Singaporean jailed 23 days for 1,000 silent calls to police
A Singaporean man was jailed for 23 days after making more than 1,000 silent calls to police stations across the city-state, Singapore’s district court ruled on Wednesday.
Source: Channel NewsAsia · August 26, 2026 at 12:31 PM · AI-assisted report
Single-sourceSINGAPORE, YISHUN, ANG MO KIO, BEDOK, GEYLANG, MALAYSIA, 26 AUGUST 2026 —
A Singaporean man was jailed for 23 days after making more than 1,000 silent calls to police stations across the city-state, Singapore’s district court ruled on Wednesday.
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Foo Jia Hong, 37, pleaded guilty to 425 silent calls to the Yishun Neighbourhood Police Centre between April 21 and 29 this year. Another three charges for calls to police centres in Ang Mo Kio North, Bedok and Geylang were taken into consideration, according to court documents.
Prosecutors said Foo admitted to making the calls “for fun and enjoyment” after finding a SIM card in a second-hand phone cover he bought at an Ang Mo Kio night market. The SIM was registered to a foreign worker who said he had discarded it.
At Yishun alone, officers answered 330 silent calls, while the remaining 95 went unanswered. The unanswered calls held phone lines open, preventing other callers from reaching the non-emergency numbers promptly, the prosecution told the court.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Ng Jun Kai sought three to five weeks’ jail, citing Foo’s prior conviction in January 2025 for communicating false messages. Foo’s lawyer Daniel Atticus Xu argued for two weeks, noting that the calls were not made to the 999 emergency hotline.
District Judge Koo Zhi Xuan sentenced Foo to 23 days’ jail, balancing deterrence against Foo’s mild intellectual disability, which a psychiatric assessment found did not contribute to the offences. Obstructing a public servant carries a maximum penalty of six months’ jail or a fine up to S$6,500, or both.
Foo was arrested in May and remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for assessment before sentencing.
Related: Yishun Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC) · Foo Jia Hong