Jail for man who repeatedly assaulted parents, choked father in breach of protection orders

• Tham Quan Hui physically and verbally abused his parents between December 2019 and March 2021
• He once punched and kicked his father before choking him with his hands
• Tham also stole several Apple products from a Challenger store
• A judge turned down his lawyers’ request to impose a gag order on the case

SINGAPORE — Despite his parents having personal protection orders (PPOs) against him, Tham Quan Hui physically and verbally abused them several times, even choking his father with his hands during a dispute.

The 27-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to seven weeks’ jail and a S$2,000 fine on Friday (July 9) for his actions.

He pleaded guilty to seven charges of violating a PPO, voluntarily causing hurt, harassment and theft — he had stolen Apple accessories at a mall in Chua Chu Kang.

Nine other charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that Tham’s father — now aged 58 — got a PPO against his son in 2015, while Tham’s mother, now 60 years old, was issued one in 2019.

This was to stop Tham from using violence against his parents.

However, court documents showed that he began violating the orders from December 2019 onwards. He first threw a coconut shell at his mother in their Woodlands flat and it hit her arm.

On Oct 30 last year, Tham and his father argued after the older man told him to turn off a tap.

Tham refused to listen, demanding that his father obey him instead, and then told him: “I will kill you.”

Then on Jan 11 this year, the two men got into another argument after the older Tham overheard him telling his mother that he would kill her.

Tham used vulgarities when arguing with his father, then slapped and spit at him. He also threw a bicycle that was in the living room to the ground.

The older man called the police.

This did not stop Tham, who argued with his father again on Feb 24 when the father walked into the frame of a video that Tham was recording.

Tham started spouting vulgarities, then punched, kicked and slapped the older man, and used his hands to choke him. Tham’s father eventually managed to break free.

Again, the police were called.

On March 5, Tham had another heated dispute with his parents.

When his mother tried to leave the flat, he threw a bag of trash at her, then tried to prevent her from leaving.

Separately, on four occasions in May, he stole Apple products such as chargers and AirTags from the Challenger store at Lot One mall. He had been released on court bail then.

He sold most of them on e-marketplace Carousell.

GAG ORDER DENIED

Before Tham was sentenced, his lawyers — Mr Josephus Tan and Mr Cory Wong from Invictus Law Corporation, who had been hired by the family — said that plans will be made to provide him with temporary accommodation.

Tham will be released shortly as he has been held in remand since last month.

District Judge May Mesenas advised Tham to continue taking his anxiety medication, get a job and attend counselling sessions after he is released from jail.

She asked him: “Do you accept that your behaviour (towards your parents) is inappropriate?”

Tham replied: “It’s totally unacceptable. They’re my parents and I shouldn’t have done that. I really regret my actions… I plan to move out and stay on my own.”

Mr Tan and Mr Wong also asked for a gag order to prevent Tham’s name from being published, saying that it might result in him having difficulty finding accommodation.

But the judge turned this down and said that Tham has to live with the consequences of his actions.

"Unless it’s very exceptional and comes under certain provisions, such as for victims of sexual offences, there would be no good reason (to grant a gag order),” she added.

For breaching a PPO, Tham could have been jailed for up to six months or fined up to S$2,000, or both.

For voluntarily causing hurt, he could have been jailed for up to three years or fined up to S$5,000, or both.