Vandalism Act (Singapore)
Encyclopedia
The Vandalism Act is a statute of the Parliament
of Singapore
that criminalizes a number of different acts done in relation to public and private property, namely, stealing, destroying or damaging public property; and, without the property owner's written consent, writing, drawing, painting, marking or inscribing the property; affixing posters, placards, etc., to the property; and suspending or displaying on or from the property any flag, banner, etc.
In addition to a fine or jail term, the Act imposes mandatory
corporal punishment
of between three and eight strokes of the cane
for second or subsequent convictions. Caning is also imposed for first convictions for defacing property using an indelible substance; and stealing, destroying or damaging public property. The Children and Young Persons Act ("CYPA") states that the High Court
may impose a caning penalty on juvenile offenders as well. In a 1968 case, the High Court held that despite the wording of this provision, a subordinate court
may sentence juveniles to caning under the Vandalism Act as that Act takes precedence over the CYPA.
The 1994 conviction of 18-year-old American citizen Michael P. Fay
for vandalizing cars using spray paint, and the sentence of six strokes of the cane imposed on him, provoked much controversy with both condemnation and support from Americans. Following a request by US President
Bill Clinton
for clemency
, President
Ong Teng Cheong
commuted
Fay's caning sentence from six to four strokes. In 2010, a Swiss national, Oliver Fricker
, pleaded guilty to charges of trespassing into a Mass Rapid Transit
depot and spray-painting a train with an accomplice, and was sentenced to five months' jail and three strokes of the cane. On appeal, the High Court increased his total jail term to seven months.
as the Punishment for Vandalism Bill on 17 August 1966. At the second reading of the bill on 26 August, its introducer, the Minister of State for Defence
Wee Toon Boon, said that Members of Parliament
were aware of the reasons for the bill
Taking part in the Parliamentary debate, the Prime Minister
Lee Kuan Yew
commented that the bill, which sought to impose a mandatory
caning sentence
on persons convicted for the first time of vandalism with an indelible substance, was a "departure from what is normal criminal law legislation". However, the punishment was necessary because
The bill was committed to a Committee of the whole House
, read a third time and passed the same day. It was assented to by the President of Singapore
on 31 August, and came into force on 16 September 1966. As of 2010, the Act had not been amended significantly since it was enacted.
In the 1994 case Fay Michael Peter v. Public Prosecutor, the appellant's counsel submitted briefly before the High Court
that the original legislative intent behind the imposition of a caning penalty was to suppress violent political elements which existed in Singapore in the 1960s which had, among other things, inscribed anti-national slogans in public places. However, Chief Justice
Yong Pung How
took the view that it was "too simplistic" to claim that the Act was aimed mainly at punishing riotous anti-national elements: "That may have been one of the more urgent objectives at the time the Act was enacted in 1966 but a reading of the relevant Parliamentary Debates shows that the Legislature was simultaneously concerned with containing anti-social acts of hooliganism."
without the written authority of an authorised officer or representative of the Government
or of the government of any Commonwealth
or foreign country or of any statutory body or authority or of any armed force lawfully present in Singapore
in the case of public property, or without the written consent of the owner or occupier in the case of private property —
Public property means movable
or immovable property
owned by the Government of Singapore, the government of any Commonwealth or foreign country, any statutory body or authority, or any armed force lawfully present in Singapore.
2,000 or imprisonment not exceeding three years, and also corporal punishment
of not less than three strokes and not more than eight strokes of the cane. However, caning will not be imposed on a first conviction if the act carried out falls within section 2(a)(i) and "the writing, drawing, mark or inscription is done with pencil, crayon, chalk or other delible substance or thing and not with paint, tar or other indelible substance or thing", or within sections 2(a)(ii) or (iii).
