An 86-year-old man was taken to hospital after he was hit by a taxi at the junction of Choa Chu Kang North 5 and Choa Chu Kang Drive at around 10.30am on Nov 10.

The man was crossing the road while the green man light was showing.

A video of the accident was posted on Roads.sg's Facebook page, showing the taxi making a right turn and hitting the elderly man.

The man is seen lying on the road and the taxi driver pulls over to the left.

In response to media queries, the police said that the 86-year-old man was taken conscious to hospital and that police investigations are ongoing.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said that it received a call for ambulance assistance along Choa Chu Kang North 5 at around 10.25am that day and dispatched one ambulance.

One person was taken to Ng Teng Fong Hospital.

A 52-year-old man was arrested after he used criminal force on a police officer when he was asked for his particulars.

A video of the incident which happened at Lavender MRT Station on Saturday (Nov 11) at about 12.30pm, was captured by a Facebook user, Justin Lee and uploaded online.

In the video, the man could be seen being subdued by three police officers.

Throughout the process, the man shouted in Mandarin that he wanted to call the police as he used his phone.

He also asked the officers to pass him his bag.

A passerby told the officers that they should bring the man back to a police station, to which the man responded by saying that he had just been discharged from Singapore General Hospital.

The passerby retorted by saying that Singapore is a place of law, and anyone who broke the law would be arrested, even if he was the 'president or prime minister'.

The Straits Times reports that the man allegedly refused to co-operate when three officers who were on a routine patrol asked for his particulars.

He then forcefully pushed one of the policemen.

This was supported by Justin's account of the event, who said that the officers had asked the man 'very politely' for his identification card.

Said Justin: "But the uncle got agitated and started shouting 'I pay taxes' in Mandarin, along with a lot of vulgarities for about five minutes.

"When one of the officers tried to take the IC from him, he pushed the officer away and shouted 'robbery'.

"That was when the other two officers pinned him down and I took out my phone to film it.

"I really respect the officers. Throughout the entire incident, none of them raised their voices. They were all very calm."

In an official statement, the Singapore Police Force (SPF) said: "The police confirm that during a routine patrol at Lavender MRT station on 11 November 2017 at about 12.30pm, a 52-year-old man was arrested for using criminal force on a police officer and for refusing to provide his particulars.

"The man was uncooperative when the police officers requested for his particulars.

"He then forcefully pushed one of the police officers.

"The SPF takes a serious view against persons who obstruct police officers from carrying out their duties or cause them physical and verbal harm.

"Any person convicted of using criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty can be jailed for up to four years and/or fined."

Stomp contributor Sylvia is frustrated that taxi drivers are able to pick and choose their passengers, leaving hotel porters to bear the brunt of the scoldings from other hotel guests.

The Stomp contributor was at Fairmont Hotel for dinner on 10 Nov. She was trying to get a taxi to Ang Mo Kio.

However, each taxi that came refused to take her after giving an 'excuse' to the hotel porter.

She wrote:

"Passengers behind me, foreigners were also so angry and scolded the bell-hop. The bell-hop was in tears and I tried to defend him but to no avail."

In a telephone interview with Stomp, Sylvia elaborated, "Perhaps the bell hop shouldn't ask the taxi drivers where they wanted to go."

She also told Stomp that the hotel porter was scolded very badly by a guest in the queue last week because the taxi drivers refused to pick up passengers.

According to the Stomp contributor, the hotel porter told her that 'it feels like I don't know how to do my job'.

Sylvia later approached another taxi and the taxi driver rolled down his window to ask her where she was going.

According to the Stomp contributor, the taxi driver declined as he said he was there to fetch some staff home. When he was questioned about the taxi sign which was lit up, he replied, "I turn it off now" and drove away.

She eventually used Grab to book a ride to Ang Mo Kio.

"I am very pissed off about the situation. One then wonder, why people are taking Grab and Uber more often than normal taxis."

"It was not just one driver's behaviour, but a whole string of them. Perhaps the authorities could go down and check this out for themselves," added the Stomp contributor.

