims."
How do teachers learn? By creating (27 February 2026)
"Our art teachers don’t just teach art – they make it too. Here, four of them reflect on how creating and exhibiting their own work shapes the way they guide students.
By Sabrina Lee
Art teachers guide students through creative work where uncertainty is part of the process. They know that feeling firsthand as artists themselves. But it is not often that we see their work being showcased and get a rare glimpse into their own creative processes.
So, Schoolbag popped by the 13th Biennial Art Teachers’ Exhibition, to speak to four teacher-artists whose works are being exhibited. This edition of the event required participating teachers, for the first time, to create new works in response to a theme instead of submitting existing pieces. This meant starting from scratch – testing ideas, experimenting with materials, and deciding what to keep, change or discard as the work developed. They reflect on what it means to sit with that uncertainty, and how the experience shapes the way they guide their students.
“Making art keeps me grounded as a teacher.”
Mdm Jessica Lai, Art Teacher, Peirce Secondary School
“My artwork is a watercolour piece made up of an accordion-style book that loops into a circle, with collaged mushrooms placed at the centre. It draws on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, especially the moment when Alice is asked, ‘Who are you?’ and must decide whether to take a bite of the mushroom. That in-between state – questioning identity and deciding whether to act – stayed with me. Working through that sense of being ‘in between’ made me more aware of how often students sit in that same space when they are learning.”
“When I make art for myself, the process feels intuitive. I move easily from one idea to the next.
Taking part in this exhibition made me slow down and look more closely at my own thinking. Starting a new artwork meant breaking ideas into smaller parts and paying attention to each decision as it unfolded.
Sitting with that uncertainty reminded me what learning feels like, and why it’s important for students to see that thinking doesn’t always come neatly or quickly – even if that means learning alongside my students.
When students understand that feeling unsure is part of learning, they become more willing to try, trust their ideas, and find their own way forward.”
Here’s what MOE announced at Committee of Supply 2026 (4 March 2026)
"At the 2026 Committee of Supply Debate, MOE announced initiatives to enable Singaporeans to learn together and be equipped for an AI-transformed future. What can our learners look forward to?"
More than just design: Inside the Da Vinci Programme (5 March 2026)
"At West View Primary School, selected academically strong students attend after-school activities that develop 21st Century Competencies like empathy, teamwork and communication skills.
By Arielene Wee
On the day that Primary 6 students Daisy Ma and Aarnik Mahajan were supposed to present their group’s prototype to a panel of judges, the prototype broke.
The students from West View Primary School had spent weeks interviewing friends and family members to understand the challenges they face in growing plants, brainstormed for sustainable solutions, and designed a prototype of an auto-watering device to help water plants.
With the help of their teachers from the Design Thinking Capstone Project, Daisy and Aarnik’s group quickly rebuilt their prototype from scratch, and even improved on the original design.
“We were very sad when our first prototype failed, but then we tried again,” says Daisy. “We even came up with a new idea of placing a camera on the device to check when the plant is dry and needs more water.”
Aarnik adds, “At the end of the presentation, we were really proud of what we made. I learnt to see things differently and not give up, even when we face challenges that seem difficult to overcome.”
That act of failing, then trying again and succeeding, is exactly what the Design Thinking Capstone Project aims to instil in students.
Learning to solve problems with empathy
Working on capstone projects around sustainability is one of three components of the Da Vinci Programme at West View Primary, a two-year programme for Primary 4 and 5 students who are selected based on academic strengths and teacher recommendations. The other components are the Brain programme, which focuses on developing communication and presentation skills, and Excellence 2000 (E2K) Mathematics, which develops mathematical reasoning.
In 2024, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced in his National Day Rally speech, that the Gifted Education Programme (GEP), in its current form, would be discontinued. Instead, students with strengths and talents in the academic domain would be stretched through a different approach.
Under the current GEP, students transfer to one of nine designated primary schools that host the programme in Primary 4. With the revised approach, these students would remain in their schools, which are all equipped with school-based provisions to develop them in English, Maths and Science – beyond the normal curriculum.
Students who are assessed to benefit from even further stretch can choose to attend centre-based advanced modules after school at designated schools nearby. The modules will start running from 2027 for Primary 4 students.
At West View Primary School, students with strengths and talents in the academic domain attend the Da Vinci Programme, which is held after school. What distinguishes it from other school-based programmes is its strong emphasis on design thinking, which Principal Mr Eugene Lee introduced when he joined the school in 2024."
More than just numbers: Inside the Mathematics Expert @ Work programme (5 March 2026)
"At Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School, the programme helps students strong in Mathematics to discover how it connects to real-world problems. They get better at problem-solving too.
By Arielene Wee
As part of the Mathematics Expert @ Work (MEW) programme at Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School, students get to build popcorn containers to learn about volume, and calculate optimal lift travel times to learn about rates and speed.
Mrs Sharon Wang, MEW teacher at Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary, shares that such activities are designed to “stretch them beyond what is taught in the classroom”.
In 2024, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced in his National Day Rally speech, that the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) would discontinue in its current form. Instead, students with strengths and talents in the academic domain would be stretched through a different approach.
Under the current GEP, students transfer to one of nine designated primary schools that host the programme in Primary 4. With the revised approach, these students would remain in their schools, which are all equipped with school-based provisions to develop them in English, Maths and Science – beyond the normal curriculum.
Students who are assessed to benefit from even further stretch are invited to attend centre-based advanced modules after school at designated schools nearby. The modules will start running from 2027 for Primary 4 students.
For students with strengths and talent in Mathematics, primary schools can offer school-based provisions that are supported by MOE’s Gifted Education Branch and the Academy of Singapore Teachers. These are the MEW programme, Excellence 2000 (E2K) Mathematics Programme, and Primary Mathematics Project Competition.
At Pei Hwa Presbyterian Primary School, all three provisions are offered to Primary 4 and 5 students, who are selected based on their academic strengths in Mathematics and teacher recommendations.
Beyond structured steps and fast answers
MEW lessons are designed to make connections between abstract mathematical concepts and their practical applications. Additionally, students are trained to clearly articulate their reasoning and decision-making process.
“Unlike normal Mathematics lessons, where students solve equations and present calculations in a systematic manner, MEW involves a deeper conceptual understanding. Students have to explain the steps they take, and justify their reasoning,” says Mrs Wang.
The result of this is that students are less answer-driven and more process-focused, she observes. When one method fails, they try another. When they encounter difficulty, they persevere. Sometimes, they think out of the box too.
“As humans, we always want to solve things in the quickest way. But we teach our students to explore different ways to solve problems. In life, we never have just one method to solve things,” she adds.
“It doesn’t matter which way you take, as long as you get to the answer. The attempt to try, and then bounce back when you fail, is what we want to see.”
More than a love of books: Inside the Reading Circles programme (5 March 2026)
"At Seng Kang Primary School, students strong in the English language take part in activities that help them enjoy the books they read, while developing a greater understanding of the world around them.
By Arielene Wee
“I used to take a whole month to finish reading a Percy Jackson book, but now I can finish it in one and a half weeks,” says Jayden Wong, a Primary 6 student at Seng Kang Primary School.
For fellow Primary 6 student Syuhada Puteri Muhammad Iskandar, reading sometimes felt like a chore. Today, she says proudly that she reads every single day.
Both students credit this shift in their reading habits to the school’s Reading Circles programme.
“Reading Circles has allowed me to discover different books and genres, and I’ve realised that reading is not always boring,” Syuhada says.
Beyond reading more frequently, Jayden and Syuhada are also reading differently than before. Through Reading Circles, they have learnt to see from different characters’ perspectives, and draw connections between the stories they read to the world around them.
Fostering students’ love for the English language
In 2024, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced in his National Day Rally speech, that the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) would discontinue in its current form. Instead, students with strengths and talents in the academic domain would be stretched through a different approach.
Under the current GEP, students transfer to one of nine designated primary schools that host the programme in Primary 4. With the revised approach, these students would remain in their schools, which offer school-based provisions to develop them in English, Maths and Science – beyond the normal curriculum.
Students who are assessed to benefit from even further stretch are invited to attend centre-based advanced modules after school at designated schools nearby. The modules will start running from 2027 for Primary 4 students.
For students with strengths and talent in the English Language, three school-based programmes are offered by primary schools, supported by MOE’s Gifted Education Branch. These are the Reading Circles, Creative Writing programme, and Wits & Words debate programme.
At Seng Kang Primary, Reading Circles is an after-school programme for selected Primary 4 and 5 students, i.e., those who display strong interest in reading and demonstrate critical thinking and creative responses in class. It is conducted over eight sessions in the school year."
Junior College gave them opportunities they never expected (6 March 2026)
"The Junior College years aren’t just about studying for the A Levels – it’s also a time to discover new interests and pathways. We caught up with three recent graduates from St Andrew’s Junior College to hear about their experience at school.
By Arielene Wee
“I didn’t expect to go for work attachments, given the rigorous JC curriculum. But the school provided me with such opportunities, which were stepping stones for me to explore my interests.” - Cherianne Cheng
While Cherianne had always been interested in the Sciences, she wasn’t sure of what she wanted to pursue as a career when she first stepped foot in JC.
Through the school, Cherianne found out about work shadowing opportunities at St Hilda’s Community Services and St Andrew’s Community Hospital. She participated in them and saw firsthand what it was like to look after elderly patients in healthcare settings.
Cherianne also joined the “Saints Advocate” CCA in school, which focuses on community service. She planned befriending services for the elderly with the Lions Befrienders and Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital.
“I’m now very clear that I want to pursue a career in healthcare, because of all these opportunities I had in JC,” she says. “It’s a field that allows me to combine both my passions in Biology and in serving the community.”
Does your child seem stressed? Let’s chat…in the kitchen (9 March 2026)
"How do we help our children cope with everything from friendship troubles to social media pressures? Psychiatrist Dr Jared Ng offers 7 practical strategies and the importance of open communication – anytime, anywhere.
In today’s digital age, children have many more ways to spend their time, but they also face more pressures that extend far beyond the classroom. From friendship woes to social media comparisons, young people are navigating complex emotional landscapes and sources of stress that require more parental support than before, not less.
Dr Jared Ng, a father to three teens and a psychiatrist in private practice who previously worked with children in hospitals, explains that understanding stress begins with recognising its dual nature.
Is it eustress or distress?
“Stress is really any event or situation that puts a strain on somebody’s coping resources,” he says. When it comes in the form of “good” stress, it is called eustress, “for example, an exam, a sports competition, or even coming onto a podcast, right? It makes someone want to do better”.
However, when stress becomes chronic and overwhelming, it transforms from eustress to distress, says Dr Ng – the harmful type that “wears the person down” and leads to physical, emotional, and psychological problems.
What can parents do?
1. Watch for symptoms of distress and academic struggles.
Telltale signs include persistent headaches and abdominal discomfort with no medical cause, or difficulty falling asleep or frequent nightmares. There are also emotional indicators such as increased crying, irritability, and social withdrawal from activities, family gatherings, or friends.
Then there are kids who “are really trying very hard in class, but they just can’t seem to focus or concentrate”, Dr Ng observes. “And despite trying, they start to do worse and worse in school.” What may compound the stress is when this gives rise to even more scrutiny from their parents and educators, so a lighter touch may be needed when investigating the problem."
Taking a whole-of-school approach to Project Work (13 March 2026)
"When Project Work became a pass/fail subject in 2024, Mr Benzie Dio, Head of Department of English & Project Work at National Junior College, seized the opportunity to rethink how it was taught. Getting the whole school on board, he made it the driver of the 21st Century Competencies.
Anyone who has done group work can attest to this: when roles are assigned based on your teammates’ strengths and interests, the group is halfway to achieving its goals.
Now, imagine scaling it to the school level, where each subject department is tapped on to contribute their teachers’ expertise to Project Work (PW), an interdisciplinary subject. Then, pair PW groups and teachers with similar interests.
While this sounds like a scenario where dream teams are created, putting it into practice when you have 500 students and 40 teachers can turn it into a logistical nightmare. Yet, Mr Benzie Dio, Head of Department of English and PW at National Junior College (NJC), who came up with the idea, didn’t flinch at the mountainous task. Instead, he saw it as an opportunity to better drive home the 21st Century Competencies that PW aims to develop in students.
A change that came about due to the 2024 Project Work syllabus revision
The trigger to develop this whole-of-school approach to teaching PW came about when MOE refreshed the syllabus and made it a pass/fail subject in 2024.
“I looked at the objectives, the disposition and values that we want to see in our students with this revised syllabus,” says Mr Dio, who has been teaching for more than 30 years and saw the introduction of PW as a subject back in 2003.
From the learning outcomes of the revised syllabus, he picked up keywords and terms such as:
• Interdisciplinary
• Collaboration
• Focus on real-world issues; and
• Effective communication
There was also a lot of focus on Emerging 21st Century Competencies (E21CC) – namely critical, adaptive, and inventive thinking, and collaboration and communication skills. So, Mr Dio thought it will be a good opportunity to rethink the school’s approach to teaching PW, to get it to be the driver of these competencies."
A teacher who overcomes hurdles by taking charge (13 March 2026)
"Creating your own opportunities for learning and growing isn’t always the easiest. But Mr Kassidy’s can-do attitude has not only helped him steer his career, but also created a more inclusive environment for his students to grow more holistically.
When Mr Kassidy began his teaching journey at NIE in 1999, he was trained to teach English, Mathematics and Social Studies. But a few years into his career as an educator he felt that he could make a greater impact on his students by pivoting to teaching physical education (PE).
“I’ve always been quite outdoorsy, and I enjoy seeing children grow not just in skill, but in character,” sharesd Mr Kassidy, who is now the Head of Department (HOD) for PE and Co-Curricular Activities (CCA) at Rosyth School.
There was just one big hurdle standing in Mr Kassidy’s way then: the low enrolment number for NIE’s PE in-service diploma, which he had to take to make the switch to becoming a PE teacher. So, he and a group of like-minded friends started gathering other teachers with similar inclinations. Eventually, they got a group of 30 teachers together, so classes could commence.
Nearly two decades after his move, Mr Kassidy faced a similar challenge when he joined Rosyth School in January 2025. “We have a lot of students in each CCA, but not everybody can take part in competitions at the national level. I can sense the students’ disappointment when they’re unable to,” he said. So, he wanted to expand the N1 Cluster Invitational Games, which schools in his area had been hosting until it was put on pause due to the pandemic.
Reopening and expanding the games
Launched in 2017 for primary and secondary school students in the N1 Cluster, the games gave students who did not take part in the National School Games (NSG) – either because they were not selected or the numbers were too small to form a team for the NSG – a chance to compete. However, post-Covid, only the primary school basketball and football girls competitions were revived and organised by Rosyth School due to resource and manpower constraints.
Mr Kassidy thought about bringing the games back because he has seen firsthand how sports and CCAs build resilience, and knows competitions offer students the character-building experience of failing and bouncing back. “Whether it’s the NSG or cluster games, we want the kids to have the experience of competing; to learn about being humble in victory and gracious in defeat,” he elaborated.
With a fresh pair of eyes, since he was new to the school, he started asking: why not let more students join the games by expanding it to include both boys and girls from the basketball, football, and badminton CCAs?"
These teachers are trying, learning, and teaching AI to their students (13 March 2026)
"At one junior college, educators are proving that artificial intelligence doesn’t have to be scary if you’re trying it out with friends.
By Lee Qing Ping
English teachers everywhere know this experience: You want to give your students meaningful feedback on their essays, but a lot of time is spent correcting typical grammar errors. You have the usual suspects: “Fewer” books, not “less”. “Better”, not “more better”. Ms Shermin Chee, a Language Arts teacher, knows this well.
But with a little encouragement from colleagues to try using tech in her teaching, she found a way forward. What if AI could help pinpoint these commonly made mistakes instead, and free her up to work on higher-order feedback?
She discovered she could use optical character recognition tools to turn her students’ handwriting into typed text (but not if it’s too messy, so write neatly, kids).
Then, with AI’s support, she tweaks and tailors feedback to her students. Her students later make corrections themselves, writing their edits in green ink so she can see they’d actually engaged with the suggestions.
“Now, they’re more careful not to make the same mistakes,” she says. “And I can use the time to teach higher-order thinking, like strengthening their essay arguments.”
Ms Chee’s transformation is part of a growing movement happening at Temasek Junior College (TJC), where teachers are on to something: How to use AI to transform classrooms for the better.
Beyond the hype: What teachers are actually using AI for
The reality of AI in TJC’s classrooms is practical: thoughtful solutions to everyday challenges that have plagued educators for decades.
Mr Tan Seng Kwang, Senior Teacher of Physics in the school, has been leading the way in this.
“If there’s a better way to do work, we should try it, and share it,” says Mr Tan.
When his students roll virtual dice on their tablets, watching atoms “decay” with each roll of the die that shows six, they’re experiencing concepts that would typically rely on their imagination. Mr Tan taught himself to code these simulations using AI, describing what he wants in plain English and letting the technology build it.
“I used to spend hours writing JavaScript,” he explains, scrolling through interactive experiments. “Now I just tell the AI what I need, and it creates the simulation. Then I share the prompts with other teachers so they can make their own.”
This way, educators can focus on what humans do best: Inspiring curiosity, facilitating meaningful discussions, and building genuine connections with students."
Open House for Primary Schools 2026 (23 March 2026)
"What do you need to know before visiting open houses with your child? Read on for more details on how you can support your child in choosing primary schools!
Getting a peek into the school grounds, meeting the teachers and students, experiencing each school’s culture – open houses provide opportunities for you and your child to choose a primary school most suitable for them. Here are some points to keep in mind as your child embarks on this exciting new chapter.
While attending the virtual/physical open houses for primary schools, consider the following:
1. Your child’s strengths and interests
Talk to your child about what they enjoy doing, be it playing sports, making music, creating art, or gaming. Have conversations about their kindergarten experiences to understand which subjects and activities they like or dislike. In preparation for new learning opportunities in primary school years, ask them what else they would like to learn and try. Then, find out more about the primary schools that can potentially nurture their strengths and interests or offer new areas of interest.
2. Distance between home and school
The daily journey to and from school is an important consideration. Consider the means of transport your child will be using. Regardless of the mode of transport, be it by car, school bus, or public transport, what is the fastest and safest way for them to commute to and from school? A long commute can affect your child’s energy level and readiness to learn and participate in school activities, which can impact their overall school experience."
Open House for Secondary Schools 2026 (23 March 2026)
"What do you need to know before visiting open houses with your child? Read on for more details on how you can support your child in choosing secondary schools!
Getting a peek into the school grounds, meeting the teachers and students, experiencing each school’s culture – open houses provide opportunities for you and your child to choose a secondary school most suitable for him/her. Here are some points to keep in mind as your child embarks on this exciting new chapter.
1. Have a conversation with your child about their strengths and interests
Talk to your child about what they look forward to in secondary school and what worries them most about secondary school life. Have them share their favourite lessons and activities in primary school and what they think their strengths and interests are.
In your conversations with them, you can also have them rank what they enjoy about their school experiences. This can range from the learning environment to academic programmes to CCAs and even socialisation spaces in school! Their insights will give you a better understanding of what matters to them and identify schools that align with their strengths and interests.
2. Think of different aspects of the school experience
When discussing secondary school options with your child, consider the school’s distinctive electives and programmes, culture and ethos, subjects and CCAs offered, as well as the distance from home. These will all impact your child’s school experience."
4 strategies to help your child navigate bullying situations (6 April 2026)
"Hurtful behaviours and bullying often occur when teachers and parents are not watching. So, children benefit from having strategies they can use when they face such situations. Here are four approaches schools teach students that parents can reinforce at home, and tips on how to initiate discussions.
#1: Stay calm.
“Staying calm in the face of students who engaged in hurtful behaviour is important. Bullies often thrive on the emotional reactions of the targeted students. Giving neutral and steady responses will diminish their intended effort and extinguish their excitement and motivation to continue with the hurtful behaviour,” says Bendemeer Secondary School’s (BDMS) Senior School Counsellor Ms Nicole Choong.
The lesson here is to be in control and remain calm. Choose to ignore the comments and not take them personally. Report immediately to a trusted adult like a parent or teacher.
Tip: Staying calm is sometimes easier said than done. Role play this with your children. Practise taking deep breaths, counting slowly to five, and responding in a measured manner.
#2: Be assertive. Then walk away.
In Punggol Green Primary School (PGPS), students are guided on how to express their feelings clearly. Mdm Cai Aimei, Head of Department of Character and Citizenship Education, says, “We teach our students to say, ‘Stop, I feel (emotion) when you (action)’. in a polite and assertive tone, then walk away and seek help from a trusted adult.”
By learning how to recognise hurtful behaviours and respond appropriately during the Form Teacher Guidance Period and assembly talks, students are better equipped to handle difficult situations confidently.
The school also prepares students for similar situations that happen outside school grounds. “We want our students to know where to go for safety, whether it is safer to return to school, go home, or seek immediate help from a nearby adult,” says Mdm Cai.
Tip: Give your children the vocabulary to say “stop”. Try out the different tones of voice and phrases together so they are confident of saying them. Also discuss with your children where are the different places they can safely walk away to based on the locations they are usually at, such as if they encounter these situations in school, at the playground, or at the bus stop."
From fixed to fluid: Mobile workbenches spark fresh energy in Science labs (6 April 2026)
"Some shape-shifting has been taking place in Unity Secondary School, which is piloting redesigned workbenches with mobile segments. The segments on heavy-duty castors can be configured to accommodate different experiment set-ups and learning activities.
There has been a burst of fresh energy coming from the Science labs in Unity Secondary School lately.
The catalyst? Redesigned mobile workbenches with mobile segments that expand the possibilities of how lab layouts could be configured.
Since their implementation in January 2026, the Science Department has experienced greater flexibility in how it designs the learning environment, to better support practical investigations, collaboration, and varied teaching approaches.
Will it be a U, a T, or L shape today?
During a demonstration on the use the mobile workbench segments, Ms Sumitha Poonia Murthy, Level Head for Science, showed how the mobile segments could be rearranged to provide extended worktops for larger experimental setups.
By joining two mobile segments lengthwise, for example, she can now use a longer frictionless board to conduct experiment on measurement of distance, speed and force of a moving object. The longer board allowed students to roll objects over a longer distance, thus allowing her students to collect more data points, which improves the accuracy of the experiments.
Ms Sumitha also demonstrated how the mobile workbench segments can be configured into a U-shape configuration. This configuration allows her to better monitor and guide her students when using microscopes and making biology sketches.
For wet experiments involving liquids, chemicals or biological materials, L-shape configuration can be adopted to separate practical apparatus from learning materials, thus keeping laptops and worksheets away from wet area.
“This clear zoning enhances safety and space organisation, enabling students to be task focus and move seamlessly between the design, construction, and testing phases of the activity,” she explains.
Watch as Ms Sumitha claps her way to different workbench configurations in this reel:
How parents and schools bring the working world to students (10 April 2026)
"From giving engaging presentations in school to offering job shadowing opportunities, Parent Support Groups and their professional networks have been key to the success of career guidance programmes in these three schools.
By Ng Mei Yan
For most students, career guidance begins long before they ever set foot in their first job interview. Events like Careers Day, learning journeys and job shadowing have allowed students (even those in primary school) to be exposed to a wide range of jobs and the many skills needed to thrive in them.
These initiatives are the result of a strong partnership between schools and Parent Support Groups (PSGs). Working together, they have been instrumental to the growth and success of Education and Career Guidance (ECG) programmes for students.
Find out how three schools and their PSGs are collaborating to give students their first look into the working world, inspiring them to dream big for the future.
At Hougang Secondary School, Careers Day plays out like a mini convention
At Hougang Secondary School, the annual Careers Day plays out like an industry symposium. Students attend small-group sessions to engage with professionals across various fields ranging from media and human resources to technology and design.
