Stories you might’ve missed, Dec 15

Singapore sporting dreams collide with national service

Calvin Cheng broke records in his native Singapore, and his career as a long jumper was starting to take off internationally. But then came national service.

Now 31 and a lawyer, Cheng can’t help but wonder what could have been: “Unfortunately, I just wasn’t able to get the time off to train. That was when I decided that it just wasn’t worth it, and that was when I gave up,” Cheng told AFP by telephone.

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S’pore residential properties to see persistent price growth, tapering supply and rising interest in 2022: PropertyGuru

Singapore — Singapore’s residential property sector is expected to see persistent price growth, tapering supply and increasing interest rates in 2022, said popular property website PropertyGuru.

The property sector has displayed incredible resilience in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic but may need to contend with developing macroeconomic and property supply trends in 2022, said the website in its annual report of the country’s property market outlook.

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ISD releases Singaporean who spied for China

Singapore — Nearly a year after Dickson Yeo was deported from the US, the Singaporean who had acted as a paid agent of China has been released from detention.

Yeo, 40, had been sentenced to two years’ jail in the US and was detained by the Internal Security Department (ISD) on Dec 30, 2020, on his return.

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MOH: ‘No plans yet’ to require vaccination-differentiated safe measures for kids 12 & younger

Singapore — Children who are 12 years old and younger won’t be subject to vaccination-differentiated safe management (VDS) measures.

The Health Ministry said on Tuesday (Dec 14) that there are currently no plans to introduce VDS measures for this age group. In a press release, the ministry said “The focus now is to ensure our children are well protected by vaccination”.

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Teen pranks he had COVID-19 on Instagram, friend and his mates in NS training isolated, training disrupted

Singapore —  Siew Han Tong thought it would be fun to post photos of himself in a hospital bed, pretending he had Covid-19 and was going to die. But it ended up with some serious consequences for the prankster.

Siew, 19, has been put on probation for nine months. This means he must remain indoors between 11 pm and 6 am and perform 40 hours of community service. His parents have had to put up a $5,000 bond to ensure that he behaves during the probation period.

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