Last year, we wrote about Schoolber, a carpooling service targeted at school children.

And recently, local ride-sharing app Ryde has jumped on the bandwagon to offer a similar service.

Called RydeSchool, it aims to help parent drivers cut costs through carpooling, and give them an alternative to school bus, which typically requires kids to leave home as early as 5.45am.

In other words, this new service is a saving grace for busy working parents, for they no longer need to deal with the bus' early call time.

Instead, it lets parents sleep in a little more instead of waking up extra early to prepare and send their kids to school.

How Does It Work?

Launched three weeks ago, RydeSchool matches parents who live in the same neighbourhood, and those with children going to the same school.

They can view each other's profiles, chat, and also negotiate the suggested fee for the carpool.

Ryde iterates that this service is not to help drivers make a profit but to help them cut down on costs such as petrol expenses.

In fact, its fees are similar to Ryde's other carpooling services and are calculated based on distance.

According to The Straits Times, a 15km journey from Sengkang to Singapore Chinese Girls' School in Dunearn Road will cost about $11. This works out to about $220 a month for a one-way trip.

This is pricier than a one-way journey on an 11-seater school bus, which apparently costs only $150 a month.

However, the "point-to-point" nature of carpooling means that children can leave home later and get more sleep.

In a way, parents need to fork out a wee bit more cash to trade off for this convenience.

Will This Service Gain Traction?

So far, about 40,000 drivers have signed up for the Ryde service.

Unlike Schoolber, which did not have enough parent drivers to meet the carpool requests, Ryde's founder and CEO Terence Zou, said that he is confident that there will be sufficient parent drivers on its platform.

"We have a big network of peer-to-peer members already, so we are not starting from zero," he told ST.

In any case, ride-sharing services such as UberPOOL and GrabShare are already popular among Singaporeans, so I foresee that this service will also gain traction among parents.

However, putting aside its heftier price tag (compared to a school bus), I think parents would be more concerned with the safety of RydeSchool.

Similar to Schoolber, some parents have raised concerns about whether there will be insurance that covers their children in cases of accidents.

With school buses, insurance is usually guaranteed and parents can be assured in knowing that they are covered lest something untoward happens.

Another issue that parents were concerned about is whether they could trust a parent-driver enough and put their children's lives in the hands of a stranger.

At the end of the day, the safety of the child is of utmost importance to parents, and Ryde should address these concerns if they want to increase traction of its new service among parents.

What started out as a tussle among several men escalated into a full-on brawl among staff and patrons at a nightclub on Nov 12.

Videos of the incident have been circulating on social media websites and Hardwarezone forums. They appeared to have been first uploaded by Facebook user Patrick Tan, though he said he did not film them.

According to Patrick and the Hardwarezone thread, the altercation took place at St James Power Station.

In the videos, a group of men involved in the initial tussle can be heard chanting.

Comments by forum users said the men involved were chanting gang slogans, though their exact words are unclear.

The videos climaxed in a full-fledged fight involving staff, believed to be bouncers, and patrons of the club, who exchanged blows, knocked over furniture, and threw objects, while some people filmed the ongoing drama.

ENVY Dance Club, which is located at St James, posted a statement on Facebook regarding a "recent assault" on "security officers, staff and police officers" that occurred on its premises.

In response to queries by Stomp, the police said: "On 12 November 2017 at about 4.30am, an officer from Clementi Police Division who was performing a routine patrol at a public entertainment outlet along Sentosa Gateway tried to stop a dispute but was assaulted by two 23-year-old men.

"A 23-year-old woman also grabbed the officer and punched him.

"They were subsequently arrested for voluntarily causing hurt against a public servant."

A Singaporean man selflessly donated his kidney to his ill father who had less than one year to live and even forged the titanium stitchings from his father's operation into his own wedding ring.

The filial son, Shaun Nair, 29, told Shin Min Daily News that his father had diabetes.

Due to complications, Shaun's father started showing symptoms of kidney failure last year.

