Daily Briefing: 2 charged with cheating, forgery of COVID-19 support scheme applications; Nervotec app displays vital health signs within a minute

And Johor bakeries selling Chinese New Year goodies pivot to online sales.

From ChannelNewsAsia:

Two men were charged in court on 29 January in separate cases of cheating and forgery offences in connection with the COVID-19 Support Grant and Temporary Relief Fund schemes, the Singapore Police Force said in a news release.

The two support schemes were administered by the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) and provided financial assistance to Singaporeans affected by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ong Hong Beng, Benny allegedly attempted to cheat MSF into paying out the COVID-19 Support Grant by falsely claiming to have lost his job as a result of the pandemic. The 43-year-old is alleged to have submitted a forged retrenchment letter and is also accused of providing other false information to the ministry to support his application for the grant.

MSF did not approve the man’s application, police said.

Read more here.

From e27:

Snap yourself using your smartphone camera and have your vital health signs displayed in under a minute? Though it may sound too good to be true, that is exactly what Nervotec promises its users.

All you have to do is to scan your face and the app will measure your oxygen saturation, heart rate, heart rate variability, and stress level. After filling out a symptom checker, a health score is generated on the platform.

Initially named Flaiight and started in June 2019 by former fighter pilot Jonathan Lau, the Singapore-based healthtech startup had targeted providing health management and workplace wellness tech solutions to ensure pilots were physically healthy before taking to the skies.

Read more here.

From ChannelNewsAsia:

For Singaporean engineer Toh Kok Siang, preparation for Chinese New Year is never the same without the annual weekend trip to Johor Bahru with his family to buy cookies and decorative items.

For the last seven years, Toh and his wife would spare a couple of days to drive across the Causeway, buy what they needed for the festivities before returning home.

“Usually we would go to City Square (Mall) and buy all our cookies there. Pineapple tart balls and kueh bangkit are much tastier and cheaper than the ones I’ve tasted from bakeries in Singapore,” said Toh.

However, this year, the COVID-19 pandemic has closed the borders between Singapore and Malaysia for tourist travel.

For Toh and many other Singaporeans who regularly travel across to buy Chinese New Year cookies, they initially thought they had to consider other alternatives.

Read more here.