So many incidents the last couple of days   Keep hearing about unreported jumpers from different locations 

SINGAPORE - From Jan 31 to the end of October 2026, five bus services at Sengkang Bus Interchange will move across the road to Compassvale Bus Interchange so upgrading works can be carried out at the former. The affected buses are services 80, 86, 87, 372 and 374, said the Land Transport Authority (LTA) and transport operator SBS Transit in a joint statement on Dec 19. A total of 10 bus services currently operate from Sengkang Bus Interchange. The other five bus services will continue to operate out of the interchange during the upgrading works.   Sengkang Bus Interchange is one of several bus interchanges to have undergone progressive upgrades since August 2024.   Relocating these bus services is needed to facilitate the next phase of works, which requires access to a larger area in the interchange, the statement said. The selected bus services were chosen to minimise overall inconvenience to commuters, it added.   LTA said the upgrading works include refurbishing the concourse, upgrading electrical and mechanical systems, and repairing the driveway area.   Located at 51A Compassvale Road, just across the street from Sengkang Bus Interchange, Compassvale Bus Interchange can be accessed via pedestrian crossings or a sheltered overhead bridge. Ambassadors will also be deployed throughout the nine-month period, and use umbrellas to shelter commuters during bad weather.   Commuters taking bus services 372 or 374 will also be able to alight at a temporary bus stop along Sengkang Square, which provides sheltered access to Sengkang MRT station. This temporary bus stop will be repurposed from an existing taxi and pickup point, which will be closed from Jan 9 for conversion works. Mr Jonathan Lee, 27, who lives in Sengkang and has been taking four of the five affected services for two decades, said: “I’m glad the bus interchange is getting a makeover; it’s been due for a long time now. “(But) I just find it a bit of an inconvenience,” he said, citing how the temporary bus interchange is an open-air one and exposed to the elements, as well as not directly connected to Sengkang MRT station. First opened on March 12, 2017, Compassvale Bus Interchange has been defunct since Dec 1, 2024. Two bus services, 110 and 374, operated there when it was still operational. Service 110, which goes to Changi Airport, later relocated to Buangkok Bus Interchange when it opened on Dec 1, 2024. Service 374 relocated to Sengkang Bus Interchange. Compassvale Bus Interchange is due to be torn down by Oct 30, 2027. The demolition tender was awarded to construction firm Yongsheng E & C on Dec 1 for $1.988 million. The tender includes tearing down the former Yishun temporary bus interchange According to the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) Draft Master Plan 2025, the Compassvale site’s specific use is yet to be determined. Sengkang GRC MP Louis Chua said at a residential town hall in March that his team was meeting the URA in April to discuss some ideas, specifically bringing up the bus interchange as an example of land that can be used for spaces such as hawker centres and retail outlets.  

SINGAPORE – The police are investigating an incident that left a man injured near Tampines MRT station on the evening of Dec 19. The police, who also appealed for information on the incident, said they received several calls for assistance in the area at about 5.55pm. Upon arrival, police officers found an injured man and attended to his injuries, together with officers from the Singapore Civil Defence Force.   He was conscious when taken to hospital. Speaking to The Straits Times, an eyewitness who did not want to be named said he was in the area with his family at about 6pm when he saw a man in a white shirt with blood stains on the side of his body. The man, who appeared to be in his 40s, was speaking to another person while walking from Tampines MRT station towards a traffic light near Tampines Mall. He had left a trail of blood behind him.   Blood stains on the ground near Tampines MRT station on Dec 19. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI When The Straits Times arrived at the scene at about 7pm, the police had cordoned off a stretch along a walkway on the ground level of the MRT station, across the road from Tampines Mall.   Drops of blood could be seen along a 30m stretch of the walkway, still crowded with shoppers and commuters returning home from work. A cordoned-off stretch along a walkway on the ground level of the MRT station, across the road from Tampines Mall. ST PHOTO: AZMI ATHNI Officers from the Singapore Police Force Public Transport Security Command (TransCom) were also seen on-site. Other than doing daily foot patrols at MRT stations and bus interchanges, TransCom officers conduct operations such as ambushes to catch suspects of crime.   Two police cars were seen parked beside a pedestrian walkway nearby. Two police cars parked beside a pedestrian walkway near the scene of the incident. ST PHOTO: MELVINDERPAL SINGH Employees of shops in the area said they heard a commotion at the temporary shelter set up for night markets, which is next to the MRT station. According to one eyewitness, the man who was bloodied walked about 10m to the steps leading to the pavement outside the station and sat down. He then walked about 30m along the pavement to a traffic light crossing. An ambulance and police officers arrived soon after. Staff at the U-Taste eatery said there had been an argument in the tentage area opposite the shop, which is located at Block 513 Tampines Central 1. They said their view was obstructed by the awning outside the shop, but they believe the victim sustained knife wounds as he was bleeding profusely. Employees of shops in the area said the victim walked about 10m to steps leading to the pavement outside the station and sat there. ST PHOTO: MELVINDERPAL SINGH The police appealed for those with information about the incident to call the police hotline on 1800-255-0000 or submit information online at www.police.gov.sg/i-witness   All information will be kept strictly confidential.

