Contested police statements by doctor in fake COVID-19 jab case can be used by prosecution, court rules

The six statements by Dr Jipson Quah implicate his co-accused Iris Koh Hsiao Pei and identify patients who allegedly used saline instead of COVID-19 vaccines.

(From left) Dr Jipson Quah, Iris Koh Hsiao Pei and Thomas Chua Cheng Soon at the State Courts on Jul 28, 2025.
(Photos: CNA/Syamil Sapari)

Lydia Lam

28 Jul 2025 

SINGAPORE: A court ruled on Monday (Jul 28) that contested police statements by a doctor in a case of fake COVID-19 vaccines are admissible and can be used by the prosecution.

The six statements, made in January 2022 by Dr Jipson Quah, implicate his co-accused Iris Koh Hsiao Pei and identify patients who allegedly used saline instead of COVID-19 vaccines.

Dr Quah, 37, is on trial along with his clinic assistant, Thomas Chua Cheng Soon, 43, and Koh, 49, who founded Healing the Divide, a group that is known to be against COVID-19 vaccination.

Quah is contesting 17 charges of dishonestly making false representations to the Health Promotion Board that his patients had received the COVID-19 vaccines, when they had not.

He is accused of conspiring with his patients, Koh and Chua, in various permutations.

However, soon after the trial began, Dr Quah's lawyer Adrian Wee objected to the six contested police statements being used.

In the six contested statements, Dr Quah identified 15 to 17 patients who had taken saline shots instead of COVID-19 vaccines, in order to be reflected as vaccinated in the National Immunisation Registry.

He also claimed that Koh was the "complete mastermind" and that most of the patients were directed to him by Koh.

Dr Quah alleged that the statements were given under two inducements while he was remanded for investigations.

First, that he could be granted bail if he helped the police identify the names of patients who received fake vaccinations.

Second, that he could be given bail if he helped the police to implicate his co-accused Koh in his statements.

This issue was looked at in an ancillary hearing – a separate hearing to decide on this specific issue – over several days.

On Monday, District Judge Paul Quan agreed with the prosecution that the statements were admissible and that no threat, inducement or promise was made by the police officers to Dr Quah.

Judge Quan said the statements were given voluntarily, and that Dr Quah had continued to implicate Koh even after being bailed out, "indeed doubling down".

The main trial will resume in the afternoon, with one of the investigation officers recalled to the stand.

Dr Quah is represented by Mr Adrian Wee, while Mr Wee Pan Lee defends Koh. Chua is currently unrepresented but said he is in talks to get a lawyer on board.

Source: CNA/ll(mi)

Megan Khung deserved better. It takes all of us to keep other children like her safe

 Video: "Hope she rots in hell..." Worst Mom Ever

Megan Khung died after her mother Foo Li Ping's boyfriend Wong Shi Xiang punched her in the stomach.  
PHOTOS: CCXXCXCX/INSTAGRAM, SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS READER, INSTAGRAM

Theresa Tan

APR 11, 2025

The death of four-year-old Megan Khung, who suffered horrific abuse at the hands of her mother and her former boyfriend, has shocked many Singaporeans.

Topmost on people’s minds are these questions: Why did Megan have to die? What more could the child protection authorities and social service agencies have done to save the child?

Man fined for swearing at airline officer, damaging aerobridge at Changi Airport

Video: British Man Fined S$5,000 for Changi Airport Outburst


Richard Michael Roll Burridge had become angry after he was told his missing phone could not be found.

Iswaran - Corruption charges - Jan 2024 and Mar 2024

Iswaran gets 8 new charges of obtaining S$19,000 in valuables such as whisky, Brompton bike from construction firm boss

Iswaran pleaded not guilty to the new charges. He now faces 35 charges in all.

Israel's response to Hamas attack has 'gone too far', but severing ties would not help Palestinians, says Singapore

SINGAPORE: Israel's military response to the Oct 7 Hamas attack has "gone too far", but severing diplomatic ties with the country would not resolve the situation nor reduce the suffering of Palestinians, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said in parliament on Thursday (Feb 29).

