Singapore Law and Justice

[PNY]

Frankly, Singapore is a very nice and safe place to raise my family, an excellent school system, and after a 9/11 furlough, I have been lucky enough to be relocated here by a Fortune 100 company and then move on to be an aviation associate government consultant and an instructor for various airlines in the region to include KL and Dubai. So I am not writing to bad mouth Singapore, I care for the country, but to highlight the extreme deficiencies on who gets charged under Singapore Law.

We own an HDB flat and quite recently a vacant apartment below us was having heavy drilling work illegally from 9:30am onwards on a Sunday but we decided to tolerate it. However, at 5:20pm when our 3 year old could not even take a nap, I went downstairs to tell them that they need to stop the illegal work for the day. The foreign workers near the door had no power to seize the work and insisted that I speak to their boss inside so I entered the apartment to do so. However, after hearing my request this contractor just turned his back on me, so I took a picture of him with my cell phone and advised him that I was going to call the police.

The contractor then became irate, he strongly gripped my upper right arm tightly, and refused to let go. I some how made my way to the front door pleading with him to let go of my arm but he refused. I finally made it out of the apartment but could not work my way up the stairs as he refused to let go of my upper right arm. Finally, when he heard my concerned wife calling for me from above he released me.

Two calls were made to the emergency number 999 but response was well over 20 minutes latter. The police first responders saw the contractors packing up and leaving the HDB block in the parking lot and simply wrote down names, despite being advised on the phone that an assault and battery had taken place, and released them before ever first seeing me and my wife. When the police finally showed up at our door step, a statement was taken of the fact that I was manhandled, assaulted, and held against my will. The very next day the investigating officer called me to advice that after reading the report, under Singapore law, this illegal contractor would merely be given a stern warning for the assault and battery. My anger and objections were merely ignored.

The case number is E/20071021/0158 with the Tanglin Police Division Headquarters.

So you decide for yourself, is Singapore Law for real or just a farce!!!

Thank you for reading my thread.

[Al Fakhem]

I see you're writing your story from the safe haven of NYC, obviously having left Singpaore afraid of what sentence LKY will instruct the judge to dish out to you for badmouthing his Fried Rice Paradise :ouch:

[ArkPilot]

AF,

Your racist moniker belies the content of pointless messages which attack the leadership of Singapore in a vile and bigotted manner.

I notice that you are also publishing from a location outside Singapore and while you are entitled to your opinion, no matter how baseless and disgusting, your constant attacks and name calling lessen your credibility more, if that's possible.

PNY,
Thank you for your story. I will be interested in reading the reports of others.

[Left Coaster]

Ok...how about the school bus driver that refused to drop off his charges as they were acting up on his bus? Happened today...a BOY threw a cockroach into my daughters hair (Boys...!) and she freaked on the kid...(girls...!) The result was that the driver started shouting and told the kids involved, (and by now there were sides taken on the bus over the bug toss) that he was punishing them by not dropping them off. My wife saw the bus drive right through our condo area and leave with a number of kids standing and looking on in awe. My good wife managed to get the bus to stop and got the story, although she had to listen to the bus driver screaming at her that it was none of her business! She happened to mention to him that by holding children against their will he was looking at a kidnapping charge and he decided all of a sudden that he couldn't speak english anymore...needless to say the school has been notified and a charge will be considered...I hope the police can sort out your assault problem, and will watch this space for any progress....aaahhhh Singapore...

[faheel]

Whilst I sympathise with your problems with neighbors renovating their premises ( I have been thru the same thing 2 or 3 times ) I cannot for the life of me see what this has to do even remotely with aviation :confused:

[PNY]

Left Coaster,

Please be assured that the standard response after investigations will be the exact same, "that he will be given a stern warning"

Faheel,

I understand your point but I put this on pprune bacause Singaproe sends a message to the world when they put a 30-year vetern pilot of its national airline on criminal charges for a seemingly harmless prank (No, I do not know who the Pilot is) but I have seen so much worse everyday in Singapore such as me getting assulted by a permitless HDB contractor on a Sunday and the standard response is "he will be given a stern warning". Hmm.. please, also I mean no harm no to you or your country sir... thank you!

[Al Fakhem]

AP:

Since your location is Singapore, you will be excused by the people living in the real world for believing that the only information worth reading is what comes out of the Straits Times.

If you do not believe that the Lee family run the city of Singapore (or should that be: the Great Nation of Singapore) like a family fiefdom, please explain the position of LKY himself (or should that be: the Great Leader) as Mentor Minister in the context of the Singapore constitution. What exactly is the old man's position within it?

Or are you perhaps a manager of a government-supervised charity, such as the NKF (National Kidney Foundation) who is on a "peanut" salary of S$ 600,000 plus a year and thus happy to not only turn a blind eye to what goes on around you, but to even repeat the propaganda your beloved leaders vomit day after day?

Have you ever spent a few minutes of brain time over the statistical unlikelyhood that the only person apparently qualified to run Singapore is LKY's son, whose wife just happens to be the only suitable person to run Temasek?

Check out "Myanmar on My Mind" by Matthew Sim, a Singapore diplomat, who in his book offers the following piece of advice on doing business: “A little money goes a long way in greasing the wheels of productivity." This coming from a Singapore government official, do you truly believe all this cr@p from the Lee family that Singapore is a corruption-free meritocracy?

Get a life!

