SINGAPORE: After meeting a woman more than 20 years his junior at a pub where she was working as a hostess, a man began dating her and they got married.
However, the union was fraught with fights as the man suspected his new wife of cheating on him and working as a hostess.
When the man went out for drinks one night, he saw his new wife at the same pub and began filming her intending to report her for allegedly working illegally at the pub.
In the ensuing scuffle, he slapped the 35-year-old woman repeatedly on her face and pulled her hair.
Ong Bee Hua, a 58-year-old Singaporean, was sentenced to jail for a week on Tuesday (Jul 30) for one count of voluntarily causing hurt.
The court heard that Ong met his wife, Vietnamese national Do Thi Ngan, at a pub in 2019.
They began dating and got married in June 2023 in Singapore.
The woman moved into Ong’s home and she was given a short-term visit pass by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.
Shortly after they tied the knot, the couple’s relationship began to deteriorate as they quarrelled often because of the woman’s frequent late nights out.
Ong suspected that his wife was cheating on him, and the woman moved out to live on her own in late July 2023.
On Oct 16, the woman went to Club Echo pub on Joo Chiat Road to celebrate a friend’s birthday. She then decided to head to a nearby pub – S Box Pub & Entertainment – to pass a red packet to another friend for her birthday.
At about 9pm that day, Ong went to the same S Box pub to meet his friends for drinks.
While inside, he spotted his wife. Wanting to report her to the Ministry of Manpower for allegedly working illegally in a pub, he took out his phone to record a video of her.
His wife saw him and attempted to shield her face with her hands.
The pair began quarrelling and the woman tried to snatch Ong’s phone away.
Eventually, she went to the toilet to hide from her husband before leaving by the back door.
At about 10.50pm, she went to a nearby bus stop and tried to flag a taxi home.
Ong was nearby looking for his wife. He saw her and approached her, wanting to film her again.
The couple began scuffling. Ong slapped his wife multiple times on her cheek and pulled her hair, scolding her for being “black-hearted” and for applying for a personal protection order against him previously.
A bystander saw what happened and filmed the altercation on his phone.
During the scuffle, the woman’s friend intervened by slapping Ong’s face. Ong retaliated with his own slaps – in a charge taken into consideration.
Eventually, Ong left the location. His wife sought treatment at a hospital the next day and was given medication for left cheek pain.
The prosecutor sought one to two weeks’ jail for Ong, citing the sustained and prolonged attack.
DETERRENCE
Defence lawyer Joseph Yoong Tat Choy asked for a fine or a short jail term instead, saying this “whole thing started” because of a love bite his client allegedly found on the chest of his wife.
“After two months of marriage, she turns up with a love bite on her chest,” said Mr Yoong.
“Are you saying it is alright for this man to assault his wife, slap her in public, pull her hair, because of these reasons and expect to get away with a fine?” asked District Judge Kessler Soh.
Mr Yoong replied that the woman had filed for a divorce on grounds of non-consummation – which Ong challenged.
“Apart from coming back late at night with these marks on her body, she denied she was working as a hostess and eventually my client found her in the bar herself and he videotaped it, and this is how all this happened,” said the lawyer.
He said his client was unlikely to reoffend as the couple is no longer together. He added that there was “hardly any injury” on the woman.
In response, the prosecutor said that whatever grouses Ong had with his wife, he should not have taken the law into his own hands.
In sentencing, the judge said the case involved spousal violence, and deterrence was the dominant sentencing consideration. He accepted the prosecution’s argument that jail was necessary.
For voluntarily causing hurt, the man could have been jailed for up to three years, fined up to S$5,000, or both.