SINGAPORE: FairPrice will roll out smart shopping trolleys to nearly 50 outlets by the end of the year, the supermarket chain said on Thursday (Apr 23), following an initial trial in Punggol last year.

The Smart Carts, integrated with the FairPrice Group app, feature built-in displays to help customers navigate the aisles, provide personalised promotions based on their shopping basket and scan and pay for products as they shop.

Since their implementation at FairPrice Punggol Coast Mall in August 2025, the Smart Carts have reduced customer checkout times from minutes to an average of 36 seconds, FairPrice said in a news release on its website.

Over 1,300 of these trolleys will be rolled out across 48 FairPrice Xtra and Finest outlets by end-2026, Singapore’s largest supermarket chain added.

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The smart shopping trolleys are part of a slew of digital innovations, dubbed the Store of Tomorrow (SOT) programme, that were developed in partnership with Google Cloud.

Following the opening of its first physical Store of Tomorrow at Punggol Digital District in 2025, FairPrice is hoping to expand the programme’s digital innovations for both customers and supermarket staff members across its network by end-2026.

For instance, the smart trolleys, which are integrated with Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform, can recommend relevant ready-to-eat or ready-to-cook options if a shopper were to ask the in-cart AI assistant about a specific dish.

“By bringing proven AI solutions from our Store of Tomorrow programme to more supermarkets across the island, we want to reimagine the shopping experience for our customers and remove the friction from their weekly grocery runs,” said FairPrice Group CEO Vipul Chawla.

“Whether it’s with smart carts that provide personalised offers and in-store navigation, or hybrid retail formats that bring together the best of physical and online shopping, our aim with the programme is to make every day a little better for all in Singapore.”

FairPrice will also roll out digital price cards to 48 supermarket outlets by the end of the year. 

The digital price cards, leveraging Google Cloud’s Gemini, offer shoppers clear, real-time pricing and promotional information, while removing the need for printed cards. 

They are projected to save 15,000 man-hours and S$138,000 (US$108,000) annually from printing and replacing physical price cards, FairPrice said.

Other innovations of the SOT programme include ShopBeyond, which connects physical displays with FairPrice's online catalogue, enabling customers to make purchases and schedule deliveries as they shop in-store.

FairPrice will also be rolling out the Grocer Genie app for employees at its supermarkets, featuring intelligent task management and AI-powered analysis of key store performance metrics, such as sales, inventory and customer satisfaction.

As part of its strategy to improve customers' shopping experience, FairPrice also integrated Singpass’ MyInfo service into its FairPrice Group app in May 2025 to make the application of its daily discount schemes even easier for eligible shoppers.

By verifying their information on the FairPrice Group app once with MyInfo, eligible customers using the app can have relevant discounts applied automatically to their purchases.

Since this implementation, almost 900,000 NTUC Link members have updated their FairPrice app profiles via MyInfo, the group said.

National Gallery Singapore will hold its first-ever R18 exhibition, beginning this month. Titled Passion is Volcanic: Desire in Southeast Asian Art, the exhibition will run from Apr 24 to Aug 30 and explores the concepts of desire, body and sexuality through Southeast Asian art.

The exhibition features over 70 works from various periods, divided into three sections: Asian Mythos and Ritual, Conventions of the Erotic, and Public Arenas/Private Interiors.

Each section will showcase how desire has interacted with different cultural and historical contexts over the years.

Some of the featured artworks and pieces include a gilt-copper sculpture of Vajradhara, the highest state of enlightenment, embracing Prajnaparamita, the mother of all Buddhas, as well as a coldcast marble sculpture depicting the Bicolano warrior goddess of the moon in a childbirth position.

Passion is Volcanic: Desire in Southeast Asian Art will be held at the Level 4 Gallery of National Gallery Singapore and is strictly for visitors aged 18 and above; valid identification will be required at entry. 

Tickets for the exhibition cost S$5 for Singapore citizens and permanent residents, and S$8 for other nationalities. More information can be found at the exhibition's website.

In a statement, Patrick Flores, chief curator and project director of the exhibition, said: “Art and desire have always been intertwined, yet conversations about pleasure and the body remain shielded in the region’s public sphere.

