SINGAPORE, Nov 22 — Feeling an itch come on as he sat outside a shop that was closed for business, Ng Beng Heng pulled his shorts down in full public view to scratch his private parts.

The 42-year-old Singaporean was sentenced to 11 weeks’ jail today after pleading guilty to a charge of appearing nude in public and a charge of committing mischief.

Two other similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.

The court heard that on the night of July 5 this year, Ng sat outside a closed massage shop at Block 11 Chai Chee Road when he committed the offence.

Investigations revealed that in the midst of scratching his crotch with his shorts removed, Ng realised that he had exposed himself to public view.

A passerby saw Ng touching his private parts and called the police.

Ng was arrested the same day for appearing nude in a public place and released on bail the next day.

Causing damage to toilet partition

Less than two months later, Ng was in the toilet at Heartbeat@Bedok, a complex that houses a sports centre and other amenities, when he started shouting in Mandarin.

Sanjay Chandran, who was the on-duty security officer, proceeded to the toilet where he saw Ng shouting but was unable to make out what he was saying.

He approached Ng and advised him to stop shouting and leave the toilet, but Ng persisted.

Sanjay contacted his supervisor for assistance.

While they waited for the supervisor, Ng used his left hand to punch the urinal partition four times, causing the partition to be dislodged.

During investigations, he admitted that he punched the urinal partition with the intent to cause damage.

Ng was arrested on the same day.

The urinal partition was later repaired by an in-house technician at Heartbeat@Bedok but the repair cost was not determined.

Pleading for leniency, Ng told the court that he hoped to be released soon and promised not to reoffend.

He added that he hoped to be reunited with his three fish at home that have not been fed for some time.

For appearing nude in a public place, he could have been jailed for up to three months or fined up to S$2,000 (RM6,964), or both.

For committing mischief, he could have been jailed for up to two years or fined, or both. — TODAY