The approach is a hit with students, but it also actively involves parents from the PSG, along with alumni and other partners, who step in to help in any way.
“Our PSG members have not only participated directly but also used their professional networks to bring in more speakers,” says Mrs Tan Wei Jing, Subject Head of Partnership & Outreach.
More than simply filling up speaking slots and creating authentic learning moments, parental involvement goes a long way towards inspiring young minds. “Parents are primary influencers in their children's career decisions and possess valuable real-world insights that can bridge the gap between academic learning and industry realities,” Mrs Tan shares.
Beyond school-based sharing, PSG members also joined students in a customised learning journey to Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) School of Engineering to better understand the courses offered and different career pathways in engineering. Since 2024, some 140 students from the school have benefitted from the tour.
PSG member Goh Yu Ling who accompanied her son on one such learning journey in 2024 shares, “I wanted to support my child’s’ post-secondary education and career exploration by learning with him,” she says.
The experience was transformative for Yu Ling’s son, who has always been fascinated by automobiles. The tour broadened his understanding of engineering applications, and led to deeper career discussions between the pair. “He’s now working hard towards pursuing engineering studies,” she adds.
The impact made on Yu Ling’s family is exactly what Mrs Tan and her colleagues hope to achieve with the ECG programme. Says Mrs Tan, “When parents are informed about career options and pathways, they can better support their children’s exploration and decisions, creating a stronger support system at home.”
Designed for well-being: How staff collaboration shaped a better workplace (10 April 2026)
"Staff satisfaction levels are up at Hillgrove Secondary School, where a comprehensive renovation of staff spaces has created brighter, more flexible environments that better support educator well-being and collaboration.
These days, Ms Valerie Wong doesn’t take her lunch at her workstation. She prefers to step away to the sunlit pantry for her meal. If her colleagues are there, she lingers for a breather and bit of chitchat.
"I don't even bring my phone there,” says Ms Wong, Lead Teacher, Mathematics at Hillgrove Secondary School.
Renovations to staff facilities at the school have created spaces that feature abundant natural lighting, higher ceilings, better spatial flow, and areas that encourage collaborative work done in comfort.
A room with a view – and much more
A key highlight is the new staff lounge and pantry, strategically positioned to offer a 270-degree view of the greenery outside.
It replaces the area where the Mother Tongue Language department used to sit. Mr Lim Joon Ling, Senior Teacher, Chinese Language, recalls how he and his colleagues worked amid tall cubicle partitions and teaching materials. They happily gave the space up for the greater good during design consultations, to move towards the centre of the staff room.
Mr Chiang Hock Yee, Vice-Principal (Admin), explained that during the co-creation and design-thinking process with MOE’s Infrastructure & Facility Services Division (IFSD), votes were cast by teachers to decide on the best use for this prime location.
This increased buy-in and ultimately ensured its popularity and success. Now, all can enjoy the brightness and the greenery, he says.
Staff are protective of the intended use of the inviting new lounge area. Everyone consciously avoids using the space for meetings, preferring to reserve it for chilling, notes Ms Wong. Administrative Executive Nurul Batrisyia describes the new environment as “more relaxed and calming”, with an “openness” that wasn't there before.
To Mr Lim, the most gratifying part of the upgrade was how users were being consulted for their views. It spoke to the school’s collaborative spirit, which the upgrade further fosters.
Mr Chiang concurs. “We could see that the collaborative spaces encourage more sharing and bonding among staff. The more conducive physical working environment also enhances staff well-being.”
Real mums from Lion Mums get tips in this parenting vodcast (14 April 2026)
"You’ve seen them on screen, now hear what parenting in real life is like for actresses Nurul Aini and Lina Ng. They speak with experts, educators, and fellow parents for perspectives in four new episodes of MOE’s vodcast series, Canteen Chats with Lion Mums.
If you’re a parent, take a moment to acknowledge how much you’re doing.
Parenting today comes with challenges that previous generations never faced – whether it’s navigating school issues, understanding AI’s impact on learning, or keeping up with growing expectations.
MOE’s vodcast series Canteen Chats with Lion Mums explores these realities in four new episodes. Lina Ng and Nurul Aini, from the drama series Lion Mums, continue their conversations with educators, experts, and fellow parents. Together, they discuss parenting issues ranging from dealing with conflicts at home to mismatched expectations between parents and children. Most importantly, these episodes serve as a reminder that you’re not facing these challenges alone.
Here’s what each episode covers, and why you should add them to your watchlist.
Episode 5: Is AI helping or hurting your child’s learning?
This episode takes a balanced look at parenting in the age of artificial intelligence. Actress Nurul Aini joins parents and experts to make sense of this rapidly changing landscape and its impact on children’s learning.
Watch this if: You’re concerned about AI misuse in your child’s homework or feeling overwhelmed by the pace of technological change.
Watch for:
• How Singapore schools are teaching students to use AI as a thinking tool rather than a shortcut to answers
• A sandwich approach you can use to guide your child’s AI use at home
• Warning signs that indicate when children might be becoming too dependent on AI assistance
Cyber bullying: What parents need to know (15 April 2026)
"Cyber bullying may often occur in spaces that are not easily visible or accessible to parents and other adults. We ask teachers and counsellors to break down the three common types of cyber bullying, and how parents can have open discussions with their children.
Cyber bullying is a complex issue, but bullying someone online is not unlike bullying in person. In fact, it can be worse as it is easier to carry out away from view and may be harder to detect and prevent. Yet, the effects can be very public. The negative messages can spread fast and wide, and very quickly, the damage could be more hurtful and more lasting.
Here are three main forms of cyber bullying: revealing secrets, making fun of others, and exclusion. Note that the list is not exhaustive – there’s also flaming, harassment, denigration, and more – nor mutually exclusive, as one or more of these forms of hurtful behaviours could take place at the same time.
1. Revealing secrets
Friends confide in each other and keep each other’s secrets… until they fall out. Ms Nicole Choong, Senior School Counsellor at Bendemeer Secondary School, shares that when things go south, students who lack maturity might resort to posting personal things about their friends that were shared with them in confidence.
Such acts could result in students feeling unsafe or upset. It is therefore essential that students learn respectful behaviour, strong social skills and proper cyber etiquette.
2. Making fun of others
Bullies are often emboldened by the cloak of anonymity that social media provides. The actions taken and comments made may be harsher than what a person might say to another in person. An observable trend on the rise suggests that some students create anonymous social media accounts just to post negative comments about their classmates.
Appearance, for example, is often a common topic, says Ms Choong. Younger students tend to be a bit more blunt when they talk about their peers. At this developmental stage, students can be more sensitive towards criticism, especially about their appearance, and such words can hurt, she cautions. “It is crucial to consider how the person on the receiving end feels. Simple habits such as pausing to ask if what they are about to say is helpful, necessary, or kind can make a big difference.”
3. Exclusion
Like school hallways and playgrounds, chat groups have become a place online where children jostle with one another for social status.
Mdm Nur Rakeezah Bte Abdul Rahim, Head of Department (Student Management) at Westwood Secondary School shared that online rumours can also lead to students being ostracised, affecting their sense of belonging. She notes that even close friends can fall out and be excluded by their peers. In such situations, it is important to have conversations with students and help them understand that such behaviour constitutes social bullying. It is also important to repair strained relationships.
“Circle Time is one strategy that can help students reconcile. That said, some students affected may not feel ready to resume the friendship. We need to recognize that friendships cannot be forced, so guide students to be respectful of one another’s boundaries and differences, as everyone deserves to feel safe and respected,” adds Mdm Rakeezah."
Singapore Teachers Embrace Digital Technologies and Benefit from Strong Professional Development: OECD TALIS 2024 Study (7 October 2025)
"Based on the findings of the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2024, Singapore teachers have been quick to adopt digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to teach their students more effectively. They have benefited from strong pre-service teacher preparation and continual professional development throughout their careers. Our teachers also felt valued by society, and view teaching as an attractive first-choice career option."
41 Schools to Welcome New Principals in 2026 (8 October 2025)
"The Ministry of Education (MOE) will appoint 41 Principals at the annual Appointment and Appreciation Ceremony for Principals on 30 December 2025. Of these, 25 are newly appointed Principals."
MOE Financial Assistance Schemes to Benefit an Additional 31,000 Students (16 October 2025)
"The Ministry of Education (MOE) will revise the income eligibility criteria and raise the quanta of several of its financial assistance schemes for Singaporean students in schools and Post-Secondary Education Institutions (PSEIs).
These enhancements can benefit 31,000 more students from lower- and middle-income households, by helping them cope with education-related costs and access school and post-secondary programmes. This brings the total number of students who would benefit from MOE's financial assistance schemes annually to about 133,000."
Open for Nominations: President's Award for Teachers and Outstanding Youth in Education Award (21 October 2025)
"The Ministry of Education (MOE) invites members of the public to nominate educators who have made outstanding contributions in moulding the future of our nation. Nominations for the national awards below are now open.
President's Award for Teachers 2026
The President's Award for Teachers (PAT) recognises experienced educators who are role models for the teaching profession. These educators adopt innovative approaches in their lessons, are lifelong learners and are mentors to their peers. They embody deep passion for teaching, and inspire their students and peers through their words and deeds.
The award is open to teachers from primary schools, secondary schools, Junior Colleges (JC) / Millennia Institute (MI), as well as educators from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), polytechnics and the National Institute of Early Childhood Development (NIEC). Since 1998, PAT has recognised over 140 educators for their teaching excellence, dedication and hard work."
Close to 400 Students Explore Singapore's Multicultural Heritage Through 8th Cultural Heritage Walk 2025年 "走出校园，走进文化" (25 October 2025)
"398 students from 16 secondary schools embarked on an immersive journey through Singapore's historic Bukit Pasoh and Chinatown districts on 25 October 2025, as part of the annual Cultural Heritage Walk. Students explored culturally significant landmarks such as the Kong Chow Wui Koon, Masjid Jamae, and Sri Mariamman Temple, as well as two newly-added sites, the Chinatown Heritage Centre and Harmony in Diversity Gallery."
Three Teachers Lauded for Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning of Malay Language (1 November 2025)
"Three Malay Language teachers were recognised for their outstanding contributions to the teaching and learning of the Malay Language at this year's Arif Budiman Malay Language Teacher Award Ceremony on Saturday, 1 November 2025. Guest-of-Honour Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office and Second Minister for Finance and National Development, presented the awards to the recipients."
Singapore Student Athletes Gear Up for ASEAN Schools Games 2025 in Brunei Darussalam (14 November 2025)
"This year, 130 student-athletes from 39 schools will be representing Singapore at the 14th ASEAN Schools Games (ASG) in Brunei Darussalam from 20 to 29 November. The Singapore School Sports Team (SSST) contingent will compete in seven sports, namely Athletics, Badminton, Basketball, Netball, Sepaktakraw, Swimming and Wushu."
Release of 2025 PSLE Results and Secondary 1 Posting Exercise (18 November 2025)
"The Results of the 2025 Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) Will Be Released on 25 November 2025 at 11.00am. Arrangements Have Been Made for School Candidates to Receive Their Results from Their Respective Primary Schools."
Release of 2025 PSLE Results (25 November 2025)
"Students who sat for the 2025 Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) received their results today. Arrangements were made for students to receive their results in their respective primary schools.
Performance of 2025 Primary 6 Cohort
Eligibility for Secondary School
A total of 37,926 Primary 6 students sat for the PSLE this year, of which 98.5% are assessed suitable for secondary school."
Closing of the 14th Asean Schools Games: Singapore Student-Athletes Showcased Grit and Sportsmanship (29 November 2025)
"At the 14th ASEAN Schools Games (ASG) in Brunei Darussalam, the Singapore Schools Sports Team (SSST) contingent showcased resilience, tenacity and sportsmanship, and bagged a total of 33 medals comprising 8 Golds, 13 Silvers, and 12 Bronzes across Athletics, Netball, Swimming, and Wushu."
MOE to Introduce Enhanced Measures to Promote Healthier Screen Use in Students (30 November 2025)
"As part of Grow Well SG launched in January 2025, the Ministry of Education (MOE) will introduce enhanced measures in secondary schools to help students cultivate healthier screen use habits and better support student well-being in the digital age.
Tightened Guidelines for Use of Smartphones/smartwatches in Secondary Schools
Screen use among students has been shown to displace important activities such as sleep, physical activity and social interactions with friends and family, and is linked to poorer holistic well-being. Earlier this year, MOE had provided guidelines on managing students' use of smartphones and smartwatches in primary and secondary schools, with school rules tailored according to school profile, context and curriculum needs.
Under current guidelines, secondary school students should not use smartphones/smartwatches during lesson time. As part of the enhanced measures starting from January 2026, these guidelines will be broadened to include non-lesson time. This means that the use of smartphones/smartwatches will not be allowed during school hours, including recess, co-curricular activities, supplementary/enrichment/remedial lessons, etc. The students' devices will be kept in designated storage areas (e.g. lockers) or school bags during school hours. Where necessary, schools may allow students to use smartphones by exception."
Release of 2025 Singapore-Cambridge GCE N(A)- & N(T)-Level Examination Results on 18 December 2025 (11 December 2025)
"The results of the 2025 Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Normal (Academic)-[N(A)] and Normal (Technical)-[N(T)] Level Examinations will be released on 18 December 2025, 2pm."
2025 Secondary 1 Posting Results (12 December 2025)
"The Secondary 1 (S1) Posting results will be released on 19 December 2025, at 9am."
Release of 2025 Singapore-Cambridge GCE N(A)- & N(T)-Level Examination Results (30 December 2025)
"Candidates who sat for the 2025 Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education (GCE) Normal (Academic) [N(A)] and Normal (Technical) [N(T)] Level examinations received their results today.
8,987 candidates from the Secondary 4 N(A) course and 4,479 candidates from the Secondary 4 N(T) course sat for the examinations. 8,934 (or 99.4%) candidates from the N(A) course have achieved Grade 5 or better in at least one N(A) subject, while 4,375 (or 97.7%) candidates from the N(T) course have achieved Grade D or better in at least one N(T) subject.
This year, 56.3% of the school candidates from the N(A) course sat for subjects in the GCE Ordinary Level (GCE O-Level) examinations. Schools will take their combined GCE N(A)-Level and school-based GCE O-Level preliminary examination results into consideration when determining their eligibility for progression to Secondary 5 N(A) or post-secondary pathways."
Supporting Teachers' Well-Being and Recalibrating Their Work (5 January 2026)
"The Ministry of Education (MOE) values our teachers and the unique nature of their work in stewarding young lives. We recognise the demands placed on our teachers and are taking a multi-pronged approach to strengthen the profession, support their well-being and manage their workload. This includes recalibrating what teachers do and rethinking how teachers work."
Release of 2025 Singapore-Cambridge GCE O-Level Examination Results and 2026 Joint Admissions Exercise (7 January 2026)
"The results of the 2025 Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (GCE O-Level) examination will be released on 14 January 2026, 2.00pm."
Release of 2025 Singapore-Cambridge GCE O-Level Examination Results (14 January 2026)
"Candidates who sat for the 2025 Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level (GCE O-Level) Examination collected their results from their secondary schools today.
A total of 22,468 candidates sat for the 2025 GCE O-Level Examination. 22,430 (99.8%) of these candidates have achieved Grade C6 or better in at least one O-Level subject2. 21,740 (96.8%) and 19,522 (86.9%) of the candidates have achieved Grade C6 or better in at least 3 or more, and 5 or more O-Level subjects respectively. This is comparable to the performance of candidates for the GCE O-Level Examination in previous years."
Catholic Junior College to Be Relocated to Punggol Under Junior College Rejuvenation Programme (16 January 2026)
"Catholic Junior College (CJC) will be relocating to a new campus near Punggol Digital District. CJC's move, which is part of Phase 2 of the Junior College (JC) Rejuvenation Programme, will facilitate collaborative and interactive learning to support future educational needs and allow for greater synergies with neighbouring institutions."
Grow Well SG Health Plan Expanded to More Children (21 January 2026)
"As part of the Grow Well SG national health promotion strategy, the Ministry of Health (MOH), together with the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), has expanded the Health Plan initiative to more children. The expansion will further strengthen the development of healthy habits from an early age by covering all Kindergarten 1 (K1) and Kindergarten 2 (K2) preschoolers as well as Primary 4 to 5 students from January 2026. Primary 6 students will continue to be supported through the school curriculum, enabling them to learn about lifestyle choices to sustain healthy habits."
2026 Joint Admissions Exercise Posting Results (27 January 2026)
"The posting results for the 2026 Joint Admissions Exercise (JAE) will be released on Tuesday, 3 February 2026, 9am."
Around 69,000 Student-Athletes to Participate at National School Games 2026 (27 January 2026)
"The National School Games (NSG) 2026 will see its highest participation to date, with around 69,000 student-athletes from more than 300 schools competing across 29 sports. Minister for Education Mr Desmond Lee officiated the NSG Opening Ceremony at The Kallang OCBC Arena today.
The NSG, which runs from January to September this year, is Singapore's largest and most extensive annual youth sports event with more than 250 divisional competitions for boys and girls. Organised by the Singapore Primary Schools Sports Council and the Singapore Schools Sports Council, the NSG aims to provide opportunities for students to participate in inter-school competitions and encourage character-building among student-athletes as they pursue sporting excellence."
Open for Nominations: Most Inspiring Tamil Teachers' Award 2026 (2 February 2026)
"From 2 February to 13 March 2026, students, educators, parents, and members of the public are invited to nominate Tamil Language (TL) teachers for the Most Inspiring Tamil Teachers' (MITT) Award 2026.
Jointly presented by Tamil Murasu, the Tamil Language Learning and Promotion Committee, and the Singapore Tamil Teachers' Union (STTU), the MITT Award recognises TL teachers in primary and secondary schools, junior colleges and Millennia Institute who have made significant contributions to the teaching and learning of TL."
Nominations Open for Arif Budiman Malay Language Teacher Award 2026 (2 February 2026)
"From 2 February to 13 March 2026, students, educators, parents, and members of the public are invited to nominate outstanding Malay Language teachers for the Arif Budiman Malay Language Teacher Award (AGAB) 2026.
Jointly organised by the Malay Language Council, the Malay Language Teachers Association, Berita Harian and the Malay Language Learning and Promotion Committee, the award recognises outstanding Malay Language teachers in primary and secondary schools, junior colleges and the Millennia Institute who have made exceptional contributions to the teaching of the Malay Language."
Joint MOM-MOE Statement on Merger of WSG and SSG (12 February 2026)
"Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Mr Lawrence Wong announced at Budget 2026 that Workforce Singapore (WSG) and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) would merge into a new statutory board jointly overseen by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Ministry of Education (MOE). This merger will strengthen the integration of Singapore's jobs-skills ecosystem.
Through this new agency, we will be better positioned to align future skills with future job needs, delivering more seamless end-to-end career and employment services for Singaporean workers. A single agency overseeing jobs and skills will also allow us to respond faster and more effectively to changes in the fast-evolving economy and labour market."
Release of 2025 Singapore-Cambridge GCE A-Level Examination Results on 27 February 2026 (20 February 2026)
"The results of the 2025 Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (GCE A-Level) examination will be released on Friday, 27 February 2026, 2.30pm."
$556 Million Set Aside to Boost the Social Science and Humanities Research Ecosystem in Singapore (26 February 2026)
"At the 2026 Social Science and Humanities Ideas Festival launch held at the Singapore Management University (SMU) today, Minister for Education, Mr Desmond Lee, announced that $556 million will be set aside to further strengthen the local social science and humanities (SSH) research ecosystem over the next five years (FY2026 to FY2030). This is an increase of 21%, or $99 million, from the $457 million that was set aside for FY2021 to FY2025.
The new tranche of funding will continue to support the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) in growing Singapore's thought leadership in locally relevant research, as well as strengthening efforts to expand the pool of promising Singaporean researchers. Key initiatives launched under the aegis of the SSRC include the Social Science Research Thematic Grant (SSHR-TG), the Social Science and Humanities Research Fellowship (SSHRF), and the SSRC Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF). To date, the SSRC has awarded funding to 54 research projects under the SSHR-TG, 21 early career researchers under the SSHRF, and 48 projects under the SSRC GRF. The research projects span a variety of topics, including evolving geopolitics amidst a changing world order, public housing in Singapore, and insights on ageing in Singapore. For more information on the SSRC and the various research projects supported, please visit https://www.ssrc.edu.sg."
Release of the 2025 Singapore-Cambridge GCE A-Level Examination Results (27 February 2026)
"Candidates who sat for the 2025 Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (GCE A-Level) examination received their results from their schools today.
A total of 10,977 candidates sat for the examination, with 10,393 (94.7%) attaining at least 3 H2 passes, with a pass in General Paper (GP).
This is the first cohort to sit for the GCE A-Level examination under the revised computation method of the University Admission Score (UAS). Under the revised system, the fourth content-based subject is included only if it improves the candidate's final UAS. Project Work is excluded from this computation as it is now a Pass/Fail subject."
Growing Together Through Lifelong Learning (3 March 2026)
"Enhancements to ITE's Work-Study Diploma Employer Incentives
The Institute of Technical Education (ITE) Work-Study Diploma is a key diploma upgrading pathway for ITE Nitec and Higher Nitec graduates. Employers deliver about 70 to 80 per cent of the curriculum through on-the-job training (OJT), and ITE delivers the remaining 20 to 30 per cent through classroom learning. This programme allows trainees to earn and learn while working towards a diploma qualification. Since its launch in 2018, ITE has expanded the pathway significantly, from 4 courses and 100 trainees to 45 courses and 1,600 trainees in 2025. Graduate employment outcomes have been positive, with graduates earning a median starting salary of $2,975.
As part of MOE's ongoing efforts to expand the SkillsFuture Work-Study Programme, and to support our ITE students to upgrade to a Diploma and strengthen their employment outcomes, MOE and SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) will enhance the employer incentive for the ITE Work-Study Diploma.For new cohorts from April 2026, ITE will:
a. Increase the incentive quantum from $15,000 to $20,000 per eligible trainee whom employers hire and train; and
b. Simplify the incentive disbursement. Currently, the $15,000 incentive is paid out based on employers' claims upon completion of specific qualifying activities. Depending on the amount claimed, employers might not access the full $15,000. In contrast, the new $20,000 incentive will be disbursed at several milestones over the course duration. This means an employer who sponsors an eligible trainee through the full Work-Study Programme will receive $20,000 through a streamlined administrative process."
We Learn for Life Together: Building a "We First" Society Through Education (3 March 2026)
"At the 2026 Committee of Supply Debate, the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced initiatives to enable Singaporeans to learn together and be equipped for an AI-transformed future. These initiatives reflect MOE's commitment to support the learning needs and aspirations of Singaporeans of all ages, as we build a "We First" society together."
Learning Together with Different Strengths and Needs (3 March 2026)
"Refreshed Approach to Support Primary School Students with Academic Strengths and Talents
From 2027, the Ministry of Education (MOE) will implement a refreshed approach to support primary school students with academic strengths and talents, and discontinue the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) in its current form.
School-Based Provisions
MOE will support more students in accessing existing school-based provisions to develop them in their domains of strength. These provisions, which include in-curriculum extensions and after-school programmes (e.g. Excellence 2000 (E2K) Mathematics and Science), were introduced since 2007, and they are provided in every primary school today. Around 10% of the cohort will be able to benefit, up from around 7% today."
Centre-Based Advanced Modules
Students assessed to benefit from further stretch beyond school-based provisions can choose to attend weekly advanced modules after school at a nearby designated centre. These students will no longer need to transfer to one of the nine primary schools that currently host the GEP.
The centre-based advanced modules are designed to stretch students intellectually and further cultivate their curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking. They are different from the academic curriculum in schools, and are not designed to prepare students for examinations. Beyond nurturing cognitive strengths, these modules will also develop students' psychosocial skills, and build communities of like-minded peers."
