SINGAPORE – 53-year-old Phoon Chiu Yoke, who made headlines in May for arguing with a Safe Distancing Ambassador (SDA) at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands (MBS), is now facing 14 new charges.
The charges are comprised of 10 counts of not wearing a mask at public places and four charges for violating her stay-home notice (SHN) last year.
This brings Phoon’s total charges to 21.
Phoon also allegedly failed to comply with COVID-19 measures after her subsequent release on bail. Her bail amount has also increased from S$8,000 to S$12,000 at the request of prosecutors.
Phoon, who was unrepresented, told the court that she refused to wear a mask due to “medical reasons”.
She claimed that masks made her breathless and exacerbated her eczema, reported mothership.sg.
“If I’m breathless, would you expect me to collapse?”
She also asked the court to drop the charges on the grounds of “ethical and medical values”.
During the court hearing, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) claimed that Phoon ignored all phone calls, emails and voicemail messages when they tried contacting her.
However, Phoon refuted the claims, saying that she did not give her email address to any ICA officer.
She also said that she refused to speak to an ICA officer before the hearing as he was “very aggressive”.
Phoon is expected to return to court on July 23 and will soon learn of her fate.
Sources: Mothership.sg, The Straits Time, Cover image via Prince Shawn & Syahindah Ishak
Editor: Yu Ang Tan
Proofreader: Sarah Yeoh
