Singapore is big on social harmony. There are laws against offending other cultures and anything considered pornography is illegal. But I think he's in trouble in Malaysia.
Yet the Malaysian constitution includes "every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression".
[1] http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2013/06/13/essay-critici...
What could go wrong?
Hopefully OP will have enough information himself to make an educated decision as to whether skipping the country is the right decision.
You need to cross the border into a friendlier country and claim asylum. Pay a smuggler, go by horse (seriously), do what you need to do to get across (bribes). Go and start a better life for yourself, I know so many who did and never looked back. You can visit your family in a 3rd country.
It is a very sad state of affairs if pranks by intelligent kids are used against them not because of the actual prank but as a scapegoat so that others don't do this and it is also sad that intelligent people don't understand the consequences of their action and pranks are not worth 8 years in prison.
If it's not a very long sentence, OP is better off trying that after he's done with it. Maybe ask for asylum, but afterwards.
I myself, received threats because my FaceBook said I was an 'atheist' and I was engaged with social media movement against religious oppression.
Sell your stuff, get currency, use your international connections. It's going to be the hardest thing you've ever done, but liberty is the most important. Who knows what will happen in prison and for how long they will detain you.
Also, depending on how technically competent your government is, you need to get all your services offshore now: Wuala for storage (like dropbox - based in Switzerland); Runbox for email (based in Norway); servers in somewhere like Europe or other nearby friendly countries that provide sufficient bandwidth... Burner phone, TOR, careful about your online presence, etc. In the meantime, move locally and rent a place cash under the table where address won't be registered. Basically, become invisible to your government.
Then you want to move your business domicile and bank accounts elsewhere if feasible so your local government can't confiscate your business once you do leave. Read into the 5-flag theory: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perpetual_traveler
You're entrepreneurial, intellectually curious, freedom-loving - rotting away in prison would be a waste of great talent and not to mention a human rights violation. Starting a startup is hard enough as it is, it's important. But not as important as liberty. If you plan correctly, you can have both. Obviously, I (or likely none of us on here) cant fully empathize with your situation - best of luck!!
Edit: Are you in Singapore? I know Singapore is socially strict, but I thought it was secular. If you're in Malaysia, it's a different story. Moving your domicile and bank accounts to Singapore might make a lot of sense if you're in Malaysia.