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Adjunct teacher who attacked son's 10-year-old bully jailed 7 weeks SINGAPORE — A man who attacked a 10-year-old boy for bullying his son was jailed seven weeks on Monday (29 April). Adjunct teacher Tan Chin Tai pleaded guilty at the State Courts to one count of voluntarily causing hurt. The 43-year-old, who also works at a tuition centre, had confronted the boy at his son’s school and shoved him against a wall, leaving the child with a small fracture on one of his ribs. Tan’s lawyer, Cory Wong, said that the boy had been bullying his client's son since early 2017 by using vulgarities and taunting him. The boy also threatened to hit other children who spoke to the client's son. ‘I can bully you’ Tan Chin Tai committed the offence while picking his son up from school at around 1.15pm on 7 July 2017. When he spotted the victim heading towards the school’s gate with a student care staff member, he approached the boy. Tan then grabbed the boy’s schoolbag and pushed the him towards a nearby rubbish shed. He then shoved the boy against a wall and scolded him. “Just because you are bigger in size, you can bully others,” Tan told the boy. “Since you can bully my son, I can bully you.” Following the incident, the boy experienced pain in his left chest and visited the hospital. He was found to have sustained a small fracture on one of his left ribs. He was discharged on the same day and given painkillers. Tan has since paid $229.50 in compensation to the boy. Bullying escalated after incident According to Wong, the bullying got to a point where the father considered switching his son to a different school. The accused had earlier reported the bullying to the school but this did not stop the bullying. “(The father) was instead told that the victim had anger management issues, and felt that his concerns were being brushed aside. “True enough, the school remained ineffective in doing anything to stop the bullying,” said Wong who is from Invictus Law. The victim’s bullying also escalated after the incident, with him calling the accused a “murderer” to his son’s face, the lawyer said, adding that the son had been ostracised by his schoolmates. The boy had also told the accused’s son, “Your father confirm go to jail (sic). My mother is going to sue until you bankrupt (sic).” Wong pointed out that the accused’s actions were not premeditated. Tan had simply wanted to “engage constructively and verbally with the victim”, however the victim had “very cockily ignored” him. “In the heat of the moment, and being a loving father who would staunchly protect his son’s interests, the above drove (Tan) to act out of character,” said the lawyer. In mitigation, Wong asked for fine of not more than $5,000 for his client. For voluntarily causing hurt, Tan could have been jailed up to two years and faced a possible fine of up to $5,000.

Seremban Boy Keeps Losing in Video Game So His Dad Broke His Competitor’s Spine On January 11, a misunderstanding over a video game ended with a teenage gamer being hospitalised with broken bones. The incident happened at around 10pm at an electronic game store in Palm Mall, Seremban. Sin Chew Daily reported that the teenage victim had been playing a competitive video game against another boy. After beating the boy several times, the boy’s father approached the victim and offered him RM2 to intentionally lose and let the boy win. However, the bribe didn’t work and the teenager soon seized another victory, beating the boy once more. The father was angered and became violent, throwing a chair at the victim. He kicked the teenager several times, rallying up around four other men to come and assist the assault. A video of the event posted on Twitter showed them surrounding the visibly terrified teenager, yelling at him as passersby watched helplessly. At one point in time, a man even kicked the teenager in the head as he cowered on the floor. The assault was brutal, and the boy ended up being hospitalised as he suffered severe injuries. With bruises across his body, punctured lungs, broken ribs, and a shattered spine, the victim is currently in the ICU of Tuanku Ja’afar Hospital. Source: Sin Chew Daily Four suspects have since been arrested, as reported by The Sun. All four suspects have been in remand until today (15 Jan), said Seremban district police chief Asst Comm Thiew Hock Poh. Their case is currently being investigated under Section 148 of the Penal Code for rioting. Source: Sin Chew Daily The police are currently searching for the whereabouts of a witness, S. Munisvaran, 37, to assist in the investigation. They have advised members of the public with information on the witness and the incident to call the investigating officer, Mohammad Najeeb Mohammed Shukri at 06-6033284. What a terrible tragedy! And over such a minor issue. Violence is never the answer and we wish the victim a complete recovery.

The family of a dead national serviceman is suing the Singapore Armed Forces for allegedly failing to provide a safe training environment. http://str.sg/JFE Private Dominique Sarron Lee, 21, died in April 2012 after an allergic reaction to smoke grenades during an exercise. Pte Lee's platoon commander and the exercise's chief safety officer are also being sued for negligence.