Qian Hu boss fined, banned from driving

Executive chairman of Qian Hu Kenny Yap pleaded guilty to drink driving on Jan 1. He was arrested after failing a breathalyser test.
Executive chairman of Qian Hu Kenny Yap pleaded guilty to drink driving on Jan 1. He was arrested after failing a breathalyser test. PHOTO: ST FILE

Well-known entrepreneur Kenny Yap, the man behind Singapore's largest ornamental fish export company, was yesterday banned from driving for 25 months for drink driving.

The executive chairman and managing director of Qian Hu Corporation was also fined $3,200.

He had at least 78 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. The legal limit is 35mcg in 100ml of breath.

When contacted by phone, Yap, 50, told The Straits Times: "I was being irresponsible. It was a lapse of judgment, and I'm willing to accept the punishment and would like to move on."

Yap sits at the helm of the family business, which was started by his father in the 1980s and listed on the Singapore Exchange in 2000.

Yesterday, he pleaded guilty to drink driving along Crawford Street at about 11.50pm on New Year's Day.

He was stopped at a police road block in Crawford Street.

A police officer approached him and noticed that his breath smelled of alcohol, and he had bloodshot eyes and a flushed face.

Yap failed the breathalyser test and was arrested. He was then taken to the Traffic Police department for another breath test.

Investigations showed that he had consumed an unknown amount of beer at a restaurant in Golden Mile Complex between 8pm and 11pm.

He then left and was on his way home when he was stopped at the road block.

Yap is known for his sense of humour and, each year, issues a corporate calendar filled with pictures of fish and quotes, such as: "A man who is not married is a boy. But when he gets married, he is boiled."

He could have been fined up to $5,000, or jailed for up to six months.

Elena Chong

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 22, 2016, with the headline Qian Hu boss fined, banned from driving. Subscribe