Couple behind The Real Singapore charged with sedition

Tauriel · Apr 15, 2015

Couple behind The Real Singapore charged with sedition

Published on Apr 14, 2015 10:17 AM

Lawyer Choo Zheng Xi (left) with Robin Yang Kaiheng (centre) and Ai Takagi. Takagi and Yang were charged with seven counts of sedition and another for failing to produce documents to a police officer on Tuesday. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

By Elena Chong

SINGAPORE - A couple were charged with seven counts of sedition and another for failing to produce documents to a police officer on Tuesday.

Yang Kaiheng, 26, and his girlfriend Ai Takagi, 22, allegedly published seditious articles on sociopolitical website The Real Singapore (TRS) between October 2013 and March this year, which promoted ill will and hostility between different classes of the Singapore population.

On Feb 4 this year, the website published an article ostensibly obtained from a contributor claiming that during Thaipusam festivities, an incident was sparked by a Filipino who complained to police about noise from drummers.

The named contributor later commented on another site that allegations that a Filipino family was involved were untrue.

Investigations were conducted and the contributor interviewed.

Takagi, who is Australian Japanese, and Yang have been identified as being jointly responsible for the creation, development, maintenance and content on TRS.

They face two charges each in respect of the article published.

They are accused of falsely asserting that a Filipino family had caused the fracas between police and participants during the Thaipusam procession on Feb 3.

Another charge was over an article titled "Exposed: Puppy Murderer Works in Healthcare Industry, Her Company Hires Mostly Foreigners".

The article claimed that one company "hires more foreigners than locals", and questioned whether it had "given fair consideration to Singaporeans".

In it, Takagi is alleged to have written a note about the piece that she falsely attributed to one "Farhan".

The couple also allegedly failed to produce documents such as revenue information pertaining to advertising on TRS on March 26.

Bail of $20,000 each was offered.

The couple are represented by Mr Choo Zheng Xi and Mr Raj Mannar.

A pre-trial conference is scheduled for May 12.

Under the Sedition Act, the maximum punishment is a $5,000 fine and three years' jail on each charge.

Tauriel · Apr 15, 2015

Two charged over anti-foreigner forum The Real Singapore

Singaporean man and Australian woman could face jail for sedition

PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 14 April, 2015, 10:18pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 14 April, 2015, 10:18pm

Agence France-Presse

Yang Kaiheng (centre) and Ai Takagi (right) ran the website.

A Singaporean man and an Australian woman behind an online forum that often attacks immigrants and foreign workers in Singapore have been charged with sedition, an offence punishable by jail.

Singaporean Yang Kaiheng, 26, and Japanese-Australian Ai Takagi, 22, each face seven counts of sedition for articles published on a website called The Real Singapore and its Facebook page between October 2013 and February this year, court documents showed.

The two, described by local media as a couple based in Australia, were also charged with withholding documents on the website's finances from police. They immediately posted bail.

The Real Singapore's Facebook page has more than 415,000 followers, and commentators say the website probably earns thousands of dollars a month in advertising revenues.

Singapore clamps down hard on anyone seen to be inciting communal tensions after bloody racial riots erupted in the 1960s.

The case comes a week after a Filipino nurse who insulted Singaporeans online and called for the takeover of the city-state by his countrymen was charged under the Sedition Act, a rarely used colonial-era law.

Among other matters, the law makes it an offence to promote hostility between different races or classes in Singapore, which is mainly ethnic Chinese.

The charge sheets said seven articles posted by Yang and Takagi on The Real Singapore "have the tendency to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different classes of the population of Singapore".

Among those flagged by state prosecutors was an article published on February 4.

The post "falsely asserted" that a Filipino couple had instigated a fracas that had broken out between police and several Singaporean Indians taking part in a Hindu street procession on February 3.

Other posts derided Chinese nationals and other guest workers working and living in the city-state, the documents showed.

The administrators of The Real Singapore had remained anonymous until Yang and Takagi were arrested in February.

Some observers have accused the portal of fanning xenophobia in the labour-starved island nation of 5.4 million people, 40 per cent of them foreigners.

Anti-immigrant sentiment is on the rise, with many Singaporeans complaining that foreigners compete with them for jobs, housing, medical care and space on public transport.

Anyone found guilty of making seditious remarks in public can be fined up to S$5,000 (HK$28,270) or jailed up to three years, or both, for each charge.

Blackout · May 19, 2015

Singapore Press Holdings sues TRS couple for copyright infringement

Published on May 18, 2015 1:09 PM

Court papers for a copyright infringement suit initiated by Singapore Press Holdings were served to Ai Takagi (left) and Yang Kaiheng (right), the couple behind sociopolitical website The Real Singapore, outside State Courts on May 18, 2015. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

By Elena Chong & Tham Yuen-C

SINGAPORE - Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) has brought a copyright infringement suit against the duo behind The Real Singapore (TRS) socio-political website.

The Singapore-listed media group alleged that content from its newspapers had been reproduced on the website without permission between January 2011 and April this year.

A writ of summons and statement of claim were filed in the High Court on May 7 and the papers served on Yang Kaiheng, 26, and Ai Takagi, 22, yesterday.

They were served by a clerk from WongPartnership, representing SPH, as they walked to the State Courts in Havelock Square for a pre-trial conference for a separate sedition case.

Yang, a Singaporean, and Takagi, his Australian fiancee, have been identified as being editors, developers, operators, moderators and administrators of TRS.

In its statement of claim, SPH cited at least 191 articles from its stable of newspapers that were substantially reproduced, without licence or authorisation, in the form of 177 articles on TRS.

The SPH articles included crime and political stories as well as commentaries, and first ran in The Straits Times, The Business Times, The New Paper and MyPaper.

The media company said in court papers that Yang and Takagi had “systematically and consistently” used these articles for content on TRS, and received financial benefit from doing so.

Twice this year – on March 18 and April 2 – SPH sent letters to Yang and Takagi notifying them of the copyright infringement.

The “TRS Editorial Team” replied to the first letter via e-mail the same day, acknowledging their articles contained “copyright infringing contents... uploaded by those who have writer accounts”. It said the articles “have now been removed”. It did not reply to SPH’s second letter.

But SPH contends in its claim that some articles remained accessible on the website until early this month, when TRS was ordered to shut down by the Media Development Authority (MDA) for publishing articles deemed “objectionable on the grounds of public interest, public order and national harmony”.

