Jail for man who took speedboat from Batam and swam via Changi to enter S’pore illegally in 2021
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SINGAPORE – To seek illegal employment in Singapore, an Indonesian man took a speedboat from Batam in May 2021.
Upon nearing a shoreline in Changi, Yudi Muhita then disembarked from the speedboat and swam towards and entered Singapore.
Yudi was arrested more than two years later on Oct 10, 2023, by police officers at Kranji MRT station after he could not produce any evidence to show that he was legally staying in Singapore.
On Tuesday, the 41-year-old was sentenced to 18 months’ jail and 10 strokes of the cane.
He pleaded guilty to one charge for entering Singapore illegally and another for doing so after being lawfully sent out from the country.
According to Investigation Officer (IO) Muhammad Hazim from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA), Yudi was previously charged with and convicted of similar offences.
He had been sentenced on May 30, 2016, to six months’ jail for illegally entering Singapore and 10 strokes of the cane and one year’s jail for the offence of doing so after being removed from the country.
Upon his release from prison, he was referred to ICA for deportation.
On Dec 31, 2016, Yudi was served with a written notice informing him that he would be banned from entering Singapore, and he was required to obtain prior written permission from the Controller of Immigration to enter
or reside in Singapore in future.
He was also told that a failure to do so would result in prosecution, and he would face a jail term of between one and three years upon conviction.
Yudi acknowledged the notice by making his thumbprint on it and was deported to Indonesia on the same day.
But looking to work in Singapore some years later, he came up with a plan to return to the country via the speedboat while in Indonesia, and departed from Nongsa, Batam, sometime in early May 2021.
IO Hazim said there was no movement record indicating that Yudi had entered Singapore lawfully through any gazetted entry point, and he had not obtained written permission from the Controller of Immigration to enter or reside in Singapore.
Court documents did not say what he was doing in Singapore during his time here.
In court on Tuesday, Yudi pleaded for leniency, saying he was the sole breadwinner for his family and that he had two young children.
For illegally entering Singapore, he could have been jailed for up to six months and faced a minimum of three strokes of the cane.
For entering or residing in Singapore illegally after having been lawfully sent out of Singapore, Yudi could have been jailed between one and three years and fined up to $6,000. He is also liable to be removed from Singapore.
