Man finds $10k 4D winning ticket but it's allegedly doctored; Woman repays Katong restaurant after being caught using fake PayNow screenshot: Singapore live news

Leong Kee (Klang) Bak Kut Teh restaurant at 251 Geylang Road saw its licence suspended by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) for one day last Friday (3 Jan).

The restaurant accumulated 12 demerit points within a 12-month period. It was also fined $800 for failing to keep its premises free of infestation, and failing to provide toilet paper and soap in its toilet.

The suspension came on the same day it received a Singapore Prestige Brand Award. The Singapore Prestige Brand Award is an annual award which recognise and honour Singapore brands that have been developed and managed effectively through various branding initiatives.

Leong Kee (Klang) Bak Kut Teh restaurant was one of 26 brands to receive the award.

According to the SFA, food business operators should observe good food and personal hygiene practices at all times.

Could Singapore introduce more property cooling measures? Well, analysts at Morgan Stanley seem to think so.

According to their research report, a spike in housing prices, partly prompted by speculative buying, could lead to the Government introducing more cooling measures.

The 6 Jan report explained that Singapore’s housing rally will spill into early 2025, underpinned by investors looking to buy and cash out before the apartments are completed. This, in turn, will increase the chances of more cooling measures being rolled out.

Coupled with an influx of supply in private properties, Morgan Stanley speculated that prices could drop by five per cent this year.

For more on the property research report, read here.

The second season of Squid Game has put its cast back in the spotlight.

Reprising his role from the first season is the lead actor Lee Jung-jae, who plays Seong Gi-hun, a man hellbent on taking down the man behind Squid Game.

With the meteoric rise to fame comes the public curiosity about his personal life, it seems – and specifically, his relationship with his girlfriend of almost 10 years.

So who is Lee's girlfriend Lim Se-ryung?

For starters, she is the eldest daughter of Lim Chang-wook, who served as honorary president of Daesang Group. The wealthy heiress was previously married to Korea's richest man, Lee Jae-yong.

For more on Lim Se-ryung, read here.

Singapore and Malaysia have formalised an agreement establishing a special economic zone linking their two nations’ border region.

The countries pledged to promote and facilitate 100 projects within the first 10 years. They’re counting on incentives including special corporate and income tax rates to lure in new investment.

The signing was done during a ceremony on Tuesday (7 Jan) between Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and Singapore Prime Minister Lawrence Wong. It was postponed to January after Wong contracted COVID-19 in December.

Wong said, Putrajaya, Malaysia’s administrative capital, "It’s an important project which was built on the complementary structure of Singapore and Johor so that we can both be more competitive, enhance our value proposition and jointly attract more investments to our shores."

For more on the special economic zone, read here.

Fock Siew Wah, the former chairman of PSA International, has died at the age of 84.

In the public sector, Fock was the Special Advisor to the then-Minister for Finance, Dr Richard Hu, from 1991 to 1995. He was also the founding chairman of SMRT Limited from 1987 to 1995 and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) from 1995 to 2002.

Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong posted a tribute to Fock on Facebook. He said he was "deeply saddened" to hear of Fock's death and reflected on the time together.

Lee wrote, "I have known Siew Wah for many years, beginning when we both served on the 1985 Economic Committee. He has served Singapore with distinction in both the private and public sectors for more than forty years...

"In August 2005, Siew Wah was appointed Chairman of PSA International, which he helped steward for more than 13 years until he retired in 2019. We met most recently last February, where I personally thanked him for the work he has done, and more importantly, his friendship and support over four decades."

For more on Fock's achievements, read here.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Monday (6 Jan) that he will be stepping down as Liberal leader in the coming months.

The 53-year-old will be staying on as both prime minister and Liberal leader until the party chooses a new chief in the next few months.

"This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I'm having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election," Trudeau said.

Liberal lawmakers have been calling on Trudeau to quit after his finance minister resigned.

