Contractor, 75, jailed after sabotaging rivals' advertisements at new BTO estates - Mothership

He tried to take down his competitors' posters while making his own harder to remove.

A 75-year-old man who ran Tong Sheng Impex, a storage rack company, attempted to take down his competitors' posters and make his own harder to remove.

In doing so, he damaged the walls and public spaces of several Housing Development Board (HDB) flats.

Lee Kai Soon, the sole proprietor of Tong Sheng Impex, pleaded guilty to three charges of mischief with another two charges taken into consideration, CNA reported.

He was sentenced to 10 days' imprisonment on Sep. 22.

Lee, occasionally accompanied by his wife, attempted to advertise his services around new built-to-order flats.

According to court documents seen by Mothership, Lee went to a block of HDB flats at Ang Mo Kio on Jun. 29, 2025 to put up posters for his company.

At the lift lobby, he noticed six posters from a rival company pinned on the notice board.

He attempted to take them down, but the notice board was enclosed by a locked glass case.

He then went to his vehicle to take a can of black spray paint and sprayed it over the notice board.

That same night, a 36-year-old resident spotted the notice board covered in paint, and discovered from other residents that a similar incident had happened at an adjacent block.

Subsequently, the resident made a police report.

Lee's actions were captured by CCTV footage. The police eventually informed Lee that the matter was being investigated, although he was not confirmed as a suspect at the time.

Afterwards, Lee went back to the notice board and attempted to clean the paint off, but did not succeed in doing so fully.

Although he was aware of the investigation, Lee continued his acts.

On Aug. 27, 2025, Lee went to a HDB estate in Toa Payoh with his wife.

They entered the lifts and tore posters from their competitors off the walls, before putting up their own.

At the time, the lifts were covered with acrylic boards to protect the walls while residents moved into their flats.

Lee then used a penknife to cut the posters in order to make it more difficult for others to remove them, as the posters would come off in bits and pieces.

As a result, the underlying acrylic boards were also cut.

These actions were again captured by the CCTV.

Lee, acting alone, subsequently also did the same for the walls and riser doors of the lift lobbies at the same block.

According to CNA, the prosecutor sought a short jail term, and read out a list of Lee's past convictions.

The list included more than 10 different incidents, involving driving with an expired license, using abusive language, cheating and voluntarily causing hurt, all carried out from the 1970s to the 2000s.

The defendant's lawyer asked the court to consider five days' jail, citing his client's poor health.

CNA also reported that Lee was charged along two other men, whose cases are pending. 

The penalty for mischief is a maximum of two years' jail, a fine, or both.