Presumably going for an industrial-larceny chic aesthetic for his new flat, a Singaporean man actually took the effort to unscrew an entire metal bench from a bus stop and brought it home.
According to reports by Yahoo News and The Straits Times, 22-year-old Tan Ke Wei was sentenced to a seven-day short detention order yesterday after pleading guilty to the wacky offense he committed on June 14 last year.
The court heard that he had been waiting for a bus around 11:50pm at a bus stop along Braddell Road that night. While waiting for the bus to arrive, Tan messed around with the bolts of the bench that fixed it on the ground. Without any tools whatsoever (and possibly guided by sheer determination to have a grey metal bench in his new house), he managed to unscrew all eight bolts with his hands. The bench was dismantled and tossed into a garbage bag before Tan brought it back home in a cab.
He would have gotten away with the bizarre misdeed too if someone hadn’t spotted him. A witness who saw Tan unscrewing the bench tipped off the cops the next day. The police established his identity and raided his flat and seized the metal bench, which Tan hid in a riser unit.
Today, we also learned that a nondescript bus stop bench is worth $1,500, according to the Land Transport Authority. Really though, there are nicer industrial-style metal benches available out there at that price point.
Home and decor
The court also heard that Tan informed investigators that he removed the metal bench because he wanted to check its dimensions — the man was intending to renovate his new flat with a design based on an integrated bus stop. He even ordered another bench from a supplier. Truly, a man of tastes.
In mitigation, Tan’s lawyer mentioned that the man suffered from adjustment disorder since 14-years-old and he was having insomnia at the time of the offense, Yahoo News reported. He also seemed to be a bus enthusiast, as he was apparently waiting for buses of older models to appear at the bus stop.
For committing mischief and causing damage to public property, Tan escaped a two-year jail sentence and a fine. A detention order sentence will also mean that he won’t have a criminal record after he gets released.
The nature of this strange felony has already inspired local meme page Kiasu Memes For Singaporean Teens to unleash a bunch of posts about the story. Enjoy ‘em below.
