SINGAPORE - A 35-year-old woman threatened her elderly mother with a knife and took pictures of the act to coerce her supervisor to lend her $50.

Chua Hui Shan was sentenced to six weeks' jail on Wednesday (Sept 1) after pleading guilty to one count of criminal intimidation.

A second charge under the Protection from Harassment Act was taken into consideration for sentencing.

The court heard that Chua, who was living with her mother, had worked as a cashier at the Sheng Siong supermarket in Chin Swee Road.

On June 12, Chua asked her supervisor for a $50 loan as she said she owed money to unlicensed moneylenders.

When her request was rejected, Chua sent her supervisor audio messages on WhatsApp, saying in Mandarin: "If you don't lend me money, I will kill my mother. I dare to do it, if don't believe you can try."

She then retrieved a knife from the kitchen and approached her 71-year-old mother who was in the living room.

She placed the blade close to her mother's neck and told her that she wanted to kill her.

After taking a picture of the act, she pushed her mother away and sent the image to her supervisor.

Alarmed, her supervisor told their store manager about the incident. When Chua did not pick up the manager's calls, he called the police.

She was arrested later that day.

For each count of criminal intimidation, Chua could have been jailed for up to two years and fined.