ST: He used fake degree, but boss still wants him back

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Aug 31, 2007
He used fake degree, but boss still wants him back
Employer paid legal fees, fines for man whom she calls a 'very committed employee'
By Elena Chong, Court Correspondent
TRUSTED WORKER 'We shouldn't just look at qualifications... I trust him with my life. Till now, I have never once been disappointed with his work.' -- MRS IVY SINGH-LIM, pictured here with her husband, Mr Lim Ho Seng, on her farm supervisor Shivalingam Chandrasekaran, who has a history degree but bought a fake botany degree and used his cousin's name to work at Bollywood Veggies. -- ST PHOTO: WONG KWAI CHOW View more photos HE BOUGHT a fake botany degree and used a passport bearing his cousin's name in order to get an employment pass. But when his ruse was discovered, his employer - impressed with his work as a farm supervisor - hired the best lawyers for his defence, paid his fines and still wants him back. She went as far as to say she would adopt him as her son. Shivalingam Chandrasekaran's troubles began in 2002, when he claimed he naively followed the advice of his agent in India not to use his own passport and qualifications if he wanted to get an employment pass. Chandrasekaran, who had worked here before in the 1990s as a work permit holder, decided to re-enter Singapore soon after his return to India in 1998. So he obtained an Indian passport in the name of his cousin and bought a fake botany degree. Yesterday, his employer, Mrs Ivy Singh-Lim, was in court with her husband, Mr Lim Ho Seng, to support him after she engaged top firm Allen & Gledhill. In July 2002, in order to work for Bollywood Veggies as a farm supervisor, Chandrasekaran filled in an employment pass application stating that he was Arumugam Sittrarasu and had graduated from Mandurai Kamaraj University in India with a botany degree. Ministry of Manpower (MOM) prosecutor Victoria Lee told the court that earlier this year, the MOM found out that Chandrasekaran had lied in the employment pass application that he was a botany graduate. The history graduate had entered Singapore to work posing as Sittrarasu, and had bought a forged botany degree for 1,500 rupees (S$56) obtained by his agent in early July 2002. For producing a misleading passport to enter Singapore on Feb 2, 2000, Chandrasekaran was jailed for two weeks and fined $2,000. District Judge Aedit Abdullah also fined him another $4,000 for lying in immigration documents. Mrs Singh-Lim paid the fines. Two other similar charges were considered. Pleading for a fine, lawyer Muralli Rajaram, together with colleague Eugene Thuraisingam, said Chandrasekaran, who earns $3,500 a month, had contributed much to the success of the Lim Chu Kang organic farm, which attracts up to 2,000 visitors a week. He has been working there for five years. Mrs Singh-Lim described Chandrasekaran as a 'very committed employee'. 'He has been such a blessing to me that I am willing to adopt Chandra as my son,' she said in her testimonial. Mr Muralli said Chandrasekaran had come here as he was desperate for money to send to his sick father in India. Matters worsened when his first wife committed suicide and he had to pay his relatives to look after his son, now 14. Mrs Singh-Lim said she was very happy with the outcome, but she had hoped that the courts would have been open to doing even more. She recounted how in the National Day Rally speech last year, the Prime Minister had spoken about getting back a twice-arrested Chinese illegal immigrant who was running at least five hawker stalls and employing some 11 Chinese nationals and a number of Singaporeans. PM Lee Hsien Loong said then: 'So one day we should get him back and we should get other people like that to come back and to come to Singapore because they have spunk, the drive and they will make it with sheer grit and get to the top one day.' While Chandrasekaran was not quite the entrepreneur, Mrs Singh-Lim hoped that he would be considered in the same light. 'We shouldn't just look at qualifications. We should look at the quality of the person, the nature of the person.' Describing him as the 'best employee' she ever had, Mrs Singh-Lim said: 'I trust him with my life. Till now, I have never once been disappointed with his work.' She said she would appeal to the authorities to let Chandrasekaran continue to live here. Not only that, she said she was going to sponsor him to get permanent residence here. View all thumbnail Photo 2 of 2 « Prev   Next » JAILED AND FINED: Shivalingam Chandrasekaran entered Singapore to work posing as his cousin. -- PHOTO: BOLLYWOOD VEGGIES   elena@sph.com.sg