By Selina Lum

WHEN a car was found parked near the front gate of a primary school one morning in January last year, school officials called the police for safety and security reasons.

The car's owner, Mr Ong Lam Bee, 62, was issued a summons for illegal parking. But he refused to pay the $70 composition fine.

He fought the case in a district court and was found guilty of parking on a footway of a road, and fined $600.

Rejecting the decision, Mr Ong appealed to the High Court. Yesterday, the charge was amended to parking on a slip road and the fine cut to $200.

Both charges carry the same penalties - a fine of up to $1,000 or a jail term of up to six months for a first-time offence.

But even after the judgment was handed down, an agitated Mr Ong, whose occupation was not revealed in court, continued arguing that he should have been acquitted.

Speaking in Mandarin, he argued that the charge had been changed many times, which was unfair to him.

He insisted that he was not in the wrong because there were no 'No Parking' signs in the area.

On Jan 28 last year, the operations manager of Rivervale Primary School in Sengkang called the police about Mr Ong's car, which had been parked overnight outside the school.

The school was concerned that it may affect the safety of its pupils as it might block the view of other drivers. It also posed a security threat.

Police sergeant Rosminah Samsuri issued a parking ticket against Mr Ong.

Sgt Rosminah and her partner went to his Rivervale Drive flat and asked his wife to contact him. Mr Ong admitted he had parked his car there around 3am.

During the trial, Mr Ong maintained that he had not done anything wrong as there were no double yellow lines or signs prohibiting parking in the area.

He also claimed that Sgt Rosminah had issued him a parking ticket because she was 'unhappy' with him. He claimed her supervisor had earlier asked her to withdraw it.

But the district judge who found him guilty said there was nothing sinister in the way the police officer had carried out her duties.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.

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