Corpun file 4985

Straits Times, Singapore, 12 January 2000

He stopped a fight but broke a skull

It's jail and caning for the S'pore Poly student who fractured the victim's skull with a microphone stand

By Karen Wong

A YOUTH may have thought that the best way to break up a fight between two other youths was to clobber one of them on the head with a hard object.

It was precisely what Singapore Polytechnic engineering student Noor Iskandar Sunator, 23, resorted to when he tried to stop a fight. He used a microphone stand to hit the head of one of youths.

As a result, the victim ended up with a fracture in his skull.

Yesterday, Noor Iskandar was jailed five months and ordered to be caned three strokes, after he pleaded guilty to causing serious injuries to the youth, Firdaus Tan Jo Han, 20, a second-year accountancy student in Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

He was also asked to pay over $11,000 in compensation to the victim.

The court heard that at about 6.30 pm on Feb 13 last year, Firdaus went to a live-band performance held at a canteen in Singapore Polytechnic.

About three hours later, the crowd at the performance turned rowdy and started jeering and throwing orange peel at the performers, who were Firdaus' friends.

Firdaus later vented his frustration by kicking a chair. A student then confronted him and got into a fight with him.

During the scuffle, Noor Iskandar, a helper who was on crowd-control duty that night, took a microphone stand and hit Firdaus on the head with it.

The victim, who suffered a skull fracture, had to undergo an operation and was hospitalised for 10 days.

Noor Iskandar was represented by lawyer Christina Goh, a volunteer in the Law Society's Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, because the accused's father, a dispatch clerk, earns only $1,100 a month.

Ms Goh said in mitigation that her client, a third-year student at that time, had just completed his diploma course in mechanical engineering.

He had received a grant from Mendaki and he had done fairly well in his course, she said.

She added that the accused, who had intended to stop the fight but was perhaps "over-enthusiastic", has since learnt his lesson.

Corpun file 5039

The New Paper, Singapore, 17 January 2000

Eye-stabber

By Tanya Fong

VIOLENT: Drug inmate Yeo Kwok Hua. (The eye is) unlikely to recover in the foreseeable future. - Medical report for Nurnzami Mohsin, who was attacked in the right eye by pencil-wielding fellow Sembawang Drug Rehabilitation Centre inmate Yeo Kwok Hua JAILED YEO was jailed two years and given six strokes of the cane for the attack on Nurnzami. For vandalising the lock-up at Clementi Police Division, he was sentenced to three months in jail and three strokes of the cane. He was sentenced to one year in jail for possession of drugs. In total, Yeo was sentenced to 39 months in jail and was given nine strokes of the cane for all these offences at the Subordinate Courts. It is not known why it took more than three years for the cases to come up in court.	He did it because drug prison inmate refused to talk to him It was a crude and bloody message delivered with pencils. And it so damaged Nurnzami Mohsin's right eye that nothing short of a miracle will allow him to see with it again. His attacker: Yeo Kwok Hua, 29, a fellow inmate at Sembawang Drug Rehabilitation Centre, a drug prison. Yeo used not one, but two pencils when he launched his unprovoked attack on June 6, 1996. Nurnzami was serving drinks to the other inmates in Dormitory A12 that morning. Yeo, like the other inmates, was lining up in a queue. But he suddenly jumped out of the queue and rushed towards Nurnzami, 24, catching him by surprise. He whipped out the two pencils which were tucked at his waist and thrust them at Nurnzami's face. One of the pencils broke, and punctured Nurnzami's right eyeball. He bled profusely. On witnessing the incident, one of the wardens rushed towards Yeo and managed to snatch the pencils away and subdue him. An urgent operation to repair the damage was carried out. It included stitching the wound. But the damage was beyond repair. The medical report for Nurnzami stated that his right eye is "unlikely to recover in the foreseeable future" and that short of a miracle, his eye is not likely to regain any vision. So was it a staring incident that prompted Yeo to drive the broken pencil through Nurnzami's right eyeball? No. Nurnzami was looking down and serving drinks to the inmates who were coming along in the queue when the attack took place. Yeo's reason for the attack is so ridiculous, it's unbelievable. He claimed that he committed the act as Nurnzami refused to talk to him. He said that he was offended by the silent treatment. It could well be that there is more to the story. We will never know. A hardcore criminal, Yeo has a history of violent behaviour. In Feb 1995, while he was in a lock-up at Clementi Police Division, he tore the rubber padding on the wall because he was "feeling moody". He had been caught for allegedly stealing batteries and chocolates that month. In Aug 1995, he was arrested for possessing drugs. Yeo had also pretended to be someone else and lied to a police officer by telling him that he was one "Lim Kim Hock". He gave the police officer a fake IC number. He is now safely locked up. It is not known if Nurnzami is still at Sembawang. For him, a pencil will forever be seen in a different light from the rest of us.
Copyright © 1999 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.

Corpun file 5040

The New Paper, Singapore, 20 January 2000

He charged at cops with a knife and was shot

By Leong May Ling

Tan Thian Tiong JAILED Tan Thian Tiong was jailed a total of five years and eight months and given six strokes of the cane for three charges of criminal intimidation and three charges of possession and consumption of drugs. The maximum sentence for criminal intimidation is seven years.	CORNERED by narcotics officers, Tan Thian Tiong refused to surrender. Instead, he reached for a knife and made a run for it, only to be stopped in his tracks by a bullet to his stomach. On Aug 28 last year, Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) officers knocked on his door at 1.55 am. The light in his Serangoon Central flat was on. On seeing Tan, 48, sleeping on the sofa, they knocked on the front door while shouting for him to open the door. Tan woke up. He peeped out and saw the officers, and then walked towards the kitchen. The CNB officers continued their barrage. Finally, the door was opened by Tan's son. One of the officers rushed into the kitchen after Tan. However, Tan turned around and swung a dagger at the officer, shouting "Knife! Knife!" The officer retreated to the back of the kitchen and Tan ran out. Still holding the dagger in his right hand, Tan rushed into the living room. As he ran towards the door, he swung his dagger at two CNB officers and pushed a sergeant to the floor. Then he rushed down the stairs. Outside, a corporal heard the commotion and rushed to the ground level to intercept Tan. When the corporal reached the staircase, Tan was already at the last flight of steps. The corporal drew his revolver and shouted in Hokkien for Tan to stop. SHOT At ground level, Tan charged at the corporal. Repeated calls to stop did not deter Tan - and when he was an arm's length away from the corporal, a shot was fired. Tan dropped his dagger, staggered and then collapsed. Two straws of heroin were found in his possession. He later underwent surgery in hospital. The bullet had entered the right side of his stomach and went through the liver and gall bladder. He was discharged eight days later. In 1975, and he had been sentenced to five years' jail and four strokes of the cane on a drug conviction. On Jan 7, Tan faced charges of drug possession and consumption and criminal intimidation for pulling a knife on the CNB officers.
Copyright © 1999 Singapore Press Holdings. All Rights Reserved.