Marcus Ching (Page 501)

“She holds a clear record,” he continued. “Her record is so crystal clear, so she doesn’t understand what it means for a human being to stay alone in prison for one day, leave alone six years he’s spent in remand. He didn’t commit this so he can go to prison and (for it) to be considered a staycation.”

“She keeps saying the PD report … (says Kalaivanan has) no remorse,” said the uncle. “If he can’t change now, can the prosecution tell me – he can change in 20 years’ time? That he will be so virtuous, so honest, and will not do anything that is wrong in 20 years’ time? If that is the argument?”

He said he felt that Ms Chew was looking at his nephew “like a caged animal”.

“In this court he’s been treated like an animal rather than an accused. She wanted to tear him apart like a werewolf, you know,” continued Kalaivanan’s uncle. “Can your honour please consider he’s like a human being? He’s in his mid-40s already. Do you want him to be his mid-70s, 80s (when he’s released)?”

After he was done, the judge told the court that there was no need to address what the uncle had said.

But Ms Chew had two points in reply. First, she said the uncle was right when he said she was not a psychiatrist to diagnose Kalaivanan, but pointed that Kalaivanan had been examined by a psychiatrist on four occasions.

“About the 20 years. Can we guarantee he can change? I actually agree with that,” said Ms Chew. “That’s why we ask for the maximum.”

JUDGE’S DECISION

In sentencing Kalaivanan, Justice Pang pointed to his lack of remorse, “severe denial” and how he minimised his offences. He was also unable to assume responsibility for the sexual offences.

Any expression of remorse by Kalaivanan was “largely centred on the impact” that conviction and sentencing would have on him and his family, said the judge.

To sentence a person to preventive detention, a court must be satisfied that it was “expedient” for the person to be detained for the protection of the public, said Judge Chau.

“The accused has spent most of his adult life in jail,” he said. A stint in reformative training had no effect on Kalaivanan.

Both preventive detention reports showed no remorse on his part, and Kalaivanan refuses to accept responsibility for his sexual offences past and present.

He also has a high risk of sexual violence reoffending and recidivism, said the judge, finding that Kalaivanan was a “menace to the public” and “beyond the reach of redemption”.

The judge used his discretion to reduce the preventive detention period by two years from the 20 years asked for by the prosecution but ordered that it would not be backdated.

Defence lawyer Mr Foo said Kalaivanan intends to appeal. He said his colleague Mr Riyach would file any application necessary when he resumed taking over the case.

Continue Reading

SINGAPORE: The Singapore Police Force (SPF) appealed for information on Monday (Aug 7) on the whereabouts of a 13-year-old girl who has been missing for five days.

Chua Li Fang Shlly was last seen near 51 Edgedale Plains in Punggol on Aug 2.

Anyone with information can dial the police hotline at 1800 255 0000 or submit the information online.

All information will be kept strictly confidential, SPF said.

Continue Reading

SINGAPORE: A lion dance troupe from Singapore emerged champion at the Genting World Lion Dance Championships on Sunday (Aug 6), breaking a 13-year winning streak held by Malaysian teams. 

Singapore’s Yiwei Athletic Association fielded two teams to compete at the three-day championship organised by Resorts World Genting in Malaysia.

Its Team B secured the win with 9.73 points at the finals on Sunday afternoon, thanks to its flexibility in pile jumping, successfully navigating challenging movements on the tightrope, as well as being able to present the lion’s expressions of joy, anger, surprise and doubt, according to a China Press report. 

Meanwhile, the association’s Team A came in third with 9.58 points. 

The Khuan Loke Dragon and Lion Dance Association from Selangor in Malaysia was second with 9.64 points. 

The triumph caps a string of wins by Yiwei over the past years. 

A team from the association won the first Prime Minister’s Cup International High Pole Lion Dance Championship in Kuala Lumpur in September last year, taking home the top prize of RM38,000 (US$8,300).

Continue Reading

SINGAPORE: Over seven years, a teenager-turned-young adult preyed sexually on those around him – beginning with minors at a playground and progressing to schoolmates and his bunkmates in National Service.

The man, now 24, pleaded guilty in the High Court on Monday (Aug 7) to 10 charges, which include sexual penetration of minors and molestation. Another 33 charges will be considered in sentencing.

