S'porean man, 34, points kitchen knife at police officer at 2:30am at home, gets tased & jail

In the wee hours of the morning, a Singaporean man pulled out a kitchen knife in his home when he thought "someone was outside".

After his mother called the police, Pang Choon Siong, 34, told an officer at the scene that someone was "shooting" at her from the kitchen.

Pang was eventually subdued with a taser after he pointed the knife at the officer and approached her with it in hand.

Took out knife saying 'someone is outside'

Court documents indicated that on May 27 at around 2:05am, Pang's mother was in her room when she heard her son call out for help.

She walked out to see him pushing against the flat's main door, trying to keep it shut.

Pang asked her to help him hold the door.

He also touched the window and said that someone was outside, but Pang's mother did not notice anyone in the corridor.

Subsequently, Pang went to the kitchen to get a kitchen knife, so his mother returned to her room and closed the door.

At 2:18am, she called 999, saying, "My son is holding on to a knife. He is looking out the window saying there is someone outside".

Police officers arrived within minutes, but Pang refused to open the door for them, so his mother did so.

Tased by officer after pointing knife at her

A female officer attached to Ang Mo Kio North Neighbourhood Police Centre interviewed Pang.

However, she assessed that Pang "was not in a right state of mind" as he told her someone was "shooting" at her from the kitchen with a pistol.

Pang also paced around the living room without responding to the officer.

He then went outside to stand by the corridor railing, before going back in to get a lighter to light his cigarette.

Followed by the officer, Pang went into the kitchen and held onto a kitchen knife in his right hand.

Things came to a head at about 2:30am when Pang pointed the knife at the officer and approached her with it.

Using her taser, the officer subdued Pang.

He was arrested and the knife was seized by the police.

Later, Pang claimed that he had pointed the knife at the officer as he did not want her to come close to him, but said he did not know why he did not want this to happen.

Tried taking fruits from fruit stall while drunk

Pang was also found to have caused a nuisance at a fruit stall in Singapore while drunk, in a separate incident.

At about 11pm on Dec. 3, 2023, he had tried to take fruits at the stall without paying.

When confronted by the shop assistant, Pang bit into a dragon fruit and threw it at a nearby tree.

After that, Pang sat on one of the stall's pallets, causing some fruits to topple onto the ground, and then fell asleep on the ground outside the stall.

The stall assistant later called the police about Pang's actions.

Has criminal record, probably took 'Ice' before incident: Prosecution

Pang pleaded guilty to one charge of criminal intimidation and another for drunkenness in a public place on Sep. 25, according to Shin Min Daily News.

In the opening address, the prosecution asked for nine to 11 months' jail and a short custodial sentence for Pang.

Pang was diagnosed by the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) with severe alcoholism and also had a historical diagnosis of a mild disorder involving the use of sedative, sleep, or anxiety medication, the prosecution said.

The prosecution added that Pang has a criminal record, with offences such as intentionally causing hurt with a dangerous weapon, reckless behaviour, and criminal intimidation, and assessed that his risk of reoffending is moderate.

While noting that Pang would have been in a state of psychosis at the time of the offences as he was likly to have consumed methamphetamine ("Ice"), the prosecution pointed out that he has been assessed fit to plead in court.

"He was not of unsound mind and remained capable of knowing the nature and wrongfulness of his actions, and was not completely deprived of any power to control his actions. There was a contributory link between his psychotic disorder and the alleged offence," the prosecution said.

Just got divorced in prison: Accused

In mitigation, Pang said he had a nine-year-old daughter, his father had suffered a stroke, and his mother was unwell, as reported by Shin Min.

Pang added that he was remanded following his arrest, and had signed a divorce agreement in August while in prison.

He told the judge that he was not a bad person and pleaded to be given another chance.

Eventually, the judge sentenced Pang to eight months and one week in jail.

Top image from Canva