IN THE first case of its kind, air-con repairman Andrew Kiong
Kheng Kiat, 44, was jailed two weeks on Friday for wounding the
religious feeling of a couple.
A district court heard that on the evening of Feb 2 last year,
housewife Halinah Barudin, 38, found a card on the windscreen of
her car. Written on it, were questions that cast aspersions on
Prophet Muhammad.
Upset, she and her husband Haji Mohamad Dahar Dollah, an air
steward, approached the management of the condominium to view the
footage of the closed-circuit television cameras in the basement
car park.
It showed Kiong putting the card on the couple's car at about
5.30pm on that day.
Mr Mohamad Dahar, 40, then went to the police and Kiong was
tracked down and questioned.
He admitted to printing 16 such cards and had placed eight on
cars that he believed were owned by Muslims.
He was unable to specify the exact locations. He had thrown away
the remaining eight cards after the authorities caught up with
him.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Adrean Loo said that while previous
offenders had been charged with promoting ill-will and hostility
between the different races under the Sedition Act, the offence of
wounding the religious feelings of another person was equally
serious, as both offences carry the maximum punishment of a fine
and a three-year jail term.
Kiong, who was expressionless during the hearing, looked
resigned as he was led away in handcuffs.
-- ST
