— She allegedly tried to bribe an official from the Singapore Table Tennis Association (STTA), to influence disciplinary proceedings against her son, former national table tennis player Li Hu.

When the trial opened on Monday (Oct 2), Chinese national Su Fengxian, 55, told the court that a Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) officer who acted “like a friend” induced her into signing an incriminating statement.

On Oct 19 last year, Su was arrested after she purportedly offered STTA’s technical director Loy Soo Han €2,000 (S$3,200), asking him to be lenient to her 28-year-old son in his series of disciplinary breaches that included insolence, insubordination and violation of house rules.

The statement taken at CPIB that same day included a quote by Su saying: “I intend to offer the €2,000 to Loy as I wanted him to help my son in his current disciplinary case with STTA. I do not mind if there is any disciplinary action as long (as) my son can stay in STTA.”

She had also said: “I know Loy has the power to help my son and (show) leniency (for) my (son’s) case.”

Testifying on Monday, Su said that CPIB investigator Tay Beng Kwan, who took her statement that day, “had this sympathetic look so I treated him as if he was a relative of mine”.

“He told me he felt I was innocent… I didn’t feel he was someone prosecuting me,” she added.

Lawyer Alfred Dodwell, who is representing Su, argued that Mr Tay induced Su “to lower her guard” and used the three-hour-long interrogation session to “wear her down with a false sense of security”. He asked that her statement not be admitted as evidence.

However, District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt said that Su was “never promised that she won’t be jailed” and was even told that the “jail term will be short”, so he is satisfied that the statement was voluntarily given, and thus admissible.

CPIB investigator Cheot Zhi Chen, who read the charges of offence to Su on Nov 23 last year, also went on the witness stand, saying that Su made another statement that day. In it, she said that “what I have done by offering the money to Mr Loy is part of our culture (in China)”.

If convicted, Su may be jailed up to five years and fined up to S$100,000.

The case will be heard again on Tuesday.

Mr Loy from STTA, along with the association’s president Ellen Lee and its chief executive officer Wong Hui Leng, are expected to testify.

Mr Li, who became a Singapore citizen from 2011 and now works as a coach here, is also expected to take the stand. He was sacked after a disciplinary committee hearing by STTA on Oct 24 last year.

Among the disciplinary issues he had was one where he broke a house rule by taking a woman back to the dormitory more than once despite verbal warnings.

The paddler once ranked as high as 26th in the world and was regarded as a successor to veterans Gao Ning and Yang Zi.

Source:
courtesy of TODAY

by WONG PEI TING

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