The court heard that the accused was between 14 and 21 at the time of his offending against at least 28 victims that the prosecution placed into five groups.

He first preyed sexually on the first group – children in his neighbourhood – from 2013. He forced a seven-year-old girl to perform sex acts on him while pretending to play hide and seek.

He stopped his offending against the children in this group after a few years, as he was concerned that they might tell their parents about him.

The second group of victims were classmates and schoolmates in his secondary school.

When he was serving national service at the age of 19 and 20, he molested his bunkmates – the third group of victims – as they slept.

He also molested a classmate while at another school at the age of 21, and began targeting strangers he met online or chanced on.

CONDUCT CAUGHT

The offender’s conduct did not go unnoticed. As early as 2012, his secondary school received a report about his alleged sexual offence and indecent exposure.

He was given a verbal warning, his parent was informed and he was given counselling by the school.

He was reported by a victim to the school authorities in 2013 and he was temporarily suspended. He was told to seek further counselling and his mother took him to an external counselling centre.

The school found out again in 2014 that the offender had molested boys at a school camp. He was suspended by the school.

The offender was suspended again by his school in 2015 after another victim made a report of molestation.

The offender was arrested a few times in 2020 and released on police bail after victims made police reports.

It was only in October 2020, when a victim confided in her teacher about what the offender did against her as a child, that the offender was re-arrested and remanded.

At one point in 2020, the offender had entered his secondary school wearing his old school uniform to avoid being stopped by security.

He targeted a 13-year-old boy, luring him to a secluded area by pretending he was doing an interview, before photographing his hands and feet for his own gratification.

He then molested the boy and put his nose on the boy’s bare feet on the pretext of taking a “selfie”.

A psychiatrist with the Institute of Mental Health found that the offender had a fetish for the hands and feet of boys in lower secondary school, but had no mental illness or intellectual disability.

The psychiatrist added that the offender had a risk of reoffending against male teenagers and tends to choose victims who are less mature and more vulnerable.

The psychiatrist added that “based on the prior counselling and interventions received” by the offender, he did not appear “to have received adequate treatment”.

Deputy Public Prosecutors Chong Kee En and Tin Shu Min sought 15 to 20 years’ jail and at least six strokes of the cane, while defence lawyers Josephus Tan, Josiah Zee and Cory Wong of Invictus Law sought not more than 13 to 15 years’ jail and not more than six strokes.

Mr Chong said the accused had a long duration of offending against multiple victims “in almost every stage of his adolescence and approaching adult life”.

He said the man’s borderline intelligence was not mitigating, and said the claim by the defence that the offender was himself a sexual assault victim as a boy was “not quite borne out” by investigations.

Defence lawyer Mr Josephus Tan said the defence was not very far apart in terms of the sentences sought.

“But we say we have to be fair. When some of these offences were committed, he himself was a juvenile,” he said, charging that “the system failed him when he was young” as there was “no intervention”.

The judge will deliver her sentence at a later date.

Continue Reading

SINGAPORE: More patients will be able to receive hospital-type care at home with the expansion of a “virtual” ward pilot programme to more public healthcare institutions, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) and MOH Office for Healthcare Transformation (MOHT) on Monday (Aug 7). 

The Mobile Inpatient Care-at-Home (MIC@Home) pilot, first launched in April 2022, offers patients the option to be cared for in their own homes instead of a hospital ward. 

Selected patients with conditions classified under general medicine, like skin infections, can be admitted to a “virtual” ward, where they will have round-the-clock access to care delivered by a team of healthcare professionals via teleconsultations and home visits until deemed fit for discharge. 

Following its implementation at hospitals under the National University Health System, Singapore General Hospital and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, MIC@Home has been expanded to four more hospitals: Changi General Hospital (CGH), KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), Sengkang General Hospital (SKH) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).

“The pilot will bolster future hospital planning and add bed capacity buffer for the healthcare system,” said MOHT, adding that MIC@Home serves to provide appropriate care for patients in a more comfortable environment without sacrificing care outcomes. 

“The care they receive, as well as resulting outcomes, are expected to be non-inferior to that in hospitals.” 

As of June 2023, around 1,000 patients have benefitted from the programme, resulting in an estimated savings of 7,000 bed days.

Continue Reading