43-year-old Edmund Lam Kiat Choong, a senior assistant director at the Ministry of Education (MOE) was sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment on Friday (11 August) after pleading guilty to one count of drink driving and another count of dangerous driving, after he was caught drink driving in 2022 and injuring another driver after crashing his car.
The incident involved a head-on collision with another car while driving against the flow of traffic, resulting in injuries to the other driver, according to The Straits Times.
Lam was also disqualified from holding all classes of driving licenses for 4 years and 6 months after his release from prison.
The Alleged Incident
On December 8, 2022, in Bras Basah Road, shortly before 2 am, Edmund Lam was reportedly driving under the influence of alcohol.
He had visited a restaurant on 7 December 2022 and consumed alcohol, before driving along Bras Basah Road at about 2am the following day.
According to court documents, he drove against the flow of traffic for nearly 320 meters before colliding head-on with another car, resulting in more than $11,000 worth of damage.
The driver of the other vehicle, a 54-year-old man, sustained injuries as a result of the accident. However, specific details about the extent of his injuries were not disclosed in the court records.
Legal Implications
The legal limit for alcohol consumption while driving is 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath. However, Lam was allegedly found with more than double that amount, measuring at 77 micrograms.
Lam has also since made full restitution to the victim for the damages caused.
Following the incident, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Education expressed their intention to mete out disciplinary proceedings once Lam’s court case concludes.
They emphasized that the ministry takes staff misconduct very seriously and will take appropriate disciplinary action against those who fail to adhere to their standards of conduct and discipline.