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Hour Glass co-founder Jannie Chan starts two-week jail term after failed appeal

SINGAPORE — The Hour Glass co-founder Jannie Chan, 74, began serving a two-week jail term for contempt of court on Monday (Sept 9), after an appellate court threw out her appeal.

On Sept 9, the appellate panel, consisting of Judge of Appeal Tay Yong Kwang, Justice Belinda Ang and Justice Quentin Loh, dismissed Jannie Chan's case.

On Sept 9, the appellate panel, consisting of Judge of Appeal Tay Yong Kwang, Justice Belinda Ang and Justice Quentin Loh, dismissed Jannie Chan's case.

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SINGAPORE — The Hour Glass co-founder Jannie Chan, 74, began serving a two-week jail term for contempt of court on Monday (Sept 9), after an appellate court threw out her appeal.

She had been sentenced to a suspended two weeks' jail in 2017, which meant she could have avoided jail as long as she stopped sending her ex-husband Henry Tay e-mails, continued to undergo monthly psychiatric treatments and kept Dr Tay updated about the treatment for a year.

But Chan, who founded the luxury watch retailer with Dr Tay, 75, continued to send him hundreds of defamatory e-mails, as well as to his lawyers and other parties who were not involved in the proceedings, hence breaching the conditions of the suspension order.

These e-mails were sent to various parties, including to Minister for Law and Home Affairs K Shanmugam, Minister for Communications and Information S Iswaran, and Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, whom she called her “friends”.

E-mails were also sent to her grandchildren’s school teachers, other lawyers, as well as to Attorney-General Lucien Wong.

In 2018, the court found that she had continued to disobey the court order by continuing to send e-mails to Dr Tay against the advice of her lawyers. Justice Hoo Sheau Peng lifted the suspension, which meant that she would have to go to jail, but Chan filed an appeal against the judge’s decision and a stay of execution was given.

On Monday, the appellate panel, consisting of Judge of Appeal Tay Yong Kwang, Justice Belinda Ang and Justice Quentin Loh, dismissed her case.

Describing the two-week sentence as lenient, Judge Tay added: “In our view, despite the fact that the appellant was depressed and distressed about all her problems, she knew what she was doing when she continued to send out e-mails and she knew that such e-mails were in contempt of court.”

Choosing to represent herself in the appeal, the declared bankrupt arrived at court with a Louis Vuitton suitcase stuffed with court documents and escorted in by her domestic helper. She was previously represented by lawyer Eugene Thuraisingam.

Chan told the appellate court that she disagreed that she had breached the order, and that the e-mails sent to multiple third parties, including to Cabinet ministers and the prime minister’s wife, Madam Ho Ching, were her “cries for help”. Chan was formerly the president of the Singapore Retailers Association.

“It was a cry for help, I was not defaming him at all. What they are charging me for is on a legal technicality… I had never defamed Henry at any time,” said Chan, who was diagnosed with a depressive disorder.

'I AM THE BRAND OF HOUR GLASS'

At several points during the hearing, her arguments meandered into other matters unrelated to her appeal, describing her divorce with Dr Tay and about her companies, Hour Glass and TYC Investment, which holds shares in the watch business. They separated in 2010 and have three children.

“I am the brand of Hour Glass, and Henry is my ‘cap man’ where Hour Glass is concerned,” she said at one point.

Holding up thick stacks of documents depicting her eldest daughter Audrey Tay, she grew more emotional when talking about her e-mails regarding alleged physical abuse of her daughter, who was found guilty for taking drugs last year, by her ex-husband.

Judge Tay interjected at several points to urge Chan to stick to the case, since the appeal was about the lifting of the suspension order, and not the two-week sentence for contempt of court.

Meanwhile, Dr Tay, represented by a team of solicitors led by Ms Megan Chia from law firm Tan Rajah & Cheah, had wanted Chan to stop harassing him and for both sides to move on.

Ms Chia said the original list of 88 recipients of Chan’s e-mails has been expanding, and told the court: “She is belligerent and recalcitrant.”

Giving the court’s decision, Judge Tay said Chan had been legally advised that “her non-legal route was an unlawful one and she should stop her destructive actions”, but she had continued to breach her committal order with “seeming impunity”.

“Her recalcitrant behaviour was persistent and pernicious despite the many opportunities given to her to simply stop,” said Judge Tay.

The court also ordered Chan to pay her ex-husband’s legal fees of S$10,000 for the appeal. When asked about the cost by Judge Tay, she said: “Well, I am a bankrupt, and (Henry) made me a bankrupt.”

She then added that she was fighting for herself and her daughter, while her ex-husband’s intention was to gain control of Hour Glass and TYC, which she claimed was worth S$500 million and S$400 million respectively.

There was a moment of confusion towards the end of the hearing when the panel asked Chan to start her sentence immediately. Chan, who was not expecting to go to jail on Monday, asked the court: “Do you mean I cannot go home?”

Led away by officers, she shared a teary farewell with her domestic helper, who sobbed while leaving the courtroom with Chan’s luggage of court papers.

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Jannie Chan The Hour Glass crime court

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