Ng Kim Ngweng guilty, jailed 6 months

March 30, 2009

Threat to hurt MP case

Man guilty, jailed 6 months

By Elena Chong, Courts Correspondent
		Ng Kim Ngweng (left) was sentenced to six months' jail on Monday after he was convicted of threatening to cause hurt to a Member of Parliament. --PHOTO: SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE

RAG-AND-BONE man Ng Kim Ngweng was sentenced to six months' jail on Monday after he was convicted of threatening to cause hurt to a Member of Parliament.

The 49-year-old was found guilty after an eight-day trial of threatening to cause hurt to MP for Jalan Besar GRC Denise Phua on Jan 12.

He called the hotline, Reaching Everyone for Active Citizenry @ Home (Reach), and told the operator that he could not take it anymore, and he did not know what he would do one day.

He said to customer service officer Tan Chia Yong in Mandarin: 'I can't be sure on that... How can you don't hit her? I get angry when I see her so how can I don't hit her?'

The prosecution witnesses had testified that Ng was shouting and spoke in an aggressive tone throughout the conversations. He had also mentioned the previous day's torching of MP for Yio Chu Kang, Mr Seng Han Thong, at a community event.

He called to lodge a 'complaint' against his MP and claimed he had received insufficient financial assistance from her. He also alleged that the victim had frequently insulted him.

But Ms Phua said that Ng had been receiving help from her and the Central Singapore Community Development Council (CDC) for some time. In January he got $200 in cash from his CDC and a $35 voucher for service and conservancy charges.

Ng has previous convictions for theft, criminal intimidation, causing hurt and breach of protection order.

Pressing for a stiff sentence, Deputy Public Prosecutor Imran Abdul Hamid said Ng's convictions pointed to his propensity to resort to violence as a way for settling disputes. He said no one should live and work in fear.

In this case, the threat that Ng uttered had ramifications to the victim's work as an MP. District Judge Liew Thiam Leng said threats to cause injury must be taken seriously and the victim concerned in this case was certainly affected in the discharge of her personal and work commitments.

Ng, whose sentence was backdated to Feb 4, could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined.

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