Hailstones reported in Yishun, Seletar during heavy rain
SINGAPORE - Hailstones reportedly fell in some areas in Singapore including Yishun and Seletar during a bout of heavy rain on Tuesday evening (Jan 30).
A reader who gave her name as Madam Lee M.L. told The Straits Times that she was in her Yishun home at about 4.45pm when she noticed a clattering sound amid the rain.
"The rain came quite suddenly, there was very loud thunder and lightning as well," said the 47-year-old, who lives on the fourth floor of a condominium.
"When I looked out of my balcony, I saw some white cubes hitting on the glass door of the balcony. I thought it looked like ice cubes."
Madam Lee said there were about five hailstones that were the size of five cent and 10 cent coins.
Videos she sent in to ST show small pieces of what appear to be hailstones raining down onto the balcony floor of her home.
"It's so amazing to see this at my balcony," she said. "I've seen snow before but not hail."
A video posted on Facebook by Mygolf Sg purportedly shows "hailstones at Seletar Golf Club".
Hail is rare in Singapore but not unheard of.
In 2014, hailstones were reportedly seen in Turf Club Road during a heavy downpour. In 2013, a rare hailstorm uprooted trees and disrupted traffic.
The last reported incidence of hail before this was in 2008.
According to the National Environment Agency's (NEA's) website, hail is produced only by cumulonimbus or thunderstorm clouds.
The stones consist mostly of ice, measuring between 5mm and 50mm in diameter, with larger stones occurring in severe thunderstorms.
Hail forms in strong thunderstorm clouds with intense updrafts and where a good portion of the cloud layer is below 0 deg C.
Hail is less common in the tropics despite a higher frequency of thunderstorms because the atmosphere over the tropics tends to be warmer over a much greater depth.
It is more frequently seen along mountain ranges, as mountains force horizontal winds upwards, intensifying the updrafts within thunderstorms and making hail more likely.
16 year old commit suicide after getting O level result
January 13, 2018
A 16-year-old from Westwood Secondary School committed suicide after getting his O level result on Friday (Jan 12). According to media reports, the boy who was wearing his school uniform was found dead at around 3.43pm at the foot of Blk 276D Jurong West Street 25.
States Times Review will not reveal his identity as it is inappropriate. Police investigations are ongoing.
According to earlier media reports, the number of 5 O Level subjects passes is at 83.4% this year, a 3-year-low compared to previous results. A total of 29,112 candidates sat for the O Level last year, and those who are not able to pass at least 5 subjects, at about 4,832 of the candidates, will not be able to proceed to polytechnic or junior college studies.
Due to Singapore's elitist society, those who attend ITEs or repeat O levels have a steep ladder to climb as O level results affects local university admission and employment opportunities. According to the suicide prevention agency SOS, suicides of Singapore teens, aged between 13 to 19, reached the highest in 15 years in 2016. There were 13 reported teenager suicides in 2014, the figure doubled to 27 in 2015.
*If you are feeling suicidal, talking to anyone may help. There are volunteers at SOS who are willing to lend a listening ear 1800 221 4444 or write an email to pat@sos.org.sg Your privacy is will be safeguarded.
Newton cooler one day, Jurong West another: Why temperatures vary across Singapore
It's been cooler over the past week, delighting many but also perplexing others who wonder why the mercury levels vary across the island.
The answer: A mix of factors, including cloud cover and rainfall, has a cooling effect in areas where they persist.
The Meteorological Services Singapore (MSS) said temperatures are lower in rainy, windy areas that have greater cloud cover, which reduces the heating effect of sunshine. "A combination of factors influences the temperature over different parts of Singapore," said the MSS spokesman yesterday, in response to queries from The Sunday Times.
In addition, coastal areas experience cooling sea breezes during the day, while the urban-heat island effect in built-up areas causes temperatures in these places to climb at night, as heat is released from buildings, roads and vehicles.
Climate scientist Erik Velasco, from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology, said the urban-heat island effect can result in a temperature difference of up to 5 deg C between urban and rural areas at night.
"In locations such as Orchard Road, with tall buildings and high electricity consumption, this temperature difference can reach up to 7 deg C," Dr Velasco added.
The variability in these factors means there are no particular "hot spots" or "cold spots" on the island, the MSS spokesman said.
This is apparent from the fluctuations in temperature experienced in different parts of Singapore.
