Foreign talent's contributions to Singapore

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Jul 16, 2025, 02:00pm

Boy, 6, among 4 hurt after Honda driver stopped abruptly at Beach Road, causing accident with Lamborghini​

Huang Xueyan (transliterated), 41, faces two charges. PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS

Teo Yan Ting
TNP
July 16, 2025

A 41-year-old man who abruptly stopped his car in the middle of the road, causing a collision with an oncoming Lamborghini, has been fined $5,000 and disqualified from driving for five years.

The man's wife, as well as the Lamborghini driver and his two passengers, all sustained injuries in the crash.


Huang Xueyan (transliterated), a Chinese national, pleaded guilty on July 14 to one count of driving without due regard for the safety of other road users.

The incident took place at about 1.38pm on July 17, 2022.
A red Lamborghini was travelling along Beach Road towards Stamford Road. As it approached the junction with Java Road, the traffic light was green.


At the same moment, Huang, who was driving a red Honda CRV with his 40-year-old wife, turned right into Java Road but suddenly stopped his vehicle in the middle of the road.

The Lamborghini, unable to stop in time, collided directly with Huang's vehicle. Inside the sports car were a 41-year-old man, his 34-year-old wife and their six-year-old son.

Dashcam footage showed another red car that was in front of the Lamborghini braking in time to avoid the collision.

Medical reports revealed that the driver of the Lamborghini suffered a sprained neck while his wife sustained a dislocated ankle and fractured talus, requiring three days of hospitalisation. Their son suffered abdominal bruising and a minor head injury and was hospitalised for two days.

Huang's wife was also injured in the crash and given six days of medical leave.

Huang's lawyer told the court that his client exited the vehicle immediately to render assistance and has also written an apology letter to the victims. He appealed for leniency in sentencing.

 

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Maximum $7,000 fine for caterer involved in ByteDance food poisoning case​

Yunhaiyao chief executive Lu Zhi Tao appeared in court on behalf of the company.

Jul 17, 2025

SINGAPORE – Catering company Yunhaiyao, which was convicted over its role in the ByteDance mass food poisoning case that affected 171 people, was fined $7,000 on July 17.

Handing down the maximum fine for the case, District Judge Janet Wang said a “staggering” number of people were affected by the episode and that it was fortuitous no fatality resulted.

Noting that the firm had already been in operation in Singapore for six years, she added: “(The company) had sat on its laurels of complacency and maintained a lackadaisical attitude towards the importance of food safety.”


Yunhaiyao’s chief executive Lu Zhi Tao, who appeared in court on behalf of the company, said it has permanently closed its Northpoint City outlet, where the contaminated food was prepared.

Among other remedial measures, Mr Lu said all of the firm’s chefs have since attended a hygiene course again, and a cleaning company was hired to thoroughly clean all premises that are still open for business.

Through a Mandarin interpreter, he added: “The company has set up a safety check team to check on the quality of cooked food and ingredients at the various retail outlets.”

Meanwhile, the court heard that the other caterer that had been suspended by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) over the case, Pu Tien Services, was eventually found to be uninvolved in the gastroenteritis incident.

It was given the green light by SFA on Aug 10, 2024, to resume operations.

An SFA spokesman told The Straits Times on July 17, 2025, that the agency will not be taking any further action against Pu Tien Services as investigations did not uncover any evidence linking its catered food with the incident.

The two caterers had supplied food to ByteDance, which saw some of its staff hit by gastroenteritis on July 30, 2024.

The victims suffered abdominal pain, diarrhoea and vomiting after consuming catered lunches prepared by Yunhaiyao.

SFA prosecuting officer Mohd Rizal told the court that of the 171 victims, 60 were taken to hospital and 22 of them were eventually hospitalised for between one and three days.

Yunhaiyao had on July 2 pleaded guilty to one charge under the Sale of Food Act and another under the Environmental Public Health (Food Hygiene) Regulations.

Court documents revealed that the wok-fried diced chicken prepared by Yunhaiyao was found to contain over 200,000 colony-forming units (CFUs) per gram of Staphylococcus aureus, a type of pathogen.

This is more than 2,000 times the acceptable level of less than 100 CFUs per gram.


