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Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s wife, Ho Ching, has strongly condemned the “unconscionable” actions of a father who was sentenced to jail yesterday for beating his nine-year-old son with a plastic hanger.

While Ho Ching, who also serves as chief executive of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek, is well-known for sharing dozens of posts, photos, videos and articles from news websites on her Facebook page each day, she rarely adds her own caption to the posts she shares.

This, combined with the countless posts she shares on her page daily, has led many netizens believe that she may not handle her own Facebook page or that she may have employed a bot to share certain articles she likes.

Some have even expressed surprise that Ho Ching, being the CEO of a state-owned wealth fund, is so free to share such a large amount of posts one after the other, every single day.

This time, though, the PM’s wife has taken the time to add her own caption to a news story she linked. Linking an article on the father who was jailed for beating his 9-year-old boy with a plastic hanger over homework, Ho Ching blasted: “Never never ever vent our anger on our young or our weak! It’s unconscionable!”

Her remarks have garnered over 100 likes and over 20 shares on Facebook so far:

Never never ever vent our anger on our young or our weak!It’s unconscionable!

Posted by HO Ching on Wednesday, 5 December 2018

 

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Yesterday, a 35-year-old man was sentenced to four months jail after he beat his nine-year-old son with a plastic hanger over homework while his wife was out of the house. Hearing the boy crying out from the flat, a neighbour called the police and expressed his fears that the boy was being abused.

When the boy’s mother returned home, the child told her what had happened. The boy’s mother retrieved the footage from a surveillance camera that was installed in the home’s dining room. Footage showing the beating the boy received was played in court.

The bruised nine-year-old was admitted to the hospital. His parents are presently undergoing divorce proceedings.

While the prosecution asserted that it’s “clear that it was not done simply in a controlled manner for the purpose of discipline, but out of rage,” and asked for four months’ jail, the defense asked for probation, noting that the relationship between the father and the son has “greatly improved”.

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Noting that the father has been undergoing counselling, the father’s lawyer said: “It is admitted that he lost his cool. My client is greatly remorseful. Any form of custodial sentence is going to affect what has been built up thus far between the (accused) and the son.”

District Judge Eddy Tham, however, said there was no excuse for the father’s “totally disproportionate” action. Expressing relief that the boy’s injuries had not been more serious, the judge sentenced the accused to four months jail, asserting that a message must be sent out on such violence by parents and caregivers.

Read the full story here:

https://theindependent.sg.sg/father-jailed-for-beating-nine-year-old-son-with-a-plastic-hanger-over-homework/