Singapore jails ex-NUS student who used spy camera to film women showering in hostel

A former National University of Singapore (NUS) student was sentenced to two months’ jail on Thursday after filming women showering using motion-activated spy cameras he installed in female-only toilet.

This was while he was staying with his sister in a dormitory at NUS.

The fact that Ng Yong Kuan, now aged 27, suffers from schizophrenia was taken into account in sentencing after three psychiatrists stated that the condition was a factor in his actions.

Schizophrenia is a major psychotic illness that alters certain realities for sufferers. They are prone to hallucinations such as hearing voices that others do not hear, and they often suffer from paranoia or delusions of being followed or controlled.

Ng had pleaded guilty on November 14 to a charge of possessing voyeuristic recordings and one of criminal trespass.

Two other charges of possessing voyeuristic imagery were taken into account for sentencing.

A suitability report for mandatory treatment order that was requested by the court concluded that he was a suitable candidate, but the prosecution called for Ng to be jailed.

This sentencing option is for offenders who suffer from mental conditions when they commit a crime. Instead of serving jail time, they are directed to undergo psychiatric treatment for up to three years.

During the hour-long hearing, Deputy Public Prosecutor Selene Yap argued that since Ng had planned his crime and had kept the videos of the naked victims, he should be jailed to deter him from reoffending.

She also noted that he had been able to control and plan his actions, having taken precautions to not be detected when he entered the toilets.

However, Ng’s lawyer Tan Jun Yin of Tride Law Corporation said that three psychiatrists had found Ng to have