In the Fay Michael Peter case, the appellant Michael P. Fay
had earlier pleaded guilty before a district judge to two charges of vandalism by spraying red paint on two cars. Twenty other charges were taken into consideration for sentencing purposes, 16 of them charges of vandalism committed with paint. On appeal to the High Court, Fay's counsel argued that the Act, properly interpreted
, showed that Parliament had not intended to punish all acts of vandalism using paint with caning, and that in each case the court had to determine if the paint used was easily removable or not before deciding whether to sentence the defendant to caning. Chief Justice Yong Pung How rejected this submission on the ground that there was no reason to deviate from the plain meaning of the words in the Act. There was no indication in the Act of any Parliamentary intention to subject all acts of vandalism committed with paint to an ad hoc
test of indelibility. He said:
The punishment imposed by the Act is expressly made subject to sections 325(1) and 330(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibit a caning sentence from being imposed on women, men considered by the court to be more than 50 years old, and men sentenced to death
. Caning sentences may be imposed on juveniles above the age of seven years and under 16 years, as the Children and Young Persons Act specifically states that, notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law, no child or young person shall be sentenced by any court other than the High Court to corporal punishment. Despite the express words reserving to the High Court the power to impose the penalty, the Court has held that caning may be imposed on a child or young person by a subordinate court
as the Vandalism Act takes precedence over the Children and Young Persons Act.
. Thus, a person committing such an offence may be arrested without a warrant
by a police officer and, in some circumstances, a private person.
The Act also provides that in the case of a prosecution for dishonestly receiving stolen property under section 411 of the Penal Code
, where the stolen property is public property, it shall be presumed
unless the defendant is able to prove otherwise that the person who received or retained the property knew or had reason to believe that the property was stolen public property, and also that he or she received or retained it dishonestly.
, an American citizen aged 18 years, pleaded guilty to two charges of vandalizing cars by spray-painting them between 17 and 18 September 1993 together with three accomplices. One of the cars belonged to Judicial Commissioner
Amarjeet Singh. Fay was sentenced by a District Court to two months' imprisonment and three strokes of the cane on each charge. The High Court later rejected an appeal against the sentence. The caning sentence provoked much controversy in the United States, and was condemned as cruel and excessive for a non-violent offence. On the other hand, a significant number of Americans supported the penalty, reasoning that American citizens who travelled abroad had to respect the laws of the countries that they visited, and that the United States was not tough enough on its own juvenile offenders. Following a request by US President
Bill Clinton
for clemency
, President
Ong Teng Cheong
commuted
Fay's caning from six to four strokes. The sentence was carried out on 5 May 1994.
A 32-year-old Swiss national, Oliver Fricker
, was charged in court on 5 June 2010 for having allegedly trespassed into the SMRT Corporation
's Changi Depot, a protected place, and vandalized a Mass Rapid Transit
train by spray-painting graffiti on it between the night of 16 May and the early hours of 17 May. The graffiti consisted of the words "McKoy Banos", said to be the signature of two anonymous "artists" who have tagged trains around the world. A Briton, Dane Alexander Lloyd, was also named on the charge sheet, but he was not present in court and was believed to have left Singapore for Hong Kong. A warrant of arrest for Lloyd has been issued by a court, and the authorities will seek to extradite him to stand trial in Singapore if there is an extradition treaty between Singapore and the country where he is found. On 25 June, Fricker pleaded guilty to the charges against him and was sentenced to two months' jail for trespass and three months' jail and three strokes of the cane for vandalism, the jail terms to run consecutively. Both Fricker and the prosecution appealed to the High Court
against the trespass sentence. On 18 August, Justice V.K. Rajah upped the sentence to four months, calling the original sentence "manifestly inadequate", thus requiring Fricker to serve seven months' jail altogether. He also commented that "[w]hile some might regard graffiti as a stimulating and liberating activity that adds colour, spice and variety to a staid environment", such actions were "offensive to the sensibilities of the general public".
Parliament of Singapore
The Parliament of the Republic of Singapore and the President jointly make up the legislature of Singapore. Parliament is unicameral and is made up of Members of Parliament who are elected, as well as Non-constituency Members of Parliament and Nominated Members of Parliament who are appointed...
of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
that criminalizes a number of different acts done in relation to public and private property, namely, stealing, destroying or damaging public property; and, without the property owner's written consent, writing, drawing, painting, marking or inscribing the property; affixing posters, placards, etc., to the property; and suspending or displaying on or from the property any flag, banner, etc.
