'Bomb joke' on plane lands Chinese national 5-day jail, RM7k fine

SEPANG: Chinese national Zheng Hao's bomb joke when onboard an Air China flight four days ago landed him jail and a RM7,000 fine.

Zheng, a 38-year-old insurance broker from Tianjin, nodded his head calmly when told of the punishment by a Mandarin-speaking interpreter over his "silly joke" while onboard Beijing-bound Air China Flight CA872 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) around 12.20am on Nov 30.

The accused admitted during the open-court proceedings that he jokingly told the female steward that he had two bombs as he was trying to push his carry-on bag into the overhead compartment in the plane before its scheduled departure.

Zheng, who had come to Malaysia to setup an insurance brokerage here last week, was on the flight in order to fly back to China for business purposes.

However, the alarmed stewardess had informed the rest of the crew about his bomb joke, and the flight was then grounded as security personnel searched the aircraft for any bombs.

Zheng was hauled off the aircraft and remanded at a police station here. Today, he pleaded guilty to committing criminal intimidation.

Before passing sentence, Magistrate Sharifah Muhaymin Abd Khalib sternly reminded Zheng that what he did was still an offence despite it being a joke.

Sharifah ordered Zheng to begin his five-day jail sentence from Nov 30. She also ordered him to serve an additional five-months' jail if he failed to pay the fine.

After proceedings, Zheng's lawyer James Ee Kah Fuk said his client's joke was based on an old saying from China which basically meant "as heavy as a bomb".

Ee also confirmed that Zheng's wife, who is also a Chinese national, is currently arranging the payment of the fine.

Deputy public prosecutor Ungku Alfiati Ungku Ismail prosecuted.