Bryan Lim
Vietnamese woman sells banh mi for less than $7 in Choa Chu Kang HDB flat: Singapore live news
And that's a wrap. Thanks for tuning in. We'll catch y'all again tomorrow.
Hello to all our readers, Yahoo Singapore will be bringing you live news updates today.
Hue Thi Banh started selling banh mi out of her HDB flat in Choa Chu Kang after closing her shop in Teck Whye due to the doubling of rent and disagreements with the landlord. She serves seven different types of banh mi for less than $7, and customers wait up to an hour during peak periods. Her customers also come from as far as Orchard and Tampines. For more on this small, humble banh mi business, read on.
Mike Tyson will take on Jake Paul in a Netflix boxing event that's one for the history books. How will a YouTuber fare off against a boxing legend? Read here to find out what experts predict.
US president-elect Donald Trump has nominated Matt Gaetz for attorney general. Gaetz has never worked in the Justice Department or as a prosecutor at any level of government. He was previously under investigation by the Justice Department for nearly three years over sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl.
Circles Global is considering a sale of Circles.Life for a few hundred million dollars. According to sources familiar with the matter, the Singapore-based technology company is working with a financial advisor to evaluate a potential sale.
Blackpink's Lisa grew up in Thailand but speaks an additional four non-native languages. It's not because she's an overachiever, in fact, the reason is simpler – survival.
Eligible Singaporean adults will receive various benefits from the government this December, including a one-time cash payout between $200 and $600. The cash payout is part of the enhanced Assurance Package (AP) announced in Budget 2024. For more details on the various benefits, read on.
LIVE COVERAGE IS OVER6 updates
Eligible Singaporean adults to receive between $200 and $600 cash in December
Eligible Singaporean adults will receive various benefits from the government this December, including a one-time cash payout between $200 and $600. (PHOTO: Getty Images) Eligible Singaporean adults will receive various benefits from the government "to alleviate cost of living pressures, offset healthcare costs, and build up their savings for retirement".
This was announced in a joint statement by the Ministry of Finance (MOF), Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Manpower (MOM) in a joint release on Thursday (14 Nov).
About 2.9 million Singaporeans aged 21 and above in 2025 will receive between S$200 (US$148) and S$600 in cash in December this year as part of the enhanced Assurance Package (AP) announced in Budget 2024.
The second benefit is a one-time MediSave top-up of S$300 to S$500 in December which about 1.4 million Singaporeans born between 1974 and 2003 inclusive will receive.
Under the Majulah Package - MediSave Bonus, those born in 1973 or earlier will receive a one-time MediSave top-up of S$1,250 or S$2,000 in December. This will benefit about 1.6 million Singaporeans.
Lastly, about 800,000 Singaporeans born in 1973 or earlier will receive a one-time bonus of $1,000 or $1,500 in their Central Provident Fund accounts, depending on the amount of retirement savings they have.
For Singaporeans who are unsure of their eligibility, you can check the govbenefits website by logging in with your Singpass.
Blackpink's Lisa reveals why she learned to speak 4 non-native languages
Blackpink's Lisa grew up in Thailand but speaks an additional four non-native languages. (PHOTO: Taylor Hill/WireImage) For the non-Blinks, you might not know that Blackpink's Lisa grew up in Thailand. Yet, she is able to speak Korean, English, Chinese, and Japanese, in addition to her native language.
Learning the languages was a necessity for her, she revealed to Vanity Fair in a recent interview.
Lisa, 27, said, "I don’t think I have the talent for languages, but in Korea, I had to live, so I had to learn."
She added, "It was just common sense, like to get what I want, I had to learn and try to speak with local people, and I was spending more and more time on that."
The singer is also starring in the upcoming season three of the hit TV series The White Lotus, which was filmed in Thailand.
For more on Lisa's experience returning to Thailand, and how the cast gave her food recommendations, read here.
Circles considering sale of digital telecom service Circles.Life?
Circles Global is considering a sale of Circles.Life for a few hundred million dollars. (PHOTO: Getty Images) Technology company Circles Global is considering selling its digital telecom services provider Circles.Life.
