Wah kakis, grab your Kopi-C Kosong and take a seat, because today’s news really takes the whole concept of “filial piety” and throws it straight into the Sungei Bedok!

If Mediacorp tried to air this storyline on Channel 8, viewers would complain it’s too unrealistic and write in to Forum to cancel the show. The star of our saga is a 29-year-old SAF Regular senior medic and NUS graduate named Tay Yi Cong. On paper, the guy looks like every Singaporean parent’s dream: scholar vibe, regular salary, saving lives in uniform.

In reality? He was a hardcore baccarat addict who lost his soul, his brain, and every single cent he could lay his hands on.

Act I: The “Steal-From-Everyone” World Tour

When Ah Cong was posted to Taiwan for military duty in 2021, you’d think he’d be enjoying the local bubble tea and fried chicken. Wrong. Ah Cong was busy getting himself into $60,000 worth of debt with online casinos and loan sharks.

To feed his black-hole gambling habit, he went on a full-blown crime spree targeting literally anyone within arm’s reach:

• The Bunkmate: He waited until his sleeping Taiwan bunkmate was snoring away, guessed his Singpass PIN, opened a bank account under the poor guy’s name, and pocketed a $25,000 loan.
• The MBS Guest: He swiped a $11,900 Rolex from a stranger at Marina Bay Sands Casino. Got caught and banned from MBS? No problem! He just packed his bags and went to Resorts World Sentosa (RWS) instead—because SAF taught him to adapt and overcome, right?
• The Brother: He unlocked his younger brother’s phone and quietly transferred $25,000 to his own account.

Act II: The Jackpot — His Own Father

Nothing, however, compared to the main event: his 62-year-old adoptive father.

Poor Uncle was the ultimate easy target.

• Father’s phone? No passcode.
• Father’s Singpass? Open door policy.
• Bank app login details? Handwritten neatly in a physical notebook sitting on the living room table.

It was basically a free-flow buffet line for a fraudster! Ah Cong started off small by racking up $380,000 in credit card debts and loans under his father’s name, using the money to buy Balenciaga bags and place massive bets.

When he saw that his dad was completely oblivious, he aimed for the grand prize: $533,800 of his father’s hard-earned CPF retirement funds.

The CPF “Backend Diagnosis” Scam

Because CPF requires a face scan to release funds, Ah Cong pulled off an absolute masterclass in shamelessness. He called his father on the phone pretending to be a CPF officer, claiming the government was doing a “backend system diagnosis” and needed them to scan their faces together. The father, completely trusting his NUS-grad son, smiled for the camera like they were taking a family selfie.

Once the scan cleared, Ah Cong maxed out the daily limit, drained all half-a-million straight into his bank account, and blew every single cent at RWS!

Act III: Oscar-Nominated Voice Acting

When the father finally noticed his bank balances evaporating into thin air and called POSB on speaker phone, Ah Cong was standing right beside him, listening with a straight face.

The very next day, Ah Cong called his father back posing as a POSB Bank Manager, using his best serious call-centre voice:

“Uncle, system glitch, your account frozen, don’t try to log in ah!”

When the father switched to his OCBC account and saw that was empty too, Ah Cong called him back as an OCBC Officer: “Aiya uncle, nationwide banking glitch, we investigating!”

To top off this performance, when the father asked why the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) was taking so long, Ah Cong forged a completely fake police report to show him. He even bought his father a brand-new phone as a “birthday gift”—just so he could keep the old unlocked phone to steal even more money!

Act IV: The Korea Epiphany & The Verdict

The entire circus finally collapsed when the father went to see his insurance agent, who pointed out that his CPF was essentially a wasteland. CPF lodged a real police report. When the police called the father on speakerphone, Ah Cong overheard it and immediately siam-ed on the next flight out of Singapore.

While hiding out in Taiwan and Korea, he stole another $168,000 from a fellow SAF colleague’s account to fund his overseas trips.

Then came the ultimate plot twist: In South Korea, running out of cash, Ah Cong met an elderly Korean shopkeeper who reminded him of his grandmother. He broke down, confessed his crimes to her, and the auntie basically told him:

“Boy, go home and face the music lah.”

So he flew back to Changi Airport, got arrested on the spot, and was sentenced to 7 years in jail. The judge called it “easily the most deplorable set of cheating and theft offences I’ve encountered in recent times.”

The Kopi Shop Summary

Victim	Amount Stolen	Ah Cong’s Method
Adoptive Father	$1.6 Million	Fake CPF “Face Scan”, fake bank phone calls, fake police report.
SAF Colleagues	~$193,000	Unlocking sleeping bunkmates’ phones, stealing PINs.
Younger Brother	$25,000	Unauthorised phone transfer.
MBS Casino Victim	$11,900	Direct Rolex theft.

Total Damage: ~$1.83 Million

Restitution Made: $37,700 (A drop in the ocean!)

The Public Service Announcement

Moral of the story?

1. Put a password on your phone.
2. Never write your bank PINs in a notebook.
3. And if your son ever calls you asking for a “facial scan for CPF backend diagnosis”—hang up immediately, lock the door, and throw hot kopi at him!

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