Man gets jail after charging towards retiree in dispute over smoking, causing victim to suffer fatal fall

SINGAPORE — A 36-year-old man was jailed for four years on Wednesday (Mar 1) for his involvement in the death of a retiree he scuffled with after a dispute over smoking.

The 74-year-old victim was smoking at a void deck when Allan Chua Kim Wee confronted him.

In the ensuing scuffle, Chua charged at the older man, causing him to suffer a fatal fall.

Chua had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of voluntarily causing hurt, where he did not intend to cause grievous hurt, but where grievous hurt was caused.

Chua, a customer due diligence analyst at a bank at the time, was on his way home after having breakfast at Hougang Mall on Dec 25, 2021.

He saw the victim, retiree Ng Sioh Leng, smoking while sitting on a bench at a void deck of Block 328 Hougang Avenue 5.

Chua wanted to lodge a complaint about the smoking, so he took photos of Mr Ng and confronted the elderly man, who was about half his weight.

Mr Ng responded by chasing Chua around a pillar but Chua evaded him. However, Chua noticed Mr Ng advancing towards him with a walking stick in hand.

Chua lowered his stance and charged towards Mr Ng, hitting him in the stomach area with his right shoulder.

Mr Ng fell backwards from the impact and hit the back of his head on the ground.

Chua called the police for help, but Mr Ng died later that day of a severe head injury.

According to Chua’s lawyer, Chua has “a strong sense of civil-mindedness” and feels “strongly responsible to the community”, taking it upon himself to ensure the neighbourhood is “safe and properly maintained”.

Before the fatal incident, Chua lodged an average of three to four cases per month on the OneService Portal to provide feedback on estate issues such as high-rise littering, dirty public areas and common area maintenance like potholes and smoking at the void deck.

The penalties for voluntarily causing hurt, where the hurt was not intended to be grievous but turned out to be so, is a jail term of up to five years, a fine of up to S$10,000, or both. CNA