S'pore female tutor allegedly buys vape for girl, 13, who gets caught in school with it, HSA investigating

A female tutor in Singapore allegedly helped a 13-year-old girl buy an e-cigarette to satisfy the child's curiosity.

After the school discovered the contraband and notified the girl's father and the authorities, the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) is now investigating, Shin Min Daily Newsreported.

Girl needed Chinese tuition

The father, 33, surnamed Zhu (transliteration), found a tutor through an agency in 2024 to provide Chinese language lessons for his daughter, who was then in Primary 6.

The woman engaged as the tutor would go to the Zhu household every Monday.

The tuition was conducted in the girl's room.

The door would be closed during tuition.

Grades didn't improve

After nearly a year of tutoring, Zhu told Shin Min that the girl's Chinese grades did not improve after entering secondary school, and she apparently almost picked up undesirable habits.

School found out

Zhu said he received a call from his daughter's secondary school discipline master asking him to go to the school on May 21.

The father said: "The teacher discovered that my daughter was in possession of an e-cigarette, and after questioning, learned that my daughter had asked the tutor to help purchase it online."

Zhu said he was was extremely shocked and checked the chat records between his daughter and the tutor.

He said: "I saw that the tutor purchased the e-cigarette online and even sent screenshots to my daughter. She handed the e-cigarette to my daughter on May 19."

"At the time, my daughter said she would pay S$78 to her during the next lesson," he added.

Tutor should have known better

He said the tutor should have known better than to satisfy the curiosity of the girl by buying the vape on his daughter's behalf.

Zhu said: "Later I called the tutor directly, and she initially denied it. It wasn't until I told her I had already seen their chat records that she immediately hung up and blocked me."

Tutor allegedly didn't do her job

After questioning his daughter, Zhu discovered that the tutor had only properly taught three lessons initially.

During subsequent sessions, the woman purportedly mostly spent time chatting with Zhu's daughter and even bought snacks and cosmetics for her.

Zhu said: "My daughter's Chinese grades this year were failing. I originally thought it was her own fault, but now I know the tutor wasn't teaching seriously at all."

HSA on it

He revealed that the school subsequently reported the matter to the Health Sciences Authority (HSA).

HSA told Shin Min that it is investigating a case involving a tutor helping a student purchase e-cigarettes.

Importing, distributing, or selling e-cigarettes and their components are illegal.

First-time offenders can be fined up to S$10,000 or face up to six months' imprisonment, or both.

Repeat offenders can be fined up to S$20,000 or face up to 12 months' imprisonment, or both.

Tutor agency aware

Zhu said he had reported the situation to the agency SmileTutor.

After investigation, the agency could not accept the tutor's behaviour and has removed her from its roster.

SmileTutor told Shin Min it was aware of the matter and has taken action to prevent similar incidents from occurring.

The father said he has informed his daughter about the harmful effects of e-cigarettes and will regularly check her school bag.

He also keeps the door to her room open when she is having other tuition lessons these days.

Zhu added that his daughter told him that some of her classmates smoked e-cigarettes when she was in primary school.

Top photo via Shin Min Daily News