I don’t know about you, but when I was in school, I never took it seriously. All I could see were these arbitrary academic hurdles that I had to jump through, information that seemed meaningless and out of place within the world I lived in.
Even my dog wouldn’t eat my homework.
Consciously as a student I would know that my grades would, in structured Singapore, play a huge role in determining my future. That’s when suddenly, I would do almost anything to go back in time and improve my grades.
Almost.
Forged Certificates
One student, when faced with poor results, decided to forge certificates to enter a university.
Despite how obvious it may be to not do it out of moral, legal and commonsensical reasons, the student wanted desperately to study finance at a local university.
Kieffer Tay Kai Xian, 24, submitted three times to enter then-SIM University with forged certificates.
Bro, you were caught once already still want to try again and again?
After repeated attempts, the university made a police report against the student.
Tay had been trying to salvage his poor GPA. He had graduated from Temasek Polytechnic in 2014 with a GPA of 1.76, out of 4.0, for his diploma in leisure and resorts management.
To improve his chances, he altered the GPA of 1.76 on his polytechnic academic transcript to 2.76, and submitted the forged document once in 2016 and twice in 2017.
For people who are unfamiliar with the university requirements, his GPA of 1.76 would be unable to enter most local university courses, including that of then-SIM university.
Currently, Tay is in his final semester at SIM Global Education studying business management and communications.
Tay was fined $5,500 in court yesterday after pleading guilty to one count of forgery. Another three charges for forgery were considered for the sentencing.
For forgery, Tay could have been jailed for up to four years or fined, or both.
Deputy Public Prosecutor R. Arvindren urged the court to impose a fine of at least $5,000, as Tay had committed forgery multiple times, showing a lack of remorse.
Probation as an alternative sentencing was also argued to not be appropriate, as Tay is already older than 21.
Defence Lawyer Tried To Provide Reasons
In mitigation, however, Tay’s defence lawyer, Jeffery Soh, tried to provide reasons for Tay’s unlawful behaviour.
Soh explained that Tay was under an “immense level of stress”, and that Tay’s mother was a “fearsome parent” who was constantly “lambasting him for his failure to do well at the polytechnic”.
Tay’s father also testified that his wife is “quarrelsome and violent, and had allegedly tried to burn down their home, among other things”.
Tay’s mother was not present at the court hearing.
Although I can relate to his desires and regrets, I cannot condone his actions. Hopefully, he learns from this, and that other willful students take this cautionary tale to heart.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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