Swift Justice in Singapore (A.K.A. "History is written by winners"... in exile... on Douyin...)

China "Karen"

'History is written by winners': Woman, 29, who verbally abused SGH nurse & deported to China

She was deported after spending 29 days behind bars.

Winnie Li

November 09, 2023

The woman who verbally abused a Singapore General Hospital staff and was jailed and deported for it, has taken to social media to write: "History is written by winners." 

Her latest update online came in the form of a Douyin video posted at around 1:20am on Nov. 9, 2023.

[Right! Losers tiktok & Douyin... Or blog. Like me. :-( ]

Man offered S$2 to sex worker instead of agreed fee in repeat offence, gets jail

The Australian woman, who was in Singapore for a holiday, charged S$700 per hour.

[Note that she is described as an "Australian Woman". Not "Australian Prostitute", or "illegal foreign sex worker." No judgement here.]

Lydia Lam

31 Oct 2023


SINGAPORE: A repeat offender on remission for refusing to pay sex workers after obtaining their services struck again, this time targeting an Australian woman who was in Singapore for a holiday.

Commentary: Anti-corruption sweep exposes a disturbing truth in Malaysia

With former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and others caught in the widening anti-corruption net, Anwar Ibrahim might have the momentum to push through political funding law reform, says CNA’s Leslie Lopez.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has made battling corruption the central plank of his reform government.
But there are gripes over delays on pushing ahead with law to regulate political funding. (Photo: Facebook/Anwar Ibrahim)

Leslie Lopez

21 Mar 2023 

KUALA LUMPUR: Before taking over as Malaysian Prime Minister in November last year, Anwar Ibrahim often told his closest advisors that reforms to regulate political funding would be a priority. But it appears taming widespread corruption in government and politics must take precedence.

Recent charges brought against former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin and several leaders of his Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) party over governance breaches in a COVID-19 stimulus programme that was introduced in November 2020 to jumpstart the economy show that state capture remains a huge problem and little has been learnt from the debacle surrounding 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).

Muhyiddin has been slapped with seven separate charges that involved the abuse of power, mounting to RM237.5 million (US$53 million), and money laundering, totalling RM195 million. 

Singapore ranked 5th least corrupt country in 2022

While Singapore was ranked fifth on the Corruption Perceptions Index, this was its lowest ranking in five years

File photo of skyline buildings of the Central Business District in Singapore on Nov 16, 2022.
(Photo: CNA/Hanidah Amin)

31 Jan 2023 

SINGAPORE: Singapore was ranked as the fifth least corrupt country in the world in 2022, according to anti-corruption body Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).

However, it was also the lowest ranking in five years for Singapore, which placed third in 2018 and 2020, and fourth in 2019 and 2021. It remains the only Asian country to be in the top 10.

The index ranks 180 countries and territories around the world by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, , scoring on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean). [Singapore scored 83 pts.]

Singapore welcomes ratification of Flight Information Region Agreement with Indonesia: MFA

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (centre left) and Indonesia president Joko Widodo, flanked by Cabinet ministers,
meet at the fifth Singapore-Indonesia Leader's Retreat on Jan 25, 2022.

September 8, 2022


SINGAPORE — Singapore welcomes Indonesia's ratification of the Agreement on the Realignment of the Boundary between the Jakarta Flight Information Region (FIR) and the Singapore FIR, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said on Thursday (Sept 8) in response to media queries.

Under the FIR agreement, signed in January at the Singapore-Indonesia Leaders’ Retreat in Bintan, Indonesia will delegate to Singapore the provision of air navigation services in portions of the airspace within the realigned Jakarta FIR.

The agreement will remain in force for 25 years and shall be extended by mutual consent if both parties find it beneficial to do so.

New Public Defenders Office will provide legal aid to those with per capita household income up to S$1,500: MinLaw

Public defenders under the new office need not be called to the bar, the Ministry of Law said.

