S'pore man, 53, taps EZ-Link card on bus driver's face after drinking 8 bottles of beer & missing his stop

After drinking eight bottles of beer at a Commonwealth coffee shop, a drunk man boarded bus 195 and made a scene.

He missed his stop and blamed the driver, tapping the driver's face with his EZ-Link card.

Wilson Loh, 53, pleaded guilty on Jul. 21 to one count of public nuisance and two counts of criminal force for tapping the card on the bus driver's face and later pushing the hand of a passenger who tried to intervene, reported CNA.

A fourth charge was also taken into consideration for sentencing.

The guilty plea nearly fell through when his bailor expressed a desire to withdraw from her role.

However, after Loh persuaded her, she ultimately agreed to continue.

Drank and took bus

Loh had drunk eight bottles of beer at a coffee shop in Commonwealth from 12pm on Mar. 18, 2025.

At around 6pm, he left to head home and took bus 195, driven by 46-year-old bus captain Yin Xusheng.

Loh intended to alight at the next bus stop but did not do so when Yin stopped the bus.

When Yin drove off, Loh approached him and accused him of not allowing him to alight.

Despite Yin explaining that he had opened the doors for passengers to exit, Loh was not happy and used his EZ-Link card to tap Yin's face.

He then made a scene while the bus was en route to the next bus stop, causing annoyance to the other passengers.

Loh was still shouting when the bus arrived at the stop at about 7pm.

A 75-year-old passenger approached Loh to try calming him down, but Loh remained upset, eventually pushing the man's hand and causing his phone to drop.

A police report was made and Loh was arrested at about 8:20pm.

History of convictions

The prosecution stated that Loh has a long history of convictions dating back to 1989 but mentioned only the relevant ones, reported CNA.

These include disorderly behaviour, snatch theft, a rash act, and voluntarily causing hurt, where Loh was given different kinds of punishment, including fines, jail terms and corrective training.

Most recently, he was convicted of voluntarily causing hurt in September 2024, where he was given 12 and 14 weeks' jail for two convictions.

Speaking through a Mandarin interpreter, Loh told the court that he feels "agitated" when someone films him after receiving his fifth Covid-19 vaccine.

"Because someone was filming me, so I just slapped his hand," he said.

Self-intoxication the issue, says Judge

The judge told Loh that he needed to bear the consequences of his actions, regardless of whether he had the intention to commit the offence or not.

"The fact is that if you drink yourself to that extent when you become less controlled ... then the fault ... really lies in yourself," he said.

Loh agreed.

The judge said that if Loh intends to change his ways, he needs to control his drinking or cease drinking altogether if he is unable to control.

Loh agreed and pointed out that he did attend anger management sessions.

He was allowed a deferment to attend ultrasound appointments.

He was eventually sentenced to five weeks in jail and fined S$1,500.

Top photo from SBS Transit