SINGAPORE – When army regular Shawnald Lee Hong Heng returned home to find a man in his bedroom looking like he was trying to take advantage of his wife, he punched him in the face several times.

The victim, Mr Donovan Quek Hon Yong, had fractures in the eye socket area as well as loose and chipped teeth.

On Tuesday (July 26), Lee, 25, a military expert in the SAF, was jailed for five weeks for hurting Mr Quek, 25, at his Yishun flat on July 10 in 2015. He pleaded guilty.

Investigations showed that Mr Quek and Lee’s wife, Ms Wong Kai Yan, 23, had been out drinking with friends in a pub at about 1am that day.

As Ms Wong was drunk, Mr Quek helped to send her home in a taxi.

Shortly later, Lee returned home, accompanied by his friend, Mr Tan Jing Sheng, 25, who waited at the void deck as they intended to go out drinking if Ms Wong was already asleep.

When Lee saw his wife lying on the bed looking drowsy and Mr Quek sitting on the same side of the bed, he presumed Mr Quek was trying to take advantage of her and punched the victim in his face several times.

Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Jason Chua said Lee stopped only when his wife intervened.

Lee later went downstairs. He and Mr Tan went to the flat to get Mr Quek to explain.

But when Lee saw the victim still at his home, he tried to hit Mr Quek but was restrained by Mr Tan. Lee’s wife told him it was a misunderstanding.

Mr Quek left shortly and took a taxi to Yishun North Neighbourhood Police Centre to lodge a police report. He was taken to hospital for medical examination.

Earlier this year, Mr Quek had dental implants to replace the upper teeth.

Lee’s lawyer T.M. Sinnadurai had asked the court to consider probation. He said his client found his wife in her underwear, and became emotionally disturbed and lost his self-control. He said Lee is taking care of their young daughter as his wife is now in a drug rehabilitation centre.

DPP Chua said Lee only told the police in his statement that his wife was not wearing a shirt as she had vomited and taken it off. He said the prosecution could not confirm whether she was in her bra and panties as her legs were covered with a blanket.

He said probation was inappropriate and asked for a sentence of six to 10 weeks’ jail.

Lee could have been jailed for up to two years and/or fined up to $5,000 for causing hurt.

This article was first published on July 26, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

SINGAPORE – He would make bookings for rides at odd hours of the night or give bogus destinations and pick-up locations.

Once, he even booked a ride with Pulau Ubin as his destination.

These were a few of the ways in which Mr Peter Quek had harrassed drivers with ride-hailing service GrabCar over nine months since November last year.

Grab, the firm behind GrabCar, said it has “permanently banned” Mr Quek from the ride-hailing platform after investigating a complaint against him from a driver.

This is believed to be the first reported case of someone who has been banned from a ride sharing service for harassing its drivers.

“We take a very serious view on abuse of our platform. Abusers of our platform, be it a driver or passenger, will have their access to the platform revoked, and severe cases escalated to law enforcers,” said a Grab spokesman.

The Straits Times understands that Mr Quek is a driver with SMRT Taxis in his 30s or 40s. He could not be reached for comments.

SMRT corporate information and communications vice-president Patrick Nathan said the transport operator was conducting its own investigations into the matter.

Besides giving fake destinations or pick-up points, Mr Quek would make excuses not to board the ride after the driver had arrived, claiming he had already gotten a taxi.

He would then force drivers to cancel the booking, a move which would affect the driver’s cancellation rate and reduce the incentive payment they receive from Grab.

GrabCar driver Eliza Shen said she filed a police report – a copy of which was seen by ST – against Mr Quek last Wednesday (July 20) after being harassed by him in WhatsApp messaging groups and Facebook discussion groups.

She said that even though there were other GrabCar drivers directing angry comments at Quek, he saw her as an easy target because she was a woman.

He called her a ‘chio bu’ (attractive woman) and said she was ‘not bad looking’. “They were all very sexist comments,” said Ms Shen.

He also persisted in posting photos of her son, which he took from her Facebook account, in instant messaging chat groups and on Facebook, she said, even though she had told him not to do so.

This article was first published on July 27, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

SINGAPORE – A recent investigation conducted by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) has found that rabbit bag chains sold in Singapore are made of real rabbit fur.

SPCA said in a Facebook post on Monday (July 25) afternoon that the chains’ rise in popularity and feedback from concerned members of the public had spurred the investigation.

The post has garnered over 2,100 shares and nearly 200 comments.

Facebook user Yuki Kristen said some shops are selling these “very smooth and super soft” chains at $28 each.

During its investigation of chains sold in numerous shops, some sellers told SPCA that the fur was real, while others said it was not.

Based on its own in-house tests, which included microscopic examinations that compared the fur used in the chains with real rabbit fur and synthetic fur, SPCA concluded that the fur used in the chains was real.

“Fur is often obtained with much animal suffering and in Singapore, there is simply no excuse to wear fur, even as an accessory,” SPCA wrote in its post.

“Exercise your right as a consumer to refuse this symbol of excessive cruelty.”

It is not known what type of rabbit fur was used in the making of the chains being sold here.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, an Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority (AVA) spokesman said the import of animal products – including rabbit fur keychains – derived from species protected under the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna & Flora (CITES) have to comply with the necessary CITES requirements.

“Some rabbit species, such as the Assam rabbit and the volcano rabbit, are endangered species protected under CITES Appendix I, for which international trade in their parts and products is strictly prohibited,” the spokesman added.

Finished animal products derived from non-CITES listed animals, however, do not require import permits from the AVA as they pose minimal disease risk to humans and animals.

This article was first published on July 26, 2016.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.