Hokkien vulgarities and Singlish took centre stage at yesterday’s trial of Yang Kaiheng, the Singaporean charged with seven counts of sedition for anti-foreigner articles on now-defunct socio-political website The Real Singapore (TRS).

Yang insists he was hardly involved in the running of the site, but the prosecution yesterday produced logs of several online chats to try and show otherwise.

The chats, which took place between 2012 and 2014, were with Web developer Damien Koh and a Vietnamese information technology company, and were written under the Skype account “able_tree”, which was used by both Yang and his Australian wife Ai Takagi, 23.

She was given 10 months’ jail last week after pleading guilty to four sedition charges, and is due to start her sentence next month.

While the defence argued that Takagi was “able_tree” in the logs, the prosecution drew the court’s attention to conversations where Singlish words such as “lah”, “lor”, “leh” and “meh”, Hokkien phrases, vulgarities and Singapore Armed Forces ranks were used.

In one conversation, “able_tree” disclosed to Mr Koh that Takagi was “quite zai sia” (Hokkien for steady) and that “she type e-mail like lawyer like that”.

The prosecution also alleged that in one conversation, 27-year-old Yang had boasted about buying a A$350,000 (S$362,000) house in Australia from the income generated by TRS, and urged Mr Koh to “help me protect our passive income”.

Bank statements showed that the couple earned between A$20,000 and A$50,000-plus a month.

Yang also allegedly discussed the possibility of setting up a citizen journalism website similar to Singapore’s Stomp in Australia. “You handle website, I handle marketing.

It is an ugly culture, but can make money,” he purportedly told Mr Koh. When asked where the articles would come from, “able_tree” replied: “Leave it to me la. I pro shit stirrer.”

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Roy Lim Eng Seng, who took the stand yesterday, was asked by Yang’s lawyer Choo Zheng Xi if Takagi could have been behind such conversations.

DSP Lim, who is from the Special Investigation Section of the Criminal Investigation Department, felt that the language and words used at times gave him the perception that it was Yang.

“The use of the Hokkien vulgarities was very, very Singaporean, and I said that I do not believe that Ai Takagi knows these vulgarities,” he added.

Still, when asked if he was able to attribute a single political article on TRS to Yang, DSP Lim replied “no”, unlike in the case of Takagi.

If convicted, Yang could be fined up to $3,000 and/or jailed for up to three years on each charge.

The charges include one for an article, put up on Feb 4 last year, which falsely asserted that a Filipino family caused an incident between the police and participants at the Thaipusam procession last year.

The hearing continues.

elena@sph.com.sg

This article was first published on March 30, 2016.
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It has been doing so implicitly for the past year. Now, Uber is making it quite explicit that it is targeting people who want to own a car but cannot afford the 40 per cent to 50 per cent down payment required by law.

In press advertisements yesterday, the San Francisco-based transport app provider marked its third anniversary in Singapore by launching a bold car-financing scheme that seems at first glance to flout regulations introduced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) three years ago.

It says Uber consumers can secure loans of up to 80 per cent of the car’s price, claiming: “Your dream car is now within reach!”

Uber, which is no stranger to controversy the world over, said the deal does not break any law in Singapore. It stated that cars must be registered under a company name, and under a scheme that allows them to be used for offering paid rides – even if not with Uber.

“The government scheme applies to personal cars only,” Uber Singapore general manager Warren Tseng said.

MAS concurred: “MAS’ motor vehicle financing restrictions do not apply to loans for the purchase of private-hire cars. Drivers should be aware that they will incur additional costs, including higher insurance premiums, should they enter into such arrangements.”

Mr Tseng claimed, however, that Uber has “negotiated deals with insurance partners which can offer premiums at as low as $1,300 (per year) for a comprehensive insurance package which covers personal and private-hire use”.

Industry sources said premiums for private-hire cars are typically three to five times that of those for normal private cars.

Checks by The Straits Times also revealed higher interest charges. For instance, Fu Yiap Motor Trading, one of several used car dealers Uber has paired with for this deal, quoted interest rates of between 2.98 and 3.25 per cent – more than one percentage point higher than what leading lenders are quoting.

A customer borrowing $60,000 over five years would end up pa- ying some $4,000 more.

While the deal is not tied to any obligation to drive for Uber, Mr Tseng said the scheme “gives people a way to afford a car… earning money in their spare time and also helping to cover car costs”.

Industry watchers are not impressed. Mr Neo Nam Heng, chairman of diversified motor group Prime, said: “It is no big deal. Uber is merely a match-maker, bringing customers to these car dealers. Of course it hopes that these people will end up doing Uber rides.”

This article was first published on March 30, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.