Netizens fume after town council fined a medical clinic S$1,000 for leaving chairs outside the clinic for the elderly to use

On Monday (8 July), WAN Medical Clinic, a clinic situated at Block 416 Bedok North Ave 2, took to Facebook to reveal that it had been fined S$1,000 by the East Coast-Fengshan Town Council for leaving chairs outside the clinic overnight.

The post claimed that the town council has been “up in arms” about the clinic placing chairs outside its vicinity ever since the clinic started its operation seven years ago, despite the fact that the chairs are catered for the sick and elderly.

The clinic also hinted that the town council allegedly seized the opportunity to make a profit by catching the clinic when it was closed during the Hari Raya celebration in June.

Attached in the post is a picture of the notice by the town council, dated 13 June, stating that the clinic is subjected to a S$1,000 fine for “overnight placement of items in yellow box (chairs)”.

In defence, the clinic said that it actually paid for the yellow box. What’s more, the clinic added that it is simply following the example set by previous Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, who suggested medical staff to place chairs outside the polyclinics so that elderly citizens can sit down while waiting for the clinic to open or for their turn to see the doctor.

Subsequently, in another Facebook post less than an hour later, WAN Medical Clinic uploaded a video which was recorded live, showing the clinic’s doctor, Muhammad Iqmal Bin Abdullah, shifting the chairs from the yellow box outside the clinic.

In the video, Dr Iqmal said that the town council made an “urgent” request to remove the chairs, so much so that he supposedly left Sengkang General Hospital amid treatment to move stacks of chairs into the clinic – with intravenous therapy (IV) drips still attached to his hands.

Here’s the video uploaded:

In response to WAN Medical Clinic’s and Dr Iqmal’s Facebook claims, the East Coast-Feng Shan Town Council wrote on its Facebook page on Tuesday (9 July), stating that it “did not urge Dr Iqmal to remove the chairs when he was in the hospital” to which it has no knowledge of.

Additionally, upon agreement with WAN Medical Clinic, the town council said that the fine would be waived so long as the clinic complies to the consensus by not leaving the chairs out overnight.

Here’s the full response:

However, in the comment section of the town council’s post, many netizens expressed their dissatisfaction towards the East Coast-Feng Shan Town Council on how it dealt with the whole situation, comparing it with the current government as both “lacks empathy and flexibility to aid citizens in achieving a better standard of living”.

Others even questioned the integrity of the town council, suggesting that it practices double standard for not taking any action against other ongoing and pressing issues in the area such as fire safety and clutters – both of which were reported. Not forgetting, the overflowing of dustbins on a daily basis.

Additionally, a bunch of online users were wondering what sort of problem will the chairs cause that it needed to be urgently removed. Facebook user Zulfadli Mohd Amin jokingly said that the town council is “scared someone get murdered with those chairs”, adding that he noticed the chairs are not “typical plastic chairs” after watching the video.