Tag: Singapore

6 Months Imprisonment For Attacker OF Madrasah Students

A single act of racially aggravated violence wounds the victim, and by extension, the collective interest of society, said a district judge on Friday (May 20) as he sentenced a former security officer to six months’ jail.

Koh Weng Onn, who attacked three madrasah students on April 1 this year, had pleaded guilty to two charges — causing hurt with racial aggravation, as well as committing a rash act causing hurt.

District Judge Mathew Joseph noted that 48-year-old Koh, who suffers from a disorder with delusions of persecution, had made 355 police reports since 2008, many of them against Malay and Indian subjects.

“The racial pattern in these reports poses a risk of the accused getting into similar situations (again),” he said.

According to court documents, Koh started to have a bad impression of Malays several years ago, when he confronted a group for allegedly talking about him, and claimed that they started to hit him until he ran away.

Around 7pm on March 31 this year, Koh was walking towards a coffee shop at East Coast Road when he saw two Malay women cycling towards him. He took a chair and pushed it towards them, sparking a dispute.

A male Malay cyclist, who was behind the women, started having a shoving match with Koh. The police were called, and the parties apologised to each other.

The next day, he was walking towards the MRT station along Paya Lebar Road at around 7.22am, when he passed a 16-year-old student. He suddenly kicked her and swore at her in Hokkien, leaving his victim shocked by the sudden blow.

A minute later, Koh passed a 14-year-old student, and swung a plastic bag containing a filled 1.5-litre bottle towards the side of her face.

As he entered Paya Lebar MRT Station and rode the escalator down, he saw a group of girls riding the escalator in the opposite direction.

Koh waited till all of them, except the last girl, had passed him, before swinging his plastic bag at the 14-year-old’s face.

Koh later defended himself, saying that the sight of the three girls, all students of Madrasah Al-Maarif Al-Islamiah, reminded him of the encounter with the cyclists, and thus angered him.

Calling for a sentence of six months’ jail, Deputy Public Prosecutor Ang Feng Qian noted that Koh had confessed that he committed the offences because the victims were Malay. He also chose the girls specifically because they were young and female, to reduce the chances of retaliation and reprisal, she added.

Defence lawyer Sunil Sudheesan, who pleaded for a jail term of three months, said Koh’s delusions had contributed to his offences.

Mr Sunil added that the fact that an anonymous entrepreneur from an Arab-Muslim family had stepped forward to seek legal help for Koh and offered to foot his bills showed that Singaporeans are not “short-sighted”.

Mr Sunil said: “They know the difference between someone who is a racist and a bigot, and someone who has (a) mental illness.”

District Judge Joseph noted that Koh’s family had apologised on his behalf previously. “In a world (divided) by sectarian strife, the exhortation to love your neighbour becomes exceedingly crucial. And it’s all the more important for a nation like Singapore,” the judge said.

Koh’s older brother, Mr Muhammad Johan Koh, told TODAY that the family accepted the sentence, adding: “He knew he committed an offence and needs to face the consequences. After serving his sentence, he will resume his treatment at the Institute of Mental Health. We will get the help we need to get him better.”

Source: www.todayonline.com

May 21, 2016
Hajjah Fatimah Mosque To Be Restored, Minaret’s Tilt Preserved

Singapore’s own “leaning tower” – the Hajjah Fatimah Mosque’s minaret, which tilts at an angle of six degrees – will be restored to its former glory.

Although the slant will remain, the structure, alongside the rest of the 1846 compound, will undergo a year-long $500,000 restoration to address issues such as moisture damage or plaster cracks on walls.

The project will be co-funded under the National Monuments Fund, administered by the Preservation of Sites and Monuments (PSM) division. The National Heritage Board (NHB) said yesterday $2.22 million of the $9.77 million set aside to co-fund the restoration of national monuments will be disbursed this year to eight recipients, including the mosque and St Joseph’s Church.

To qualify for the grant, the monuments must be non-profit or religious. Of the 72 here, 31 are eligible.

