Repeat offender jailed over assault; past offences included harassing nurse during pandemic
Shaffiq Alkhatib
The Straits Times
Aug 17, 2026
A recalcitrant offender has landed in trouble again – this time receiving a jail sentence for assaulting three people, including a security officer, and being a public nuisance near a pre-school.
Lim Sok Lay, 54, was fined $4,000 in 2022 after harassing her neighbour, a nurse, amid the Covid-19 outbreak. She was fined another $4,000 in 2025 after causing a ruckus during her son’s lion dance competition.
Lim committed some of the latest offences with her daughter Jolene Cheang Wan Ling, 29.
On Aug 17, Lim, who is on remand, was sentenced to six months and two weeks’ jail after she pleaded guilty to two counts of assault.
She also pleaded guilty to one count each of being a public nuisance and voluntarily causing hurt to a security officer.
Cheang, who pleaded guilty to one count each of assault, criminal intimidation and being a public nuisance, was sentenced to five months’ jail and a fine of $1,500.
Her bail has been set at $20,000, and she is expected to begin serving her sentence in September.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephen Yeo told the court that a pre-school teacher was with a group of children at the One Punggol community hub on Sept 24, 2024, when Lim and Cheang walked towards them.
The two offenders began shouting and gesticulating at the female teacher and the children, with Lim yelling about alleged “child abuse”.
Court documents did not disclose the reasons behind the confrontation, but two passers-by stepped in to protect the teacher and the children from potential harm.
After the teacher and her pupils entered a lift, the two offenders began chasing one of the passers-by.
The other male passer-by, a 32-year-old Singapore permanent resident (PR), tried to stop the mother and daughter from hitting the man, but they turned their attention to him instead.
They grabbed the PR’s arms and repeatedly hit his head.
He sought treatment at Sengkang Polyclinic, where he was found to have injuries, including a bruise behind his right ear.
In another incident, the two women and Lim’s husband accompanied Cheang’s son to a pre-school in Edgefield Plains, Punggol, shortly before 9am on July 18, 2025.
The mother and daughter were in the foyer of the school compound when they started shouting profanities, prompting a witness to alert the police.
Without revealing details, the DPP said Lim and Cheang shared a history of conflict with the security officers at the pre-school.
For the current case, the court heard that a 51-year-old security officer turned on his body-worn camera, anticipating that the trio would “cause some trouble” there.
Lim then abused the man with vulgar language.
A 72-year-old security officer took out his mobile phone to record a video of the situation.
At some point, the officer remarked that the trio were “crazy”.
Enraged, Cheang marched towards him and tried to snatch his phone.
She also tried to capture images of his security pass, and he used his walkie-talkie to call for assistance.
Another woman and her husband, who were taking their four-year-old son to another pre-school nearby, heard the commotion.
The husband told Lim and Cheang to stop using vulgarities in public as there were children in the vicinity.
Instead of stopping, Cheang walked up to his wife and abused her with vulgar language.
As Cheang and Lim were walking away, they saw a Filipino domestic helper who was taking her employer’s son to the same pre-school as Cheang’s son.
The DPP said Cheang’s son had a past conflict with the boy.
Cheang and Lim tried to ask the helper if they could speak to her employers, but she refused to entertain their request.
The mother and daughter then pulled the helper’s hair, prompting the 51-year-old security officer to step in.
The two offenders turned their attention to him, with Lim pulling off his body-worn camera.
The women also punched his left ear before taking the $210 camera, which has not been recovered.
Lim and Cheang were arrested later that day and ordered to be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH).
While at IMH on July 20, 2025, Lim refused to return to her cubicle after speaking to Cheang.
As Lim was not supposed to speak to a co-accused, a crisis alert was activated soon after.
A crisis response team, made up of nursing staff who included a 58-year-old Filipino man, arrived at the scene.
Lim was cooperative at first but turned aggressive after she heard Cheang screaming in the background.
Lim kicked around and grabbed the man’s lanyard, causing him to have breathing difficulties before a staff nurse intervened and freed him.
During the scuffle, Lim scratched the victim’s left collarbone and bit his right elbow.
Separately, Cheang asked for an on-site visit from her father on July 26, 2025.
But this could not be allowed, as she had already had a tele-visit that week.
At around 2.30pm that day, a 25-year-old female nurse explained the situation to Cheang.
Displeased, Cheang started banging her head against a wall and threatened the woman, saying: “If I am going out, I will go kill your family members... I want to talk to my father now, or else you all wait.”
After Cheang and Lim were released from IMH, they were offered bail. But they reoffended in August 2025 when they stole nearly $54 worth of items, including several beverages, from a supermarket.
They struck again on March 27, 2026, when they caused annoyance to staff members at a pre-school in Punggol Drive.
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