S'porean man gets S$3,600 fine & 12 hours of CWO for throwing cigarette butt on the ground

The smoking gun.

Lean Jinghui | May 12, 2021, 12:08 PM

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A 49-year-old Singaporean man was fined S$3,600 and sentenced to 12 hours of corrective work for "recalcitrant littering" on May 7.

According to a National Environment Agency (NEA) press release, he had been caught throwing a cigarette butt in a public place.

This is his eighth conviction for littering; he has similar past offences dating from 2008 to 2018.

If he fails to pay the court fine, he would have to serve 10 days’ jail in default.

What happened

NEA enforcement officers witnessed Peh Choe Kong throwing a cigarette butt on the ground outside Tampines 1 Mall on July 9, 2020.

During the trial, Peh claimed that he had actually thrown the cigarette butt into a makeshift container placed on the floor.

He disputed that he had thrown the cigarette to the ground as recounted by enforcement officers.

The Court accepted the prosecution’s case and convicted Peh.

Peh's seven prior convictions were taken into account in arriving at the sentence.

Under the Environmental Public Health Act (EPHA), any individual convicted of littering may be fined up to S$2,000 on their first time, up to S$4,000 for the second, and up to S$10,000 for the third and subsequent convictions.

The court may also impose a Corrective Work Order (CWO), requiring offenders to clean public areas for up to 12 hours.

Top image via Getty Images