SINGAPORE - For the past year, Mr Gerald Lim, 37, has been ferrying pupils to their primary schools in his Toyota Prius every weekday morning. The full-time private-hire car driver is among 60 to 70 drivers engaged by Lylo, a Singapore car rental and concierge company, for its school transport service. It costs between $20 and $50 per trip for every child, depending on distance and the type of vehicle used.   If there are other children living close enough requesting the service to the same school, the company can carpool them. This brings the price down to between $8 and $15 a trip for each child. This means parents could spend anywhere between $160 and $300 a month for one-way carpooled trips for their children to or from school. The monthly fee is paid in advance, after the route and rate have been confirmed with Lylo. In comparison, school bus services can cost up to $240 a month for a one-way trip of no more than 4km from the school. Those living farther will be charged more if the bus operator can accommodate them.   About 300 students have signed up for Lylo’s school transport service in 2025, the company’s spokesman told The Straits Times. Around 40 per cent of them are primary school pupils, with the rest being students from international schools.     As far as possible, the firm assigns the same driver for the trips. Parents are kept updated via messaging service WhatsApp when their child has been picked up or has reached their destination. Booster seats are available for children who are shorter than 1.35m. The company started the service in 2023 with between 30 and 40 drivers ferrying fewer than 100 children.   Lylo’s spokesman said that besides promoting its services online, the company has been getting referrals through parents. Aside from such services, parents are also turning to social media or online parent-support groups to seek out other ways to get their children to school, asking others with similar needs to share ride-hailing trips. Some parents said they are doing this because they want better pick-up and drop-off times for their children than what school bus operators typically offer. For others, the school buses do not serve the area where they live. This also comes as school bus fares are on the rise. Based on data from the Ministry of Education (MOE) published on data portal data.gov.sg in mid-December 2024, 34 out of about 180 primary schools have new school bus contracts in 2025. The tenders for these contracts were called between August and September 2024. ST’s checks found that the maximum price chargeable for at least 10 of those schools with new contracts in 2025 is higher than what it was in 2024. Some schools do not publish the contracted bus fares.   Depending on the school and the type of buses used, the maximum fare that an operator charges for a one-way trip of up to 2km from the school can cost between $68 and $210 per month. At Yew Tee Primary School in Choa Chu Kang, the new operator, Chang Chen, will charge a monthly fee of up to $160 for a one-way trip for locations up to 2km from the school. This is 65.5 per cent higher than what it cost parents in 2024. Leeng Transport Services, the previous bus company that served the school, said it did not take part in the latest tender, without elaborating. School bus operators have cited challenges, including competition for bus drivers, the ageing profile of the drivers, and rising fuel costs. Schools select operators through a competitive bidding process. The contracts are valid for two years, with an option for a further two-year extension. The contracts stipulate the maximum allowable fares an operator can charge, based on the distance from the school. Most of the published fares are for two distance categories – up to 2km, and between 2km and 4km – although there are contracts that include rates for longer distances. For locations beyond these distance categories, parents have to negotiate with the bus companies directly. In 2023, MOE said school bus services serve the minority of primary school pupils, adding that about 98 per cent of Primary 1 pupils are either posted to a school of their choice or within 2km of their home. Office administrator Jolene Chua, 44, said she chose to put her primary school-going daughter on the school bus, so that she is assured that the nine-year-old will be safe. The one-way trip from home to school costs her $140 monthly. In 2024, her daughter started taking the public bus home on days when she has to stay behind for co-curricular activities. On other days, she takes a bus chartered by the student care centre where she receives after-school student care. The Primary 3 pupil has been asking her parents if she can stop using the school bus in the mornings because she does not want to wake up so early, said Ms Chua. Although they live just over 2km from her school, the pupil is picked up before 6.20am – more than an hour before lessons start. For now, Ms Chua plans to stick to the school bus service unless fares climb significantly. Marketing executive Jasmine Sim, 43, spends $400 a month on school bus fares for her two primary school-going children, for the convenience. She looked briefly into other transport arrangements in 2023 when she was dissatisfied with the dirty buses and late invoices from the school bus operator then. This was resolved in 2024 when the school appointed a new operator. Ms Sim said: “For me, if the cost is comparable, I will consider alternative school transport options, given that it is more efficient and customisable.”

