According to Shin Min, Tan's lawyer pleaded for leniency, saying her OCD made her unable to control himself, which led to the repeated offences. Furthermore, the stolen items were not expensive and were not intended for personal gain.
News
S’porean ex-beauty queen steals curtains, towels & more worth over S$9,000 from multiple hotels
She admitted her dishonest acts and breach of bail conditions, but said she was unable to control herself.
January 13, 2026, 07:35 PM
In October 2024, a former Singaporean beauty queen was sentenced to jail for stealing items worth S$9,400 in total from eight hotels over nine months, between December 2023 and September 2024.
Just a month after her sentencing, while out on bail, she went on to steal from hotels again in late 2024 and 2025.
On Jan. 13, she was sentenced to eight months' jail for theft and breaching her bail conditions.
Tania Tan Yi Rong, 35, was crowned Miss Mermaid Singapore in 2017 and went on to represent the country in overseas pageants.
At the time of her offences, she was working as a freelance online marketer, according to court documents seen by Mothership.
Persistent offender
In July 2024, the prosecution described Tan as a persistent offender who continued her crime spree shortly after getting arrested.
She was initially released on bail while under investigation for her theft at Hotel YAN on Dec. 22, 2023.
She had taken a painting, a basin mirror, a kettle base, a room telephone, and more items valued at S$1,010 in total.
As part of her bail conditions, Tan was instructed by the authorities not to check into accommodations such as hotels, motels, or hostels in Singapore while she was out on bail.
But after Dec. 22, 2023, she reoffended at several hotels with the same modus operandi.
On Mar. 28, 2024, at the Peninsular Excelsior Singapore, she checked into a room, then left the hotel at about 8:59pm with one large carrier bag containing items valued at S$3,108.68.
They included a curtain, a table lamp, a coffee mug and spoon, duvets, and towels.
When confronted by the duty manager, she lied that her friend had taken the items, but eventually paid fully for what she stole.
The stolen items were not recovered, though, as Tan claimed that she did not know where she had kept them at home.
On Mar. 13, 2024, at about 6.23pm, at the State Courts, Tan stole a whiteboard valued at S$2.
Could not control herself
On Sep. 3, 2024, after another theft at Holiday Inn Express Singapore Serangoon, the police arrested Tan again.
She said she was aware of her bail conditions, but claimed that she was unable to control herself.
She threw a bed sheet she stole from the hotel down the rubbish chute at her house, as she was afraid that her mother would discover it.
"The remaining stolen items were stored in the accused’s house but they could not be found as the accused is a hoarder and her house is full of items," the prosecution said.
On Oct. 16, 2024, the prosecution called for a sentence of 4 – 5 months in prison, but she was instead placed under Mandatory Treatment Order (MTO) for 24 months with effect from that day.
Fresh offences
While serving her MTO, Tan stole from four more hotels: Novotel Singapore on Kitchener Road, Four
Points by Sheraton, The Robertson House, and Conrad Hotel.
The most recent of these offences was on Feb. 15, 2025, at The Robertson House, where she took a table lamp, bed bolster, telephone, and clothes hangers worth S$951.
For these four thefts, Tan has not returned any of the items and has not made any restitution to date.
Psychiatric assessment
According to the prosecution, the IMH completed a forensic psychiatric report on her in December 2024, and stated that she was not of unsound mind when she committed the offences.
At the same time, IMH assessed Tan to have obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) on a background of hoarding disorder, which was in relapse at and around the time of her offences.
She claimed to have recurrent thoughts and urges that were distressing and would only be relieved by her taking certain items out of the room, the report said.
However, given her efforts to try to pay for many of the items she stole, her condition has no contributory link to the offences, both the report and the prosecution argued.
IMH evaluated that her risk of reoffending is moderate to high, among the reasons being a lack of regular employment.
The prosecution sought a total sentence of eight months' jail for Tan — five months for the fresh offences, and three for her breach offences — which she received on Jan. 13.
Top images from Miss Mermaid SG/Facebook and Canva
