Between 21 March 2020 to 4 April 2020, a former Singapore General Hospital nurse went out more often than a typical introverted Goody Feed writer.
On 23 March, Nurul Afiqah Mohammed took a bus to Causeway Point to buy bubble tea, and then took a private-hire vehicle to Nanyang Polytechnic to submit an application for further studies.
And on 2 April 2020, a day before PM Lee went up to the podium to show us a new meaning for the phrase “circuit breaker”, Nurul headed out again, this time in a private-hire vehicle to her friend’s house in Punggol, whereby she helped out with her friend’s wedding preparation.
But that’s not all. The next day, as PM Lee mouthed the words “circuit breaker”, she was back at her friend’s house.
Her friend had then been pregnant.
Nurul would’ve looked like a typical 22-year-old lady—in fact, a helpful and ambitious one—except that during this period, she had just came back from Australia for a holiday, and was required to serve a 14-day stay-home-notice.
In case you’ve deleted all traces of 2020 from your memories, here’s a quick refresher: back then, people who arrived from certain countries are required to serve a 14-day SHN at home, and not at a hotel (yet).
Tested Positive for the Virus
Here’s the thing: Nurul was tested positive for COVID-19 on 12 April 2020, 8 days after her SHN ended.
She had then felt unwell and went to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, whereby she was warded for 8 days.
The good news for us is that there’s no evidence to show that she had spread the virus to anyone.
The bad news for her is that she’s now sentenced to 7 weeks’ jail.
The 22-year-old Singaporean was sentenced yesterday (22 January) after pleading guilty to three charges under the Infectious Diseases Act. Four other similar charges were considered during sentencing.
A first-time offender can be jailed for up to six months and fined up to $10,000 for each charge. A repeat offender can be jailed for up to a year and fined up to $20,000.
No Longer Working in Singapore General Hospital
As a nurse, she should’ve known better, but she didn’t and had therefore lost her job that pays her enough to buy bubble tea.
The chief human resource officer of SGH had told The Straits Times, “SGH takes a serious view on this matter. All our staff are expected to uphold the highest level of professionalism and to fully abide by the rule of law and prevailing guidelines. Disciplinary action will be taken against any staff who breaches the law.”
It’s unknown if she was fired, told to leave or resigned on her own since she had just applied for further studies in NYP.
By now you should feel a sense of deja vu because…
Reminds You of BKT Lover
If this sounds familiar, it’s because this case is relatively similar to one that’s occurred in late March as well, except that the person involved had a different view.
A guy, whom we’ve decided to call BKT Lover, had come back from Myanmar on 23 March 2020 and had to serve a 14-day SHN.
He then decided to post an image of his favourite food, bak kut teh, on Facebook, showing his friends that he had been out having a meal in a hawker centre during his SHN.
It turned out that he didn’t have friends after all.
After being baotu-ed, the authorities then investigated, and soon, it was realised that he didn’t just leave his house for his favourite hawker food; he’s been to four places in a day instead.
His reason? He claimed that he thought the SHN starts the next day, and even said that an officer told him so.
But according to the prosecutors, no one makes “any representation to the accused (BKT Lover) that the Stay-Home Notice commerce on Day 1 of his arrival, which is 24 March”
But our dear BKT Lover doesn’t seem to be remorseful.
Two days after that, BKT Lover received a love letter from ICA—an advisory.
In it, they’ve issued a warning to BKT Lover for breaching the SHN, adding, “You are hereby advised to comply with the requirements of the stay-home notice. If you are found to be in non-compliance with the stay-home notice again, the same leniency may not be shown towards you, and enforcement action may be taken against you under Section 21A of the Infectious Diseases Act.”
In other words, the actions taken for his offence should just be a warning, and it’s not serious.
His lawyer said, “The reasonable inference that flows from this is the enforcement agency’s own assessment of Alan’s case to be of sufficiently low culpability or harm on day zero for him to be let off with a warning in lieu of prosecution, save in the event of re-offending.”
The prosecutors fought back, claiming that it was merely an advice for BKT Lover not to reoffend, and in no way did it state that they’d not prosecute him.
Also, the letter was by ICA, and it “cannot fetter the public prosecutor’s discretion to prosecute if the evidential basis to do so, and if such a prosecution is in the public interest…whether the prosecution ultimately chooses to prosecute for the warned offence is something entirely within its power.”
The prosecutor said that there is “clearly no abuse of process in this case and there is no reason why the advisory letter would render the accused’s prosecution wrong in law.”
He was eventually jailed for 6 weeks.
Featured Image: ZDL / Shutterstock.com
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