S'pore man eats cigarette at Hougang void deck to help teen avoid NEA enforcement, gets fined

A man hanging out at a void deck in Hougang with a teenager smoking a cigarette took matters into his own hands when National Environment Agency (NEA) officers made a spot check.

Ramamoorthy Reddiar s/o Jayaraman ate the teen's cigarette before the officer could seize it, and told him to make a break for it.

The 53-year-old Singaporean was fined S$1,000 on Jul. 30 for obstructing an NEA officer.

Ate cigarette to help teen escape NEA enforcement

Court documents indicated that Ramamoorthy was drinking beer alone at the void deck of Block 515 Hougang Avenue 10 on Mar. 18 at about 8:40pm.

He was joined by a teenager who started smoking a cigarette at the void deck, despite the “No Smoking” sign prominently displayed there.

Ramamoorthy and the teen were not related.

At 9pm, two NEA officers visited the void deck to conduct a scheduled check, and caught the teen smoking.

One of the officers informed the teen that he had committed an offence, and also requested his particulars.

The teen looked at the officer nervously, but did not provide the information, so the officer asked again.

At this moment, Ramamoorthy asked the teen to pass him the cigarette, and the teen complied.

He then put it in his mouth and ate it, before urging the teen to run away.

The teen did so.

According to court documents, Ramamoorthy said that he acted on the spur of the moment to help the teen avoid a blemished record.

"I didn't know eating a cigarette is an offence in S'pore"

Ramamoorthy admitted to his offence and appeared in court on Jul. 30 without a lawyer, CNA reported.

He pleaded for a pardon or a lighter fine, on account that he is the sole breadwinner in his family.

He also asked for his passport back so he could visit his grandmother in Kuala Lumpur.

At one point, Ramamoorthy told the court, "Eating a cigarette, I didn't know is an offence in Singapore."

The judge corrected Ramamoorthy that he was not in court because he ate a cigarette.

"You want to eat all number of cigarettes, that's entirely up to you, the court has no issue with that. You are here for the offence of obstructing the exercise of an NEA officer's power. I just want to disabuse you of the misimpression", the judge said.

Ramamoorthy was given a S$1,000 fine, which he paid in full.

Top image from Canva