A man who was found guilty of molesting a woman police sergeant was jailed for nine months on Tuesday.

Ilham Tumpang, 25, a former part-time waiter, was convicted after a trial of touching the then 27-year-old police officer's bottom at Mandarin Gallery on Jan 1 last year.

The court heard that the incident caused deep emotional distress to the victim, now 29, who was in uniform when she was molested.

Ilham, who had taken some alcohol, denied touching her buttock. He had no lawyer. The jail sentence will run together with his current 15-month sentence he is serving.

Yesterday, I talked a bit about the Singapore dollar (SGD) and its proclivity to trade alongside the Chinese renminbi. (CNY) But longtime readers know that the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) is the real decision maker here on how the currency will perform.

The MAS uses the S$ to assist them in fighting inflation the way a “real central bank” should. And with inflation in Singapore proving to be difficult to tame, I don’t see the MAS changing their policy drastically when they next meet. But with China’s economy moderating, I do expect the MAS to allow the S$ to continue to appreciate, but at a slower pace.

Did you see the story (I saw it on Bloomberg, but it is being reprinted all over the place) about what the Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff, told the U.S. president? OK, sit down, because this is good stuff. She told the U.S. president that “monetary policies of the wealthiest nations are a drag on global economic growth, especially among rapidly growing emerging economies.” She later told Brazilian reporters that “developed nations’ reliance on interest rates close to zero to stimulate growth creates a monetary tsunami that damages Brazil.”

SINGAPORE - A 32-year-old Chinese national was found guilty on Wednesday and given the death sentence for the murder of a taxi driver two years ago.

In an attempted robbery, Wang Wenfeng had inflicted deep stab wounds on Mr Yuen Swee Hong during a struggle in the SMRT taxi, resulting in the victim bleeding to death.

According to earlier reports, the 58-year-old cabby had picked Wang outside Sun Plaza in Sembawang during the wee hours of April 11, 2009. Wang said he wanted to go to Bottle Tree Village.

While in the taxi, Wang held a fruit knife to Mr Yuen's chest and a struggle broke out.

Despite multiple versions from Wang about what happened during the tussle, Justice Lee Seiu Kin said in High Court today that there was no doubt of an intention to inflict injuries which were enough to cause death, The Straits Times reported.

Wang, an odd-job labourer, later dumped the body in a forested area near the end of Jalan Selimang in Sembawang.

The taxi was then driven to a multi-storey car park in Canberra Link and abandoned there.

Wang also took Mr Yuen's handphone, and when the cabby's wife called, he demanded $150,000 for her husband's safe return, although he was already dead.

Mr Yuen's decomposed body was found six days later. Wang was arrested at a travel agency in Chinatown on April 13, 2009, trying to collect a plane ticket to China.

During earlier hearings in March this year, Wang said that he had originally intended to rob a money changer, but gave up the idea as he saw a queue of taxis in front of the shop.

He later thought of a plan to rob a taxi, but being nervous and afraid, he did not flag down any cabs.

It was Mr Yuen instead who drove by and stopped to ask Wang where he wanted to go - a move which led to tragedy shortly.

adrianl@sph.com.sg

Lawyer suspended 15 months for offering kick-backs to undercover PI
By Carolyn Quek

WHEN lawyer Rayney Wong handed a referral fee to a private investigator posing as a property agent at a meeting four years ago, it was apparently not the first time he had done so.

Captured on video talking to who he thought was another property agent, Mr Wong claims he had offered kick-backs to property agents for referring clients to him before.

Senior Counsel Michael Hwang who was acting for the Law Society in its disciplinary case against Mr Wong before the Court of Three Judges on Tuesday, cited this as an aggravating factor and asked for a 15-month suspension to be imposed on him.

Mr Wong's lawyer, Senior Counsel Sant Singh, however argued that the Law Society had filed only one charge and did not proceed with the other allegations and it should not be considered now in sentencing,

The three judges - Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong, Justices of Appeal Andrew Phang and V.K. Rajah - eventually suspended Mr Wong for 15 months.

Mr Wong, a lawyer for 24 years, had earlier pleaded guilty to offering kick-backs to Ms Jenny Lee, a private investigator posing as a property agent.

She had been part of a group of investigators hired by several lawyers to check if competing law firms were offering fees to estate agents.

WHY become my enemy when you can be my friend?

And when I see you next time, I will take good care of you.

