Man, 57, admits to throwing raw pork bone towards mosque

SINGAPORE - Despite being in full view of a mosque's members, a 57-year-old man threw a raw pork bone towards the building's balcony.

Singaporean Lim Beng Wei pleaded guilty on Thursday (Sept 9) to a charge of public nuisance.

Two other charges for public nuisance - one for throwing another bone and the other for throwing butter towards the roof of the Singapore Musical Box Museum at 168 Telok Ayer Street - will be taken into consideration during sentencing by the court at a later date.

Court documents state that Lim bought two raw pork bones, among other things, from a supermarket in Tanjong Pagar on the morning of Jan 14.

He headed towards Masjid Al-Abrar, which is located at 192 Telok Ayer Street, intending to throw a bone at the mosque.

When he reached the building, he removed a bone from its packaging and flung it towards the second-level balcony of the mosque.

The court heard that his actions were captured by the building's closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras.

The CCTV footage was later reviewed by police officers, who were investigating a call claiming that a person had vandalised the Singapore Musical Box Museum's premises. The museum is located near the mosque.

According to a report by Dr Yap Lee Shen from the Institute of Mental Health, Lim was suffering from a relapse of paranoid schizophrenia at the time of his offence.

He was first diagnosed with the mental condition in 1998, and was assessed to have had relapses in 2011 and 2018.

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His psychotic symptoms had contributed to the commission of the offence, the report stated.

Lim had also admitted to only only partially compliant in taking his medications then.

But Dr Yap said the man was not of unsound mind at the time - he was aware of the "nature and quality of his actions".

The court heard that Lim had committed previous offences, including for mischief. He was last sentenced in 2019 to a mandatory treatment order (MTO) for two years.

This was for smashing the glass in various lifts, according to a previous report by Chinese-language evening daily Lianhe Wanbao.

Offenders given an MTO will undergo treatment for their mental condition in lieu of jail time.

On Thursday, District Judge Kessler Soh called for a report assessing Lim's suitability for another MTO.

Lim is expected to be sentenced on Oct 13.

For his offence of public nuisance, he could be jailed for three months, or fined up to $2,000, or both.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required to reproduce.