Latest news with #Seng
The Star
8 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
Retailers collecting e-waste to promote recycling
(From left) Switch and Urban Republic general manager (product and marcomm) Marcus Wong, Seng and Dania launching the e-waste initiative in Kuala Lumpur. — Low Lay Phon/The Star Old, unused electronics can now be dropped off at Klang Valley, Johor and Penang outlets of two tech retailers in a new recycling initiative. The 'RE:Cycle' campaign by Urban Republic and Switch, in collaboration with TechWaste, aims to provide a convenient and safe outlet for disposing of items such as mobile phones, laptops and cameras. Through the campaign, the shops will serve as drop-off points for unwanted electronic items while TechWaste will collect and recycle them. Depending on the item, vouchers worth between RM10 and RM30 will be given. TechWaste communications head Dania Hidayah said based on its records in 2021, the total number of e-waste they had collected in Malaysia was over 36,000 units. She also warned that improper disposal of items could lead to privacy breaches. 'Your data can still be accessed if you dispose of electronics improperly by throwing them away or burning them. 'TechWaste follows the Department of Environment procedures and ensures proper disposal, returning hard drives to owners whenever possible,' she said during the launch at a mall in Kuala Lumpur. Urban Republic general manager Lawrence Seng said retailers had a role to play in raising awareness. 'E-waste poses a significant threat to the environment and we believe retailers have a responsibility to lead by example,' he said. Describing the campaign as more than just a collection drive, he said: 'It leads to many other conversations, about sustainability, about reducing waste, about rethinking our consumption habits. But it is a catalyst that starts the conversation.' The campaign organisers hope the tangible rewards will encourage more people to part with old electronics rather than keeping them unused at home or disposing of them improperly. All devices will undergo safety checks before they are channelled to licensed recycling facilities where reusable materials such as gold, copper and rare earth metals are recovered, reducing the need for new mining and resource extraction, the organisers said. For details, visit Urban Republic and Switch's official platforms.
The Star
14 hours ago
- The Star
Man on trial for stalking woman blasted by judge for asking scandalous questions in Singapore court
SINGAPORE: A man who stalked a former co-worker for five years continued harassing her even during his trial, where he represented himself and asked her irrelevant questions over seven days of cross-examination. Lucas Seng Yong Yi, 39, also subjected other prosecution witnesses to similar antics by asking them scandalous questions during the trial, which spanned over 70 days from April 2021 to September 2024. Seng was sentenced to 18 months' jail by a district judge in late 2024 after he was convicted of three charges of stalking under the Protection from Harassment Act. Justice Vincent Hoong blasted Seng's behaviour in court in a written decision on Aug 8 after dismissing the offender's appeal against conviction and sentence on July 30. The High Court judge said Seng's conduct at the trial was 'outrageous'. Justice Hoong agreed with the lower court that Seng's deplorable conduct during the trial was an aggravating factor in the sentencing. He said Seng had engaged in victim-blaming, such as contending that the victim had brought some of the acts of harassment on herself because she uploaded her resume onto LinkedIn. Seng also posed scandalous and irrelevant questions at length to the prosecution's witnesses. For instance, he alleged that a male witness was homosexual and was lying in court about being the woman's boyfriend. Seng asked the man if he knew the victim's 'cup size' and if he liked 'sexy men'. He also asked the victim's cousin whether he could kiss her. Seng also made baseless allegations that the prosecution, the police, and various witnesses were fabricating evidence and conspiring against him. 'His conduct at the trial wasted judicial time and resources, caused annoyance to witnesses (including the victim), and undermined the sanctity of the proceedings. It also evidenced a clear lack of remorse,' said Justice Hoong. While self-represented individuals are given some latitude in presenting their cases, that did not give Seng the right to harass the witnesses with repetitive or irrelevant questions, he said. The judge noted that Seng was told repeatedly by the trial judge that certain lines of questioning were irrelevant to the issues to be determined. Justice Hoong added: 'By frequently raising scandalous allegations without any reasonable grounds, the appellant only harmed his own case by demonstrating that he did not have a cogent defence that cast doubt on the prosecution's evidence and had to resort to accusing the prosecution's witnesses of unfounded conspiracies against him.' He noted that trial judges should not intervene excessively in the questioning of witnesses to avoid giving the impression that they are predisposed towards a particular outcome. However, if the court steps in when the questions are not relevant, intended to insult or annoy, or needlessly repetitive, this would not amount to improper judicial interference or 'descending into the arena', he said. Between 2015 and 2020, Seng repeatedly sent the woman text messages, ordered sample products to be delivered to her home, and mailed her his court papers to pressure her into