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APR 7 2000 CJ to church man: Sorry, you must go to jail <>
Mandatory penalty means deacon can't be spared jail even though he rented flat to illegal immigrants unwittingly By ELENA CHONG VERY sorry, but nothing can be done. You have to go to jail. This was Chief Justice Yong Pung How's message yesterday to a church deacon who had broken Singapore's tough laws on harbouring illegal immigrants. A jail term is mandatory, and the minimum period is six months. Seow Boon Wah, 43, from the Baptist Fellowship Church in Serangoon Gardens, had rented out a flat in Tiong Bahru to immigration offenders unwittingly. Last October, a district court heard that in March last year, he had used a housing agent, Mr Desmond Chia, to get three tenants for his mother's flat in Bo Bo Tan Gardens in Chay Yan Street. He had then met the trio and Mr Chia had asked for their permits. One of the would-be tenants showed a high-quality forged work permit; the other, an employment pass without a photograph; and the third, a valid pass without a photograph. In April, when Seow went to collect rent, he was handed photocopies of two work permits, which he glanced at before leaving. When the flat was raided in May, the immigration offenders were arrested. Seow, who has three children, was convicted in November of harbouring them and sentenced to seven months' jail. In appealing against both the conviction and sentence, Seow's lawyer, Mr Kirpal Singh, said a proper tenancy agreement had been signed. But the CJ felt this was irrelevant: "The main point is -- was there sufficient diligence in determining the characters of the tenants? "That is the entire case. Parliament has been very strict on this." For instance, people must make several checks on prospective tenants, such as their original passes or permits -- these must be genuine and must be compared with their passports. The would-be tenants' employers and the authorities must also be contacted for checks. In Seow's case, he checked only the permit and passes. "I think it is necessary for them to show that they took every precaution," said the CJ. "I know it is very very strict. It pains me to have to dismiss the appeal on this basis, but the law there is so strict." He noted that once someone employs or shelters an immigration offender, he would have to go to "the ends of the earth" to prove his innocence. "There is almost absolute liability. The law is so strict. I feel sorry for the people who are charged and convicted," he said. Mr Kirpal Singh said that in Seow's case, there were no aggravating factors to justify seven months' jail. But the CJ said that unless it was "manifestly excessive", he could not cut it to six months. "I will make myself a laughing stock. I am very sorry," he said. IT'S SAD: But it's the law 'IT IS a very sad responsibility when you are renting out a house or when you are employing somebody. But that is the position of the law in Singapore. I did not make the law. The courts did not make the law. The courts have to apply the law...
There is almost absolute liability. The law is so strict. I feel sorry
for the people who are charged and convicted.'
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