SMRT COO sentenced for drunk driving: 2 weeks in jail, $4000 fine

Alvin Kek Yoke Boon, 51, the Chief Operations Officer for SMRT Trains, has been sentenced for drunk driving and is suspended from work at SMRT. On Monday, June 25, he entered a guilty plea to one count of drunk driving and was given a sentence of 2 weeks in jail, plus a fine of $4000. He has also been disallowed from driving all types of vehicles for three years. 

Court documents indicate that Mr. Kek was arrested on April 21 at the Woodlands Checkpoint. Mr. Kek had some drinks with his colleagues at Temasek Club on Rifle Range Road at 11:00 pm on April 20. A few hours later, he had finished four mugs of Tiger Beer.

The prosecution said that Mr. Kek’s father had died just a few days before, and that he had gone out to relax and shed some stress.

He departed from Temasek Club at 2:30 am, driving toward Woodlands. Just before 3:00 he told an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer that he had mistakenly entered the Woodlands Checkpoint, and did not wish to leave the country. 

The ICA officer smelled alcohol on Mr. Kek’s breath, and he was brought to a checkpoint and tested by officers. Because he failed the test, Mr. Kek was brought to Jurong Police Division headquarters, where a breathalyzer test resulted in showing that he had 65 mcg of alcohol in 100 ml of breath, well over the legal limit of 35 mcg.

Mr. Kek has issued an apology for his behavior. “I deeply regret the incident and would like to assure everyone that I will not drink and drive again.”

However, SMRT confirmed that he has been suspended from his job. He started with the company five years ago, and became COO on February 1.

Lawyers for Mr. Kek, Dina Ngiam and Sunil Sudheesan, had originally asked for only one week of jail time, as well as the $4000 fine and three-year driving ban. 

During his sentencing, District Judge Shawn Ho said, “A motorcar in the hands of a drunk driver is a potentially devastating weapon writ large – and needlessly so. Selfish disregard for the lives and safety of pedestrians and other law-abiding road users deserves disapprobation.”

This is the second time Mr. Kek was penalized for this offense. Fourteen years ago he was already fined $2,800 and banned for driving for two years. Under the Road Traffic Act, Mr. Kek could have had a one-year jail sentence, a fine between $3,000 and $10,000, and a driving ban for up to one year, since this is his second conviction for drunk driving.