Three bipolar men were given a time to serve a year in jail after a review on Wednesday ( Dec 4), after being found guilty of murder or attempted crime on the grounds of an unsound brain.
The second man, 60-year-old Wong Kwok Wah, killed his ally in 1991. He is housed in Changi Prison’s clinical care product.
The next, 66-year-old Tung Siew Meng, killed his 70-year-old family in 2001 after hearing a soul saying she was a monster. The Institute of Mental Health ( IMH) confines him.
The second, 72-year-old Omar Abdullah, attempted crime in 1991 and was released from captivity, but tried to kidnap a store while armed with a helicopter in 2019. He is confined to IMH.
All of the defendants made their jury appearances via video link from their homes. No next-of-kin were present in court.
If a court determines that a person’s actions do have constituted an offence if not for an unstable mind, the court may order them to be kept in safe prison in a position and manner it sees fit.
The court was hearing a request from state attorneys acting on behalf of the Minister for Law to confine the gentlemen for a further year starting on January 12, 2025.
After a reading that lasted less than an hour, Justice Valerie Thean granted the three programs.
Lee KWOK WAH
Wong was charged with murdering his old neighbor in 1991 in the High Court. He fatally struck the neighbor’s skull with a harsh blow in September 1988.
The jury acquitted him on the grounds of mental insanity but determined that he had committed the dying penalty.
Wong is said to have aggressive behavior, self-harm, and harsh outbursts and was diagnosed with schizophrenia and antisocial personality disorder.
He has been mentally ill since his secondary institution days, according to a medical report from 1988.
On Wednesday, Wong disputed hearing tones during the crime, and said he told the prosecution determine:” Your Honour, I always heard voices earlier. Please provide me a good test”.
He repeated a few times that he had never heard tones before and that the medical report was inaccurate. Additionally, he requested that the court handle for his legal representation.
State Counsel Ho Jiayun responded, claiming that Wong had frequently heard a voice telling him to destroy the deceased when the case was being tried in 1998.
The trial jury accepted this because it knew he was at the time having paranoid schizophrenia, according to Ms Ho.
Wong continued to have paranoid and psychotic views, according to her testimony to the judge. What he said in judge showed how unconcerned he was with both his continuing guilt beliefs and his lack of knowledge of his mental state.
On Wong’s ask for a lawyer, Ms Ho said that he had a prosecutor at his trial, to which Wong interjected:” That was in 1991″!
Ms Ho said that when Wong’s next-of-kin were informed of the current application, they were even asked if he would have picture.
But there was no reply from Wong’s nephew this time, she said.
TUNG SIEW MENG
After reversing his treatment for schizophrenia, Tung attacked his family with a nail in March 2001. He claimed he heard a nature claiming his mother was a monster and he hammered into her room.
She was fatally struck as she lay on the bed when he struck her. He was charged with murder and later found guilty of the crime, but his conviction was voided because of his mental infirmity.
During his mention, Tung went into a rant about his Central Provident Fund ( CPF ) savings being” stolen” by the ruling party.
He even said he was “very also” and had been recovering for 20 years. ” You give me medicine to acquire, also also. Don’t taking, even well”, he said.
State Counsel Lee Hui Min argued that Tung was assessed as having a higher risk of injuring others if released, citing a range of causes.
His psychosis symptoms continued to linger despite long-term care. He was particularly deceived into believing that IMH workers and other people were “devils who were attacking him.”
Tung interrupted the condition attorney to declare that this was accurate.
Ms. Lee continued that Tung had rejected therapy in IMH because she lacked knowledge about his mental state and the need for treatment. Instead, he attributed his state to “witchcraft and a moral conflict between God and Satan.”
Most important, Tung lacked a support structure outside IMH that would maintain he continued to receive medication and treatment, as he was estranged from his home, said Ms Lee.
She said that the IMH hospital would keep track of him and that there would be prompt action and restraint if needed.
Ms. Lee continued, Tung had never made any objections to the request to confine him more.
She said,” What we understand from IMH is that he has seemingly come to terms with the notion that he will have to be confined there for the time being to ensure that he receives care and treatment.”
After Justice Thean ordered Tung’s continued confinement, he continued to talk about his Pension pocketbook being stolen and said:” I tell you the truth, you’re wrong. You’re dying flesh, I tell you”.
Al ABDULLAH
Omar pleaded guilty to attempted death in 1991, but the High Court found him not guilty. The case was reported to the then-Minister for Law, who made an order in 1991 for Omar to become confined.
In 2015, Omar’s girl made an application for him to get released, based on various conditions, and the program was granted.
After Omar’s discharge, he attempted armed assault and appeared before a court. He was taken to IMH, and the discharge attempt was voided.
Omar has been in IMH since August 2019 and has been there for about 30 years.
Justice Thean instructed him that the judge may not hear him and inquired if he was speaking in English or Malay while he was mentioned because he spoke about indecipherably during his mention.
At times, Omar appeared to be talking about staying with his girlfriend.
Additionally, he made an appearance to be reading a piece of paper in his hands, which State Counsel Jared Foong claimed might be his daughter’s address.
Justice Thean informed Omar that his girlfriend had been informed of his reading before granting his request to be further confined.  ,