Cabby charged for threatening MP; mother is a garung gun
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Elderly mother of cabby charged for “threatening” PAP MP still working as “Garang-guni” woman
The case of relief cabby Mr Teo Kian Seng, who was charged in court yesterday for “threatening” PAP MP Lee Yi Shyan had sparked an outcry in cyberspace with many netizens wondering why the MP felt fit to make a police report in the first place.
Mr Teo allegedly told Lee in Mandarin that he hoped “history will not repeat itself” in a referral to the torching incident involving PAP MP Seng Han Thong last year at a Meet-the-People session on 1st of March.
It was reported in the Straits Times today that Mr Teo had gone to see Lee over a summons received by his mother for leaving clutter along the corridor of her flat.
Mr Teo’s mother, who is currently in her 80s, has been working as a “Garang-guni” woman for many years in order to pay for her medical expenses.
She might have no choice but to leave her “barang” along the corridor due to the nature of her work and lack of space in her own home.
It is not unusual in first world Singapore to see the elderly scavenging for used cardboards and newspapers in the streets for a living.
Despite its huge foreign reserves, Singapore has few social safety nets for its citizens who are expected to be self-reliant and not depend on the state for support.
It is not known if Mr Teo is the sole bread-winner of the family and if his mother will be in financial distress should he go to jail.
The Straits Times reported that Assistant Superintendent Raj Kishore Rai had told District Judge Low Wee Ping that “the prosecution was not ready to accept Teo’s plea as the victim was an MP.”
Why should an MP deserve preferential treatment from the police?
The authorities should assess the likelihood of Mr Teo acting on his very subtle threat thoroughly before taking action against him.
He probably said it in the heat of a moment under some sort of “provocation”.
The odds are stacked heavily against Mr Teo who does not have the financial resources to afford a good lawyer to fight the case for him, not to mention the financial losses he has to suffer as a result.
Source: Temasek Review
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I think that guy is just an uneducated person who do not know much about politics. He even mistook seng hang tong as the MP for Hougang instead when he issued the threat.
Something else (most likely livelihood issues) must have triggered the deep anger in him for him to make such a remark.
I wonder if he was one of the 63.68% who voted for PAP in that GRC (East Coast GRC) way back in 2006. If he had voted for them I wonder how he's feeling now.
This is a good lesson for apolitical Singaporeans. Politics do have a direct repercussion on our lives. Many people think that it is possible to dissociate politics completely from our daily life, which is flawed.
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instead of helping him further, they set the police on him. That's what we call in chinese "gan jin sha jue" right? Means drive u up the wall and finish u off.
Now what happens to his elderly mum? She is still sick and has to continue picking up cardboards. Quite a tragedy. I wonder if anyone can find the link or contact no. as to how we can donate to her.
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This will be a lesson for all of us not to vote for the PAP in the next election
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Originally posted by Chester_Lim:
This will be a lesson for all of us not to vote for the PAP in the next election
You sure the alternative MPs can accept such threats? -
Well, whether they can accept or not, we don't know. One thing for sure, the opposition has more empathy for the common folk.
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Doesn't mean that she karung kuni, her son can threaten ppl and she can leave things in the common corridor
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of cos but if one is a really good MP, look beyond the threat and render help.
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
of cos but if one is a really good MP, look beyond the threat and render help.
maybe we should all try to stop emulating god ? What if the threat was carried out ? Why do people do stupid things like issuing threats when may be the "sole breadwinner" and his mother may be a karung guni who is doing what she is doing to pay for her own medical bills. -
Originally posted by Rock^Star:
Elderly mother of cabby charged for “threatening” PAP MP still working as “Garang-guni” woman
The case of relief cabby Mr Teo Kian Seng, who was charged in court yesterday for “threatening” PAP MP Lee Yi Shyan had sparked an outcry in cyberspace with many netizens wondering why the MP felt fit to make a police report in the first place.
Mr Teo allegedly told Lee in Mandarin that he hoped “history will not repeat itself” in a referral to the torching incident involving PAP MP Seng Han Thong last year at a Meet-the-People session on 1st of March.
It was reported in the Straits Times today that Mr Teo had gone to see Lee over a summons received by his mother for leaving clutter along the corridor of her flat.
