'Badge lady' convicted again of not wearing mask, says prosecution is 'vindictive'

SINGAPORE — A woman who shot to notoriety during the Covid-19 pandemic for refusing to wear a mask has been convicted again of charges including going maskless in Orchard Road.

Phoon Chiu Yoke, 56, was convicted of four charges on Friday (Aug 11) for failing to wear a mask and failing to attend an investigation by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB), after the judge found that the prosecution had proven its case.

The mask-wearing offences took place on March 6 and Aug 16 last year. Wearing a mask outdoors in Singapore was only made optional on March 29 last year. That was extended to indoor areas — except on public transport and in healthcare facilities — on Aug 29 last year.

This is the second time Phoon has been convicted of mask-wearing offences. She was sentenced to 16 weeks' jail in September 2021 for a separate case.

In her closing trial submissions, Phoon questioned the legality of being prosecuted in the first place.

"Is there still a requirement to wear a mask today? No, there is not," she declared. 

She said that the court had spent the last 12 days hearing this matter when it was no longer a law to wear a mask in public.

She questioned the prosecution's basis for charging her.

"Is the prosecution trying to create public awareness of a matter that today is no longer an offence? Is the prosecution trying to create deterrence?" She asked.

"My question is — what is the prosecution's purpose and motive in bringing this to court and to spend 12 days? It comes across as being very vindictive," said Phoon, who represented herself throughout this trial.

"It comes across as getting back onto this person, looking for the slightest problem," she said.

She asked why there was a need to do so.

"Is there a victim in this case?" She questioned. "If there was no victim, was there somebody else who was seriously hurt because I was not wearing a mask? (Were) there huge financial losses incurred because I was not wearing a mask? If there was none of the above, if there were no victims, then why does the prosecution want to retrospect and prosecute these charges? It comes across again as very vindictive."

She added that the prosecution had used footage that was "at such a far distance there was only a blip".

"It does not verify and substantiate that it's really Ms Phoon, or it could be someone else," she said, referring to herself in third person.

On the charge for failing to attend STB's investigations, Phoon said she was a citizen who lived in Singapore for more than 50 years.

"Anybody who understands what is the STB would know that STB does not have enforcement power," she claimed. "They do not have subpoena powers. They do not have the power to call any citizen to appear in front of their office for an interview unless I'm interviewing for a job."

She said she had filed a police report because she felt the STB officers were impersonators and she had to defend herself and inform the police.

She also said she filed the police report because of "a string of harassment incidents" she encountered. The judge told her that she had not submitted on this point nor given any evidence of this at trial and so could not do so now.

Phoon continued: "In 2021, when I was brought to the court for the same offence, I said to the court that I had medical conditions which many people with the same medical conditions would be dead and buried, on a life support machine or sitting in a wheelchair."

"Again, there is no evidence of this," cut in District Judge Tan Jen Tse.

Phoon also claimed that the investigating officer had committed contempt of court by retaining her passport "for no reason".

"Your honour, it is the defence's case that these charges should be dismissed with costs, and the costs should include the number of days my passport had been retained, which affected my citizenry rights to travel," she concluded.

In response, the prosecutor said the claim that impounding a passport was contempt of court was not true and had nothing to do with the trial. 

On the fact that it was no longer illegal to go maskless today, the prosecutor said it was illegal at the time of Phoon's offence.

On having to sit through 12 days of hearing, the prosecutor said: "(It's) purely because of the accused person's own actions. In fact, it's because of her failure to attend STB investigations on three occasions that protracted investigations and led to the court hearing today."

Judge Tan rejected Phoon's submission that she should not have been charged at all, since it is no longer required to wear a mask in public.

"The key issue is whether the provisions were in force as at the date of the alleged offences, and not at the time the accused was charged or at present," he said.

He said the videos tendered by the prosecution clearly showed that Phoon was not wearing a mask at the time of the offences.

In fact, for most of the time, her hands were in her pockets, he said.

He adjourned mitigation and sentencing to September.

For failing to wear a mask when required, Phoon could be jailed for up to a year, fined up to S$20,000 or both as a repeat offender. The penalties are the same for a repeat offence of not complying with an officer during investigations under the Infectious Diseases Act. CNA