Ex-actor Huang Yiliang gets jail for assaulting worker, prosecutor calls him 'nothing more than a bully'

SINGAPORE: Former actor Ng Aik Leong, better known as Huang Yiliang, was sentenced on Friday (Feb 26) to 10 months' jail after personally conducting a defence that the prosecutor called "ridiculous".

Ng, 59, was convicted last month of voluntarily causing hurt by a dangerous weapon for assaulting a Bangladeshi worker at the Singapore Islamic Hub in 2018.

He was also ordered to pay the victim S$3,300 in compensation for his salary as well as the pain and suffering caused. If he does not pay, he will have to serve another three weeks' jail in default.

Ng was allowed to begin his sentence in mid-March. He indicated that he might file a notice of appeal.

The worker, Mr Jahidul, was cleaning a ventilation duct in a canteen area on Dec 11, 2018, when Ng got annoyed that he had not used enough string to fasten a plastic bag to a rubbish pail.

After throwing a wooden plank at Mr Jahidul, which did not hit him, Ng threw a plastic pail at him, striking his buttocks, before attacking him with a heavy metal scraper.

Calling for 10 months' jail for Ng and asking him to pay the victim S$3,300 in compensation, Deputy Public Prosecutor Chong Kee En said Ng had "besmirched witnesses" during the trial and "subjected the court to his ludicrous defences".

READ: Prosecutor calls actor Huang Yiliang's account 'ridiculous' in assault case; judge warns against contempt of court

Ng had conducted his own defence, acting out some parts of it and claimed that the victim had asked him to beat him and teach him. Ng said he learned how to throw fake punches during his acting days and did not actually hit the victim or injure him.

He claimed he was the real victim, saying that Mr Jahidul was a "monster, a big monster" who was out to frame him and was "trying to murder him".

"Those same defences were put by him to the victim, which was nothing more than a dressed-up version of the accused’s usual cruel taunts of the victim," said Mr Chong. 

"He is nothing more than a bully and bullies must be taught that might does not make right," he said. "If he cannot bring himself to treat other human beings with dignity, then he should be prepared to be met with firm and deterrent justice."

For voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon, Ng could have been jailed for up to seven years, fined, or both. He cannot be caned as he is over 50 years old.

He faces a pending charge of disturbing public peace by fighting with a person in Buffalo Road, and will return to court at a later date for a pre-trial conference.