SPH is asking the court to declare that TRS infringed its copyright. It wants an injunction to stop TRS from continuing to do so; damages; or alternatively an account of profits that TRS made through the articles and the payment of the amount to SPH.

TRS was taken down by its editors on May 3, after the MDA suspended the licence of Yang and Takagi to operate the site.

The media regulator said they deliberately made up articles to incite anti-foreigner sentiment and undermine national harmony here, to drive traffic to the site and raise advertising dollars.

The couple have made representations to the MDA on the matter, and are awaiting a review that will determine if their licence will be revoked.

Yang and Takagi were charged with seven counts of sedition for articles published between October 2013 and February this year that allegedly promoted ill-will and hostility between different races or classes here. They face another charge of failing to produce documents, such as financial statements, to investigators.

Earlier this month, Yang was allowed to visit his critically ill father in Brisbane, Australia. He returned a week ago. His father is also back and hospitalised here.

The couple’s lawyer Choo Zheng Xi said yesterday that he will be making representations to the Attorney-General’s Chambers on the criminal case. The next pre-trial conference for the case is on July 1.

Lockdown · Mar 8, 2016

Ai Takagi, former editor of The Real Singapore website, to plead guilty to sedition

(From left) Yang Kaiheng, Ai Takagi and their lawyer Choo Zheng Xi arriving at the State Courts on March 7, 2016. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Published Mar 7, 2016, 9:51 am SGT
Rachel Au-Yong

SINGAPORE - The trial for the duo involved in now-defunct The Real Singapore (TRS) sociopolitical website opened on Monday (March 7) morning with one of the defendants indicating she would plead guilty.

Ai Takagi, 23, indicated she would plead guilty and her case will be mentioned at 2.30pm on Tuesday (March 8).

She and her husband, Yang Kaiheng, 27, have been charged with seven counts of sedition for articles published between October 2013 and February last year that allegedly promoted ill-will and hostility between different races or classes in Singapore.

With the case against Yang due to proceed on Friday (March 11), Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan said the couple were "wildly successful in their efforts to profit from the ill-will and hostility that they were peddling."

Based on their bank statements, they earned amounts ranging from A$20,000 (S$20,420) to more than A$50,000 per month, he said.

Among the contentious articles published by the couple was one falsely asserting that a Filipino family had caused an incident between the police and participants of the Thaipusam procession.

The maximum punishment under the Sedition Act is a $5,000 fine and three years’ jail on each charge.

The duo are also charged with one count of failing to produce documents to the police.

In a statement, the duo's lawyer Choo Zheng Xi said: “Today, my client Ms Ai Takagi has taken responsibility for her role in running The Real Singapore. She has taken a plea of guilt in relation to charges under the Sedition Act. This was not an easy decision for her to make."

Mr Choo added that Yang intends to claim trial to clear his name and "will put up a vigorous defence in the hope of obtaining justice".

The prosecution will call on six witnesses - five policemen, including the investigating officer Roy Lim, and a Madam Gowri, who will make statements related to TRS' articles on Thaipusam.

The TRS website was shut down by its editors last May, after the Media Development Authority (MDA) suspended their licence to operate the site and ordered them to take it offline.

The trial is expected to last 14 days.

Viron · Mar 8, 2016

Australian behind Singapore ‘xenophobia’ website to plead guilty to sedition

PUBLISHED : Monday, 07 March, 2016, 5:24pm
UPDATED : Monday, 07 March, 2016, 5:24pm

Agence France-Presse in Singapore

Australian Japanese Ai Takagi (front), 23, and her Singaporean husband Yang Kaiheng (left), 27, each face seven sedition charges for articles published between October 2013 and February 2015. Photo: AFP

An Australian woman accused of fanning hatred of foreigners in Singapore on her website said on Monday she would plead guilty to sedition, an offence punishable by jail.

Ai Takagi, 23, told a district court of her intention at the opening of what was to be a joint trial with her Singaporean husband Yang Kaiheng, 27.

She will return to court on Tuesday to enter her plea while her husband’s trial will resume on Friday.

Yang and Takagi each face seven sedition charges for articles published between October 2013 and February 2015 on the socio-political website “The Real Singapore”, which they were forced by regulators to shut down last year.

They were also charged with withholding documents on the website’s advertising revenues from police.

If found guilty, Yang and Takagi could be jailed up to three years and fined up to S$5,000 (HK$28,100), or both, on each sedition charge.

They face one month in jail and up to S$1,500 in fines, or both, for withholding information from police.

State prosecutors on Monday said the couple “brazenly played up racism and xenophobia” on the site.

“They even resorted to outright and blatant fabrication in order to attract internet users to their website – all with the objective of increasing their advertising revenue,” the prosecutors said.

Singapore’s sedition laws make it an offence to promote hostility between different races or classes in the multiracial city-state, which is mainly ethnic Chinese.

About 40 per cent of the labour-starved island’s 5.5 million people are foreigners.

Charge sheets said articles deemed to be seditious derided Chinese nationals and other guest workers in Singapore, while one post on the website “falsely asserted” that a Filipino family instigated a fracas at a Hindu festival in February.

Prosecutors said Takagi and Yang “were wildly successful to profit from the ill-will and hostility that they were peddling” due to the popularity of their website.

Last September Filipino nurse Ello Ed Mundsel Bello, 29, was jailed for four months for sedition after insulting Singaporeans online and calling on his countrymen to take over the city-state.

In 2009 a local Christian couple, Ong Kian Cheong and Dorothy Chan, were jailed for eight weeks each for distributing and possessing anti-Muslim and anti-Catholic publications.

Viron · Mar 9, 2016

What's wrong with making more money? :confused:

TRS 'made $500k from ads in 17 months'

Takagi, an Australian citizen and owner and chief editor of The Real Singapore website, pleaded guilty to four charges of sedition for publishing articles that promoted ill will and hostility between Singaporeans and foreigners. Yang, her Singaporean husband, denies the charges and will claim trial.ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Published 26 min ago

Website owner in sedition case posted inflammatory articles to profit from traffic: Prosecution

Rachel Au-Yong

Going by the claims of Ai Takagi, The Real Singapore (TRS) website was nothing more than a platform for Singaporeans to express their views without fear.

But, in fact, it was a big cash cow that raked in almost half a million dollars in advertising revenue for its owners in just 17 months.