• A proposed public defender's office will provide criminal legal aid to Singaporeans with a per capita monthly houshold income of up to S$1,500
• The Ministry of Law tabled a Public Defenders Bill on Monday (July 4) in Parliament 
• The public defender's office will work together with the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, which also provides legal aid to the needy
• Public defenders in the new office need not be called to the Bar, but must have the necessary skills and education qualifications

LORAINE LEE

July 4, 2022

Austere and ‘tight' approach to managing prison conditions has kept suicide, assault rates low: Shanmugam

Singapore’s prison capacity is currently at about 70 per cent, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said.

• The "austere" regime and environment in Singapore's prisons were deliberately designed, Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam said
• The Singapore Prison Service's "tight approach" has, among other things, kept suicides among prisoners low compared with other jurisdictions, he said
• Mr Shanmugam was responding to increased interest in prison conditions following the airing of a CNA documentary 
• Mr Shanmugam said that Singapore's approach in managing the prisons have also led to lower assault rates compared to some other jurisdictions, where gangs informally run the place
• The minister also explained why certain race-based data relating to crime are not disclosed publicly, and how the Government arrives at this decision in consultation with various community groups

TAUFIQ ZALIZAN

July 4, 2022

BBC asked Shanmugam about S'pore's 'social controls', 'draconian' drug laws and Section 377A. Here's how he responded

Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam (left) was a guest on BBC journalist Stephen Sackur's podcast HardTalk.

• Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam was a guest on the BBC's HardTalk programme, hosted by British journalist Stephen Sackur
• Mr Sackur questioned the minister on Singapore's "social controls" and controversial laws such as the death penalty
• Refuting facts presented by the journalist at several points, Mr Shanmugam set out why the Republic takes a tough stance on drugs
• He also explained Singapore's approach on Section 377A of the Penal Code, which criminalises gay sex

June 29, 2022

The Armed Uprising of 2024 (Or the Second American Civil War)

[These are excerpts from: 

Newsweek January 07 - 14, 2022

It makes a case for how American politics have become so fractured and the schism between Republicans and Democrats is widening into an unbridgeable chasm. The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) have struck down a New York law that requires applicants for concealed carry permits to show that they have an actual need for a concealed weapon. This means anyone in New York can carry a concealed firearm. And that means that the next Storming of the Capital could be by armed protestors. The suggestion is that this schism might well lead to the Second American Civil War.]

A growing number of RADICALIZED REPUBLICANS are willing to grab their guns if the next presidential election doesn't go their way

DAVID H. FREEDMAN




MIKE “WOMPUS” NIEZNANY is a 73-year-old Vietnam veteran who walks with a cane from the combat wounds he received during his service...

...Nieznany is no loner. His political comments on the social-media site Quora received 44,000 views in the first two weeks of November and more than 4 million overall. He is one of many rank-and-file Republicans who own guns and in recent months have talked openly of the need to take down—by force, if necessary—a federal government they see as illegitimate, overreaching and corrosive to American freedom...

‘Nobody will look after us’ if S’poreans can’t look after ourselves: Bilahari on Ukraine in 2014

8 years later, his reflections still hold weight.

Bilahari Kausikan 

February 25, 2022

COMMENTARY: In March 2014, former permanent secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bilahari Kausikan, published a commentary on lessons for Small States from Ukraine in The Straits Times.

He visited Ukraine in December 2013 and had the opportunity to observe the EuroMaidan demonstrations. After his visit, he reflected on how a country has fallen prey to Great Power politics and what this means for Singapore and Singaporeans.

The essay was written in the wake of Russia's invasion and subsequent annexation of Crimea in early 2014. It can be found in Bilahari’s 2017 “Singapore Is Not An Island: Views on Singapore Foreign Policy” book. Published by Straits Times Press, you can get a copy of his book here.

Bilahari Kausikan is chairman of the Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore.

