Singapore Expats

Hello,

I have a question regarding the police warnings in Singapore. My friend got into some trouble about 1.5 years ago and it was a first time offence. She's always had some mental health issues (depression, anxiety) but she did not disclose this when she got arrested (she's quite secretive about this, she only shares this with like 3 people and not even her own family). She was arrested for shoplifting then she broke down and cried and wouldn't talk to anyone. It was not really an ordinary case in the sense that it's a bit peculiar (to me). She was under a lot of stress and having a hard time which led to kleptomania. She took items that she could not have used. Basically, her landlord and housing contract strictly does not allow cooking but she only took uncooked items like raw rice, sauces and etc. When the IO investigated, (after she stopped crying) she cooperated and told them to call up her landlord to confirm that she was telling the truth. Whether or not the IO called, I have no idea. I did not have to pay fine or anything. I just signed some papers and picked her up. She signed some papers and was released with an unconditional warning. Because she has anxiety, recently, she's been asking a lot of questions regarding whether this leaves a record and whether it will affect visa applications (overseas) and so forth (she's planning to further her studies). She's not Singaporean, she was a foreigner working in Singapore. Do you guys have any idea what happens to warnings? Will there be a record in Singapore or Malaysia? I don't know how to help her and she's been breaking down again. FYI, she's gone for counselling and improved a lot over the past year or so but once in a while she can go crazy (like suddenly depressed and won't talk or get angry and etc). She called me about 4-5 times already just to ask these and each time I said I don't know then the last time she called, she was crying. I'm a bit worried.

Thanks.

If she was not taken to court then she will not have a formal record and does not need to state so for overseas visa applications. She would have to say she was arrested if asked (but should state she was not charged nor convicted). She will most likely have an internal record here in the SPF system but unless arrested that is not likely going to be an issue. Good luck to her, mental illness is a bitch.

PNGMK wrote:If she was not taken to court then she will not have a formal record and does not need to state so for overseas visa applications. She would have to say she was arrested if asked (but should state she was not charged nor convicted). She will most likely have an internal record here in the SPF system but unless arrested that is not likely going to be an issue. Good luck to her, mental illness is a bitch.

She was arrested and taken into custody then she cried for an entire night in the cell. After which, she spoke to the IO then signed some papers and I got called to come and claim her. She did not have many friends working here. I, myself am a foreigner here so I had to get another friend of mine to help with picking her up.

Currently, she's freaking out because she's afraid it will also leave a record in Malaysia. I did ask around and I was told that normally warning is just within SPF and doesn't really count as a criminal record. I told her that I don't think it will affect her in her own country but she got mad at me because she said I didn't check and I'm just trying to shut her up (she can be a bit edgy when she's not thinking rationally). Any idea if it will ever get removed? Is it the same as normal convictions? I think most applications only ask for convictions. I searched everywhere but there doesn't seem to be any clear information regarding what happens to warnings and everything about warnings in Singapore seem pretty ambiguous.

singapore judge in 2015 said don't worry about it. the end.

http://www.singaporelaw.sg/sglaw/laws-o ... ey-general

taxico wrote:singapore judge in 2015 said don't worry about it. the end.

http://www.singaporelaw.sg/sglaw/laws-o ... ey-general

Thanks so much. That's a relief. She's still young, we're almost the same age so I feel kind of sorry for her. She's a really good friend except when she acts up but I know it's hard dealing with such issues.

Due to her depression, she self blames a lot and this doesn't really help her. Once, she made a mistake at work, she couldn't eat or sleep and she worried endlessly about a small mistake. I know she's been through hard times and she's normally a really sweet person so I can only imagine the mental torture she's been having over a crime. If anything it'll only aggravate her and worsen things.

Thanks so much. I was quite surprised to see SG pardon her cause she's legal age. Surprised nothing big happened but maybe they felt sorry for her too.

taxico wrote:singapore judge in 2015 said don't worry about it. the end.

http://www.singaporelaw.sg/sglaw/laws-o ... ey-general

+1.

I know a guy who was wrongly accused, investigated by SPF, though evidence showed he was innocent, he was issued a warning, but his Security clearance was NOT reinstated by the Govt agency he was working for.

every tom dick and harry on SP/EP that works for a company related to on a govt or pseudo-govt project will get some form of c2 clearance!

doesn't seem very thorough, sg gov bg checks - from the time of application by their employer to the day the employee gets cleared.

a police warning was akin to an admission of guilt in the past. so... sg style - better safe than sorry.