Teens using better quality fake IDs

A 16-YEAR-OLD Secondary 4 student is in a club on a Wednesday night, while her friend, also 16, buys them drinks from the bar.

Her 'identification card' says she is 22 and from Brown University in the United States, while the other has a Norwegian 'driver's licence' which lists him as 25.

Owning - and using - fake IDs has become common practice among teens, a Straits Times survey of 80 teens between 14 and 17 found. Half admitted to having fake IDs which they would use to get around age-restriction rules at clubs, and shops that hawk alcohol and cigarettes.

Even those without such IDs said they want one, and know how to get one. What none of them knew: the penalties for being caught owning or using one.

When The Straits Times reported on the use of fake IDs in 2006, the cards were mostly real IDs with an extra layer bearing a fake age laminated over them. Each cost between $40 and $70.

Now, checks and interviews with teens have turned up more sophisticated, yet cheaper cards.

At least two printing shops in Bencoolen Street offer customers a menu of over 20 templates from mostly American and Australian universities, and even international drivers' licences. They can enter any name and date of birth they want, and the ID is theirs in 20 minutes - for just $30.

One 17-year-old who wanted to be known only as Kara, said her fake ID allows her to party at a club and get alcoholic drinks. Her ID says she is 19.

What if the bouncer is sceptical? Her reply: 'I just act as though I'm a tourist and the bouncers will let me in without a second look.'

Lawyers contacted said no teen has yet been charged in court for owning or using fake IDs. But simply possessing one is against the law.

'You will be charged with possession of a forged item,' said lawyer Shashi Nathan. Using a fake ID, meanwhile, is the same as using someone else's ID - that is, cheating by impersonation.

This offence carries a punishment of up to five years' jail, or a fine, or both, depending on age, previous criminal record and severity of the offence, among other factors. Offenders below 16 will be tried in the Juvenile Court, and placed on probation or sent to a home if found guilty.

Those between 16 and 18 might face the full force of the law.

But many youths do not take these consequences seriously.

One Sec 4 student reckoned the worst that could happen if he was caught at a club was to be turned away and have the ID confiscated. Others were defiant.

Said a 16-year-old boy who recently completed his O levels: 'Why should I wait till I'm 18 to club, drink and smoke?'

That, despite the risks of facing a maximum fine of $5,000 for underage drinking, and $300 for lighting up.

Watering holes and clubs have an incentive to turf out teens.

Under the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act, they will incur three demerit points if they allow under-18s to consume alcohol, and six points if they admit those 16 and below past their doors. Chalk up 24 points within two years, and the club will lose its public entertainment licence.

At one bar, Supperclub, bouncers are told to confiscate fake IDs and let offenders off with a warning, but to call the police for repeated offenders. Zouk also expressed confidence in its bouncers' ability to suss out fakes.

Dr Carol Balhetchet, the Singapore Children's Society's director of youth services, said many teens get fake IDs to feel more grown up or 'fit in' - never mind their exposure to danger.

She said the rules limiting who can buy alcohol, cigarettes and enter clubs are not explained clearly to them. 'They feel restricted rather than protected.'