The New Paper, Singapore, 4 October 1996

Dad made up sex stories

The Charges About 1.30 pm, mid-May 1994: The attendant tried to rape his daughter in their home. About 4 pm, late-May 1994: He again tried to rape her in their home. About 11 pm, December 1995: He raped her at home. About 11 pm, Jan 2, 1996: He raped her again at home. About 11 pm, Jan 4, 1996: He raped her again at home. The attendant, his daughter, and all witnesses in the trial cannot be named to protect the girl's identity.

A petrol station attendant was sentenced to 18 years' jail and 24 strokes of the cane yesterday, for raping his daughter thrice, and attempting to rape her twice. Defending himself, he made up stories which the High Court judge found incredible. BY MICHELLE ANG Singapore STORY #1 He claimed his daughter, then 11, was having a relationship with a Malaysian man who was staying in his flat. He said his daughter had made up the charges against him, because he scolded her for this. The petrol station attendant, 37, said that in 1994, he saw the man and his daughter sleeping together on a couch. Then he found semen stains on his daughter's panties. He said he forgot to look into this later. He said his daughter and the man became like 'husband and wife'. He also said that he did not kick the man out - until he left on his own - because he pitied him. Justice S Rajendran did not believe the story. He could not understand how the attendant could have forgotten to look into the semen episode. He also did not understand why the attendant allowed the Malaysian man to stay in his flat. "On the view that I take of the facts of this case, the fact that the accused was lax about the moral upbringing of his child is not something incredible. It was, in fact, in character," he said. STORY #2 ON Jan 27 this year, the attendant admitted to the police that he had raped his daughter. Nine days later, he admitted to them that he tried to rape her on other occasions. But in court this week, he said he admitted to the crimes because he was afraid that the police would beat him up. When asked if the police had threatened him, he said no. The judge could not believe that the attendant would readily admit to such crimes when he was not forced into doing so. The attendant also said he was confused. Calling the attendant's behaviour repulsive, he said: "...there was no reason for him to remain confused nine days later... "I am satisfied that these confessions made by the accused contain the truth." The attendant, his daughter, and all witnesses in the trial cannot be named to protect the girl's identity. He did, he didn't THE girl twice tried to withdraw the rape accusations against her father. She told the High Court that she pitied her mother, and did not want her parents to get divorced. On Jan 8 this year, the girl told a teacher that her father had raped her. On Jan 17, the teacher, along with the school principal, took her to Bedok Police Station. There, the girl suddenly denied the story. A week later, she told the police about the rape. In court this week, when the attendant questioned the girl, she suddenly denied the rape. The next day, when questioned again by deputy public prosecutor Sunari Kateni, she confessed that the rapes did take place. She said she changed her mind because she did not want to be raped again.

Corpun file 362

The New Paper, Singapore, 7 October 1996

Too hot to handle, but he kept it

Charges: Wong pleaded guilty to two charges of using or having a forged document, two charges of theft and attempted theft of a motorcycle, and one charge of illegally possessing a hand grenade. Penalties: Wong, who has previous convictions, was sentenced to 5 years' jail and six strokes of the cane. He would also be barred from driving any vehicles after he is released from prison.

BY JILL LIM Oct 7, 1996/ Singapore WHEN Johnny Wong found a hand grenade and kept it, he ended up with more than just a hand grenade. He ended up being on the run, being away from his home and sick mother for more than a year; and last Friday, he ended up being sent to jail for more than five years. The story starts one day in September 1994. Wong, then 22 and doing his National Service, was at the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute (Safti) live firing ground when he stumbled upon an unused hand grenade, with the safety pin still intact, in the bushes. Instead of reporting his discovery, he took it home. Wong said he intended to return it, but its loss was discovered before he had the chance to. On Sept 29, 1994, a police officer from Bedok Police Division investigating a case of motorcycle theft searched his home at Bedok Reservoir Road and discovered the grenade in his cupboard. Anyone found having a hand grenade without permission can be jailed for at least five years. Wong, afraid that he would be jailed, went Awol - absent without official leave - from the army. He was two months away from completing his National Service. Wong fled to Penang and worked there for more than a year. It was, his lawyer said, a terrible time for him, away from home. His mother was also not well. On Dec 23, 1995, he returned to Singapore using forged documents - a Malaysian identification card and a Malaysian restricted passport both bearing the name "Yang Kok Nghee". He couldn't get a job here, but he did manage, for three months, to avoid being captured by the police. Until he started stealing motorcycles. On March 13, Wong, using a discarded key, stole a motorbike. He rode it around until it ran out of petrol, then he discarded it. The next day, he tried to pull the same stunt with another motorbike. Unfortunately for him, he was spotted behaving suspiciously by a police officer while he was still sitting on the bike, trying to start it. Wong was immediately arrested. It then came to light that the Malaysian passport and identification card he was using were false. In court on Friday, his lawyer, Mr S Sankar, said Wong had been under stress when he committed his offences. Being the only child, he is the only one supporting his mother, 53, a widow. His mother, a former hawker's assistant, has undergone one heart bypass surgery, is due to have another done and is frequently sick, he said.

