SINGAPORE: On Friday evening (Sep 25), a person lit an undergarment on hearth exterior Masjid Moulana Mohamed Ali. Luckily, a member of the general public was alert sufficient to extinguish the fireplace shortly.
Afterward, Zaqy Mohamed, Singapore’s Performing Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs, expressed concern over the incident, in addition to thankfulness that nobody was injured. Neither did the mosque maintain any injury, he famous.
“I’m grateful too to the member of public who acted shortly to place out the fireplace,” he wrote.
Mr Zaqy wrote in a Sep 26 social media put up that the mosque “stays protected and continues to function as typical.”
He added that the incident “is a well timed reminder that the peace and concord we get pleasure from in Singapore can’t be taken with no consideration,” particularly in mild of the tenth anniversary of SGSecure, the nationwide motion designed to handle terrorist threats, this week.
“Retaining our society protected and cohesive is a shared accountability,” the Performing Minister wrote.
The incident
The mosque is situated within the basement of UOB Plaza at 80 Raffles Place.
At round 9:00 on Friday evening, a 50-year-old man named Martin See Hock Leng had put a can of oil in entrance of the mosque. After setting an undergarment within the can on hearth.
The Singapore Police Power was later in a position to establish See by way of enquiries on the bottom and using cameras. He was arrested inside three hours of the incident being reported. A lighter was additionally seized from See as a case exhibit.
He was charged in courtroom on Sept 26 for inflicting or contributing to threat of harmful hearth, which implies he could also be jailed for a most of 1 12 months, be made to pay a positive, or each.
See additionally faces extra prices of utilizing insulting phrases and two counts of theft, in keeping with reporting from The Straits Occasions. He’s accused of claiming insulting phrases to a person praying at Novena Church on June 24, in addition to having stolen an eyeglass body value S$249 and a silver necklace value S$15 on separate events.
Upon an order from the choose, See has even remanded on the Institute of Psychological Well being for a medical examination, and his case shall be talked about subsequent month. /TISG
Learn additionally: Singaporean to face 15 months’ imprisonment for mailing pork slices to mosques
