SINGAPORE: A video showing a man digging up a large crab at Yishun Dam has gone viral online, racking up over 633,000 views on TikTok and drawing a flurry of reactions ranging from admiration to skepticism and criticism.
The video, originally posted on March 29 by TikTok user @crabhuntersg — who identifies himself as “Ah Toan” — was later reposted to Facebook by SG Daily, sparking renewed interest and heated discussion.
In the clip, Ah Toan is seen spotting a sizable crab buried in the sand before digging it out and grabbing it by its pincers. He then tosses it onto the sand, picks it up again, this time by the back of its shell, and displays it to the camera. The crab, reportedly weighing about 800 grams, appeared unharmed.
While some viewers were impressed by the dramatic catch, others questioned its authenticity.
Comments flooded in, with many speculating the video had been staged. “Don’t bluff lah… you put the crab there,” one commenter wrote. Another added, “I recognise this crab!! It was still at Sheng Siong Supermarket at Yishun yesterday in the morning.”
Critics also took aim at the motivation behind posting such content. One Facebook user commented: “These people have a bird’s brain, wanting to post everything. If you want to catch the crab, just do it and keep quiet.”
Despite the backlash, Ah Toan appears unfazed. His TikTok profile features a string of similar videos documenting his crab-hunting excursions across Singapore. The bio on his account simply reads: “I like hunting crab.”
Mr Thng, who was fielded by the WP as part of its slate at Tampines GRC in last month’s General Election, appears to have made quite a good impression with many in Singapore, to the point that some expected him to take a more visible place within the party.
On Wednesday (June 18), the WP announced that its four new Members of Parliament— Sengkang MP Abdul Muhaimin, Aljunied MP Kenneth Tiong, and Non-Constituency MPs Eileen Chong and Andre Low—had been co-opted into its Central Executive Committee (CEC).
The party also said that Ms Chong was its new Youth Wing head, taking over from Sengkang MP Jamus Lim.
Many of the commenters online praised the WP for its leadership renewal, especially since party chair Sylvia Lim turned 60 earlier this year, and speculation has spread that she may only contest in one more GE.
A lot of netizens expressed approval of Ms Chong’s new role in the party, saying that the 33-year-old is in the right place to represent the youth and begin to get ready for even bigger leadership roles.
He had also performed well during a televised debate prior to the May 3 polls.
“What about Michael Thng?” a commenter asked.
“Why didn’t (the WP) include Michael Thng into the CEC,” another wanted to know, opining that Mr Thng is “brilliant in talking.”
“I think Michael Thng should be with Eileen Choong to promote more youth to join the WP,” wrote a Facebook user.
On Reddit, one asked, “Michael Thng no more?”
A commenter answered that “Historically, the WP has voted their sitting parliamentarians into their CEC,“ but added, “have to follow their socials to see if Michael is still on the ground, I hope he is. The ground game for GE2030 has already started.”
When one wondered if he had gone back to the United States, another replied that Mr Thng had just helped out at the Meet the People Session of Sengkang MP He Ting Ru the night before.
Mr Thng, the chief operating officer of a tech start-up, has been volunteering with the WP for at least 15 years.
“I was always struck by his passion for Singapore, for our democratic processes, and how despite spending much time in the US, he would always fly back to be involved in election campaigns,” wrote Ms He in a social media post in April, adding that Mr Thng had gone with her when she contested at Marine Parade for GE2015 and then again at Sengkang for GE2020./TISG
SINGAPORE: After it was announced on Wednesday (Jun 18) that Prime Minister (PM) Lawrence Wong will be delivering the National Day Rally speech on Aug 17, commenters online expressed what they were looking forward to or expected from it.
The PM’s Office said that the speech will be held at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College Central in Ang Mo Kio.
This is the second time Mr Wong will be giving the speech, and the first since Singapore handed the People’s Action Party (PAP) a very strong mandate in last month’s General Election.
The speech is widely recognised to be the most significant political one of the year, since important policy announcements are made.
