On 8 January 2014, 79-year-old Ng Lye Poh (Chinese: 黄来宝; pinyin: Huáng Láibǎo), the mother of the Sheng Siong supermarket chain's founder CEO, was kidnapped by two men for a S$20 million ransom (later reduced to S$2 million after some negotiations). The next day, shortly after the ransom was paid and Ng's release, the two kidnappers – Heng Chen Boon (Chinese: 王振文; pinyin: Wáng Zhènwén) and Lee Sze Yong (Chinese: 李士荣; pinyin: Lǐ Shìróng) – were arrested and charged with kidnapping for ransom, an offence that carries the death penalty in Singapore, where kidnapping was considered an extremely rare crime. Eventually, one of the perpetrators, Heng, was jailed for three years on a reduced charge of abetting wrongful abduction, while Lee, who was the mastermind of the case, was found guilty of kidnapping for ransom and sentenced to life imprisonment and three strokes of the cane on 1 December 2016.^[1]

On 9 January 2014, the same date when Lee Sze Yong and Heng Chen Boon released their hostage, both men were arrested at least 40 minutes after they did so. Heng was arrested at his flat in Hougang while Lee was arrested at a friend's flat in Ang Mo Kio, and the ransom was later recovered.^[9][17]

On 10 January 2014, a day after their capture, both Heng Chen Boon and Lee Sze Yong, aged 50 and 41 respectively, were officially charged with kidnapping for ransom, an offence that attracts either a death sentence or a life term (in addition to possible caning).^[18] After he was charged, on 20 January 2014, Lee was led by police to Sembawang Park, where he was told to point out locations related to the crime.^[19] Four days later, both men were ordered by a district court to undergo psychiatric evaluation while in remand,^[20] and a month later, a psychiatric report deemed Lee mentally fit to make a plea in court.^[21]

The kidnapping of Ng Lye Poh was Singapore's first kidnap-for-ransom case in more than a decade. Before this, the last case of kidnapping happened 13 years before during Christmas Day of 2003, when a seven-year-old girl was taken from her home at Yio Chu Kang.^[22] The two perpetrators, Tan Ping Koon and Chua Ser Lien, were both arrested and sentenced to life in prison with caning (three strokes for each man);^[23] 17 years later, 58-year-old Chua died from suicide in prison in July 2020, while Tan is still incarcerated.^[24]

On 9 April 2015, the kidnapping charge against one of the perpetrators, 51-year-old Heng Chen Boon, was reduced to abetment of wrongful abduction and confinement, which warranted the maximum jail term of ten years if found guilty, plus a fine or caning. At the same time, it was confirmed that Lee would be tried by the High Court on a later date for the original charge of kidnapping for ransom.^[25] Heng reportedly expressed his intention to plead guilty to the reduced charge.^[26]

On 11 May 2015, Heng pleaded guilty to the reduced charge in a district court, with Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Kavita Uthrapathy in charge of prosecuting Heng, who was represented by Niklaus Tan and Philip Fong. In their mitigation plea, Heng's defence lawyers asked for 18 months' jail, and stated that Heng was coerced and manipulated by Lee to commit the crime, and two psychiatrists, Dr Kenneth Koh and Dr Brian Yeo, testified that Heng was suffering from low intellect and it also affected his state of mind at the time of the kidnapping. After hearing the prosecution's case and mitigation plea from the defence, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim sentenced Heng to jail for three years on the same date of Heng's conviction. As he was aged more than 50 at the time of sentencing, Heng was spared the cane.^[27][28]

Heng, whose jail term was backdated to the month of his arrest, was granted parole and released early in January 2016 after he served his term with good behaviour. He also appeared in court to testify during the trial of his former lover and accomplice Lee Sze Yong, whose kidnapping trial began seven months after he was released.^[29][30]

On 30 August 2016, Lee Sze Yong officially stood trial for one count of kidnapping for ransom at the High Court. Lee's lawyer Selva K Naidu argued that he was not guilty of kidnapping even though he had abducted Ng Lye Poh, since he had the intention to release Ng by the end of the day even if he did not receive the ransom on time, and aside from his confession during the trial to formulating his plot to kidnap the rich for ransom a few years before, Lee testified that he indeed had that intention to release Ng even if no ransom was paid, which was refuted by the prosecution.^[31][32]

