MBS woman tells court to drop charges as she has strong global professional standing in RSN

Yesterday (8 Jun), Phoon Chiu Yoke, 53, appeared in court after her 2-week remand at the Institute of Mental Health was over. She was the woman at the centre of a viral video clip in which she was seen arguing with a safe distancing ambassador (SDA) over her refusal to wear a mask at Marina Bay Sands on 15th last month.

In the clip, Phoon asked the SDA whether she has a “badge”.

Phoon told the SDA, “If you have no badge, why are you asking me to do something? Who are you representing?” When the SDA replied that she represents MBS, Phoon retorted, “That’s what you say. I can say that I’m a police (officer).”

In court yesterday, Phoon told the court to “drop” the case before further “administrative inconveniences” were caused to parties. She also asked for her charges to be dropped due to “procedural errors”.

Phoon, who faces 7 charges of not wearing her mask in various places and breaching her Stay-Home Notice, told the court 4 times that she was a naval officer with a “strong professional standing”, and asked for the charges against her to be dropped.

“I have a very strong professional standing, not only in Singapore, but globally… I served in the navy for 12 years and was the first female commanding officer,” she said.

She also said there have been “procedural errors” on the part of the investigating officers, alleging that she was arrested without a warrant.

Phoon further asked that she be offered bail of $3,000 without a surety, as she was the navy’s first female commanding officer and has made contributions to Singapore “as a pioneer”.

Phoon is now out on $8,000 bail and will return to court on 15 June.

The maximum penalty for breaching COVID-19 measures is six months’ jail and a fine of $10,000. Repeat offenders can be jailed for up to one year and fined up to $20,000.