In last year’s speech, PM Wong made announcements concerning SkillsFuture, public housing, and other social support measures.
This year, based on comments online, a number of Singaporeans appear to expect more announcements about vouchers.
One Facebook user, perhaps mostly in jest, wrote that they expected the speech to be “50% about vouchers.”
A Reddit user decided to play it twee, writing “Papa Wong, I want more vouchers.”
Others, however, decided to take things more seriously, and more than a few netizens across various social media platforms expressed hope for a rollback on the Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike.
For one, however, public housing was high on their wish list.
“I just want affordable housing for young and future Singaporeans. Million-dollar public housing while the youth struggle with one of the worst job markets in history,” they wrote.
“Housing, housing, housing. The snowball keeps growing bigger,” another agreed.
A commenter on Reddit was also concerned about jobs, writing, “Please do something to prevent companies /jobs from leaving. Once they leave, they can only return back to our shores in next five to 10 years given the investments and commitment of their contracts in the countries they relocate to, so what will happen to us during these years, eat grass?”
For one Facebook user, meanwhile, wi-fi costs are a big concern.
“Your speech should include reducing internet, WiFi Data cost for the people. Currently, it is just too high. Many competitors in the market, but all are game to con and swindle the people money. First month price is good. Second month, they just increase it like crazy…We want you to address these issues if we are to move forward Sir.” /TISG
One in three students at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) is a foreigner. The attraction is clear: NUS ranks fourth globally—behind only the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Stanford, and Carnegie Mellon—in computer science and information systems in the 2025 QS World University Rankings By Subject. In electrical and electronic engineering, both NUS and NTU share the fourth spot with Harvard, trailing just MIT, Stanford, and the University of California, Berkeley, according to the same source.
Either or both of the universities excel in other fields as well, including law, medicine, and architecture. With their strong showing in the 2026 QS World University Rankings, could NUS and NTU be seen as the Oxford and Cambridge of Asia?
Sticklers may disagree, and not without reason. For one, NUS and NTU are located far closer together than the dreaming spires of Oxford are to Cambridge. More importantly, they cannot yet rival the rich Oxbridge tradition in the arts and humanities. Still, in many other fields, they are catching up—or have already overtaken—and that progress is clearly reflected in the rankings.
NUS and NTU are ranked eighth and 12th respectively, just behind Oxford and Cambridge, which come in at fourth and sixth. The strong performance of Singapore’s universities is no longer a novelty. This marks the third consecutive year NUS has held eighth place. NTU, which ranked 15th in 2025, has returned to 12th, a position it surpassed in 2018 and 2020 when it ranked 11th. Splitting the two Singapore institutions in this year’s rankings is the University of Hong Kong at 11th.
NUS is the only Asian university in the global top 10. The only other non-Anglo-American presence is ETH Zurich of Switzerland, in seventh. The broader Asia-Pacific region has a growing presence in the top 20: China’s Peking University and Tsinghua University are ranked 14th and 17th, while Australia’s University of Melbourne and the University of New South Wales are 19th and 20th.
NUS, NTU: Areas of excellence
The Singapore universities are no longer known solely for their engineering prowess. NUS ranks 10th globally in law—making it the only non-Anglo-American university in the top 10 for legal studies. NTU stands at 82nd. In medicine, NUS ranks 18th—the highest for any Asian university—while NTU is 84th.
NTU, however, shines in communication and media studies, coming in fourth behind the University of Amsterdam, Harvard, and the University of Texas at Austin. NUS ranks 14th in this field.
NTU also ranks in the top 10 in the following areas: Mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering (fourth), data science and artificial intelligence (fifth), computer science and information systems (sixth), chemistry (eighth), and education and training (eighth).
While Oxford and Cambridge still reign supreme in the arts and humanities, NUS is gaining ground. It ranks second globally in art history, eighth in linguistics, ninth in architecture, 15th in English language and literature, and 17th in history.