Mr Teo’s mother, who is currently in her 80s, has been working as a “Garang-guni” woman for many years in order to pay for her medical expenses.
She might have no choice but to leave her “barang” along the corridor due to the nature of her work and lack of space in her own home.
It is not unusual in first world Singapore to see the elderly scavenging for used cardboards and newspapers in the streets for a living.
Despite its huge foreign reserves, Singapore has few social safety nets for its citizens who are expected to be self-reliant and not depend on the state for support.
It is not known if Mr Teo is the sole bread-winner of the family and if his mother will be in financial distress should he go to jail.
The Straits Times reported that Assistant Superintendent Raj Kishore Rai had told District Judge Low Wee Ping that “the prosecution was not ready to accept Teo’s plea as the victim was an MP.”
Why should an MP deserve preferential treatment from the police?
The authorities should assess the likelihood of Mr Teo acting on his very subtle threat thoroughly before taking action against him.
He probably said it in the heat of a moment under some sort of “provocation”.
The odds are stacked heavily against Mr Teo who does not have the financial resources to afford a good lawyer to fight the case for him, not to mention the financial losses he has to suffer as a result.
Source: Temasek Review
Wah, police actually said cannot accept plea because victim is MP?
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Originally posted by charlize:
Wah, police actually said cannot accept plea because victim is MP?
Its in the press. Unless someone is lying.
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"The Straits Times reported that Assistant Superintendent Raj Kishore Rai had told District Judge Low Wee Ping that “the prosecution was not ready to accept Teo’s plea as the victim was an MP.”"
This has just shown how corrupt the law system here is.
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
Well, whether they can accept or not, we don't know. One thing for sure, the opposition has more empathy for the common folk.
now you are wrog. history shows that when you are in power, you will behave the exact way the previous party in power.
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Actually, we need to go to the root of the problem.
Which is: why elderly people still need to work as karang guni to survive in Singapore?
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Originally posted by kramnave:
maybe we should all try to stop emulating god ? What if the threat was carried out ? Why do people do stupid things like issuing threats when may be the "sole breadwinner" and his mother may be a karung guni who is doing what she is doing to pay for her own medical bills.perhaps u have never been in a really desperate life and death situation before. He could be in one.....and it takes away his sanity.
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Originally posted by Rooney9:
now you are wrog. history shows that when you are in power, you will behave the exact way the previous party in power.
then i would say u r half right. There are always golden periods in every dynasty and power change.
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Originally posted by charlize:
Actually, we need to go to the root of the problem.
Which is: why elderly people still need to work as karang guni to survive in Singapore?
precisely......i would rather the ministers not pay themselves so much but devise a safety net scheme to support these people. Obviously, GDP is what matters at the end of the day.
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
precisely......i would rather the ministers not pay themselves so much but devise a safety net scheme to support these people. Obviously, GDP is what matters at the end of the day.
We need to pay ministers more so that they will have time to solve the problems of the poor and elderly.
Really.
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few issue we need to take note:
1. why there is a preferential treatment for an MP? or is it just PAP MP?
2. is there a growing resentment towards the ruling party that ppl feel frustrated that they could not challenge the regime? thus resort to using threats or volence?
3. a threat nevetheless is wrong. i strongly urge singaporeans to cast your vote wisely that is only the time, where u can challenge the system and make a difference.
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Originally posted by charlize:
Actually, we need to go to the root of the problem.
Which is: why elderly people still need to work as karang guni to survive in Singapore?
It depends.
For PAP supporters like hum angel7030 they will say that the eldery people just want to kill time so they work as karang guni
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PAP MP’s police report against his own resident: Real Threat or Paranoia?
OPINION
During
a visit to Sai Kung last Sunday to promote his reform package to the
people, Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was greeted by hundreds
of disgruntled citizens who heckled, abused and accused him of “selling
out” the people.Not only must he put up with a torrent of verbal abuse including vulgarities in Cantonese from the crowd, he also have to guard himself against flying eggs and slippers thrown at him from nowhere.
One protestor ran towards him swearing to “do him in” and was stopped by the police before he could reach Tsang. Despite the cacophony, no arrests were made. The police simply stood by and watched.
