SINGAPORE: A church pastor, who was
sentenced to two weeks’ jail for giving false information to
authorities, has been let off with a fine following an appeal.
Steven Yang Suan Piau, a pastor at Eternal Life Baptist Church,
had attempted to leave Singapore for Malaysia on January 3 this
year without the mandatory amount of fuel in his car.
Under the law, a vehicle must have at least three-quarters of
fuel in the tank.
When asked by the customs officer, Yang lied that he had
fulfilled the requirement and that the fuel gauge was not tampered
with.
He was sentenced to two weeks’ jail by Senior District Judge See
Kee Oon, but he made an appeal in the High Court.
In his judgement on Tuesday, Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong said
the district judge had given Yang the benchmark sentence of two
weeks, even though this case is “relatively not a serious
offence”.
He pointed out that Yang had lied to the officer and this is
punishable with a jail term. Still, the chief justice noted that
custodial sentence is for repeat offenders.
He pointed out that Yang is a first offender and a heavy fine
would suffice.
Describing the jail term as “inappropriate and
disproportionate”, CJ Chan said a fine of $4,000 is to be imposed
instead of the two-week jail term.
Under the Customs Act, the maximum penalty is a fine of up to
$5,000 and jail term of up to one year, or both.
- CNA/de
