Pastor tried to cheat on three-quarter tank
rule
He tampered with fuel gauge; gets two
weeks' jail for lying to officer
By SELINA LUM
A CHURCH pastor tried to drive to Malaysia with about a quarter
tank of fuel in his car, breaching the three-quarter tank rule for
vehicles leaving Singapore.
The car's fuel indicator, however, showed he had a three-
quarter tank of petrol.
When questioned by an immigration officer, Steven Yang
Suan Piau, 47, twice maintained that the indicator was correct and
that the fuel gauge had not been tampered with.
But a check of his car showed otherwise.
The pastor with Eternal Life Baptist Church in Kim Keat
Road was sentenced to two weeks' jail after he pleaded guilty to
giving false information under the Customs Act.
Another charge of failing to comply with the
three-quarter tank rule was taken into consideration.
He is appealing against the sentence and is out on
$15,000 bail until the appeal hearing.
Yesterday, Senior District Judge See Kee Oon's written
explanation of the grounds for the sentence was published.
In it, he noted that two weeks' jail was the sentencing
norm and there were no exceptional reasons to warrant a
non-custodial sentence for Yang.
The incident happened around midnight on Jan 3 when the
pastor was at the Woodlands Checkpoint.
As the car was being given the routine fuel gauge check
by officers of the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, Yang was
asked about the accuracy of the fuel indicator.
He said it was correct and had not been tampered with but
an officer found a remote control inside the car's coin
compartment.
When the officer pressed the remote control, the
indicator moved down to its actual level, below the one-quarter
mark.
Yang's lawyer Peter Ong, pleading with the court not to
send him to jail, said he was a person of good character and
contributed actively to the community with volunteer work.
Mr Ong said Yang was aware of the three-quarter tank rule
but committed the offence in a moment of indiscretion, panic and
confusion.
But Judge See said Yang was asked twice about the fuel
gauge. "He chose not to come clean but to perpetuate his
subterfuge."
The judge added that Yang's work and contributions to the
community were not relevant mitigating factors.
"Indeed, it could be said that he ought to have been even
more conscious than most of the need to admit to his transgressions
instead of lying twice to attempt to avoid the consequences."
The penalty for giving false information under the
Customs Act is a fine of up to $5,000 or a jail term of up to a
year, or both.
Home, The Straits Times, Friday, July 20 2012, Pg B15