Minister for Education to Attend the 16th International Summit on the Teaching Profession in Tallinn, Estonia (8 March 2026)
"Minister for Education, Desmond Lee, will attend the 16th International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) in Tallinn, Estonia, from 9 to 11 March 2026.
The ISTP is a by-invitation annual meeting for leaders of top-performing or rapidly improving education systems to discuss effective practices and policies in education. The Summit this year, themed "Switching Gears: Teachers and Learners in the Future Learning Environment", will explore the pivotal roles teachers play in shaping future-ready education systems. It will examine the evolving teaching profession amid rapid technological advancements and global challenges, professional autonomy for teachers and school leaders, and the integration of new technologies into teaching and learning, such as Artificial Intelligence."
Salary Adjustments to MOE Schemes of Service (16 March 2026)
"Salary Adjustments for Officers on MOE Schemes from 1 October 2026
Three groups of MOE staff – Education Officers (EOs), Allied Educators (AEDs) and MOE Kindergarten Educators (MKEs) – will receive salary adjustments from 1 October 2026. This is to ensure that their overall salary packages remain competitive, and for MOE to continue attracting and retaining good educators.
About 33,000 serving EOs, 1,700 AEDs and 1,100 MKEs will receive a 2% to 9% increase in their monthly salaries. Salaries for EOs, AEDs and MKES were last reviewed in 2022."
Singapore Youth Festival Celebrates 60 Years with Enriched ArtsXPerience for Students (26 March 2026)
"New Drama Category for Primary School Students to Build Communication Skills
The Singapore Youth Festival (SYF), Singapore's longest-running youth arts festival, will celebrate 60 years of inspiring young artists, connecting them with audiences and mentors, and empowering them to develop their creative voices this year.
Themed 'SYF60: The ArtsXPerience — Inspire, Connect, Empower', SYF60 will build on the festival's signature showcases and introduce new elements to deepen creative collaborations and inspire students to grow through the arts. These include a new Arts Presentation Drama category for primary school students, an 'XP' card journey for participants and audiences, and cultural exchange opportunities with young artists across ASEAN."
MOE to Expand UPLIFT Scholarship to EAGLES Recipients (27 March 2026)
"The Ministry of Education (MOE) will expand the UPLIFT Scholarship to include students who receive the Edusave Award for Achievement, Good Leadership and Service (EAGLES) from the 2026 Edusave award cycle>
This expansion is part of wider efforts to recognise students' non-academic achievements, and builds on MOE's ongoing commitment to develop our students holistically.
With the expansion of the UPLIFT Scholarship, a total of about 700 students from lower-income families are expected to benefit from the scholarship every year.
About the UPLIFT Scholarship
Introduced in 2019, the UPLIFT Scholarship recognises the achievements of students in Independent Schools (IS) and Specialised Independent Schools (SIS) who have performed well academically or in specific talent areas, and are from lower-income families. Students who are awarded the UPLIFT Scholarship receive $1,200 in cash per year.
To be eligible for the scholarship, students must be Singapore Citizens from families with gross monthly household income of $5,500 or below, or gross monthly per capita income of $1,375 or below. Students must also be recipients of the Edusave Scholarship for Independent Schools (ESIS), or enter the IS/SIS through the Direct School Admission (DSA) process. Students awarded the UPLIFT Scholarship via the ESIS (Tenured) at Secondary 1, Secondary 3, or Pre-University 1, as well as DSA, will have their scholarships renewed as long as they meet the renewal criteria, for the duration of their course of study. Students may also receive the UPLIFT Scholarship for a tenure of one year, if they are awarded the ESIS (Yearly Award)."
Celebrating 20 Years of Tamil Language Learning and Promotion (29 March 2026)
"The Tamil Language Learning and Promotion Committee (TLLPC) marks its 20th anniversary this year. Over the past two decades, TLLPC has been dedicated to promoting the Tamil language, fostering cultural literacy, and engaging schools and the community. To commemorate this milestone and reflect its enhanced role of promoting Tamil language learning through greater digital engagement and youth and family involvement, TLLPC will be rebranded as the "Tamil Promotion Committee" (TPC), accompanied by a new logo.
Chairman of TLLPC and Minister of State in the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth and the Ministry of Manpower, Mr Dinesh Vasu Dash, unveiled the refreshed name and logo at the launch of this year's Tamil Language Festival on 29 March 2026, at MediaCorp Campus.
Two Decades of Tamil Language Learning and Promotion
Since its establishment by the Ministry of Education in 2006, TLLPC has actively promoted the Tamil language by partnering schools, community organisations and cultural partners. Over the years, its programmes have inspired a love for the Tamil language among students through literature, performing arts, and community-based activities, fostering the active use of the language in everyday interactions, and an appreciation of Tamil heritage and culture."
Temporary Support for Transport Service Providers (9 April 2026)
"To ensure that access to transport services is not disrupted for school students, seniors, patients, and persons with disabilities, the Ministry of Education (MOE), Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and Ministry of Health (MOH) will provide temporary support measures to Government contracted or subsidised transport service providers for services rendered in the months of April to June 2026. This move is to help these transport service providers to continue operating without disruption in the near term, given the cost pressures caused by the increase in fuel prices arising from the Middle East conflict.
MOE, MSF and MOH will provide support equivalent to 13% of transport fare revenues. In general, the support would help defray the increase in operational costs arising from higher fuel prices incurred by operators providing regular transport services to primary schools, special education (SPED) schools, disability services, and patients receiving long-term care and Community Dialysis services. With the support, operators should keep fares stable during this period.
Subsequently, transport fares may have to rise if fuel prices remain elevated. There are existing subsidies to support students, seniors, patients and persons with disabilities if they are not able to afford their transport."
Honouring Special Education Teachers and Schools (14 April 2026)
"In celebration of their contributions to the education of students with moderate-to-severe special educational needs (SEN), Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi, presented the MOE-SG Enable Awards to recognise four Special Education (SPED) teachers and four projects from SPED schools at the SPED A.C.E (Affirmation·Celebration·Engagement) Day today. Two SPED teachers were also awarded the MOE Master's Scholarship in Special Education (MSSPED) at the event.
The MOE-SG Enable Awards are a joint initiative between the Ministry of Education and SG Enable and comprise the Outstanding SPED Teacher Award (OSTA), the Promising SPED Teacher Award (PSTA), and the Innovation Award (IA).
The OSTA and PSTA celebrate SPED teachers' excellence in supporting their students' development and learning. The OSTA is awarded to experienced teachers with at least six years of teaching experience, while the PSTA recognises teachers with three to five years of experience. This year, the OSTA and PSTA recipients were selected from a total of 179 nominations from colleagues, parents, students and members of the public."
Recommendations from MOE's Comprehensive Action Review Against Bullying (15 April 2026)
"Strengthening our collective response to tackle bullying through a stronger partnership between schools, families, and the community.
The Ministry of Education (MOE), with the support of the COMmunity and PArents in Support of Schools (COMPASS) Council, has completed the Comprehensive Action Review against Bullying, aimed at strengthening existing efforts to better address hurtful behaviours and bullying in schools.
Bullying is a complex and serious issue that calls for a sustained, collective response. Building on existing efforts, MOE conducted internal reviews, and also engaged over 2,000 educators, parents, students, professionals and members of the public since August 2025. The majority agreed that addressing bullying holistically requires multiple parties working together – involving collective action from schools, families, and the wider community through strengthened systems and processes in schools, positive culture-building, and coordinated society-wide efforts.
Review Recommendations
Following the review and feedback received, MOE, with the support of COMPASS, has developed nine comprehensive recommendations across four key areas.
First, we will continue to inculcate the right values in our students. We will enhance values education in the curriculum and co-curriculum to develop students' character and social-emotional skills such as empathy, resilience, and conflict management. For example, more role-play and authentic scenarios will be incorporated to allow students to practise perspective-taking, conflict management and resolution, and learn how they can be upstanders. Schools will further empower students to lead and foster a pro-social peer culture where they look out for one another, stand together against hurtful behaviours, and support students who are affected by such hurtful behaviours.
We recognise that schools play a central role in creating a safe, caring and enabling environment for our students. Many schools have established processes to prevent and respond to bullying while fostering a culture of care, trust and mutual respect. We will continue to deepen a culture of kindness and respect in all our schools. We will also strengthen schools' management of hurtful behaviours and bullying, including cyber-related incidents. Schools will be provided with clearer guidelines on case management processes, including communication timelines, safety planning, disciplinary measures, counselling and restorative actions, to address hurtful behaviours and bullying in a timely and consistent manner. We will increase the availability and accessibility of reporting channels and support for affected students. Schools will also address hurtful behaviours and bullying more proactively in schools through early identification, intervention, and support, with stricter disciplinary measures for all serious offences, including bullying.
Third, MOE will provide additional needs-based funding for schools to hire additional manpower, which will support schools in student management whilst managing teacher workload. Schools may engage youth workers, pastoral care officers, and/or parent liaison officers to support school staff in student management work. We will tap on technology to improve case management processes and facilitate timely communication and intervention. To deepen educator capacity in student management and parent engagement, MOE and schools will also enhance professional development for educators, including skills for investigation, conflict resolution, and parent engagement."
World Book Day 2026 Promotes Culture of Reading with Inaugural Singapore Chinese Book Fair (18 April 2026)
"共同推广阅读文化：2026年世界书香日首次同时举办新加坡华文书展
More than 800 secondary and pre-university students participated in this year's World Book Day Opening Ceremony at Hwa Chong Institution (HCI) on Saturday, 18 April 2026. Jointly organised by the Committee to Promote Chinese Language Learning (CPCLL), National Library Board (NLB) and HCI, the annual event aims to promote a culture of reading in Singapore.
Guest-of-Honour Mr Xie Yao Quan, who is Group Leader of CPCLL, Deputy Speaker of Parliament and Member of Parliament for Jurong Central SMC, launched the student publication《清醒地梦着》— a compilation of outstanding essays written by students in the Author-in-Residence Programme . Mr Xie also presented the Chinese Language Elective Programme (CLEP) Best Improvement Award to 28 secondary and pre-university students."
147 North View Primary School students affected by gastroenteritis symptoms since Jan 13; most have recovered (19 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Authorities are investigating 147 cases of gastroenteritis involving North View Primary School students.
The affected students across all levels were reported to have symptoms since Jan 13, with most having recovered as of Jan 18, said the school, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) in a joint statement responding to CNA queries on Monday (Jan 19).
One student was hospitalised on Jan 17 and was discharged the next day in stable condition, they added.
The school, which is located at 210 Yishun Ave 6, has been in touch with affected students and their parents, and will continue to monitor the students’ well-being.
North View Primary School is also working closely with SFA and CDA to investigate the incident. The school is not among the 13 schools that adopted the new central kitchen model earlier this month."
Former vice-principal, executive director who covered up molestation of toddlers by preschool cook get jail (19 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The former vice-principal and executive director at a preschool were jailed on Monday (Jan 19) for their involvement in the cover-up of molestation by a cook at the school.
In sentencing, the judge said the two women had profoundly betrayed the trust placed in them by their "wilful failure" to report child sexual abuse, describing their actions as "selfish".
The 59-year-old former executive director was given four months' jail, while the 49-year-old former vice-principal was given three months and two weeks' jail.
The cook, 61-year-old Teo Guan Huat, had been sentenced in November to more than nine years’ jail for molesting three toddlers during naptime over seven months in 2023."
Catholic JC alumni nostalgic about Whitley Road campus but understand need for Punggol move (19 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: With Catholic Junior College set to move from its long-time Whitley Road campus to Punggol, alumni said the announcement has stirred deep nostalgia, even as many acknowledged the need for the relocation.
The move was announced on Friday (Jan 16) by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and operations at the new campus, which will be near the Punggol Digital District, are tentatively targeted to start in 2034.
Mr Heng Theng Juay, who graduated in 2015, said the impending move is “bittersweet” for him, but added that he understands schools need to evolve."
The carrom comeback: How a game from Singapore's 'kampung days' is transcending generations (20 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: First introduced to carrom when he was six, life eventually got in the way for 23-year-old Syed Muhammad Ammar.
“My dad used to play carrom when he was younger. He decided to play carrom with us and that’s where I picked it up,” he recalled.
“I used to play almost all the time when I was younger, but when life progressed … it was an on-and-off thing.”
The spark was reignited during a hall freshmen welcome night at university."
The young Singaporeans keeping carrom alive (20 January 2026)
"Often dismissed as a slow, old-fashioned game, carrom is finding new life among young players in Singapore.
For them, the game is anything but simple - demanding patience, strategy and mental endurance over matches that can stretch for hours."
Singapore regulator engages X over Grok-generated non-consensual intimate images (20 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said on Tuesday (Jan 20) that it is engaging social media platform X over its in-built artificial intelligence chatbot Grok, which has been used to create and share sexualised online content.
In response to queries from CNA, IMDA said X is a designated Social Media Service under Singapore’s Code of Practice for Online Safety – Social Media Services, which requires platforms to curb the spread of harmful and inappropriate content and protect vulnerable users, including children.
"IMDA is engaging X on the issue of non-consensual intimate images being generated and distributed using Grok on X," the regulator said.
IMDA added that it noted X has taken measures to address the issue, including stopping Grok from producing such images, and said it would continue working with the platform to ensure that it is safe for Singapore users."
New mind sports federation to launch by March to prepare athletes, grow participation (20 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A new federation for mind sports in Singapore will be launched by March to boost participation and help players qualify for major multi-sport events in the region.
It will coordinate efforts among the chess, contract bridge, weiqi and xiangqi associations to grow their respective games and support athletes.
The move comes after a Bill was passed in parliament earlier this month to formally recognise mind sports, alongside esports, as sports."
Actor-radio DJ Dennis Chew admits he was late on first day at university: 'So embarrassing' (20 January 2026)
"We've all been students before and know how nerve-racking it is to be running late for school – especially when it's your very first day.
Jan 12 marked Singaporean actor-radio DJ Dennis Chew's first day at the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS). The Ngee Ann Polytechnic graduate is now enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Studies course at SUSS.
Taking to Instagram to document his first day of school, the 52-year-old Love 972 DJ shared that he was feeling "very nervous" yet "looking forward to where this journey would take [him]".
Chew, however, admitted that he didn't do such a great job managing his time that day.
"I'll only reach school at 7.15pm... My class starts at 7pm," he said sheepishly."
HelloRide makes police report after video of boy tossing bicycle in Yishun goes viral (21 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Bicycle-sharing company HelloRide has made a police report after a video of a boy allegedly throwing one of its bicycles around a hard court in Yishun went viral online.
A 46-second video, depicting a boy pushing and throwing a HelloRide bicycle into the walls of the court repeatedly, was posted by user @weifu_38 on video-sharing platform TikTok on Sunday (Jan 18) and it has since gotten more than 31,000 views.
Many viewers criticised the boy's behaviour and tagged the bicycle-sharing company's social media account.
In response to queries from CNA, Mr Hayden Choo, managing director of HelloRide Asia, said that the incident took place along Yishun Street 72 and the company has made a police report."
Some preschoolers, more primary school students to receive personalised health plans (21 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Some preschoolers and more primary school students will receive personalised health plans as part of an expanded initiative to encourage healthy habits in children.
Launched last year, the Health Plan initiative was first rolled out to Primary 1 to Primary 3 students.
Under the initiative, students receive personalised health plans that include lifestyle change recommendations, school health screening results, vaccination reports and referrals to public healthcare institutions when needed.
The initiative will now be expanded to all Kindergarten 1, Kindergarten 2, Primary 4 and Primary 5 students from January, said the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) on Wednesday (Jan 21)."
MasterChef Singapore Season 2 winner who dropped out of NTU opens new hawker stall serving ayam goreng berempah (22 January 2026)
"Twenty-nine-year-old Derek Cheong has a lot on his plate. The winner of MasterChef Singapore Season 2 recently welcomed his first child with his wife. All while running a private diner from his HDB flat, being the boss of two Japanese rice bowl stalls in Singapore Polytechnic and strangely, a trading card game business (more on that later). Now, he has opened a new hawker stall in Beauty World Food Centre called Berempah Bros with business partner Ong Zhen Ning, 28, a fellow hawker-preneur.
“My son is apparently nocturnal and he doesn’t sleep at night,” Cheong laughed. “Being a father means I am on standby 24/7. Life has been hectic with managing all my various ventures,” he told 8days.sg.
Berempah Bros was launched just weeks after Cheong's son was born. The concept is inspired by ayam goreng berempah, a Malaysian-style fried chicken built around a spice paste with aromatics such as lemongrass and turmeric. The 'Bros' approach sits somewhere between the Malaysian chook (where spices are worked into the meat like those you find in The Coconut Club’s nasi lemak) and Indonesian ayam goreng rempah (where spiced battered crumbs are added on top). But there’s an added step at this stall – the meat and fish are dipped in seasoned batter before being deep-fried for a thicker, shaggier crust. Each dish is served with sinful coconut and chicken fat-infused rice.
Prior to joining MasterChef Singapore in 2021, Cheong was studying for a degree in material science and engineering in Nanyang Technological University. He told 8days.sg that he was “passionate about cooking”, and would cook regularly for others in his university hall back then. Word of his pantry dining services spread and he even had to create a Google Form to manage sign-ups, with students often placed on a waitlist for a chance to try what he whipped up in the pantry."
Teen arrested for allegedly dragging police officer with PMD in Punggol, causing facial cuts (23 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A 17-year-old has been arrested over his suspected involvement in an incident in Punggol where a police officer was dragged by a personal mobility device (PMD).
Police said on Friday (Jan 23) that they were alerted at about 10.30pm on Thursday to a group of youths making excessive noise around Block 305A Punggol Road.
Members of the group began to scatter in various directions when officers arrived on the scene.
An officer stopped the suspect, who was seated on his PMD, by holding onto the device’s handlebar and his arm.
“Undeterred, the teenager abruptly accelerated the PMD, causing the officer to be dragged for a distance before falling off,” police said.
The suspect subsequently crashed his PMD into a nearby pillar and was arrested shortly after."
S$15 million care fund for protection workers to start on Feb 1 to provide psychological, mentoring support (24 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Social service agencies (SSAs) can tap a new S$15 million (US11.8 million) care fund for protection practitioners from Feb 1, 2026, to roll out well-being initiatives such as psychological support and mentoring.
It will be established by the National Council of Social Service (NCSS) to help SSAs build more supportive work environments, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and NCSS said on Saturday (Jan 24)."
Singapore to invest more than S$1 billion in national AI research plan over 5 years (24 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Singapore is investing more than S$1 billion (US$786 million) in its National AI Research and Development Plan (NAIRD) to strengthen public artificial intelligence research capabilities over five years from 2025 to 2030, the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) said on Saturday (Jan 24).
The plan, announced by Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo at the Singapore AI Research Week 2026 gala dinner, supports Singapore’s broader AI ambitions under its updated National AI Strategy (NAIS) 2.0.
It builds on ongoing AI research efforts in research, innovation and enterprise, MDDI said."
Why I want my kids to experience ordering food in their school canteens (24 January 2026)
"By now, a lot of fuss has been made about the new standardised meals being rolled out in schools across Singapore.
As a parent of two young children and a former young child myself, I offer this potentially controversial opinion: an overreliance on preset bento boxes has the ability to set back our kids' development."
This mother-of-two became a 'sports mum' to hundreds of Singaporean children and youth over the past 13 years (26 January 2026)
"It was a Saturday night – a time when most people might be out with friends. But Miruna Ranjan was in a brightly lit stadium in Jurong holding bunches of bananas – which she had just emptied a supermarket of, much to the astonishment of the cashier.
This was 2013. Miruna, then 28, was volunteering at a newly launched football programme by SportCares, a government-led sport-for-good initiative. Called Saturday Night Lights, this was where vulnerable youth, such as those from low-income families or at-risk backgrounds, came together to hone their football skills.
Around 60 youth participated, and some came with empty stomachs. Miruna’s job was to ensure that they ate and drank before practice so that they would not cramp up or faint while playing.
She did this every Saturday night for a year.
Today, Miruna is the assistant director and team lead at SportCares. However, she never stopped quietly supporting kids on the sidelines – be it at football, tennis or running – just like a sports mum.
“My family jokes that I had kids before I had kids,” laughed the 40-year-old, who has two daughters aged 11 and six."
Mother gets jail for slapping, stepping on and kicking 7-year-old son (26 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A mother was sentenced to nine months' jail on Monday (Jan 26) for slapping, stepping on and kicking her seven-year-old son.
The woman, now 31, cannot be named to protect the identities of her children, who live with her and remain under her care.
She pleaded guilty to one charge of ill-treating a child. Two other charges of voluntarily causing hurt were considered in sentencing.
She indicated that she will appeal against her jail term, after her lawyer argued unsuccessfully for probation or a high fine."
Demand for AI capabilities more than doubles, but core skills remain essential: SkillsFuture (27 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The demand for artificial intelligence capabilities more than doubled across sectors between 2022 and 2025, but critical core skills remain essential, said SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) on Tuesday (Jan 27).
Key areas such as AI principles and applications, model evaluation and responsible AI practices are expanding rapidly, reflecting a shift from traditional IT roles to AI-driven applications, said the statutory board in a press release.
Speaking at the 2026 Training and Adult Education Conference on Tuesday, Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Senior Minister of State for Education David Neo said the question is no longer whether to use AI, but how best to integrate it to boost worker productivity.
“This rapid technological advancement also means the half-life of skills is getting shorter ... And all these changes are even before we discuss the disruptions in geopolitics and supply chain reorientations,” he added, noting that skills related to generative AI saw the fastest growth in demand."
SkillsFuture tightens approval and funding renewal requirements for about 9,500 courses (27 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) has tightened the guidelines for training providers seeking course approval and funding, the statutory board announced on Tuesday (Jan 27).
Since Dec 31 last year, new courses have been assessed under two approval routes, and stricter funding renewal requirements have been applied to existing ones.
These new guidelines apply only to courses that develop skills currently in demand for a person’s current job or profession. Courses focused on emerging skills or those that equip individuals for a “substantially different” job are not affected.
SSG said the changes aim to encourage training providers to work more closely with enterprises and develop training that is aligned with industry needs.
The new requirements will apply to about 9,500 courses across 500 training providers, said SSG."
Fann Wong and Christopher Lee’s son Zed is a semi-finalist in National Youth Orator Championships (27 January 2026)
"Zed Lee, the only child of Singapore celebrity couple Fann Wong and Christopher Lee, is a semi-finalist in the National Youth Orator Championships 2026 in the upper primary category.
In a video shared on organiser Master Speakers Academy's Instagram page on Sunday (Jan 25), the 11-year-old delivered a two-minute speech on the theme "The first thing I'd share about Singapore" that blended humour with national pride.
Adopting the tone of an enthusiastic tour guide, the young Lee took viewers through some of Singapore’s most recognisable landmarks, albeit with a "slightly unhinged" twist. These include the National Museum, Singapore’s “elegant grandma telling you stories of how we went from a sleepy fishing village to, well, this madness”, and Marina Bay Sands that looks like a “giant stone tabletop balanced on three candy bars”.
He also humorously described Singapore as a “city that the past, present, and future all built together after they had too much coffee”."
The Asian Civilisations Museum will soon have a tea-themed exhibition and Chagee pop-up store with exclusive merch (27 January 2026)
"If the thought – and taste – of tea gets you going, you'll want to set aside a day to visit the upcoming Garden Of Senses: A Tea Reverie exhibition. Held at the Asian Civilisations Museum (ACM) from Wednesday (Jan 28) to Jun 7, the tea-themed showcase is a collaboration between ACM, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and beloved beverage chain Chagee, and spotlights the impact of tea through installations and interactive experiences.
