Iris Koh Explained

Iris Koh Shu Hsiao Pei (born: 1976, formally Koh Shu Cii)[1] is a Singaporean anti-vaccination activist in respect of COVID-19 vaccines. She is the founder of the anti-vaccination activism group Healing the Divide.

Biography

Koh claims to have founded the Healing the Divide group to "fill an information gap about COVID-19".[2] In October 2021, Koh and her husband, Raymond Ng, reportedly encouraged over 2,000 members of Healing the Divide to flood several public hotlines, such as the Ministry of Health Quality Service/Feedback hotline, the National Care Hotline and the Ministry of Social and Family Development Hotline.[3] Following this, the police announced that they had begun an investigation on both Koh and Ng for allegedly instigating others to call and overwhelm public hotlines.[4] [5] Koh later apologised for her actions and claimed that she was assisting police with the investigations.[6]

In November 2021, multiple videos from Koh's YouTube channel, where she uploaded various videos surrounding the pandemic and the vaccine, were removed after they were found to have been violating community guidelines.[7] The removal of content from her channel was supported by the Ministry of Health.[8] Following this, Koh decided to sue the government over the removal of her videos, as she believed that it was a violation of her human rights. She was represented by lawyer and activist M Ravi, who was a friend of hers.[9]

In January 2022, the Ministry of Health filed a police report against Koh after she reportedly encouraged members of Healing the Divide to "overwhelm on-site medical staff with questions" at vaccination centres on 27 December 2021.[10] [11]

Collaboration with Dr. Jipson Quah and arrest

Later that month, Koh was found to have been collaborating with Dr. Jipson Quah of the Wan Medical Clinic in Bedok. Quah had been falsifying COVID-19 vaccination records, and allowed patients to submit pre-recorded videos or photos showing them performing a self-administered pre-event antigen rapid test, despite pre-event testing having to occur in real-time and in the presence of a qualified medical practitioner or a qualified self-administered test supervisor. Koh had referred members of Healing the Divide to Quah's clinic.[12] [13] Following this, Koh, Quah, and Quah's assistant Thomas Chua Cheng Soon were arrested. Koh was charged with an offence of the criminal conspiracy to cheat on 23 January 2022.[14] [15] Meanwhile, Quah and Chua were charged with an offence of abetment by conspiracy to cheat,[16] and Quah was suspended from practising as a doctor.[17]

However, before her court hearing, which was scheduled to be on 28 January, Koh was confirmed to have been admitted into the Singapore General Hospital by her lawyer, Clarence Lun.[18] [19] The admission was later revealed to have been caused by a pre-existing thyroid condition.[20] During the hearing, the accusation facing Koh was amended to the more serious charge of being party to a criminal conspiracy with Quah.[21] [22] A requested bail to spend Chinese New Year with her family was also rejected on January 31.[23] [24] This came after it was revealed that at least 20 patients were involved in the vaccination fraud.[25] While in remand, Koh tore up a police statement, which resulted in her being given a new charge of obstructing a police inspector by refusing to sign and tearing up a copy of her statement while in remand.[26]

Koh was granted a $20,000 bail on 4 February 2022, and was released. However, as part of the bail conditions, she could not contact, directly or indirectly, co-accused persons, alleged accomplices or any witnesses, including members of the Healing the Divide.[27] Lun believed that the restriction was overly broad as there were over 6,000 members of Healing the Divide.[28] A list of potential witnesses was later provided.[29]

On 15 March 2022, Koh released a Facebook post claiming that she had tested positive for COVID-19 several days after her husband had tested positive, and that she was having mild symptoms. She stated that she believed that since she had contracted the virus, she possessed "immunity for life" from the virus.[30]

On 27 July 2022, Koh was handed an additional 2 charges after new court documents revealed more people had been fraudulently issued certifications of vaccinations as a result of their actions.[31]

On 16 February 2023, Koh was handed an additional 6 charges: 5 similar to the past charges plus a 6th for instigating one of the members of her group to fabricate evidence in order to be falsely certified to be of unsound mind.[32]

