Former MP Chan Soo Sen pleads guilty to drink driving

SINGAPORE — Former Member of Parliament Chan Soo Sen was fined S$2,000 and disqualified from driving for a year after he pleaded guilty to a drink driving offence at a district court this morning (Aug 1). The 56-year-old, who was the MP of Joo Chiat Single Member Constituency from 2006 to 2011, committed the offence on July 13. Speaking to the media after the hearing, Chan, who was a Minister of State of various ministries between 2001 and 2006, said that this was his first traffic offence. On the evening of July 13, he drove to a charity event as he could not find a cab. Chan drank some red wine as organisers of the charity event had toasted him. After the event, he did not ask a car jockey to drive him home. Chan then drove along Cantonment Road towards the direction Outram Road where he met a police road block at 11.55pm. Chan, who admitted that he had consumed alcoholic drinks earlier that evening, then failed the breathalyser test at the road block. Chan had 50mg of alcohol per 100ml, over the legal limit of 35mg. Chan also told reporters that he had stated in his mitigation plea, which was not read out in court, that he did not cause any accident, injury or damage to public property and had cooperated with the authorities. Chan, who was accompanied by a friend to today’s hearing, added that he accepted the punishment and wants to move on. He could have been fined up to S$5,000 or jailed up to six months.