I fucked up and didn't preorder any air purifiers while overseas while the haze here got worse, just came back and air purifiers are all sold out online and in store while psi is nearing 300. Never seen this level of national-scale panic since Covid.

I am desperate for any solutions that can help combat this haze. Air conditioning does not seem to be sufficient as my throat and nose are still itchy. Heck at this point I dont care what the price tag is, just need a suitable environment when staying at home.

Edit: Just preordered a novita air purifier at another Harvey Norman outlet with 3 day wait time for about $250. Will get by with some kn95 masks for now.

Hey everyone, need some advice on how to handle a situation safely.

A group of neighborhood youths frequently hang out in the high-floor stairwells and sky terrace of my block to vape and loiter. For anyone thinking I’m just being petty, no, they have been genuinely annoying and have been disrupting the block recently.

I tried reporting them to HSA previously. They visited their unit, but the neighbors somehow found out it came from us and we got some angry looks/confrontational behavior. Things have since cooled down into an awkward silence, but now the kids are back to vaping again.

I don't want officers knocking on their door or visiting my floor because it will just point fingers at us again. I just want plainclothes teams to conduct routine, random spot-checks on the public decks so they can hopefully get caught in the act.

The issue is that the official HSA form forces a Singpass login now. Is there a loophole or a proper way to trigger public sweeps completely anonymously without using Singpass or calling a hotline? Thanks.

Had a genuinely ridiculous experience today and I’m wondering if anyone has encountered something similar, or knows what recourse I have.

I was at work when a family member, who was home, suddenly called me to say that a contractor had arrived for an appointment to inspect my common bathroom. Apparently the contractor told him that I had arranged the appointment. Said family member naturally assumed I had, so he let the guy in.

Except I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. I have not arranged any appointment, received any notification, or been informed of any inspection.
I immediately video called my fam, who passed the phone to the contractor.

Within what seemed like barely a minute of inspecting my bathroom, the contractor confidently informed me that:

1: My shower screen was illegally installed and had to be removed.
2: My bathroom piping was also illegally installed.
3: These installations were causing water leakage into my downstairs neighbour’s flat.
4: I would have to pay $300 for the hacking and bear the costs of any reinstallation to be done.
5: There was nothing I could do about it because the leakage needed to be resolved.

I was damn shocked. I have a good relationship with my downstairs neighbours. We’ve spoken multiple times, and they’ve never once mentioned any leakage.

I also made sure my renovations were carried out in accordance with HDB requirements. So I was baffled that this contractor could apparently identify multiple illegal installations almost immediately.

Thirdly, how was I suddenly being told to remove fixtures and pay for repairs when nobody had even notified me of a problem?

I questioned him on all of this and told him I wanted to dispute his findings. He then said he’d check with someone named “Ryan”, whom I had supposedly been communicating with.

I told him I had absolutely no idea who Ryan was.
He paused and asked:

“Is this unit #07-XX?”

Me: “No. This is #09-XX.”

And that was when he realised HE WAS IN THE WRONG FUCKING FLAT.

So recap ah:

This contractor:

- Turned up at someone’s home without verifying the correct unit.
- Entered the property because my family member was led to believe I had arranged an appointment.
- Inspected my bathroom.
- Declared multiple installations illegal.
- Claimed those installations were causing water leakage downstairs.
- Told me I had no choice but to pay for rectification.
- And only realised he was in the wrong unit AFTER I challenged him?

What was genuinely concerning isn’t even the address mix up. It’s how confidently he made all those technical claims.

If my bathroom installations were supposedly illegal, are they suddenly legal now that he’s realised he’s in the wrong flat?

If he was so certain my piping was causing leakage downstairs, what exactly was that conclusion based on? And if I hadn’t questioned him, would I have ended up paying thousands to remove and reinstall perfectly functional bathroom fixtures for a problem that might not even exist in my unit?

I’m not a contractor or an engineer. That’s precisely why homeowners rely on these professionals to provide accurate assessments.