Had the scenario occurred in Singapore, riot trucks will be called in immediately and the protestors arrested and brought away forcefully by our Singapore Police Force.
Last week, a 52 year old relief cabby Mr Teo Kian Seng was charged in court for “threatening” his PAP MP Lee Yi Shyan. One would have thought that he must have done or said some horrible things to scare the wits out of the newbie MP, but all he did was to remind Lee that he hoped he would not see a “repeat” of the torching incident of Seng Han Thong last year.
How this can be construed or misconstrued as a “threat” by the MP and the Singapore police is anybody’s guess. The poor man had gone to see Lee at his Meet-the-People session in Bedok over a summons received by his elderly mother for leaving her “garang-guni” along the corridor.
The media did not report what transpire in the conversation between the two men, but surely Mr Teo would not have uttered those regrettable words for no good reason.
Either he was provoked into doing so or he must be so peeved by Lee’s attitude that he had a slip of tongue. One thing for sure: the exchange between Mr Teo and Lee is unlikely to be a pleasant encounter.
In all likelihood, Mr Teo probably said the “threatening” sentence out of anger or frustration and bears no malice or ill-will for it was not mentioned if Mr Teo had raised his voice or behaved in a hostile manner towards Lee.
An understanding and magnimanous gentleman would have forgotten the incident and let it pass instead of lodging a police report.
In most cases, the police will not even bother to investigate and will simply refer the complainant to the Magistrate’s court, but of course when it involves a PAP MP, they are especially “efficient”.
The PAP MPs should realize that they are bound to encounter rude, unpleasant and unruly residents during their grassroots work. There will be people who are unhappy, peeved and angry at the government and they will naturally become their immediate targets to vent their frustrations on.
During his visit to Tainan county last year in the aftermath of the Typhoon Morakot, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-Jeou was mobbed by angry villagers who threatened to beat him into a pulp. The unfortunate scene was telecast “live” on Taiwanese TV.
Elsewhere in Asia, it is relatively common to see lawmakers being heckled, abused and even beaten physically by disgruntled citizens when they are out in the public.
While violent behavior should not be condoned and deserved to be prosecuted, more discretion should be exercised by the authorities in the dealing of cases like Mr Teo’s which lie in the “gray” zone.
The role of an MP is to serve as an intermediary between the people and the government and to be an official channel for feedback from the ground, whether positive or negative.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew wrote in his memoirs that he and his entourage was jeered, heckled and jostled by opposition supporters when he was campaigning for the PAP in strongholds held by the Barisan Sosialis and he was even pushed into the drain on one occasion.
The present generation of new PAP MPs are indeed “strawberry” MPs who appear unable to differentiate between real threat and mere paranoia.
Facing and dealing with unhappy Singaporeans are part and parcel of their work as MPs. If the PAP MPs are so easily “threatened”, then perhaps they should seriously reconsider their positions as representatives of the people in Parliament.
It is so much easier being a MP in Singapore compared to Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and other Asian countries and it is a shame that PAP MPs still get paranoid over such trivial incidents.
That is the kind of MPs we get when they do not have to fight tooth and nail for every single vote from the people and are whisked into Parliament either through walkovers or GRCs.
Under the PAP’s uninterrupted rule for more than five decades, the term “MP” has taken a new definition altogether. Instead of serving the people as they should be, they are now behaving like little emperors whom the people must kowtow to and beg on their knees for help.
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Originally posted by Rock^Star:
PAP MP’s police report against his own resident: Real Threat or Paranoia?
OPINION
During a visit to Sai Kung last Sunday to promote his reform package to the people, Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang was greeted by hundreds of disgruntled citizens who heckled, abused and accused him of “selling out” the people.Not only must he put up with a torrent of verbal abuse including vulgarities in Cantonese from the crowd, he also have to guard himself against flying eggs and slippers thrown at him from nowhere.
One protestor ran towards him swearing to “do him in” and was stopped by the police before he could reach Tsang. Despite the cacophony, no arrests were made. The police simply stood by and watched.
Had the scenario occurred in Singapore, riot trucks will be called in immediately and the protestors arrested and brought away forcefully by our Singapore Police Force.