For example, as at 5pm yesterday, Newton was the coolest spot in Singapore with a temperature of 21.7 deg C, while Jurong Island was the warmest at 23.9 deg C. On Friday, though, it was Jurong West that was the coolest, with a temperature of 21.4 deg C. The warmest reading that day was the 24.7 deg C recorded at 4pm on Sentosa.
Overall, the current cool spell in Singapore is the result of an ongoing monsoon surge over the South China Sea.
This weather phenomenon refers to a sudden increase in wind speed, which brings to the island cool air from the winter chill in the northern hemisphere.
But, short-term fluctuations aside, records show that the eastern parts of Singapore have consistently recorded warmer temperatures than the western and central areas.
This trend is clear from climate maps on the National Environment Agency's website, which show the heat signature across different parts of the island on a yearly basis.
"These plots clearly show consistently warmer temperatures in the eastern part of the island compared to the central and western areas," noted Mr Arnold Doray, chief executive of weather modelling company Terra Weather.
This is also due to rain, he added - in particular, how rain tends to fall in Singapore.
Much of the rain here is caused by eastward-moving storm systems known as Sumatra squalls. They generally form over Indonesia's Sumatra island, west of mainland Singapore, then move in a linear fashion eastwards across the Republic.
Mr Doray said: "These systems dump their rain over the central and western parts of Singapore, leaving the east and south-east areas drier by comparison."
He said last Monday's unusual rain event - which resulted in flash floods in the eastern parts of Singapore - was caused by a slow-moving squall line, that triggered widespread thunderstorms over much of the eastern area.
SINGAPORE - It's been cooler over the past week, delighting many but also perplexing to others who wonder why the mercury levels vary across the island.
The answer: A mix of factors, including cloud cover and rainfall, has a cooling effect in areas where they persist.
The Meteorological Services Singapore (MSS) said temperatures are lower in rainy, windy areas that have greater cloud cover, which reduces the heating effect of sunshine.
"A combination of factors influence the temperature over different parts of Singapore," said the MSS spokesman on Saturday (Jan 13), in response to queries from The Straits Times.
In addition, coastal areas experience cooling sea breezes during the day; while the urban heat island effect in built-up areas causes temperatures in these areas to climb at night, as heat is released from buildings, roads and vehicles.
Climate scientist Erik Velasco, from the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (Smart), said the urban heat island effect could result in a temperature difference of up to 5 deg C between urban and rural areas at night.
"In locations such as Orchard Road, with tall buildings and high electricity consumption, this temperature difference can reach up to 7 deg C," Dr Velasco added.
The variability in these factors means there are no particular "hot spots" or "cold spots" on the island, the MSS spokesman said.
This is apparent from the fluctuations in temperature experienced in different parts of Singapore.
For example, as at 5pm on Saturday, Newton was the coolest spot in Singapore with a temperature of 21.7 deg C, while Jurong Island was the warmest at 23.9 deg C.
On Friday (Jan 12), though, it was Jurong West that was the coolest, with a temperature reading of 21.4 deg C. The warmest reading that day was 24.7 deg C recorded at 4pm in Sentosa.
But, overall, the current cool spell in Singapore is the result of an ongoing monsoon surge over the South China Sea.
This weather phenomenon refers to a sudden increase in wind speed, which brings to Singapore cool air from the winter chill in the northern hemisphere.
But short-term fluctuations aside, records show that the eastern parts of Singapore have consistently recorded warmer temperatures than the western and central areas.
This trend is clear from climate maps on the National Environment Agency's (NEA) website, which show the heat signature across different parts of the island on a yearly basis.
"These plots clearly show consistently warmer temperatures in the eastern part of the island compared to the central and western areas," noted Mr Arnold Doray, chief executive of weather modelling company Terra Weather.
This is also due to rain, he added, in particular, how rain tends to fall in Singapore.
Much of the rain here is caused by eastward-moving storm systems known as Sumatra squalls. They generally form over Indonesia's Sumatra island, west of mainland Singapore, then move in a linear fashion eastwards across the Republic.
Mr Doray said: "These systems dump their rain over the central and western parts of Singapore, leaving the east and south-east areas drier by comparison."
The heavy rain that resulted in flash floods in eastern parts of Singapore on Monday (Jan 8), was the result of a Sumatra squall. The storm dumped about half a month's worth of rain around the Bedok area in just four hours, leaving hundreds of commuters and motorists stranded in nearly knee-high water during the morning rush hour.
