Ex-principal admits to lying about affair with vendor
Former principal of River Valley High School, Koh Yong Chiah. TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — The prosecution is seeking four to six weeks’ jail for the former principal of River Valley High School (RVHS), who today (Dec 18) pleaded guilty to giving false information to a public servant when he denied — under questioning by a Ministry of Education superior — his affair with the director of a school vendor.
Another charge of knowingly giving false information to the chief special investigator of the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) in December 2012 was also taken into consideration.
Apart from details of the illicit relationship, the court also heard today that after Koh Yong Chiah, 61, was questioned about the affair in November 2005, he continued to award contracts to Madam Ivy Loke Wai Lin’s firms. Between 2005 and 2012, a total of 87 contracts worth S$3.2 million were dished out to a company where Mdm Lok was a director.
Koh and Mdm Loke had met some time in 2000 when the former was the principal of The Chinese High School and Mdm Loke, who was working at the Television Corporation of Singapore, had approached the school to participate in a community service project in China. The pair started an extra-marital affair soon after, with their first sexual encounter taking place during a school community service trip to Lijiang, China, in March 2001. About four years later, then-MOE director-general of Education Seah Jiak Choo received an anonymous complaint alleging, among other things, that Koh was having an affair with Mdm Loke and they were behaving inappropriately on school premises and school overseas trips.
Koh denied he was having an affair with Mdm Loke when he was questioned by MOE cluster superintendent Chia Ban Tin on Nov 24, 2005. He also denied being sexually intimate with Mdm Loke. Ms Chia then reminded him about the importance of “maintaining the integrity of the procurement process” and advised him against any personal involvement with Mdm Loke, whose company was bidding for contracts and providing services to Koh’s school. Mdm Loke was the director and majority shareholder of Education Architects 21 and Education Incorporation, both of which provided education-related services to Jurong Junior College and RVHS during Koh’s tenures as principals there. Koh was principal of RVHS from Dec 2009 to Sept 2012.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Navin Naidu said a custodial sentence was warranted to protect the transparency and integrity of the public procurement process. DPP G Kannan said that as a result of Koh’s lies, no immediate action was taken against him for the misconduct and a further S$3.2 million in contracts were awarded to Mdm Loke. Criminal investigations were also delayed.
The prosecution referred to the Brompton bike case, where former National Parks Board (NParks) assistant director Bernard Lim was fined a maximum of S$5,000 in June, for lying to auditors about his friendship with a director of the shop that won a S$57,200 tender to supply bicycles to NParks. DPP Kannan noted that compared with Mr Lim, Koh held a much higher rank and his case involved multiple contracts that amounted to a larger sum of money. Koh also continued to “act improperly” in the procurement process for seven years while Mr Lim recanted his false statement two days after his offence, DPP Kannan said.
Koh’s lawyer Lawrence Ang, who had also represented Mr Lim, said in mitigation that Koh had made substantial contributions to the teaching profession and education sector. He was also conferred National Day Honours in 1998 and 2004. Citing testimonials from his vice-principals and teachers, Mr Ang said Koh was “held in high regard”. He also noted that the schools had no issues with the services provided by Mdm Loke’s companies, and the schools’ procurement panels had recommended the award of the contracts.
In response, DPP Kannan pointed out that regardless of whether the services were satisfactory, there was a conflict of interest.
Speaking through a Mandarin interpreter, Koh stressed his passion for education and broke down when he said he felt sorry for his wife, two children and his colleagues. “Whatever that has been established over 35 years in my career, (I hope to) use that to compensate (my) mistake I made in 2005,” he said.
In response to queries, an MOE spokesperson said Koh is currently suspended from duties. “Educators who fail to comply with our standards of conduct and discipline will be subjected to disciplinary action,” the spokesperson added. “For serious cases, they may be dismissed from service.”
