Singapore jails, canes Indonesian man for illegally sneaking into the country 5 different times

The 26-year-old man, who goes by the single name of Brick, was sentenced to one-and-a-half years’ jail and nine strokes of the cane on Monday.

The court heard that Brick was arrested by Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officers in March when he could not produce any evidence to show he was staying here legally.

Brick did not have any travel documents on him at the time of his arrest.

He was referred to ICA’s investigation branch, which traced his fingerprints to a person with an “adverse record” under the name of Brick.

Brick was last charged and convicted in court in November 2019 for similar immigration offences for entering Singapore without a valid pass and returning illegally after he had been removed from the country.

He was sentenced to a year’s jail and eight strokes of the cane and referred to ICA for deportation after serving his jail term.

Before he was deported, Brick was given a written notice telling him that he was banned from entering Singapore from July 10, 2020 and that he needed to obtain prior written permission to enter or live in Singapore in the future.

He acknowledged the notice with his thumbprint and was sent back to Indonesia.

In end-June 2023, Brick wanted to enter Singapore again for reasons not stated in open court.

He left Batam in a sampan and set off towards Singapore. Before he reached Singapore’s shoreline, he abandoned his boat and swam to Singapore using an improvised floating device.

He then entered the shoreline off Tuas undetected and stayed in Singapore illegally for about nine months until ICA officers arrested him.

The ICA prosecutor listed Brick’s past convictions, including his November 2019 sentence.

In May 2017, he was sentenced to six weeks’ jail and four strokes of the cane