A 24-year-old student from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has been slapped with a two-week jail sentence for repeatedly molesting a woman at Serangoon MRT station in September 2018.

Terence Siow Kai Yuan had previously received a 21-month probation for his crime in September 2019, but had his sentence overturned by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon on April 27, 2020, after an appeal by the prosecution.

According to the Chief Justice, who delivered his findings via video conferencing, it was "critical that the respondent and other like-minded offenders understand that such conduct, which is offensive or demeaning to the victim - no matter how minor the intrusion - will always attract a sharp punitive response," CNA reported.

Why did Siow initially receive a probation order?

Jasvender Kaur, the District Judge who had sentenced Siow to probation, previously listed out seven factors she had considered before her sentencing:

1. Degree of the sexual exploitation
2. Circumstances of the offence
3. Harm caused to the victim
4. Accused’s admission to past offences
5. Charges for the purposes of sentence
6. Plea of guilt and cooperation with authorities
7. Accused’s strong potential for reform

According to Kaur, Siow's good academic results as well as other strengths showed his "strong potential for reform".

Court documents had also stated that adult offenders who demonstrate an extremely strong propensity for reform, or show exceptional circumstances, may be sentenced to probation.

Prosecution sought three weeks' imprisonment for Siow, conduct not "simply opportunistic"

During the appeal hearing, Deputy Public Prosecutors Kristy Tan, Gail Wong and Benedict Chan stated that Siow "neither demonstrated an extremely strong propensity for reform, nor showed that his case is so exceptional as to warrant an order of probation".

They added that to "grant probation in this case would be a miscarriage of justice" given the "seriousness of the offence and the aggravating circumstances".

According to court documents, Siow had "outraged the modesty of the female victim by touching her thigh with his hand twice" within the duration of a train ride.

He was also "undeterred by the clear signs of discomfort exhibited by the victim".

After the victim, 28, alighted from the train, Siow "persisted in following her onto an escalator with intent to outrage her modesty once more", the DPPs said.

There, he touched her buttocks over her shorts with his finger.

The prosecution pointed out that Siow's act of following the victim and molesting her made it plain that his conduct cannot be brushed off as "simply opportunistic" or "acting on the spur of the moment".

Additionally, Siow did not wait at the scene to take responsibility when the victim turned to confront him, but immediately fled the train station.

"Indeed, this was not the first time he had touched females in crowded buses or trains, but it was the first time he got caught," said DPP Tan.

Further claiming that Siow is an adult who was "fully aware of the consequences of his actions" and had began touching female commuters on public transport from August 2016 until September 2018, the prosecution urged the court to impose a sentence of at least three weeks' imprisonment on him.

Academic performance not exceptional, does not show strong propensity for reform

On the issue of Siow's good academic results, the prosecution argued that none of them were "exceptional" and do not meet the threshold of showing an extremely strong propensity for reform.

They added that "mere assurances of reform and professions of remorse are unexceptional and occur in almost every case where probation or a conditional discharge is requested by an accused person".

The prosecution also pointed out that "good academic performance in school may translate into success in finding employment and being a gainful member of society, but this is a general proposition".

The link between good academic performance and staying crime-free is "tenuous", especially when the offending was "sexually motivated", the DPPs added.

Urging the court to reject the over-emphasis on Siow's "strong academic performance", the prosecution said that this characteristic is also not particularly exceptional or unique to the accused, "because all university students would have achieved a decent level of past academic performance in order to qualify for university".

Need to deter would-be molesters on public transport

Citing statistics from the Singapore Police Force Annual Crime Brief, the prosecution also mentioned that outrage of modesty on public transport "remains a concern".

From 2016 to 2019, there was a general increase in the number of outrage of modesty cases within the public transport system:

• 2016: 129 cases
• 2017: 207 cases
• 2018: 272 cases
• 2019: 239 cases

As this problem remains pervasive, there is a need for such a sentencing to deter would-be molesters from taking advantage of commuters, they argued.

In response, the Chief Justice noted that Parliament had "repeatedly highlighted a growing need to deter crimes committed on the public transport network," Yahoo News reported.

Menon added that "the public transport network is used by the vast majority of people in Singapore each and every day" and it is a matter of "immense importance that they feel able to do so, knowing that they are safe".

Defence lawyer argues that Siow displayed signs of wanting to change

In Siow's defence, lawyer Raphael Louis had argued that Siow should be allowed to continue with probation as he had wanted to get treatment and displayed signs of wanting to change.

He added that Siow was "working closely with his school counsellor, going for more sessions that he was required to, and initiating seeing a psychiatrist," CNA reported.

In a previous court hearing on March 10, Louis had also pointed to Siow's and his parents' willingness to change.

"They expressed willingness to supervise Terence and make sure that he abided by his probation," he said.

While they were initially hesitant to monitor his mobile phone and computer usage, they were "willing to do so if instructed by the probation officer".

However, Menon said that this was not necessarily exceptional as most parents would want to avoid a custodial sentence for their son.

The prosecution also attempted to cast doubt on Siow's remorse by pointing out that Siow had not taken the initiative to start an offence-specific treatment programme that would have been mandated by his probation.

DPP Tan, in particular, said that Siow had the resources available to start the programme on his own, despite the fact that his probation had not started.

Siow's case had sparked widespread debate on sexual offences

In 2019, Siow's case sparked widespread public debate on sexual offences in Singapore, particularly in local universities.

An online petition against favourable sentences for "educated" sex offenders was even set up in light of his case.

To date, it has received 100,000 signatures.

For each count of outrage of modesty, Siow could have been jailed for up to two years, fined, caned or any combination of the three.

Top image via Terence Siow/Facebook and Melanie Lim