“Passion is Volcanic: Desire in Southeast Asian Art engages with these themes in a considered and meaningful way and demonstrates how complex subjects can be approached with intellectual rigour and curatorial care. 

"This exhibition invites us to look beyond familiar or simplified ideas of the erotic, exploring how desire is not fixed, but shaped by culture, history, and power. It opens up a more layered understanding of Southeast Asian art, one that centres lived, embodied experience as a vital force in artistic practice.”

One of the most iconic characters on Emerald Hill is the kind-hearted Er Shao Nai Nai (Second Young Mistress), played by Jesseca Liu.

In fact, it was this very role that earned the 47-year-old her first acting award – Best Actress at the Star Awards 2026 – after a 22-year career and seven previous nominations.

Liu also took home the MYPICK! Most Emotional Performance award for the same role that night.

But here’s a surprising twist: she almost turned down Emerald Hill.

In a recent interview with Capital 958, Liu shared that she feels incredibly proud and fortunate to have been cast in the 2025 Mediacorp blockbuster, especially since she almost missed out on the role.

According to her, she was actually filming for thriller drama Unforgivable at the time, and Emerald Hill had already begun production before that project even wrapped.

That, for obvious reasons, made her hesitant to take it on.

“I felt like I couldn’t do it because I didn’t have the time to prepare. I might not even have fully stepped out of my previous role before starting this one, and I thought that wouldn’t be fair to Emerald Hill," she explained.

“I originally wanted to turn it down, I really did. I was too silly. I think I was too immature then. In [the] future, I definitely need to think things through more carefully.”

Thankfully, she ultimately decided to not turn it down, or we might have been deprived of what is now widely regarded as the best Er Shao Nai Nai ever.

This story was originally published in 8Days.

For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/  

SINGAPORE: A 20-year-old competitive bodybuilder who was studying at a polytechnic died in 2024 from toxicity caused by a banned weight-loss substance.

The youth, who cannot be named due to gag orders protecting his identity imposed by the coroner's court, was hospitalised after having heart palpitations and difficulty breathing but died on Dec 22, 2024.

The case investigation officer told the coroner's court at the opening of the inquiry on Thursday (Apr 23) that the deceased lived with his parents and older brother.

He checked into hospital saying he had taken a "fat burner" which caused him to have heart palpitations and difficulty breathing.

He was transferred from Mount Elizabeth to Tan Tock Seng Hospital, where he died the same day.

The final cause of death was dinitrophenol toxicity. Dinitrophenol is a substance listed under the Poisons Act. It is used as a weight-loss agent, but is prohibited due to concerns of toxicity.

A check of the man's home revealed some medications and substances, but none were linked to dinitrophenol.

According to medical reports, the man was into bodybuilding but had issues with losing weight. He was also undergoing skin treatment and had been taking medications from various clinics.

He was given weight-loss medication by one of the clinics, but this was not linked to the toxic substance found in his blood.

The investigation officer, Station Inspector Ahmad Abdillah, said foul play was not suspected in this case.

"He wished to tone down his body and lose his weight," said SI Ahmad Abdillah.

Witness accounts supported this, with the man’s mother saying he had been taking fat burners but did not know which type.

The deceased was also unable to identify the fat burner he had taken while at Tan Tock Seng Hospital.

His parents knew he had been taking some medication but did not know what he was consuming on a daily basis, said SI Ahmad Abdillah. A total of 34 substances or medical items were seized from the man's bedroom and kitchen area.

Some of them were supplements his parents had bought for him to support his body-building, said SI Ahmad Abdillah.

State Coroner Adam Nakhoda adjourned the case and asked the investigation officer to conduct further checks, including which medications had been purchased by the deceased’s parents.

At the coroner's prompting, SI Ahmad Abdillah said the deceased had successfully taken part in bodybuilding competitions.

The coroner said that while the substance that caused the youth’s death was not found among his belongings, he asked whether police had seized his mobile phone or other devices to trace its source.

SI Ahmad Abdillah said the phone was seized, but could not be accessed as it was locked.

The coroner also asked the officer to find out what chronic illnesses, if any, the deceased had been diagnosed with and what medications he had been given.

If not, was there a reason the man was taking various medications, and was there any link between them and bodybuilding or weight loss, the coroner added.