An elderly man was seen tearing the plastic sheet wrapped around a table and seats at a hawker centre while shouting at the police officers when he was advised not to do so.
A video posted on the Facebook page of All Singapore Stuff on Tuesday morning (14 April) showed an elderly man who started tearing the plastic sheet that covered a table at hawker centre. He even ordered food from one of the hawker stalls. The man, it seems, wanted to have a meal at the table.
Soon after, two police officers were seen in the video talking to the elderly man who was sitting at one of the tables.
The elderly man first refused to listen to the police officers and yelled at them when they tried to explain and calm him down.
The police officers can be heard explaining to the elderly man the purpose of the plastic sheet wrapped around the table—in line with the elevated safe distancing measure in public areas—while advising him to not tear the plastic sheet.
However, the man claimed that the sheet causes obstruction to the public when the police officer asked the man for the reason of tearing the plastic sheet.
As the officer explained the current situation of COVID-19 in Singapore and asked the man to obey to the rules, the man refused to heed and said, “I don’t know. This is Singapore, not in Malaysia.”
The video which was uploaded this morning soon garnered 40k views, over 300 times shares and 162 comments.
According to Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR), more than 200 composition fines will be issued to members of the public who breached the elevated safe distancing measures on Sunday (12 April).
It also said that police assistance was required for over 20 cases when members of the public were not cooperative.
On Sunday, MEWR also issued a statement, saying that it will elevate the penalties for those who found breaching the safe distancing measures, where the written warnings will no longer be issued. Instead, a composition fine of $300 will be charged to first time offenders.
While those who repeatedly commit offences will face higher fines, or prosecution in court for egregious cases.