A Singaporean woman was sentenced to five months in prison this Friday for deliberately not providing information for contact tracing purposes.
The Singaporean woman, Oh Bee Hiok, 65, who was diagnosed on February 26 last year, did not tell Ministry of Health (MOH) officers that she had met a close male friend, 72-year-old Lim Kiang Hong, multiple times earlier that month. She feared that others might think that she was having an affair with the male friend.
In sentencing the woman, Judge Marvin Bay said her reasons for withholding information were “selfish... within the pressing public interest need to control the pandemic,”
“In this regard, the court must send a clear message that any act of withholding information likely to mislead contact tracers is totally unacceptable,” he added.
The Singaporean woman pleaded guilty to the charge of hindering contact tracing efforts.
In Singapore, the maximum punishment is a fine of $7,500, six months imprisonment, or both.
The Singaporean woman, Oh Bee Hiok, 65, who was diagnosed on February 26 last year, did not tell Ministry of Health (MOH) officers that she had met a close male friend, 72-year-old Lim Kiang Hong, multiple times earlier that month. She feared that others might think that she was having an affair with the male friend.
In sentencing the woman, Judge Marvin Bay said her reasons for withholding information were “selfish... within the pressing public interest need to control the pandemic,”
“In this regard, the court must send a clear message that any act of withholding information likely to mislead contact tracers is totally unacceptable,” he added.
The Singaporean woman pleaded guilty to the charge of hindering contact tracing efforts.
In Singapore, the maximum punishment is a fine of $7,500, six months imprisonment, or both.