Mr Alsagoff Mohdar, 74, chairman of Hajjah Fatimah’s mosque management board, said: “The restoration could transform it into a more conducive place of worship for Muslims, make it more presentable for the tourists who often come by.”

Based on old maps, the land on which the Beach Road mosque sits used to be a mangrove swamp, a factor contributing to the moisture damage across the site.

The tilt of the minaret is a result of its hand-made bricks. They are less compact than machine-made ones, resulting in moisture seepage and shifting over time, said Mr Chern Jia Ding, assistant director of PSM’s architecture and inspectorate.

While the tilt cannot be rectified, steps have been taken to monitor the slant. To deal with weakening bricks, salt will be extracted from the structure. Chemicals will be injected into it to form a water barrier. Existing layers of paint will be stripped away and replaced by a new coat of mineral paint.

Another recipient of the restoration fund is the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd. The ongoing restoration of the Queen Street building, to finish in the third quarter of the year, is slated to receive $1.37 million from the authorities. PSM had disbursed close to $1.49 million under the first tranche of the fund, which was introduced in 2008.

The funding for the cathedral will partly cover structural reinforcement work. The total cost of restoring the monument is $11.8 million.

Mr Lim Boon Heng, former Cabinet minister and chairman of the steering committee for the restoration and renovation of the cathedral, described it as a long journey.

The work involved restoring its neo-classical ceiling and retiling its floors to mirror its original design. There is still more to be done – another $2 million is needed for the construction project, which is expected to cost about $40 million in all. This includes the restoration of a two-storey rectory and the building of a new three-storey block.

Mr Lim said: “We have to make sure this monument stays a long, long time for Singaporeans. It’s part of the collective memory of Singaporeans, not just Catholics.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

May 20, 2016
Almakhazin: When Anti-Islamophobia Activists Are Islamophobic

Over the years, I have met with a lot of Muslims in Singapura, Malaysia and Australia who claim to be concerned about Islamophobia.

They engage with their surrounding society and government to reduce or eliminate threats to cohesion and co-existence.

Those who work on this issue can be broadly categorised into 2 groups:

1. Those who challenge it by promoting Islam.

2. And those who challenge Islamophobia by making themselves appear acceptable to non-Muslims

The first group will discuss Islam, what we need to do and promote the religion while participating in the discourse.

The stance is “We are Muslims. We will not change who we are to be acceptable to anyone else.

We are happy to engage and discuss. Hopefully that will bring understanding. If it does not, that is alright. We will continue engagement”.

The second group tries to be accepted. They create videos such as “Happy Muslims” and “We are Muslims dont panic”.

They tend to attach themselves to rights discourses.

Their usual argument is that Muslims are a disempowered minority. Their recourse is to work with other disempowered minority groups for mutual support.

We see these Muslims in support of homosexuality, socialist/ Marxist class struggles etc.

Their discourse on rights and freedom are taken from liberal values.

Their main focus is to be accepted.

In their quest, they change Islam so that others will accept them. They try to be the face of acceptable Islam.

Their struggle is not about the deen. It is not about Islam in its full scope (the beliefs, the practices, the philosophy).

Their struggle is against disempowerment.

So rather than Islam rejecting homosexuality, these Muslims argue that we should support the movement because we are both from minority, disempowered groups.

Their rejection of Islamophobia is not based on Islam. It is based on a need to be accepted.

It is about negating disempowerment.

What they may not realise is that their very response is a product of Islamophobia.

Their attempt to change Islam, to infuse Islam with values and beliefs that are accepted by the majority or the West, is the very product of Islamophobia.

They provide the counter-narrative against Muslims who want to live according to Islam.

Rather than resisting, they have become the purveyors of anti Islam rhetoric.

They are its product.

Source: Almakhazin SG

May 20, 2016
Grandma Sues Grandkids For Trying To Sell HDB Flat

Madam Tan Teck Soon says, for 26 years, she has paid the Housing Board $277 each month – mortgage instalments for the three- room flat that she lives in.

She paid over $117,000, including upgrading costs and conservancy charges, said the 76-year-old canteen vendor, but she might soon have to leave her home. In March, she said, she learnt her granddaughters were trying to sell the flat.