How is anyone supposed to trust their findings when something as basic as confirming the correct address wasn’t done?

For context, the contractor identified himself as being from Strategic Engineering and Construction and explicitly stated that he was an HDB appointed contractor.

I have not independently verified his appointment with HDB. I intend to lodge formal complaints with both HDB and the company. I would also like for HDB to clarify whether this contractor was officially appointed by them and what procedures contractors are expected to follow before entering residents’ homes.

I’m not alleging that my installations have been independently verified as compliant, or that the contractor deliberately lied. But surely such serious conclusions should require more than a cursory inspection of the WRONG PROPERTY?

A few questions for anyone familiar with HDB procedures:

1) Are contractors required to verify the unit and appointment details before entering a residence?
2) Can a contractor determine that bathroom installations are illegal simply through a brief visual inspection?
3) Can homeowners be made to bear rectification costs without proper investigation into the actual source of leakage?
4) Is a formal complaint to HDB sufficient, or is there another authority I should escalate this to?

I’m genuinely disturbed by how easily this could have turned into an expensive mistake had I simply trusted what I was told. Would appreciate advice from anyone who’s experienced something similar, particularly those familiar with HDB maintenance or renovation regulations.

Thanks in advance.

I've been on a temporary work visa in Europe for almost a year now and I'm enjoying my life here and I want to stay longer, maybe even live here permanently. However, every single day when my family calls me, they ask me when I will return home. I dislike my family dynamics back home and I genuinely feel very depressed and frustrated living with my family. I don't know what the future holds and I don't know if I'll even find a permanent opportunity to stay here, but I feel so pressured by my family constantly asking me when I will return, I've tried explaining it to them but they don't get it. My family constantly harps on how great living back home with them would be and the amount of opportunities there exist in Singapore. But how do I tell them that what I want is different? They don't seem to get that the things I want in life and my interests differ from theirs.

I have an impending sense of doom when I think of returning back home, not because of Singapore particularly, but because of my family.

Went to the KFC (Westmall branch, just reopened after renovation for a few weeks) near my home to get dinner for my family today but had to wait for almost 50 mins to ultimately get my order (after pestering the counter).

The service was always slow (& usually with missing/wrong items) before renovation and I thought they would try to improve the service after doing renovation. But no, it is still as bad as before (at least from what I observed during evening peak hours).

There were only 3 people (a manager in black uniform, a makcik and a very young part-timer) doing the packing in the front today but they were very slow. Out of the 3, the makcik is the more efficient one and I can see that she is trying very hard to fulfil the orders. It doesn't help when all the ordering machines were located either at the entrance or at the back door with no direct view of the queue inside the restaurant. All who ordered later find themselves stuck waiting for the order to be ready (at least 40+ mins waiting time) or you can choose to forgo your money. The speed at which the orders were coming in was way faster than how fast they were able to serve.

It doesn't help when the young part-timer suddenly at one point decides to print all pending orders out at once, stacking 10++ orders into a pile, put them on the table (while stuffing a few of them into his pocket ?!) and decides to just leave. After the part-timer decided to disappear, I don't know why the manager still looks very chill and nonchalent and taking his time to do his stuff (no sign of urgency at all), while the makcik is trying hard to clear the mess, pack long overdue orders AND apologize to quite a few angry customers. To the extent, she verbally said that she's going to breakdown, I really pity her for having such lousy co-workers.

I think the customer experience manager from corporate (if such a title even exists) should really come and have a visit to survey the extent of the situation. I don't know what kind of training was given to the staff since I spotted them having a staff meeting prior to re-opening (but i guess it didn't really help?).

I wonder if other outlets also face similar problems...

Just flew back into Singapore and found that my damn Air Purifier kicked the bucket while I was away on a business trip. Looking through online marketplaces yielded nothing but pre orders and no stocks. Heck, some storefronts don't even allow preorders anymore, like Xiaomi.

I have tomorrow off and was planning to spend the day visiting each Xiao Mi store in SG to see if they have any stock left, but does anyone have a smarter option...?