Facts about how the Australian citizen ran the news portal as an owner and chief editor emerged in court yesterday, as she pleaded guilty to four counts of sedition for publishing articles that promoted ill will and hostility between Singaporeans and foreigners.

Among the four inflammatory articles was one where she falsely stated that a Filipino family had caused a commotion between the police and participants of last year's Thaipusam procession.

Yesterday, the prosecution said that Takagi, 23, had intentionally posted these articles to drive up traffic and to profit from it. More than 95 per cent of the website's readers were from Singapore.

Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan said the website used advertising services by Google and Taboola, which display advertisements alongside articles. Each time an article is viewed on the site, an advertisement is displayed and TRS would be paid for it.

Between December 2013 and April last year, the website earned over A$473,000 (S$488,000) in advertising revenue from Google alone, he said.

Despite this, Takagi had claimed that she "did not keep tabs" on the website's traffic and also did not "give much thought" to advertising revenue, said DPP Kannan.

However, he added, her online chat transcripts showed otherwise, and she had expressed her frustration when the website ran into problems that caused traffic, and advertising revenue, to fall.

On one such occasion in September 2012, she sent a slew of messages over Skype to a programmer in just six minutes, and said: "We have already repeated many times to you, this is affecting our readership and also our earnings tremendously. Seriously, when can I get this fixed?"

Takagi had also put together a presentation titled, "Advertising with The Real Singapore", in 2013, in which she said the website would work together with advertisers to produce advertorials.

During investigations, Takagi denied having a particular agenda, and said the articles she published on TRS were all based on "what people felt and submitted to her".

But DPP Kannan said an editor's note she had written made clear that the website wanted to "instil fear" in those who hired foreigners.

Takagi had also once said to a contributor that the style of writing on TRS "was one of portraying the mainstream media in Singapore as being biased", he added.

He also said Takagi was not forthcoming with her answers on various issues during investigations. In three statements recorded by the police, she had answered "not relevant" no less than 101 times, he said.

Yesterday, Takagi sat in the dock solemnly as these facts of the case were read out. Four other charges against her - three of them for sedition and one for refusing to hand over documents needed in police investigations - were taken into consideration for sentencing.

The maximum punishment under the Sedition Act is a $5,000 fine and three years' jail on each charge.

District Judge Salina Ishak adjourned sentencing submissions to March 23.

Takagi and her Singaporean husband, Yang Kaiheng, 27, were expected to face a joint trial on Monday. But before it began, she told the court she would be pleading guilty. Her husband denies the charges and will claim trial. Both are represented by lawyer Choo Zheng Xi from Peter Low LLC.

Yesterday, there was also some drama when an unknown man tried to serve a writ of summons, a document to commence a civil suit, on Yang outside the courtroom.

A witness told The Straits Times that the man threw the documents in Yang's face, after he refused to accept them. Police were later seen taking the statements of both men.

Viron · Mar 9, 2016

Hiding behind 'Farhan'

Published 26 min ago
Daryl Chin
Social Media Editor

Under the fictitious name of "Farhan", Australian national Ai Takagi published numerous articles on the now-defunct socio-political site, The Real Singapore (TRS).

The posts exploited racist and xenophobic faultlines and drew a substantial amount of traffic to the site, which raked in nearly $500,000 in advertising revenue in 17 months.

Takagi's conviction puts to rest one of the ongoing debates netizens have about the identity of Farhan, a name which first gained prominence in 2013 as TRS' supposed chief editor - Mohd Farhan.

Responding to complaints then about the site's controversial content, Farhan said it was "transparent and accountable", and denied allegations that Takagi and her husband Yang Kaiheng held any positions within the site.

Even as Takagi was convicted of sedition yesterday, netizens were quick to point out that a user named Farhan was also the driving force behind another socio-political website, All Singapore Stuff, which picked up steam soon after TRS was shut down in May last year.

Indeed, the first post on All Singapore Stuff was put up in January 2014 by none other than a user named Farhan. Some articles, like those reporting on discontent among races, also bear a resemblance to those posted on TRS.

All Singapore Stuff, which carried articles in support of the former TRS editors, also created at least two other Facebook pages - Must Be Singapore and Cool Singapore Bureau - in the last two years to spread its content. Farhan's posts have also been carried by another site - Kaki News Network - which was taken down earlier this year after complaints about copyright infringement.

Questions directed at the team behind All Singapore Stuff were not answered by press time.

Lawyer Bryan Tan of Pinsent Masons said it is difficult to ascertain the identity of those behind websites - including Farhan - as they can register their domain names using domain privacy services and host content overseas.

"Controversial content might get you the hits initially, but if you keep repeating bad behaviour, perpetuating falsehoods and exaggerating issues, you'll run into problems very quickly," he said.

Viron · Mar 9, 2016

TRS sedition trial: Ai Takagi convicted of 4 charges of sedition

Former TRS editor Ai Takagi was convicted of four charges of sedition on March 8, 2016.

Photo: The Straits Times

Tuesday, Mar 8, 2016

SINGAPORE - Ms Ai Takagi, a former editor of defunct The Real Singapore website, was convicted on four charges of sedition today (March 8).

The 23-year-old Australian pleaded guilty to publishing inflammatory articles on the site and its Facebook page.

The seditious posts were aimed at fanning anti-foreigner sentiments among Singaporeans, targeting foreigners from the Philippines, India and China, prosecutors said, according to a report on Channel News Asia.

Ms Takagi also admitted to another three counts of sedition and one charge of failing to produce financial statements on the website's advertising revenue to the police, reported The Straits Times. The judge will consider these in sentencing.

District Judge Salina Ishak adjourned sentencing submissions to March 23.

Ms Takagi and her Singaporean husband, Mr Yang Kaiheng, 27, were to face a joint trial on Monday (March 8). But before it began, she told the court she would be pleading guilty.

Her husband is denying the charges and claiming trial.

The articles posted on TRS between October 2013 and February last year are alleged to have promoted ill will and hostility between different races or classes in Singapore.

In one article, Ms Takagi used a Malay name "Farhan" to hide her identity while fostering xenophobia - an act Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan found "outrageous", reported The Straits Times.

The couple earned "enormous" sums from advertising revenue, he said.

Bank statements showed that they made between AU$20,000 (S$20,420) and more than AU$50,000 a month, he said. They earned close to $500,000 from December 2013 to April 2015.

The TRS website was closed down by its editors in May last year. The authorities suspended their licence to operate the site and ordered them to take it offline.

