She brought home a luxury haul from Europe, evaded paying GST on them at Changi Airport, and later taught her followers on social media how to be as clever as she had been

Travel influencer Cloey Tan. Photo: cloeyyox/Instagram

She scored quite a haul of luxury items when she went to Europe with her family and her boyfriend in May last year. Returning and landing at Changi, Cloey Tan Wan Qi (陈婉琪, Chen Wanqi) had with her what she amassed during her holiday in Belgium and the Netherlands: an impressive “five bags from luxury brands Christian Dior, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, two luxury wallets (brand not identified), one pair of shoes from Michael Kors and an engagement ring from jeweller House of Gassan”, according to The Straits Times. The total value of the purchases was reported to be “more than S$23,000”. She did not declare that she had those items with her that needed to be paid GST (goods and services tax). She picked her luggage and left the airport, and walked away from forking out the S$2,281 owed to Singapore Customs.

Days later, possibly pleased by her tax-evading achievement, she went online to share a post on Lemon8 (sister social media platform of TikTok) with one daring headline (among several): “Top tips to getting your luxury past customs”. In one comment that accompanied a photo of her Dior purchases still in their paper bags, she wrote that, as someone had asked her how she avoided “paying the 9% GST” on her buys, she decided to share her clever hacks. The Hokkiens truly have a perfect word for it: 假勥 (geh kiang) or acting overly clever. Perhaps she thought she was really helping that person and her followers or saying that they could do it too, or hoping to score more views, and improve her visibility, but her generous “tips” quickly attracted the attention of the authorities. According to a Singapore Customs statement, “following investigations, Customs arrested and charged the offender with one count of fraudulent evasion of GST.” It did not say how they got wind of her offence.

A regular traveler, Ms Tan is seen here in Holland, as seen on her socials last November. Photo: cloeyyox/Instagram

Ms Tan appears to have deleted her Lemon8 account, as well as posts and reels on Facebook and Instagram, on which she has garnered 813 followers. From her old posts floating online, she appears to have styled herself as a travel influencer of sorts. There is no shortage of images of her posing against the incredibly scenic, from Yunnan to Holland, in typical influencer fashion, oftentimes skimpy, possibly to augment her chio-ness among her male admirers, and with her various expensive bags. In one of her posts on Lemon8, she wrote below the header “Massive $18,000 Luxury Haul?! ”: “Recently came back from Europe, and decided to share my massive holiday hauls.” Among them could be a Dior Jolie Top Handle Bag (S$7,600) and a Dior 30 Montaigne East-West (S$4,900).

There was a pair of Michael Kors shoes among the taxable. Some Netizens are wondering if Ms Tan’s retail indulgence could be considered discerning as Dior and Michael Kors are undeniably worlds apart. In the stash, there was also a diamond ring from the House of Gassan, a prominent jeweller in Amsterdam, known for their diamond craftsmanship. In another Lemon8 post, she bragged that what she scored was a “121 facets diamond ring”, which cost $9,500 . She proudly added, “my boyfriend got me my engagement ring”. It is uncertain if the buyer of the item should be responsible for paying the GST, too. There was no mention of the boyfriend under arrest. But why did she potentially implicate him too?

It is inexplicable that there are those who continue to flout customs regulations despite high-profile cases, such as the one involving a pair of live-streaming sellers evading the GST requirement after returning from a shopping trip in the U.S.. In court earlier today, Ms Tan apologised for her crime and besought the judge for leniency. ST quoted her saying, “I have not only disappointed myself, but my parents too, who have placed a lot of hope on their only child”. Apparently, “the case has caused her parents much anxiety and distress”, the paper reported. There was no mention of her impending engagement (perhaps it was completed) or how her Gen-Z folly and indiscretion have impacted her fiancé. Cloey Tan pleaded guilty and was fined $18, 000 under the Customs Act. That amount could have bought her two small Lady Dior My ABCDior Bags.