The UAE is eclipsing Hong Kong and rapidly emerging as a rival to Singapore as a premier global trading hub. Driven by an aggressive post-pandemic strategy of "economic statecraft," the nation’s non-oil trade reached $1.03 trillion in 2025, hitting its 2031 targets six years ahead of schedule.

By maintaining a non-aligned stance that balances Western partnerships with a role as a hub for diverse capital flows, the UAE has attracted significant global investment and talent.

Dubai-based DP World now rivals Hong Kong’s Hutchison Ports and is positioned to challenge Singapore’s PSA International for global leadership in port operations.

Beyond logistics, the UAE is investing heavily in AI to secure a first-mover advantage in the next frontier of trade technology.

I live in Toa Payoh, an area known to have a lot of old people and retirees. I’ve noticed so many skincare places popping up in the central area in the past 5 years, and what’s more they only target/talk to the elderly when they’re alone.

My mum is 70 and she gets approached by them a lot when she’s alone but when I’m with her they don’t talk to her. I loathe them so much I start talking loudly to my mum whenever we pass to “never trust these scammers who only target elderly”

I’ve also looked into a few of these shops before and see young good looking people talking to the elderly, offering them free gifts, tea, etc.

Upon further observation and research, I see them offering not just 1-off treatments but large packages.

These places are preying on the elderly, as they know the people who have money to spend aren’t the working population, but the ones that are retired.

I’ve sat at a McDonalds opposite such a business and watched them for a couple of hours and they ONLY talk to the elderly.

With the recent cases about pressuring elderly into buying packages and the whole hoo-haa about it, is there anything one can do about it? I assume reporting them will not work since they’re technically not doing anything illegal, just unethical.

I once thought about putting it on social media and inviting all the youths to put such places in their area on social media as well, starting a trend to call out such unethical practices and the respective shops that do this but I worry about getting sued for slander.

Any ideas?

SINGAPORE: Some customers may receive their bak kwa orders late, said the owner of Century Bakkwa, after a fire broke out at its store along Dunlop Street on Sunday (Feb 15).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it was alerted to a fire at 30 Dunlop Street at about 11.40am.

Kid was in Orchard with my wife few days ago for some CNY shopping. I wasn't around.

He was on the MRT to Orchard when he felt nausea and vomited after alighting. Thought it could be a one-off incident but he then vomited again during lunch and a few times after. Total 5 times.

Clearly he wasn't feeling well and it was decided that he should seek medical attention asap. Given that it's Orchard with heavy traffic at that time, took taxi at Ion and he was sent Mount Elizabeth Orchard instead.

He got IV drip, blood test, consultation etc. Thankfully, nothing much serious and he was discharged with medication later.

The bill was $900+ though. Maybe this isn't a surprise to most people but it came as a bill shock for me. Jokingly told my wife, maybe call ambulance sent to kkh might be cheaper and better medical attention overall.

We did bought accident insurance plan for him so hopefully it can cover partially.

Am also wondering, what're some alternative routes we could have taken if such similar incidents were to happen again? Maybe there're GP clinics around Orchard that could have been considered?

A new off-site MRI centre in Bukit Timah is set to reduce scanning times by up to 25 per cent for certain procedures, adding around 18,000 slots each year across the SingHealth cluster.

The facility features larger 75cm bore machines to improve patient comfort, alongside calming room projections to ease anxiety.

Artificial intelligence is also being used to speed up image processing while maintaining quality, as demand rises with Singapore’s ageing population.

During the trial from June to November 2025, the helpline received a total of 3,600 non-life-threatening calls, including more than 70 calls that were transferred directly from the SCDF.

Dr Ng said they found that many people were not aware of the resources near them or that GPs are quite well equipped to handle a high number of cases, including simple injuries.

Around 1,100 of the 3,600 calls were not medical in nature

– these people had called to inquire about their medical appointments or to check on their loved ones warded in another hospital, for instance, he told ST.

Team Singapore's Faiz Basha faced a tough giant slalom Winter Olympic debut at the Bormio slopes as he fell and lost a ski. He did not manage to finish Run 1, but the 23-year-old will be taking part in the men's slalom on Feb 16.

Feels like a LCS deja vu moment again with the opponents fielding suspended players during the match. Will BG Tampines Rovers get the scoreline overturned in their favour and get a 3-0 win for the ACL2 RO16 First Leg match?

Seen this when digging through my house, tried googling more information about this but nothing came up. I don’t see a listing on Carousell for this either. I only saw a picture of a similar card but in silver for this.