Over 1.5 million Singaporeans to receive GST Voucher cash payouts in August; Star Awards glory for Christopher Lee with four gongs: Singapore live news

Yahoo

6 days ago

Singapore's GST Voucher scheme will see more than 1.5 million eligible Singaporean adults receive up to $850 cash next month while about 690,000 seniors will also receive up to $450 in MediSave top-ups in August. "A total of $1.5 billion will be disbursed under the GSTV – Cash and GSTV – MediSave schemes, as part of the permanent GST Voucher scheme this year. This is on top of the other support that Singaporeans will receive in Financial Year 2025," said Ministry of Finance (MOF) in a press note on 7 July.
Christopher Lee won four awards at the grand 30th anniversary of the Star Awards on Sunday (6 July). The Malaysian-born local star picked up Best Actor for 'Kill Sera Sera' while the second season of his variety cooking show ('Dishing with Chris Lee') earned him wins for Best Programme Host and Best Entertainment Programme. Lee was also presented a Special Achievement Award during Singapore's biggest night in local Mandarin entertainment.
Read more in our live blog below, including the latest local and international news and updates.
More than 1.5 million eligible Singaporean adults will receive up to $850 cash in August as part of the GST Voucher scheme, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on 7 July.
Singaporeans aged 21 and above in 2025 with assessable incomes of up to $39,000 and living in homes with annual values of up to $21,000 will receive $850. For those whose homes have annual values of between $21,000 and $31,000, they will receive $450.
Around 690,000 seniors will also receive up to $450 in MediSave top-ups next month.
MOF said eligible recipients will automatically receive their payments from 6 August, if they have signed up for these schemes previously.
You can find out more about the process of the GST Voucher – Cash and GST Voucher – Medisave schemes, here.
The High Court has ordered an Instagram seller, who sold fake Louis Vuitton items as authentic, to pay $200,000 in damages to the luxury giant for trademark infringements.
The sum, as reported by the Straits Times, was far less than the $2.9 million in damages LV was claiming against IG seller Ng Hoe Seng.
Ng had initially used IG account 'emcase_sg' to run his operation but later shifted to 'emcrafts_sg' when LV issued a cease-and-desist letter in March 2023 following a sting operation by the French fashion house.
The company then filed a lawsuit against Ng in August 2023 after a second sting operation uncovered his continued illegal practices using counterfeit LV goods.
Justice Dedar Singh Gill, in his judgement, explained the "defendant's modus operandi when it came to promoting his products was to re-post Instagram posts and/or stories by customers who had purchased his products... ostensibly with the aim of thanking them and showing off their rave reviews."
He added that Ng had 'deployed his coterie of 'influencers' to propagate the misrepresentation about his 'authentic' products more widely to his followers and the public at large'.
More details on the case in the ST report, here.
Christopher Lee's star shone the brightest on a night of glitz and glamour at the 30th anniversary of the Star Awards (6 July).
Lee was named Best Actor at Singapore's biggest award show for local Mandarin entertainment, in recognition for his stellar work in 'Kill Sera Sera'. Additionally, the second season of Lee's variety cooking show 'Dishing with Chris Lee' earned the actor awards for Best Programme Host and Best Entertainment Programme.
Lee, who is married to actress Fann Wong, was also honoured with a Special Achievement Award. "You received this award a long time ago. You are my inspiration and motivation," Lee said in tribute to Fann during his acceptance speech. And he reserved special mention for their 10-year-old son, Zed: "I want to raise you to be a good person. Thank you for being my son."
Other major winners on the night included Jessica Hsuan, who won Best Actress for her work alongside Lee in 'Kill Sera Sera', while Chen Hanwei picked up the Best Supporting Actor ('Unforgivable') and Cynthia Koh was Best Supporting Actress ('Hope Afloat').
You can see the full list of winners for the Star Awards 2025, here.
Iconic Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fat was in Singapore as a presenter at the Star Awards (6 July).
Channel News Asia caught up with the HK legend on the sidelines of the show, asking him a few questions about his activities in Singapore.
Chow, who is married to Singaporean Jasmine Tan, revealed to the outlet that he doesn't go to any shopping centres as he prefers to spend his time eating at hawker centres. "Singapore – what places can I go to? I just sleep and go to the markets and eat," he was quoted as saying.
