Round-the-clock breaking news from Malaysia.
One person has died and 50 residents evacuated following a fire at a Jurong East Housing and Development Board flat in Singapore's early morning hours on August 16, marking the fourth fatal HDB fire in less than three weeks.
A 68-year-old retiree in Singapore's Bukit Batok has been sentenced to three months' imprisonment for deliberately setting fire to cardboard cat houses near his home, causing over S$900 in damage.
A fatal fire in a Clementi HDB unit on July 31 claimed one life and injured two firefighters. About 40 residents were evacuated as a precaution, with most returning home by early morning.
Kuala Lumpur City Hall is renovating ageing public housing schemes while a substantial backlog of 3,000 households awaits unit allocation. Minister Hannah Yeoh oversees a RM300 million improvement programme announced in Budget 2026.
Malaysia's housing ministry is channelling maintenance resources towards PPR housing complexes exceeding a decade in age, emphasising safety-critical infrastructure like lifts and water systems amid budget constraints.
The Desa Tun Razak People's Housing Project has completed its RM9.6 million upgrade, becoming one of 22 finished projects out of 61 planned improvements across Kuala Lumpur's public housing estates.