At around noon on Oct. 31, 2024, a 27-year-old Singaporean man went to the front of the counter at a crowded Project Acai outlet in Holland Village to order black coffee. He somehow believed he was "joining the queue" to place an order, but he was standing at the wrong end.   When the cashier refused to take his order and asked him to rejoin the queue, he went on a two-minute-long verbal tirade, calling her a "f*cking dumb bitch", "idiot", and "ch*nk". When the cashier stepped away from the counter in an attempt to disengage from the conflict, he continued shouting at her and even hurled a tip box in her direction, hitting her lower back. Rishi David Ramesh Nandwani was arrested within two hours and sentenced to jail on Dec. 30, 2024.   Outburst in front of children   According to court documents seen by Mothership, when Rishi entered the cafe on Oct. 31, 2024, the venue was crowded, and its patrons included young children. At around 12:22pm, he got up from his table and stood at the wrong end of the queue in front of the cafe's counter for around two minutes. He then asked the cashier if he could place an order, to which the cashier replied that the queue actually began from the other side of the counter and that he would need to queue for his turn. Upset at her refusal to serve him, Rishi began hurling racial slurs and vulgarities at the cashier, a 28-year-old Singaporean woman, as well as other patrons of the cafe. He also said he was "sick of this country", adding that it had "become like China" and that "Singapore was full of effing ch*nks" during his tirade. Throughout his outburst, Rishi held up the queue to order at the cafe and refused to rejoin the queue at the back.   Threw tip box at cashier's direction   After Rishi launched a series of insults against her, the cashier stepped away from the counter so her superior could talk to him. She also turned her back towards Rishi in an attempt to disengage from the conflict while he continued shouting at her. However, her efforts eventually proved futile, as Rishi picked up a tip box that had been placed at the counter and threw it at her, causing her to sustain bodily pain. Yet, the assault was not enough to quell Rishi's anger as he returned to his seat, still fuming over the cashier's perceived slight towards him.   Also tried throwing trays at cashier's direction   At around 12:29pm, Rishi decided to make a return to the counter area, where he picked up two serving trays and threw them in the cashier's direction. He missed the cashier but continued shouting vulgarities and slurs at the cashier before leaving the cafe. According to court documents, there was no medical report of any physical injuries suffered by the cashier, as she did not seek medical attention after the incident.   Jailed & fined   Rishi was sentenced to four weeks in jail and fined S$4,000 on Dec. 30, 2024, after pleading guilty to one charge of using insulting words and another charge of rash act endangering the cashier's safety. Two other similar charges were taken into consideration for his sentencing. In his prosecution's address on Rishi's sentence, the prosecutor highlighted several aggravating factors in this case, including how his "sustained tirade" was charged with racial slurs and uttered in the presence of children. The prosecutor also argued that a deterrent sentence should be imposed on Rishi "to send a strong signal" to those who endanger others' safety "merely to express their displeasure as a petulant toddler would".

SINGAPORE – From Jan 7, the public can make appointments to get hongbao notes for Chinese New Year, which falls on Jan 29 and 30. This can be done via the online reservation systems of DBS Bank, OCBC Bank and UOB, said the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on Jan 2. Collection of new and fit-for-gifting notes will start from Jan 14.   Walk-in exchanges at DBS, OCBC and UOB branches are available only for those aged 60 and above and people with disabilities. From Jan 14, hongbao notes can be withdrawn without booking at selected DBS, OCBC and UOB pop-up and branch ATMs. MAS added that the number of pop-up and branch ATMs dispensing hongbao notes in locations across Singapore will be increased.   Fit-for-gifting notes – or fit notes, as MAS calls them – are those that are clean and suitable for recirculation. The notes are similar in quality to those dispensed by ATMs, it said.     MAS started encouraging the use of fit notes from Chinese New Year 2023. It encourages the public to adopt more environmentally friendly hongbao options such as e-hongbao and fit notes, as issuing new notes to meet the demand for festive gifting generates unnecessary carbon emissions.   More than 11.7 million pieces of fit notes were exchanged during Chinese New Year in 2024, MAS added. This was a 5 per cent increase from the number in 2023. Producing that number of new notes would have generated approximately 408 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, which is comparable to the annual emissions from powering about 220 four-room Housing Board flats. In a 2024 survey conducted by the Ministry of Digital Development and Information, almost two in three hongbao givers chose to use fit notes over new notes. DBS said on Jan 2 that it will have 72 pop-up ATMs disbursing fit and new notes in 48 locations from Jan 14 to 28. The bank said it has increased the number of pop-up ATMs dispensing only fit notes by 50 per cent from 2024, bringing the total to 15 machines. The bank is rewarding customers who embrace digital gifting with a giveaway from Jan 7 to Feb 18, offering over 1,000 prizes of $8,888 and $88. To qualify for the giveaway, customers need to send an e-gift or load a QR Ang Bao with at least $8 and keep their total cash withdrawals below $500 during the giveaway period. In 2024, over seven in 10 customers embraced digital gifting for the first time through DBS QR Ang Bao and e-gift services. A total of $39 million was transferred through the bank’s digital gifting options. OCBC will have 24 ATMs disbursing fit and new notes in 13 locations, such as its Wisma Atria, Tampines and Jurong Point branches, said its head of branch service and risk management, Ms Jean Oh. The bank has increased its number of ATMs dispensing fit notes to four, up from two in 2024.  They are located at OCBC Wisma Atria, OCBC Centre and OCBC Tampines Centre 2. UOB will have 30 ATMs across 17 locations to dispense new notes, and four ATMs for fit notes. Customers can do their withdrawals from Jan 14, limited to two transactions per card per day.

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