NUS is also in the top 10 in the following areas: Civil and structural engineering (third), chemical engineering (fourth), marketing (sixth), data science and artificial intelligence (seventh), chemistry (seventh), business and management studies (eighth), mechanical, aeronautical and manufacturing engineering, mathematics (ninth), politics (10th), environmental sciences (10th) and statistics and operational research (10th).
This academic success is underpinned by scale and diversity. With over 33,000 students, NUS has the second-largest student body among the top 10 universities—trailing only University College London, which has over 45,000 students. NTU has more than 25,000 students.
International students and staff
International students and staff contribute significantly to the success of both institutions. Foreigners make up 36% of the student body at NUS and 33% at NTU. The faculty is even more international, with 65% of staff at both universities coming from overseas.
In comparison, Harvard has around 24,300 students, including 6,700 international students, and over 4,400 faculty and staff, only 27% of whom are international. Oxford has over 22,000 students, more than 9,000 of them from abroad, and 6,500 faculty and staff, with 44% from overseas.
The international students and staff carry weight in the QS World University Rankings.
QS applies the following weightage when ranking universities:
Academic reputation: 30%
Citations per faculty: 20%
Employer reputation: 15%
Employment outcomes: 5%
Faculty-student ratio: 10%
International faculty ratio: 5%
International research network: 5%
International student ratio: 5%
International student diversity: 0%
Sustainability: 5%
There’s an old story about Benjamin Jowett, the 19th-century Master of Balliol College, Oxford, who once declared, “I am the Master of this College; what I don’t know isn’t knowledge.” Today, such a claim would be inconceivable. From NUS to NTU, Oxford to Harvard, the global groves of academe are constantly striving for the next breakthrough, the next frontier of knowledge.
Top 20 in QS World University Rankings 2026:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Imperial College London
Stanford University
University of Oxford
Harvard University
University of Cambridge
ETH Zurich
National University of Singapore
University College London
California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
University of Hong Kong
Nanyang Technological University
University of Chicago
Peking University
University of Pennsylvania
Cornell University
Tsinghua University
University of California, Berkeley
University of Melbourne
University of New South Wales
Featured image from Wikimedia Commons (for illustration purposes only)
ISKANDAR PUTERI, MALAYSIA: Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim vowed that Malaysia will make necessary adjustments, “if absolutely necessary,” based on feedback from foreign investors on the development of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ) to make Malaysia “a very attractive destination for foreign investments.”
Speaking at the two-day Nikkei Forum Medini, Johor 2025, PM Anwar pitched the JS-SEZ project, “based on total trust” between Malaysia and Singapore, touting foreign investors to invest in the opportunity, as reported by Nikkei Asia.
“This is not an ordinary SEZ,” he said. “Name me any other economic zone that involves two countries based on total trust and working together as a team.”
Johor’s Chief Minister, Onn Hafiz Ghazi, who was also at the forum, shared that investment in his state has been “surging.” He said Johor attracted RM30.1 billion (S$9.12 billion) in investment during the first three months of 2025, nearly seven times the RM4.1 billion recorded in the same period last year.
“This amount took nine months to achieve last year, and it has been achieved just in three months in 2025,” the chief minister said, adding that this reflects the trust of both local and foreign investors in Johor.
He also mentioned that from January to May, Johor’s Invest Malaysia Facilitation Centre had secured committed investments worth RM16.71 billion, with another RM26.18 billion in potential investments being considered by 47 foreign and 10 local investors. The centre is responsible for guiding businesses into the SEZ.
Japan’s ambassador to Malaysia, Noriyuki Shikata, said it is “essential” to address the pressing issue of traffic congestion in Johor, as it will not only hamper economic activity but will also waste energy, harm the environment, and increase accident risks.
In response, PM Anwar said, “We should be very dynamic and make adjustments wherever necessary.” /TISG
SINGAPORE: A man took to social media to complain about the “insects” that he found in the food his company driver had bought for dinner. Commenters, however, told him that they looked more like maggots, which begin to appear when food is spoiled. They also urged him to contact the relevant authorities.
