Be careful what you post on the Internet, especially stupid things that you do in the moment, because no one will ever let you forget about it.
Back in February, when the coronavirus situation had just started to get more serious and everyone was in peak paranoia about it, some teens decided to pull their own version of a not-so-funny practical “joke”.
In an Instagram story video that quickly went viral, a teenage boy could be seen taking out a juice bottle from the fridge at a Bukit Batok FairPrice supermarket before proceeding to open the bottle and drink from it, then put it back in the fridge, germs and all.
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The video was uploaded to a private account of the other teen who filmed the video and captioned it as “how to spread Wuhan”. However, someone screen recorded it and posted it on Twitter – proof that nothing stays private on the Internet anyway.
Shortly after, someone made a police report and the Singapore Police Force managed to identify the teens, arresting them in April.
Officially Put On Probation
Seven months after the infamous incident, the two teens involved were sentenced to probation on 27 August on counts of public nuisance.
Nigel Pang Yew Ming, 18, was sentenced to nine months of probation, including 60 hours of community service.
The other 17-year-old teenager also received the same sentence, but due to changes in the Children and Young Persons Act protecting those under 18, he cannot be named (just like Voldemort).
Their parents were also required to pay a bond of $5,000 to ensure that the boys display good behaviour under probation and they are unable to leave the house from 10pm to 6am.
Teen ‘Didn’t Know’ About Wuhan Caption
Last month, both of them had pleaded guilty to charges of public nuisance by common intention.
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Several adjournments were made before arriving at the sentencing, for Pang’s guilty plea was originally rejected after he said he did not consent to the caption on the video and was unaware about it.
In case you’re unaware, the caption was “How to spread Wuhan virus *smiley face*”.
In the end, he pleaded guilty, yet the court heard that he again “pulled back” on his position of being aware of the caption written and posted by the other teenager on Thursday.
However, he withdrew this assertion after discussing it again with his lawyer.
The judge recommended probation for both teenagers after reading Pang’s probation report and said he had “poor consequential thinking skills” and was under “peer discernment”.
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Giving him a chance at probation due to favourable factors shown in the report, the judge advised Pang to “work on” them.
However, if the teenagers committed another offence, their probation can be revoked and they can be re-sentenced.
They could have been charged up to $2,000, jailed for up to three months, or both for public nuisance.
Moral of the story: think before you act, or there will be an ugly juice stain on your records.
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