On 9 May 2024, one of the charges was dismissed, and 5 new charges were handed to her by the courts, for instigating her followers to harass doctors and to obstruct workers at the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) from performing their duties during the pandemic. Koh now has a total of 14 charges against her.[33]

Legal Issues with lawyers

Following her release, Koh released a 12-minute video on 8 February to raise $100,000, which she claimed would be use in future court proceedings, and to sue Minister of Health Ong Ye Kung and the government for "judicial review".[34] On 15 February 2022, Koh claimed that she had already managed to raise $96,000, and that all of the money would be converted to crypto assets and kept in a crypto wallet as "safeguarding" from the government.[35]

Originally, Koh refused to fully pay her lawyers from Fervent Chambers LLC, claiming she had been overcharged. The Supreme Court of Singapore ordered her to pay her lawyers the balance of the $23,000 owed, describing Koh's conduct as “ungracious”.[36]

On 27 January 2023, Fervent Chambers brought her to court over insolvency charges.[37]

Notes and References

  1. News: Koh. Wan Ting. 9 May 2024. Healing the Divide's Iris Koh gets new charges, including telling Telegram users to harass doctors. Channel News Asia. Singapore. 16 May 2024.
  2. News: Lai. Linette. Chong. Clara. 20 October 2021. Half-truths and lies: How Covid-19 misinformation spreads in S'pore. The Straits Times. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  3. News: Lai. Linette. 18 October 2021. Action can be taken against those who flood govt hotlines, incite others to do so: Ministries. The Straits Times. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  4. News: Liew. Isabelle. 25 November 2021. Couple linked to anti-vaccine group investigated for instigating others to flood public hotlines. The Straits Times. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  5. Web site: Police investigating Iris Koh & Raymond Ng for allegedly instigating others to overwhelm public hotlines. Chua. Nigel. 25 November 2021. Mothership.sg. 15 April 2022.
  6. News: Lim. Jessie. 30 November 2021. Anti-vaccine group founder apologises for asking followers to flood public hotlines. The Straits Times. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  7. News: Tan. Adeline. 8 November 2021. Content from anti-vaccination YouTube channel removed for violating guidelines. The Straits Times. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  8. News: Cheng. Ian. 7 November 2021. Anti COVID-19 vaccination videos on YouTube channel removed for 'violating community guidelines': MOH. Channel News Asia. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  9. Web site: Founder of 'Healing the Divide' anti-vax group engages lawyer M Ravi to start legal proceedings against S'pore Govt. Koay. Andrew. 14 November 2021. Mothership.sg. 15 April 2022.
  10. News: Liew. Isabelle. 5 January 2022. MOH files police report against anti-vaccine group for inciting parents to disrupt vaccination centre operations. The Straits Times. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  11. News: Cheng. Ian. 5 January 2022. MOH makes police report against Healing the Divide group over plans to 'disrupt operations' at COVID-19 paediatric vaccination centres. Channel News Asia. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  12. News: Woon. Wallace. 23 January 2022. Bedok clinic, doctor investigated for falsifying Covid-19 vaccine records, ART results: MOH. The Straits Times. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  13. News: 23 January 2022. Iris Koh, founder of Healing the Divide group, charged and remanded over alleged scheme to submit false vaccination information. Channel News Asia. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  14. News: Woon. Wallace. 23 January 2022. Healing the Divide founder Iris Koh, doctor arrested for allegedly submitting fake Covid-19 vaccine records. The Straits Times. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  15. Web site: Woon. Wallace. 23 January 2022. Healing the Divide founder Iris Koh and 2 men arrested for allegedly falsifying Covid-19 vaccine records. AsiaOne. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  16. Web site: 'Healing the Divide' founder Iris Koh arrested for alleged plan to submit false vaccination status to MOH. Lui. Karen. 23 January 2022. Mothership.sg. 15 April 2022.
