S'pore man, 62, gets 15 months' jail for sending pork slices to 7 mosques

A 62-year-old Singaporean man, Bill Tan Keng Hwee, was sentenced to 15 months' jail on May 11 for sending pork slices in envelopes to seven mosques, along with details of a woman.

He had been upset that his work contract was not renewed and suspected that the woman was behind the decision.

Tan pleaded guilty to three charges of wounding religious feelings under the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act and one count of harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act, CNA wrote.

Five other charges were taken into consideration.

Upset at non-renewal of work contract

According to court documents, Tan worked as an operations support officer at a redacted location since December 2024.

On Sep. 11, 2025, an operations manager informed Tan that his work contract would not be renewed and Tan became upset.

He then devised a plan to send letters containing a pork slice and the information about a woman, whom he believed was the one who made the decision not to renew his contract, to different mosques.

He intended for the recipients from the mosques to call the woman after receiving the letter to harass her, knowing that the pork slices would be offensive to a Muslim person.

To make each letter, Tan bought pork, foolscap papers and envelopes.

He then used his laptop to print a piece of paper containing offensive words, including "halal babi chop".

Tan then cut the piece of paper into small squares, each containing the offensive words, and placed one in each envelope.

Sent by post

He then sent them out by post to seven mosques on Sep. 15, 2025.

Three of these mosques were picked at random, court documents stated.

Staff at the mosques discovered the envelopes in their mosques' mailboxes on Sep. 19, 2025, and called the police.

That same day, the woman Tan targeted received a call from a staff of a mosque informing her about a parcel containing a piece of meat and note.

She similarly made a police report.

Courts must respond firmly: Judge

Deputy Public Prosecutor Selene Yap told the court that "offences involving religious relations... threaten the very fabric of our society", CNA wrote.

She added that a "sufficiently deterrent sentence" is needed to "send a clear signal" and sought 15 to 18 months' jail.

Yap also said that Tan had "weaponised religion" to harass the victim.

Tan's defence lawyer countered that Tan never intended to attack the Muslim community.

The district judge presiding over the case said that Singapore's social fabric rests upon "peaceful co-existence of persons of different races and faiths" and that religious and racial harmony form the "very bedrock of public order and national cohesion", CNA reported.

The judge called Tan's actions "calculated, deeply offensive and inherently inflammatory".

She dismissed the defence lawyer's point that targeting the Muslim community was not Tan's primary objective.

She also said that the courts must respond "firmly and unequivocally" to such conduct.