Some of the activities that visitors can do include marveling at a sculptural paper installation, taking in various aroma profiles (from green and oolong to darker teas) and learning about the evolution of tea-making.
The space also houses a Chagee pop-up store – an extension of Garden Of Senses: A Tea Reverie – which will roll out in two phases and sell exclusive items."
Singaporean boy who recreated ISIS attacks, executions in Roblox and Gorebox gets restriction order (28 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A 14-year-old Singaporean who was self-radicalised online by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) extremist ideologies was issued a restriction order under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in November.
The Secondary 3 student had aspired to travel overseas to fight for the group and die as a martyr, the Internal Security Department (ISD) said on Wednesday (Jan 28).
In preparation, he posted pro-ISIS content online, including footage from Roblox and Gorebox where he recreated ISIS attacks and executions.
Roblox is a user-driven gaming platform with millions of self-created games, while GoreBox is an online game that allows players to experiment with weapons and is known for its graphic depictions of violence.
While his family members and friends were aware of his extremist views and support for ISIS, none of them reported him to authorities, said ISD."
Mediacorp career fair to return with focus on real-world skills, workforce trends (29 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Mediacorp will host the third edition of Career Forward in March 2026, equipping participants with practical tools to support their professional growth.
The career fair will feature sessions focused on real-world skills, current workforce trends and common career roadblocks, said Mediacorp in a press release on Thursday (Jan 29).
The two-day event, which takes place at the Suntec Convention Centre on Mar 28 and Mar 29, is designed for first-time employees and mid-career professionals.
Fresh graduates and new workers can expect sessions focused on workplace readiness, resume and LinkedIn optimisation, interview preparation and human skills that remain critical in a digital-first workplace, said Mediacorp in a press release.
The sessions for mid-career professionals are designed for those considering a pivot, reset or their next steps."
'Not closed off to any ideas': Desmond Lee says MOE to study how to reduce exam stakes furthe (29 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Education (MOE) will study how to further reduce the stakes of examinations through discussions with students, parents, teachers and academics, said Minister for Education Desmond Lee.
The study could involve recalibrating the difficulty of exams and looking at how results are used, he added.
When asked what alternative assessment models will be studied and whether the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is likely to stay, Mr Lee said: “We’re not locked into any outcome … We do not want to prejudge, we do not want to circumscribe.
“It may or may not be a tweak, it could be quite major … There is no preconceived idea. We are clear about the outcome, but there is a broad outcome,” he added, noting that he did not want to prejudice the upcoming discussions."
Secondary school students interacting more after smartphone ban, but small minority flouts rules (30 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The smartphone ban in secondary schools appears to be effective so far, with more students interacting with one another, teachers and students told CNA.
"Before, a lot of people used to play video games on their phones, they didn’t really talk to each other," said Secondary 3 student Dyuthi Bhatt, whose school just implemented the enhanced measures this year.
"They used to sit around in the canteen and just huddle over their phones. There was no communication.
“But now, since the ban has been implemented, a lot more people have been talking to each other, the canteen is livelier and I don’t really see phones around.”
Since the start of the new school year, secondary school students have been forbidden from using their smartphones outside of class time, including recess and co-curricular activity hours."
Jobseekers using Careers & Skills Passport portal more likely to be shortlisted: SkillsFuture (30 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: More than 2.3 million job applications have been submitted using the Careers and Skills Passport (CSP) as of November last year, according to SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG).
The CSP is a platform that brings together a jobseeker’s skills, employment history, qualifications and certification records, allowing them to share verified credentials with potential employers.
Job applications made on participating online job portals JobStreet and FastJobs using the CSP were 1.5 times more likely to be shortlisted by employers, said SSG."
One month into my child's Primary 1 year, it's unfolding as a test for me as a parent (30 January 2026)
"Less than three weeks into the new school year, my Primary 1 son asked me a surprising question: "Can you give me S$3 (US$2.40) each day instead of S$2.50?"
Imagine asking your boss for a 20 per cent pay raise just 10 days into your job. Bold move.
But I understand his request. A small bowl of noodles in his school canteen costs S$2 and I could practically hear the wheels turning in his head as he calculated his options. He didn't have enough for a S$1 packet drink.
But a few days later, having managed to save some money, he proudly declared at our dinner table that he'd bought a pen at the school bookshop for his new classmate.
Clearly, the school bookshop still has generations of students in a firm chokehold."
No time to teen: These youths juggle school and work part-time to support their families (30 January 2026)
"When she was 15 years old, Sarah used to rush to a nearby fast-food restaurant the moment the school bell rang – not to hang out with friends, but to work.
Schoolmates whom she bumped into, as they ordered their burgers and fries, would tease her for working there.
"They were just having fun but it made me not want to work, a little bit," the now 18-year-old said.
It made her dread her after-school shifts at first, because that was when she would likely come across her schoolmates.
"Over time, I grew to realise, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm doing nothing wrong. I'm just working," she said."
Commentary: What's at stake as MOE mulls exam reforms? (31 January 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Singapore has for years been trying to reframe an education system often seen as an “arms race”. Further changes may be ahead, with the Ministry of Education (MOE) studying how to further reduce the stakes of examinations.
This could involve recalibrating examination difficulty levels and the way in which results are used, said Education Minister Desmond Lee on Jan 29, adding that the ministry will engage students, parents and teachers on these issues in a series of conversations.
When asked what alternative assessment models will be studied and whether the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) is likely to stay, Mr Lee only said the government is “not locked into any outcome” and does “not want to prejudge”.
While the minister revealed few details, much attention is likely to be focused on the PSLE whose outsized influence on children, families and schools has long made it the most scrutinised national exam here."
No intention to scale central kitchen model to all schools: MOE (3 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The central kitchen meal model will be explored only with schools facing difficulties securing sufficient stallholders, Minister of State for Education Jasmin Lau said on Tuesday (Feb 3).
The Ministry of Education (MOE) has no intention of scaling this model to all schools and does not have a target in mind, she said in parliament in her response to parliamentary questions about the model.
From last month, the central kitchen model was rolled out to 13 schools to address a growing shortage of canteen operators while keeping food meals affordable.
Ms Lau said the government did not introduce the scheme to replace the traditional canteen model.
“We wanted to explore alternative models to help schools that were struggling to attract stallholders and had severe shortages of functioning stalls,” she said.
“We want to avoid putting students in these schools that were at risk of not having good access to affordable, nutritious and balanced meals.”
Removing a child from home is the ‘last resort’: Inside the work of a child protection officer (3 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: When Ms Hashimah Begum explains her job to her parents, she simply says she protects children.
But for the protection officer with the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF), the role involves unpredictable hours, difficult decisions and takes her from homes to hospital wards — all in service of keeping some of Singapore’s most vulnerable children safe.
“I think when you go into the depth of it, it's a lot more about how we ensure that happens,” she told CNA.
The work involves speaking with family members and other stakeholders to understand the harm involved, developing safety plans and working collaboratively with parents to address factors that affect their ability to care for their children.
These measures help officers safeguard children based on what emerges from each investigation."
Indonesia baby trafficking ring: Singapore will review adoption processes once facts are clearer (3 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Singapore will review whether child adoption processes need tightening when the facts surrounding the alleged Indonesian baby trafficking cases become clearer.
Documents and records seized by the Indonesian authorities suggest that a syndicate based in West Java had trafficked at least 25 children, including 15 who had already been sent to Singapore.
In a parliamentary reply on Tuesday (Feb 3), Singapore's Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli said that agencies here were working closely with the relevant Indonesian authorities on the matter.
“When the facts are clearer, the Ministry of Social and Family Development will review whether existing adoption processes should be enhanced,” he said in a written response to a question from MP Cassandra Lee (West Coast-Jurong West)."
Almost 350 fresh graduates find places in government-sponsored traineeships (6 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Almost 350 fresh graduates have found places as trainees under a new government-sponsored traineeship scheme, the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Workforce Singapore (WSG) said on Friday (Feb 6).
Launched last October, the Graduate Industry Traineeships (GRIT) scheme initially offers up to 800 traineeships across private and public sectors.
The trainee stints last from three to six months and pay a monthly allowance of S$1,800 (US$1,400) to S$2,400, with 70 per cent co-funded by the government."
More students seeking help for exam stress, with pressure increasingly self-driven: Psychologists (6 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: More students in Singapore are seeking professional help to cope with academic pressures, with psychologists observing that the stress is increasingly self-driven rather than imposed by parents.
Psychologists told CNA they have seen up to a 20 per cent rise in cases involving exam-related stress every year since 2021.
Clinics that once saw appointments clustered around major examination periods are now seeing a steady stream of new cases throughout the year."
Teen arrested for allegedly tampering with police camera (6 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A 14-year-old has been arrested for allegedly tampering with a police camera, the police said on Friday (Feb 6).
The teenager was recorded on Jan 22 at Punggol Town Square forcefully adjusting a police mobile camera (Mobicam) from its original viewing angle, which resulted in a system disruption.
Rectification works had to be carried out to restore the Mobicam’s functionality, the police said.
On Feb 2, the teenager was again recorded forcefully adjusting the Mobicam out of position, which caused further repair works.
Police arrested the teenager on Feb 4."
Shanmugam launches new book, says it provides a data point and perspective for future historians (6 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Coordinating Minister for National Security K Shanmugam launched his new book on Friday (Feb 6), saying that it provides a data point and perspective for future historians.
Titled Policy, Fairness, and Compassion, the book is a collection of his speeches and interviews spanning over 30 years, encapsulating his views on different policy frameworks, issues and considerations on various government positions.
The book also brings together his views on key community and public policy issues."
My family and I spent 2 years travelling the world. Here's how we're dealing with the return to normal life in Singapore (6 February 2026)
"In January 2024, my wife, son and I embarked on a two-year trip to explore the world. Before we departed Singapore, many people – some out of concern, some out of disapproval – told us that two years was a long time.
I thought so, too. Long enough to step away from the never-ending rush of fast-paced Singapore. Long enough to reset after years spent hustling and grinding at work.
Yet when we finally returned in December 2025, it did not feel long at all.
The longer we were away from home, the more apparent it became how little we knew – not just about places but about ourselves, our family, other people and the systems we take for granted."
When warning signs go unreported: Why some loved ones stay silent about self-radicalised youths (9 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: There is no clear threshold for radicalisation, but the gradual and undramatic shift in a person’s behaviour is most noticeable to their family and friends, who are able to spot the change and act, said security and community experts.
But some people may not sound the alarm on their loved ones, as they do not want them arrested or would prefer to handle the situation themselves, the Internal Security Department (ISD) told CNA.
Contrary to such beliefs, reporting them to the authorities early will allow them to receive help in a timely manner, said the agency.
Experts noted that the inaction is typically not driven by indifference, but by genuine care and a fear of misdecisions or repercussions on that person."
Singapore feature film Ah Girl wins award at International Film Festival Rotterdam (9 February 2026)
"A Singapore feature film has brought home a top prize in one of the largest audience and industry-driven film festivals in the world. Ah Girl, a debut feature by Singaporean filmmaker Ang Geck Geck, won the Youth Jury Award at the 55th International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). Running from Jan 29 to Feb 8 in the Netherlands, this award was presented by a panel of youths “for an outstanding festival film of their choice” across the festival, thus placing the film in the international spotlight.
The jury described the film as one that shines light on the shared nature of human experiences, including childhood, across cultures.
In a statement released by the festival, the jurors said: “The film is crafted with a refined eye and tells the stories of our main character brilliantly. A star performance of the main actresses immediately transports the viewer and the film envelops you like a warm hug from there. Through this film, we call upon the world to take our youngest friends more seriously. But, perhaps even more importantly, we point to the universality of human life and that the other side of the world is sometimes really not that different from what they know.”
Ah Girl was also placed in the festival’s Bright Future section, highlighting “feature-length debuts, characterised by original subject matter and an individual style”."
More than half of eligible Singaporeans aged 30 to 75 have used SkillsFuture credits since launch (9 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: More than half of eligible Singaporeans aged 35 to 70 have utilised their SkillsFuture credits since the initiative was introduced in 2015, SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) said on Monday (Feb 9).
In 2025, which marked the 10th anniversary of its launch, 606,000 individuals took part in SSG-supported training, up from 555,000 the previous year.
SSG said the increase in the number of participants was due to the Dec 31 expiration of the one-off SkillsFuture credits top-up.
More users also used their credits in the final month, compared to the monthly average from January to November in 2025."
A parent’s illness can change everything – especially for their child (9 February 2026)
"Income’s Child Secure Project offers assistance and assurance to children navigating the psychological challenges of a parent’s critical illness diagnosis.
When life gets interrupted, who bears the burden?
It’s not something anyone wants to think about, but when a parent of young children falls critically ill, everything changes. For the parent receiving the diagnosis, the road ahead is incredibly difficult on many fronts, as physical, emotional and financial strains set in. It is the same for the children of the affected parent. In such circumstances, life — as they knew it — often takes a challenging turn.
Childhoods are forcefully put on pause, as the children struggle to come to terms with the impact of a parent being critically ill. Besides a whirlwind of emotions, some children also end up carrying the weight of adult responsibilities and sacrifice the things they once enjoyed doing. From getting part-time jobs and helping with household expenses, to doing chores and serving as their parents’ confidants, the children of critically ill adults are pushed to grow up fast.
According to local statistics, at least one in four Singaporeans may develop cancer in their lifetime, as cancer accounts for 26.4 per cent of all deaths, followed by heart disease and stroke.
While cancer is on the rise among Singaporeans, there is little documented data on how child caregivers are supported. Recognising that this is an overlooked social concern, Income Insurance sought to better understand how critical illness in parents affects children.
According to research commissioned by Income Insurance (Child Secure Project Research Study), which surveyed young caregivers aged 10 to 20, a parent’s diagnosis impacts children’s emotional well-being as well as their everyday lives on a scale often underestimated by their families."
'Horrifying, senseless torture': Man pleads guilty over death of teen who was starved, beaten and chained in toilet (9 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Over several months, a group of three tortured a 19-year-old girl as "punishment", depriving her of food, beating her brutally and confining her in a toilet for long stretches at a time in a Clementi flat.
The prolonged abuse resulted in the death of Huang Baoying, who had lost 43 per cent of her body weight by the time she died from excessive blunt force trauma and severe malnourishment on May 5, 2021.
Lim Peng Tiong, 66, pleaded guilty on Monday (Feb 9) to one count of culpable homicide not amounting to murder at the High Court.
His co-accused are Huang Bocan, 34, the victim’s elder brother, and Chee Mei Wan, 46. Their cases are still pending before the courts."
Rise in young drug abusers arrested in 2025, including a 12-year-old: CNB (10 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: More young drug abusers were arrested in 2025, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said on Tuesday (Feb 10), with one in two new drug abusers arrested under the age of 30.
In its annual statistics report, CNB director Sebastian Tan said the youth drug problem remains a concern, highlighting that the youngest drug abuser arrested last year was just 12 years old.
Of the 1,165 new drug abusers arrested in 2025, about half of them were below 30 years old, an increase of about 9 per cent from the previous year.
The rise was even more significant in the under-20 age group, where the number of arrested new drug abusers increased by 22 per cent - from 134 to 163."
Man posed as teen online and raped 13-year-old girl, gets jail and caning (10 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A man who posed as a teenager online to talk to underage girls was sentenced to 11 years' jail and 10 strokes of the cane on Tuesday (Feb 10).
The Singaporean, now aged 25, who cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the identity of two victims, pleaded guilty to two counts of statutory rape, one count of sexual grooming of a minor and one count of sexual penetration of a minor.
Another 14 charges were taken into consideration for sentencing."
Commentary: ChatGPT is a dangerous study aid for STEM students (11 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: During last year’s exam season, a student showed me her answer to the 2024 GCE A-Level Chemistry Paper 3 question. The task was straightforward: Draw three curly arrows to complete a reaction mechanism.
ChatGPT provided a diagram with clean lines, proper notation, and technical precision. But the arrows were completely wrong, misplaced in ways that would cost full marks.
Here’s another example from the same year. Students were asked why calcium fluoride does not dissolve in water, even though the thermodynamic conditions suggest that it should.
ChatGPT explained that the particles are held together very tightly, which sounds reasonable at first glance.
However, this missed the main point the examiners were looking for. The correct answer was that the reaction requires too much energy to get started."
Preschoolers learn to prep emergency kits in pilot to boost psychological resilience (12 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Packing emergency kits and navigating unfamiliar environments in the dark may not be typical preschool activities.
But children at Sunflower Preschool @ Hillview were introduced to these skills under a new pilot programme as part of this year’s Total Defence exercise.
The initiative introduces preschoolers to psychological resilience through a three-part immersive workshop.
“We see the children displaying learning dispositions such as perseverance and resilience,” said the preschool’s centre manager Mastura Adam, adding that these skills are transferable to their daily lives.
“On top of that, we also see them displaying social and emotional competencies, such as lending their friends a helping hand when they are faced with challenges and uncertainty.”
Budget 2026: Six months' free access to premium AI tools for Singaporeans taking selected courses (12 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Singaporeans who take up selected artificial intelligence training courses will receive six months of free access to premium AI tools, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced on Thursday (Feb 12).
The move aims to help workers translate classroom learning into hands-on practice, as AI increasingly reshapes the workplace.
"AI will change how we work," said Mr Wong, who is also the finance minister, in his Budget 2026 speech. "The pace of change can be unsettling, especially when livelihoods are at stake."
He acknowledged growing anxiety among workers but said technological change would not come at their expense.
“We will press ahead with AI because we must. At the same time, we will put in place strong support to help our workers adapt and progress, because we will take care of our own,” Mr Wong added.
The premium access will allow course participants to practise using more advanced AI models, which typically require paid subscriptions.
“This will allow them to practise, experiment and apply what they have learnt,” Mr Wong said."
Budget 2026: Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture to merge (12 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Workforce Singapore and SkillsFuture Singapore will merge into a new statutory board jointly overseen by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Ministry of Education (MOE), announced Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Thursday (Feb 12).
Workforce Singapore is a statutory board formed in 2003 under MOM, which helps workers secure jobs, providing services including career coaching and job matching.
SkillsFuture Singapore was founded under MOE, to steer the titular initiative introduced in 2015 and encourage lifelong learning.
During his Budget 2026 speech on Thursday, Mr Wong said the Economic Strategic Review committee had recommended that the government review how it organises jobs and skills support for Singaporeans.
Describing the merger as a "decisive step forward", the finance minister said the new agency will be a "one-stop shop" for skills training, career guidance and job matching services for workers and job seekers.
"That means support will be more seamless, from career planning to skills acquisitions and job matching and transitions," he added."
Budget 2026: Additional S$500 in Child LifeSG credits for each Singaporean child aged 12 and below (12 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Families will receive an additional S$500 (US$396) in Child LifeSG credits for each Singaporean child aged 12 and below, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced on Thursday (Feb 12).
The move is part of a broader set of measures aimed at giving families “more support and greater assurance”, Mr Wong said during his Budget 2026 speech in parliament.
“Many young couples hope to become parents. We want to create the right conditions, so they feel confident and ready to start a family,” he said.
“The decision to get married and have children is deeply personal. But for those who wish to take the step, the government will do more to support them along the way.”
Budget 2026: Additional ComLink+ payouts for lower-income families who make progress (12 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Lower-income families under the ComLink+ scheme will receive greater support, including more cash payouts, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced on Thursday (Feb 12).
Under enhancements to the ComLink+ Progress Packages, families who commit to working with family coaches and “take active steps to make progress” will receive S$500 (US$396) per quarter.
Families also stand to receive additional payouts when they make concrete progress in their goals of maintaining stable employment and good preschool attendance for their children.
A larger portion of the payouts will be given in cash, while continuing to set aside funds in their Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts.
“This will help families meet immediate needs, while also building their longer-term financial security,” Mr Wong said."
NTUC to roll out AI training pathways for workers at all skill levels, subsidy for AI tools (13 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is rolling out a new initiative to ready workers for artificial intelligence, including training pathways paired with a subsidy for AI tools.
NTUC secretary-general Ng Chee Meng announced the launch of the AI-Ready SG initiative at the NTUC Career Festival on Friday (Feb 13).
More than 5,000 job opportunities by over 70 employers are available at the two-day career fair at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
"We're launching the NTUC AI-Ready SG initiative as a commitment to walk alongside our workers, support them through the change, and ensure a fair and just transition for them in the AI-powered future," said Mr Ng."
2 new measles cases in Singapore; authorities refute online claims of childcare centre infection (13 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Two new measles cases were detected in Singapore in the first week of February, bringing the country's total cases this year to 13.
The Communicable Diseases Agency's (CDA) latest weekly infectious disease bulletin showed two new cases were detected between Feb 1 and Feb 7. Eleven measles cases were recorded in January.
The agency also said on Friday that there were no confirmed measles cases at Singapore's childcare centres or preschools as of Thursday afternoon, following rumours of an alleged case at a childcare centre."
Counterterrorism exercise held at NUS UTown with more than 120 participants (13 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A calm Friday afternoon (Feb 13) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) was disrupted by gunshots as a car sped into University Town.
Three armed men came out and started shooting, sending students scrambling for cover. Several were "hit" and collapsed to the ground, while others took flight.
Amid the chaos, two students sprinted towards the injured, kneeling beside their peers to administer first aid.
Moments later, a siren wailed and officers from the Singapore Police Force's (SPF) ground response team drove in, swiftly moving to tend to the wounded.
Their colleagues from the emergency response team arrived soon after."
Student care operator Little Professors under investigation over unpaid wages, ‘anomalies’ in fee deductions (14 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Student care operator Little Professors Learning Centre is under investigation by the police and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) after salaries were owed to 54 employees.
Several parents were also double-charged for their children’s student care fees.
Little Professors, a private operator, ran student care centres in eight primary schools - Anchor Green, Jing Shan, Kranji, Punggol Cove, Waterway, Westwood, Hong Wen and White Sands.
It also provides Kindergarten Care or KCare services for MOE Kindergartens in six of these primary schools."
Commentary: Anxious about AI, I went back to school and this is what I learned (16 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: In 2024, I took up a master’s degree in artificial intelligence (AI) and innovation, while holding a full-time job. It was a decision I made on a whim – hoping to better understand a technology that was threatening major disruptions, though part of me also wondered if it could just be a passing fad.
Developments since then have eliminated these doubts. Worldwide spending on AI is set to top US$2 trillion in 2026, up from US$1.5 trillion last year, according to IT research firm Gartner. Governments are shaping policies around it. Businesses are recalibrating strategies, while the average man on the street is increasingly engaging with AI tools.
Last week, AI featured prominently in Budget 2026, with a slew of announcements including a new National AI Council chaired by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.
Amid all these, the anxiety about job disruption is very real, especially for mid-career workers like me. Many of those who took up the same programme as I did are worried that AI will transform our industries altogether, taking over our jobs."
'Little hands, big hearts': How a young family's community projects are inspiring others (16 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: When seven-year-old Kaizen See and nine-year-old Kay See learnt about the deadly fire at Wang Fuk Court in Hong Kong, they knew that they wanted to help in any way they could.
But when they realised that many others were already rallying to support the victims, the siblings decided to channel their efforts into raising awareness about the importance of fire safety in Singapore.
The children designed a poster to educate residents about the dos and don’ts of using electrical sockets, such as keeping wires neat and avoiding the overloading of plugs.
This poster will be displayed on digital screens in HDB lift lobbies across Nee Soon town council estates.
They also organised a visit to Yishun Fire Station with seven other families, where they presented care packs and handmade gifts to officers on duty.
The children told CNA on Sunday (Feb 15) that this was their first “mission” of their community initiative, Little Hands, Big Hearts, which the family embarked on after securing about S$5,000 in funding from the Our Singapore Fund."
