MBS Woman’s Lawyer Turned Up In Court Just As She was Expected to Plead Guilty

At this point, the MBS Woman, sometimes referred to as the Badge Lady of MBS, needs no introduction.

With a list of offences longer than Yao Ming’s pants, you would have expected 54-year-old Phoon Chiu Yoke to take her charges seriously.

Instead, she initially cited breathlessness and eczema as reasons for not wearing a mask – one of her many charges – and turned up for her hearings unrepresented.

Now, it seems that the severity of her situation has finally dawned on her.

MBS Woman Lawyered Up As She ‘Suddenly’ Understood the Severity of her Charges

During her latest hearing yesterday, a lawyer turned up to defend Phoon, to everyone’s surprise.

The lawyer, Mr Amos Cai of Yuen Law, said he was engaged by Phoon’s family, and spoke to her just before the court mention.

For what must be the 67th time, Phoon tried to get out on bail, but this time, through her lawyer.

Mr Cai said she suffered from many “medical injuries”, including some sustained during her time in the military, adding that the Singapore Armed Forces would have the reports.

These injuries included a broken foot, dislocated ankle, injured knee, spinal injury, and previous head concussions.

Interestingly, Mr Cai said his client suddenly understood the severity of the charges she was facing on 6 July when her bail was increased to S$12,000.

The threat of jail time can make even the most stubborn of offenders instantly think clearly.

She has not reoffended since then, Mr Cai noted.

In previous hearings, Phoon had asked to be released on bail without any conditions as well as requested the return of her passport.

However, the court was like hell nah, given the “egregious nature” of her crimes.

This time, Mr Cai was the one who made the plea for Phoon to be released on bail, but it was met with the same answer, as the judge said no bail would be offered to her.

Phoon, who appeared via video link, made it known through Mr Cai that she intends to plead guilty. Mr Cai explained that he was engaged for the purposes of mitigation and sentencing.

During the hearing, Phoon was wearing a mask that was pulled down to her chin.

Facing 22 Charges

I wasn’t exaggerating when I said Phoon was facing a rather long list of charges.

In total, she faces 22 charges, many of which are alleged breaches of COVID-19 regulations.

As many of you know, it all started with that viral video taken at MBS which made the rounds in May.

In the video, Phoon could be seen in a queue at MBS without a mask. Several safe distancing ambassadors asked her to put a mask on but she refused because they didn’t have a badge, and thus had no real authority in her eyes.

“If you have no badge, why are you asking me to do something? Who are you representing?” she said.

Other offences include:

• not wearing a mask at all times at Newton hawker centre during the circuit breaker
• leaving her hotel room several times during a stay-home notice after returning from abroad
• not wearing her mask at several other locations, including when she was out on bail in June

Why the court has repeatedly refused to grant her bail certainly appears to be a mystery that will likely never be solved.

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Featured Image: Facebook (AlEx ThAm)