Man jailed for more than 2 years for extorting S$104 from schoolboys, slapping one twice
SINGAPORE — A 32-year-old man heard a schoolboy chanting a secret society slogan and decided to “discipline” the teenager and his friends by slapping him and threatening to call the police on them. He also extorted S$104 from them.
Chia Kok Long was sentenced to two years and three months in jail, and one stroke of cane on Tuesday (May 22) after pleading guilty to voluntarily causing hurt and extortion.
At about 9.30am on Oct 13 last year, Chia came across the five schoolboys at the void deck of Block 2 Hougang Avenue 3. The boys’ ages range between 14 and 15, and they are students at Holy Innocents’ Secondary School and Saint Andrew’s Secondary School.
Chia was seated on a chair at the void deck when the boys walked past, and one of the two boys from St Andrew’s Secondary School spontaneously chanted a secret society slogan in Hokkien.
Chia shouted at them, and uttered Hokkien vulgarities as he approached the group. He then asked if they “play gang”. When the boys denied it, Chia persisted and asked if they “play” at specific blocks in Hougang.
After the second denial, Chia gave the boy who chanted the slogan a hard slap on his cheek. This was witnessed by a passer-by, Mr Pek Nam Kee, 56, who was walking past the void deck.
Chia then threatened to call the Police’s Secret Societies Branch before Mr Pek intervened to ask what was going on, but he was told to go away.
Keeping watch from a distance, Mr Pek saw Chia demand that the boys take out their wallets and hand their money over to him, or he would call the police.
Four of the boys handed over their money, which ranged from S$5 to S$50. The remaining boy was able to remove the cash from his wallet before handing the wallet over.
Chia also told the boys that they could get their money back if they were able to defeat him in a fight. When the boy who angered him with the chant apologised to him, Chia gave him another slap on his cheek, before telling them to “call their boss down”.
Court documents did not state why, but Chia then decided to return them S$20, with the exception of the boy he had slapped.
Chia then asked for the victims’ schools, and the three boys from Holy Innocents’ High School were allowed to leave. The schoolmate of the boy who was slapped apologised to Chia, and asked if he could return his friend’s money to him, but Chia refused and left the void deck.
Mr Pek approached the boys after Chia had left, and advised them to make a police report.
Chia’s identity was traced through investigations, and he was arrested after reporting to the Ang Mo Kio Divisional Headquarters that same evening. Among the items seized from him were S$70 in cash, and a Superman cap.
In sentencing Chia, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim said the boys “were just boisterous” in their chanting of the secret society slogan, and even if he had suspicions, he should have detained the boys and called the police instead.
The court also heard that this is not Chia’s first brush with the law. In September 2012, he was sentenced to three months’ jail for cheating offences, among other crimes.
Chia’s sentence will be backdated to Oct 14, 2017, the date of his remand.