[rdr]

The Judicial System In Singapore Is The Most Efficient In The World, But Functions On The Same Principles As Any Other Country.
Justice Depends On, Like Other Countries
1. Who You Know
2. Who You Are. (btw The Status Of The Airline Pilot In Singapore Has Been Brought Down To A Joke Over The Past 30 Years)
3. The Colour Of Your Skin ( To A Certain Extent)
4. Your Importance To The Country.
Serious Crime Is Non-negotiable, And Everyday Law And Order Enforcement Is Exemplarary. The Little Scraps People May Have Are Attempted To Be Resolved Without Prosecution Or Litigation. That Is Why The System Is So Efficient. ( An Unclogged Apparatus)
My Opinion Is That Its Better To Emerge With A Bruised Ego, Than To Contend With Countless Visits To The Station And Lawyers Offices. And At The Same Time Know That You And Your Family Are In The Safest City In The World.
Dont Take Matters Into Your Own Hands, Call The Cops.

[Thermal Image]

What sort of action are you demanding from the cops? That they arrest the contractor? That they beat him senseless with their truncheon? That they teach him a Rodney King lesson?

Consult a lawyer. He will tell you that what has happened is a non-seizable offence. Here is some free advice. The police have no powers of arrest on the culprit if they themselves do not witness the event and there is no serious bodily injury, such as a multiple stabbing or a broken arm or lots of blood. Do you really think that if you were back home, that the culprit would actually get handcuffed and led away? What happened was really just your word against his. No cop witnessed any assault. As simple as that.

It has got nothing to do with whether you are a local, a visitor or PR. All complainants in such a scenario will receive the same treatment from the police.

You are still free to launch a civil suit against the contractor who manhandled you. Go ahead. Get some satisfaction. Because the police will not supply it.

Did you subject yourself to a medical report to document any bruises? Or is the word "strongly gripped my upper right arm tightly" merely your opinion and not a fact, for example, that blood flow to your arm was choked off and caused some kind of visible or neurological damage lasting several days?

You can paint any kind of picture with your words. You have an advantage over the contractor here, who probably can't write as well. But he has his workers to say that perhaps you behaved in an aggressive manner and he acted within his rights to throw you out. And of course, if you paint such a dramatic picture, but don't have medical proof to back up your version of what happened, just too bad. You then come out looking like someone who obviously embellished the facts.

Illegal work for the day? So what? If you see someone jaywalking across your path, are you going to jump out of your car and arrest him? The correct thing to do was to call the police and wait for their arrival. But you escalated the situation.

Hearing construction work at 5.20pm on a Sunday afternoon is not exactly something that enrages a reasonable person. It could well be that your behaviour of barging into the flat triggered a response from the contractor. But of course, you claim that it was the insistence of the workers that you speak to their boss that led you to enter in the first place. Why else would you dare to enter if not for such a condition? Your story is perfect, isn't it?

You may also like to know that 20 minutes response time is well within normal standards for what is really just a dispute between neighbours.

Why not write to the Straits Times Forum if you feel so aggrieved?

[BANANASBANANAS]

A similar thing happened in our condo block a few months back. Only this was persistent for several sundays. On the third sunday I spoke with the contractors who agreed to stop. By the time I had got back to my unit they had started again. So I confiscated their hammer drill. Then I rang the police and told them what I had done and why I had done it.

The police response was "unless or until we receive a complaint from the contractor there is nothing we can do. And even if the contractor makes a complaint we can only ensure that his drill is returned. And if we have to do that we will also ensure that the contractor uses it in compliance with any restrictions on its hours of use."

Seemed like justice to me!

[parabellum]

There is a law in Singapore about the use of hammer drills on a Sunday but the only people who can enforce it are the police.
It should have been reported to them as soon as it started, they are then required to follow up a reported illegal action.
By waiting until 17.30 you have effectively condoned all that went before, haven't you?
I managed to get it stopped around 07.30 one Sunday morning, the contractor knew that if he started again he would have trouble with the police, not me.

Sorry PNY but I think you went about it the wrong way, Thermal Image has it in a nutshell.

[PNY]

Well, its Tuesday morning here in Singapore and the HDB officer for our building advised us yesterday that when he checked the contractor particulars supplied to the Police on Sunday against HDB records he discovered no license or permit existed for this contractor.

So when they started the work this morning at 9:20am in Toa Payoh, we called the assigned HDB officer, and he came with the Police at 10am and their tools, truck and personel have now been detained. Some of the workers do not even have the right type of visa...

Perhaps, he got away with the assault but we got his business... YES there is justice in Singapore! :)

[rdr]

pny
Most Crime In Singapore Is Committed By People From Outside The Country. The Average Singaporean Is Law Abiding And Non-confrontational, Most Of The Time To A Fault.
Before You Start Celebrating, Remember That Many Dont Neccessarily Follow Your Rules Of Life And Fairplay.
Keep Your Head Down Bubba, And Good Luck

[parabellum]

Those workers without the correct visa. They will be whisked into detention, will serve a short sentence and then be deported, forbidden to enter Singapore ever again. Those workers earn a pittance and support large families in Bangladesh and similar impoverished countries, well, they did until this morning, now several dozen people will be without financial support.
I don't agree with illegal immigration anywhere but Singapore is one place it really doesn't adversely effect anyone as the Singaporeans simply won't do the jobs the illegals do and illegals never, ever, get an amnesty or accepted on welfare.

"but we got his business... YES there is justice in Singapore!"

For you, maybe, but I don't think it is anything to gloat over.