To stop this, she has sued both Ms Michelle Ng Li Xuan, 26, and Ms Isabella Ng Su Xi, 25.

The case is pending in the High Court, and the two sides met for a pre-trial conference on Tuesday, said lawyer Chia Boon Teck, who is representing Madam Tan pro bono.

Both sisters are registered owners of the flat, which they inherited when their father died in 2009.

But Madam Tan said she had single-handedly paid for the flat since its purchase in 1990. Her granddaughters were only holding it in trust for her, she said. In her affidavit, she said they were trying to sell it and “swallow” the proceeds.

The 10th-storey flat in Bedok South was bought under the name of her son – the sisters’ father, Mr Ng King Nguang – said Madam Tan, who was then registered as co-owner of another flat with her older son. The disputed flat has an estimated value of about $330,000 now.

“The flat was registered under Ng’s sole name at that time with the understanding between Ng and me that I was the sole owner,” she said, adding that she paid the initial sum of $20,000 for the down payment and renovations.

She was registered as an owner of the flat in 1992, after the other flat was sold. But seven years later, Mr Ng chalked up about $100,000 in debts, she said. He then purportedly asked her for help. She said he wanted her to sell him her share of the flat so he could get an HDB loan on the pretext of paying her.

She said she did not get any money from the sale, but lent him $61,000 instead. He used the entire sum to pay creditors, she said.

“I’m not a lawyer. I didn’t understand the implications. My son and I understood the flat still belonged to me,” she told The Straits Times.

In 1992, Mr Ng divorced his wife, who got custody of Michelle. Isabella, about one then, grew up in the flat with her father and Madam Tan.

In 2009, Mr Ng died after a heart attack. The sisters inherited the flat, along with his mortgage life insurance payout of $40,200.

“I did not understand how (they) could sell the flat and throw me onto the streets when I had paid for the flat entirely single-handedly,” Madam Tan said in her affidavit.

Both sisters denied trying to sell the flat without her knowledge.

Ms Michelle Ng disputed that Madam Tan had made all payments for the flat. “What I understand is that my dad was the one doing the payments,” she said, adding that she and her sister let Madam Tan live there as it was near Madam Tan’s workplace.

Ms Ng said Madam Tan made some payments for the flat after Mr Ng died, but that was because Madam Tan was living there then.

Ms Ng said the flat was an asset passed down to both sisters by their father, which they should be able to sell, and they had offered Madam Tan an alternative place to live – with Ms Isabella Ng at her upcoming BTO flat in Choa Chu Kang.

Said Ms Michelle Ng, a former marketing executive: “I’m not working at the moment. I’m expecting my second child. I’m not taking the money to go and enjoy myself.”

Source: www.straitstimes.com

May 20, 2016
Asian Prisons Lockdown Challenge Participant: ASP Raizaluddin Abdul Razak – Always Prepared

At the recent Asian Prisons Lockdown Challenge (APLC) 2016, we met up with Assistant Superintendent of Prisons (ASP2) Muhammad Raizaluddin Bin Abdul Razak from Cluster C. A first-time participant this year, he shared with us his experiences and challenges faced in the event.

In order to qualify as a contestant, ASP Raizaluddin shared that one has to first register their interest before undergoing a stringent selection round. Following that, they would have to engage in weekly trainings to prepare for the events.

Some of the challenges ASP Raizaluddin faced while training were the long training hours, incorporating physical and tactical trainings as well as being able to find a common time where each participant could train together as a team. With conflicting schedules in their shifts, training still went on even in the middle of the day when the sun is hottest.

Despite the obstacles faced, ASP Raizaluddin learnt a lot from his experience. He shared that one of his key takeaways APLC is to “Always be prepared, and to expect the unexpected; scenarios can change in various ways… but the most important thing is to be ready when it happens.”

Congratulations to ASP Raizaluddin and his team for their efforts in APLC 2016, and for their constant vigilance towards keeping Singapore safe and secure!

Source: Captains of Lives

May 20, 2016