Man who burned Singapore flag, causing 7 others to be ablaze, jailed 16 weeks
SINGAPORE — Five days before National Day last year, a drunk man set fire to a Singapore flag, causing it to fall and burn seven other flags below it.
Elson Ong Yong Liang, 26, was jailed 16 weeks’ on Monday (27 July), after he pleaded guilty to one count of committing mischief by fire, with two other charges involving burning other items taken into consideration for sentencing.
These charges involve Ong using a lighter to burn newspaper outside a unit at Woodlands Crescent on 4 April last year and separately using the same method to light up a construction sign sticker pasted on a metal barricade at the same block. The time and date for the latter offence are unknown.
Ong’s lawyer, Gino Hardial Singh, cited an Institute of Mental Health (IMH) report which stated that the accused had a habit of burning paper since his teenage years whenever he was stressed.
On 3 August last year, Ong went to a pub for a drinking session and left at about 5.30am the next day heavily intoxicated.
After reaching his HDB block in Woodlands Crescent between 6am and 6.15am, Ong took the lift to the 13th floor before deciding to light a cigarette.
At this point, he noticed a Singapore flag on the outer walls of the block. He then decided to set fire to the flag with his lighter. The flag caught fire and broke into pieces, with the remnants falling and igniting another seven flags below it. All the flags were damaged.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Kor Zhen Hong asked for six months’ jail for Ong, adding that the potential harm from the burning fragments of the flag was quite high.
Public disquiet would also be aroused if a passerby were to notice a Singapore flag on fire, added the prosecution.
Singh said that while what his client did was “reprehensible”, he urged the court to note several mitigating factors, including how his client burned paper to cope with stress.
According to an IMH psychiatrist, Ong’s habit was a “maladapted coping mechanism” to deal with stress. He would usually gather paper and burn them in an incense bin at the void deck during his teenage years.
The defence lawyer sought three months’ jail for Ong. He said Ong had a troubled childhood and was abused by his father, who divorced his mother when he was six years old.
For causing mischief by fire, Ong could have been jailed up to seven years, and also fined.
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