On the popular COMPLAINT SINGAPORE page on Thursday (Jun 19), the man wrote that the food had been ordered from a certain stall at 7 Kaki Bukit Avenue 3, which is located near the Kaki Bukit Recreation Centre.
“This shop our company driver (buys) food for dinner. Many insects were found inside the stomach of the fish being eaten. No one can eat after seeing this fishy insect,” he added.
He also posted a photo of the meal, which showed a piece of fish on a bed of rice. However, on the fish were many small cylindrical-shaped items that looked different from the rice. The post author circled these in red to indicate that these were the insects he had found.
Screengrab/ COMPLAINT SINGAPORE
On his post, he added a receipt from the meal as well. It was not itemized, but simply said “makan,” for which the person who ordered paid S$49.
Screengrab/ COMPLAINT SINGAPORE
The post author also included a picture of the stall. A quick online search confirms that the stall has been registered since at least 2023 to sell cooked food and prepared drinks at Kaki Bukit Recreation Centre. It has no social media accounts or website, however.
Facebook users who commented on the post appeared to be as horrified as the post’s author.
“This is a very serious issue,” wrote one.
“Wow! Those are not insects. Looks more like maggots,” exclaimed another.
“Oh no, so many maggots!” a netizen wrote.
One could hardly believe the food had been purchased in Singapore.
Some urged the post author to report the matter to the National Environment Agency (NEA) and the Singapore Food Agency (SFA). At the same time, one commenter suggested that the stall owner should be informed about the spoiled food. The SFA oversees food safety in Singapore, while the NEA manages many hawker centres, including ensuring public health issues, cleanliness, and maintenance.
While maggots themselves are generally not harmful, they are killed by stomach acid. However, in some cases, people who have ingested maggots have gotten bacterial infections. It’s the spoiled food where maggots are found that commonly poses a greater danger when eaten, as it could lead to food poisoning, which can cause nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
The Independent Singapore has reached out to the post author for further comments or updates. /TISG
WELTKLASSE ZURICH: The Wanda Diamond League has been one of the significant events in the world of track and field since 2010. It is a series of one-day meetings that comprises 15 events in global track and field, held across four continents and 13 different countries to reach athletes and fans all around the world.
How does the series work?
Athletes from 32 disciplines will compete from April to September and will garner points at the 14 series meetings to qualify for the two-day Wanda Diamond League Final event.
By the end of each series meeting, participating athletes will be awarded 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, or 1 points, based on their ranking, from first to eighth, respectively.The top six in the field events, the top eight in the 100-m to 800-m categories, and the top 10 in the 1500-m and long-distance events will be eligible to continue and compete at the Final. Moreover, one athlete may also qualify as a national or global wildcard from each discipline.
If there is a tiebreaker, the athlete with the best performance of the season is ranked higher and will be awarded a spot. In the case of throws and horizontal jumps, the “Final 3” format will be used in all series meetings, excluding the Wanda Diamond League Final.
Here is the qualification points for each series meeting:
Place
Points
1st
8
2nd
7
3rd
6
4th
5
5th
4
6th
3
7th
2
8th
1
What to expect from the Wanda Diamond League Final?
The 2025 Wanda Diamond League Final will take place on August 27 and 28 at Weltklasse Zurich. Each champion will receive the iconic Diamond Trophy and a wildcard for the World Athletics Championships, given certain conditions.
Furthermore, the league will have a total of US$9.24 million (S$12.47 million) prize money. In each of the 14 regular series meetings, the prize money will be US$500,000, and the prize money at the Wanda Diamond League Final will be US$2.24 million. Per discipline, the prize money would be between US$30,000 and US$50,000 at the series meetings and US$60,000 and US$100,000 at the Final.
