Teenagers Hand Itchy & Turned Off Power Supply to an Entire HDB Block; Got Probation For Their Actions

This story is one that is exactly what the term 吃饱没事做 (eat full nothing to do) is invented for.

While I might be content watching YouTube or browsing social media after food, four teenagers apparently decided that entering an unlocked switch room to pull a switch is somehow more fun.

Pulled switch in a switch room after supper

Randy Cheang Jia Le, Megat Muhammad Harith Hairolnizan, Cheok Kai Jie and Brian Ong Wee Leong, all 17 years old, met on 28 Feb 2019, 10:00 p.m., for supper at a kopitiam at Block 780 Woodlands Crescent.

When they’re done, they walked past a switch room at Block 759, Woodlands Avenue 6, and Cheang noticed that the door was flimsy and pulled it.

The handle came off, and he entered the room with Megat, while the other two stayed outside.

I don’t know about you guys, but it’s not exactly smart to enter in the first place. I’m pretty sure most of the switch rooms have warning signs.

(Picture is not from Woodlands)

While inside the room, Cheang saw a large black switch and suggested Megat to pull it.

Unfortunately, nobody decided that pulling a random lever was a bad idea.

Maybe, like what a wise man once said, “Good food can make you drunk.”

Megat pulled the switch halfway, then Cheang helped to complete it. This switched off the power supply to Block 759, Woodlands Avenue 6.

The power supplying to all 114 units in the block went out for an hour before it was restored on 1 March 2019, 12.37 am.

They then ran out of the room.

Can you imagine your air-conditioner turning off by itself in the middle of the night, or when you’re watching some Japanese movie with a good plot in the middle of the night when you suddenly realised you’re streaming with your 4G instead of Wifi?

Anyways.

A senior property officer from Sembawang Town council reported the crime later.

Probation, 130 hours of community service, S$5000 bonds

Cheang got one charge of mischief, one of turning off the power supply, and a third of trespassing into Evergreen Primary School.

Why suddenly got Evergreen Primary School? I also don’t know, it’s just suddenly mentioned out of where.

Megat is guilty to one charge of mischief and one charge of switching the power supply.

Cheang was given 15 months’ probation, while Megat was given a year, and they each have to perform 130 hours of community service.

An electronic monitoring scheme will be used for 4 months or until they enlist for NS. Additionally, their parents furnished bonds of S$5,000 for each of them.

The maximum penalty for mischief is a year’s jail, fine, or both.

As for the other two who stood outside, Cheok will be sentenced next week, and Ong will return to court in August.

Netizen comments…Real Cheang?!

Some took this case as the incompetence of the town council, rather than looking at the itchy hands of the teenagers.

One commenter even said that the teenagers finding those “cables” might mean they have “good potential of being engineers”.

Hold up is that the real Randy Cheang saying thanks?!

Of course, in reply, another commenter would point to the article and remind him that there aren’t any cables.

It’s good to be positive, but I believe just because my neighbour’s door is open, it doesn’t give me the license to go into his house to take anything I want.

Same shit here.