SINGAPORE: Over about three years, a photographer at the National Dental Centre of Singapore (NDCS) shot over 600 voyeuristic photos of 25 patients, collating the shots in a catalogue and sometimes matching them with faces he obtained from the internal system.
Elgin Ng, a 29-year-old Singaporean, pleaded guilty on Tuesday (Nov 18) to nine charges, including voyeurism, distributing voyeuristic images and unauthorised computer access. Another 21 charges will be considered in sentencing.
The court heard that Ng’s primary role at the NDCS was to take photos of the teeth and jaws of patients who were scheduled for jaw surgery.
Dentists who needed such photos would lodge a request on NDCS’ electronic dental records system before instructing their patient to wait outside the photography room.
Ng would be stationed in the room and could call the patient in after receiving the request. He would confirm their identity and take photos solely of their facial region, primarily around their teeth and jaw.
For added modesty, Ng was required to provide the patient with a blue board to cover their chest, regardless of gender.
For female patients, Ng was required either to have a female staff member present to assist, or to keep the room’s curtains open.
HOW HE DID IT
From June 2021 to May 2024, when Ng’s colleague was not around, he took unauthorised voyeuristic photos of girls and women he found attractive.
He would note down the names of such patients whom he found attractive, or who wore clothing that revealed cleavage.
If the patient was scheduled to have photos taken, Ng would take the required photos and additional voyeuristic photos of the victim’s cleavage.
These were described in court documents either as “top-down” images or “bottom-up” images capturing the bottom of the victim’s chest.
If the patient had not been scheduled for photography, Ng would approach them and lie that their dentist had requested for photos.
During the sessions, Ng did not give the blue board to the victims and kept the curtains closed. He would surreptitiously arrange the cameras in positions prohibited by the NDCS and later transfer the photos to his personal thumb drive.
He also assessed NDCS’ internal system to download photos of the victim’s faces, as he wanted to match them to the voyeuristic shots he took.
