The 51-year-old father of three, who had pleaded guilty to eight charges, was dismissed earlier this year. He could not be named on a court order.

Among the offences he committed were for pouring urine onto the head of a 12-year-old boy, and pouring cold water on the head of another another boy in November 2005.

The rest were for slapping the six victims for either misbehaving, talking bad about him, falling in late or playing in the basement carpark.

The abuses came to light after the boys attended a 'boot camp'' last December.

The court heard that he had poured urine on the boy to teach him a lesson for having urinated on the foot of a five-year-old.

The 11-year-old who got the cold water treatment because he had continued to sleep after the accused woke him up for morning prayers and breakfast.

The accused got angry and pulled the boy out of bed and poured cold water on him in the toilet.

Thirty-two other charges were taken into consideration.

District Judge Wong Keen Onn said he took a serious view of such offences. He described the acts as reprehensible and even humiliating.

He added that the accused had overstepped the boundaries in his role as a disciplinarian of the orphanage.