Here is the calendar of events for the 2025 Wanda Diamond League:
April 26
Xiamen (CHN)
May 3
Shanghai/Keqiao
May 16
Doha (QAT)
May 25
Rabat (MAR)
June 6
Rome (ITA)
June 12
Oslo (NOR)
June 15
Stockholm (SWE)
June 20
Paris (FRA)
July 5
Eugene (USA)
July 11
Monaco (MON)
July 19
London (GBR)
August 16
Silesia (POL)
August 20
Lausanne (SIU)
August 22
Brussels (BEL)
August 27-28
Zurich (SUI)
To know more about the current results, standings, disciplines per meeting, statistics of participating athletes, and ticket availability for the remaining events, you may visit Wanda Diamond League’s website here.
Petra Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion and former World No. 2 in rankings, recently announced her retirement this season, specifically after the US Open. This will end her remarkable career spanning for over a decade.
On social media, the athlete expressed: “I’ve been privileged to reach incredible heights over the past 19 years since becoming a professional tennis player. From winning my two Wimbledon Championships, bringing home six Billie Jean King Cup trophies for the Czech Republic, reaching the world #2 ranking and so much more. I have accomplished more than I could have ever imagined and I am so grateful to everything that tennis has given me all these years.”
She added: “While no such decision is ever easy to make, for me this is a happy moment! I will leave the sport with the biggest smile on my face – the same smile you’ve seen from me on and off court throughout my whole career.”
Netizens expressed their support by commenting on the post. One netizen admitted: “Gonna miss you Petra. I hope you enjoy your next chapter as much as we’ve enjoyed being part of these recent chapter in your life. You’ve been an incredible champion and a true inspiration to so many. Thank you”.
Another netizen declared: “Congratulations on a wonderful career. It has been a pleasure to watch. May you succeed in everything you go onto in the next phase of your life.”
More netizens stated: “We will miss you Petra! Time to enjoy that family. You’ll shine in anything you do!”, “God bless your future Petra. It’s been a joy watching you”, and “Inspiring! Fearless fighter, the best attitude in every match, brilliant player. You will be missed”
Kvitova’s impressive tennis career
At the age of 21, Petra Kvitova won her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon by beating Maria Sharapova with a final scoreline of 6–3, 6–4. She became the first player born in the 1990s to win a major.
That same year, Kvitova dominated the WTA Finals in her debut. She won all five matches and defeated Victoria Azarenka in the final.
In 2014, Kvitova returned to Wimbledon’s final and defeated Eugenie Bouchard with a final scoreline of 6–3, 6–0.
Between 2011 and 2018, Kvitova was a key player for the Czech Republic’s Fed Cup team, helping the squad win six titles with a record of 30 wins and 10 losses.
The athlete also made a name on the clay court in Madrid, winning the tournament three times (2011, 2015, 2018). This record was later matched by Aryna Sabalenka. In her sporting career, she won nine WTA 1000 titles.
Kvitova then won her 30th title at the Miami Open later in her career by winning against Elena Rybakina. She added a 31st title in Berlin that same summer, defeating Donna Vekic on grass court.
The company offshored roles in Singapore, mainly from its technology and operations teams, according to eFinancialCareers. However, this may just be the beginning of a broader restructuring, sources at the bank have said.
In a post on r/askSingapore, u/piggyb0nk wrote, “What are you doing to protect yourself from offshoring?”
They explained that they work with several tech teams, and the majority of the roles are contracted out to companies based in India, Vietnam, and the Philippines. They described the workers they’ve met from these countries as “REALLY GOOD” – experienced, able to speak “decent” English, and known to perform well.
The post author added that they’ve discovered that these workers are paid only “a fraction” of what their Singapore counterparts make.
“The company actually has no logical business keeping me on – most of the local team here could be eliminated and contractors hired offshore,” the post author wrote, adding, “I’ve found that upskilling isn’t really helpful because there will be many people equally or better skilled who can demand less – so I have trying to work toward a career path that takes me up into management as quickly as possible to achieve some level of stability.”
They also asked what others are doing to protect themselves from offshoring.
“I work in IT with physical sites, part of my hiring was to have an engineer near the sites in case something happens. This helps to justify my hiring,” wrote one, adding, “I also volunteer to travel to any nearby countries if required. (My career has sent me to Japan, Indo, msia, India, etc). This offers our passport visa-free advantages to our employers.