Commentary: We have to stop calling some jobs ‘low skilled’ (19 February 2026)
"LONDON: Even from a continent away, it is possible to hear the gasps from Silicon Valley as software developers begin to realise that they have very successfully automated away one of their own core skills.
Aditya Agarwal, the former chief technology officer at Dropbox, summed up the mood in a recent post: “It’s a weird time,” he wrote. “I am filled with wonder and also a profound sadness . . . We will never ever write code by hand again. It doesn’t make any sense to do so. Something I was very good at is now free and abundant.”
But if senior developers are feeling disoriented, spare a thought for the poor teenagers who are trying to decide which skills to invest in for the future.
There are plenty of opinions out there. Anthropic president Daniela Amodei says “studying the humanities” will be more important than ever. Others argue that interpersonal skills will be key.
And then there are those who reckon the safest way to go is to swerve white-collar work altogether and develop manual skills such as electrical installation or plumbing."
Little Professors Learning Centre issues: Parents make police reports over GIRO double payments (19 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Some parents whose children were in student care centres operated by Little Professors Learning Centre (LPLC) have filed police reports after they found out that they were double-charged fees.
News broke last Saturday night (Feb 14) that LPLC is under investigation by the police and the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), leaving some parents anxious and angry.
Parents said they were worried about childcare arrangements and one mother told CNA she might have to quit her job if a replacement operator is not found.
LPLC is a private operator that ran student care centres in eight primary schools - Anchor Green, Jing Shan, Kranji, Punggol Cove, Waterway, Westwood, Hong Wen and White Sands.
It also provides Kindergarten Care or KCare services for MOE Kindergartens in six of these primary schools.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) said that "operational issues" surfaced last week, including the non-payment of salaries to staff. The company director could not be contacted.
This resulted in insufficient staff to support the student care centre operations in the eight primary schools.
Some parents had also complained of "apparent anomalies" in their GIRO deductions by the operator, said MOE."
Healthcare institutions widen youth volunteers’ roles with para-clinical training’ (20 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Healthcare institutions in Singapore are ramping up training for youth volunteers to take up para-clinical roles, in a growing shift towards preparing them for specific, skills-based duties that support frontline care.
The move reflects efforts to equip volunteers with competencies that go beyond traditional support roles, enabling them to contribute more meaningfully within healthcare settings.
Observers say this could also help widen the talent pool for future healthcare professionals."
A-Level results to be released on Feb 27 (20 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The results of the 2025 GCE A-Level examinations will be released on Feb 27 at 2.30pm, with students receiving their results from their schools.
Details on the collection will be shared by the respective schools, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) said in a joint release on Friday (Feb 20).
School candidates who are unable to collect their results in person can access their results online via the SEAB candidates portal from 3.15pm on the same day until 11pm on Mar 13.
Those who are eligible for Singpass can use their account to access the portal. School candidates who are international students will receive their system-generated username via email from Feb 25.
Students can also appoint a proxy to collect a physical copy of their results on their behalf from the school, MOE and SEAB said. Proxies must produce relevant documents for the school’s verification when doing so."
Little Professors Learning Centre termination: MOE reviewing how student care operators are appointed (20 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Education (MOE) is reviewing how student care operators are appointed after terminating one operator's contract at eight primary schools last week, affecting around 1,800 students.
Speaking to media during a visit on Friday (Feb 20) to one of the schools, Jing Shan Primary School, MOE deputy director-general of education and director of schools Tan Chen Kee said the ministry is now looking at whether its vetting process needs to be tightened.
"We are reviewing how we are appointing the operators. Will it be more stringent, or will there be other criteria that we put in? These are things that we are discussing at the moment," she said.
Currently, student care operators are selected through a public tender process. Potential operators are assessed on their financial viability, programmes, staff strength and costs. Once appointed, they are regularly evaluated by schools, with MOE stepping in if serious breaches occur.
"It would also be useful for us, as well as other agencies, to also look at the whole process and what the gaps there could be," said Mrs Tan. "And then we’ll work together for an inter-agency response to strengthening this."
I chose to study abroad as I wanted to be alone. It taught me to be careful what I wish for (20 February 2026)
"For the first two and a half decades or so of my life, I lived in the same city, in the same neighbourhood, in the same house, in the same room.
Many single Singaporeans don't move out of their family homes to strike out on their own, unless it's to move in with their partner. Rising housing and rental costs aside, it's always been part of the Asian cultural script of upholding filial piety.
This isn't necessarily a complaint.
Unlike many Western societies that prize individualism above all else, young Singaporeans are rarely cut off from family or community. We're never far from support when we need it, even as we learn to put up with a lot of well-meaning nagging from loved ones.
But it also means many of us don't have the time and space to be alone.
Young adults in Singapore unable to afford buying or renting their own living space, but who want to pursue their independence – even a temporary facsimile of it – have three choices: marriage, an overseas job posting, or studying abroad.
In 2024, as a single 27-year-old still at the outset of my career, studying abroad seemed the way to go for me – a chance to better myself, broaden my horizons and, as an introvert, maybe get some peace and quiet for the first time in my life."
My 13-year-old son uses a Nokia. Here's why I support the school phone ban (21 February 2026)
"The recent tightening of the mobile phone policy in schools has been a hot topic in the parent circles I'm part of. In my WhatsApp chats and conversations at the school gate, reactions are mixed.
Under the previous guidelines, secondary school students were not allowed to use smartphones or smartwatches during lesson time. From January, this was extended to cover non-lesson hours as well, including recess and co-curricular activities (CCA).
Parents either love it or hate it. Some see it as a great way to limit their teens' screen time, while others feel it'll make daily logistics harder, especially when it comes to reaching their children to arrange pick-ups or drop-offs.
From what I've heard, students seem far less enthusiastic. They can no longer play games with each other during recess or before CCA, or secretly check their phones during lessons.
For my eldest son, who entered Secondary 1 this year, the policy doesn't really affect him because he has never owned a smartphone.
I've held fast to my rather public promise that my children wouldn't get smartphones even as they enter secondary school. Unlike many of his peers, my eldest doesn't know what it feels like to have the unbounded freedom to play games on it or scroll social media feeds after school.
However, he is now the proud owner of a sturdy Nokia phone with all the cutting-edge features of a radio, an MP3 player and the good old game of Snake.
He can finally receive calls and has also discovered this ancient service called SMS."
Man gets jail for filming student's private sex act in toilet cubicle, says he was gathering 'evidence' (23 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A man who filmed a 16-year-old boy in a private act in a toilet cubicle claimed that he was gathering "evidence" of a sex act and littering.
A judge who heard the case in court rejected his defence and called him a "shameless voyeur". He sentenced the man to six months' jail, in a judgment made available on Saturday (Feb 21).
Tan Wei Sien, whose age was not included in the judgment, claimed trial to a charge of voyeurism after he recorded seven videos of a 16-year-old male student in a toilet at Causeway Point mall on the night of Oct 17, 2024."
Father who found nudes in his 16-year-old daughter's phone sexually abused her, gets jail (23 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A father who found that his 16-year-old daughter had sent nudes to a classmate confronted the girl angrily and sexually abused her.
The 54-year-old man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his daughter, was sentenced on Monday (Feb 23) to six years' jail.
Of this, nine months is in lieu of caning as he cannot be caned since he is above 50.
The man pleaded guilty to three counts of outraging his daughter's modesty while causing her to be in fear of instant hurt.
Another three charges were taken into consideration."
Union flags 'deeper structural issues' after student care centre closures (23 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The recent closures of two student care centres - Little Professors Learning Centre (LPLC) and Out of Box Academy (OBA) - point to "deeper structural issues" in Singapore's student care sector that require "urgent and sustained attention", the Education Services Union said on Monday (Feb 23).
The union said student care centres are more than after-school facilities, describing them as "safe spaces where children grow, parents gain peace of mind, and working families are supported".
"In a society built on a strong dual-income model, disruptions to this ecosystem carry significant social costs.
"When a centre shuts down abruptly, the ripple effects are far-reaching - impacting children, parents, staff, extended families, and even workplaces," the union said, adding that the consequences are "not isolated; they are systemic".
According to its website, the union represents about 33,000 workers in the education sector, including those in early childhood and student care, but excludes public sector employees."
Education, healthcare most promising sectors for AI adoption, says OpenAI executive (23 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Education and healthcare hold the greatest promise for artificial intelligence to reshape entire industries, according to a senior executive at OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
Mr Marc Manara, OpenAI's head of startups, made the remarks during an interview with CNA on Monday (Feb 23) while visiting Singapore, where the San Francisco-based company set up an office in late 2024 to support its expansion into the Asia-Pacific region.
In education, Mr Manara said AI could make truly personalised learning a reality, something that was previously impossible to deliver at scale.
“The potential for AI to make it easier for people to … study something that maybe was a topic that was too small of an interest globally to have a full course built around it – with AI you can do that now,” he said.
“That potential is still being tapped, and I'd love to see more investment there.”
NTUC strengthening focus on youths as entry-level jobs feel 'some of the heat' from AI: Ng Chee Meng (24 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Facing a future powered by artificial intelligence (AI), the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) is studying ways to strengthen its focus on youths, labour chief Ng Chee Meng said.
In an interview with CNA on Monday (Feb 23) about Singapore’s jobs situation and the impact of AI, Mr Ng said NTUC is pushing itself to better support youths’ transition into the workplace.
This is especially so for fresh graduates, among whom the labour movement does not yet have a strong presence, he added.
“Coming out of our school system, where we are all ranked so well in the world in terms of the foundational education, how can we now maybe also rethink a little bit about that transition from the schoolhouse to the workplace?” he asked.
“How can we in the AI era help overcome the possibilities of entry-level job disruption … to allow our children (to be) coming out of school, becoming adults, easing into the market that much better?”
Singapore confirms measles case in 11-month-old girl; first involving child in preschool since stepped-up measures (24 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Singapore has recorded its first case of measles involving a child attending preschool since the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA) stepped up measures to better contain and manage measles infection.
The agency was notified of the case, involving an 11-month-old female infant, on Feb 17.
This is the fifth measles case involving an infant below 12 months of age in 2026, CDA said in a statement on Tuesday (Feb 24).
The child attends a preschool in Singapore and was not yet due for the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination. She has no known recent travel or contact history and is recovering well.
“She was in school during her infectious period. Affected parents whose children had been in close contact with the case have been notified by the preschool. Epidemiological investigations are ongoing,” the agency said."
Commentary: Youth radicalisation now encompasses more than religious extremism (24 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The 14-year-old student who was issued a restriction order in January highlights the worrying trend of self-radicalisation in Singapore. Buying into extremist ideologies propagated by Islamic State, he harboured aspirations to go overseas to fight for the group and die as a martyr.
Last year, another 14-year-old student was given a restriction order for subscribing to a “salad bar” of extremist ideologies, ranging from far-right to far-left ideas to misogyny, Islamic State beliefs and anti-semitism. The Internal Security Department also imposed its first restriction order on a female teenager. The girl, aged 15, aspired to marry a militant fighter and fight for the group in Syria.
These cases at home reflect a global phenomenon of young people subscribing to radical beliefs that go beyond religious extremism.
A subculture which is growing in popularity, particularly among male youths, is the manosphere – a loose but interconnected network of online communities united by the perception that men are victims of modern feminist society.
The unsettling reality is that young people cannot be fully shielded from harmful influences online. What can we learn from extremist internet communities, and what can we do to inoculate youth against dangerous ideals and narratives?"
Mandai Exploria to open on Mar 3 as one of Southeast Asia’s largest indoor nature-themed attractions (24 February 2026)
"A new 10,000 sq m multimedia attraction – billed as one of Southeast Asia’s largest indoor, nature-themed immersive experiences – will open at Singapore's Mandai Wildlife Reserve on Mar 3.
Open to visitors of all ages – with a particular focus on teenagers and young adults – Exploria features environments ranging from prehistoric eras to microscopic ecosystems.
Exploria is part of Mandai Wildlife Group’s ongoing rejuvenation of the Mandai Wildlife Reserve.
At the new attraction, visitors will begin at a central hub called Our Interconnected World, before moving into five themed realms. At the centre of the hub is the Biopool, which features a four-metre LED globe. As visitors explore the space, their movements trigger visible pulses of light that travel to the globe, generating real-time responses to interaction and participation.
The globe also plays a key role in The Planet Awakens, a light and sound show where projections and colours illuminate the space to reflect the diversity of the five immersive realms connected to the hub."
Budget 2026 debate: MPs call for SkillsFuture to be more targeted, personalised for workers (25 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Members of Parliament on Wednesday (Feb 25) called for SkillsFuture Singapore to be made more responsive to workers' needs, as debate on the national budget entered its second day.
They also raised concerns about ageing public housing estates, calling on the government to expand maintenance support for older Housing and Development Board (HDB) blocks.
MP Melvin Yong (PAP-Radin Mas) acknowledged that SkillsFuture has successfully embedded a culture of continuous learning, but warned of a "structural weakness" at its core: too many course options and too little guidance, leading to "choice paralysis".
He proposed integrating artificial intelligence to generate personalised training recommendations based on a worker’s experience, career trajectory, aspirations and life stage.
He also called for the platform to be linked with the National Trades Union Congress' (NTUC) AI-powered Career Coach portal, which offers job matching, resume writing support and interview practice.
“SkillsFuture must therefore shift from being course-centric to being worker-centric,” he said.
“If we are serious about AI, let us use AI to empower every worker – not just those who are already digitally fluent.”
Little Professors Learning Centre issues: How parents at one primary school sprang into action to fill the gap (27 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: When news of Little Professors Learning Centre's (LPLC) termination broke on Feb 14, just days before Chinese New Year, the response from parents at Hong Wen School was immediate.
Despite the anxiety of not knowing what might happen next, about 30 parents sprang into action, asking how they might be able to help the school.
For about half of these parents, their children were not enrolled at LPLC, a student care centre. But they were determined to take care of the students in limbo.
"It's important to support the children, to give them a safe space," said Mr Jorwe Lee, chairman of Hong Wen's parent support group.
They also wanted to support the primary school teachers who were rostered to take on the duties at the embattled learning centre, while giving affected parents the space to resolve issues with LPLC."
SG Culture Pass book buys: 1,500 SingLit titles at 40 outlets islandwide (27 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Singaporeans can choose from about 1,500 Singapore literature (SingLit) titles and use their SG Culture Pass credits to pay for these books from Mar 1.
The credits can be used at nine participating bookstores across some 40 outlets islandwide.
Eligible titles include fiction, poetry, plays and literary short essays in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil that are authored by a Singaporean or permanent resident, the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) said on Friday (Feb 27).
These books can be identified by the official SG Culture Pass sticker on the cover, and the eligible titles offered will differ among the bookstores.
Buyers will have to log in to their SG Culture Pass account on the official website to pay for the books.
If they do not have enough credits to cover the full amount, the remaining balance can be paid using cash, credit card or other available payment methods at the bookstore.
No refunds will be provided for books bought using the credits, which are valid for use until the end of 2028."
Not sure where to start with SingLit? Here are 50+ picks as SG Culture Pass adds Singapore titles (27 February 2026)
"From Sunday (Mar 1), literature lovers and bookworms here will have another reason to celebrate: SingLit will be eligible for the SG Culture Pass.
Selected Singapore literature titles will now be included in the SG Culture Pass scheme, an initiative by Singapore’s Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) that provides all eligible Singapore citizens aged 18 and above with S$100 credits to spend on local arts and heritage experiences until Dec 31, 2028.
Around 1,500 local literary titles – spanning fiction, poetry, plays and creative nonfiction in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil – will be eligible for the initiative across 40 physical bookstores, including both major chains and indie bookshops. These titles can be identified by a Culture Pass sticker and must be purchased in person.
If you’ve been meaning to get into Singapore literature but don’t know where to start, this SingLit recommendation list is for you.
We reached out to key voices in the local literary community – from Singapore Writers’ Festival (SWF) directors and publishers to bookstore owners and bookstagrammers – to share their SingLit picks."
A-Level results: 94.7% score at least 3 H2 passes (27 February 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Around 94.7 per cent of candidates scored at least three Higher 2 (H2) passes in last year's GCE A-Level examination, according to results released on Friday (Feb 27).
A total of 10,977 candidates sat for the 2025 GCE A-Level examination, the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) said in a joint press release.
Of these, 10,393 students, or 94.7 per cent, got at least three H2 passes, with a pass in General Paper.
This is the first cohort to sit for the examination under the revised computation method of the University Admission Score (UAS).
Under the revised system, the fourth content-based subject is included only if it improves the candidate’s final UAS. The Project Work subject is excluded from this computation because only a pass is needed.
With these changes, the maximum UAS will become 70 points instead of 90. Should the fourth content-based subject be included, it would be rebased to 70 points.
These changes were introduced to give students greater agency in calibrating their learning load for better holistic development and student well-being, said MOE and SEAB.
"They are also meant to encourage students to pursue their learning interests, such as in choosing their fourth content-based subject and Project Work topic by interest, without being overly concerned about examination grades," they said."
Commentary: Unsure how to use AI at work? Try these simple steps (2 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: For many people using generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) apps like ChatGPT for the first time, the empty chat box can feel intimidating.
“What do I type in the box?” I have heard this question many times over the past three years of coaching people in Gen AI. Unlike the software that we have used for decades, there are no familiar buttons to press and no user manual to consult.
I tell them that they can type anything and their eyes light up when they enter their first few prompts. But other users will furrow their eyebrows and ask: “How should I use this AI for my work?”
Nothing untoward in feedback about Little Professors Learning Centre before termination: MOE (2 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: There was "nothing untoward" in the feedback the Ministry of Education (MOE) received about Little Professors Learning Centre (LPLC) before its services were terminated, Senior Minister of State for Education Janil Puthucheary said in parliament on Monday (Mar 2).
Dr Puthucheary was responding to MP Shawn Loh (PAP-Jalan Besar), who asked about MOE’s whistleblowing policies, highlighting that parents had shared with him that they felt like the incident could have been possibly preventable.
“Parents in Whampoa and Boon Keng estates told me that they had given feedback about the deteriorating quality of the student care centre last year.
"So when MOE said that they only found out about it in February this year, the parents told me that this did not gel with the feedback they had given,” he said."
New training academy to equip more than 150,000 public officers with digital, data and AI skills (2 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A new training academy will be set up to systematically equip more than 150,000 public officers with digital, data, design and artificial intelligence skills, it was announced on Monday (Mar 2).
Called the Institute of Digital Government (IDG), it is scheduled to launch in the third quarter of this year.
Speaking in parliament, Minister of State for Digital Development and Information Jasmin Lau said the goal for the broader public service is to ensure no officer feels "powerless in a digital world".
"We will focus not just on technology, but on designing solutions that are citizen-centred and secure," she said in the debate about her ministry's spending plans for the coming year.
The Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) said in a factsheet that the IDG will design and deliver curricula that are aligned with the digital priorities of the government.
All public officers will need to complete mandatory foundational modules covering cybersecurity, data protection and AI literacy.
“These modules ensure that every officer has the essential knowledge needed to operate effectively in the digital government environment,” said MDDI."
Single admissions exercise to replace separate polytechnic, JC and ITE application processes from 2028 (3 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Three separate admissions exercises will be merged into one from 2028, changing the way students apply for post-secondary places, the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced on Tuesday (Mar 3).
The single application process will cover all post-secondary pathways, including junior colleges (JCs), Millennia Institute (MI), polytechnics and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE).
This change is timed to coincide with the first cohort of students under full subject-based banding sitting for the Singapore-Cambridge Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) in 2027. These students will be the first to apply through the new exercise in January 2028.
The new Post-Secondary Admissions Exercise (PSE) will consolidate the Joint Admissions Exercise, the Polytechnic Foundation Programme Admissions Exercise and the ITE Joint Intake Exercise, which currently take place at different times of the year.
Other admissions pathways – such as Direct School Admission into junior colleges and early admissions to polytechnics and ITE, which are typically conducted before the SEC examinations – will remain unchanged."
15 schools to host advanced modules as Singapore discontinues Gifted Education Programme (3 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Starting next year, 15 schools will host advanced modules under Singapore's new approach to supporting high-ability students, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Tuesday (Mar 3).
The schools are Ahmad Ibrahim Primary, Clementi Primary, Geylang Methodist School, Innova Primary, Jurong West Primary, Kheng Cheng School, Palm View Primary, Pioneer Primary, Punggol View Primary, Queenstown Primary, St Gabriel's Primary, Tampines Primary, Teck Ghee Primary, Yew Tee Primary and Yu Neng Primary School.
They were chosen to ensure a good geographic spread and are accessible via public transport, MOE said, adding that the list will be reviewed periodically.
The announcement follows Prime Minister Lawrence Wong's 2024 announcement to discontinue the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) in its current form.
Under the new approach, more students – or about 10 per cent of the cohort – will have access to high-ability school-based programmes, which are already available in all primary schools. Students who may benefit from further development can then choose to attend after-school modules at one of the 15 designated centres.
Unlike the GEP, these modules are not linked to the national curriculum, said MOE.
Students will no longer need to transfer to one of the nine primary schools that currently host the GEP. Those nine schools will cease to be GEP centres, and their teachers with GEP experience may either teach the centre-based advanced modules or remain at their own schools."
Three new SPED schools for students with autism and intellectual disability to open (3 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Three new special education schools for students with autism spectrum disorder with intellectual disability (ASD-ID) from mid-2026, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Tuesday (Mar 3).
The additions will bring the total number of SPED schools serving students with this condition from 13 to 16. MOE will partner three social service agencies – APSN Education Services, the Autism Association, and St Andrew's Mission Hospital – to set up the new schools.
One of the three schools, run by APSN Education Services, will operate from an interim site in the northeast region of Singapore from the second half of 2026, said Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Education Syed Harun on Tuesday.
The announcement was part of MOE's broader spending plans for the year, aimed at addressing rising demand for SPED places among students with ASD-ID."
Students must stay grounded in critical thinking amid AI push: Desmond Lee (4 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more deeply embedded in classrooms and workplaces, students must remain grounded in fundamentals such as critical thinking, said Education Minister Desmond Lee on Tuesday (Mar 3).
In particular, Mr Lee cautioned against “cognitive offloading” – or letting machines do the thinking – even as students and teachers are being encouraged to use AI learning tools.
“AI is going to present a lot of opportunity but also a lot of disruption, so our aim is really to make sure that the next generation is ready for such a world,” he told CNA’s Singapore Tonight programme.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Ministry of Education (MOE) had made several announcements in parliament as part of its broader spending plans for the year. These include plans for students from primary to tertiary levels to soon undergo AI-related modules to adapt to the technology and develop relevant skills."
Singaporean students in Middle East safe, minimal disruption to studies amid conflict in region: Faishal Ibrahim (5 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Singapore students studying in the Middle East are safe, with minimal disruptions to their studies, said Acting Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Faishal Ibrahim on Thursday (Mar 5).
Assoc Prof Faishal spoke with more than 40 Singaporean students who are pursuing their studies in countries like Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to "check on their welfare, safety and well-being", amid the ongoing conflict in the region.
"I am relieved that our students are safe, with minimal disruptions to their studies," he said in his Facebook post, with the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) adding that the call with the students took place on Wednesday night.
The students, who are studying Islamic law, Islamic theology, and the Arabic language, shared their concerns, but also their resilience amid the uncertainty, Assoc Prof Faishal said.
"I was reassured to hear that they are keeping safe and continuing to focus on their studies.
"I assured them that their safety, welfare and well-being remain our priority, and we stand ready to assist where needed," he added."
Fewer fresh graduates found work within 6 months in 2025; median salary held steady at S$4,500: Survey (5 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A smaller proportion of university graduates found jobs fresh out of school in 2025, according to graduate employment survey results on Thursday (Mar 5).
The joint survey by Singapore's six autonomous universities found that 83.4 per cent of recent graduates who sought jobs were working within six months of their final exams.
