Teen Pleads Guilty for Spitting in Bugis Junction; Had Wanted to Make It Look Like an Accident

Do you remember the few disgusting incidents where some people had spat on the lift buttons at different locations?

These happened in March of this year, and when the incidents were reported, the culprits were met with a lot of criticism from the public because of how unhygienic they were being, especially during this period of time where the COVID-19 pandemic was occurring.

But did you know that in late February of this year, there was another spitting incident?

For this incident, instead of spitting on lift buttons, a teenager spat over the railing from the fourth floor of Bugis Junction towards diners in the basement.

Occurred During DORSCON Orange

Just to refresh your mind, Singapore had just entered DORSCON orange because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for some reason, 18-year-old polytechnic student Cai Jiaxu decided that it would be a good idea to spit on people.

On 28 February, Cai was at Bugis Junction shopping mall with two friends, 17-year-old Gerald Chan Weiheng and 19-year-old Jolin Huang Rui Xian.

They were on the fourth floor of the mall between 5pm and 7pm when Cai suddenly had a lightbulb moment to spit over the railing to the lower floors because “he was bored and wanted to see how his friends would react”.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Gail Wong explained, “He told Gerald about this twice and asked him to hit his head to make it look accidental.”

It was only the second time Cai told Chan that Huang heard the conversation. However, instead of stopping him from doing anything, she took out her phone to record the act.

She encouraged Chan to slap Cai’s head and told them that she was taking a video of their actions.

At this point in time, there were about six or seven people eating at the Subway restaurant on the basement floor.

Thinking that this was the “perfect” moment to strike, Chan hit Cai in the back of the head and Cai spat in the direction of those diners.

Actions Have Consequences

After doing that deed, the three of them left the mall happily and circulated the video in a group chat that they had with their friends.

Huang and Chan later shared the video on their personal Instagram accounts as well but took down the video at 10.30pm.

However, the video had already been saved by others and was shared by a public Instagram account on 1 March with the word “idiots” written as the caption.

As of 8 July, there were already more than 13,000 views of the video.

Many people commented about how inconsiderate the teens were and how if Cai was actually infected with COVID-19, he would have infected a lot of people from his reckless behaviour.

If you didn’t get the chance to view the video, let me just briefly describe what happens to you.

A Brief Replay

The camera first focuses on Chan looking over the railing in a white shirt before smacking Cai, who is in a black shirt, in the back of his head. The camera then pans downwards to the people on the basement floor and cuts.

Despite knowing that he was being a public nuisance by committing such an act, Cai did it anyway.

Nobody filed any complaints that day of encountering any spit when they were on the basement floor.

But after the video was shared, the mall’s representative filed a police report on 3 March stating that some of the diners could have gotten spat on.

Arrested & Charged

A police investigation was launched and the three teenagers were later arrested for questioning.

During the court hearing, the prosecutor said, “By this time, the Ministry of Health was already issuing daily advisories on the COVID-19 infection numbers and situation, with reminders to observe good personal hygiene, wear a mask and cover one’s mouth with a tissue paper when coughing or sneezing, to limit the spread of the disease.”

Cai pleaded guilty to one charge of public nuisance by spitting at Bugis Junction.

At the end of the hearing, the judge asked for a report to determine if Cai would be suitable for probation and adjourned the sentencing to 26 August.

If he is charged with committing public nuisance, he can be subjected to a jail term of up to three months and a fine of $2,000.

Now that you’re done hearing about a youth who decided to make a stupid decision, you might as well just watch our latest video whereby we simplify what TraceTogether is here: