‘They kept charging me, it was unfair’

SINGAPORE — So frustrated was he with how Indonesian prosecutors had pressed charges one after another against him after acquittals that boat captain Shoo Chiau Huat, in the midst of 16 months he was held there, wished the courts would convict him so he could serve his time and come home to his family.

On Tuesday (Aug 29), the 51-year-old was finally freed and he returned to his Sengkang flat that night, only to find that it was not entirely to be the happy reunion he had imagined it would be.

The reason: His 15-year-old son, the youngest of his four children, shunned him, upset over the embarrassment of having his father jailed.

“I asked him if I had killed anyone or did anything illegal. The judge had acquitted me,” he said during an interview at his Sengkang flat on Friday (Sept 1). “I explained this to him (for two days) and his impression of me has gotten better. Today, he ate with me.”

Mr Shoo’s ordeal started on April 16 last year, during a three-day fishing expedition to Indonesia. Mr Shoo, who has four years of boating experience, captained the MV Selin. There were 13 recreational anglers on board.

On the second night of the trip, the anglers were fishing in Tanjung Berakit waters off Bintan. All of a sudden, Indonesian Navy officers armed with guns boarded the boat and checked Mr Shoo’s documentation before accusing him of trespassing Indonesian waters.

The next day, he was told to sail to Tanjung Pinang Naval Base. It was to be where he would spend the next 2½ months. The anglers he was ferrying were free to go after about 13 days but, as boat captain, he was detained.

Over the next year, he was charged with illegal fishing, then immigration offences, and finally with violating shipping laws.

The first set of charges were thrown out. He was convicted of immigration offences and fined 50 million rupiah (S$5,090). Finally, on May 3 this year, he was also acquitted of the third set of charges.

Yet, he was not released until earlier this week.

“I was mystified (by the repeated charging). I was acquitted and yet I had to wait for the prosecution’s appeal. It was unfair,” said Mr Shoo. “I would rather they find me guilty and let me serve the time and go home.”

Recounting his ordeal, Mr Shoo said it was a tough time, although he was kept in a generally comfortable detention centre, and could use his mobile phone. Mr Shoo would call his family three times a day, catching up on things happening in their lives and updating them on his.

But there was a five-week period where he was remanded in a jail while awaiting the findings of his first court case. And those days were especially hard.

A cell roughly twice the size of a living room of a flat here housed 76 people.

Meals consisted of rice and tempeh, and nothing else. Mr Shoo ended up losing 7kg in just that five weeks.

Then, there was the dangers of conflicts with other inmates.

Once, a cellmate picked a fight with him over showering facilities, and Mr Shoo had to dodge the man’s blows before officers came to his rescue.

He said the news of his release was as sudden and unexpected to him, as was his arrest last year.

Out of the blue, he was told to pack his belongings and prepare to head home.

His wife Jasmine, 51, who was told of the news by the local authorities on the same day, was equally surprised, given the numerous false starts over the year. “I thought it was a lie. I didn’t believe it. I said (to the caller), ‘It would be next week, next month or three months later’.”

But once she realised a reunion with her husband was actually happening, she went about whipping up his first home-cooked meal in over a year: A bowl of longevity noodles with two red eggs.

While he has received job offers in the boating industry, Mr Shoo is hesitant about returning. “I don’t think I want to. I’m fearful of boats now. My children have suggested that I enter semi-retirement,” he said.

Spending more time with his family and friends is what he cares about now.

In fact, one of the persons that Mr Shoo was pining to see was his aged father.

He had kept his 83-year-old father in the dark throughout his predicament.

“I told him that I was working overseas. He’s old, and his health is no good,” said Mr Shoo, who went to visit his father soon as he came back, spending two days with him.

“He didn’t know what had happened to me. Even today, I don’t want him to know,” he said.