Lawyer of Bottle-Drinking Teens Requested to Protect Identity of Teens; Got Rejected Instead

You’d have known about the infamous kid who decided to try out fruit juices in a supermarket without paying for them, and then putting them back on the shelves.

What’s worse is that they even inserted a caption, “how to spread Wuhan virus”, and posted it on TikTok Instagram.

That was back on 6 February 2020, when Singapore’s on high-alert for COVID-19 cases but the number of cases has been relatively low back then, and COVID-19 is nameless.

Today, during a court hearing, more information was revealed.

For a start, it turned out that it happened at 2 Bukit Batok West Avenue 7—which is the NTUC FairPrice outlet at HomeTeamNS Bukit Batok, commonly known to some oldies like as us CDANS.

The place is just next to Bukit Batok Driving Centre.

The tasting session happened at 7:45pm on 6 February 2020.

Initially, one of the teenagers had posted it on his private Instagram account, and like a wise old man once said, “Nothing is private on the Internet.”

Someone circulated it online, and the rest is history.

Court Hearing Because Going to Court is Still a Valid Reason to Leave the House

Today, the two teenagers, both 17 years old, went to court in fancy masks, because they most probably know by now that nothing on the Internet is going to be private.

Both are facing a charge of committing an act of public nuisance with common intention.

One of the teenagers was represented by a lawyer while the other went alone.

The teenager who’s represented by a lawyer is likely to plead guilty.

Let me bold the word that’s made my jaw dropped to my keyboard.

Likely.

But there’s no conclusion today yet; both would return court on 8 May 2020, and have been out on bail for $3,000 each.

Lawyer of Bottle-Drinking Teens Requested to Protect Identity of Teens; Got Rejected Flatly

The teenagers—oh, wait.

Reader Bao: Didn’t you read the headline of your own article?

Right.

The teenagers, Quek Xuan Zhi and Nigel Pang Yew Ming, were arrested yesterday by the police although they had committed their hideous act in February.

And the teenager who’s richer who has a lawyer speaking for him is Quek.

Usually, a court can impose a gag order to protect the identities of certain people, like the witnesses, minors, vulnerable persons, mentally depressed individuals, and victims in sexual offence case.

With a gag order, no one can publish any information about the person—not even his or her name.

That’s why Quek’s lawyer apparently sought to impose a gag order on Quek’s identity (didn’t say anything about Nigel since he doesn’t have a lawyer HAHAHA bros for life).

He said, “My client is 17 years old…The law has been amended recently to protect offenders below 18. The law has not come into force yet but I think given the high media attention, I’m inviting your honour to consider whether to protect his identity in the meantime, since he is just 17.”

But the answer is no.

For a start, the Deputy Public Prosecutor (think of him as the person who’s the lawyer for the country who’s fighting for justice) said, “There’s no legal basis for this application. In any case, I wonder what my learned friend intends to prevent publication of, given that news of (the incident) has already been out in the media.”

Did he just say I’m a learned friend?

The judge then declined to grant a gag order.

So Quek Xuan Zhi and Nigel Pang Yew Ming could be jailed up to three months, fined up to S$2,000, or both, if they’re convicted of public nuisance with common intention.