Such a 'make peace' offering may be effective in resolving a dispute.

But in this case, it landed the person who made the offer in more trouble, because he had tried to use it to bribe a traffic police officer into letting him off for a traffic offence.

Sergeant Pah Wenxiang was patrolling along Woodlands Road at about 5.30pm on 31Oct last year when he spotted a driver of a white car making an illegal U-turn and driving against traffic flow for 500m.

In doing so, the driver narrowly missed a collision with a motorcyclist before entering a petrol station.

The cop then tailed the driver and confronted him when the latter stopped at the petrol station.

The driver, Lim Teck Choon, a 56-year-old Malaysian businessman, told Sgt Pah he did not want to be caught in the traffic jam and wanted to return to Malaysia as soon as possible.

He even went on to suggest that it was common for vehicles to reverse and drive against the flow of traffic when there was a traffic jam.

His excuse cut no ice and Sgt Pah proceeded to inform Lim that he would be charged in court for dangerous driving and that he would be placed under arrest.

Tried to bargain

Lim tried to bargain with Sgt Pah by asking whether it was possible not to 'summon' him so 'heavily'.

Sgt Pah replied that he had no choice as Lim had committed a serious traffic offence. Lim acknowledged that he was at fault and that he could not deny this.

While waiting for the police car to arrive, Sgt Pah started a conversation with Lim, who said that he was a businessman with businesses in Singapore and Malaysia.

He added that he also owned plantations in Johor which were popular grounds for fishing and hunting.

Lim then told Sgt Pah: 'Why want to do this, be enemy. You should let me go. We can be friends. Next time you come to Malaysia, Iwill take care of you, still got benefits.'

On hearing that, Sgt Pah felt that the accused was offering a bribe, and he accordingly told the accused that it was an offence to do so.

The accused replied 'okay' and did not say anything else after that.

Still, the offer to bribe the cop landed Lim in hot water.

When his case came up before District Judge Jasvender Kaur, the judge noted that attempting to bribe a police officer is a serious offence.

But she took into account Lim's plea for leniency in this case.

First, after Lim's request of not being summoned so heavily was turned down, Lim did not persist.

Lim admitted he was wrong and that the traffic police officer was only doing his duty.

Judge Kaur said: 'I think it is reasonable to say that the accused would, in all probability, not have said what he said had Sgt Pah not started the casual conversation.'

Lim also pleaded with the judge, saying that he was a deputy chairman of Malaysian Chinese Association for the town of Kampong Jawa in Johor, and he has helped students and orphans in his constituency

As Lim had no previous records, he was spared the jail sentence and was fined $15,000 for the bribery offence.

He was fined $2,500 earlier and disqualified from driving for six months.

The prosecution has since filed an appeal against the sentence.

Under the law, those who commit bribery offences can be jailed up to five years or a fined up to $100,000, or both.

Last edited by metalslug; 24-11-2008 at 01:11 PM.

Supparayan S. Valoo, 49, had admitted to beating the red light when he caused the death of full-time national serviceman Huang Jun Jie, 20. -- PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

A DRUNK prime mover driver who caused the death of a motorcyclist and injured the pillion rider was jailed for 20 months and banned from driving for 10 years on Tuesday on three charges.

Supparayan S. Valoo, 49, had admitted to beating the red light when he caused the death of full-time national serviceman Huang Jun Jie, 20, along Yishun Avenue 2 at the junction of Yishun Ring Road on Dec 21, 2008.

He also admitted to injuring Mr Huang's girlfriend, Ms Mizushima Emi, 21, by doing an act so rashly as to endanger life.

He had failed to conform to the traffic red light signal while making a right turn, thus encroaching into the path of Mr Huang and the pillion who were proceeding straight from the oncoming direction resulting in a head to side collision.

The third charge he pleaded guilty to stated that he was driving when the alcohol in his body was more than twice the legal limit.

He had 90 mcg alcohol per 100ml of breath when the legal limit is 35mcg.

Mr Huang died five days later.

Lee Wei Ling: What Keeps Me Rooted To Singapore



After reading what she wrote, I have few points to make:

1. She kena serious surgical complication and is now in hospital. In 2002 and 2003, she also kena surgical accidents which nearly end her life. What is wrong with her that she needs to go surgery that often? And I wonder who are the surgeons who committed these accidents and what happen to them now? Are they still practising surgeons in Singapore?


