Student 'told of plot on morning of O-level exam'
For months, Chinese national Chen Xiang attended almost daily English and mathematics classes at a Singapore tuition centre to prepare for the GCE O-level examination, which he had flown here to take.
But a day before his combined science practical paper on Oct 19, 2016, the centre's Singaporean principal Poh Yuan Nie, 52, told him she had "something to help" him and told him to get to the centre earlier the next morning, Chen Xiang told a court yesterday.
He found out the next day that this "help" entailed cheating - by attaching communication devices to his body to allow his tutors to feed him answers during the exam.
The 19-year-old agreed as his family had spent a lot of money for him to come to Singapore, and he was assured that he would not be found out.
This was Chen Xiang's testimony on the first day of the trial for Poh Yuan Nie, also known as Pony Poh, and two tutors from Zeus Education Centre. They allegedly helped Chen Xiang and five other Chinese students cheat during the O-level exams in 2016.
The two tutors are Poh's niece, Singaporean Fiona Poh Min, 30, and Chinese national Feng Riwen, 25.
Their alleged accomplice Tan Jia Yan, 32, also employed by the centre in Tampines, had pleaded guilty to 27 cheating charges on Monday.
Tan, a Singaporean, admitted to attaching Bluetooth devices and mobile phones to the students' bodies with the other alleged accomplices. The students were also given skin-coloured "in-ear" earphones.
Tan took the exam as a private candidate and had a mobile phone under her clothing. She used FaceTime to beam images to her three alleged accomplices at the tuition centre. Fiona Poh and Feng allegedly worked out the answers and, with the principal, read out the answers to the students.
The operation went on for five days from Oct 19 until a student, Chen Yi, was caught by an invigilator on Oct 24 at Tampines Secondary School.
Chen Xiang was told to return to the tuition centre. There, Poh Yuan Nie changed $1,000 into Chinese yuan, while Tan booked Chen Yi on a flight back to China, he said.
He added that Fiona Poh also remotely cleared data from Chen Yi's phone, which had been confiscated.
Poh Yuan Nie's lawyer, Mr Peter Fernando, said his client "denies entirely" her alleged participation in the plot. He also accused Chen Xiang of being a "blatant liar".
The teen had earlier testified that the principal had come up with the plan to cheat. But during cross-examination, he said it was the tutors, not Poh, who had instructed him on the plan, or helped to attach the devices.
He also said she did not read him answers during the exams.
The trial resumes today.
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