Man, 93, jailed 6 months for beating roommate at senior citizens’ home with walking stick

SINGAPORE — Upset that his roommate at a senior citizens’ home would not allow him to turn on the lights, an elderly man beat him up with a walking stick.

On Friday (May 28), Sim Hwa, 93, pleaded guilty to voluntarily causing hurt to his roommate Oh Chye Thiam, 85, and was sentenced to six months in jail.

Sim’s jail sentence was backdated to May 14, when he was remanded.

The court heard that the dispute between the two men happened on Oct 17 last year, about an hour before midnight. The name of the senior citizens’ home was redacted from court documents.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Daniel Ling said that Mr Oh was sleeping when Sim turned on the lights, which roused Mr Oh from his slumber. 

Mr Oh told Sim that he could not sleep because the lights were on and switched them off himself. 

Disregarding his roommate’s wishes, Sim turned the lights back on. 

Without getting up from his bed, Mr Oh repeated what he told Sim, which angered the older man.

Grabbing a walking stick, Sim approached Mr Oh’s bed and started beating him more than 10 times with it.

A nurse from the home found out about the altercation and called the police. 

Mr Oh was taken to the Singapore General Hospital in the early hours of the following morning and was found with many injuries all over his body.

These included injuries to his left cheek and ankle, abrasions on both arms and hand fractures. 

Mr Oh was hospitalised for 27 days and incurred about S$190 in medical costs. 

For voluntarily causing hurt, Sim could have been punished with a jail term of up to three years or a fine of up S$5,000, or both.