http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Courts%2Band%2BCrime/STIStory_194094.html
Jan 8, 2008
Ex-teen actor starts jail term for insubordination in NS
By David Boey
FORMER teen actor Marcus Ng Yi Loong, 21, began his one-week jail
term on Tuesday after he failed in his appeal to get the sentence
for insubordination quashed.
The High Court on Tuesday upheld the jail sentence meted out by a
Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) court martial in July last year. He
was also reprimanded by a Military Court of Appeal for being rude
to his superior.
This is the second time he has been hauled up since he started his
military service in September 2006.
Ng, who holds the rank of Private, is perhaps best-known as the
rebellious teen in the TV sitcom Phua Chu Kang.
Ng's troubles in the SAF began in October 2006 when his superiors
at the SAF Medical Training Institute slapped him with four charges
for offences including not obeying orders.
In February last year, while he was being investigated by the SAF
legal process, Ng chased and argued aggressively with a 50-year-old
woman Warrant Officer in his unit's Operations Room.
A Master Warrant Officer, a trained Commando, saw the altercation
and intervened.
Ng rudely shrugged off the Master Warrant Officer's hand when he
tried to calm the Private.
For this, Ng faced two more charges: one for insubordinate
behaviour after the Operations Room argument, and another for
improper conduct.
Last July, an SAF court martial found him guilty of these charges
and sentenced him to seven days jail at the SAF Detention Barracks
for each charge.
Unhappy with the sentence, Ng lodged a Notice of Appeal - a legal
right for all SAF serviceman to seek redress - and was granted a
hearing by a five-person panel chaired by Justice Choo Han
Teck.
In the meantime, Ng was fined $500 for two of the earlier charges
and acquitted on the other charges.
On Tuesday, Ng's defence lawyer, Mr Wendell Wong from Drew &
Napier, said a jail term was 'the harshest punishment I've ever
seen for this sort of offence'' and urged the panel to quash the
convictions or impose a fine instead.
But Mr Luke Tan, head of Military Law at the Ministry of Defence,
argued: 'This is akin to a case where a person is on bail. Has he
learnt anything from it? No, he goes one up and goes after two
other officers.'
'It would be inappropriate to give a little slap on the risk by
imposing a fine as that would be of little consequence to
him.''
Some 25 people, including Ng's mother, Madam Florence Tan, 58, were
in court when the panel reached a unanimous decision to uphold the
first charge and reduce the second sentence to a reprimand.
He appeared teary-eyed when led away to begin his sentence.