The hawker centres Chow likes to visit includes Old Airport Road Food Centre, Newton Food Centre, Maxwell Food Centre and Lau Pa Sat. He also shared that he prefers eating chicken rice and his favourite is from Maxwell.
"Every hawker centre has their specialty," he said. "Sometimes I go to seven, eight hawker centres and eat a bit at every one."
The actor also spoke about his favourite Singlish catchphrases during his chat with CNA.
A 35-year-old man was killed when the van he was driving hit a tipper truck in Seletar West Link on 6 July.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said the driver of the van was pronounced dead at the scene by one of its paramedics.
The accident occured along Seletar West Link towards Yishun Avenue 1 at about 10.05am, according to reports. Photos the fatal accident have been circulating online and show a blue tent, used by police to cover a body, at the site.
Police investigations are ongoing.
A 50-year-old Australian woman has been found guilty of using meals laced with poisonous mushrooms to murder three elderly relatives of her estranged husband, and attempting to murder a fourth victim.
Erin Patterson has been charged with the murders of her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, who is Heather's husband.
The meal took place at Erin's home – in the state of Victoria – where she served the four victims individual servings of Beef Wellington that contained death cap mushrooms. The guests ate their meals off four large grey dinner plates, while Erin ate from a smaller, tan-coloured plate, the court heard.
Erin's estranged husband Simon Patterson was also invited to the lunch and initially accepted but later declined, it was revealed.
More explanation on the mushroom murder trial, here.
Tamil Murasu celebrated a significant milestone over the weekend as the local daily marked an incredible 90th anniversary.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam attended the event on 6 July along with a number of MPs who all came together to salute Tamil Murasu's achievement as one of the oldest Tamil-language newspapers in the world.
Tamil Murasu is published by SPH Media and its success aligns with Singapore's deep commitment to multiculturalism, said Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo.
Acting Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Faishal Ibrahim was also at the dinner and he, in a Facebook post, congratulated the paper for 90 years of service. "I thank Tamil Murasu for continuously supporting and covering important issues close to the hearts of readers including the Indian/Muslim community such as the development of Indian/Muslim asatizah, Islamic education and part-time madrasah, mosques, and wakaf projects," he said.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose an additional 10% tariff on any countries aligning themselves with the "Anti-American policies" of BRICS group.
The organisation includes original members Brazil, Russia, India and China as well as South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Trump appeared to be responding to the opening remarks at the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro where the group continued its criticism of Trump's tariff policies as well as proposing reforms to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and how major currencies are valued.
"Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump did not specify which "Anti-American policies" he was referencing in his post.
A recent Yahoo poll asked readers to comment on data that showed there are 45,300 vacancies in Singapore paying a median monthly salary of $7,300.
Over 50% of almost 2,100 votes (2,096 votes at press time) expressed their skepticism of the claims believing the jobs were not real. However, 40% of the vote indicated their belief the $7.3k PMET jobs were real and legit.
The poll is still open and you can vote here
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Midas Promotions (@midaspromotions)
American rock group My Chemical Romance are set to play the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 28 April next year as part of an anticipated tour of the region.
Incheon, South Korea - Paradise City Culture Park (18 April)
Bangkok, Thailand - IMPACT Challenger Hall (22 April)
Bulacan, Philippines - Philippine Arena (25 April)
Singapore - Indoor Stadium (28 April)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - National Stadium Bukit Jalil (30 April)
Jakarta, Indonesia - Hammersonic Festiva (3 May)
Tickets for the Singapore concert will go on sale at 10am on 11 July (Friday) via Sistic with prices ranging between $148 and $328.
The band last played in Singapore almost 20 years ago in 2007.
Construction works for Phase 2 of the Cross Island Line (CRL) – Singapore's eighth and longest fully underground MRT line – has officially begun.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) made the announcement on 7 July adding that Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow was on site at the future CRL Clementi station to officiate the ground-breaking ceremony.
Phase 2 of the CRL is targeted for completion by 2032 and includes six underground stations. CRL King Albert Park station and CRL Clementi station will be interchange stations which connect to the Downtown Line (DTL) and East-West Line (EWL) respectively.
