A British TikTok user, known as British_Bert, sparked a viral debate after labeling Singapore “the worst country he has travelled to” in a video posted on July 1. While the creator acknowledged the city-state’s cleanliness and safety, he cited a lack of nature and limited activity options beyond dining and nightlife as reasons for his … Read more
SEVENTEEN sub-unit V8, consisting of members VERNON and THE 8, has released their debut mini-album V8, signaling a strategic shift toward heavy electronic experimentation and Y2K-inspired aesthetics. By blending hyperpop, techno, and EDM with personal storytelling, the duo establishes a blueprint for future K-pop sub-units to prioritize genre-fluidity and artist-led production over traditional pop structures. … Read more
Video Rebirth, a Singapore-based startup with $80 million in funding, has emerged as a high-performing contender in the AI video sector by securing the sixth spot on the Artificial Analysis text-to-video leaderboard. Led by CEO Liu Wei, the company utilizes proprietary multi-step sampling loss technology to reduce inference costs, positioning its Bach model as a … Read more
Eighty percent of Muslim travellers now rely on artificial intelligence to plan their trips, shifting the industry from physical infrastructure to digital discoverability, according to the Mastercard and CrescentRating report. Destinations that fail to digitize their halal-friendly services risk being excluded by AI recommendation engines, regardless of their local amenities. How is AI changing the … Read more
Singapore Telecommunications (Singtel) has sold a 2.8% stake in Thailand’s Gulf Energy Development for approximately S$1 billion ($772.9 million) to fund aggressive expansion into data centers and artificial intelligence. The divestment, confirmed by Singtel on Tuesday, leaves the telecommunications giant with a 4.95% remaining interest in the Thai energy firm, valued at roughly S$1.8 billion. … Read more
A petrol station attendant in Klang, Selangor, was filmed stopping a driver of a Singapore-registered Audi from pumping subsidised RON95 fuel, an act prohibited under Malaysian law. The incident, captured by the Malaysia-Singapore Border Crossers (MSBC) Facebook group, highlights ongoing tensions regarding the enforcement of fuel subsidy regulations designed exclusively for Malaysian-registered vehicles. Why are … Read more
Russia has released 24 Filipino citizens who were detained without charges in the Siberian city of Irkutsk for nearly nine months. The release followed a high-level intervention by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who raised the issue directly with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a bilateral meeting at the ASEAN summit in Kazan, according to … Read more
Kong Xiuping, a 26-year-old Malaysian mother, has placed her seven-year-old son, Peiming, in a children’s shelter in Perak as she prepares to move to Singapore for work. The decision, intended to provide her son with a better future, follows the breakdown of her marriage and the inability of a relative to continue caring for the … Read more
Singaporean pilates studios are adopting a celebrity-themed workout trend to increase client motivation by placing images of popular actors and idols on exercise equipment. E-Five Pilates and Blue Pilates are leading this movement, using C-drama stars and K-pop icons to help trainees endure difficult core exercises. Why are pilates studios using celebrity imagery? The practice … Read more
Singapore petrol prices saw their first decline in nearly a month on June 20, as Shell and Caltex implemented a 4-cent reduction across their petrol offerings. This shift follows a period of volatile global oil markets, where prices fluctuated near US$80 per barrel amid ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and shifting diplomatic negotiations … Read more