2 Chinese nationals jailed for burglary, plead for early release as they have elderly mums living alone in China

Christine Tan
The Straits Times
June 24, 2025

Two foreign men who broke into landed properties in the Buona Vista and Holland areas have each been sentenced to 15 months' jail.

Feng Yunlong, 38, and Zhang Yongxiang, 52, each admitted to one count of housebreaking and theft on June 24. They also each had one more similar charge taken into consideration for sentencing.

They were arrested on Dec 18, 2024, after the police received reports of housebreaking and theft at a property in Greenleaf View in Holland and another in Zehnder Road in Buona Vista.

The court heard that Feng and Zheng had come to Singapore on Dec 13 that year on social visit passes.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Teng Yin Hang said the two Chinese nationals were loitering in Greenleaf View on Dec 16, 2024, at about 8.50pm, as they intended to commit housebreaking and theft.

After observing that the lights in the victim's house - a three-storey semi-detached landed property - were not turned on, they decided to target it.

Zhang entered the house from an adjacent unit which was under construction. He donned a pair of gloves he took from the adjacent unit to avoid leaving his fingerprints at the scene.

From the adjacent unit, he climbed into the study room of the victim's house through an unlocked sliding window.

Meanwhile, Feng acted as a lookout outside the house.

Using a torchlight to navigate, Zhang found two watches on a TV console in one of the rooms and pocketed it.

These were a Cartier Roadster watch valued at $8,800, and a Casio Edifice watch, valued at $150, respectively.

After he was unable to find other valuables in the house, Zhang left and met up with Feng. The duo then returned to their hotel.

The home owners, who were away when the incident happened, alerted the police about it two days later, on Dec 18.

That same day, Zhang and Feng broke into another house on Zehnder Road and stole valuables amounting to over $7,000. The victim in this case made a police report the same day.

The police had said earlier at a press conference that officers identified the duo after studying footage from security cameras in the area.

Asking for 14 to 16 months' jail each, DPP Teng said housebreaking in residential premises is more aggravating than in other buildings because it may cause significant psychological harm to the occupants.

In mitigation, both Feng and Zhang pleaded to be released early as they said they had family members, including their elderly mothers, living alone in their home country.

This prompted District Judge Christopher Goh to ask them why they came to Singapore in the first place.

Zhang, speaking through a Mandarin interpreter, replied: "I just wanted to find a job. I didn't expect that something like this will happen. It was because I was greedy. I was wrong."

Meanwhile, Feng said simply: "I won't do this any more. I will go home soon and I will accompany my mother."

For the offence of housebreaking and theft, they could have each been jailed for up to 10 years and fined.