Man who flaunted illegal dinner online among six punished
A man unlawfully went to a family member's flat for dinner during the circuit breaker period, snapped pictures of the gathering and posted them on social media.
Part-time private-hire car driver Francis Soh Seng Chye, 38, also added a caption, saying: "After a long long long long super long day... we are having (an) illegal gathering... so what? Enjoy the food to the max."
The act, which the prosecution said showed "defiance of authority and disregard for the law", was posted on April 8, a day after social distancing measures were introduced.
Yesterday, Soh was fined $4,500 after pleading guilty to an offence under the Covid 19 (Temporary Measures) Act.
The court heard a friend of his had spotted the post on Facebook and told citizen journalism website Stomp, which wrote about it.
Soh was one of six people dealt with in court yesterday over separate offences related to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The others were: Siti Wan Su'Aidah Samsuri, 25; Foo Ching Guan, 32; Vardireddy Nageswara Reddy, 35; Shake Mohammed Abdul Samad Haji Abduraheem, 44; and Teo Say Leong, 64.
All are Singaporeans, except Vardireddy, an Indian national.
Shake, who is jobless, was sentenced to four weeks' jail and a fine of $1,500.
A National Environment Agency social distancing enforcement officer was patrolling near Block 99 Aljunied Crescent around 9.30am on April 22 when he spotted Shake drinking alcohol at the void deck.
He was not wearing a mask.
He also refused to give the officer his particulars when asked and pushed his hand before leaving the scene.
Teo and Foo breached their stay-home notice (SHN) in unrelated incidents. Each was sentenced to four weeks' jail.
Vardireddy, who rented a room in a Compassvale Close flat, had come into close contact with a colleague who tested positive for Covid-19.
The director of medical services then ordered Vardireddy to be isolated at home from Feb 16 until noon on Feb 25.
He, however, left the flat at 8.10pm on Feb 24 and went to Compass One shopping mall in Sengkang Square to buy a shaver.
He was given a fine of $3,500.
Siti, who works as a flight attendant, was fined $4,000 after breaching her SHN.
She returned to Singapore from Brisbane around 6pm on March 25 and was ordered to remain in her Woodlands flat from then until April 8.
But on March 30, she left her home at 2.45pm to buy cigarettes and groceries.
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