Security officers from ION Orchard testified in court on 24 May against Phoon Chiu Yoke, the infamous Badge Lady as she is more commonly referred to by online netizens.
Phoon, appearing in a black blazer, white shirt, and black skirt, chose to represent herself in contesting four charges. These charges included not wearing a mask on two occasions along Orchard Road, once in ION Orchard, and failing to attend an investigation by the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in 2022.
During the trial, two ION Orchard security officers and a service ambassador were called as witnesses by the prosecution. Both security officers were on duty on August 16, 2022, when it was alleged that Phoon did not wear a mask within the shopping mall.
CCTV footage shown
The first security officer testified that he observed Phoon not wearing a mask while she was riding an escalator from level three to level two near the Patek Philippe store. In court, CCTV footage was shown, depicting the security officer approaching Phoon and advising her to wear a mask.
However, she ignored his advice and continued on her way. The security officer confirmed that he did not witness Phoon eating, drinking, or consuming any medication during that time.
Asked guard how he knows she wasn’t eating lozenges
During the cross-examination, Phoon requested the security officer to repeat what he had said to her. He responded by saying, “Can you please wear your mask?” Phoon further inquired about signage at the entrance regarding mask-wearing, but the security officer stated that he couldn’t recall.
Phoon then questioned how the security officer knew she was not eating since he approached her from behind. The officer explained that he saw her turn around to look at him. Phoon retorted by asking if they had a conversation, to which the officer replied, “No.”
Phoon then asked the officer if he was certain that she was not eating, consuming medication, or sucking on lozenges. She also raised the question of whether not wearing a mask for 39 seconds constituted a significant offense and why she wasn’t asked to leave immediately if it was.
The security officer explained that they would first advise shoppers to put on their masks before requesting them to leave. Phoon concluded her cross-examination by asserting that she had put on a mask “39 seconds later” and highlighting the security officer’s uncertainty about the presence of signage in the mall.
Claims CCTV footage could’ve been edited
Subsequently, a second security officer and a service ambassador took the stand. They were responsible for extracting CCTV footage that depicted Phoon’s activities in ION Orchard on August 16. The prosecution presented and played most of the 24 CCTV footage, which showed Phoon walking around without a mask.
The videos revealed Phoon entering ION Orchard through the connected passageway from Wheelock Place, moving through the mall, and then descending from level four.
During the cross-examination of the second security officer, Phoon raised doubts about the authenticity of the videos, suggesting that they might have been tampered with. She questioned whether the security officer had compared the extracted and saved video with the “raw footage” within the system, emphasizing that the videos were not adequately protected.
The security officer replied that he hadn’t performed a second-by-second comparison but believed that the video he extracted was the same as the raw footage. Phoon continued to assert that technology could be used to edit the videos and add additional figures, arguing that the video was vulnerable to manipulation from the moment the thumb drive left the security officer’s possession.
The trial is set to continue, with more witnesses expected to testify against Phoon. In a previous phase, social media personality Wendy Cheng, also known as Xiaxue, and her cameraperson provided testimony against Phoon. One of their videos captured Phoon walking without a mask in the background. The prosecution intends to present additional witnesses to support their case against Phoon.
If found guilty of failing to wear a mask when required, the penalties can include up to a year of imprisonment, a fine of up to S$20,000, or both. These penalties apply to repeat offenders as well.
It is worth noting that Phoon had previously received a 16-week jail sentence in September 2021 for similar mask-wearing offenses.