S’porean woman, 54, gave S$52,900 in bribes to ex-SJI facilities manager, 58, given 3 months & 2 weeks’ jail - Mothership

She was a sales manager of an interior furnishing firm.

A 54-year-old Singaporean woman was sentenced to three months and two weeks’ jail for giving a 58-year-old former St Joseph’s Institution (SJI) facilities manager more than S$52,000 in bribes.

Renee Song Mui Kuan faced four charges under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

She pleaded guilty to two charges and was sentenced on Sep. 23.

The remaining charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

Song was a sales manager of an interior furnishing firm at the time of the offences.

In court documents seen by Mothership, in January 2018, the facilities manager, Ng Cher Him, approached Song and first broached the idea of receiving money in exchange for helping award more jobs and projects to her firm.

Song agreed with Ng, fearing that if she rejected his idea, he would stop awarding jobs or recommending her firm for projects at SJI.

Afterwards, Ng would inform Song of jobs and projects at SJI and invite her to submit quotations.

On certain occasions, Ng would instruct Song to mark up a quotation for a particular job or project, which Song would then pay to Ng in cash.

Ng also did not specify the markup on some occasions, which led Song to decide the amount to be paid to him, inflate the quoted price, and pay the markup to Ng in cash if he asked for such gratification.

After her firm was paid for a job or project, Song would withdraw the cash constituting the markup and hand it to Ng in his office at SJI.

On some occasions, she would pocket the markup if Ng did not ask for it.

On 10 occasions between Jan. 7, 2019 and Jul. 21, 2020, Song corruptly gave Ng gratification totalling S$18,420.

The firm submitted invoices totalling S$228,717 for the jobs and projects.

On 12 occasions between Aug. 18, 2020, and Sep. 7, 2022, Song corruptly gave Ng gratification totalling S$34,480.

The firm submitted invoices totalling S$502,840.04 for the jobs and projects.

On Sep. 30, 2022, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) received information that Ng was involved in corruption-related offences.

Song was also subsequently investigated.

On Jul. 28, she made restitution of S$39,300 to SJI.

The prosecution sought three-and-a-half months to four-and-a-half months’ jail for Song.

They argued that Song was “unfairly awarded” the jobs and projects at SJI.

“Other vendors which might have been more suitable or able to give more competitive prices lost opportunities,” they said.

The prosecution added that Song’s actions “perverted” Ng’s duty to be “independent and fair” in his prior role as a facilities manager at SJI.

“Such offences must be met with stiff sentences to ensure that like-minded offenders are deterred from corrupting agents of government institutions, including schools, from abusing their positions for personal gains, which would otherwise have the potential to erode public confidence in the institutions of government and give rise to public disquiet,” they said.

According to The Straits Times, Ng was sentenced to one year, three months and four weeks’ jail for corruption offences in October 2025 in relation to the case.

He reportedly received more than S$67,000 in bribes from other vendors, including Song, engaged to carry out various projects at SJI.