2. She says that LKY and wifey want to stay back to fight the Vietcongs to the bitter end. I wonder why LKY didn't join Lim Bo Seng to fight the Japs, but instead joined the Japanese secret police as their translator.

3. Why did LKY told his children that they are not obliged to stay and fight for Singapore? Isn't not the duty of every Singaporean to do so? If not, then what the hell is National Service Conscription for?


4. Some of LKY's relatives are quitters, giving up their Singapore citizens to be Americans. Who are they?

5. Getting FTs win Olympic medals and the wayang National Day Parade - Wei Ling feels that both are just waste of time and money. So do we, but why is her brother felt otherwise and instead made singaporean to become 2nd class citizens?


6. Gino the physiotherapist became her good friend after treating her in 2002/2003. This Gino is sure a smart fella. I wonder how many patients of Gino became his good pal beside LKY daughter? I wonder If Wei Ling is not LKY's daughter, will she still be Gino's good pal?

7. She says she want to fight for Singapore, Then why didn't she volunteer for National Service in the SAF?


-----------------------------------------------------------






What keeps me rooted to Singapore









Sharing good times and helping loved ones in bad times - that's why this place is home








By Lee Wei Ling






This is an era when international mobility is a privilege that many of our bright young men and women enjoy. The world is their oyster.

They were born and raised in Singapore. Some may have completed their tertiary education here, while others did so overseas. But I have cousins whose children have chosen to exchange their pink Singapore identity cards for United States passports.

If ever there is a major crisis in Singapore, those who would be able to emigrate, be accepted by another country and get jobs there would invariably be people who are wealthy and/or professionals with marketable skills.

The Government knows that talent is mobile and that Singapore must compete with other countries to offer an attractive living environment and vibrant culture so as to retain talented Singaporeans and attract foreign talent here.

I am a paediatric neurologist. I can pass any medical examination that Canada, the US, Australia or New Zealand may impose before accepting me as a high-skilled immigrant or 'exceptional alien'. Would I take such opportunities?

Perhaps in a moment of madness, when my yearning for hiking outweighs all the other factors that keep me in Singapore and make me want to fight for it if the need should arise.

I have been fortunate in having true friends in Singapore. They and my nuclear family are the main reason I will stay if foreign armies invade or bombs are dropped on Singapore.

In 1975, the year South Vietnam fell, I was a medical student training in paediatrics. Paediatricians are especially kind and decent people, for only such people would be drawn to work mainly with children. Still, there was serious talk of emigration among my paediatrician mentors. One did emigrate with his entire family.

My parents called a family meeting in their bedroom soon after Saigon fell. My father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, then Singapore's Prime Minister, told us: 'Mama and I will stay here to the bitter end. Hsien Loong is already in the SAF and must do his duty. But the three of you need not feel obliged to stay.'

In the end, the Vietnamese communists did not march down Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore thrived, Hsien Yang followed Hsien Loong in accepting both the SAF and President's Scholarships, and my brothers both served out their bonds.

I myself had accepted a President's Scholarship in 1973 to study medicine at the University of Singapore. It was a five-year course for which the Public Service Commission paid me approximately $3,000 to $4,000 annually. Most of it went towards my medical school fees. I was bonded for eight years.

Subsequently, I accepted several more scholarships from the Government and have served a total of 16 years of bond. I stayed on in the public sector after completing my bond and am now in my 31st year in service. I have also had the opportunity to live and study overseas for four years. I enjoyed living in North America.

As a nature lover, I appreciated the magic of the seasons. I enjoyed observing spring trying to announce its arrival with crocuses that may subsequently be buried by a late spring snowfall.

Spring in its full-blown splendour of trees, with budding leaves in the most tender hues of green...The daffodils...The cherry blossoms in full bloom along the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts...Running alone at first dawn or twilight, as petals fluttered down on you, was a magical experience.

Then fall with its burst of colours, turning what was an almost uniformly green landscape into a tapestry of yellow, gold, rust, red and green that met your eyes as you jogged. And then winter announcing the end of the year - time to go cross-country skiing or find an indoor track to run.

The changing seasons enhanced the quality of life in a way that only someone who has lived in New England for three years, as I did, can appreciate. But I always returned home. I never doubted that home was anything other than Singapore.