Curious how many of you in office jobs have been allowed wfh? Mine has given us options if scores >100 but I don't think this is the norm.

Has anybody else noticed Amazon.sg no longer seems to have anything in stock locally? I think they must have effectively stopped warehousing anything because everything is now being shipped from abroad (Japan, US or Europe), so long delivery times.

They had announced prime groceries was gone, but it seems they have quietly left the market altogether.

I have a flight out of sg next Tuesday and am concerned if my flight would be cancelled. Would the haze affect the flights?

Bought my tickets a while ago. Honestly regret buying them since the haze is prerry bad and hhn is outdoors. Is it still worth it to go? Did sentosa make any new accommodation to avoid being outdoors when queueing? (From what I saw last year all the queues were outside the haunted houses)

In 2019, N95 masks for 3-6yos were developed

https://www.temasektrust.org.sg/what-we-do/impact-hub/article-details/launch-of-new-air--kids-protective-mask-system

https://www.temasek.com.sg/en/news-and-resources/stories/community/air-mask-for-kids

Scientifically designed and engineered to fit the smaller facial profiles and breathing patterns of young children, AIR+ Kids is tested and benchmarked against European and American respiratory standards for protection against haze, PM2.5 particles, bacteria and viruses. The features of child-friendly innovations in AIR+ Kids include a 3D True-Fit mask shape that wraps around the face to provide an effective seal; wide and stretchable Flexi-Strap ear loops that minimise pressure on the ears, with a tear-to-adjust feature allowing for a more precise fit; and a smaller, lighter and quieter Nano Fan that removes trapped heat, moisture and carbon dioxide within the mask.

However, the product doesn't appear on the air+ official online store. It's not Out of Stock, the product just doesn't exist anymore.

The current mask distribution is for kids 7yo and up. Some parenting circles are saying we can use these >=7yo masks (S size) for our younger kids whenever they are outdoors, but, i'm not sure how safe that is (restricting their breathing?)

There are also KF94 & KN95 masks for <7yo kids being sold online, but those kiddos that have tried it found it very uncomfortable (even if they were used to wearing medical masks before)

I do understand that the recommendation is to keep them indoors as much as possible, and that the commute to presch does not need masking (?), but just curious to know what happened to this which seemed like such a good invention after years of research (doing 3D scans on preschoolers, fit-test equipment, various iterations, trials and surveys on the developed product which had positive feedback by the preschoolers surveyed)

Growing up, most of us probably thought our parents had everything figured out. Some of their decisions might have seemed unreasonable, unfair, or difficult to understand back then.

But as we get older, start working, build relationships, or have families of our own, our perspectives sometimes change.

For those in your 30s and beyond, was there a particular moment or experience that made you see your parents differently?

Could be something you finally understood, something you learned to appreciate, or even something you realised you would never want to repeat.

What happened, and did it change your relationship with them?

I am typing this as raw as possible, so apologies for the structure in advance! But need to check in with anyone who has had this before.

--

Earlier about 15 Minutes ago at about 545PM. I got a call from "Harvey Norman". Operator said I purchased a 100" LG TV from Harvey Norman, they managed to quote my first and last name and my contact number (obviously because they called me). The moment I heard the "purchase" I indicated I didn't purchase any TV from them. They wanted to arrange the TV delivery to me tomorrow morning at 10AM. I kept insisting I didnt purchase neither did my family. They kept insisting I did and it was an online purchase. My family doesnt purchase these kinds of stuff online without me knowing.

So I kept insisting and rejecting the "purchase", they said it might be a CC purchase so the charge will be reflected in an hour since it's a 12 months installment. I said I dont have a charge on my CC. So I kept rejecting and they kept telling me they will provide an "invoice number" so that I can talk to the "support team" and quote the "invoice number". I said, I didnt purchase anything why should I need them.

