It looks like Singapore just wants people to keep their nudes to themselves.
After news about where Titus Low’s photos led to (it’s jail), here’s another similar offense – but with a twist.
Swinging couple Jeffrey Chue Tze Jeong and Nguyen Thi Anh Thy was fined S$14,000 and S$9,000 respectively by a court on Oct 13.
The couple had been accused of taking nude photos in public and also offered paid subscriptions for nude content.
Chue pleaded guilty to several charges including conspiring to take nude photos of his wife in public, uploading the images on social media platform Twitter and later obstructed justice claiming he had lost his phone.
Nguyen on the other hand had pleaded guilty of posing nude in public and also obstructing the course of justice.
The naked truth
It was also revealed in court that the couple was part of an active swingers community they had been introduced to via a membership-based website, Undertable. The Undertable Swingers’ Community (USC) is where other swingers share their experiences, and post videos and pictures openly.
Their swinging journey began when they had posted photos of one of their romps with a third person on USC on Jan 9, 2020 and it was received favorably by the community.
Motivated by the reviews and followers they got, Chue began posting photos of Nguyen in different shades of nudity – and in public – but with her consent. In total, Nguyen had appeared nude in public on 18 occasions, including popular and busy spots like Haji Lane, the ArtScience Museum, Great World City and more.
Their popularity on USC also led Chue to set up a Twitter account and continued to upload watermarked photos of his wife, nude pics of course. Chue even designed a business plan with subscription options to monetise the nudes.
Trouble started when a police report was made about a woman baring it all in public and the police began to investigate them, and eventually arrested the couple on May 18, 2020 and raided their home on suspicion of prostitution-related activities.
Think that’s the end? It gets even messier.
When caught, Chue gave a statement to the authorities but lied about where the phone was. He said it was lost when he went to Great World City and claimed that whoever picked it up had uploaded and posted the photo online.
In actuality, the phone was placed in a bag with a lock and held by a friend for safekeeping. It was eventually retrieved and the phone was surrendered to the police in June 2020.
They lied because they did not want to be held accountable for uploading the raunchy pics – but at the same time did not want to delete the contents of the phone (that’s nude pics, again – all the pics in question in this story are nudes) because it held sentimental value for them.
Public vs private
In court, the issue of privacy was brought up. Chue’s lawyer, Tito Isaac vouched for his client and said that he was a first-time offender and a devoted family man, while Nguyen’s lawyer Paul Loy said that the photos were really a way for the couple to document their personal journey.
According to an article on Channel News Asia, District Judge Janet Wang said during the sentencing: “The choice of one’s lifestyle, conventional or otherwise, is a personal and private matter.”
However, she said that the issue had encroached into the public space – with the public nudity and photos being uploaded online. Furthermore, the couple had also profited from their passionate hobby.
It was also revealed that the couple had ceased their swinging habits and do not practice it anymore. FYI, swinging is not illegal in Singapore – just try not to make a buck out of it.
Other stories you should check out:
OnlyFans’ Titus Low fined and jailed for repeatedly uploading his penis against police orders
‘Miffed’ by OnlyFans’ ban on explicit content, Singapore creators look elsewhere
Singlepore: Survey says half of single Singaporeans aren’t dating, 38% have never dated
