SINGAPORE, July 20 — Over two weeks ago, an Australian woman was fined by the authorities Down Under for carrying a half-eaten Subway sandwich from Changi Airport into Australia. Now, the fast-food chain has given her a A$2,664 (RM8,177) gift card, the value of the fine.
Jessica Lee was fined for breaching Australia’s strict quarantine laws when she landed in Perth following a stopover in Singapore after a trip to Europe.
In a TikTok video posted on July 1 that has since been viewed some 1.2 million times, a glum-looking Lee noted that the sandwich had effectively cost her thousands of dollars.
Then, in a follow-up video headed “basically free subs for a year” on Monday (July 18), the much happier TikTok user can be seen opening a package from Subway.
“To say 'thank you' for eating fresh, we’ve uploaded a ‘sub-card’ with A$2,664 just for you. We hope this covers all your chicken and lettuce needs,” Lee said in the video, reading a note from the fast-food chain.
She also told her viewers of other free items she got from Subway, including a bucket hat, scrunchie (a hair accessory) and a pair of socks.
Talking on the social media platform in her original video, Lee said earlier that she had bought a foot-long Subway sandwich while on a stopover in Singapore.
“I ate six inches before my second flight and then saved the other six inches for the flight... I didn’t eat it all on the plane and then we landed in Australia.
“Basically, I thought the little declaration thing you do is for your carry-ons and your luggage... so I didn't tick chicken and I didn't tick lettuce... And that is a nice little A$2,664 (fine),” Lee said.
A spokesperson for the Australia's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry told news.com.au that Lee should have been aware that her actions of bringing in the food were a breach of the country’s Biosecurity Act.
“All meat products and vegetables must be declared on the incoming passenger card. This is a legal declaration,” the spokesperson said.
“All airlines play mandatory biosecurity messaging (video or audio) in flight at top of descent ... highlighting things of biosecurity risk, and the need to declare food and ingredients, and to leave all food on-board.”
When the original video went viral, people suggested that Lee set up a crowdfunding page to help pay for the fine, while other TikTok users shared their travel tales.
One wrote: “(Twenty years ago) I was fined S$500 for not declaring chicken’s essence, which was classed as food, which we drink in Singapore.”
Pizza chain Domino’s Australia also tagged Subway Australia, telling the firm to “help her”.
As a long-isolated island continent, Australia has been strict on biosecurity, because its lucrative agriculture industry could be crippled by outside biological contaminants. For example, the country is now on high alert over Indonesia's foot and mouth disease outbreak. ― TODAY