Mr Rizal said pathogens exceeding this amount would make the food unsuitable for consumption and that eating such food may cause symptoms of gastroenteritis.

During the inspection of Yunhaiyao’s food preparation premises at its Northpoint City outlet, SFA officers also discovered more than 10 live cockroaches beneath a folded grey plastic mat behind a rack.

Yunhaiyao’s staff immediately disposed of the infested material, said the prosecutor.


The food company’s suspension was lifted by SFA on Aug 16 after it took the necessary remedial measures.

Judge Wang said its remedial steps were fundamental processes that ought to have been put in place from the outset.

When Judge Wang asked about its plans to compensate victims, Mr Lu said the company was in contact with ByteDance.

“We (ByteDance and Yunhaiyao) have an agreement that we will discuss this further upon the conclusion of this case,” he said through the interpreter.

After the case concluded on July 17, Yunhaiyao apologised in a statement posted on its Facebook page.

It said the incident marked the Northpoint City outlet’s first attempt at offering corporate catering services, but it failed to properly assess the risks involved.

“Our internal review revealed that the meal volume on that day had exceeded the outlet’s maximum single-meal production capacity, which became a major hidden danger,” said the statement, adding that the firm has since permanently stopped its corporate catering services.

It further noted that temperature and time control during storage and delivery was insufficient, leading to microbial overgrowth which caused the incident.

“This incident has been a painful and sobering lesson for us,” said the company in its statement.

“We sincerely urge the public and all stakeholders to continue holding us to high standards and maintaining close oversight.

“We extend our deepest apologies to all affected consumers and the general public.”

 

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Two women jailed for submitting fake university certificates to MOM for employment passes​

Torres Alyssa Riva Fernan (left) and Conol Almira Joy Torres were jailed for four and six weeks respectively on July 17.


Summary

• Two foreign women, Fernan and Torres, submitted forged university certificates to Singapore's MOM to obtain employment passes.
• They worked at CL Enterprise for 15 months before MOM discovered the fraud during a random inspection.
• MOM seeks a strong sentence to deter others from exploiting the work pass system with false statements.

AI generated

Jul 17, 2025

SINGAPORE – Hoping to get employment passes so they could work in Singapore, two foreign women submitted false university certificates to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).

After they secured the passes, their ruse went undetected for 15 months as they continued working for CL Enterprise, a firm which operates multiple Mr Fix retail outlets carrying items such as kitchenware and appliances.

On July 17, Torres Alyssa Riva Fernan and Conol Almira Joy Torres, both 29-year-old Filipinas, were jailed for four and six weeks respectively.


Fernan pleaded guilty to one charge under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.

Torres admitted to one similar charge, with two other charges taken into consideration for sentencing.

Asking the judge to impose a strong sentence, MOM prosecuting officer Teo Sijing said others were deprived of the jobs the two women had secured by deceiving the authorities.

Some time in September 2020, Torres contacted an unidentified Philippine agent known as “Cory” to look for a new job after her previous employment at another Singapore firm ended.

Cory informed Torres about a job as assistant sales manager with a monthly salary of $2,200. Torres was keen and went for the interview.

After the interview, CL Enterprise submitted an application for an employment pass for Torres to work as its assistant sales manager.


As part of the application process, Torres submitted a forged certificate indicating she had a bachelor’s degree in science from Ateneo De Manila University, and signed a declaration form affirming it was true.

She also stated that her monthly salary would be $5,800, although she knew this was false.

She did so on Cory’s instructions as she believed it was necessary for her employment pass application to succeed.

Meanwhile, Fernan heard about Cory through a relative while she was still in the Philippines looking for a job.

Cory required Fernan to pay her $4,500 before processing her job application.

Fernan took a loan to pay Cory.

Fernan then interviewed for the position of assistant operations manager at CL Enterprise and was hired.

In her employment pass application, she similarly submitted a forged bachelor’s degree in science certificate from De La Salle University in Manila, and signed a declaration form affirming that she had this qualification.

Both Torres and Fernan worked at the company from November 2020 to February 2022.

Their offences were discovered when MOM conducted a random inspection of CL Enterprise.

Court documents did not give more details about the inspection.

MOM’s Mr Teo said educational qualifications and salaries are important considerations when determining whether to grant an employment pass application.

