A 20-year-old woman breached Covid-19 regulations multiple times during the Circuit Breaker period in May 2020, meeting her friends at a void deck and a McDonald's outlet.
Tuan Siti Aishah Binte Tuan Ab Rahman was fined S$4,000 in court on Wednesday (Oct. 14) for two counts of meeting people not from her household for a social purpose.
Chatted and sang with friends at void deck
According to court documents seen by Mothership, Siti was invited by a friend to meet up with four other friends at a void deck in Bedok on the evening of May 8.
This was during the Circuit Breaker, during which meeting with others for non-essential reasons was prohibited.
As Siti was "feeling bored" at home, she agreed and met up with her five friends at the void deck around 10pm.
She and her friends chatted and sang while they were gathered.
At about 4:23am on May 9, around six hours after the gathering first began, a resident of the HDB block called the police stating that he had already called about the group earlier, and saying:
"They are still singing. Three to four of them. They are not supposed to sleep there. The place is cordoned off."
At 4:50am, a police officer arrived at the void deck and saw Siti with her five friends at sitting area of the void deck, beside the lift lobby. The friends were talking to each other and laughing loudly.
When the officer approached Siti and her friends, the group admitted that they knew each other and that they were having a social gathering.
All six acknowledged that they were aware of the prevailing safe distancing prohibitions in place.
Investigations revealed that Siti had previously been found to have breached Covid-19 regulations on two other occasions.
This incident was her third breach, and she had not yet made any payments for her previously-issued composition fines.
Met friends at McDonald's
Less than two weeks later, on May 20, Siti committed the offence again, while on a grocery trip with her mother to Sheng Siong.
Around 6:20am, she saw three of her friends at a McDonald's in Bedok, near the Sheng Siong. She met up with them and chatted with them while waiting for her mother to finish grocery shopping.
An officer arrived to the location around 6:37am, after the police received a call from an informant who said that there was an "old aunty and uncle sitting there without masks and they torn down the tapes."
The officer saw Siti and her three friends. Once again, all four of them were aware of the prevailing safe distancing prohibitions in place.
This was Siti's fourth breach, and she still had yet to make any payments for her previously-issued composition fines.
"Displayed a blatant disregard of the law"
Deputy Public Prosecutor Emily Koh advocated for a fine of at least S$4,000 for Siti, as she met her friends for a "frivolous and completely unnecessary purpose" at the void deck, which was "noisy" and "caused disturbance".
She knew that she was meeting with a group of five other individuals, as opposed to meeting one-on-one, which shows that she "did not take the social distancing measures seriously", said Koh.
Koh also said that Siti "displayed a blatant disregard of the law" by meeting up with friends again less than two weeks later for the "frivolous purpose" of "chit-chatting".
Fined S$4,000
Siti was fined S$4,000 on Wednesday (Oct. 14) for two counts of meeting people not from her household for a social purpose. Three similar charges were also taken into consideration, reported CNA.
According to CNA, Siti asked to be allowed to pay her fine in instalments.
However, the judge responded that her "history doesn't show that you are very good at complying with orders".
CNA also reported that the judge allowed Siti to make her payment by Thursday (Oct. 15), as Siti said that she had just started a job that paid S$300, and that her mother did not have money to pay the fine on Wednesday.
Siti can be jailed for eight days in lieu of paying the fine, if she fails to pay.
She could have been jailed up to six months, fined up to S$10,000, or both for each charge of breaking a Covid-19 regulation.
Siti's friends will be prosecuted separately.
We deliver more stories to you on LinkedIn
Top photo via Google Maps.