The Electric New Paper :
Caught in the act
DRIVING TEST CHEATS
His job: To find people taking theory test
His partner: Takes test for them for $1000
GET some final driving theory test candidates for me and I'll pay
you $300 for each one, Ng Thian Lye's friend told him.
By Crystal Chan
02 September 2006
GET some final driving theory test candidates for me and I'll pay
you $300 for each one, Ng Thian Lye's friend told him.
Ng, 42, then recommended candidates to his friend, Goh Boon Kwang,
38.
Goh told them he would take the test for them if they paid him
$1,000 each.
Ng was offered $300 out of the $1,000 as commission.
But the scam was exposed when the Singapore Safety Driving Centre
was alerted to the attempted impersonation.
On 22 Aug, Ng was jailed for 10 weeks after pleading guilty to
possessing another person's identity card, an offence under the
National Registration Act.
Assistant public prosecutor Kalidass Murugaiyan told the court that
Ng used to work for Goh's father as a delivery driver.
In January last year, Goh told Ng about the scheme.
The final theory test has 50 questions about driving skills. For
example, candidates may be asked how to parallel-park a car.
To get a driving licence, candidates have to pass both the basic
and final theory tests, and a practical driving test.
The basic theory test assesses candidates' interpretation of road
and traffic signs.
Mr Kalidass said investigations revealed that in August last year,
Ng approached Tan Beng Wah, 34.
It is not known how Ng knew Tan.
HAD TROUBLE PASSING TEST
Tan contacted his cousin, Teo Cheng Hoe, 36, who had trouble
passing the test. It is not known how many times Teo failed the
test.
Teo agreed to get Ng's help to pass the test for $1,000 and handed
his identity card to his cousin, who in turn gave it to Ng.
Ng then passed the identity card to Goh, who used it to sit for the
test at the Singapore Safety Driving Centre in Ang Mo Kio on 19 Aug
last year.
Tan and Teo were aware that it was not Ng but another man who would
be sitting for the test.
Mr Kalidass said that, unknown to the conspirators, Mr Lim Choon
Seng, a senior tester at the driving centre, received a tip-off
about the scam at 11pm on 18 Aug, a day before the test.
Mr Lim was told that someone would be taking the final theory test
on behalf of a candidate named Teo Cheng Hoe.
Mr Lim informed the centre's chief tester, Mr Goh Yong Hua, and
checks showed that Teo had arranged to sit for the test at the
driving centre on 19 Aug.
The testers waited for the impersonator to turn up on the day of
the test.
At 11.45am, Goh turned up with Teo's identity card and test
slip.
He was assigned to a computer work station to take the test, which
is conducted on a touch-screen.
After the test, Mr Goh questioned Goh, who admitted that he was an
impostor.
Goh, who was arrested on the spot, was found with Teo's identity
card and driving test slips belonging to Teo and two other
persons.
The New Paper reported last December that Goh had sat for the
theory test for two other persons on 21 Jul and 11 Aug last year.
It was not known if these were for the basic or final theory
tests.
Ng, Tan and Teo were arrested soon after. Goh was jailed four
months on 7 Dec, while Tan and Teo were each jailed three months on
17 Jul.
Ng could have been fined up to $10,000 or jailed up to 10 years or
both.
Officials from the Singapore Safety Driving Centre were not
available for comment yesterday, but lawyers who spoke to The New
Paper said that such cases of impersonation are rare.
Mr Kertar Singh, an ex-policeman and a criminal lawyer with 12
years of experience, added that few people would take the risk of
getting another person to take the test for them.
'While you can say that people may not look like their NRIC photos,
the invigilators are quite alert.
'The invigilators would become suspicious if the candidates look
very different from the photo on their identity cards. It's not
worth the risk.'
Besides the Singapore Safety Driving Centre, the other driving
centres here are Comfort Driving Centre in Ubi and Bukit Batok
Driving Centre.
Statistics from the Traffic Police show that of the three driving
centres, Bukit Batok has the best pass rate for this particular
test.
From Aug last year to July this year, 88.8 per cent of 2,908
first-time candidates at Bukit Batok passed this test.
During the same period, 81 per cent of 2,449 first-time candidates
passed the same test at Singapore Safety Driving Centre.
Comfort Driving Centre's pass rate was 74.2 per cent of 3,113
first-time candidates.
Private candidates had a pass rate of 46.4 per cent.