Had the authorities known that the details submitted by the women were untrue, the pair would not have been granted the passes, said the prosecutor.

“The sentence sought would impose a strong deterrent message to offenders who seek to exploit the work pass system by making false statements and creating backdoors to facilitate illegal employment,” said Mr Teo.

 

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7 weeks’ jail for male cook who molested drunken man sleeping on bench at shopping mall​

Aung Chue Marn also admitted to an unrelated charge of being in possession of obscene films.

Summary

• Aung Chue Marn molested a drunk, sleeping man in the wee hours of Oct 10, 2024.
• His offence came to light when a security guard viewed CCTV footage showing the Myanmar national molesting the victim.
• Aung Chue Marn's mobile phone was later found to contain 149 video clips of male victims using toilets.

AI generated

Jul 24, 2025

SINGAPORE – A cook employed at a Compass One eatery had just completed work when he spotted and molested a drunken man sleeping on a bench at the Sengkang shopping mall at 2.30am.

After molesting the victim, who was reeking of vomit and alcohol, Aung Chue Marn walked away and then returned three more times to grope the man’s private parts. The victim had remained asleep.

The 26-year-old offender was sentenced to seven weeks’ jail on July 24 after he pleaded guilty to one count of molestation over the incident which took place in October 2024.


Aung Chue Marn, a Myanmar national, also admitted to an unrelated charge of being in possession of obscene films.

The acts of molestation came to light only after the 29-year-old victim woke up and approached a security guard at the mall as his mobile phone was missing.

Court documents did not disclose what happened to the device.

“(The guard) reviewed CCTV footage and found that the accused had touched the victim whilst he was unconscious,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Karl Tan.

Aung Chue Marn was arrested on Oct 10, 2024, and the authorities examined his mobile phone, which was found to contain 149 video clips of unknown male victims using toilets at the shopping mall.

He had secretly recorded them without the victims’ consent or knowledge, the court heard.

 

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Man scammed 10 victims on Carousell over exercise clothes, misappropriated his hairdresser’s money​

Ong Kok Mun admitted to five offences, including cheating, criminal breach of trust, drug charges and assisting others to retain their benefits from criminal conduct.

Summary

• Ong Kok Mun scammed Carousell users of $920 in 2024 by selling exercise clothes, then misappropriated $1,812 from a hairdresser.
• He illegally facilitated criminal activity, referring bank accounts to a syndicate for scam proceeds, earning $1,000 commission per account.
• Arrested with methamphetamine, Ong admitted to daily drug use. He faces sentencing, with his lawyer citing financial desperation as a motive.

AI generated

Jul 29, 2025

SINGAPORE – A man scammed 10 victims on Carousell into handing him more than $900 in 2024 thinking that they were buying exercise clothes from him.

Malaysian Ong Kok Mun, 39, also misappropriated about $1,800 of his hairdresser’s money that same year.

On July 29, Ong admitted to five offences, including cheating, criminal breach of trust, drug charges and assisting others to retain their benefits from criminal conduct.

Nine other cheating charges and one drug-related offence will be taken into consideration for his sentencing on July 31.

The court heard that Ong, a former delivery man, lost his job in February 2024.

He then purportedly bought exercise garments in bulk from Shopee and resold them on Carousell.

Between Feb 3 and Feb 14 that year, 10 people paid Ong a total of $920 for the clothes. But he cut off contact after getting the money and did not deliver the apparel to them.

One victim paid him $155 for four sports bras and two pairs of shorts from Lululemon, but never received the items.

Ong later admitted that he had used the money to pay for his personal expenses and accommodation at a hotel after his supply of exercise clothes ran out.


He also misappropriated money from people he knew personally, such as a hairdresser of whom he had been a regular customer for many years.

In January 2024, he told the hairdresser – a fellow 39-year-old Malaysian – that he had unused credits in his Shopback account.

The hairdresser asked Ong if he could help him buy some Chinese New Year hampers at a discount using those credits.

Ong then got the hairdresser to transfer $1,812 to his bank account, but did not buy the hampers nor return the money. Court documents did not state what he used the money for.

Ong has not made restitution to any of his victims.

During his unemployment period, a member of Ong’s former gang offered him a job with a criminal syndicate.


