Man charged with leaving home for bak kut teh while on stay-home notice
Alan Tham Xiang Sheng (pictured) was given a stay-home notice on March 23, 2020, but he visited a food centre and other places between 3.40pm and 10pm that day.
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SINGAPORE — A man who allegedly left home to eat bak kut teh (pork rib soup) the night he returned from Myanmar, despite being given a 14-day stay-home notice, has been charged in court.
Alan Tham Xiang Sheng, 34, was served the notice on March 23 and was to stay home until April 6. Those entering Singapore are placed under stay-home notices to minimise the spread of Covid-19.
But Tham's charge sheet showed that between 3.40pm and 10pm on March 23, he allegedly visited:
A Kopitiam food centre at Changi Airport Terminal 3
Peninsula Plaza at 111 North Bridge Road
The Kampung Admiralty Foodfare hawker centre
An NTUC FairPrice supermarket at Block 676 Woodlands Drive 71
After the charges were read to him on Tuesday (April 7), Tham told the court that he would like to plead guilty. He said that he had “already explained everything”, but the authorities did not accept his account.
He also said that he did not wish to engage a lawyer.
On March 25, Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam singled out his act in Parliament in response to questions from Dr Lee Bee Wah, Member of Parliament for Nee Soon Group Representation Constituency, about individuals who disregard their stay-home notices.
Mr Shanmugam had said: “I have asked for that case to be investigated.
“We are trying to verify some of these messages on stay-home notices being flouted, and if anyone (has) information about such behaviour, please give it to the police.
“We will follow up and we cannot allow such behaviour. I have given very clear instructions that where these cases are verified to be true, we will charge (them) in court.”
Tham’s actions had drawn flak online after he posted on Facebook about heading out for a bak kut teh meal.
In an interview with The Straits Times on March 25, Tham said he was under the impression that he was still allowed to leave home on the day of his return from Myanmar, and that his stay-home notice would begin only at midnight.
He faces one charge under Section 21A(1) of the Infectious Diseases Act. The provision states that a person who knows or has reason to suspect that he is a carrier or contact of an infectious disease shall not expose others to the risk of infection by his presence or conduct in any public place.
If convicted, Tham could be jailed up to six months, fined up to S$10,000, or punished with both.
Tham is set to return to court on April 16 for his plea to be taken.
Earlier on Tuesday, in the first prosecution of its kind, another man was charged with breaching the conditions of his stay-home notice to deliver newspapers in Newton.
