SINGAPORE, Feb 2 — Two men will be charged on March 2 with flouting Covid-19 safe distancing rules by celebrating a birthday party with 11 other people last October.
It is understood that the incident involved four artistes from Mediacorp.
In a media release yesterday, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) did not identify the individuals involved. But it said that one of the two individuals who will be charged is the 53-year-old owner of the residential unit where the birthday celebration allegedly took place.
The man had allegedly breached Covid-19 laws by allowing 12 other people who were not members of his household to enter and remain at his home on Daisy Road near Braddell Road on October 2 last year.
The other man, who was one of the visitors, will be charged with gathering outside his ordinary place of residence with 12 other people who were not from his household.
The 50-year-old man had allegedly invited three of the visitors for the birthday gathering “despite knowing that doing so would cause the gathering to exceed the permissible number of individuals”, BCA said.
If found guilty of their offences, the two men can be jailed up to six months or fined up to S$10,000, or both.
During Phase Two of Singapore’s economic re-opening between June 19 and December 27 last year, individuals were not allowed to have more than five visitors in his or her residence, unless for permitted purposes.
Besides the two men, the 11 other visitors who had attended the birthday celebration had each been issued with a composition fine of S$300 for being part of the social gathering of more than five persons.
BCA said that in deciding to issue these people with a fine instead of prosecuting them, the authorities had assessed their “level of culpability in relation to the breach”.
It added that an advisory had also been issued to the management corporation (MCST) of the premise to remind it to take steps to ensure that residents comply with the safety regulations in the estate.
“The authorities urge homeowners and MCSTs to do their part in curbing the spread of Covid-19, especially during the upcoming festive period,” BCA said.
In response to TODAY’s queries, Mediacorp said that it takes the matter seriously.
It had previously confirmed that four of its artistes — Terence Cao, Shane Pow, Jeffrey Xu and Sonia Chew — were part of the group of 13 people who had breached Singapore’s Covid-19 rules.
Mediacorp yesterday said that the company has cooperated fully with the authorities on their investigations.
“We do not condone the actions of the four artistes and the company has conducted an internal review and disciplinary actions will be taken. Safety is a priority. We constantly brief and remind our artistes to adhere to safe management guidelines, both in their professional and personal capacities,” it added.
“The artistes deeply regret and take responsibility for their actions. They apologise for the mistake and assure everyone that this will not happen again.” ― TODAY
