Rule number one: do not break COVID-19 safe distancing rules.
Rule number two: if you do, don’t flaunt it on a public Instagram account with thousands of followers about it.
I swear, some people are asking to be fined.
Terence Cao Fined for Birthday Party
The Straits Times reports that actor Terence Cao has been fined S$3,500 for hosting 12 guests during the COVID-19 outbreak last October, breaching the maximum social gathering size of five at the time.
He is the last person who was involved in this party to be convicted in court.
The gathering was originally planned for six people at his condominium unit near Braddell Road, to celebrate his birthday and that of two other artistes, Jeffrey Xu and Shane Pow.
Hmm. The second name sounds familiar. Did he appear in the news recently?
Former magazine editor Lance Lim Chee Keong, 50, was among the guests invited. As is appropriate for a guest, he brought Cao the present of four unsolicited guests and a court charge.
13 people eventually arrived at the apartment, including seven other artistes, managers, and a part-time model.
The incident came to light after Jeffrey Xu, who should work as an informant at law enforcement agencies, decided to post a photo of the 13 guests in close proximity and unmasked on his Instagram page with 87,400 followers.
Good luck getting invited to more parties in the future.
Those involved have issued an apology through Mediacorp where they expressed their “deep regret”, and Sonia Chew, among the guests, was excluded from Mediacorp’s annual countdown show.
The other guests gathered were fined S$300 as they did not actively try to worsen the breach of social distancing regulations. They were just there. But still in an illegal gathering.
Lim, however, was fined a heavier S$3,000 last week for his higher culpability.
Cao was given the heaviest fine to reflect his responsibility in the incident as he was the host, though his defense lawyer pleaded that it would have been “ethically wrong” for Cao to reject the additional guests from the party.
Yeah, more ethically wrong than if someone in there has COVID-19 and the party becomes a supercluster event. Terence, you need to find a better excuse.
The fine of S$3,500 is issued under the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act, for an offense that carries a maximum fine of $10,000 and jail of up to six months.
Though to a television star, we doubt S$3,500 will do much at all.
Feature Image: Instagram (Jeffrey Xu)
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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