2 tourists scale Balestier temple fence to steal $300 from donation box, flee S’pore and return 4 months later
A pair of Chinese tourists who climbed a fence to sneak into a Buddhist temple in Balestier and used improvised fishing tools to steal about $300 from a donation box were each sentenced to 14 months’ jail on Nov 5.
The offenders, 50-year-old Liao Quanwan, and 43-year-old Liao Yongzhan, pleaded guilty to one charge of house-breaking and one charge of attempted house-breaking.
According to court documents, the two men had met and become friends in China. They visited Singapore with a tour group in March to gamble and commit theft, as they believed Singapore was an affluent country.
The pair also brought with them improvised fishing tools made from string and adhesive tape, designed to fish money out of donation box slots.
They decided to steal from Burmese Buddhist Temple, located along Tai Gin Road in the Balestier area.
Pair steals from temple, flees to China
Between about 1.15am and 4.30am on April 2, the two men climbed over the temple’s fence and entered the compound, before using their improvised tools to retrieve about $300 from the donation boxes.
During the break-in, one of the temple’s Buddhist lecturers happened to walk past and caught the pair red-handed. He shouted at them to stop, prompting the men to climb over the temple’s fence and flee the scene.
After escaping from the temple, the pair discarded their tools into a drain before taking a taxi back to their hotel.
They packed their belongings and headed straight to Changi Airport to take an earlier flight back to China.
The stolen money was used to buy air tickets back to China, food, and cigarettes. The pair did not make any restitution.
Returns to S’pore 4 months later
The two men subsequently planned to return to Singapore in August to gamble, sightsee, and commit another house-breaking offence.
On Aug 17, they flew from China to Changi Airport, where they were arrested by police officers.
They have been in remand since.
Temple now locks doors and windows every night
Venerable U Siri Dhamma, one of the monks at Burmese Buddhist Temple, told Shin Min Daily News that the two men were believed to have entered the temple by scaling a wall before walking through the library lobby.
They then headed upstairs to steal money from the donation box.
The 58-year-old monk said the temple was undergoing renovation works at the time and was closed to the public after 6pm.
However, the construction workers might not have locked the doors when they left at around 10pm, allowing the pair to enter.
Ven Siri Dhamma added that five monks were staying in a classroom in the library at the time.
At about 2am on April 2, one of the monks left his room because he was coughing and spotted the two men behaving suspiciously.
He shouted at them, causing the pair to flee, and did not give chase.
The next morning, the monks checked the donation box and discovered that the money was missing, prompting them to alert the police.
Ven Siri Dhamma said this was the first time the temple had experienced a theft.
Since then, the monks have made sure to lock all doors and windows before going to bed each night.
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