While Ong's guilty plea is a confession of serious crimes, the court must conduct a balancing exercise between the need to punish offenders without putting individuals' health at risk. In this instance, with Ong's advanced cancer diagnosis, the court must take into account the offender's exceptional circumstances and impose a fine rather than a prison sentence.
Singapore is a wealthy country in which government officials are paid upwards of $700,000 each year. The country prides itself on this fact as it's cited as a tool for deterring graft and because government corruption in Singapore is a rarity. That's why the case has gripped the country.