Contractor jailed for spray-painting ads at BTO estates

Nadine Chua
The Straits Times
Sept 22, 2026

To sabotage rival contractors, a man damaged and removed advertisements they put up at new Build-To-Order (BTO) estates in Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio.

On Sept 22, Lee Sai Koon, 75, was sentenced to 10 days’ jail after pleading guilty to three charges of mischief.

The court heard that the police became aware of his actions after residents living in Lorong 1 Toa Payoh alerted them in August and September 2025 that advertisements stuck on their doors appeared to have been intentionally damaged.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Mark Chia said contractors competing for business at newly completed HDB blocks would cover up the posters or cut them up with penknives to render their competitors’ advertisements ineffective.

Lee, the sole proprietor of a firm called Tong Sheng Impex – which designs, manufactures and installs metal racks for storage purposes – was one of the contractors involved.

He committed the offences at Block 403A Lorong 1 Toa Payoh, part of the Toa Payoh Ridge BTO project, and Block 246A Ang Mo Kio Street 21, part of the Kebun Baru Edge project.

On June 29, 2025, Lee was at Ang Mo Kio Street 21 to put up posters to advertise his firm’s services when he saw six posters put up by a competing company on the notice board in a lift lobby.

When he failed to open the notice board to remove the posters, he took a can of black spray paint from his vehicle and sprayed it over all the posters.

His actions were captured on CCTV.

When Lee was told by the police that his actions were being investigated, he returned to the block in an attempt to clean the paint off but was unsuccessful.

On another occasion in August 2025, Lee and his wife removed the posters pasted inside the lifts at Lorong 1 Toa Payoh before putting up their own posters.

Lee then used a penknife to cut his own posters so they would come off in pieces, making them more difficult for his competitors to remove.

Lee was arrested in January, while his wife was given a conditional warning for her actions.

Those convicted of mischief can be jailed for up to two years, fined, or both.

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