Around 7 years ago, MINDEF’s Pioneer magazine interviewed a cheerful and bright young colonel (COL) from the Singapore Army.
In the feature, COL Alvin Kek described his vision for the 2011 National Day Parade (NDP).
It was a vision he knew well, since COL Kek was the Chairman of that year’s NDP Executive Committee.
The top honour was presented to COL Alvin Kek despite a run in with the law in 2004.
He had been convicted of drink driving that year, but little is known of the outcome of that conviction.
COL Kek’s star continued to shine and in 2013, he found a cushy job as a top executive at SMRT.
When COL Kek – now Mr Kek – joined the beleaguered train operator in 2013, he found himself in a company that the public was largely frustrated with.
A major breakdown in 2011 had shaken confidence in Singapore’s rail system and minor disruptions continued to occur.
But he managed these well and rose through the ranks. Mr Kek was quickly appointed senior vice-president for rail operations.
Unfortunately, rail operations appeared to crumble under his watch:
Despite these incidents, Mr Kek was promoted earlier this year and made the chief operations officer of SMRT’s rail operations.
It was at this peak of his career that Mr Kek’s personal life began to fall apart.
On April 21, police found Mr Kek at Woodlands Checkpoint with 65 microgrammes of alcohol in 100ml of breath.
This is almost double the prescribed limit of 35 microgrammes.
He was eventually arrested and charged with drink driving (again).
Local forums, citing Shin Min Daily News, allege that Mr Kek was not alone in the vehicle when he was arrested in April.
They report that Mr Kek had been with a woman from China.
The chief of SMRT’s rail operations is believed to be married with kids.
In its report, Yahoo also claimed that Mr Kek’s father had died shortly before the incident, leading many to wonder if there was a link between the two events.
Mr Alvin Kek was jailed on Thursday (28 Jun) for drink driving.
The court ordered a jail term of 2 weeks as well as a $4,000 fine.
Mr Kek is also disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for three years.
SMRT has confirmed that Mr Kek has been suspended from work, but no details yet if the suspension is permanent or temporary.
MustShareNews wishes his family the very best at this difficult time.
Featured image from MINDEF and Facebook.
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