Taiwan’s representative office in Singapore said it is concerned about two Taiwanese men who have been sentenced to canings and jail terms for loan shark harassment.
According to a statement issued by Singaporean police authorities on Thursday last week, three Taiwanese have recently been given prison sentences of between seven and 24 months after being convicted of loan shark harassment.
Two of the defendants, identified as Su Wei-ying (蘇威穎) and Wu Wei-chun (吳瑋群) in the Singapore Police Force statement, were also to receive “15 strokes of the cane” for their offenses.
Su, 28, and Wu, 24, were both convicted on seven counts of loan shark harassment in violation of Singapore’s Moneylenders Act and sentenced to 24 months and 21 months in jail respectively, in addition to the caning.
Su was sentenced on Sept. 14 and Wu was sentenced on Sept. 28.
An official at the Taipei Representative Office in Singapore said on Saturday that the office sent people to visit the imprisoned Taiwanese a few days ago.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, would not disclose, however, whether the two Taiwanese had already been caned.
Asked whether the families of the two men were aware of the caning sentences, the official also declined comment, citing the defendants’ right to privacy.
Meanwhile, a 29-year-old Taiwanese man identified as Wu Ting-yi (吳庭毅), was convicted on Thursday last week on a single charge of conspiring with the other two Taiwanese to commit loan shark harassment and was sentenced to seven months in prison.
Caning is a form of corporal punishment that has been used in Singapore for more than 40 years. At the end of the caning, those who receive more than three lashes are usually in a state of shock and their buttocks are covered in blood. Many collapse from the ordeal.
The Singapore Police Force statement said the cases served as a good warning to all foreigners or locals alike who were thinking of earning easy money by dallying in such criminal activities.
“Regardless of their role or involvement, police will take such criminal elements to task and ensure that they are dealt with appropriately in accordance with our laws,” the statement said.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus yesterday said it opposes the introduction of migrant workers from India until a mechanism is in place to prevent workers from absconding. Minister of Labor Hung Sun-han (洪申翰) on Thursday told the Legislative Yuan that the first group of migrant workers from India could be introduced as early as this year, as part of a government program. The caucus’ opposition to the policy is based on the assessment that “the risk is too high,” KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said. Taiwan has a serious and long-standing problem of migrant workers absconding from their contracts, indicating that
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
TRADE-OFF: Beijing seeks to trade a bowl of tempura for a Chinese delicacy, an official said, while another said its promises were attempts to interfere in the polls The government must carefully consider the national security implications of building a bridge connecting Kinmen County and Xiamen, China, the Public Construction Commission (PCC) said yesterday. PCC Commissioner Derek Chen (陳金德), who is also a minister without portfolio, made the remarks in a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee, after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Hsu Fu-kuei (徐富癸) asked about China’s proposal of new infrastructure projects to further connect Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) counties with Xiamen. China unveiled the bridge plan, along with nine other policies for Taiwan, on Sunday, the last day of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun’s (鄭麗文) visit
RSS