SINGAPORE, Oct 26 — After apologising and bowing via a video-link to court, a woman who made headlines for filming her argument with police officers in two viral videos was sentenced to five weeks and five days’ jail with a S$600 fine.
Chinese national Han Feizi, 29, pleaded guilty on Wednesday (Oct 25) to two counts under the Private Security Industry Act, one count of causing public nuisance, and one count under the Protection from Harassment Act.
Appearing via video-link to a packed courtroom, Han also pleaded guilty to one count under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.
Three other similar charges were taken into consideration during sentencing.
Han had been on remand since Oct 11.
The Sail incident
On the night of Oct 3, security officer Mohamed Fadli Jasmin was on duty with a female colleague when they found a drunk Han squatting at the level one lift lobby at block two of The Sail condominium.
Mr Fadli and his colleague then escorted Han to her unit on the 44th floor.
While waiting for a lift, Han became aggressive and pointed her finger threateningly at Mr Fadli.
In the lift, she verbally abused him in Mandarin and pushed him repeatedly until they reached her floor.
The court heard that Han shouted an abusive phrase in Mandarin at least five times to Mr Fadli.
Mr Fadli later called the police.
The Singapore General Hospital incident
A week later, at about 2.15am on Oct 10, Han was dropped off at the Singapore General Hospital accident and emergency department by a Grab private-hire driver.
Han claimed that the driver had run over her foot with the car and it was painful.
The woman was attended to by the staff on duty, including patient services associate Juliana Khamis, and invited to sit on a wheelchair.
As she sat, Han began to scream for the Grab driver and complained that he had abandoned her.
When Ms Juliana attempted to explain the administrative registration process and advised her to wear a face mask, Han became uncooperative and threw the mask on the ground, said Deputy Public Prosecutor Jocelyn Teo.
Han then asked for the Grab driver again but became unhappy when Ms Juliana told her to wait.
This was when Han shouted abusive words to Ms Juliana in Mandarin.
A hospital staff member called the police to report the incident and Han was arrested the next day.
Falsely acquiring work permit
Sometime in October this year, the Ministry of Manpower received information from the police about Han contravening the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act.
Through investigations, the ministry found that Han had applied for a work permit on Aug 11, 2023, where she stated that she was to be employed as a clerk for a company called KDL Elements.
The work permit was eventually issued to Han, but to date, she has not worked for the company.
Further investigations revealed that Han had applied for the work permit only because the authorities had rejected her student pass application.
She said that she had come to Singapore “to have fun”.
Han had also moonlighted at various venues as a freelance hostess without a valid work pass from Aug 1 to Oct 11 — which was the subject of one of the charges that was taken into consideration.
Following her conviction, her work pass will be revoked and she will be permanently barred from working in Singapore, said an MOM spokesperson in a statement.
‘No excuse for behaviour’
During her mitigation plea, Han, who was not represented, expressed her remorse for the offences.
“I want to express my utmost apologies in open court regarding the subjective comments and videos that I have posted on social media as I should not have reacted the way I did,” she said.
On the incident at the hospital, she claimed that she was feeling “frantic and helpless”.
In sentencing, Deputy Principal District Judge Luke Tan said that there was simply no excuse for Han’s behaviour when she shouted abusive words at a healthcare professional who was just trying to help her.
The judge also touched on the false declaration for the work permit, calling it “calculated and pre-meditated” as Han was the one who initiated the work pass application.
For using criminal force on a security officer under the Private Security Industries Act, Han could have been jailed for up to two years, fined S$7,500 or both.
For using abusive words towards a security officer, she could have been jailed for up to a year, fined S$5,000 or both.
For causing public nuisance, she could have been fined S$2,000.
For using abusive words under the Protection from Harassment Act, she could have been jailed for up to a year, fined up to S$5,000 or both. — TODAY
For the false declaration in the work permit under the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, she could have been jailed for up to two years, fined S$20,000 or both.
