Man Lied in Travel Declaration Form so That He Could Serve SHN in His HDB Flat

By
Shawn Ambrose
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Trying to cheat the Singapore gahmen is like trying to form an air travel bubble with Hong Kong: people have tried countless times and failed.

Some travellers, for example, try to leave their home or dedicated facility while on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) for hanky panky or bubble tea. 

Others will lie to the authorities just so they can avoid serving their SHN in a hotel.

Man Lied in Travel Declaration Form so That He Could Serve SHN in His HDB Flat

That’s exactly what Vijeyakumar Z Joseph, a 58-year-old Singaporean, did last year.

On 13 November 2020, Vijeyakumar left for Jakarta, Indonesia from Singapore for a business trip.

Two days before returning, he accessed the SafeTravel website to opt out of serving his SHN at a dedicated facility.

However, to be eligible for opting out, you have to fulfil a few conditions:

  • The country you travelled to has to be on the approved list
  • You have to serve your SHN alone at home or with household members under SHN with the same travel history and isolation period

Vijeyakumar had fulfiled none of these conditions, but lied that he had.

He ticked all the checkboxes for Finland, Sri Lanka, Thailand, South Korea, Turkey, and Fiji—which were all approved countries—and said he would be staying at home.

Then, on 22 November, he finally returned to Singapore and managed to get a declaration form for opt-out travellers from an immigration officer, which he signed and dated.

Brother & Father Found Staying with Him

As you know, it’s rather hard to lie to the authorities when your lies are visible and in human form.

When an ICA officer visited him three days later at his Ang Mo Kio flat to find out why he had made a false declaration, he found that the man’s brother and father were staying with him.

Neither had travelled to Indonesia with Vijeykumar.

Vijeykumar was transferred to a dedicated facility, and fortunately tested negative for COVID-19.

3 Weeks’ Jail

Yesterday (21 Jun), the 58-year-old was sentenced to imprisonment for three weeks after pleading guilty to one charge under the Infectious Diseases Act.

He will begin serving his sentence on 5 July.

In his defence, Vijeyakumar’s lawyer Amolat Singh said his client was “feeling very tired and sleepy” at Changi Airport and should have been more cautious when signing the declaration form.

Yes, I too often break laws when I’m sleepy.

Things could have been much worse for him though, since his offence carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison, a S$10,000 fine, or both.

Feature Image: qvist / Shutterstock.com

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Shawn Ambrose
Email: [email protected]