Lor Ka Hoo and wife Tan Sit Fun were initially sentenced to two weeks in jail but Judicial Commissioner Wong Teck Meng today said it was inadequate and increased the jail term to five months, to reflect the seriousness of the offence.
“They admitted they prevented the MBSA staff from doing her duty and was aggressive towards her,” Wong said, adding the couple should not have taken matters into their hands by using criminal force to prevent the enforcement officer from carrying out her duties.
“They should have acted calmly during the time and paid the fine,” Wong said.
The court, he explained, must impose strict punishment for offences like this, as being lenient could lead to a more unruly society.
The couple remained calm when the sentence was read out to them.
Wong then ordered them to serve their sentence from today.
Earlier in his submissions, deputy public prosecutor Muhammad Iskandar Ahmad said the magistrate’s court had erred in passing the 14 days custodial sentence last year.
He urged the court to impose a heavy sentence as a deterrent to those who intimidate any of the country’s 1.2 million civil servants.
The couple’s lawyer, Gabriel Susayan countered that the two weeks jail sentence was too excessive for first-time offenders.
Attorney-General Apandi Ali in a statement on November 27 said the two weeks jail sentence was “manifestly inadequate” and had filed a cross appeal to increase the sentence.
The couple were captured on video showing them harassing the officer when she wanted to issue a parking summons to Tan. However, when the summons was issued, Tan started scolding the MBSA officer. Lor then turned up and together they harassed the enforcement officer by trying to prevent her from leaving the scene.