Singaporean man makes over 1,000 calls to neighbourhood police centres for ‘fun and enjoyment’, jailed 23 days
A 37-year-old Singaporean man was sentenced to 23 days’ jail after making 1,035 silent calls to four neighbourhood police centres (NPCs) over nine days.
Foo Jia Hong made 425 calls to Yishun NPC, 308 to Bedok NPC, 278 to Geylang NPC and 24 to Ang Mo Kio North NPC between 21 and 29 April.
He pleaded guilty to one charge of voluntarily obstructing police officers from carrying out their duties by making calls to Yishun NPC.
The other three charges were taken into consideration during sentencing on 26 Aug.
Phone number was under a foreign worker’s name
Foo had found a SIM card inside a second-hand mobile phone cover he bought at a night market in Ang Mo Kio, CNA reported. He used the SIM card to call the police centres and remained silent when officers answered.
The phone number used by Foo was traced to telecommunications service provider Simba.
The SIM card was registered under a foreign worker’s name.
He was subsequently investigated and told authorities he had thrown away the SIM card.
The prosecution said the calls disrupted the police centres’ non-emergency phone lines and made it more difficult for officers to identify the caller.
Officers answered hundreds of silent calls
According to The Straits Times (ST), of the 425 calls Foo made to Yishun NPC, officers answered 330.
Source: Google Maps
Four officers picked up the calls, but Foo remained silent each time, according to court documents.
The remaining 95 calls were not answered.
The unanswered calls caused further obstruction because subsequent callers were placed in a queue while the lines were occupied, meaning that other calls could not be answered promptly.
Foo told police that he had used call directories or leaflets from the NPCs to obtain their landline numbers.
He also admitted that the calls were made “for fun and enjoyment”.
On 11 May, Foo was arrested and subsequently remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for psychiatric assessment.
Judge considers Foo’s intellectual disability
The court heard that Foo has mild intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder.
However, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ng Jun Kai said an IMH report found no contributory link between Foo’s conditions and the offences.
Source: Google Maps
The prosecution sought up to five weeks’ jail, highlighting the large number of calls and the disruption caused to the NPCs.
The DPP also noted that Foo had a previous conviction in January 2025 for communicating false messages.
Defence lawyer Daniel Atticus Xu sought two weeks’ jail instead, pointing out that Foo had called the NPC landlines rather than the 999 emergency hotline, ST reported.
District Judge Koo Zhi Xuan said the court had to consider Foo’s mild intellectual disability.
However, deterrence remained the foremost sentencing consideration.
According to CNA, for voluntarily obstructing a public servant in the discharge of their public functions, Foo could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$6,500, or both.
Also read: 37-year-old man in S’pore makes 1,035 silent calls to police, faces jail & fine
37-year-old man in S’pore makes 1,035 silent calls to police, faces jail & fine
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Featured image adapted from MS News and Google Maps.
