3 weeks’ jail for man who threatened community cat feeder, chopped down papaya tree

SINGAPORE — Ang Say Chee first wielded a chopper against a large papaya tree because he thought it was possessed by evil spirits.

He then used the weapon to threaten a woman who was on her way to feed a stray cat in the neighbourhood. 

Ang, a 60-year-old Singaporean, was jailed three weeks on Friday (May 7) for his offences, after pleading guilty last month to one count of criminal intimidation. 

Two other charges of committing a rash act and committing mischief were taken into consideration for sentencing.

Court documents showed that he first broke the law on Aug 29 in 2017 by using a candle to burn a red cloth hanging on the gate of his neighbour’s flat along Lorong 4 Toa Payoh. No other details were given.

About two years later on Aug 6, he took a chopper from his home and went to an area near his block where he chopped off the upper half of a papaya tree.

A 70-year-old woman was about to feed a community cat in the area when she heard the tree falling.

When Ang noticed the woman, he approached her before trying to snatch a container of cat biscuits she was holding. 

He then said “dirty, dirty” to her and that he wanted to call the police on her. She replied that she would wait for the police to arrive.

Ang took the chopper and raised it above his head, pointing it towards her. 

He told her that he was unhappy that she was feeding the community cats.

She retreated and hid behind a pillar while he walked towards a lift, before he sat on a stone bench and started talking to himself. 

Ang later discarded the chopper in a trash bin and it was not recovered.

The woman called the police and he was arrested.

These were not his first brushes with the law. His criminal history dated back to 1979 and he was convicted numerous times over the next 30 years, including for rape in 1998. He was jailed seven years and given six of the cane then.

District Judge Kevin Kwek said during sentencing that he had considered Ang’s previous convictions involving weapons.

For criminal intimidation, Ang could have been jailed for up to two years or fined, or punished with both.