Well, the 41-year-old grandson of the founder of Shaw Organisation and former Singapore Environment Council executive director was sentenced to 12 week's jail for paid sex with an underage girl. By comparison, the former principal of Pei Chun Public School was given 9 weeks' jail for a similar offence. The difference is that the principal took his bitter medicine at one go, no excuses offered, while Howard's lawyer tried to argue there was "collusion and deceit" involved, and a custodial sentence for an offence which has no mandatory jail sentence or even a minimum fine would be "absolutely draconian".
Howard is filing for an appeal, a route that could result in extended jail time. Singaporean student Ram Puneet Tiwary may have been acquitted of the murder charge on a technicality at an appeals court, but we are not in Australia, mate. Here, the prosecution likes to win. Considering what was dished out to the principal and the scion, those still mulling over their fates should simply plea guilty, stop wasting the public prosecutor's time, and get on with their lives.
One outstanding question is why this underage whore is so special. One of the latest batch to be charged is the founder of toy company Stikfas. 5 foreigners were also snared in the honey trap, including a 40-year-old Swiss expatriate from banking giant UBS. One client actually paid just for a chat with her, and skipped the main course. What pearls of wisdom can a 17 year old possibly bestow on established businessmen, worldly professionals, and high flyer civil servants? Imaginative minds have it that she is related to some bigshot. If they can't nail the father, they can at least do it to his daughter.
And why is it with so many grown up men (and their lawyers) involved, not a single soul has "accidentally" leaked her identity? It appears she's more closely guarded than the KFC recipe.
In "Dark Knight", second of the Batman triology, District Attorney Harvey Dent drags all the crooks into one court. In real life, all 5 of the City Harvest accused stood in the same subordinate court to face the charges. So how is it guys who ended up in her little back book have to be charged and sentenced on piece meal basis? Here the conspiracy theory is that the charade is played out in installments to deflect from the many price hikes planned in advance, the most recent being the service and conservancy charges (S&CC) rolled out by 7 PAP town councils.
Whatever the hidden agenda, this is one case where we wish the pace could be speeded up, as in wham, bam, thank you ma'am. The prices may have been stiff, but the public has a limited attention span.
Posts
I love this piece!
ReplyDeleteIn fact, that conjucture that it was meant to deflect our attention on the upcoming & ongoing increases have my vote.
No wonder the PAP govt want to control every thing including police , military, etc to create coincidence of diversion for unpopular decisions, so to release info and charge piecewise in the most appropriate timing. Notice so many things are delayed until the hougang election is over so that pap will not be disadvantage ?
ReplyDeleteIndeed. From life time imprisonment to 48 yrs jail sentence to walking scot-free,can only happen in Kangaroo court. Here, we have enough materials for any authors to pen a book on 50 shades of grey in 6 months.
ReplyDeleteHow much more do they have to sell more of the beleaguered papers?!
Bloody elites.
ReplyDeleteEven when they fornicate, taxpayers' money is wasted sorting out their mess.
Why can't they go to Geylang like everybody else.
LOL! Guess they are too atas to be seen at Geylang. They head for places like MBS, and gets captured on the CCTV!
DeleteAfter elections they have salary review and reduction and some ministries axed. Now they are creating newer ministries again with more ministers. I think people now have better memory thanks to the internet. We will not forget.
ReplyDeleteUnless YuckCock succeeds with his internet code of practice.
DeletePerhaps the delay in sentences are meant to bring pain to those who defy the charges.
ReplyDeleteMen who play around seem to be getting more daring. More are commiting sex-related offences and are being covered in the news.
There must be many just waiting to be uncovered. Eg : many teachers and staff having affairs and sex with students and women for fringe benefits, top decision makers and position holders who engage in sex with sales representatives for sales etc.
Funny that you should mention but I know of a case involving an ex Principal (Goh Lay Guan of Bedok South Sec Sch) who now works part time for MOE and NIE and who goes around picking up female teachers (especially divorced ones). One of his recent "catches" is a divorced mother of two teen aged boys from Edgefield Primary School. Apparently this man likes to brag about his "million dollar private house" and his "happy wife and successful adult kids" to teachers who attend his courses. Then under the guise of offering free tuition or counselling to his targets (who being single and divorced have delinquent kids), he would get to know them emotionally and eventually "bed" them (or it is rumoured that he has sex with them in his red colored car at various secluded spots around Singapore). So much for MOE's effort to lead and teach our kids morally!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI just read Ram Puneet Tiwary's book '99 Months'.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like the statement you made about his acquittal being 'a technicality' is waaaay off.
Recommended reading for anyone who wants to discover how corrupt police and media reporting affects public perception.