A BANKRUPT moved his family to Johor as it was cheaper to live there. For that, he was jailed six weeks on Monday for leaving Singapore without getting clearance from the Official Assignee.

Mohamad Hussain Abdul Aziz, 38, admitted to committing the 20 offences in March and April.

A district court heard that he rented out his four-room Jurong flat for $1,500 in June last year due to his financial problems.

He, his wife and five daughters, then moved into his brother's four-room flat in Toa Payoh, where his mother also stays.

Overcrowding gave rise to friction and he decided in January to move to Johor where the monthly rent and utilities came up to only 800 ringgit (S$336).

Asking for the court to impose a fine, his lawyer Remesha Chandran Pillai said: 'My client did not commit the offences with the intention of running away or to evade responsibility, but rather to try and sort out his family situation.

'A check of his passport shows that he was back in Singapore for almost every day of the period he was charged.'

Mohammed Hussain had committed the offences when ferrying his children, aged between six and 15, to schools here in his sister's car, he added.

Now a taxi driver, he could lose his job if jailed and may end up unable to support his family or repay his creditors,' said Mr Pillai.

Mohammed Hussain was declared a bankrupt in 2000 after his food business failed and he ended up owing more than $100,000 to several banks.

District Judge Miranda Yeo, however, found that the circumstances were not exceptional enough for him to escape jail time.

Earlier in the same court, another bankrupt was jailed two months.

Tan Cheng Lim, 62, who made 247 unauthorised overseas trips between 2001 and last year, admitted to leaving the country without permission from the Official Assignee on 38 occasions from January 2006 till March 21 last year.

Tan, who did not have a lawyer, did not say why he was made a bankrupt in 1998 or the reasons behind his trips.

They were mostly daily trips to Malaysia except for a six-day visit to South Korea in February last year.

Tan is the first among 10 bankrupts charged on Nov 24 who was dealt with.

Under the law, bankrupts must get approval for travel outside Singapore and face jail terms of up to two years or fines of up to $10,000 or both for not doing so.

There had been a rise in such offenders, with about 30 to 40 being prosecuted each year.