SINGAPORE: A woman repeatedly breached COVID-19 rules barring social gatherings during the "circuit breaker" and did not pay the composition or out-of-court fines given to her.
Tuan Siti Aishah Tuan Ab Rahman, 20, was given a fine of S$4,000 in court on Wednesday (Oct 14) for two counts of meeting people not from her household for a social purpose. Another three similar charges were taken into consideration in her guilty plea.
AdvertisementAdvertisementThe court heard that Siti was invited by a friend to meet up with four other people at a void deck in Bedok on the night of May 8. At the time, the circuit breaker was still in place, barring people from meeting others socially for non-essential reasons.
She agreed as she was "feeling bored at home", and met the five people at the void deck at Block 408, Bedok North Avenue 2, where they chatted and sang.
A resident called the police at 4.23am saying "they are still singing" and "they are not supposed to sleep here", referring to Siti and her friends.
When a police officer arrived, he found the group talking to each other and laughing loudly. They admitted that they were having a social gathering and were aware of the rules.
AdvertisementAdvertisementInvestigations revealed that this was Siti's third breach of COVID-19 regulations, and that she had not made any payments for her composition fines.
She reoffended again on May 20 during a grocery trip with her mother. She had seen three friends at a McDonald's outlet in Bedok and stopped to chat with them while waiting for her mother to finish getting groceries.
An informant called the police to report that several people were "sitting there without masks and they torn down the tapes". The police arrived to see Siti with her three friends.
This was her fourth breach, and she had not yet made any payments for her composition fines.
AdvertisementDeputy Public Prosecutor Emily Koh asked for a fine of at least S$4,000, saying that Siti had met her friends for a "frivolous and completely unnecessary purpose" at the Bedok void deck.
The gathering was noisy and disturbed at least one resident, resulting in a 999 call being made in the early hours.
Siti also knew she was meeting five other people, which shows "she did not take the social distancing measures seriously", said Ms Koh.
Siti, who was unrepresented, asked to be allowed to pay her fine in instalments. The judge responded by saying that Siti's "history doesn't show that you are very good at complying with orders".
Siti said that she had only just started a job that paid S$300, and her mother had no money to pay the fine on Wednesday.
The judge allowed her to make payment by Thursday. If she fails to pay the fine, she can be jailed for eight days in lieu.
For each charge of breaking a COVID-19 regulation, Siti could have been jailed for up to six months, fined up to S$10,000, or both.
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