Teacher fined S$6,000 for theft in school

[Ultŕaman]

Teacher fined S$6,000 for theft in school
By Claire Huang | Posted: 07 January 2013 1207 hrs

SINGAPORE: A teacher has been fined S$6,000 for theft. 22-year-old Feng Tian Tian, who is from China, admitted that she had stolen S$719 in cash and an iPhone 4S from seven people at the teachers' lounge in Woodgrove Secondary School.

She committed the offences between March and August 2012.

The prosecution proceeded with three of eight theft charges.

Feng, who had been teaching Mandarin in the school, would pretend to be unwell and skip the morning assembly. She would then go to the teachers' lounge to steal.

In mitigation, Feng's lawyer said his client was selected to take part in a teachers' award scheme organised by China and Singapore's education ministry. Under the programme, talented young teachers from China are posted to secondary schools here on a one-year stint.

Feng's lawyer said she was initially very enthusiastic, but found it hard to adjust to life here. He added that Feng's mother faced financial woes in China and this created added pressure on his client, who was said to be suffering from depression.

At the same time, her relationship with her boyfriend was on the rocks.

The lawyer added that the amount stolen was "very small" and that Feng has been very cooperative with the authorities. Full restitution was also made to the victims.

However, the prosecution said the psychiatric report did not state the presence of a causal link between Feng's depression and her actions.

The district judge said that no matter how difficult it was for Feng to adjust to life here, there was no excuse to steal. He noted the calculated manner in which she committed the offences and highlighted the fact that she was a teacher.

Given the full compensation she had made and the fact that she pleaded guilty early, the judge said a jail term was not required.

-CNA/ac

 

[Shermie]

Teacher from China fined for stealing from colleagues

By Shaffiq Alkhatib
The New Paper
Thursday, Jan 10, 2013

SINGAPORE - She came from China about a year ago to teach in a secondary school here.

Feng Tian Tian, 22, had been selected to take part in a joint China-MOE (Ministry of Education) initiative which brought talented young teachers from China to work in Singapore.

But instead of using this opportunity to advance her teaching career, Feng decided to steal from her then-colleagues at Woodgrove Secondary School on Woodlands Avenue 6.

She managed to steal $719 and a mobile phone worth $500.

The incidents took place at the teachers' lounge in the school between March and August last year.

The bespectacled Feng was fined $6,000 on Monday after pleading guilty to three charges of theft. Five other counts of theft were taken into consideration during sentencing.

The court heard that the school's discipline master had conducted an investigation last year after receiving complaints that valuables had gone missing from the lounge.

It was later revealed that Feng had been skipping the school's morning assembly by pretending to be unwell.

The school management questioned her about the missing valuables on Aug 23 last year.

She was uncooperative at first, but after further questioning admitted that she had stolen the items. The discipline master made a police report later that day.

Lawyer Chung Ting Fai, who represented Feng, told the court that his client had been diagnosed with manic depression.

But Mr Chung added that Feng had not given any rational explanation for committing the crime. For each count of theft, she could have been jailed up to three years and fined.

 

[scoobyhoo]

she should be punished with canings on her buttocks, like the students who committed the same crime. must use the thick and heavy cane on her bare buttocks.

 

[lianbeng]

she should be punished with canings on her buttocks, like the students who committed the same crime. must use the thick and heavy cane on her bare buttocks.

lianbeng replies: u mean the made-in-human flesh thick, stiff n long 'cane' is it?