Jail, driving ban for unlicensed driving instructor who admitted to teaching over 100 students

SINGAPORE – Though his instructor licence had expired more than two decades ago, a former driving instructor decided to teach students again to earn additional income.

Tan Teng Hock, 67, continued to accept students even after being caught and charged, and eventually admitted to teaching more than 100 students in total.

The court heard that Tan has a history of traffic offences, including running a red light, speeding and careless driving.

On Feb 5, he was sentenced to five weeks’ jail, banned from driving for a year from the day of his conviction, and fined $1,000. He was also disqualified from driving for two years from the date of his release from prison.

He had pleaded guilty to two counts of acting as a driving instructor without a licence, and one charge of permitting a student to use a vehicle without valid insurance coverage, with one other charge taken into consideration.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Valerie Lim told the court that Tan had not renewed his driving instructor licence since it expired in March 2001.

His friend, 71-year-old Fong Chong Fat, who was a licensed driving instructor, was involved in Tan’s offending.

Between December 2023 and April 2024, Tan entered into an arrangement with Fong where the latter would refer some of his driving students to Tan.

Tan charged the students, who did not know that he was unlicensed, $60 to $65 per hour, said DPP Lim.

Tan admitted that he taught around 70 to 80 students within the five months. Some were referred by Fong, while some had approached him of their own accord.

Said DPP Lim: “As the accused did not keep proper records of every driving lesson he had provided during this period, the identities of some of the students could not be ascertained in investigations.”

Court documents provided the details of 15 students whom Tan had taught in that period, mostly in the Ubi area.

Fourteen of the 15 students had a valid Class 3C licence and were looking to convert to Class 3, while the remaining student had a Class 3 provisional driving licence.

For each driving lesson, Tan permitted the students to operate his vehicle, which was registered in the name of Tan’s brother.

His offences were discovered in April 2024 when the vehicle was stopped by a Traffic Police officer for a routine check during a driving lesson.

There was no “L” plate on the vehicle and no brake control installed on the front passenger seat, where Tan was seated.

Tan was subsequently arrested and charged in court in November 2024. But he was undeterred and continued to take on students.

He admitted that he taught about 40 to 50 students between December 2024 and March 2025, and had raised his fee to $70 per hour.

Tan was arrested again in September 2025.

DPP Lim said Tan’s actions had put the 15 students at risk of inadequate supervision while driving.

She said it was aggravating that Tan had continued to reoffend despite having been charged in court.

“In view of his recalcitrance and continuing disregard for the law, the prosecution submits that specific deterrence ought to assume greater importance,” said DPP Lim, adding that Tan was “clearly motivated by monetary gain”.

In mitigation, defence lawyer Ivan Lee said Tan’s fees were much lower than driving schools that charged students $100 or more.

“The driving schools don’t have enough capacity to teach the students, so the students have no choice,” he added.

The lawyer also said Tan had been a licensed driving instructor for 20 years before 2001. He said that though his client did not have a licence later, he had “the same skill set as a licensed driving instructor”.

Deputy Principal District Judge Kessler Soh responded: “It’s been many years. I do not think you can make such an argument.”

Addressing Tan before he handed down the sentence, Judge Soh said: “I hope you realise that what you did was very serious... (It’s) something which has to be deterred.”