The King Albert Park interchange station will stretch 50-metres deep and become Singapore's deepest station when completed, according to LTA.
More details on Phase 2 of the Cross Island Line, here.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says US President Donald Trump deserves credit for pushing the 32-nation members to spend more of their gross domestic product on defence.
Rutte's praise of Trump's commitment to NATO came in a recent interview with The New York Times where he also highlighted the dangers of the current political climate and how World War III might be sparked.
The former Dutch Prime Minister suggested that Chinese leader Xi Jinping could attempt to seize Taiwan while simultaneously urging Vladimir Putin to launch Russian attacks on NATO territory.
"Let's not be naïve about this," Rutte said. "If Xi Jinping would attack Taiwan, he would first make sure that he makes a call to his very junior partner in all of this, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, residing in Moscow, and telling him, 'Hey, I'm going to do this, and I need you to keep them busy in Europe by attacking NATO territory.' That is most likely the way this will progress," he said.
SG Rutte has clearly gorged on too many of the magic mushrooms beloved by the Dutch. He sees collusion between China & Russia over Taiwan, and then a Russian attack on Europe. But he's right about one thing: he should learn Russian. It might come in handy in a Siberian camp
— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) July 5, 2025
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has rejected Rutte's comments in a post on X.
A 57-year-old female passenger on SMRT bus service 190 was taken to hospital after a bottle was thrown at the vehicle on 5 July.
The incident occured in Orchard Road just before 7pm and left a hole in a window of the double-decker bus. Bloodstains were reportedly also seen near the bus door.
The injured passenger was conscious when she was taken to Raffles Hospital, said the police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
Investigations are ongoing.
Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng has advised MPs to focus on asking questions that improve the lives of Singaporeans – and not to get caught up in a numbers game.
Seah, in an interview with the Straits Times, had noted the trend of more parliamentary questions being filed in the previous term which set new records on the number of sittings, ministerial statements delivered and other kinds of speeches. "I hope we don't get to a point where MPs are filing questions for the sake of clocking numbers – I think that is not necessary and not very productive," Seah was quoted as saying.
"Each hour spent in Parliament, if everyone turns up, is 100 man-hours... which is why we do want to make sure time is spent productively for everyone," he added.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong intends to propose Seah's election as Speaker when Parliament reopens on 5 September.
More than 1.5 million eligible Singaporean adults will receive up to $850 cash in August as part of the GST Voucher scheme, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on 7 July.
Singaporeans aged 21 and above in 2025 with assessable incomes of up to $39,000 and living in homes with annual values of up to $21,000 will receive $850. For those whose homes have annual values of between $21,000 and $31,000, they will receive $450.
Around 690,000 seniors will also receive up to $450 in MediSave top-ups next month.
MOF said eligible recipients will automatically receive their payments from 6 August, if they have signed up for these schemes previously.
You can find out more about the process of the GST Voucher – Cash and GST Voucher – Medisave schemes, here.
The High Court has ordered an Instagram seller, who sold fake Louis Vuitton items as authentic, to pay $200,000 in damages to the luxury giant for trademark infringements.
The sum, as reported by the Straits Times, was far less than the $2.9 million in damages LV was claiming against IG seller Ng Hoe Seng.
Ng had initially used IG account 'emcase_sg' to run his operation but later shifted to 'emcrafts_sg' when LV issued a cease-and-desist letter in March 2023 following a sting operation by the French fashion house.
The company then filed a lawsuit against Ng in August 2023 after a second sting operation uncovered his continued illegal practices using counterfeit LV goods.
Justice Dedar Singh Gill, in his judgement, explained the "defendant's modus operandi when it came to promoting his products was to re-post Instagram posts and/or stories by customers who had purchased his products... ostensibly with the aim of thanking them and showing off their rave reviews."
He added that Ng had 'deployed his coterie of 'influencers' to propagate the misrepresentation about his 'authentic' products more widely to his followers and the public at large'.
More details on the case in the ST report, here.
Christopher Lee's star shone the brightest on a night of glitz and glamour at the 30th anniversary of the Star Awards (6 July).