I suffered a serious surgical complication on Jan 9 and am now recuperating in Singapore General Hospital as I write this. I was in pain earlier this afternoon and, unable to do much, I dozed off. When I woke, my friend Gino was quietly sitting in the next room.

He had brought along with him brand-new running shorts and socks. I had messaged him at noon to ask him to get them for me but did not expect him to do so immediately. Gino is an excellent physiotherapist who helped me through an extremely difficult rehabilitation in 2002. We have been close friends since.

He had recently resigned from the Singapore Sports Council and we discussed the best location for him to set up shop. He gave me a sports massage and we chatted for some time until I felt up to doing my step aerobics.

This morning, one of my cousins dropped by, followed by my doctor-friends from the National Neuroscience Institute.

I am now staring at the skyline that I had stared at from the same window in 2002 and 2003. Then as now I was hospitalised for prolonged periods because of serious surgical accidents, which I later pulled through against great odds.

There are many more tall buildings now than there were in 2002 and 2003. This is a city-state. I am unlikely ever to go hiking again - in Hawaii or Bhutan, Kerala or New Zealand - my one and only real hobby.

What keeps me rooted here are my nuclear family and my friends. We enjoy good times together and help and support one another during bad times. They - rather than Olympic medals or National Day Parades - are the main reason why I feel this place is home and why it is worth fighting for if the need should arise.

The idea of dying does not scare me. But to be willing to stay on and fight for Singapore - that goes beyond simple logic. It is the result of the emotional bond I have with those who are important in my life as well as with those for whom I feel a sense of responsibility.

You don’t have to sleep with someone suspicious to get hepatitis if you choose to eat blood clams in Shanghai. Although blood clams are considered one of the more delicious Chinese delicacies, the style of preparation in Shanghai involves quick-boiling them, leaving many viruses and bacteria present, including hepatitis A, E, typhoid, and dysentery.

Wed, 24.Nov.2010 - 6:00am


THE Education Ministry is initiating disciplinary action against Nur Aini Asmom, the Malay language teacher who harboured her uncle Mas Selamat Kastari after his escape from custody two years ago.

It is likely to end up dismissing her from service.

Police have arrested a 47-year-old woman for selling fake foreign student identification cards.

On 18 March 2012, Police received information about a printing shop at Bencoolen Street that was reportedly selling fake student cards. On 19 March 2012, officers from the Central Police Division raided the place and arrested the shop owner. Various templates of foreign student cards which were believed to have been forged were found in the shop’s computer system. Printing-related paraphernalia including a computer, a cutter, some plastic lamination cards and nine counterfeit student identification cards were also seized as case exhibits. Preliminary investigations reveal that suspect provided printing services and sale of counterfeit student identification cards for a price of between $25 and $65. Investigations against the suspect are ongoing.

Under the Penal Code, offenders found guilty of committing forgery for the purpose of cheating may be imprisoned for a term not exceeding 10 years, and shall also be liable to fine.

Commander of Central Police Division, Assistant Commissioner of Police Tan Hung Hooi advised members of the public that it is an offence to carry or use forged identification cards or documents. He also warned that the Police will not hesitate to prosecute anyone who commits forgery of such documents.

Up to sixty men may soon charged for having sex with a voluptuous teenage model whose ‘services’ were marketed on a porn site after an online vice ring was busted three months ago.

The men include a senior banker, a company director, a senior vice-president of a private company, lawyers, a senior police officer, a primary school principal who is married with a child as well as a scholarship recipient.

One of the bankers was reported to have resigned abruptly in the same month while the former school principal has also left the school.

Doing the right thing?

•Is delaying the payment of CPF (through all kinds of tricky schemes) to retirees (cash poor) a right thing to do?
•Is paying ministers obscene millions a right thing to do?
•Is paying Mercer $860,000 to justify the new salary of ministers a right thing to do?
•Is going to China and elsewhere, using taxpayers money, to give scholarships to foreigners (while neglecting locals) a right thing to do?
•Is treating foreigners (regardless of their talent) as 1st class and treating Singaporeans as low class a right thing to do?
•Is paying interest on CPF (peoples' money) at a lower rate than EPF pays Malaysians a right thing to do?
•Is giving $1.1billion of taxpayers' money to PTOs to enhance their business a right thing to do?
•Is belittling and bullying opposition MPs in parliament a right thing to do?
•Is helping the rich in abolishing the Estates Duty Act a right thing to do?
•Is making Singaporeans paying one of the *highest taxes in the world and not provide basic health care for the needy poor, old, feeble and disabled a right thing to do?
•Last but not least, for a self-proclaimed 1st world government, is bringing in 2 millions foreigners (over the past 20 years) without planning to accommodate their housing, transportation and social needs a right thing to do?
If one cannot do the right things in the first place, how does one do them right?