In addition to a fine or jail term, the Act imposes mandatory
Mandatory sentencing
A mandatory sentence is a court decision setting where judicial discretion is limited by law. Typically, people convicted of certain crimes must be punished with at least a minimum number of years in prison...
corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
of between three and eight strokes of the cane
Caning in Singapore
Caning is a widely used form of legal corporal punishment in Singapore. It can be divided into several contexts: judicial, military, school, reformatory/prison, and domestic/private....
for second or subsequent convictions. Caning is also imposed for first convictions for defacing property using an indelible substance; and stealing, destroying or damaging public property. The Children and Young Persons Act ("CYPA") states that the High Court
High Court of Singapore
The High Court of the Republic of Singapore is the lower division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the upper being the Court of Appeal. It consists of the Chief Justice of Singapore and the Judges of the High Court. Judicial Commissioners are often appointed to assist with the Court's caseload...
may impose a caning penalty on juvenile offenders as well. In a 1968 case, the High Court held that despite the wording of this provision, a subordinate court
Subordinate Courts of Singapore
The Subordinate Courts of Singapore is one of the two tiers of the court system in Singapore, the other tier being the Supreme Court. The Subordinate Courts comprise the District and Magistrate Courts—both of which oversee civil and criminal matters—as well as specialised family, juvenile,...
may sentence juveniles to caning under the Vandalism Act as that Act takes precedence over the CYPA.
The 1994 conviction of 18-year-old American citizen Michael P. Fay
Michael P. Fay
Michael Peter Fay is an American who briefly shot to international notoriety when he was sentenced to caning in Singapore as an 18-year-old in 1994 for theft and vandalism...
for vandalizing cars using spray paint, and the sentence of six strokes of the cane imposed on him, provoked much controversy with both condemnation and support from Americans. Following a request by US President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
for clemency
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...
, President
President of Singapore
The President of the Republic of Singapore is Singapore's head of state. In a Westminster parliamentary system, as which Singapore governs itself, the prime minister is the head of the government while the position of president is largely ceremonial. Before 1993, the President of Singapore was...
Ong Teng Cheong
Ong Teng Cheong
Ong Teng Cheong was the first directly elected President of the Republic of Singapore. He was the nation's fifth President, and served a six-year term from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1999.-Early life:...
commuted
Commutation of sentence
Commutation of sentence involves the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional. Clemency is a similar term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime...
Fay's caning sentence from six to four strokes. In 2010, a Swiss national, Oliver Fricker
Oliver Fricker
Oliver Fricker is the second high-profile foreigner since 1994 to be sentenced to caning for vandalism in Singapore. On 25 June 2010, he was sentenced to five months' jail and three strokes of the cane under the Vandalism Act and Protected Areas and Protected Places Act...
, pleaded guilty to charges of trespassing into a Mass Rapid Transit
Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)
The Mass Rapid Transit or MRT is a rapid transit system that forms the backbone of the railway system in Singapore, spanning the entire city-state. The initial section of the MRT, between Yio Chu Kang Station and Toa Payoh Station, opened in 1987 establishing itself as the second-oldest metro...
depot and spray-painting a train with an accomplice, and was sentenced to five months' jail and three strokes of the cane. On appeal, the High Court increased his total jail term to seven months.
History
The Vandalism Act was introduced into ParliamentParliament of Singapore
The Parliament of the Republic of Singapore and the President jointly make up the legislature of Singapore. Parliament is unicameral and is made up of Members of Parliament who are elected, as well as Non-constituency Members of Parliament and Nominated Members of Parliament who are appointed...
as the Punishment for Vandalism Bill on 17 August 1966. At the second reading of the bill on 26 August, its introducer, the Minister of State for Defence
Ministry of Defence (Singapore)
The Ministry of Defence is a ministry of the Government of Singapore entrusted with overseeing the national defence needs of the Republic of Singapore. It is the headquarters of the Singapore Armed Forces...
Wee Toon Boon, said that Members of Parliament
Members of the Singapore Parliament
The following is a historical list of members for the current and past ten Parliaments of Singapore:-See also:*1st Parliament of Singapore*2nd Parliament of Singapore*3rd Parliament of Singapore*4th Parliament of Singapore*5th Parliament of Singapore...
were aware of the reasons for the bill
Taking part in the Parliamentary debate, the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Singapore
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore is the head of the government of the Republic of Singapore. The President of Singapore appoints as Prime Minister a Member of Parliament who, in his opinion, is most likely to command the confidence of a majority of MPs.The office of Prime Minister...
