A tale of two vandals

2009-01-07T12:07:00Z

Elena Chong reminisces about American teen vandal Michael Fay.

TUESDAY'S case of a private housing estate & management committee chairman charged with mischief jogged my memory of an American teen vandal who was caned nearly 15 years ago.

Michael Fay, then 18, was arrested with a few others for vandalising 18 cars over 10 days in 1993 - one of Fay's victims being then-High Court judge Amarjeet Singh whose car was spray-painted at Chatsworth Road.

His case made headline news all over the world and even prompted intervention by US President Bill Clinton.

Fast forward to the Laguna Park spat.

At least eight cars were vandalised around the middle of last year as the sales committee was trying to get residents to support a billion-dollar collective sale. The cars in the leasehold estate were spray-painted, scratched and/or doused with corrosive liquid. Yet no one had then been arrested for the "vandalism".

Rather, the current charge is one of "mischief". Then-chairman of the Laguna Park Management Committee, Lee Kok Leong, 62, is accused of putting glue into the keyholes or padlock of two residents at his block. He was caught by a CCTV installed outside one of apartments involved.

Among the group who came to court was Mr Sng, whose three-year-old Lexus was badly damaged by acid. The 60-plus part-timer quipped that he was in the "Gaza strip now" - referring to the ongoing conflict between neighbours Israel and Palestine.

Another victim, a realtor, said both his Mercedes-Benz and his wife's Toyota were spray-painted and scratched over two days last July.

While the verdict in the Laguna Park case has yet to be ruled on, the developing court case makes one wonder what punishment the alleged perpertrator will receive. Will it be close to what Michael Fay received?

Since no one has been arrested for the vandalism of the cars, probably not. As for mischief, any penalty will be much less severe than vandalism. Mischief is punishable with a one-year jail term, a fine, or both.

Remember, the ex-Singapore American School student appealed to the High Court to mitigate his four-month six-stroke penalty and $3,500 fine. But despite hiring a silk (Queen's Counsel) from London to argue his case, then Chief Justice Yong Pung How was still not persuaded.

Fay, said CJ Yong, had committed the acts "wilfully and relentlessly’ and amounted to a "calculated course of criminal conduct".

Fortunately for Fay, his sentence was eventually lessened to four strokes after a clemency appeal by 24 US senators and then-President Ong Teng Cheong.

In the Laguna Park case, however, one can be sure that there'll be no such lobbying for clemency - at least from foreign quarters.

The Straits Times Blogs - Elena Chong

A tale of two vandals