A SINGAPOREAN man who took an unconventional route home after 10 years away from Singapore landed with a six-week jail term on Monday.

Roger Lee, 39, admitted to entering Singapore through Pedra Branca, an unauthorised landing place, on Feb 4.

The court allowed him to start his sentence on Nov 21 after he sought a deferment so that he could take two qualifying tests to work as an optician after his release from prison.

A second charge, which accused him of being in a protected place without a permit - an offence which carries a jail term of two years or a fine of $1,000, or both - was taken into consideration.

He is the first Singaporean in recent times to be convicted of trespassing on the rocky outcrop.

Pedra Branca, recently confirmed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as belonging to Singapore, is off limits to the public except with a permit from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, or with permission from an authorised officer on duty there.

The island, about the size of a football field, sits about 40km east of Singapore. It commands the eastern access into the Strait of Singapore where some 900 ships pass through daily.

The area is regularly patrolled by police and navy vessels.

Lee, who lived in Indonesia for 10 years, decided to return home after his Indonesian wife took their son and left him. His mother and two sisters live here.

On Feb 4, he paid a Batam boatman to smuggle him in. But the boat was too small to cross the choppy seas and they turned back.

The next day, with his last 150,000 rupiah ($23), he paid another boatman to take him across, this time in a motorised sampan.

But he was told to get off at Pedra Branca as the boatman feared being caught by the Coast Guard if they strayed too close to the mainland.

He then disembarked.

His lawyer told the court that Lee saw no warning sign against trespassing while he was at sea.

Read Teh Joo Lin's full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times.