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew
Lee Kuan Yew, GCMG, CH is a Singaporean statesman. He was the first Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, governing for three decades...
commented that the bill, which sought to impose a mandatory
Mandatory sentencing
A mandatory sentence is a court decision setting where judicial discretion is limited by law. Typically, people convicted of certain crimes must be punished with at least a minimum number of years in prison...
caning sentence
Caning in Singapore
Caning is a widely used form of legal corporal punishment in Singapore. It can be divided into several contexts: judicial, military, school, reformatory/prison, and domestic/private....
on persons convicted for the first time of vandalism with an indelible substance, was a "departure from what is normal criminal law legislation". However, the punishment was necessary because
The bill was committed to a Committee of the whole House
Committee of the Whole
A Committee of the Whole is a device in which a legislative body or other deliberative assembly is considered one large committee. All members of the legislative body are members of such a committee...
, read a third time and passed the same day. It was assented to by the President of Singapore
President of Singapore
The President of the Republic of Singapore is Singapore's head of state. In a Westminster parliamentary system, as which Singapore governs itself, the prime minister is the head of the government while the position of president is largely ceremonial. Before 1993, the President of Singapore was...
on 31 August, and came into force on 16 September 1966. As of 2010, the Act had not been amended significantly since it was enacted.
In the 1994 case Fay Michael Peter v. Public Prosecutor, the appellant's counsel submitted briefly before the High Court
High Court of Singapore
The High Court of the Republic of Singapore is the lower division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the upper being the Court of Appeal. It consists of the Chief Justice of Singapore and the Judges of the High Court. Judicial Commissioners are often appointed to assist with the Court's caseload...
that the original legislative intent behind the imposition of a caning penalty was to suppress violent political elements which existed in Singapore in the 1960s which had, among other things, inscribed anti-national slogans in public places. However, Chief Justice
Chief Justice of Singapore
The Chief Justice of Singapore is the highest post in the judicial system of Singapore. The Chief Justice is appointed by the President, chosen from candidates recommended by the Prime Minister. The present Chief Justice is Chan Sek Keong....
Yong Pung How
Yong Pung How
Yong Pung How, DUT . He was the former Chief Justice of Singapore, serving from 1990 to 2006. Prior to his judicial career, he was a lawyer, banker and senior government official...
took the view that it was "too simplistic" to claim that the Act was aimed mainly at punishing riotous anti-national elements: "That may have been one of the more urgent objectives at the time the Act was enacted in 1966 but a reading of the relevant Parliamentary Debates shows that the Legislature was simultaneously concerned with containing anti-social acts of hooliganism."
Definition of act of vandalism
Section 2 of the Vandalism Act defines an act of vandalism as:without the written authority of an authorised officer or representative of the Government
Government of Singapore
The Government of Singapore is defined by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore to mean the Executive branch of government, which is made up of the President and the Cabinet of Singapore. Although the President acts in his personal discretion in the exercise of certain functions as a check...
or of the government of any Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
or foreign country or of any statutory body or authority or of any armed force lawfully present in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
in the case of public property, or without the written consent of the owner or occupier in the case of private property —
-
- (i) writing, drawing, painting, marking or inscribing on any public property or private property any word, slogan, caricature, drawing, mark, symbol or other thing;
- (ii) affixing, posting up or displaying on any public property or private property any poster, placard, advertisement, bill, notice, paper or other document; or
- (iii) hanging, suspending, hoisting, affixing or displaying on or from any public property or private property any flag, bunting, standard, banner or the like with any word, slogan, caricature, drawing, mark, symbol or other thing; or stealing, destroying or damaging any public property.
Public property means movable
Personal property
Personal property, roughly speaking, is private property that is moveable, as opposed to real property or real estate. In the common law systems personal property may also be called chattels or personalty. In the civil law systems personal property is often called movable property or movables - any...
or immovable property
Immovable property
Immovable property is an immovable object, an item of property that cannot be moved without destroying or altering it - property that is fixed to the Earth, such as land or a house. In the United States it is also commercially and legally known as real estate and in Britain as property...
owned by the Government of Singapore, the government of any Commonwealth or foreign country, any statutory body or authority, or any armed force lawfully present in Singapore.
