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AsiaOne
31-07-2025
- AsiaOne
Primary school student approached by vape peddlers at Dover Road; school alerts authorities, Singapore News
The authorities have been alerted after a Primary 4 student was approached by two teenagers who tried to sell him an e-vaporiser on his way home from school. The incident involved a student from Fairfield Methodist School (Primary) and occurred on July 25 at a zebra crossing along Dover Rise, which is situated between Fairfield Methodist School and Anglo-Chinese Junior College. Speaking to AsiaOne, Soh Mei Foong, the principal of Fairfield Methodist School (Primary), said that the school immediately reported the incident to the authorities after being alerted on July 25. "Students were informed of the incident and reminded not to engage with strangers and to inform trusted adults, should they be approached by any stranger or suspicious person," she said. The school will also be stepping up their surveillance efforts within the vicinity of the school premises after school as a precautionary measure, said Soh. A parent of a nine-year-old student from the school told Lianhe Zaobao that he received a WhatsApp message from the class' group chat regarding the incident last Friday. The student was reportedly ridiculed after rejecting the peddlers and walking away. The parent also said that the school had issued a notice to parents on their Parents Gateway platform on Wednesday (30 July). Rachel Ong, an MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC shared about the incident on her social media accounts that day. "This happened in broad daylight. Thankfully, he knew to walk away but not all our children may know how to respond," she said, urging parents to speak with their children on how to react to such situations. Speaking on the sidelines of a media event on Wednesday (July 30), Coordinating Minister for National Security & Minister for Home Affairs, K Shanmugam, spoke about the younger demographic of vape users and said that education regarding vapes needs to begin with parents and schools. At the event, he also said that the Ministry of Home Affairs will be listing etomidate as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA), in hopes of curbing the drug-laced vapes with harsher penalties. AsiaOne has reached out to the Ministry of Education for comments. More students used vapes in 2024 There were 2,000 cases of students, including those from institutes of higher learning, reported for possessing or using e-vaporisers in 2024, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung in a written parliamentary reply in response to a question by Ong on Feb 26. This is up from 800 cases in 2022, and 900 cases in 2023. Possessing, using or buying vapes carries a maximum fine of $2,000. Anyone who distributes, imports or sells vapes and their components can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $10,000. [[nid:720737]]
Straits Times
23-07-2025
- Straits Times
Sota parent portal taken down for urgent patching following global cyberattack alerts
Find out what's new on ST website and app. The attacks started on July 18, and are specifically targeting school-managed installations, Sota said. SINGAPORE - The School of the Arts (Sota) has taken down its parent portal for urgent patching on Jul 23 after it identified a severe server vulnerability that is being actively exploited in a global cyberattack campaign. In a message sent to parents via the Parents Gateway app on the morning of July 23, the school said: 'We are taking this critical step in response to an active and severe vulnerability identified in the third party server infrastructure supporting the portal. 'This vulnerability is currently being actively exploited in a global cyberattack campaign, which has already compromised organisations worldwide, including government agencies and multinational campaigns.' The attacks started on July 18, and are specifically targeting school-managed installations, Sota said in its message. The unnamed third-party service provider is aware of these reports concerning their server customers, said the school. 'To safeguard our systems and data against this critical threat, we are initiating an immediate and mandatory patching process for all school-managed servers that support our parent portal,' Sota said in the message. 'We are working diligently to complete the patching and restore full service as quickly and safely as possible.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singapore's domestic recycling rate drops to all-time low of 11% Singapore HDB launches 10,209 BTO and balance flats, as priority scheme for singles kicks in Singapore Local buyers are key to recovery of prime district condo market Singapore New online channel for public to report illegal ride-hailing services Singapore Ex-Tanjong Pagar United footballer charged with assault after Singapore Premier League match in Feb Singapore COE prices for cars mostly unchanged; premium for commercial vehicles up 2.9% Life The Projector will resume daily screenings at Golden Mile Tower. Is it exiting Cineleisure next? Singapore Cyclist charged after allegedly hitting elderly pedestrian, killing him The Straits Times has contacted Sota, Cyber Security Agency (CSA) of Singapore, and the Ministry of Education for more information. On July 22, CSA issued an alert notifying users of Microsoft SharePoint to update to the latest version of the software. 'Administrators are strongly advised to upgrade their on-premise Sharepoint Server with the latest emergency update provided by Microsoft,' said CSA. These vulnerabilities affect on-premises installations of Microsoft SharePoint Server Subscription Edition. Affected software include Microsoft SharePoint Server 2019 and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2016. SharePoint 2010 and 2013 may also be affected by these vulnerabilities, said CSA in its notice. 'For SharePoint servers that do not currently have a patch or are unable to apply them immediately, Microsoft recommends that customers install the latest SharePoint security updates, enable Microsoft AntiMalware Scan Interface integration in SharePoint, and deploy Defender AV on all SharePoint servers,' said CSA. US National Nuclear Security Administration was among those breached by a hack of Microsoft's SharePoint document management software, Bloomberg News had reported.
