Youth guidance officer at S’pore Boys’ Home who helped colleagues buy vapes fined $3.5k
A youth guidance officer at the Singapore Boys’ Home who helped his colleagues at the juvenile residential facility buy electronic cigarettes, or vapes, was fined $3,500.
On Tuesday, Ang Kim Chui Derek Andre, 37, pleaded guilty to seven charges under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act. 14 similar charges were considered during sentencing.
Ms Jolene Chia, a senior prosecuting counsel for the Health Sciences Authority, said that in May 2021 it received a report from an employee of the Youth Residential Service at the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF).
The employee said a staff member at the Singapore Boys’ Home had been caught with a vape pod within the premises for the third time.
The staff member, who also works as a youth guidance officer, and the employee were not named in court documents.
On the same day, HSA enforcement officers conducted an operation at the staff member’s home and found an e-cigarette device and 26 e-cigarette pods.
Investigations revealed that the staff member had bought the illicit items from his colleague Ang.
That same month, HSA officers raided Ang’s home and found two sets of e-cigarette devices. Officers also searched his car and found an e-cigarette pod. Ang admitted the items belonged to him and were for his personal consumption.
The prosecutor said investigations revealed that Ang assisted seven of his colleagues at the Singapore Boys’ Home to purchase e-cigarette devices and pods from his supplier for their personal use.
Further investigations showed that one of Ang’s colleagues created a WhatsApp group chat and added interested staff members of the Home to facilitate group purchases of vaping devices.
Ang would then consolidate the orders, make purchases from his supplier, and distribute the illicit products to his colleagues.
The prosecution noted that there was no evidence to suggest that Ang had shared or purchased imitation tobacco products and their components for the youths at the Home.
Ang also did not profit from facilitating group purchases for the members in the WhatsApp group, she added.
“Components of an article that is designed to resemble a tobacco product include any parts of an imitation tobacco product, such as mods, tanks, coils and pods. It is an offence to purchase components of an imitation tobacco product in Singapore,” said Ms Chia.
The Straits Times has contacted MSF on Ang’s employment status at the Singapore Boys’ Home.
Those caught using, owning or purchasing vaping products can be fined up to $2,000.
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