Offences and penalties
Notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law, it is an offence under the Act to commit any act of vandalism, attempt to do any such act, or cause any such act to be done. Upon conviction, the penalty is a fine not exceeding S$Singapore dollar
The Singapore dollar or Dollar is the official currency of Singapore. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively S$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
2,000 or imprisonment not exceeding three years, and also corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
of not less than three strokes and not more than eight strokes of the cane. However, caning will not be imposed on a first conviction if the act carried out falls within section 2(a)(i) and "the writing, drawing, mark or inscription is done with pencil, crayon, chalk or other delible substance or thing and not with paint, tar or other indelible substance or thing", or within sections 2(a)(ii) or (iii).
In the Fay Michael Peter case, the appellant Michael P. Fay
Michael P. Fay
Michael Peter Fay is an American who briefly shot to international notoriety when he was sentenced to caning in Singapore as an 18-year-old in 1994 for theft and vandalism...
had earlier pleaded guilty before a district judge to two charges of vandalism by spraying red paint on two cars. Twenty other charges were taken into consideration for sentencing purposes, 16 of them charges of vandalism committed with paint. On appeal to the High Court, Fay's counsel argued that the Act, properly interpreted
Statutory interpretation
Statutory interpretation is the process by which courts interpret and apply legislation. Some amount of interpretation is always necessary when a case involves a statute. Sometimes the words of a statute have a plain and straightforward meaning. But in many cases, there is some ambiguity or...
, showed that Parliament had not intended to punish all acts of vandalism using paint with caning, and that in each case the court had to determine if the paint used was easily removable or not before deciding whether to sentence the defendant to caning. Chief Justice Yong Pung How rejected this submission on the ground that there was no reason to deviate from the plain meaning of the words in the Act. There was no indication in the Act of any Parliamentary intention to subject all acts of vandalism committed with paint to an ad hoc
Ad hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
test of indelibility. He said:
The punishment imposed by the Act is expressly made subject to sections 325(1) and 330(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, which prohibit a caning sentence from being imposed on women, men considered by the court to be more than 50 years old, and men sentenced to death
Capital punishment in Singapore
Capital punishment is a legal form of punishment in Singapore. The city-state had the highest per-capita execution rate in the world between 1994 and 1999, estimated by the United Nations to be 1.357 executions per hundred thousand of population during that period. The next highest was Turkmenistan...
. Caning sentences may be imposed on juveniles above the age of seven years and under 16 years, as the Children and Young Persons Act specifically states that, notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law, no child or young person shall be sentenced by any court other than the High Court to corporal punishment. Despite the express words reserving to the High Court the power to impose the penalty, the Court has held that caning may be imposed on a child or young person by a subordinate court
Subordinate Courts of Singapore
The Subordinate Courts of Singapore is one of the two tiers of the court system in Singapore, the other tier being the Supreme Court. The Subordinate Courts comprise the District and Magistrate Courts—both of which oversee civil and criminal matters—as well as specialised family, juvenile,...
as the Vandalism Act takes precedence over the Children and Young Persons Act.
Other provisions
Offences under the Act are arrestable and non-bailableBail
Traditionally, bail is some form of property deposited or pledged to a court to persuade it to release a suspect from jail, on the understanding that the suspect will return for trial or forfeit the bail...
. Thus, a person committing such an offence may be arrested without a warrant
Arrest warrant
An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by and on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual.-Canada:Arrest warrants are issued by a judge or justice of the peace under the Criminal Code of Canada....
by a police officer and, in some circumstances, a private person.
The Act also provides that in the case of a prosecution for dishonestly receiving stolen property under section 411 of the Penal Code
Penal Code (Singapore)
The Penal Code of Singapore sets out general principles of the criminal law of Singapore, as well as the elements and penalties of common criminal offences such as homicide, theft and cheating...
, where the stolen property is public property, it shall be presumed
Presumption
In the law of evidence, a presumption of a particular fact can be made without the aid of proof in some situations. The types of presumption includes a rebuttable discretionary presumption, a rebuttable mandatory presumption, and an irrebuttable or conclusive presumption. The invocation of a...
unless the defendant is able to prove otherwise that the person who received or retained the property knew or had reason to believe that the property was stolen public property, and also that he or she received or retained it dishonestly.
Notable cases
On 3 March 1994, Michael P. FayMichael P. Fay
Michael Peter Fay is an American who briefly shot to international notoriety when he was sentenced to caning in Singapore as an 18-year-old in 1994 for theft and vandalism...
