A 44-year-old director at Youngminds Online received a three-year and ten-month jail sentence for a drunk driving crash that left an auxiliary police officer in a vegetative state. Yoong Kok Kai will also face a 10-year driving ban after his release.
District Judge Kok Shu-En called the incident “a needlessly senseless and tragic accident” during the March 17, 2025 sentencing.
Yoong began drinking around 5pm on March 23, 2023, at a restaurant near Beach Road. He drank one and a half pints of beer before driving to meet his property agent at a South Bridge Road restaurant, where he consumed about one-third of a 500ml whiskey bottle.
Around 10pm, he went to a nearby pub and shared a three-liter beer tower with a waitress.
Drunk, Yoong tried to drive home to Yishun at about 11:40pm but ended up heading toward Tuas Checkpoint instead.
Speed cameras recorded him traveling at 134kmh along Ayer Rajah Expressway after 12:30am on March 24, 2023, above the 90kmh limit.
PolCam footage showed him speeding up to 119kmh along the Tuas Checkpoint car departure lane viaduct—more than double the 50kmh limit.
Just before 12:50am, Yoong sped along the first lane of a three-lane road at the viaduct, which had a bend with security bollards blocking the leftmost lane.
“The accused dangerously sped around the bend,” Deputy Public Prosecutor Esther Lim told the court. “The accused lost control of his car and his car veered right, speeding right through two safety humps intended to reduce vehicle speeds approaching the Tuas Checkpoint.”
Mr. Ng Yi Shu, a 30-year-old auxiliary police officer on duty, saw Yoong’s car speeding around the bend and veering right. Thinking Yoong was heading toward the slip road, Mr. Ng ran behind a safety bollard and gantry to get out of the way.
However, Yoong’s Lexus hit a divider, mounted a kerb, and struck Mr. Ng, who was thrown into the air and landed face-first.
The crash was so violent it uprooted the safety bollard, gantry, barrier, and a traffic light.
The collision caused Mr. Ng severe traumatic brain injury and major facial fractures.
Despite several operations between March and June 2023, Mr. Ng remains in a vegetative state. He is bedbound, non-communicative, and requires tube feeding.
“This young man is still alive today but his quality of life has been irreversibly damaged,” said the judge, adding that Mr. Ng’s family “will have to live with the consequences of Yoong’s folly for the rest of their lives.”
Mr. Ng cannot perform basic functions without help.
“He cannot walk, he cannot talk, he cannot take care of himself, and he cannot work to support himself ever again. Till he dies, he will require care and assistance in all aspects of his daily living,” the prosecution stated.
Mr. Ng was moved to a community hospital on October 17, 2023, while waiting for a long-term nursing home placement.
His medical and nursing home bills reached more than $455,000. After insurance and other deductions, out-of-pocket costs still exceeded $10,000, plus over $5,000 from his MediSave account.
The crash also resulted in more than $37,290 in property damage to gantry barriers, a traffic light pole, and an observation point hut. Yoong has not made any restitution to date.
Police arrested Yoong for drink driving at the scene. Tests showed he had 153mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood—almost double the legal limit of 80mg.
He drove approximately 27km while drunk.
DPP Lim asked the court to sentence Yoong to four years’ jail and a $10,000 fine, saying: “The accused has ruined the lives of a young man and his family by his senselessly reckless actions… No matter the amount of economic restitution, the victim’s life, and his family’s, will never be the same.”
Yoong pleaded guilty on February 27 to causing grievous hurt by dangerous driving and driving under the influence.
