SINGAPORE (SINGAPORE)
The Straits Times [Singapore]
February 9, 2025
By Ong Su Mann
A man was arrested for public nuisance after he allegedly assaulted a priest at the Church of the Holy Spirit located at 248 Upper Thomson Road on Feb 9 morning.
The police received a call for assistance at 10.35am, said the Singapore Police Force in a Facebook post.
See post by Singapore Police Force on Saturday 8 February 2025
Preliminary investigations revealed that a 22-year-old Singaporean Chinese man allegedly assaulted Father Cary Chan after church service during dispersal.
The priest told Channel NewsAsia that the punch knocked his glasses off and caught him off guard.
“He gave me a hard blow to the head … I feel a little shaken, I did not expect a hard blow to come from him,” said Father Chan, who described the man as a regular churchgoer who has special needs and is partially blind.
Someone had removed the man’s backpack from the church, and that had agitated him, according to the priest, who said: “He was very angry at that and demanded to have his bag back.”
Shortly after the bag was returned, the man punched Father Chan. The man was detained immediately by church security personnel.
No weapon was found in the man’s possession and he was handed over to police officers. He will be referred to the Institute of Mental Health for further assessment.
The police said: “We would like to remind the public to refrain from speculation as investigations are ongoing.”
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore said in a Facebook post: “The priest has been attended to by medics, and apart from some slight swelling on his face, is safe and well.”
See post by Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore on Saturday 8 February 2025
Three months earlier, a priest was stabbed during mass at St Joseph’s Church in Upper Bukit Timah on Nov 9 evening. Singaporean Basnayake Keith Spencer was charged two days later with one count of using a knife to voluntarily cause grievous hurt to Reverend Christopher Lee.