Mr Doray said the unusual rain event was caused by a slow-moving squall line that triggered widespread thunderstorms over much of the east.
Deep freeze, heatwave, flash floods: What on earth is going on with the weather?
A record deep-freeze in the United States, severe flash floods in Singapore, a blistering heatwave in Sydney, record low temperatures in normally balmy Bangladesh and a severe cold snap across large parts of China. And now blizzards in Hokkaido, while Tokyo basks in unusually warm weather.
With each passing year, the weather seems to become more extreme, with wild weather making major headlines and breaking new records. And scientists say climate change is increasingly to blame.
That's because the planet's atmosphere and oceans are heating up. Warmer air holds more moisture, bringing more rain and snow. Warmer oceans provide more fuel to power storms.
In short, climate change is giving the weather an extra kick and is also affecting atmospheric circulation, such as high-altitude jet streams, in ways scientists still don't fully understand.
EVIDENCE
There is strong scientific evidence that human-caused climate change caused by burning fossil fuels and deforestation is increasing the intensity of heatwaves, droughts and coastal flooding.
Intense heat and longer droughts are also a recipe for more severe bushfires in places such as South-East Australia and California.
Leading climate scientist Michael Mann, professor of atmospheric science at Penn State University in the United States, explained it simply last year during a presentation published by Climate Reality.
The crowd on Bondi beach in Sydney, Australia, on Jan 7, 2018. PHOTO: EPA-EFE
"There are various ways in which climate change can make weather more extreme. Some of them are fairly obvious - if you warm up the planet, you're going to have more frequent and intense heatwaves. Warmer planet, you're going to have more extremely hot days. You tend to see more flooding events, because a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, so when it does rain or snow, you actually get more precipitation. The rain and snow falls in larger amounts, and that's something we've seen as well in recent years."
In a study published in 2016 by the UN's World Meteorological Organization, the authors pointed to strong links to climate change exacerbating extreme floods in Britain in 2014 and a severe summer in Australia in 2013.
The authors cited a scientific analysis showing the record heat that summer was made at least five times more likely - a 500 per cent increase in the odds of it occurring - by human-caused warming.
The authors also cited an analysis that concluded climate change had increased the chances of the rainfall behind the 2014 floods by an estimated 43 per cent.
The island will not be spared of flash floods, extended dry spells or warm periods.
Water levels reached ankle-high levels near Upper Changi Road, on Jan 8. ST PHOTO: ALVIN HO
Experts told The Straits Times that the concerns for Singapore would be increased frequency of droughts and flash flooding, due to increased rainfall over the years.
Government statistics already show a trend of increasingly intense rainfall over the years. The annual maximum hourly rainfall was 80mm in 1980, and 90mm in 2016.
The hottest years in Singapore also took place within the past decade. The year 2016 was Singapore's hottest year, with the annual mean temperature rising to 28.4 deg C. In 2015, 1998 and 1997 - the three other warmest years here - the annual mean temperature was 28.3 deg C.
In the future, the forecast is likely to see higher average annual rainfall, more intense bursts of rain and a greater contrast between the wet months of January to February and the dry months of February and June to September, the government says.
Sea levels, too, are also rising around the island, which is why the government has implemented policies to raise the height of new reclamations.
CLIMATE LINK TO DEEP FREEZE?
But what about the bitter cold snap that has frozen the eastern US? Is that linked to climate change?
Some scientists studying the connection between climate change and cold spells, which occur when cold Arctic air dips south, say that they may be related. But the importance of the relationship is not fully clear yet, the New York Times reported.
The Arctic is not as cold as it used to be - the region is warming faster than any other - and studies suggest that this warming is weakening the jet stream, which ordinarily acts like a giant lasso, corralling cold air around the pole.
People walk along a beach covered in snow and ice as temperatures continue to stay below freezing in much of the Northeast in Westport, Connecticut on Jan 7, 2018. PHOTO: AFP
The reason a direct connection between cold weather and global warming is still up for debate, scientists say, is that there are many other factors involved. Ocean temperatures in the tropics, soil moisture, snow cover, even the long-term natural variability of large ocean systems all can influence the jet stream.
"There's a lot of agreement that the Arctic plays a role, it's just not known exactly how much," the New York Times quoted Marlene Kretschmer, a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, as saying. "It's a very complex system."
