10 years’ jail for man who fled S’pore after stabbing incident

SINGAPORE — Sixteen years after fatally stabbing a man in the heart and fleeing the country, See Chee Keong, 50, was yesterday sentenced to 10 years’ jail after pleading guilty to one count of culpable homicide.

The High Court heard that on May 17, 2000, See, who was a member of the Sio Ang Kun secret society, was having supper in the wee hours of the morning along River Valley Road with four gang members: Robson Tay, a member of the Lo Kuan secret society, and fellow Sio Ang Kun members Ong Chin Huat, Lim Hin Teck and William Ho.

Lim complained about the victim, Leong Fook Weng, saying Leong owed him money. The five of them then drove over to a funeral wake at Upper Boon Keng Road that Leong was attending, confronted and assaulted him. Leong claimed that he was also a member of Lo Kuan and agreed to return the money.

They then took Leong to meet Lo Kuan’s chief Tay Kim Guan at a petrol station in Tanjong Katong, so that he could return S$1,000 to Tay. After the repayment, however, Tay said that Leong was no longer a member of Lo Kuan and therefore not under his protection.

Leong then tried fleeing in a taxi but was stopped and assaulted by See, Lim and Robson Tay. He was beaten up when he tried to board the taxi, then dragged into See’s car and continually assaulted.

He was then driven to Kheam Hock Road and beaten up again by the three men.

Using a 5cm-long blade concealed in a lighter, See stabbed Leong in the neck and chest.

Lim stripped Leong down to his underwear and took his wallet before leaving the scene with the others.

The next day, See fled to Thailand. He was later arrested in Cambodia on Dec 3 that same year for drug trafficking and sentenced to 18 years’ jail.

He served 13 years before receiving a royal pardon in November 2013, and was deported to Singapore and arrested.

Calling for a 10-year jail term for See, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Anandan Bala cited several aggravating factors.

The “brutal and prolonged assault” was committed by a group rather than one person, of which See was the most culpable, having stabbed Leong in the heart with a deadly weapon.

There was clearly premeditation involved, since See had fled the country after the fatal assault, he said. And there were also “secret society undertones to the group violence employed”, given that the attackers were gang members.

Hooliganism should not be condoned and a strong message must be sent to deter such conduct, the DPP added.

The defence, which asked for eight years’ imprisonment, said that See had led “a miserable life” overseas. The father of four — who has three children with his ex-wife and a son with his current wife — “regrets what he has done” and “misses his family and his children”, his lawyer James Bahadur Masih said.

Mr Masih added that See, who was also under the influence of drugs, having taken three kinds before the assault, wanted to teach Leong a lesson for switching loyalties between gangs.

Of the attackers, Robson Tay was sentenced to nine years’ jail and 12 strokes of the cane in 2003 for culpable homicide, while Ho was jailed six months for not reporting the crime. Ong and Lim fled the country after the killing and remain at large.

For culpable homicide not amounting to murder, See could have been jailed for life, or up to 20 years’ jail and fined or caned.