• Ling Heng Soon pleaded guilty to one charge of causing hurt to a vulnerable person
• Ling pushed the wheelchair of his dementia-ridden mother so hard she fell down
• He also pulled her hair and struck her with a slipper

SINGAPORE — Following an argument at home with his mother who has dementia, Ling Heng Soon pushed her wheelchair towards a staircase railing so forcefully that she fell to the ground.

He then pulled the 84-year-old woman’s hair twice and struck her hand with a slipper thrice, while their domestic worker pleaded with him to stop.

Ling, 64, pleaded guilty on Friday (June 18) to one charge of voluntarily causing hurt to a vulnerable person.

He will return to court on July 14 to be sentenced and remains out on bail of S$10,000.

This was not his first brush with the law. In November last year, a few months before his latest offence, Ling was jailed for four months for assaulting a fellow stallholder at Mei Ling Market and Food Centre in 2018. The attack left the woman with permanent facial scars.

The court heard on Friday that on Aug 7 last year, the domestic worker — Ms Eka Fransiska — took Madam Ng Gung Huat over to Ling’s flat to visit him.

Mdm Ng was wheelchair-bound and needed help with self-care activities such as showering, eating and changing clothes.

When mother and son began arguing at about 7pm, Mdm Ng said that she wanted to go to the void deck at the base of the housing block.

Although Ms Fransiska was not supposed to take her there as it was already dark outside, Ling told her to do it when Mdm Ng started to complain.

He opened the flat's gate and pushed his mother’s wheelchair out, with Ms Fransiska following behind.

At this point, he deliberately pushed the wheelchair with such force that Mdm Ng toppled to the ground. Ms Fransiska rushed to assist her and Ling also helped his mother back onto the wheelchair.

Ms Fransiska then tried to take Mdm Ng back home to her own flat, which was on the same floor. But Ling turned the wheelchair around and pushed it again, causing Mdm Ng to fall off once more.

In her haste to help her, Ms Fransiska left her own slippers on the ground. Ling used one of them to hit his mother’s left hand three times and pulled her hair twice while Ms Fransiska repeatedly asked him to stop.

He then helped Mdm Ng back onto the wheelchair and Ms Fransiska took her back to Ling’s flat. His wife returned from work shortly after that.

The next day, Mdm Ng told her daughter-in-law that she was in pain.

The younger woman made a police report that night at Chai Chee Neighbourhood Police Centre after Ms Fransiska told her what had happened. There were also visible injuries on the old woman’s hands and chin.

Mdm Ng was examined at Changi General Hospital, where a doctor found bruises and swelling on her knee and forearm. She also had an abrasion on her chin and she could not fully extend her right knee.

She was given medication and two days of medical leave.

The offence of voluntarily causing hurt attracts up to three years’ jail or a maximum fine of S$5,000, or both.

However, Ling is liable for twice that punishment as the law regards Mdm Ng as a vulnerable person The provision for enhanced penalties for crimes against vulnerable persons took effect last year.