Related: Wife to plead guilty, husband to claim trial in sedition case

[email protected]

Kasumi · Mar 24, 2016

Former TRS editor Ai Takagi, who is 8 weeks pregnant, jailed 10 months for sedition

Australian Ai Takagi, the former editor of The Real Singapore website, was jailed 10 months on four charges under the Sedition Act.ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Published Mar 23, 2016, 11:20 am SGT
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent

SINGAPORE - Ai Takagi, the editor of The Real Singapore (TRS) website, was sentenced to 10 months’ jail on Wednesday (March 23) on four charges of publishing seditious articles which had the tendency to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different classes of the population of Singapore.

Before she was sentenced, the 23-year-old, who is eight weeks pregnant, apologised to the people of Singapore for the harm she had caused by posting content to her website.

Takagi, an Australian of Japanese descent, said she was not fully aware of the level of sensitivity needed when dealing with topics related to racial and religious issues here.

“I now know that the harmony which Singapore enjoys today requires careful and continuous efforts on the part of everyone, citizens and visitors alike, to maintain,’’ she said.

She added that she would definitely be more careful with her online postings in future.
Ai Takagi walking out of State Courts after posting bail

She pleaded guilty two weeks ago while her Singaporean husband, Yang Kaiheng, 27, claimed trial to seven charges of sedition and one of not producing documents pertaining to TRS finances to a public servant when he was legally bound to.

TRS’ aim was to be a platform where Singaporeans could express their thoughts and voice their complaints in their day-to-day lives freely, anonymously, without restraint or censorship.

Takagi, who had been living in Brisbane, Australia, where she was a student at the University of Queensland, was responsible for the TRS website as a “writer’’, as well as searching the Internet for interesting content to publish. She would also choose material from “contributors’’ for publications – either with or without editing the contributions.

She and Yang were arrested in February last year after an online police report about TRS website for inciting hatred against the Filipino community in Singapore.

The court had heard that Takagi was motivated by financial gain. Over nearly 1½ years between December 2013 and April last year, shortly before the TRS website and TRS Facebook page were shut down, the site raked in almost half a million dollars in advertising revenue.

Seeking a total sentence of at least 12 months’ jail, Deputy Public Prosecutors G. Kannan argued on Wednesday (March 23) that this was the most serious case of sedition prosecuted so far.

“Compared to the previous cases where the extent of publication was minuscule, dissemination in this case was very extensive,’’ he said.

Unlike previous cases which were directed towards one class of the populace in Singapore, Takagi’s “blunderbuss approach'' targeted multiple classes of the population.

He cited numerous aggravating factors such as the fact that the seditious material containing blatant falsehoods was published.

He said the articles in the proceeded charges were designed to provoke hatred against foreigners in Singapore; engendered vitriol and hatred from readers.

District Judge Salina Ishak said in her brief sentencing remarks that she took into account the nature and extent of seditious tendency, financial gain of the publications of the seditious articles, manner and extent of distribution to public domain, concealment of identity, and level of blame.

Takagi’s lawyer Choo Zheng Xi successfully applied for his client to start sentence on April 22 so that she can help in making arrangements for the care of the ramen stall run by her husband, and for Yang’s paralysed father.

Yang’s trial resumes on Monday (March 28).

The maximum penalty is a $5,000 fine and three years’ jail on each charge.

Kasumi · Mar 29, 2016

TRS case: Yang Kaiheng admits getting advertisers on website's Facebook page

Yang Kaiheng (right) and his wife Ai Takagi arriving at the State Courts on March 28, 2016. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Published Mar 28, 2016, 2:01 pm SGT
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent

SINGAPORE - The man who started socio-political website The Real Singapore (TRS) admitted that although he did not manage the TRS Facebook page at all, he would get people to advertise on it.

Yang Kaiheng, 27, who is on trial for sedition, told a senior police officer that he mainly did the advertisement for the TRS Facebook page which included things like iPhone and Andoid apps. He said Google Adsense paid a certain amount of money to his then girlfriend, Ai Takagi, as advertisement fees.

He has since married the 23-year-old Australian of Japanese descent. Takagi, who is eight weeks pregnant, was sentenced to 10 months' jail last week after admitting to four charges of publishing seditious articles on the TRS website.

Australian Ai Takagi, the former editor of The Real Singapore website, was jailed 10 months on four charges under the Sedition Act.

Takagi, an Australian citizen and owner and chief editor of The Real Singapore website, pleaded guilty to four charges of sedition for publishing articles that promoted ill will and hostility between Singaporeans and foreigners. Yang, her Singaporean

Takagi, owner and chief editor TRS, was responsible for the day-to-day editorial operations of TRS, including authoring content and searching the Internet for interesting content to publish on the website.

She would select material from "contributors" for publication - either with or without editing the contributions.

The stated aim of TRS, set up in 2012, was to be a platform where Singaporeans could express their thoughts and voice their complaints in their day-to-day life freely and anonymously. The TRS website and Facebook page were shut down on May 3 last year.

Yang, defended by Mr Choo Zheng Xi, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

He is facing seven charges of publishing seditious articles on the TRS website and a seditious Facebook post on the Facebook page of TRS which had the tendency to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different classes of the population of Singapore such as between ethnic Indian Singaporeans and Filipinos.

An eighth charge of failing to produce documents showing revenue information pertaining to advertising on TRS has been stood down.

The couple were arrested in Singapore on Feb 6 last year.

The prosecution called Deputy Superintendent of Police Roy Lim, the investigation officer of the case, as its first witness. He continues his testimony before District Judge Ng Peng Hong.

If convicted, Yang could be fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed for up to three years.

Kasumi · Mar 30, 2016

TRS ad revenue 'used to pay mortgage on couple's apartment'

Yang and his wife Takagi arriving at the State Courts yesterday. Takagi was sentenced to 10 months in jail last week, while Yang has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of publishing seditious articles.ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Published Mar 29, 2016, 5:00 am SGT
Elena Chong
Court Correspondent

Advertising revenue earned by the owners of socio-political website The Real Singapore (TRS) was used to pay the mortgage on an apartment held jointly by TRS chief editor Ai Takagi and her then boyfriend Yang Kaiheng, a district court heard yesterday.

Takagi, a 23-year-old Australian, paid off almost the entire 30-year loan of A$195,000 (S$201,000) in 11 months in 2014, leaving a balance of A$5,106.

The TRS website - of which she was a developer, operator, editor, moderator, administrator and owner - generated revenue through advertising, using Google AdSense.

