SINGAPORE: A 31-year-old man was sentenced to four weeks’ jail and disqualified from driving for five years on Thursday (Mar 8) for driving against traffic on an expressway in the early hours of Jan 5 last year.

At least seven cars were forced to swerve to avoid Brandon Ng Hai Chong, who drove against traffic at about 50kmh for at least three minutes.



The police received three calls from concerned drivers who reported seeing Ng, behind the wheel of his red BMW, barrelling down the Ayer Rajah Expressway (AYE) at about 1.40am.

Ng was convicted of one count of dangerous driving.

The court heard that before he got behind the wheel, Ng had consumed three to four glasses of beer at Arena Country Club, where he had spent the evening with three friends and accompanied by hostesses.

When the group left at about 1am, Ng declined a friend’s offer to call him a valet, opting to drive himself home.



At about 1.24am along Clementi Avenue 6, Ng missed a turn onto the AYE (City) and ended up on the AYE (Tuas), headed in the opposite direction.

He made an illegal U-turn and drove for 2km against the flow of traffic before making another illegal U-turn to end up on the other side of the expressway.

At one point, Ng had turned on his hazard lights and flashed his high-beam at oncoming traffic. At least seven vehicles had to switch lanes to avoid a head-on collision.

When he got home, Ng’s wife noticed he reeked of alcohol. Ng asked her about their daughter, who was sick, before he went to bed.

A "PERSISTENT RE-OFFENDER": PROSECUTION

The prosecutor sought a jail term of six weeks. “This is a shocking case involving an offender who, after a six-hour drinking session … deliberately drove against the flow of traffic for 2km after entering an expressway in the wrong direction,” the prosecutor said.

He noted Ng’s “persistence in re-offending”, pointing to three prior driving-related run-ins with the law. Ng was caught twice for speeding in 2007, and once for driving without a seatbelt in 2011.

Ng also spent time behind bars in 2007, when he was convicted of aggravated molest and sentenced to two years’ jail and three strokes of the cane.

Ng was diagnosed with major depressive disorder in 2004.



In 2011, he was placed on probation for house-breaking, stealing S$23,974.49. “He was granted an opportunity at rehabilitation in view of his psychiatric condition," the prosecutor said.

However, he “has not cherished this opportunity”, the prosecutor said.

Ng “has again pointed to his psychiatric condition to seek a lighter sentence”, he added, although a psychiatrist had said Ng’s behaviour “was (also) influenced by his concern for his daughter’s condition (given) the child’s (history) of leukaemia and the fact that another of (Ng’s) children had previously passed away”.

Ng intends to appeal against his four-week jail term. He is on bail of S$15,000 pending the appeal.

For driving dangerously, Ng could have been sentenced to up to 12 months’ jail and fined up to S$3,000.