  17. Web site: 2023-12-11 . Doctor accused of giving fake COVID-19 jabs fails in bid to revoke suspension order . 2024-01-06 . Channel News Asia.
  18. News: Iau. Jean. 29 January 2022. Healing the Divide founder Iris Koh hospitalised, faces more serious charge. The Straits Times. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  19. News: Lam. Lydia. 28 January 2022. Healing the Divide's Iris Koh gets more serious charge of criminal conspiracy to lie to MOH, is in hospital. Channel News Asia. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  20. Web site: Healing the Divide's Iris Koh tears up police statement, denied bail to spend Chinese New Year with family. Kow. Zi Shan. 31 January 2022. Mothership.sg. 15 April 2022.
  21. Web site: 'Healing The Divide' founder Iris Koh slapped with upgraded charges that come with longer jail time. Lean. Jing Hui. 28 January 2022. Mothership.sg. 15 April 2022.
  22. News: Tang. Louisa. 28 January 2022. Healing the Divide founder Iris Koh hospitalised at SGH after being warded in IMH, gets charge upgraded. today. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  23. Web site: Healing The Divide's Iris Koh hospitalised as fraud charge upgraded, bail denied. Koh. Wan Ting. 28 January 2022. Yahoo! News. Yahoo!. 15 April 2022.
  24. Web site: Lum. Selina. 23 January 2022. 'Appalling belligerence': Healing the Divide founder Iris Koh denied bail for alleged vaccine fraud. AsiaOne. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  25. News: Lum. Selina. 1 February 2022. Iris Koh denied bail for alleged vaccine fraud as probe reveals at least 20 patients involved. The Straits Times. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  26. News: Lam. Lydia. 4 February 2022. Healing the Divide's Iris Koh gets new charge of obstructing police by tearing up statement; offered bail. Channel News Asia. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  27. News: Devaraaj. Samuel. 1 February 2022. Healing the Divide's Iris Koh granted bail, gets new charge for tearing police statement. The Straits Times. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  28. Web site: Devaraj. Samuel. 4 February 2022. Healing the Divide's Iris Koh released on bail after days of not cooperating with police. AsiaOne. Singapore. 15 April 2022.
  29. Web site: 'Healing the Divide' founder Iris Koh slapped with new charge for tearing police statement. Tan. Fiona. 4 February 2022. Mothership.sg. 15 April 2022.
  30. Web site: Iris Koh contracts Covid-19, says she may have 'immunity for life' despite experts saying otherwise. Daud. Sulaiman. 18 March 2022. Mothership.sg. 15 April 2022.
  31. Web site: In Singapore, anti-vaccine group founder, doctor face new charges over fake Covid-19 vaccination records. 23 January 2022. Malay Mail. 29 January 2023.
  32. Web site: Healing the Divide's Iris Koh gets new charges of conspiring with doctor to lie about people being vaccinated. Lam. Lydia. 16 February 2023. Channel News Asia. 18 February 2023.
  33. News: Koh. Wan Ting. 9 May 2024. Healing the Divide's Iris Koh gets new charges, including telling Telegram users to harass doctors. Channel News Asia. Singapore. 16 May 2024.
  34. Web site: Iris Koh, Healing the Divide founder, raises S$30,000 out of S$100,000 in 1 day to foot legal fees. Lay. Belmont. 10 February 2022. Mothership.sg. 15 April 2022.
  35. Web site: Iris Koh, Healing the Divide founder, raises S$96,000 in just 1 week to foot legal fees. Lay. Belmont. 18 February 2022. Mothership.sg. 15 April 2022.
  36. Web site: Court orders Healing the Divide founder Iris Koh to pay her ex-lawyers S$23,000 in legal fees. Tang. Louisa. 20 July 2022. Today (Singapore newspaper). 27 January 2023.
  37. Web site: 27 January 2023 . IRIS KOH SHU CII v FERVENT CHAMBERS LLC . 27 January 2023.

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