But one thing is clear, scientists say. When there are weaker temperature gradient between the Arctic and mid-latitudes, the result is weaker winds. Ordinarily the jet stream is straight, blowing from west to east. When it becomes weaker it can become wavy. That makes it more susceptible to disturbances, such as a zone of high pressure that can force colder air southward.
These "blocking" high-pressure zones are often what creates a severe cold spell that lingers for several days or longer, the New York Times said.
As the world continues to warm and as more heat-trapping greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere, expect more weather extremes, scientists say. It's the new normal.
Fire breaks out in Toa Payoh flat after loud explosion heard; 70 residents evacuated
SINGAPORE - Residents in Toa Payoh awoke to a fire that broke out in a Housing Board flat on Wednesday morning (Jan 10), after an explosion was heard.
A photo sent by Straits Times reader Syed Hasanal showed black fumes rising up five storeys from the apartment on the 15th floor at Block 45, Toa Payoh Lorong 5.
The freelance video editor said he was in his home at nearby Block 64 when he heard an explosion.
"It was quite loud and didn't sound normal, like a big bang," said the 24-year-old.
When The Straits Times arrived at the scene at around 10.35am, the unit's window looked charred and blackened.
A fire engine and several police cars were parked below the block, next to a crowd of residents who had been evacuated from their homes.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to the fire at about 9.40am. SCDF personnel had to force their way into the flat as there was no one inside when the fire occurred.
The blaze, which engulfed the flat's living room, was put out by firefighters using two water jets, said an SCDF spokesman.
There were no reported injuries. About 70 residents were evacuated by SCDF and police officers.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, the spokesman added.
Ms Atiqah Mz, 22, an undergraduate, was sleeping in her 16th floor home, the unit directly above the affected flat, when the fire broke. She woke up to a "house that was all foggy" and an intense smell of "burning plastic".
She added that the fire caused the paint on her living room walls to melt off, and her floor became too hot to stand on.
A resident who lives on the fourth floor, Ms Dawn Tan, 23, said she woke up to a strong smell of smoke when her alarm clock rang at 9.30am. The undergraduate student woke her brother Dexter Tan, 19, in a panic.
Black fumes could be seen rising up five storeys from the apartment on the 15th floor at Block 45, Toa Payoh Lorong 5. PHOTO: ST READER
"We've never seen a fire here before," said Mr Tan. "I didn't believe my sister at first, but we went down anyway."
"There was already a fire engine here when they evacuated us," said Ms Tan, adding that she saw a crowd of onlookers below the block as she looked out her window.
A 10th-floor resident, who wanted to be identified only by his surname Kong, said policemen rang his doorbell three times before he realised they were asking people to evacuate at around 10am.
The 75-year-old retired odd-job worker woke up to the "smell of something burning", so he checked for any faulty electrical appliances in his home. He found none and realised the burning was happening upstairs.
The situation was calm when The Straits Times arrived, and the crowd of residents shifted to the nearby Toa Payoh East Community Centre.
At 10.38am, residents of the 14th floor and below were allowed to head back to their units.
The affected unit's owners, three men and a woman who appeared to be the trio's mother, were spotted standing outside their flat as cleaners from the town council washed away the debris.
They declined to be interviewed when approached by the media.
Girl, 6, dies after swimming mishap in public pool
SINGAPORE - She was supposed to start Primary 1 this year, but a mishap at a public pool robbed her of the opportunity.
The six-year-old girl died in hospital on Tuesday afternoon (Jan 9) after being unconscious for 20 days, following a swimming mishap at Kallang Basin swimming complex.
During a swimming lesson on Dec 20 last year, she was found unconscious and floating on the water, her grandmother told Chinese-language newspaper Shin Min Daily News.
The incident happened as the coach was giving one-on-one guidance to the class of five. The girl was believed to be waiting for her turn in the 0.9m-deep pool.
According to Shin Min, the girl's grandmother said: "We are not trying to assign blame, but we want to know what went wrong.
"We also hope that her death serves as a reminder to others to be more alert and not to repeat this tragedy."
The family was looking forward to the girl starting Primary 1 this year, the grandmother said. Her uniform had already been bought, she added.
"She is a very obedient girl, my son's only child. Everyone treats her like a little princess."
The Straits Times understands that the coach's licence to teach at public pools has been suspended.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force said that it responded to an ambulance call at the complex at 7.20pm on Dec 20. The unconscious girl was taken to Tan Tock Seng Hospital. She was subsequently moved to KK Women's and Children's Hospital, where she died.
