4 weeks' jail for man who sought confidential info from DSTA employee

An electrical firm project manager was sentenced to four weeks' jail on Oct 3 after seeking confidential information from a Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) employee over a project worth $3 million.

- Nadine Chua

Tan Kian Meng, 47, pleaded guilty to two charges under the Official Secrets Act over receiving information from Hsu Yee Chern, who was a DSTA employee at the time and has since resigned.

Hsu, 52, was sentenced to four weeks' jail in July. He had shared with Tan - an employee at John Holland Electrical & Service (JHES), a firm that specialises in generator and electricity supply installation and maintenance - information linked to the budget of a DSTA-managed project, for which JHES would later bid.

In the end, DSTA did not award the project to the company.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ronnie Ang told the court that DSTA's tasks include managing the design, development and maintenance of defence infrastructure for the Ministry of Defence.

DSTA is also responsible for the procurement process involving external vendors' contracts. This includes sourcing for vendors and evaluating their bids.