69 Y.O Tay Teng How, a taxi driver, was given two weeks imprisonment and fined S$2,000 for insulting two NEA officers who caught him for smoking at a multi-storey car park.
He pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Sep 1) for using insulting words on a public servant and using criminal force on a public servant.
The incident
Two Malaysian NEA officers of the Indian descent approached Tay with the intent to issue him a summon after catching him smoking at a sheltered multi-storey car park.
Tay did not want to hand his NRIC over at first lamenting he had no money to pay and ask them to “give chance”.
Tay also asked for hand sanitiser when the officers attempted to return his NRIC to him, saying he felt unsafe because he “don’t know if the officers infected with Covid or not” and “don’t know from India or whatever”.
He also threw his NRIC on his taxi’s bonnet after he took it back and wiped his hands on the sleeves of one of the NEA officer’s shirts.
He also said that he was “very sensitive to this sort or thing”.
The verdict
The prosecution called for three weeks imprisonment and S$3,000 fine because Tay’s acts were “overly offensive given his racists inferences and Covid-19 pandemic”.
Both NEA officers remained calm and professional throughout.
Tay pleaded for leniency, saying that he regretted his actions and he had recently suffered a stroke.
He could have been given a fine up to S$5,000, jailed for a year or both for using insulting words on a public servant and also four years jail, fine or both for using criminal force on them.
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