COVID-19: 6 weeks' jail for man who went to eat bak kut teh while on Stay-Home Notice
SINGAPORE — The man who left his home for a meal of bak kut teh while serving a Stay-Home Notice (SHN) was sentenced to six weeks’ jail on Thursday (23 April).
Alan Tham Xiang Sheng, 34, is the first person to be dealt with under Section 21A(1) of the Infectious Diseases Act (IDA).
Senior District Judge Ong Hian Sun noted that, while he assessed Tham’s risk of transmission to be low and his culpability to be moderate, his conduct in disregarding the SHN was “socially reprehensible”.
“A deterrent sentence of six weeks’ jail is warranted to send a clear and unequivocal message the accused and like-minded persons that it is incumbent on them to adhere strictly to the requirement of the SHN so as not to expose the public to danger of getting the dreaded COVID-19,” he said.
Lingered out of home despite being served SHN
Tham, a former Cisco secure logistics officer, had returned to Singapore from Myanmar on 23 March and was served with a 14-day SHN upon his return.
Instead of heading home, however, he had a meal at a Kopitiam food court in the airport, then visited Peninsula Plaza to change his leftover Myanmar currency.
After reaching home, he left his residence for dinner at 676 Woodlands Drive 71, where he had bak kut teh at the Foodfare Hawker Centre, and bought groceries before heading home.
Tham, who is currently a freelance photographer, posted about his meal online and was berated by friends. His post also caught the attention of Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, who raised it in Parliament and asked for Tham to be investigated.
Tham’s lawyers Josephus Tan and Cory Wong from Invictus Law Corporation had sought the maximum $10,000 fine for Tham, whom they previously argued had not breached the notice when he visited the airport food court and shopping centre, as the SHN did not restrict his movements before he reached home.
The prosecution however sought a 10- to 12-week jail term for Tham, whom they said showed blatantly irresponsible behaviour and had not even worn a mask despite knowing he was a possible contact of COVID-19.
New framework proposed
As Tham’s case was the first under the relevant section, the prosecution proposed a new framework based on an accused person’s culpability and the risk of transmission. The prosecution pointed out that Tham fell under the band of moderate risk of transmission and high culpability, which called for a jail term of between two and four months.
Just because Tham was not COVID-19 positive does not automatically place him in the low category of harm, as the defence suggests, said the prosecution on Thursday.
“The gravamen of the harm in a Section 21A IDA offence lies in the risk of transmission, which the accused exposes others to through his actions, at a time when he may have been positive for COVID-19,” said Deputy Public Prosecutor Kenneth Chin.
In reply, Tham’s lawyer Tan pointed out their own table, which compared Tham’s case with at least six new and similar cases that emerged over the past week.
He said that Tham was the only one who breached the SHN on day zero and sentencing weight should be focused materially on after Tham had reached home and then left for some one-and-a-half hours.
According to the defence, Tham’s risk of transmission and culpability was low.
The other accused who had their cases before the courts had multiple breaches, which showed their level of intention, and these deserved a jail term, said Tan. If the court was not minded to impose a fine, he added, the defence proposed an alternative jail term of up to two weeks.
Investigated by ICA officers
Tham had pleaded guilty to a single charge of exposing others to the risk of contracting COVID-19 by visiting public places despite knowing that he was a possible carrier of the virus and being placed on a SHN that was effective from 23 March to 6 April.
He was investigated on 25 March when a team of officers from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) conducted an enforcement check at Tham’s residence. Tham then admitted that he had breached his SHN on 23 March to have dinner with his girlfriend.
For breaching the SHN, Tham could have been jailed up to six months, or fined up to $10,000, or both.
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