Author - jessie tan

Gunfire, explosions close to Kyiv but morale remains high: Singaporean ex-actor Ix Shen

Five days after Russia invaded the country he has called home for the last four months, life has settled into an uneasy pattern for Singaporean Ix Shen. "When the airstrikes first started the fear was strong. By now, that fear is no longer there. It is tense, everyone knows these are hard times, but the morale...

‘Uncle Roger’ Nigel Ng’s insensitive joke about Ukraine angers netizens and he hasn’t apologised

He made his name and built his fame as his alter ego Uncle Roger, poking fun of famous chefs and saying inappropriate things. But Malaysian comedian Nigel Ng is finding out there's a limit to how much political incorrectness the public can take from him. And despite a few days of brickbats from netizens, the 30-year-old...

Dream Cruises’ World Dream to cease operations; company currently assessing its ability to offer refunds

Dream Cruises' vessel World Dream, one of two ships that began cruises to nowhere pilots here in 2020, will cease operations after it returns to Singapore shores on Wednesday (March 2), with the operator saying it no longer has the financial capacity to keep it going. The death knell sounded on Monday has been anticipated and dreaded...

Rumours and fears as China tech hub Shenzhen under pressure to contain coronavirus outbreak

As new coronavirus cases reach fresh highs in Hong Kong, the neighbouring city of Shenzhen is also feeling the pressure to contain its worst outbreak fuelled by a new Omicron sub-variant. To help prevent transmission, Shenzhen has put cross-border drivers under greater scrutiny. From Tuesday (March 1), drivers must show a negative nucleic acid test result from...

South Korea rolls back Covid-19 vaccine pass as infections burden testing centres

South Korea will temporarily lift a requirement for vaccine passes or negative Covid-19 tests at a number of businesses to ease the strain on testing centres, authorities said on Monday (Feb 28), as the country faces a wave of Omicron infections. The move will allow public testing and health facilities to devote more resources to battling...

‘Delay means death’: UN climate report urges immediate, drastic action

Climate change is already disrupting billions of lives and humanity is not doing enough to limit the suffering, the United Nations (UN) climate science panel warned in a major report on Monday (Feb 28). Noting that nearly half the world's population was already vulnerable to increasingly dangerous climate impacts, the report calls for drastic action on...

Daily roundup: Family of 6 opens up about living with Covid-19 in a 2-room flat — and other top stories today

Stay in the know with a recap of our top stories today. 1. 'I can't afford to get infected': Family of 6 on living with Covid-19 in a 2-room flat As the unit's sole bedroom became his daughters' isolation room, the family tried to make do with the rest of the space they had 2. K-drama Squid Game wins big...

North Korea resumes missile tests with first launch in a month

A North Korea flag flutters next to concertina wire at the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on March 9, 2017.Reuters file North Korea fired what could be a ballistic missile on Sunday (Feb 27), military officials in South Korea and Japan said, in what would be the first test since the nuclear-armed country conducted...

Hong Kong allows Covid-19 home testing as daily cases soar

Children rest at a community vaccination centre, after receiving a dose of Sinovac Biotech's CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine, following the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, in Hong Kong, China, on Feb 25, 2022.Reuters Hong Kong health authorities said on Saturday (Feb 26) they would adjust Covid testing procedures to allow some people to test from home to ease long...

Ukraine invasion: Malaysia says evacuation of diplomatic staff went according to plan

Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said the evacuation of its diplomatic staff in the under-siege Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Saturday (Feb 26) was part of a detailed plan previously endorsed by the country’s top leaders, and refuted claims that the effort was bungled. The South China Morning Post had reported based on multiple government...