A pair of Chinese tourists who climbed a fence to sneak into a Buddhist temple in Balestier and used improvised fishing tools to steal about $300 from a donation box were each sentenced to 14 months\u2019 jail on Nov 5.<\/p>\n
The offenders, 50-year-old Liao Quanwan, and 43-year-old Liao Yongzhan, pleaded guilty to one charge of house-breaking and one charge of attempted house-breaking.<\/p>\n
According to court documents, the two men had met and become friends in China. They visited Singapore with a tour group in March to gamble and commit theft, as they believed Singapore was an affluent country.<\/p>\n
The pair also brought with them improvised fishing tools made from string and adhesive tape, designed to fish money out of donation box slots.<\/p>\n
They decided to steal from Burmese Buddhist Temple<\/a>, located along Tai Gin Road in the Balestier area.<\/p>\n Between about 1.15am and 4.30am on April 2, the two men climbed over the temple\u2019s fence and entered the compound, before using their improvised tools to retrieve about $300 from the donation boxes.<\/p>\n During the break-in, one of the temple\u2019s Buddhist lecturers happened to walk past and caught the pair red-handed. He shouted at them to stop, prompting the men to climb over the temple\u2019s fence and flee the scene.<\/p>\n PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n After escaping from the temple, the pair discarded their tools into a drain before taking a taxi back to their hotel.<\/p>\n They packed their belongings and headed straight to Changi Airport to take an earlier flight back to China.<\/p>\n The stolen money was used to buy air tickets back to China, food, and cigarettes. The pair did not make any restitution.<\/p>\n The two men subsequently planned to return to Singapore in August to gamble, sightsee, and commit another house-breaking offence.<\/p>\n On Aug 17, they flew from China to Changi Airport, where they were arrested by police officers.<\/p>\n They have been in remand since.<\/p>\n Venerable U Siri Dhamma, one of the monks at Burmese Buddhist Temple, told Shin Min Daily News<\/a> that the two men were believed to have entered the temple by scaling a wall before walking through the library lobby.<\/p>\n They then headed upstairs to steal money from the donation box.<\/p>\n The 58-year-old monk said the temple was undergoing renovation works at the time and was closed to the public after 6pm.<\/p>\n However, the construction workers might not have locked the doors when they left at around 10pm, allowing the pair to enter.<\/p>\n Ven Siri Dhamma added that five monks were staying in a classroom in the library at the time.<\/p>\n At about 2am on April 2, one of the monks left his room because he was coughing and spotted the two men behaving suspiciously.<\/p>\n He shouted at them, causing the pair to flee, and did not give chase.<\/p>\n The next morning, the monks checked the donation box and discovered that the money was missing, prompting them to alert the police.<\/p>\n Ven Siri Dhamma said this was the first time the temple had experienced a theft.<\/p>\n Since then, the monks have made sure to lock all doors and windows before going to bed each night.<\/p>\n Have something to say? Join in!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Explore more on these topics<\/p>\n<\/div>\n See something interesting? Contribute<\/a> your story to us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nPair steals from temple, flees to China<\/h2>\n
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Returns to S\u2019pore 4 months later<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/div>\nTemple now locks doors and windows every night<\/h2>\n
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