A spokesman for Sport Singapore (SportSG), which runs the complex, said the organisation has been in touch with the child's family to render support.
SportSG is also assisting the authorities in their investigations.
Said the spokesman: "We are saddened by the passing of a six-year old girl... Our thoughts are with (her family) at this difficult time."
Police are investigating this case of unnatural death.
NTUC FairPrice 45th anniversary gift card message is a scam, supermarket chain warns
SINGAPORE - If you have a received a message telling you that FairPrice is giving away gift cards worth $400 each for its 45th anniversary, do not click on the link included.
It is a scam, the supermarket chain said in a note on its Facebook page on Tuesday (Jan 9).
A copy of the message that a Straits Times reader received via WhatsApp reads: "Fairprice celebrates its 45th anniversary and gives each gift cards worth 400SGD each! I have just received one from here: http:// fairprice. com /anniversary".
The scam was also being perpetuated via social media channels.
The supermarket chain said in an updated note on Tuesday that it was alerted to a new online survey scam hosted on multiple unofficial sites that impersonate FairPrice.
"Please be wary that this message was not created nor endorsed by us," said FairPrice on its Facebook page. "We advise customers to ignore the site and avoid sharing the link."
The supermarket chain's official site is www.fairprice.com.sg. The scam is an iteration of a previous one, which FairPrice warned customers about in November.
That scam offered $1,000 free FairPrice gift vouchers with an unverified link via WhatsApp.
Other versions of scams impersonating FairPrice date back to as early as January last year.
NTUC Fairprice Co-operative was founded by the labour movement in 1973.
The police on Tuesday night shared FairPrice's note on Facebook, asking the public to be on their guard against the scam.
"Beware of phishing websites that may look genuine and always be careful when you are asked to disclose your personal information or bank account details online," wrote the police.
They advised the public to visit www.scamalert.sgfor more information on scams.
Ancient fault lines found in Yishun, Jurong during digs
Power company SP Group discovered two ancient fault lines while excavating a labyrinth of electricity supply tunnels 60m underground.
The fault lines - in Yishun and Jurong - pose no danger, however, as Singapore is now not in a seismically active zone.
The faults themselves were created about 200 million years ago.
They join at least nine other fissures that geologists know to run deep beneath our feet.
SP Group geologist Tin Moe Moe Naing said the discovery provides a glimpse into the ancient processes that created today's Singapore - processes that were covered by earth and rock over millions of years. "Only by deep excavation and tunnelling will we have chance to find these features hidden underground," said Ms Tin.
The firm found the fault lines between 50m and 75m underground while digging the $2.4 billion tunnels that would house 1,200km of extra-high-voltage cables, a project that began in 2012.
The Jurong faults were discovered between 2014 and 2015, while the Yishun faults were found in early 2016.
Another SP Group geologist, Mr Bryan Kyaw Thet Oo, said the team realised they hit the fault lines when the rock they were excavating became extremely crushed, with a high sand content.
The tunnels did not have to be rerouted, but work had to proceed more carefully through the area.
This is not the only new evidence of past cataclysmic events to have hit the area.
Mr Kyaw said tunnelling around One-North unearthed a layer of highly compressed volcanic ash, a type of rock known as "metatuff".
He said the rock in which this was found is about 200 million to 250 million years old.
"One of the ways it could have formed is through a huge volcanic cloud that settled here," he said.
Research fellow Wang Yu from the Earth Observatory of Singapore noted: "As these old fault lines are deep underground, they do not affect the Singaporean's everyday life.
"However, knowing these fault lines is very important for the construction industry, especially for the development of underground tunnels and caverns.
"This is because the fault zone could indicate an area where the rocks are weak, creating engineering difficulties during construction if they were not identified properly beforehand."
He added that the fault lines could even help researchers to locate groundwater.
Referring to the metatuff find, Dr Wang said volcanic eruptions in nearby countries like the Philippines and Indonesia have affected Singapore throughout its history.
"For example, during the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines, more than 2,000km away, winds blew ash all the way to Singapore," he added.
Tragedy strikes Singaporean family in horrific Port Dickson crash
Four Singaporeans were killed in a five-vehicle road accident in the Malaysian town of Port Dickson yesterday, the latest in a series of traffic fatalities involving Singaporeans travelling overseas.