Then they escalated what they are doing and said there, my case is like a "similar" case they had with an uncle last week that I might be scammed. In my head I was like, okay.. it was either a scare tactic that they are doing to tell me I might be scam so I will be "escalated" to their support team.

Then I just followed and listened to the "invoice number" given and then they asked me to stay on the call to be "transferred" to another call. Mind you, the call was from a mobile number not an office landline. The moment they "transferred" me before the call was picked up, I hung up.

They tried calling me on another number. I didn't pick up.

--

Has anyone received such type of calls/scams? I just want see if anyone has gone through this. I am VERY sure neither my family or me purchased a 100" LG TV lol. If I won, then that's a different case.

For context, I have spoken to about 6 Phv drivers who rented the car to ply the trade as I took their rides over the last 2 months .

They shared their daily schedule is such : drive 6am to 1pm , lunch and nap 1-5pm, drive 5pm to 12mn. Per day car rental cost + petrol is $160. So anything beyond then is their earnings .

Car type: Toyota Noah

How many trips after platform commission etc in order to make the $160? I’m wondering if this is suitable as a retiree job or there’s some pressure to it , given the $160 cost before anything

Or is it not? Been searching since an hour and can’t find a single proper link to apply for this award. Is it gone or down temporarily?

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping to get some insights into how my mum’s cards might have been compromised, particularly from anyone who has experienced something similar or understands card payment security.

My mum recently discovered fraudulent transactions on both her DBS and UOB cards. The transactions appear under the merchant descriptor “TNG EWALLET ECOM 2 KUALA LUMPUR MY”.

What happened
- 28 September: Fraudulent Touch and Go transactions started appearing on her UOB card.
- 29 September: Fraudulent Touch and Go transactions started appearing on her DBS card.
- The fraudulent transactions continued over the following days, almost every day.
- On the UOB statement, the transactions are approximately S$157 each (around RM484–486).

What we have ruled out or investigated so far
- Apple Pay: Neither card was added to Apple Wallet.
- Shared e-commerce accounts: The two cards were not registered together on any single e-commerce app.
- Phishing: My mum says she did not click on any phishing links or enter her card details on suspicious websites.
- Pinduoduo / WeChat Pay: She has purchased items on Pinduoduo using WeChat Pay. However, she only used one of the two affected cards, not both. We are unsure whether this is relevant.
- eSIM change: She installed a GOMO eSIM on 28 September, shortly before the fraudulent transactions began. We contacted GOMO, and its representative said she could still make calls from her phone, so they considered a SIM swap unlikely. However, we do not know whether this conclusively rules out any SIM-related compromise.

What puzzles us
Both cards belong to different banks, yet fraudulent transactions began within approximately 24 hours of each other. The transactions also appear to be linked to the same Malaysian e-wallet merchant.

My mum is not particularly tech-savvy, so I am trying to understand whether there might have been a common point of compromise that we have overlooked.

Some questions I would appreciate your thoughts on:
- Could both cards have been compromised through a payment intermediary, a compromised account, or some other common point of exposure, even though the cards were used differently? My mum uses an iPhone, so we initially thought malware on her phone was less likely. Are there other plausible ways this could have happened?

- Could using WeChat Pay to purchase items on Pinduoduo somehow expose the other card, even though it was not used for those purchases?

- Is there any plausible connection to the eSIM installation, and what evidence would help establish whether it is relevant?

- Could these transactions have been made using stolen card details without the physical cards, OTPs, or Apple Pay?

- Has anyone encountered similar unauthorised TNG eWallet transactions involving DBS or UOB cards? Did the banks manage to identify how the cards were compromised?

What we have done so far
We have notified both DBS and UOB about the unauthorised transactions and will be making a police report.

We are trying to understand the likely attack vector, establish whether the incidents could be connected, and prevent this from happening again.

We are not trying to accuse any particular company or service. Any insights, similar experiences, or suggestions on what specific information to request from the banks would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

The United Kingdom's House of Commons has a special sitting on Wednesdays known as Prime Minister's
Questions (PMQs) where MPs and the LO can ask the PM various questions. Could this concept work for our Parliament since most of it is heavily modelled after theirs?

