S$900 fine, ban for driver who gave PM Lee’s son a ride and filmed him

SINGAPORE — A 32-year-old man, who made headlines in March for giving Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s son Li Yipeng a ride in his rental car and then filming him, was sentenced to a fine of S$900 on Thursday (Nov 14).

Andrew Sim Kay Yong was also disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for eight months.

The Singaporean pleaded guilty in a district court to one charge of taking videos while at the wheel of the Toyota Estima. He was not a private-hire driver at the time.

The four video clips that Sim took of Mr Li went viral. The police said then that they were taken without Mr Li’s knowledge or permission.

In the videos, which were played in court, Sim asked the 36-year-old repeatedly to confirm his identity, residential address and security arrangements.

The court heard that Sim recognised Mr Li while he was waiting at the Esplanade taxi stand on March 15. He then rolled down his passenger side window and offered him a ride home.

While Mr Li initially refused, he eventually got in after a conversation with Sim, and asked to be taken to Rochalie Drive.

Sim used his Samsung Galaxy mobile phone, holding it in one hand and aiming it over his left shoulder, to record four separate video clips of Mr Li, who was in the rear passenger seat. Sim controlled the steering wheel with his other hand.

The video clips were between 47 seconds and 53 seconds in length.

At one point, Sim asked: “So your dad is the Prime Minister of Singapore?”

He also asked: "Have you seen your uncle Lee Hsien Yang recently? …Does he still visit your family?"

During the journey, Mr Li asked to be dropped off at 295 Tanglin Road instead. Sim complied and did not take any money for the ride.

ONLY WANTED TO SHARE WITH FRIENDS: LAWYER

Sim had committed several compounded traffic offences from 2006 to April last year, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Tay Jingxi told the court in seeking the maximum fine.

These included taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent, speeding, failing to wear a seatbelt and beating the red light.

In mitigation, his lawyer Josephus Tan from Invictus Law Corporation told the court that he had offered Mr Li a free ride as a “Good Samaritan” and had only intended to show the videos to his “close group of friends”.

“These were circulated among the group, then unknown to him, they were uploaded online and went viral. It is quite different from him taking the videos to post online,” Mr Tan added.

The lawyer also argued that Sim also stopped his car at some points in the videos, but District Judge Lorraine Ho pointed out that the car was “quite clearly” moving in “most portions”.

She also said that Sim had “deliberately, conscientiously and calculatingly” took the videos and knew what he was doing.

The judge added: “He not only had to take concerted efforts to hide what he was doing, he had to be sure to place his mobile phone in such a manner to ensure that he would capture the full view of the victim from top to bottom while using his other hand to drive and control the steering wheel.

“He was so distracted… that he not only caused danger to himself and his passenger, but also to other road users.”

She also ordered Sim’s Samsung mobile phone to be disposed of.

Sim could have been fined up to S$1,000, jailed up to six months, or both.

Shortly after the videos were posted, the police said they were also investigating the circulation of a photo showing a Facebook posting purportedly made by Mr Lee about the incident.

While they said a 39-year-old man was helping in the investigations, it is unclear what the status of that case is.

Mr Lee’s press secretary, Ms Chang Li Lin, then said that he was aware of the incident, the videos and the fake post. She added that it was “of concern that a vulnerable person can be taken advantage of like this”.

Past media reports have stated that Mr Li has Asperger’s syndrome.