Jail for senior MOE officer who went against traffic, hurt another motorist while drink driving
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SINGAPORE – A senior assistant director at the Ministry of Education (MOE) was drink driving along Bras Basah Road in December 2022 when he travelled against the flow of traffic and hit a car.
The other driver, 54, suffered pain and was later given 10 days of medical leave.
Edmund Lam Kiat Choong, 43, who is from the security and readiness section of the ministry, was sentenced to 12 weeks’ jail on Friday after he pleaded guilty to one count each of drink driving and driving in a dangerous manner.
He was also disqualified from holding or obtaining all classes of driving licences for four years and six months from his date of release.
In a statement released earlier, MOE said that it would follow up with disciplinary proceedings upon the conclusion of his case.
“(MOE) takes a serious view of staff misconduct and will take disciplinary action against those who fail to adhere to our standards of conduct and discipline,” said a spokesman for the ministry.
Lam went to a restaurant on Dec 7, 2022, and drank some beer.
Shortly before 2am the next day, he drove along Bras Basah Road and went against the flow of traffic for nearly 320m before colliding head on with another car, causing more than $11,000 worth of damage.
Police later found that Lam had at least 77 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath, more than double the prescribed limit of 35mcg.
On Friday, defence lawyer Michelle Yap said in mitigation that her client has made a full restitution to the other motorist.
She added that Lam is a first-time offender and is remorseful.