Google AdSense automatically inserted advertisements into content published on the TRS website.

It also automatically tracked the number of visitors to the website, and tallied the amount of money to be paid to the owners.

From December 2013 to April last year, shortly before the TRS website and TRS Facebook page were shut down, Google paid a total of A$473,595 to the TRS owners.

The court heard that the couple, who married last October, were directors and shareholders of two Australian companies, both called Ryukun. Money credited into Ryukun's account by Google in 2014 was transferred to Takagi's Commonwealth Bank of Australia bank account. She transferred various sums of money to pay for the mortgage of the Brisbane property.

These details emerged when Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Roy Lim Eng Seng, from the Special Investigation Section of the Criminal Investigation Department, took the stand at Yang's trial.

Yang, 27, has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of publishing seditious articles on the TRS website and its Facebook page which tended to promote feelings of ill will and hostility between the different classes in Singapore's population.

One article, put up on Feb 4 last year, falsely asserted that a Filipino family caused an incident between the police and participants at the Thaipusam procession last year, while another "casts PRC women as home-wreckers".

Takagi, who is eight weeks pregnant, was sentenced to 10 months in jail last week after admitting to four counts under the Sedition Act.

In its opening statement earlier, the prosecution charged that the couple brazenly played up racism and xenophobia. They even resorted to outright and blatant fabrication to attract Internet users to their website with the aim of increasing their advertising revenue.

Bank statements showed that they earned between A$20,000 and A$50,000 plus a month.

DSP Lim, the investigation officer, said he picked up the couple from Yang's grandparents' home in Kalidasa Avenue, Upper Thomson, on Feb 6 last year after an online police report was made the previous day.

In his statement to the police, Yang said he mainly oversaw advertisements for the TRS page, as well as those on its iPhone and Android apps. Takagi was paid advertisement fees by Google AdSense.

"Although I do not manage the Facebook page at all, I do read articles on the page. This is my other involvement in the page apart from getting people to advertise on my page," he stated.

If convicted, Yang, defended by Mr Choo Zheng Xi, could be fined up to $3,000 and/or jailed for up to three years per charge. Deputy Public Prosecutors G. Kannan, Suhas Malhotra and Sheryl Janet George are prosecuting the case before District Judge Ng Peng Hong.

scroobal · Mar 30, 2016

Smart guy. Instead of both going down, the wife must have agreed to take the site & content responsibility while he acts blur as the person managing the Ads only. She is an Australian so a criminal record from Singapore is less of an issue.

Lockdown · Apr 2, 2016

TRS case: My account of Thaipusam case altered, says nurse

Photo: The New Paper

Rachel Au Yong
Friday, Apr 1, 2016

Last February, a nurse sent her first-hand account of a Thaipusam incident to sociopolitical website The Real Singapore (TRS).

But yesterday, Ms Gowri Yanaseckaran told the High Court the version published by the now-defunct website was "cooked up" and "all nonsense".

The 32-year-old, who had been unhappy with the way the police had told some of the festival participants to stop playing musical instruments, which resulted in a scuffle, had e-mailed what she saw to TRS.

But what was published on TRS had her blaming a Filipino family for complaining to the police after their young child cried because of the noise made by the "urumi", an Indian drum.

"There was no such complaint by a Pinoy family, to the best of my knowledge," Ms Gowri said in her court statement.

"I was surprised as I had made no mention of any complaint by a Pinoy family in my e-mail."

The testimonies of several witnesses yesterday, in the continuing trial of Yang Kaiheng, 27, also showed the article had made false claims.

Yang and his wife, Ai Takagi, 23, have been charged with writing and disseminating the seditious article, along with five other inflammatory articles and a Facebook post.

Takagi had pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 months' jail last week.

But Yang claimed trial, saying his involvement lasted only about a month in 2012 and was "ad hoc" after that.

Yesterday, Assistant Superintendent of Police Chan Wai Hoong, who was present during the Thaipusam incident, reaffirmed Ms Gowri's

court statement.

He said: "The initial instruction to approach the group of musicians and advise them to stop playing their drums was issued by me."

He was not approached by a Filipino family with a complaint, he said.

ASP Abdul Murad testified he had asked Takagi to retrieve her Google search history "to determine if she had carried out any searches that may be relevant to the Thaipusam-related article".

The word "urumi" and phrase "urumi instrument" popped up.

Also, the Google account used for these searches bore the name "Mohd Farhan", a fictitious name she had adopted, she told ASP Abdul. The name "Farhan" had been used to sign off an editor's note which said it was the objective of TRS editors to "instil fear" in companies that hire foreigners instead of Singaporeans.

That article is also the subject of one of the charges against Yang.

Yesterday, the prosecutor sought to establish, among other things, that Yang was inextricably involved in TRS, including developing and maintaining the website. Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan did so by comparing two chat logs.

One is a Skype conversation between a user called "able_tree" and Mr Damien Koh, a Web developer who started TRS with Yang and Takagi but later quit. The prosecution said Yang and Takagi shared the "able_tree" account.

The other is a WhatsApp conversation extracted from the smartphone of Takagi, an Australian.

DPP Kannan noted that Singlish words like "meh", "liao" and "lor" were each used at least three times in the Skype conversation, but no such expressions were found in the WhatsApp messages.

The Skype conversations also had Hokkien expletives, which were absent in the WhatsApp chats.

DPP Kannan also highlighted an online conversation in which a Vietnamese programmer addressed "able_tree" as "Yang".

In the same conversation, the programmer was asked to clarify some things about Elance, an online freelancer portal, which "able_tree" was not familiar with.

On this portal, DPP Kannan noted, was an account with the name "kaiheng" and it was used to hire freelance programmers for TRS.

The hearing continues.

[email protected]

Lockdown · Apr 6, 2016

TRS trial: Yang Kaiheng started and continued to run website, says new witness

Yang Kaiheng (right) and his wife Ai Takagi leaving the State Courts on Tuesday. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Published Apr 5, 2016, 2:06 pm SGT

Rachel Au-Yong

SINGAPORE - The Real Singapore (TRS) co-founder Yang Kaiheng, 27, started and continued to run the now defunct socio-political website, contrary to his claim that his involvement was "fleeting", a new witness told a district court on the sixth day of the trial on Tuesday (April 5) morning.

