On Thursday (26 Sep), Terence Siow, a 23-year-old NUS student, was given a 21-month probation after pleading guilty to molesting a woman on an MRT train.
The District Judge rationalised the seemingly lenient sentence by saying he has the “potential to excel in life”.
The next day, Law Minister K Shanmugan spoke out about the case on his Facebook page, claiming that he, too, was surprised by the verdict of the case.
Here’s his post in full. We summarise it after the jump.
In his post, Minister Shanmugam acknowledged that the verdict of the case has sparked a “fair bit of reaction”.
Notably, many Singaporeans felt that the punishment meted out was “inadequate“.
Turns out, Minister Shanmugam himself was “surprised” with the verdict, and shared that as a father of 2 himself, he empathises with the victim and her parents.
The Law Minister also approached the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) – the Government Legal Adviser – for their thoughts on the verdict.
AGC officers apparently told Mr Shanmugam that they disagree with the verdict, and planned on appealing the sentence.
He also urged Singaporeans to avoid “casting aspersions” on the judge ruling this case, whom he believes is performing her duty to the best of her abilities.
Moving forward, Singaporeans should now allow the Court of Appeal to have a “look at the matter”, wrote Minister Shanmugam.
In the event where the Court arrives at an outcome that’s different from the general public sentiment, the onus then lies with the Parliament, who will then put forth new legislations to change the law.
Given the swift response from the Law Minister, it seems that the government has heard the public’s outcry loud and clear.
We’re confident that they’ll do all their best to uphold justice and ensure that a fair and just sentence is served to the perpetrator.
To read one man’s views on the NUS student’s no-jail sentence, click below.
Featured image adapted from TODAY.
It's Money's world and we're just living in it.
SM Lee Hsien Loong, DPMs Heng Swee Keat and Gan Kim Yong were present at…
Installation of the new system on all other cars are proceeding as planned.
Singapore had at least one representative for each of the 10 categories.
The teacher also took the opportunity to educate his students on encounters with wildlife.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.