Anti-vaccine group founder Iris Koh faces five new charges

She allegedly told followers in 2021 to harass doctors and flood govt hotlines with calls

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Iris Koh, the founder of anti-vaccine group Healing the Divide, allegedly told more than 3,700 group members to harass doctors at vaccination centres in 2021 during Singapore's fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

She also allegedly told members to hinder the work of staff at the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) by flooding their hotlines with calls to demand they follow up on their cases.

Koh, 48, who has been accused of making false representations to MOH, was given five new charges on May 9.

She now faces 14 charges in total, and appeared calm when they were read to her in court.

She was previously known by her full name, Iris Koh Shu Cii, but court records now show her name as Iris Koh Hsiao Pei.

Healing the Divide is a group formed in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and claims to warn people about the dangers of vaccination.

Of her new charges, two are over abetting the obstruction of a public servant in their work.

On Oct 11, 2021, she allegedly encouraged 2,828 members of the "Healing the Divide Discussion" Telegram group chat to flood MOH and MSF hotlines with calls, demanding that they be escalated for follow-up by the ministries' staff.

On the same day, Koh allegedly gave another 879 members in the "Healing the Divide Channel" Telegram group similar instructions.