He went to see a doctor, who told him that he had between five to eight years to live.

However, when he visited a hospital for a checkup this year, he found that his condition had worsened, and an acute renal failure was imminent.

Shaun's father was told that he had less than one year to live.

The news came as a huge blow to him, who was unable to accept that he would have to undergo dialysis to live.

Shaun, a customer service officer, said: "My father thought for a while and told the family afterwards that he did not wish to for dialysis to affect his quality of life.

"He chose to give up on treatment."

At this point, Shuan knew that there were only two options for his father.

The first was dialysis, which he had rejected, leaving the only solution to be a kidney transplant.

However, after the family persuaded the elderly man to go for a transplant, they were told that he would be placed on a waiting list, and he would have to wait at least eight years.

To offer him a chance at life, Shaun decided to donate one of his kidneys to his father.

After a two to three-month intensive check, it was concluded that Shaun's kidney would be suitable for the transplant.

On July 2017, the father-and-son duo underwent a six-hour-long operation for the transplant.

Both resumed their normal lives after.

Shaun, who is getting married soon, added: "To commemorate this meaningful event, I decided to keep the titanium stitchings left from my father's operation.

"I initially intended just to keep it by my side, but later had the idea to forge them into a wedding ring which I'll wear every day."

A group of eight Singaporeans reportedly went to Johor Bahru last Saturday (Nov 4), but discovered that all their passports had been stamped with the wrong dates by Malaysian immigration.

According to Lianhe Wanbao, the information was shared via a viral WhatsApp message, in which members claimed that their passports had been stamped with the date Oct 4, 2017, instead of Nov 4, 2017.

What's more bewildering was that all eight of them had been subjected to the same error, and none of the customs staff had noticed it.

Read also

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An accompanying photo also showed the original stamp, Oct 4, 2017, being voided, and overwritten with a new one, Nov 4, 2017.

One of the affected members said that the group often visited Johor Bahru and he would check his passport diligently to ensure that there were no mistakes.

The person also asked members of the public to stay vigilant and check their passports whenever they enter the Malaysian customs.

A guideline, he added, was that the stamp for entering Malaysian is squarish and blue.

In contrast, the stamp used when exiting Malaysian is red and triangular in shape.

For Singaporeans who often visit Malaysia, do take note.

An SMRT train hit a stationary train at Joo Koon MRT Station during the morning peak hours on Wednesday (Nov 15).

Stomp contributor Ganeshan, who usually alights at Joo Koon station to transit to a train travelling to Tuas Link, told Stomp in a phone interview that he had witnessed the incident.

He said: "I alighted at Joo Koon station at around 7.45am. Not all the trains go to Tuas Link, so usually I will have to switch between trains.

"After I alighted, another train crashed into the back of the train which I was on.

"There was a loud bang, and some commuters even screamed. I was shocked.

"I saw the second train coming in from a distance, but I thought it was going to slow down."

Ganeshan went closer to take a look and quickly took some photos which he sent to Stomp, before going off to work at 9.05am.

Facebook user Az Dwie also posted a video on the incident.

In his accompanying caption, Dwie wrote:

"Train accident at Joo Koon.. all passenger walking to front cabin."

According to a Facebook post by the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) at 10.45am, 23 passengers were injured during the incident and were conveyed to hospitals.

A tweet from rail operator SMRT at around 10am read:

"[EWL] UPDATE: Please add 15 mins train travel time between #JurongEast and #TuasLink. Free regular bus services are still available between #JurongEast and #TuasLink."

The Land Transport Authority (LTA) said in an update on Wednesday afternoon:

"This morning at 8.18am, a train heading in the direction of Tuas Link Station stalled at Joo Koon Station.

"At 8.19am, a second train stopped behind the first faulty train. At 8.20am, the second train moved forward unexpectedly and came into contact with the first train.

There were 28 injuries in total, including three walk-ins at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital later in the afternoon. The Ministry of Transport, Land Transport Authority (LTA) and SMRT are in touch with these injured passengers to offer the necessary assistance.

