{"id":74311,"date":"2026-08-05T05:21:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T21:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=74311"},"modified":"2026-08-05T05:21:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T21:21:08","slug":"3-months-jail-for-man-who-set-fire-to-community-cat-houses-at-bukit-batok-void-deck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=74311","title":{"rendered":"3 months\u2019 jail for man who set fire to community cat houses at Bukit Batok void deck"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">SINGAPORE \u2013 <!-- -->Frustrated by the cardboard cat houses placed at a void deck near his home in Bukit Batok, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/man-67-arrested-for-allegedly-setting-fire-to-cat-dwellings-at-bukit-batok-void-deck?ref=inline-article\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"gap-x-04 items-center inline text-primary-60 select-auto\" aria-label=\"link\" target=\"_blank\" data-testid=\"custom-link\"><span class=\"inline font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"typography-test-id\">a man set fire to them<\/span><\/a>, causing more than $900 worth of damage to the ground and walls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">On Aug 4, <!-- -->Koh Teng Boo, 68<!-- -->, was sentenced to <!-- -->three months\u2019 jail<!-- --> after pleading guilty to committing mischief by fire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Koh, a retiree living in <!-- -->Bukit Batok East Avenue 4<!-- -->, noticed in September 2025 that cardboard structures to house community cats had been put up around a pavilion and void deck near his home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Deputy Public Prosecutor Stephen Yeo said the houses, which were stocked with food and water, provided shelter for stray cats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Koh observed that this led to birds coming to the cat houses and claimed that the structures were prone to attracting pests, said the prosecutor. He raised the issue with his MP.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">In October 2025, Koh threw three cat houses into an incense burner bin and set them on fire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">\u201cThe accused claimed that he had done so because no visible action had been taken about the cat houses despite his plea to his Member of Parliament,\u201d said DPP Yeo.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Two days later, Koh noticed that more cat houses had been set up around his block.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">On Nov 17, Koh paid another visit to his MP and raised the same concerns, stressing that he had no grievances with cats but felt that the practice was unhygienic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Koh added that residents were throwing litter into the cat houses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">On Nov 19, at around 1.30am, Koh was on his way home after drinking alcohol when he took out a lighter and set fire to a cat house.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Koh then walked away, leaving the fire unattended. Investigations did not reveal when or how the fire was eventually extinguished.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Angered that the cat houses were still there despite his complaints, Koh set fire to another cat house the next day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">After he walked away, two passers-by saw the burning cat house and put out the fire. Koh was arrested later that day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">DPP Yeo said the Jurong-Clementi-Bukit Batok Town Council spent $913 to repair the damage to the flooring and walls near the burnt cat houses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Koh has since made full restitution to the town council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text-primary font-tertiary-body-baseline-regular\" data-testid=\"article-paragraph-annotation-test-id\">Those who commit mischief by fire with the intent to cause damage to property can be jailed for up to seven years and fined.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<center><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.straitstimes.com\/singapore\/courts-crime\/3-months-jail-for-man-who-set-fire-to-community-cat-houses-at-bukit-batok-void-deck\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><br \/>\n<center\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SINGAPORE \u2013 Frustrated by the cardboard cat houses placed at a void deck near his home in Bukit Batok, a man set fire to them,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":74312,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/74312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}