dropping criminal charges against him. In his defence, Seng argued that he believed he was the woman's boyfriend. He said he formed this impression because of certain text messages she had sent him. Justice Hoong said Seng could not have reasonably believed that he was in a romantic relationship with the victim, as the woman had sent him multiple text messages in which she clearly stated that she was not romantically interested in him. Even if Seng thought that he was the victim's boyfriend, his text messages to her would not be reasonable, given her unequivocal demands for him to stop messaging her, said the judge. Seng also claimed that the woman had set a trap to frame him on in April 2017, by stalking him at his void deck, and that the police reports she filed against him were a 'test of love'. The victim said she saw him on the bus and decided to confront him. Her boyfriend, who later joined them at the void deck, corroborated this. But Seng claimed that the man was not a credible witness because if he was attracted to men, he could not have been the victim's boyfriend, and therefore must have been instigated by the woman to lie in court. - The Straits Times/ANN
Straits Times
14 hours ago
- Straits Times
Man on trial for stalking woman blasted by judge for asking scandalous questions in court
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Lucas Seng Yong Yi, 39, had also posed scandalous and irrelevant questions at length to the prosecution's witnesses. SINGAPORE - A man who stalked a former co-worker for five years continued harassing her even during his trial, where he represented himself and asked her irrelevant questions over seven days of cross-examination. Lucas Seng Yong Yi, 39, also subjected other prosecution witnesses to similar antics by asking them scandalous questions during the trial, which spanned over 70 days from April 2021 to September 2024. Seng was sentenced to 18 months' jail by a district judge in late 2024 after he was convicted of three charges of stalking under the Protection from Harassment Act. Justice Vincent Hoong blasted Seng's behaviour in court in a written decision on Aug 8 after dismissing the offender's appeal against conviction and sentence on July 30. The High Court judge said Seng's conduct at the trial was 'outrageous'. Justice Hoong agreed with the lower court that Seng's deplorable conduct during the trial was an aggravating factor in the sentencing. He said Seng had engaged in victim-blaming, such as contending that the victim had brought some of the acts of harassment on herself because she uploaded her resume onto LinkedIn. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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Seng asked the man if he knew the victim's 'cup size' and if he liked 'sexy men'. He also asked the victim's cousin whether he could kiss her. Seng also made baseless allegations that the prosecution, the police, and various witnesses were fabricating evidence and conspiring against him. 'His conduct at the trial wasted judicial time and resources, caused annoyance to witnesses (including the victim), and undermined the sanctity of the proceedings. It also evidenced a clear lack of remorse,' said Justice Hoong. While self-represented individuals are given some latitude in presenting their cases, that did not give Seng the right to harass the witnesses with repetitive or irrelevant questions, he said. The judge noted that Seng was told repeatedly by the trial judge that certain lines of questioning were irrelevant to the issues to be determined. Justice Hoong added: 'By frequently raising scandalous allegations without any reasonable grounds, the appellant only harmed his own case by demonstrating that he did not have a cogent defence that cast doubt on the prosecution's evidence and had to resort to accusing the prosecution's witnesses of unfounded conspiracies against him.' He noted that trial judges should not intervene excessively in the questioning of witnesses to avoid giving the impression that they are predisposed towards a particular outcome. However, if the court steps in when the questions are not relevant, intended to insult or annoy, or needlessly repetitive, this would not amount to improper judicial interference or 'descending into the arena', he said. Between 2015 and 2020, Seng repeatedly sent the woman text messages, ordered sample products to be delivered to her home, and mailed her his court papers to pressure her into dropping criminal charges against him. In his defence, Seng argued that he believed he was the woman's boyfriend. He said he formed this impression because of certain text messages she had sent him. Justice Hoong said Seng could not have reasonably believed that he was in a romantic relationship with the victim, as the woman had sent him multiple text messages in which she clearly stated that she was not romantically interested in him. Even if Seng thought that he was the victim's boyfriend, his text messages to her would not be reasonable, given her unequivocal demands for him to stop messaging her, said the judge. Seng also claimed that the woman had set a trap to frame him on in April 2017, by stalking him at his void deck, and that the police reports she filed against him were a 'test of love'. The victim said she saw him on the bus and decided to confront him. Her boyfriend, who later joined them at the void deck, corroborated this. But Seng claimed that the man was not a credible witness because if he was attracted to men, he could not have been the victim's boyfriend, and therefore must have been instigated by the woman to lie in court.
