Esther Tan Ling Ying, 24, a student who returned to Singapore from Britain with flu-like symptoms last year, has been put on trial for allegedly breaching her stay-home notice (SHN) to eat at a food court in Changi Airport.
She had returned on 23 Mar 2020 and was issued an SHN which mandated her to remain in her home for a period of 14 days.
However, she had allegedly dined at the food court in Terminal 1 of Changi Airport with her parents before going home.
In addition, she also visited the Clementi Family and Aesthetic Clinic in Clementi Avenue 3 near her area of residence to buy medicine.
She is said to have been dishonest about her travel history when she saw the doctor.
Tan tested positive for COVID-19 shortly after returning to Singapore.
On Tuesday (9 Mar), Deputy Public Prosecutor Sanjiv Vaswani described Tan’s conduct as abhorrent, and revealed to the court that she was experiencing flu-like symptoms even before leaving Britain.
The DPP said that everyone has a role to play in dealing with the pandemic, and that most people have followed the rules put in place.
“But a small number of people do not think the rules apply to them… the accused Esther Tan is one such person,” he said, asserting that Tan had “absolutely no excuse” for breaching SHN regulations.
The 14-Day Confusion
The first witness to be called to the stand was an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer, who had briefed returning travellers at Changi Airport on 23 Mar 2020.
Defence Counsel Tan Cheng Kiong argued that the officer’s briefing on what constituted 14 days during the SHN was unclear. He pointed out that the day of return was stated to be day zero, while 14 days would begin on day one and end on day fourteen.
Yes, the same reason given by the BKT lover.
However, DPP Sanjiv countered this by saying that the period from day zero to day one would count as the first day, the period from day one to day two would count as the second day, and so on. This would make for a total of 14 days.
This sounds like one of those primary school math questions on patterns… Not gonna lie, they weren’t exactly a piece of cake for this author, but still.
The witness expressed agreement with the DPP, adding that the briefings clearly stated that those placed under SHN had to return home directly without making any detours.
If Tan is found guilty, she may be fined up to $10,000, imprisoned for up to six months, or both.
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