Man fined $4k for wakeboarding at Civilian War Memorial

Five friends were in search of unique spots in Singapore to wakeboard and settled on the Civilian War Memorial in Beach Road. One of them, Stephan Kovalkov, set up a motorised pulley system for wakeboarding at the water feature in front of the monument.

A video showed the 25-year-old Singaporean performing a wall slide, where he jumped into the air with the board, scraping it against the wall of the monument. He skied across the water there five times that evening.

Charged with damaging and interfering with a national monument, Kovalkov was fined $4,000 yesterday. This is the first time someone has been sentenced for defacing, damaging or interfering with national monuments, the court heard.

"Deterrence is the key factor to deter others from doing the same and (for us) to cherish our national monuments," said District Judge Kamala Ponnampalam during sentencing yesterday.

On July 17, Kovalkov and his friends gathered at the Civilian War Memorial located within the War Memorial Park in Beach Road.

He then set up a self-modified winch, using it to generate the force required to drag him from one end to the other.

The 31-second video of the incident which was circulated online angered many netizens, who called the act disrespectful.

Referring to the video, Deputy Public Prosecutor Koh Mun Keong said Kovalkov had put his helmet on, strapped himself to the wakeboard and performed the wall slide.

The memorial was unveiled on Feb 15, 1967 - the 25th anniversary of Singapore's fall to Japanese forces in 1942 - DPP Koh said.

It is built over a burial chamber that contains exhumed remains from the mass graves of civilian war victims in Singapore.

"Any form of disrespect, such as damaging or interfering, must be deterred," added DPP Koh, who sought a fine of $3,000 to $5,000.

Defence lawyer Noor Mohamed Marican pleaded for leniency in his mitigation plea and said Kovalkov was deeply sorry for his behaviour. "He realises it is not an adventure playground and any form of disrespect is not tolerated," he added, asking for a fine of $3,000.

Kovalkov's items - the wakeboard, helmet and self-modified winch - have been handed over to the police for disposal.

According to court documents, his four friends will be dealt with separately. None of them skied across the water at the memorial.

For interfering with a national monument, Kovalkov could have been jailed for six months and fined a maximum of $30,000.