Public Prosecutor v Chiam Heng Hsien

• Judge: Shaiffudin Bin Saruwan
• Judgment Date: 22 December 2003
• Neutral Citation: [2003] SGDC 331
• Citation: [2003] SGDC 331
• Court: District Court (Singapore)
• Plaintiff Counsel: Defendant in person
• Defendant Counsel: Abdullah Ghani
• Published date: 16 January 2004

1. The defendant faced 2 charges – (i) a charge of creating a condition favourable to the propagation of vectors, namely, mosquitoes, an offence under section 15(1) of the Control of Vectors and Pesticides, Cap 59, and punishable under section 23(b) of the same act; and (ii) a charge of failing to comply with an order issued by the National Environment Agency made pursuant to section 17 of the same Act, and punishable under section 23(a) of the Act.

2. The defendant claimed trial to the 2 charges. After a 2-day trial, I found the defendant guilty of both charges and duly convicted him. He was fined $1,000/- in respect of the first charge and $2,000/- in respect of the second charge.

The Case for the Prosecution

The first charge

3. The prosecution relied on the evidence of two Environmental Health Officers attached to the Central Regional Health Office of the National Environment Agency (NEA) namely, Jeyapalan s/o Mylvaganam (PW1) and Abdul Wahab Bin Jaafar (PW2). PW1’s main duty was to attend to complaints lodged by members of the public in relation to the breeding of vectors such as mosquitoes and rats. PW1 testified that on 21 Feb 2003 at about 10.30 am, he was with PW2 at the defendant’s premises at No. 145 Killiney Road, Singapore. They were there to attend to a complaint of mosquito breeding at the location.

4. The NEA officers then conducted a search of the premises with the consent of the defendant. While the search was conducted, PW1 was with the defendant. Subsequently, they discovered evidence of mosquito breeding in the water that had collected in a plastic cover that was left in the open compound of the defendant’s premises. According to both PW1 and PW2, the defendant was then brought to the place where the plastic cover was located, and shown the mosquito breeding. PW2 then took a sample of the mosquito breeding and placed it into a bottle which he then sealed and marked with the date and location from which the sample was taken. All this was done in the defendant’s presence. PW2 then left the place and send the bottle for analysis at the NEA laboratory.

The second charge

5. The prosecution relied on the evidence of one Tan Kim Hang (PW3), an Environmental Health Officer attached to the Central Regional Health Office of the NEA. PW3’s duty was to issue orders pursuant to section 17 of the Control of Vectors and Pesticides Act, Cap 59. He testified that on 17 December 2002, he had served such an order (marked as Exhibit P4) to the defendant as the owner of No. 145, Killiney Road. The said order, namely clauses (1) and (2) required the defendant to (i) dispose of all unwanted water bearing receptacles, (ii) at all times keep all other unwanted water bearing receptacles in a manner that will prevent them from holding water, and (iii) keep all items that can collect rain water under shelter in a manner that will not hold water.

6 PW3 testified that after P4 was issued, he conducted follow-up inspections at the defendant’s premises on the 5^th, 14^th and 21^st March 2003. He testified that on these inspections, he had found a lot of water bearing receptacles such as plastic containers, discarded debris, unused flower pots and discarded iron cabinets placed in the open all over the compound of the defendant’s premises. PW3 had then advised the defendant to remove and clear the items.

7. PW3 then conducted the final follow-up inspection at the same premises on 31 Mar 03 at about 9.20 am. He found that the defendant had not taken any action to comply with the order since the last 3 inspections. PW3 proceeded to take eight photographs of the compound in the defendant’s premises using a digital camera. The photographs were taken in the defendant’s presence. The images were stored in a diskette that was then placed for safe keeping in PW3’s office under lock and key. PW3 testified that when questioned, the defendant had told him that he had already cleared a lot of items and he would comply only if an order was issued to him.

At The End Of The Case For The Prosecution

8. I was satisfied that the Prosecution had proven a prima facie case against the defendant in respect of both charges, and called on the defendant to enter his defence. The standard allocution was administered to him, and he elected to give evidence.

Case For The Defence

9. In respect of the first charge, the defendant alleged that firstly, the NEA officers had not shown him the plastic cover where the mosquito breeding was detected. He testified that PW2 approached both PW1 and himself, and showed them a bottle that contained mosquito breeding sample and alleged that it was lifted from a plastic cover within his compound. Although PW2 brought both of them to the location where the plastic cover was found, they discovered that PW2 had thrown away the water from the plastic cover. The defendant also alleged that he had conducted many scientific experiments on mosquito breeding and found that mosquitoes cannot breed in direct sunlight. Therefore, as he had placed the plastic cover in direct sunlight, he cannot be accused of creating a condition favourable to the breeding of mosquitoes. He also alleged that there was a delay of 4 months between the result of the test on the sample and the issue of a summons against him. He argued that this delay and the fact that one Mr Wong from NEA had informed him that he was summoned because a ‘big-shot’ had complained about his premises, showed that he was innocent of the charge.

10. With respect to the second charge, the defendant claimed that the 8 photographs supported his case as the photographs did not show that the items that were not covered up had collected water. He further testified that despite all the inspections, PW3 did not find any water collecting in any of the items left in the open. He also gave evidence that he was convinced that the empty beer cans shown...