SINGAPORE: Two men who organised illegal HolyCrit bicycle races have been sentenced to seven days’ jail and fined S$5,000 each on Tuesday (Oct 4).
“This is not about cycling … or about stifling an individual’s passion for cycling … or clamping down on the organisation of races for the cycling community”, District Judge Carol Ling said.
“This is about (promoting and conducting) a cycling competition without a permit.”
Bike shop owner Eric Khoo Shui Yan and project manager Zulkifli Awab had pleaded guilty in August to four charges each – two for promoting and two for conducting HolyCrit races without approval or a permit from authorities.
Both had another 12 charges taken into consideration during sentencing.
The men said they organised the races “with only good intentions” to provide a platform for cycling enthusiasts to engage in friendly competition and grow a close-knit fixed-gear cycling community.
A fixed or single-gear bicycle is different from conventional ones in that it does not have or rely on brakes to stop.
Khoo, 30, and Zulkilfi, 40, promoted the races on social media and via a Facebook group. Each HolyCrit race edition attracted about 40 participants and 200 spectators.
They closed public roads on eight occasions between September 2013 and November 2014 to hold the races.
Khoo and Zulkifli did not profit from HolyCrit, their lawyers Josephus Tan and Jeremy Pereira said. The S$10 registration fee collected from each participant was given to the winner of the race as prize money.
The lawyers also pointed out the races were held past 11pm at secluded locations around Singapore, “when traffic would be non-existent or extremely minimal” for the safety of cyclists.
Khoo and Zulkifli also took various steps towards making the races as safe as possible, including conducting safety briefings and encouraging cyclists to wear helmets and outfit their bikes with safety lights.
They also had volunteers – acting as traffic wardens – stationed at entry points along the competition route to make sure cars would not enter the area while a race was ongoing.
Mr Tan and Mr Pereira said the “spirit … and motivations behind (HolyCrit) have been commended by the cycling community … as well as the Singapore Cycling Federation”.
The duo are still organising HolyCrit races, this time with the appropriate permits and support of the SCF, the lawyers said.
For promoting HolyCrit without approval from authorities, they could have faced up to six months’ jail and a fine of up to S$2,000.
For conducting the race without a permit, they could have been jailed for up to three years and fined up to S$1,000.