Key facts
- Andie Tan Kok Yong pleaded guilty to sending a false message.
- Tan sent a doctored image of Marina Bay Sands on fire to Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong's Facebook page.
- The message also contained references to a "bomb" and financial figures.
- A second charge related to phone data deletion will be considered during sentencing.
A 35-year-old Singaporean man, Andie Tan Kok Yong, has pleaded guilty to one charge of knowingly sending a false message after he sent an edited photograph of Marina Bay Sands appearing to be on fire to Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong's official Facebook page. Tan also included a message referencing a "bomb" and financial figures in his communication.
A second charge, related to obstructing the course of justice by performing a factory reset on his phone, will be taken into consideration during sentencing. The incident occurred in September 2025 when Tan, while using Facebook, found an image of Marina Bay Sands engulfed in flames. Despite recognizing the image as fake, he saved it and subsequently sent it via Facebook Messenger to Lee's page.
Separately, a fire did break out at Marina Bay Sands on October 28, 2025, on the 55th floor, reportedly originating from welding works. A spokesperson for MBS stated that a staff member extinguished the fire before the Singapore Civil Defence Force arrived, and no injuries were reported.