Six men have been charged in court today for allegedly having sex with underaged prostitutes.

The six men are suspected of paying for sexual services with three Vietnamese prostitutes, one aged 16 and two aged 17, in separate instances in July last year.

It is understood that the six, aged between 24 to 59, are all well-to-do men that include bosses and directors.

Up to nine men may be charged altogether in this case.

The six men are, Justin Guo, 24, sales consultant, who is single and from a well-to-do family; Chan See Sean, 40, the owner of a construction company; Yee Yew Seng, 43, single; Wee Lian Kee, 54, married, and the owner of publishing contractor company, Loh Kian Ann, 55, married, and the director of three construction companies; Seah Seng Kok, 59, married.

The six are currently out on bail and ordered not to have any contact with the victims.

It is understood that the men had all met the prostitutes in karaoke lounges and coffeeshops, before striking a deal with them, then carrying out the sordid transaction in budget hotels in Geylang.

They paid between $100 to $200 for the sexual services.

If convicted, each of the men may face up to 7 years' jail, or a fine, or both.

Source: Lianhe Wanbao, 30 March 2012.

SINGAPORE - A 23-year-old woman who drove without a licence was sentenced to four months' jail for causing the death of an elderly pedestrian.

Candy Siow Pei Shan, a waitress, was also banned from driving for 10 years, The Straits Times (ST) reported.

Siow, who was driving her boyfriend's car on Feb 12, 2011, lost control of the vehicle at the junction of Bukit Batok East Avenue 3 and Avenue 4, the court heard today.

She was driving along Avenue 3 and attempted to make a right turn without stopping at the intersection.

She panicked when she saw an oncoming vehicle and her car veered to the left, mounted the kerb and hit 70-year-old Tan Son Seng, who was on the pedestrian walkway, ST reported.

Mr Tan was crushed between the car and a traffic light pole, and pronounced dead on the scene.

Before the accident which took place in the morning, Siow had also drunk a substantial amount of alcohol between 12am and 5am.

She had consumed brandy with her boyfriend at Club Axchange in Tanjong Pagar, and later brandy and beer at a club in the Esplanade.

According to ST, Assistant Public Prosecutor Raja Mohan said as Siow had failed her driving test 13 times, she would have known that she was not competent to drive, yet she still chose to do so.

Siow, who started sobbing when she was sentenced to jail, was also driving without insurance coverage at that time.

SINGAPORE: The HDB compulsorily acquired 39 flats from their owners last year as they had blatantly infringed the subletting rules. One of the flats acquired was at Pinnicle@Duxtin. The owner had sublet the entire flat without HDB's approval in the guise of subletting of rooms, shortly after the flat purchase in January last year. During its night inspections in May and June 2010, HDB found that the owner was not staying at the flat. HDB's investigations revealed that the owner did not have any intention to stay in the flat and had bought it purely for monetary gains. In another 56 cases, HDB warned or fined the owners. HDB said it stepped up its enforcement against unauthorised subletting last year. It carried out 7,000 flat inspections, up from 3,000 inspections in 2009. About 1,800 inspections were the result of public feedback. This is almost double the number of public feedback received in 2009. HDB said it takes a very serious view of any unauthorised subletting and will take stern actions against owners, including compulsory acquisition, even if it is the owner's first infringement. This is especially for cases where the flat owners had bought the flat purely for monetary gains, with no intention of occupying it. There have also been cases where flat owners try to circumvent HDB's rules by locking up one room and subletting the rest of the flat without physically staying in it. It said such cases will be treated as unauthorised subletting of the entire flat. Flat owners who wish to sublet their entire flats must meet the Minimum Occupation Period (MOP) and obtain HDB's approval before they can do so.
DID U GET YOUR PRIORITY RIGHT?

Singapore permanent secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Mr Bilahari Kausikan reportedly told U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defence for East Asia Mr David Sedney that “a lack of competent leaders is a real problem for Malaysia” and that Najib need to “prevail politically to avoid prosecution in connection with the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.