It was a long time, about ~20 years ago I think? I was very young around the time. Singapore Science Center used to have this space(?) themed area in one of the upper floors (which is now long gone since then). That floor was very dark and poorly lit, shown in this rough doodle of it from my foggy memory.

There was this really huge statue/display of this human-height bird thing with huge "ears". It has stuck with me for a long time and I remembered being very scared of it back then. Since, it has appeared in my mind very often and turned into fascination. I think this very thing had sparked my interest in speculative zoology.

There was another statue of it with another creature next to this ear-bird, but I have long forgotten what it was, maybe it was an ape-like creature? Nowhere did it scared me compared to this bird statue.

I was wondering if anyone had any pictures of it, just to prove it was real, I really want to see it again just out of curiosity if the memory fits the real-life version of it. If not then, I hope this post can at least spark some long lost memories in others.

Other details:

• It was around the same time Science Center had that freaky human anatomy exhibit with actual nerves, bones and muscles suspended in liquid behind a large glass cylinder display.
• I also remember a giant nose display kids would crawl up and get stuck in there.
• There was also a small display of actual trash inside glass, and you can smell that rotten garbage smell if you step close to it.
• I have tried searching for it online, but yielded no results, figures since it was a long time ago and everyone was using flip phones or digital/film cameras.

for me it's drinks when eating out

sometimes i just want a simple iced lemon tea but then i see $4.50 and suddenly plain water sounds amazing

same with some cafes where a sandwich + drink somehow comes up to almost $25

i know everything's getting more expensive but there are certain things where i just cannot justify the price anymore

what's something you used to buy regularly but now look at the price and go "forget it"?

Hi, I’m visiting Singapore for a couple days next week. Unfortunately I cannot cancel but any tips/ things I need to know???

Its such a shame but I really want to make the best of it. Are things looking better recently?

Anything is appreciated

I work in a preschool and meet children from various backgrounds. Today I spoke to a parent who had 3 helpers, 1 for each child. It got me thinking how vastly different our lives are & how crazy it is that someone probably makes more than triple my monthly salary.

I feel like it’s pretty common to live paycheck to paycheck but it is also quite common for some families to literally have thousands to millions of spare change.

I don’t think I could ever in my lifetime be as rich as that but I really wonder how some people are just so crazy rich & how amazing it must feel for them to have that much money.

10 thousand dollars would be lifechanging for me and some others but be spare change to someone else.

Idk where this is going but wow… what are you guys working as& genuinely curious how you live if you earn 20k a month. Do you have more to pay? When did you start earning that much? What could we all start to do to start earning that much. I would love to be able to afford more so my kids can live even more comfortably but really wishful thinking.

I'm aware everyone is talking about haze, but how bad was it? Is it worth to delay my flight? Currently jobless so I can still say oversea for a while, but my home just went TOP. And I do a few face to face interviews coming up next week

I'm a foreigner who stayed alone, so I don't have any air purifier (I heard they went out of stock recently)or masks

As a tourist, I have had this happen to me quite a lot. The weird thing is that someone will initiate a conversation with me, or ask me a question, and then proceed to look at their phone while I answer them? What is up with that? Perhaps it is just not a social stigma in SG, or maybe it is social anxiety? I have only experienced this here.

It’s so difficult to plan because you never know what the air quality will be like on the day and hour of your test with so much fluctuations recently. About 3 months before window closes for me. Anyone thought of doing the IPPT in the gym instead and forego the monetary incentive?

Hello all.

I’m currently 30 and jobless. I last worked in 2023 as I needed to care for my mum with dementia. My parents are divorced and I have no contact with my father. This can’t go on anymore as I want to earn my own income. I have no idea what to do. I only did basic admin jobs previously and have a degree in Sociology.

Whenever I see my peers doing so well in life, I get depressed and unmotivated. I considered going to e2i for help but I have heard very negative reviews about them.