I Do Not Feel Sorry for Shane Pow
Shane Pow, 30, in his peak, handsome and one of the 8 Dukes of Caldecott had been charged for drink driving on 22 April, and subsequently disowned by Mediacorp on the 26th.
Photo: 8 Days
In the previous post about Shane Pow’s drink driving charge, we had established that he didn’t deserve a second chance as he displayed a continuous pattern of disregard for the law.
As we engage in the discourse surrounding the misdemeanours of public figures, questions surrounding why whether celebrities deserve second chances arise.
The age-old question then comes into play: can we separate the artist from his art?
Do Pow’s acting talents warrant him another shot at the media and entertainment industry?
The most straightforward answer would be no.
With his multiple brushes with the law, Pow has proven that his regard for the law is questionable. Whether he likes it or not, Mediacorp deems their artistes role models for Singaporeans to look up to, and thus heavily discourages and punishes such irresponsible behaviour.
With local celebrities’ recent brushes with the law coming to light, it then raises the intriguing question of why celebrities engage in reckless behaviour which goes against the law.
Other celebrities?
Pow is not the first of his kind to be caught in such situations.
In 2006, Mediacorp actor Christopher Lee was caught in an alleged drunk driving hit-and-run accident, where he knocked over a motorcycle rider and fled the scene. He was subsequently fined $4500 for his behaviour, had his driving license suspended for 2 years and was thrown into jail for 4 weeks.
Photo: Benjamin Seetor/TODAY
In 2016, actress Rui En was taken in for custody after knocking down a stationary motorcycle, to which the owner immediately made a police report. She was fined $700 for her reckless driving.
In 2014, local television host Quan Yi Fong knocked down a pedestrian on the road and compensated the victim $1260 along with his medical expenses. Prior to this incident, Quan had also assaulted a cab driver and was on 15-month probation.
In 2006, local actor Terence Cao had also been fined $4100 for drink driving and banned from driving for 3 years. More recently, the actor also pled guilty to breaching Covid-19 safety distancing measures by hosting fellow actor Jeffrey Xu’s birthday party.
Photo: Ili Nadhirah Mansor/TODAY
What’s the issue?
With social media broadcasting these celebrities’ brushes with the law, it may seem that they are just unfortunate people whose lives are always on blast for the general public to judge.
However, at what point do their mistakes on blast stop being a one-off mistake for everyone to see, and a consistent pattern of behaviour, and blatant disregard for the law?
Christopher Lee’s drunk driving charge was serious enough for him to land 4 weeks in jail.
Since then, Lee had been involved in another traffic accident which had a victim in 2015, where he knocked down a stationary bike, but his response to salvaging the situation was vastly different.
Lee was reported to have asked around the area for the bike’s owner and ended up leaving a note for the owner to contact him instead of fleeing the scene as he did in 2006.
From his 2006 incident, Lee seems to have learnt his lesson and moved on to enact better behaviour.
While Rui En hasn’t been involved in further traffic accidents since 2016, the actress seems to have understood her mistake and graciously accepted that she was in the wrong, when Pornsak poked fun at her during the 2016 Star Awards ceremony.
The actress simply smiled and shrugged, raising her hands in defeat.
However, in the cases of Terence Cao and Shane Pow who were repeated offenders of the law, there seems to have been little character growth on their part.
As time passes, the already grown adults Cao and Pow who are fully capable of making appropriate decisions continuously fail to adhere to the law, which shows that it may not be youth immaturity that drove them to engage in unlawful behaviour.
It seems to instead be a blatant disregard for the law which perhaps stemmed from a sense of self-importance, causing them to feel that they are above the law.
Like Cao, Pow is a clear-headed adult able to exercise appropriate judgement and not flout the law. Combined with their history of flouting the law, Cao and Pow have shown that they do not learn from past mistakes and hence I have no sympathy for Cao, and needless to say Pow.
Article written by Michelle Ang
Email: e190201@e.ntu.edu.sg