On 1 December 2016, Justice Chan Seng Onn, the trial judge, delivered his verdict. He found Lee guilty of kidnapping for ransom, stating that even if it was true that Lee did intend to release Ng even without getting the ransom on time, the defence's interpretation of the law was "unduly restrictive" and "untenable" since the Kidnapping Act was implemented to convict kidnappers who had the intent to subject their victims and their families to fear of possible harm and extort money, and by having abducted and wrongly confined Ng with the motive to get ransom from Ng's son, Lee had effectively committed the offence of kidnapping by ransom, which attracts either death or life imprisonment with/without caning upon conviction.^[33][34]

In his personal letter to the court before sentencing, Lee pleaded for the death penalty, as he had destroyed his life and he was unable to face the prospect of hopelessly spending the rest of his natural life in jail and would rather hang for his crime.^[35][36] However, in his sentencing remarks, Justice Chan Seng Onn personally addressed Lee in court, advising him to not lose hope as there was still a chance for him to reform, and stated that under the law, offenders serving life sentences in Singapore were entitled to the possibility of release on parole after spending minimally 20 years behind bars. Justice Chan also noted that the prosecution did not seek the death penalty but asked for a life sentence with three strokes of the cane, which the defence did not object to. In the end, Justice Chan sentenced 44-year-old Lee Sze Yong to life in prison and three strokes of the cane, and his life term was backdated to the date of his arrest on 9 January 2014.^[37][38]

Lim Hock Chee, Ng's son, told the press that he found the sentence fair, and he stated he maintained his belief in the law and judges throughout the proceedings. He also stated that he and his family had since moved on from the incident.^[39]

On 22 March 2017, Lee Sze Yong's appeal against his conviction was dismissed by the Court of Appeal.^[40][41]

Lee, who argued the appeal alone without a lawyer, told the appellate court that he was not guilty of kidnapping by random. He said that while he did abduct the elderly victim Ng Lye Poh for ransom, he had the intent to release Ng even when the ransom was not paid by the end of the day, and his actions did not fit the definition of kidnapping with intent to get ransom and receiving it under the Kidnapping Act. However, Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, one of the three judges hearing the appeal, rejected Lee's defence and he said that under the Kidnapping Act, if a person has the intent to extort ransom when abducting a person, the offender was considered guilty of kidnapping for ransom regardless of whether the offender had received the ransom or not, and regardless of whether or not the offender had the intention to release the victim with/without the ransom.^[42][43]

Lee is presently incarcerated at Changi Prison since January 2014. Although life imprisonment in Singapore was construed as a term of incarceration for the rest of a prisoner's natural life since the 1997 landmark appeal of Abdul Nasir Amer Hamsah,^[44] Lee would still be granted a possible release on parole after completing a minimum period of 20 years behind bars, provided that he served with good behaviour in jail.

The case of Ng Lye Poh's abduction, dubbed the Sheng Siong kidnapping in Singaporean media, had shocked the nation, as kidnapping was an extremely rare crime to happen in Singapore. It was a contrast to the 1950s and 1960s, when many rich businessmen and/or their family members were frequently targeted by kidnappers for ransom in Singapore, and some of these cases were recalled due to the Sheng Siong kidnapping. Due to the rampant occurrence of kidnappings back in that era, the government of Singapore passed laws in 1961 to allow courts to impose either the death penalty or life imprisonment for offenders convicted of kidnapping for ransom.^[45]

Shortly after the arrests of Heng Chen Boon and Lee Sze Yong, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong commended the police for the swift arrest of the two men, which took place within 12 hours after the crime was first reported.^[46][18] Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Teo Chee Hean similarly commended the police for their swift efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice, and also stated that the Lim family had done the right thing to report the matter to the police. DPM Teo also reiterated that kidnapping was a serious crime and reassured the public that both the kidnappers would be subjected to the full extent of the law.^[47]

In total, 39 police officers, two departments and four units were applauded and awarded for their efforts in arresting the two kidnappers.^[48]

• Caning in Singapore
• Capital punishment in Singapore
• Life imprisonment in Singapore
• List of major crimes in Singapore
• Kidnapping Act (Singapore)
• List of kidnappings