COVID-19 has caused hard times on many people, especially to those who were laid off.
But this doesn’t mean you could break the law just to earn a little extra dough.
This is a harsh lesson the 53-year-old sales representative, Ng Chiang Huat, has to learn… the hard way.
He was caught providing carpooling services during the Circuit Breaker period via the SGHitch Telegram group in April 2020, as well as for driving without the necessary insurance policy or a valid public service vehicle licence.
As a result, he was sentenced to 3 days in jail, as well as given a S$1,800 fine, and a one-year driving ban… all just to earn a miserable S$12 for ferrying what seems to be a couple from Block 430 Choa Chu Kang Avenue 4 to Plaza Singapura.
Caught in the Web of a Successful LTA Sting Operation
On the morning of April 23, 2020, Ng posted a message on the SGHitch Telegram chat group (a.k.a. COVID-19 Lockdown SGHitch).
“Driver looking for Pax,” he wrote while listing a pick-up point in Choa Chu Kang and a drop-off point in the city area. A person responded to his message and they agreed on both the destination and the price of the trip.
Around 10:20am, Ng picked up a man and a woman at the agreed-upon location and they paid Ng the agreed price of S$12 for the trip using PayNow.
Unfortunately for Ng, while he was driving along Handy Road, his vehicle was stopped by a Land Transport Authority (LTA) officer.
In his probably panicked state, Ng claimed that the couple were his relatives (which, by the way, wasn’t allowed as well as people could only be in the same car with people from the same household), but when interrogated further, the officer realized that Ng was unable to provide their names.
I mean, who doesn’t know each of their relatives’ full names? Like, you know… ah ma, ah gong, Uncle Steven… no? Just me? Okay.
The double whammy came when the passengers revealed their real identities – cue the drum roll please – they were undercover LTA officers all this while.
With a solid case against him, Ng had no choice but to admit that he has broken the law.
The Wrong Kind of Perseverance
Being able to persevere in the face of hardship is a virtue that many would want to have, but in Ng’s case, his perseverance is definitely the wrong kind.
Despite knowing that carpooling services were banned starting from 16 April 2020, Ng continued to advertise his carpooling services in the Telegram chat group.
But how could he know? He can simply claim that he didn’t read the news.
Well, on the Telegram group, this was the header: “IMPORTANT NOTICE CARPOOLING NOW ILLEGAL DURING COVID-19.”
The only excuse he could give would be that he didn’t understand English, but I’m pretty sure “Driver looking for Pax” is an English sentence.
Due to this, the prosecution insists on making Ng an example for future carpooling service providers that they are not above the law.
The judge apparently agrees, throwing the book at Ng which resulted in the harsher penalties.
That being said, it would have been much, much worse – Ng could have been jailed for up to 6 months, fined up to S$10,000, or both just for breaking the COVID-19 laws.
Featured Image: LTA
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