A man is facing years behind bars after admitting in court that he sent a series of bomb threats to Resorts World Cruises in an attempt to recover losses from gambling aboard cruise ship.
Neo Hui Ghim, 41, pleaded guilty to one count of communicating false information about a harmful situation, a charge in Singapore that carries a maximum penalty of seven years in jail, S$50,000 fine, or both. His sentencing was originally scheduled for September 22, but was postponed.
The threats, which caused a full-scale security response and disrupted travel plans for thousands, were made shortly after Neo lost around S$2,000 at the ship’s casino during a round trip cruise from Singapore to Malaysia back in October 2023.
According to court documents, Neo boarded the cruise with his parents on October 11 last year, hoping to attend a concert and enjoy some leisure gambling. However, he became agitated when informed mid-voyage that concert tickets were sold out. Over the course of the trip, he repeatedly gambled in the ship’s casino, ultimately losing thousands of dollars.
Frustration turned into fury. Less than an hour after disembarking on October 13, Neo used the same email address he had registered for the cruise to send a threatening message to RWC’s customer team, with the ominous subject line: “Bomb at Resorts World Cruises.”
“If I don’t receive the money I hope that one day Resorts World Cruises will explode and all guests and service personnel will drop into the sea,” he wrote. “Next time, if I lose again, I’ll make sure the whole cruise is burnt.”
Two more threatening emails followed within hours. One read, “The ship will explode and everyone dropped into the sea,” while the final message warned: “Your cruise will be burnt down.”
Authorities acted swiftly. Singapore’s Immigration & Checkpoints Authority and police boarded the cruise ship, still docked in Singapore, and carried out a thorough sweep of the casino and cabins. The operation delayed the boarding of approximately 4,000 passengers for nearly two hours before the vessel was declared safe. Neo was arrested later that same day.
Prosecutors told the court that initial communication between the cruise operator and authorities was hampered by panic and confusion among staff, which added to the delay in incident response.
In a further twist, court records revealed that this was not Neo’s first outburst. In August 2023, before the cruise, he had sent another hostile email to the company, stating that the staff would “die in hell.” That message has resulted in a separate charge under the Protection from Harassment Act, which carries a potential six-month jail sentence and a fine of up to S$5,000.
Following his arrest, Neo underwent psychiatric evaluation at the Institute of Mental Health. It was also revealed in court that he attempted to recall and delete the threatening emails, but investigators recovered at least one from his device.
