WAN Medical Clinic, located in Bedok North, revealed in a Facebook on July 8, 2019 that it had been fined S$1,000.

Fined for leaving chairs outside of shop

The reason?

For leaving chairs outside the clinic overnight, even though they are meant for the elderly and sick to sit on.

Town council fine

The post claimed that East Coast-Fengshan Town Council had allegedly been "up in arms" about the chairs ever since the clinic opened seven years ago.

The clinic alleged in the post that the town council took the opportunity to profit by catching the clinic out.

The post shared that the clinic was closed during Hari Raya in June, when it received the S$1,000 fine, which had to be paid by June 30, 2019.

A photo of the notice dated June 13 said the clinic had been fined for placing objects "on common property or open space", and for "overnight placement of items in [a] yellow box" outside the clinic's shopfront.

Video of removal of chairs

WAN Medical Clinic subsequently uploaded another video on July 8, showing the clinic's doctor, Muhammad Iqmal Bin Abdullah, removing the chairs from the yellow box outside because of the town council's "urgent" request.

With intravenous therapy (IV) drips still attached to both hands, Iqmal supposedly left Sengkang General Hospital to shift stacks of chairs into the clinic.

Here's the video:

Yellow boxes purpose

The yellow boxes outside of shops are not the same as the ones for smoking.

Instead, the boxes help designate what is known as an Outdoor Display Area (ODA), where tenants or shop owners can pay to use to display their goods on public pathways.

No rules are flouted as long as shopkeepers' items do not extend beyond the yellow box.

In a comment on the video, Iqmal explained that the town council considered the chairs as a fire hazard at night.

However, it appears that shopkeepers are not allowed to leave objects outside their premises after business hours, according to Singapore Civil Defence Force's fire safety regulations for ODAs.

Town council's reply

In response to Iqmal's and WAN Medical's Facebook claims, the East Coast-Feng Shan Town Council wrote on July 9 that it did not urge Iqmal to remove the chairs while he was hospitalised.

On the contrary, the town council explained to the clinic it was willing to waive the fine, if the clinic complies with the rules by not leaving the chairs out overnight.

According to the town council, WAN Medical Clinic had apparently agreed to these terms.

You can see the response in full here:

Top photo from WAN Medical Clinic/ Google Maps