An elderly security guard has given up appealing against his jail sentence for using a fake identity card to get jobs, to avoid repeating the stressful criminal procedures and the unwanted glare of the media affecting his wife.
Shih Chiao-jen, who had been out on bail, would serve out his four-month jail term also as an acknowledgment that he "did do something wrong", said lawmaker Dr Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung, who had been assisting the couple.
Shih, 73, was convicted last month of seven counts, including obtaining pecuniary advantages by deception and possession of false ID cards from 2008 to 2013. On Tuesday, he lost a challenge against the sentence that the trial magistrate had described as lenient, and decided not to appeal further.
"He is very sure about the decision," Cheung, who visited the man in prison the next day, said.
"He was on bail for a year - reporting to the police regularly and always worrying about the case - before being formally charged. Those were extremely stressful times … He also feels he did do wrong in the end."
The whole court case, as well as the media attention, had made a big impact on Shih's wife as well, Cheung said.
"He's also afraid that another appeal would mean more stress and unwanted attention on his wife."
In 2008, Shih bought an ID card in Shenzhen showing he was 11 years younger. He obtained security guard licences that permitted holders to work on most properties, provided they were not older than 65.
After he was exposed, his case received wide media coverage and triggered a public outcry. The fact that he faked his age to work because he needed the income, some said, showed how a lack of retirement protection was keeping the elderly from retiring.
Cheung said volunteers who had been in touch with the couple from the start were keeping an eye on Shih's wife.
"The problem is what happens after his sentence ends [on June 22]," he added.
Cheung said the couple vehemently resisted receiving Comprehensive Social Security Assistance - one of the government's welfare schemes that has long been stigmatised - and rejected donations from well-meaning people who were sympathetic of their plight. "He still wants to work. So when he is released, we'll try to help him find a job."
But Shih will no longer be able to work as a security guard, given his criminal record. They have no relatives they can rely on for any economic support.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Elderly guard opts for jail over stress
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