SINGAPORE: Despite being deported back to Batam, Indonesia, for immigration offences, a man paid a boatman 6 million rupiah (S$513) to board his sampan and jumped off midway to swim back to Singapore.
Yusoff Ishak, a 37-year-old Indonesian national, was sentenced to jail for four months and five strokes of the cane on Thursday (Feb 29).
He pleaded guilty to one count under the Immigration Act of entering Singapore without a valid pass, with another count of illegally returning to Singapore taken into consideration.
The court heard that Yusoff was sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail, four strokes of the cane and fined S$1,000 in January 2022 for entering Singapore illegally and for customs-related offences.
After serving his jail term, he was deported to Indonesia in late January 2022 via a ferry.
In December 2023, while in Batam, Yusoff decided to enter Singapore illegally to seek employment, even though he knew he could not do so without written permission.
He paid a boatman 6 million rupiah to board his sampan. Halfway through the journey to Singapore, he jumped off and swam to a shoreline in Changi.
The court heard Yusoff had received jail and caning for similar immigration offences in December 2016, which meant this was his third conviction for entering Singapore illegally.
The judge said he was a recalcitrant offender.
Yusoff was one of three Indonesian men sentenced to jail and caning on Thursday for entering Singapore illegally – all labelled recalcitrant offenders by the judge.
Another man, 31-year-old La Haji, was sentenced to one year and five months’ jail and five strokes of the cane. He had entered Singapore by swimming in using a black trash bag as a flotation device.
The third man, 25-year-old Cimun, was given a year’s jail and six strokes of the cane. He had taken a speedboat from Batam before transferring to a barge and entering the water to swim towards Changi.
None of the men were represented. They asked for leniency and shorter sentences and did not explain why they committed their offences.
For entering Singapore illegally without a valid pass, a person can be jailed for up to six months and given at least three strokes of the cane. If the person cannot be caned, they will be fined up to S$6,000 instead.
