The headline is a loose definition of the word “irony”.
I mean, teacher stealing from school to pay school fees?
It’s like you stealing $3 from the cai png uncle and paying for your cai png with that stolen $3. Might as well just steal the cai png, right?
But of course, in this case, the schools are different, but it’s essentially education.
Though there seems to be some inconsistence in the story.
Here’s what went down.
Childcare Teacher in Edufarm Learning Centre
Edufarm Learning Centre is a childcare centre that also provides enrichment and tuition programmes with many outlets here in Singapore—so many that I’ve given up counting on its website.
So, Siti Naqiah Ismail was a childcare lead teacher in the Upper Serangoon View branch. She joined the company in January 2018, and initially, she would collect the school fees from parents and submit them to Edufarm Learning Centre’s headquarters in Boon Lay in the first week of every month.
Everything was good until June 2018, when she couldn’t submit the school fees on the first week of June as it was the school holidays, so the HQ was closed. She was told to hold on to the money and submit them on 25 June 2018.
Okay, everything was still good…but she didn’t do that.
Pocketed School Fees
In total, the monies she received from parents totalled to $2,405, comprising $1,925 in school fees and $480 in admin fees.
On 25 June 2019, when she was supposed to return the money to the HQ, she went on MC and then MIA-ed from work altogether.
Was she expecting the school to just forget about it?
Edufarm’s operation manager then lodged a police report on 18 July 2018.
According to the Deputy Public Prosecutor, Siti Naqiah had used the money to pay for her son’s school fees and for personal expenses.
Stealing to pay school fees isn’t right but at least it sounds like she’s just at her wits’ end to provide a good education for her son, but here’s when it doesn’t sound right.
For a start, the school fee for primary school students in public school for Singaporeans is free; the parents merely need to pay a maximum of $13 monthly for miscellaneous fees. Given that she’s only 27 years old, it’s unlikely that she has a son who’s in secondary school.
And even if she’s a PR instead, the monthly payable fee for a primary school student is $193.
She might be paying for pre-school education fee, you argue. That’s not compulsory, and even if so, an MOE kindergarten is at $160 monthly for Singaporeans and $320 monthly for PRs, which can drop to mere $1.60 per month if the household income is less than $2,500 a month.
So, how can anyone steal $2,405 for school fees?
Of course, it’s mentioned that she used them for school fees and personal expenses.
It could be 99% personal expenses and 1% school fees. #justsaying
In any case, she’s been sentenced to four weeks’ jail, and to date, she has returned $600 out of the $2,405 she stole.
So ladies and gentlemen, don’t anyhowly say you steal money to help others. We not stupid one.
Would you be jailed for being half-naked in public? Well, the answer will shock you. Seriously. Watch this to the end and you'll understand:
