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The former Ngee Ann Polytechnic lecturer, who was charged for making racist remarks to an interracial couple along Orchard Road in 2021 and for possessing 64 obscene videos in his phone, was sentenced on Dec. 29 to five weeks' jail and fined S$6,000.

Faced four charges, pleaded guilty to two

The 61-year-old Tan Boon Lee was handed a total of four charges:

• Committing an act which Tan knew is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious groups and which is likely to disturb the public tranquillity at Ngee Ann Polytechnic on Jul. 28, 2017;
• Committing an act which Tan knew is prejudicial to the maintenance of harmony between different religious groups and which is likely to disturb the public tranquillity on online forum Quora.com between Aug. 10, 2020 and Sep. 13, 2020;
• Wounding the racial feelings of Dave Parkash by uttering racist remarks with deliberate intention on Jun. 5, 2021; and
• Possessing 64 obscene films, which showed women engaged in sexual acts, in his phone on Jun. 12, 2021.

Tan pleaded guilty to the last two charges on Nov. 17, 2022.

Those who deliberately wound the religious or racial feelings of a person may be jailed for up to three years, or fined, or both.

Those who possess obscene films may be fined up to S$40,000, or jailed for up to a year, or both.

The two other charges were taken into consideration.

Sentenced to five weeks' jail and S$6,000 fine

Tan appeared in court for his sentencing on Dec. 29.

He was wearing an orange and blue plaid button down short sleeve shirt and black pants and was accompanied by his wife.

Tan was represented by Eugene Thuraisingam and Hilary Low from Eugene Thuraisingam LLP.

For the two charges that Tan pleaded guilty to, Principal District Judge Victor Yeo Khee Eng sentenced Tan to five weeks' jail and fined him S$6,000 for possessing obscene films.

Noted Tan's remorse

For his behaviour and remarks made to Parkash, Deputy Public Prosecutor Yeow Xuan had sought four weeks' jail for Tan, and left the fine amount up to the court.

On the other hand, the defence sought a community-based sentence for Tan, or a fine of S$5,000, and if the custodial threshold has not been crossed, a jail term of no more than two weeks.

Principal District Judge Yeo noted Tan's remorse, saying he had turned himself into the police and cooperated with the authorities, a point that was brought up during Tan's mitigation plea.

He added that if not for these mitigating factors, Tan would have received a jail sentence that was longer than four weeks, as sought by Yeow.

Aggravating factors that cannot be ignored

However, having reviewed the video of the incident, Principal District Judge Yeo said there were several aggravating factors that the court could not ignore.

This includes Tan's persistent remarks to Parkash, despite the other man telling him that he was not fully Indian, and to Parkash's girlfriend, saying that she had disgraced her parents and him, said Principal District Judge Yeo, who added that Tan was unrelenting and even, at one point, walked back to the couple to continue making his remarks.

Throughout the exchange, Tan seemed to be insinuating that there was something wrong to be of a certain skin colour and/ or race, and that one race was better than another, all of which Principal District Judge Yeo said he found most troubling and highly provocative.

The judge added that Tan seemed to have no qualms about expressing his thoughts in a public setting, where there were passersby, and despite knowing that Parkash's girlfriend was filming the interaction.

Daughter's past relationship cannot be an excuse

Tan's legal counsel previously explained the reason for Tan's outburst, saying that their client was reminded of his daughter's past relationship when he encountered Parkash and his girlfriend and had become angry and distressed.

Tan's daughter, now 25, was previously in a relationship with an Indian man, which Tan objected to, and she had ran away from home.

However, Principal District Judge Yeo said Tan's personal experience cannot be an excuse of justification for his "offensive and hurtful behaviour" towards Parkash.

Commending Parkash and his girlfriend for remaining relatively calm and restrained during the incident, Principal District Judge Yeo said he also could not "ignore the embarrassment, humiliation and hurt" that the couple must have felt and the ensuing public discourse online and in the media.

He said Tan had "clearly crossed the red line, and the harm caused in this case is not negligible nor insignificant".

Tan began his jail sentence on Dec. 29.

Background

Tan confronted Dave Parkash and his girlfriend Jacqueline Ho in the vicinity of Angullia Park in Orchard Road on Jun. 5, 2021.

Parkash is half-Indian and half-Filipino, while Ho is half-Chinese and half-Thai.

Ho filmed their encounter with Tan.

Parkash then uploaded the video to Facebook.

Tan was heard in the video saying it was "such a disgrace (that) an Indian man is with a Chinese girl" and "if you are proud of your own race, you marry somebody Indian", adding that it is racist that "Indians marries (sic) a Chinese girl".

He also accused Parkash of preying on a Chinese girl, saying, "I know you’re preying on a Chinese girl and the Chinese are not happy with it," and "The only thing is, when you’re preying on Chinese girl, I tell you, the Chinese don’t like it.", amongst other things.

After the video of their interaction went viral, Tan was fired from Ngee Ann Polytechnic in June 2021, and was charged on May 2022.

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Top image screenshot from video from Dave Parkash/Facebook