SINGAPORE: Three former members of a preschool's senior management admitted on Friday (Dec 19) to covering up the offences of a cook who molested toddlers at the preschool where they all worked. The cook, 61-year-old Teo Guan Huat, had molested three toddlers during naptime over seven months in 2023. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to more than nine years' jail last month. The three members of senior management were the 59-year-old executive director, 61-year-old principal and 49-year-old vice-principal of the preschool. All three failed to report Teo's acts and conspired to reformat a closed-circuit television camera that contained incriminating footage. The executive director and vice-principal also conspired to delete video evidence of the acts. Their names and the name of the preschool where they worked cannot be published due to a gag order protecting the identities of the victims, who were between one and two years old at the time of the offences. The executive director and vice-principal each pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiring to obstruct justice. Two other charges for obstructing justice and failing to report Teo's offences will be considered in sentencing. The principal pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to report Teo's offences. Another charge of conspiring to obstruct justice will be taken into consideration. Sentencing was adjourned to Jan 19, 2026. Deputy Public Prosecutors Claire Poh and Quek Lu Yi are seeking at least three months' jail for the executive director, at least two months' jail for the vice-principal and a fine of at least S$8,000 (US$6,200) for the principal. Defence lawyers are asking for 10 to 12 weeks' jail for the executive director, six to eight weeks' jail for the vice-principal and an S$8,000 fine for the principal. Teo had deliberately targeted young children because they could not speak out about his actions, Ms Poh noted. "As adults who had access to the CCTV footage, the accused persons were the only ones in a position to speak out for these voiceless victims by reporting to the police," she told the court. The offences were inadvertently discovered by the vice-principal on Nov 16, 2023 when she was reviewing CCTV footage for an unrelated matter. She saw Teo inserting his hand under the diaper of a two-year-old girl on Nov 9, 2023. Teo had worked for the school for about a year at the time. Apart from his duties as a cook, he escorted the children to another teacher for showers and helped take care of them at naptime. He would help lay out mattresses in the nap room and pat the children to sleep. Teo Guan Huat listens to court proceedings on Nov 10, 2025. (Illustration: CNA/Lydia Lam) DECISION TO COVER UP At the time the footage was discovered, the executive director and principal were overseas attending a course on protecting children from abuse. The vice-principal sent the executive director the footage over WhatsApp, and she viewed it together with the principal. The trio then had a video call to discuss what to do. The vice-principal and executive director then conspired to delete the footage from their phones. The vice-principal was supposed to join them overseas for the course on Nov 17, 2023. She was instructed to delay her flight to later that day so that she could instruct Teo not to go near any children and monitor him while he worked. The trio returned from the course a day early to deal with the matter. When they met back in Singapore on Nov 21, 2023, they decided to raise the matter to the chairwoman of the school's management committee. This meeting took place on Nov 22, 2023 and lasted about an hour. During the meeting, the chairwoman was informed of Teo's acts for the first time. The vice-principal used her phone to show the CCTV footage, and the executive director sought the chairwoman's decision on whether to report the matter to the police. The executive director said there would be implications on the preschool if a police report was made: parents and the Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) would have to be informed, and the police would interview the staff about how long the acts had been going on. The executive director further said that the victim was asleep and may not have suffered any impact from Teo's acts as the girl was not aware of them. She suggested settling the matter quietly by asking Teo to resign, instead of reporting it to the police. When the chairwoman asked if the victim's parents needed to be informed, the executive director said if they were, then the school would have to manage their reaction as well as the reaction of other parents. She said that the good name of the preschool would be tarnished and that it was likely many parents would withdraw their children from the preschool. She added that the school may have to close down if the