Lee was named Best Actor at Singapore's biggest award show for local Mandarin entertainment, in recognition for his stellar work in 'Kill Sera Sera'. Additionally, the second season of Lee's variety cooking show 'Dishing with Chris Lee' earned the actor awards for Best Programme Host and Best Entertainment Programme.
Lee, who is married to actress Fann Wong, was also honoured with a Special Achievement Award. "You received this award a long time ago. You are my inspiration and motivation," Lee said in tribute to Fann during his acceptance speech. And he reserved special mention for their 10-year-old son, Zed: "I want to raise you to be a good person. Thank you for being my son."
Other major winners on the night included Jessica Hsuan, who won Best Actress for her work alongside Lee in 'Kill Sera Sera', while Chen Hanwei picked up the Best Supporting Actor ('Unforgivable') and Cynthia Koh was Best Supporting Actress ('Hope Afloat').
You can see the full list of winners for the Star Awards 2025, here.
Iconic Hong Kong actor Chow Yun Fat was in Singapore as a presenter at the Star Awards (6 July).
Channel News Asia caught up with the HK legend on the sidelines of the show, asking him a few questions about his activities in Singapore.
Chow, who is married to Singaporean Jasmine Tan, revealed to the outlet that he doesn't go to any shopping centres as he prefers to spend his time eating at hawker centres. "Singapore – what places can I go to? I just sleep and go to the markets and eat," he was quoted as saying.
The hawker centres Chow likes to visit includes Old Airport Road Food Centre, Newton Food Centre, Maxwell Food Centre and Lau Pa Sat. He also shared that he prefers eating chicken rice and his favourite is from Maxwell.
"Every hawker centre has their specialty," he said. "Sometimes I go to seven, eight hawker centres and eat a bit at every one."
The actor also spoke about his favourite Singlish catchphrases during his chat with CNA.
A 35-year-old man was killed when the van he was driving hit a tipper truck in Seletar West Link on 6 July.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said the driver of the van was pronounced dead at the scene by one of its paramedics.
The accident occured along Seletar West Link towards Yishun Avenue 1 at about 10.05am, according to reports. Photos the fatal accident have been circulating online and show a blue tent, used by police to cover a body, at the site.
Police investigations are ongoing.
A 50-year-old Australian woman has been found guilty of using meals laced with poisonous mushrooms to murder three elderly relatives of her estranged husband, and attempting to murder a fourth victim.
Erin Patterson has been charged with the murders of her mother-in-law Gail Patterson, father-in-law Donald Patterson and Gail's sister, Heather Wilkinson, along with the attempted murder of Ian Wilkinson, who is Heather's husband.
The meal took place at Erin's home – in the state of Victoria – where she served the four victims individual servings of Beef Wellington that contained death cap mushrooms. The guests ate their meals off four large grey dinner plates, while Erin ate from a smaller, tan-coloured plate, the court heard.
Erin's estranged husband Simon Patterson was also invited to the lunch and initially accepted but later declined, it was revealed.
More explanation on the mushroom murder trial, here.
Tamil Murasu celebrated a significant milestone over the weekend as the local daily marked an incredible 90th anniversary.
President Tharman Shanmugaratnam attended the event on 6 July along with a number of MPs who all came together to salute Tamil Murasu's achievement as one of the oldest Tamil-language newspapers in the world.
Tamil Murasu is published by SPH Media and its success aligns with Singapore's deep commitment to multiculturalism, said Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo.
Acting Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs Faishal Ibrahim was also at the dinner and he, in a Facebook post, congratulated the paper for 90 years of service. "I thank Tamil Murasu for continuously supporting and covering important issues close to the hearts of readers including the Indian/Muslim community such as the development of Indian/Muslim asatizah, Islamic education and part-time madrasah, mosques, and wakaf projects," he said.
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose an additional 10% tariff on any countries aligning themselves with the "Anti-American policies" of BRICS group.
The organisation includes original members Brazil, Russia, India and China as well as South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Trump appeared to be responding to the opening remarks at the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro where the group continued its criticism of Trump's tariff policies as well as proposing reforms to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and how major currencies are valued.
