A man has had his permanent residence (PR) status revoked by the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Thursday (4 Feb) for breaching COVID-19 rules.
“Singapore permanent residents who have been convicted of an offence will have their PR status reviewed by the ICA. In the case of Mr Chong Tet Choe, ICA has revoked his PR status on 4 February 2021,” said the authority in a statement on Friday (5 Feb).
The 47-year-old Malaysian man is the first to have his PR status revoked for not complying with COVID-19 rules.
Mr Chong was sentenced to two weeks’ jail on 7 August last year after he pleaded guilty to three charges under the Infectious Diseases Act.
On 29 April 2020, he was diagnosed with symptoms of an acute respiratory infection after he visited Summit Medical Clinic in Jurong with a cough and body aches. He was then given five days of sick leave.
Mr Chong was told by the doctors that his medical certificate came with a stay-home notice (SHN), in which he was required by law to stay home from 29 April to 3 May. This meant he could not leave his home unless he needed to seek medical attention.
However, between 30 April to 3 May, he left his home a total of four times. On two occasions, he bought food from a nearby public canteen, and he also left to top up the credit value on his mobile phone at a nearby AXS self-service machine.
What’s more, Mr Chong even lied to an officer from the Ministry of Health (MOH) during the early stages of investigations. He told the officer that he had left his home only once during that period.
Only after he was shown the thumbprint access records of his accommodation that he confessed to the other three incidents.
In its statement, the ICA stated that all persons under the SHN are to comply with the prevailing public health regulations and requirements.
“Those who fail to comply, including persons who tamper with and/or remove the electronic monitoring device during the SHN period, will be liable to prosecution under the Infectious Diseases (COVID-19 – Stay Orders) Regulations 2020,” it stressed.
The authority added, “The penalty may be a fine of up to S$10,000 and/or imprisonment of up to six months. Foreigners may face further administrative actions by ICA and/or MOM, such as revoking, or shortening the validity of permits and passes to remain/work in Singapore.”