School applications open for talented kids

Students can start applying for direct admission to 118 secondary schools and 22 junior colleges this month.

They will be assessed based on their talents, achievements and personal qualifications under the Direct School Admission scheme, which began in 2004. The list of participating schools can be found on the Education Ministry's website.

Cigarettes smuggled in Malaysian lorry

A Malaysia-registered lorry was found with 3,346 cartons of contraband cigarettes concealed in a modified compartment on its roof during an inspection at Woodlands Checkpoint on May 6.

The potential duty and goods and services tax on the cigarettes amounted to $259,650 and $26,140 respectively, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said yesterday.

The lorry, driven by a 39-year-old male Malaysian, was carrying a consignment declared to contain 100 rolls of "Single-Face Roll Papers", ICA said. The driver, the cigarettes and the lorry were handed over to Singapore Customs for further investigations, with the vehicle liable to be forfeited.

The ICA said it will continue to conduct security checks on passengers and vehicles at checkpoints.

ICA system slowdown leads to long queues

There were long queues at the ICA building in Lavender after the authority's passport system experienced intermittent slowdown for about 90 minutes yesterday.

The system has since resumed operations and no data was compromised, said an ICA spokesman, who added that the cause of the incident is being investigated.