If the government sent you a stay-home notice and accidentally omitted all the instructions below the title Stay-Home Notice (SHN), a moderately intelligent chimpanzee would still be able to understand what the notice dictates.
That you stay at home.
In case you’ve forgotten what an SHN is, since it feels like we’re all on a voluntary Stay-Home order during the circuit breaker, people on an SHN are not supposed to leave their residence for any reason.
Reader: Not even for Bak Kut Teh?
Especially not for Bak Kut Teh.
Despite knowing this, many residents here are choosing to leave their homes, using all the excuses they can possibly think of, most of them food-related.
This man, however, is a little different.
He didn’t leave his house for Bak Kut Teh or Prata. He breached his stay-home notice to make an appeal against his stay-home notice.
S’porean Charged For Going to ICA to Appeal his SHN When He is Under SHN
A 50-year-old man breached his SHN on two occasions after he was ordered to stay indoors between 24 March and 7 April.
According to The Straits Times, Ong Chong Kiat is accused of unlawfully leaving his Hougang home before going to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) Building on March 27 and 30.
Ong first arrived in Singapore from Indonesia on 24 March and was served with the SHN. As you know, Singaporeans returning from abroad will now have to serve a two-week stay-home-notice or stay-‘hotel’-notice
But three days later, Ong allegedly took a private-hire vehicle to the ICA Building as he wanted to make an appeal against his SHN.
ICA officers then advised him to return home immediately, but they must have been incredibly confused.
Man: I’m here to make an appeal against my stay-home notice
Officer: Do you know what a stay-home notice means?
Man: Yes, it means I should stay at home, I’m not dumb.
Officer: So you defied your stay-home order to appeal your stay-home order?
Man: Exactly.
Officer: …
Man: …
Officer: Singapore is doomed.
According to ICA, the man went to ICA to make an appeal to be allowed to leave Singapore before completing his 14-day SHN.
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He listened to the ICA officer’s instruction to go home, but he was out for a total of three hours that day.
Furthermore, Ong left his house again on 30 March and took a private-hire vehicle to Tan Tock Seng Hospital to obtain medical test reports.
After that, Ong allegedly went to the ICA Building to try to make the same appeal for the second time.
Could Be Fined Up To $10,000
On Thursday (30 April), Ong was handed two charges under the Infectious Diseases (Covid-19 Stay Orders) Regulations 2020.
For each charge, offenders can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $10,000.
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Technically, this means that Ong could be charged $20,000 or be jailed for a year. All this because he couldn’t wait two weeks to leave the country.
Which brings me to my next question:
Is It Really Worth It?
Whether it’s Bak Kut Teh, Prata, Nasi Lemak, or a trip to a foreign land, is it really worth risking a hefty fine or even jail time?
These penalties are harsh for a reason: because many people don’t give a hamster’s ass about the health of their fellow residents, and will break the law as long as it benefits them.
So, if you’re served a stay-home notice or quarantine order, please stay indoors. It’ll end better for you and those around you.
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As for the rest of us, staying indoors is somewhat voluntary, but we should still continue to do so as much as possible.
I know most of you have forgotten what your friends look like or what the glorious heat of the sun feels like on your deprived skin.
But it won’t be like this forever. The fact that countries like Spain and France – who had huge spikes in infections last month – are easing lockdown restrictions shows that these drastic measures do work and that they won’t last forever.
We just have to give it some time.