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SINGAPORE: A 41-year-old man was fined S $ 9,000 for wrongfully confining three of his workers for a total of 42 days between May and June this year.
Shaun Pang Tong Heng, General Manager of the Ad-Meth Mech-Field Manufacturing Company, pleaded guilty in state courts on Thursday (September 17) to three counts of wrongful confinement.
On May 12, Pang was informed that two of the men, Pandiyan Jayakanthan, 23, and Ganesan Pandi, 24, had been harassing another employee, while the third man, Muthuraj Thangaraj, 39, was under police investigation for a separate matter.
Deciding that the three Indian nationals were “troublemakers”, Pang decided to lock them in a confined space, which included a 3.4m by 4.3m room and a bathroom, on the first floor of the company’s Tuas South premises. said the deputy prosecutor. Eric Hu.
All three were released on May 15 after complaining that the room was hot and had mosquitoes, and they were placed in another room, which was air-conditioned and not locked.
On May 18, Pang saw video footage of Pandiyan and Ganesan leaving the facility without permission and decided to re-lock them up.
They were restricted to the confined area, which was now surrounded by metal fences secured with a padlock, for another 39 days, between May 19 and June 26.
One of the men called the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on June 25, and authorities sent a group of officers to the company the next day.
Pang was told to release the three men and he obeyed.
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Mr. Hu had requested a fine of S $ 3,000 for each of the three counts of wrongful confinement.
However, Pang’s lawyer, Md Noor E Adnaan of TSMP Law Corporation, argued that his client should be fined S $ 1,500 per charge.
Mr. Noor pointed out that Pang had no criminal record and was well regarded by his managing director and by the workers, some of whom had signed testimonies on his behalf.
After being released for the first time, Pandiyan and Ganesan had scaled the walls of the premises to shop for alcohol before returning to their factory-converted dormitory.
This act had to be viewed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, Noor said.
Pang was concerned about the spread of the coronavirus and had intended with his actions to protect the health and well-being of others at the scene.
Mr. Noor pointed to MOM’s restrictions on the movement of foreign workers at the time, as well as the fact that the Ad-Meth facility was located just 200 meters from the site of a confirmed COVID-19 cluster.
He added that the workers were not abused during the confinement, and had three clean beds and fans, as well as mobile phones and access to Wi-Fi. They were also provided three meals a day.
Pang had even bought a router when they complained about a poor wireless connection inside the room, Noor said.
When asked by District Judge Prem Raj why his client did not call the police, Noor said that Pang had thought MOM was the right agency to contact and had emailed them on the matter.
For each count of wrongful confinement, Pang could have been jailed for up to three years, fined, or both.