“In my case, I try not to compete with 3rd world salaries but with 1st world salaries. We can earn the same or slightly less than Americans or Europeans and still have a higher purchasing power due to our lower taxes.”
“Be a revenue driver or a critical component of revenue-driving teams. Nobody’s doing sales out of India. The corporate mindset now is front-end based in Singapore (for that income tax) and backend based in a satellite office.
“Find ways to value-add. If you’re an expensive/senior role at a cost centre unit, sorry but your time is ticking. Be visible, find ways to value add. Your roles are the juiciest when a bunch of old white men sit in a boardroom and go through lists of who to retrench because soft benefits like efficiency don’t show up in KPI data all the way up,” contributed another.
Some advised that taking jobs in healthcare, education, security, or the civil service are likely to be safer from offshoring, and others said that the post author could move to a country where the cost of living is cheaper.
Another chimed in that they’re accumulating assets in case they are let go.
“It’s easier and much more productive to make ourselves less dependent on the job for a living. That way, if offshoring really happens to the job, it will suck but not matter as much. Also, at some point in time, like it or not, we have to retire.”
Interestingly, one commenter did not answer the question but pointed to high rental rates and how these affect salaries as a key part of the problem.
“The issue is the sky-high rent and rent-seeking behavior. High wages in SG, but most of the wage goes towards landlords (whether directly in the form of mortgage or rental payments or indirectly in the form of higher prices, etc). This perpetuates a wage-price spiral (high prices so workers demand higher salaries, which then lead to high prices), which prices us out from competitors without any real benefit to Singaporeans who are spending locally. It’s great for people working SGD and spending elsewhere, eg, Malaysians /foreigners who send money back home,” they wrote. /TISG
SINGAPORE: A man went on record earlier this week to shine a spotlight on a stringent tenancy agreement that caused him and his girlfriend to move out in just one month.
Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Ye Guohua said that he wanted to warn others to prevent them from making the same mistake he had.
Mr Ye wrote that although he and his girlfriend had only moved in in May, they already transferred from the room they rented in Bedok by June 4, as they were no longer willing to put up with the overly strict contract from their landlord.
The 48-year-old mobile phone shop worker said he found a room advertised at Block 529 Bedok North Street 3 on Facebook. The rental price was listed as $1,050.
Finding this to be reasonable, he and his girlfriend rented the room.
It did not take long, however, until their new digs started feeling like a nightmare.
Telling the Chinese-language daily that he had not realised the landlord would be so strict, he added, “It felt like I was in prison.”
Mr Ye admitted he and his girlfriend had failed to pay close attention to the tenancy agreement which had at least 20 rules. The property agent did not draw attention to it or warn them about it either.
According to the landlord’s rules, Mr Ye and his girlfriend, along with the other tenants, needed to clear the floor of the toilet of every single strand of hair after they used it. They were also not allowed to leave their soap or shampoo in the bathroom. Also, tenants were only allowed to use the washing machine on Fridays.
While the landlord may have had their reasons for the rules above, some seemed rather bizarre, including tenants not being allowed to use their mobile phones or talk loudly in the living room.
They were also not to switch on the living room light, and Mr Ye had to resort to buying a flashlight so he could get to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
When the landlord felt that the household rules were being disobeyed, they would text the tenants to scold them at 3 or 4 am.
The hardest thing for Mr Ye was that there were three CCTV cameras within the flat, with one directly outside the toilet.
“We were being monitored all the time,” he told Shin Min Daily News.
Fed up, the couple left. Unfortunately, they were allegedly unable to get back their full deposit, receiving only half (S$500) because the landlord claimed they allowed one of the movers to use the bathroom on the day they moved out.
The landlord said this was in breach of their tenancy agreement. A message allegedly from the landlord that Mr Ye showed the Chinese-language daily reads, “The house toilet is not a public toilet, and breaking the TA is supposed to deduct the full deposit.” /TISG