matter got out of control, and again said that the victim was not really affected by the acts. The chairwoman asked if there was no impact on the victim. She also questioned whether they would want to cover up the issue as Teo, a Malaysian, was a Singapore permanent resident, and terminating his employment did not prevent him from continuing to work in Singapore and committing similar offences in the future. The vice-principal said that the impact on the victims and parents would be worse if the matter was reported to the police than if it was settled quietly. The chairwoman said Teo's acts could still be registered in the victim's memory and if there were adverse effects, it was best for there to be early intervention. The vice-principal then said that if she were the mother of the girl, she would rather not know what Teo had done to her. The principal, who had broken down in tears, said that she did not want the children to be withdrawn from school and acknowledged a lapse on the preschool's part. The meeting concluded with a consensus to monitor Teo as the chairwoman needed time to make a decision. The next day, Nov 23, 2023, the chairwoman told them she had decided not to make a police report and to dismiss Teo. She would then consider the case closed. The executive director, principal, vice-principal and a fourth staff member present all agreed with this decision. The vice-principal also asked if a non-disclosure agreement was needed, but the chairwoman showed some reluctance. Later that day, the executive director spoke to Teo and gave him a choice of resigning or being fired. He chose to resign. The trio considered the matter closed, with the executive director sending a message to their chat group reading: "Hopefully and prayerfully the issue is closed and we learn from this." Safeguarding policies of the preschool made it clear that individual staff members should inform the police if there was abuse by a staff member, and that they could report the matter directly to the police without the approval of management, if required by the law. REFORMATTING OF CCTV SYSTEM Following this, the chairwoman of the school's management committee had another discussion with leaders and changed her mind – she decided the matter had to be reported to the police. She informed the executive director of this in a text message on the evening of Nov 24, 2023, and the message was passed to the principal and vice-principal. The trio agreed to tender their resignations, as they had earlier discussed, because they did not feel they would be able to cope with the fallout of the revelations. The executive director and vice-principal also raised the possibility that the chairwoman might change her mind about reporting if they all resigned together. In a discussion that did not involve the principal, the executive director and vice-principal also discussed whether the CCTV footage could be overwritten. The executive director sent links to YouTube videos for how to do this. On the morning of Nov 26, 2023, the trio met in the office and printed their resignation letters. There, the executive director pressured the principal to agree to overwrite or delete the incriminating CCTV footage. The vice-principal then reformatted the hard discs of the CCTV system on the executive director's instruction. They then went to their meeting with the chairwoman, who confirmed her intention to report the matter to the police. The meeting ended when the principal started crying and hyperventilating, and an ambulance had to be called for her. The police report was made on Dec 2, 2023, and Teo was arrested on Dec 4, 2023. When police raided the preschool and checked the CCTV system, all three of its hard discs had been reformatted. The police forensic team managed to recover the footage, including the video of Teo's acts on Nov 9, 2023. ECDA fined the preschool S$26,200, restricted new enrolments and shortened its licence tenure from 36 months to six months. ECDA also took action against four members of the preschool's management, and had barred three of them from working in the preschool sector since April 2024. All four staff members have been removed from their posts by the preschool's operator, the authority previously said. "This case is illustrative of the many reasons why an early childhood educator may shun away from reporting sexual abuse cases involving their charges under their care," the prosecutors said in written submissions to the court. "Amongst them are the inability to account for the management's lapses (in this case, failing to ensure that a male cook does not come into contact with female children) and the stress that will ensue from the fallout of such a report being made. "From these reasons emerges a strong tendency to justify one's failure to report. However, none of these reasons are valid excuses." Source: CNA/dv(ss)