Choo Wee Khiang
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Choo Wee Khiang ( zh, s=朱为强, p=Zhū Wéiqiáng, first=poj; born 1955) is a former politician in Singapore's governing
People's Action Party The People's Action Party (PAP) is a major Conservatism, conservative political party in Singapore and is the governing contemporary political party represented in the Parliament of Singapore, followed by the opposition Workers' Party of Singap ...
(PAP). He was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Whampoa division of
Jalan Besar GRC Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency is a four-member Group Representation Constituency composed of several city suburbs along with the Central Area of Singapore. The Jalan Besar GRC is the electoral division representing the largest a ...
between 1997 and 1999. Choo resigned from both the party and Parliament before being convicted for cheating. Choo had previously represented the Kallang division of
Jalan Besar GRC Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency is a four-member Group Representation Constituency composed of several city suburbs along with the Central Area of Singapore. The Jalan Besar GRC is the electoral division representing the largest a ...
between 1991 and 1997 and the Joo Chiat division of
Marine Parade GRC The Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency was a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) located in the Central Region, Singapore, central, East Region, Singapore, eastern and North-East Region, Singapore, north-eastern are ...
between 1981 and 1991. Choo was charged with three counts of corruption in 2011 and one of criminal breach of trust during his tenure as President of the Singapore Table Tennis Association between 1991 and 1998 and again between 2002 and 2008.


Career

Choo made his political debut in the 1988 general election where he contested in
Marine Parade GRC The Marine Parade Group Representation Constituency was a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) located in the Central Region, Singapore, central, East Region, Singapore, eastern and North-East Region, Singapore, north-eastern are ...
against the opposition
Singapore Justice Party The Singapore Justice Party (abbreviation: SJP) is a political party in Singapore. History The SJP was formed in August 1972 to represent the Indian community in Singapore. In 1975, SJP joined the United People Front (UPF), a political allian ...
. During the 1991 general election, Choo contested in
Jalan Besar GRC Jalan Besar Group Representation Constituency is a four-member Group Representation Constituency composed of several city suburbs along with the Central Area of Singapore. The Jalan Besar GRC is the electoral division representing the largest a ...
and won with a walkover. In March 1992, Choo caused a controversy when he made a remark in
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
about driving through
Little India Little India (also known as Indian Street, India Bazaar, or India Town) is an Indian people, Indian or South Asian sociocultural environment outside India or the Indian subcontinent. It especially refers to an area with a significant concentra ...
and finding the neighbourhood in "complete darkness", "not because there was no light, but because there were too many Indians around there". This had led to calls for his resignation. Choo later apologised, calling his remark a "joke". During the 1997 general election, Choo contested in Jalan Besar GRC again and won against the opposition
Singapore Democratic Party The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) is a social liberal political party in Singapore. Founded in 1980 by Chiam See Tong, the party gained its first seat in 6th Parliament of Singapore, Parliament in 1984 Singaporean general election, 1984 when ...
. In December 1999, Choo resigned from the party and Parliament before pleading guilty to cheating charges in court. With Choo's resignation,
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Goh Chok Tong Goh Chok Tong (born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the second prime minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004 and as a senior minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2011. He served as the secretary-general of the Peo ...
said the other MPs in Jalan Besar GRC will continue to serve the residents. Choo served as Deputy President of the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA) between 1989 and 1991 and was elected as President in 1991 before resigning in 1998. After a four-year break, he became President of the Singapore Table Tennis Association again in 1998. He succeeded
Yeo Guat Kwang Yeo Guat Kwang ( zh, s=杨木光, p=Yáng Mùguāng; born 27 January 1961) is a Singaporean former politician. A former member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the Ang Mo Kio–Hou ...
as STTA's president in 2002 after being elected unopposed at STTA's biennial general meeting at the Singapore Table Tennis Academy. Choo stepped down as president during STTA's biennial general meeting in 2008. After leaving STTA in 2008, Choo became the general manager of Marina Bay Golf Course. Choo was also Asia’s representative in the International Table Tennis Federation Development and Continental Council from 2004 and the Honorary Treasurer of the Asian Table Tennis Union from 1991. In 2009, Choo received the IOC President's Trophy from the
Singapore National Olympic Committee The Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) is the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the Republic of Singapore. It was founded in 1947 as the Singapore Olympic and Sports Council (SOSC) before renaming to its curr ...
for his outstanding contributions to the development of table tennis in Singapore since 1989.