This was down from 87.1 per cent in 2024, and continues a downward trend since 2022.
The median gross monthly salary for this group held steady at S$4,500 (US$3,500)."
Singapore to increase family counselling capacity as number of cases grows (5 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Counselling services under the strengthening families programme (FAM) will be expanded to support up to 12,000 cases by 2030, Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli said in parliament on Thursday (Mar 5).
The number of family counselling cases has risen over the past few years – from 3,100 in 2022 to 5,700 last year.
“We expect this growth to continue and will ensure services remain accessible to those who need it,” the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said.
The strengthening families programme was established in 2021 to support families who may face greater challenges in managing marriage, parenting and other family relationships.
Eleven FAM centres across Singapore provide family counselling to support such families. This includes providing psycho-emotional support and equipping families with skills and resilience to deal with stressors and resolve conflicts.
Families can book face-to-face or online counselling sessions with the centres.
“Preliminary findings have shown that family counselling has improved mental well-being, marital adjustment and child psychosocial functioning of (the programme’s) clients,” MSF said."
Singapore to introduce new S$20 million grant to support development of multicultural art forms (5 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A new S$20 million (US$15.6 million) grant to support the development of traditional and multicultural art forms will be introduced by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and the National Arts Council (NAC).
The move was announced by Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth David Neo in parliament on Thursday (Mar 5) where he laid out his ministry's spending plans for the year.
This is part of stepped-up efforts to strengthen Singapore's unique multicultural identity, he added.
The Multicultural Arts Programme Grant, which will span five years, will be administered by NAC and seeded by the President’s Challenge and MCCY.
NAC will launch the grant via an open call in the second half of this year, with applications accepted annually from then on.
It will support a range of multicultural arts productions and initiatives, including instances where artists weave elements from other cultures together or when they seek to learn and develop mastery in cultural forms beyond their own inherited traditions."
When fathers don’t pay child maintenance – what women can do to protect their children (6 March 2026)
"When Lisa (not her real name) separated from her husband, her biggest concern was keeping life stable for their four-year-old son. She didn’t expect to suddenly shoulder the full burden of their household bills.
Her ex-husband stopped paying his share – not only for their car loan, but their son’s expenses and their Housing Development Board (HDB) flat mortgage, leaving her scrambling to meet payments.
During their five-year marriage, the tech executive and her husband split costs evenly, including their son’s kindergarten fees, and swimming and Chinese lessons.
“I didn’t expect him to cut off our son like this,” the 35-year-old told CNA Women. She had to seek legal help to ensure he fulfilled his duty of care.
Lisa’s story isn’t uncommon. Non-payment of maintenance remains a persistent problem among divorced couples, despite being enforceable by law, according to statistics from the Family Justice Courts. There was an average of 2,700 maintenance enforcements applications reported in 2023. While some defaulters cite job loss or financial strain, others refuse payment out of resentment."
Eligible lower-wage adults returning to school can get S$500 per quarter under new ComLink+ pilot (6 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Eligible lower-wage young adults under the ComLink+ scheme can now receive a S$500 (US$390) incentive every quarter when they sustain their education, Minister of State for Social and Family Development Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim said on Friday (Mar 6).
“Families bear some costs when they choose to upskill. For example, their income may be disrupted during their studies, and it is not certain even that they will get a job with a higher salary after,” Mr Zhulkarnain said during the debate on the Ministry of Social and Family Development’s (MSF) spending plans for the coming year.
"MSF has observed that this deters some ComLink+ families from upskilling, even when they want to do so and even when they have the opportunity to do so."
The ComLink+ skills upgrading support pilot was launched in January and targets eligible people aged 18 to 39 who are currently in lower-wage jobs or have dropped out of school previously, and may be currently unemployed.
The ministry said the pilot would address the financial opportunity cost by providing basic living expenses at ComCare short-to-medium term assistance rates, as well as the S$500 per quarter when individuals keep up with their education.
The support can be given for up to three years, depending on the course duration."
Stiffer penalties for selling, importing or using vapes after law passed in parliament (6 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The maximum penalties for possessing, using, importing and selling vapes in Singapore will be raised significantly after changes to the law were passed in parliament on Friday (Mar 6).
Owners of warehouses and storage units will also bear greater responsibility if such prohibited products are found in their premises, while nightclubs, bars and pubs will have to take action when they find patrons in possession of or using vapes.
The Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) (Amendment) and Other Matters Bill was passed unanimously, with nine MPs raising questions.
Speaking during the debate on the Bill, Senior Minister of State for Health Koh Poh Koon said that while etomidate vapes triggered the recent escalation in enforcement efforts, the majority of vape users do not use etomidate.
“We are therefore significantly increasing the penalties for offences involving these products to strengthen deterrence,” said Dr Koh.
Over the past six months, the authorities have caught over 5,100 people for vape-related offences, of which more than one in 10 were etomidate vape users.
Among the offenders placed on rehabilitation, 42 defaulted. One person has been convicted and imprisoned, while the rest will be charged.
Seventy offenders have completed their rehabilitation programmes, with four youth offenders reoffending."
Undergrad interest in engineering, accountancy and humanities is dwindling. What will it mean for Singapore's future? (6 March 2026)
"When Mr Tan Jun An applied to study accountancy at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), artificial intelligence (AI) was already casting a long shadow over a profession that had, up until then, been regarded as a sure bet.
Even so, the 24-year-old went ahead with his application in 2022, driven by a long-standing interest first nurtured by his principles of accounts teacher in secondary school and strengthened during his polytechnic internships.
Although he does not regret his choice of study, the stability Mr Tan once linked to pure accountancy careers in audit or tax now feels less certain.
"With changes in AI and market demand, there is some fear about the job market and my perception has shifted. I'm thinking about broadening my options beyond pure accountancy," said the second-year undergraduate.
He joined the 180 Degrees Consulting Club in NTU to develop strategy skills and position his accountancy knowledge as a value-add in consulting.
If given the chance again, however, he said that he might have added a second major or minor, perhaps in sustainability or data analytics, to diversify his skill set in an increasingly unpredictable job market.
Mr Tan is part of a shrinking pool of pure accountancy students across Singapore's universities.
A study by the Institute of Singapore Chartered Accountants found that enrolment in accountancy programmes dipped by more than 10 per cent between 2018 and 2023."
I made sacrifices to be a mum to my 2 kids, but here's why I wouldn't expect them to do the same (6 March 2026)
"It has been more than two decades but I still remember the feeling when the nurses handed my firstborn to me for the first time.
Many a book, movie or well-meaning friend tells you that you will have these magical maternal feelings the moment you meet your child. But as I looked down at my baby, what went through my head was not: "Oh my, what an incredible feeling!"
It was more like: "Oh boy. What have I done?"
There were many, many more such days over the next few years, which also saw us welcoming a second child.
A sick baby draped across our chests; fighting the half-asleep, half-awake fog; dealing with forgotten books and teachers' notes; multiple trips to the doctor's; hand-wringing and heart-wrenching over grades. Moments that sound unremarkable on paper, but consumed us completely as we were living them.
And yet, here I am, saying – proudly and honestly – that motherhood is the best thing to have happened to me.
I have never known a love so profound, a joy so intense, or a disappointment so deep. It made me a different person.
Admittedly, these days when young people tell me they'd rather spend their money on cars than have kids, I feel a pang of grief.
But here's the thing: I do not blame them for seeing things this way. They inhabit a world so arduous – a world they had little part in building but must live in – that they have decided, quite reasonably in my view, that they don't want to bring a child into it."
These youths planned attacks in Singapore. Rehabilitation changed their course (8 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Dylan was in secondary school when he chanced upon a livestream of the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks.
The gunman, Brenton Tarrant, opened fire at two mosques, killing 51 people in an act of terror.
While the world looked on in horror, the footage fascinated Dylan. At the time, he regularly watched gore videos and had grown desensitised to violence.
“I did not really realise the severity of what was happening. And because of my fascination with violence, I don't think I ever realised or thought of it as radicalisation,” he said.
A year later, the teenager planned a similar attack in Singapore.
He intended to target two mosques with a machete he had bought online. Like Tarrant, he planned to livestream the attacks by strapping his phone onto a tactical device, and he chose the anniversary of the Christchurch shootings for the date.
“I was very determined to commit the attack. I only foresaw two outcomes to planning the attack, which were either getting caught by the police early or having committed the actual attack,” he said.
The attack never materialised. Dylan, then 16, was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) in 2020.
His case is not isolated. In its 2025 Terrorism Threat Assessment Report, the Internal Security Department (ISD) noted the uptick in the number of local self-radicalised youths against the backdrop of evolving technology, such as artificial intelligence.
Latest figures show that since 2015, 19 self-radicalised youths aged 20 and below were dealt with under the ISA, with more than two-thirds (14) identified in the last five years.
Youths are also getting radicalised faster and subscribing to a more diverse range of extremist ideologies, ISD said."
Her daughter’s health scare sparked a journey that led her to reinvent instant noodles (9 March 2026)
"Instant noodles. Love or hate them, they are what many teens and time-pressed parents reach for when life gets busy or late-night cravings strike.
For mother of two Cynthea Lam, founder of homegrown wellness brand Super Farmers, that familiar habit got her thinking: Can convenience food be comforting yet nutritious?
A certified nutritionist in her 40s, Lam’s answer to that question is her version of instant noodles. Last year, she launched a range of vegan instant noodles and broth powders that are free of gluten and MSG that can be added to stir-fries or water to make a comforting bowl of broth.
The aim is to give people who want to eat better but crave their comfort food an alternative.
“For me, instant noodles were a no brainer,” Lam told CNA Women. “Because I really like them.”
A Health Scare From Artificial Colouring
Lam’s motivation to rework one of Singaporeans’ comfort foods wasn’t solely due to personal preference. Her journey towards better nutrition began after 2012, when her daughter developed severe pneumonia after an undetected allergy to artificial food colouring.
Lam, who was heavily pregnant with her second child at the time, recalls how her three-year-old developed a fever and started coughing up blood. She spent a month in hospital.
Tests later found that she was allergic to artificial food colouring that is commonly used in processed snacks and candy."
Stepmother of 5-year-old girl who was beaten to death by father gets jail for child abuse (13 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The stepmother of a severely malnourished five-year-old girl who was beaten to death by her father was sentenced to six years and three months' jail on Friday (Mar 13) for joining in the abuse of the girl and her younger brother.
In sentencing, the judge said the case involves ill-treatment of especially vulnerable victims which stretched from hours to days to weeks to months.
"It is painfully ironic now to seek mercy when so little was shown to those two children," said District Judge Eugene Teo.
The 35-year-old Singaporean woman, who had her own children whom she looked after while the two kids were being abused, was dressed in black and remained expressionless at this statement.
She pleaded guilty to three charges which include ill treatment of a child and giving false information to the police. Another three charges were taken into consideration.
The girl, named as Ayeesha by the High Court so that "society may remember her", had been confined naked in a toilet with her younger brother for almost 10 months before her death, as part of several "naughty corners" devised by the offenders.
The children suffered almost two years of abuse and neglect, eating their own faeces and parts of a mattress out of hunger. They were not taken to school, with their father giving various lies to the authorities about their attendance, while the stepmother's own children went.
Ayeesha died of a head injury in August 2017 after her stepmother complained about the children to their father, and the father responded by slapping the girl repeatedly such that her head tilted back awkwardly."
17 students, 2 staff members at MapleBear preschool in Eunos fall ill with gastroenteritis symptoms (14 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Authorities are investigating 19 reported cases of gastroenteritis at a MapleBear preschool in Eunos.
The 17 students and two staff members at MapleBear Kids Adventure preschool located at 8 Jalan Ismail were reported to have developed symptoms since Tuesday (Mar 10), the Communicable Diseases Agency (CDA), the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) said in a joint statement on Saturday.
“All are recovering well, and none were hospitalised,” the agencies added.
ECDA said that it is “monitoring the situation closely and working with the preschool operator to ensure the well-being of all children and staff in the preschool”.
It also reminded the operator to ensure compliance with the relevant infection prevention and control guidelines.
SFA said that food operators must play their part and adhere to good food safety practices, even as regulatory measures are in place and enforced.
It added that it will not hesitate to take enforcement action against errant food operators.
In response to CNA’s queries, MapleBear denied that there had been a food poisoning case involving an external supplier.
"A small number of children have reported feeling unwell due to a viral infection. All health and safety protocols were followed - including involving ECDA - and, as no new cases occurred, the centre returned to their regular activities," it said."
Does using ChatGPT for homework make kids lazy? Here’s my rule at home (14 March 2026)
"The robots haven't taken over yet, but they're already managing my diet with more precision than I ever could.
Most afternoons, I photograph my lunch and upload it to ChatGPT. Within seconds, it tells me where I stand nutritionally and suggests what I should eat for dinner, giving me a detailed breakdown.
The advice is often not what I had assumed it would be. I am told to consume more carbohydrates, not less; take a long walk instead of a 5 km run to lower cortisol, the "stress" hormone.
Six weeks into a programme that it had customised for me, I've lowered my body fat without having to resort to crash dieting or punishing cardio exercise sessions. I feel stronger than I did in my 20s, all thanks to the precision and support of artificial intelligence (AI).
I tell you this because it shapes how I approach the topic of my kids using AI.
I've seen what these tools can do and I am persuaded by how much they have improved my quality of life.
"A recent study found that 84 per cent of secondary school respondents use AI for homework at least once a week.
The question is no longer whether our children will use it. They already do. The more important question is what kind of thinkers it's turning them into."
36,000 MOE teachers, allied educators to get up to 9% pay increase from Oct 1 (16 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: From Oct 1, around 36,000 teachers and educators will get a 2 to 9 per cent increase in their monthly pay, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Monday (Mar 16).
The move is meant to ensure that their overall salary packages remain competitive and to enable the ministry to "continue to attract and retain good educators", said MOE in a press release.
The increment will be given to around 33,000 education officers, 1,700 allied educators and 1,100 MOE Kindergarten educators.
Salaries for education officers, allied educators and MOE Kindergarten educators were last reviewed in 2022."
Absent family support, they went from children’s home to rented flat. This is how they managed (16 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: When Edward (not his real name) first unpacked his belongings in his new room, he felt triumphant.
“I’ve won in life already,” he thought as he moved into a flat — at age 19 — with three others he had grown up with at Melrose Home.
The residential care facility, run by the Children’s Aid Society (CAS), is for children and youth aged seven to 21 with adverse family circumstances, such as abuse and neglect.
And after nearly a decade of dormitories and fixed routines, Edward had his own bedroom and could arrange things however he liked. He could choose what to cook, when to head out and stay up as late as he wanted.
But responsibilities soon hit him harder than he had expected. He struggled to keep up the rent as expenses piled up, and he borrowed from a flatmate at times to make ends meet.
“It was a big reality (check),” he said. “We had no clue (about) the cost…of living outside.”
About 500 children and adolescents are in out-of-home residential care in Singapore. By the time they turn 21, about 30 individuals a year will age out of care without being able to reintegrate with their families.
Without support, the transition to independent living can be especially challenging for care leavers like Edward, with housing among their most pressing concerns."
MSF returns Han Hui Hui's children with conditions; activist gets POFMA order over claims made in livestream (17 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Political activist Han Hui Hui was on Monday (Mar 16) reunited with her children after they were removed from her care over safety concerns, the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said on Tuesday.
She was also issued a Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Act (POFMA) correction direction over false statements she made in a Facebook livestream about the removal of her children. This video was later posted on Facebook and YouTube.
These posts are no longer available, according to CNA's checks on Tuesday night.
"The government takes a serious view of the deliberate communication of falsehoods," said SPF and MSF.
The correction order was made on the instruction of Minister for Social and Family Development Masagos Zulkifli. This was done to protect public trust and ensure that accurate facts are put up, said the authorities.
CNA understands this is the first time a POFMA correction direction has been issued in relation to falsehoods about the government's handling of children under protective care.
Madam Han is required to carry a correction notice."
Former teacher on trial for sexual grooming and indecent acts with student (18 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A former teacher is on trial for sexually grooming an underage student and for indecent acts with her in a parked car.
The prosecution on Tuesday (Mar 17) urged the court to convict the 41-year-old former secondary school teacher of all four charges against him, calling his conduct "a deliberate, calculated and persistent campaign of grooming".
His defence lawyer, Mr Kalaithasan Karuppaya, maintained that none of the alleged acts took place.
The man pleaded not guilty to three counts of committing an indecent act with a minor and one count of sexual grooming of a minor.
The court imposed gag orders covering the identities of the victim, the accused and the name of their school."
As more youths get arrested for drugs, is the onus on parents to start conversations early? (19 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: When Ms June Yong first raised the topic of drugs to her children, her youngest child was 11.
The conversation was likely prompted by news reports about youths experimenting with drugs or youth offenders getting arrested, she told CNA.
In their household – with three teenagers now aged between 13 and 17 – such discussions are not unusual, typically unfolding over dinner. Sometimes, they would also touch on other vices.
"We’ve been talking about sensitive topics since their primary school years," said Ms Yong, remembering how her children once brought up pornography after hearing about it in school. That made her and her husband realise they could not shield their children from everything.
"For us, we were intentional about bringing up difficult topics from young. We wanted to have the first word in, rather than waiting for them to hear from friends," said Ms Yong, who works as a family life educator at non-profit organisation Focus on the Family Singapore.
But not all families have these conversations.
Last month, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) released its annual statistics report, which showed a rise in young drug abusers arrested in 2025. The youngest was 12 years old.
Of the 1,165 new drug abusers arrested in 2025, about half of them were below 30 years old, an increase of about 9 per cent from the previous year. The rise was more significant in the under-20 age group.
National Council Against Drug Abuse (NCADA) chairman Tan Chong Huat noted that almost two in five youths have yet to receive guidance from their parents or guardians about drug abuse.
The council's 2025 National Drug Perception Survey found that 62.8 per cent of youths said their parents had spoken to them about drugs."
Gojek driver who inched vehicle into traffic controller at international school gets convicted of rash act (19 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: In his attempt to escape the traffic at an international school, a Gojek private-hire driver caught in a slip road inched his vehicle forward, injuring a traffic controller who had asked him to wait his turn.
Darryl K Tan Swee Heng, 43, was convicted on Wednesday (Mar 18) of one count of a rash act endangering the personal safety of others, which he had contested in vain.
The court heard that Tan, a Singaporean, had received a job on his Gojek application to pick up passengers from Dulwich College in Bukit Batok sometime before 4pm on Mar 24, 2023."
With AI doing the grunt work in law firms, where does this leave junior lawyers and fresh grads? (20 March 2026)
"For law student Sarika Chatterjee, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in her studies can be a double-edged sword. While it makes her academic life easier, it has made her worry about what she can offer law firms after graduation.
The third-year law undergraduate at the National University of Singapore (NUS) said that she uses AI for basic tasks such as preparing summaries of cases or assigned readings, including condensing a 120-page reading into a 10-page examination-style summary.
"There seems to be this general air of 'everything is going to be fine'. But we students know that … law firms are increasingly investing more in specialised legally trained AI, and some partners at firms have already acknowledged that AI is able to take over the basic legal work that is done by junior associates.
"We do not receive any specific support related to AI, and it seems that we have been left to our own devices when it comes to dealing with AI in the workplace," the 21-year-old said.
She is now focusing on developing skills such as client management and presentations.
Although Ms Chatterjee is concerned, she takes some solace in AI's limitations, including its inability to provide in-depth analysis and the difficulty it has in handling cases without legal precedents.
From automating routine tasks to threatening livelihoods and displacing roles at both entry and senior levels, AI is reshaping industries and jobs – and the legal sector is no exception."
Slang and informal digital language are seeping into essays and class discussions. Here's how I deal with it as an educator (20 March 2026)
"These days, it's getting increasingly common in classes to hear a student discuss a philosophical argument with careful reasoning, then moments later remark that an idea is "lowkey problematic" or that someone's well-made point "slaps".
Online, expressions such as "fr" ("for real"), "ngl" ("not gonna lie") or "it's giving" ("it seems" or "it suggests") circulate widely across TikTok, Instagram and messaging applications. Occasionally, these expressions also surface in class discussion boards.
Being an educator, I've always advocated that students speak "properly". However, what I'm seeing appears to be much more complex than a simple decline in language standards.
Are young people forgetting how to speak good English? That is a question that has long been a subject of national debate, well before the advent of social media and internet slang.
For now, good English isn't "disappearing" exactly. Instead, it's more about the changing environments in which certain types of language are used.
Seeing slang and abbreviations such as "rizz" ("charisma") and "IJBOL" ("I just burst out laughing") increasingly seep into situations where more formal language is typically used and expected, it raises a new concern: Are young Singaporeans losing the ability to shift between informal digital language and the kind of English required in academic, professional and public settings?
And, perhaps more importantly – does the distinction even matter anymore?"
From silence to ‘Mama’: The 26-year-old helping babies and children with hearing loss learn to listen (23 March 2026)
"Most parents celebrate their baby’s first “Mama” or “Dada” but rarely consider how much goes into this speech milestone. For a child with hearing loss, those utterances may not be a given.
So when Tiffany Lim’s first assigned case, a four-year-old with hearing loss who had spent most of his childhood in a world of silence, called out to his mother and grandparents for the first time, it meant everything to her.
“Up until then, he was in his own bubble,” she recalled.
The 26-year-old is an auditory-verbal habilitationist (AVH) at KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital’s (KKH) Audiology Service. She works in a niche field, helping children and babies with hearing loss develop listening and language skills after they are fitted with hearing devices.
The work is deeply family-centred, with parents coached to support listening and language development both during sessions and at home.
In Singapore, around one in 1,000 newborns has significant hearing loss, according to KKH.Auditory-verbal therapy is recommended to monitor the child’s hearing device use and their spoken language development, said Lim.
On average, the KKH Audiology Service attends to 2,500 to 3,000 patients with hearing loss each year.The service sees children from around six months up to 18 years old. Some are born with hearing loss; others lose their hearing later due to acquired infections or medical conditions."
Founding dean of NTU's Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information Eddie Kuo dies aged 85 (23 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Professor Eddie Kuo, the founding dean of the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), died on Monday (Mar 23) at the age of 85.
In a post on Facebook, WKWSCI said that Prof Kuo was a "pivotal figure" who shaped the school in its earliest years and laid the groundwork for its growth.
"His contributions to NTU and to the development of communication as a discipline in Singapore have left a lasting legacy," it said.
"He will be remembered with great respect and affection and will be deeply missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him."
CNA Explains: What causes GIRO errors and what you can do if it happens (23 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: To pay for their children’s student care, some parents set up GIRO arrangements with Little Professors Learning Centre, expecting routine monthly deductions of fees.
Instead, they got a rude shock. Some were charged the wrong amount in certain months – and charged twice in others.
One mother, who was supposed to pay S$30 (US$24) a month, was charged S$196.80 on three occasions and S$68 once.
The Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) received 10 complaints regarding unauthorised GIRO deductions between Jan 1 last year and Mar 16 this year.
CNA looks at how GIRO works, and whether the decades-old system has any alternatives."
Commentary: How to redirect the ‘responsible parent’ script in Singapore’s education system (25 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: In Singapore, much has been said about the need to break away from an education “arms race”.
This was reiterated by Education Minister Desmond Lee in parliament this month, when he cautioned that a fixation on grades can pit children against one another, diminish their joy of learning and crowd out character-building.
Mr Lee’s remarks reaffirm efforts that the Ministry of Education has pursued for more than a decade – including doing away with mid-year examinations, softening labels of giftedness or academic excellence or lack thereof, and dampening obsession with “top” schools – in hope that the anxiety and stress experienced by parents and students would recede. The ministry is also studying how to further reduce the stakes of examinations.
