Oh no! You are out of masks!
You grab your last flimsy, disposable mask and run to your nearest Community Centre in a bid to claim your free reusable mask, cherishing every relatively effortless breath you take compared to the putrid, fabric-filtered air to which you will soon subject yourself to.
You scan your NRIC. You have already redeemed your mask?
Well, who is this well-meaning samaritan who helped you collect your own mask, and probably helped you wear it too?
Emerson Goh Shou En, aged 32, according to CNA.
Man Redeemed 207 Free Masks Using NRIC Data from Employment
Various government and government-linked organisations offered free masks to Singapore residents last year; this particular incident involving Goh happened during the People’s Association (PA)’s mask distribution drive in late May and early June.
Goh redeemed his one (note: one) allowed free reusable mask from Changi Simei Community Club, and realised there was no verification needed other than scanning his NRIC barcode to collect a mask.
Yeah, because scammers go for money or personal data. Who would have use for, say, 207 free masks anyway by starting an NRIC scam?
Goh was a recruiter for five companies before 2020, a position that allowed him to receive scanned NRIC copies from job applicants.
The NRIC copies were definitely disposed of after the applicants were assessed. Goh certainly never retained them without their permission or used them for illegitimate purposes, such as scanning them at vending machines to collect 207 free face masks.
Oh, wait.
Sentenced to 7 Months’ Jail
Six police reports soon came Goh’s way, filed by victims who found someone had collected their masks and commended the samaritan’s action to the police.
The constituency director of Changi Simei CC also filed a police report, after reviewing CCTV footage and noticing an unidentified man collecting… many masks from vending machines.
Goh was soon identified and brought to court, where the prosecutor called for seven months of imprisonment and a fine of S$3,000 as “a deterrent sentence”.
According to the prosecution, such a sentence is “warranted to deter like-minded persons who may be emboldened to exploit future government distribution exercises”.
In Goh’s defense, his lawyer pointed out that Goh did not sell the masks at personal gain, but merely wanted to protect himself against COVID-19.
If he wears each mask for two weeks, though, that many masks will last long enough to protect himself from COVID-29 too.
He also highlighted Goh’s obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which leads him to perform related behaviours like frequent hand-washing, though both sides believed that there was no relationship between the condition and his illegal mask-redeeming.
Goh pleaded guilty to three charges of cheating the PA, retaining the personal information of 384 people, and leaving his house during the circuit breaker to collect the masks.
He was sentenced to seven months and six weeks in prison and fined S$3,000, on Monday (10 May).
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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