Man convicted of mischief after burning 4 Singapore flags, his own shorts in Sembawang and walking home naked

SINGAPORE — After drinking copiously, a man wandered out to burn four Singapore flags and a string of National Day decorative flags. He even threw his own shorts into the fire and ended up walking home naked.

On Tuesday (April 18), Chen Yongsheng, 40, pleaded guilty to one charge of committing mischief by destroying property knowing that it could cause wrongful loss or damage to the public or any person, with one charge of appearing nude in public taken into consideration. 

He is set to be sentenced on May 19.

District Judge Prem Raj called for a psychiatric assessment at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to determine Chen’s suitability for a mandatory treatment order.

This is a sentencing option where an offender suffering from certain treatable psychiatric conditions will have to undergo treatment for a period of up to 36 months.

WHAT HAPPENED

Last year on Aug 9, which was National Day, Chen attended an event at a coffee shop along Canberra Walk, below the housing block where he lived in Sembawang.

There, he drank four to six bottles of beer and almost half a bottle of cognac from the afternoon till night.

Sometime at night, after the event ended, he returned home and continued drinking from the remainder of the bottle of hard liquor. 

At about 1.50am, he left his home topless, wearing only shorts and slippers, and took the lift down to the first floor. 

He was carrying a beer bottle in his hand. 

He then walked towards the road adjacent to the coffee shop where he had been.

At about 2am, he started setting fire to some boxes and joss paper at the area next to an incense bin at the side of the road.

Between 2am and 3.38am, he retrieved items from the coffee shop and surrounding area, including the National Day decorations and four Singapore national flags attached to wooden poles in the area.

He then placed them in the fire that he had started, which destroyed the items. 

The total estimated value of the decorations and flags destroyed was S$46.60.

At various points, Chen also sat down by the fire or walked around aimlessly. 

At about 3.40am, he then removed his shorts and placed them in the fire to burn.

He walked away after that and returned home naked.

The fire died out eventually and no further damage was caused. 

Mr Gerald Koh Kai Fa, who is the constituency manager of a residents’ network at East Canberra, received information from a grassroots leader later that day about a video and pictures of a topless man burning National Day decorations around Block 115A Canberra Walk.

Chen was arrested on the same day and was charged two days later.

Thereafter, he was remanded at IMH for psychiatric observations and was released on bail on Aug 26 last year.

Anyone convicted of committing mischief by destroying any property, knowing that it is likely to cause wrongful loss or damage to the public or any person, can be jailed up to two years or fined, or both.