Last week, a 52 year old relief cabby Mr Teo Kian Seng was charged in court for “threatening” his PAP MP Lee Yi Shyan. One would have thought that he must have done or said some horrible things to scare the wits out of the newbie MP, but all he did was to remind Lee that he hoped he would not see a “repeat” of the torching incident of Seng Han Thong last year.
How this can be construed or misconstrued as a “threat” by the MP and the Singapore police is anybody’s guess. The poor man had gone to see Lee at his Meet-the-People session in Bedok over a summons received by his elderly mother for leaving her “garang-guni” along the corridor.
The media did not report what transpire in the conversation between the two men, but surely Mr Teo would not have uttered those regrettable words for no good reason.
Either he was provoked into doing so or he must be so peeved by Lee’s attitude that he had a slip of tongue. One thing for sure: the exchange between Mr Teo and Lee is unlikely to be a pleasant encounter.
In all likelihood, Mr Teo probably said the “threatening” sentence out of anger or frustration and bears no malice or ill-will for it was not mentioned if Mr Teo had raised his voice or behaved in a hostile manner towards Lee.
An understanding and magnimanous gentleman would have forgotten the incident and let it pass instead of lodging a police report.
In most cases, the police will not even bother to investigate and will simply refer the complainant to the Magistrate’s court, but of course when it involves a PAP MP, they are especially “efficient”.
The PAP MPs should realize that they are bound to encounter rude, unpleasant and unruly residents during their grassroots work. There will be people who are unhappy, peeved and angry at the government and they will naturally become their immediate targets to vent their frustrations on.
During his visit to Tainan county last year in the aftermath of the Typhoon Morakot, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-Jeou was mobbed by angry villagers who threatened to beat him into a pulp. The unfortunate scene was telecast “live” on Taiwanese TV.
Elsewhere in Asia, it is relatively common to see lawmakers being heckled, abused and even beaten physically by disgruntled citizens when they are out in the public.
While violent behavior should not be condoned and deserved to be prosecuted, more discretion should be exercised by the authorities in the dealing of cases like Mr Teo’s which lie in the “gray” zone.
The role of an MP is to serve as an intermediary between the people and the government and to be an official channel for feedback from the ground, whether positive or negative.
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew wrote in his memoirs that he and his entourage was jeered, heckled and jostled by opposition supporters when he was campaigning for the PAP in strongholds held by the Barisan Sosialis and he was even pushed into the drain on one occasion.
The present generation of new PAP MPs are indeed “strawberry” MPs who appear unable to differentiate between real threat and mere paranoia.
Facing and dealing with unhappy Singaporeans are part and parcel of their work as MPs. If the PAP MPs are so easily “threatened”, then perhaps they should seriously reconsider their positions as representatives of the people in Parliament.
It is so much easier being a MP in Singapore compared to Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea and other Asian countries and it is a shame that PAP MPs still get paranoid over such trivial incidents.
That is the kind of MPs we get when they do not have to fight tooth and nail for every single vote from the people and are whisked into Parliament either through walkovers or GRCs.
Under the PAP’s uninterrupted rule for more than five decades, the term “MP” has taken a new definition altogether. Instead of serving the people as they should be, they are now behaving like little emperors whom the people must kowtow to and beg on their knees for help.
Hello, the key word used here is threaten, Singaporean threaten his MPs, it is an offence.In Hongkong, they dun threaten their temporary govt, they only scold, throw rotten eggs and cry foul on their right being abused. That's the differences ya.
The court of Singapore are not stupid, and certainly not the prosecutor who is the govt lawyer, he choose his key word "threaten" well, not only MPs are the one seeking protection and unjust, even a man on the street, being threatened can sue the other party.
So, i suggest, if next time you dun like your MP, throw rotten eggs instead of use threatening words ya...
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u r one son of a bitch, dude. I wonder if your brain is functioning in your ass or head.
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yo, Cheeko, u never attend court ar??? u will be amuse by the words they use, the twist they make and the differ verdict far beyong yr expection...try to attend some of it and you will see that it is word for word. I am telling the truth nothing but the truth, just that you cannot accept it and start to curse at me..fair or not?
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please dont hurt angel... she's here to spread love and happiness... i love her
June 6th, 2010 | 
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