Trudeau took office in November 2015, won reelection twice, and became one of Canada's longest-serving prime ministers. However, his popularity dipped two years ago amid rising prices of housing and groceries post-COVID and he never bounced back from it.

He told reporters outside his home, "I have always been driven by my love for Canada ... and it has become obvious to me with the internal battles that I cannot be the one to carry the Liberal standard into the next election."

For more on Trudeau's resignation, read here.

Wedding bells are ringing for Zendaya and Tom Holland.

After the actress was spotted with a diamond ring on that specific finger at the Golden Globes on 6 Jan (local time), people were wondering if she was engaged.

She was also pictured seemingly showing the ring to friends during the event.

TMZ first reported that Holland proposed over the holidays at one of her homes "in a very intimate setting". People magazine subsequently confirmed that the two were engaged.

To find out more about Zendaya's ring and engagement, read here.

A woman who was caught using a fake PayNow screenshot to deceive staff of a Thai restaurant in Katong has repaid almost $200.

Shin Min Daily News reported that the woman wrote an apology note to the restaurant owner on 3 Jan. She owned up to her actions and promised not to trick other eateries in the same way. She also claimed to suffer from bulimia and hence, couldn't think clearly.

The woman tried to trick the restaurant twice. The owner of Khao Hom by Rung Mama, surnamed Cai, told Shin Min that the first attempt occurred on 6 July, 2024.

The woman supposedly paid for her bill of $196.20 via PayNow and showed the staff a screenshot of the transfer. However, Cai realised the payment wasn't made when she was checking the bank transactions a week later. She didn't make a police report as the woman's face wasn't captured on the CCTV footage and some time had passed.

The second attempt was on 28 Dec, when the woman racked up a bill of $138.10. She reportedly attempted to use the same method but the restaurant staff was suspicious of the large amount of food ordered. The staff texted Cai to check on the payment.

Realising the payment wasn't made, Cai instructed her staff to stop the woman from leaving.

Cai told the Chinese evening daily, "The woman even shouted that she could leave her phone number, and I could contact her if there were any issues."

The woman eventually paid with a credit card.

She then returned on 30 Dec and ordered $95.50 worth of food. She paid for her meal by card, though Cai suspected that she wanted to use a fake PayNow screenshot.

On 1 Jan, Cai shared CCTV footage of the woman online to warn other eateries. On 3 Jan, the woman returned to the restaurant to repay the first bill of $196.20 and gave the restaurant staff a handwritten note addressed to Cai.

Cai told Shin Min that she has changed the restaurant's PayNow name to differ from the one printed on the QR code, so that her staff can easily identify fake screenshots.

A man found three 4D lottery tickets on bus service 925 and noticed that one of them had 6777 – the winning number for the first prize of the Dec draw.

The prize money was $10,000.

Upon discovering the tickets, the man, surnamed Wu, handed it over to the police in Toa Payoh via the property drop box on 1 Jan. He also made a report at a police station in Yew Tee on 3 Jan, thinking the owner might live near Marsiling as the bus was headed towards Marsiling MRT station.

The 70-year-old told Shin Min Daily News, "I also buy 4D, so I'd pay special attention to the numbers drawn."

He knew it was a winning ticket because he remembered the first prize number of the day.

However, his good intentions might be for naught.

Shortly after the photo of the lottery circulated, members of the public observed that the ticket could have been doctored. In the photo, the last digit of the number 6777 appears to be a sticker pasted onto the ticket.

After being made aware of it, Wu told Shin Min on Monday (6 Jan) that he was shocked. He didn't think someone could do something like this and shared that he and his friends did not pay close attention to the ticket.

"I immediately went to the police station to withdraw the report, and to make a report against the fake ticket, he said.

Wu said he'll be more careful in the future and cautioned others to do the same when encountering a winning ticket in public.

Under the law, those found guilty of forgery for the purpose of cheating may face a jail term of up to 10 years and a fine.