In an application for a start-up competition in January 2013, Yang said that he and his then-girlfriend Ai Takagi "started and continue to run an online media news site at www.therealsingapore.com from which advertising revenue is gained", said undergraduate K Sudesh Durai, 26. He is Yang's former Yishun Junior College schoolmate and a floorball teammate.

Yang also described the site as "the most successful" business he has started to date, and "one of the top 100 sites, traffic-wise in Singapore".

Australian Ai Takagi, the former editor of The Real Singapore website, was jailed 10 months on four charges under the Sedition Act.

Yang, who faces seven counts of sedition, denies the charges, claiming his involvement was only for a month in 2012. He told the police that his involvement in TRS was only in the advertising aspects.

Along with Takagi and another friend, Mr Durai and Yang started Acreet, a website that partnered with companies to give away vouchers and gifts.

Amid discussions about Acreet conducted over WhatsApp and Facebook, Yang approached Mr Durai for help with the TRS website several times.

In one instance, he asked Mr Durai to think of merchandise he could sell on the TRS Facebook page, offering up to 20 per cent of the profits to Mr Durai if the idea took off.

That was because Yang had tried to sell T-shirts bearing slogans like "I want to be a millionaire so that I can buy my HDB" and "That moment you realized COE costs more than your entire education". But he found the sales disappointing, as only 5,000 people bought the T-shirts, netting him only a $2 profit each.

"If you can think of something simple that 500,000 people will buy and go viral, then we can earn our first pot of gold from my website," Yang told Mr Durai.

He also asked Mr Durai to recommend a mobile app developer for the website, to produce a mobile app like that of The Straits Times.

Yang also told Mr Durai that he earned about $4,000 to $5,000 a month from advertising revenue through TRS.

When Mr Durai said it was a "very decent amount", Yang replied in a Facebook message: "yah i wan earn more i wan buy car bungalow".

But in the end, the partnership between Yang and Mr Durai soured in April 2013.

Yang had thought that Acreet would not take off, and told Mr Durai that he was "not really keen any more".

When Mr Durai asked Yang to transfer the Acreet domain to him as he had come up with the name, Yang refused, adding "no thanks bye bye go sue me then" and used a Hokkien vulgarity on him.

Mr Durai was contacted by the police to be a prosecution witness only on Sunday (April 3), after the prosecution found forensic evidence already in their possession.

The defence sought to prove that the "technical terms" Mr Durai said Yang used did not necessarily indicate a level of expertise that was alluded to. These terms, as pointed out by Mr Durai, included "search engine optimisation", "BIGCOMMERCE cart system" and "CPanel." Asked by Mr Choo if these terms were fairly common, Mr Durai agreed.

Mr Choo also tried to show that it was Mr Durai who suggested to Yang what to highlight in his application form for the start-up competition in 2013. When asked if this was the case, Mr Durai said he could not remember.

During the defence's cross-examination of Mr Durai, Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan took issue with Yang using his mobile phone to communicate with Takagi, a material witness, while in the dock.

But Yang said his wife, who is believed to be 10 weeks pregnant, was bleeding and was seeing a gynaecologist at the Singapore General Hospital. Takagi was earlier sentenced to 10 months' jail after pleading guilty to four counts of sedition.

The hearing continues on Wednesday (April 6).

Lockdown · Apr 7, 2016

TRS trial: Website inspired by success of Facebook page criticising PAP MP Tin Pei Ling, says co-founder

Yang Kaiheng arriving at the State Courts on April 6, 2016.ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Published 10 hours ago
Rachel Au-Yong

SINGAPORE - Socio-political website The Real Singapore (TRS) did not come about "naturally" but was inspired by the success of a Facebook page that criticised a People's Action Party Member of Parliament, its co-founder said in court on Wednesday (April 6).

The Facebook page, "Petition to remove Tin Pei Ling as a MP", was created by TRS co-founders Yang Kaiheng, 27, and his wife Ai Takagi, after the 2011 General Election.

Ms Tin, the MP for MacPherson, was then an MP for Marine Parade GRC. At the height of its popularity, the page had 60,000 likes.

Given its large following, such a page was a "useful venue to eventually have a business venture", Yang said when he took the stand at the start of his defence on Wednesday.

The couple then went on to create the TRS Facebook page.

"I created the idea with my wife... We thought a website without censorship and more freedom of speech (would be) a good business venture for us," he said.

Yang faces seven counts of sedition for allegedly using TRS to "maliciously exploit racial and xenophobic faultlines". Takagi had pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 months' jail in late March, but Yang claimed trial.

The court also heard that Yang designed the website and its logo, and researched the various means of getting advertising revenue.

But his involvement was only for "one to two months" after the TRS Facebook page went live in June 2012, he said.

It was Takagi who ran the website, including publishing content, contacting a team of editors to help her run the site, and meeting advertising representatives from Google, he added.

Any help he provided after that was "ad hoc", such as suggesting to Takagi that a mobile app be developed for TRS.

He also denied writing any articles, as he was busy with schoolwork and running the gaming club that he founded while at the University of Queensland in Australia.

Yang was questioned on the stand by his lawyer Choo Zheng Xi for only 20 minutes before the hearing was adjourned to let him spend time with his pregnant wife, who had a medical emergency on Tuesday.

Earlier on Wednesday, the prosecution wrapped up its case against Yang.

Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan said in his submissions to the court that based on the evidence submitted so far, the defence had a case to answer.

Evidence in the form of chat logs showed Yang's "continued and sustained involvement" in TRS in 2012, 2013 and 2014, he said.

"The evidence of ownership from May 2014 onwards is even stronger as he was a 50 per cent shareholder and one of two directors of Ryukun, the entity to which significant advertising revenue from TRS was paid to," he added.

The court had heard earlier during the trial that TRS raked in almost half a million dollars in advertising revenue from December 2013 to April 2015.

The trial continues.

Lockdown · Apr 8, 2016

Campaign against MP 'inspired TRS website'

Taking the stand for the first time yesterday, Yang (right) explained how the TRS website came about. He also maintained that his involvement in the site was limited and that it was his wife, Takagi (left), who ran the website. ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Published Apr 7, 2016, 5:00 am SGT

Popularity of his Facebook page calling for Tin Pei Ling's removal 'sparked business idea'

Rachel Au-Yong

A Facebook page lobbying for the removal of a Member of Parliament inspired the co-founders of The Real Singapore (TRS) to create the socio-political website.

