2 men fined for gambling with cards at hawker centre during COVID-19 pandemic, 5 for gathering to watch
Screengrab from Google Street View of the hawker centre at 210 Lorong 8 Toa Payoh.
SINGAPORE: Seven men were fined between S$2,500 and S$4,000 on Friday (May 21) for breaking COVID-19 social regulations for gambling with cards at a hawker centre or gathering around to watch.
The men are: Goh Swee Cheng, 61; Lau Siew Meng, 65; Gerry Koh Seng Huat, 52; Chan Joo Heng, 57; Ng Hung Hooi, 60; Chua Shih Huat, 56; and Moh Chi Yeu, 28.
Goh and Lau each received a S$4,000 fine, while Moh received a S$3,500 fine. The rest were fined S$2,500 each.
The men pleaded guilty to various charges including breaking social gathering regulations. Some of them had a second charge of leaving their homes to play, chat or "spectate a game in public" taken into consideration.
Goh and Lau were playing "Chap Sa Kee", a game of chance with a deck of cards using cash as stakes before midnight on Jun 4 last year at the hawker centre at Block 210, Lorong 8 Toa Payoh.
They played the game with two other co-accused, taking turns to deal the cards and place bets. Eight other men watched them gamble, with two people placing side bets on the outcome of the game or specific moves.
At about 12.50am, a group of police officers saw a large group of people crowding around a table at the hawker centre.
The police raided the location and arrested the 12 men, who had gathered during Phase 1 of Singapore's reopening following the "circuit breaker" period.
The 12 men had not made efforts to keep a safe distance from each other and the public gambling stopped only after the police showed up.
Police seized a deck of cards and S$300 in cash from the table.
The prosecutor called for fines of S$3,000 to be imposed on each of the seven men for the COVID-19 charge, saying they had gathered for a frivolous purpose over a prolonged period of time.
The cases for the remaining five men are pending.
For breaking a COVID-19 regulation, they could be jailed up to six months, fined up to S$10,000, or both.
Editor's note:Â An earlier version of the story said seven men were fined S$2,500 each. This is incorrect. They were fined between S$2,500 and S$4,000. We apologise for the error.