Photos of the accident, which occurred at around 2.30pm at a T-junction in Jalan Lukut Sepang and involved a Honda Stream, a tipper truck, a Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle, a Perodua Myvi and a motorcycle, began circulating on social media yesterday afternoon.
They showed the Singapore-registered white Honda Stream crushed by a tipper truck.
Port Dickson police chief Zainudin Ahmad told The Straits Times that the Singaporeans, believed to be from one family, were travelling in the Honda.
Three passengers - Madam Maimunah Sapari, 51, Ms Nur Amalina Rosli, 21, and Ms Dayana Sarah Rosli, 18 - died at the scene and were taken to Port Dickson Hospital. The driver, Mr Rosli Samad, 54, died en route to Seremban Hospital, the police chief added.
The truck driver abandoned the truck and fled on foot after the accident but turned himself in around 5.30pm, said the police chief, adding that they would be applying for a remand order today from the Port Dickson Magistrate's Court.
Bernama news agency reported that preliminary investigations found that the truck, coming from Sepang, had hit the motorcycle before skidding onto the opposite lane and hitting the Honda Stream, a Mercedes-Benz and a Perodua Myvi.
According to preliminary investigations by the police, the truck first hit a motorcycle before skidding on to the lane opposite and crashing into the Honda Stream, a Mercedes-Benz and a Perodua Myvi. Five other people were injured in the accident. PHOTO: ROYAL MALAYSIA POLICE
Senior Assistant Superintendent Razif M. Haris, head of the Fire and Rescue Department in Port Dickson, said it took 17 minutes to extricate Mr Rosli. The truck was lifted using a crane to free the Honda Stream, and the road reopened to traffic by 4.25pm. The motorcycle rider was also reported as injured.
The Straits Times understands Mr Rosli was the owner of R S Bikes Centre, a motorcycle dealership in Kaki Bukit that his son also manages.
Mr Jawa, who owns the neighbouring Sanfu Motor at Autobay at Kaki Bukit, said Mr Rosli's son had closed the shop at about 3pm yesterday after hearing of the collision.
Mr Jawa, who goes by one name, said Mr Rosli was a low-profile person and that the shop had been in operation for about eight years.
Mr Vanga Ganasan, 28, a sales manager for Lupromax engine oil, said Mr Rosli was a client and a skilled mechanic.
"He was one of three mechanics in Singapore who knew how to maintain my 1990s BMW R1100GS motorcycle. He was a good man, and he was generous with his time," said Mr Vanga, adding that he met Mr Rosli last week at a meal along with other dealers.
"I did not think that it would be the last time I would see him."
A Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman said: "MFA extends our deepest condolences to the family of the four Singaporeans who passed away in the tragic car accident at Port Dickson, Malaysia.
"The Singapore High Commission in Kuala Lumpur is in contact with the Malaysian authorities and is rendering the necessary consular assistance to the next-of-kin of the family."
The family of four killed in a five-vehicle accident in Port Dickson (from left): Ms Nur Amalina Rosli, 21, Mr Rosli Samad, 54, Madam Maimunah Sapari, 51 and Ms Dayana Sarah Rosli, 18 PHOTO: COURTESY OF AZMAN MOHAMED
11 road fatalities overseas since last month
Eleven Singaporeans are now known to have died in traffic accidents overseas since last month, with the latest tragedy being the Port Dickson crash that killed a family of four.
• Dec 11: A driver identified as Mr Seow Kai Yuan was killed in a head-on crash in New Zealand that injured two others.
• Dec 21: Interior designer Koh Yuan Ling, 33, died in a traffic accident in South Africa. Ms Koh was travelling with her sister, Ms Koh Yuan Jie, who was injured. They had reportedly been in Johannesburg for less than 24 hours when the accident occurred.
• Dec 22: Three members of a family of four were killed while they were driving towards the Grand Canyon in Arizona. They were Singapore Armed Forces scholarship holder Justin Yeo Jun Xi, 22, and his parents, Mr Yeo Heng Soon, 62, and Madam Chua Cher Hwee, 56. His 19-year-old sister, Ms Justlyn Yeo Jing Hui, survived. Their car apparently crossed the painted median and collided head-on with a van.
• Dec 31: A motorcycle accident in Thailand claimed the lives of Ms Vanalyn Png, 22, and Mr Ng Yong Sing, 27. The motorcycle is believed to have skidded on a wet road, flinging the pair into a 3m-deep drain in southern Phatthalung province.
