Kho Kwang Po, 85, pleaded guilty to one count of performing an act that wounded the religious feelings of others. -- PHOTO: SHIN MIN DAILY NEWS
SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): A doctor who posted anti-Islam content on his personal Facebook page in 2021, and left the country in 2022 while he was under investigation, has been given a maximum fine of S$10,000 (RM33,000).
On May 19, Kho Kwang Po, 85, pleaded guilty to one count of performing an act that wounded the religious feelings of others.
Kho, a non-practising doctor, will have to spend two weeks behind bars if he fails to pay the amount. His name could not be found on the Singapore Medical Council’s database of registered healthcare professionals when The Straits Times searched it on May 19.
Court documents did not disclose what spurred the Singaporean to commit the offence, which Deputy Public Prosecutor Sean Teh said was done with the “deliberate intention of wounding the racial feelings of Muslims in general”.
Kho was the only person who had access to the Facebook account, DPP Teh added.
On April 21, 2021, Kho made the incriminating post available for the public to view, which comprised screenshots of remarks that he had earlier made on Facebook in 2016.
About two months later, in June 2021, a person lodged a police report that “Kho Kwang Po has been openly making racist posts on his Facebook. The posts are highly insulting towards Islam”.
Later that month, another person alerted the authorities that Kho had been posting seditious material “denigrating Islam” on Facebook for several years.
Kho left Singapore for an undisclosed location in January 2022 and returned in October 2024, the police had said earlier. He was charged in court on Feb 26, 2025.
For performing an act that wounds the religious feelings of others, an offender can be jailed for up to three years, fined or both.
On May 19, the DPP urged the court to fine Kho the maximum $10,000 fine without a jail sentence, saying: “We accept that the accused’s racist posts have not gained significant traction.
“We have also considered the accused’s advanced age and his plea of guilt.”
Defence lawyers Kenneth Au-Yong and Josiah Tan pleaded for their client to be given a fine of $6,000, saying that Kho is truly sorry for what he had done and is unlikely to repeat the offence.
Before handing down the sentence, District Judge Eddy Tham said Kho, as a doctor, should have known better than to commit such an offence.
The judge also noted that Kho had been fixated on what he read on the internet, and had accepted propaganda without critical examination. - The Straits Times/ANN
