SINGAPORE — Former Mediacorp actor Shane Pow Xun Ping was sentenced to five weeks in jail on July 14, 2021, after pleading guilty to his second drink-driving offence — a conviction that cost him his broadcasting contract and became one of Singapore's most talked-about celebrity downfalls.
The 30-year-old was also fined S$6,000 and disqualified from driving for five years from his date of release. Repeat drink drivers in Singapore can be jailed for up to two years and fined up to S$20,000.
The court heard that Pow had met two friends at a Korean restaurant on Amoy Street on September 17, 2020, consuming about two glasses of beer between 7pm and 8.30pm. He lingered at the eatery for about two hours before driving his friends home in a van, then heading to the Bugis area to pick up another friend. At around 11.20pm, while driving along Java Road towards Nicoll Highway, he was stopped by a Traffic Police officer for a routine check. Pow was found to be reeking of alcohol and failed a breathalyser test; he was escorted to Traffic Police headquarters in Ubi, where he was found to have 49 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml of breath, above the prescribed limit of 35.
This was not his first brush with the law. In 2014, he had been fined S$2,300 and disqualified from driving for a year for offences including drink driving. His lawyer, S.S. Dhillon, had pleaded for four weeks' jail and a S$5,000 fine, saying Pow sincerely regretted what he had done; the prosecution had asked for at least five weeks.
Pow had also been in the headlines for attending an unlawful 13-person gathering at veteran actor Terence Cao Guohui's home during the Covid-19 outbreak in October 2020, for which he was fined S$300. Mediacorp terminated his contract in April 2021.
In later interviews, Pow reflected on his time behind bars: he served 25 days, spending 21 of them alone in a cell due to Covid-19 segregation measures for new inmates. He read 16 books — including Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in Chinese — and signed a photo of himself leaving court for a fellow inmate. He described hitting the lowest point of his life, waking repeatedly through the night wondering why the sky was still dark.
Fellow actor Joshua Tan, his friend of some 15 years, posted in support on the day of sentencing, writing that Pow would pick himself up and emerge stronger. Pow has since found a new home under veteran actor Li Nanxing's management agency and returned to acting, including a telemovie continuing the popular Channel 8 drama My Star Bride.
His case remains a staple reference in Singapore's drink-driving discourse: a rising star who threw away a bright future for two glasses of beer and a drive home.