Man used NRICs he mistakenly received to redeem face masks from vending machines

SINGAPORE — A waiter used his manager's NRIC to redeem mask packs from a number of Temasek Foundation's vending machines.

Ng Wee Siang, 35, also used NRICs belonging to other people whom he had received over time, including a list of NRICs that was mistakenly sent to him. He managed to redeem 14 mask packs from the vending machines, which he claimed to have intended to distribute to old folks.

Ng, then a waiter at Central Perk cafe, was jailed for eight weeks on Tuesday (22 February) after pleading guilty to one amalgamated charge of cheating.

Early last year, Temasek Foundation began its fourth nationwide distribution of mask packs, containing one navy-blue MaskPlus Livinguard reusable face mask, through vending machines located islandwide. Each pack was worth $10.

To collect a pack, Singapore residents have to key in their NRIC or FIN at the vending machines.

Ng came to possess the NRIC information of several people since 2019.

In December 2019, he obtained a photo of his manager’s identity card while working at the cafe. Early last year, he received a photo of an employee list, sent to him via WhatsApp. The list contained the names and NRICs of 17 Singaporeans.

Ng was not related to any of these people and believed that the information was mistakenly sent to him. Nevertheless, he took a screenshot of the list before deleting the message.

Around the same time, Ng received a Central Provident Fund printout provided by his previous employer, which contained the names and NRICs of six other Singaporean employees. The firm had provided the printout for the employee’s record.

After collecting his own mask pack before 2 March last year, Ng decide to use the NRICs of other individuals which he obtained through various documents to redeem more mask packs, knowing that each NRIC was entitled to one pack.

He decided to try his luck and key in the NRICs in his possession. Between 2 and 4 March last year, Ng illicitly collected 14 mask packs belonging to 14 others through the vending machines.

On 4 March last year, Ng's manager went to collect his mask pack from a vending machine in Tampines East Community Centre. The manager found out when he tried using his IC to redeem the mask that it had been collected. He then informed the police about the matter.

After Ng was arrested, he surrendered 20 Temasek mask packs, which he admitted he had redeemed using the NRICs of other people. It is unclear who the mask packs belonged to.

His lawyer, Tan Jin Song, urged the court to consider that Ng’s offence was “quite crude”. “With respect to him, (it was) a dumb plan,” Tan added.

Ng had tried to make restitution to Temasek Foundation but the entity had said that there was no need to.

“At the end of the day it was $140, he was foolish… we are not trying to pad it in any other way but it was $140. For the court to give him (a jail term of) 10 weeks is rather extreme,” said Tan, who sought no more than two weeks' jail.

While Tan said that Ng had intended to distribute the masks to old folks, the prosecution replied that there was no evidence to support the argument.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Louis Ngia said that Ng had capitalised on his wrongful retention of NRICs, and significantly intruded on the privacy of others. Ng's crimes had also been difficult to detect and trace as Temasek Foundation had no means of verifying the actual identity of those who collected the masks at vending machines.

"(Ng's actions) affected multiple persons who found themselves unable to benefit from the mask distribution exercise at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic persisted in March 2021. It bears emphasis that the mask distribution exercise was a targeted scheme to provide Singapore citizens with adequate access to a key resource in the nationwide fight against spread of the virus," said DPP Ngia.

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