Organisers of HolyCrit race event for cyclists jailed and fined

SINGAPORE — Two men who organised and promoted illegal races for cyclists without police approval and permits were sentenced to seven days’ jail and fined S$5,000 by a district court judge.

Eric Khoo Shui Yan, 30 and Zulkifli Awab, 40, each pleaded guilty to a total of four charges under the Road Traffic Act in August — two for promoting a cycling competition without the written approval of the police, and two for conducting an event without a permit.

The court proceeded with charges for two races held along Stadium Drive on Sept 26, 2014, and Tanglin Halt Road on Nov 29 that year. Another 12 charges under the Act were taken into consideration in the sentencing for each man.

Khoo and Zulkifli met through their mutual interest in cycling and came up with the idea of organising a series of races, calling the event HolyCrit. They held eight editions of the race from September 2013 to November 2014 at different locations in Singapore. Cyclists who took part rode on fixed-gear bikes without brakes, also known as fixed-gear cycling.

Racers had to cycle laps around a stipulated route for 35 minutes, and in the two last laps, they would vie with each other to be the first cyclist to cross the finish line.

Each participant had to pay a S$10 registration fee to the two men, and the money would go to a general pool, to be given to the winner of the day’s race.

In urging the court to impose 10 to 14 days’ jail and a fine, Deputy Public Prosecutor Yvonne Poon said that although the two men had “no overt malicious intent in holding the HolyCrit races”, there was “blatant disregard for public safety and the law”.

“Illegal racing invariably involves contests of speed and sometimes dangerous manoeuvres, posing potential dangers to normal road users who may unwittingly travel into the routes of such illegal races,” she added.

In mitigation, Khoo’s lawyers Josephus Tan and Cory Wong — representing him on a pro-bono basis — said that he wanted to grow a close-knit community around the sport, for like-minded cycling enthusiasts to mingle and interact with each other. He also wanted to “reach out to the public on the benefits of fixed-gear cycling over the conventional bicycle”.

The events were “always conducted in a manner which was reasonably safe”, the lawyers added. For example, Khoo would put up reflective traffic cones on the race route. “Eric did not cause any road to be completely blocked off so that other road users could still gain access through the area,” they said. Lawyers Shashi Nathan and Jeremy Pereira, who represented Zulkifli, said that the races were done to help develop “sporting talents in Singapore”. They mentioned that events such as the OCBC Cycle and National Championship Race influenced many Singaporeans to take up cycling, leading to a growth in the number of cyclists. However, since 2013, there was a “sudden reduction” in the number of cycling events, and the HolyCrit race was organised to let cycling enthusiasts have some “friendly competition with each other”, the lawyers added.

In her sentencing remarks, District Judge Carol Ling underscored the point that the case was not about cycling or about clamping down on races for the cycling community, but that the organisers had not sought approval and conducted the event without a permit, as reflected in the charges.

Public safety was compromised during these races and other road users faced “potential dangers”.

She said: “No matter how noble the intentions may have been in organising these races, I find that the accused persons, in choosing to promote and conduct these races without obtaining the requisite permits, had displayed a lack of consideration for other legitimate road users and placed the safety of participants, spectators and other road users at risk.”

For promoting the race, they could have been jailed up to six months and fined up to S$2,000. For conducting the race, they could have been fined up to S$1,000 or jailed up to three months for the first offence. For subsequent offences, the amount of fine and jail time the court can impose is doubled.