The New Paper, Singapore, 9 October 1996

Cop who used string cuffs

"When no other police officers turned up, we knew he was bluffing us. I got very angry. I wanted my wallet back. Money lost, never mind, but it's so troublesome reporting all my cards lost." - Mr Hay Yang Keng

A policeman was yesterday jailed 40 months and ordered to be given 24 strokes of the cane for robbing two men in a fake raid. His lawyer called the raid a 'comedy of errors'. One of his victims tells our reporter about the bumbling robber... BY IVY ONG Singapore THEY were scared when the policeman accused them of illegal gambling. They became puzzled when he tied them up with plastic strings instead of handcuffs. But when he started taking their wallets, they became really suspicious. Said Mr Hay Yang Keng, 35: "I thought: "Eh, how can a policeman run away with our wallets?' " Something was wrong. Sim Ah Ngee, 23, was a real policeman - but the raid he conducted with two accomplices around 9.10 pm on May 19 at Punggol was a sham. He was moonlighting as a conman. But his victims called his bluff. After Sim left, Mr Hay broke out of the flimsy string Sim had used to tie him up and freed his friends. Then he got into his car and chased after Sim's van. "I overtook him and stopped my car. I got out and stood in the middle of the road to stop him, but he drove straight at me. Luckily, I jumped away in time." By then, two other victims had caught up with Mr Hay. Together, they overtook Sim and forced him to stop. They got back their wallets. Mr Hay's wallet contained $750. The two accomplices were earlier charged along with Sim but their charges were later withdrawn. Sim has been suspended from the police force. In sentencing Sim, District Judge Suriakumari Sidambaram said she considered "the serious nature of the offences and the fact that they were committed by a police officer, the very one person who's supposed to prevent crime."

Straits Times, Singapore, 13 October 1996

Gangster with a record gets jail and cane for $2.40 extortion

A SECRET society gangster with eight previous convictions was sentenced to 5½ years' jail and ordered to be caned eight times for extorting $2.40 from a man outside an army camp.

District Judge Jasvender Kaur heard on Friday that Pang Cheng Jea, 26, approached Mr Yan Keen Meng, 24, and two friends one evening after they had bought some army equipment from a shop in Transit Road.

The incident happened on June 4 outside the Nee Soon Camp. Mr Yan and his friends were then doing their national service.

Pang threatened Mr Yan and said his gang would be waiting for him if he did not agree to talk to him. Out of fear, Mr Yan followed him to a stone table nearby.

Pang, who has three convictions for extortion in 1993 and five convictions for criminal trespass in 1992, boasted about his time in jail and how he had endured 12 strokes of the cane.

Telling Mr Yan he was a very powerful member of a secret society, he demanded money.

Mr Yan refused. But when Pang got angry, Mr Yan emptied his pockets and came up with $2.40.

Pang also extorted $2 from Mr Yan's friend. This was taken into consideration in sentencing.

The gangster pleaded guilty. In mitigation, his lawyer said that four months before Pang was arrested for this offence, he heard that his brother had died. The news sent him into a severe depression.

He also suffered from insomnia. On the day of the offence, he combined his insomnia pills with beer and was adversely affected, the lawyer said.

The maximum punishment for extortion is seven years' jail and caning.

Corpun file 399

The New Paper, Singapore, 30 October 1996

Welder robbed to repay friend's loan

Jailed Lee Ai Eng (above) was sentenced on Monday to three years and two months' jail, and six strokes of the cane for robbery and vehicle theft. He was also disqualified from driving for three years after his release. A person who steals a motor vehicle or part of it will be jailed at least one year and up to seven years, and can also be fined. He will also be disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for at least three years after release. The penalty for robbery is at least two years and up to 10 years jail, and at least six strokes of the cane.

BY JILL LIM Singapore SHIPYARD welder Lee Ai Eng was a man in trouble over a loan. Loansharks were threatening him and his family because he was the guarantor for his friend's loan. Lee and his gambler friend, Foo Siang Thian, turned to a life of crime to solve their problems. But things only got worse. Now Lee is behind bars while Foo, his friend of 10 years, is on the run. Before turning to crime, Lee, 36, pawned his wife's jewellery to repay the $4,000 loan. But that apparently was not enough. His wife wanted her jewellery back. So on July 5, at about 4 am, they stole a motorcycle from the void deck of Block 3, Bedok South Avenue 1, and left it overnight at Jurong Town Swimming Pool. The next day at about 11 am, Foo and another friend, known only as Ah Liang, robbed a man who had just withdrawn $44,876 from a bank along Yung Kuang Road in Jurong. The man threw down the envelope containing the money after one of them grabbed him from behind. They fled with the money on the stolen motorcycle and rode to a multi-storey carpark about 100 m away, where Lee was waiting in the car. Lee dropped them off at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, went home to his Yishun Avenue 5 flat where he left his car and then took a taxi to Foo's flat at Chai Chee Avenue. Foo and Ah Liang gave Lee $8,000 as part of his share, which was about 20 per cent of the amount stolen. Lee was also given $4,000 to pay off the loansharks, and an extra $640.40. But at about 1.50 pm the same day, Lee was arrested by police at the staircase of his own block. Lee has two children, aged nine and 10. His wife, formerly a housewife, got a job as a production operator after he was arrested. Like Foo, Ah Liang is also at large.