"Any Country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% Tariff. There will be no exceptions to this policy. Thank you for your attention to this matter!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Trump did not specify which "Anti-American policies" he was referencing in his post.
A recent Yahoo poll asked readers to comment on data that showed there are 45,300 vacancies in Singapore paying a median monthly salary of $7,300.
Over 50% of almost 2,100 votes (2,096 votes at press time) expressed their skepticism of the claims believing the jobs were not real. However, 40% of the vote indicated their belief the $7.3k PMET jobs were real and legit.
The poll is still open and you can vote here
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Midas Promotions (@midaspromotions)
American rock group My Chemical Romance are set to play the Singapore Indoor Stadium on 28 April next year as part of an anticipated tour of the region.
Incheon, South Korea - Paradise City Culture Park (18 April)
Bangkok, Thailand - IMPACT Challenger Hall (22 April)
Bulacan, Philippines - Philippine Arena (25 April)
Singapore - Indoor Stadium (28 April)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - National Stadium Bukit Jalil (30 April)
Jakarta, Indonesia - Hammersonic Festiva (3 May)
Tickets for the Singapore concert will go on sale at 10am on 11 July (Friday) via Sistic with prices ranging between $148 and $328.
The band last played in Singapore almost 20 years ago in 2007.
Construction works for Phase 2 of the Cross Island Line (CRL) – Singapore's eighth and longest fully underground MRT line – has officially begun.
The Land Transport Authority (LTA) made the announcement on 7 July adding that Acting Minister for Transport Jeffrey Siow was on site at the future CRL Clementi station to officiate the ground-breaking ceremony.
Phase 2 of the CRL is targeted for completion by 2032 and includes six underground stations. CRL King Albert Park station and CRL Clementi station will be interchange stations which connect to the Downtown Line (DTL) and East-West Line (EWL) respectively.
The King Albert Park interchange station will stretch 50-metres deep and become Singapore's deepest station when completed, according to LTA.
More details on Phase 2 of the Cross Island Line, here.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says US President Donald Trump deserves credit for pushing the 32-nation members to spend more of their gross domestic product on defence.
Rutte's praise of Trump's commitment to NATO came in a recent interview with The New York Times where he also highlighted the dangers of the current political climate and how World War III might be sparked.
The former Dutch Prime Minister suggested that Chinese leader Xi Jinping could attempt to seize Taiwan while simultaneously urging Vladimir Putin to launch Russian attacks on NATO territory.
"Let's not be naïve about this," Rutte said. "If Xi Jinping would attack Taiwan, he would first make sure that he makes a call to his very junior partner in all of this, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, residing in Moscow, and telling him, 'Hey, I'm going to do this, and I need you to keep them busy in Europe by attacking NATO territory.' That is most likely the way this will progress," he said.
SG Rutte has clearly gorged on too many of the magic mushrooms beloved by the Dutch. He sees collusion between China & Russia over Taiwan, and then a Russian attack on Europe. But he's right about one thing: he should learn Russian. It might come in handy in a Siberian camp
— Dmitry Medvedev (@MedvedevRussiaE) July 5, 2025
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has rejected Rutte's comments in a post on X.
A 57-year-old female passenger on SMRT bus service 190 was taken to hospital after a bottle was thrown at the vehicle on 5 July.
The incident occured in Orchard Road just before 7pm and left a hole in a window of the double-decker bus. Bloodstains were reportedly also seen near the bus door.
The injured passenger was conscious when she was taken to Raffles Hospital, said the police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force.
Investigations are ongoing.
Speaker of Parliament Seah Kian Peng has advised MPs to focus on asking questions that improve the lives of Singaporeans – and not to get caught up in a numbers game.
Seah, in an interview with the Straits Times, had noted the trend of more parliamentary questions being filed in the previous term which set new records on the number of sittings, ministerial statements delivered and other kinds of speeches. "I hope we don't get to a point where MPs are filing questions for the sake of clocking numbers – I think that is not necessary and not very productive," Seah was quoted as saying.
"Each hour spent in Parliament, if everyone turns up, is 100 man-hours... which is why we do want to make sure time is spent productively for everyone," he added.
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong intends to propose Seah's election as Speaker when Parliament reopens on 5 September.