, an American citizen aged 18 years, pleaded guilty to two charges of vandalizing cars by spray-painting them between 17 and 18 September 1993 together with three accomplices. One of the cars belonged to Judicial Commissioner
Judicial Commissioner
A Judicial Commissioner in Singapore is appointed to the Supreme Court by the President of Singapore on the advice of the Prime Minister, and has the powers of a Judge. A person may be appointed a Judicial Commissioner if he/she has been a "qualified person" within the meaning of section 2 of the...
Amarjeet Singh. Fay was sentenced by a District Court to two months' imprisonment and three strokes of the cane on each charge. The High Court later rejected an appeal against the sentence. The caning sentence provoked much controversy in the United States, and was condemned as cruel and excessive for a non-violent offence. On the other hand, a significant number of Americans supported the penalty, reasoning that American citizens who travelled abroad had to respect the laws of the countries that they visited, and that the United States was not tough enough on its own juvenile offenders. Following a request by US President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
for clemency
Pardon
Clemency means the forgiveness of a crime or the cancellation of the penalty associated with it. It is a general concept that encompasses several related procedures: pardoning, commutation, remission and reprieves...
, President
President of Singapore
The President of the Republic of Singapore is Singapore's head of state. In a Westminster parliamentary system, as which Singapore governs itself, the prime minister is the head of the government while the position of president is largely ceremonial. Before 1993, the President of Singapore was...
Ong Teng Cheong
Ong Teng Cheong
Ong Teng Cheong was the first directly elected President of the Republic of Singapore. He was the nation's fifth President, and served a six-year term from 1 September 1993 to 31 August 1999.-Early life:...
commuted
Commutation of sentence
Commutation of sentence involves the reduction of legal penalties, especially in terms of imprisonment. Unlike a pardon, a commutation does not nullify the conviction and is often conditional. Clemency is a similar term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime...
Fay's caning from six to four strokes. The sentence was carried out on 5 May 1994.
A 32-year-old Swiss national, Oliver Fricker
Oliver Fricker
Oliver Fricker is the second high-profile foreigner since 1994 to be sentenced to caning for vandalism in Singapore. On 25 June 2010, he was sentenced to five months' jail and three strokes of the cane under the Vandalism Act and Protected Areas and Protected Places Act...
, was charged in court on 5 June 2010 for having allegedly trespassed into the SMRT Corporation
SMRT Corporation
SMRT Corporation is a public transport operator incorporated on March 6, 2000, as a result of an industry overhaul to form multi-modal public-transport operators in Singapore. It is the second-largest public-transport company in Singapore after ComfortDelGro...
's Changi Depot, a protected place, and vandalized a Mass Rapid Transit
Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)
The Mass Rapid Transit or MRT is a rapid transit system that forms the backbone of the railway system in Singapore, spanning the entire city-state. The initial section of the MRT, between Yio Chu Kang Station and Toa Payoh Station, opened in 1987 establishing itself as the second-oldest metro...
train by spray-painting graffiti on it between the night of 16 May and the early hours of 17 May. The graffiti consisted of the words "McKoy Banos", said to be the signature of two anonymous "artists" who have tagged trains around the world. A Briton, Dane Alexander Lloyd, was also named on the charge sheet, but he was not present in court and was believed to have left Singapore for Hong Kong. A warrant of arrest for Lloyd has been issued by a court, and the authorities will seek to extradite him to stand trial in Singapore if there is an extradition treaty between Singapore and the country where he is found. On 25 June, Fricker pleaded guilty to the charges against him and was sentenced to two months' jail for trespass and three months' jail and three strokes of the cane for vandalism, the jail terms to run consecutively. Both Fricker and the prosecution appealed to the High Court
High Court of Singapore
The High Court of the Republic of Singapore is the lower division of the Supreme Court of Singapore, the upper being the Court of Appeal. It consists of the Chief Justice of Singapore and the Judges of the High Court. Judicial Commissioners are often appointed to assist with the Court's caseload...
against the trespass sentence. On 18 August, Justice V.K. Rajah upped the sentence to four months, calling the original sentence "manifestly inadequate", thus requiring Fricker to serve seven months' jail altogether. He also commented that "[w]hile some might regard graffiti as a stimulating and liberating activity that adds colour, spice and variety to a staid environment", such actions were "offensive to the sensibilities of the general public".