SINGAPORE — Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said on Tuesday (March 10) that it was “not clear” to him if a district judge had “completely considered” the way an undergraduate compartmentalised his life by performing well in school while harbouring an addiction to pornography.

The Chief Justice was presiding over the prosecution’s appeal against the sentence of probation imposed by District Judge Jasvender Kaur on National University of Singapore (NUS) undergraduate Terence Siow Kai Yuan, a convicted molester.

Chief Justice Menon reserved his decision on the appeal.

Siow, 24, made headlines and sparked public debate last year when he was sentenced in a district court to 21 months’ probation for molesting a then 28-year-old woman on an MRT train on Sept 28, 2018.

The verdict also drew comments from Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam. The prosecution, which had sought jail time for Siow, then filed an appeal against the sentence.

District Judge Kaur had described Siow’s offences as “minor intrusions” and handed down the supervised probation along with 150 hours of community service.

This was after a probation report assessed that Siow was suitable for this form of penalty, as his academic results showed he has the “potential to excel in life” and an “extremely strong propensity” to reform.

In the report, Siow admitted that he had committed similar acts after he enrolled in NUS in 2016.

On Tuesday, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Kristy Tan told the court that the prosecution was seeking at least three weeks’ jail for Siow.

She argued that he did not show an "extremely strong propensity" for reform. Among other points, she noted that Siow appeared able to “compartmentalise his life", as he was getting good results in school while addicted to pornography.

The prosecutor questioned: “What is the link to what you do in the scholastic arena to the propensity for reform? Looking at his junior college to university results, he appears to be a consistent academic achiever.

“However, that hasn’t stopped him from pursuing a parallel behaviour… (of) touching females undetected all the way through university until he committed this offence. A good dose of deterrence might be the change maker in this particular case,” she added.

DPP Tan also referred to the earlier probation report when telling the court that Siow’s parents could not control his addiction and were “not attuned” to his emotional needs.

In his client’s defence, lawyer Raphael Louis argued that Siow showed clear signs of remorse and made efforts to change “very early on”. He had gone for university counselling sessions and wrote an apology letter to the victim.

In the probation report, Siow and his parents also said they were willing to make changes. While his parents hesitated to monitor his mobile phone and computer usage, Mr Louis said they were open to doing so if the probation officer told them to.

Chief Justice Menon told the lawyer that from this, it was “not clear” that Siow had showed an "extremely strong propensity" for reform.

Referring to the prosecution’s arguments, the judge noted that Siow had issues with pornography dating back to 2008.

“The picture one gets is that he seems to be able to compartmentalise his life… He had these sexual problems and at the same time, he had an outside persona,” he told Mr Louis.

“(District Judge Kaur) seemed to place emphasis on his persona but overlooked the subsisting problems that were there. How would the manifestation of a good outward persona demonstrate his propensity for reform?” 

Towards the end of the two-hour hearing, Chief Justice Menon told the court that the “dichotomy” between Siow’s public and private lives was “worrying”. “It’s not clear to me that the district judge completely considered these aspects of the case,” he added.

The Chief Justice will give his judgment at a later date. Siow remains free as his probation sentence was stayed pending the outcome of the appeal.

Probation is usually offered to first-time offenders between 16 and 21 years old. This does not result in a recorded criminal conviction, and allows young offenders to continue with their education or employment while serving their sentences.

In response to queries from TODAY, an NUS spokesperson reiterated on Tuesday the university “takes a serious view of any misconduct by our students”.

Spelling out the disciplinary action taken against Siow, the spokesperson said: “A Board of Discipline (BOD) was convened in October 2018 to look into the offences committed by Terence Siow Kai Yuan. Disciplinary sanctions, including suspension of candidature and mandatory counselling, were imposed."

The spokesperson added: "The disciplinary sanctions meted out by the BOD form part of the student's formal educational record at the university. The student concerned has been on leave of absence since January 2020.”

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