Man who evaded NS used fake Malaysian passports at checkpoints over 800 times
Over a span of five years from 2006 to 2011, Low Eng Kheng, 60, used the fake passports 876 times at various checkpoints in Singapore.
On July 11, he was sentenced to eight months and 18 weeks' jail after pleading guilty to five charges under the Immigration Act.
The court heard that in the early 1990s, Low left Singapore for Malaysia as he did not wish to complete his obligations as an operationally ready national serviceman (NSman).
He remained in Malaysia and did not return to Singapore, and his Singapore passport expired in June 2000.
In 2006, he wanted to travel to Singapore to visit his family as his mother's health was deteriorating, but was afraid of using his actual Singapore identity as he believed that he was wanted by the authorities for not fulfilling his NSman obligations.
Thus, he paid an unknown individual RM45,000 for a Malaysian passport with his photograph but the particulars of one "Chong Poh Yin" and a birthdate that was not his.
In the subsequent years between 2008 and 2010, Low obtained three more Malaysian passports with his photograph, but which bore the particulars of "Chong". He paid the same unknown individual RM10,000 for each passport.
Low used the first passport to enter Singapore on Aug 7, 2006. After that, he frequently travelled between Singapore and Malaysia using the four passports. He last arrived in Singapore using one of the passports on May 2, 2011.
Between March and May 2011, he also gave false statements on his disembarkation forms to immigration officers on 59 occasions. These included his name, his date of birth and country of birth.
In September 2023, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) began investigations into Low as he had been found to be someone with multiple identities. It was not mentioned in court documents how his crimes came to light.
Low was arrested in August 2024.
Deputy Superintendent Ganeshvaran, senior prosecution officer from ICA, highlighted to the court that it was a conscious decision on Low's part to run away from Singapore as he did not want to complete his NSman obligations, and to subsequently conceal his true identity to avoid the authorities.
In mitigation, defence lawyer Thomas Tham said his client did not use the Malaysian passports to enter Singapore to commit offences.
"Instead, he came to Singapore as a driver to send people around to try to make a living for his wife and kids. The sheer number of times he used the passports was because of the nature of his job as a driver," said Mr Tham.
In a statement on July 11, an ICA spokesman said that since July 2020, multi-modal biometric clearance systems have been in place at the checkpoints to better detect and deny entry to those with multiple identities or impersonated identities.
All automated and manual immigration lanes and manual counters at Singapore's land, sea and air checkpoints have been equipped with iris and facial scanners, said ICA, adding that the two biometric identifiers, in addition to fingerprints as a secondary biometric identifier, provide a highly accurate way of authenticating travellers' identities.
"ICA will not hesitate to take firm action against travellers who attempt to enter Singapore using an impersonated identity or an identity different from their previous trips to Singapore," said the spokesman.
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