IN THE High Court on Thursday, Johnny Ong asked for time to post bail and seek legal aid.

The 21-year-old said he wanted to get a lawyer to argue his appeal against being sent to the Reformative Training Centre (RTC) for helping run an illegal gaming service.

Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong asked him to sit down.

After considering the prosecution's arguments, CJ Chan decided that Ong had been punished enough.

He would be freed on Friday.

Ong, then 20, was arrested in May in an illegal online casino in Lorong 17 Geylang.

Offered probation, he turned it down as he thought he could not abide with conditions such as obeying a night curfew and having his mother put up a $5,000 bond for his good behaviour.

He then missed an interview with a probation officer and was later deemed suitable for the Reformative Training Centre (RTC).

There, offenders aged 16 to 21, live in a bootcamp like environment and undergo foot drills, counselling and education, serving a minimum sentence of 1 1/2 years, which can be extended to three years.

At the appeal hearing on Thursday, Ong said through the Mandarin interpreter that the detention period was too long and asked for a jail sentence.

CJ Chan noted that while a 21-year-old would be fined or jailed for several weeks for the same offence, Ong, who was five months short of turning 21 when arrested, had been ordered to the RTC.

Defending the decision, Deputy Public Prosecutor Francis Ng said that there were risks of Ong returning to crime and that courses at RTC would equip Mr Ong with skills that would serve him in later life.

When he was unable to state what training Ong would receive, the CJ advised prosecutors to list such training plans for judges to consider.

The CJ also pointed out that this was Ong's first brush with the law.

Ong also told police that he needed to work to support his ailing mother.

He was paid $70 a day as a cashier at the gaming den but was not planning to work there long.

The CJ noted that Ong has served more than two months in detention since he was convicted in the district court.

Calling this sufficient punishment, CJ Chan converted his appeal to set aside the RTC order for a jail sentence that ended on Thursday.

Ong's mother, who was in court, told reporters that she was very happy to have her son home soon.

The slightly-deaf woman lives alone with her son.

Her husband died five years ago. She said that Ong feels ashamed for breaking the law and for not being able to take care of her.