Co-founder of animal welfare group fined for harassment

Singapore—The co-founder and director of volunteer organisation Society for Animal Matters was fined for harassing a driver who was mistaken to have run over a shelter dog.

Mark Lin You Cheng (27) was fined S$1,400 for publicly revealing the personal information of Ms. Soon Kim Choo (41), the woman mistaken to be the driver of the vehicle.

The incident happened on Oct 23, 2016.

According to a Facebook post by the Animal Lovers League (ALL), a shelter dog named Sayang accidentally ran out of the animal shelter located along Pasir Ris Farmway 3.

When the volunteers were calling out to Sayang to cross the road with “hardly any traffic”, a car was seen reportedly speeding and hit the dog.

Volunteers said they asked the driver to stop, but the driver refused and allegedly shouted “F*** you. It’s only a dog,” before driving away.

Sayang was injured after being hit, but volunteers did not say whether the dog survived or succumbed to its injuries.

Lin, having read of the incident on Facebook, reportedly posted a screenshot of Ms. Soon’s personal information including her NRIC number, name, address, vehicle number, and vehicle model. Ms. Soon was also revealed to be a real estate agent for Hutton’s Asia.

The comment was captioned “identity found,” and Lin urged netizens to “Giver (sic) her hell.”

Lin also wrote a post on Hutton’s Asia’s Facebook page saying they should deal with their “atrocious and cruel” employee.

The Hutton’s Asia page was hit with a slew of 1-star reviews.

Because her personal  information went viral, Ms. Soon got harassed through calls and WhatsApp messages from unknown numbers who assumed she was the driver.

According to a report by the Straits Times, the driver has since been identified as Ms. Alice Chong Say Kiaw (52). As of posting, it is not known how Ms. Chong is related to Ms. Soon and whether any action has been taken against the former regarding the incident.

It is required by law to stop one’s vehicle and provide assistance in the event that a dog is hit in a traffic accident.

Lin has since posted a public apology to Ms. Soon on his Facebook page last Feb 2019. He also paid Ms. Soon S$12,000 to settle for a defamation claim.

Doxxing, or making public an individual’s personal information with the intention of harassment, is a criminal offence punishable by a S$5,000 fine and/or up to a year of jail./TISG

What is doxxing, and why is it so scary?