Legal troubles


Cheating conviction

In November 1990, Choo issued a false invoice from his company claiming to have sold equipment worth more than a million dollars to Wong See Kee, Choo's brother-in-law. Wong had used the invoice to get S$830,000 in financing, supposedly to pay for the purchase of the equipment. In 1999, Choo was charged with cheating. He resigned from PAP and Parliament before pleading guilty in court to a charge which was reduced from aggravated to simple cheating. Under the Singapore Law, an MP will lose their seat if they get a year of jail or more than a S$2,000 fine. Choo's former fellow MP and Senior Counsel, K. Shanmugam, represented Choo. Shanmugam pushed for a fine instead of a jail sentence. Petition letters by grassroots leaders, vouching for Choo's character, described Choo as "hardworking", "compassionate", "selfless" and dedicated to community service.
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Lee Hsien Loong Lee Hsien Loong (born 10 February 1952) is a Singaporean politician and former military officer who served as the third Prime Minister of Singapore, prime minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2024, thereafter serving as a Senior Minister of S ...
had said that Choo has done the right thing in resigning from the party and as an MP, before pleading guilty in court. Choo was sentenced to two weeks' jail and fined S$10,000.


Corruption charges

From 2005 to 2007, the
Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) is an independent agency of the Government of Singapore responsible for the investigation and prosecution of any possible serious or complex fraud and corruption in Singapore. The CPIB has the ma ...
(CPIB) received several anonymous complaints against Choo alleging that he had charged his personal airfares, expenses, phone bills to the Singapore Table Tennis Association and received gifts from Chinese coaches and players. The total amount involved about S$10,600. The offences were allegedly committed during Choo's tenure as the president of the STTA. The CPIB conducted investigations revealed that in 2005, Choo had received S$1,500 from Liu Zhongze, who was then a national team player, and Luo Jie, who was then an assistant coach of the STTA, in return for giving Liu more opportunities to represent the STTA in table tennis tournaments. Between 2003 and 2004, Choo is believed to have accepted US$600 on two separate occasions from Shi Mei Sheng, who was then a STTA coach for approval of usage of two different training facilities in China. On 8 December 2011, Choo was charged with three counts of corruption and one of
criminal breach of trust In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Cane ...
. Koh Li Ping, former High Performance Manager of STTA, was also involved in the criminal breach of trust charge. The CPIB said that between 2002 and 2003, Luo Jie, whose work pass only permitted him to work for STTA, provided table tennis training to students of Fuhua Secondary School. But the school was unable to pay him for the training provided, which amounted to S$8,400. Luo Jie told Choo and Koh about this, both of them then allegedly arranged with the school principal to engage STTA in a new training arrangement. The proceeds for the new training arrangement received will be used to pay Luo Jie for the outstanding fees. After STTA received the payment from the school, Koh obtained approval from Choo to authorise a payment of S$8,400 to Luo Jie, even though the latter did not provide any training services under the new training arrangement. Choo's case was subsequently adjourned to 22 December. If found guilty of corruption, he could have been fined S$100,000 and jailed five years for each charge. The punishment for criminal breach of trust is a jail term of up to 15 years and a fine. Choo was later acquitted of his charge of criminal breach of trust after the prosecution dropped the three other counts of corruption and proceeded with the criminal breach of trust charge.


Personal life

Choo's nephew,
Desmond Choo Desmond Choo Pey Ching (; born 13 February 1978) is a Singaporean politician and former police officer who has been serving as Assistant Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) since 2015 and Ministry of Defence (Singapo ...
, has been a PAP Member of Parliament representing the Tampines Changkat ward of
Tampines GRC The Tampines Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in the eastern region of Singapore. The GRC encompasses Tampines and is managed by the Tampines Town Council, with five divisions: Tampine ...
from 2015 to 2025 and later
Tampines Changkat SMC Tampines Changkat Single Member Constituency is a Single Member Constituency (SMC) for the Parliament of Singapore. Located in the East Region, Singapore, it was established in 2025 after being split from Tampines Group Representation Constituenc ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choo, Wee Khiang Living people Members of the Parliament of Singapore Singaporean people of Teochew descent People's Action Party politicians Prisoners and detainees of Singapore 1955 births