Man and woman charged in separate cases of making hoax calls to emergency hotlines

SINGAPORE - A man was charged in court on Thursday with various offences after he allegedly made 31 calls about fake emergencies to the police and Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) hotlines.

Foo Tun Liang purportedly reported attempted suicides, loan shark harassments, fires and serious sexual offences at various locations in Singapore.

But no such incidents had occurred, the police said on Wednesday.

Foo, 34, was charged with 27 counts of making harassing or obscene telephone calls to emergency hotlines, and four counts of communicating false information of harmful things.

He was also handed three other charges of voyeurism, criminal trespass and making a word or gesture intended to insult a person’s modesty. In total, Foo faces 34 charges.

One of his lawyers from the Public Defender’s Office said Foo has a mild intellectual disability. He allegedly made the calls between Aug 26 and Sept 14, 2023.

The police and SCDF responded to calls allegedly made by Foo and confirmed the incidents he reported were fake.

Foo is also said to have taken elaborate measures to conceal his identity, such as using a foreign number to make the calls, and giving a false identity over the phone.

Officers from Bedok Police Division established his identity by analysing call patterns and conducting ground enquiries. He was arrested on Sept 18.

He is accused of entering a female toilet in Maritime Square Harbourfront Centre on Jan 22 to record a woman using the toilet.

He made comments purportedly to insult the modesty of another person on Feb 6.

Separately, Salvinder Kaur, 27, was charged on Thursday with two counts of communicating a false message.

According to court documents, she allegedly made two calls to the police on Aug 26 to report a friend’s attempted suicide at a Housing Board flat in Pasir Ris, but it was not true.

The police said she purportedly made the calls from a local landline. Officers from Bedok Police Division established her identity and arrested her on Sept 16.

Kaur refused to cooperate with the police to hand over her digital device for investigation. She was arrested for the offence of resisting the taking of property by the lawful authority of a public servant, said the police.

Foo’s case will be mentioned again on Oct 12, while Kaur’s next court case mention is on Oct 19.

From January to August, the police received more than 1.3 million 999 calls – which amounts to more than 5,000 emergency calls daily.

Out of the 5,000 calls, about 4,000 were silent calls from mobile phones. Call operators from the Police Operations Command Centre (POCC) spent more time answering silent calls, resulting in longer waiting time for real emergency calls.

The police said hoax calls also divert scarce resources from responding to real emergencies.

False alarm calls to SCDF increased by 8.8 per cent from 5,598 in 2021 to 6,089 in 2022, according to its annual statistics report.

SCDF urged those not facing life-threatening emergencies to refrain from calling its hotline number 995.

The commander of POCC, Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Lee Su Peng, said it is an offence to abuse emergency hotline numbers. Those who make harassing or obscene calls to emergency phone numbers can be jailed for up to one year, fined up to $5,000 or both.

Those who communicate a false message can be jailed for up to three years, fined up to $10,000 or both. Communicating false information of harmful things carries a heavier penalty of jail for up to seven years, fine of up to $50,000, or both.