The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that society can roughly be divided into three groups of people:
- People who wear their masks
- People who refuse to wear their masks
- Weirdos who do that thing where they put on a mask but leave their nose sticking out
While groups 2 and 3 have their own stars, the first group has several candidates for COVID-19 Lawbreaker of the Decade.
The first nomination goes to the Sovereign Lady. I don’t think I have to elaborate.
The second goes to the Male Sovereign, often seen bare-faced in MRTs.
The third nomination goes to the MBS Badge Woman, who apparently doesn’t have the ability to hear other humans who don’t have a badge of some sort.
The MBS woman has made excuses for her behaviour, but it seems that she now intends to admit guilt.
MBS Woman Expected to Plead Guilty, But Still Stressed About Her ‘Professional Record’
That’s right, while she initially cited breathlessness and eczema as reasons for not wearing a mask, Phoon Chiu Yoke intends to plead guilty to her charges on 12 Aug.
Speaking in court through video-link today (4 Aug), the 54-year-old stressed that she has a “professional record” and asked for her release on bail, without any conditions.
She also asked for the return of her passport, which I’m sure was not at all suspicious to the authorities.
However, given the “egregious nature” of her crimes, the court was like hell nah.
So Phoon, who’s unrepresented, will remain in remand.
Reader: Egregious? What did she do
Oh sweet summer child… How much time do you have?
Long List of Offences
You probably know that Phoon from that viral video taken at MBS which made the rounds in May.
In the video, Phoon could be seen in a queue without a mask. Several safe distancing ambassadors asked her to put a mask on but she refused because they didn’t have a badge, and thus had no real authority in her eyes.
“If you have no badge, why are you asking me to do something? Who are you representing?” she said.
But this was just one of Phoon ‘s many brushes with the law.
Trouble started when Phoon was caught not wearing her mask at Newton hawker centre last year during the circuit breaker.
She was brought to court for this offence, and left for Britain soon after that.
When she returned on 28 June, she was issued with a stay-home notice (SHN) like many other travellers, which she served at MBS.
But of course, she left her room during her SHN on the first day and loitered at various places in the hotel, without her mask. She left her room again on 5 July, 8 July, and 9 July.
Since then, she has been caught without a mask in many other instances, including when she was out on bail in June.
In fact, the 54-year-old is facing 11 counts of failing to wear a mask at public places. In total she’s been handed 22 charges.
First-time offenders who breach COVID-19 regulations can be imprisoned for up to six months and fined up to $10,000.
Repeat offenders, however, can be jailed for up to a year and fined up to $20,000.
Featured Image: Facebook (AlEx ThAm)