HE HAD bought travel insurance for peace of mind in case emergencies crop up during his overseas trips.

Mr Ronnie Lim, 66, a retiree, and his wife were supposed to have left Singapore last Thursday to visit their daughter, who works for a multi-national company in Virginia.

But when he had to make changes to his trip schedule because of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, his insurer told him they would not be reimbursing him for the costs incurred.

Mr Lim said his flight to Washington, DC, had a stopover in Tokyo and he was advised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) against landing in Japan because of the nuclear crisis.

He heeded the advice and cancelled his All Nippon Airways flight.

While he got a full refund from the airline, he could not get his money back for accommodation at a Washington hotel for the first two nights of his trip, March 25 and 26. Mr Lim paid US$180 (about S$227) for the hotel booking.

He thought his one-year travel insurance policy with NTUC Income would cover his loss.

But when he contacted it, he said he was told claims for earthquakes and natural disasters are covered under his travel insurance, but not those arising from a nuclear disaster.

He added: "My argument is that the nuclear crisis happened because of an earthquake and tsunami, and therefore, my claim should be honoured."

Mr Lim had booked his air tickets on Oct 29 last year.

But he was worried about explosions and radiation leaks at the Fukushima nuclear plant, which had been shut after being hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

He then called MFA.

Q. What do bad times mean for the PAP, which has based its legitimacy on providing the economic goods and asset enhancement? Is its social compact with the people in need of an update?A

Oh yes. And my advice is: Go back to Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew's old credo, where nobody owes us a living. After I had just taken over as the Housing Board's chairman in 2000, an astute academic asked me: 'Tong Dow, what's your greatest problem at HDB?' Then he diagnosed it himself: 'Initially, you gave peanuts to monkeys so they would dance to your tune. Now you've given them so much by way of peanuts that the monkey has become a gorilla and you have to dance to its tune. That's your greatest problem.' Our people have become over-fed and today's economic realities mean we have to put them on a crash diet. We cannot starve them because there will be a political explosion. So the art of government today is to wean everyone off the dispensable items. We should just concentrate on helping the poorest 5 to 10 per cent of the population, instead of handing out a general largesse. Forget about asset enhancement, Singapore shares and utility rebates. You're dancing to the tune of the gorilla. I don't understand the urgency of raising the Goods and Services Tax. Why tax the lower-income, then return it to them in an aid package? It demeans human dignity and creates a growing supplicant class who habitually hold out their palms. Despite the fact that we say we are not a welfare state, we act like one of the most 'welfarish' states in the world. We should appeal instead to people's sense of pride and self-reliance. I think political courage is needed here. And my instinct is that the Singaporean will respect you for that.

Q. What is the kind of Singapore you hope your grandchildren will inherit?

A. Let's look at Sparta and Athens, two city states in Greek history. Singapore is like Sparta, where the top students are taken away from their parents as children and educated. Cohort by cohort, they each select their own leadership, ultimately electing their own Philosopher King. When I first read Plato's Republic, I was totally dazzled by the great logic of this organisational model where the best selects the best. But when I reached the end of the book, it dawned on me that though the starting point was meritocracy, the end result was dictatorship and elitism. In the end, that was how Sparta crumbled. Yet, Athens, a city of philosophers known for its different schools of thought, survived. What does this tell us about out-of-bounds markers? So SM Lee has to think very hard what legacy he wants to leave for Singapore and the type of society he wants to leave behind. Is it to be a Sparta, a well-organised martial society, but in the end, very brittle; or an untidy Athens which survived because of its diversity of thinking? Personally, I believe that Singaporeans are not so kuai (Hokkien for obedient) as to become a Sparta. This is our saving grace. As a young senior citizen, I very much hope that Singapore will survive for a long time, but as an Athens. It is more interesting and worth living and dying for.

NATIONAL Serviceman Dave Teo Ming was often caned by his mother when he was a young schoolboy and his father was in and out of jail for various offences.

His mother would beat him sometimes for no discernible reason or whenever she lost money on gambling.

And the beatings were no "normal beating'.

'The cane anyhow whack, whack until I got bruises,' he said in a psychiatric report submitted by the Institute of Mental Health, which was tendered in the High Court on Monday, when he was sentenced to nine years and two months, with 18 strokes of the cane for unlawful possession of a rifle, bullets and a knife.

