Vandalism Act (Singapore)

Vandalism Act
Old Parliament House, photographed in January 2006
An Act to provide for exemplary punishment for acts of vandalism and to make special provisions in regard to certain offences relating to public property.
Citation	No. 38 of 1966; now Cap. 341, 1985 Rev. Ed.
Enacted by	Parliament of Singapore
Date enacted	26 August 1966
Date assented to	31 August 1966
Date commenced	16 September 1966
Legislative history
Bill	Punishment for Vandalism Bill
Bill citation	Bill No. 36/66
Bill published on	17 August 1966
Introduced by	Wee Toon Boon (Minister of State for Defence)
First reading	17 August 1966
Second reading	26 August 1966
Third reading	26 August 1966

The Vandalism Act is a statute of the Parliament of Singapore that criminalizes a number of different acts done in relation to public and private property, namely, stealing, destroying or damaging public property; and, without the property owner's written consent, writing, drawing, painting, marking or inscribing the property; affixing posters, placards, etc., to the property; and suspending or displaying on or from the property any flag, banner, etc.

In addition to a fine or jail term, the Act imposes mandatory corporal punishment of between three and eight strokes of the cane for second or subsequent convictions. Caning is also imposed for first convictions for defacing property using an indelible substance; and stealing, destroying or damaging public property. The Children and Young Persons Act ("CYPA") states that the High Court may impose a caning penalty on juvenile offenders as well. In a 1968 case, the High Court held that despite the wording of this provision, a subordinate court may sentence juveniles to caning under the Vandalism Act as that Act takes precedence over the CYPA.

The 1994 conviction of 18-year-old American citizen Michael P. Fay for vandalizing cars using spray paint, and the sentence of six strokes of the cane imposed on him, provoked much controversy with both condemnation and support from Americans. Following a request by US President Bill Clinton for clemency, President Ong Teng Cheong commuted Fay's caning sentence from six to four strokes. In 2010, a Swiss national, Oliver Fricker, pleaded guilty to charges of trespassing into a Mass Rapid Transit depot and spray-painting a train with an accomplice, and was sentenced to five months' jail and three strokes of the cane. On appeal, the High Court increased his total jail term to seven months.