He would look for people who were willing to open and relinquish their bank accounts, which would then be used to receive money from scam victims. Ong received about $1,000 in commission for each bank account.

Between March 10 and April 1, 2024, he referred at least 18 bank accounts to the syndicate. Six of these accounts received $422,999 in scam proceeds from 49 victims.

Ong was arrested on April 3, 2024. The police searched his room at the Darlene Hotel in Geylang and found methamphetamine, which he kept for personal consumption.

He admitted that he had started abusing the drug almost every day since June 2023 due to stress.

Court documents showed that Ong was previously admitted to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre and jailed for drug consumption.

Mr Edwin Ho of the Public Defender’s Office, who represented Ong, said his client’s involvement with the criminal syndicate was driven by financial desperation.

“He promises that this will be his last brush with the law,” added Mr Ho.

 

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Provision shop owner who raped 11-year-old gets more than 14 years’ jail​

The judge rejected Ramalingam’s requests to remove his electronic tag and forgo regular check-ins with the police.

Summary

• Ramalingam Selvasekaran, 58, was sentenced to over 14 years in jail for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl in his shop in 2021.
• Despite maintaining innocence, Ramalingam was found guilty of rape and outrage of modesty. Justice Xu found the victim's testimony credible.
• Ramalingam's requests to alter his bail conditions were rejected. He also disputed returning $8 taken from his shop to the victim.

Jul 30, 2025

SINGAPORE - A provision shop owner gave a free drink to an 11-year-old girl who visited his store, and when she returned later that day to buy ice cream, he sexually assaulted her twice.

On July 30, Ramalingam Selvasekaran, 58, was sentenced to 14 years, three months and two weeks’ jail by the High Court.

As he cannot be caned, given that he is above the age of 50, the sentence includes additional jail time in lieu of 15 strokes of the cane.


The Indian national was found guilty of all three charges against him on July 7 – one count of rape and two counts of outrage of modesty – after a trial in which he represented himself.

During sentencing arguments on July 30, Ramalingam maintained his innocence and said he would be appealing against his conviction.

After he was sentenced and granted bail of $80,000 pending appeal, he bargained with the judge regarding his bail conditions.

Justice Aidan Xu rejected Ramalingam’s requests to remove his electronic tag and forgo regular check-ins at the Police Cantonment Complex.

Ramalingam also objected to Deputy Public Prosecutor Susanna Yim’s proposal to return to the girl $8 in cash while the court was determining the fate of various trial exhibits.

“The $8 was taken from my shop,” he said. The judge told the prosecution to look into the matter.

The offences took place between about 4.50pm and about 5.05pm on Oct 28, 2021, at his store in Jurong West.

Ramalingam, who was 55 years old at the time of the offences, was accused by the prosecution of leading the girl to the inner confines of his shop to touch her and make her perform oral sex on him.

Following the assaults, the girl sought help from a passer-by, who called the police.

At the end of the trial, which began on Jan 16, Ramalingam argued that the girl’s testimony should not be believed.

He said it was unbelievable that she would have gone to a stranger for help, when she could have gone to someone she knew.

He argued that it was suspicious that there was no police camera footage of her returning to her home after the incident.


He added that he could not have raped the victim as he was suffering from erectile dysfunction, and noted that his DNA was not found on her body.

In convicting Ramalingam on July 7, Justice Xu said the prosecution’s case has been established beyond a reasonable doubt.

The judge found no significant weaknesses in the girl’s recounting of events.

“The fact that she had not run off after the first act of molest, or that she did not resist the assaults, or inform her grandfather, were all to my mind sufficiently explained, particularly given that she was still young and immature,” he said.

Justice Xu pointed out that in Ramalingam’s earlier statements to the police, he stated he had hugged and kissed the victim and that she had performed oral sex on him.

Ramalingam’s later statements denying the commission of the offences were merely an attempt to resile from what he had admitted, the judge said.

Justice Xu said the absence of camera footage did not undermine her evidence.

While there was no dispute that Ramalingam suffered from erectile dysfunction, the judge said the prosecution’s expert witness gave a cogent explanation that oral rape remained possible.

The absence of Ramalingam’s DNA on the victim was at most neutral, and did not undermine the girl’s evidence that she had been sexually assaulted, said the judge.