Jail for man who verbally abused police officer at polling station during 2023 Presidential Election
Andrew Wong
The Straits Times
March 2, 2026
A man with a record of hurling vulgarities at strangers took out his frustrations on officials at the 2023 Presidential Election after finding it difficult to locate the entrance of a polling station.
His behaviour later escalated and he verbally abused a police officer at the scene.
On March 2, Chee Teng Yew, 60, was sentenced to two weeks' jail after pleading guilty to harassing a public servant on duty.
The prosecution asked the court to treat Chee as a repeat offender, pointing out that he had previously hurled vulgarities at strangers on two separate occasions, in July 2019 and December 2022.
In total, four similar offences were taken into consideration for his sentencing.
Court documents showed that Chee had tried to enter River Valley Primary School, his designated polling station, to cast his vote in the presidential election on Sept 1, 2023.
Chee walked around the school repeatedly as he struggled to find the entrance to the polling station. He later found himself at the back entrance but was told by election officials that he was not allowed to enter from that location.
After an official guided Chee to the correct entrance of the polling station, Chee started to grumble loudly.
At the registration booth, he handed over his driving licence to another official but was informed that he needed to produce his NRIC.
Chee refused to do so, and started to shout and complain loudly, using vulgarities. A police officer approached Chee, asking him to provide his NRIC and also warning him to stop shouting.
Chee then shouted and hurled vulgar insults at the officer.
Subsequently, the police officer proceeded to retrieve Chee's driving licence from the election official to take down his particulars.
As she was doing so, Chee attempted to snatch his driving licence away from her but failed to do so.
Chee was previously sentenced to 12 weeks' jail in October 2025, after he admitted to throwing beer bottles out of the window of a 20th-floor condominium unit in Kim Yam Road on two occasions.
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