Straits Times
6 days ago
- Straits Times
Fine for man who damaged PAP campaign materials on GE2025 Polling Day
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Seng Guan Heng was fined $5,300 after he pleaded guilty to one count each of harassment, mischief and causing annoyance while drunk. SINGAPORE – After drinking more than five bottles of beer at a coffee shop with his friends, a man left and came across campaign materials from the People's Action Party (PAP) for the 2025 General Election. Upset at the results of the election, he decided to tear down the materials and hurled vulgarities at the volunteers . On Aug 7, Seng Guan Heng, 57, was fined $5,300 after he pleaded guilty to one count each of harassment, mischief and causing annoyance while drunk. At 11.20pm on May 3, which was Polling Day, Seng came across a lorry that was being used by the PAP to campaign during the 2025 General Election at an open space carpark in Hougang Avenue 5. There were various party campaigning materials, including party posters and flags, that were being displayed on a lorry at the time. As he was upset with the results of the election, Seng decided to rip off five election posters that had been affixed to the side of the lorry with cables. He also tore off two flags from the lorry by breaking the flag poles. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Some ageing condos in Singapore struggle with failing infrastructure, inadequate sinking funds Singapore Wastewater overflow in Bedok and Chai Chee due to choked sewer at BTO worksite: PUB Singapore Teen's love of dance powers her through cancer to perform at NDP2025 Singapore Jail for driver who drove over leg of special needs woman in accident on church driveway Business S'pore firm looks to buy SMEs lacking successors, launches CEO training programme to foster renewal Singapore Ex-Hyflux director fined $90k over water company's failure to disclose information on Tuaspring Asia Kpods, zombie oil or etomidate? A new name may help Hong Kong curb its youth drug crisis World Trump's 100% semiconductor tariffs may hit chipmakers in Singapore, other SEA nations The court heard he had caused more than $200 worth of damages with his actions. Seng later took one of the flags and walked around the area shouting vulgarities, before throwing it on the ground. He returned to the location less than 10 minutes later and saw a group of PAP volunteers, before hurling vulgarities and pointing his middle finger at the group. His actions were captured on video by one of the volunteers. In mitigation, Seng – who was unrepresented – said he had been under a lot of stress at the time as his father and sister were both in the hospital. He said he had originally gone to drink with his friends to forget about his stress. Seng said he has stopped consuming alcohol as a result of the incident. The area where the incident took place falls under Hougang SMC, where lawyer Marshall Lim represented the ruling party against Workers' Party candidate Dennis Tan, who is also a lawyer.
Online Citizen
04-07-2025
- Politics
- Online Citizen
Man charged with damaging PAP posters and harassing volunteers on GE2025 polling day
SINGAPORE: A 57-year-old man was charged in court on 4 July 2025 for damaging election materials belonging to the People's Action Party (PAP) and harassing volunteers during polling night of the 2025 General Election. Seng Guan Heng faces five charges, including mischief, intentional harassment, causing annoyance while drunk, and two counts of using criminal force. According to charge sheets, the alleged incident took place at about 11.20pm on 3 May at an open-air carpark near Block 328, Hougang Avenue 5. Seng is accused of breaking the poles of two PAP flags and damaging five party posters, valued at around S$205. He allegedly directed Hokkien vulgarities at a group of PAP volunteers, pointed his middle finger at them, and pushed two men on their chests during the altercation. Seng also reportedly shouted loudly while intoxicated, causing annoyance to those present at the scene. According to state media CNA, he appeared in court alone on Friday and informed the judge, via a Mandarin interpreter, that he intended to plead guilty. He stated that he needed to travel frequently for work, with scheduled trips to Vietnam and Indonesia. The judge responded that once a person is charged in court, they cannot travel freely without court permission. Such requests require applications and may involve higher bail amounts. The case has been adjourned to August for a further mention. The alleged offences took place in Hougang Single Member Constituency (SMC), where PAP candidate Marshall Lim contested against Workers' Party candidate Dennis Tan. Tan, a lawyer, retained his seat in Parliament by winning more than 60 per cent of the vote. Lim secured 37.85 per cent of the vote share. On the night of the election, Lim was delayed in arriving at Bedok Stadium, where PAP supporters were gathered to await results. He cited incidents of vandalism at the PAP's Hougang branch as the reason for his delay. Lim told CNA that he remained at the branch to ensure the safety and well-being of his volunteers. No injuries were reported. 'As the matter is now before the courts, we should let the legal process take its course,' Lim stated. He added, 'Politics can and should involve passionate debate and advocacy, but there is no place for violence in our discourse.' 'Regardless of our political views, we are all fellow Singaporeans. Our differences should inspire meaningful dialogue and a search for common ground.' If convicted of mischief, Seng could face up to two years' imprisonment, a fine, or both. For intentional harassment, the penalty could be up to six months' jail, a fine of up to S$5,000, or both. Each count of criminal force carries a maximum penalty of three months' jail, a fine of up to S$1,500, or both. Causing annoyance while drunk can result in up to six months' jail, a fine of up to S$1,000, or both, for first-time offenders.
