Phoon Chiu Yoke, the woman who had refused to wear a mask at Marina Bay Sands (MBS), is currently on trial for a similar offence she allegedly committed during circuit breaker in 2020.

Pleaded not guilty for similar offence in 2020

Charge sheets seen by Mothership revealed that the 53-year-old Singaporean was charged for failing to wear her mask on May 8, 2020 at Newton Hawker Centre.

She had pleaded not guilty.

Took off her mask at the start of the trial

On the first day of her trial on Monday (May 24), Phoon appeared at State Courts dressed in a black blazer and skirt.

It is understood that she only put a mask on at the entrance of the court.

She continued wearing the mask when inside the courtroom.

At the start of the trial proceedings, Phoon, who was unrepresented, removed her mask but was instructed by the judge to put it on. She obliged.

Prosecution requested for adjournment

National Environment Agency (NEA) prosecutor Imran Hamid stated that he had received a direction from the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) to stand down and adjourn the trial to another date, pending investigations that may impact the current trial.

The AGC is "looking into the matter", added Imran.

Phoon initially objected to the prosecution's request, asking for the latter to provide a "good reason" as to why the trial needs to be adjourned.

She also questioned how long the trial will be adjourned.

Imran said that it will take about four to six weeks before the trial can proceed.

Eventually obliged to prosecution's request

Phoon eventually told the judge that she would "exercise good faith" and oblige to the prosecution's request.

However, she also requested for the adjournment to not be delayed for too long so that further administrative cost will not be incurred.

The trial has been adjourned to July 12.

For contravening the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) (Control Order) Regulations 2020, Phoon can be fined up to S$10,000 or jailed for up to six months.

The MBS incident

Videos of the Phoon talking back to a Safe Distancing Ambassador (SDA) at MBS circulated online recently.

She was not wearing a mask.

When asked to wear her mask, she questioned if the SDA had a badge and demanded: "Who are you representing?"

Since then, numerous photos of Phoon at various venues without a mask on have popped up online.

The police were alerted to the incident at MBS on May 15, and are working with MBS to investigate the incident.

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Top images by Syahindah Ishak.