Man Claimed He Was Fined $200 Despite Only Having One Foot Outside The Yellow Box; NEA Has Responded

2019-04-11 , 2:00 pm

On 31 March, we talked about the smoking ban at Orchard Road

Specifically, we said this:

“After 31 Mar 2019, any errant smoker caught smoking at non-designated areas will be facing either composition fines of $200, or up to $1,000 court fines.”

We also said that arguing your way our of trouble would be pointless since the National Environment Agency (NEA) has already allowed for a three-month adjustment period (whereby people would only receive warnings instead of fines), alerted business owners to put up signs and put out 30 officers on the ground to catch (and warn) errant smokers.

And guess what, my colleague ended up the article musing if smoking just outside the yellow box, would be allowed since the box can get very packed, had been seeing people smoking outside the box without a care.

Just a week after the ban came into effect, I’m pleased to present you with a neat little case that corroborates with every point mentioned while also addressing our queries.

The Crime: “Smoking at Non-Designated Smoking Areas”

A man was fined $200 on 7 April 2019, Sunday by NEA for smoking along Orchard Road, despite, as he claims, having only one foot outside a designated smoking area.

With evidence, somemore.

The person has since taken down the post, but as we know, whatever you post online stays online forever, as Lion City Feed (101% unrelated to Goody Feed or Trashy Feed) repost the images together with what is supposedly written on their Facebook page:

“Share this post, dont give more money to those assholes. So I barely go to Orchard road. Maybe once or twice a year or less. I just Ord-ed bout a month+ ago, I know theres this new law, the no smoking implementation whereby youve to smoke in designated areas blah3. That I know. But what I DIDNT know was that you could be fined for having the other foot out of the yellow box. Told the clown okay Ill move inside cause I legitly didnt know, but the asshat didnt wanna take no for an answer. Probably didnt hit the quota today. What a joke. Do share this around, dont give any more money to these fools and be really careful where you smoke, theyre everywhere ”

BTW dude, happy ORD.

Anyway, here’s the picture of his summon.

The result of “Arguing Your Way Out of Trouble”

As warned, NEA will not budge.

According to The Straits Times, when contacted, NEA said that it has investigated the incident, reviewed the case and was satisfied that the actions taken by its enforcement officers were appropriate and in line with its standard operating procedures.

“Our officers had observed the male subject smoking outside of the designated smoking area and approached him, and he was cooperative throughout the engagement,” said NEA’s spokesman.

In other words, is smoking just outside the yellow box allowed?

Absolutely not.

The Controversy

The Netizens have chimed in with their opinions. Some think this situation is ridiculous, since they believe the man is not completely outside the smoking area. In that case, a fine right away is too harsh, with officers expected to warn the man instead and only take action if he doesn’t cooperate.

Others insist that the fine was justified, with the onus on smokers to be more observant of their surroundings, so as to not “give people a reason to fine you”.

In the end, no matter how disgruntled anyone is, that’s the only thing you can do, instead of assuming leniency on the officers’ parts.

In addition, according to The Straits Times, NEA had said that in situations where there is not enough space in the designated areas, smokers are advised to wait until there is sufficient space to move in, or head to the next nearest designated smoking area.

So they’ve already covered their asses here; smokers: take no risks.

Very Unreliable Words from Goody Feed NSmen

You all know there are many old folks working in Goody Feed, right? Some of them are smokers and are of course very familiar with the “yellow box” rule – a rule in all army camps.

According to two NSmen, it’s common for yellow boxes to be full, and it was even more common to smoke outside the box as long as they’re close to the box.

So maybe the person thought that NEA officers are just like SAF enicks. They aren’t.

So, where can you smoke?

If you’re new to this, here, take a look:

Here is the list of smoking areas as previously posted on our article:

Behind Somerset MRT Station
Cathay Cineleisure Orchard (2)
Concorde Hotel and Shopping Mall (2)
Cuppage Terrace
DFS Galleria
Far East Plaza
Far East Shopping Centre
Forum The Shopping Mall
Four Seasons Hotel (2)
Goodwood Park Hotel (3)
Grand Hyatt Singapore
Hilton Singapore
Holiday Inn Express Singapore Orchard Road (2)
Holiday Inn Singapore Orchard City Centre (2)
Ming Arcade
Ngee Ann City(2)
Orchard Rendezvous Hotel (2)
Orchard Towers (2)
Plaza Singapura
Shaw House
Tanglin Place
Tang Plaza
Tanglin Mall
Tanglin Shopping Centre
The Centrepoint
The Heeren
The Paragon
The Quincy Hotel
The Regent Singapore (2)
Wheelock Place
York Hotel (2)

With brackets indicating two or three smoking points in that area.

And make sure you light up only when you are completely within the boxes for God’s sake, don’t be lazy or impatient, or you’ll go home with your wallet considerably lighter.