The key point, however, is this: Lowering stress involves more than adjusting milestones. It also means changing the incentive environment around them, so families feel they can step off the treadmill without taking an irreversible risk.
When Education Meets Being "Kiasu"
But why are people on the treadmill in the first place? Findings from the recent IPS-CNA national identity study suggest something deeper may be at work.
When 2,000 Singapore residents were asked what traits define a Singaporean, the two most common responses were, surprisingly, not Singlish or our local food culture.
Instead, they were "valuing education" and "being kiasu". The latter, according to those who participated in the study, was a negative identity marker.
If these are traits that sit near the centre of how we imagine a “typical Singaporean”, then the schooling, tuition and education arms race that have been widely debated in the public sphere are not only behaviours to be corrected. It is also part of an identity system, reinforced through everyday decisions and social expectations. This also helps explain why well-intentioned messaging, such as the idea that “every school is a good school”, may have struggled to shift lived realities."
Bra checks, exams and a ghost: How a Singapore director turned her school years into an award-winning film (26 March 2026)
"One of the first skits Tan Siyou ever worked on was because of a school punishment.
In secondary school, some of her friends snuck food into the school library to eat in air-conditioned comfort. Their punishment: Come up with a skit for morning assembly to remind everyone that eating in the library is prohibited.
When she heard of her friends’ punishment, she was furious. Tan could relate – she once skipped class to sleep in the library and got banned from entering.
“I know you are not supposed to eat in the library. But it was very hot and this is such an innocent act. Why would (teachers) publicly shame you?” the film director in her 30s reasoned.
“I was like, they want skit, we give them skit.”
Tan joined the group to write the script and turned the skit into an elaborate production with props. She played the teacher who had doled out the punishment and acted the part so well that the teacher in question was upset, she recalled.
Today, the Singaporean is an award-winning writer and director. Her short films Hello Ahma and Strawberry Cheesecake premiered at major international festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival and Locarno Film Festival.
Amoeba, her feature debut, was inspired by her experiences in a high-pressure girls’ school. Screened at film festivals across the world, including Canada, South Korea, China, the United States and Japan, it takes audiences into the inner world of four Singaporean girls who form a gang, navigating school, adolescence, friendship and a ghost encounter.
Amoeba first premiered in Singapore at the Singapore International Film Festival in November 2025 and will make its theatrical release on Mar 26 at Filmhouse at Golden Mile Tower. A sneak preview on Mar 21 that included a post-screening question-and-answer session with Tan and cast members sold out two days after the tickets went live on Mar 7.
Delivered in a blend of Mandarin, English and Singlish, the coming-of-age film won multiple awards in 2025, including Best Youth Film at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards in Australia, the Youth Jury Award at the Pingyao International Film Festival in China, and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.
Tan was also nominated for best new director at the Golden Horse Awards."
Commentary: Why the central kitchen model for school meals works for my family (26 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: When it was announced that a new central kitchen model would be rolled out in 13 schools this year, there was a wave of dismay.
Some were unimpressed with the appearance of the catered meals and the lack of variety. Others lamented the loss of opportunities for children to learn budgeting and financial skills.
But my family was excited about the change because it meant we would finally be able to know which dishes were safe for our children.
Both my children were born with multiple allergies. Some allergens cause milder reactions like hives and eczema, but there are others that trigger severe effects such as vomiting, restricted breathing and pain along the digestive tract. To keep them safe, I have been packing all their meals – recess, snacks and lunch – every weekday since they started school.
My children are not alone. According to Dr Mohana Rajakulendran, a paediatrician who specialises in food allergies and eczema, around 5 per cent of children in Singapore have diagnosed food allergies.
This means in every class of 30 to 40 children, at least one child would have a food allergy that might not allow them to consume food from traditional canteens that do not display allergen information.
The most common food allergies among children in Singapore are milk, egg, peanut and seafood, including shellfish. “While seafood allergy is more common in older school-going children and adolescents, there has also been an increasing trend of peanut allergy locally,” Dr Rajakulendran told me.
With the new central kitchen model in place at my child’s school, I can review the menu ahead of time and decide if there is a safe option for her. I love hearing the joy in her voice when she says she can finally enjoy the same food as her classmates."
Former primary school teacher gets jail for sexual relationship with her underage former student (26 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: After teaching mathematics to a boy for two years in a primary school, a woman developed a romantic relationship with the minor that turned sexual when he was in lower secondary.
The 35-year-old Singaporean woman, who cannot be named due to gag orders preventing her and the victim's identification, was sentenced to 22 months' jail on Thursday (Mar 26).
She pleaded guilty to one charge each of sexual exploitation of a child and causing sexual penetration by a minor.
Another two charges including sexual grooming and stalking were considered in sentencing.
The Ministry of Education had previously said that the woman was suspended from March 2024 and is no longer teaching in any school."
Singapore denies entry to Malaysian activist over involvement in domestic politics, promotion of unlawful civil protest (27 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A Malaysian activist has been refused entry to Singapore for engaging in political activism in the country, Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Friday (Mar 27), describing her as an “undesirable visitor”.
Fadiah Nadwa Fikri had encouraged some youths in Singapore to adopt “her brand of radical advocacy”, said MHA in response to CNA’s query.
“She encouraged them to go beyond protests, to mobilise students and different communities in Singapore, and to undertake disruptive and violent actions to support specific causes,” the ministry said.
“We will not tolerate foreigners getting involved in our domestic politics, nor the promotion of unlawful, violent and disruptive methods of civil protest.”
In a post on X on Sunday, Fadiah, who was awarded a PhD by the National University of Singapore (NUS) in January, claimed she was deported to Malaysia and banned from entering Singapore.
She described her scholarly work as examining the intellectual history of decolonisation and anti-imperialism."
Singapore tops global gains in QS university subject rankings, driven by focus on skills and employability (27 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Singapore’s higher education system has emerged as the world’s most improved in the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings by Subject, released on Wednesday (Mar 25).
The country’s universities now have 42 subjects ranked in the global top 10, placing it first in Asia and third worldwide behind the United States and the United Kingdom.
About two-thirds of subjects - 76 out of 115 - also climbed in the rankings.
Experts said strong investment in research and talent, including AI, coupled with a strong focus on skills and employability, is driving Singapore’s global competitiveness in higher education.
NUS Records Most Subjects In Global Top 10
At the National University of Singapore (NUS), a record 28 subjects were ranked in the global top 10, marking the school’s strongest performance since the QS subject rankings were introduced in 2011.
These include civil and structural engineering, where students combine classroom learning with real-world applications.
The course rose one place to No. 2 this year."
My husband's brush with the law is a chance to teach our kids about rehabilitation (27 March 2026)
"One day, my eldest daughter came home from kindergarten and, bouncing up and down with excitement, said to me: "Mum! Did you know on Thursday we have careers day and a real-life policeman is coming to school! Is he the one that caught Dad?"
We've seen it in television shows and movies: A young child being told that their parent is "out of the country" or "away on business" when, really, they're serving time in prison.
Seeing such scenes on a screen, I always thought it was corny – but I never thought it would happen to me.
When A Partner Has Done Time
When other couples prepare to have kids, they may ask themselves certain questions, such as: "Should one of us stay home to be a full-time parent?" or "What kinds of beliefs and values do we want to teach our kids?"
For my husband and me, there was one more consideration, one that many other couples in our circles didn't have to confront: "Do we tell our children their dad has been to jail?"
Four operators appointed to replace Little Professors Learning Centre at eight primary schools (30 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Education (MOE) has appointed four student care centre (SCC) operators to provide after-school care services for students in eight primary schools affected by Little Professors Learning Centre's (LPLC) breach of contract.
The four new operators are: Learning Studio Educare, Principals Academy Inc, Young Men's Christian Association of Singapore and Nascans, said MOE in a press release on Monday (Mar 30).
The centres will start operations from Apr 6, and the appointment will include Kindergarten Care services for the primary schools with MOE Kindergartens.
The move comes about six weeks after LPLC’s contracts were terminated over issues including unpaid staff salaries and double fee deductions."
Four operators appointed to replace Little Professors Learning Centre at eight primary schools (30 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Education (MOE) has appointed four student care centre (SCC) operators to provide after-school care services for students in eight primary schools affected by Little Professors Learning Centre's (LPLC) breach of contract.
The four new operators are: Learning Studio Educare, Principals Academy Inc, Young Men's Christian Association of Singapore and Nascans, said MOE in a press release on Monday (Mar 30).
The centres will start operations from Apr 6, and the appointment will include Kindergarten Care services for the primary schools with MOE Kindergartens.
The move comes about six weeks after LPLC’s contracts were terminated over issues including unpaid staff salaries and double fee deductions."
Singaporean comedian Mark Lee reflects on bond with his 12-year-old daughter (30 March 2026)
"It's no secret that Singaporean comedian and actor Mark Lee is a doting father. Remember that video of his kids running to hug him when he returned from an overseas work trip a few years back?
But it does seem like his kids are all starting to grow up. The 57-year-old reflected on his relationship with his daughter during promotions for his latest project.
In the new Taiwanese comedy Uncle Odyssey, Lee plays a man separated from his wife, who left with their daughter. Having lived apart for years, he and his daughter, played by Golden Bell Best Actress winner Huang Peijia, reconnect in his middle age, when the roles get reversed and his daughter has to care for her father.
In a recent interview, Mark Lee revealed that his youngest child in real life, Calynn Lee, is in fact very much like Huang in the movie.
“Because my youngest daughter also walks around with a straight face all the time," he quipped. "Sometimes when I try to hold her hand or pat her shoulder, she just glares at me."
Mark Lee and his wife, Catherine Ng, 52, also have an elder daughter Calista Lee, 17, and a son, Maksonn Lee, 14.
That said, Mark Lee understands that his daughter loves him deeply."
X and TikTok issued letters of caution by IMDA for serious weaknesses in detection, removal of harmful content (31 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has issued letters of caution to X and TikTok and placed both platforms under enhanced supervision, following “serious weaknesses” in their measures to detect and remove harmful online content.
IMDA’s Online Safety Assessment Report 2025, released on Tuesday (Mar 31), found that X failed to effectively tackle child sexual exploitation and abuse material (CSEM), while TikTok showed serious gaps in detecting and removing terrorism-related content.
According to IMDA, a letter of caution reprimands regulated entities on serious weaknesses discovered by the regulator and requires them to take steps to address these weaknesses.
Under the enhanced supervision measures, the two platforms must provide regular progress updates to IMDA in implementing rectification measures, until the regulator is satisfied that the issues are adequately resolved.
The measures include enhancing their detection systems with the use of AI, and taking into account specific code-words and tactics that bad actors have used to target Singapore users.
They must also submit supporting data and information to IMDA by Jun 30 to demonstrate the effectiveness of their rectification measures."
'Nutrition labels' for AI apps among measures being studied to boost online safety: Josephine Teo (31 March 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Labels that clearly spell out what artificial intelligence applications can do – and where their limits lie – could be introduced as part of broader efforts to strengthen trust and safety in the digital space, said Digital Development and Information Minister Josephine Teo.
This is in view of the potential challenges posed by the abuse of AI tools such as AI chatbots, according to a factsheet released by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) on Tuesday (Mar 31).
Speaking to reporters ahead of the second Online Safety Assessment Report, which was also released on Tuesday, Mrs Teo said the proposed labels would help users better understand what AI-enabled services are designed to do, their intended uses and limitations, similar to how labels for food or medicine inform consumers."
Former preschool principal gets jail for failing to report toddler molestation by school cook (1 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A former preschool principal who failed to report the molestation of a toddler by a school cook was sentenced to 10 days' jail on Wednesday (Apr 1), even though the prosecution sought a fine of at least S$8,000 (US$6,200).
The 62-year-old woman, who cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the identity of the victim, had pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to report the cook's offence. Another charge of conspiring to obstruct justice was taken into consideration.
In sentencing, the judge pointed to the "striking" irony that the principal had been attending a course on safeguarding children from abuse when she first learnt of the offence.
The judge said the case serves as "a sobering reminder that child protection cannot be reduced to the mere completion of courses or formal training", but that educators must internalise and "faithfully discharge" the responsibilities that accompany the profound trust placed in them.
The cook, 61-year-old Teo Guan Huat, was sentenced in November to more than nine years’ jail for molesting three toddlers during naptime over seven months in 2023."
Serial voyeur finds job as student care teacher, takes videos of boys using the toilet (1 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A serial voyeur who was released from his latest prison stint took up a job as a part-time student care teacher and took multiple videos of boys defecating in toilets.
The prosecution said Ezekiel Isaiah Tee Xu Jie specifically targeted boys aged between nine and 15 at a church or student care centres he had applied to work at, or near to, and checked their age before selecting his victims.
The 26-year-old Singaporean man pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Apr 1) to three counts of voyeurism, with another two charges to be considered in sentencing.
The court imposed a gag order preventing the publication of anything that might identify the victims. This includes the locations of the offences.
Tee had been convicted thrice before of voyeurism-related offences."
Social ties, support are key drivers of giving in Singapore: Study (1 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: More than three-quarters of Singapore residents have given back to others at some point, with 68 per cent doing so in the past year, according to the latest National Giving Study.
The findings, released on Tuesday (Mar 31), also show that giving in Singapore goes beyond formal volunteering and donations.
It includes everyday acts such as helping neighbours, distributing meals, picking up litter or even caring for community cats.
Conducted by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre (NVPC), the study surveyed more than 3,600 people between July and October last year.
The 2025 edition adopted a wider approach than previous years by looking at both structured giving, such as volunteering and donations, and informal acts of mutual aid.
Researchers also refined the methodology to focus on what people actually did, rather than how they interpret terms like volunteering or donating, in order to provide a more inclusive picture of how people contribute."
Former teacher charged over sexual acts with underage student in latest such case (2 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A former teacher was charged in court on Thursday (Apr 2) with multiple charges over sexual acts with an underage student.
The Singaporean, who is in his 30s, was handed nine charges in total - six of committing indecent acts with a young person and three charges of sexual penetration of a minor.
A gag order imposed by the court prevents the publication of anything that might identify the accused and the victim, including the incident locations.
Court records indicate that the pair have a "former teacher and student relationship".
According to charge sheets, the alleged offences took place between February and December in 2023."
New bento meals in schools ‘disgusting’? Here’s why caterers find it tough to strike a balance (3 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: “Uncle, your vegetables every day are carrots.”
“Uncle, your rice is too hard.”
“Uncle, your meat is too small — we can’t see the meat.”
These are some of the complaints Wilmar Distribution’s institutional catering manager, Michael Tan, has heard from pupils in schools his company serves under the Central Kitchen Meal Model.
Since its introduction in January, the model — aimed at schools facing a shortage of canteen vendors — has replaced on-site cooking with meals that are pre-ordered, prepared off-site and delivered to school.
On paper, the meals tick all the boxes. They follow the Healthy Meals in Schools guidelines (wholegrains, protein, vegetables and fruits) provided by the Health Promotion Board (HPB), with products that meet Healthier Choice standards.
Think chicken rice with skinless, lean meat; pizza made with wholemeal flour; mee goreng with wholegrain noodles. And absolutely no deep-fried food.
But in the canteen, where these meals meet their young critics, healthier does not always land."
Teen arrested after allegedly licking iJooz straw and putting it back in vending machine (3 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A male teenager has been arrested following an incident where a boy had filmed himself allegedly licking a straw from an iJooz vending machine and putting the straw back.
The police said on Friday (Apr 3) in response to CNA's queries that a report was lodged and that the 18-year-old has been arrested for public nuisance.
They added that investigations are ongoing.
In a video posted on the Singaporeincidents.sg Instagram page, a boy is seen taking a straw from an iJooz vending machine, which serves freshly squeezed orange juice, and licking it.
He then appears to place the straw into the machine again.
The caption claimed that the teen posted the video on his Instagram account on Mar 12. It did not reveal the account.
iJooz said on Mar 27 in response to CNA's queries: "On the evening of Mar 24, iJooz was made aware of a video that has been circulating on social media, of a youth who filmed himself licking a straw from an iJooz vending machine and placing the straw back in to the straw dispenser."
iJooz said it lodged a police report on Mar 25 and will work with the police and other authorities on this matter."
'I got lucky. Not everyone does': The ups and downs of having children in one's teens (3 April 2026)
"During her second year of polytechnic, Ms Shanel Lim, then almost 18, took a pregnancy test with her then-boyfriend in a public toilet. When she saw the two lines on the test denoting a positive result, she broke down right there and then.
"I just crashed out and cried," she said.
Immediately, she made an appointment with a gynaecologist. That visit revealed that she was already approaching her third trimester.
What worried her more than the impending arrival of a newborn was the timing.
"I didn't want to add on to my already full plate," she said, citing family issues at home on top of her schooling.
She worked up the courage to tell her parents, who were initially upset. However, her mother soon shifted focus to making sure Ms Lim was eating well and getting enough nutrients for the baby.
As luck would have it, Ms Lim's estimated due date fell during her polytechnic holidays. She sat her exams two weeks before going into labour. After her one-month confinement, she went straight back to school – and quickly found herself struggling to balance education and childcare.
"The cost of raising a child really hit me like a truck," said Ms Lim. Milk powder and diapers were her two biggest expenses.
As a single mother, Ms Lim was not entitled to the Baby Bonus, a government scheme that provides cash gifts and co-savings for married couples with children.
"Children of single parents are still children of Singapore," she said."
As my teenagers grow up, I'm learning to love them from a little further away (4 April 2026)
"Nobody tells you that the hardest part of parenting is not when your children need too much from you. It's when they start needing less.
It was physically exhausting when my kids were babies, but that was the part I was good at. I fed them and bathed them and told them stories and held them to sleep, and even though I was bone-tired at the end of every day, I loved being their entire world.
Then, as they grew up, they needed more: more space, more privacy, more of a life that didn't include me.
Teenagers are a different breed. They are in the process of becoming people – separate, autonomous, occasionally exasperating, grown-up people – and this journey requires distance.
They need the space to explore different versions of themselves without the pressure of parental presence. They need friendships and secrets and the freedom to make mistakes and overcome challenges on their own.
Back when I was a teenager behind a closed bedroom door, needing space from my parents, I didn’t understand how difficult it might have been for them. But I get it now."
This father turned his HDB corridor into a 'tactical training' play area for his children (4 April 2026)
"At first glance, the outdoor space outside Mr Munir Rohani’s Housing and Development Board flat resembles a combat training school.
Lined with rubber mats, face masks, vests and toy weapons, the area has been transformed into a "training zone" by the 59-year-old father of six.
It is an elaborate play space he created with the help of his children, most of whom are now in their late teens and early 20s, in the hope of fostering family bonding."
Teenager admits raping younger sister when she was 13 after years of molestation (6 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A boy molested his only sister, three years his junior, from when she was eight years old, progressing to raping her when she was 13.
The offender, now 19, pleaded guilty on Monday (Apr 6) to two counts of molestation and one count of rape. Another three similar charges will be considered in sentencing.
The offender cannot be named due to gag orders protecting his sister's identity."
NTU to give all students access to premium Google AI tools under curriculum overhaul (6 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Nanyang Technological University (NTU) will soon hand all undergraduates full access to a suite of Google AI tools, from August 2026, as part of a push to integrate AI into its curriculum.
The tools include Gemini Enterprise, Google AI Studio and Vertex AI.
In a news release on Monday (Apr 6), NTU said it plans to increase the number of courses incorporating AI to about 40 per cent by 2030, up from about 5 per cent currently.
The university added that it is the first in Singapore to adopt AI in education at this scale.
Free AI Tools
Students will get computing credits to use the Google software to build and deploy their own AI agents for learning and problem-solving. They can create dozens of such AI agents to support their studies, said NTU.
"These agents are portable - NTU graduates can continue to use and improve them even after they enter the workforce to enhance their productivity.
"This feature will make the university’s graduates highly competitive in the job market," NTU said.
This move was made in consultation with the NTU Students’ Union, the school said, adding that access to the Google software will be offered to all undergraduates, regardless of discipline.
"These tools cater to a broad range of technical backgrounds, from first-time users to advanced builders, helping students experience new ways of learning."
Man to be charged after allegedly slapping four-year-old boy outside preschool in Woodlands (6 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A 36-year-old man will be charged in court on Tuesday (Apr 7) after allegedly slapping a boy.
On Mar 6 at about 4.50pm, the police were alerted by KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital of an alleged assault on a four-year-old boy.
The child sustained injuries to his cheek, police said on Monday.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the man had allegedly slapped the boy at a bus stop outside a preschool in Woodlands,” the police added.
The man was arrested on the same day.
He will be charged on Tuesday with voluntarily causing hurt and using criminal force with enhanced penalties for offences against people below 14 years old.
The man will also be charged with intentionally causing harassment."
Third teen charged with trafficking of etomidate vape pods (6 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: An 18-year-old was charged in court on Monday (Apr 6) for allegedly trafficking etomidate-laced vaporiser pods, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) said.
Goh Shao Zhi Cornelius is accused of selling the pods to buyers after advertising their availability via messaging platform Telegram.
Following a tip-off, HSA officers raided Goh's residence on Saturday. They seized one vaporiser, 108 pods and a packet of duty-unpaid cigarettes.
"Laboratory testing confirmed that the seized pods contained etomidate," HSA said, adding that investigations are ongoing.
Goh is the third teenager to be charged for allegedly trafficking etomidate vape pods, after two cases last year involving an 18-year-old and a 17-year-old.
His case has been adjourned to May 4."
Singapore to prepare 10,000 students for future shaped by autonomous ‘physical AI’ (7 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Over the next five years, at least 10,000 students in Singapore will be trained to work with “physical AI”, where intelligence is no longer confined to computer screens but embedded directly into robots, drones and autonomous machines.
The initiative, supported by the National Robotics Programme (NRP), will span from primary schools to universities.
Through hackathons and industry projects, students will move beyond basic coding to solve real-world problems.
Robots With “Common Sense”
While traditional robots follow pre-set rules, the next generation of machines will need to sense, decide and act independently, industry players say.
Professor Mohan Rajesh Elara, co-founder of Singapore-based cleaning robot firm LionsBot, said the current limitation of robots is a lack of situational awareness.
“The robots of today are driven by the codes that (a) programmer wrote...definitive rules that enable the robot to complete a task.”
“But a robot of today, if (it’s) doing the job and if a fainted person is on the floor, the robot often will take this person for an obstacle. The idea is, how can we empower robots with common sense to interpret this scenario?" Prof Mohan added.
New NTU AI model tracks food freshness in efforts to reduce waste, boost food security (8 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Supermarkets and wholesalers may soon be able to keep produce fresh for longer while reducing food waste, with the help of a new artificial intelligence tool developed by Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
The model created by the university’s Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH@NTU) – a joint venture with the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) – can predict how bacteria grow in different types of food. This allows retailers to better determine shelf life, storage conditions and stock management.
Researchers can, for example, track how Salmonella – a major cause of foodborne illness globally – grows on food over time.
“What we are trying to do here is to mimic the condition of the storage and we see how bacteria grow, so we can collect the data,” said Dr Youssef Ezzaky, a research fellow at FRESH@NTU.
“Then we feed this lot of data to (facilitate) machine learning, to train and to generate accurate models.”
Reducing Food Waste
As Singapore imports 90 per cent of its food, more accurate tracking of shelf life could mean stored food supplies do not need to be replaced as frequently – potentially cutting food waste and reducing reliance on constant imports, said observers.
Using its AI-based predictive modelling framework, the team can estimate contamination levels of harmful pathogens under real-world storage conditions along the supply chain with greater accuracy.
Professor William Chen, director of FRESH@NTU, said their approach captures snapshots at specific points along the distribution chain.
Using pork as an example, he explained that monitoring factors such as temperature and moisture throughout the process, from slaughterhouses to retailers, makes it possible to assess the meat’s freshness and safety."
