Former HDB director charged with taking obscene videos, photos of men in Safra locker rooms, condo

SINGAPORE — A 59-year-old man was charged on Wednesday (June 9) with taking obscene photographs and videos of various other men from 2012 to 2019 on several occasions.

Norman Chee Wei Kiong, who worked for the Housing and Development Board (HDB) at the time of his alleged offences, faces 14 charges.

He was a director of housing finance at the statutory board in 2017, according to a forum letter in The Straits Times where he signed off in his professional capacity.

In response to TODAY’s queries, HDB said that it was informed of the charges brought against its former employee and they are not related to his work with the board.

TODAY understands that he had voluntarily resigned from his job there.

“We are unable to comment further as the case is before the court,” HDB added.

In a write-up on the Prime Minister’s Office website, it was stated that Chee was awarded a Long Service Medal in 2009 while he was a deputy director in HDB’s housing administration department.

Nine of the charges levied against him are of being a public nuisance that caused common annoyance to the public.

He is said to have taken images of unidentified men at Safra locker rooms. Some of the men were clad only in their underwear while some images revealed their genitals, court documents stated.

He purportedly did this on five occasions in 2012, thrice in 2013 and once in 2018.

Chee was also given three charges under the Films Act of making obscene films. 

He allegedly filmed a man “drying himself with a towel which showed his genitals” on Dec 22, 2017 at a condominium complex in the River Valley area.

He purportedly filmed another nude man at a locker room of Safra Mount Faber on Dec 31, 2018, and recorded a video of a man putting on his underwear at the same condominium on Sept 25, 2019.

In addition, he was charged with possessing a voyeuristic or intimate image under Section 377BD of the Penal Code — a relatively new provision that kicked in early last year.  

Intimate images refer to images of someone’s private areas such as breasts or genitals, whether bare or clothed, or images of someone performing a private act.

On Oct 28 last year, at an NTUC FairPrice supermarket at Block 71 Kallang Bahru, Chee allegedly had in his possession a video of an unidentified man’s genitals that was taken without the man’s consent.

Finally, Chee is accused of having 146 obscene films in his iPhone 11 at the same NTUC FairPrice outlet.

On Wednesday, his lawyer asked for three weeks’ time to send representations to the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

Chee was released on bail of S$15,000 and will return to court on June 30.

If convicted of being a public nuisance, he could be jailed for up to three months or fined up to S$2,000, or both, for each charge.

He could also be jailed for up to two years or fined up to S$40,000, or both, if convicted of making an obscene film.