British expat released from jail, a recruiter hired by international HR firm PageGroup

It was reported that British national Benjamin Glynn was released from jail after his sentence was backdated to the date of his remand in prison from 19 July.

Glynn was arrested in June after a video of him travelling on the MRT without wearing a mask started to circulate on social media. He was sentenced to 6 weeks' jail by the court yesterday (18 Aug).

He would now be handed over to the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority (ICA) to be deported back to UK.

During the hearings, Glynn told the court that he has not “agreed to his contract” of wearing a face mask and that there was “no jurisdiction over him”. He also claimed to be a "sovereign". In court yesterday, the judge said Glynn had shown a "blatant disregard for the law" and was "completely misguided".

A spokesman for the Ministry of Manpower said Glynn’s work pass had already been cancelled earlier by his former employer, and that he is now permanently banned from working in Singapore.

A news article from job portal eFinancialCareers last month (27 Jul) revealed that Glynn actually worked as a recruiter in the Singapore branch of international recruitment firm PageGroup.

According to eFinancialCareers, the foreign professionals it spoke to have sought to distance themselves from Glynn, once his arrest appeared in the news. “This chap doesn’t represent Western expats in any way or form. From what I’ve seen, his demeanor and attitude were appalling,” said a British finance recruiter.

“Speaking for myself and many of my friends in the expat community, the wearing of masks is a sound policy, and every little helps to stop the spread of Covid."

Another American expat working for a global bank added, “The expats I know all comply and wear masks. Irrespective of what we think about mask wearing, it's the law and we're supposed to follow it."

Glynn was working for PageGroup in Singapore since 2017. When contacted, PageGroup confirmed that Glynn is no longer working there.

“PageGroup does not support any of the comments made by the individual and takes rules surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic incredibly seriously in all our businesses around the world. We follow the advice of local authorities, and it is company policy that our employees do the same,” a spokesperson from PageGroup said.