Straits Times, Singapore, 2 February 2002

Illegals tried to sneak in via water pipelines

TWO men guided five others illegally into Singapore by walking between two water pipelines along the Causeway last Christmas.

Ah Mon, 34, and Saen Lamduan, 52, both farmers in Myanmar, had conspired with another Myanmar national, known as Ah Hteik, to sneak in two Myanmar and three Indian nationals that day. All seven were illegal immigrants.

A district court heard last month that the two Myanmar nationals were first spotted at about 10.30 pm that day leading three Thai immigration offenders out of Singapore via the water pipelines.

As immigration officers expected the two culprits to return, they let them leave.

About 40 minutes later, both men were seen walking back in a single file with the other five following behind.

But sensing they were being watched, Ah Mon and the two Myanmar nationals jumped into the water and swam across to the Shell refuelling jetty along Admiralty Road West. When they got there, they dashed into some bushes but were flushed out by police officers from the Gurkha contingent.

Saen and the three illegals from India remained behind. They, too, were arrested.

The court heard that Ah Mon had agreed with Ah Hteik, who is at large and operating from Johor Baru, to act as a guide to illegals coming in and leaving Singapore. Ah Mon told Saen about the deal and the latter also agreed to act as a guide.

District Judge Wong Keen Onn sentenced both men to a total of 16 months' jail each on Jan 17. He said a deterrent sentence was called for as illegal immigrants posed a serious threat to the country's national security.

He also ordered Ah Mon to receive 11 strokes of the cane and, in Saen's case, fined him a total of $6,000 or three months' jail in default. Saen escaped caning as he is over 50.

Copyright @ 2002 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved.

Straits Times, Singapore, 21 February 2002

Jail, cane for lensman who molested bride

He attacked her repeatedly on what should have been her happiest day

A WEDDING photographer who molested the bride repeatedly was yesterday jailed for a total of 28 months and ordered to receive 10 strokes of the cane.

District Judge Hoo Sheau Peng sentenced Alvin Oh Keng Kee, 28, after the prosecution called for a deterrent punishment on the man for taking advantage of 'a vulnerable and submissive victim' on what should have been her happiest day.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Cheok Yu-Liang said that under the guise of being a professional photographer, Oh repeatedly molested the 28-year-old woman on Oct 20 last year, at her home as well as at the bridegroom's flat, from 8 am to lunchtime that day.

While pretending to adjust her gown or setting up pictures while they were alone, he touched her breasts three times, photographed her exposed breasts after pulling her dress down, kissed her and molested her while adjusting her underwear.

He was arrested at the wedding dinner the same evening.

Pleading for leniency yesterday Oh's lawyer, Mr Lim Kia Tong, said that the woman was partly responsible for her ordeal because she never tried to stop Oh or raise 'a whimper of objection'.

He said it was strange a woman, however submissive, could allow a stranger to molest her repeatedly.

He said his client 'succumbed from one temptation to another'.

Arguing for a stiff sentence, DPP Cheok said the victim, who was five months pregnant on her wedding day, was distressed and traumatised by Oh's actions and had suffered in silence.

She broke down several times while giving a statement to the police, and had also rejected Oh's offer to settle the case for $20,000.

It was fortunate, he said, that the negatives for the photos were seized, as Oh could have kept them or even circulated them to strangers.

Oh was sentenced to 14 months' jail and four strokes for touching the victim's private parts, 12 months for touching her breasts and two strokes for each occasion he did so, and two months each for kissing and taking the lewd photographs.

Three sentences were ordered to run consecutively.