A Straits Times journalist who nabbed an exclusive scoop for a story about the Housing Development Board (HDB)’s then-unannounced plans from a guy she met on a dating app was simply let off with a warning.
Meanwhile, the dude who spilled the (confidential) beans to said reporter over drinks was fined S$2,000 today for breaching the Official Secrets Act, according to various media reports.
Ng Han Yuan was suspended from his duties as an HDB officer pending the outcome of the court case, and considering all the fuss it caused, the 25-year-old might very well lose his job with the government agency too. All because he was attracted to ST reporter Janice Tai, who in turn got him into trouble in her chase for a scoop.
Guess all’s fair in love and war.
Coffee Meets Bagel, boy meets girl
It was in March that Ng and Tai first got to know one another through D-tier mobile dating app Coffee Meets Bagel. They eventually exchanged phone numbers and carried on their contact through WhatsApp.
The pair started meeting up once a fortnight (as friends), and soon became familiar with each other’s individual line of work — Tai as a reporter under Singapore Press Holdings (SPH); and Ng as an estate manager in HDB’s resale operations section. On May 31, the duo went out for dinner and drinks to celebrate Ng’s birthday, ST reported.
That was when Ng started telling Tai about his job, sharing confidential information about HDB’s upcoming project that involved a new online portal dedicated to flat reselling services. He also revealed confidential changes to resale transaction periods and valuation processes. Court documents didn’t state whether the alcohol had a part to play in Ng’s loose lips.
The HDB officer explicitly told Tai not to run any articles about the then-unannounced project after she asked if she could do so. Six weeks later, Tai messaged Ng for more information about the project, asking if HDB’s upcoming online directory was for resale flats only. The man answered her query that the online portal would also cater to new and rental flats.
The very next day, HDB was alerted by the Singapore Institute of Surveyors and Valuers to an email sent to them by Tai that requested for comments on the project — an email that contained “very specific questions”, despite the information being unavailable in public domain. The day after that, Tai emailed the same queries to HDB itself, according to ST.
Suspecting a leak of confidential information, HDB lodged a police report on July 27. In court, it was revealed by the prosecution that the leak prompted HDB to bring forward the timeline for its announcement that was initially scheduled for January 2018. The board officially announced the changes to its online resale portal on Oct 19.
According to ST, the police issued Tai a “stern warning” on Nov 10 for the offence of receiving confidential information under the Official Secrets Act. Ng did not disclose his involvement in the leak during HDB’s own internal investigations, and it was only after the police stepped in that he was caught.
Expressions of love
Ng’s mitigation plea painted a tragic picture of his relationship with the journalist. The HDB officer had reportedly developed romantic feelings for Tai, and got “carried away” in their conversations, Channel NewsAsia reported. Ng’s lawyer argued that his client did not benefit from the disclosure of information, and that he had only done so to “placate” her. When he heard that Tai was going to run the article, Ng was said to have made many attempts to discourage her.
The lawyer also argued that the information about HDB portal was not “state secrets per se” and that the consequences were relatively not that serious. As such, he sought a S$1,000 fine for the offence.
Though Ng pleaded guilty, the prosecution sought for a maximum fine of S$2,000 as deterrence. The deputy public prosecutor noted that Ng still revealed the information despite the knowledge that Tai intended to publish her scoop.
In the end, the civil servant was fined S$2,000 for breaching the Official Secrets Act. Ng was reportedly relieved with the sentence, telling reporters that he was remorseful for his “honest mistake”, according to CNA.
“I let my guard down and inadvertently gave information to someone I considered a personal friend,” he said. Probably not much of a friend now, we think.
“I hope to be given a chance to learn from this episode and to continue to work for HDB in the future because I never intended for the information to be used as a story or cause my organization any harm.”
“Collective responsibility”
On his end, ST editor Warren Fernandez stated on his own publication that it was a “difficult day for all of us in the media” and that the journalists “have had to navigate this difficult terrain”, referring to the Official Secrets Act.
He defended Tai’s work, however.
“…we stand by our colleague, Janice Tai, who was pursuing information for a story with the knowledge and backing of her supervisors,” he commented in a statement.
“So, we take collective responsibility. As journalists, we understand the laws of the land, and strive to work within them.”
Other pundits also took a grim view of the case. “It seems this is a major overreach, a chilling device that will negatively impact the freedom of the media,” Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director Phil Robertson told AFP.
He said the official secrets act was “broadly written and vague enough so the government can use it any way they want… it’s about trying to intimidate the media”.
