Former school principal charged with lying

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Education (MOE) has interdicted — which includes suspension from duty and docking of pay — former high-flying school principal Steven Koh Yong Chiah, after he was charged with lying while he was being investigated for corruption.

The 59-year-old was yesterday charged with two counts of giving false information, following the completion of investigations by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB). It is unknown if more charges will be brought against him.

Koh was called in December 2012 to assist in investigations for a possible corruption offence involving a vendor with whom he had an affair while he was head of Jurong Junior College (JJC). He was the school’s principal for about seven years until he was appointed to River Valley High School in December 2009.

After he was called in by the CPIB, he was redeployed to the MOE Headquarters as principal of special projects.

Koh allegedly lied to a CPIB investigator at that time about his first sexual contact with a JJC vendor, Education Architects 21 director Loke Wai Lin.

His charge sheet stated that he had told the investigator: “The place where we had our first sexual contact in 2006 was in my Hyundai Trajet car, likely in the vicinity of Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal.”

It also emerged yesterday that a cluster superintendent of the MOE had seven years earlier conducted an investigation on Koh’s affair with Ms Loke. The official had been tasked to look into an anonymous complaint of misconduct against him for the affair with a vendor, which Koh is said to have denied during an interview conducted on Nov 24, 2005.

His alleged lie caused the official to report to the director-general of education that there was no such misconduct on his part, the charge sheet read.

Before Koh’s appointment at JJC, he had a three-year stint as principal of Chinese High School — the school later merged with Hwa Chong Junior College to become Hwa Chong Institution.

Koh was known to be a strict but well-regarded school head, who also gained some prominence for his unconventional approach, including being a trailblazer in securing commercial tie-ups with private companies.

Yesterday, Deputy Public Prosecutor Lynn Tan told the court that if Koh pleaded guilty, the charge of lying to the MOE official would be proceeded with while the other count would be taken into consideration for the purposes of sentencing. Koh immediately said he denied the charge.

The district judge set a four-week deadline for Koh’s representations to be made. If convicted of lying to the MOE official, Koh could be jailed for up to six months and/or fined a maximum of S$1,000. The penalty for the other charge is jail not exceeding one year and/or fine of up to S$10,000.

Koh was released on a S$10,000 police bail and his passport was impounded. He will return to court on Aug 26.