Beauty and the Beast?
TV host Quan Yifeng was sentenced last month to 15 months’ supervised probation for committing mischief during her altercation with a taxi driver in June 2010, when she damaged the fare meter and ripped out the receipt printer of his taxi, before spilling water on it.
Two other charges – of kicking the right passenger door of the taxi, and pushing and attempting to kick the 53-year-old cabby – were also been taken into consideration.
She had cited depression in her mitigation.
A lot of us are depressed too, do we go around trashing taxis?
In addition, Quan’s grand-aunt posted a bond of S$3,000/- to ensure she does not commit another offence during her probation period.
This is not the first time the Taiwan-born out-of-control freak was in the limelight for the wrong reasons.
Back in 1996, she was fined S$1,000/- for fighting with a bowling alley assistant.
And in 2008 she allegedly slapped her then-husband in public when he tried to pacify her in a quarrel with another driver over a traffic dispute.
Frankly, I think she got away much too lightly.
In Singapore, any person who commits any act of vandalism is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding S$2,000/- or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, and shall also, subject to sections 325(1) and 330(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, be punished with caning with not less than 3 strokes and not more than 8 strokes. However, vandalism refers to public property and she wasn’t charged for that.
To rub salt into the wound, Quan was made cover girl on 8 Days recently and allowed her chance to tell her side of the story, to re-write history in her favor in the 10-page feature on her.
In the magazine’s January 12 issue, she even had the audacity to say “if someone spits on my face, I must turn the other cheek.”
I wonder who will be on 8 Days’ cover next.
Saw Phaik Hwa?
The lawyer who got her off was Subhas Anandan, whose reputation precedes him.
For an offence of this nature, she engaged Subhas Anandan, a criminal lawyer who is known for defending murderers.
I wonder who she’ll engage if she commits murder.
And I wonder if it was an ordinary person who did what she did, would this person get away with the same light slap on the wrist?