Bogus monks and nuns targeting tourists
Published on Oct 07, 2013
By Melody Zaccheus
Fake monks and nuns have been targeting tourists for monetary donations at attractions such as the Merlion and the Singapore River.
The Singapore Buddhist Federation, which issued a public advisory this morning, said it received about five complaints from members of the public over the past two weeks.
"Tourists are easy targets because they do not know that monks and nuns cannot accept money," said the federation's secretary general Venerable Seck Kwang Phing.
Begging is an offence in Singapore. Those who have at least two previous begging records can be fined up to $3,000 and jailed for up to two years.
