SINGAPORE, May 15 — A 41-year-old man was charged in court on Friday (May 15) with causing harassment and being a public nuisance in the Tampines branch of Singpost (Singapore Post).

Vijayan Pillay Sandarasegaran, a Singaporean, is accused of telling people in the post office on March 30 that he was suspected of having the novel coronavirus. Circuit breaker measures had not kicked in yet at the time.

He also allegedly refused to undergo a temperature screening before entering the post office, and coughed loudly in public while not wearing a face mask.

He is then said to have intentionally coughed twice towards another man’s face.

Wearing a face mask while out in public was made mandatory on April 15.

Today, Vijayan told the court that he intends to plead guilty to both his charges, adding: "I didn’t approach anyone for any reason. People approached me… I am sorry.”

He said that he intends to hire a lawyer for mitigation purposes and that he works in a club, but did not offer more details. 

He will return to court on June 2.

If convicted of causing annoyance, he could be fined up to S$1,000 (RM3,054). If convicted of using threatening behaviour towards the other man, he could be jailed up to six months, fined up to S$5,000  (RM15,270) or both. — TODAY