Out of the 15 sent to the National University Hospital, one declined treatment and returned home, and 13 received treatment and have been discharged. One passenger is currently warded for observation.

A total of 13 injured (including three walk-ins) were treated at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital. Nine have been treated and discharged, two are being treated, and two others are warded for observation.

SMRT and LTA are investigating the incident."

KUALA LUMPUR: The Kwek/Quek family, which controls the Hong Leong Group, a conglomerate with interests ranging from finance to property, is at the seventh spot of the latest Forbes Asia's 50 Richest Families list.

According to Forbes on Wednesday, the family's net worth is US$23.3 billion (S$31.6 billion). It is also the only family with Malaysian roots to be on the top 50 list.

The minimum net wealth to qualify for the list was US$5 billion, up by US$1.6 billion from a year ago.

"More than 15 family members control Hong Leong Group, a conglomerate with interests ranging from finance to property.

"The family traces its fortune back to 1941, when Kwek Hong Png founded the company with 3 brothers. Hong Png's eldest son, Kwek Leng Beng, runs operations in Singapore.

"Grandson Sherman will take over as chief executive of the family's City Developments in January 2018. Leng Beng's cousin Quek Leng Chan runs the group's Malaysia dealings," it said.

The top 10 richest families in Asia are:

1) Ambani from India; US$44.8 billion;

2) Lee from South Korea; $40.8 billion;

3) Kwok from Hong Kong; $40.4 billion;

4) Chearavanont from Thailand; $36.6 billion;

5) Hartono from Indonesia; $32 billion;

6) Lee from Hong Kong; $29 billion;

7) Kwek/Quek from Singapore, Malaysia; $23.3 billion;

8) Cheng from Hong Kong; $22.5 billion;

9) Sy from the Philippines; $20.1 billion;

10) Chirathivat from Thailand; $19.3 billion

Read also: Ng brothers again the top-ranked on 2017 Forbes' list

Forbes said its Asia's 50 Richest Families list is a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and currency exchange rates from the close of markets on Nov 3, 2017.

Private companies were valued based on similar companies that are publicly traded.

To qualify, a family's wealth must be rooted in Asia and participation in building that fortune has to extend at least three generations.

"Nearly half of the richest families in Asia are in China, yet none of 50 we ranked this year are based in the mainland, where conglomerates are young, run by first and second generations who were able to muster billions of dollars in wealth in an open economy," said Forbes.

23 passengers and two SMRT staff sustained injuries after an SMRT train hit another stationary train near Joo Koon MRT Station on Wednesday morning (Nov 15).

Stomp contributor Azli was one of the passengers in the train which came into contact with the rear end of the stationary train.

According to Azli, who was in the last cabin during the time of the incident, many of the passengers were thrown forward by the impact, including him.

Said Azli: "I was on the train heading to Joo Koon when the train came to a sudden stop, and there was a loud bang.

"All passengers were thrown forward including me.

Read also

23 passengers and 2 staff injured after SMRT train hits stationary train at Joo Koon MRT Station

"I was scratched on my left hand though it's not that serious.

"What a shock!"

After the incident, an announcement was made over the systems asking for passengers to move forward to the first cabin.

They were then directed to the operator cabin where they alighted the train.

Facebook user Mei Anne was also on the same train during the incident.

She, along with other passengers reportedly fell on their backs.

In a post, Mei Anne said: "So I'm on the train that hit the other one in front!

"And we fell on our backs because of the fall.

"It hurts…"

A joint statement by SMRT and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) was issued on LTA's Facebook page, which read:

"This morning at 8.18am, a train heading in the direction of Tuas Link Station stalled at Joo Koon Station.

"At 8.19am, a second train stopped behind the first faulty train. At 8.20am, the second train moved forward unexpectedly, and came into contact with the first train.

"23 passengers and 2 SMRT staff sustained light to moderate injuries, and have been conveyed to Ng Teng Fong Hospital and National University Hospital.

"SMRT and LTA are investigating the incident."

The number of injured was later revised to 28 in a subsequent update.