SINGAPORE — A private tutor in Singapore is being investigated by authorities after allegedly helping a 13-year-old student purchase an e-cigarette.

The incident came to light after the girl’s secondary school contacted her father on May 21 to inform him that his daughter had been caught with a vape device.

According to Shin Min Daily News, the school’s discipline master said the girl had admitted to asking her Chinese tutor to help buy it online.

The father, surnamed Zhu, 33, told the paper he was “extremely shocked” and later checked his daughter’s chat history with the tutor.

“I saw that the tutor purchased the e-cigarette online and even sent screenshots to my daughter. She handed the e-cigarette to my daughter on May 19,” he reportedly said.

“At the time, my daughter said she would pay S$78 (RM256) to her during the next lesson.”

The tutor had been hired through an agency in 2024 to provide weekly Chinese lessons while the girl was in Primary 6. Lessons were conducted behind closed doors in the girl’s room every Monday.

Despite nearly a year of tuition, Zhu said her grades did not improve.

“My daughter’s Chinese grades this year were failing. I originally thought it was her own fault, but now I know the tutor wasn’t teaching seriously at all,” he said.

He added that after the first three proper lessons, the tutor had spent most of her time chatting with the girl and even bought her snacks and cosmetics.