Singapore Art Book Fair 2026 drops ‘Walking Exhibitor’ open call after backlash (9 April 2026)
"The Singapore Art Book Fair (SGABF) has closed the open call for its proposed “Walking Exhibitor” option for emerging art bookmakers after the initiative drew criticism online.
In a statement posted on Instagram on Thursday (Apr 9), organisers said they would halt the open call and “take some time to workshop through the mechanics of the fair” following feedback from the public.
“We hear your concerns,” the organisers wrote, adding that the portable display case used in the proposal had been selected because the team “appreciated its technology”, but that they now understand it “was inappropriate”.
They added that the concept was not intended to “come at the expense of new and emerging artists”.
The Walking Exhibitor format was first announced on Apr 6 as part of preparations for the 2026 edition of the fair, which will take place from Aug 28 to 30 at T:>Works.
Under the proposal, selected participants would display and sell their publications using a portable display case rather than a conventional booth table. The option cost S$150 (US$117).
Organisers had described the initiative as an attempt to “soften spatial hierarchies and extend book-based interactions beyond the tabletop”, adding that it aimed to make the fair “less of a marketplace and more a field of encounter”.
However, the announcement quickly sparked debate online, with many questioning the cost and structure of the scheme."
Government to cover 13% of fare revenues for school bus, care transport operators amid fuel cost pressures (9 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The government will provide three months of support to transport operators serving school students, people with disabilities, some seniors and patients, to help the sector cope with rising fuel costs.
The support - equivalent to 13 per cent of transport fare revenues - will cover services provided from April to June.
"This move is to help these transport service providers continue operating without disruption in the near term," the Ministry of Education (MOE), the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a joint media release on Thursday (Apr 9).
"With the support, operators should keep fares stable during this period."
The announcement builds on Tuesday's ministerial statement in parliament, where Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow said the government will temporarily co-fund cost increases for certain essential bus services to cushion the impact of the Middle East conflict on Singaporeans.
However, the ministries said fares may still have to rise if fuel prices remain elevated beyond the three-month support period.
"There are existing subsidies to support students, seniors, patients and persons with disabilities if they are not able to afford their transport," they noted."
Tertiary education subsidy scheme enhanced to better support Malay students and families (10 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: More Malay families will receive help with tertiary education costs under enhancements to the Tertiary Tuition Fee Subsidy (TTFS) scheme, Acting Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs Faishal Ibrahim announced on Friday (Apr 10).
The scheme's income eligibility criteria will be raised across all tiers from academic year 2026/2027, and a new 25 per cent subsidy tier will be introduced for middle-income households with per capita income of up to S$2,400 (US$1,000).
The revised structure is as follows:
• Household per capita income of S$1,700 and below - 100 per cent subsidy
• Household per capita income of S$1,701 to S$2,000 - 75 per cent subsidy
• Household per capita income of S$2,001 to S$2,200 - 50 per cent subsidy
• Household per capita income of S$2,201 to S$2,400 - 25 per cent subsidy
The TTFS is a government grant administered by Mendaki that provides subsidies for eligible students pursuing their first full-time diploma and degree programmes at local government tertiary institutions. On average, it has supported about 10,000 Malay students annually over the past five years."
I'm now pregnant with my sixth child, but the pain of past miscarriages never goes away (10 April 2026)
"Many people may know me as a mother of five. Not many would know that I lost another baby last June, when I was 20 weeks' pregnant.
Even fewer people know that I'm pregnant again.
In a country where people are having fewer babies than ever, my brood of five already stands out. As I imagine announcing the impending arrival of my sixth child, I can practically hear the jokes already – but no, I'm not having another baby to collect 'em all like Pokemon.
Regardless of numbers and stats about our national fertility rates, for any mum or mum-to-be, expecting another baby soon after a loss is a profoundly complex place to be in. Sadly, it's one many can identify with – after all, about 20 per cent of pregnancies end in a miscarriage.
To me, it's equally sad that no one really seems to talk about what it's like to suffer such a loss."
Police investigating misconduct allegations raised by former youth sailor (13 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Police are investigating misconduct claims made by a former youth sailor on social media.
In a statement on Sunday (Apr 13), the Singapore Sailing Federation said it was aware of “serious allegations of misconduct posted online by a former athlete involving another athlete”.
The claims relate to incidents in 2022 and 2023.
The federation added that it had filed reports with the police and the Safe Sport Commission on Apr 7 “to enable authorities to conduct the necessary investigations and provide appropriate support”.
Responding to CNA queries, police confirmed on Monday that a report had been lodged and investigations are ongoing.
In a series of Instagram Stories posts, the former athlete, who was a minor at the time, alleged that she was sexually assaulted by a teammate in 2022 when she was with the National Sailing Centre.
The federation said it was committed to the Safe Sport Unified Code and "maintaining a sporting environment free from all forms of harassment"."
Cultural shows, craft and sports activities at Istana open house on Apr 19 to mark Hari Raya, Labour Day (13 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: The Istana will open its grounds to the public next Sunday (Apr 19) in celebration of Hari Raya and the upcoming Labour Day, the President's Office Istana said in a media release on Monday.
The open house will take from 8.30am to 6pm and feature a range of performances that reflect Singapore's multicultural heritage, such as the dikir barat traditional Malay music form, Malay dance, Bharatanatyam, a type of Indian classical dance, and Indian folk dance.
Performances will be presented by the MacPherson Philharmonic Orchestra, Punggol View Primary School Children’s Choir, Singapore Polytechnic Indian Cultural Society, Singapore Polytechnic Malay Language Society and Voices of Singapore Children’s Choir.
Visitors can participate in hands-on activities such as lawn bowling, painting a Singa the Kindness Lion bench and craft-making with recycled materials. A scavenger hunt will be held around the Istana grounds, developed in collaboration with students from Singapore Polytechnic.
Visitors are also invited to explore the Istana grounds, including its architecture, as well as its flora and fauna.
Self-guided tours of the Istana Villa, one of the buildings on the Istana grounds, will be available throughout the day, offering visitors a chance to view a collection of state gifts presented to Singapore’s leaders.
Those who have pre-registered for the guided Istana heritage tour can tour the grounds during their selected timeslots between 9am and 4pm."
Nearly 1 in 5 workers in Singapore 'overqualified' for their jobs; rate below average of high-income nations: MOM (14 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Nearly one in five Singapore workers was overqualified in 2025, though this rate remains lower than in other high-income economies, according to a study by the Manpower Ministry (MOM) that was released on Tuesday (Apr 14).
A "vast majority" of these cases on overqualification were voluntary "due to workers choosing roles that better align with their aspirations, work preferences or life circumstances", said MOM and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) in a joint statement.
Involuntarily overqualified workers make up just 1.7 per cent of the resident workforce here, the statement said. This means they were unable to find jobs that matched their qualifications.
MOM's study is part of a report on overqualification, which refers to a worker holding an academic qualification that is higher than what is required for the job. NTUC also released a second study on overqualification, which had similar findings to MOM's report.
According to the joint release, 19.4 per cent of Singapore’s resident workforce were overqualified in 2025 - below the average of 21.6 per cent across high-income countries such as the United States, Finland, the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
This is despite Singapore having a more highly educated workforce, with 64 per cent holding tertiary qualifications, compared with an average of 41.2 per cent in other high-income economies."
Singapore singer Derrick Hoh sends daughter’s name on trip to the moon and back aboard Artemis II (15 April 2026)
"Singapore singer Derrick Hoh took the saying “I love you to the Moon and back” quite literally. Hoh sent his daughter’s name on a journey to the Moon and back as part of Artemis II, NASA's first crewed lunar fly-by in more than 50 years, from Apr 1 to 10.
In an Instagram post on Monday (Apr 13), Hoh wrote: “End of last year, knowing how much Nori loves space, I went to NASA’s website and registered her name for a mission after reading about it online. It felt like a small, quiet thing at the time.”
NASA said that more than 5.6 million names were submitted and stored on a memory card that flew aboard the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis II mission.
The card was placed in a stuffed animal named Rise, the mission’s mascot and official zero-gravity indicator which serves as a visual cue for weightlessness when the vessel enters microgravity.
In the post, Hoh shared a video of the crew placing the SD card into the stuffed animal before the flight. Astronaut and mission commander Reid Wiseman is heard saying, “Just that act of seeing that little memory card with everyone's names, everyone's hopes that are going on this journey with us. We always say we're going for all and by all, and zipping that little pocket on the bottom of Rise was kind of the moment that put it all together for me. We are going for all and by all. It’s time to fly. Cheers.”
School bullies to face stricter punishments, including suspension and caning (15 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Students who engage in bullying could face suspension, caning and lowered conduct grades under a stricter framework for student misconduct announced by the Ministry of Education (MOE) on Wednesday (Apr 15).
Under the guidelines – similar to those introduced for vaping offences – first-time offenders of serious misconduct face one to three days of detention and/or suspension.
Their conduct grade will be adjusted, and older boys may receive one stroke of the cane if there are aggravating factors.
For very serious offences, first-time offenders could face three to five days of detention or suspension, with their conduct grade capped at “Fair”. Boys in upper primary levels and above may also receive up to two strokes of the cane.
Repeat offenders of very serious offences face five to 14 days of detention or suspension, a “Poor” conduct grade, and up to three strokes of the cane for older boys.
These measures will be balanced with a rehabilitative approach, including counselling, said MOE. Conduct grades are issued each semester and are typically taken into account when students apply for certain programmes or other schools in future.
In assessing whether an offence is serious or very serious, schools will consider factors such as the impact of the behaviour, the perpetrator’s intent, whether the acts were repeated and whether the student is recalcitrant.
Serious offences include fighting, physical assault and repeated social bullying with clear intent to harm. Very serious offences involve persistent or recalcitrant behaviour despite intervention, or cases that warrant police investigation."
More funding for manpower, easier reporting channels to tackle school bullying (15 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Schools will get more funding to hire additional manpower and reporting channels will be made more accessible as part of enhanced measures to tackle bullying, the Ministry of Education (MOE) announced on Wednesday (Apr 15).
The measures follow a comprehensive review involving more than 2,000 stakeholders, including educators, students and parents, following a spate of bullying cases in 2025.
Under the new approach, schools will receive additional needs-based funding to hire personnel such as youth workers, pastoral care officers and parent liaison officers. These roles are intended to support student management and ease teachers’ workload.
MOE said staffing decisions will vary by school. Some may prefer teachers to lead investigations, while others may bring in dedicated personnel.
Educators will also receive enhanced training in managing students and engaging parents, including skills for investigation and conflict resolution.
Reporting channels will be expanded, with a new online platform to launch in 2027. This will give students more avenues to seek help while enabling schools to respond more quickly.
Speaking to journalists at Teck Ghee Primary School, Education Minister Desmond Lee said the goal is to manage cases more effectively and detect issues earlier. MOE will monitor implementation closely and review data to assess progress.
"Discipline is needed, but ultimately, it's an educative and restorative process that we want to incorporate firmly into the whole cycle of dealing with hurtful behaviour and bullying," he said."
Serial voyeur who took up part-time student care teacher job not employed at MSF-subsidised centre (15 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A serial voyeur who took up a job as a part-time student care teacher and took multiple videos of boys defecating in toilets was not employed at a Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) subsidised centre.
Ezekiel Isaiah Tee Xu Jie, who had been convicted thrice before of voyeurism-related offences, pleaded guilty on Apr 1 to three counts of voyeurism, with another two charges to be considered in sentencing.
The 26-year-old Singaporean man specifically targeted boys aged between nine and 15 at a church or student care centres he had applied to work at, or near to, and checked their age before selecting his victims, said the prosecution.
MSF said on Wednesday (Apr 15) in response to CNA's queries that it provides student care fee assistance (SCFA) to eligible children enrolled in student care centres. Centres that wish to offer the subsidies and meet the criteria must be registered as an administrator, it said.
All personnel in SCFA Administrator student care centres, including part-time teachers, who have prolonged contact with students, will undergo a background check, MSF said.
"Individuals with records of offences that could affect the safety and well-being of children and vulnerable individuals may not be employed by the student care centres," the ministry added.
However, Tee was not employed at an SCFA Administrator student care centre, said MSF."
Parents, teachers back tougher stance on school bullying, but doubts remain over impact (16 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Parents, teachers and experts broadly welcomed the measures announced on Wednesday (Apr 15) to tackle school bullying, but many were not convinced the recommendations would move the needle.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) announced nine recommendations following a comprehensive review of bullying that began in 2025, along with clearer disciplinary guidelines for misconduct cases – including bullying – similar to those introduced for vaping offences.
All the parents CNA spoke to affirmed MOE's decision to come down harder on hurtful behaviour in schools.
Ms Lyna Hanis, who has two sons aged seven and four, said the move to make reporting such behaviour easier stood out to her.
Noting that several bullying cases have made the news in recent years, the 37-year-old added that she had always worried that children would not know what to do if they were bullied.
Before her son entered Primary 1 this year, she spoke to him about what bullying might look like – getting shouted at, being asked for money – and how he should not react in kind.
“That’s why I thought the whole reporting thing made sense. I don’t know whether kids would just keep quiet or react the same way, so they need to know that there are avenues for them to tell the teacher what happened.”
Jail, caning for 'father figure' who molested girl, 10, in cinema (16 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A man with a history of sexual offences involving minors befriended a young girl and positioned himself as a "father figure" after learning that she felt neglected by her actual father.
Paul Edison Tan, 42, then encouraged her to be physically close to him and took the opportunity at a cinema hall to molest the then-10-year-old girl.
Tan, who changed his name from Zander Xavier Chan in December last year, was jailed for 21 months on Thursday (Apr 16) and sentenced to three strokes of the cane.
The victim, who is now 12, cannot be named due to a gag order protecting her identity. The gag order extends to the specific circumstances under which she met Tan."
MOE advises schools to 'reasonably consider' bus fare hikes for off-site activities amid fuel cost pressures (17 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Schools should "reasonably consider" requests from contracted transport operators to raise bus fares for off-site activities amid fuel price spikes due to the Middle East conflict, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said on Friday (Apr 17).
In response to CNA's queries, MOE said that this will help keep on-demand bus services running so that school activities and students’ learning are not "adversely affected".
These operators provide bus services for off-site activities such as learning journeys and competitions, which are paid for by schools, and fare adjustments can help to offset higher fuel costs.
"As the sudden spikes in fuel prices were unforeseen, transport operators may not have reasonably accounted for such increases when bidding for these contracts, which were called on or before the Middle East conflict started on Feb 28," MOE said.
The ministry added that it will continue to monitor the situation and issue advisories to schools as needed, depending on market conditions.
MOE previously announced it would provide temporary support to operators of regular school bus services - equivalent to 13 per cent of fare revenue - from April to June to help them cope with rising fuel costs.
Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow also said in parliament earlier this month that the government will temporarily co-fund cost increases for certain essential bus services to cushion the impact of the Middle East conflict on Singaporeans.
However, the government noted that fares may still have to rise if fuel prices remain elevated beyond the support period."
Actress Evelyn Tan recalls telling daughter Kristen Lin to ‘get out of the house’ during rebellious phase (17 April 2026)
"The latest episode of 8days chat show DNA features former Mediacorp actress and host Evelyn Tan, 51, alongside her daughter Kristen Lin, 21, as they join host Rebecca Lim to talk about homeschooling, Lin's showbiz aspirations and their close mother-daughter bond.
Lin is the eldest of Tan and Mediacorp actor Darren Lim’s four children. She has three younger brothers, Jairus, Way, and Elliot, who turn 18, 16, and 12, respectively, this year.
While Lin was well-behaved growing up, she admitted that she went through a rebellious phase.
“There was definitely a phase where I wasn’t the most pleasant child to deal with,” said Lin, before chuckling and passing the baton to her mother to share more about that period of their lives.
“I think for a first-time parent of a child who’s growing up, it was very tough for us. She was an ideal model child. We would give them iPad time once a week for just half an hour, and at half an hour, when the timer was up, she would [voluntarily] hand the iPad back. She would not argue, there would be no complaints from her,” recalled Tan.
So, when Lin entered her more defiant years – or as Tan put it, “wanted to go autonomous” – both she and Darren Lim were completely caught off guard.
“It was a real 180-degree flip. There were times when she was really testy – she would go under the radar, above the radar, you know, everywhere else but in front of us,” added Tan.
When prompted by the host to share a specific example, Lin didn’t hesitate: “Definitely curfew.”
SNOC chief Mark Chay's 'dead-end sports' remarks ignite debate over school competition programme (17 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Comments by Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) secretary-general Mark Chay describing certain school sports as "dead-end" have drawn flak from some sections of the local sporting community.
In an interview with The Straits Times on the National School Games (NSG) published on Wednesday (Apr 15), Chay said the programme's goals could be more focused on sports contested at major games.
"There are a few things that (the Ministry of Education) can improve. It's a good programme and sports in schools is where kids learn to play and compete, where we hope to inculcate certain skills and values through structured sport," added the SNOC secretary-general.
"What I struggle with is that some of the other sports which don't have a pathway to major games are included, but to do what? As an administrator, these are what I would call dead-end sports and we are putting these resources for what?
"And if a student is going to choose tchoukball...I just don't know how it'd fit into the larger scheme of things."
Tchoukball is played in over 80 countries, and Singapore's national teams are among the world's best. In 2024, it was announced that the scope of donations for the One Team Singapore Fund (OTSF) would be extended to emerging sports like tchoukball to provide better support for athletes."
My dream of a career in aviation keeps me going as I navigate life with severe haemophilia (17 April 2026)
"Growing up, my biggest wish was just to be "normal" like everyone else. I wanted to play tag, run around freely and perhaps join a sport or two.
Instead, I felt like I was wrapped in bubble wrap and forced to be cautious of my every movement to prevent any little injury.
When I was two years old, I was diagnosed with severe haemophilia A.
This lifelong diagnosis means that my blood lacks the clotting factor, known as Factor VIII, needed to control bleeding.
I am one of about 280 people in Singapore living with haemophilia A or B. Even small cuts can cause prolonged bleeding, as well as bruising and bleeds into joints and muscles.
My ankles are my "target joints", which means that blood often pools there after bleeds. This used to happen once every few weeks. Sometimes, it would be so severe that I couldn't walk.
Managing a condition where even a small cut can be deadly was stressful for my family and me."
Jail for man, 64, who used mobile games as pretext to molest 2 granddaughters (17 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: A 64-year-old man who molested his two young granddaughters under the pretext of playing mobile phone games with them was jailed for five years, two months and four weeks on Friday (Apr 17).
At the time of the offences in 2025, his elder granddaughter was aged between nine and 10, while the younger was between eight and nine.
None of the parties can be named to protect the victims' identities.
The accused, a cleaner, pleaded guilty to two charges of aggravated molest in the State Courts. He resided with the two victims and other family members.
The court heard how the accused had a close relationship with his two granddaughters, who would regularly play board and mobile phone games with him while sitting on a sofa.
Last year, he began to feel aroused by the two girls and "felt tempted to perform sexual acts on them" court documents stated.
"The accused began to use the pretext of playing handphone games with the two victims to get them to sit next to him on the sofa," the prosecution said. He targeted them separately."
How a stay-at-home mum spent 3 hours each morning writing her first novel – and won a prize for it (19 April 2026)
"From February to June 2025, for three hours every weekday, Ratna Damayanti Taha would open her laptop and work.
At 9am, once her apartment was quiet, the 44-year-old would sit at her kitchen island with a cappuccino – no sugar, lots of milk – and return to her manuscript.
She was working on her novel Mind The Gap, which follows Nora, an introspective Malay girl whose coming-of-age plays out against the expansion of Singapore’s MRT system from the 90s to the present. As more train lines are added, she grapples with questions about meritocracy, race and how to chart her own path.
That manuscript won the 2026 Epigram Books Fiction Prize in January. The win, which came with S$25,000 and a publishing contract, still feels surreal, she said.
What felt more real was the moment she submitted her draft.
In July 2025, Ratna carried five copies of her manuscript in a tote bag to the Epigram Books office in Toa Payoh North. After handing them over, she walked out to the open-air car park beside the industrial building.
Without planning to, she sat down and began to cry. “It was around 10am, and the heat was quite unforgiving – one of those very bright, Singapore days,” she recalled. “It felt very still, like the world had paused for a bit.”
She felt relief mostly, that she had made it to the end. And joy, as she had finally ticked off something that had been sitting with her since she was a child.
“I was flooded with emotions,” said the stay-at-home mother of four, who works part-time as an academic and market researcher, and freelance translator.
After she calmed down, she called her husband at work. “I didn’t really say much. I think I just wanted to hear his voice. That was enough.”
Man admits abusing toddler by choking, dunking, smothering for months until passerby confronted him (20 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Over about three months, a man abused a toddler under the age of one in horrific ways, including pushing his head into a pail of water, pressing a pillow onto his face and choking him repeatedly until the child foamed at the mouth.
The abuse came to an end only after a woman observed the man choking the child at a void deck. She confronted him before calling the police.
Investigations uncovered multiple videos of the man abusing the child, aged nine to 11 months, during the assault. The offender admitted abusing the boy due to a grudge he had against his brother-in-law, the father of the victim.
The prosecution is seeking 12 to 15 years' jail for the 32-year-old Singaporean man, while the defence is asking for eight to 10 years' jail instead.
All parties in this case cannot be named due to gag orders protecting the victim."
Nearly 9 in 10 missing person appeals in Singapore involve youths or seniors – what’s behind the trend? (20 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: Missing person reports in Singapore have risen in recent years, putting the spotlight on two vulnerable groups – youths and seniors.
Police data shows about 1,450 missing person reports were made last year, the highest since 2021.
CNA’s review of police appeals for information over the past eight months found that nearly nine in 10 cases involved these two groups. Youths alone made up about four in 10 of these appeals.
While each case is unique, social service agencies say youths often leave home due to family conflict or distress, while seniors may go missing due to dementia or disorientation.
Youths Who Leave Home
At 13, running away felt like the easiest way out of her problems.
Now 18, Isabelle (not her real name) said each time she left home, she had no clear plan.
“I'm not too sure about where I had to stay, where's my source of food going to come from. I just went from house to house,” she told CNA.
“My parents did try to contact me, but I went missing in action, so I pretty much just ignored whatever messages or calls that went through,” she said.
Over the years, Isabelle went missing more than 10 times – sometimes for as long as two months.
She was usually found by the police and brought home. But the cycle continued. Outside, not everyone she turned to could be trusted.
“Especially like your friends, you never know their true colours until you're in need of help,” she recounted.
She warned that some help can come with conditions, and youths should walk away if they feel unsafe.
Today, Isabelle says she is getting support from counsellors and teachers, and things at home have improved.
“To other youths who have the thought of running away from home, my advice to them is...look for a trusted adult who you can talk to, rather than running away,” she said.
“It is more dangerous than it sounds, being away from home. You may be free and all, but really the danger out there is worse than you think it is.”
Jail, caning for man who molested daughter after wife 'unwilling' to engage in sex with him (21 April 2026)
"SINGAPORE: After his wife became reluctant to engage in sex with him, a man turned to his young biological daughter for his sexual urges, the court heard.
The 32-year-old man molested his daughter, then between 10 and 11 years old, over the course of eight months, at times under the pretext of waking her up for school.
The man was sentenced to four years and nine months' jail and eight strokes of the cane on Friday (Apr 17) after pleading guilty to four charges of aggravated molest.
He cannot be named due to a gag order protecting his daughter's identity.
Another 13 similar charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
The offences came to light after the victim attended a classroom discussion on personal safety and inappropriate touching on Aug 7, 2025. She then reported her father to the school counsellor.
The man was arrested on Aug 8, 2025.
When interviewed, he admitted to the acts, claiming that he did so because his wife had "been unwilling to engage in sexual intercourse with him, and he had therefore turned to his daughter as an outlet for his sexual urges," court documents read."