SINGAPORE: A woman from China was jailed for six months and fined S$4,000 on Friday (Sep 27) for overstaying in Singapore for more than 18 years.
Chen Yueying, 54, pleaded guilty to one count under the Immigration Act for remaining in Singapore for 18 years, 10 months and one day from November 2005, after her special pass had expired.
Chen had been issued a special pass on Nov 2, 2005, permitting her to remain in Singapore until Nov 23, 2005, as she was initially asked to be a prosecution witness for an unidentified case.
When she was supposed to report for repatriation, she did not show up, instead staying in Singapore for almost 19 years until she turned herself in at Bukit Merah East Neighbourhood Police Centre on Sep 24 this year.
She was remanded and attended proceedings via video-link, sporting shoulder-length hair, glasses and a mask.
The court heard that this was Chen's second offence. She was charged on Sep 16, 2005 for another immigration offence.
On Sep 23, 2005, she was jailed for 18 weeks and fined S$3,000, with six weeks' jail in default.
After she was released from prison, she was given a special pass by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) issued on Oct 14, 2005, for her to be a prosecution witness for a police case.
The special pass was extended several times, with the last extension for her to leave Singapore by Nov 23, 2005, as she was no longer required as a prosecution witness.
On Nov 23, 2005, she was supposed to report to ICA's repatriation branch to be repatriated.
However, she did not show up. Instead, she wanted to remain in Singapore to work and earn money. No mention was made in court by the prosecutor or by the woman herself of what work she did.
The ICA prosecutor on Friday asked for the maximum jail term of six months, saying Chen was a repeat offender with an "extremely long" period of overstay.
As for the fine in lieu of caning, he asked for an uplift of the S$3,000 fine that was last imposed on her.
Chen said nothing substantial in her mitigation, pleading only for leniency through a Mandarin interpreter.
She said she cannot pay the fine and will serve another eight weeks' jail in default.
For overstaying in Singapore, she could have been jailed for up to six months. A male offender would have also faced at least three strokes of the cane, but because she cannot be caned as she is a woman, she faced a fine of up to S$6,000 in lieu of caning.
In a statement to CNA, ICA said it would like to reiterate that the law treats overstaying as a serious offence, and that the penalties are "correspondingly severe".
"ICA conducts rigorous and regular in-land enforcement checks with other law enforcement agencies such as the Singapore Police Force to arrest offenders, including overstayers," said the spokesperson.
She added that the public must also do its part to deter overstaying.
"Employers and homeowners must exercise due diligence and ensure that prospective foreign employee or tenant's status in Singapore is legal, before offering employment or renting out their premises," said the spokesperson.
"This includes checking their original immigration or work pass, cross checking their particulars on their pass against their passport, and verifying the validity of their pass through the issuing authority's website."
Members of public should report suspected cases of immigration offenders to ICA at https://go.gov.sg/icafeedbackio, she added.
Harbourers or employers of immigration offenders face jail terms of up to 24 months and or a fine of up to S$6buddha bet,000.