Yang Kaiheng, 27, on trial for sedition, said yesterday that he and his wife Ai Takagi, 23, had first set up "Petition to remove Tin Pei Ling as a MP" after the 2011 General Election.

The page had 60,000 likes at the height of its popularity, and gave Yang and Takagi the idea for the TRS Facebook page and website, the court heard yesterday.

Yang took the stand for the first time yesterday.

Seeing how his Facebook page against the People's Action Party's Ms Tin - then an MP for Marine Parade GRC - had gained a large following, Yang said he saw the online platform as a "useful venue to eventually have a business venture".

He added: "We thought a website without censorship and (with) more freedom of speech would be a good business venture for us."

Yang and Takagi have been charged with sedition for using TRS to "maliciously exploit racial and xenophobic faultlines". Takagi had pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 months' jail.

Yang yesterday admitted to designing the website and its logo, and researching advertising opportunities for the site.

But he said his involvement was only for "one to two months", after the TRS Facebook page went live in June 2012.

He added that it was Takagi who ran the website, including publishing content, working with a team of editors, and meeting with advertising representatives from Google. Whatever help he provided after that was "ad hoc".

He also denied writing any articles for the site, saying that he was busy with schoolwork at the University of Queensland in Australia and with running a gaming club he founded.

But Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan said that chat logs showed his "continued and sustained involvement" in TRS in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Wrapping up his case against Yang, DPP Kannan said the evidence of Yang's ownership in TRS was "even stronger" from May 2014 onwards. Yang owned a 50 per cent stake in Ryukun, into which "significant advertising revenue from TRS was paid". He was also a director of the company.

The trial continues.

Lockdown · Apr 8, 2016

TRS trial: Yang Kaiheng admits he lied about meeting Ai Takagi during GE2011

Yang Kaiheng and his wife Ai Takagi arriving at the State Courts, on April 7, 2016.ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW

Published Apr 7, 2016, 1:54 pm SGT
Rachel Au-Yong

SINGAPORE - The Real Singapore (TRS) website co-founder Yang Kaiheng admitted in court on Thursday (April 7) afternoon that he lied about meeting wife Ai Takagi during GE2011. He made the admission after Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) G Kannan said he had a set of WhatsApp messages that the DPP said were of a "very embarrassing and personal nature".

Yang, 27, had said earlier that he had set up a Facebook page that criticised PAP MP Tin Pei Ling shortly after the May 2011 General Election with Takagi, but it turned out that he only met Takagi around September 2011, which is four months after the general election.

Earlier on Thursday, Yang Kaiheng said he only referred to the socio-political website as his in chats with his friends because he was proud of having a hand in setting it up with Takagi.

But that was the extent of his involvement, the court heard on Thursday morning. Yang denied writing, editing and uploading any articles that form the basis of his seven charges of sedition.

Takagi had earlier pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 10 months' jail. The 23-year-old, who is 10 weeks pregnant, appeared with her husband in the State Courts on Thursday.

"I took pride in setting up the website... I didn't see a need to dissociate myself from it back then," he said.

As for his application to enter a start-up competition in Jan 2013 which stated that he handled marketing for TRS, he said he did so to "upsell his portfolio" and attract more seed-funding.

He also created accounts on freelancing platforms but gave Takagi rein over them. Developers who addressed Takagi as 'Yang' probably did so because such accounts stated the user's name as "K. Yang", he said.

In reality, Takagi ran TRS, and he did not have access to the website's control panel, or web-hosting and advertising accounts, he said.

It was also only Takagi who took out a public apology to Singapore Press Holdings for infringing the copyright of 244 articles earlier this year.

As he was not a developer, moderator or editor of TRS, "I did not need to apologise", Yang said.

The court also heard that he became a director of Ryuken - the company to which significant advertising revenue from TRS was paid - to help Takagi avoid being hit by high taxes.

An accountant had advised Takagi to set up a company to pay a flat tax rate of 30 per cent, instead of 40 per cent for personal taxes. Joining her as a director would also allow each of them to enjoy $30,000 of tax-free exemption, he added.

He also told the court that he had considered writing for TRS.

"But my English standard is not good enough to write," he said, adding that he failed his General Paper twice and frequently makes grammatical errors.

The prosecution also began their cross-examination of Yang.

The trial is expected to continue on Friday (April 8).

Lockdown · Apr 9, 2016

TRS trial: Yang Kaiheng lied about friend's involvement in website

Yang Kaiheng and his wife Ai Takagi arriving at the State Courts on April 8, 2016. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM

Published Apr 8, 2016, 5:20 pm SGT
Rachel Au-Yong

SINGAPORE - Singaporean Yang Kaiheng founded socio-political website The Real Singapore (TRS) with his wife and a "good friend", yet he told the police he did not know of his friend's involvement.

On Friday (April 8), the 27-year-old explained why he lied, saying he did not want to implicate his fellow undergraduate Damien Koh, a Web developer.

"I was sure he had nothing to do with sedition in the TRS site," he told a district court.

Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan told him he had no reason to fear implicating Mr Koh if he knew Mr Koh did not write or upload any articles for TRS.

Yang, who is facing sedition charges, replied: "I didn't want him to be called by the police and be implicated in the sedition case."

Yang lied about Takagi's involvement in the anti-Tin Pei Ling Facebook page to give the impression that his wife, an Australian, was interested in Singapore politics, said the DPP.

In 2015, he had told the police he had "no idea" if Mr Koh was connected to TRS.

But in the last three days, he had testified that Mr Koh was one of the website's founders and handled its technical aspects.

DPP Kannan said he would address Yang's inconsistent remarks when he makes his submissions to the judge at the end of the trial.

Both sides, however, were in agreement on one thing yesterday - that the person behind the Skype account "able_tree" must have owned and maintained TRS.

The Skype user had discussed TRS matters with Mr Koh from March 2013 to January 2014, indicating the person who used the account was not doing it on an "ad hoc" basis, said DPP Kannan.

Yang had told the court earlier that he was involved in TRS for only one to two months after it went live in June 2012, and that any other help he gave his wife subsequently was "ad hoc".

But who is behind the account has yet to been established.

The defence is arguing only Ai Takagi, 23, who married Yang last October, used the account to discuss TRS matters. Yang had also testified he used the account out of convenience and only for personal chats with friends.

Takagi had earlier pleaded guilty to sedition and was sentenced to 10 months' jail.

But the prosecution said it will show later in the trial that Yang was, in fact, the person behind the discussions on the Skype account.

