A BANKRUPT moved his family to Johor as it was cheaper to live there. For that, he was jailed six weeks on Monday for leaving Singapore without getting clearance from the Official Assignee…. Now a taxi driver, he could lose his job if jailed and may end up unable to support his family or repay his creditors.
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poor and out of luck. black comedy if it wasn’t real life.
Is there an issue with the Immigration and Checkpoint Authority? Can a bankrupt leave the country? How come a bankrupt can leave the country without being stopped? This is as good as a security issue too.
A bankrupt needs to obtain permission from the OA to leave the country. However, somtimes due to communication lapses, the ICA is not informed in time by the OA and the bankrupt is able to leave the country.
This was what happened to the ex-NKF chairman and how he manage to leave for HK.
The OA could have issued a stern warning to this guy instead of having to charge him for the offence. Sadly, most civil servants prefer to go by the book nowadays instead of using their discretionary powers.
thanks alky.
So, what does it make of this?
The poor bankrupt pays for lapse in communication between OA and ICA?
From the looks of things, I don’t think the poor bankrupt knew he had to inform the OA when moving his family to Johor.
A stern warning would be much more appropriate than jailing this man. He can’t afford to live with high cost of living here. Is the gov handing out financial help to him? Oh wait, this is not a welfare state. Silly me for asking. He can’t keep up with living here! Is Singapore trying to push him to suicide?
Maybe we should all move to Johore now before we becomes bankrupt in Spore.
Well, so much for compassion and empathy.
If you push a person too hard and he tries to accommodate but still get knock down, just imagine what he will do next.
He got nothing to lose if he sees that the walls gets closer and the family that he tries to protect – gives up on him.
When he does something drastic – just to get attention or even worse revenge, then I believe the authority will understand.
But it will be too late, dont we ever learn?
Ask not how you can bankrupt your country, but ask how your country can bankrupt you…
I concur with alky. There are strong mitigating factors for this case.
Although a bankrupt, he is still trying to raise his family with responsibility.
If the ICA civil servants are heartless to go by the book, surely the court
should show some compassion to let him off with a fine. Surely justice
doesn’t just mean punishment?
It is sad that such acts can bring someone to jail.
I also heard some poor souls failed to pay their TCs bills after few months and went to jail as he has no money to pay at all. One week of jail is like for $500 owed bills.
This is so sad in our country…
The sad fact in Singapore is that the civil servants cannot be lenient even if they want to.
Why? Because if word got out that they were lenient, other Singaporeans would cry foul and call for their blood.
In short, Singaporeans made the civil service this way.
Hi JohnnyKid,
The civil servants cannot be lenient, fine enough. This is why there is a court of law. The court of law ought to be able to judge that the poor fellow is already bankrupt and is taking positive steps to reduce his own burden by moving his family out to a cheaper location.
Which court of law cannot find it in itself to help the already down-and-out fellow by making sure he does not need to go to prison so that he could continue to find work and start paying off his debts as well as to continue to take care of his already over-burdened family?
So you see, it is not that Singaporeans will be crying foul because of a precedent being set. If the precedent being set is to help another human being, and if the rest of us humans were to cry foul, then I think we have to stop calling ourselves human first of all.
I really do not know the rationale for sending the poor chap to prison. I only know that in the civil service there is this fear – the fear of the bosses – that controls the robotic behaviours of the civil servants.
Although he forgot to report or get permission beforehand , I applaud him for thinking-out-of-the-box .
since he is bankrupt – PAP won;t want him –
he should migrate to m’sia
I thought the govt always say want to help the poor ? Can the govt help the bankcrapt people? Raise GST to help the poor, but how come many poor people go to jail?? Is this govt gracious ? Oppositions should speak up. Nobody will want to go JB stay, but no choice…..
As a bankrupt, you need to apply for permission from the OA to leave Singapore. ICA do not check or restrict a bankrupt from leaving the country. That’s the main reason why these bankrupts can repeat these violations (eg: so many trips to Malaysia etc).
However, all the fault do not lie with the bankrupts. If they are not in the green zone, the OA ‘requires’ 2 weeks notice for the application to be approved. If the bankrupt is in the green zone, it is approved on-line. This is unfair to have that long a waiting period imposed by the OA, hence you see all these unnecessary violations, where the bankrupts are forced to take the risk and leave the country without prior permission.
If the poor guy do not return to Malaysia, he will have to sleep at the national parks and may pick up a fine. If he leaves for Malaysia to have a roof over his head, he gets a prison sentence. If he has the financial means, he would not be a bankrupt. Sometimes life sucks and people (including bankrupts) are forced into such circumstances.
there are so many rich mps and minsters what have they done?
A bankrupt was kicked about by society. So, let us talk and write less, the best thing is for all TOC “bongo”, “wanaba”, “hanjo pucho” and “half-baked” people to place your kind hands to help out instead of rubbing salt into wounds. I suggest all these wonderful side-kicked people put some moneys into this bankrupt kitty to help him out. This will be a good deed.
This is no surprising news…no ONE is above the law! These offenders have usually fantastic ’stories’ to tell…often making the law look stupid. He deserves what he got, having been advised and so on. Pity though the innocent family are get caught in between.
The ICA need to update & input their system wit these bankruptcies leaving unchecked!!!
Strange it seems that the bankrupt could move between Singapore and Johor for what – over 20 times? This was one of the reason why the judge imposed a jail term instead of a fine.
Now, even if there is a communication lapse or if the inter-ministry systems failed to link which resulted in ICA not receiving the updates, it is really baffling to think that even after twenty cross-border trips this was not rectified?
The poor chap should have been found guilty of the first charge of leaving the country without OA approval. He should have been caught here which will make the other trips irrelevant. Someone else has to take responsibility for the guy being able to leave and return almost at will.
Like I said earlier, the security issue here is a more serious concern. No wonder Mas Selamat could disappear into thin air.
Is SinKapore a PRISON? If someone moved to earn a living and continue to pay his debth, then the law should take it into comsideration. As there is no social safety net, family have to find their own way to feed themselves. The most importance question I had in mind is, had this been clearly stated that a bankrupt cannot leave the country? I must say, SinKaporean had great tolerance and patience and would take any hardship thrown at them regardless what it is. The fruits of economic success belong to the selected few and if the balance of rich and poor is such that, there are more poor then rich, then the day will come when the poor feel they had nothing to loose to take the laws into their hands. History had shown in many countries, when the massses rise up to remove a dictator from power. China, France and UK come to mind. Are we approaching toward that fateful day with history?