Commentary: WP’s woes underline pivotal choice facing Singaporeans

February 14, 2022

Gov.sg/YouTubeThe Committee of Privileges has recommended that Workers' Party chief Pritam Singh (left) and
vice-chair Faisal Manap (right) be referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations for
lying under oath in their testimonies.

BY  NICHOLAS FANG

Is it the end of the beginning, or the beginning of the end?

The release of the Parliament’s Committee of Privileges (COP) report on Thursday (Feb 10) marked the end of the committee’s investigations into the lies told by former Workers’ Party (WP) Member of Parliament (MP) Raeesah Khan in Parliament last August and October.

The COP has recommended that WP secretary-general and Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh and the party’s vice-chairman Faisal Manap be referred to the Public Prosecutor for further investigations for lying under oath in their testimonies.

Migrant worker’s tale of inequality grips China, then is erased

Jialun Deng/The New York Times

A migrant worker, who revealed a parallel universe to well-off Chinese, became a symbol of inequality that the Chinese government had to erase.

February 13, 2022


HONG KONG — He visited 28 places in the first 18 days of 2022, including a puppet theater, a few luxury residential compounds and a shopping mall in the heart of China’s equivalent of Silicon Valley.

He didn’t go to any of these places for fun. He was often there in the wee hours when they were deserted, to unload concrete and sand from trucks that weren’t allowed in the city until after midnight. He would be gone before day broke.

The migrant worker, surnamed “Yue,” toiled in obscurity until he tested positive for Covid-19 and authorities released the extensive details of his movements. After that, he became known as the hardest working person in China.

Peng Shuai’s Weibo Post (with translation)

[Disclaimer: My Mandarin is VERY limited. So I cannot attest to the accuracy or veracity of either the original post, or the translation. Peng Shuai may well refute either the authenticity of the (alleged) Weibo post (but she has not!), or the translation or misunderstanding (which she has, but only to state generally, that it was an "enormous misunderstanding" but has not provided any specifics, or even the purpose of the Weibo post. So here's the text (in Mandarin) of her (alleged) original Weibo Post, and the translation provided by "What's on Weibo"]

Full Text Translation of Peng Shuai’s Weibo Post   

In a previous post, What’s on Weibo gave a partial translation of Peng’s Weibo post. Here, we will provide a full translation. Please note that this is a translation provided by What’s on Weibo and not an official translation issued by any other party.  

Fourteen US attorneys general press Facebook on vaccine disinformati

15 Oct 2021 

WASHINGTON: The attorneys general of 14 US states sent a letter to Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg asking if the top disseminators of vaccine disinformation on the platform received special treatment from the company.

The line of inquiry was generated after Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen used internal documents to disclose that the social media platform has built a system that exempts high-profile users from some or all of its rules.

In the letter, which was sent on Wednesday (Oct 13), the 14 Democratic attorneys general said they are "extremely concerned" with recent reports that Facebook maintained lists of members who have received special treatment, and want to know if the "Disinformation Dozen" were part of those lists.

The Center for Countering Digital Hate describes the "Disinformation Dozen" as 12 anti-vaxxers who are responsible for almost two-thirds of anti-vaccine content circulating on social media platforms.

Parliament repeals Sedition Act, amends Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code to cover relevant aspects

Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam in Parliament on Oct 5, 2021.

Cindy Co
05 Oct 2021

SINGAPORE: Parliament voted to repeal the Sedition Act on Tuesday (Oct 5), while amending the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code to cover aspects of the Act that “continue to be relevant”.

The Sedition Act has been in existence since 1938, and criminalises conduct with seditious tendencies including promoting disaffection against the Government and feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes.

Some aspects of the Sedition Act are “no longer relevant and have not been relevant for a long time”, Law Minister K Shanmugam told the House on Tuesday.

“For instance, the excitement of disaffection against the Government shouldn’t be criminalised. I think if it is, a lot of people, including many in this house, would be considered criminals.

“But it hasn’t been done away with sooner, because some of the other provisions were relevant,” said Mr Shanmugam, who is also Minister for Home Affairs.