Probation report called for young member of SG Nasi Lemak group

SINGAPORE — The youngest of the four men charged over the voyeuristic SG Nasi Lemak chat group pleaded guilty to possessing 59 obscene films on Wednesday (21 October).

The student, who is now 18 years old, was a member in the Telegram chat group, which shared obscene material of women and had up to 44,000 members at one point.

While he pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing obscene films, he also admitted to one charge each of transmitting two nudes of unknown females to SG Nasi Lemak on 5 October last year, and possessing 388 obscene images for the purpose of transmission. These two charges will be taken into consideration when he is sentenced.

As he was under 18 at the time of the offences, he cannot be named as he is protected under the Children and Young Persons Act. A probation report was called for the teen to assess his suitability for the rehabilitative sentencing option.

The police received 35 reports about the messaging application between 15 March and 3 October last year.

On 14 October 2019, at around 11am, police officers raided the teenager’s residence and seized his mobile phone. The device was sent for forensic examination and 59 video files were deemed to be obscene.

Teen’s mother taken disciplinary action against son

The teen’s lawyer, Muhammad Hasif, highlighted his client’s young age and that he was pursuing further studies. The lawyer said his client had a whole future ahead of him and that he had a family support system in place that made him suitable for probation.

The lawyer added that his mother had taken “serious action” against her son, including confiscating any form of communication and subjecting him to strict discipline.

Noting that his client decided to plead guilty early and was remorseful, the defence lawyer called for a probation report.

The prosecution did not object to the calling of the report, noting the teen’s age and clean record.

Probation is a rehabilitative sentencing option that is usually offered to offenders between the age of 16 and 21. The offender will not have a criminal record upon completing probation.

The teen is expected to return to court on 2 December, after he is assessed for probation.

Of the three other co-accused, one – 20-year-old Justin Lee Han Shi – was given a 12-month probation term. The other two, Liong Tianwei, 38, Leonard Teo Min Xuan, 27, will return for further mentions of their cases on Friday and 11 November respectively.

Liong and Teo are believed to be administrators of SG Nasi Lemak.

For possessing obscene films, a breach of the Films Act, the teen could be jailed up to six months and/or fined at least $500 for each film, to a maximum of $20,000.

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