According to sources, who requested not to be identified, the Singapore-based company is working with a financial advisor to evaluate a sale that could value Circles.Life at a few hundred million dollars.
Considerations are ongoing and no final decisions have been made.
For more on the potential Circles.Life sale, read here.
Donald Trump nominates Matt Gaetz as attorney general
US president-elect Donald Trump has nominated Matt Gaetz for attorney general. (PHOTO: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images) US president-elect Donald Trump has nominated Republican US Representative Matt Gaetz for attorney general.
"Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organisations and restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department," said Trump in a statement.
The nomination is subject to approval by a Republican-majority Senate.
Gaetz, 42, has never worked in the Justice Department or as a prosecutor at any level of government.
Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski told reporters that she doesn't think it's a "serious nomination for the attorney general".
Gaetz was investigated by the Justice Department for nearly three years over sex trafficking allegations involving a 17-year-old girl. In 2023, his office said they had been told by prosecutors he won't face criminal charges.
For more on Gaetz's nomination, read here.
Jake Paul takes on Mike Tyson in boxing match: What experts predict
Mike Tyson will take on Jake Paul in a Netflix boxing event that's one for the history books. How will a YouTuber fare off against a boxing legend? (PHOTOS: Getty Images) The boxing showdown between former undisputed heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and YouTuber Jake Paul is just around the corner.
Tyson, 58, will face off against Paul, 27, on Friday night (US time) and it'll be streamed on Netflix. This event is considered to be a first for boxing and the boxing card will feature seven fights.
Both parties have been training for this moment and it will go down as an officially-sanctioned pro bout, counting on each man's record.
And, it was recently announced that knockouts will be allowed in the fight, which is scheduled for eight two-minute rounds at heavyweight.
How will a YouTuber-turned-professional-boxer fare against a boxing legend? Read here to find out what experts predict.
Vietnamese woman sells banh mi for less than $7 in Choa Chu Kang HDB flat
Hue Thi Banh started selling banh mi out of her HDB flat after closing her shop in Teck Whye. (PHOTO: Screengrab from Google Maps) She was selling banh mi out of a stall in Teck Whye when her rent was doubled.
That, plus disagreements with the landlord, caused Hue Thi Banh to move her business to an unexpected place – her HDB flat.
She now operates Hue Banh Mi at 807C, Choa Chu Kang Avenue 1.
Hue, 47, told Shin Min Daily News: "After closing the stall, I asked my husband to find out more about how to operate a home-based business."
The business owner is married to a Singaporean and has two children. She relocated to Singapore in 2009 and worked in local Vietnamese restaurants for about a decade before starting her own business.
Hue revealed that she spent more than $3,000 buying the equipment for the house and had planned to sell all of it if the business didn't take off.
"We didn't expect that after over a year, the business is doing quite okay. On weekends we are able to sell up to 60 sandwiches a day," she said to the Chinese daily.
Hue said that she experimented with different flavours for the banh mi as she was worried whether the locals will like it. She finally settled on a recipe that preserves the traditional taste of Vietnamese banh mi while appealing to local tastes.
She shared that business also picked up following a TikTok reel, from TikToker ninjabread, that went viral.
The content creator published a reel about how she "ended up in a stranger's house" after craving for Vietnamese food. The video has chalked up more than 40,000 likes and 800,000 views.
Hue sells seven different types of banh mi that range from $5.50 to $6.30. Her menu also includes a beef stew with bread (banh mi) that goes for $7.50.
Hue told local media that her customers come as far as Orchard, Bugis, and Tampines to show their support.
While she does take-away orders at the door, she advised customers to pre-order their food as waiting times for walk-in orders can take up to an hour during peak periods. Customers can pre-order their meals through WhatsApp for collection or pre-order it for delivery through Grab.
She told 8days that despite the uptick in business, she only makes a modest profit as her food is "cheaper than [other stalls] outside".
"But as long as my customers get to eat nice authentic Vietnamese food, and as long as I’m earning enough to make a living, it’s enough," she said.
