1 Mr Wang Hongqiang (“Mr Wang”) is a 38-year-old People’s Republic of China national. He last arrived in Singapore via Woodlands Checkpoint and was issued a Visit Pass on 8 December 2024, which permitted him to remain in Singapore until 7 January 2025. When the Visit Pass expired, Mr Wang remained in Singapore unlawfully, and was subsequently arrested on 24 April 2025. ¹

2 He pleaded guilty to one charge under s 15(3) punishable under s 15(3)(b) of the Immigration Act 1959 (2020 Rev Ed) for remaining in Singapore without reasonable cause for a period of 3 months and 17 days (107 days) after the expiry of his Visit Pass. ² He also admitted and consented to three charges being taken into consideration (“TIC”) for the purposes of sentencing, all relating to offences under s 5(1) punishable under s 5(3)(a) of the Payment Services Act 2019 for carrying on the business of providing a cross-border money transfer service in Singapore without a licence. ³

3 The Prosecution sought a sentence of 6 weeks’ imprisonment and 3 strokes of the cane, ⁴ while Mr Wang pleaded for a sentence of 3-4 weeks’ imprisonment with no caning. ⁵

4 I sentenced Mr Wang to 5 weeks’ imprisonment and 3 strokes of the cane.

5 5 weeks’ imprisonment was appropriate.

(a) The sentence accounted for the following:

(i) The duration of Mr Wang’s overstaying at the point of arrest: 3 months and 17 days (107 days). ⁶

(ii) Mr Wang’s unchallenged assertion that he remained unemployed during the period of overstaying, as he was ill at the time – according to the Medical Memo produced, he had “a near fainting with black stool again” and a “possible bleeding upper gastrointestinal tract”. ⁷ For clarity, I did not consider Mr Wang’s raising of his medical condition to be a qualification of his plea, as his solicitors confirmed during the hearing that: (A) Mr Wang’s medical condition was raised to support his assertion that he remained unemployed; and (B) Mr Wang agreed that his medical condition did not give him reasonable cause to remain in Singapore. ⁸ Moreover, I noted that Mr Wang had approached a “tourist agency” to try to extend his Visit Pass on 9 January 2025 (shortly after it expired), but was unsuccessful in doing so. ⁹

(iii) An appropriate uplift to account for Mr Wang’s TIC charges. ¹⁰

(iv) An appropriate reduction, as Mr Wang indicated his intention to plead guilty at Stage 3 of the Sentencing Advisory Panel’s Guidelines on Reduction in Sentences for Guilty Pleas and is entitled to a reduction of up to 10% of the sentence. ¹¹

(b) The sentence was consistent with the following precedents relied on by the Prosecution: ¹²

(i) Public Prosecutor v Kong Pui Ching [2014] SGDC 46, where the offender was sentenced to 4 weeks’ imprisonment and a fine of $1,500 (in default 3 weeks’ imprisonment) after pleading guilty to a charge for overstaying for 4 months and 17 days (139 days) after her Visit Pass expired, with no TIC charges to account for. A fine in lieu of caning was imposed under s 15(3)(b) of the Immigration Act (Cap 133, 2008 Rev Ed) as the offender was a woman.

(ii) Public Prosecutor v Nicole Louise Sobotker [2020] SGDC 75, where the offender was sentenced to 5 weeks’ imprisonment and a fine of $2,000 (in default 8 days’ imprisonment) after pleading guilty (on the day of trial) to a charge for overstaying for 6 months and 27 days (208 days) after her Visit Pass expired, with no TIC charges to account for. A fine in lieu of caning was imposed under s 15(3)(b) of the Immigration Act (Cap 133, 2008 Rev Ed) as the offender was a woman.

(iii) Public Prosecutor v Ly Van Phuc [2019] SGDC 278, where the offender was sentenced to 8 weeks’ imprisonment and 3 strokes of the cane after pleading guilty to a charge for overstaying for 11 months and 15 days (349 days) after his Visit Pass was cancelled, with no TIC charges to account for.

6 3 strokes of the cane was mandated in Mr Wang’s case under s 15(3)(b) of the Immigration Act 1959 (2020 Rev Ed), and his solicitors agreed that there was no legal basis for the court to order otherwise. ¹³

7 Mr Wang appealed against his sentence, and was granted a stay of sentence and bail pending the appeal.