Man gets jail, caning for scribbling racist graffiti targeting Malays in Geylang area
SINGAPORE — A man vandalised various private and public properties in Geylang and Aljunied with a permanent marker in early January this year, a court heard.
Some of the vandal’s works involved racist graffiti.
At the State Courts on Monday (17 June), Chen Jianbang was jailed for one year and one month, along with nine strokes of the cane.
The 31-year-old Singaporean pleaded guilty to three charges of vandalism and two counts of wounding the racial feelings of the Malay population.
Another 10 counts of vandalism and two counts of wounding racial feelings were considered in sentencing.
Vandalised walls, pillars, banner
Among his acts of vandalism, Chen wrote “DAVE IS SICK” on a wall belonging to Lai Ming Hotel in Geylang on 3 January.
The next day, he scribbled “GARY IS A BITCH” on a traffic light control box belonging to the Land Transport Authority (LTA) in Lorong 24 Geylang.
Chen also wrote racist graffiti including “F*** MALAY”, “MALAY MATI (die)”, “MALAY FAMILY EAT SHIT”, and “ALL MALAY FIGHT LOSE CHINESE”.
He scribbled these messages over a few days in January in places including on pillars along walkways, an HDB wall at a void deck in Geylang, an LTA banner outside Aljunied MRT Station, and on pillars outside the station.
Chen was later arrested by police. No reason was given in court for the reasons behind Chen’s acts of vandalism.
District Judge John Ng backdated the jail term to the date of Chen’s remand on 9 January.
In addition, Chen will also have to spend an extra 60 days behind bars for breaching the conditions of his remission order under the Prisons Act.
Chen was released from prison early for good behaviour in August last year. He had been sentenced to one year and nine months’ jail for housebreaking in November 2017.
Chen has a string of crimes dating back to 2005, including for affray, causing hurt to a public servant, theft, mischief and cheating. It will be his eighth time serving a jail sentence.
The penalty for vandalism involving an indelible substance is a fine of up to $2,000 or up to three years’ jail, along with between three and eight strokes of the cane.
The maximum punishment for wounding the religious or racial feelings of a person is up to three years’ jail along with a fine.
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