Ex-Ngee Ann Poly lecturer gets 5 weeks' jail for making racist remarks against inter-racial couple and fine for possessing obscene films

SINGAPORE —  A former Ngee Ann Polytechnic lecturer, who was seen in a viral video last year confronting an inter-ethnic couple and making racist remarks to them, was sentenced to five weeks’ imprisonment and a S$6,000 fine on Thursday (Dec 29).

Tan Boon Lee, 61, pleaded guilty in November to one charge each of making racist remarks and possessing obscene films. Two other charges were taken into consideration in sentencing on Thursday. 

In delivering his decision, District Judge Victor Yeo Khee Eng said a custodial sentence was warranted to send a “clear signal that such offences would not be tolerated and must be firmly dealt with by the courts”.

The judge said he took into consideration mitigating factors, such as Tan’s plea of guilt, his apology to the couple he targeted, the public apology he made as well as the proactive measures he took to better himself by going to therapy.

If not for those factors, the judge said he would be minded to impose a much longer jail sentence.

The prosecution sought a jail term of at least four weeks for the offence of making racist remarks, and a fine to be determined by the court for the possession of obscene films.

The defence counsel had asked for a community-based sentence, or a fine of S$5,000 or a lighter sentence of two weeks' imprisonment.

WHAT HAPPENED

The court previously heard that the incident happened on June 5 last year along the Orchard Road shopping belt.

Mr Dave Parkash, a 26-year-old Singaporean Sindhi, and Ms Jacqueline Noelle Llewelyn Ho, a 27-year-old Singaporean Chinese, were walking towards a car park along Orchard Boulevard. 

When they crossed paths with Tan, he said, "such a disgrace, Indian man with a Chinese girl". 

He also accused Mr Parkash of preying on his girlfriend.  

When Mr Parkash asked Tan if he had used the word "prey" to describe Indians, Tan responded: "Ya, prey, prey, prey. It's predatory." 

Court documents stated that Tan admitted to making these remarks because he felt that inter-racial relationships were "taboo" and "predatory".

A day after the incident, a video of the confrontation between Tan and the couple was published on Facebook by Mr Parkash, who wrote: "I feel embarrassed, humiliated and hurt by how I was treated by another fellow Singaporean."

Less than a week later on June 12, during investigations into Tan’s offences, the police uncovered 64 obscene videos from Tan's phone.

The videos depicted unidentified women engaging in sexual intercourse and other sexual acts. They were apparently filmed with their consent and Tan had obtained them from online sources or from his friends. 

NOT PERSUADED THAT RACIST ACT WAS OUT OF CHARACTER: JUDGE

District Judge Yeo said that having viewed the recording of the incident, he agreed with Deputy Public Prosecutor Yeow Xuan’s submissions on the aggravating factors that should be taken into consideration.

The judge noted that Tan was “quite gratified” to openly admit that he was racist, and was sustained and unrelenting in his actions. This was seen from how he walked back to the couple and persisted with his offensive remarks after they tried to disengage from him.

District Judge Yeo said what he found “most troubling” about Tan’s vitriol was how he insinuated that there was something wrong with being of a certain skin colour and that one race was better than another.

Referring to the defence's mitigation submissions, the judge said he could not accept that Tan had not intended for his words to be recorded on video and posted online.

He “did not mince his words or appeared to be bothered” that his actions were done in public and that Ms Ho was recording him at that point in time.

District Judge Yeo also gave credit to the couple who remained relatively calm and restrained when matters could have easily escalated.

The judge said he “could not ignore” the humiliation and hurt endured by the two victims, nor could he set aside the disquiet generated online, adding that Tan’s actions had “clearly crossed the red line”.

He further said that he was “not persuaded” that Tan’s actions were out of character and emotionally driven by a familial matter relating to his adult daughter who was dating someone of Indian ethnicity.

He cited the two charges of committing an act prejudicial to maintenance of harmony between different religious groups, which were taken into consideration in sentencing.

Court documents showed that Tan had made comments relating to religion in July 2017 during a lecture at Ngee Ann Polytechnic and made other similar comments in August and September 2020 in an online forum.

Having taken a holistic overview of all the charges, the judge said he was of the view that Tan had “no hesitance of disregarding” the feelings of people of other racial or religious groups.

He further said that Tan’s personal experience “cannot be an excuse or justification” for his offensive and hurtful behaviour.

For uttering words with the deliberate intention of wounding the racial feelings of a person, Tan could be jailed for up to three years or fined, or both. 

Possessing obscene films carries a punishment of up to 12 months jail or a fine of up to S$40,000, or both.