The report presented a picture of his disturbed upbringing, scarred by constant beatings, rejection by his own mother who left him in the care of his paternal grandparents when he was in Primary one or two, after she walked out on him with his younger sister.

Teo's grandparents and aunt confirmed the beatings and remembered how traumatised Teo was as a child. They reported that his mother would even throw chairs at him.

After she left the family, the grandparents became the main caregivers to Teo and his brother who was two years younger.

Although he was not beaten as much, his paternal uncle, who lived with him, would punch and slap him if he misbehaved during his teens.

When he was 14, his younger brother was killed in a road accident.

This caused Teo 'to spiral downwards with disciplinary problems', said the IMH report. 'He was filled with anger and 'hated everybody''.

He became depressed and isolated himself from the family.

The behavioural problems and brushes with law continued, and he had to drop out of school at Secondary 3.

Possessive boyfriend

Teo started dating Ms Crystal Liew when he was 16. She was then 14. The relationship graduated to a sexual one when she turned 16.

By his own admission, Teo was a highly possessive boyfriend.

When she went out with her friends, he would feel extremely jealous and become abusive of her. He would call her up and demanded that she went home immediately.

There were times that he would hurl vulgarities at her and he also admitted that he had hit her several times, according to the IMH report.

In early 2007, Teo was posted for a short stint to Taiwan as part of his national service.

The couple continued to quarrel over the phone and in April last year, they broke up.

That was the final act and Teo snapped.

'He had nightmares about dying or being killed and in his waking hours, thought of suicide,' said the psychiatric report.

His sleep became disturbed, he lost weight over the next few months and he became withdrawn. His concentration became poor and 'his libido also dropped'.

In camp, he became easily irritated, and vented his anger by kicking the cupboard and being rude to his superiors.

He also began to hear voices of people who were not there.

Stalked ex-girlfriend

When he returned to Singapore from Taiwan, he started stalking Ms Liew, hanging out at her condominium and outside her school.

He even went absent without leave from camp to spend his nights at a stairwell at her condo. He was eventually caught and sent to the SAF detention barracks.

After he stopped contacts with Ms Liew, he went further downhill. He no longer cared about his appearance, became reclusive and started drinking to overcome his insomnia.

'He became self-destructive and recalls exercising till the point of exhaustion and then denying himself water,' said the report.

JUSTICE Tay Yong Kwang explained to Awol National Serviceman Dave Teo Min why he would have to impose a deterrent sentence before jailing him for a total of nine years and two months, with 18 strokes of the cane, for having a rifle, eight bullets and a knife.

In a display of compassion, the High Court judge on Monday told the 20-year-old, who had earlier pleaded guilty to the three charges: 'My heart hurts for you that so young a man will have to spend some of the best years of his life in prison and have to undergo so many strokes of the cane, but I trust that you understand that a deterrent sentence is unavoidable in the circumstances.'

Justice Tay said Teo had committed a very grave offence by taking a rifle and ammunition out of camp for his 'own purposes' - 'especially so in this age of increased security concerns everywhere'.

In his statement read out in court, the full-time NSman had told his army buddy, a pimp, that he had taken the rifle and eight bullets from Mandai Hill camp on Sept 2, 2007, to kill his ex-girlfriend who had broken off their relationship. He also said he was going to use it in a robbery and to kill five people who he hated.

In his pre-sentencing remarks, Justice Tay also advised Teo on what he should do in jail and on his release.

He told the NSman who sparked a 20-hour manhunt on Sept 2, 2007, when he walked out of Mandai Hill camp with an SAR-21 rifle and eight rounds of bullets, and was finally tracked down to a toilet in a shopping mall the following day: 'Dave, you have had a very hard life.'

'I hope that this unfortunate and traumatic wrong turn in your life will make you much more mature and a whole lot wiser and that you will spend the next few years reconstructing your young life.'

'I hope that you will pursue your studies, listen to good advice from counsellors and learn many skills while in prison and that, upon your release, you will have a life full of meaning and purpose to honour the memory of your grandmother and your beloved younger brother.'

'It has been written, 'To everything there is a season.' There was a time when you loved, there came a time when you hated. There was a time when you felt you wanted to kill, now is the time for you to heal.'

'There was a time you were broken down, now is the time to build yourself up. There was a time when you were at war in your being, now is the time to restore peace within.'

'In spite of your difficult childhood and in spite of what you have done, do not ever give up on yourself.'