15 months’ jail for Singaporean man who sent pork-filled letters to mosque

SINGAPORE: A Singaporean man who sent slices of pork along with letters to seven mosques was sentenced to 15 months of jail on Monday (May 11). He had also included details concerning a woman whom he held responsible for the non-renewal of his work contract.

Sixty-two-year-old Bill Tan Keng Hwee pleaded guilty to three counts of wounding religious feelings under the Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, as well as to one count of harassment under the Protection from Harassment Act. Five additional charges were considered for his sentencing.

For knowingly wounding religious feelings, Tan could have faced a maximum jail sentence of five years, been made to pay a fine, or both. For the charge of harassment, meanwhile, he could have been jailed for as long as six months, been fined a maximum of S$5,000, or both.

The backstory

In December 2024, Tan was employed as an operations support officer, but by the following September, he was told that he would be let go from his job. He believed that the woman, whose details have not been disclosed, was to blame for the company’s choice to no longer employ him, CNA reported.

In his anger, he worked out a plan to send slices of pork in letters to mosques that he picked out randomly. By including the woman’s information in the letters, he planned that the recipients would turn their ire against her.

He sent the letters to seven mosques on Sept 15, 2025. Upon receiving the letters, the police were called. Because a staff member from one of the mosques also called the woman, whose phone number was in the letters from Tan, she also filed a police report.

Tan was arrested shortly afterwards and has been in remand since then.

During his sentencing, Deputy Public Prosecutor Selene Yap called for “a clear signal” to be sent that would deter other individuals from “engaging in such anti-social and divisive behaviour.”

She asked for a 15 to 18-month jail sentence for Tan, saying that his “actions threaten the very fabric of our multiracial and multi-religious society” as he had “essentially weaponised religion to get the outcome he wanted, which is to harass the victim.”

District Judge Sharmila Sripathy-Shanaz called religious and racial harmony “the very bedrock” of Singapore’s public order and national cohesion, and is therefore something that must be carefully guarded.

She characterised Tan’s actions as calculated and deeply offensive, adding that they had been meant to exploit religious sensitivities and wound the religious feelings of the Muslim community. /TISG

Read also: Changes to Religious Harmony Act includes making restraining orders effective immediately