The trial, which entered its ninth day on Friday, has been adjourned to June 22.

Lockdown · Jun 22, 2016

TRS trial: Yang Kaiheng expected to plead guilty on Friday

Yang Kaiheng and his wife Ai Takagi arriving at the State Courts on 8 April.PHOTO: ST FILE

Published 1 hour ago
Pearl Lee

SINGAPORE - Yang Kaiheng, one half of the husband-and-wife team that set up the sociopolitical website The Real Singapore, told a court hearing on Wednesday (June 22) that he intends to plead guilty to charges under the Sedition Act.

This comes after seven days of trial over a period of more than three months.

Yang, 27, appeared in a State Court on Wednesday clad in a long-sleeved T-shirt and knee-length Bermuda shorts.

He and his 23-year-old wife Ai Takagi were charged in February last year with seven counts of sedition over articles published on the now-defunct website. The duo were also charged with one count of failing to produce documents to the police.

Among the contentious articles published by the couple was one which falsely asserted that a Filipino family had caused an incident between the police and participants of the Thaipusam procession.

Takagi, an Australian citizen, had pleaded guilty to publishing inflammatory articles on The Real Singapore news portal and its Facebook page.

She was convicted of four charges of sedition in March and is now serving a 10-month jail term.

Yang, however, denied the charges then, and claimed trial.

In the first tranche of his trial in April this year, Yang had admitted to lying in court after the prosecution pointed out inconsistencies in his testimony.

He said he had set up a Facebook page to criticise MP Tin Pei Ling with Takagi shortly after the May 2011 General Election. However, this was shown in court to be untrue as the couple met only in September 2011, four months after the election.

And while he also started The Real Singapore website with Takagi and a friend, he told police that he did not know of his friend's involvement.

Yang's case will be mentioned again on Friday (June 24) and he is expected to plead guilty to six counts of sedition.

The maximum punishment under the Sedition Act is a $5,000 fine and three years' jail on each charge.

Lockdown · Jun 24, 2016

TRS founder ready to plead guilty

Yang Kaiheng outside the State Courts. He is on trial for seven charges under the Sedition Act for anti-foreigner posts published on The Real Singapore (TRS) website that aimed to “maliciously exploit racial and xenophobic faultlines”.

Photo: The New Paper

Ronald Loh
Thursday, Jun 23, 2016

In a surprising turn of events, Yang Kaiheng, founder of socio-political website The Real Singapore (TRS), indicated yesterday that he wished to plead guilty to the seven sedition charges he faces.

Yang, 27, had originally claimed trial, denying he had posted inflammatory articles on the TRS website and Facebook page between 2013 and 2015.

During the trial, which went on for seven days in March and April, Yang claimed his involvement in TRS was for only a month in 2012 after helping to set it up.

The trial was supposed to have resumed yesterday until his lawyer told the judge in chambers about his client's intention to plead guilty.

During the trial, Yang claimed that his wife, Ai Takagi, 23, an Australian national of Japanese descent, was responsible for the day-to-day business and editorial content of TRS.

Between December 2013 and April 2015, TRS raked in almost half a million dollars in advertising revenue, the court heard.

In April, Yang claimed that he and Takagi had been inspired to start TRS after their Facebook page, which petitioned for the removal of new Member of Parliament (MP) Tin Pei Ling after the 2011 General Election, garnered about 60,000 likes.

But during cross-examination, Deputy Public Prosecutor G. Kannan asked how this was possible when the couple had not yet met during the 2011 GE period.

DPP Kannan said he had a log of very personal and embarrassing WhatsApp messages that proved they had met only after the petition Facebook page was created.

Yang's lawyer tried to interject, but Yang then conceded: "It's okay, Your Honour, I admit I am lying."

The next day, Yang again admitted to lying - this time for having falsely told the police he did not know that his friend, Mr Damien Koh, was involved in setting up TRS.

Yang had met Mr Koh, who later quit TRS, during their University of Queensland days.

Yang told the court: "I was being investigated for sedition during my interview. I didn't want to implicate my friend. I was sure he had nothing to do with sedition in the TRS site."

Yang turned up at the State Courts yesterday wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt and knee-length bermuda shorts.

He is expected to be back in court tomorrow.

If convicted of each charge under the Sedition Act, he faces up to three years' jail and a fine of up to $5,000.

Takagi pleaded guilty to sedition in March after also initially claiming trial and was jailed 10 months.

Now about five months pregnant,, she began serving her sentence on April 22.

HIS CHARGES

Yang Kaiheng is accused of seven counts of sedition:
An article falsely asserting that a Filipino family caused an incident between the police and participants at last year's Thaipusam procession.
A similar Facebook post.
An article alleging that a Filipino employee bribed a colleague to delete traces of his misdeeds to ensure that only his countrymen were hired by the company.
An article portraying women from China as home-wreckers whose main motive was "trying to hook" Singaporean men.
An article that had an editor's note warning companies about hiring foreigners over Singaporeans.
An article claiming that Filipino managers working here would give preferential treatment to subordinates of the same nationality at the expense of Singaporeans.
Copied an article from Stomp about an elderly woman who told her grandson to urinate into a bottle on an MRT train, then doctored the article to say she was a Chinese national who allegedly had an accent and posted it on TRS.
An eighth charge of failing to produce documents to the police for investigations has been stood down.

TIMELINE OF CASE

2012

The Real Singapore (TRS) is set up.

February 2015

TRS publishes an article on Feb 4 alleging that a Filipino family's complaint over noise from drummers led to a scuffle during the Thaipusam procession on Feb 3. The police receive reports about an "insensitive article" online the next day. The authorities arrest Yang Kaiheng and Ai Takagi in Singapore that month.

April 2015

Yang and Takagi are charged with sedition and failing to produce documents to the police.

May 2015

The Media Development Authority suspends TRS' operating licence and orders that it be taken down.

August 2015

Yang and Takagi open two ramen stalls in two National University of Singapore foodcourts.

October 2015

They get married.

January 2016

They open a third ramen stall at a coffee shop in Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8.

March 2016

Yang claims trial while his wife pleads guilty. Takagi is sentenced to 10 months' jail.

April 2016

During Yang's trial, he admits to lying on two different occasions before the trial is adjourned to June. Takagi begins her sentence on April 22.

June 2016

Yang indicates he wishes to plead guilty.

Couple behind The Real Singapore charged with sedition

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Alfrescian

Similar threads